organic
This fall I’ve dived into an abnormal amount of squash recipes, each one leaving me with some near-fatality. Here, I’ll just say it, IT’S REALLY HARD TO CUT AND PEEL SQUASH!
Some don’ts:
DON’T hold your squash with wet hands.
DON’T swing a butcher knife wildly at the squash with a karate Hi-ya!
DON’T use a peeler like a machete.
Now can someone help me with a list of DOs? Despite the squash shenanigans, last night I thoroughly enjoyed Heidi Swanson’s Roasted Pumpkin Salad. These are not flavors I would have figured out on my own! And if you subtract the time I spent wrestling my pumpkin, the whole meal was relatively easy.
I found a gorgeous organic kobucha squash (japanese pumpkin) at the Farmer’s Market that was perfect for this recipe. And instead of wild rice, I used Trader Joe’s Brown Rice Medley. It had a great texture and cooked up in the same amount of time it took to roast the pumpkin and onions. All in all, a great, nutritious meal for the cooler weather months. Don’t accidently lose a limb and it’s even better!
October 15th, 2008 | organic, recipe, winter | No Comments »
Ok so I’m addicted to Heidi Swanson’s cooking site, 101cookbooks.com. I think of recipes as a starting point for creative experimentation, and Heidi’s recipes are always kickin’. This is a vegan variation of her Garlic Soba Noodles Recipe. It’s good-for-you comfort food, perfect for rainy days when chinese delivery is going to take an hour anyway.
Let’s call it:
Vegan Garlic Soba Noodles with I Can’t Believe it’s Kale
Ingredients
8 ounces dried soba noodles
3/4 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
big pinch of salt
12 ounces extra firm organic tofu, cut into 6 thin rectangles
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 soy sauce
A generous splash of olive oil
1 bunch green onions, trimmed and sliced
1 head of organic kale, destemmed and cut into bite-sized pieces
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup nutritional yeast
a 2-inch piece of daikon or a few radishes, sliced thin for garnish
1. Wash and chop kale and green onions and put aside. Mince garlic and set aside separately. Slice tofu. Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
2. While you wait for the water to boil, combine nutritional yeast, breadcrumbs and salt in a shallow bowl. In another bowl, combine olive oil and soy sauce. Dunk each piece of tofu into the oil mixture, then coat with the breadcrumbs. (For extra breaded goodness, repeat process on each slice.) In wok or large pan, heat oil and fry tofu slices on each side until golden brown. Add soba noodles to boiling water.
3. Remove browned tofu from pan and slice into strips. Strain cooked soba noodles. Slice daikon or radishes.
4. Add a bit more oil in wok, then add garlic. Cook for a few minutes until garlic just turns golden. Add kale and onions, stirring continuously until kale starts to break down and get soft. Mix in noodles. Remove from heat and mix with nutritional yeast.
5. Each bowl gets a pile of noodles, sliced tofu, and daikon garnish. Drizzle with extra olive oil and soy sauce. Serves 4.
March 10th, 2008 | organic, recipe, vegan, vegetarian | No Comments »
This pizza was actually good though, really good, and really vegan. I think the trick is to top it with the right stuff and create a taste and texture so interesting you won’t miss the cheese.
1. Start with a healthy, whole-grain pizza dough. You can make a whole-wheat dough yourself or try Namaste brand pizza dough mix.
2. Make some kind of sauce. The sauce here was easy-as-pie organic canned tomatoes and chopped sauteed onions. Pesto would be delicious too.
3. Do something instead of cheese. We used homemade refried pinto beans and roasted butternut squash. Chopped nuts would be cool with cauliflower, or hummus and eggplant. Or just dump any kind of leftovers on top and I’m sure that will work too!
March 4th, 2008 | beans, organic, recipe, vegan, vegetarian | No Comments »
The clementine, the mule, the liger…all fascinating feats of genetic recombinations! They’ve even tried combining a strawberry with an artic flounder to produce a berry more capable of surviving frost. (Didn’t work. Shucks.)
But by and large, the most widespread use of genetic twister games are happening in crops to be able to withstand pesticides. Makes sense, right? Farmers who buy genetically modified seeds from the biotech giants can buy corresponding high-powered pesticides (from the same biotech company, which is good business sense) that will kill everything AROUND their crops, but leave the crops themselves unharmed. In addition to questionable food quality, this technique encourages irresponsible use of pesticides. Why not give the field any extra-heavy spray if it won’t hurt the crops you’re selling? Who cares about the runoff into the water supply? Or the chemicals that make their way to Americans’ dinner plates? And genetically modified foods are surely safe…right?
There are more acres of genetically engineered soybeans than any other crop. Corn comes next. That’s your tofu, soy milk, soy oil, lecithin emulsifiers, corn oil, corn syrup, corn starch, corn flour, etc. found in foods you likely eat every day.
The government certainly doesn’t require food to be labeled if it contains GMO/GEO (Genetically Modified/Engineered Organisms) so look instead for “Non-GMO” labels. Buying organic corn or soy means it was grown without pesticides so you are probably safe there too.
Jeez! Who knew? I didn’t until I read The Food Revolution by John Robbins, which is where the info all comes from. He’s got it all footnoted and cross referenced so check it out.
January 29th, 2008 | farming, organic, public health, sustainability | No Comments »
I’ve mentioned Boston Organics in previous posts but now that I’m a full fledged member I’d like to say “Yes, it rocks.” Boston Organics brings fresh organic produce to your door in and around Boston. A quick google search shows that all you non-Bostonians might have a similar service if you look around a bit. Or, just move to Boston. It’s nice here.
My $27 box every other week has been a good amount of veggies and fruits for 2 people, and the quality has been pretty darn good for organic. Best part is that with all this snow on the ground and my butt lazier than ever, my B.O. gets delivered to my door. (Note: everyone should consider the implications of their personal and business names when abbreviated)
Can’t say enough good things about this service, and it’s the WINTER. Imagine in the spring when more of the produce is local and in season! Check it out. http://www.bostonorganics.com
December 31st, 2007 | Boston, organic, vegan, vegetarian | No Comments »
All in favor of traditional holiday fare, raise your hand. Ok, put it down so you can keep scrolling with your mouse. I feel the same way about Christmas dinner, but this year I also felt guilt. Picture it. You’ve got appetizers full of antibiotic-laden cheese, plates of hormone-pumped poultry, genetically modified vegetables, and sugar cookies poisoning everyone right before your eyes. This is what I feed my LOVED ones?
I found myself walking the spectrum of idiot to zealot, before landing on a compromise to be merry, merry sneaky.
Hence, the organic green beans with orange, dill, and…ground flaxseeds that looked like pepper or sesame seeds or whatever the family wanted to think they were!
My mom’s roasted butternut squash with cranberries, onions and…quinoa! It looked like stuffing and no one knew the difference.
And in a leap of faith we tried a quinoa/nut loaf with garden gravy instead of meatloaf. Delicious, satisfying, and perfect with regular mashed potatotes to even the compromise.
This book is full of awesome vegetarian recipes and gets a shout-out for helping us so much this holiday. 3 Bowls : Vegetarian Recipes from an American Zen Buddhist Monastery
December 27th, 2007 | organic, vegetarian, whole grains, winter | No Comments »
When I was in college I lived on no more than $20/week in groceries. I’d look for old Sunday papers in my building’s recycling bin and steal the coupon inserts. My big trick was getting food practically free by finding it on sale AND using a double coupon. Take that!
If you’re a cheapskate like me, you’ll look at organic produce or grass-fed beef and choke on the pricetag. But here’s a different way of thinking about the cost of sustainably grown, organic food:
“The ninety-nine cent price of a fast-food hamburger simply doesn’t take account of that meal’s true cost–to soil, oil, public health, the public purse, etc., costs which are never charged directly to the consumer but, indirectly and invisibly, to the taxpayer (in the form of subsidies), the health care system (in the form of food-borne illness and obesity), and the environment (in the form of pollution), not to mention the welfare of the animals themselves.”
From The Omnivore’s Dilemma
December 4th, 2007 | farming, organic, public health, sustainability | No Comments »
