I remember my first salad. Or perhaps, it was the first salad I could remember. In any case, I didn't like it. I ate it, sure, but the taste was something I thought I'd only like when I was much older (i.e. when I'm in my 30s, feeding veggies to my own children). My aunt prepared this big salad for our family dinner, which consisted of greens, tomatoes, cucumber, and hard-boiled eggs with some mustard dressing. Let me break it down to you, six year-old me hated cucumbers (I still do except if the cucumber is well hidden in a sushi roll and masked by the taste of tamari), I couldn't stand the taste of raw tomatoes and greens were something I thought a cow would eat. Given that I didn't have as many stomachs like a cow, I justified myself quite well into not liking salad greens. (Of course, a few months later I learned cows eat grass and not lettuce. Shame on me.) So, my first memorable salad experience was disastrous. When I turned vegetarian, however, my tastebuds couldn't get enough salads. I would eat big salads for lunch and dinner. One of my co-workers poked fun at my big containers of 2 salads (hey, I sometimes exceed a 40-hour work week and I refuse to eat [vegan] fast food every single day). I managed to incorporate daily salad servings into my diet, which was also somewhat of a miracle since I hoard pasta and bread. Just ask my mother. 

But of course, after all these years of not consuming meat and consuming mostly fruits and vegetables (except on my Parisian visits where my food pyramid is just bread), I've learned to spice things up in the kitchen. Sure, I still love salads, but I'm so much more creative now with my mix of veggies and greens. I add quinoa at times, when I'm not lazy in the kitchen. Or purple corn chips if I'm feeling adventurous. At the end of the day, my nourish bowl is always colourful. Always interesting. Always delicious and nutritious. 

Given the colderrr days, I actually want less heavy food. I tend not to be as active in the winter because 1) I don't like the cold, 2) I can't do any winter sports and 3) I don't move as much so why stuff myself with heavy comfort food? I tend to crave more summery dishes that are light but still tasteful. Reason why I believe my fridge contains more fruits and veggies in the wintertime than in the summer. (Our kitchen table is currently stocked with the following: grapefruits, mangoes, avocados, tomatoes, apples, bananas, papaya, sweet potatoes. Fridge is filled with: kale, spinach, passionfruit, pears, plums, clementines, greenbeans, squash, capsicum, beets, blueberries, lemons, Japanese yams, kiwi, etc.) And let me be honest, I'm trying to limit my winter weight. I just cleaned out my closet and this girl can't afford extra sets of bigger work clothes. #justbeinghonest

Here's my recipe then, or should I say my "unrecipe" for creating nourish bowls. If you read enough of my posts on savoury foods, you'll notice that I don't measure much. Because this isn't baking and I'm not exactly making a sauce so quantity means close to nothing to me. I'll be posting other versions of my nourish bowls as I eat along. 

Nourish Bowl Part I

Ingredients: