My biggest art regret is not going to the MoMA show "Make a Salad" performed by Alison Knowles in 2014. Knowles was an active leader in Fluxus and first debuted the piece in 1962.

Fluxus is by a vast majority my favorite part of art history. It's kind of a trashy and flagrant favorite, but I love that it's a wild spirit crying for equality in art. MoMA had a corner gallery dedicated to the movement and I never missed the opportunity to see it. I had the manifesto printed and hanging on my wall at one point (I'm sure it's around here somewhere).

I just loved it. I liked that it made me uncomfortable and it made me question. Truth be told, at the time I was asking A LOT of questions about life, government and the pursuit of happiness, but I digress. All of this made me attracted to the performance art world. During one visit in 2010, Marina Abramovic was performing "The Artist is Present". Two chairs were placed in the center of the main atrium. Marina sat in one. A stranger sat in the other. And they could sit there as long as they wanted and stare into her eyes. Many people were moved emotionally. Some were quick to leave. There was a line formed around the lobby to sit with her. She was truly present for every single human that sat in front of her.

So what does all of this have to do with making a salad? I mean, we took a hard left but, I think we can make it back. Why is Alison Knowles raking a giant salad?

Great question.

I like to relate it to the process. It's not the ingredients. It's not the rakes and shovels. It's just the process. Being present with it. If you're going to make a salad, fucking make a salad. Be there in it. Respect it. Don't rush it. People say they don't like cooking but maybe it's really they don't like the process. Maybe we're missing the point of the process. What if we started enjoying having to slow down and cook our food? What if nourishing ourselves was heralded as meditative and energizing?

I personally look forward to cooking for myself and for others. I savor it. I like every piece of doing it. I sort of even like doing the dishes. Here's a salad I made. It would be super tasty for the summer seasons. It's light and refreshing so you can go pretty heavy on the dressing. It wouldn't hurt to have some crusty bread near by for sopping. If you're too good to sop, just go away.

Tahini-Yog-Mater Salad

Serves one... or more.

INGREDIENTS

Some kind of delicious greens
Yogurt
Tahini
Hummus (optional)
Jalapeno
Lime
Red Onion
Tomatoes (get fancy, girl)
Leftover Meat (optional)
Feta
Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper

Just a little prep... deseed jalapeno and remove stem. Cut into slices, and then into little cubes. Chop it up like crazy. Take about a quarter of a red onion and similarly chop the crap out of it. Peel off about a thumb-length size amount of lime peel. Also, chop into little tiny pieces. Mix up all three ingredients, pour on about a tablespoon of olive oil and sprinkle some salt. Squeeze a wedge of lime onto the mixture. Chop all that up like whoa. You just made gremolata. Store in your fridge for up to five days.
Place greens in bowl. Literally any greens that you like. I used arugula and leftover iceberg. I had it shredded for burgers but I'm not above that crunchy ass lettuce. I would put in the amount that you (or as many friends as you have) want to eat.
For each serving, plop in 2 tablespoons yogurt.
For each serving, plop in 1 tablespoon tahini.
For each serving, just go ahead and add 1 teaspoon-1 tablespoon jalapeno gremolata. This will determine how spicy your salad is.
Squeeze some lime in your greens! One wedge per serving.
Salt bae. (and pepper, too, I guess)
Olive oil to make it slippery.
Toss it all together.
Grab your hummus (if you want, no pressure) and put a big scoop on the plate. Now just smear that crap. Art.
Dump greens into hummus art.
Chop tomato into large chunks and add to dirty greens bowl. Add more olive oil and salt. Toss. Plate around greens. Add Leftover Meat. I used a Pan Seared Blackberry Mostardo chicken. Bologna might work.
Sprinkle it all with feta. I got fancy and added julienne radish and sliced jalapeno but no pressure.

Go cook for yourself. You deserve it. Enjoy it. Be present for it. Use the time to meditate on what you want and need. You have to eat, don't just fuel. Nourish.