There’s something about cooking with roots and shoots that’s somewhat akin to being in a garden. As I wash the dirt from the vegetables, I almost want to dig my toes in, as if I were standing on grass. And slicing through lemongrass and garlic, it’s like working in an herb garden, when the fragrance lifts from the cutting board and seeps into my fingers. And when it’s all cooked and eaten, why, the earthy comfort is almost as good as lying in a park and soaking up the sun on a crisp autumn day.

Spa treatments are well and good, but a morning spent in the kitchen can be therapeutic as well.

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