I think a lot about how the lives we imagine for ourselves when we’re young inevitably fail us. We grow up thinking we’ll be an astronaut, married by 25, herding a gaggle of kids by 30, winning an Academy Award at 40, and so on. (Nota bene: Those are not my personal goals—just an imagined human’s.) As we grow and fail to set foot in outer space, find our husband missing in action along with the kids, and no masterpiece upon which to hang an Oscar, the knowledge settles in: The life we are living is, usually, deeply distinct from the one we thought we’d lead.
It struck me a few years ago, as I contemplated the small and large deviances from my expected path, that the life I’m living now is a kind of newborn alien being, emerged from the cracked and discarded shell of all those previous imaginings. As we grow, we must crack open, again and again, the shell of that fantasy life in order to see the life that we are currently living for what it actually is. If we resist it, fighting all the way, we can’t really experience it.
We don’t see the intricate marvel of the life we’re living now if we’re fixated on the broken shell detritus of past imaginings, previous selves.
Before we go further into the detritus, let’s pause for a moment to peruse the beautiful dish I have for you today—a savory breakfast oatmeal from Jodi Moreno’s new book More With Less. More With Less serves up 130 recipes with a wide-ranging flavor palate that somehow perfectly matches mine, every single time. Honey roasted nectarines and kale with dukkah and oat croutons? Yes, please. Apple, miso, and date crisp? Yep. Nori miso butter? I need it.
Jodi’s food is refreshingly alive, absent of fuss and as beautiful as the flavors are satisfying. Every page is an invitation.
Which is nice, because I’ve been in the mode of accepting invitations, opening myself to the new world around me. For the past few weeks, I’ve been in a state of gentle wonder, enlivened by the beauty of the new world that’s revealed itself to me here in my new home in Topanga Canyon. I keep discovering new views, new places to hike, new trees, new vines, new curves where the vertiginous mountain road gets particularly dicey.
Many of you following the journey know how this has gone—the deep urban exhaustion, the longing for green and quiet and nature, the burnout of spending most of last year on the road, the sadness of not ever wanting to come home to my old apartment in West Hollywood.
Though my current world is far from perfect—piles of stuff waiting to find its permanent home linger in the hall, I don’t have proper living room furniture, and I’m still figuring out how to live with only one closet (i.e., there’s nowhere to put a broom)—it’s a world I want to occupy. I want to come home to this space, this hill, this view, these grasses and wildflowers. This deck.
Yesterday, my landlord finished the deck he told me he wanted to build the day I first looked at the place. It’s real now, and it’s just right—extraordinary to be able to spend time outside, to lie down on the soft-sanded boards and look up into the vast blue. I’m already scheming about the jasmine vines I’d like to get to climb the railing, and the herbs I want to plant. Rose geranium. Mint. Basil. Oregano. Thyme.
I intend to bring every meal I can out to the inverse bowl of the sky, no matter whether or not I have furniture to sit on. Breakfast will be particularly luxe with the hills undulating in the background. Miso oats with scallions and sesame oil from More With Less on repeat. topped with an egg for extra protein oomph.
Make sure to pick up a copy of Jodi’s exquisite new book, and prepare thyself and thy kitchen to crack open to a whole new world of deliciousness and beauty.
MISO OATS WITH SCALLIONS + SESAME OIL.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon ghee or neutral oil
- 1 cup quick-cooking rolled oats
- 1 teaspoon red miso
- 3 cups + 1 tablespoon water
- 2 scallions, white and light green parts only, minced
- drizzle of toasted sesame oil
- 2 pinches sesame seeds, furikake, or gomasio
- handful of micro greens or sprouts, optional
- 2 eggs
Instructions
- Heat the ghee in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the oats, and toast for about 2minutes, until lightly browned.
- In a small bowl, dilute the miso with 1 tablespoon of the water. Stir the miso in with the oats, then add the 3 cups water (be careful, it may splatter) and stir. Bring to a simmer, reduce the heat to low, and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until it has reduced to a desired porridge/oatmeal consistency.
- Remove from the heat, cover, and prepare 2 eggs, poached or fried as desired.
- Once the eggs are ready, divide the oatmeal between 2 bowls. Add 1 egg to each bowl, then add the scallions, sesame oil, sesame seeds, and micro greens or sprouts, if using, or any other topping you like.
