simplicity

Like most young twenty-somethings who are learning to take care of themselves and save money, I am trying to take up cooking. (My days right out of undergrad working at a management consulting firm did not afford me much time to spend money nor prepare meals.  Breakfast, lunch and dinner were eaten desk-side.  So my coming of age in this manner is fairly new.) 

My tendency is to attempt overly ambitious, clearly complicated cuisines destined for failure.

Not too long ago, however, while Stefan and I were grabbing an early dinner at one of our favorite Sonoma spots - the girl & the fig - we had the most delectable dish with a mere three ingredients.

Fresh radishes from their garden,

a sprinkling of micro greens,

and just a touch of salt

Clearly if a first-class restaurant could make simple scrumptious, it couldn't be all that bad.

So this past weekend, I attempted a simple French country meal: Chicken Palliard with mixed spring greens. Only eight ingredients (including S&P): Chicken, mushrooms, greens, olive oil, balsamic, mustard, salt, pepper.

And the result could not have been more delicious. We enjoyed it with a simple bottle of $11 red from a winery we'd visited in Sonoma. 

paired with Cline Cellars Oakley Five Reds

(Anyone can buy good expensive wine - it takes a real expert to buy good cheap wine.)

There really is something to be said for the loveliness of simplicity.

And I'd say the same is true for gardens. 

I'd take a simple lemon tree over a plethora of bushes and blooms any day.

xoxo
KK