Harmony in Nuance

For aligned work and balanced salads

Nuance:  a slight shade or degree of difference (as in color, tone, or meaning)

Sometimes, a slight degree of difference can make ALL the difference. Nuance can be a little difference with a big impact.

In communication, the little difference with a big impact might be in tone, in the words chosen, or in the length of a witty zinger— just concise enough to draw blood. In food, it could be in the quantity of a certain texture or a flavor. In a room, it might be the shade of white on the walls. There are hundreds of shades of white, and while the difference can be nearly undetectable to the eye, once covering the walls, the difference can be felt.

For the past eight years, my work— specifically my work on my blog— has been objectively more or less the same. Yet, as I’ve learned more about myself, my motivations and my values have changed. The challenge therein is to carry on my work while employing the necessary nuance needed to feel that the work is aligned with who I am. It’s extremely hard. It would be much easier to generalize and look for footprints of those who came before me to follow. But I’ve come to feel (with great resistance along the way) that attention given to nuance in my work is deserved. Knowing myself has helped me shape the slight degrees of difference that make me feel that my work is truly mine. Like the white paint, maybe the difference isn’t easily seen, but felt instead.

One area in which I’ve always known that attention deserves to be paid to nuance is in food! Slight degrees of difference can absolutely make all the difference in a dish. It’s to do with which flavors and textures are present in a dish, and how much of each one. The power of nuance in food has convinced me that my “not liking” a food or a flavor is hardly ever concrete. If it’s nuanced and celebrated with the right supporting players, that previously-believed-to-be-hated flavor just might be enjoyed. 

Nuanced: having nuances : having or characterized by subtle and often appealingly complex qualities, aspects, or distinctions (as in character or tone)

Admittedly, sometimes dishes can be overly nuanced, to the point that its kind of one note or overly subtle. The salad pictured below inspired this post, and it is, in my opinion, perfectly nuanced. I almost didn’t taste the individual flavors, they worked together to form a flavor amongst them, with pops of orange like bubbles in champagne. 

Radicchio, Bibb lettuce, hazelnuts, shaved fennel, mint, parsley, prosciutto, navel orange and farro, with a dressing of red wine vinegar, parmigiano reggiano, anchovy, and olive oil. Bitter, sweet, salty, earthy, floral, herbal, crunchy, juicy, it was all things. 

Okay, I’m going to quit going on pedantically about nuance now. My point is that nuance is important in a lot of areas of life. I’m finding that for deeper compassion and acceptance of people, flavors, and of myself, nuance and context are key.

More happenings this week:

A picture I took of our guest room bed to workshop ideas on in Photoshop.

Speaking of little difference, big impact: I’m letting my life’s direction choose my blog posts for me this month! Writing about things I’m already doing makes a lot less work for me.

(If that sounds obvious, you’re right, but it hasn’t been for me!)

I need some miniature planters for my pilea pups, so I think I will try making some out of polymer or air dry clay. I also have a Craigslist-found headboard in our guest room that I think I’ll paint and upholster. I’m also thinking of posting about easy spring crops to grow and improving photography with custom white balance.

A little bonus cheer: When we remodeled our front yard, I dug up hundreds of daffodil bulbs and moved them to a planter on the side of our house. They’ve been there ever since, patiently waiting to be planted somewhere purposefully. They can’t be seen in this planter unless you’re standing right in front of them, so I decided to harvest them ALL and put them all around the house. The sweet smell of daffodils was everywhere this week, it was wonderful.

Here’s the (other) best things I cooked this week:

Green Lentil Green Curry

I’ve been trying to replace meat with other sources of protein and I think this is my favorite lentil dish that I’ve made so far! I made a green curry as usual— sautéed garlic in coconut oil, added green curry paste and toasted for a bit. Then, added 2 cups broth, 2 cans coconut milk, fish sauce, palm sugar, and lime leaves. Simmered lentils 45 minutes, adding a Yukon gold potato 15 minutes in. Added diced zucchini during the last 10 minutes. Served with jasmine rice, cilantro, jalapeños, and finely julienned lime leaves on top.

Apple and Radish Salad with Yuzu Kosho Dressing

Seared chicken breast and fried shallots over a salad of butter lettuce, radishes, honey crisp apple, mint, and avocado. The dressing was yuzu kosho, lime juice, a dab of kewpie mayo, yogurt, and olive oil.

Ramen Noodles with Cabbage and Pork

This came from a picture of a dish in Bon Appetit that I couldn’t see the recipe for so I made up my own! Boiled and drained ramen noodles tossed with sliced savoy cabbage with a ginger dressing (ginger, garlic, rice vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, Worcestershire sauce, black pepper) and topped with a seared and sliced pork cutlet, cilantro, peanuts, and chili crisp.

That’s all for this Fryday, see you next time!

Kiya