Friday, June 29, 2007

Edible

Don't you love food in edible containers? This past week, with bootie from our CSA box, I've made cabbage rolls--based on an old Syrian family recipe--using Gimme Lean in place of gound lamb--they really tasted like childhood to me... And on Wednesday night, this sort of calzone. The filling--butternut squash, leeks, greens, etc.--is based on one of my favorite recipes from a wonderful book In Nonna's Kitchen, a book of recipes and stories from Italy's grandmothers. Instead of the traditional savory pie crust, I used some Trader Joe's pizza dough that I had on hand. It was delicious, and my mom, who was visiting used up some old baguette by making a sort of roasted tomato bruschetta to compliment it. We also had salad from the CSA and a non-local bottle of shiraz.

Speaking of Edible, Have you heard of the Edible Communities newsletters? They're beautiful small magazines that highlight local food producers--they exist in many parts of the country, you can find out if there's one in your area on their web site. If there isn't, there's information on how to start your own. The current issue of Edible Chesapeake has a piece by local DC author Samuel Fromantz, who wrote Organic, Inc. The piece is reprinted on the web site, and talks frankly about what's better-- local or organic. I agree with him, that if you're making that decision, you're one of the 1-2% of the country that's an informed consumer and either will help the environment. The challenge is how to enlighten the remaining 98%.

Thursday, June 28, 2007

Kitchen Incubator

Check out La Cocina--a business incubator for food entrepreneurs in San Francisco.

Here's a direct link to their site.

Notice the lips...


blueberry picking
Originally uploaded by plainsight
...are stained blue--I don't think he even has a basket. This is Jay, blueberry picking last summer at Blueberry Gardens, and organic orchard (and yoga/massage center !!!) in Ashton, MD. I've decided blueberry picking will be one of the things we do on my birthday, which is coming up on Sunday. Since this photo was taken three days after my birthday last year, I'm guessing that the time is right!


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Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Mom's always right.


WATERMELON EATER
Originally uploaded by foreversouls

When I was a kid, my mom always said, "A colorful plate makes for a healthy meal." Of course she's right about that, and yesterday, she was right about one more thing. I'd always thought of watermelon as a fun snack, but it turns out, it's a superfood--full of lycopene, vitamin C, and other great nutrients all with only 46 calories per cup!

Oh, in other food news, the July+Aug issue of VegNews just came out, and with it, my article about "Benevolent Businesses," green companies with great perks for employees.

Also, many of you are aware of the kurfluffle that erupted after a nutritionist and former vegan slammed veganism in an Op-Ed piece in the New York Times siting both faulty science and shady legal ideas. Well, the Public Editor--an ombudsman between the Times and its readers--has responded to the piece saying the Times was irresponsible--and that even though the article was opinion, they should not have allowed it to be printed without rebuff, knowing full well that the evidence sited was not up to snuff. (Thanks Hilary--for pointing this out!)



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Thursday, June 14, 2007

Best Veg Restaurants in DC




Compassion over Killing is sponsoring a contest to vote for the best veg restaurants in the dc area. You don't have to register to vote, but if you do, you'll be entered in a drawing for some nice prizes.

Friday, June 08, 2007

Is someone at the FTC a Princeton grad?

When I heard that Whole Foods was trying to buy smaller natural food chain Wild Oats, I was a little disappointed. When we lived in Princeton, NJ a couple of years ago, there was a small, local Wild Oats in walking distance from campus. But while I was there, a huge, new shiny Whole Foods opened a couple of miles away. They didn't compete much because Wild Oats catered to the walking/biking crowd around campus, and Whole Foods, the suburbanites with cars (I was both). I didn't want them to close Wild Oats but I thought, worst case scenario, if they close Wild Oats, it means the local Co-op, also walking distance from campus, will do even better. But some of the folks I know who are still in Princeton were quite upset about the prospect.

Now, the Federal Trade Commission is challenging the merger citing, believe it or not, Anti-trust concerns. In a world where Safeway and even Wal-Mart are selling their own brands of organic food, a merger of this scale is in no way an anti-trust violation. An opinion piece by Daniel Gross in Slate explains the issue in great detail. Gross Begins:

The U.S. attorney scandal has raised fears that the Bush administration is misusing the levers of government to punish political opponents. Now I think I've uncovered another sinister example of the administration using government lawyers to stick it to liberals. And this time, Bush is aiming for the belly!


Gross goes on to illustrate how the FTC allows huge mergers like that of AT&T and Cingular to occur, but somehow doesn't want to encourage growth in a more progressive industry.