Trying to Forget it's Winter

The winter doldrums this year is more like, oh no not again. I have done my best to cook the blues away with stews, soups, braises any long cooking meal that will warm the house and allow our spirits to waft with the redolent bouquet coming off the stove. And, this employment of aromatherapy has done it job on many of the past nights, but I fear its effects are getting less potent. I am craving vibrant colors; I want to trek dirt into the house not because of my boots but due to the soil clinging to roots of what I just harvested. I must be suffering my own version of culinary-cabin-fever.

No one is more obsessed with being in the moment then me – eating what is seasonally abundant, locally sourced and, when possible, from my yard. It is February, and this year even my kale has succumbed to the bitter frosts that have descended on too many nights. I am suffering a need to spot the first crocus and deep green tip of an emerging asparagus, and yet it will be weeks before I dare to look down. Time to employ some color therapy and make a dish that takes me to a warmer, sun-drenched place. Winter does not have to cool blue outside and comforting brown on my plate – not tonight.

Winter Fruit Salad – yields 4 to 6 servings

2 kiwi fruit – peeled and sliced into strips

1 mango – peeled and sliced into strips

1pink grapefruit – peeled and cut into segments

1 English cucumber – sliced in julienne

1 medium red onion – cut in half; thinly sliced

1-tablespoon sesame oil

1/8-teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Gently toss all the ingredients together. Serve