Fresh starts
and a recipe for an avocado, quinoa and fava bean salad that is light and lovely
Have you felt your face tilting towards the sun?
If you’re in the northern hemisphere, the earth has started its shift sunward, bringing with it an abundance of seasonal gifts: daffodils; the special smell of the warming soil; robins; a freshness in the air; and the heart-stopping tender green that seems to blanket every tree.
It’s no wonder that this season of new beginnings is also the time when we feel the urge to shake out the mental cobwebs that have accumulated in our minds—and under the bed. It’s spring-cleaning season, and it’s a more widespread and ancient phenomenon than you might think.
For starters, we humans are programmed to get a spring in our step this time of year. We produce more melatonin in the winter, that deliciously drowsy hormone that encourages sleepiness. As the days get longer and warmer, our bodies’ levels of melatonin decreases and we naturally have more energy. That energy boost fuels our impulses to declutter, organize, and spruce up our environments.
The resulting benefits can go beyond sparkling windows and an organized closet. It can give us a new motivation to get things done.
The fresh start effect
That’s what Katherine Milkman, a Wharton professor, behavioral economist, and decision-making scholar, calls it. Milkman used a combination of data analysis and survey experiments to test her idea: that people feel more motivated to set and execute goals around socially meaningful calendar dates. While New Year’s Day has the most gravitational pull, dates like the start of spring can be a marker for new beginnings too - a fresh start of the most beautiful kind. After all, this is truly the time when new life begins.
“We generally like to have a vision of ourselves as on an improvement trajectory,” says Milkman. “Fresh starts give us the opportunity to throw the old self under the bus. It disconnects us, feels further behind—‘That was winter me—spring me will be different.’ That’s one thing we think contributes to fresh starts and the way they influence us.”
As I get ready to move and begin a new life, fresh starts have been on my mind. But it goes beyond deciding what to keep and what to take. At a deeper emotional level, fresh starts are giving me an opportunity to declutter from emotional baggage, old habits, wasted energy.
Out with the old
Beyond the deep satisfaction that comes with making everything sparkling, there are other ways we can “deep clean” our lives. Start by making space in your home for new energy. Paint a wall a bright and bold colour; add a plant; rearrange the furniture. Small steps that change up our environment not only enliven us - they can help us look at things in new ways.
There’s another benefit to decluttering that may not be so obvious, and that’s saving time. Benjamin Franklin famously said “a place for everything and everything in its place,” and if you’ve ever spent 20 minutes looking for the birthday candles, you’ll know the power of this phrase.
Decluttering is not only about throwing out that pile of old newspapers. It’s getting rid of things that no longer serve us emotionally. Old love letters, the quesadilla maker we bought, that great dress that no longer fits… The physical possessions we hold on to can keep us attached to people, situations or things in our past that serve to remind us of ways we might have let ourselves down.
It’s also a great time to let go of resentments, grudges, anger for things long past. By letting go we make room for new things, new relationships and new ways of being happy in our own skins.
Having less can improve our mood, decrease stress, and make room for creativity to blossom. As we breathe deep and savour the explosion of spring around us, we can feel lighter in every way.
Avocado, quinoa and fava bean salad
Plenty, Yotam Ottolenghi
serves 6
My favourite market vendor, Ayse from Marvellous Edibles (no, not cannabis, but real food! :-), writes a wonderful weekly email that keeps her subscribers up to date on what’s happening at the farm (you can read more about Ayse here). Through her, I know that we’re about three weeks away from her first crop of amazing asparagus, and the other spring veggies will follow in quick succession.
Until the asparagus, rhubarb, peas and ramps fill my refrigerator to overflowing, this bright and beautiful salad is a feast for the eyes and tummy. Trust Ottolenghi to put together a mix that’s the perfect fresh start to dinner.
Note: the two lemons may seem like a lot, but the bright burst of citrusy flavour they add to this salad is wonderful. Don’t skimp on them! Frozen shelled fava beans make quick work of the usually laborious fresh variety - but be sure to bookmark this salad for when fresh favas start showing up in the produce aisle.
Ingredients
3 cups cooked quinoa, well drained
1 pound (3 cups) frozen shelled fava beans
2 medium lemons
2 medium ripe avocados
1-2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 bunches breakfast radishes, halved lengthways
1 cup purple radish cress (or small purple basil leaves)
1 tbsp ground cumin
⅓ cup olive oil
¼ tsp chili flakes, or to taste
Salt and black pepper
Cook fava beans in large pot of boiling salted water until just tender, about three minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the beans to a bowl and set aside.
Take the lemons and use a small sharp knife to slice off the top and base. Stand each one on a chopping board and cut down the sides, following the natural curve, to remove the skin and white pith. Over a large mixing bowl, cut in between the membranes to release the individual segments into the bowl. Squeeze the juice from the membrane into the bowl with the segments.
Peel and stone the avocados. Slice thinly, then add to the bowl and toss to cover in the lemon juice.
Put the quinoa in a large pretty bowl for serving. Add the fava beans, garlic, radishes, half the radish cress, the cumin, olive oil, chili flakes and salt and pepper.
Toss very gently - your hands make a nice utensil here. Taste and adjust for seasonings, adding more salt, pepper, cumin, and chili flakes as desired. Sprinkle with the remaining cress and serve.