My Favorite Salmon Bowls Yet + The Best Antidote to Fear (and How We Nourish Ourselves)

Gochujang salmon bowls with garlicky bok choy, tamari mushrooms and a creamy coconut gochujang sauce

I wrote a whole book about one-bowl meals, but these salmon bowls might just be my favorite yet. They feature savory-sweet gochujang glazed salmon (which is delicious in its own right), garlicky bok choy, caramelized tamari mushrooms, and a creamy gochujang coconut sauce (video below).

This is the last weekend to take advantage of my Spring Sale! Get 20% off paid subscriptions through Sunday.

Hello my dears,

First of all, welcome to all the new subscribers! It’s an honor to have you here. I adore this community, and I hope you will too. One of our focuses here is not just nourishing our bodies (although I love that too—we’ll get to the recipe in a minute!), but also nourishing all aspects of ourselves—mind, bodies and spirits. Food can be more than just a means to an end, but also a tool to help us find more grounding, joy and connection in our lives.

But can food also help us overcome fear?

This week I was listening to

Elise Loehnen

’s recent podcast episode with Richard Rohr, who, in answer to her question about how to contend with fear, which is so rampant right now (btw, fear is also the emotion that underlies anger), responded that faith is the best antidote to fear (my words, but same idea). I was in the car and had to pause the podcast episode to sit with that.

Faith is the best remedy for fear.

I happened to be on my way to my weekly group with Natalie Deeb, who, naturally, told us we’d be working that day with, you guessed it, fear and faith (I had to laugh— this synchronicity happens more than you’d think). Faith, she said, is how we get out of fear, but faith is not a belief in some outside entity (which is often how I perceive it), but rather a faith in ourselves. It’s a deep trust in our own capabilities. It’s a strong confidence in our ability to handle the unknown, trusting that whatever is showing up in our lives is happening for us as a way to help us expand and grow (even the hard stuff). And with this faith comes freedom—when we’re anchored in faith we can access our inner power where we can’t be coerced or manipulated by others.

As Natalie explained, in Traditional Chinese Medicine the kidneys are where we hold the emotions of both fear and faith. When we’re physically and/or emotionally depleted or imbalanced, it’s much easier to sink into fear. This makes complete sense. When I’m exhausted (or cranky from not haven eaten in a few hours) little things will seem overwhelming or like a huge deal. After a bit of rest (or a snack), suddenly they’ll seem much more trivial.

On the other hand, when we’re well nourished (physically, emotionally and spiritually) it becomes much easier to connect to faith, accessing a sense of inner well-being and grounding. This takes work, for sure, but it’s impossible to do when we’re bogged down in fear.

We can nourish ourselves in many ways—reading a passage in a book, listening to a beautiful piece of music, walking in nature, painting, dancing, deep breathing, gardening, cooking… And of course eating.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, warming foods support our kidney energy (think about the power of curling up with a steaming bowl of soup or stew), but I believe that nourishment is unique to each of us. For me, one-bowl meals are where I best fill my cup. They connect me to play, creativity and beauty (assembling a bowl feels like a mini art project!). Even more, the dynamic interplay of flavors and textures—warm grains, crunchy vegetables, tender fish or meat, and a creamy sauce to tie everything together—lights up something inside me (today’s recipe invokes deep sighs of contentment).

Bowls make me happy.

Building faith in ourselves isn’t easy work, but it’s critical, especially right now. It will take more than a one-bowl meal to get us there, but with some intention, it can be a stepping stone. We can nourish ourselves consciously to fill our wells, intentionally fortifying our bodies in order to better handle whatever life throws our way. We can also use the process of cooking to connect to our inner selves and build trust in ourselves (check out last week’s podcast episode with

Julia Turshen

).

How to Build Trust in the Kitchen & Become a More Intuitive Cook

And when we feel the oily fingers of fear starting to slither in, because they will, we can pause and nourish ourselves (in whatever way feels best), reminding ourselves that we’ve got this. We all—each and every one of us—has exactly what we need to handle what the future brings. I have nothing but faith in you, my dear.

---

A quick favor! If you’re appreciating today’s newsletter would you mind clicking the heart in the upper left corner (or bottom left corner, if you’re on mobile)? It helps others find this newsletter, but more importantly, it lets me know you’re there, a real human on the other side, forging a web of connection. ❤️

---

The recipe

Salmon bowls have always been a favorite in my house (see these tamari salmon rice bowls, yogurt glazed salmon bowls with asparagus, and miso grilled salmon bowls!), but these are a personal new favorite. The glazed gochujang salmon is delicious in its own right (if you’d rather skip the bowls), and the easy glaze does double duty as the base for the sauce, which gets creaminess from coconut yogurt (or you can use mayo if coconut isn’t your thing). Also, while I serve the salmon with garlicky bok choy and tamari mushrooms, you could use any vegetables you like!

You can get the play-by-play for how to make the bowls in this video:

Today’s recipe is for paid subscribers, whose contributions of just a few dollars a month make all of this work possible. As a paid subscriber you have access to the full recipe archive (featuring over 100 recipes, all of which are gluten-free), free cooking classes, discounts on one-on-one sessions, and more fun perks. Thank you so much for your support!