Considering the Energy of Food

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Food is life. As author Barbara Kingsolver writes in Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, “all living takes dying”. She would know. Her book chronicles one year of her family’s life spent eating food raised either on their farm or within a 50 mile radius of it. From growing and preserving vegetables to raising and slaughtering poultry, the Kingsolvers did their best to re-connect with their sources of nourishment.

Vermonters may be familiar with this ‘localvore’ concept, which establishes community networks for growing and eating more local food. Both this movement and Transition Town, a grassroots effort to address climate change and provide alternatives to dwindling oil supplies, raise awareness about the need to shift the way we use energy. From the fossil fuel, wood, coal and natural gas that power our technology to the beans, grains, meats and vegetables that allow us to live, society needs resources in order to produce more of them.

Local chanterelle mushrooms
Yet, the current food manufacturing system consumes more than it produces. As Michael Pollan argues in his recent book, The Omnivore’s Dilemma, large-scale food production has grown beyond its capacity to sustain itself. With so many options many are left feeling confused about what to eat. As Pollan explains, “what’s at stake in our eating choices is not only our own and our children’s health, but the health of the environment that sustains life on earth”.

By learning about the impact that our food choices have on the people and places which provide that nourishment, we may begin to notice how food access, or lack thereof, affects our communities and our health. Food Works is a Vermont organization that supports “local food systems by connecting area farmers to under-served populations”. Their ‘Farm to Table’ program delivers local produce to dozens of meal sites, including nursing homes, hospitals, and mental health programs, to serve those who are “nutritionally at risk”.

When a factory produces our food and ships it to the supermarket for us, we forget where it came from and how to use the strength of our bodies to raise it, cook it, and savor it. The more food we buy, the more money we must earn in order to purchase it. How can you divest yourself from this cycle?

Try these ways to reduce energy consumption when acquiring food.

Plant a garden. Visit Nofavt.org to find farmers or community gardens with public plots.
Source local food through Vermontagriculture. com. Find farmers markets and Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farms and purchase or trade work for local produce, grains, meats, cheeses, and more.
Help your neighbors! Meet those whose gardens grow abundantly and work with them in exchange for vegetables.
Preserve food. See the previous post on this blog for easy recipes to preserve greens.
Get involved. Volunteer with the Foodbank’s Gleaning Program and collect excess farm produce for donation to those who could not otherwise access it.

Preserving the Harvest

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This is the time of year to envision ways we can set aside food for the winter. If you have space in your freezer, consider preserving some of the green abundance of summer so that you do not buy as much from distant lands during the colder months. 
Here are some simple recipes to try. You can do this while you are cooking a meal once or twice a week. 

Lacinata Kale
Blanching Greens (kale, collards, chard, turnip greens or spinach):
  • Put on a big pot of water to boil.
  • Rinse kale.
  • Tear into 2 inch strips or manageable sizes.
  • Place the cut kale in boiling water and boil for 3 minutes.
  • Take kale out of pot with tongs, and place in a colander.
  • Rinse hot kale with cold water.
  • Drain any excess water off greens.
  • Place into freezer bags, labeled with date and type of greens.
  • Press any excess air out of bag and freeze.

Baked Kale Chips (kale, collards, chard, turnip greens or spinach):
 
About 1 bunch (6 ounces) of greens
1 tablespoon olive oil
Sea salt, to taste

  • Preheat oven to 300°F.
  • Rinse and dry the greens and remove the stems.
  • Cut into large pieces, toss with olive oil and sprinkle with salt.
  • Arrange leaves in a single layer on a large baking sheet.
  • Bake for 20 minutes, or until crisp. Place baking sheet on a rack to cool.
  • Store in plastic bags in the fridge...if they last!

Berry Season Is Here!

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The new moon is here, welcoming the first harvest, the chilly nights that herald fall, and an opportunity to plant a second round of beets, kale, and carrots for the autumn harvest.

Remember that this is berry season! Berries are rich in antioxidants, which neutralize free radical damage to human cells and tissues, thereby helping to prevent cataracts, glaucoma, varicose veins, hemorrhoids, peptic ulcers, heart disease and cancer. The Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry recently published a study demonstrating that a serving of blueberries offers 38% more cardio-protective antioxidants than a glass of red wine.

If you would like to pick some blueberries to freeze or jam for the winter, now is the time to visit your local pick-your-own berry operation. Owl's Head Blueberry Farm in Richmond, Vermont, boasts live music once a week for pickers. Families and friends scrutinize bushes for the ripest berries while listening to live performances, from bluegrass banjo and harmonica to Irish bagpipes and flute.

Adam's Berrry Farm in Burlington,Vermont is part of a 24-member farm collective, The Intervale Food Hub, which cultivates once-abandoned land near the Winooski River and offers shares of fruit, vegetables, meat and eggs for purchase from May through October. Berries nourish damaged land: in partnership with a compost operation that creates fertile dirt with the help of chickens, Adam's Berry Farm has been able to restore soil nutrients at the Intervale so that crops can flourish.

In fact, the Deerfield Valley in southern Vermont hosts an entire festival in honor of these delectable treats.  I am honored to announce that my food article on this very subject just got published in a fine dining journal online.

Here is the link:
http://www.finedininglovers.com/contents/articles/blueberries_in_vermont.aspx

I encourage you to try some of the recipes I added to the article, which include:
>>Grilled salmon with wild rice and blueberry compote
>>Easy (and sugar-free) blueberry jam
>>Blueberry Maple Crumble
 
Enjoy!

Cooking Food Fresh From Market

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My thanks to all who participated in the cooking demo at Montpelier Farmers Market. 

Come back for more recipes and samples: 
August 6th @10am - Zucchini
August 13th @10am - Tomatoes

Please try the recipes below. Summer is a time to experience ease and freedom. In this spirit, remember to improvise and substitute other vegetables and spices as you feel inspired. You can use the guideline that whatever is in season right now probably tastes good together! 

Frittata with a potato crust

Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add salt.
Chop 2 large red or russet potatoes into cubes.
Throw them into boiling water and cook until they are soft enough to poke through with a fork.
Drain and rinse potatoes. 
Place them in a bowl and mash them with:
            ¼ cup olive oil
            Two generous handfuls of these fresh herbs, minced: lavender, rosemary, and thyme

Chop 1 bunch scallions into rounds.
Heat olive oil in a skillet and add onions.
Turn down the heat to medium low. Add salt, cover and simmer for 5 minutes.
Add salt and black pepper.
Add a bunch of dark leafy greens (chard, collards, or kale) and simmer for 10 more minutes.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Grease a pie plate with olive oil and press potato mixture into bottom of pie plate to make a crust.
Place cooked scallions and greens on top of potatoes.

In a bowl, beat 6 eggs, salt, pepper, and a splash each of water and lemon juice.
Add a generous handful of fresh minced flat-leaf parsley.
Pour egg mixture over the top of the greens and bake for 40 minutes.
Serve with sautéed zucchini or summer squash.

Healing Properties*:
Eggs: each one contains 6 grams of protein, 9 essential amino acids, and only 1.5 grams of saturated fat; rich in lutein, which helps prevent macular degeneration and cataracts; improve human lipid profile, thereby balancing cholesterol; contain naturally occurring vitamin D

Eggs poached in beet greens

Take a bunch of beet greens, rinse them, and place them in a deep skillet with an inch of water at the bottom.
Bring to a boil, covered, and reduce to simmer.
Add salt and black pepper.
Crack four eggs on top of the beet greens. Place lid on skillet and angle it to leave enough of an opening for steam to escape.
Beets: eat greens & roots!
Slowly poach the eggs on low heat for 5-6 minutes for soft yolks (8-9 minutes for hard yolks).

Meanwhile, chop a handful of each of these fresh herbs if you have them: mint, basil, parsley, cilantro.
Add fresh herbs on top of poaching eggs and steam briefly.

Remove each egg from the skillet with a slotted spatula and place on plates.
Serve with toast or grains and a drizzle of olive oil and lemon juice.

Healing Properties*:
Beet greens and swiss chard: balance blood sugar, help pancreatic cells to regenerate; contain phytonutrient anti-oxidants that reduce inflammation; high in calcium and Vit K to support bone health
Basil: eases stomach cramps and reduces flatulence; cools sensations of summer heat

Scrambled egg salad with summer squash and new carrots

Wash, rinse, and chop 2 large summer squash and 6-7 new carrots into ½ inch crescents.
Heat olive oil in a skillet. Add vegetables, salt, and pepper.
Sauté on medium heat for 3 minutes or until squash begins to soften.
Meanwhile, crack 6 eggs into a mixing bowl. Add:
Flowering Summer Squash Plant
            Salt and pepper
            A few sprigs each of chopped fresh sage, rosemary, lavender, lemon balm
            2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
            4 Tablespoons olive oil
Whisk together and pour into skillet with carrots and squash. Sauté for 3-4 minutes, stirring with a spatula, until eggs have hardened.
Serve with freshly baked corn bread or over pasta.

Healing Properties*:
Apple cider vinegar: contains enzymes that stimulate gastric secretions and improve digestion by balancing either an under-acidic or an overly acidic stomach condition
Carrots: rich in anti-oxidants to support heart health and vision; strengthen digestion and nutrient absorption in large intestine
Lemon Balm: anti-viral, soothes indigestion related to nervous tension, aromatic, anti-spasmodic and soothing to nervous system

Hard-Boiled Egg Sauce

Place a dozen eggs in a stock pot. Cover with water, bring to a boil, and boil for 5 minutes.
Remove from heat, drain hot water, and rinse with cold water until they are cool enough to handle.
Peel eggs and place in a blender.
Add to blender:
            ¼ cup olive oil
            2 teaspoons salt
            ½ Tablespoon lemon juice
            1 teaspoon powdered cumin
             ½ teaspoon paprika
            ½ teaspoon dried oregano OR 1 generous handful freshly chopped oregano
            1 Tablespoon dried parsley OR 1 generous handful freshly chopped parsley
            A handful of freshly chopped scallions or chives (if you have them)
Blend at highest speed for 2 minutes.
Serve with grains or as garnish for simple soups.

Healing Properties*:
Parsley: contains volatile oils and flavonoids that may inhibit lung tumor development, help protect the skin, and aid in the digestion of fats.

*'Healing Properties' source information:
Mateljan, George. Foundation Archives. www.whfoods.org
Onstad, Dianne. Whole Foods Companion. Chelsea Green, 2004.
Plants for a Future. www.pfaf.org



Recipes from Sage Mountain

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I had the honor of cooking for an herbal learning program at Sage Mountain Herbal Retreat Center (www.sagemt.com) this weekend. A few showy lady slippers are still in bloom and the gardens abound with pink malva, purple clary sage, shy violets and fragrant lemon balm. I included all these edible flowers in our salads! 

Basmati Brown Rice with roasted beets, peas, mint and basil
Rinse ½ cup basmati brown rice.
Pour into a cooking pot with 1 ½ cups water.
Bring to a boil; then reduce to simmer.
Add 1 teaspoon salt and 2 Tablespoons olive oil.
Simmer, covered, on low heat for 45 minutes.

Peas!
Meanwhile, chop 3 beets into bite-sized chunks.              
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Place beets in a glass baking dish, coat with olive oil, sprinkle with salt, and roast for 30 minutes.

As beets and rice are cooking, mince 2 large handfuls fresh basil and 1 small handful fresh mint.
When the rice is 5 minutes or less from completion, add:
>>minced herbs
>>½ cup peas (either shelled ones or whole snap peas)

When rice is cooked, add roasted beets and a splash of lemon juice. Mix everything together, taste for salt, and enjoy!

White Bean Soup with Zucchini and Garlic Scapes

Choose cannellini (white kidney) or Vermont yellow-eye beans.

To soak dry beans, place ½ cup in a large bowl and cover with 1 inch water. Soak for 8 hours or overnight.

Pour beans through strainer and allow to drain.

Rinse with water until liquid runs clear through strainer.

Pour into a stock pot with 3 cups water.

Cover pot and turn heat on high.

Bring to a boil, watching carefully to make sure that beans do not boil over. 

Once the pot has come to a boil, remove lid and reduce to medium heat.

Cannellini beans
Foam will form on top of the water. Use a spoon to skim off the foam. Repeat this step periodically as you notice more foam. Cook beans 1 hour or until tender. Strain and rinse once more.



If using canned beans, choose ones with no salt added (I like Eden Organics). Strain and rinse before proceeding.




While beans are cooking, heat olive oil in a skillet. Add:

>>2 cups fresh garlic scapes

>>2 large zucchini, chopped into crescents
>>1/2 Tablespoon each: salt and black pepper

Pour 1/3 cup white wine over the vegetables and sear them on high heat.
Then cover and cook on medium heat for 15 minutes, or until vegetables are tender. 
If you have fresh culinary herbs, mince and add the following:
>>6 sprigs thyme
>>2 sprigs lavender flowers
>>6 sprigs marjoram
>>6 sprigs rosemary
>>5 sprigs savory
If using dried herbs, add 2 teaspoons each except lavender, which only required 1/2 teaspoon.

Add 4-5 cups water, bring to a boil, reduce to simmer, and cook soup for 1/2 hour or more if you wish.
When beans are tender, drain them and add them to the soup pot.


Basil Parsley Pesto
Genovese basil

In blender, mix:
3 T olive oil
¼ cup sunflower seeds
2 teaspoons salt
1 Tablespoon lemon juice

Add:
Fresh flat-leaf parsley (½ bunch)
Fresh basil (1 bunch)

Blend at highest speed for 2 minutes.
Enjoy with vegetable fritters, rice dishes, 
or flat breads.

Rosewater Cookies
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix these dry ingredients in a bowl:
>>1 ½ cups rice flour or spelt flour
>>1 Tablespoon each: cinnamon and cardamom
>>Pinch salt

Make a well in the center of the flours and spices and add:
>>5 Tablespoons unsweetened applesauce
>>1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
>>¼ cup coconut oil, softened at room temperature
>>¼ cup maple syrup
>>4 Tablespoons honey
>>2 Tablespoons rosewater (in wellness section of most health food stores)

Rosa canina
Mix wet and dry ingredients together.                     
Oil a cookie sheet and drop dough onto it in spoonfuls.

Slide cookie sheet into oven and bake for 10 minutes. Remove, flatten each cookie gently with the back of a fork, and bake for 10 more minutes.


Favorite Pizza Toppings

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www.woodbellypizza.com
Summer is a time to celebrate! We did so at the Village Gathering yesterday. Despite the rain, everyone enjoyed their time together sharing perma-culture skills at Twin Pond Retreat in Brookfield, Vermont (www.twinpondretreat.com). This seminal event kicks off the third annual Village Building Convergence in Central Vermont. For details visit www.vbc-vt.org

Saturday's workshops culminated in a feast featuring pizzas cooked on WoodBelly Pizza's mobile wood-fired oven. We made some amazing creations. Thanks for your team work.


Here are some pizza concoctions that everyone loved:
Black Locust Flowers (Robinia Pseudoacacia)
  • Buckwheat Rice Crust with Cheddar Cheese, Morel Mushrooms and Walnuts
  • Wheat Crust with Black Locust Flowers, Dandelion Greens, Spinach and Pesto
  • Corn Crust with Olives, Tomatoes, Zucchini and Sausage
It's true! You can eat Black Locust Flowers. They smell like jasmine, taste like vanilla, and they are blooming in gragrant glory right now. Enjoy!



Pizza Bianca (no tomatoes) with rucola (arugula)

I grew up swimming in the Adriatic Sea and buying Pizza Bianca with garlic, ricotta and arugula from beach vendors.

Use your imagination. What is your favorite pizza combination?

Summer Black Bean and Lime Soup

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Black Bean and Lime Soup

Makes 6 servings

Ingredients

3 cups cooked black beans - Soak overnight, rinse, bring to a boil with 8 cups water. Cook for 30 minutes or until tender, skimming off any foam that rises to the top. Rinse and incorporate as directed below.

1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp cumin
1 cup chopped onions
1 cup sliced carrots
2 cloves garlic
4 cups vegetable stock or water
½ Tbsp chipotle powder

½ Tbsp coriander powder
1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp lime juice

Fresh lime

Fresh cilantro

Heat olive oil in a nonstick or heavy-bottomed frying pan over medium heat. When hot, add whole cumin and brown it. Take caution not to burn it.

Add chopped onions, carrots, garlic, coriander and chipotle powder.

Cook slowly until browned.

Puree the beans with 4 cups stock in a blender or food processor.

Add the vegetable mixture, ¼ cup lime juice, and salt to taste.

Either leave the vegetables chunky or process once more until smooth.
If the soup is too thick, thin it with more stock.

Garnish each serving with a slice of lime and a sprinkling of finely chopped fresh cilantro.

Serve with corn tortillas, rice, or try this cornbread recipe.

Corn Bread

Dry ingredients:

1 cup corn meal (I like the Early Riser Cornmeal from Butterworks Farm in Vermont)

½ cup freshly ground rolled oats

¼ cup freshly ground millet (or oats if you prefer)

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

Wet ingredients:

Capful apple cider vinegar

¼ cup vegetable oil (I like olive or sunflower oil)

½ cup milk (cow, almond or rice)

1 egg OR ¼ cup applesauce OR 2 spoonfuls nut/seed butter

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease an 8 inch pan with vegetable oil.

In a spice grinder, grind first the oats and then the millet into flour-like consistency and place in a mixing bowl This may take a few rounds of grinding.

Add the rest of the dry ingredients and stir together.

In another bowl, combine the wet ingredients and stir until thoroughly blended.

Pour in the wet mixture into the dry and stir together vigorously until thoroughly combined.

Pour batter into greased pan and bake for 40 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center tests clean.

For variety, you can add fresh basil and corn kernels in the summer, steamed winter squash in the fall/winter, or rosemary and lemon in the spring.

Balinese Food

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These humid spring days in Vermont remind me of the time I spent living on the equator in Bali. Every afternoon, rain showers would refresh the island and support the thriving plant life. I lived with a family who prepared delicious food and taught me how to cook it, not with recipes but with hands, stories, and laughter. Here are my renditions of some of the dishes I enjoyed so much. I hope this menu piques your curiosity!

Marinated Tempeh with Spinach and Coconut Milk

Slice tempeh into ½ inch cubes (both length-wise and width-wise,

depending on the thickness of the tempeh).

Throw cubes into a large bowl and add these ingredients:

1 Tablespoon mustard

2 teaspoons salt

1 Tablespoon each cumin and coriander

1 teaspoon lemon or lime juice

¼ cup olive oil

Toss with a spoon until tempeh cubes are well-coated. Leave to marinate for ½ hour.

Meanwhile, peel and dice two large shallots.

Then, mince 1 inch fresh ginger root.

Place 2 Tablespoons coconut oil in a deep-bottomed skillet and sauté shallots and ginger for 5 minutes, or until shallots are translucent.

Add salt, ½ Tablespoon garam masala, 1 teaspoon turmeric.

Add the tempeh and its marinade.

Open a can of coconut milk, mix well, and add to skillet. Bring everything to a boil, reduce heat to medium, and simmer with a lid on for 20 minutes.

Wash and chop 1 large bunch spinach.

Add to the skillet and simmer for 5 more minutes, until spinach is well wilted.

Coconut Pancakes

Mix together:

a cap-full of apple cider vinegar OR lemon juice concentrate

¼ cup vegetable oil (olive or sunflower oil)

1 egg or 2 Tablespoons freshly ground flax seeds

½ cup unsweetened shredded coconut

¼ cup rice flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking powder

Cook in an oiled skillet as pancakes and serve with tempeh dish.

Apples and Spring in Northern Italy

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While we here in Vermont are just noticing tiny hints of flowers like pansies, daffodils, spring beauties and trout lily leaves, my homeland of the Dolomites is in full bloom! There are cultivations of delicious apples, which line the hillsides above vineyards. They have the best view of the mountains!
I miss Italy.
Apples are a wonderful refreshing and cleansing food for Spring. They rejuvenate the lymphatic system, gently cleanse the intestines, and clear the palate to enjoy the fresh flavors of Spring. Our food coop still has local apples from this past season! Try Spartan and Empire.
Here are two ways to enjoy them:
>>fresh as a snack with tahini (roasted sesame seed butter) or cheese;
>>as an after-dinner dessert, cut in half, cored, and baked face down in a glass baking dish at #75 degrees for 20 minutes.

Recipes from LACE class

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We had another successful cooking adventure in the LACE community kitchen this past Saturday. Here are the recipes for you to try. Enjoy!

Golden Rice and Carrot Casserole

Rinse ½ cup short grain brown rice.

Place in a bowl, fill with enough water to cover, and soak for 2 hours or so.

Drain and rinse rice.

Pour into a cooking pot with 1 ½ cups water.

Bring to a boil; then reduce to simmer.

Add ½ teaspoon turmeric.

Simmer, with pot lid slightly ajar on low heat for 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, chop 1 large yellow onion into crescents.

Heat olive oil in a skillet and add onions.

Turn down the heat to medium low.

Add 1 teaspoon each: salt, cumin, coriander, paprika, cinnamon

Cover and simmer for 5 minutes.

Add a splash of white wine OR lemon juice. Allow to simmer for 10 more minutes.

Take 5 medium carrots, wash them, and cut them lengthwise into quarters.

Add to skillet with 1/3 cup water and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat to medium and simmer, covered, until carrots are tender (about 15 minutes).

Add more water if necessary.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Oil a 9x13 rectangular glass baking dish.

Fill with alternating layers of the cooked rice and the carrot/onion sauté. Finish with a layer of carrots.

In a small glass measuring cup, whisk together:

¼ cup water

2 Tablespoons tahini (roasted sesame seed butter)

1 Tablespoon lemon juice concentrate

¼ cup dry-toasted walnut pieces

Pour this mixture over the rice and carrots.

Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes.

If you would like a crusty topping for your casserole, purée 1 cup of carrot/onion sauté in the blender, add an additional ¼ cup toasted walnut pieces, and spread over the top before baking.

Serve with the protein of your choice and fresh salad greens in the warmer or steamed kale in the colder months.

Pinto Beans with Spinach and Leeks

To soak dry beans, place ½ cup dry pinto beans in a large bowl and cover with 1 inch water.

Soak for 8 hours or overnight.

Pour beans through strainer and allow them to drain.

Rinse with water until liquid runs clear through strainer.

Pour into a stock pot with 3 cups water.

Cover pot and turn heat on high.

Bring to a boil, watching carefully to make sure that beans do not boil over. Once the pot has come to a boil, remove lid and reduce to medium heat.

Foam will form on top of the water. Use a spoon to skim off the foam. Repeat this step periodically as you notice more foam. Cook beans 1 hour or until tender.

Strain and rinse once more.

If using canned beans, choose ones with no salt added (Eden Organics). Rinse before using.

As beans are cooking, take two leeks, cut lengthwise and rinse well.

Place 2 Tablespoons olive oil in a skillet and sauté the leeks for 5 minutes.

Add salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Meanwhile, wash and chop 1 large bunch spinach.

Add to the leeks and sauté for 5 more minutes, until spinach is well wilted.

Add cooked beans to skillet, mix together, serve and enjoy!

For protein, you can add toasted walnuts, baked tempeh or sautéed chicken sausage to the dish.

Almond Ginger Cookies

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In spice grinder, grind to make freshly milled flour:

½ cup almonds

1 cup rolled oats – look for local oats in the bulk section

Pour flours into bowl, add and mix well:

1 cup rice flour or barley flour

1 Tablespoon each: cinnamon, allspice & ginger root powder

Pinch salt

Make a well in the center of the flours and spices and add:

1 egg OR 1 Tablespoon ground flax seed

1 Tablespoon vanilla extract AND 1 teaspoon almond extract

¼ cup olive oil

1/3 cup rice syrup OR ¼ cup maple syrup

Mix wet and dry ingredients together.

Oil a cookie sheet and drop dough onto it in spoonfuls.

Slide cookie sheet into oven and bake for 10 minutes. Remove, flatten each cookie gently with the back of a fork, and bake for 10 more minutes.

Cooking together at LACE

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Here are the recipes from our cooking collaboration at the LACE community kitchen in Barre - www.lacevt.org
Enjoy!

Potato Soup for Every Season

2 Tbsp. olive oil
3 ½ lb. russet (baking) potatoes
1 cup chopped yellow onion (about 1 medium)
1 teaspoon each dried thyme and rosemary
2 ¼ tsp. salt
A few grinds black pepper
7 cups water

Fill a bowl with cold water. Peel the potatoes and cut them into chunks, dropping them into the bowl of water to prevent discoloration.

Heat olive oil over medium-high heat in the bottom of a stock pot.

Add the onions and half of the potatoes. Cook, stirring frequently, until the onion is soft (5 minutes).

Add the herbs, salt, and pepper and cook for 1 minute more.

Add the water, stir to scrape up any brown bits stuck to the bottom of the pot, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, partially covered, until the potatoes are tender (30 minutes).

Mash the potatoes into the broth using a hard spatula, immersion blender, or potato masher.

Remove the remaining potatoes from their bowl of water, drain, and add them to the pot. Simmer, partially covered, until they are tender (20 minutes more).

Taste for salt. Ladle the soup into bowls and top with roasted beets (winter/spring), freshly chopped scallions (spring/summer), diced tomatoes (summer), grated carrots (fall), caramelized onions (winter).

Oven-Roasted Beets

Choose 4 medium red beets for a 9x13 glass baking dish.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Chop beets in half, first length-wise then width-wise. Then, chop each section into cubes. Throw cubes into baking dish after they are chopped.

When the bottom of the dish is covered with one layer of diced beets, sprinkle over the top:

2 teaspoons salt

1 Tablespoon garam masala (Indian spice mix including some variation of pepper, cumin, coriander, clove, cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg, star anise – blend depends on region)

Pour ¼ cup olive oil over the top and toss with a spatula until beets are coated well.

Slide dish into oven and bake for 20 minutes. Remove dish from oven and toss with spatula.

Bake for 15 more minutes, cool and enjoy alone or as a soup garnish.

Millet Polenta

Polenta is a simple porridge typically made with ground cornmeal. Millet works wonderfully as polenta, because it sets after baking and can be easily sliced into rectangles and served with sauces and stews.

Soak 1 cup millet for 2 hours or so. Strain and rinse millet.

Pour into a cooking pot with 3 cups water.

Bring to a boil; then reduce to simmer.

Simmer until millet begins to thicken (20 minutes). Then, begin to stir occasionally, as though you were cooking oatmeal.

Add 3 Tablespoons olive oil.

Cook on low heat and stir occasionally until millet reaches thick consistency. Remove from heat.

Meanwhile, grease a large glass baking dish (9x13 works well) with olive oil.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Pour millet into the baking dish and flatten it evenly.

Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes or until edges turn golden.

You can add toppings or mix, half and half, with another leftover grain (rice, quinoa, kasha, or amaranth) to spice it up!

Hard-Boiled Egg Sauce

Place a dozen eggs in a stock pot. Cover with water, bring to a boil, and boil for 5 minutes.

Remove from heat, drain hot water, and rinse with cold water until they are cool enough to handle.

Peel eggs and place in a blender.

Add to blender:

¼ cup olive oil

2 teaspoons salt

½ Tablespoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon powdered cumin

½ teaspoon paprika

½ teaspoon dried oregano

Blend at highest speed for 2 minutes.

Enjoy with grains or as garnish for simple soups.

More Spring Recipes

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Turnip and Purple Cabbage Swirled Soup
This beautiful recipe allows you to pour one soup into the other and create a spiral pattern in your bowl.
Start with two soup pots on your stove. Cover the bottom of each with olive oil and slowly heat the oil as you are chopping onions.
Chop off top and bottom of two onions. Peel skin and slice in half width-wise.
Place two halves flat on cutting board and slice each one into thin crescent moons. Follow the ridges of the onion when chopping.
When oil is hot, add onions, stir briefly with spatula, turn burner down to medium-low, and cover.
Simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add salt and thyme to one pot. Add salt and coriander to the other.
Simmer for 15 more minutes.
Meanwhile, chop 4 turnips into small chunks.
Chop 1 medium red cabbage into threads, removing the hard inner core.


Add turnips to coriander-spiced pot. Add 1 Tablespoon whole ground brown mustard.
Add cabbage to thyme pot.
Add enough water in each pot to cover vegetables. Bring both to a boil, reduce to simmer, and cook with the lid on until vegetables are soft.
With an immersion blender, puree each soup. Taste for salt.
Pour turnip soup into each bowl.
Pour cabbage soup into large measuring cup with spout and the pour a spiral into the turnip soup. Enjoy!

Quinoa Biscuits

Dry ingredients:
1 ½ cups quinoa, freshly ground
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons salt
1 Tablespoon each coriander and thyme

Wet ingredients:
Capful apple cider vinegar OR lemon juice concentrate
¼ cup vegetable oil (olive or sunflower oil)
½ cup water
1 egg OR OR 2 spoonfuls nut/seed butter

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Grease a cookie sheet with vegetable oil.

In a spice grinder, grind the quinoa into flour-like consistency and place in a mixing bowl This may take a few rounds of grinding.

Add the rest of the dry ingredients and stir together.

In another bowl, combine the wet ingredients and stir until thoroughly blended.

Pour in the wet mixture into the dry and stir together until just blended. Add more water as needed to make biscuit-like consistency.

Shape each biscuit by rolling a golf ball-sized piece of dough into a ball between your palms. Flatten it onto the cookie sheet. Make sure that each biscuit is about the same size and thickness (approximately ½ inch thick).

Bake for 25 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center tests clean.

Artichoke Spread

Open one glass jar artichoke hearts and drain water out.
Place artichoke hearts in blender.

Add:
¼ cup olive oil
½ Tablespoon lemon juice concentrate
2 teaspoons salt
½ Tablespoon dry thyme leaf.
Blend at highest speed for 2 minutes.
Serve and enjoy with biscuits or in sandwiches.

Refreshing Recipes

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To ease the transition into spring, try these recipes.
Whether you make them separately or as a complete meal, each one will awaken our palate to a new set of pungent and sour flavors. Enjoy!

Apple Daikon Fritters

Wet ingredients:
1Tablespoon tahini
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
¼ cup vegetable oil
½ cup fresh grated daikon radish
1 ½ cups fresh grated red apples

Dry ingredients:
¼ cup flour: spelt or rice (choose the one you prefer)
2 teaspoons salt
2 Tablespoons ground flax seed meal

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Grease a large glass baking tray (9x12) with vegetable oil.
In a bowl, combine the wet ingredients and stir until thoroughly blended.
Make a well in the center of the wet ingredients.
Combine the dry ingredients in the well and then incorporate with the wet ingredients.
Spoon generous heaps onto baking tray and flatten into a small pancake shape.
Bake for 30 minutes.
Enjoy piping hot with parsley pistou!

Parsley Pistou

In blender, mix:
3 T olive oil
¼ cup almonds, ground in spice/coffee grinder
2 teaspoons salt
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
Freshly chopped flat-leaf parsley (½ bunch)

Blend at highest speed for 2 minutes.
Enjoy with vegetable fritters or flat breads.

Turnip and Purple Cabbage Swirled Soup
This beautiful recipe allows you to pour one soup into the other and create a spiral pattern in your bowl.

Start with two soup pots on your stove. Cover the bottom of each with olive oil and slowly heat the oil as you are chopping onions.
Chop off top and bottom of two onions. Peel skin and slice in half width-wise.
Place two halves flat on cutting board and slice each one into thin crescent moons. Follow the ridges of the onion when chopping.
When oil is hot, add onions, stir briefly with spatula, turn burner down to medium-low, and cover.
Simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add salt and thyme to one pot. Add salt and coriander to the other.
Simmer for 15 more minutes.
Meanwhile, chop 4 turnips into small chunks.
Chop 1 medium red cabbage into threads, removing the hard inner core.
Add turnips to coriander-spiced pot. Add 1 Tablespoon whole ground brown mustard.
Add cabbage to thyme pot.
Add enough water in each pot to cover vegetables. Bring both to a boil, reduce to simmer, and cook with the lid on until vegetables are soft.
With an immersion blender, puree each soup. Taste for salt.
Pour turnip soup into each bowl.
Pour cabbage soup into large measuring cup with spout and the pour a spiral into the turnip soup.

Lemony Oat Cakes

Dry ingredients:
2 cups rolled oats, freshly ground in spice/coffee grinder
1 cup spelt, rice, or barley flour (choose the one you like)
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cardamom

Wet ingredients:
¼ cup vegetable oil
½ cup water
grated rind of 1 lemon
juice of one lemon

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Grease a cookie sheet with vegetable oil.
Combine the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl and stir together.
Make a well in the center, add wet ingredients and stir until thoroughly blended.
With a large soup spoon, scoop out balls of batter and drop them onto the cookie sheet.
Flatten each ball lightly with the back of the spoon.
Bake for 35 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center tests clean.

May you plant seeds of nourishment in your life that will bring well-being for the seasons to come.

Passion for the Language of Food

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Growing up in Italy taught me that, by honoring food traditions, we restore meaning in our lives and remain connected to the earth that feeds us. This childhood teaching was reinforced by living in Bali, where I learned that everything is alive.

Even though life's form changes through the alchemy of activities such as cooking, its essential vitality persists. By working as a whole foods cooking teacher, I encourage myself and my community to connect with sources of nourishment and feel more vital during everyday experience. I trust that food is alive. When we work with it, we speak our life stories, which often become a teaching for others.

I notice that, when people gather to cook food, shared experiences inspire greater depth. When someone inspires, he or she literally 'breathes in', affirming the life force that constantly re-establishes harmony between self and environment. This balance allows us to be in the world with enthusiasm. This word traces its etymology to the Greek word theos, 'spirit'.

I raise awareness of nourishment's many forms through a culinary discovery process, which demonstrates how the language of food affects our lives. When we recognize ourselves in the context of what we eat, we gain a greater capacity to adapt to a situation and thrive. By appreciating our roots and embracing them through preparing and savoring creative meals, we breathe, speak our experience, and remember the life force that connects all beings.

On Bali, daily offerings to the spirits are sculpted from foods such as rice, meat, and fruit.

Meditation on Nourishment

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Since childhood, my entrepreneurial spirit has motivated me to start creative initiatives. From crafting art holiday postcards in grade school to starting a fair-trade Indonesian textile import business after graduating from college, I have always noticed my community's needs and acted on my natural impulse to fulfill them.
I feel most satisfied when my livelihood aligns with my passion of inspiring others to make harmonious choices.
How can you find balance between nourishing yourself and helping others?
For me, this peace comes through the art of cooking. I listen to my body and engage in a dialogue with myself about what can best feed me right now. It might be a walk in the woods, a cup of tulsi (sacred basil) tea, or a particular food. When I give myself permission to hear my own inner voice and take the time to respond with my outer actions, I establish harmony between myself and my environment.
Then, I can go into the world and help others!
Let us remember that life is a journey. How can you be satisfied with the way things are?
Explore this meditation, taught to me by my yoga teacher, Prem Prakash, as a tool to gain appreciation for your life.

Imagine putting down all your responsibilities, worries, and burdens. Just leave them in a heap on the floor.
Walk away.
Come back to them and scoop them back up as light, downy feathers of privilege.

This is your life...and mine. There is no destination, but there are ways you can gain a greater sense of freedom within the structure of your own reality.

Here is a feast table set on a volcanic rock during a recent trip to the big island of Hawaii. Grilled salmon, sweet potato salad, avocado mango chutney, and other delights!

Tradition Turns Creative with Marzipan

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Bressanone, the Austrian-Italian town where my relatives live, is just as settled in its South Tyrolean ways as the majestic mountains that stood here even prior to the human species' advent. Many of the elders in this area do not quite grasp the concept of email; they prefer land lines to cell phones. On a morning drive to Maso Pineto, an old farm house turned hikers' rest stop, we saw local dairy farmers waiting by the narrow, twisting roads for the daily milk pick-up. Instead of building technological infrastructure like cell phone towers, this region has advanced through agricultural product subsidies, which include 20-gallon stainless steel containers with wheels for temporary milk storage and large milk trucks to visit each village and collect the precious liquid. I was awed by the wrinkled old men and women with their blue aprons and felted hats and coats, patiently standing next to containers whose silvery shine almost blinded me. Here, the meeting of traditional ways and modern conveniences highlights local industry. Instead of looking outside to define its standards, this region values the land itself as its most precious asset. The foods that come from these fields frame the most important traditions with which I was raised.

My uncle Harald hails from a well-known German family that ran a local sweet shop for generations. Although he has been a professional painter and sculptor for many decades now, his original artistic training is in the pastry field. He stretches layers of dough for flaky apple strudel with ease and flips crepes with admirable grace. When my parents proposed that he teach them how to make the traditional Tyrolean marzipan pigs, which locals exchange during New Years as good luck, his little blue eyes twinkled like sun glinting on fresh winter snow. He immediately took the traditional, adorable pig shape and spun it to envision even more animal shapes. "We could make monkeys, elephants, anything you want". We found fat rolls of marzipan, a classic European almond paste, at the candy store under the medieval vaulted porticoes in downtown Bressanone.

The next morning, Harald was already immersed in his creations. Instead of starting with the classic pig shape, he was fashioning a golden bear, eyes shyly upturned, holding a bright red rose. Next came an elephant, a monkey, and Santa Claus with shredded coconut for his snowy beard. My uncle still keeps a basket of powdered food coloring in the incredible basement cellar that holds all the abundance of my relatives' meticulous harvests. From pickeld cauliflower to dried mushrooms, from apricot jam to rye berries, from dried deer meat to thick-rinded cheese wheels, this granite-encased room with its marble work table and copper scales for weighing baking flours is the secret gem of the house. I was sent downstairs various times during this sculpture process to fetch a rolling pin, some blanched almonds, shredded coconut, and a mysterious liquid made from cocoa butter and egg whites that serves as a color-fast glaze for the marzipan creatures.
Harald at work:

When we made the New Years' pigs, I got to try my hand at one, too. It is hard to imagine that these hand-worked gifts are now made by factory machines in another valley. My uncle strives to highlight the importance of handwork when making and exchanging local crafts. He even makes the figurines for Catholic manger scenes that are so popular in the Alps. When we involve our hands, we can leave our hearts in the gifts we give. I felt the joy and satisfaction that came from shaping a marzipan pig whose character reflected my own. Even though the hand-made can be more time-consuming, we would not have raw milk cheese without the farmers near Maso Pineto who still milk their own cows. My uncle's handicraft skills also allow us to carry a Tyrolean mountain tradition to the United States and educate others about the world by sculpting our own version of these pink, chubby good luck charms.
Here are the pigs!

The Monks' Apples

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On November 1st, public life stops in Italy. This is All Saints' Day, a celebration of the harvest, an honoring those who have passed, and a connection to the spirit that weaves the seen and unseen worlds together. Businesses, public offices, and schools are all closed. Time is spent at a slower pace, often at religious ceremonies and in cemeteries. Gravestones are adorned with purple, red and yellow chrysantemums or dried flower arrangements, tall red luminaries, and the love of family members who visit them as they would a living relative.
In the tradition honored by the local people of the Dolomites, Catholic beliefs twine with the agrarian tradition that came before them. When we visit our local church, we see the altar adorned in purple satin and covered with baskets of apples, grapes, nuts, cabbages and corn, rye, and buckwheat in thanksgiving for this time of year. A hand-cranked wooden grain thresher, a desk and writing implements, a scythe and felted hat, a pair of dancing shoes and rows of large pillar candles also decorate the space. Altar boys and girls with thick-rimmed glasses or unkempt curls swing censers burning spruce resin incense, which breathes forest blessings for work accomplished by all those who help this community thrive. Then, they light each candle as they name those who have died this year. I recognize surnames of families who have baked bread, made sausages and wine, fixed shoes, built chapels, carved Christmas angels and raised goats and chickens in this area for generations.
The choir intones Gregorian chants as they guided all who were present towards the cemetery atop one of the town's sloping hillsides. Sacred space for the living thrives in the village heart but, for those who have passed, the mountain view is more important: it opens a doorway into the next world. Rodella is a craggy peak covered mostly in conifers and occasional post-glacial fields where people centirues ago managed to erect a chapel with a pointed red steeple, some hay barns and houses, and terraced cultivations. Its ridge is snow-covered already and the majestic pink rocky Dolomites stand behind it. Tears always spring to my eyes when I see this majestic view and feel the mountain's protection. This is quite a spectacular place to be buried.
The procession is separated between men and women, but I walk with my dad anyhow. No one seems to mind. Many are whispering in the local German dialect, recounting stories about relatives who have died or saints whom they have invoked for assistance with some life challenge. Even though this territory technically belongs to Italy, there is a strong sense of the Austrian culture that dominated the area before World War I. The bi-cultural politics of this region remain complicated, but the two ethnic groups continue to co-exist and run their schools bi-lingually.
A ruddy man with thick glasses recognizes my father, shakes his hand, sees me, laughs, and says, "der apfel felt nicht so weit von den baum, ya?". "The apple does not fall so far from the tree, does it?" He refers to our striking family resemblance. When I walk through town here in Bressanone, people nod and smile warmly at me. Even though I do not know them by name and I rarely get to visit, I realize that they know me because they see my relatives in my nose, my smile and my eyes. My roots wrap around me and I grow stronger thanks to this kindred connection.
When we arrive at the cemetery, everyone turns to face their families' graves in prayer. We walk around and around the chapel, honor the Mary and Child inside who are adorned with all the gifts brought by those who have been healed thanks to her, and greet friends with whom my dad has been linked for sixty or seventy years. There is so much joy in this reunion. One friend from my dad's art school days, with his green felted Tirolean hat tipped at a jaunty angle, even has tears in his eyes when he sees me after so many years. Walking home, we pass the local monastery and notice that the ancient, twining apple trees in the expansive orchard are laden with fruit. "Why aren't they picking it?" I ask my dad. "There are not many monks left anymore", he replies.
The Catholic renounciate's path is an arduous one, and this particular sect of monks spends much of its time in African missions. When they return, illness often keeps them from fulfilling many of the agrarian roles associated with members of the clergy in Alpine regions. I feel a sadness welling inside me as I realize that this integral human relationship between land, seasons, and prayer belongs to an austere religious tradition that does not appeal to most modern people. However, we do not need to be monks and nuns in order to grow the food that nourishes us, honor the spirit that binds us, and therefore feed something greater than ourselves. "Let's come back and pick those apples after dark", I suggest. He laughs, nods, and we walk on.

Pomegranate Risotto and Roast Rabbit

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I am beginning to understand why American people become enamored of Italian culture. Although a reverence for local foods can be found in many places world-wide, the Mediterranean climate allows such traditions to shine through the variety of ingredients available year-round. In Vermont, we cultivate beautiful vegetables, tend to winter-hardy fruit trees, pasture healthy animals, and grow an impressive variety of grains. Because our growing season lasts five months at best, we do not have access to fresh foods all the time. As supplies dwindle during the cold months, so do I feel a growing desire to visit the warmer places where these foods grow year-round. Certain parts of California may reflect the Italian peninsula's growing season, but the scale on which food is raised does not compare to the small production to which Italy must adhere due to its mountainous geography.

With the Apennine mountains running a spine north-south and the Alps holding the northern part of the country, there are few places to cultivate anything on more than a handful of acres. Hence, even though the growing season here is luxurious, Italian food acquires a precious quality due to its small-scale production. Regional recipes are integral to the cultural paradigm. One of my childhood memories of autumn's arrival is marked by the truckloads of blood oranges and clementines that make their way North from Sicily in November so that households may prepare the Sicilian recipes to highlight the citrus. Here in the Po River Valley, my father and I discovered an agritourism that raises rabbits and grows pomegranates, both of which get sent to other Italian provinces so that others may enjoy them.
In honor of our local foods, we decided to make pomegranate risotto and roast rabbit with white wine and chestnuts. Risotto is a rice dish that hails from Italy and has myriads of regional variations. To make this beloved primo piatto, or first course, with the tangy crimson-seeded fruit that informs the length of Persephone's stay in the underworld, it is essential to remove the seeds from the fruit body, boil them briefly, and spin them through a sieve in order to catch the brilliant juice. This succus becomes the broth with which we cook the rice.
Rabbit meat is rich and lean, but often have a gamey flavor unless and retained water is removed first. We seared and rinsed the rabbit before placing it in a roasting pan with garlic and much of the rosemary and sage we collected when we visited the hill village Arqua Petrarca. These herbs, when minced, create a paste that can coat the rabbit and help it to retain its juices while roasting. We poured a quarter bottle of the whine wine made by one of my dad's university colleagues into the roasting pan and sent it on its way into the hot oven.
Meanwhile, we sliced crescents along the rinds of chestnuts gleaned from Imperia, a nearby town on the ocean. We placed them on a baking sheet and roasted them until the nut meat began to escape from each sliced section. We wanted to peel them immediately, savor some of their sweetness as a prelude to our meal, but we had to allow them to cool. Instead, we sampled some of the rye bread we had baked with flour from my family's home town in the Dolomite mountains of Trentino alongside a few of the tangy, tiny black olives that my father picked and pickled in Pienza, Tuscany last year. Bread and olives can provide enough temporary respite to any hungry Italian.
When we added the chestnuts to the rabbit, gave the risotto its final stir, poured bubbling glasses of Serprino Prosecco from the nearby Euganei Hills, and sat down to dinner, we were satisfied by the process before we ever ate one bite.
Please email me at lisamase@gmail.com for more detailed recipes and cooking guidance.