My "A" Game

Good weekend, all. I really feel like I'm bringing my "A" game today, but more on that after we take a look at "Meatless Mondays" (MM) in the news. And I mean that literally, as you'll see if you check out this link to the official MM website. MM was featured on the local ABC Nightly News and received a lot of great publicity. This positive message seems to get a sympathetic hearing wherever it goes.

This same week, an organization with 40 million members began promoting the benefits of MM to all their members. That would be the AARP, an organization of persons 50 years old or older, who are not necessarily retired. This was a very comprehensive and upbeat article which should have a wide-reaching effect with their membership. A membership which might be, how shall we say this, somewhat resistant to dietary changes? Even if only 1 million of their members jumped on board, that would be 1 million people who decreased their meat consumption by 15%. That's huge! So this is very big news.

So back to why I feel like I'm really on my game this week. It's really just the timeliness that I don't normally achieve. The vegetable of the week came via a reader request to feature celeriac, which sounds like a disease, but is also known as "celery root" if you prefer. It is high in fibre, low in fat and great for lowering cholesterol. It is considered a nutrient-dense food because of its low calorie score combined with high nutrient profile. So it's win-win. The recipe of the week also features this incredibly sweet, mellow root vegetable, so good on me for getting them to line up like that. 

The recipe itself is a family favourite adapted from a recipe by Tal Ronnen, whose cookbook I just featured in the first message this year, and whose recipe is featured on Oprah Winfrey's website, which I featured. And it just so happens that we made this recipe two days ago and I just finished the last of the leftovers for my lunch. Are you feeling the synchronicity? That's what I said--"A" game. It all lines up.

I have adapted the original recipe to be low sodium and less "cheffy," more "family." That's the way I roll. Keep it simple, silly. So I will bask in my success this week, enjoying it while I can and all the while knowing that next week, lack of organization and poor planning will bring me back down to Earth. Until then, enjoy your soup.