My First Post

 This is the first post to this new blog and since I am only now learning how to manipulate all the fun things I can do with this, I will be posting photos, links etc. soon.  I am sitting here with my cat, Jupiter, thinking of fall things.  Today felt to me like a true fall day and it is supposed to rain tomorrow.  I have been raking leaves daily now and harvesting the last of the pomegranates.  I am still amazed that I grow so  many fruits in my tiny backyard, as I grew up on the east coast and a pomegranate was like a rare jewel.  We would get one pomegranate in the fall and we would all share it...and we were a hip family.  Most kids at that time had never seen or heard of a pomegranate.

  I am saving some of the fresh seeds to add to a fall, Thanksgiving salad.  I like to make seasonal salads and this one will have pomegranate seeds, persimmons, local almonds, end of the season peppers, local carrots, local lettuce, watermelon radish (which if you haven't tried, you should), northwest harvested pears.  I am kind of a rabid local, organic eater, not only because it is better for our local economy, better for the soil, better for my health, but also because I simply like to work with fresh and colorful produce.  The watermelon radish for instance is an amazing gem of a vegetable.  It is not as powerful as the typical radish, which my family appreciates and it is like a geode when you cut into it.  The first time I saw one I didn't see why it was favored by radish lovers, because it is all white.  When I cut it open I literally gasped.  It has the most gorgeous purple center that radiates out into the whiteness like a rainbow.

 I love eating things that I know where they've come from..they just taste better to me.  Although this blog will be a stream of consciousness from my overactive mind, I hope to include a recipe at least weekly that will include at least some local ingredients (west coast that is). I tend to invent recipes, so if you are the type of person who needs exact amounts then you might be frustrated by this.  My great aunts were from the "little of this,  little of that" school and that is what I was taught.  My mom cooked the same way except for her baked goods, which were amazingly lucious I might add even though she used recipes for these.  The night before last I made a fabulous red lentil stew.  It was not only delicious, but fun to make and reminded me of an artist's palette it was so beautiful.  No..I am not nuts.  I love this dish..I could feel it nourishing my body and soul AS I ate it.  So here it is:

                   At least a couple of cups of red lentils

                   about 2 Tokyo turnips (local white turnips very mild in flavor and tender)

                   one small leek

                   one red onion

                   2 or more local, luscious carrots(look for tender ones)                                 

                   about half bunch fresh cilantro

                    5 cloves garlic chopped

                    bunch of fresh kale (local if you have it..I love dino kale)                    

                    can of Muir Glen (don't love them..not politically correct, but organic) fire roasted
                    diced tomatoes                       

                   sea salt

                   lots of cumin, tumeric, red chili pepper

                   a little cinnamon

                   olive oil

                   water or veggie broth or chicken broth

                   Potatoes (I don't add them, but I know they would taste good in this)
Next:

Chop garlic, slice turnips, carrots, onion, leek, cilantro and add to hot olive oil in a pot. Add tumeric, cumin and salt to veggies...cook until onions are translucent.

Add red lentils and enough water so that lentils and veggies are covered with around 5 inches of water more or less.  You want the lentils to be able to expand and not get too thick.  You may have to add water for a consistency you like.

 Add tomatoes, more of the spices including red chili pepper to taste.  Cook on lowish/med heat until thick.  Add more spice to taste.  I like mine strong and more like a soup.

Before eating, chop up the kale, add to pot and steam.  Mix into soup.

You can serve this with chopped almonds, avocado and rice or quinoa or just the way it is.

This dish tastes best prepared at least a few hours in advance so the flavors can mix.  It can be reheated for leftovers and seems to get better and better.

I hope you enjoy this as much as I do.

That is it for my first post.  I smell a fire in our fire pit outside and see my lovely husband adding wood.  Time for dinner!  Have a great night, friends.