| INSIGHT | COLUMNS & GUIDANCE Meditaste On This What's Cooking by Zoe LaGrece "Get out in that kitchen and rattle those pots and pans. Make some food for me, Honey, let me know that I'm your man." "That was Bill Haley and the Comets singing about a woman's rightful place," taunts the Oldies morning show host. "Get over it!" chime his female cohorts in unison. I awaken with a smile knowing the comic spirit of their retort. The concept has been acted, written and sung, ("...Can she bake a cherry pie, Billy Boy, Billy Boy?...") as an attribute of the "good woman." Somehow the rhythmic quality of the song flails when you add, "Get out in that kitchen...(only if you want to)...Honey." Robert Louis Stevenson wrote, "There is no duty we so underrate as the duty of being happy." In my upbringing, cooking was an obligatory activity endured by the housewife. In our quest for culinary skill, the full importance of intention is often lost. The severing born of dualistic thinking begins. Mom stressed our need for specific nutrients with unsavory weekly demands like, "You will eat your liver and onions. It is high in iron!" Those fabulous '50s saw concepts like RDA (recommended daily allowance, of course) become common knowledge. Technological innovations relegated the food and well-being connection somewhere out of sight...out of mind. Dualism raced toward its zenith; moms cooked, doctors healed, home remedies fell by the wayside and daily life experience was segregated from the quality of life itself. My mother's static repertoire relied heavily on canned goods, for if one of the ingredients was missing from the pantry, how could you possibly create the dish? Spaghetti was always made with canned mushrooms. I didn't even think I liked mushrooms until I left home for college and tasted fresh mushrooms in a delicate sauté or even more exotic, morels that we harvested one early spring day in the moist, fertile woods. That quality of freshness and the wild energetic they possessed made the culinary experience all the more delicious. The experience left me feeling quite differently about food. I discovered that optimum cooking enjoyment happens when we allow it to be an organic process, altering recipes by what is in the refrigerator or garden (i.e., using a sweet potato in lieu of a carrot -- both are orange and sweet in flavor). An ever-expanding understanding of nutrients, (even teenagers talk bioflavinoids these days) and increasing awareness of quality, ("organically grown" has even captured the USDA's attention) can add to the stress of preparing meals. Eating is our affirmation to ourselves that we want to live -- and how well we live is a direct result of what we choose to eat. Pretty basic stuff, right? The often-overlooked component in cooking is YOU, the cook. As the quality of the ingredients can enhance or detract from the overall quality of a dish, so too does the cook's energy. Author and chef Molly Katzen says, "The same recipe made by different people on different days and in different kitchens can taste new each time. There seems to be a personal touch -- a special elusive quality -- from each individual cook." After a harried day, the thought of cooking can feel like an enormous and unwelcome burden. All too often we fumble through the cooking process, mumble a benign prayer -- some routine expression of gratitude -- and dig in! What if, instead of plunging in to finish the task as quickly as you can, you take a few moments to center yourself? Drink a soothing cup of herbal tea, if need be, and remember the significance of feeding yourself. It is an expression of love and concern for yourself, your family or whoever else is lucky enough to have you cooking for them. Visualize the earth giving life to the plants (grains, vegetables, herbs), fish, eggs, chicken or whatever else you are preparing. Realize the life force that takes a tiny seed from its compact state into a full-grown plant is transformed into your energy once you consume its vitamins, minerals and fibers. Acknowledge the awe of this life. Imagine the accomplishments you hope to make tomorrow, next week, next year. See your children happy, playing, filled with the joy of life. We often think of meditation as a technique used only in the pursuit of spiritual enlightenment. When you acknowledge the spiritual realm within the physical realm, it becomes a true path of spiritual awareness where the simplest act can be an expression of the divine within. Pearled Barley with Basil [from Zoe' s Cookin' Episode 6] 1 1/2 C. pearled barley 4 1/2 C. filtered water 1/4 tsp. sea salt 3 TBS. cold-pressed olive oil 1 medium yellow onion-diced 1-2 clove garlic-finely diced or thinly sliced sea salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste 1 zucchini-diced in 3/4" cubes 1-2 carrots-sliced into thin rounds 1/4 C. pine nuts 1/4 C. fresh basil leaves-chiffronade 1/4 C. parsley-diced basil & parsley leaves to garnish Quickly rinse barley in cold water. Combine sea salt, barley & water in heavy bottomed sauce pan. Bring to boil. Reduce to simmer and cook covered until barley is tender (15-40 minutes depending on quick cooking or regular pearled barley). In skillet or sauté pan, heat olive oil. Sauté onion 3-5 minutes or until beginning to turn translucent. Add garlic, sea salt (I use about 1/2 tsp. or so) & pepper. Sauté another minute. Add zucchini & carrots. Sauté until tender. Layer pine nuts, herbs & cooked barley over the sauté. Cover & let flavors steam through a few minutes. Stir well and serve garnished with chiffronade basil leaf (that's a French culinary term for long thin slices) and parsley sprig. Zoe LaGrece resides in Kansas City where Zoe's Cafe was located for 10 years. She is currently the producer/host of an internet show -- Zoe's Cookin' -- on www.wabn.net. She may be contacted at zl@wabn.net Copyright © 2001 Zoe LaGrece |
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