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The Raw and The Cooked

Simple Meals + Honest Book Reviews + Practical Living

Episode 238: Maybe You Don’t Need More Recipes

I’ve been thinking about Jiro Dreams of Sushi lately. It’s a documentary from 2011 about Jiro Ono, the legendary Japanese sushi chef, and his tiny, Michelin-starred restaurant in Tokyo. I first watched it with Alex in 2017, and for whatever reason, it has stayed with me all these years later. Mainly, the idea of mastery of only a handful of things.

Jiro has devoted his life to doing a relatively small number of things exceptionally well. He repeats the same processes over and over, paying attention to tiny details and looking for tiny improvements. There is something almost radical about that kind of focus. And lately I’ve been thinking about what that idea looks like in my own kitchen.

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Summer Meals Part II: One Simple Grocery List, Three Meals, Six Portions

A wonderful perk of summer are the seasonal ingredients available to us: corn, zucchini, cucumbers, tomatoes, basil, peaches… So many combinations, so many rich and decedent flavors. Summer meals tend to be a bit more forgiving, a bit more fun, and a lot less fuss. I’m here for it. Since we have a few more weeks before we change over to fall, I wanted to share another installment of summer meals. One simple grocery list, that turns into three meals for you, with relative ease. I hope you’re enjoying this series, so far, and if you missed it, here is Part I.

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Deuteronomy 29:9 – 30:20 + 31:1–30 | Nitzavim + Vayelech | “You Are Standing + And He Went”

This week was an unusually full week for us, all good things though. Just very full. I can already feel the shift from a relaxed, easy-breezy summer schedule kicking into the high gear of fall, and all that entails. Almost like the flip of the switch, and now BOOM! Fall Frenzy is here. Especially with Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot back to back to back. And while I’m so grateful God gives us this period of reflection, joy, and wiping our slates clean, it still entails a lot of preparation on the back end to ensure the holiday can be filled with joy. Does that make any sense?

Instead of getting completely overwhelmed and crushed by my to-do list that gets longer by the minute, I’m taking a moment to stop, and say thank you to God for each and every blessing that said to-do list represents. Thank you God, for gifting me the talent to bake round-homemade challah for our family’s table, using eggs from our very own chickens. Thank you God, that we have the financial resources to shop at the gourmet grocery stores for the upcoming holiday meals. Thank you God, for the talent to cook and bake from scratch to fill the bellies of our loved ones. Thank you God, for a beautifully set table, one which I can already envision: my grandmothers table cloth, my parents challah board, Alex’s fathers kiddish cup, the smells of a home-cooked gourmet meal, my children’s Rosh Hashanah school projects decorating the table, in addition to the beautiful candles burning, and the beautiful bouquet of flowers I’m going to splurge on. Thank you God, for each and every soul that will gather around our dining room table on Friday night, and ring in the New Year with us. This will be my mantra this week, as I methodically plow through my to-do list.

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Deuteronomy 26:1 – 29:8 | Ki Tavo | “When You Come”

This was a very exciting week for us… two of our four chickens began laying their first eggs. We adopted our girls (two Cinnamon Queens + two Easter Eggers) when they were one day old chicks back in early April, and have been looking forward to this moment ever since. And it’s finally here. And yes, it has been an incredible source of joy and wonder for the children. Lots of excitement as we’ve been screaming “SALLY LAID AN EGG!” and “THERE’S ANOTHER EGG IN THE NESTING BOX!” all week long. Speaking of happiness and joy….

Ki Tavo is filled with a multitude of curses and blessings for either walking with God, or choosing wickedness. It’s pretty simple, are you going to chose a life of obedience or disobedience? And while this deserves a deep dive from someone way more qualified than myself, what I actually want to focus on is what stuck out to me the most reading Ki Tavo: HAPPINESS 😃

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Summer Meals Part I: One Simple Grocery List, Three Meals, Six Portions

One of my favorite ways to shop, prep, and cook is to start with a simple list of seasonal ingredients and see how many meals I can stretch it into. The trick is finding ingredients that can work across several meals without making every dinner feel like the same dinner.

And when I find meals that are simple to prep and cook, have delicious in-season ingredients, and an overall hit with at least 3 of my 4 children, I’m all in. Today, let’s dive into a handful of excellent summer meals to add to your rotation, while we still have a solid 4 weeks of summer left to go. Welcome to a new summer menu series, where I’ll be putting together simple, seasonal grocery lists and showing you how I turn them into several meals without buying a completely different set of ingredients for every recipe.

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Balsamic Marinated Chicken with a Grilled Peach and Basil Salad

I cannot get enough of big summer salads with balsamic marinated chicken this summer. I’m sure you’ve seen my balsamic chicken with strawberry + feta salad, and today, I’ve found something equally as summery, equally as wholesome and delicious. Today, we’re grilling peaches, and combining that with basil, feta, pecans, cucumbers, and mixed greens. Take my word on it, it’s so good.

It’s pretty easy to throw together. While the chicken is marinating, I heat up the grill, get started on the salad. While the chicken and peaches are grilling, I make the balsamic vinaigrette. While chicken is resting, I set the table, and before you know it, the entire meal has come together. I usually serve this with homemade sourdough, for the carbohydrates.

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