Turning Over A New Leaf

Hey guys,

I haven't been around that much lately and I'm sorry. Truth is, I’ve been struggling lately, due in part to the fact that this site doesn’t really reflect how I’ve been living. More specifically, how I’ve been eating. I’ve decided to take better care of myself and, as a result, my kitchen has become a very different place. A very colorful and vibrant place actually. But not necessarily the kind of place you’re used to.

And I’ve been having trouble finding great stuff to post for you here because, quite frankly, not a lot has been phenomenal yet. It’s easy to make food taste great with butter and bacon fat (I’m lookin’ at you Paula Deen) but whole grains and low sodium? That’s tougher.

Case in point – I tried out a new barley dish a few weeks ago. I served it to my eternally patient roommate who, after intently chewing for many, many minutes, asked sweetly, “is it supposed to be so chewy?”

And the thing is, I have no idea. But I’m going to figure it out. And I’ll continue to share the abysmal failures with you here, for your enjoyment, as well as the winners I hope to uncover.

I’m not going to be counting calories, but I’m going to make the food I eat count. While I’ve never put many meat-based recipes on these pages, you’ll find even less now. The food you find here will be mostly vegetarian, occasionally vegan, and full of whole grains and interesting new ingredients.

Every week I scan the aisles of my grocery store and come home with one new thing. In the past few weeks I’ve added miso paste, pearl barley and umbeoshi plum vinegar to my pantry and I’m experimenting with them to create new recipes worth sharing.

So the posts here may be less frequent for a bit, but I am finding that the more whole, unprocessed foods I include in my diet, the better I feel. That doesn’t mean there will never be Pasta Carbonara, but it will be fewer and farther in between.

So, in the immortal lyrics of Bruce Hornsby – ‘Gonna be some changes made’.

I hope you’ll stick around for the ride.

The makings for tonight's dinner - roasted carrots, parsnips and Brussel sprouts. I'm going to serve them over a bowl of pearl barley with onions and thyme and the leftovers will get turned into a cold salad with sesame-miso dressing for tomorrow's lunch. 

I'll let you know how it goes.