Lie #1: I Want It but I Can't Have It
food, desire, and joyful eating • sourdough croutons • chopped salad
Deciding what to eat and actually eating it sounds simple enough but if you've been a dieter, there can be a disconnect. The reason for this? I call it Lie #1: I want it but I can't have it.
What a sad way to live, desire denied. Pleasure and enjoyment, denied. An opportunity for gratitude and grace, denied.
However, I can hear it now: People can't just go about satisfying their every whim! It's the reason everyone’s so unhealthy!
Our whims can be a problem, and they often are when we’re disconnected, distracted, ungrounded, unhappy, unmoored from our place in this life. The solution isn't a tighter grip on the steering wheel, but rather a welcoming of ease and connection. For until we are connected and properly oriented in life, we are at best treading water, at worst, hurting ourselves. We can be so much more than that.
You’ve heard it from me before: stop dieting and food moralizing, begin a practice of quiet time/meditation if you aren’t yet doing it, treat yourself with love and kindness, and when you eat, choose what you really want, sit down, and enjoy it. This is the foundation of joyful eating.
sourdough croutons
I don’t like to waste food, so when I have the tail-end of a sourdough loaf, I make croutons. It’s a simple, three step process.
First, the cutting. I like the crust, so I leave most of it, just removing the usually blackened bottom and a bit off the edges.
Second, cut into sticks, then tear these into three or four pieces and put in a bowl. (The irregular edges of torn croutons get wonderfully crispy. If you want, tear the whole loaf but I like the hybrid approach.)
Lastly: Drizzle with olive oil, turn to coat, tumble out onto a sheet pan, and sprinkle with salt. Bake 375°F for 15–20 minutes, turning half-way through. Here’s a finished batch:
chopped salad
Part of the challenge to eating well and cooking at home is getting the raw ingredients prepared but it’s a task well worth the effort. Sometimes it’s necessary for convenience, but those packaged salad mixes look so sad compared to what you can do with a knife.
Scott Farquhar sent me on this latest kick—chopped salad mix—after preparing for Jackie Page and I the most delicious salad when we visited Sacred Pine Ranch last week. Everything was fresh out of his greenhouse (including my first-of-the-year delicious, homegrown cherry tomato) and he made his own dressing. He doesn’t follow a recipe, it’s just balsamic, red wine vinegar, whatever herbs I’ve got growing, and olive oil. Here’s my version: Balsamic Dressing for Chopped Salads, a great dressing to make and use all week.
Like the croutons, three simple steps make a chopped salad, all but the last can be done in advance:
make a mix of sturdy chopped vegetables, enough for several salads (see my post on ripefoodandwine.com for more details)
prep spinach and/or any other tender salad greens
make a big jar of dressing, enough for days of easy salad making (link goes to my collection of condiments and salad dressings on ripefoodandwine.com)
when it’s time to eat, dress the sturdies with the tender things like baby spinach, cucumber, halved cherry tomatoes and/or fruit
To prep spinach and tender greens: I like washing in a big bowl, lifting out and into a salad spinner, onto a clean towel (roll and set aside while doing other kitchen things for awhile), then into a Sistema container w/paper towel to absorb excess moisture. Keep refrigerated.
And here it is, a chopped salad serving, complete with pulled rotisserie chicken, a few blueberries, and sourdough croutons ready for the Balsamic Dressing.
Smooth Sailing, Fix Your Food Relationship in 2025!
So this is week 23 of Smooth Sailing. We’ve covered the 10 Principles of Intuitive Eating, and I post every Monday to share my perspective on how to set yourself free from diet-thinking and live a more connected life. Please subscribe and share. Thank you so much for being here.
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Have a great week!
