All this he saw, for one moment breathless and intense, vivid on the morning sky; and still, as he looked, he lived; and still, as he lived, he wondered.
― Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows
I am writing this sitting cross legged on a day bed in Lou Lou, a vintage caravan we call home. To my right is a pot of green tea. To my left is a window with a view of the Indian Ocean, like a giant blue cotton sheet flapping gently in the wind. The sun falls in clean biting blocks and looking out it is hard to imagine that just yesterday we were cleaning up after a cyclone.
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Early Friday morning found us tracking cyclone Quong and preparing the best we could for what looked like a direct hit. Luckily the cyclone was decreasing in intensity and we were fairly sure we could save the caravan but didn’t hold much hope for our canvas tent which operates as my painting studio and a supply tent. I was busy packing everything I could in to Lou Lou while Rock roped her down with sand anchors. The weather hit early and we were doing this in sheets of rain with 120 km winds. We were blue lipped and stiff fingered with cold. We spent the zenith of the cyclone watching Mother Nature roar from the safety of our vehicle parked in front of sand dunes which took the full brunt of the storm.
Even though it was only a category two it was such an extraordinary experience to witness nature in her full power. It was awe inspiring and humbling, a reminder that we should never lose respect for Mother Nature and what she is capable of.
We returned to camp to find our tent shredded but otherwise little damage. We are grateful for this as well as the floods of sunshine which is helping us to dry everything out.
While we adapt to life in the raw, my eye is never too far from my personal healing journey. Part of living this way, for me anyway, is to find the space and time to build a life that is creative, authentic and above all joyous. I consider sobriety and clean eating to be the two fundamental pillars of my personal journey and I have written about that before. These pillars are natural to me now. I have seven months of sobriety in my journey, something I could never have imagined before. Food is grain free, sugar free and as plant based as I can get it. I have lost over 11 kg now and I feel like somebody flicked me on permanent high beam. With these pillars feeling cemented and strong I look for little blocks of wisdom that help me to pave the rest of the journey.
The thing that I have realized is that there is no end point. There is just a glorious amassing of inspiration and knowledge. I love this part of the journey, the quirky eclectic bower bird like picking of inspiration. In the early evening when the sun is preparing to fall, I take a long walk on the beach. I plug a podcast in to my ears while feet move, move, move. I listen to Tara Brach, the Rich Roll podcast, The Calm Living Blueprint to name a few. I love that I can work my body and mind at the same time and I never fail to extract a little nugget that I can pack in to my tool kit of wellness.
Things evolve and change. I hope I do too. As Lao Tzu said in 570 – 490 BC “If you do not change direction you may end up where you are heading”. Wise Wise words.
Living on a beach with a fisherman husband has been wonderful for my menu planning. Last night after being cold and wet I decided we needed a steaming bowl of nourishment. Rock had caught a small shark so I pulled out my tagine and got busy roasting and grinding spices. I am becoming rather adept at cooking wildly which I tend toward and taking notes just in case the recipe was great. This was.
For a vegetarian version you can replace the fish with any vegetables. A mixture of eggplant, capsicum, pumpkin and zucchini would work well.
Fish Tagine
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When you are ready to serve scatter the tagine with fresh mint and coriander and serve in shallow bowls.
Enjoy x
Servings
Prep time
Cook time
Recipe
Ingredients
- 800 gm firm white fish – I used a small shark (flake) or vegetables for vegetarian version, see above.
- 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 medium size red onions – finely sliced
- 1 red capsicum – diced in large chunks
- 2 carrots – diced small pieces
- 4 cloves garlic
- thumb size piece ginger
- 1 fresh red chili – more or less to suit personal taste
- 2 tins whole peeled tomatoes
- 1 piece preserved lemon – ¼ piece of whole lemon
- 2 tbsp whole green olives
- coriander and fresh mint to garnish
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tsp coriander seeds
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- pinch saffron in 2 tbsp warm water
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 3 dried red chili – more or less to suit personal taste
Method
- Toast cumin and coriander seeds separately in hot dry frying pan. Pound seeds in mortar and pestle. Add remaining spices, olive oil and saffron including the water. Pound and mix together until you have a nice paste consistency.
- Marinate fish or vegetables if using with the chermoula paste and set aside. Leave for a few hours or overnight if possible.
- Place olive oil in a large heavy based pot or tagine base if using. Sweat onions on low heat until they are soft and translucent. Add garlic, capsicum, carrots, ginger and chili. Continue to cook on low for a further 20 minutes. Add whole tinned tomatoes, preserved lemon and olives. Bring to the boil and then reduce heat. Add the chermoula marinated fish or vegetables. Place tagine hood or lid on, reduce heat to low and leave for 25 minutes or until fish or vegetables are cooked.
- When you are ready to serve scatter the tagine with fresh mint and coriander and serve in shallow bowls.
Tried this recipe? Mention @wellbeing_magazine or tag #wbrecipe!
