The ordinary & simple, salt, butter, lemon.
photo from Andy M—pixaby
The wood pigeon is back in the tree outside my window.
I mentioned in an earlier post how this tree was pollarded last year. Now I watch as some of the birds that had made those lost luscious leafy branches their home, come back and snuggle into the stumps of trunk. I’m loving the way they haven’t deserted the tree just because what they were seeking has momentarily disappeared.
I planted window boxes recently with basil, calendula, parsley and red spring onions. They hover on the windowsills in front of this tree. As I watered them earlier this morning a bumblebee flew by, and I saw some tiny worms in the compost. Overhead a seagull glided. It was a quiet start to my Sunday, the world seemingly still asleep.
Noticing the ordinary things in life is a great way to come back into the present moment and calm your mind. If you focus on noticing those things that feel neutral to you, or good, this can begin to heal a brain that is feeling stressed.
Filling your mind with beautiful images has a similar effect. I made a presentation of photos that filled my mind with joy. I used lots of Mediterranean shots with turquoise seas, brilliant blue skies and higgaldy piggaldy homes set in natural surroundings. There were a few boats too. Then I set the images to play like a film with music behind it. This is such a simple thing to do, to exercise your positive neural networks—you can read about positive neural networks and how these need exercise in today’s hyper-stressed world here.
Photo by Melgrafik—pixaby
Three pillars of cooking
I’ve been thinking about the three ingredients that can turn the simplest dish into something mouth watering—salt, butter, lemon. These need to be good quality ingredients to get the best tastes and for their health benefits.
Salt
The salt you buy in supermarkets is stripped of all its minerals. This is the type of salt that is a cause of concern for your health, while unprocessed sea salt and rock salt are a valuable source of minerals that bring out a lovely taste in your food.
If you know your Ayurvedic constitution, vata types are balanced by including good quality salt in their diet. Pitta and kapha types need a little to ensure they eat all the tastes six each day—sweet, salty, sour, bitter, astringent, pungent— but not too much. If you have any questions pop them in the comments.
Butter
Organic butter is healthier for you than non-organic butter because it is free of hormones and antibiotics. Unsalted butter also allows you to add the right amount of salt to your food for your body, and you can use it to make ghee—recipe here.
Lemons
Fresh lemons bring the acidic quality making up the third pillar of good cooking—the 4th is heat. And, they bring a taste of, well lemons, which bottled lemon juice doesn’t do. The zest smells incredible and if you add it to your food at the table freshly grated, the smell adds to the taste.
Photo by Hans—pixaby
One of my favourite meals is a bowl of homegrown new potatoes, the first carrot and beetroot thinnings, and parsley slathered with a good butter, salt and some fresh lemon juice squeezed over. The simplest small plate but oh so tasty.
Sunday food prep
Today I have time to do some food prep for the week, so I’m going to make some herb and spice butters. The first is wild garlic butter which will give any dish a pungent kick. You could add it to soups, sauces, pasta, or just drizzle over a bowl of steamed veggies or mix into cooked whole grains. The second is basil butter which can be used in the same way. The third is cinnamon butter which is lovely on toast, mixed into stewed apple and pears, used to fry pancakes or added to flapjacks, fruit slices and cookie recipes.
For the wild garlic butter simply process half a pound of butter with a handful of wild garlic. Do the same for the basil butter using a good handful of fresh basil. For the cinnamon butter process 1 tablespoon cinnamon with half a pound of butter.
That’s all for this Sunday.
Wishing you the warmest of weeks,
Lucy x