Explore notion of ‘conscious kitchen’

It’s getting warmer and this afternoon, watching the long shadows fade on the dry golden grass and listening to the birdsong from the red shrubs and trees, it feels peaceful.
The newspaper headlines talk of violence breaking out, but this afternoon I want to notice the beauty of what is immediately around me and explore the notion of the “conscious kitchen”, one of the ways in which we can realise how our everyday, ordinary actions have the potential to transform our inner life and our external environments.
I met my friend Vanessa five years ago. At the time she was in the middle of a year of eating only raw food – something I had never considered before and my mind was stretched imagining how she managed a balanced diet never cooking anything! It involved a lot of nuts and sprouts as well as vegetables and fruits combined in an amazing variety of ways. She is no longer eating only raw food, but is still strong on imagination and I have enjoyed some of the best meals of my life with her in various, scattered kitchens. 
A Canadian, she carries with her the expansive aura of wide open skies and the warm scent of real maple syrup. It’s one of the gifts she often brings, along with her enthusiasm, curiosity and an ability to host potential and inspiration.
The dregs of a small bottle are tucked away in my cupboard – waiting to conventionally anoint pancakes or more unusually to combine with soya sauce and chillie as a dressing or marinade.
Vanessa introduced me to the conscious kitchen. It is about being conscious – of what nourishment really means, the gift of food – how we prepare it, where it comes from,  how much waste we create. It is also about joy and the fun of creating something collectively. 
Sustainability is an underlying principle – inviting us to eat in a way that is sustainable for our bodies as well as for the earth. Another principle is use what’s there. I love going into the vegetable garden to see what’s ready and planning a meal around that.
Sometimes it is difficult to achieve this in the daily routine of preparing family meals. Holidays or special occasions are easier, but I notice that if I take the time to be more intentional about even everyday meals, there is more pleasure in both the preparation and the eating.
Here is one of Vanessa’s recipes for an unusual salad – made up on the spot because the fruit seller had beautiful pears and because there was fresh spinach in the garden:
Slice pears lengthwise
Place them in a marinade of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, maple syrup and a tiny bit of soy sauce for as little as 15 minutes or up to three hours.
The pears will soak up the flavour and become sweet.
You can also add sliced red onions or shallots to the marinade for some colour and zest!
Wash the spinach and place in salad bowl right before serving, pour the pears and the marinade over the spinach;
The marinade becomes the dressing
Crush walnuts and sprinkle on top
Sliced fresh or dried figs also make a beautiful topping and add some sweet to the salad
Use it as it is or as a starting point for your own imagination.
With Vanessa in your kitchen, everything is possible! (You can visit her blog on: www.venuskitchen.blogspot.com).
– g.jeke@yahoo.com