Background info point 1: The association of feeling empty and/or hungry with feeling clean and good is a disturbing vestigial emotional/thought process that lingers long after the eating disorder diagnosis is lifted.

Background info point 2: Until fairly recently I had formidable anxiety about being mindful of and fully present in my body.

What I said last night: As I settle into my body more and more and pay attention to the subtle feelings within, I’m learning that some foods just feel clean and good inside, while others make me feel kind of gross and grimy.

What I just realized this means: Clean/good food-related sensations do not require emptiness and hunger. They just require paying attention. A door has appeared, allowing escape from a bad habit.

What we ate: Salad of field greens, red onion, red bell pepper, tons of avocado, Parmigiano-Reggiano, tomato so ripe it almost looked like a bruise, and toasted walnuts. I made a simple red wine vinaigrette. On the side we had some chips and tomatillo salsa, and a bit of my new creation: Fire Salad.

Fire Salad is so named because it includes only fire-colored ingredients. And because I think it is funny to put “fire” in the name of a raw dish.

Fire Salad
Put the following into a large bowl:

• 1 sweet potato, raw, unpeeled, well-scrubbed, grated
• 1 beet, raw, unpeeled, well-scrubbed, grated
• 3 carrots, raw, unpeeled, well-scrubbed, grated
• pint of grape tomatoes, halved

Add to taste:

• salt
• pepper
• lemon juice
• 1 clove garlic, peeled, minced

Mix well.

It is better after it sits in the fridge for a few hours at least. The salt extracts some of the vegetables’ water, which blends with the simple seasonings to create a light dressing. The acids in the lemon juice work gently on the structure of the vegetable flesh, slightly softening its texture and taste.

Until I ate Fire Salad, I did not know that something could taste like earth and water and light.

Given that:
it is summer and I’m a grad student
my car might be dead dead dead
my shot tomorrow might not be covered by insurance
i just bought a plane ticket to Denver for a cousin’s wedding…

…The above link is just my speed about now…

“From food all creatures are produced. And all creatures that dwell on earth, by food they live and into food they finally pass. Food is the chief among being. Verily he obtains all good who worships the Divine as food.” -from Upanishads

Ran across this on a post at Mahanandi, which is probably my favorite food blog right now. I’m back on a bit of an Indian food kick, when I’m cooking at all.

More often than not lately it’s peanut butter on crackers, or ramen noodle/tofu soup, or Warner whipping up some scrambled eggs with some sort of vegetable, etc. in them.

It has been the end of the semester, and I have a very big paper to turn in next Monday. So it has been a little busy/crazy. Plus, we’ve had several +80°F days already, and the heat always makes me lose my appetite for anything but plain yogurt, popsicles, and cucumbers.

Sous-vide now has an Library of Congress Classification number:

Home economics
- Cookery
– Cooking processes
— TX690.7 Sous-vide

One day I want a vacuum sealer and an immersion circulator. And then I make the perfect eggs. Yes.

Anyway, I did find this recipe for Garlic Ice Cream. I might just have to try this at some point.

And then there is grilled potato ice cream. I don’t think I’ll try that one.

Not so adventurous, but cardamom ice cream sounds delicious.

Here’s a coconut ice cream recipe with no sugar that might just work…