She returns!

Wow, I seriously doubt anyone is even checking here anymore :). But I was googling something today and a link to my poor little defunct blog popped up and it felt oddly like running into a friend you haven't seen in a long time. Slightly awkward, but nice too.
Besides, I couldn't let that slightly self pitying last post be my final statement. Not my style :)

I've fully settled into San Francisco, and I love the Bay area more than ever. I have gotten back into dairy. I know, not Paleo. But I am of Northern European ancestry, and you know what? I like my dairy. It tastes goooooood. You know what tastes really good? Raw milk. Oh my goodness. The beauty of California and legally permitted marketing of unpasteurized dairy in all its glorious forms to the public.

Oh, by the way, raw cream, raw butter, and raw cheese--also awesome. Almost as good as the look I get when I tell other people I eat raw milk products. You'd think I'd told them I lick it off the sidewalk. Honestly, it's hilarious. Never mind that everyone else in the office has caught the last version of whatever rhinovirus is floating around and I'm totally unstuffed. No, I'm the crazy one :)

Actually, I am the crazy one. But I'm ok with that. And gosh darn it, I'm back to blogging, even if I'm just blogging about what I eat so that I can keep track. And if anyone DOES start reading, hi :)

So let's talk chinese veggies. I grew up in Toronto, which means that even though I'm the whitest white girl you'll ever see, Asian food of all stripes is comfort food to me. Soon I'll discuss how fabulous Japanese flavours are for Paleo/Primal/whatever the hell you want to call my diet now. For now, let me just tell you about chinese broccoli, or gai lan. Gai lan is a delicious leafy green veggie that come in long stalks with long narrow leaves and stems about a centimeter (~.5 inch for you Americans who don't feel like doing the metric thing) in diameter. You will often see small yellow flowers midway up the stalk as well.

Gai lan is delicious steamed or stirfried. The one thing to remember is to cook the stems first, and the leaves at the end. When cooked, gai lan does taste a lot like broccoli, but is harder to overcook and doesn't get the same slightly sulfurous flavour that broccoli can get. I like to steam it in the microwave (3 minutes on medium heat for the stems, throw the leaves in at the last minute) and toss it with roasted garlic and butter. Or, stirfry it with coconut oil and shallots and throw in some hot pepper flakes at the last minute.

In any case, the gai lan is ready when the stalks are bright green (they start out a much duller grayish green) and the leaves are wilted. Gai lan can be found in Asian grocery store and in the Asian veggie section of some larger supermarkets. Oh, and if anyone out there has other gai lan recipes, please post them in the comments!