the stuff of life

We've had a lot of communal meals here at the Birthwise apartment, so just for fun I thought I'd devote a post to food. I've basically been vegetarian (without necessarily intending to be) since I got here, since the local organic produce is so good, and there's a wonderful whole-foods store nearby with an amazing array of whole grains and organic dairy and exotic legumes to take home. Who needs meat when there's Southwestern black bean soup, or a roast-veg omelette with salsa Jack cheese, or garlic hummus on home-baked wholegrain sourdough, or kale salad with chickpeas and raisins, or tabbouleh on your plate? (And a square of Lindt 70% chocolate afterward...?)

Last week, K made us all an incredible sundried tomato and roasted butternut soup, and some wholegrain cornbread to go with it. It was absolutely incredible -- I mean, I know soup is just soup, but this soup was... indescribable. The recipe came from Fallon's Nourishing Traditions, which is a book I read long ago, have always loved, and am getting 'into' again. It taught me most of what I know about wholegrains, beneficial supplements, sprouts, lacto-fermented foods (like real sauerkraut!), how to prepare veggies, and the importance of good fats, including egg yolks (and I'll reiterate -- we need fat, to be healthy and hormonally balanced and sane!! Down with this tired, unjustified low-fat propaganda already!).

Tonight, I made baba ghanoush (a Middle-Eastern eggplant dip with tahini and cumin) to share, and also ate my first fish since arriving in Bridgton -- a luscious salmon fillet, with a beetroot/mung-sprout/onion/chive/cider-vinegar salad on the side. Mmmm! Strange to think I've not eaten much seafood since arriving in the 'seafood capital' of the US (anybody out there who hasn't heard about Maine lobster?), but then those who know me will know how I take to heart the collapse of global fisheries (as a result of overfishing)... Ecology, politics and appetite are often conflicting interests, I guess.

As you can probably imagine, from my holier-than-thou dietary habits of late, I am feeling pretty good. Then again, I also get to be surrounded by like-minded sister-students and friends all day, I get to swim in the lake, I get to watch the New England fall arriving and colouring the leaves burnt umber, and I get to hear babies being born across the wall from my bedroom, all in anticipation of the day when the hands guiding the emergence of those tiny heads and unfurling plump limbs might be my own.