First, there are quite a few new readers here this week so let me take this opportunity to say WELCOME NEW RECIPE CLUBBERS! And, thank you ALL for being here. I’ve got a lot I’m excited to share with you these next weeks + months! Here we go!
Soon, soon the fields will be bursting with dainty leaves and the Season of the Salad will be here! But it’s not here yet, and so I’m still coming up with creative ways to weave easy-to-digest greens into our diets. During this busy week, when I had a few random handfuls of herbs, the leftovers from a can of coconut milk, and a few other little pantry staples hanging around…these Green Miso-Coconut Noodles were it. And honestly, with these for lunch (or dinner) I’m not missing salad one bit.
If you haven’t heard me harp on winter salads this late in the season yet I’ll rant briefly right now:
Our food is packed with the most nutrients the moment that it’s harvested – no matter what it is. The longer we have to wait to put it into our bodies, the less and less nutrients that food gives us. (This is just one of the reasons why eating seasonally is super smart.) Through the winter, the tender greens we love to eat in salads in the spring are doing their good growing work….but they’re certainly not ready to harvest. And the heartier greens that are available through these colder months are so robust that they really tax our digestive systems. (Think: kale, collards, spinach, and the like.) Additionally, our bodies want to enjoy softer, warm foods through the winter to counterbalance the cold, harshness of winter. There’s nothing soft and warm about a salad.
So! Cooking our greens, or finding ways to warm them up and make them easier to digest is a smart move. Yes, I know that salads are “light” and that we all equate them with feeling “healthy.” But your body needs different things in different seasons to be its best. Salad in the winter is not one of those things.
End rant. : )
The truly tasty, super fast Green Miso-Coconut Noodle recipe you’re about to devour literally contains the greens equivalent of like 4 huge salads in the sauce. Only, instead of having to break down all of the fiber in those greens, we do the work. Blending up these tender, nutrient packed spinach and herb leaves (hydroponically grown locally,) with coconut milk and warming spices warms them up too, making them easier to digest, and truly delicious to eat.
Plus, I don’t know about you, but I rarely make a salad without having some kind of carbohydrate added. It makes for a rounded meal, whether it’s toast, a scoop of quinoa or rice…something like that. Literally, my grains are swimming in a field of salad. This is very much the same, just the visual inverse. These noodles are literally an inverse salad – a serving of noodles, swimming in saucy salad greens.
This is JUST the kind of recipe I love to share here; that weaves in super-powered ingredients, shares them in a fresh way that breaks your “healthy eating mold,” introduces you to new smart new meals shapes and flavors AND is fast, fresh and simple for you to work into your life. Whether you’re an athlete, other-overachiever, general busy body — we all need a little bit more of this kinda thing. Green miso-coconut noodles! YES!
Since we’re on the topic of how to eat for the seasons, it is worth mentioning that when I say the greens are on the way – I mean it. Spring is about to knock on our doors, and along with it the weather will shift. As the weather shifts, our bodies will shift too and that means changing the way we eat.
Through the winter, my recommendations here (whether you’re eating breakfast, lunch, dinner, or taking a snack out on a ride,) have been to enjoy nutrient-dense meals filled with sweet, salty, and sour flavors, and with lots of potent spices mixed in. We’re going to mix it up a bit in these next months.
All of nature is entering the last push of our stores. I baked my last butternut squash last week + the last frozen quart of tomato sauce squirreled away last fall. About this time of the year, my grandmother would have reported that the root cellar was running thin, that the last jars of pickles and put-up fruit would be nearly gone.
This is the time of year to cook up clean, easy recipes, brothy soups, to swirl in more bitter and astringent flavors (like those found in greens and herbs,) and to keep using those pungent spices like turmeric, ginger, black pepper, and chilis to keep your digestion burning brightly. This combination will keep the fires stoked for spring and we’ll all start off a little lighter on our feet (even without eating salad.)
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