Mural of Meals, part 3 "Faster Food"

Sometimes we don't have time for "Slow" Food, but who says we have to plunk the take-out onto the table and dig in? Couldn't we just as well make it a bit pretty and then savour it while listening to our loved ones communicate their feelings? Oh ideals - how luxurious!
Here are some meals that were prepared with some take out and some love.

These are brussel sprouts from Whole Foods deli:

Although I am not a huge meat eater, we do occasionally go to our corner "Churrasqueira" and bring home some bbq. We like to dress it up with homemade sides:



We had a lot of fun with frise lettuce, dressed with lemon and our favorite chaat masala:


Here, I made a tofu fried rice from leftovers and added the churra bbq for the meat eaters:



In this case, we made the curry entree and got the samosas and chapattis from a Indian grocer:



This is kinda hard to see, but is one our favorite "junk food dressed up" (Mr. Noodle, with vibe; an oxymoron, no?):



And this is a spread of plain ol' deli meats, with fresh veggies:



(This just happened to be during Great Lent, so for dinner I was doing beautiful salads dressed with Braggs and lemon)


Next post: Sandwiches! (another "faster" food)

Finally settling in!

I apologize for the late notice, but I am just wrapping up the first week in my new place and things have been completely hectic, as I am sure you all understand. Someone once said the most stressful things in life are marriage (yes!), divorce (definitely!), and moving (indubitably!!). We managed to do the entire move in 1 weekend - packing and all. This week, we didn't even take a day off of work. So now we are realizing that all the pots and pans are still in boxes and we have exhausted nearly all the pizza places in town (scant pickings, by the way). So last night we mustered up the strength to get groceries and made a really fantastic salad.



Spinach Berry Fun Salad
(almost all organic ingredients)
Baby spinach
Red onion, sliced
Cherry tomatoes, cut in half
Red Pear, diced
Blueberries
Walnuts, Pecans, Cashew mix
Goat Cheese (for the non-vegan)

I try at all cost to avoid store bought salad dressing for many reasons. The main reason being that I love making my own salad dressing inventions and the second reason that they almost always have some weird poly/trans fats. But again, since all of our kitchen equipment is inaccessible for the time, I gave in to a bottle of dressing. Wow! I was really surprised. It was actually tasty and not full of crap ingredients. Nice.
I don't want to propagate the brand, because I am actually a bit ashamed that it was so good.



In the end, it was such a hit! And thank goodness too, because that's what we're having again tonight :)

Sunday Smoothie Recipe

Welcome to Sunday in June.
Gloriously overcast, slight chill in the air. But this is Toronto, so at least there's not 5 feet of snow. Today is a good smoothie day for me, so I thought I'd share the ingredients for what I just whipped up. I had 3 peaches and a young coconut as the base. I threw in a banana to thicken it up, and accidentally poured about 3 tbsp of raw cacao in (ooops!). Next time I may omit the cacao.



Peach Coconut Blast
3 ripe peaches
Juice from 1 young coconut plus a few scoops of the coco meat
small handful of goji berries
1 small banana
1 tsp raw agave nectar
4 dates (i soaked these in hot water to make softer for blending)
handful of raw cashews
optional: raw cacao powder

All together in a blender - pulse and blend on high until nice and smooth. Enjoy with a spoon!




What are your favorite smoothie recipes? I am interested in trying some different combos next time. Maybe trying some totally different ingredients as well such as avocado, lemon, and papaya.

Welcome to Spring, aka. Smoothie Season

Hello! It's officially spring here in Toronto: the sun is shining, everyone seems to be walking or biking, spending time in the garden and on decks. So in honor of the warmer weather, I am bringing smoothies back into my diet. I steered clear for the winter months because of the cold, and opted for more warming foods. My days are usually quite busy, so I tend to eat some fruit or trail mix (see Superfood article below), and then take time out with friends to prepare and share the evening meal together. Now, especially with get-up-and-go mornings, I am desiring something quick and easy to bring with me to work in the morning, but also nutritionally viable and exciting. Here's the first installment of Daily Smoothie Recipe:

Chocolate Pear Banana Blitz
(all organic ingredients, if possible)
1 banana
1 sliced pear
handful of raw cashews
4 dates (pitted)
2 tbsp raw cacao powder
1/2 c. Vitacoco
1/4 c. water, as needed

Blend together until smooth and enjoy with a spoon - yum!

I am going in to the office, so I thought I should probably bring something just in case I need a snack to tide me over til dinner. So, I quickly put together a few things we had in the fridge for an easy salad. It's surprisingly delicious, although really simple. Usually I do not use oil or vinegar, but would use lemon/lime and maybe Braggs or Nama Shoyu, but I am using what we already had in the cabinets and not being too picky.

Tomato Cucumber Salad
7 cherry tomatoes, quartered
4 in. of English cucumber, halved and sliced
sliced white onion, to taste
1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
few dashes of toasted sesame oil
dash balsamic vinegar
Sea salt & pepper
(experiment with other spices as well: fresh mint, dill, or cilantro add nice zest)
Put all into container with lid and shake. Voila! Easy, transportable lunch or snack.

What are your favorite smoothie or salad recipes for rushed days?

Living to Eat, Eating to Live

"SOCRATES: Do you think that when people do something, they want the thing they're doing at the time, or the thing for the sake of which they do what they're doing? Do you think that people who take medicines prescribed by their doctors, for instance, want what they're doing, the act of taking the medicine, with all its discomfort, or do they want to be healthy, the thing for the sake of which they're taking it?" (Plato, Gorgias, 467c)

I'd like to take this post to talk about some of my own ideas about slow-food and the fast-life.

Socrates famously said that he did not live to eat, but ate to live, and it's worth thinking about what he meant. The ancient philosopher divided the world into two main categories of entities with a wide continuum between: things that are means (becoming), and things that are ends (being). In some sense this is also a discussion about necessities and luxuries. Necessities are things we do because we have to, luxuries are things we do because we want to. Ideally, of course, we would always live in luxury; practically speaking, this just isn't possible.

"...A man who lives like that won't be able to escape the fate he deserves; and the fate of an idle fattened beast that takes life easy is usually to be torn to pieces by some other animal--one of the skinny kind, who've been emaciated by a life of daring and endurance... So we must insist that there is something left to do in a life of leisure, and it's only fair that the task imposed, far from being a light or trivial one, should be the most demanding of all." (Plato, Laws 7.807a+)

How does this all relate to "slow food?" Well, according to Socrates, and I would agree, food is not an end in-itself but merely a means to happiness. Food does provide its own pleasure, but if we only eat it for the immediate satisfaction it provides, we're really missing the point of what the slow-food lifestyle (and perhaps life in general) is all about. Eating the best tasting foods is one of the reasons people in the West are in such bad health, and there are more important things in life that we can get from food than just a happy belly.

So are we wasting our energy spending so much time creating well-loved meals? Hardly! I think this is exactly what Socrates would want us to do, to transform eating from an excuse for simple pleasure into an activity that gives meaning and purpose to the rest of our lives. The food itself is not the goal, but is a way to bring family and friends closer together, a way to appreciate life in general.

The fast life is a necessity, it is the condition of our existence and not something that we desire for itself. It's something that we do because of what it brings us, but where we get the real meaning in our lives is through the interactions with those around us. We struggle through the day so that we can come home and relax, so that we can stop working for a little while and just enjoy our lives. Unfortunately the realities of everyday life, the fact that we must live in an imperfect world, will always force us back into the fray, into the fast-life. And while we're there we must commit ourselves to it and treat it with our full attention, because that is the nature of responsibility. But we can't lose sight of what it's all really for: a quality life with friends and family, going slowly to enjoy every moment.

If we transform eating from just a necessary experience, the simple shoving of calories down our throats, into a worthwhile kind of lifestyle, then I think we can satisfy both Socrates and the gourmand in all of us. Cooking and food preparation becomes not about the food, but about family, friends and meaningful relationships. Slow food is a kind of purgative for the fast life; a cure that helps to remind us of what's really important. We work quickly because we must, but we prepare food slowly because we can.

Fast Life

We've explored the very initial threads of understanding Slow Food, but we should take a minute to consider the subordinate clause "Fast Life." As much as I would like to say that I have continued to live a life in the treehouses in Georgia, there came a time for me to be a bit more functional in society. Sure that begs the question: Was I not functioning and part of society before? Regardless of the implications of that statement, I decided I needed to start a career, maybe live in the city (*gasp*), and even care about earning money (*shock!*). For years, my ideals and naivete led me to the belief that hiding in a treehouse in the woods was the best I could contribute to the human race, and perhaps deep down I still adhere to some of those tenets, but for now I am pursuing a life of full engagement: living the city life, working the 9-5 beat, and stressing out over things like bills and internet connections.

Recently though, I came to realize that maybe it is not an "either/or" equation; maybe I can still maintain some of the previous joys of serenity and communion that I had discovered during the travels of my youth. So, 10 years later, I am embarking on a journey to revive those first loves: joining hands with fellow sweet beings; taking time to make a creative and nutritious meal; relaxing and breaking bread together. These little moments are a refuge from the daily grind of a fast paced and ever more quickly passing life.
Working hard at whatever project is on my plate takes my full attention and dedication - and perhaps I am a bit Randian in that view. I believe that we must create and delve deep into our work (handiwork by Husserl's usage); we must apply ourselves fully to this as it is our duty to our fellow sentient beings. Yet, through it all, not losing sight of the importance in taking time to pause and reflect and enjoy. One way that I do this is through Slow Food.


(Frise lettuce with chaat masala; parsley with sea salt and lemon; white beans; zucchini)