My friend Step calls me the
Nourisher. It's because I love to nourish. I love cooking for my friends and family and I get ridiculously excited about sharing good food.
This name cracks me up because when I was a kid my brother and I had this game we'd play. We'd make up superheros by taking really common actions, adding 'OR' to the end and saying it in a Monster Truck Rally voice like:
CleanOR - Master of Cleaning!
PickOR - Master of Picking!
...then we'd laugh our guts sore imagining all the ridiculous things these people would do as superheroes.
NourishOR --- Master of Nourishing!
Nourishing like a superhero? Sounds good to me... I adore FEEDING people and not just food, I want to feed skills and passion for real food too. I think my mission in life is to bring really tasty, nourishing, health promoting food to as many people as I can and teach them how to nourish themselves.
So I'll share with you something that keeps me, my hungry belly (and my emaciated wallet) grounded in the swirling sea of nutrition knowledge that 2 years at
Bastyr has brought into my head -
Ultimately everything we know about nutrition comes down to:
1) choose whole foods as much as possible.
2) eat a wide variety of foods.
3) eat with joy, pleasure and awareness!
A big THANKS to my friend Stan who came up with the name for this blog (and to all my friends who gave me lots of great ideas that you'll see creeping in later on). I like anything ridiculous and anything that includes bacon, such as this recipe... one of my staples (with or without the bacon).
Bacon-Laced Black Eyed Peas with Collard Greens
about a 1/2 cup of black eyed peas, if you have time - soak a few hours with a little vinegar to > digestibility
some good quality bacon
1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 or more cloves garlic, crushed and minced
a bunch of collard greens (or chard, kale, spinach etc.), stems separated and chopped.
a lemon
a big handful or more of flat-leaf parsley (or cilantro, basil, rosemary or any fresh or dried herbs)
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
Drain the soaked black eyed peas and place in a medium pot full of fresh water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to about medium-high and simmer for 25 minutes or until the black eyed peas are tender. Drain and set aside.
Meanwhile, heat a cast iron frying pan over medium heat. Add the bacon (one strip gives some flavour, more equals divine) and cook, turning once, until nicely brown and cooked through on both sides. Remove and set aside to cool. Crumble or cut the bacon (depends if you use the insanely thick slices like I do) and reserve.
Drain the frying pan and add the olive oil (or a reserved tablespoon of bacon fat - mmm). Saute the onion over medium-high heat until translucent and beginning to brown. Browning adds amazing flavour so be patient, it's worth the time. Add the garlic (garlic browns/burns faster than onions so add it later on in the cooking so you can relax more) and then throw in the drained, cooked black eyed peas. I like to let them brown a bit, then I add the chopped collard stems. Let them get a head start cooking since they are more fibrous, and then add the leafy parts along with the bacon. Stir to mix well.
Cook until the greens just wilt or to taste. Stir in the fresh herbs (the more the better, they are powerhouses of nutrients too!). Squeeze in the lemon, using a fork to twist out all the juice. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Serve it with some rice (I love Lundberg's short grain brown rice), quinoa or a slice or two of toasted rye bread.
If the fact that this dish tastes great, is even better leftover the next day or that it's pretty darn cheap doesn't impress you, then perhaps the fact that it's incredibly nutrient dense and packed with
phytochemicals and health promoting compounds will.
Most of all ---- Enjoy!
