the whole plate.

Hello there!  My apologies for the sporadic posting this week; I am juggling quite a few things and have had to devote my attentions elsewhere for a few days.  I’m looking forward to getting back on top of life over the long weekend ahead!

This week has made me grateful for two things.  One: my address in Manhattan, where even though surrounding areas were buried in the blizzard, the tread of many feet and very efficient plowing meant I never saw an accumulation of more than a couple inches.  As a winter-hater, this fact makes my life much more enjoyable.

Two: my happy relationship with food [she writes over her bowl of blueberry oats topped with cashew cheese, dreamed up and dreamed about while writing for other reasons late last night].  While food is quite obviously an essential element of my life and my happiness, there are times when it has to be relegated to the shadows, and I am thankful to have acquired the flexibility to do so in a healthy way.

Of course, putting food in the back seat never means skipping meals.  But sometimes, the other important elements of my life need to step into the spotlight, and meals must become more thoughtless occurrences.

Pictured above is a typical dinner from this week, if I’ve been home to eat it.  A kitchen sink salad if I ever saw one: greens dressed in olive oil, cauliflower, and celery topped with a poached egg, cashew cheese, and curried carrot dip.  Plus a side of computer work and a parsnip and beet mash [a complex recipe: roast one beet and two parsnips; pureé together in food processor].  Someone is cleaning out her fridge.

The thing is, this type of meal satisfied me perfectly throughout this week.  It was exactly what I craved.  Each time I made it home for dinner, I opened my refrigerator’s produce drawer, pulled out an armload of vegetables, selected leftover toppings, brought my plate or two to the table, and sighed in contentment.  I spent twenty minutes feeding my body and soul with freshness, and then I cleaned up and devoted my attentions to the more pressing projects requiring my concentration.

I think some unintentional planning helped make these thrown together platters more satisfying.  In addition to the supply of produce that I always must have, I was also stocked with several half-full containers of assorted leftovers: cornbread, party dips, coconut-roasted butternut squash, simple marinated fennel, shelled edamame.

The availability of homemade leftovers meant I could enjoy tasty [albeit random] blends without spending any cook and cleanup time.   A far cry from the days when I prepared single servings of everything;  I now know that leftovers actually allow myself to be far better nourished.  They served me well this week.

Of course, it’s now Friday, and my leftover stash has run dry.  I’ll have to find that cooking time!

When does food take a back seat for you?  Do you mind shifting your focus away from it?  What would your back seat meal look like?

Related posts:

1. late night meals.
2. grown-up meals: stewed tomatoes, greens, and eggs.
3. cleaning out the fridge.