At last, my breeze has come along

Climate comfort is always relative, and I feel like today's 88 degrees offers incredible relief after this past week. The house stays cool when outside keeps under 90, and after a busy run of days - escaping triple digit temperatures in the dark of the theater two evenings, seeing live music and burlesque for my birthday, and working on a Saturday - I finally have some time and bearable conditions in which to write.

So, we left off with last weekend's beautiful beet slaw and wild rice dish. We've got a lot to cover, so here goes... We started the week with the easiest no cook dish we could muster.

Spinach Arugula Salad with Roasted Chicken, Apples and Cashews

I give mighty thanks to the good folks at New Seasons grocery for making delicious roasted chickens for me. We took our salad bowl to a friend's house for movie night, and it was the perfect precursor to a cooling and thoughtful dessert of whipped frozen pineapple with lime that she presented us with (Love you, Noodle, and your mad skills in the kitchen).

Tuesday night was one of my favorite dishes, beluga lentil salad, and my only lament for this preparation was not being able to pair it with some creamy goat cheese. It's so simple to prepare, and so soul satisfying. You start with a basic mirepoix (carrots, celery and onions which form the base of many soups and more), finely diced, and saute it lightly in oil. We used shallots in place of onion.

Soak beluga lentils overnight to speed up cook time. I love lentils, and this dish is my homage to Neil in the Young Ones and Audrey Tatou in Amelie.

Combine these ingredients with a little liquid (water or stock) and simmer until the lentils are tender. While the lentil mixture is still warm dress with good balsamic vinegar & olive oil, salt, pepper, fresh thyme and a little chopped parsley. After the salad cools and soaks up the dressing you can serve it in a bed of arugula or butter lettuce, with crostini and goat cheese (I wish).

The next night we made a meal and took it to the movies with us. Unfortunately, because it had tuna in it, I was too nervous to open the container and offend the surrounding patrons. So we ate a late bite on the porch after we got home and enjoyed the rest for lunch and dinner the following day.

Soba Noodle Salad with Tuna, Broccoli, Peas, Carrots and Cashews

Mary cooked the soba noodles, and I blanched the broccoli under the hot water tap. Everything got tossed with lemon juice, olive oil and salt. It's a simple dish and some adjustments to the seasonings (extra lemon, a splash of toasted sesame oil) made the next few rounds more enjoyable.

That brings us to the birthday dinner.

French Chicken Salad with Avocado and Amaranth "Grits"

I love this style of chicken salad, since it's not reliant on mayo and welcomes all manor of vegetable additions (asparagus and peas are some favorites).

Amaranth looks like caviar and quinoa had a micro baby, and takes surprisingly longer to cook given the minuscule size of the grains. Our first attempt using this little seed was to simmer it in stock, and make a savory gruel which I promptly burned my tongue on several times. (I know... quit after the first, but then the damage is already done.)

It was a quick meal and a mad dash to meet friends and celebrate my 33rd by watching dancing ladies!!! Our friend Noodle has lamented the fact that we're doing this diet now, since it really throws a wrench in celebrating the way foodies like to - with terrific meals together. That said I was happy to postpone that indulgence, and managed to find a raw food diet compliant chocolate "caramel" bar at the coop to share as a treat. It relied on dates and Himalayan pink salt as the caramel filling, and agave for sweetening, and it was a good deal better than I expected. That was a relief given the price tag.

All in all our night out more than made up for the lack of booze and cake. I feel very blessed to share my life with the people I am lucky to have around me. I feel so happy, and couldn't stop smiling last night as we watched swing dancers and burlesque performers and two live bands accompanying it all! I am proud to say I've made it through 33 years now and I'm doing things to help me have the life and health that I want, which can be a tough commitment. And, we've made it through week two of the elimination with no significant infractions or slip ups. Hozah! Admittedly vanity is a great motivator, and I found I could fit into a favorite summer dress once more. That is not a reason to do this diet, by any stretch, but today it certainly is some icing on the cake.