WELLNESS | by JEAN GALTON

AS MUCH AS I LOVE FRIED ANYTHING, occasionally I’ll opt for a lighter and healthier route, as in these fish tacos. Instead of the usual deep-fried cod, here the fish is grilled, adding a nice smoky flavor to the mix. With a crunchy cabbage mix, corn tortillas and a lime-flavored mayonnaise sauce, you won’t miss the deep fryer.

© ANGIE NORWOOD BROWNE

Lighter Fish Tacos
Serves 4

1/2 medium head savoy or green cabbage, thinly shredded
1 cup shredded purple cabbage
1 carrot, peeled and shredded
3 tablespoons lime juice
1 tablespoon minced jalapeno
1/2 cup light mayonnaise
1/2 cup low-fat Greek yogurt
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1 pound cod, mahi-mahi or halibut fillets
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
Grated zest of 1 lime
Warm corn tortillas

1. Preheat a grill to high and oil the grates.
2. In a large bowl, toss together the cabbages, carrot, lime juice and jalapeno. In a small bowl stir together the mayonnaise, yogurt and cilantro. Set aside.
3. Sprinkle the fish with the salt and pepper and grill just until done, about 8 minutes per inch of thickness. Sprinkle with the lime zest and cut into serving pieces. Serve with the cabbage, mayonnaise sauce and corn tortillas.

WELLNESS | by SHERRY STRIPLING

“Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.” — Buddha

AS A NON-YOGA, non-meditative, grab-and-go type, I’m always looking for shortcuts to bliss. The most productive method for me is finding flow.

SOURCE: iSTOCKPHOTO.COM

Flow is being so consumed by a task that you time travel. Two hours feels like five minutes. You accomplish something wonderful and yet you feel relaxed.

The first time I felt it I immediately knew my career path. I’d spent the lunch hour readying my high-school newspaper for publication. When I next became aware of time, I’d missed two classes.

With flow, you’re completely in the moment. You focus so deeply on a single task that you strike gold: great satisfaction in the quality of whatever you’ve produced, and also an amazing calm. To practice:

• Devote yourself to one task for at least an hour a day. That’s one task without interruption: No phone, no email, no “Mom, could you…?”
• Pick a Goldilocks task: one that’s challenging but neither too hard nor too easy.
• Make the task something you’re passionate about.
• Up your odds of success by picking a time when you usually feel peak energy and concentration.

Finding flow is an odd sensation of losing yourself but gaining more control. Your spirit, your body and your mind stop tripping over each long enough for you to create something that is totally you and truly fine.

DESIGN | by CELESTE TELL

IN THE 1990s, Design Within Reach (DWR) tore down the walls of secrecy and exclusivity and started selling high-end modern design classics to the masses, flattening the design world as they went. For the first time, you could buy an Eames Chair — at retail. More than any other single company, DWR has done more to flatten and “open source” the design world.

SOUCRE: DESIGNWITHINREACH.COM

But DWR went even further. To an audience hungry for information, they supplied the back story, sharing what were formerly state secrets about designers, materials and fabrication methods. And in the process, they changed, well, everything.

At the time, the only way to get high-end modern home furnishings was to take a trip to your local design center with an interior designer. Access to information was limited to the “profession” and carefully transmitted to consumers through this closed-loop system of designers, showrooms, catalogs and magazines.

While DWR was opening up the upscale market, Ikea was flattening the world by globally mass-marketing “euro-design”. With their sophisticated manufacturing, and DIY warehouse and assembly, Ikea sold high design at a low price. But Ikea flattened style too, making the global local. With stores in 39 countries, you can get that same Ikea experience whether you live in Sweden, Saudi Arabia or San Francisco.

With DWR staking out the high end, and Ikea the mass market, West Elm took on the middle ground, launching in 2002 with only catalogs and a website. And the list keeps growing. You can shop, research and buy just about anything from anywhere online. From eBay to Etsy, you can access to a wide range of products and information that once required a degree in interior design. Or at least the wherewithal to hire one.

PASSIONS | by JEAN GALTON

YOU MIGHT THINK that a recipe for cinnamon toast is silly. But this cinnamon toast is a revelation. No pasty white bread here: It’s made of robust slices of raisin-nut bread.

© ANGIE NORWOOD BROWNE

My favorite is made by Seattle’s Essential Baking Co., which constructs a sturdy loaf of organic wheat flour with pecans and raisins. Sliced, toasted and spread with salted butter (I love Kerrygold, a lovely Irish butter) and a sprinkle of rough brown sugar and cinnamon, this cinnamon toast is a wonderful thing. The salt in the butter offsets the sweetness of the sugar, raisins and cinnamon and, after just one bite, all is good in the world.

Cinnamon Toast
2 slices artisan raisin-nut bread
1 teaspoon organic brown sugar
Pinch cinnamon
1 tablespoon salted Irish butter, softened

1. Preheat the broiler. Lightly toast the bread slices on both sides.
2. Meanwhile, mix the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl.
3. Remove bread to a cutting board, spread with the butter and sprinkle with the cinnamon. Serve.

PASSIONS | by MOLLY MARTIN

LIVING IN A DOWNTOWN APARTMENT WITH NO DECK, I sometimes get a hankering for more gardening that our many houseplants just can’t satisfy — particularly of the edible kind.

© MOLLY MARTIN

Some herbs do just fine, especially rosemary, thyme and (sometimes) basil. Once I tried to grow mesclun in an indoor window box, only to discover that aphids like mesclun, too, and being on the third floor didn’t keep them from finding it.

Years ago I tried some fast-ripening cherry tomatoes and wound up with at least a few, but most didn’t get past the green stage. Last year the tomato itch struck again, and I scratched it by buying a plant more than a foot tall, with a couple of flowers already in bloom.

Just one of those flowers yielded a tomato, but it grew nicely, and I moved it to an even sunnier window, and watered faithfully, and staked it when it got a little heavy. It even turned red and everything looked so promising.

But then: When to pick it? There was only one, and I wanted it to be just right. Certainly I didn’t want to pick it too early and have it ripen on the kitchen counter, like store-bought tomatoes do all year long.

So I watched, and waited, and watched. And one day I saw that the skin was puckering a little. Egads. Yep, I’d waited too long, and it had started to rot. And my lonely tomato went not even into a compost pile (since we have none) to nourish someone’s future vegetables, but into the garbage. It was like flushing a dead pet goldfish down the toilet.

This year, I think, farmer’s market tomatoes.

TRENDSPOTTING | by KAT SPELLMAN

GLAMPING: BE IT CANVAS TENT, YURT, AIRSTREAM, rent-a-can or luxe-guided-expedition, “glorious camping” holds a definite allure for not-so-rustic women who want just a little sip of nature.

SOURCE: WILDRETREAT.COM

The travel and outdoor industry recognizes, thank goodness, that not every woman’s ready to embrace her inner Grizzly Adams. Sound familiar? Then check out some of these ways to make the outdoors a lot more fun and just a little more bearable:

• State and national parks often offer overnight digs that are rustic enough to satisfy camping-enthusiast-kiddos while pacifying the kind of mom who likes a door, a floor, a bed, some heat, a light.  Visit your state’s parks website to search for overnight accommodations and book now for popular summer months, as these affordable spots go fast.
• Skip the tent and do some Googling for other options in the region you’re looking to explore: the Vegas Strip via Airstream, perhaps, or California’s wine country in a retro Teardrop trailer, a yurt in Cape Cod or a tipi in New Hampshire.
• Champagne camping on a champagne budget. A gourmet sojourn in Montana is a luxury option for those foodie types while fly fisherwomen will swoon at Tofino, B.C.’s Clayoquot Wilderness Resort.

WELLNESS | by POSY GERING

MY FIRST LINE OF DEFENSE against things I want to avoid is cookies. Since I know the relationship between cookie consumption and the size of my waist, I’ve been trying to find a different response. The first step was to realize that my problem wasn’t the cookies, per se, but fear that I’m not enough.

The last time I was gripped by the jaws of fear that there wasn’t — and never would be — enough, I was able to inhibit my desire for cookies long enough to remember my grandmother’s antidote: Put on your shoes. Go outside. Walk fast enough that you’re breathing hard for 10 minutes. Don’t come home until you can think about things differently.

I start out crabby, contracted and crazed, but after puffing uphill for 10 minutes, I’m in a new place. I see plants blooming. I notice the color of the sky and other details of the incredibly abundant natural world around me.

Almost always I want to walk longer. Soon, I realize that my imagination has kicked in, a sure sign of expansion and possibility. And best of all, I’m not under the spell of the cookie any more.

PASSIONS | by MOLLY MARTIN

SCOURING THE AISLES AT OUR LOCAL ASIAN SUPERMARKET for garlic peas — a new favorite snack — I found myself marveling at an entire section of jars and pouches all with a common word: furikake. If there’s that much of it, I thought, perhaps I should know what it is.

© Takaokaya

The story, I learned, is that in the early part of the 20^th century, a pharmacist in Japan created a product with ground fish bones to compensate for a lack of calcium in the Japanese diet. The first kind, Gohan no Tomo (“Rice’s Friend”) consisted of dried ground fish, sesame and poppy seeds, and seaweed (supposedly to mask the fish flavor).

Now most often a colorful mixture of seaweed, sesame seeds, vegetables and spices, furikake is generally considered a condiment to be sprinkled on rice. In no time at all it’s become a staple in our kitchen, primarily to give a little zing to a quick miso soup. It can also perk up noodles, pasta, vegetables, salads, sandwiches and, of course, sushi.

Some labels are mostly in Japanese or its transliteration, so squinting at the tiny stuck-on translated ingredients list can reveal the flavors. Some favorites and their main ingredient (usually along with seaweed):

• Wasabi Fumi: Little green morsels of Japanese horseradish.
• Shiso Fumi: “Beefsteak plant,” otherwise known as perilla, that pungent leaf often served with sashimi.
• Kimchi: Assorted dried vegetables, Korean style.
• Noitamago: Dried egg-yolk powder.
• Yasai Fumi: Vegetarian.

As a bonus, furikake is curiously low in sodium for a condiment featuring seaweed: 100 to 200 milligrams per tablespoon in most flavors. (A tablespoon of salt, by comparison, has nearly 7,000mg!)

SUSTAINABLE LIVING | by CELESTE TELL

SPRING CLEANING SEASON IS UPON US! Unlike several of my close friends (you know who you are), I wasn’t born with the housecleaning gene. On the other hand, I have all sorts of environmental sensitivities. So I always approach housecleaning chores — and particularly cleaning products — with a certain amount of trepidation.

© iSTOCKPHOTO.COM

Add in a concern for sustainable living, and where do you start?

The simplest thing is, well, the simplest thing. Back in the day — before television advertising à la Mad Men — people used water, soap, borax, baking soda and vinegar. You can still clean your house with just those five things. They work. They just require some lessons in household mixology.

They may not, however, be the most convenient, so off we go to Whole Foods or Target in search of the perfect product: one that will clean perfectly and make our lives easier, without harming the planet. With so many products claiming to be “natural,” “bio-degradable,” “non-toxic” and “eco-friendly,” how do we keep up?

The most reliable strategy is to shop for eco-labels. Eco-labels are third-party seals of approval that let you know the product has been tested for environmental safety. The Global Ecolabelling Network (GEN) is an international association of third-party, environmental-performance labeling organizations that promotes the application of credible eco-labeling around the world.

Two examples of eco-labels are the EPA and Green Seal. Clorox’s Green Works product line, for example, has earned both the EPA Design for the Environment and the Good Housekeeping Green seals of approval.

SUSTAINABLE LIVING | by JEAN GALTON

I LIVE IN A CITY THAT IS BESOTTED with recycling, a very good thing indeed. And since I work in a kitchen, I am constantly thinking how I can waste less and recycle more. Here are a few of my tricks:

• Reuse your plastic bags. We have a several-pronged dishcloth rack set up by the sink so we can rinse bags, turn them inside out and dry them on the rack. Over and over.
• Use glass canning jars for storing food. In addition to being able to see what’s inside them, you are using less plastic and exposing your food to less plastic.
• Use plastic wrap only when nothing else will work. If you’re carrying food somewhere, most of the time a clean dishtowel thrown over the top will work just fine.
• Use wax paper and wax paper bags for wrapping food and lunches. Again, you’ll be using less plastic and exposing your food to less plastic.
• Maintain a worm bin or full composting set up to get rid of food waste. Alternately, if you dig down deep enough (and it’s permitted in your area) you can also just bury food waste in the ground.
• Use paper towels sparingly – see how long you can make a roll last. Arm yourself instead with a basket of dishtowels or inexpensive bar towels.
• Water the plants with the water you used to wash your salad. I simply fill up my salad spinner, throw in the greens, swish them around and take out the strainer with the greens. Then I carry the water to whatever houseplant needs it most.