Merrimack Valley Magazine

MVCSA – Warm Salads: Peas and Braised Lettuce

June 12, 2021 by Marc and Christopher Horne

With the warm weather comes the spring CSA for those of you who subscribe to one. Soon, many varieties of spring greens will become widely available, and unless you think creatively, you risk making your meals tiresome if you only serve variations on the traditional salad, particularly if your CSA box contains greens in abundance. If you don’t subscribe to a CSA, keep your eyes out as spring greens appear at farm stands throughout the Merrimack Valley.

PEAS AND BRAISED LETTUCE

This is our take on a classic French farmhouse dish. It’s a wonderful example of utilizing the best that spring has to offer, and makes for a more interesting course than basic peas and onions.

Start to finish: 20 minutes
Servings: 4-6 as a first course or side

12 scallions (green onions), chopped
6 radishes, sliced in half
1 cup green peas (fresh is best, but frozen will work, too)
1 large head of soft spring lettuce with the core removed (we prefer Tokyo bekana, but any soft spring lettuce, such as baby gem, Boston lettuce or romaine, will work wonderfully)
4 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup white wine (substitute 1 tablespoon of white wine vinegar if you don’t want to use wine)
1/2 cup chicken broth (homemade is best here, canned is great, but be sure to use low-sodium)
1 tablespoon sour cream
1 tablespoon chopped chives
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
1 tablespoon chopped mint
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Place a large saute pan over medium-high heat.

When the pan is hot, add 2 tablespoons of butter, the sliced radish, and the chopped scallions, cook 2-3 minutes.

Add the white wine and cook for 2 minutes until evaporated.

Add peas and cook for 2-3 minutes.

Add the chicken broth and bring to a boil.

Reduce the heat to low and add the lettuce leaves. Stir until slightly wilted.

Add the salt, black pepper, sour cream, chives, parsley and mint. Stir to combine.

Turn off the heat and add the remaining
2 tablespoons of butter, stirring until the butter is melted.

Serve immediately while still hot.

The Backyard Naturalist – Down in the Dark

June 4, 2021 by Sarah Courchesne

Plants and People Prepare for the Spring Emergence

Fall bulb planting and spring bulb sprouting make me think of bridges. Driving across bridges I usually think grim thoughts about what I would do if my car plunged off the side, if I had to try to remember the advice from “The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook.” It’s patently ridiculous, requiring the kind of cool no one possesses without military-style training — waiting for the car to fill with water, then taking a last deep breath in the remaining air pocket, opening the door and swimming toward the surface. This presumes, of course, that you can orient to where the surface is, in turbid water, probably at night, hypothermia setting in. I think of this at bulb-planting time for the ease with which plants do a very similar trick.

Bulbs have a right way up, and a gardener does well to attend to it. In most cases, they sit like little teapots: The broad basal plate settles flat into the little pit, and the pointy bit points up. There’s always advice online about making sure they go in right side up, but then, the advice-givers often admit, it won’t be the end of the world if you mess it up. The plant, in most cases, will figure out what’s gone on and sprout itself up and root itself down regardless. Down in the dark, in the dirt, a shoot sprouting will make a U-turn if it finds itself wrong-way down, and fiddlehead around to bolt for the light. But is it light at all that these pallid tentacles are following?

Plants have light-sensing cells to be sure, but they can also sense gravity through starch grains that settle to the bottom of specialized cells in the roots and shoots. By the pattern of that silting sediment, the plant knows which way is down. The roots will follow that signal, and the shoots will flee it. In the old Victorian papers, Charles Darwin and contemporaries reported on their experiments on the subject of plant growth. Language shifts, of course, and those writers used older meanings of words: “sensibility” means something more akin to “sensitivity.” They were interested in just how plants react to input from the environment via what Alfred Bennett referred to as “the organs of assimilation” in an 1875 review of Darwin’s book “Insectivorous Plants.” Bennett and Darwin both used the word “irritation” to refer to any stimulus. Irritation, then, did not have a negative connotation to these scientists. Gravity, water, sunlight: All were irritants capable of drawing a response.

I thought about this meaning of irritation as I was commiserating with a friend over email. She and I have both been stuck at home for a year now, constantly cohabiting with other people who are working from home. She told me she found the sound of her husband’s nightly peanut snacking almost unbearable. I told her I had asked my husband if he really needed to walk so loudly and so close to me as he passed through the room? He just stood there, blinking at me. On my meditation app, the teacher always prompts me to note any sounds around me. I find myself wondering how I could fail to note them.

My organs of assimilation are raw and frayed. Eyes closed, I can tell which child is walking through the kitchen, exactly what snacks they are sneaking. I can hear the radon fan’s ceaseless whirring, and my husband breathing louder than seems strictly necessary. Some of these are irritants in the conventional sense, but mainly, I suppose, the way the plants mean it — after a year holed up, the second spring, I’m coiled, ready to bolt for the light.

MVCSA – Warm Salads: Pan-Roasted Cabbage and Beet Salad

May 31, 2021 by Marc and Christopher Horne

PAN-ROASTED CABBAGE AND BEET SALAD

Pan-roasting small, young spring cabbages is a great way to turn a farm stand staple into an interesting dish. The normally bitter cabbage will become much sweeter while browning in the pan, and it pairs wonderfully with tender beets and creamy goat cheese.

Start to finish: 50 minutes
Servings: 4 as a first course

1 small head of cabbage, cut into quarters (we like to use caraflex cabbage, but any small green cabbage will work well here)
6 baby beets
4 ounces goat cheese, crumbled
1 grapefruit, sliced with peel removed
1/4 cup chopped pistachios
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Wrap beets in aluminum foil and roast at 400 F for 30 minutes or until tender. Set aside to cool.

When the beets are cool, remove from foil and cut in half.

Place a cast-iron pan or heavy-bottom skillet over medium-high heat.

When the pan is hot, add half of the olive oil
(2 tablespoons) and place the quartered cabbages in the pan. Cook until well browned on each side — about 4-6 minutes per side.

Into a small bowl, combine the remaining olive oil, lemon juice and salt and pepper, and whisk to make a dressing.

On a platter, place the browned cabbage, cooked and halved beets, and grapefruit slices.

Drizzle the dressing over the cabbage, beets and grapefruit.

Garnish the platter with the crumbled goat cheese and chopped pistachio.

Living Madly – Dust

May 22, 2021 by Emilie-Noelle Provost

On Ash Wednesday, my daughter, Madelaine, and I drove to St. Joseph the Worker Shrine in Lowell. A young priest in a white vestment stood on the sidewalk in front of the church. Following the line of cars in front of us, we pulled up and rolled down the windows. As the priest placed ashes on our foreheads, he said, “Remember you are dust and unto dust you shall return.”

I’d always thought of this simple ritual as purely figurative, a reminder of our mortality, certainly, but nothing I felt compelled to dwell on. Experiencing it, however, while sitting in my car with the engine running—yet another reminder of the ways in which COVID-19 has altered the state of the world—made it feel both relevant and significant. If I’ve learned anything over the past year, it’s that no matter how much technology we have or how safe we might feel surrounded by the walls of our homes, anything can happen.

In the days following our visit to St. Joseph’s, I found myself thinking a lot about my mother, who died in September. She hated bananas and scrambled eggs, and was happiest when she was making things. Everyone in my family owns a quilt or wall hanging or tablecloth that she designed and sewed. She was the center of my extended family, so much so that it wasn’t until she was gone that anyone realized the extent to which she held us all together.

At my mother’s request, we had her body cremated. Her ashes sit inside a beautiful porcelain urn in my stepfather’s living room. Dust.

Lately, when I’m hiking through the woods on a local trail or climbing a peak in the White Mountains—away from anything constructed by human beings—I think a lot about the cycle of life, and how the death of a plant or animal often makes the existence of another living thing possible. I stop to look at the fresh green shoots pushing their way up through layers of decaying leaves. Bouquets of curling fiddleheads and clusters of spruce saplings compete for space on top of rotting logs. In New Hampshire’s Ossipee Mountains, my husband and I discovered a large vernal pool where we were surprised to find a pair of wood frogs happily consuming the body of a dead mouse.

Anyone familiar with basic biology knows that all things on Earth, living and nonliving, are made up of the same elements. Oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, iron, calcium, magnesium, sodium and nitrogen flow through our veins as well as those of every other animal on the planet. The mud, rocks, trees, insects, flowers and birds we see, smell and touch every day—even the planets, moon and stars—are mainly comprised of these same building blocks. We are more interconnected with each other and the world we live in than we think.

Spring has always been a time for new beginnings. This year especially, the budding trees and warming sun remind me that as long as we are alive and willing, it’s possible to reinvent ourselves.

With my mother gone, my siblings, stepfather, daughter, husband, nieces and nephews are still figuring out how to go forward as a family. In learning how we fit together and what we want our roles to be, we have a rare opportunity to discard dynamics, habits, ideas and traditions that no longer work. It’s also given us a chance to resolve conflicts and, most importantly, to get to know one another again, this time as the complex adults we all are. As heartbreaking and difficult as this process is at times, I’ve come to see it as my mother’s final gift.

My mother had many hobbies and interests, but I know there were a lot of things she wanted to do that she never got around to. She had regrets, and felt that her life was ending too soon.

There are still books I want to write, places I want to go, and people I’d like to see more often. I have mountains yet to climb. But I know the amount of time I have left on this planet isn’t necessarily up to me. I’m making an effort to waste less time, work less, and to stop putting things I want to do on the back burner in favor of making other people happy.

Remember you are dust and unto dust you shall return. Part science, part mystery and part miracle, the dust and we really are one.

Contact Emilie at eprovost@mvmag.net

Wellness Wednesday – 3/24/21

March 24, 2021 by Kristin Cole

A new season is finally here in the Merrimack Valley, and we celebrated the spring equinox this weekend with sunny skies and 60-degree temperatures. Perhaps because this winter has felt incredibly long, or because vaccinations numbers are rising, I feel strongly that this spring will bring a sense of relief to everyone. But to really feel this, we need to embrace it. Open your windows, let the natural light warm your skin and the springtime air breathe life back into your home and your spirit. This week, we’re encouraging you to appreciate nature by getting outside and getting moving.

Nature’s Medicine

One doesn’t need to be an expert hiker to enjoy the benefits of being outdoors. Simply going outside and getting a walk in — especially after months of frigid, unpredictable weather— is extremely beneficial to your health. According to Business Insider, scientific research says that spending time outdoors improves short-term memory, reduces inflammation, eliminates fatigue, lowers your blood pressure, improves your ability to focus, and much more. Furthermore, this infographic from SelectHealth adds that getting outdoors improves your ability to absorb vitamin D and strengthens your immune system.

Both of the articles mention that spending time in nature reduces stress and anxiety, which are facts that I can personally attest to. Especially during quarantine last year, walking on local trails was one of the best ways to ease my often frantic mind. In fact, this past weekend, my dog and I stepped outside, inhaled the fresh air and took our first walk weeks. The relief that this brought me after a very long week of midterm exams was immense.

If the past few months — if not the past year — have caught up with you and the brain fog is settling in, check out this advice on how to clear your head. Moreover, if you’re looking to start this spring season off right, American Health & Wellness offers five healthful tips for spring: spend time in nature (obviously), lighten up your plate, garden for exercise, drink more water and sleep more.

Merrimack Valley Trail Guide

Now that you are ready to lace up your sneakers and head outside, here are some recommendations for walking trails in the Merrimack Valley.

Winnikinni Castle (Haverhill, Mass.): This is my dog and I’s favorite place to walk. Not only does Winnikinni offer tennis courts, a playground, a picnic area and beautiful views of Kenoza Lake and Winnikinni Castle, there are numerous walking trails of varying lengths that are perfect for family members of all ages. More information on Winnikinni can be found here.

Harold Parker State Forest (North Andover, Mass.): Harold Parker offers multiple trails that one can walk along, as well as a pond for those looking to relax and go fishing. There are wider paths for those looking for an easier walk or more thickly wooded ones for the more adventurous hikers. Because this park is rather large, parking can be a bit confusing, so click here for more detailed information on navigating Harold Parker.

The Rail Trail: The rail trail is the perfect place for both a distance run, a bike ride, or a family friendly walk. One of my favorite things about the rail trail is you can literally walk between towns. Entering via Railroad street in Methuen provides two options, walking into Lawrence and passing local mill buildings, or walking into Salem, N.H, parallel to Route 28. You can also enter the rail trail further up north in Salem across from Walmart on Route 28, or in Windham where you can park in the Windham Depot parking lot. For more info on the rail trails, click here for Windham and here for Methuen.

Plaistow Town Forest (Plaistow, N.H.): This was a great, wooded walking path that I discovered this winter, and am excited to venture into this spring. It was quiet and peaceful, with some unique walking paths and a wooden lookout to stop and observe some views. For more information on the forest, click here.

One can find more local trails suggestions by visiting here. And if you are interested in more nature outings, check out the Trustees website for walking trails and fun outdoor events that the whole family can enjoy.

For more adventurous hikers looking for something new, our spring intern Justin Kauppi discusses climbing Mt. Watatic, which lies between Ashburnham and Ashby in central Mass. Kauppi offers advice for those looking to make the climb.

“Less than 60 miles west of Lowell lies a small mountain called Mt. Watatic. The mountain lies between Ashburnham and Ashby, and, at only 1,832 feet, Watatic is an easy undertaking for those less inclined to hike its taller neighbors like Mt. Wachusett (2,005’) or Mt. Monadnock (3,165’). The Boston skyline can even be seen on clear days for an unforgettable view.

With a parking lot at the entrance of its main trail as well as roadside parking on a nearby street, the hike to the top is free and easily accessible. If you’re looking to embrace the spring weather, hiking Mt. Watatic is a great way to enjoy nature and get in some exercise while maintaining social distancing.

Even on a frigid day in March, my mother and I threw on our beanies and gloves and embarked one of Watatic’s clearly marked trails to the summit. The trails were still covered with a layer of packed down snow that, in some places, were quite icy. Although my mother and I completed our trek without suffering any falls, I recommend wearing proper ice spikes on your boots if you plan on making your way to the top. However, they are not necessary.

With careful footing and a few quick stops to enjoy the scenery along the way, we made it to the summit in 38 minutes while following the blue trail. At the top, we decided to embark down the mountain’s saddle to the south summit where the best views can be taken in. There, we sat and stared at miles of mountains and forests that run all the way to Boston. On our descent, we decided to trek down the popular Wapack trail to conclude a great morning on the mountain.

To learn more about Mt. Watatic, visit here. And if you’re looking for things to do in the area when you’re done hiking, you’ll find nice ideas here. Just remember to call businesses ahead of time for updates on COVID restrictions.”

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GOOD READS

Nature Heals. You may think that to feel the healing powers of nature, you need to get out every day. However, according to this article from Healthline, spending just two hours a week in nature provides a number of health benefits that go beyond physical activity.

No Shoes, No Problem. Do you enjoy the feeling of grass on your feet? Are you more inclined to go barefoot in the summer? Then this article is for you. “Is it safe to workout barefoot?” describes the strengthening benefits of going barefoot along with the risks.

Immune Boost. Whether you’re vaccinated or not, supporting your immune system is imperative to living a healthy live. U.S. News describes the 8 best ways to boost your immune system (but don’t forget to get outdoors.)