Winding down

Beet Greens

Today is my last day as a clinical therapist.  Wow...it makes my head spin a little to think about it.  I've been doing this for 20 years and in less than two weeks I'll be doing something completely different, and for a giant national corporation!  The S.O. and I are leaving tomorrow at the crack of dawn to drive to Virginia, and when we come back, I'll be going in to work at a different office with an entirely different job description.  I'm excited about the possibilities, but a little trepidatious, too. 

Last night was supposed to be my turn to cook dinner, but we went out to eat Wednesday night, so the S.O. agreed to fix dinner while I packed and organized my thoughts and to-do list for my last day here.  He took the leftover pork roast I grilled Tuesday night and made Tacos al Pastor, with a fresh salad of romaine, tomatoes and cilantro from our garden.  We had some beets from the garden, too, and they were delicious.  I always feel very connected to the earth when I eat beets.  I couldn't stand them as a child, and in fact, they were the last vegetable I learned to like.  Now I absolutely crave them sometimes, and they're so pretty - like big glistening garnets.  I like them roasted in the oven and tossed with some E.V.O.O. and a little lemon juice.  They make lovely Napoleons, too, cut in 1/4 inch rounds and layered with goat cheese, walnuts and a drizzle of tangy citrus.  As you will see if you stick around, I'm very fond of using citrus zest in my food, hence the name Zest!  You might try adding some lemon or orange zest to the goat cheese in this recipe, or making your citrus sauce with a little honey or marmalade and some orange or lemon zest.

An easy, inexpensive and tasty way to get some uber healthy greens in your diet is by making green smoothies.  Did you know that the green tops of root vegetables have more nutrition than the vegetables themselves?  Research green smoothies on the internet; you'll be amazed.  It's a special treat to use organic greens picked from your own garden, but experiment with different combinations of greens and frozen fruit until you find something that satisfies your senses.  Plan ahead by washing your greens the night before and putting some green grapes and a banana in the freezer.  In the morning, take a few dense handfuls of any fresh greens you like: spinach, kale, beet greens, carrot tops, turnip greens, lettuce, chard, parsley, dandelion, etc. and add a handful of grapes and a frozen banana cut into pieces.  Put them in a blender and add two cups of cold water.  Blend until smooth.  It sounds weird, I know, but it's really refreshing and it just feels so right going down.  You'll feel like a superstar.