Simply: Home Cooking

Valentine's Day is for (chocolate) lovers!

Looking to make your diet more plant-based? Trying to avoid dairy? Here is a super-quick chocolate fix - Vegan Chocolate Mousse!

Serves 4.

Ingredients:

• 3 oz bittersweet chocolate
• 2 T unsweetened cocoa powder
• 12 oz silken tofu—I prefer the extra firm silken variety
• 1/4 c maple syrup or brown rice syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla
• pinch of salt

Method:

1. Melt the chocolate over very low heat or in a barely simmering double boiler.
2. When almost completely melted, remove from the heat and stir in the cocoa powder until smooth.
3. While the chocolate melts, purée the tofu with the syrup, vanilla, and salt in a blender or food processor.
4. With the blender running, scrape the chocolate into the blender jar in a slow stream and purée until smooth.
5. Scrape down the jar and process again.
6. Spoon into 4 small ramekins or bowls, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Variations:

• Pour the mousse into baked mini tart shells before chilling.
• Serve with a garnish of a fresh mint sprig, a bit of candied citrus peel or ginger, or a thin cookie.
• You can substitute different flavorings for the vanilla: orange, mint, and almond come to mind.

Do ahead:
If you are not serving the mousse the same day, cover with plastic wrap—it will last up to 3 days in the refrigerator.

Download Vegan Chocolate Mousse

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Just in time for the holidays!

Check out my review of The Cultural Revolution Cookbook, by Sasha Gong and Scott D. Seligman. Available now through your local independent bookseller for your favorite cook or for yourself!

Roasted Tomato (or Tomatillo) Salsa

This recipe provides a great way to use up the last of the season’s tomatoes—roasting them brings out the sweetness that might be lacking in tomatoes hurriedly picked in advance of the first frost. You can use your favorite chili pepper to achieve the amount of kick you prefer.

Delicious as a lowfat dip, dressing and accompaniment for Mexican dishes. But my favorite use is as part of a savory breakfast: serve hot on eggs (any style) with black beans, tortillas, some grated cheese, and a drizzle of cilantro sauce.

Makes approximately 1/2 c.

Ingredients:

• 1 pt cherry or smallish tomatoes, washed, stems removed
• 1-2 chili peppers (optional): jalapeño, serrano, aji, habañero...anything goes!
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled
• 2-4 T chopped fresh cilantro
• salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
• sugar to taste (optional)
• lime juice, lemon juice, red wine vinegar, or rice vinegar to taste (optional)

Method:

1. Cut the tomatoes in 1/2 and arrange on a broiler pan, cut side up.
2. Cut the chili peppers in 1/2, remove the seeds for less heat, and arrange on the broiler pan, cut side down.
3. Put the garlic cloves on the broiler pan.
4. Broil just until the tops of the vegetables are barely blackened. Turn the garlic so both sides brown. You may have to remove some of the vegetables earlier and leave others to broil for longer.
5. Place the broiled tomatoes, garlic, and chili peppers in a food processor, and pulse until the salsa is the consistency you prefer—I like mine fully puréed, but you can leave it slightly chunky as well.
6. Season to taste with cilantro, salt, pepper, sugar, and citrus juice or vinegar—you may not need the sugar or acid at all.
7. Serve at room temperature.

Variations:

Also works great with tomatillos: remove the papery husk and rinse the tomatillos in a bowl of warm water before slicing and broiling.

Do ahead:

• The salsa will keep for up to 2 weeks in a tightly covered jar in the refrigerator.
• Also suitable for canning.

Download Roasted Tomato Salsa

Paying the farmer's asking price...and increasing the farmer's share

Rural SCALE recently released a study on the affordability of local food for the average consumer, collecting data from 24 farmers’ markets in 19 communities in 6 southeastern states. The study concludes that

Overall, farmers markets in the Southeast and Appalachia are highly competitive with mainstream supermarkets in their pricing on a range of commonly consumed foods, including produce, meats and eggs. (Emphasis in the original.)

Naturally, one might draw different conclusions from similar studies of other regions, but there are some interesting statistics (and generalizable conclusions?) about size of community and prices at farmers’ markets that sell to moderate- and low-income patrons, those who might believe that the local food movement has passed them by.

Then consider this graphic by the National Farmers Union: Farmer’s Share of Retail Food Dollar. I’m not so interested in the startling figures on processed foods (soft drinks, potato chips, bread) because few of the raw ingredients are actually supplied by a farmer. Far more disturbing are the figures on whole, minimally processed ingredients. Take the produce section of a conventional supermarket (think Safeway, Kroger, etc.), for example: farmers receive anywhere from 10.3 cents on the dollar for lettuce to 30 cents on the dollar for carrots.

Now think about buying this produce at a farmers’ market or directly from a farmer: if it’s true that the prices at the farmers’ market are comparable to those of the supermarket for comparable items, the farmer will suddenly have $4.59 (instead of $1.38) in his pocket for 5 pounds of carrots; $3.08 (instead of $0.27) for a pound of tomatoes, etc.

Buying local food at the farmers’ market certainly seems like a win-win for farmers and consumers.

Irene, farmers, loyalty, and gratitude

Having grown up in Vermont, I have been following the post-Irene news out of the state with horror. Pictures of washed out roads (difficult for someone to understand the gravity of that when there is no concept that it may be the ONLY road in and out of a town), flooded fields, crops laid waste. What can you do to help, if you're inclined to do so? There's the always-welcome local Red Cross donation, a number of tshirt companies are donating proceeds from sales (check out Vermont Clothing Company and the Vermont Strong Store), and not surprisingly, a number of benefit concerts and similar events sprang up - it's hard to keep Vermonters down for long! And I saw some truly original ideas floated by my Facebook friends: how about a produce "round-up" day at the farmers' markets, where buyers voluntarily round every purchase up to the next $5 or $10? But isn't there a bigger picture, one that will last beyond the news headlines and the desire to help in a time of need?

Vermont, of course, wasn't the only state affected. Grist.org had a brief roundup of news from farmers throughout the swath cut by Irene. And if the producer end of our food system has suffered, the consumer must also pay the price - literally! And how I dread hearing (most) people complain about the price of food....

I recently watched a series of short films by Nourish, and I was once again struck by a statistic mentioned: in the last 50 years, Americans have gone from spending 18% of our national income on food to spending 9.9% on food. (In same time period, we've gone from spending 5% of national income on health care to spending 16% on health care.) Yes, there are those who truly cannot spend more on food, but what about the vast majority of us, who can?

As someone who tries to buy local and sustainable food whenever possible and one who is fortunate enough to be able to pay the premium often demanded by organic, this recent crop devastation, coupled with what seems to be a weird growing season nationally, has given me a lot to ponder. My first thought about the affected farmers was, "I hope the majority of them run CSAs!" Those farmers who run CSAs (community supported agriculture programs) charge a flat fee per share at the beginning of the growing season, then provide an equal amount of produce to each shareholder throughout the harvest season. If the farm does well and the harvest is good, the consumer gets a bountiful share each week. If there is bad weather or a natural disaster, then the harvest is poor or nonexistent, and the consumer supplements the share with food sourced elsewhere. So in a sense, it's a gamble for the consumer, but how much less of a gamble for the farmer who produces our food? And in this age of disappearing small and mid-size farms, isn't it important for those of us who can afford it to stack the deck in the farmers' favor?

Now is the time to start thinking about next year's crops and signing on for a CSA with a local farmer - out of loyalty, and because we can. And now is also the time to start supporting measures in upcoming Farm Bill legislation that will help small and mid-size farmers with crop insurance for situations like the one caused by Irene.

The LocalHarvest blog has a wonderful post about eating locally in a poor season that was supposed to be the height of harvest bounty. Erin Barnett concludes,

Ultimately, the thing that supports this loyalty and flexibility and acceptance is a sense of gratitude. Things change when we find the space within ourselves to feel thankful for what the land is providing, even, and perhaps especially, in challenging seasons.

QUICK cucumber pickles

This recipe is based on one from my mother—it’s a quick concoction with Russian origins and is perfect for the midsummer season when cucumbers are plentiful. They’re technically a pickle to be eaten on the side of a meal, but they are also wonderful served mixed into a salad an as hors d’oeuvre.

Makes approximately 1 pint.

Ingredients:

• 3-4 medium cucumbers, peeled
• 2 tsp salt, preferably not iodized
• 1 T vinegar—white, white balsamic, rice wine or apple cider
• 2-4 cloves garlic, cut in half if large
• 1 T fresh dill, chopped, or 1/2 tsp dry

Method:

1. Cut the cucumbers into slices (1/4-1/2” thick) or spears (3-4” long). The thinner you cut them, the less time the “pickles” will need to rest.
2. Pack the cucumbers into a glass jar with a tight lid, then add the remaining ingredients to the jar.
3. Cover the jar tightly and gently tip it back and forth, up and down.
4. Refrigerate 2-4 hours before serving, occasionally tipping the jar gently. The cucumbers will release a lot of liquid, which should be strained off before serving.
5. Serve cold or at room temperature.

Variations:

• Depending on the meal you’re serving, you can vary the herb used—basil gives a Mediterranean flair, cilantro a Mexican one, etc.
• Just before serving, stir in a little yogurt or sour cream for a richer taste and a calcium boost.
• Mix into potato or tuna salad for an added crunch.

Do ahead:

• The cucumbers are tastiest the day they are made, but they can keep up to a week in the refrigerator. They will continue to release water and become less crisp as time goes on.

Download Quick Cucumber Pickles

Good news on the local food front

Tired of the bad news on food? Can't get your head around 36 million pounds of salmonella-tainted ground turkey (not to mention the tons of packaging that went to waste on 36 million pounds of salmonella-tainted ground turkey)?

There IS good news on the local/regional food front, and you can find it in "Market Forces," a report produced by the Union of Concerned Scientists. If you don't want to plow through the entire report, a quick browse of the executive summary is well worth a few minutes of your time.

USDA map of farmers' markets in the 50 United States

For more discussion on why buying local makes sense, check out "Buying Local Makes Economic Sense."

Fava Beans...with or without a nice chianti

Up until a few years ago, my only contact with fava beans had been in Middle Eastern restaurants and in Hannibal Lecter's famous line from Silence of the Lambs. Then a vendor at the Torrance Farmers Market introduced me to them in their unshelled form - long, fat, glistening green pods full of fat, creamy beans.

How did he recommend cooking them? Throw them on the grill in the pods and grill until they are charred and shrunken - by this time the beans inside have steamed in the moisture from the pod. This cooking method prevents the older beans from developing the tough skin that forms when you cook them after shelling. We like to eat them straight from the grilled pod as an appetizer, but they also make wonderful salads, side dishes, and an alternative to hummus.

Serves 3-4.

Ingredients:

• 3 lb fava beans in their pods
• 2 scallions, minced
• 1 lemon
• 1 T fresh dill or 1 tsp dried dill
• 2 T olive oil
• salt & freshly ground pepper to taste

Method:

1. Grill or broil the pods until slightly charred and shrunken. When cool enough to handle, remove the beans from the pods.
2. While the beans are cooking, mince the zest from the lemon and squeeze out the juice.
3. Toss the beans with the remaining ingredients.

Variations:

• Serve the beans warm as a side dish or at room temperature as a salad.
• Toss the beans with pasta or grain as a side or main dish.
• Chop the mixture coarsely and serve on toasts or crackers for an hors d’oeuvre.
• Purée the beans after shelling, then mix in the remaining ingredients for a hummus-like dip or spread.

Do ahead:

• The beans can be prepared up to 48 h in advance—leave in the pod or shell, then refrigerate, tightly covered.
• The dish can be assembled up to 4 h in advance—if you leave it much longer, the acid in the lemon juice will turn the beans an olive green or brown.

Download Fava Beans

20 Hoops in 20 Days

No, we’re not talking basketball here, but something much more exciting: a fabulous local organization, SELMA Cafe, raises money and volunteers to help area farmers put up “hoop houses,” which are basically long plastic-covered greenhouses that enable the farmer to use passive solar energy to extend the growing season to 10-12 months of the year  – even here in Michigan!

On June 15, SELMA started a project to construct 20 of the houses for 20 different farms in 20 days. Most of our gang at Fair Food Network signed up for a team work day, and I decided to lend a hand in a more concrete way – not by sitting in the office working on food systems projects in the abstract but actually helping to build a hoop house. And so on day 1 of the project, we (including my 11-year old daughter – honest, teachers, it was a worthy, educational project!) found ourselves out in Stockbridge performing hard labor.

I wanted to share some photos of the day – not much else to say, except that it was truly inspiring to see the approximately 20 volunteers, led by builder-in-chief Jeff McCabe (who ought to write the Hoophouses for Dummies book), put this thing together. We had to leave before it was done, but K’s conclusion (again, sorry teachers!): “I learned much more today than I would have on the last Wednesday of the school year!”

How it looked at 9:00 am.

 

And how it looked when I had to leave at 2:45 pm - almost a hoophouse!

To view all the photos, go to my Facebook album.