Seasonal Cooking

Posted by Robyn Harrison

Our local Farmers' Market unofficially opened on Tuesday of this week. It usually doesn't open until mid-July but a few enterprising farmers have been hard at work growing greens and harvesting asparagus. There were chard, kale, beets, beet greens and asparagus, as well as the perennial eggs and jams and jellies.

Advertising was word-of-mouth, and people were so excited to see fresh produce return to the plaza that the vendors sold out in less than an hour. Neighbors greeted neighbors, and those who were first in line took only a little so that everyone would have a chance to get a little something FRESH.

Though we have had no rain for 5 months, the river is full and the snow pack higher than usual, so there will be water for the gardens this summer. If Tuesday was any indication, the farmers' market will have plenty of customers all season long.

Eat Fresh

Eat Local

Eat Organic

Posted by Robyn Harrison

I'm nearly swimming in asparagus. We're picking 2-3 pounds a day and selling much of it at the farmers' market, but I'm keeping plenty for us to eat. I know asparagus season is short-lived and we won't see it in the garden again for a year, so we try to take full advantage of it when we have it.

Asparagus should be kept in the refrigerator, preferably stored in a jar or small bucket with the bottom end of the spears in water to keep them from drying out. The diameter of the vegetable doesn't seem to affect its taste, and if it is truly fresh, it shouldn't need to be peeled.

Freezing and canning asparagus just doesn't work, but you can stretch the season just a little bit by cooking the asparagus in a main dish that freezes well, such as pizza or quiche.

Eat up! Asparagus time is short.....

Posted by Robyn Harrison

Time to grab the bag, the bowl, the box,--whatever is handy--and head for the ditch banks: the asparagus are up. The little green spears that poke their heads up one day and are ready for picking the next inspire me to get outside and get re-acquainted with the garden.

When I was little, I thought asparagus were the limp, slimy vegetable that comes in a can. I didn't care for them, not one bit. When I was in my twenties, someone served fresh asparagus, lightly steamed, a little butter. I was in heaven. Now, I sneak out to the asparagus bed as soon as the temperature hits 70-degrees, hoping to be the first to find one of the little spears and pick it and eat it right then.

Asparagus season is only a few weeks, and during that time we eat asparagus nearly every meal because we know they don't can or freeze well: we have to enjoy them while we've got them.

Eat fresh.

Eat local.

Eat organic.

Eat asparagus!

Posted by Robyn Harrison

Rule Number One: Eat food.

Rule Number Two: Mostly plants.

Rule Number Three: Not too much.

Americans have fallen in love with super-sizing (mostly thanks to the fast food industry). Add this to the fact that many of us grew up with, "Clean your plate. You know there are children starving in ___ (fill in your choice of country)," and we eat much more than we need. Pollan suggests that westerners require visual cues to know when we have finished our meal: the plate is clean, the tv show is over. We've forgotten how to listen to our stomachs to know when to stop.

Eating should be about more than just food. It should be about our relationship with food--a cultural thing, if you will. Instead of mindlessly munching in front of the TV or (yikes!) eating at your desk, try to always eat at a table, and preferably with others--make it social. This will help change your relationship with food, and maybe with other people in your life as well.

There is so much more in Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food. I recommend that you read it--but not during dinner.

Posted by Robyn Harrison

First, we'll review last week.

Rule number one: Eat Food.

If that seems like a ridiculous statement to you, read last week's blog or, better yet, read Michael Pollan's whole book.

This week, rule Number Two is: Eat mostly plants.

I love this rule. It goes right along with eat local, eat fresh, eat organic. Grow your own garden, shop the farmers' market, haunt the produce aisles of the grocery store.

Notice Pollan says "mostly" plants. He says to eat like an omnivore, but be aware of where your meat comes from and remember that "you are what you eat" as well as "you are what you eat eats, too."

Local, fresh, organic goes for meat as well as produce.

Posted by Robyn Harrison

In his newest book, In Defense of Food, Michael Pollan looks at the increasing rates of obesity and diet-related diseases in the US. Over the next several weeks, I'll be writing about what I learned from his book and adding a few tips and revelations of my own.

In the mean time, I suggest you find a copy to read for yourself. I'm a big proponent of public libraries, but in this case, I bought a copy so I could highlight sections and write in the margins and fold down corners of pages. Perhaps you'll want to do the same.

The first half of the book is devoted to the history of how we got where we are today: why we eat what we eat. It's a fascinating discussion, full of well-meaning people making dietary rules based on bad science. His writing is enlightening and entertaining, but the information left a bad taste in my mouth for food choices governed by politics.

The second half suggests some very simple rules for changing the way we eat.

"RULES?" you say. "Isn't that what caused our problems in the first place?"

Yes, but these "rules" are so common-sense, you'll be embarrassed you didn't think of them yourself.

#1: Eat food.

Food. Not food products. Not food with additives that you can't pronounce or digest. Eat food as close to its original state as possible, though cooking is admissable. Stay away from anything your grandmother wouldn't recognize as food. Eat whole foods: fruits and vegetables, the fresher the better. Meats: beef, pork, poultry, fish, wild game.

Think Seasonal Cooking. We're here to help.

Posted by Robyn Harrison

I admit it, I go to bed by 8:30 every night. It isn't that I want to, it's that I just can't stay awake much beyond that. I love having friends over for dinner, but, especially if I've been at the office all day, I start yawning during dessert.

Now, however, I have discovered BRUNCH! It is the perfect meal for entertaining. If the weather is nice, we can eat on the patio without needing extra lighting. If our brunch conversation suggests a hike, we can go. Best of all, I can cook in the morning and stay awake clear through dessert!

This week I've posted one of my favorite brunch entrees: the puffed pancake. It's cooked in the oven (I've even used my electric skillet), and should be served with a variety of toppings: syrup, fruit compote, even ice cream.

Easter weekend is coming up--it's a great time to try out new recipes. Make this one of them. In fact, why not invite your friends now for an Easter Brunch and Egg Hunt?

Posted by Robyn Harrison

One of my favorite "green" dishes used to be Watergate Salad--remember? It had nothing to do with the Watergate scandal itself, other than having become popular about the same time. It was a tasty blend of crushed pineapple, instant pistachio pudding mix, mini-marshmallows and "a tub of whipped topping."

I read those labels now and shudder at the long, unpronounceable names of ingredients and chemicals, and corn in the form of syrup, high-fructose corn syrup and corn starch (marshmallows!) I tried making it with whipping cream and almonds (there are more almonds than pistachios in the pudding mix...) and pineapple, but what to substitute for marshamallows? It just wasn't the same...

But there are plenty of things you can make that are even more green than artificial pudding mix--and they're much better for you! I recommend using fresh greens: Chard Tart and Caldo Verde, Sauted Winter Greens, or Spinach Mushroom Quiche.

Happy St. Paddy's Day!

Posted by Robyn Harrison

About this time every year I begin to tire of all the butternut squash, sweet potatoes and garlic and onions I have so proudly saved and served since we put the garden to bed last fall. I want something else, more variety, more, well, almost anything!

And, lo and behold, my wish was granted last week. There, among the produce in my local grocery store, stuck back behind the avocados, was a chayote--a type of squash I ate when I lived in Central America.

Trying to eat only vegetables that are in season locally is not easy, so I fudged: I once ate chayote in season, right? I took some home and reveled in eating something different for a change. I've posted some chayote recipes this week.

As I look out over the brown of the garden, I can see rhubarb leaves starting to unfurl. It won't be long before the asparagus are pushing up through the clutter of last year's leftovers. Variety is just around the corner!

Posted by Robyn Harrison

According to a study at the University of California in Los Angeles, the number of strokes experienced by women ages 35 to 54 has tripled since 1988. Blood sugar levels have risen, body mass index (a number used to measure obesity) has gone from 27 to 29, and waistlines are 2 inches larger than they were just a decade ago.

Eating more fresh vegetables and fruits, in lieu of processed, prepared "food products," is probably the best way to prevent this disorder: seasonal cooking, seasonal eating.

You can read more about the findings of the study here.