Cooking is not merely a time-consuming means to an end, but is itself healing, meditation, and nourishment. At one point my Zen teacher Shunryu Suzuki Roshi commented, "You are not just working on food, you are working on yourself, you are working on other people." We sell ourselves short when we concentrate on instant relief and instant gratification and do not see that work is how we make our love manifest.

Edward Espe Brown, Tomato Blessings and Radish Teachings