An All-American Plate: Burger and Fries

While it's awesome and healthy to have goals in life, it's important to make sure they are realistic. If, for example, you find yourself writhing in misery every time you think about going into work, finding a new job is a good and realistic goal. If you are a crazy dog, it is reasonable to set your sights on becoming a normal, well-adjusted dog. If, however, you are an oak tree, it would not make sense to hope that someday you will sprout wings and turn into a bird. Likewise, if you are a veggie burger, embrace your veggie-ness and don't worry about your meaty cousins. You're better than that.

Most grocery store veggie burgers, relentless in their quest to remind us of a juicy beef patty, fall pretty short. They are generally made up of a lot of processed soy and wheat with a token onion or some corn thrown in for good measure. Let's look at the Grilled Vegetable Boca Burger: 

WATER, SOY PROTEIN CONCENTRATE, RED BELL PEPPERS, CORN, ZUCCHINI, GREEN BELL PEPPERS, ONIONS, WHEAT GLUTEN, CONTAINS LESS THAN 2% OF ASIAGO CHEESE (PASTEURIZED PART-SKIM MILK, CHEESE CULTURE, SALT, ENZYMES), POTASSIUM SORBATE (AS A PRESERVATIVE), LOW-MOISTURE PART-SKIM MOZZARELLA CHEESE (CULTURED PASTEURIZED PART-SKIM MILK, SALT, ENZYMES), DRIED GARLIC, METHYLCELLULOSE, SALT, CARAMEL COLOR, DRIED ONIONS, AUTOLYZED YEAST EXTRACT, NATURAL FLAVOR (NON-MEAT), SPICE, DEXTROSE. CONTAINS: SOY, MILK, WHEAT.

Note that the very first ingredient is water ("Boca Burgers: When You're Thirsty"), and the second is some processed soy thing. I'm also not sure why they needed to add caramel color since all the other stuff blended together is most definitely brown.

There are probably better brands of veggie burger available; I have read good reviews about Gardenburger varieties for those of you in a time crunch. However, for anyone who wants a truly fabulous homemade meal and has a couple of hours to enjoy their kitchen, these Cook's Illustrated inspired burg's are the way to go. 

Veggie Burgers

Makes 12; can be frozen for storage

Ingredients
3/4 cup dried brown lentils
2 tsp salt
3/4 cup uncooked brown rice
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 medium onions, finely chopped
1 rib of celery, chopped
1 small leek, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1 pound cremini mushrooms, sliced 1/4 inch thick (this adds up to a whole lotta mushrooms)
1 cup raw unsalted cashews
1/3 cup full-fat unsweetened Greek yogurt
2 cups Panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
ground black pepper

Directions
Get to cooking the lentils and rice. For the lentils, add 3 cups of water and a bit of salt and boil them until they are very soft and about to fall apart, about 25 minutes. At the same time, boil your rice with 1.5 cups of water until the water has been absorbed and the rice is soft.

When the lentils are done, spread them out on a tray under some paper towels to absorb the moisture and let them cool to room temperature, about 20 minutes. When the rice is done, set it in a large bowl (you are going to end up adding everything else into this bowl) away from heat to also cool a bit. You want to get most of the moisture out of the lentils, so you may also need to pat them dry with paper towels.

While your lentils and rice are cooling, heat a bit of oil in a pan - we used our new big boy cast iron skillet - add the onion, celery, leek, and garlic. Cook about 10 minutes until it all begins to brown.  Spread them out on another tray under some paper towels to absorb moisture.

Using the same pan, add a bit more oil over high heat and throw in the 'shrooms. Cook the mushrooms until they are golden brown and have shrunk down considerably. Spread them out with the vegetable mixture and let it all cool off.

Next, you want to turn your cashews into a powder as best you can. You can use a food processor, magic bullet, coffee grinder (our choice), or just put them in a plastic baggie and smash them with something heavy. The method you choose may depend on what kind of day you've had.  Add the crushed cashews, the cooled lentils, the cooled veggie-mushroom mixture, and the yogurt into the large bowl of rice.  Mix it all together with your hands. Don't be afraid to get in there!

The idea for this next step is to blend/puree the mixture so it's nice and mushy. You can transfer part of it at a time into a blender or food processor but I think that creates more of a mess than necessary. We got out our immersion blender (is there anything it can't do??) and blended away.  Use it until everything looks pretty well mushed together. It should be kind of sticky and have a rough texture.

Add the panko one cup at a time and mix it together as you go. You might find you don't need as much as the recipe calls for to get a good burgery consistency, but 2 cups is a good gauge. Salt and pepper to taste.

Form patties out of this mixture. You should get 12, and since two people cannot eat 12 of anything in one sitting, you may want to freeze half of them. Cook or grill them up however you want! 

Sweet Potato Fries
Serves 2 hungry people who also have veggie burgers to eat

Ingredients
1 large sweet potato
2 Tbsp EVOO
freshly ground salt and pepper

Directions
Preheat your oven to 450F.

You can use peeled or unpeeled potatoes depending upon your preference. We "roughly peeled" ours, meaning we left some skin on. I recommend that.

Cut up the sweet potatoes into sticks. Chop off the ends if they are small or pointy, as this will make for burnt fry ends. Cut the potato in half around the middle (width-wise not length-wise), slice each half into rings 3/4 inch thick, and slice up each ring into sticks each about 1/2 inch wide.

In a bowl, toss the potato sticks together with the olive oil, salt and pepper. Use the pepper generously! Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and place the sweet potato sticks on it gently. Be sure they are evenly spaced and not touching - this will affect cooking time, the amount of burning that goes on in your oven, and sogginess. Give them some room for goodness sakes! They will get smaller as they cook.

Put them in the oven for 13-15 minutes. You'll probably want to check them around 12 minutes to see how brown the underside is getting. When it starts to brown, it's time to flip the fries. Remove the baking sheet and flip each fry. You can do this by hand or perhaps with tongs, but beware they are hot. Put them back in the oven for about 10 more minutes, and try to keep an eye on them.

After their second round in the oven, the fries are done and ready to enjoy!

Shared on Fresh Bites Friday

I Can Make Hummus As Well As Sabre And You Can Too!

Hummus isn't typically one of those products that needs to be homemade to avoid processed added crap. Even store bought varieties tend to use just a few normal real-food ingredients; the four components essential to hummus are chickpeas, sesame, lemon, and garlic. But it's fun to make yourself, of course less expensive, and it's nice to know you are capable of whipping up something so delicious.

This recipe was inspired by the folks at Cook's Illustrated. I've modified some ingredient amounts for taste and to make enough to snack on for a week.

What You Need
A blender or food processor
1 cup dried chickpeas
2 quarts water
1/4 tsp baking soda
10-11 Tbsp tahini
4 Tbsp the best extra virgin olive oil you are willing to pay for
6 Tbsp lemon juice
2-3 garlic cloves diced or pressed
3/4 tsp salt
1-2 pinches cayenne pepper
1/2 - 1 tsp ground cumin, depending on your preference

What To Do
First things first, get to soaking those chickpeas! Put your dried chickpeas in a bowl and cover them by several inches with water. Cover the bowl and set it in the fridge overnight.

The next day, you'll see your chickpeas have absorbed a lot of the water, but they won't be as soft or as large as the canned kind so it's time to cook them. Put your garbanzo babies into a pot along with about 2 quarts of water and the baking soda. Bring it all to a boil and let it go for an hour. You can test them by eating one, and they should be very soft after the hour is up.

When they are done, save 1/2 cup of the cooking water and drain off the rest. Let cool 20 minutes or so.

Meanwhile, you'll want to prepare you blender and two small bowls. Into the blender, throw the garlic (2 or 3 cloves depending on your personal preference), salt, cayenne, and cumin. Add lemon juice and the reserved cooking water into one of the bowls. Mix tahini and olive oil into the other.

Once your garbanzos are not longer piping hot, dump them into the blender and blend with the spices. You'll probably have to stop the blender a few times and scrape everything back down around the blades. It shouldn't take too long until you've got a thick paste. Add the lemon juice and water mixture slowly. If you're very brave you'll be able to do this with the lid of the blender completely off. Again, you'll probably have to stop and stir and few times, but try to blend this for about a minute. Finally, add the tahini/olive oil mixture in the same manner. Blend about another minute.

Move your hummus into a bowl and let it chill in the fridge. Hummus is one of those things that tastes even more delicious if it sits for an hour or two and the flavors are allowed to combine.

Serving Suggestion
Hummus is great with pita chips, as a sandwich or wrap spread, and as a vegetable dip. My favorite way to enjoy it is with fresh carrots, peeled and cut into sticks.

Shared At: The Healthy Home Economist

A Slower Plate: Roast Chicken and Chocolate Pot Du Creme

I am wishing for a slower pace of life.

I'm taking a class to become a certified Maryland Master Gardener. The group meets on Mondays and Wednesdays from 9am-12pm, so as you might expect it's comprised of lots of young people who work full-time.

Just kidding, I'm the only one.

The makeup of the rest of the class is approximately: stay-at-home moms (1), part-time worker (1), and recently retired (30). Everyone seems genuinely nice and certainly passionate about gardening. The problem is that on Wednesday at 12pm sharp, while I was stressed about getting to work as quickly as possible to accumulate the proper number of weekly hours without resorting to heroics like staying later than 6, the nice gentleman sitting in front of me had yet to rise out of his seat. In fact, he looked quite comfortable, and he said that since he retired he takes his time and does things at a leisurely pace. Some of that slow-down may be due to age, but I see it mainly as a conscious improvement in habits and lifestyle.

I am well aware that everyone in that room earned their retirement, probably working at far more demanding jobs than mine. But isn't it a shame that in life you have to wait until you are in your 50s or 60s to have the time to properly travel or care for a garden or cook truly wonderful meals? I do my best to sneak in bits of ambitious cooking (and traveling and gardening) here and there, but I am eagerly awaiting a day when life allows for more.

My latest "ambitious meal" was quite a feast! It included hearty crock-pot vegetarian minestrone soup, roasted (cage-free, organic, humanely raised, $17-but-so-worth-it) whole chicken, and for dessert? Chocolate pot du creme. For the roast chicken I followed Jamie Oliver's recipe strictly, and I cannot recommend it heartily enough. It was delicious. I'm sure Henry felt like the lucky dog he is when I shared a bit with him.

Without consciously slowing down a bit, it's unfortunately easy to end up eating something like this instead.

The chocolate pot du creme (that's "pot" pronounced as in Edgar Allan, not as in Pol) is what I truly wanted to share in this post. It's a dessert that's simple enough to make; it's rich and really leaves an impression with it's eater. I'm still thinking about a Belgian chocolate pot du creme I had two years ago at a restaurant. But it's another one of those fancies you wouldn't make unless you had all day to indulge your cooking whims.

Ingredients
For the Pot:
3/4 cup half and half
2.5 oz bittersweet chocolate (around 70% cacao, as close as you can get), chopped
1 Tbsp natural cane sugar
2 egg yolks
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp cocoa powder
Pinch of salt
2 oven safe dishes/ramekins

For the homemade whipped cream topping (optional):
1 cup heavy cream
1 Tbsp natural cane sugar

Directions
For the Pot:
Preheat your oven to 300F. Bring half-and-half barely to a simmer in a small saucepan. Remove from heat and add the chocolate and sugar. Stir this until the chocolate and sugar dissolve into the mixture.  Let stand 2 minutes.

In a medium bowl, stir together egg yolks, vanilla, cocoa powder, and salt. Gradually stir the half-and-half mixture into the yolk mixture, whisking as you combine them. Pour this chocolate mixture through a fine mesh strainer into a measuring cup for the smoothest result.

Place 2 ovenproof cups or ramekins in a shallow roasting pan and divide the chocolate mixture among them. Pour hot water into the pan so it reaches halfway up the sides of the cups.

Bake in the oven until the custards are almost set in the centers, about 30 minutes. They will firm as they cool. Carefully remove the cups from their hot water bath and let them cool completely. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour before serving.

For the topping:
This is nothing more than a tutorial on how to make your own whipped cream. You can look up plenty of other websites for directions if you don't like these.

You'll need a mixing bowl and some electric hand beaters. Put your mixing bowl in the freezer along with the beaters (not the part with the motor, just the removable beaters themselves) for at least 10 minutes. Once the equipment is cold, pour in the heavy cream. Beat it until "stiff peaks" are just about to form. You'll know it when you see it. Add in the sugar and continue beating until peaks do form. Do not overbeat. Cover this and refrigerate until ready to serve.


Shared At: Simple Lives Thursday, Full Plate Thursday, and Food Renegade's Fight Back Friday

A Snappy Plate: The Ginger Kind

Two "smart eating" rules I think of often are: 1. Only eat sweets that you make, and 2. When you go out, always bring something to eat with you. These are perfectly sensible ideas. Sweets like candy are often harbingers of bad things, like unrecognizable variations of soy (lecithin?) or high fructose corn syrup. When you make treats, you probably won't use high fructose corn syrup mostly because you can't buy a jar of it at the store. You'll use an actual food like butter instead. To understand the second rule, imagine you're going out to the mall. It is quite likely that on your way in through Macy's, you will become temporarily blinded by perfume spritzes, make a wrong turn at the Forever 21, and wind up in the food court, dizzied by the scents of Chick-Fil-A and that Japanese stir-fry place.

With quick reflexes and a little bit of luck, you can whip out the snack you brought along and make an escape. This is why I do not go to the mall.

What, you might ask, is the point?  The point is this: Gingersnaps. I have a delicious recipe for these goodies that is fairly easy to follow and not terrible for your body (Rule #1). Dan and I gave them as a gift over the holidays after baking and eating an entire test batch, and they received rave reviews. Ladies, gingersnaps are easy to put into your purse to sneak into the mall, movies, or Broadway musical productions (Rule #2). If I were giving dating advice, I would mention that women who offer homemade cookies at just the right moment make men swoon. I would also mention that most men aren't worth the trouble. Choose your cookie offerees carefully.

The recipe is inspired by the Joy of Baking version with some modifications.

Ingredients (Makes 4 Dozen Cookies)
3/4 cup unsalted butter (if you use salted, omit the salt later in the recipe)
1/2 cup muscovado sugar
1/2 cup natural cane sugar
1/4 cup unsulphured molasses
1 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups white whole wheat flour, King Arthur is a good brand
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 and 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1 extra cup natural cane sugar

Directions
Put the butter and sugars into a mixing bowl and beat with your electric/hand mixer until they are light and fluffy (2-3 minutes). Add the molasses, egg, and vanilla extract and beat until incorporated.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and spices. Add this to the butter mixture and mix until well combined. Cover and chill the batter for about 30 minutes until it's a little bit firm. I sometimes let it chill overnight if I don't have enough time in the same day; if you do this, just be sure to let the dough set out and soften some before baking.

Warning: If you are someone who likes to eat raw cookie dough, as I do, you are going to want to eat this. You are not going to want to make ANY cookies out of it. Remember though, that not only does this defeat the purpose of Rule #2, but if you sit and eat a bowl of dough which would normally produce 4 dozen cookies, you won't feel very good. I try to limit my dough-eating to the equivalent of 6 cookies. End Warning.

When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Place the reserved 1 cup of natural cane sugar in a small bowl. When the dough is properly chilly, roll it into 1 inch balls. Roll each ball of dough into the sugar, coating thoroughly. Place them onto a baking sheet spaced about 2 inches apart. Press the bottom of a glass onto each dough ball to flatten it slightly. They might stick a bit, but just peel the cookies off and return them to their baking sheet.

Bake for 12-15 minutes. The longer you bake them, the crunchier they will be. I usually bake them between 12-13 minutes and once they cool they are always properly crisp. They should feel dry and firm on top when you take them out of the oven. Cool them on a wire rack.

Shared on: Food Renegade and Real Food Whole Health

How To Make Really Good Rice

Rice.

It's plain. Starchy. Brown or white usually, but sometimes red, black, and purple. Goes with a lot of things. Often swept under meat or vegetables. About as exciting as, well, rice.

But guess what? For over half of the world's population, rice is a staple food. Twenty percent of the world's dietary energy supply comes from rice (wheat rings in at 19%). Rice has given us something like 12,000 years of it's time, so let's give it just a few minutes of ours.

How To Make Rice
Lots of people use a rice cooker. I've never understood that. To me, rice cookers are another one of those single-purpose gadgets like a strawberry huller or a banana slicer. It takes up much less drawer space to just eat around strawberry leaves.

To make a basic pot of rice, you need only three things: a pot, rice, and water - 1 part rice to 2 parts water. Put the rice and water in the pot and bring it to a boil. Simmer the mixture, fluff it (a fancy word for "stir") once in a while with a fork, and when there is no more water your rice is done.

How To Make Slightly Better Rice
There are a few simple things you can do improve upon this basic pot of rice.
1. Add a dollop of oil to the pot before you start to boil it. This gives your finished pot of rice a nice texture.
2. Use good rice. Forget about Uncle Ben and his 90-second plastic pouches. My favorite type of rice is Basmati, literally "the fragrant one". It's a long-grain rice that is used in a lot of Indian cooking. Basmati comes in brown and white varieties and I think both are equally tasty. White basmati takes about 20 minutes to cook, while the slightly more nutritious brown basmati takes 30-40 minutes.
3. Try boiling your rice in vegetable broth instead of water. The 2-to-1 rule still holds, and it's a tasty alternative!

How To Make Really Good Rice
Dan and I recently enjoyed this Pea, Potato, and Lentil Curry. Rather than making plain rice or even Slightly Better Rice to go along with it, I decided to try this Sidelicious recipe that sounded like it would come close to emulating the rice at our favorite Indian restaurant. As you may have guessed, the end result was Really Good Rice.

Ingredients
1.5 cups basmati rice (we used white, but I think brown would turn out just as good)
4 garlic cloves
1 yellow onion, diced
1-2 inches fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
1/2 tsp. - 1 tsp. cumin seed
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 Tbsp. coconut oil
2-3 cups vegetable broth (save veggie scraps to make your own!)

Directions
Heat the coconut oil in a pot that will be big enough for your rice. Add the onion and saute on medium heat until it's transparent, just a few minutes. Add the garlic and ginger and saute for a few more minutes (4-5). To this, add the rice and cumin seed and fry it all together for about 5 minutes, stirring often. Next, add the turmeric and mix it in until everything is yellow. Add 2 cups of your broth.

Bring the mixture to a boil and then let it simmer with the lid of the pot on but tilted to allow steam to escape. Keep an eye on it, and give it a stir once in a while. If all of the liquid gets absorbed but your rice isn't soft enough, add a bit more until it is. For white basmati, it should take about 20 minutes; brown will take longer.

I think what really made this rice turn out well is that I made it about 2 hours before dinner (because that's when I had time) and we let it sit in the pot, lid on and burner off, until we were ready to eat it. Because of the spices in this recipe, I think this rice would be best eaten either by itself or with an Indian-inspired curry or masala. Our curry and rice combo turned out so well it's one of my new favorite dinners.

For more real food recipes and healthy lifestyle ideas, visit Real Food Wednesday.

An Eatalian Plate: Winter Vegetable Salad

According to a recent article in the MSN Lifestyle section, the #8 unexpected thing men love about women is "culinary confidence". The gentleman being quoted describes how cute it is when his special lady eats something yummy in a restaurant and says "I could make this!" Bonus points if she's so bold as to ask the waiter how it's done.

MSN Guy: This one's for you.

I've mentioned that Dan and I visited Manhattan for a few days during the holiday season. Aside from Occupying Wall Street, we did a lot of walking and a lot of eating; we found some cozy spots and had some really special, fabulous food. On Dan's must-do list was to check out Eataly, a New York restaurant that's really like twelve restaurants under one gigantic pseudo-Italian roof. Each restaurant specializes in one thing, for example: fish, meat, pasta, vegetables, or beer (guess which one he wanted to try!).

Before we made our way to Birreria, the Eataly beer experience with really good craft beer and uber-extroverted bartenders, we stopped at Le Verdure, the vegetable place. It. Was. Delicious. We shared an antipasti called Insalata Di Finocchi E Agrumi (Citrus and Fennel Salad) which was so yummy and simple I thought "I could make this!" (see above).

The real Citrus and Fennel Salad. 

Based on my memory of the dish, what's listed on the menu, and what I have available at home (hint: not pomegranate or citrus), here is our version:

Ingredients

1 medium bulb fennel

1 small celery root

A handful of dried cranberries 

Note: The actual recipe clearly used pomegranate seeds, small pieces of an orange, and small pieces of a grapefruit. You could use those instead if you have them around.

3 T champagne vinegar or white wine vinegar

2 T lemon juice (about 1 whole lemon)

2 T good olive oil

1.5 T honey (I used raw honey)

Directions

Cut off the top of the fennel, pick off some of the dill and set it aside. 

Slice both the fennel and celery root as thinly as possible. I believe we could have done a better job if we owned a mandoline or similar food slicer, but a carefully applied knife worked out alright. Put the sliced veggies on a plate and mix in the cranberries. You can cover this and refrigerate it until ready to serve.

Next, mix together the rest of the ingredients - vinegar, lemon juice, olive oil, and honey - in a small bowl to make a honey-lemon vinaigrette dressing. It's a bit tangy by itself but the sweetness of the cranberries has a mellowing effect. Give your dill a quick chop and mix it into the vinaigrette as well.

When ready to serve, pour the vinaigrette mixture on top of the salad.

The "homemade" Winter Vegetable Salad

Check out more healthy living tips and great recipes at The Healthy Home Economist.

Say "No" To Fake Meat!

I love vegetarians (one in particular)! I have a lot of respect for the choice to give up meat, whether for personal health or animal well-being, but it's not yet the right choice for me. I still, and probably always, will believe that humanely raised animals or wild caught fish are supreme additions to a meal. The main argument I've heard against the idea is that humanely raised meat is too expensive. This is easily dismissed: eat less of it. Quality over quantity, people! Feature meat as the supporting actor rather than the star of your dinner, use it infrequently, and your wallet will be fine.

As great of a choice as vegetarianism CAN be for your body and for the planet, vegetarians are easily seduced (like the rest of us) by processed foods. Soy and wheat can be turned into many things, and there is no shortage of processed meat substitutes on the market for veg folk: Boca burgers, Morningstar patties, Tofurkey, and TVP (textured vegetable protein) to name a few. I've always disagreed with these types of food on principle. In fact, I recall turning my nose up at one of the first dinners Dan offered to share with me. He had prepared pasta with tomato sauce and used ground TVP in the sauce as a meat substitute. My feeling is this: pasta is delicious with no animal products whatsoever, but if what you really want is something that looks, cooks, and tastes like meat - for goodness sakes, eat some meat.

There is one dish that I've broken my own rules for, only because if I make it with meat half of the people in the house will be excluded from the meal. The dish is "Sausage" and Peppers with onions and crushed tomatoes over brown rice; I use these Italian-spiced vegetarian sausages. Can you guess the very first ingredient on the package? Wheat Gluten! The protein-component of the wheat berry, separated from the rest of the plant and mushed around until it has a kinda-reminds-you-of-meat-if-you-haven't-had-meat-in-five-years consistency. This dish is dead simple to make and, as it turns out, really tasty without any meat substitutes whatsoever. I have aspirations of making my own sausage-like substitutes with lentils and almond meal, but have not yet had a successful attempt.

Italian Peppers & Onions (&Vegetables)

2 onions, cut into large pieces
2-inch piece of ginger, chopped
4 cloves garlic
1 bulb of fennel, chopped
4 carrots, peeled and chopped

3-4 bell peppers, cut into long slices

8oz fresh shitake mushrooms, chopped

1 zucchini, chopped
1.5 cups black beans (either canned or re-hydrated)
1/2 cup chopped black olives

2 jars of diced tomatoes, preferably no salt added
1 cup brown basmati rice
Pinch of red pepper flakes
Salt & Pepper
Italian-ish spices like oregano, basil, sage, rosemary, marjoram, and thyme.

Start a pot of water boiling for the rice - 2 cups water for 1 cup rice. Bring the rice to a gentle boil, lid on but tilted, and simmer until the water has been absorbed which should be about 30-40 minutes.

Put a dollop of coconut oil (or other oil good for higher-heat cooking) in your pan.  Add the onion, garlic, ginger, fennel, and carrots. Cook on medium-high heat for about 5 minutes, until they start to get soft.

Add the bell peppers, zucchini, mushrooms, black beans, and black olives. You could substitute other veggies or beans here; we chose these because they were what we had on hand. Cook for a few more minutes, until heated through, or when the mushrooms begin to shrink and the peppers begin to get tender.

Add the canned tomatoes, red pepper flakes to taste, and about a teaspoon of whichever Italian-ish spices you have around. Salt and pepper as needed.

Those who would like to could easily add some all-natural meat sausages.  Serve over rice.

A Classic Plate: Make Your Own Pizza

Just about everyone appreciates a good pizza. With so many varieties, we can all find something to like: thin crust, deep dish, classic, gluten-free, and sans cheese for The Vegans. Even dogs enjoy a good slice now and then.

On a pleasant Spring day, when we hadn't had Henry very long, we decided to take him on an outing into the Fell's Point neighborhood of Baltimore City - a lovely spot - to practice seeing lots of people and being social. As we strolled back to the car at the end of a successful afternoon, he zeroed in on it. Head down. Tail up. Sniffing. One stealthy chomp towards the ground, and he had it. A fully intact, day-old slice of cheese pizza no doubt dropped there in the wee hours by a bar-goer stumbling home. Unfortunately, this was before Henry knew "out" (he still hears it only selectively), and we were in the "prying things out of jaws" stage. Eventually, I believe he was willing to trade for a large bite of hot dog.

Dan hearts pizza!

Since not everyone enjoys Cold Dirt Pizza, I'd like to share our recipe and some special techniques for a successful homemade version. Dan and I have been making pizza together since the very beginning. In fact, one of our first forays into the adventures of cooking together found us newly dating, making cute heart-shaped pizzas for each other.

Note: The sauce and dough recipes are thanks to "Rabbit Food" - one of our favorite cookbooks.

The Dough
The first thing you need is some good pizza dough. You can buy it pre-made at a store, but it's very simple, inexpensive, and tastes better when you make it yourself. Mix up the dough around the time you eat lunch (it won't take longer than 20 minutes), set it aside, and it will be ready when you want dinner.

Makes two 12-inch pizzas.

2 tsp active dry yeast
4 cups of flour
1 1/4 cups hot water
3 Tbs olive oil
1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
Dashes of garlic powder, pepper, thyme, basil, oregano, and/or red pepper flakes

Mix together the yeast, sugar, and 1 cup of flour. Add the warm water and let it sit for 10 minutes. Mix in the oil and spices. Begin to add the rest of the flour 1 cup at a time until kneading is required (meaning you can't mix it with a spoon anymore). Then, knead in the rest of the flour 1/2 cup at a time until the dough is no longer too sticky to handle. Dan had to add in more water than is called for to get the mixture right - you be the judge!

Separate the dough into equal two parts. Set it on an oiled baking sheet (very important!), cover with a kitchen towel, and let it rise. It will be ready after about 60 minutes, but you will have better results when it's left for several hours.

When ready, channel your inner Italian to twirl the dough into pizzas or simply press them flat.

The Sauce
Again, you can buy the sauce pre-made but I recommend making it yourself. It's very easy and you have total control over the spices and flavor. I would add loads of garlic whereas Dan would toss in extra crushed red pepper.

Makes enough sauce for two 12-inch pizzas.

1 can tomato sauce
1 can tomato paste
2 tsp olive oil
2 tsp sugar
Dashes of garlic powder, pepper, thyme, basil, oregano, and/or red pepper flakes

Mix it all together. Taste often, and adjust spices as necessary.

The Toppings
Go wild! Topping your pizza is the most fun; use your favorite fresh vegetables and herbs. In my most recent pizza I used finely diced mushrooms, onions, and a bunch of garlic. Dan used mozzerrella cheese slices, sliced mushrooms, a green chili pepper for some kick, and fresh basil leaves (don't add the basil until the end of cooking). We also used a shredded Italian cheese blend along with some grated parmesan. Both pizzas were fabulous!

Cooking Tips
Everything has been really easy so far. Just put your pizza in the oven, cook at about 400 degrees for 15 minutes or until the crust is golden and cheese bubbles. Take it out, slice it up, and enjoy.

But wait.. if you don't have a pan that will hold a 12-inch pizza, how do you get it from the counter to the oven? And how will you get it out when it's hot? Success at these steps has eluded us until recently. I would pile the toppings and cheese on, making my pizzas so heavy that they could not slide into or out of the oven without dozens of mushroom and onion casualties.  One simple piece of equipment (and a bit of practice with it) can fix all that: a $10 pizza peel like this one.

I would also recommend investing in a pizza stone, which goes for about $50 and really does make a difference in the texture of the crust.

Buon appetito!

Check out more great ideas at the Real Food Wednesday blog.

I Heart Mushrooms

I admit it. I have an unabashed love of mushrooms.  Oyster, portabello, shitake, porcini, even the common cremini. And that's only what you can (sometimes) find in stores! Some Baltimore locals, who are clearly better than I, have expanded upon the 'shrooms available to them by learning how to forage for their own.  In fact, an interest in mushroom foraging is blooming all over the country. I have not yet had the good fortune to meet any of these folks, but I have met more than a few at the other end of the spectrum: people who don't like mushrooms. I immediately recognize these people as inferior. Is it wrong to judge someone based on their food choices? Probably. What if they were similarly judging us mushroom lovers?

"How can they think a bowl full of pureed fungus is half as good as a Big Mac?" they would say.

Oh, but it is.

There are few foods more satisfying on a crisp Autumn evening than a well-done mushroom soup. In fact, as I write these words there is a large pot full of the little guys boiling on my stove. Their aroma is one of fresh, moist earth, verging on meaty; the smell is a bit salty. There are five varieties in my pot, each one beautifully unique and infinitely flavorful.

The recipe comes from the capable kitchen of Jamie Oliver, converted from the metric system for readers' convenience and slightly modified because we can't find all of the same ingredients easily in the States.

Ingredients
2 packages dried porcini mushrooms
A dollop of olive oil
600g fresh mushrooms (Pick up a few varieties in the produce section to equal 600g. I was able to get cremini, shitake, and portabello easily; I got lucky and found some fresh oyster mushrooms as well. The more exotic the better! Weigh them on the scale in the produce section if the weight is not listed or they are not packaged.)
1 bulb of garlic (6-7 cloves)
1 red onion
A bit of butter
1 handful of fresh thyme
4 cups vegetable stock
1 handful fresh parsley
2T mascarpone cheese
A bit of lemon juice
Salt and pepper

Directions
Put the dried porcini in a bowl. Heat up water just to boiling and pour it over the porcini, just enough to cover them. Set aside.

Chop the red onion, garlic cloves, and pick the thyme leaves. Throw all this in a bowl and set aside.

Slice, roughly chop, and rinse off the fresh mushrooms. Heat a dollop of olive oil in a deep pan (I used a wok-style pan), and add the fresh mushrooms. Cook for about a minute. Add the onion/garlic/thyme as well as a knob of butter to the pan. Stir this all around for another minute or two.

Meanwhile, strain the porcini liquid (but save it). Chop half of the porcini and leave the other half whole. Add all the porcini as well as the liquid to the pot. Bring the entire mixture to a simmer and let it cook for about 20 minutes, until most of the liquid has cooked off.

In a separate soup pot, combine the broth and the mushroom mixture. Once again, bring to a simmer and cook another 20 minutes, uncovered. After that,  break out your immersion blender and blend the soup until it's a good chunky consistency - not smooth. If you are lacking in immersion blender inventory, ladle half of the soup into a blender, blend, and put it back in the pot. Add parsley and mascarpone.

Important: This really makes the dish. When serving, combine a bit of lemon juice, salt, and pepper and spoon a little of this into the soup. The lemon brings out the best parts of mushroom flavor.

For more great recipes and healthy living ideas, check out Fight Back Fridays over on the Food Renegade blog.

Wheatless Wednesday (The Last)

We thought it would never come. The end of not eating wheat - and just in time for stuffing and pies! Questions still need to be answered. How do we feel? Have we lost weight? Are we going to change our diets forever?

I feel good. As I've mentioned in previous WW posts, I think the foods I've been eating are more agreeable to my body than things like pizza and cookies. Also, I have tons more energy, especially in the mornings! There are still nights where I fall asleep on the couch at 9pm, but I blame that on Henry's 5:30am please-pet-me-nuzzles-and-tail-wagging. As for losing weight, I have no idea. We didn't weigh ourselves when we started (bad experimenters) and we don't own a working scale to weigh ourselves now.

Dan doesn't think he feels any differently. He finds that he isn't craving his usual wheat-full food like sandwiches or pizza, but he is looking forward to drinking his homebrewed beer.

Are we going to change our diets in the future? I've already written that I am permanently replacing the cinnamon-sugar sprouted grain toast I normally eat in the morning with old fashioned oatmeal sprinkled with muscovado sugar. I'm going to continue turning down cookies and cake at the office. I think we will eat pizza less often. I have never been a big pretzel or white-bread-sandwich eater.

Wheatless Recipe

We've made this "Amazing Beans" recipe several times over the past year and it's always really good! In fact, it was the first dish that inspired us to improve our collection of spices; it is one of the reasons our cabinets remain stocked with essentials like cumin seeds, turmeric, coriander seeds, cardamom pods, and garam masala. If you don't have these, find an international/Asian grocer or market and look there. The spices will be unbelievably cheap and you can usually find some really interesting items.

One great thing about Amazing Beans is that they are made in a slow cooker. Slow cookers/crockpots are handy because you can turn them on in the morning, let the Dinner Fairy work her magic all day, and come home to a nice-smelling kitchen full of ready-to-eat food. Once you learn to shove that nagging worry about the house burning down into the back of your mind, slow cookers are wonderful things. This particular recipe has you cook the food for 5 and 1/2 hours, adding some things, then cook it all a bit longer. I wasn't sure how to work this out since I'm gone for 9ish hours every day. Dan (and a Christmas light timer) to the rescue!  He gets full credit for the idea, and it's a good one if you don't have one of those fancy crockpots where you set the cooking times. Read on!

Ingredients
1 cup dried lentils (black lentils are recommended, brown ones are easier to find and are also good)
1/2 cup dried chickpeas
1/2 cup dried kidney beans
3 bay leaves
3 green cardamom pods
1 cinnamon stick
1 small onion
2-inch piece of ginger, peeled
6 garlic cloves
2-4 Thai, Serrano, or Cayenne chilies (we have used jalapenos in a pinch)
1 T cumin seed
1 T coriander seed
1 good lug of olive oil
1 t turmeric
1 t red chili powder
2 T tomato paste
1/2 cup Greek yogurt
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 T sea salt
7 cups water
Handful of fresh cilantro, chopped
Whew!

Directions
Rinse off the lentils, chickpeas, and kidney beans. Every website I've ever seen advises you to pick through for stones - I never do that. Let your spirit of adventure and fondness for your dentist be your guide.

Put the rinsed lentils, chickpeas, kidney beans, bay leaves, cardamom pods, tomato paste, and cinnamon stick in the slow cooker.

In a blender or food processor (I use my average-at-best blender and it works fine) blend the onion ginger, garlic cloves, and chilies into a paste. You shouldn't need to add any liquid as the onion will be a bit watery.

The next step is to roast the cumin and coriander seeds. Add the seeds to a dry pan over medium-high heat. You'll need to stand there and stir/shake the seeds so they don't stay in one spot too long and burn. After about 2-3 minutes you'll notice them start to get a bit darker and become fragrant. Once browned, put them in a dish to cool; once cooled, grind them. You can use a fancy spice grinder for this, a mortar and pestle, or you can put the seeds in a plastic baggie and beat them with a rolling pin or something else heavy. All good options.

Heat the olive oil in a pan and add the onion mixture from your blender. Let it brown for about 5 minutes, add the smashed cumin-coriander seeds, red chili powder, and salt. Heat this all together for a couple of minutes. Add it to your slow cooker along with the tomato paste and water.

Cook this for 5 and 1/2 hours on high. If you're like me and out for more than 5 and 1/2 hours at a time, this is when you dig out the Christmas light timer. Set it to start 5 and 1/2 hours before you will get home and plug everything in; the mixture can sit undisturbed in the crockpot until the timer allows it to start cooking.

After 5 and 1/2 hours, add the yogurt and cream. Mix that in and continue cooking for another 30 minutes.

Top with the fresh cilantro. Brown basmati rice and naan (not wheatless) are excellent additions to the Amazing Beans.

Wheatless and Meatless but Not Beetless Wednesdays (Part 3)

Three weeks down and we are still going strong! Dan thinks he isn't enjoying the benefits of wheatlessness as much as he should be because he's had a cold most of the time and a mild case of poison ivy (from pulling it out of Henry's mouth - remember my post about that dog eating EVERYTHING?). Conclusion: wheat has nothing to do with poison ivy immunity. I, on the other hand, think that my digestion has improved, I have an easier time waking up in the morning, and I am sure that I feel better after eating my new breakfast of old-fashioned oatmeal.

Lessons Learned
Just one lesson for the past week. I typically try to cook a bunch of food at some point over the weekend so that we have lots of leftovers. Planning ahead is good, but not the moral I was getting at. In the span of about three hours on Sunday, I attempted to squeeze in: kale chips, vegetable broth, cranberry-apple crumble, celery root and cashew cream soup, and sweet potato latkes. Everything turned out a little weird (although the vegetable broth is still unknown), which leads us to the lesson - Don't Rush!

Wheatless Recipe
We really enjoy homemade veggie burgers. Many recipes use flour to bind the vegetables together and if you go with a store bought variety, you can be assured some wheat and soy will be in there, too. The wheatless beet and oat burgers we made this week are a wonderful edition to an Autumn menu - beets are in season so now is the time to use them!

Beet, Oat, and Chickpea Burgers
1 beet, grated
1 can chickpeas, rinsed
1 potato, boiled (throw it in some boiling water for about 15 minutes or until you can put a fork through it easily)
some oats (3/4 cup?)
1 T tomato paste
4 cloves garlic
1 t cumin
pinch of sea salt, or to taste
1/4 t chili powder
1 t garam masala
1 T olive oil

Beet hands!

Preheat your oven to 350F.

Put the grated beet, chickpeas, and potato into a bowl. Mix and mash them all together.

Add the salt, garlic, olive oil, tomato paste, and all spices. Mix it up again and let it sit for a couple of minutes.

Add ground oats 1/4 cup at a time until the mixture is a consistency that you could form into patties. We only added 1/4 cup total.  Spread more oats out on a burger-sized plate. Form beet patties one at a time and press both sides of each onto the plate so the burgers are coated with the oats.

Place the patties on a baking sheet; line it with parchment paper if you wish for easier clean up. Bake them for about 20 minutes, or until they start to look crisp on the outside.

We enjoyed our burgers bun-less and they were delicious! The garlic and spice flavors really stood out. Another win for beets!.

The Mighty Bean

Not long ago, I modified a black bean soup recipe and the result was so flavorful I knew I would write about it. My dilemma: what is there to say about black beans? I thought I might write about their nutritional prowess - calculations of fiber, protein, and iron. But I'm reading Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food, and I'm in the midst of his chapters regarding nutrition science's Big Mistake. Science picks apart it's understanding of a food's value into it's nutrient parts, or rather, those nutrient parts of which science is aware. Nutrition scientists haven't always known about antioxidants or omega-6's or good versus bad cholesterol, so it's entirely possible that the bean has magical properties that have yet evaded nutritionists. Let's leave our understanding of the black bean at this: it is good for us.

In the interest of fairness, I will share with you one thing I dislike very much about beans. There are two ways to buy them: in a can (i.e. ready to eat but loaded with sodium) and dried (i.e. a days-long-sanity-robbing effort to re-hydrate). While I firmly believe the process of re-hydrating dried beans of all varieties is deserving of it's own article which I may get to at a later date, my technique is summarized below:

1. Dump a LOT of beans into a colander. I say "a LOT" because you can freeze beans you're not immediately going to use and the whole process is too much of a pain to go through very often. Rinse them and pick through for stones.
2. Put the beans in a large bowl, fill the bowl with enough water to cover the beans by 2-3 inches, cover, and set in the fridge. Leave it there at least overnight; I have abandoned beans in the fridge for up to 36 hours with no noticeable ill effects.
3. Things that would be soft after 36 hours underwater: a potato, a block of parmesan, a dictionary. Not beans! Dump them in the crockpot, fill it with water, and cook on low for 8-10 hours.
4. The beans are almost soft enough. If you're not going to use them immediately, this is the time to store them in the freezer. Otherwise, a bit more cooking in the destination meal (simmered in a soup, for example) should get them there. 

Aside from this annoyance, I have only praise for the mighty bean.  Beans are good for us. They are filling. They are yummy. Based on a recipe from So Good and Tasty and my own personal preferences for ginger and a lot of garlic, I've concocted a delicious black bean soup to demonstrate why all that soaking and boiling is well worth it.

Ingredients
1 yellow onion
5 garlic cloves
A thumb-size piece of fresh ginger
1 bell pepper
3-4 carrots
3-4 celery stalks
2.5-3 cups of re-hydrated black beans
A good squirt of lemon juice
Some water or homemade stock

Spices
1 T ground cumin
2 t ground coriander
1 t paprika
A pinch of chili powder
1 t dried oregano
2 bay leaves

Directions

Chop all the veggies. No need to arrange them photogenically. Heat a dollop of oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion, garlic, ginger, celery, carrots, bell pepper, and all the spices into the pot. Stir them around often for about 10 minutes until they have softened a bit.

Add the black beans, lemon juice, and enough stock or water (whichever you are using) to cover the mixture by about 2 inches. Bring it all to a boil, cover, and simmer on low heat until the liquid has reduced to the point of barely covering the beans. This should take about 50 minutes. Check the water level periodically - if it gets low or you want a soupier soup, you can add more.

Get out your immersion blender! Remove the bay leaves (I always forget) and blend.

For more recipes, tips, and anecdotes, check out Fight Back Fridays on Food Renegade.

For even MORE healthy lifestyle ideas and real food cooking, go to Butter Believer Sunday School!

Wheatless Wednesdays (Part 2)

Our crusade to rid our diets of wheat for four weeks continues! We are really getting the hang of things. Aside from cooking, Dan enjoyed another burrito bowl, we attended a crab feast, and we even went out to dinner at a local restaurant catering to dietary quirks.

Lessons Learned

• Once again, planning tops the list. There's no easier way to break a wheatless pledge than to get caught hungry and without alternatives at the office pizza party. To keep a variety of snacks and meals available on a whim, we have to plan ahead, make a lot of things from scratch, and do some shopping at specialty stores. Dan has also made some modifications to his snack choices. While he would normally enjoy a grilled cheese sandwich on a lazy Sunday afternoon, these days he can be found noshing on a ball of fresh mozzarella.
• The problem is in the soy sauce. Last week I mentioned we found out we couldn't eat at a particular Asian restaurant because everything on their menu (except salad) had wheat in it. I couldn't figure out what the wheat ingredient was until we tried to make our own stir-fry this week: it's the soy sauce. Gluten-free varieties exist, but we ended up making our own zingy sauce with rice vinegar, chili garlic paste, lime juice, moscovado sugar, and sesame oil.
• Teamwork is going to be another major factor in our success. We don't have kids, undoubtedly leaving us with more free time than the average family, but we do have two full-time jobs, one crazy dog, a flag football team, a volleyball team, a running club, and plans with friends that keep us busy. By sitting down together to plan our meals and sharing kitchen responsibilities we both reap the benefits, and it makes finding the time to cook from scratch a lot easier. Togetherness is an element missing from many American meals, but shopping and cooking alongside each other is one way to reclaim it.

Wheatless Recipe
Last week, I featured a dessert so this time we're going to the other end of the menu. At a typical restaurant, appetizers might include rolls, sliced bread, breadsticks, or deep-fried-something, but none of that works for us. I had some farmer's market sweet potatoes on hand and was attracted to the title and photos of Farmhouse Baked Ricotta. I modified the recipe a bit, so I will reprint it here with our changes.

Ingredients

1 container ricotta cheese (The original recipe calls for 500g, but all we could find was a 412g size - thank you Imperial measurement system.)

1+1/3 cups grated parmesan cheese - we happened to already have a container of parm; any other sharp, hard cheese would work just as well. 

1-2 sweet potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced

Directions

Heat oven to 400F. 

Line a muffin or cupcake pan with 11 baking cups. Thanks to using a bit less cheese than recommended, we won't fill all 12 cups. Mix the ricotta and the 1 cup of the parmesan together in a bowl. Layer each baking cup with cheese mixture - 2 potato slices - more cheese mixture. Sprinkle what's left of the parmesan generously on top.

Bake for 20-30 minutes.  You will see the tops get puffy and start to look brown when they are done. Remove from the oven. The original recipe includes a fresh herb sauce to drizzle over these delightful little creations. We made the sauce, but I'm not including it here because I think a bit of pesto, which you can buy pre-made, would have been just as good (and much less work!).

Dan ate these warm, cold, with and without the herb topping and has confirmed every variation was delicious. Use them as a snack at lunch or as a dinner appetizer. 

Wheatless Wednesdays

Dan and I are conducting an experiment in wheatless living. It started on Thursday, October 27, and ends on Thanksgiving, which I find quite appropriate. Mainly for it's alliterative cuteness, I plan to chronicle our progress each Wednesday.  I'll post lessons learned and a wheatless recipe we've enjoyed.

Week 1
Last Thursday morning, Dan sent me an article outlining the premise of a book called Wheat Belly.  Dr. Davis, the author, blames expanding American waistlines almost entirely on the over-consumption of wheat. He cites changes made to the wheat plant itself and it's prominent role in our diet as the culprits. I'm in agreement with Davis that wheat is everywhere (cereal, bread, pretzels, cakes, cookies, pasta) and is added into a lot of foods where it doesn't belong (Doritos, lunch meats, some candy bars). Even so, I'm not sure I buy the entire argument. Some of his statements are quite strong and evidence appears spotty, but at the end of the article he presents us with a challenge: try eating no wheat for four weeks and see how you feel.

Do-able.

The next few minutes went something like this:
10:00am - We agree that no wheat for four weeks is a great idea.
10:02am - I realize we can't get pizza for dinner as we'd be planning. Sad face. Chipotle burrito bowls are decided upon instead.
10:10am - Dan realizes he can't drink his latest batch of homebrewed beer. Really sad face. He thinks he can avoid giving up beer altogether if he only chooses bottles that list ingredients (not many) and buys the ones that don't list wheat (even less).

Lessons Learned

• Plan ahead. The first two days of our experiment found us eating the same foods for lunch and dinner.  We made Jamie Oliver's Hamilton Squash, and it was delicious, but after having it for lunch neither of us felt like eating it again a few hours later. We got our butts in gear and went to the store armed with a list and a plan by the third day.
• Wheat is everywhere. I thought we would be able to find at least a few places to get wheatless take-out and suggested Pei Wei (steamed rice, vegetables, and some sauce should be okay, right?), but their nutritional information sheet online tells a different story. Only their salads are safe. 
• It's hard to change your habits. For Dan, it's missing a grilled cheese or peanut-butter-banana sandwich at lunch.  For me, it's furiously munching on tortilla chips at a party to distract from the cupcake display.
• More energy? By Sunday, I noticed feeling more energized, particularly in the morning. Dan, on the other hand, was a bit sluggish and half-jokingly complained of "wheat withrdrawal".

Wheatless Recipe
I've been inspired again by farmer's market "seconds" apples and put together a Jamie O dish: Apple Crumble, modified for the purposes of our experiment.

For the Filling:
10ish medium apples of a few different varieties, peeled and sliced
2T water
1/3c sugar
Sprinkle of cinnamon

For the Topping:
1/3c brown rice flour (I think any alternative flour would do here)
1/2c oats
1T cinnamon
3T butter, cut into small pieces
1T sugar
handful brown sugar

Heat the oven to 375 degrees.

Put the filling ingredients in a pot and heat them on the stove until the apples get a little soft. I cooked mine about 10 minutes, but you may need more or less time depending on what type of apples you used and how many.

Mix all the topping ingredients except the brown sugar in a bowl with your fingers until they get a crumbly texture.

Drain most of the liquid out of the pot with the apples and dump them into a deep baking dish. Top with the crumbly topping.  Sprinkle a handful of brown sugar over the whole thing, and bake it in the oven for about 25-30 minutes.  It's done when the topping gets crispy and the apples are soft all the way through.

An Adventurous Plate: Celery Root

There is a fabulous market in nearby Ellicott City once a month.  It's called the Second Sunday Market, and occurs on dates in accordance with it's name.  My first visit was earlier this October - I was attracted by the promise of "exotic vegetables" being sold by a local French restaurant and I was not disappointed! I left with a bunch of lovely golden beets and a handful of parsnips for roasting, but my favorite find was an oft-passed-up and underappreciated vegetable called celery root.

About Celery Root
The knobby celery root is not going to win any beauty contests, but like the very best ugly ducklings, it surprises us in the end.

A chef was presiding over the exotic vegetable stand and she so heartily recommended the celery root that I had to take it.  She encouraged me to take a pre-purchase sniff and I was overcome with the aroma, of all things, of celery.  Not of a watery, pale green stalk for filling space in soups, but of something much brighter. It smelled fresh, of the earth, and salty.  

About The Soup

I looked for a recipe to do justice to my celery root upon arriving at home and came up with a soup that looked promising: Butternut Squash and Celery Root Soup.  My recipe is below, followed more or less from whatwouldcathyeat.com.

1 butternut squash

1 celery root

1 large onion

2 Tbsp olive oil

1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

6 fresh sage leaves

1 cup dry white wine

7 cups vegetable stock

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Peel and cube the squash and celery root.  Toss it in a roasting pan with a bit of the olive oil and a bit of salt and pepper.  Spread it in a single layer in the pan (use multiple pans if you are like me and don't own any giant ones) and roast it until it's tender and starting to brown, about 25 minutes.

Heat a bit more olive oil in the pot you want to make your soup in.  Sauté the onion, red pepper flakes, and sage until the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes.  Add the wine and cook until it's reduced by half.  Add the stock and the roasted vegetables and simmer the whole thing for about 10 minutes.  Let it cool a bit and use your immersion blender to smooth the soup.  Season as you like, I would recommend a bit of pepper but no salt as the celery root has a salty taste of it's own. 

I enjoyed eating this soup so much, I actually felt a pang of sadness when we finished the pot.  And an added bonus?  No trash!  Save your vegetable scraps for stock, enjoy a glass of wine with dinner, and there is nothing to throw away.

About The Bread

You may have noticed a slice of bread in the picture above, and it should not go without mention.  It was part of a fresh-baked black olive and rosemary loaf from The Little French Market, a restaurant also representing itself at Second Sundays, and it was good. Good with olive oil. Good with Earth Balance. Yummy in the soup. Great by itself.  

If you attend the market, make sure to buy a loaf; at least take the time to snack on a sample (although you won't be able to leave without buying more).  Be aware that the bread stand is not for the faint-of-heart, as local bees seem to have caught on to the wonderful fresh-baked smells and told all of their bee friends.  

A Scrappy Plate: Vegetable Broth

My grandparents must have had vivid memories of "going without" during the Great Depression. They tended to squirrel away free napkins and ketchup packets from McDonald's to use with casual dinners. No screw, bolt, or twist-tie was thrown out. Junk mail and it's containing envelopes were saved for scrap paper, and gifts were unwrapped so carefully that the paper could be used again next year (if they had to be unwrapped at all - Nanny's technique was to wrap the box top only so it could be lifted off and the entire ensemble reused).  I remember these habits fondly.

What Happened?
American's attitudes regarding waste have changed dramatically in a mere two generations. According to the EPA, the U.S. sent 33 million tons (that's 66,000,000,000 pounds) of food to landfills in 2009.  This includes food we put on our plate but can't finish.  It's leftovers that spoil, fresh produce that isn't stored properly or used quickly enough, and it's also money.  Not eating the food you buy is literally throwing away your money. Most of us wouldn't pay for a new shirt and toss it, unworn, into the garbage two weeks later, but we are much more careless with food.

What Can We Do?
We can work on buying only what we need. Planning meals for the week in advance and having a list at the store can make a world of difference.  We can also practice storing vegetables and fruits so that they last longer.  Try putting them in an airy basket.  I have had success using green bags.  We can prepare food and freeze it before it goes bad if we find we have bought more than we can eat.  We can also repurpose would-be food waste and use it as compost.  Or, as I have recently discovered, we can sometimes use food waste to make new food.

Make Broth
I usually buy the quart-size low-sodium vegetable broth cartons at Trader Joe's, and I like to stock up (no pun intended) as winter - a.k.a. soup season - approaches.  Their list of ingredients is reasonable, but I wondered how homemade would compare. Dan and I were preparing a simple stir-fry, and I was also pre-chopping some carrots, celery, and parsnips for a dish later in the week so I had plenty of vegetable scraps handy.

The "ingredients" include:

- fresh (but limp) parsley that would have been thrown out otherwise
- ginger peel
- garlic skins and 1 odd-looking clove, smashed
- 3 bell pepper tops, stems, and seeds
- carrot ends and peel
- celery ends and leaves
- the skin and ends of a red onion
- parsnip ends and peel
- a handful of spinach that was about to go bad
- a handful of basil, oregano, and sage stalks from my herb garden
- 3 bay leaves
- a pinch of salt and pepper

The scraps themselves looked beautiful - so bright and colorful. I put them all in a pot, added enough water to cover them, and brought it to a boil.  Everything simmered for about an hour.  It smelled wonderful.  The broth turned out to also have a rich color and a very, very good taste.  The boiled vegetables will end up in our compost pile and used to nurture a garden in the Spring. I think Nanny and Poppop would be proud!