“Quirky” is a word that pops up in descriptions of Lyle Lovett’s music. Neither entirely country, rock nor folk, Lovett, nonetheless, incorporates touches of all these musical genres and more into his albums. His newest album, Release Me, is more of what Lovett does best – unique storytelling, songwriting and singing with other great musicians. No longer best known in the mainstream for his 1993 whirlwind marriage to then-starlet Julia Roberts, Lovett continues to make music his own way and pick up fans taken with his gentleman cowboy manners, unorthodox style and smooth vocals. The stage favorite returns to Tulsa with his Large Band to play the Brady Theatre August 29. He charmed the crowd at the Tulsa Performing Arts Center in 2010 with whimsy, story songs and humor. We’re pretty sure there’s more from where that came. www.bradytheater.com

Picasso is coming to Norman, rather, one of his more famous paintings will be on display at the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art at the University of Oklahoma beginning Aug. 3. Woman in the Studio is one of several works completed under the same name in 1956 as the artist, well into his 70s at the time, continued to explore and push art into expressions recognized as pivotal to modern art. He painted a young Jacqueline Roque, who eventually became his second wife, with subdued, shadowy tones and a heavy black line deeply contrasting with brighter colors and softer lines found in the other works. This piece is on loan from the St. Louis Art Museum for about a year. During its stay at the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, the painting will be displayed with several other Picasso pieces from the Norman museum’s permanent collection. www.ou.edu/fjjma

In our quest to eat healthier, we are constantly searching for recipes that are delicious and easy to prepare. Fish can be a welcomed change of pace. Even if you swear you don’t like fish, give salmon a try. Firm in texture, yet delicate and buttery in flavor, this delicious fish lends itself to a variety of cooking methods, including baking, broiling, grilling and pan-searing. Considered a super food because of its high content of omega-3 fatty acids, which help prevent heart disease, promote joint health and improve brain function, salmon is also high in protein and is a good source of calcium, iron and vitamins including A, B and D. Eating salmon at least twice a week has also been shown to lower cholesterol.  

Pan-Seared Orange Glazed Salmon

Makes 4 servings

1/4 c. orange juice
1/2 c. reduced sodium soy sauce
1 tbsp. minced ginger
1 tsp. minced garlic
2 tbsp. dark brown sugar
1/4 c. honey
2 tbsp. dry sherry
4-6 oz. center cut salmon fillets
1-2 tbsp. olive oil

Combine first seven ingredients in a heavy, zip top plastic bag. Add salmon, seal and allow to marinate in refrigerator for two hours. Remove salmon from marinade and pat dry. Heat a large cast-iron or other heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Once hot, add enough oil to just cover bottom of skillet. Sear fish, skin side up, for 3-5 minutes, until opaque halfway up fillet. Carefully turn salmon over and continue searing until fish is opaque throughout and flakes easily with a fork.

Summertime isn’t just for sun worshippers at the lake it’s dance time. Many American Indian groups, student organizations and tribes hold their signature events during key vacation months, drawing competitive dancers and arts/crafts vendors as well as crowds. The Kaw Nation Powwow runs Aug. 3-5 at Washunga Bay Powwow Grounds in Kaw City. During the same weekend, Concho Powwow Grounds hosts the Oklahoma Indian Nations Powwow, where you’ll also find a hand games tournament, a buffalo chili cook-off and more. The Intertribal Indian Club of Tulsa’s 35th annual Powwow of Champions will be Aug. 17-19 at the Mabee Center this year. The following weekend (Aug. 23-26), the 136th Annual Ponca Powwow gets underway at White Eagle near Ponca City. Also check out the Cherokee National Holiday, Aug. 31-Sept. 2, for activities that include a parade, car show and, yes, a powwow.

Pad See Ew

Lemongrass Thai

Thai food is a favorite at Oklahoma Magazine. Complex flavor profiles and unexpected pairings delight decidedly North American palettes. And while the motto is often, “The More Adventurous, The Better,” it’s the staples of Thai food – think curries and noodle dishes – that give us pause and reason to thank those proprietors who make Thai dishes for the Okie masses. At Lemongrass Thai, there are many dishes worth trying; Chicken Satay, Tom Kha soup and a very traditional Pad Thai are all delicious in their own rites. But it’s a lesser-known cousin to the famous Pad Thai, the Pad See Ew, that gets our mouths watering. A blend of noodles, broccoli, mushrooms and egg in that sweet-yet-umami sauce, served with a choice of protein and heavily spiced with garlic, keeps us coming back for more. 253 S. Santa Fe, Edmond. www.lemongrassok.com

Ceviche

El Rio Verde

A mix of seafood, onion, pepper, vegetables and herbs tossed in a citrusy marinade and served cold, often with avocado and a frosty beer, ceviche is a summer staple in the steamy Oklahoma months. El Rio Verde, a small hole-in-the-wall eatery perhaps more widely known for its massive wet burritos, produces some of the best ceviche in Tulsa. Light and fresh, packed with shellfish and flaky whitefish, it’s the perfect summer fare. 38 N. Trenton, Tulsa. 918.592.2555

Reagan Hass is a second-year educator in the Teach For America program, which is a national nonprofit organization that places educators in teaching roles within low-income communities. Hass, a Muskogee native and 2007 Oklahoma State University graduate, is an intervention specialist at Frederick A. Douglass Mid-High School.

I had heard about Teach For America through a friend of a friend when I was in high school, and it sounded like something I would be interested in. I researched the program a bit in college and knew that it was something I wanted to do. I worked for an inner-city basketball camp in Missouri called Kids Across America, and I fell in love with that job and the kids I worked with. It was great working with them in the summer, but I could tell they were behind academically. I wanted a way to work with them to get them on par with other students.

When I began working at Douglass, I knew my students would be very far behind. I’d worked with urban students before, and you hear about the achievement gap, so I knew there was a problem, obviously, but I had no idea that it would be so difficult to deal with how far behind the (students) were emotionally. Before it was statistics: It was a ninth grader that would be on a third grade reading level, that wouldn’t know multiplication tables. But then they become students I love, and I know what their dreams and goals are. I know how smart they are, but they are so far behind. I have great resources. There are great veteran teachers at Douglass and great resources from TFA, but it’s difficult knowing that the students grew several years in math and are that much closer to grade, but they have so far to go.

My first year with Teach For America, I co-taught a two-hour remedial algebra course for students that had failed eighth grade math tests. Most have a track record of failing tests since they’ve begun testing. You could tell in their attitude toward math that they didn’t like it – they were very vocal about it. We keep statistics that showed each student’s growth at the end of the year. We showed each student, individually, their rate of growth over the year, and each of their jaws dropped at how much they grew. For once, they were successful in math. That’s a great feeling to see you’re successful at something you’ve struggled with.

It can be a tough job, a lot of long nights, but if you don’t know how to teach something, there is someone to talk to and problem solve with because there’s no time to not get it right because those kids need intervention, and they need it right now.

Slowly, slowly I fold the Nepali momos, turning them into little moons. I am relaxed. My fingers work, awkwardly at first, but gradually pick up a gentle, gliding smoothness as my muscles memorize the steps. Folding these dumplings feels like meditation. Whenever I try to rush the process, everything collapses, and the folding becomes a source of frustration instead of peace.

So I keep my movements measured and slow. I keep a towel under my elbows, to catch stray bits of filling. I continue, remembering that the process is as important as the final dish.

This night we share dinner with our friends Annie, Scott and their daughter Bea. We eat with great relish, fixating on the momos. They taste gingery and cabbage-y and bright. We dunk them in sauces and smile.

Eventually, we move outside to sit in the starlight by the flickering chiminea. Conversation turns to our children and the choices we make to give them the best chance at a happy, fulfilled life. Within this discussion comes the concept of creativity and how to best bring it out in our children.

Annie says something remarkable – that she loves her 2 1/2 year-old daughter’s drawing style, how her little hands illustrate strawberries. So simple, and in this simplicity, perfection. Annie doesn’t wish to influence her. She is hesitant to draw around her, in case it changes Bea’s free-spirited approach.

I can relate. My daughter Ava thinks of grass as green and the sun as having rays shooting out in all directions. I take care to show her pictures of yellow, brown and even purple grasses, as well as sunsets that look like fiery pools in the sky, not a single ray in sight. Even still, our culture is filled with so many simplifications.

For the next week I can’t stop thinking about what it means to be creative. And then one of my longtime Global Table Adventure readers Jessicca suggested a Nepali documentary called A Gift for the Village. This is about an artist, Vance, who is the first westerner and the first female in history granted permission to paint a Tibetan lineage painting of an accomplished Tibetan amchi. The painting, appropriately called Amchi, took her 10 months to finish, and the film recounts the odyssey to bring the painting to Tibet and the celebration that ensues.

A Gift for the Village really changed my thinking on creativity, or at least broadened my thoughts. You see, what is remarkable about this artist is that, in transcribing the life of a great man, she dutifully represents it in the traditional Tibetan style. So much of her work is essentially “copying” tradition, yet the end result shows more creativity and beauty than many paintings that stand completely alone. In fact, she even folds in little elements from her home in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

What does it mean to be creative? I’m not totally sure. In many cases it is creating something new. But it might be as simple as giving a beautiful “spin” to an established tradition. As with the case of Amchi, it just might be perfecting something many have done a hundred thousand times before. Rather like folding momos.

Sasha Martin is cooking one meal for every country in the world. Her picky husband and baby girl are along for the ride. Join the adventure for recipes, reviews and more at www.globaltableadventure.com.

Cabbage & Carrot Momos (Steamed Dumplings)

1 tbsp. grated ginger
1 tsp. turmeric
2-3 tbsp. vegetable oil
5 cups diced cabbage, (about 1 small head)
2 carrots, shredded (about 2 cups)
1/2 large onion, minced (about 1 heaping cup)
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 package wonton wrappers, cut into circles
Torn cilantro, if desired

To prepare the filling, cook the fresh ginger and turmeric in oil for about a minute. Add onion and cabbage, then season with salt and pepper. Cook until softened. Remove from heat, then add the carrot. Set aside to cool.

To fold the momos, first add a bit of water around the inside edge of the wrapper, add a small spoonful of stuffing and fold in half without sealing the dumpling. Next, use your fingers to pinch together a little mountain ridge on one side of the wrapper. Press that ridge down towards you, crimping together the edge. Now create a second ridge by pressing the dough together again and folding towards the first. Keep going until you have a line of beautiful, evenly spaced ridges. The momos will naturally curve like the moon as you go.

To cook, steam the momos in an oiled steamer (metal is traditional, but I used bamboo and that worked wonderfully as well) until the dough is cooked through.

Note: Mine took about 30 minutes. Depending on what wrappers you use, cooking times will most likely vary. Serve with chili sauce, achar, or even soy sauce. Makes at least 50 momos.