Thursday, February 17, 2011

My First Food Post - Plus Recipe: Quinoa Bean Vegetable Salad

My first, of many to come, food recipes for this blog.  Cooking is a worthwhile pursuit.  A true sensory experience, losing your self in the world of the kitchen.  Filled with the aroma of sauteed garlic, the yellow, red and green chopped rainbow chard stirred with black beans and tomatoes, and feel of the wonderfully textured food in your mouth to provide heavenly tastes.  Each bite you can think of the effort it took to grow and prepare the food and appreciate it just a little more.

Here is a quote from Barbara Kingsolver's Animal Vegetable Miracle.  A great book about her experience of eating all her meals for a year from food that was grown in a 100 mile radius of where she was living.

"Cooking without remuneration" and "slaving over a hot stove" are activities separated mostly by a frame of mind. The distinction is crucial. Career women in many countries still routinely apply passion to their cooking, heading straight from work to the market to search out the freshest ingredients, feeding their loved ones with aplomb. [...] Full-time homemaking may not be an option for those of us delivered without trust funds into the modern era. But approaching mealtimes as a creative opportunity, rather than a chore, is an option. Required participation from spouse and kids is an element of the equation. An obsession with spotless collars, ironing, and kitchen floors you can eat off of---not so much. We've earned the right to forget about stupefying household busywork. But kitchens where food is cooked and eaten, those were really a good idea. We threw that baby out with the bathwater. It may be advisable to grab her by her slippery foot and haul her back in here before it's too late." 


Here is an original recipe, collaborated with Ms. Sarah Beth.  Hope y'all enjoy.

Quinoa Bean Vegetable Salad

Black Beans (already cooked before the meal)
Quinoa (1 cup makes 4 cups - serves near 6) [you can substitute rice, but quinoa works great with this dish]
Greens (pick any, we used arugula, kale, swiss chard, spinach)
Zucchini (2)
Tomatoes
Onion
Avocado
Garlic
Peppers (flavorful or spicy or both - Hawaiian Chili Pepper/Anaheim/Bell/Sweet Italian All great!)
Herbs (use any, we used basil, rosemary, green onion, curry)
salt, pepper, chili powder, cayenne, cumin - all optional to taste
Lemon (you can use zest too to cook with the quinoa)
Soy Sauce / Apple Cider Vinegar / Tapatio (hot sauce) / Balsamic Vinegar (use one or two or any combination)

Cook Quinoa (2 parts water to 1 quinoa like rice)
Add curry, green onion, soy sauce/braggs (or apple cider vinegar or balsamic or a combination of any of  them), avocado, basil, spicy pepper, and lemon when quinoa is fluffy and nearly all the water is evaporated, around 5 minutes left in cooking.

Saute Onions, Peppers, Zucchini, in Olive Oil.  Add salt, pepper, generous cumin, cheyenne, lemon  Add cooked beans, tomatoes.  Cook on low-medium until zucchini is soft or tender, 15 minutes.

Steam the greens, sprinle some lemon and salt.  Chop up fine.  Raw greens work too.

Serving suggestions.

1) Bed of steamed greens, mix together quinoa and veggie-bean mixture.  Top with extra seasonings.
lemon/salt/pepper/cayenne/nutritional yeast.  Garnish with cilantro or parsley.   A little extra soy or hot sauce wouldn't hurt either.

2) Serve all separately.  Nice color contrast.

3) Stir'em all together in a big bowl and serve to happy eager mouths!

This dish is on the verge of both asian and mexican.  Add more cumin, cayenne, hot sauce, tomato for mexican.  Add more soy, zucchini, green onion, lemon for asian.  Maybe even toss some ginger in there.

We really enjoyed this one.  It's especially satisfying when you harvest the food from your own land and gardens or buy them fresh and locally at a farmer's market.  I bet there is one in your area, and if not, I recommend demanding one!  Everything is going great here still.  I'm out of the state of transition and am comfortable with my bare feet back on lava rock here.

Since my last post, I've slept in my trunk of my Subaru, had a lava rock picnic, cleaned up, pruned, weedwhacked, mended some fences for our chicken paddocks.  One of the four paddocks hosts a breed of chicken an Americauna.  They lay blue eggs. The chickens are starting to pick up production coming out of their molten winter phase, and we now harvest around 40 dozen eggs a week from some very happy, productive hens.  I've gotten my library card, went to the island's only winery, and continued to dig my time on the farm.  Each day has been incredible.  From the morning writing sessions, to the meditative egg collecting and washing, to the hours of work and the time spent after that to relax, research and create.  Many projects, both short term and long term to accomplish.

Future Posts:
Moments in Time
Short Story Excerpts
Music/Movie Reviews
More Recipes!

And to end, one of my favorite quotes from one of my favorite movies.


In many ways, the work of a critic is easy. We risk very little yet enjoy a position over those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgment. We thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to read. But the bitter truth we critics must face, is that in the grand scheme of things, the average piece of junk is probably more meaningful than our criticism designating it so. But there are times when a critic truly risks something, and that is in the discovery and defense of the new. The world is often unkind to new talent, new creations, the new needs friends. Last night, I experienced something new, an extraordinary meal from a singularly unexpected source. To say that both the meal and its maker have challenged my preconceptions about fine cooking is a gross understatement. They have rocked me to my core. In the past, I have made no secret of my disdain for Chef Gusteau's famous motto: Anyone can cook. But I realize, only now do I truly understand what he meant. Not everyone can become a great artist, but a great artist can come from anywhere. It is difficult to imagine more humble origins than those of the genius now cooking at Gusteau's, who is, in this critic's opinion, nothing less than the finest chef in France. I will be returning to Gusteau's soon, hungry for more. 

- Anton Ego

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Awakening from a Slump or Back on Island Time

This blog post is drawing from past and present moods,  All converging into this stream-of-consciousness piece entitled- 'Awakening from a Slump or Back On Island Time' With various excerpts that I've written in different places splashed throughout the piece.  I feel like I'm introducing this 'experimental form of writing' as the off screen narrator of Fantasia did before each song.

"After the kiss from whom he will never know, the lieutenant, going home, touches a bush in which birds are singing." - Dean Young

Hitchhiked around the least visited south coastal highway of Maui from Kula to Hana, my present home to past, this last with week with Sarah Beth (new wwoofer through Pearland, Texas - Maui and her inhabitants are lucky to have you here!). Every second of the trip was special, from each memorable ride, to the nights under the stars and conversations with old hawaiians about alcoholic pigs and daredevil cyclists, the red sand beach with turquoise water, the hippies harvesting and dishing out fresh coconut water, and the lush life bursting out of every leaf and person along the Hana Highway.

If the destination is unknown
 time slows down
but if you know where you want to go to
you try to get there quicker

On Maui, you'll frequently overhear the expression that someone is functioning on Maui Time.  Even the roosters cross the street at a slower rate.  Time is more lethargic here without the presence of hurrying from one place to the next as a way to enjoy the present.  The idea is not to miss anything, and take life in at full value.  The wave to a stranger can turn into an hour long conversation, a night lying awake holding hands on a beach, or a spankin' new undetermined future.  If you're staring at your feet afraid to stick out your thumb, you can miss a world of opportunity, beauty, and good fortune.  When I'm on island time, I'm in my element.  I'm capable of working everything out at my own pace and frame my life with a positive light. I can appreciate the birdsong, the wet rustling grass beneath my bare feet in the morning, and I can sense the hum lingering deep within nature's silence.  A Dew Drop.  Tick Tock.

"Out on the edge you see all kinds of things you can't see from the center."

I wrote this song today to the tune of Norweigan Wood by the Beatles.

Permaculture (this Seed has Flown)
there once was a man, who found some land, now called maui
there he started a farm, isnt it good, permaculture

he asked us to stay and told us to plant a tree anywhere
met the other wwoofers - they've all got dirty island hair

I set up a hammock, between palm trees, great ocean view
sara walked to the garden, harvested fresh greens, yummy smoothie

trade marks of the kitchen are quinoa mamasakay and bare feet
homemade kale chips fried plantains and guacamole make a tasty treat 

next I met a cat, thought of a girl, doing yoga
she sat very still, comfortably, in a toga

the food and the plants and the animals all share the sun
everyone and everything growing from zone four to zone one

and when i awoke, i was happy, at the rancho relaxzo
so i planted a seed, isn't it good, permaculture

if life is an ongoing stream of knowledge
and your feet are sensory receptors, it'd be nurturing and favorable to get them wet, and once you get a taste of fresh water, You'll find yourself wanting to immerse yourself for a swim.  And then play. Say the lily pads and fish represent the land and aesthetic beauty. Say the other bodies swimming with you are all teachers.  Say the ebb and flow of the water is the miracle, the shared experience, the breath of life.

a lesson learned from ken kesey, captain swimmer
god is a scammer, an imposter, a 'rule maker' and mighty inhibiter
told us that the old wino screaming into an echoing cliff 
will receive the same answer back
as an old man who spent his life in black suit and 
inverted noose wrapped around his neck
doing the same thing everyday.  
the answer comes from the empty cyclical sun
it rises and it sets and you get a day older.
if you want more, go read Marquez.
if you want less, you are wise.

lucid cold breath in the windchilled night
having one of those nights
the one where the silence that engulfs you
beckons for a human touch
an emotion or impression that'll resist
the temptation to settle for color coordination
and simple cause and effect
cause nights like this transcend the moment
and leap fences and dig trenches into
ideas once ironclad in our memory systems
where matter howls at the moon
and mice floss their teeth with grass
and bedbugs sing
lying beneath a picnic blanket
the rifle scope points to the sky
aiming to blast empty space into oblivion
in hopes of implosion and the forming of nebuli
the creation of internal space
derived not from memory nor processed information
but from the will to live
to strive and survive
the circling of earth in chaotic form
in and out of arm's reach of grasping good and light
what a beautiful night
silent as a toad between breaths
draped with a floating red wind
the stars, crystals in an empty denim pocket
science is seeking the unknown variable
that reminds us we have to continue our
"course correction"
for our path is either destined to waver
or what's in store for us
ain't exactly what science concocted
it's instinct


of the moment
accomplishment:
thought about what makes kings and vagabonds leave the very best and got a Maui Cruiser
received food:
rum raisin vegan ice cream at Coconut Glen's in Upper Nahiku 
Veggie Pizza with Pesto Sauce, Goat Cheese, Roasted Peppers, Caramelized Onions, Arugula cooked on a Grill at Puleho's Pizza.
given food:
creamy avocado coconut dressing on green papaya salad.  
quinoa with mint, lemon, basil, green onion, curry, garlic.
pasta with bechamel sauce, steamed chard, pine nuts, garlic, chili peppers
book:
the passion (jeanette winterson) 
poem:
i am but a traveler in this land & know little of its ways (dean young)
creative outlet:
bamboo stick and banana leaf incense holder, maybe natural windchimes and a lean-to to come
song:
masterswarm (andrew bird)
movie:
le fableaux d'Ameline Poulaine (could you guess? ;-) )

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Maui Folk

Nighttime reflection.  I wrote this at the end of March 2010.

Will I return to the island chain of Hawai'i?

I wish I could answer with certainty.
I wish I could speak through my teeth.
Are there enough stars for all the animal's wishes?
If we all ate a homemade pie a day - at least an hour of the twenty-four would satisfy.

I was skirting the question because I was scared and focusing on other matters.  Now that I'm back, I can take deep breaths, and enjoy this moment and be grateful for it.  Just as saying grace before a meal and acknowledging where your food comes from to retrieve greater nutritional value and flavor from it, I'm going to write about Maui folk to hopefully never take for granted how fortunate I am to have returned to the island.
--
Maui folk talk about intention and manifestation.  Stemming from a deep awareness and a conscious connection to the people and land.  Breathing the same air under the same sky, realizing a simple truth that the rest of the world hasn't fully grasped.  No longer using plastic bags, picking up people who are in need of a ride and  sharing a shaka with a complete stranger just cause the sun is shining on a warm winter day.

Maui folk spend time in the garden, each house grows a portion of their own food.  Swimming in clean water and knowing not to litter our land.  Experiencing instant karma so generally leaning towards doing good.  Seeing a sun set between two floating islands and knowing we are blessed.  Joining hands in small communities and sharing notions of sustainability.  

Maui folk sing songs of Haleakala and of the present, of the wind in the trees and the flowers near the sea.  Singing of places where trouble melts like lemon drop and fresh fruit grows on trees and flowers blooming like the most colorful page of a Dr. Seuss book.

Maui folk listen to the sound of a playful liloquoi releasing itself from vine to dry leaves, listening to crashing waves engaged in endless tug-of-war with the shore, to the ne'ne and the humpbacks, the chickens and the  ducks, the hula skirts and the wind.  Maui folk listen well, selflessly and harmoniously with all the others listening too.
--
I'm too happy to shut my heavy eyelids just yet. Contribute this mood to the incredible past week I've had in Hana and Kula, the super satiated belly filled with yum-tum fresh meals (opaka, mahi, ahi, pesto/mozzarella/lentils/tomatoes crepes, fruit smoothies, garden salads), and the nighttime which allows for tender and lucid reflection.   Especially grateful for all the people I've met and shared great memories with.  I hope we've crossed paths at the right times and now find ourselves heading in unforeseeable and exciting adventures.  I hope I've effected you in some way, because I know every single one of you has effected me.  
--
mana

the sun falls
then rises
the moon wanes
then waxes
the stars blink
then you blink

one moment passes
and then another
this time
you feel the blood
pump
from brain to spine
to the edge of your toes
mana
pumps through you
evoking and evolving
like a half spun web
of a drunken spider
spinning her silk
connecting the stars
--
of the moment:
book.  sometimes a great notion (kesey).  lamb (moore).
movie. brothers bloom. leaves of grass.
short film.  night and day (pixar).  i'm here (jonze).
short story. a clean and well lighted place (hemingway). us and them (sedaris)
theory.  occam's razor.
stimulation.  permaculture.
quote.  "receive with simplicity everything that happens to you"