On Life As A Picky Foodie

Hello Peeps --

I simply can't believe it's March already.  It's madness, I tell you.  

First of all, I'd like to congratulate Liz, the winner of our giveaway!  Liz, please send me your email address via The Picky Foodie Contact sheet and we can take it from there.  I do hope you enjoy Parents Need to Eat Too -- let me know.

Secondly...  hmm... OK... well...

I have something to tell you...

There’s this thing, you see...

I make it thick and dip caramelized sweet potato wedges in it.

I thin it out with lemon juice or water and it dresses my salads well enough to conquer New York by night.

Or I grab my spoon and snack on it straight out of the jar.

The thing with this thing is that I can never make enough.  It seems I am constantly whipping up a batch only to make another because, well, this stuff goes fast around here. 

In case you’re wondering, the family doesn’t eat this quite like I do.  It’s just me, alone, with a spoon and this stuff, or a knife to spread it nice and thick, or a big big bowl of beautiful greens, ready to get gussied up.  Or a sprouted corn tortilla, a sheet of nori, a celery stick. 

Tahini is its nutty, wonderful self.

Miso adds a touch of earthiness.

And apple – cider and vinegar – make it sweet and tangy.

Then we wrap it all up with a nice green cilantro bow for a little left-field depth.

And Bob’s your uncle (or Eric in my case, and I think he’ll like it too)

This isn’t your average little concoction.  It’s rich as an eighties Wall Street Banker, and comforting like when you come home from a long winter hike and someone’s gotten the fire going in anticipation of your return.  It might seem a little strange at first, as if the tastes don’t quite know what to do with one another, but I dare you to stop after a few tastes.  My friend tried it, and while she declared, “this is weird,” she did so while helping herself for the third or fourth time.

Spread it, pour it, drink it.  It’s healthy enough to indulge in and decadent enough to enjoy regardless of how normally eat.

Then comment below, tell me what you think.  And please, be honest.  I’d love to know. 

Tahini Miso Spread

Ingredients:

½ cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped (or ¼ cup dried – leaves, not seeds or powder)

1/3 + ¼ cup tahini (I know, weird, but it works)

½ cup apple cider

2 T miso

1 T apple cider vinegar

¼ cup fresh lemon juice

1 T water

Directions:

Start by combining 1/3 cup tahini with the apple cider, the vinegar, the lemon juice and the water.  Stir it all together with a fork until the mixture is creamy and smooth.  Then add the miso and the additional tahini and repeat.  You can thin it out until the desired texture is obtained.

Books: What I Eat / The Leon cookbook

I recently came across a wonderful tome called What I Eat: Around the World in 80 Diets.

In it, the authors have documented what people around the world consume in a day. 

The first thing I loved about it were the photographs: each subject was captured at work, at home or wherever they seem to eat, surrounded by a day’s worth of food. 

Then came the table of contents: divided by caloric intake, it is incredible to see the difference between the 800 calorie diet in Kenya as compared to the British housewife who consumes an average of 12300 calories a day. 

As I paged through, I realized that although I often work with food diaries, and talk about food with almost everyone I encounter, even I am rarely privy to that kind of detail.

In our diet-obsessed culture, we focus on quantities and in-versus-out; we read up on what’s being touted as “healthy” this week and attempt restriction in many forms.  But really, how often do we stop and think about what it is that we’re eating, the nourishment that we’re getting and what an incredible thing it is to be able to eat without giving it a second thought?

What was amazing to me was how many of the cultures I can dip in to without having to travel to the places where some of these people were photographed.  In New York, London, Los Angeles, almost every cuisine in the world can be found – incredible!!!

I’m not going to give you the whole “there are children starving…” lecture, but I do want to say this: next time you start getting down about food or how much you weigh or worrying about having enough variation, why not be grateful instead?  Because we are do so lucky to be able to choose how we are going to nourish ourselves.  And that choice, my friends, is up to each one of us. 

And sticking to the theme of books (it is, after all back-to-school month), I have some really exciting news: three recipes of mine are being featured in Leon Book 2, Naturally Fast Food  coming out on September 6^th!!! 

For those of you who aren’t familiar with the Leon restaurants, it is a chain in the UK that prides itself on offering healthy, fresh meals fast. 

Last November, I invited the owners, round for a raw feast.  I knew when I caught them sticking their fingers into dishes for one more taste that they had enjoyed their meal.  Happily, they asked me to contribute some of the recipes of the food they had eaten to their upcoming book.  And I, of course, said YES!  

So check out my green smoothie recipe on page 41 and the four pages devoted to the meal that include two more fabulous recipes that are always a hit (pages 152 - 155). 

Though I am not a raw foodist – or, for that matter, an anything-ist – I am pretty partial to the amazing versatility that playing with food in its most raw state allows.  It’s fun, gorgeous and absolutely delicious when made right. 

With love,

Gabriela

P.S. As of this week, On Life As A Picky Foodie has become a blog!  Though you will still be getting this weekly newsletter, you can also now check for more regular updates: I will be posting interesting articles that I find, thoughts, events and more.

check out the fascinating article from Mother Jones Magazine about toxicity in seafood