There is nothing like Fresh!
Fresh is just picked, peak flavor, peak nutrition and peak dining experience.
I am back in sunny California and read about the 2 feet of snow in Virginia and am so grateful for the bike strand along the Pacific and the fresh, did I mention fresh, fruits and vegetables at the farmer’s market. Who can’t get their 5 a day in when they melt in your mouth? Avocados for $1, red raspberries the size of blackberries and asian pears that squirt pear juice with every crunch.
Tonight I made pesto pasta with fresh basil. Just the washing of the leaves produced an aromatic essence that provoked people walking downstairs to remark on the fragrance of the much loved leaf. We sautéed fresh baby zucchini and added baby grape tomatoes to the dish.
Voila!
Two weekends ago I went to Boulder. There was snow there but the beautiful Rockies and dry air that did not rip through you, made the 26 degrees feel like 40. Most of the whole foods, organic food products and packaged health food you see in your grocery is made in Boulder. LA has it as far as fresh produce, Boulder has it as far as prepared foods. Celestial Seasonings teas were birthed there in 1969.
Both LA and Boulder have a plethora of restaurants that I dream of on every corner and the block in between the corners. Fresh, organic, with unique tastes, combinations and integrity. Gluten free, vegan, vegetarian, grass fed, local, organic are not the exception, but the rule.
Two of my children work for Whole Foods Market in LA and Boulder. Each market does over $1 million dollars a week in sales. “If they build it, they will come.” It is all about supply and demand. If we demand quality food and stop buying the pretend, processed “looks like food, tastes like food, but is not food”, then change can happen. Vote with your dollar.
I did a nutrition class at Whole Foods in Manhattan Beach last week. It is their flagship store in the LA area. I realized as I was talking to the crowd that the demographics was not the same as the Virginia/NorthCarolina crowd I was accustomed to. They did not have the same barriers and challenges as we do in the mid-Atlantic states to get the freshest, healthiest food all year long.
But the bottom line is we eat every day, more than once a day and the fresher the food the better it tastes and the better it is for you. So in this winter season eat local as much as possible, eat fresh as much as possible and avoid the processed pretend food. Your body will thank you and if you give your taste buds a chance, they will never go back. “Once you are real you can't become unreal again. It lasts for always.” (Margery Williams, The Velveteen Rabbit)
Fresh Pesto
2 cups fresh basil leaves washed, stemmed and packed in 2 cup measuring glass
3-4 cloves of garlic
1/4 cup pine nuts
1/2 cup fresh grated parmesan cheese
1/2 cup EVOO
Pulse the garlic cloves, basil leaves and pine nuts in a food processor till chopped.
Add the grated cheese and pulse.
Drizzle the oil as the processor pulses until pureed.
Great on pasta, toast, and egg and tomato sandwiches. Bon appetite!
