I could go on and on about the split pea soup that I made: the wonders of fibre and legumes, the caramelized onions and richness of the tomatoes that added so much to this already hearty potage. But I won’t. Because the truth is that once in a while, I find myself uninspired. This happened to be one of those Friday Nights.
It started out as exciting as any – maybe even a bit more so because one of the people we were planning to have over I have known since college. Back then, my friend and I spent many a Friday night together. But that was Jerusalem, and we non-religious clung together like clusters of bees, anxious to do something – anything -- on the one night when our city shut down completely. I’ll spare you the details of our smoky nights, the eight or ten of us huddled in someone’s apartment talking about obscure literature and the injustice in our world, as you do when you’re young, directionless yet idealistic. After having lost touch for years, I am so excited to have reconnected with my friend, and though I have only met his girlfriend twice, I feel we have known know one another for a while. It’s funny how life works: potheads become lawyers and vehemently feminist political activists become pregnant wives. But there you go. It’s nice, however, when you can get together again to laugh about the past and share in the present.
Here in London the people I know that aren’t connected to my husband are few, so I was pretty disappointed when, at the last minute, DW was hit by a deadline and we had to cancel our dinner. There I was, with only a few hours notice, surrounded by all kinds of ingredients I would not be using as the menu had been transformed from needing to be entertaining to needing to supply brain food to a man under stress. The table, already colourfully set, looked empty, forlorn, though the counter was overflowing with produce.
DW came down to the kitchen long enough to light the candles and kiss me apologetically. I wasn’t angry in the slightest, though I found myself in the mood for something a little more uplifting than sitcom reruns.
How does that old saying go? When plans change, make tzatziki?
There are very few things that are difficult to recreate in a Picky Foodie Friendly way. Bread is a cinch, milk is no problem, ice cream, cookies, chocolate I’ve gotten the hand of. There are even some lovely people in New York State who are making hard, aged cheeses out of nuts! Tzaziki – and many other things containing yoghurt – is a bit more complicated. Soy is a popular option, but not one that I favour as it is overly processed, and extremely difficult to digest.
Why Tzaziki? Because it’s relatively light and won’t clog up a writing-man’s brain. Also, it’s a happy dip to brighten up a dreary, dark night. As I surveyed my kitchen, I found myself wanting some without the hassle of figuring out how, what and all that for myself. So I did what I rarely do for Friday Night Dinners: I browsed my shelf of cookbooks.
Veganomicon, known as a vegan Bible of sorts,
contains a recipe for a Mediterranean-style cashew-cucumber dip. It was easily adapted to suit my
tzatziki needs.
Picky Foodie Friendly Tzatziki
(adapted from Veganomicon by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero)
Ingredients:
3 large English cucumbers
1 cup raw cashews
1 large clove garlic
1 T olive oil
juice of 2 lemons
1 bunch fresh dill
1 t dried oregano
lots of pepper
salt to taste
Shred the cucumbers and sieve them well or squeeze them in a nut milk bag to separate the juice (preserve the juice and, if you’re like me, try not to drink it all!)
In the food processor, combine the cucumber meat, cashews, garlic, lemon juice and spices. Add cucumber juice 1 T at a time until you achieve the desired consistency (I can’t tell you what the proportion was for me as it turned out to be a game of “one spoonful in the food processor, one spoonful for me.)
Serve with kalamata olives, sun dried tomatoes and crusty bread (we had one of our gluten-free flatbreads straight from the oven)
Nutrition:
Cucumbers are famous in our calorie-obsessed world for taking more energy to chew and digest than they contain. But besides that, they offer many nutritional benefits. Cucumbers have a high water content and are a natural diuretic – two qualities that help prevent water retention and yet hydrate at the same time. They are also great for skin and hair and are rich in silica, Vitamin C and potassium. Silica is a little known mineral that is nevertheless imperative for our bone health. While calcium has gotten a lot of PR in the past few years, it can harden our bones and so make them more susceptible to fractures. That’s where silica comes in: no less important than its famous partner, silica makes our bones more flexible so they don’t break as easily. Potassium is vital both to counteract the acidity that comes with the Western diet as well as the stresses of our lifestyle.
*** For all you lovely women living in London: in March I will be starting an 8-week workshop all about nourishing ourselves through the senses. Check it out, email me with any questions and sign up to reserve your place sooner rather than later. It’s going to be delicious -- see you there! ***
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