The place I like best in this world is the kitchen. No matter where it is, no matter what kind, if it’s a kitchen, if it’s a place where they make food, it’s fine with me. Ideally it should be well broken in. Lots of tea towels, dry and immaculate. White tile catching the light (ting! ting!).
I love even incredibly dirty kitchens to distraction—vegetable droppings all over the floor, so dirty your slippers turn black on the bottom. Strangely, it’s better if this kind of kitchen is large. I lean up against the silver door of a towering, giant refrigerator stocked with enough food to get through a winter. When I raise my eyes from the oil-spattered gas burner and the rusty kitchen knife, outside the window stars are glittering, lonely.Now only the kitchen and I are left. It’s just a little nicer than being all alone.
When I’m dead worn out, in a reverie, I often think that when it comes time to die, I want to breathe my last in a kitchen. Whether it’s cold and I’m all alone, or somebody’s there and it’s warm, I’ll stare death fearlessly in the eye. If it’s a kitchen, I’ll think, “How good.”

Banana Yoshimoto, Kitchen (1988)

So begins Mikage, the protagonist of Banana Yoshimoto’s 1988 novella, Kitchen. Although I don’t find much comfort in the thought of dying in a kitchen (as opposed to, well, anywhere else), I do feel a sense of kindred with Mikage as she extols the virtues of the kitchen, as a haven of safety and familiarity.

I find a homeliness and warmth in the kitchen that I don’t find anywhere else in a house. Even when it is empty, it contains the ghosts of conviviality and liveliness, and memories of being swaddled, cared for, acknowledged. It is a stage where we perform a dance of pleasure and pleasing, and of the pleasure of pleasing.

You can give me a bright, shiny office to work in, I will stiff prefer to camp out in the kitchen, where the buzzing refrigerator, the glint of stainless steel and the protruding utensils at once nourish my spirit, like sunshine on springtime foliage, and put it to ease, like a pacifier in the mouth of an anguished baby.

But the kitchen isn’t only about comfort and security. It is also a place of creation. Somewhere along the path of transforming life into sustenance, you have space to inject artistry, refinement and delight. Clear counters, firm, bright produce and fragrant herbs invite you to engage your senses and make something with your own two hands, whether you will then share it with others, or eat it by yourself in that very kitchen, where, as Mikage says, “it’s just a little nicer than being all alone.”

Happy One-Year Anniversary!

Throw confetti in the air, Live Voraciously is celebrating it’s one-year anniversary! My first blog post went up on September 8th, and I’ve published 76 blog posts since then. I’m very excited to have made it this far. I’ve learned so much, but still find myself at the beginning of a journey. I’m following a trail of spices, microbes and spatulas that entice and beguile, and coax me toward an unknown destination.

For today’s recipe, I have a festive-looking salad, with layers of grapefruit, red and yellow beets and avocados on a bed of arugula, with a lemon tarragon dressing. To top it off, I threw on some toasted pumpkin seeds, minced chives and crumbled chèvre, which, in my opinion, is much better than confetti. Enjoy!

Joëlle

Serves 2-4

Grapefruit, Beet and Avocado Salad with Tarragon Vinaigrette

A tangy, festive salad, with layers of grapefruit, red and yellow beets and avocados on a bed of arugula, with a lemon tarragon dressing, toasted pumpkin seeds and crumbled chèvre

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Ingredients

3 cups arugula
4 smallish beets (I picked 2 red and 2 yellow)
1 Grapefruit
1 Avocado, thinly sliced

Tarragon Vinaigrette

1 shallot, thinly sliced
1 tbsp minced fresh tarragon
1 lemon, zest and juice
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tbsp shio koji (or salt to taste)
3 tbsp olive oil
Pepper to taste

For Garnishing

2-3 tbsp Pumpkin seeds, toasted
Chèvre (soft, creamy goat cheese), crumbled
1 tbsp minced chives
Sprig of tarragon (optional)

Instructions

Mix together vinaigrette ingredients except oil. Set aside to marinate.
Cook beets. I used a microwave this time around to save time and energy. Trim beets on both sides and place them flat-side down, side by side, in a microwave safe bowl. Add a thin layer of water at the bottom of the bowl. Cover, and microwave on high for 5 minutes. Turn the beets over (careful, they're hot!), cover again, and microwave on high in 3-minute intervals until they are fork-tender. Cooking time will depend on your microwave and also the size and number of beets you use. Set the beets aside until they are cool to the touch.
Meanwhile, peel grapefruit with a sharp knife until very little pith remains. Place grapefruit on its side on the cutting board and cut it into slices, 1/4-inch thick.
Once beets are cool to the touch, peel and slice them into 1/4-inch rounds. It can be helpful and less messy to use a clean paper towels to rub the skin off. Of course, I end up making a mess anyway:D
Make a bed of arugula at the bottom of a serving bowl, or of individual salad bowls (as pictured). Layer grapefruit, red and yellow beets in an overlapping circle (or whatever arrangement you prefer, and arrange avocado slices on top.
Whisk olive oil into the vinaigrette until emulsified. Taste and adjust seasonings.
Pour vinaigrette over salad, garnish with pumpkin seeds, chèvre and herbs and serve.

Notes

If you choose to cook your beets using the microwave method described above, note that if you cook red and yellow beets in the same container, the red beet pigments will seep into the water and stain the yellow ones. I don't mind this effect! It creates nice little watercolour-like artworks.
Shio koji (塩麹) is a lacto-fermented mixture of rice koji (rice inoculated with aspergillus oryzae spore -- the basis for many well-know Japanese ferments such as miso, sake and soy sauce). It provides enzymes and probiotics while imparting the dish with a unique umami flavour. You can substitute sea salt, himalayan salt or fish sauce. To learn more about shio koji, how to make it at home, and how to use it in the kitchen, click here.

Nutrition

Calories

314 cal

Fat

25 g

Carbs

21 g

Protein

7 g

Click Here For Full Nutrition, Exchanges, and My Plate Info

https://www.joellegaudet.com/2019/09/09/grapefruit-beet-and-avocado-salad-with-tarragon-vinaigrette/

References

Yoshimoto, B., & Backus, M. (2018). Kitchen. London, England: Faber & Faber.

Grapefruit, Beet and Avocado Salad with Tarragon Vinaigrette