So what’s a couple trying to eat well to do?  Here are five tips for eating out if you are a “mixed-eating” couple like my husband and me, after the jump.

1.  Ethnic, ethnic, ethnic.  This one is tricky–my husband wants to stay close to the holy trifecta of Americanized ethnic foods: Italian, Chinese, and Tex-Mex.  Those choices are fine, and usually very accommodating, but I can make pasta at home, and many Tex-Mex joints use lard in their cooking.  I’ve found Thai to be close enough to Chinese for my husband to find something he likes, but provides several out-of-the ordinary options.  Most Asian cuisines are very veg-friendly, and Indian cuisine is largely meat-free.  Many African cuisines, such as Ethiopian, have just as many meat-free menu items as meat-based.  An adventurous palate can help find a much wider variety of promising restaurants than if you were to stay with the same old places.

2. PIzza.  Half-and-half pizzas may have just saved my marriage.  Widely-available, the endless varieties and styles make pizza crucial to our eating out (and eating in) rotation.  One of the best restaurants I’ve been to in terms of equal eating opportunities for vegetarians, Pizza Luce in Minneapolis, not only has plenty of meat-free pizzas and pastas, but almost everything on the menus has a vegetarian, if not vegan, alternative.  Multiple vegan options, clearly marked as such, let you know that a restaurant knows what it is talking about.

3.  Don’t be afraid to ask. Although some chefs might stick their noses in the air at the thought of vegetarian or vegan cuisine, quite a few others are glad to create a meat-free, off-the-menu dish.  You just have to ask.  Sometimes, particularly if I’ve made reservations, I’ll even call ahead to let the chef know that there’s a vegetarian in the party.  I’ve been pleasantly surprised with the creative, thoughtful dishes chefs have made just for me.  In addition…

4.  Become a regular. When you find a place that you both like, visit often and spread the word to your friends.  Let the restaurant know they are doing  good job.  A restaurant is much more likely to cater to your needs if you routinely patronize their business and you won’t get stuck with the same old veggie pasta while everyone else enjoys something more creative.

5. Go where the farmers grow. Now is the perfect time to ask your favorite farmers market vendor to which restaurants they sell.  Chances are that a restaurant who takes the time to buy local will want to showcase that local produce, hence menu items that showcase veggies, not just meat.  I often see the owner/chef of one of my favorite St Louis restaurants at our farmers markets, so I know he’s going to have meatless entrees, and, as a bonus, is trying to patronize as many local growers as possible.

For those mixed-diet couples out there, what are your favorite types of cuisine or restaurants that make it easy to dine out together?

I was over at my lovely mother-in-law’s house yesterday, and I noticed how well her window box full of herbs (a gift from my husband and me) was doing. The basil was out of control–in a good way. I asked her what she was going to do with the basil, and she said she didn’t know.

“You should make pesto,” I said to her. “It’s really easy.”

“What’s that?” she asked.

Today, I tried out a local sandwich shop I’d never tried. Their veggie sandwich promised tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, and pesto, one of my favorite combinations. Unfortunately, their idea of “pesto” was mayonnaise with dried basil flecks in it. What? The blasphemy! Are there really that many people who don’t know the awesomeness of pesto?I made my first batch of pesto last week from our own out-of-control basil plant. When I was making it, I realized how easy making this delicious, versatile sauce is–and forgiving. Pesto can refer to any type of paste made from ground herbs in a pestello–a mortar and pestle. You’ll most commonly see it made with basil, but you can also make it with other leafy herbs or veggies, such as mint, arugula, or kale. And many people swear by the pestello method, or a hand-chopping method using a mezzaluna. However, I don’t have that kind of time on my hands. My little food processor works just fine and keeps this process simple.

If you aren’t vegan, do yourself a favor when buying cheese to use for pesto: get the real stuff, or at least a Grana Padano or domestic parmesan. Avoid the green can (yes, that green can) at all costs.

Easy Homemade Pesto

2 cups packed fresh basil leaves

1/2-3/4 cup freshly grated parmigiano reggiano

2 large garlic cloves, peeled (use roasted garlic if you want a more mellow flavor, but I prefer the bite of raw)

small handful of toasted pine nuts (toss them in a dry saute pan for a minute)

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

In food processor, pulse all ingredients except olive oil until a rough paste forms. While processing, stream in olive oil, making sure to scrape the sides of the processor down.

My absolutely favorite way to use pesto is served over soft, pillowy potato gnocchi, but it can also be used on pasta or other grains, with vegetables, or as a sandwich spread. Remember, with its strong flavors, a little bit of this goes a long way You can also freeze extra pesto for those winter months when you are craving something green. Simply spoon the pesto into ice cube trays until frozen, then store in freezer bags or containers.

Now, with global food shipping, you can strawberries any time of the year, if you’re willing to pay for them.  But those winter strawberries, with their white, tasteless core and Frankenstein-like size, are nothing compared to the sweet, juicy, red berries you can get in season.  And, rumor has it, they’re starting to pop up in St Louis, the precious few pints available after the heavy spring rains getting snatched up within minutes of the opening of the markets.  My schedule hasn’t allowed me to fight the crowds for these jewels, but tomorrow I’ll be heading to my local Wednesday market to procure the first fresh berries of the season.  See what I’ll do with them, after the jump.

While I still love making the Bisquik-biscuit, Cool-Whipped strawberry shortcake of my youth, dressing up the beautiful berries with from-scratch substitutes is simple and well worth your time.  I use the Joy of Baking shortcake recipe, which you can find here, although I don’t roll out the biscuits–for my purposes, drop biscuits work just fine and make my life easier.

As for the whipped cream, making your own is a snap if you have a hand mixer or a food processor.  I pour a pint of chilled heavy whipping cream into a chilled bowl or your food processor.  Add a few tablespoons of sugar (to taste) and the scrapings from one vanilla bean (trust me, real vanilla beans are worth the cost–you can find reasonable ones here).  Blend, blend, blend until it turns into a thick, stand-alone cream. Hint: take that scraped-out vanilla bean, throw it in a jar full of sugar, and shake it up every now and then.  Makes delicious vanilla sugar.

Top a shortcake with sliced berries and a dollop of this luscious vanilla whipped cream.  Taste.  Roll eyes back in head.  Repeat.  Lick bowl.

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Eating

Epicurious has a great new application called the Peak-Season Map.  Just click on the month and state you are interested in, and a list of fruits and vegetables that are usually available in that area during that time will pop up.  Check out what’s around in your area in the near future, or, if you’re planning a vacation soon, what will be seasonal wherever you are heading.

Note: you must have a recent Flash player to view this site.

To be honest, the idea that we as a nation waste more food than some countries consume in a year is nothing new.  Freegans have made a point of living off others’ perfectly-good “waste” for quite some time now.

Green Options has discussed reducing food waste before; Jessica Jane French talked about food audits last year, Apartment Therapy’s The Kitchn has tips and tricks for avoiding food waste, and readers there contributed several great tips of their own.   Author Jonathan Bloom is writing a book on food waste and is documenting his research on his site, Wasted Food. Even the UK is looking to  The UK government has funded the “Love Food, Hate Waste” campaign to educate consumers on how to eliminate food waste.

What are your tips for reducing food waste?

I’m here to tell you there are a few tips and tricks to keeping that grocery bill down while still keeping ethics and the environment in mind. It takes a little more planning, some flexibility and creativity, but you can shave big bucks off your bill if you keep them in mind.

1. Quit eating meat. Buying meat, particularly non-industrial meat, can really break the bank. Animal agriculture is also one of the biggest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions that exists. By replacing meat with plant-based protein sources, such as beans and lentils (cheap!) you can save money and lighten your footprint. Even cutting back to decrease the amount of meat-meals you eat in a week, and increasing your meat-free meals, will help.

2. If you do eat meat, look at cheaper cuts. Take a hint from Joel Salatin at Polyface Farms. His ethically-raised pork was a big hit with consumers–particularly the better cuts. The tougher cuts were harder to sell, so he’s selling them to Chipotle, who uses them in burritos, because shoulders and legs hold up well to the braising process Chipotle has in place. You can do the same. Braising, stewing, or slow-cooking cuts like shoulders, flank steaks, or  round roasts and steaks can add tasty

3. Plan ahead. Watching the sales, reading the circular, and planning menus ahead of time saves money by using more sale items into your diet.

4. Buy and cook in bulk–if you’ll eat it. A money and time saving practice that I rely on is making enough dinner to have leftovers for lunch. This works particularly well with soups and pastas, where it’s easy to stretch a meal out by adding more broth or noodles. This way, brown-bagging your lunch is a snap. You’ll save money by not eating out and by stretching ingredients, and time by cooking once and eating twice. However, this practice doesn’t work if you don’t eat the leftovers. The same goes for buying in bulk. You can often save a pretty penny by buying larger quantities of food items that you use frequently. For example, I buy olive oil in bulk because I use it all the time. The same goes for flour, pasta, beans, or lentils.  Do not invest in items that you won’t eat before they go bad, just because you’re getting a deal.  That gallon of mustard won’t seem so cheap when you have to throw half of it out. At the same time…

5. Don’t let your eyes be bigger than your stomach. Consumers lose a lot of money by buying food that goes bad before they use it. I know I’m guilty of this. By planning your meals carefully and eating according to what is fresh in the fridge, you can eliminate wasteful spending on food that never nourishes anyone, except maybe your compost pile.  Be thoughtful and deliberate in your meal planning to use everything in your fridge.

6. Coupons, coupons, coupons. It used to be that coupons for organic brands were few and far between in your Sunday newspaper. With the increase in organic brands on your conventional grocery shelves, more coupons for those products are ending up in circulars. However, there’s many other ways to find coupons that you can use for organic products. Mambo Sprouts puts out a coupon book that you can pick up at stores or have sent to your home if you live in certain areas. But the best way I’ve found to get coupons you’ll actually use is to contact companies whose products I enjoy. Most websites have a “Contact Us” link, and brands such as Quorn, Organic Valley, and NakedJuice sent me substantial coupons after I politely asked for them. That also puts me on their mailing list for free samples and coupons in the future. The Grocery Coupon Guide has a great list of brands with links to their websites.  An hour or two on the internet could save you many, many dollars.

7. Eat seasonally. Eat locally. It’s practically a mantra around here, but it’s true for your wallet as well as our planet. There’s a reason strawberries cost five dollars a pint in December. As fuel costs rise, so will the cost of your produce imported from other countries. I’ve found making friends at your local farmers market can save you cash, too. Not only are you eating much fresher, more flavorful fruits and veggies, but you can establish a relationship with the farmers. One of my absolutely favorite organic farmers on our farmers market circuit knows me by name, and since I faithfully give him business, he almost always knocks a buck or two off my total.

8. Grow your own. Seeds and plants, even organic, can cost next-to-nothing, and gardening is a therapeutic and rewarding hobby. Even apartment-dwellers can grow plenty of produce in containers. I’ve found that  those with the blackest of thumbs can successfully grow all the fresh herbs they need, and if you buy fresh herbs at the store, you know they can be expensive.  Think about expanding to tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, squash, or radishes.

9. Join a CSA.   CSAs, or Community Supported Agriculture, are programs where you buy shares of a harvest from a farmer. In return for your investment, you get regularly-scheduled boxes of produce, which may include other items such as dairy, meat, flowers, or grains. Although CSAs can be expensive, many are reasonably prices, particularly in comparison to buying items individually, and many CSAs offer half-shares at reduced cost. They’re worth looking into by asking at your local farmers market.

What are some money-saving tips you’ve found in your quest to eat better?

I combed food blogs for the best ramp recipes so you didn’t have to. Check them out after the jump…

Serious Eats went ramp wild, with a pickled ramp recipe, a ramp compound butter, and ramps with linguine.

Our Kitchen Sink has a yummy ramp white pizza recipe.

Food In Mouth makes a ramp risotto.

The Green Fork’s got tons of information on ramps, plus a ramp and potato gratin.

Food Junta whips up spaghetti with ramps, as does Tigers & Strawberries.

No Recipes freehands bacon, ramps and nuts.

Anyone here utilized ramps yet? What’s your favorite preparation?

photo credit: randomduck

We’ve written about Monsanto’s attempts to control both agribusiness and the public perception of agribusiness.  Shirley wrote about Monsanto’s attempts to keep dairies from labeling their own milk “rbGH-free” and  Beth wrote about Monsanto’s genetically-engineered sugar beets.  Barlett and Steele focus on Monsanto’s tactics of attacking farmers for alleged patent violations and their impact on rural communities, and their article is a must-read for those interested in where their food comes from.

Monsanto is a hot-button topic in the slow food community.  Does Monsanto provide invaluable research and development that feed entire nations, or are their strong-arming tactics disguised as defense of intellectual property rights destroying rural economies and farmers livelihoods?  What do you think?

Easy Beer Bread

1 12oz can or bottle of beer (any type will do, but you can experiment with different styles)

2 cups all-purpose flour

3 T sugar

1 T unsalted butter, melted (optional)

Mix all ingredients together until well combined. Pour batter into a greased loaf pan and bake at 350° for approximately 25 minutes. After 25 minutes, pour butter over loaf. Bake five more minutes. Remove from oven, let cool, and slice. Serve with cheddar-chive butter.

Cheddar-Chive Butter

1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature

1/4 c shredded sharp cheddar cheese

2 T chopped chives

Combine all ingredients. Serve with beer bread. Store covered in refrigerator for up to two weeks.

Then my mom bought me Mary Beth Lind and Cathleen Hockman-Wert’s Simply in Season for Christmas this year. The concept seemed so logical, I couldn’t believe I didn’t already posses a cookbook organized by season. In fact, there are a few other seasonally-organized cookbooks, but my mom picked this up while they were on vacation this summer, knowing it would be right up my alley. She was right. This vegetarian/vegan-friendly tome is packed with recipes that are easy enough for most home cooks, even beginners, and look (and taste!) downright tasty. Right now, I’m planning both the Lemon Asparagus pasta and the Spring Quiche Trio for upcoming meals, and I’m positively salivating for June’s strawberries, so I can make the Strawberry Brunch Souffle

Simply in Season is more than just a collection of recipes. It’s a wonderful starting point for anyone looking to eat more slow foods or cook using local, seasonal produce, and a reliable reference for more experienced cooks. The book has extensive informative section on various fruits and vegetables, their uses, nutrients, storage methods, and preparation suggestions. Each season’s section (including the “all seasons” section, contains recipes for every course, and most of the recipe pages contain blurbs at the end of each page–cooking tips, information on agriculture, poetry, or interesting quotes on food. These added touches–the above and beyond the recipes–make this book one of my favorites on the shelf. My very favorite of these touches is the “Invitation to Action” at the end of each season–action to eat in a more healthful, sustainable way and convince others to do the same.

Simply In Season is commissioned by the Mennonite Central Committee, retails for $20.99,and can be purchased at the MCC’s website.

Oh, sure, the Texas chili purists will claim that any chili with veggies ain’t real chili. But, for what it’s worth, this thick hearty stew satisfies the need for a filling, savory, spicy dish, and we call it chili in my house. It is naturally vegan and is really healthy–full of veggies and good-for-you proteins like beans and TVP. It can be made on the cheap with standard pantry ingredients and serves plenty. I like to cook up a pot and eat the leftovers for lunch.

To me, this isn’t really even a recipe, because you can modify it to suit your tastes. It’s more of a framework for a basic chili. You can alter the type of beans, add different veggies, or change the spices–whatever flavor combination works for you. A word on TVP–my own personal preference is a combination of Morningstar® Crumbles and bulk dried TVP. However, you could use all dried TVP, Morningstar® Steak or Chik’N strips, seitan, or completely omit it. However, I really feel like a liberal hand with the TVP gives it the feel of more traditional chili. Don’t forget to use local or organic whenever possible

Easy Veggie Chili
Serves six

1/2 large onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 c chopped carrots
1 c frozen or canned sweet corn kernels
1 c chopped bell pepper (any color will do)
1 15 oz. can black or kidney beans

1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes AND
1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes and green chilies (such as Rotel)

OR

1 28 oz can diced tomatoes AND
1/2 chopped jalapeño pepper

1/2 package Morningstar® Veggie Crumbles
1/2 cup dried TVP

1 Tbsp cumin
1 Tbsp chili powder
salt and pepper to taste

Garnishes (optional)–sliced avocado, sour cream, cheddar cheese/cheeze, chopped green onions

Directions

In a large stockpot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Sauté onions and garlic until onions turn slightly translucent, 2-3 minutes. Add all other ingredients except TVP and cheese. Stir until well combined. Gently simmer for 15-20 minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings as necessary. Add TVP and simmer for another ten minutes, until veggies are no longer crunchy. Adjust seasoning again. Serve with choice of garnishes and crackers, cornbread, or corn chips.

While cleaning my home recently, I realized just how much paper this leads to each month, and my green guilt set in. Unfortunately, I really, really love both magazines and the daily newspaper. It’s something I am reluctant to give up. Fortunately, there may be a solution that seems almost plausible to a printaholic like me. ReadyMade, a design/home solutions magazine for the DIY set with a sustainable sensibility, is now providing readers with a digital version of its print form. You can see every page, just as it appears in print, in its entirety, starting with the current issue #34, their green design issue.

ReadyMade is no stranger to all things green. It’s been part of their focus since its inception in 2001, and although they’ve been doing “green” issues since before it was trendy, almost all of their issues make mention of green practices or sustainable design. Their print issue is done on 50% post-consumer recycled paper that’s FSC certified. It honestly doesn’t surprise me that their the first of the mags I read to go digital; as champions of efficient design with a built-in eco-audience, it’s a pragmatic approach.

The digital edition is fairly user-friendly. Readers can customize how they view the pages, and can easily jump around using the page index or table of contents. Zooming in and out was a breeze, and graphics and photos are high-res. There’s also a handy option to view any links that appear in the text, either by page or throughout the entire issue. I like this because I’m always dog-earing links I want to look at after I read a magazine. I got really excited when I saw a little bookmark icon, hoping it would be a way to digitally tag or annotate things I wanted to revisit. Disappointingly, it was only a way to bookmark a particular page using your browser’s bookmark function. That’s only a minor quibble, though. I can honestly see myself able to make the switch from print to digital if magazines looked and operated like ReadyMade. For me, that’s a very big deal.

Best of all, you can check out the inaugural digital issue, in its entirety, for free. And, the more people that read the digital issue, the more money sustainable clothing company Nau will donate to carbon offset partner Climate Trust. My only complaint is that I’m unsure as to whether or not subscribers will be able to “opt-out” of their print subscription, and if so, can they get a discount on their subscriptions? ReadyMade’s website lacked details about this, but implied that future digital subscriptions would be subscriber-only. Added reason to check out this issue? Longtime GreenOptions writer Victoria Everman is a contributor this month.

The partnership comes on the heels of almost a year and a half of complex negotiations involving equipment needs, recipes, and transportation issues.  Salatin found that his fine-dining clients, snapped up the choice cuts of pork he had to offer, but the market was not as strong for tougher cuts, such as shoulders and legs.  These tough cuts are perfect for the braising method used in carnitas pork for burritos.

Although the partnership was a lengthy process, Chipotle is no stranger to looking for vendors using more sustainable methods.  They’ve been buying pork from  since 2000, creating a demand which allowed Niman to expand from 75 small farms to 500.  According to their website,  all meat served in their restaurants are antibiotic and hormone-free and are all vegetarian-fed.  25% of their beans are grown organically, and their sour cream is rBGH-free.  Trying to rethink their sourcing towards sustainability, (and effectively, reimage how large-scale chains do business) aligns Chipotle’s mission with that of Polyface, who have been rejecting conventional notions of industrial agriculture since 1961.

Despite the higher cost (and effort) behind integrating Polyface pork, Chipotle refused to pass their costs on to the consumer–their carnitas burrito remains $5.75 in Charlottesville.  And for those who want to lighten their food footprint even more (but can’t resist Chipotle’s burritos), Chipotle has plenty of vegetarian and vegan options on their menu.

If you’re new to eating seasonally, spring is a great time to start.  Personally, the coming of spring is highly anticipated, and the weekly surprise of what’s new to the farmers market just adds to my anticipation of warmer weather.  Here’s five food, their nutritional benefits, and ideas for recipes to get you excited for spring eating.

Asparagus
For many, the crown jewel of spring produce and the indicator that my diet is about to change, is asparagus, which will start showing up around April.  Asparagus are low-calorie and low-fat, and are full of folic acid, fiber, potassium, vitamins A & C and B vitamins, and are easy to prepare.  They can be steamed, grilled or roasted, added into pastas, omelets, or soups, or eaten raw.  One of my favorite ways to cook them is in a foil packet with some fish on the grill–really easy, delicious, and healthy.
Avocados
Avocados got a bad rap for being a high-fat fruit, but most of that fat is heart-healthy monounsaturated fat.  They’re a great source of potassium, B vitamins, and Vitamins E and K.  They also more fiber than any other fruit.  Forget all those good-for-you things: avocados are addictively delicious.  Their buttery texture makes them a perfect base for dips and sandwich spreads, including the avocado’s most famous incantation (and my favorite) guacamole.  You can also add slices of avocado to veggie sandwiches and wraps, tacos and burritos, or salads.
Leafy Greens
Leafy greens like lettuce, spinach, watercress, and mustard greens are packed with vitamin C, folate, fiber, iron,  minerals, beta carotene, and antioxidants.  They are incredibly versatile–salads and sandwiches are the obvious choice, but they can also be added to soups, pastas, or stir-frys.  Gone are the days when iceberg was the only lettuce choice.  Now you can experience the flavor varieties of arugula, frisee, romaine, or escarole.   Try something new–you just might love it.
Peas
My childhood experience of peas is largely based on the mushy, greyish-green canned variety, but there’s so much more to fresh peas.  They’re high in protein, Vitamin A & B6, folates, and minerals.   Peas can be eaten raw in salads, steamed in a simple side-dish, or in casseroles, pot pies, pastas, or stir-frys.  I just like them as an easy raw snack or lightly steamed with a little butter, salt, and pepper.
Apricots
Apricots are one of the first sweet spring fruits, coming typically in May.  They’re full of Vitamins A & C, iron, potassium, and fiber.  Like most sweet fruits, they can be used in a plethora of baked goods and desserts, from tarts to muffins.  They’re also a great snack eaten raw or dried.  However, apricots are continually used in savory dishes to provide a balance since they are less sweet than other stone fruits.  They can appear in dried form in chicken dishes, and can be grilled with savory ingredients in paninis.

Don’t stop with these five.  Spring also brings rhubarb, green onions, fennel, artichokes, and  new potatoes, and before you know it, summer’s bountiful produce will make its way to your table.

Wait.  I know what you’re thinking: making your own chips?  That’s got to be more time-consuming than it is worth.  In reality, it’s quite simple and the results are well worth the time spent.  If you own a mandoline (I do not), it’s even easier.  You can control the fat and sodium content,  and, best of all, you can use whatever flavors go with what you’re cooking that day–it’s a very forgiving recipe (if you can even call it that).  Just slice, season, and bake.

I usually use a variety of new potatoes, because they’re good for roasting and I use them in other recipes, although some homemade chip experts swear by Yukon Golds.  I also use purple potatoes when they’re available, because I love the color and they have slightly better nutritional content than your standard white or red potato.  I say use what you’ve got on hand.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.  Begin prep by slicing your potatoes approximately 1/8″.  Two or three new potatoes is enough per person.  If you have a mandoline, by all means, use that baby, but I’ve survived thus far with just my chef’s knife.  Pat the potato slices dry with a kitchen towel.  This will help them crisp up during baking.  Now it’s time to season, and this is the fun part where you get to be creative.  I usually make garlic-parmesean chips, so that’s the process I’ll describe here.

My trick is using a flavored olive oil, which I easily make myself in the kitchen.  I use it in such small quantities, and buy plain olive oil in bulk from the Italian market, so I don’t bother buying store-bought flavored oils.  The standby in my kitchen is garlic olive oil, which I make by whacking a peeled clove of garlic with the broad side of my knife and microwaving it in the oil I’m going to use for about 30 seconds.  You can either toss the sliced potatoes with the oil (a few tablespoons) or, if you want to control the fat content, pour the oil in a clean spray bottle.  Any variety of plain, clean spray bottle will work–you don’t need a fancy atomizer from a kitchen shop.  Using the spray bottle allows you to lightly mist the potatoes evenly while minimizing oil used.  Salt and pepper the slices, give them another good toss, and pop them on a baking sheet and into the oven until they are golden brown, probably about 30 minutes.  When they just start to get all brown and roasted, take them out and grate some fresh parmigiano-reggiano over them, and let them bake for five more minutes.

I almost always make this flavor combination, but you could do whatever you want by adjusting the oil and spices.  Some ideas:

* Greek-style–use regular or garlic olive oil, dried oregano, and sprinkle with feta if you desire.

* Smoky Jalapeno–use pepper-infused oil, cumin, cayenne, salt & pepper.

* Lemon-rosemary–use lemon-zest infused oil, chopped fresh rosemary, salt & pepper.

Is anyone else a fan of homemade chips? What’s your favorite flavor combination?

I’ve always been interested in vegan cooking, but I love cheese too much to give it any serious consideration. That is, until I found the Post Punk Kitchen online and subsequently received Isa Chandra Moskowitz & Terry Hope Romero’s Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook. Moskowitz and Romero are no strangers to cookbooks. Their Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World was a best-seller, and Moskowitz wrote the cult-fave Vegan With a Vengeance. Forget the brown rice/tofu vegan health food of the 70s: Moskowitz and Romero take vegan food, modernize it with a hipster edge, and make it appealing to any cook, not just vegan cooks, straight from their Brooklyn kitchens.

Veganomicon is a must-have cookbook for anyone seeking to cook easy, delicious, meat-free dishes. More than just a collection of recipes, Veganomicon is a how-to for cooking just about any vegetable, grain, or beans. Their “Mix and Match” section, featuring simple, flavorful preparations of various staples, could produce an infinite number of meal combinations. But why stop there? There’s plenty of other recipes throughout the book exploring various flavor combinations. The chapters run the gamut from light lunch fare to hearty soups, to the fabulous desserts that made Vegan Cupcakes so successful.

Moskowitz and Romero’s writing style is casual, flexible and welcoming. In fact, their approach is rather empowering. They encourage you to eyeball things, taste and adjust, add, subtract, and approximate. You don’t have to follow their recipes exactly–they encourage you to make them your own. For example, I made a big pot of their Tomato-Rice Soup with Roasted Garlic and Navy Beans, but instead of navy beans, I used lentils, I doubled the amount of garlic because I’m addicted to it, and added some frozen corn I had. Still delicious.

Besides the delicious recipes, I must say their approach to vegan cooking is refreshing: why even mention, let alone try to replicate, animal products, when there are a plethora of ingredients you can focus on? Who cares what you can’t use when there’s so much you can use? Moskowitz and Romero make what they are cooking so flavorful that you’re not thinking about what you’re missing.

My only quibble with this book is that there are several typos, some glaring enough to make a difference in the recipes if you aren’t careful. For example, I made Rosemary Focaccia, and although the ingredients listed salt as both an ingredient and a garnish, but the directions never said when to add the salt. The baker in me should have caught it, but I didn’t, and the flavor suffered. But I made a note in the book for next time, and the typos aren’t enough to detract from the overall value of the book. Veganomicon should be a staple for any conscious cook, vegan or otherwise, and is a great resource for those looking to ease their way into eating lower on the food chain.

I can’t say that Ray’s mission has much to do with the environment, at least directly.  Aside from a few “green” items featured in her magazine such as bamboo salad bowls and the like, distinctions like “local”, “organic”, and “grass-fed” rarely, if ever, enter into her vernacular, although, to her credit, she acknowledges the presence of vegetarians and creates recipes with them in mind.  But Ray’s mission to get more people to cook good food on their own is, implicitly, encouraging the very steps that everyday people need to wean themselves off the industrial food machine and nudge them toward their own kitchen.

Let me explain: when I finally graduated into a big-girl kitchen of my own (i.e. after I got married and finally owned more kitchen equipment than a pot, a pan, and some spatulas), 30 Minute Meals seemed like a manageable starting point to creating meals that were manageable for beginning cooks.  I cooked her recipes for both my husband and my weekly dinner club with friends and always got rave reviews.  This boosted my confidence to try other dishes and expand my cooking to more difficult recipes.   By successfully cooking 30 Minute Meals, I knew that food I created from whole, minimally or unprocessed ingredients could be delicious, quick, and easy.  To me, that realization was priceless.  Suddenly, the world of food was open to me.   Once you see and touch the ingredients that go into your food, and you can choose the quality of said ingredients, suddenly you realize the vast difference between a genetically-engineered industrial tomato from your local big box in December and a just-picked heirloom, warm-from-the-sun sungold at the farmers market in July.  You start to notice seasonality.  You appreciate locality. Eating lower on the food chain seems much more possible and preferable.  It wasn’t long before I was a farmers market junkie–as we speak, I’m almost giddy with anticipation of the upcoming season, curious about my favorite farmers and what’s growing this season.

So, despite her relentless marketing, her excessive use of EVOO and catchphrases, the uber-perkiness that’s downright toothache-inducing, Rachael Ray is on to something inevitably sustainable: anyone can cook delicious food with real ingredients.  It’s that kind of empowerment that will lead people to recognize and embrace the food treasures in their own backyard.

The feature segment contains several articles about better food choices and issues in the food and agriculture world. “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” explores the growing world of non-industrial animal products, from meat to poultry to dairy. They highlight the various questions those who seek to make conscious choices about their are compelled to ask. Smart move by starting their feature with this article. Their acknowledgment of the ambiguity that comes when making these kinds of choices was spot on and, in my mind, lent them immediate credibility. Organic? Free-range? Local? Hormone-free? Vegan? Writer Peter Rubin notes that there’s no one absolute better choice, and consumers must weigh the options about each product and it’s producers to decide what aligns with the values they seek to live, whether than be sustainability, animal rights, health, or simply consuming the best product available. Some people may disagree with this article because they vehemently oppose consuming any animal product, but I appreciated Rubin’s acknowledgment that those of us who do consume animal products still try to make ethical choices when doing so.

“Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” is followed by Adam Matthew’s story on America’s tastiest streets–seven streets in seven American countries where the eating is plentiful. I’m sure I’ll use it as a guide the next time I visit one of those cities, namely Chicago. Adam Leith Gollner explores the latest food trends in “The Next Sushi“, such as offal (which I’m even seeing on menus here in St Louis), dosas (Indian crepes filled with curried veggies), and bibimbap (a Korean veggies, meats, and rice).

I really loved photographer Vanessa Stumps exploration of five different meals in “What We Eat”. From an actually-edible-looking school lunch of broccoli and chicken (as a teacher, I was really impressed), to a complete MRE (I’ve tried them, they’re…interesting), the pictures of different niche meals, accompanied by facts pertinent to each meal or its respective corner of the food market, highlighted the various edges of the food spectrums that we choose to eat from and how many people’s appetites span said spectrums. Can I equally crave the Orange Crush soda from the Popeye’s meal and the mock tuna raw salad?

Maybe most informative to me was one of Good’s trademark information-disseminating charts, this one by Phil Howard on buying organic and how many of the organic companies you’ll find in your local grocery are indeed owned by larger industrial food companies. I knew that Boca was owned by Kraft (thanks, Better World Shopping Guide!) but I was unaware that Pepsi owns Naked Juice and Morningstar Farms and Gardenburger are both owned by Kellogg’s. Finally, the food articles wrap up with Zachary Slobig exploring the world of bow hunting in Los Angeles. I grew up in a Midwestern hunting family, so to hear about men scattering Sweet Doe Tang just north of the city was quite interesting to me, almost like an anachronism.

For foodies, this month’s issue of Good is well worth examining, and I’d recommend it even it if didn’t have a food theme. It’s smart, young, and hip without the sense of pretense and with a sense of responsibility. Find out more about Good by visiting their website.

Photo courtesy of Good Magazine–Sonja the cow graces their cover this month.