Avocado and strawberry caprese
The joy of hobbies
Welcome to To Vegetables, With Love, a celebration of a vegetable life, less ordinary. ‘ Find archived recipes on my recipe index.
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There was a Sunday a year or more ago, when I suddenly realized that, without cooking, I did not know what to do with my ‘spare time’. My hobby had become my job, and vice versa.
This realization left me unmoored.
While I love cooking, and feel absolutely privileged that I have turned a creative passion into a successful and satisfying career, I did not want it to be the only thing I found enjoyment in. Perhaps in my fervor for food and creation, I had forgotten to nourish my imagination in other ways. Maybe I had forgotten to welcome the quiet moments, to find joy in activities that did not have a direct outcome. There can be so much contentment derived from just engaging in creation without purpose.
Finding a hobby didn’t happen straight away. But gradually, as I opened myself to new ideas, I found myself rediscovering activities which young Hetty had enjoyed. Knitting was one of them. My mum is a skilled knitter and always created stunning textiles, which are now family heirlooms, without patterns. I started knitting as a teenager; there was one summer when my sister and I created a sizable number of coat hanger covers. Over the years, I had knitted booties, beanies, scarves, and once, in the nineties of course, I even knitted a mottled blue miniskirt very similar to this one (its still in my old bedroom at my mum’s house!). When my bestie Shirley started knitting a few years ago, my interest was reignited. She soon became my knitting doula and, with her mentorship, I have enjoyed developing my skills and becoming more adventurous in my projects. My greatest achievement so far has been knitting this mohair blouse.
Earlier this year, I impulsively picked up a small travel watercolor set from my fave local stationer at the behest of Shirley and my pal
. I had never painted before, well not since high school art class. I am notoriously bad at drawing, and even though I make fun of my middle son Dash about his stick figures, my illustrations are not much better. Painting is something I would never thought to try…if it wasn’t for Shirley and Stacey’s enthusiasm. I treasure my friends, they always know how to enable both my irrational urges, along with providing the right amount of encouragement to inspire me to try something new.I came home with this watercolor set and a pack of watercolour postcards. In the early days, I started painting early in the morning, as my youngest pottered around getting ready for school. I painted without any guides. My subjects were usually objects I found around the house - plants, pottery, more plants. And then I got a copy of
’s The Watercolor Feast, and I became completely enchanted with the joy of painting vegetables, fruits and flowers. Erin’s lessons are simple and accessible; no experience required. What I love most is that she encourages imperfections and self expression. The book has given me so much joy, so it was a huge honour to do this lunch hour paint and cook along with Erin this week - you can catch up with it below.WATERCOLOR FEAST WITH ERIN GLEESON: Catch up with our paint and eat session
Thank you to everyone who joined Erin Gleeson and I for our creative lunch hour yesterday. What an honor it was to paint along with Erin, whose book The Watercolor Feast has given me so much joy over the past few months. I am new to watercolor (and had never painted before prior to February of this year) but dabbling in paint and water has introduced a simple daily…
And after you have painted an avocado, you can make Erin’s delighted avocado and strawberry caprese style salad. It’s so simple, but super fresh and delicious. Who knew avocado goes so well with strawberries!? I’ll be making this all summer long…
And since I rediscovered knitting and found watercolouring, I now feel like my days are more balanced. I am still obsessed with cooking, but I don’t think about it all the time. I am reading more, walking more, tending more to my home/stoop plants more. I started a pottery wheel class last week thanks to my friend Stiliani at Noble Plateware and I’ll let you know how that all turns out LOL. But overall, my hobbies have allowed my mind to rest. It’s a good feeling.
Do you have hobbies? I’d love to know and perhaps be inspired.
THERE’S A BIG ANNOUNCEMENT COMING THIS WEEK!!!
Watch this space and also my Instagram on Wednesday and Thursday. If you enjoy salad, and I know you all do, you won’t want to miss this!
All NYT Cooking recipes have gift links:
Monday: Start the week with a vibrant Herby Pearl Couscous and Sugar Snap Pea Salad. Leftovers are perfect for lunch!
Tuesday: One pot udon noodles with kimchi and cheese
Wednesday: Crispy Sheet-Pan Noodles With Glazed Tofu is always a winner
Thursday: Make frozen dumplings the hero with this dumpling noodle soup
Friday: Enjoy an easy Friday with this broken egg salad. I use jammy eggs and it might forever change the way you make egg salad.
🥦 My cookbook, Tenderheart is for cooking vegetables, all year round. Pick up your copy here. It is also mostly vegan (or vegan-izable) and gluten-free adaptable.
Avocado and strawberry caprese
© From The Watercolor Feast by Erin Gleeson, used with permission by Hetty Lui McKinnon for To Vegetables, With Love.
This recipe idea belongs to Erin Gleeson and her book The Watercolor Feast. The ingredient measurements provided are what I used when making Erin’s salad.
This salad uses the familiar caprese salad as inspiration, with the addition of creamy avocado and tangy strawberries. It comes together in minutes and it what I call ‘happy food’. Dress with some balsamic vinegar if you’d like extra sweetness and acidity but it’s lovely with just good olive oil and a generous season with sea salt and black pepper.
Serves 4
2 ripe avocado, seed and peel discarded, flesh cut into cubes
450g (1 pound) ripe strawberries, trimmed and quartered
340g (12 ounces) cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
225g (8 ounces) baby mozzarella balls (bocconcini), drained
extra virgin olive oil
sea salt and black pepper
handful of basil leaves
In a large bowl, add the avocado, strawberries, tomatoes, and mozzarella. Drizzle with olive oil and season generously with sea salt and black pepper. To serve, top with basil and eat immediately.
When I made food my job I knew I needed a no-pressure creative outlet and found it in pottery. Have dabbled with watercolours too and love the idea of that book. Thanks for the recommendation.
Yum! Watercolour is a very satisfying hobby! We have a weekly sketch club in our little town and many of our sketchers also enjoy using watercolour. It’s so portable, and forgiving.