Month of July: “Purple Citrus Sweet Perfume” Recipe: Poached Eggs with a Yogurt Paprika Dressing and Tomato, Pomegranate and Sumac Salad

“Nothing ever goes away until it has taught us what we need to learn.” Pema Chodron

On my way to find sumac I was blinded by the glare of the 92 degree hazy sky. My eyes hurt and I had just come from a session with my therapist Grace. I was ready to pull over and find the closest drug store for emergency sunglasses. However I plowed on but kept internally struggling with this ever difficult gnawing emotional work of redefining love and putting together the pieces of my childhood. It is challenging at any age to psychologically let in that we were not loved in critical ways that mattered most to our developing fragile hearts.

After finding my items for today, I called my husband Andrew to share my revelations when all of a sudden a massive lightening bolt in the distance came down from the sky on the center horizon. It was intensely electrifying! I had never seen a lightening bolt so large and so intense. Like never. It kinda was like what you might imagine how lightening is portrayed in a technicolor Ten Commandments movie. Was I going to be smote down by the heavens for being so ungrateful? What the hell is happening to me these days? So many strange occurrences have been happening. My husband and I laughed in that way you do when things are getting inexplicably weird.

By the time I got to the studio it began pouring and I had to sit and wait for the rain to lessen. I thought about Abby and how our connection was so mutually loving. How she was one of the few people in my life who just consistently loved me for who I am, not for what I could do for her. How she truly cared about my deep feelings and my thoughts and I about hers. The dependable togetherness filled an empty space in my emotional world and I am still lost without her. Yet, oddly this new space I have now created seems to be very slowly healing me in ways I didn’t think were possible for me… just for me.

Tomato, Pomegranate and Sumac Salad with a Pomegranate Dressing

Ingredients: 6 ripe plum tomatoes, seeds of 1 pomegranate, 1/4 cup olive oil, 2 tablespoons pomegranate molasses, 1 teaspoon crushed sumac, 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin, sea salt and freshly ground pepper

1. Slice with tomatoes and place in a large bowl. Add the pomegranate seeds and combine. Mix together the oil, pomegranate molasses, sumac and cumin in a bowl and pour over the salad and season. Gently toss.

Poached Eggs with a Yogurt Paprika Dressing

Ingredients: 1/4 cup distilled white vinegar, 8 large eggs, 1 garlic clove (optional), 2 tablespoons butter, 1.5 cups yogurt, 4 teaspoons of paprika, 1 tablespoon finely chopped mint and sea salt

1.Fill half of a medium saucepan with salted water and the vinegar. Bring to a boil but turn down to a simmer. Do not cook the eggs more than 2 at a time. Poach 2-4 minutes for a soft yolk or 5 minutes for a hard yolk. Transfer eggs with a slotted spoon to a large bowl of hot water to keep warm.

2.Stir garlic into yogurt if using (I did!). Heat the butter until sizzling in a small skillet over low heat. Add and stir the paprika for 30 seconds (don’t let it burn). For each serving of two eggs, top with yogurt and drizzle with paprika butter and sprinkle with mint. Season and serve.