Delicious Refreshing Heat Remedy

As the temperature rises I continue to find new ways to stay comfortable.

One of the best ways to stay juicy and hydrated in hot dry weather is to drink plenty of protiotic-rich fermented beverages.  They are super hydrating, refreshing, full of beneficial bacteria and enzymes, a great source of electrolytes, and they taste delicious.

Although my refrigerator is fully stocked with a variety of water-kefir sodas such as nettle-ginger soda, chamomile soda, elderberry soda, june berry soda, and strawberry soda, and I will be hard-presssed to find more room in it for more soda, I decided to venture down a new avenue of soda making today.

In anticipation of more warm days ahead, as well as the possibility of parched friends stopping in, I began four double batches of lacto-fermented soda today.  Strawberry-rose soda, elderflower soda, nettle-ginger soda and lemon balm soda are sitting on my counter in the first stage of fermentation.

I am on my way to the kitchen to pour myself a refreshing glass of soda.

Even Hotter Today

With the temperature rising I would like to be able to say I kicked back and went to the beach today.

Instead of going to the beach - maybe this weekend? - I cooked for a very special client in his kitchen.

I prepared Roast Chicken with every kind of Root Vegetable imaginable, Egyptian Lentils, White Bean and Escarole Soup, Chicken Curry, and Spinach with Golden Raisins and Toasted Pine Nuts.

You might wonder what a single man could possibly do with all this food?  He freezes most of it and then eats it over a period of several weeks adding a salad or vegetable here and there.

After work today I chilled out at yin yoga.

To make it easy on myself after all that kitchen time I relied on left-overs for my dinner.  I prepared a quick medley of fresh kale, chard and spinach and then tossed it into the left-over pasta.

Pasta With Toppings

This has been my first summer in a house that is over 100 years old and that doesn't have an A/C. Knowing how much time I spend in the kitchen it has been a challenge to continue to eat well without feeling over-heated in the process.

My favorite strategy is to do most of my cooking early in the day while the air is still cool and fresh.

Another strategy that has worked for me is to use a clay rice cooker to cook rice or steam vegetables.  It doesn't heat up the kitchen.

Lately I have been cooking pasta with something green such as broccolini, kale or spinach.  Then I store the pasta in the fridge until I am ready to use it.  When it is time to eat I gently warm the pasta and then I dress it up in variety of ways.

Some of my favorite toppings are chunks of fresh ripe heirloom tomato, a sprinkling of minced red onion, sun-dried black olives, a dash of olive oil, chopped mexicali avocado, (a wonderful small avocado with paper-thin skin that is edible) finely grated parmesan cheese, and fresh basil from the garden.