Summer Teethmarks
A recap with musings from the last month and a recipe for Haricot Vert and Fava Bean Piccata— plus our latest YouTube video!
With my chin dropped, lips forming an “O,” I pop two capsules into my mouth— One capsule is filled with potent lavender and the other with pulverized saffron.
While knowing it’s a bad idea, I wash the pills down with my morning cup of coffee. Then, I take a guilty sip of water to, with any luck, right the presumed wrong of the buzzing muddy water. This life, this world, this reality is a paradox.
Nature and science say that the capsules should help the invisible things in me that need helping. My personal history says that the coffee is what a need, too. I offer my respect to both. Maybe it’s a reach for some kinda yin yang abstraction. I don’t know, perhaps the alchemy of these practices is misguided, toxic even. Or, maybe it’s all magic, placebo, hope, and fuel. This thing is as insensitive as it is sensitive, of matter and mattering oh-so-much, while also not mattering at all.
I get busy to-do-ing my to-do’s, the things life seems to be made of these days, (painting cabinets, building fences, stoops, and stone pathways… harvesting lavender) then I hardly notice the outcome of my potion. The thrill of productivity is a distraction, balance.
The cure I need must be beyond capsule and cup— must be beyond the folds in the laundry, pages of the presentation, curves of the logo—because it’s there my mind yet again drifts whenever it gets the chance. Pulling up to the rivers and valleys. Finding refuge in the harmony of the orchard. Seeking the breadth of peaks. Stretching myself across the path with the questions that don’t really need answers.
I leave teethmarks on the edge of a watermelon rind. I lace my breath with bites of wild bergamot and thyme. I brace my heart.
My lips are stained by the season— because how could I cope without reaching for fruit, for flowers…
I lunge from malaise toward beauty while held in the tines of life’s hungry jaw— ever thankful for appetite and the breeze of heavy breath.
Some of us keep wondering how the sun rises? How a flower opens? How the earth keeps spinning? Some of us don’t wonder at all.
Hericot Vert and Fava Bean’s in Piccata Sauce
Reimagined the beloved classic “piccata” as a vibrant, refreshing cold vegetable salad, perfect served as a light meal or a sophisticated summer side dish. Crisp haricot vert and tender fava beans take center stage, tossed and marinated in a zesty dressing made of bright lemon, briny capers, and aromatic shallots, garlic and parsley. Seriously addicting, this salad truly truly sings!
INGREDIENTS:
Green Beans, 1 pound
Fava Beans, 1 pound while still in the husk
Capers, 3 Tablespoons
1 Shallot, minced
3 cloves Garlic, minced
1-2 Lemon, juice and zest
Parsley, minced
Olive Oil, 2-3 Tablespoons
Salt and Pepper, to taste
METHOD:
Begin by setting a large pot of water on the stove to boil over high heat. While the water heats, trim the stemmed ends of the green beans and remove the fava beans from their pods. Once the water is boiling, first add the green beans, which take slightly longer to cook. After roughly 2 minutes, add the fava beans. Continue cooking for 5 or so more minutes, until the green beans are just beginning to become tender when tested. Drain the green beans and the favas, then immediately plunge them into a bowl of ice water to halt the cooking process and preserve the bright green color of the vegetables.
Each fava bean is contained in a small, soft husk. Gently pinch one side of the outer layer of each bean and remove the bright green, tender bean inside. Discard the outer membrane. Add the prepared fava beans and green beans into a large mixing bowl.
Meanwhile, mix the dressing for your beautiful beans in a small bowl. Add finely minced capers, shallots, garlic, and parsley. Add the zest and juice of one or two lemons to the bowl. Then add olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste.
Pour the dressing over the blanched and prepared veggies, toss, and refrigerate until ready to serve.
