This one surprised even me. I was just going for a quick fresh salad to serve with leftovers (it’s always good to have some live food, especially if the rest of the meal is a day old). And to be sure, this dish was on the table fast–about ten minutes–but the succulence and rich flavor of this little thing was totally unexpected.
All I really did was grate some carrot and beet; slice fennel, red onion and red cabbage; and whisk together some white miso, grated fresh ginger, fresh lime juice, garlic, Udo’s DHA Oil, and sriracha, to make a light, spicy dressing.
To serve, I tossed the vegetables with the dressing, then added some hydroponic watercress, and tossed again. Simple, easy, and yet a feast for the eye and the palate. What’s more, this little salad was packed with antioxidant, antiviral, anticancer, and anti-inflammatory properties–a prime example of Hippocrates’ bit of advice, “Let thy food be thy medicine.”
Going back to my last post, ever since I read “Your Brain On Food,” whenever I eat something truly thrilling (like this salad turned out to be), I tend to find myself picturing dopamine neurotransmitters blasting explosively into the synaptic clefts all throughout my brain, as neurons communicate wildly in brilliant electric arcs like microscopic orgasms. Sometimes food is just that good.
Food is so much more than raw material for building blood and tissue, or fuel for metabolizing into energy. Food is music for the body’s internal ecstatic dance. It’s the joy of life itself, manifesting for us as we perform our part in the refreshment and nourishing of our body. It’s one of the divine’s many amorous caresses that reinforce our sense of worth, of being lovable. Food is, quite simply, the answer to that unspoken prayer, hunger. Of course, that’s if the food was made right–with love, enthusiasm, a passion for flavor, and, perhaps most important of all, the wish to please someone.
