I love my farmers' market!

Almost every Saturday morning that I am in town, I head to the farmers' market at Cabrillo College in Aptos, Ca. It is open year round and host to dozens of local vendors of organic produce and locally produced items, from ceramics to baked goods, as well as fish and sustainably raised meat and eggs. There is usually someone somewhere with a petition to sign. The local cat rescue people are there most weekends with crates of adorable kitties needing homes. There is a band, with great little vegetable shakers for the kids to play along.
I am not sure whether it is because of the economy or the prevalence of media touting the importance of local food but the market has been very busy and crowded this summer. Whatever the reason, I think this is wonderful. 

This weekend , the market had so much to offer! I usually have to restrain myself. I want it all. So, what did I end up with ?? Everywhere was the wonderful aroma of basil, so I bought a beautiful bunch of that, with some parsley and rosemary. This went into Saturday night's dinner, shared with friends, of a brown rice/ Caprese inspired salad, along with several heirloom tomatoes. I found some rainbow carrots ( red and yellow besides the usual orange) which will be roasted with a new spice, Za'atar, introduced to me by some of my personal chef colleagues. I bought some peaches, pluots, and grapes which have been made into a fruit salad. I also scored some figs which went into amazing fig gelato, beautifully blogged here by my personal chef friend, Tami. I also got some eggs to be eaten for breakfasts and perhaps a vegetable tart or quiche this week. 
I usually buy myself a bunch of flowers but there were so many and so many different kinds, I was overwhelmed and unable to choose. Perhaps next week. And perhaps next week, there will be corn! That was the one purchase I was hoping for.

I am blessed to live where so much organic and local food is available year round. I am so used to eating this way that I forget there are still many people who don't. My carrots were picked on Friday, I bought them on Saturday, and actually talked to the people who picked them, and will cook and eat them on Sunday! This is freshness at its best. Those carrots were at the peak of their ripeness, they were at the peak of their nutrition, and full of the love that the farmer had for them  and his farm. And now all that goodness, health, and joy is part of me.

Nourishment

Nutrition is about what feeds the body. Nourishment includes that and what feeds the soul, the spirit. One affects the other. How can we nourish our soul if our body is starving for what is good for it ? How can we nourish our body if our soul is starving for what is good for it ?? 

I see my job as a personal chef primarily to provide the nourishment for the body, yet it is impossible to ignore the other. For me, providing a busy family or an ill person with nutrition is an act of nourishing MY soul. When I feed you, it feeds me in a beautiful way. When I cook for you, alchemy happens. When I cook with love and happiness, that energy finds its way into the food and when you eat it, into you. Food cooked with love tastes better. Food cooked in a clean, beautiful kitchen tastes better. Food raised with love tastes better. Food cooked in chaos creates chaos in your body.  I always try to cook with consciousness, as a prayer as it were.

Some books that I love that address these issues are If the Buddha Came to Dinner by Hale Sophia Schatz    and Fit Soul, Fit Body by Brant Secunda and Mark Allen.

Here I go!

OK, here I go into the blogosphere! Does the world really need another blog about food, about cooking? Are my thoughts that profound ? Probably not but this feels like something I need to do for myself and perhaps it will have an effect on someone else. I love what I do and look forward to sharing that.

I work as a personal chef in Santa Cruz County, California, definitely one of the most beautiful places to live. I know a fair amount about nutrition. I support eating organically and locally grown and produced foods. I will be sharing musings about all of these things.

I will start things off with a simple recipe that has been deeply satisfying to me lately. I have been eating it almost daily for weeks, in fact, with slight variations.

Fresh Carrot/Beet salad

1 large raw beet, any color, cleaned, grated

1 large raw carrot, grated

1/4 yellow or red onion, grated

3 in. piece daikon radish, grated

This recipe is definitely one for which a food processor comes in handy. Toss the grated vegetables with salt and pepper to taste, 1 T good olive oil and a squeeze of lemon juice. I like to add a tsp. of celery seed as well. This is good by itself, on top of romaine lettuce leaves, inside a tortilla.

So, why eat this salad ? First, all of these ingredients are in season, now, here in California, and across most of the U.S. Secondly, adding raw foods into our diet is a really good idea, especially in the summer. Fresh raw vegetables retain a larger percentage of their nutrients. Thirdly, beets are a nutritional powerhouse, full of minerals such as calcium and iron, Vitamins C and many of the Bs, and long used as a blood tonic and detoxifier. Plus, they taste good. They and the carrot are naturally sweet. Carrots also have B vitamins, and calcium. Daikon radish adds a bitter note, good for the digestion and is valued in folk medicine as a decongestant.

Cooking, like life is about creativity so make this recipe your own. Add something to it. Nourish yourself with healthy food and with the love that comes from the earth.