LifeStyle Revolution

Nothing to fear...

Well, except for the rapist.

One of the things that make it possible for me to live in the city is getting out of the city. Here in Philadelphia, I am able to do that without actually leaving. The Fairmont Park system is a huge network of trees, trails and water nestled inside the City of Brotherly Love, and over the years, I have spent countless hours enjoying the quiet solitude of this magical place.

I can recall being nine months pregnant with Number Two, hiking up and down snowy trails with Number One in a backpack and our dog Lucy (who was petrified of heights after a  20 foot nosedive off an icy cliff in that same park) gingerly following behind. Later that Spring, with Number One still in the backpack and Number Two safely ensconced in a front sling, we spent hours, rain or shine, watching the fiddleheads transforming into ferns in the underbrush and quietly hoping the nine-point buck would visit us once again.

Aside from the fact that Number One got frost nip on his cheek that winter, and I had to remove a deer tic from Number Two before he was a month old, the woods were our safe haven from the noise of the city.

Fast-forward a dozen years and you’ll still find me traipsing through the woods, although now that I’m unencumbered by little people, I’m logging in a lot more miles running trails and (with impressive battle scars on my elbows and knees thanks to surprise interactions with roots, rocks and slippery terrain) loving the fact that I can get my exercise, meditation and dose of the wilderness all in one handy package, just blocks from my doorstep.

Except…

for the rapist lurking in the woods who recently attacked a woman along the very route that I run. Over the last five or so years, he has violated a handful of women throughout the park and in one even more horrific incident, committed murder.

After a too-short hiatus, he resurfaced a few weeks ago on the two-year anniversary of his last attack. At 6:30 on a busy Tuesday evening, he grabbed a woman runner out of her car, put a gun to her back, dragged her into the woods and raped her.

Now what?

I really don’t like making decisions based on fear. But I really don’t want to be stupid either. So I have stopped running alone except during the busiest of weekend afternoons. And even then, accompanied by my 96 lb. black lab/German shepherd body guard, Jake, I am hyper-aware of my surroundings and staying only on the most well traveled trails…because I am afraid, which makes me really, really, really mad.

Fear and anger.  Fear and anger. Fear and anger.

Oh, how very zen of me.

Yup. How very zen. 

Well, what did I expect? This is life. And life is fraught with things that rock our worlds and move us into places of discomfort and into feelings that we’d rather not feel. And the “zen” part about it comes from staying with the feelings and observing them rather than judging or pushing them away.

Because when we stay present in the discomfort and allow ourselves to just be with the feelings, we give ourselves the opportunity to grow.

This is what happens in meditation… when we sit in meditation we are inevitably faced with emotions that we’d rather not have. Or we become aware of parts of ourselves that we’d rather not see. But if instead of suppressing those thoughts or feelings we simply allow them to arise without judgment, acknowledge them for what they are, and then let them go, we move one step closer to awakening. 

And we realize that very often, the ugly parts of life are our greatest teachers. The people who irritate us most are our gurus. And the emotions that most freak us out are the ones with which we ought to get intimate.

What I love about My Woods is that I could run for hours and see few, if any people. I could forget that I was in the sixth largest city in the United States and just groove to the sound of the wind in the trees and the waterfall in the distance.

But what I love about My Community is that people are forming meet-up groups to walk, run or bike together. And what I love about My Life is that I have a best girlfriend who loves to run in the woods as much as I do—AND who laughs at all (OK, most) of my jokes.

Yet I am still afraid. And I am still angry.

But I’m not alone. And that’s super cool.

So for now, I’m allowing myself to feel the fear and the anger while I work on letting it dissolve. And in addition to exercising my body, I am working on exercising compassion—for the victims of these terrible incidents, for our community, for myself and (on a good day) for the perpetrator.

(And, by the way, here’s a link to a previous post that offers more insight on fear and also includes a handy-dandy breathing exercise…)

Simplicity and the fig.

I would not give a fig for the simplicity this side of complexity, but I would give my life for the simplicity on the other side of complexity... Oliver Wendell Holmes

When I spend an entire afternoon cleaning up after a Snow Leopard encounter (the new Mac OS guaranteed to turn all QuickBooks files to confetti) followed by a three-hour weed-whacker symphony (courtesy of my neighbor’s yard service) I crave quiet simplicity. 

Peace, contemplation, reflection…the space that allows us to recharge our battery, listen to our intuition and appreciate the beauty that surrounds us.

Lately I have been craving that kind of experience. After spending the summer in Vermont, living in an open-air cabin, waking to the sound of the loons and the crickets, I find myself particularly susceptible to the cacophony of city life and not so sure I want to acclimate just yet.

Being in the rhythm of nature…eating according to the seasons, waking with the sun and listening to the sounds of life around us…enables us to see the connectedness of ourselves to something infinite and helps to take the edge off of the things that just don’t matter.

When I get overwhelmed with the complexities of life, there are a few things that always seem to put me right: First, I remove the clutter that keeps me distracted. Next, I unplug and look for contemplative time either by sitting in meditation or walking in the woods. And most importantly, I try to connect to things that are beautiful, like a simple bouquet of zinnia from my garden… or a platter of figs.

The fig is considered to be the first cultivated tree, and similarly, I suppose the fig leaf could be considered the first cultivated fashion statement. 

Figs are sexy in that that food porn sort of way. Out of hand (or better yet, out of someone else’s hand) figs are the absolute perfect food. Delicate and sweet, softly yielding to the bite while offering textural interest on the palate… you can’t rush when eating a fig, because it draws you in to the sensuality of the moment.

All of the sudden, the world becomes a little sweeter. The weed whackers yield to the songbirds and the figs find their way to a bed of arugula with thinly sliced prosciutto and Manchego… a statement of sublime elegance and simplicity and a gorgeous way to start the weekend.

 

 

Tasty Tempeh Saute

And I'm beyond your peripheral vision, so you might want to turn your head...cause some day you're gonna be hungry... and eat all of the words that you just said... I am what I am, I am 32 flavors and then some... Alana Davis

Lunch is one of those meals that I too often skimp on or snack through. A typical work-day lunch for me is a few rice crackers with peanut butter, a piece of fruit, a glass of kombucha and maybe some yogurt. If things are really busy, I might just have a handful of tamari almonds and some dried mango… but I know better. When I eat a good lunch, I have more consistent energy, I’m much more alert, and I don’t get that crazy, weak-in-the-knees feeling when my blood sugar crashes at about 4:00pm.

So today, while working at home and feeling absolutely famished after a nice long run in the woods, I made a delicious, nutritious and—most importantly—super fast lunch. 

This simple sauté requires just one pan and very little prep. It’s infinitely flexible and really yummy. If you’ve never eaten tempeh before, you really ought to give it a try. Tempeh is a fermented soybean product that is a great source of vegetarian protein and is full of vitamins and minerals.

As a gut-health vigilante, I am constantly encouraging people to incorporate more fermented foods into their diet. You see, gut health is not just about your gut. There’s a lot of compelling research linking poor gut flora to allergies, autoimmune diseases and even depression. Fermented foods offer a wide range of microbial organisms (think probiotics) that are the good soldiers in the fight for health.

Fermentation also preserves nutrients while breaking them down into more easily digestible forms.

You can find tempeh in any health food store or in the vegetarian section of a conventional grocer. Packaged tempeh is often made in combination with other grains or rice. Whichever you choose, the flavor is typically mild and the texture is great for slicing or crumbling. 

Tasty Tempeh Saute (serves two)

• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
  
• 1 leek, white and light green parts only, sliced thin and rinsed (substitute: 1/4 cup chopped onion or shallot)
  
• 1/4 tsp ground cumin
  
• 4 oz crumbled tempeh
  
• a splash or two of balsamic vinegar
  
• 2 cups curly endive washed and chopped (substitute: kale, chard, spinach)
  
• a splash or two of tamari (soy sauce) 

 I like making this in a medium sized, well-seasoned cast iron pan

1. Heat the olive oil 
2. Add the garlic and leeks; sauté until softened
   
3. Sprinkle the cumin and stir
   
4. Add the crumbled tempeh and heat for about 3 minutes
   
5. Add the balsamic vinegar and stir to combine
   
6. Toss in the endive and heat until wilted
   
7. Finish off with a splash or two of tamari.
   

I wound up serving this over a bed of arugula, which added another dimension of flavor and nutrition.

Delish. 

Here are a few other variations to consider:

- cooked white beans and chopped rosemary

-chopped walnuts

-a splash of white wine or veggie/chicken stock instead of the vinegar

-shredded carrots and raisins or dried cranberries

  

Home made ricotta + farmer's market ingredients = delicious dinner

God defend me from that Welsh fairy, lest he transform me to a piece of cheese! William Shakespeare

Ever since I read Barbara Kigsolver’s awesome book, Animal Vegetable Miracle a few years ago, I have had a hankerin’ to make cheese (and to move back to the country, but that’s another story…) Ultimately, I want to make mozzarella, but I started with ricotta, which is even easier than I thought it could be.

All it took was some milk, vinegar, a little salt, and time. The result was a flavorful, delicate cheese that became the centerpiece of an easy weekend meal featuring ravioli, fresh tomato sauce, sauteed swiss chard and roasted spaghetti squash. 

When I look at the pictures of the plate, it almost looks too fancy for how simple it actually was. Almost all the  ingredients were found at my local farmer’s market and in my garden. There was very little cooking involved, which meant that I didn’t heat up the house on a warm summer evening… and each of the veggies had a chance to shine in its peak-season flavor.

I researched different ways to make ricotta and found that true ricotta is actually made from the whey that is left after making other types of cheese, such as mozzarella… (I love the fact that something so yummy is a by-product of something else that is equally yummy...a two-fer!)

In my simple rendition, I started with cow’s milk. I buy raw milk from a local dairy because I like the freshness as well as the beneficial bacteria that are important in maintaining gut flora, but you can use pasteurized milk as well. You cannot, however, use milk that has been ultra-pasteurized or homogenized.

My favorite way to eat ricotta is with honey and toasted hazelnuts. In making ricotta for that, you can add some heavy cream to give it a little more body. I met a lovely woman at the farmer’s market who said that in Italy she was served this same sweet ricotta preparation but with an added piece of sharp cheese. Doesn’t that sound like heaven?

Anyhoo, this ricotta was to become ravioli made with store-bought wonton wrappers… a quick solution for making ravioli without pulling out the pasta machine.

The ricotta filling was enhanced with chopped herbs from my garden, a few toasted pignoli nuts and a little lemon to brighten everything up. For the sauce, I minced garlic and herbs with a little sea salt and olive oil and mixed that with chopped fresh tomatoes. I made this before filling the ravioli so that the flavors would have a chance to meld together.

For the chard, I blanched the greens first and then used that same water for cooking the ravioli. This is a great way to save energy (heating only one pot of water) and also to add some nutrients to your pasta water. See this link for more info on cooking greens.

The spaghetti squash was poked a few times with a fork and then baked in the toaster oven at 350 F for about 45 minutes. After cooking, I cut it in half, scraped out the seeds and then used a fork to pull the flesh out in its spaghetti-like strands. Topped with cultured butter and a little salt...

The actual cooking time for this meal was less than an hour. Hard to believe, isn’t it? Just enough time to enjoy the candlelight, a glass of wine and some jazz on the radio…

Making ricotta:

• 1/2 gallon whole milk
• 3 tablespoons white distilled vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Heat milk in a heavy, non-reactive pot until it reaches 185 degrees F.
2. Remove from heat and add the vinegar and salt. You’ll see the curds beginning to form…
3. Cover and let sit for two hours to allow the curds to develop
4. Drain through 1 or 2 layers of cheesecloth for another hour or two

Yield: about 1 1/2 cups of ricotta.

That’s it. Done. Easy, right?

For the ravioli filling:

Chopped fresh herbs (I used rosemary, basil, thyme and parsley)
1 teaspoon chopped lemon zest
1 teaspoon fresh squeezed lemon juice
2 tablespoons pignoli, dry roasted in a small cast-iron skillet and coarsely chopped

Combine all ingredients and then stir in the ricotta

Making the ravioli:

Place about a teaspoon of the filling in the wonton wrapper
Brush the edges with water

Fold over into a triangle 

Press the edges to seal

 

Drop into boiling water for about 3 minutes until heated through.