Nerd alert

I think I've crossed the line into big nerd territory as far as macrobiotics is concerned. (As far as other things are concerned I've been a big nerd for a while now.) Last Saturday I happened upon two big bags of books out on the street. Not such an unusual occurrence in my neighborhood, people leave out clothing, books, pots and pans, whatever they don't want but are too lazy to take to Goodwill on their own. That night it was books. As I looked through the bags (because I couldn't pass them up) I found at least 5 or 6 books on macrobiotics. Everything from dessert cookbooks (thank you!) to philosophy (Macrobiotics and the Spirit of Christianity? I really didn't think this book needed to be written.) So now I've gone into full geek mode with some of the down and dirty details of macrobiotics. It's beyond just eating whole foods in line with the seasons. It's about phases and zones and I'm not even sure if there's food involved.


Thursday night's meal was quinoa with fried tempeh "bacon" and vegetables in a peanut sauce. We almost never make peanut sauces because we never have peanut butter (usually just almond butter). Dandelion the Bitter Green doesn't like peanuts even though I do, so I buy it but take it to work. I think he actually thought it was almond butter until it was too late to turn back.

Friday night was when I started to look at the food through the nerd lens. I was trying to get us a balance of phases (earth, fire, wood, water, metal) though I think we only got a few but not all. We had brown rice with a navy bean dish (highlighted with tarragon and basil, yum!) and broccoli, kale, and mushrooms.


It wasn't until the next day that I read further in the book and discovered that you don't really want all phases in one meal. You'd end up with a really unattractive goulash that no one would want to eat. So I felt better about last night's dinner. Since Saturday was a show night I made a quick one-pot meal, trying to channel my inner fried rice. It was leftover rice with carrots, baby bok choy, cauliflower, garlic and ginger. Oh, and some slices of pre-made baked tofu. I don't usually use that stuff unless I'm in a hurry or out and about but I thought it would add a nice texture to the fried rice.