In early summer, I welcomed a new cookbook into my kitchen. Aspen Grove owner Hannah Cordes highly recommended “Simply Julia, 110 Easy Recipes For Healthy Comfort Food,” by Julia Turshen.
Time and again, I’ve turned to “Simply Julia” for elegant, easy meals. Post-it notes mark over a dozen favorites. Each recipe begins with a personal note, connecting the meal to a loved one or experience. Turshen’s manner of writing reads like an easy conversation with a longtime friend — just as comforting as the meals she shares with readers. What is exceptionally refreshing about her recipes are the healthy ingredients — light in calories, deep in flavor.
As the garden matures, I find myself turning to “Simply Julia” for creative methods to serve up garden harvests. “Sheet Pan Lamb Meatballs with Sweet & Sour Eggplant,” “Hasselback Carrots with Pimenton & Roasted Lemon,” “Braised Red Cabbage & Green Apples” — all three will definitely be on the menu this week. “Stewed Chickpeas with Peppers and Zucchini” and “Roasted Cauliflower and Red Cabbage Tacos” have become staple favorites. For potlucks, an easy salad that disappears faster than the main dish is “Palm Springs Pearl Couscous & Citrus Salad” — I’ve substituted quinoa for the couscous to make it gluten free and the result is wonderfully delicious.
When my sinuses rebelled this last month against ragweed, cut hay and smoke, I again turned to “Simply Julia” for comforting broth. “Khao Mai Gai” is easy to prepare — a necessity when your eyes are too red and watery to focus on the page and the irritation in your nose and throat need immediate relief. The chicken broth made with ginger and garlic soothed my throat and helped clear my nasal passages.
As Sophocles said, “A human being is only breath and shadow.” Without a good deep breath, we are just shadows. I suppose we are other things: our 38 trillion cells are comprised of 84 minerals found also in the rocks and soil of the Earth, 23 elements born by stardust, and 8 gallons of water the same saliently as the sea. But without breath, no life can course through these atoms of earth and sky.
Speaking of skies, on a recent hike along ridgelines in the lower valley, circling hawks accompanied us, their cries interweaved into our conversation. It is hawk migration season, and the best place to see these magnificent migrants is from the ridgelines as they traverse south.
HawkWatch International (HWI) research sites were closed last year due to COVID-19. The researchers for HWI are back at all seven of the long-term raptor migration monitoring sites for fall 2021. Visitors are welcome if they follow health precautions: be vaccinated, refrain from visiting if you are ill, and be respectful of area restrictions and health protocols. Visitors must pre-register. For more information on registration and visitor guidelines, visit the Methow Conservancy September 2021 E-news at https://mailchi.mp/methowconservancy/sept2021enews.
The seven HawkWatch International long-term sites are located along ridgelines as far north as Alaska, and as far south as Texas. In the Methow Valley, Chelan Ridge has long served as a key research post. According to the HWI website, counts range in the thousands for up to 17 species each season. More information can be found at HawkWatch.org.
