We have Zion Farms in Hood River. Every summer we wait for the first delivery to the local grocery store. I have shared loud joy with total strangers when we find the first Zion Farms delivery. It's really simple red leaf and green leaf lettuce. They also grow arugula. There were years when I'd grab leaves of Zion Farms out of the bag and munch on them for a snack. They are so fresh, so tasty and they last a long time.
Last year I wrote about not being able to eat Zion Farms at all. I made salads that I couldn't finish. I put it on sandwiches that I couldn't eat. It felt bad in my mouth. It was not the lettuce because it was happening with other foods. I blamed it on grief and hoped it would go away.
And (happily) it did.
My goal with salads (generally) is to have as many vegetables as possible and a protein. One of the first salads I made this summer was unintentionally yellow. I ate a version of it over and over.
And then I saw a salad on the FB page for our farmer's market for a roasted carrot salad. I saw something similar in a cook book Kristina gave me for my birthday: How to Eat a Peach. I decided to try something. I used purple, yellow, orange (and one white) carrots. I was going to use powdered cumin but (much to my dismay) I didn't have any. I did have whole cumin and a mortar and pestle, which may have been better. The smell of grinding cumin is really nice. I put olive oil, the cumin, smoked paprika, shallots, garlic, chili flakes and a little salt on the carrots and roasted them for about 45 minutes, just until they were soft to the fork. Then I piled all that on the arugula in a bowl. The heat from the carrots wilted the greens slightly. I added goat cheese and topped it all with pistachios.
It was goooood!
I also worked on the book some more. Printed out another 26 pages. The biggest surprise ever is that I like my book. I am still in the beginning. It may get harder a I go along. But I like it. And I like working on it. I am also still trying to figure out how to use this new writing energy to blog. Today I'll swim and shop and not have time to write. I am sad about that. I think that's a good sign. Heh.
