Meticulous actions soothe and comfort me. Maybe that’s why I like baking and cooking so much. It’s akin to free therapy. I get lost in the details and actions like peeling and slicing veggies, measuring and sifting flour, and stirring a pot for hours. My hands aren’t idle. They’re serving a greater purpose. The reward is the delicious and homemade food that I’ve created. All from scratch and made with love. It’s nourishing for both body and soul.
I take more time to eat and savor my food when I’ve gone to the trouble of making it with my own two hands. I want to enjoy every part of it, taste every component, and notice every texture. A meal is infinitely more enjoyable when I’ve made it in my own kitchen. There’s something to be said about enjoying the fruits of your labor. Perhaps that is why Thanksgiving is so enjoyable. It’s a completely homemade meal made by the hands of those you cherish and love.
After several days in a row of working away from home, I was feeling like spending some time in the kitchen. The result is this fall-inspired panzanella (i.e. bread salad) perfect for dropping temperatures and gracing your Thanksgiving table. It has more steps than a typical salad but it is so much worth the effort! Since I am always dissatisfied with store-bought gluten free/vegan bread, I decided to make my own the day before. If you feel like going this route, perhaps try this sage & toasted pecan boule I posted a couple of weeks ago. Or, you could keep it simple on yourself and use some good quality store-bought bread of your choosing. As for the butternut squash, I’ve seen peeled and diced butternut in the freezer section of some grocery stores so that will save you some prep time as well.
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I’ve had the idea for this recipe swimming around in my head for a while. Does that ever happen to anyone else? I think it started after I had a charred broccoli salad a few weeks back. The salad combined smokey broccoli and pickled kohlrabi and it was one of the best flavor combinations I’ve tasted in a long while. The bright tang of the pickled kohlrabi cut right through the deep smokey flavor of the broccoli perfectly. There were other components to the salad, but they were mostly supporting roles in the overall scheme. If you’re in the Houston area, and want to try this awesome salad, you can get it at Coltivare.
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