Om Shanti, KC

Dear Mouse,

It's that time again.

a play and media project about our environmental challenges

Runs Feb 17 - March 19 at Kansas City Rep

Hello hello from Kansas City MO, where I'll be living and blogging for the next two months. I still can't quite believe that this is the fourth year in a row I'm working out of town Jan-March; I'm starting to think of it as my annual pilgrimage to... America. You know I've had a love affair with Going Away in general ever since my sandal-wearing, patchouly-scented, guitar-strumming Summer Camp days. But I especially dig the, say, liminal nature of the first night in town, before rehearsals start, when you have no idea what lies ahead. You land in a strange new world, navigate a new grocery store, unpack your clothes, listen to the SILENCE around you, breathe maybe a little differently, and ponder upcoming challenges. And when I speak of challenges, I mean figuring out how I am going to approach playing twin sisters (!!!), and also I mean things like this:

Hi, my name's Steve, I'll be your Fork for the next two months. Not kidding.

Yes, the lay of the land here in Kitchen Stadium is interesting.

No oven. Like the song says, I got two electric burners and a microwave...

Stay tuned. I think it'll be like camping. (Really, really nice camping). It'll bring me back to that herb-scented, celestially-seasoned self of yesteryear. Which already seems kind of appropriate. Because I've never been here before and really know nothing about this town, but if my first five hours are anything to go by...

... Kansas City is full of hippies!!

(Shh, don't scare them off.)

Evidence collected thus far:

* company manager picks Boo up at airport, beaming in the 65-degree sunshine (speaking of environmental challenges) and sporting a pair of sunglasses that say "love" on both sides

* Nature's Own, the organic grocery store two blocks away!! where I foraged this afternoon. The checkout girl told me she liked my hair. As I floated home with my arms full of turkish apricots, self-churned peanut butter, and Amy's organic frozen dinners, I stopped to gawk atPhoenix Herb, the homeopathic place next door with its rows and rows of mysterious leaves in glass jars.

* welcome packet at the hotel is definitely the best of its kind I have ever seen and includes the following:

-a bag of Zum products (all-natural frankincense/lavender/lemon bar soap, hand sanitizer, and aromatherapy spray, as well as eucalytpus-scented "laundry soap")

-'seventh-generation' natural dish soap

-reusable grocery shopping bag

-plastic baggies of raw cashews and almonds

-and this

Relax, relax, they're tea bags, they're tea bags.

But it took me a second too.

I went 'home', rolled out my yoga mat, sprayed my pillows with lavender/lemon, and fired up some quinoa and raw kale for dinner. I kid you not. And if last week I was wondering why this highly anticipated new show about climate change, planetary stewardship, and environmental responsibility was premiering so far 'out of town'... it is starting to make sense. Om shanti, KC, I think I'm gonna like it here.

Love,

The Boo

PS. Lest I give a totally skewed perspective, rest assured that this glossary of "BBQ Terms" was part of our welcome packet too.

15-Minute Quinoa "Risotto"

Dear Mouse,

OK, something is happening.

Perhaps it's all the changes in the air right now -- new apartment, new borough, exciting new gig coming up, and the news that the comfortable, mind-numbing day job I've had for, oh, NINE years or so is - finally! - laying me off in February. I dont know. But what I do know is that somehow, some way, I have become ... a person who cooks. (And who posts RECIPES on the blog. Not just, say, recipe links or gossip. Though that will certainly continue.)

Now I know what you're gonna say. What have I been doing this whole time with pie crusts and muffins and soup? Well, yes. But it's the realization that you can leap without a net (or a recipe) and survive. That I can make stuff up on my own.

I got so excited about my quick-and-tasty invention tonight that I actually plugged in my laptop, and started typing this post as soon as I finished... this:

When you're here, you're family.

This really took fifteen minutes to make. Ok, yes, one of the important ingredients - the "Chopping Board Pistachio Pesto" from the Splendid Table - had been prepared in advance and was waiting for me at home. BUT allow me to point out that THAT recipe came from their "Weeknight Kitchen" newsletter. It's simple and fast. So even if you do this whole "risotto" in one go, it would just be a half an hour and a bit of extra chopping.

Following some primal instinct, I picked up a can of navy beans, a jar of sun dried tomatoes, and a box of quinoa, and I made the following deliciousness in 15 minutes flat. Perhaps because of the Italian flavor palette, I really think it resembles a risotto, only lighter and packed with protein from the nuts/beans/quinoa trifecta. It's comfort food that gives you energy instead of knocking you out (risotto, for me, usually involves an early bedtime... if I make it to the bed.)

The Boo's Fifteen-Minute Job-Loss Quinoa "Risotto"

(with thanks to The Splendid Table)

Probably 1/2 C leftover Chopping Board Pistachio Pesto - ? or less, whatever tastes good

1 C quinoa

2 C water

1/2 small jar (or more if you like) sundried tomatoes in oil, chopped up

1 can navy beans, drained

sprinkling of leftover fresh thyme leaves, to taste

coarse salt and black pepper to taste

splash of red wine from the bottle you didn't finish on sunday

leftover grated parmesan from when you realized the pesto recipe doesn't call for parm

That's it.

Bring the quinoa and water to a boil on the stove. Turn down, cover, and simmer 10-15 until all the water is absorbed. While quinoa is cooking, mix the beans with the pesto in a big bowl. Add chopped up sundried tomatoes. Splash a little red wine in, sprinkle the thyme, add salt & pepper. Then spoon probably 3/4 of the quinoa (you can save the rest for something...) into the bowl while still hot, and mix gently but well. Serve with grated parmesan for sprinkling.

Here's to improvisation in the face of life's changes. Happy Thursday,

The Boo