I'm pretty proud of this lunch because it is representative of the way I am eating now.
What you are looking at is a bowl of carrot soup, risotto-style barley with toasted walnuts, and a shaved asparagus salad, with a glass of pineapple juice.
The carrot soup and barley dish are both from "Super-Natural Cooking", and I have to thank Heidi Swanson for the thousanth time for writing it. The carrot soup is wonderfully rich and creamy, with no cream added. It uses whole organic carrots, skin-on, and lots of vegetable broth. The key is the extra-virgin olive oil drizzled on top - mine is from Stonehouse, and it adds a beautiful green flavor and velvety texture.
The barley dish is really interesting - the methodology in preparation is the same as for a classic risotto, but instead of arborio rice, the grain is barley. It's simmered and stirred for about 30-40 minutes, then you add in winter citrus (lemon & orange zest, and orange segments), chopped arugula, and equal parts sour cream & parmesean. It tastes a lot like risotto but isn't nearly as heavy, and the flavors are both bright and earthy. The barley has a certain chewy quality that I really like. The added touch of toasted walnuts adds great texture and crunch.
I made both of these dishes on Sunday so I would have them to eat during the week.
I LOVE this shaved asparagus salad, which I learned to make today from "the Ferry Plaza Farmer's Market Cookbook".
As a lot of people know, I love asparagus, and finding a new way to use this vegetable is exciting to me. This recipe is unique because the asparagus is raw, shaved thinly using a peeler or mandoline, dressed in a simple lemon vinaigrette, and topped with shaved Parmesan. The flavor of raw asparagus is much more delicate that when it is cooked, and it gives a very satisfying crunch. Hooray, yet another not-boring salad! This one would travel well for a picnic, so that is another plus.
Lastly, I am drinking pineapple juice because my aesthetician said that it's good for my skin.
Yeah, it's just lunch on a rainy Tuesday, but it's what it represents that is important to me. Change, growth, consciousness, and choice. Doing good things for my body and loving it.
