Ahhh! Delicata – Pure Comfort

Like I said before, we’ve been working on eating everything in the pantry and fridge before making a trip to the grocery store. Somedays in my kitchen it’s like Iron Chef, only in my version, it’s me competing against myself. My kids have said, I can create a meal out of just about anything. Not always edible, but always interesting. On day five since the last jaunt to the store, the artist in me awakens, looking for inspiration, in order to beautifully create a plate of healthy food. This week it was all about color.

In Japan, there is even a word for this; Washoku, “the harmony of food” or the Rule of Five; the meal should represent the Five Colors; red, green, yellow, white and black. Wow! What a fun challenge. There is a lot more regarding this thoughtful way of preparing food; check out www.florestraurant.com. In looking up the Washoku, I stumbled onto this before the meal practice;

          Buddhism Five Attitudes

1. 1.  I reflect on the labor that went into bringing this food to me.
   2.  I reflect on my shortcomings, and on whether or not I am worthy of this meal.
   3.  Allow that my mind is free of prejudices and greed.
   4.  I accept this food to help me maintain good health.
   5.  I accept this food to help me continue my search for enlightenment.

So last night

I remembered, I bought delicata squash last week, (again, I might have yelled when I saw it 🙂 ) it was in the back fridge. There was one cup of the grain, farrow left in the pantry, and in the crisper drawer, a gorgeous bunch of chard. Rick brought in from our new vegetable garden; baby beet greens, fresh thyme, and oregano. He retired on March 31st, and now is spending his time, farming our yard.

Have any of you had delicata squash before? 

If not, put it on your next shopping list for the grocery store or your local farmers market. Actually, I was surprised to see it in the bend. Normally, it’s a delectable gift in winter. I scrub the skin really well, so it can be eaten too. You’ll love the sweet/savory flavor and it’s smooth texture.

I’ve always used Bob’s Red Mill Farrow as one of the whole grains in our morning porridge; check out the recipe, Warm Grains are the Shit Literally and Figuratively in the previous, Cookingforyoumylove blog. This was my first time using it, cooked like rice. In my mind’s eye, I could just see the roasted delicata squash (yellow), sitting on a bed of farrow (white-ish), which would lay across a healthy bunch of the sauteed chard (green and red).

Black??? Hmmmmmm.

With all the heartwrenching events taking place,

the cooking, and now the reading helped the anxious knot in my stomach dissipate, by just taking a few minutes to gaze into that sweet little face. When I came downstairs, I was met with the wonderful aroma of the delicata roasting/burning (black) in the oven. I turned the oven off, sauted the chard, added the pat of butter to the Farrow and grabbed two plates.

Yellow, check. White-ish, check. Green, check. Red, Check. Black!, check. Working on attitude, Check. Got er’ covered. The dinner was died and gone to heaven good. With each bite, I balanced some of the delicata on top with a forkful of chard, and then chased that with the farrow. Delish!

Rick dusted off Duke Ellington and played it quietly on the turntable. And we finished off our meal with a soothing cup of tea.

It was a nice way to end a sad news day.

(Beautiful haenyeo divers of Korea circa 1930’s. )

An aside; I’m currently reading; The Island of Sea Women, by Lisa See. I have not been able to put it down. Actually, it’s right here next to me, it’s so good. This beautiful and thoughtful novel begins in 1938 along the coast of Korea in a village where the women are the leaders. The “haenyeo (an all women diving collective)” lead by their sheer bravery of going to the sea everyday, and free dive into its depths in order to harvest the bounty; sea urchins, abalone and the prized octopus. The men look after the children and do the cooking. If your looking for inspiration, this is the book for you. Even the cover is gorgeous.