Sometimes it’s not about the recipe at all. It’s just about sharing a good meal and its cooking with a couple of friends or, in my case, family visiting overnight from across the border. Three sleepy cooks and a remarkably delicious Sunday morning breakfast.
Why is it that food cooked together always tastes better and is remembered more vividly than food cooked alone? Continue reading
Thanksgiving is all about family, good friends and food traditions. As you’re preparing for this year’s Thanksgiving, try digging deep and getting in touch with your Thanksgiving roots. There’s still time to ask your siblings, parents and (if you’re lucky) grandparents what vegetable accompanied the turkey on their childhood Thanksgiving tables.
You won’t dig too far before you find root vegetables, and lots of them. Continue reading
Having sung the praises of the humble cabbage in a few weeks back, it seems appropriate to give a nod to its diminutive, more mildly flavored cousin, the Brussels sprout. One of a handful of vegetables that improve in flavor after the first frost, Brussels sprouts are being harvested Continue reading
The humble cabbage conjures images of simple, old-fashioned meals and victory gardens. For many, cabbage is cole slaw and that’s it. For some, it’s the slimy, smelly vegetable that makes its appearance on Saint Patrick’s Day. But these days, cabbage is increasingly finding its way into the kitchens of creative and health-conscious cooks, and the culinary possibilities are endless. Continue reading
This Nourishing Words “Fresh Today” column ran in the Insider section of Tuesday’s Concord Monitor. I hope you’re all enjoying fresh eggplant right now!
Could you come up with twelve eggplant recipes on the spot? Even to win over the love of your life? Perhaps not. But in ancient China, that’s the price a bride had to pay to clinch the deal. The ability to be creative with eggplant in the kitchen was apparently very important.
Eggplant enjoyed popularity throughout Asia for centuries before making its way to Europe. The eggplant we know today descended from wild ancestors, with tiny and very bitter fruit. Over the years, farmers selected for the most desirable qualities, saved the seed and developed ever larger, sweeter and tastier varieties. Continue reading
A few hundred years ago, preserving food through fermentation was commonplace. It’s easy, doesn’t require fuel or special equipment and, best of all, fermented foods are healthy. Fermentation is the naturally occurring process by which “friendly” bacteria, fungi and molds pre-digest a food, changing its nutritional make-up and flavor along the way. Some of our favorite foods—cheese, wine, beer, chocolate, sourdough bread and yogurt—depend on the fermentation process. Other foods, perhaps less familiar, like kefir, kim chee, kombucha and miso, are the products of natural fermentation as well. All offer complex, interesting flavors and nutritional advantages. Continue reading
I love watermelon, especially once summer really arrives. The problem is, I live at a latitude 43 degrees north, with a short growing season that doesn’t favor watermelon. With most other fruits and vegetables, I try to hold out for delicious, fresh local options, but I always seem to cave in to my watermelon craving at about the time summer heat settles in for real.
A couple of days ago, I had one such powerful craving. In an effort to make one stop, rather than two, I set my sights on buying an organic watermelon at the local food coop. Continue reading
Knowing how to cook with and use vegetables is a fundamental life skill, I believe. Yet, the most common question farmers hear at farmers markets is “What can I do with this?” or some version of the same, expressing frustration, tinged with fear. We all acknowledge that they’re beautiful, virtuous and healthy but, sadly, many people feel helpless when it comes to vegetables.
The simple truth is that, as a culture, we’ve lost some of our most basic skills—including cooking—but hope is not lost. Continue reading
Many thanks to those of you who entered the Ben Hewitt book giveaway. Herbalist Wendy Stevens, from Weare, New Hampshire will be the lucky recipient of Ben’s two books, Making Supper Safe and The Town That Food Saved. Appropriately, the books will be exchanged at the Weare Farmers Market, tomorrow evening.
I asked readers to share their observations of their own local food season and to comment on something that they observe that gives them hope. Continue reading
It’s that time of year again: time for sweet, juicy local strawberries.
Last year, I wrote about the joy of eating fresh, local strawberries and the risk of pesticides if those berries are grown by conventional methods. Conventionally-grown strawberries are subjected to up to 13 different chemicals, some absorbed into the berries through the roots and some sprayed right onto the berries. Many growers, when asked, talk of their “low-spray” program: a comfort, maybe, but not a real solution. Continue reading
