(no subject)
One good thing about getting older is that grapefruits taste sweeter every year. I used to put sugar on them as a child. Tons at first, then less. Then I learned that it tastes sweeter with salt. Now... I eat them plain, and sip every last bit of juice because it is like nothing else.
My tastes have changed so much in the last five years of my life. I crave chocolate at the onset of menstruation and never at any other time. I don't want or eat candy anymore. My "candy" -- such as it is these days -- is coppa or prosciutto or a dry aged steak. I eat more fish and beans and less meat in terms of volume and frequency.
I also read the book Food Rules by Michael Pollan, which though a lot of it seems obvious, is written in such a way that the rules tend to stick with me when I'm selecting foods to stuff in my face. Meat, especially red meat, is a special occasion food. I also seek out greens more -- my goal is to eat them at every meal except breakfast (when I feed on nothing more than my high-fiber kibble and a cup of genmaicha), and I'm trying stuff I had never eaten five years ago -- all kinds of kale, mustard greens, curly endive, escarole, chard. I also have switched from starches like potatoes and white rice to better whole grains -- farro, brown rice, millet, and, ok, not a whole grain but ridiculously good -- polenta.
Sample menus from the recent times:
1.) Roast fresh coppa dry-marinated in allspice, cinnamon and clove and barded with rosemary and garlic, roasted with white wine and caramelized onions; farro, steamed broccolini with lemon juice and pecorino romano.
2. Roast chicken with lemon, thyme, rosemary and garlic; braised curly endive in lemon and butter, and creamy polenta.
3.) Black bean tacos with homemade salsa on corn tortillas treated with lime.
4.) Salmon en papillote with lemon; polenta, and braised curly endive.
5.) Veggie burrito on whole wheat tortilla with black beans, sauteed spinach, chard, zucchini, and onion, cheese, and sour cream.
6.) Buckwheat soba with sesame oil, tamari, and asparagus stir-fried with ginger and garlic.
7.) Oxtail stew with allspice, bay, onion, and white beans with garlicky spinach, polenta and pecorino romano.
8.) Edamame and corn stew with bacon, thyme, shallot, and apple cider vinegar.
9.) Sole with beurre blanc, steamed artichoke and brown rice.
10.) Braised cucumbers with lemon and mint butter on brown rice.
11.) Miso soup with homemade dashi and millet.
12. Butternut squash quesadillas on whole wheat tortillas.
I dunno if you'd call that healthy. It certainly is delicious.
My tastes have changed so much in the last five years of my life. I crave chocolate at the onset of menstruation and never at any other time. I don't want or eat candy anymore. My "candy" -- such as it is these days -- is coppa or prosciutto or a dry aged steak. I eat more fish and beans and less meat in terms of volume and frequency.
I also read the book Food Rules by Michael Pollan, which though a lot of it seems obvious, is written in such a way that the rules tend to stick with me when I'm selecting foods to stuff in my face. Meat, especially red meat, is a special occasion food. I also seek out greens more -- my goal is to eat them at every meal except breakfast (when I feed on nothing more than my high-fiber kibble and a cup of genmaicha), and I'm trying stuff I had never eaten five years ago -- all kinds of kale, mustard greens, curly endive, escarole, chard. I also have switched from starches like potatoes and white rice to better whole grains -- farro, brown rice, millet, and, ok, not a whole grain but ridiculously good -- polenta.
Sample menus from the recent times:
1.) Roast fresh coppa dry-marinated in allspice, cinnamon and clove and barded with rosemary and garlic, roasted with white wine and caramelized onions; farro, steamed broccolini with lemon juice and pecorino romano.
2. Roast chicken with lemon, thyme, rosemary and garlic; braised curly endive in lemon and butter, and creamy polenta.
3.) Black bean tacos with homemade salsa on corn tortillas treated with lime.
4.) Salmon en papillote with lemon; polenta, and braised curly endive.
5.) Veggie burrito on whole wheat tortilla with black beans, sauteed spinach, chard, zucchini, and onion, cheese, and sour cream.
6.) Buckwheat soba with sesame oil, tamari, and asparagus stir-fried with ginger and garlic.
7.) Oxtail stew with allspice, bay, onion, and white beans with garlicky spinach, polenta and pecorino romano.
8.) Edamame and corn stew with bacon, thyme, shallot, and apple cider vinegar.
9.) Sole with beurre blanc, steamed artichoke and brown rice.
10.) Braised cucumbers with lemon and mint butter on brown rice.
11.) Miso soup with homemade dashi and millet.
12. Butternut squash quesadillas on whole wheat tortillas.
I dunno if you'd call that healthy. It certainly is delicious.