Gothic Granola

Going gluten-free is not a magic bullet to health, contrary to this article from Paleo Magazine . If you have, in fact, experienced real intestinal damage at the hands of bread, pizza, cake, and beer, then your health is going to take a nosedive even after becoming gluten-free. Why? The body doesn't heal overnight.   Mmm, cake... Eww, beer...

I was right about a rant brewing, but my prescient vision was off by a week. Yes, I finally finished reading Frank Herbert's  Dune .  

"Do you feel rushed?" Sometimes I wonder if my life is happening on a compressed time scale. Fasting last week slowed everything, including all my bodily processes, way the heck down. On the last two days, I found myself constantly apologizing for being too slow when walking or speaking.  After I broke the fast on Sunday, I went to the gym on Monday. Instead of killin' it on the elliptical, the elliptical liked to kill me! I had it on resistance one/manual and I still had  to push through the machine pausing because I wasn't applying enough force. My conclusion is that speed, as a quality or concept, is neither progress nor better; it's just faster than the pace of the prior moment.

How 'bout a little evil in your cake? As in, how about Q hides a can of beans in your cake and you don't know and you eat it and you love it anyway despite the fact that you think the "musical fruit" is the devil's instrument?

This was so gourmet I impressed myself. The pomegranate molasses elevated it from ordinary to extraordinary. Granted, the butternut squash tasted a tad bland with all the other spices going on, but you say "reduction" and "seared" and all else is forgiven. It's not a true reduction, but it's viscous enough to be like one . Seared Tempeh with Sesame Pomegranate Molasses Reduction, Braised Greens, and Butternut Mash 2 8-ounce packages of tempeh (I used the plain soy and flax flavours; make sure it's GF.) 1 quart water 2 yellow onions, half-mooned 2 cloves garlic, sliced thin or pressed pinch Kosher salt 1 teaspoon celery seeds 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin 1/4 teaspoon allspice 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil 2 teaspoons pomegranate molasses 1/2 teaspoon GF tamari 4 cups dandelion greens or other bitter greens, ribboned 2 cups roasted butternut squash 1 tablespoon maple syrup 1 teasp...