It looks like a southern holiday for this lady. I am planning a trip back to my pretend homeland of Tennessee this December and I now have only 177 days to wait until I’m sitting in a chair at Arnold’s Country Kitchen (click here, please,) giggling and singing Merle Haggard to myself like a crazy person, while I eat the best plate of food ever.
I spent most of last week in New York City for shows and fun and while I had a great time, it definitely erased any doubt in my mind that one day I might end up there. There was a time, after I moved home to Los Angeles after college, where I could barely watch a shot of NY skyline in some TV show without getting a bit misty-eyed. I often almost regretted and second-guessed my quick and unforeseen decision to leave NYC. After all, I was a kid, got overwhelmed, and wanted to go back home–so I did. Ever since then, trips back (over the past 10 years) would seemingly reinforce that somehow, I shouldn’t have left.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I still have a place for all the food and the New York feeling in my heart but this trip just felt different. My place there, long term, felt so distant when it used to be nestled right near my frontal lobe. Although, on second thought, the country western bar we went to each night we were there–where gorgeous men dance on the bar to my favorite songs, might cause me to move there tomorrow. But seriously, my tiny travel fund (that I somehow keep replenishing,) is for the time being, destined for places more southern.
Today’s recipe features roasted cauliflower (I used a pretty purple variety) and rapini and is topped with avocado and served with a lemon and dill yogurt dressing. For those of you not familiar with rapini–it’s a dark and pleasantly bitter, leafy green that is a close cousin of broccoli rabe (which is in turnip family.) It’s delicious roasted (and NOT great raw!) and can be added anywhere where you otherwise would use other dark greens–kale, collard greens, or spinach. The dressing on this guy is served almost like a dip, rustically, in the center of the plate. Avocado is last but not least and is just awesome, like most avocados. You can toss a piece of grilled chicken on the plate but there’s really no need–feel free to disagree. Okay, I’m done chattering–click through below the pretty picture for the recipe.