Ah . . . Sundays

I love Sundays for many reasons--one of which it's the day that not only do I have lots of yummy fresh local fruits and veggies from my weekend farmers' markets . . . but I actually have enough time to prepare them.

This was our Sunday dinner this weekend . . . steamed artichokes; roasted red, yukon gold, and sweet potatoes; and salad made with the most buttery butter lettuce, cherry tomatoes, and snap peas . . . with dressing made from local olive oil and vinegar.

Oh and can't forget dessert! Strawberry shortcake of course. I love spring on the central coast!

Which would you buy?--Part Two

So to follow up from last week's big lettuce dilemma of whether to by lettuce treated with pesticides and chemicals or to buy organic lettuce packaged in plastic at 2 1/2 times the price.

This is what I did.

Drum roll . . . .

I bought the organic packaged lettuce. Now like I said last week, even in the checkout line I was still questioning my decision, as I did every time I took that lettuce out of the fridge but this was my reasoning at the time . . .

I felt like by buying the organic lettuce, I was supporting organic farmers and letting the supermarket know that people want organic produce and are willing to pay more for it. I recycled the plastic package--but of course can't do anything about the energy that went into creating it in the first place. Still, it really irks me to have paid that high price when I could get local organic lettuce at the farmers' market or Rutiz Farms' for $2.00. If the supermarket was my only choice for produce, I don't think I could afford to eat organic!

So there you have it. Don't know if I made the right or wrong decision and guess it really doesn't matter. I was so happy to get my yummy farmers' market veggies this weekend and I made a big pot of curry stew. Delicious! There's nothing like fresh, local produce.

Dreamy Smoothie and Balsamic Roasted Vegetables

My favorite place to go in Los Olivos is the store, Global Gardens. They have wonderful local, organic oils, flavored vinegars, and other cool sauces and condiments. Most everything is organic and/or sustainably grown. Several of their products inspired a couple of delicious dishes today and I thought I'd share. I don't have exact measurements, but they're not really the type of recipes that need exact measurements anyway. I'll tell you as best I can and you can use your intuition when making these yourself.

Dreamy Smoothie
I add some "Dream Dust" made from sustainable rainforest, pure 100% cacao, Guatemalan Vanilla Bean, Indian
Cardamon, Clove & Vietnamese Cinnamon to my usual smoothie and it was AMAZING!

Orange Juice
Plain or vanilla yogurt (dairy or dairy-free)
1 large banana
Frozen mangos
Frozen blueberries
Frozen raspberries
Pinch Dream Dust

Puree until smooth. Serves 2 to 3.

Note: If you can't get your hands on some Dream Dust, just add a pinch of each of the spices listed.

Balsmic Roasted Vegetables

I tossed asparagus spears, whole white mushrooms, broccoli spears, carrot chunks in walnut oil with a little Blood Orange Balsamic Vinegar. I laid the veggies out on a baking sheet and sprinkled them with Caliterranean Garden Blend (dried herbs and sea salt). Bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes, or until tender on inside and carmelized on outside.

Autumn Veggie Stew

The inspiration started when I cooked a big pot of white beans . . . and then took shape after a trip to the Farmers' Market . . . and then was finished off by homemade Thai Green Curry Sauce purchased at Rutiz Farms to create one of the best stews I've made. It's so darn good, we are eating it for snacks as well as meals . . . and I'll share the recipe with you. (Since the types and strengths of curry sauces and pastes are so different, add a little at a time until it's to the spiciness and flavor that you like--I used about a tablespoon of Ruth's Green Curry Sauce.)

Autumn Veggie Stew

olive oil
2 cups sliced leeks (white part of about 3-4 leeks)
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 stalks celery, sliced
1 butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
1 red bell pepper, cut into bite-sized pieces
1-2 anaheim chilis, minced
2 cups diced tomatoes (or 1 15-ounce can with juice)
1 quart vegetable broth
1 3/4 cups cooked white beans (or 1 15-ounce can)
6 cups chopped kale
green curry sauce or paste to taste
salt and black pepper to taste

Place a large pot over low heat. Add enough olive oil to coat the bottom. Add leeks, garlic, and celery. Cook about 5 minutes to soften. Add squash, pepper, chilis, tomatoes, and broth. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer 10 minutes. Add beans and kale. Cover and simmer another 15 minutes, or until squash is tender. Season with curry sauce/paste and salt and pepper, to taste.

Serves 8

Vegan Rhubarb-Raspberry Cake

Rhubarb always brings me back to my childhood. We had a monster plant in our yard and it seems like we ate it all summer long. So when I saw some at Rutiz Farms, I just had to get some. My mom usually stewed it, but many people are turned off by rhubarb cooked that way because it gets kind of mushy and stringy (though I never minded). I thought I'd try something different and thought it would be good in a cake--that would retain a better texture.

Well, I was halfway through putting together the batter when I opened the freezer to get my whole wheat pastry flour (the staple of almost all of my baked goods) and found I was just about out. Not willing to stop for a trip to the store, I made due with some brown rice and buckwheat flour I had. According to my family, not only did they not mind the mixture of flours--they thought it made it better. In fact, I don't know when I've had an experiment have such a resounding success on the first try.

So, if you're game--you try this and let me know what you think. If you don't what to use the different flours, just use 2 cups of whole wheat pastry flour--or even unbleached white flour.

Rhubarb-Raspberry Cake

1/2 cup oil
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup nondairy milk
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup buckwheat flour (or whole wheat pastry flour)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups diced rhubarb (3-4 stalks)*
1 cup raspberries

Topping:
1/2 cup slivered almonds
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinammon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Oil a 13 x 9-inch baking pan. In a large mixing bowl, whisk sugar and oil together. Add the vanilla, milk, and vinegar. Whisk until smooth. In a separate bowl, whisk together flours, salt, and baking soda. Add the flour mixture to the wet mixture and whisk just until combined. Gently fold rhubarb and raspberries into the batter. Pour into prepared baking pan. Mix topping ingredients together and sprinkle evenly over the batter. Bake 45-50 minutes, or until tester inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 30 minutes before cutting into squares and serving. Serve with some whipped cream-type topping if desired.

Makes 15 squares.

*For thick stalks of rhubarb, cut then in half lengthwise and then slice --sort of like you'd dice up celery for soup. Remove any tough strings.

Rutiz Farms CSA Box

Thanks to my wonderful CSA -- Rutiz Farms . . . look at all the wonderful meals we had this weekend made from food in Friday's CSA box.

Roasted potatoes, beets, cauliflower and broccoli; strawberry-blueberry pancakes (using the multi-grain pancake mix from The Vegetarian Mother's Cookbook); Minestrone Soup; and to relax a lovely cup of lemon-balm tea made from leaves of my new lemon balm plant!

Salad Spinners

I gave a talk Saturday about ways to incorporate more local foods and greens into your diet. One of the recipes I demo'd was a salad with my 30-second salad dressing. I told participants that a salad spinner is a great idea. When your lettuce is dry, the salad dressing adheres better so you need less of it. (Another tip for using less dressing is to toss your salad in a bowl with the dressing. When you put salad on your plate and add teh dressing there, you'll use much more.)

I also love that my spinner came with a cover. When I get my head of lettuce home from the farmers' market, I tear off the leaves, soak and wash the whole head and spin in the spinner. Then I replace the spinner part with a cover and I have clean, ready-to-use lettuce all week. It's much cheaper and much healthier than the bagged lettuce sold in stores which has been found to contain high levels of bacteria.

One of the attendees gave me a couple of other uses for salad spinners so I thought I'd share.

- If you put too much dressing on your salad, put it in the spinner and spin off the excess.

- When you hand wash items, spin them in your spinner before you lay them out to dry. She says she has an old one exclusively for this--I'm going to check the thrift store when I go. I think this would be great to dry bathing suits too. Would I look weird carrying a salad spinner to the high school pool?

So how about you--any salad spinner tips you want to share?

Almost totally local meal

Romaine lettuce from our garden, eggs from our hens, and everything else from Rutiz Farms in Arroyo Grande. I think the only thing not local is the veganaisse on the potato salad!

Book Review: Farmer Jane

Women increasingly own their own farms and businesses, are active in their communities and government—and as shown in the book Farmer Jane—are strong advocates for sustainable food. This inspiring book profiles female farmers, chefs, activists, and educators working to change the way we eat and farm.

Click here to read my review of Farmer Jane: Women Changing the Way We Eat.

Quick bread made with rye flour

I got a couple of pounds of rye flour in my local grain CSA box this week. Of course, my first thought was to make a few loaves of yeasted rye bread but the day turned out so warm and sunny that I didn't want to spend my day kneading and rising dough. I paged through my Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book and found a couple of recipes for rye quick breads. Based on their method, my daughter Aimie and I came up with this one . . . and boy was it good--moist with hints of orange and spices--and vegan as well. Perfect with a tall glass of rice milk after a walk on the beach.

Orange-Spiced Rye Quick Bread
This is wonderfully moist and flavorful. Great for breakfast, tea, or with a soup or salad.

1 cup whole rye flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/3 cup maple syrup
1 1/3 cups water
3 tablespoons oil
grated rind of 1 orange
juice of 1 orange
1/2 cup chopped almonds, toasted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Oil a loaf pan. Sift flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spice together. In a separate bowl, whisk maple syrup, water, oil, orange rind and juice until combined. Stir in flour mixture. Reserving 2 tablespoons chopped nuts, gently fold in the almonds. Pour the batter into to the prepared pan and sprinkle reserved almonds over the top. Bake 50 to 60 minutes, or until tester inserted in center comes out dry. Remove bread from pan and let cool on a wire rack before slicing.

Makes 1 loaf

Local Grain CSA

Well this is exciting. We now have a local grain CSA here on the Central Coast of California. It's called With The Grain and run by John DeRosier in Paso Robles. Every two weeks I'll get a box with an assortment of local grains. My first box contained hard winter wheat flour, spelt flour, soft white wheat flour, Khorasan wheat flour, rolled oats, and cracked millet.

We had the cracked millet cooked into a porridge for breakfast Friday. We often have whole millet porridge but this cooks a lot faster and was creamy and delicious. This weekend, my daughters and I made some bread using the recipe from Laurel's Bread Book. We used a combination of the winter wheat and spelt flours and made one plain loaf and one cinnamon raisin. Both were absolutely delicious!

Fresh Tomato Sauce

I'm trying to eat as much locally-grown produce as possible so when we had a family pizza night, I figured I'd make sauce from our own tomatoes and herbs rather than canned stuff. It came out so good that I thought I'd share.

Fresh Tomato Sauce

5-6 medium tomatoes, diced

4 green onions, sliced thin

1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano

salt and pepper to taste

 Mix all ingredients together in a bowl. 

For the pizzas, I got round flatbreads at Trader Joe's. We spread the tomato sauce of the flatbreads, and then added other veggies I had roasted in the oven -- eggplant, summer squash, onions, bell peppers--as well as olives and mushrooms. Then sprinkle with cheese if you like (it's good without too). Bake at 450 for 10-15 minutes.

This sauce would also work tossed into hot pasta, I bet. Maybe with some toasted pine nuts . . .

Food Samples and Movie: Fresh

I'll be sampling vegan ice cream from my book Lick It! before the screening of the hot new foodie movie FRESH on Friday, Aug. 7th at 6 p.m.  Food tastings start at 6 pm. The movie starts at 7 p.m. Admission is $7.00.

Tullius Chiropractic & Pilates Center

902 W. Grand Ave. 

Grover Beach, CA

805-481-1566 

FRESH celebrates the farmers, thinkers and business people across America who are re-inventing our food system. Among several main characters, FRESH features urban farmer and activist, Will Allen, the recipient of MacArthur’s 2008 Genius Award; sustainable farmer and entrepreneur, Joel Salatin, made famous by Michael Pollan’s book, the Omnivore’s Dilemma; and supermarket owner, David Ball, challenging our Wal-Mart dominated economy.

FRESH is a call to action; it means to inspire its viewers to positive change, not scare them into a terrified complacency. We will bring together farmers, activists, chefs, and policy-makers, all working to create a more healthy, tasty, and sustainable future. Please join us, not just as part of an audience, but as part of a movement to better our food system, and to bring about a new vision, a new paradigm, a new reality, one that works for everyone.

Help for eating local

For those of us wanting to eat more locally and sustainably, I found this helpful guide at www.eatwellguide.org. You can search by zip code or city/state, etc. to find restaurants, farmers' markets, caterers, etc. that serve local and/or organic foods. They have trip planning guides, recipes and more. Right now on their blog, they're challenging people to have at least one local, organic dish this Thanksgiving.

Farmers and Restaurants Collaborate

This is so cool--a union of 42,000 North Dakota farmers have pooled their resources and invested more than $6 million to build green restaurants in Washington D.C. to showcase food from family farms. One of the "farm-to-table" establishments is walking distance from the Capitol and the White House, maybe it will serve as a reminder to U.S. policy-makers that this nation was built on the backbone of the family farmer.

Get the full story here: http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2008/09/29-6

Support local companies and the environment

This is really cool and a way to make positive changes:

Carrotmob Makes It Rain

Everyone needs to buy things. But we tend not to spend our money in a socially organized way. So Carrotmob, a new environmental advocacy group, had an idea: what if those seeking the same kind of product got together, pooled their dollars, and used them to collectively support local companies that were also doing the most for the environment? Watch what happened when Carrotmob pulled a big crowd together to spend a lot of money at the local liquor store with the strongest environmental commitment. If we live our values, business can--and does--listen.

http://www.karmatube.org/videos.php?id=1310