Phyto for the Right-o...

Most of us eat food because it's what keeps us alive and we want the nutrition it provides. Those who care about how much their food nurtures them and keeps them strong will want to know scientific studies have revealed Nature's great gift to human nourishment, phytonutrients, has been given to us on a use it or lose it, fast food basis. Freshness is everything.

In her new book, Eating on the Wild Side, Jo Robinson explains that the thousands of phytonutrients in our fresh food--some of them are Vitamin C, Vitamin E and beta-carotene, not unimportant fillers--dissolve very fast once a plant is snapped from its roots, i.e. harvested. So there's virtually little to no nutrition left in the supermarket produce after it's traveled thousands of miles from the farm to the check out. And you do not get any benefit taking these nutrients extracted one by one into separate pills: it's their synergy in the plant that energizes you.

As it happens, the foods we most count on for the phytonutrients that bolster our immune system and fight our aging process are the very ones most likely to have died in transit. They're best eaten as soon as picked, which means grab them at your local farmers' market and go. I'm talking about asparagus, spinach, broccoli, kale and leaf lettuces. Also oregano, thyme, basil and parsley, especially parsley. Today is everything; tomorrow is too late. Go make green sauce right now. A recipe is on the parsley page of How to Fix a Leek...

Additionally, Robinson assures us we don't have to forage in the wild to find foods full of these lifesavers. Familiar foods will do, if we so to speak nip them in the bud. Scallions are as nutrient dense as wild onions and cherry tomatoes remain close to their Andean ancestor in packing a phytonutrient punch.

In sum, the most nutritious element of vegetables and fruits could easily be DOA.  Many farmers' market growers might not know, she says, they have this advantage and use it as a marketing device.Well, now you know.

Fast, Fresh and Fabulous

Sadly, all the farmers I've seen at markets this July have grown the exact same things so there's not much variety to work with. Too bad.
And shame on the farmers for denying us the pleasures of, say, creamy yellow potatoes like Yukon golds or carolas or butterballs. And the vivid purple potatoes that add dazzle to a dish. Sad not to have French breakfast radishes to roll in butter or soft goat cheese and then sea salt.

But of course there's plenty of the usuals and here come tomatoes worth the long wait. So here's a fast way to process them into something tasty, eye-catching and perfect for the heat:
Panzanella, Italian bread salad.

6 slices Tuscan (which is salt free) bread or a Baguette, crust off
2 med Red onions
1 lg green bell peppe
4 med/lg ripe tomatoes (remember, cracking around the stem indicates honest sun ripening)
1/2 c shredded Parmesan or Pecorino Romano cheese
12 pitted Kalamata olives
1 lg bunch fresh basil leaves, stemmed and minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
1/2 cup most flavorful olive oil (this makes a difference)
salt and freshly ground black pepper to your taste

Whisk the garlic, salt, vinegar and olive oil into a dressing. (If you like really salty flavor, add two anchovy filets, mashed.)

Cut the bread into bite size chunks and soak them 15 minutes in ice water. Drain and squeeze with your hand to dry them. Crumble the bread into a large serving bowl.

Slice the onion into thin rings and add to the bread. Core and wedge the tomatoes and add also. Dice the green pepper into bite-sized pieces and add to the salad. Add the olives, cheese and basil. Stir to mix evenly.

Pour on the dressing, season with salt and pepper and serve.

Maybe you can serve with this total Carrot Soup, chilled or warm. 
5 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1 med yellow onion, diced
1/2 tsp either dill or caraway seed (your taste)
1/2 tsp ground cumin
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/8 tsp ground Cayenne or Arbol chili
2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
7 lg carrots, cut into thin disks
2 tbsp chopped fresh dill (if you used dill seed) or coriander (if you used caraway)

Combine everything but the last ingredient in a large saucepan, cover and cook over medium heat 20-30 minutes, until carrots are very tender.

Cool 5-10 minutes and puree. Add the fresh herb and serve.

What a vividly memorable summer setting: orange soup with red, green and black salad.  With room left over for ice cream.

Fast Food

Colorful berries and fruits have begun pushing cold weather greens to the side at farmer's markets now, so this is a reminder of what wonderful--and of course nutritious and environmentally healthy--fast food they can be.

Strawberries and raspberries are a human's dream come true: just nab and nosh. You don't have to do anything but enjoy their sweetness.  Remember to pick the red berries because strawberries will not continue to ripen once they are picked and don't wash any berry until the moment you're ready to eat it. Water rots berries.

A splendidly vibrant and nutritious lunch can be pulled together in no time out all from vegetables now piling up in the bins and baskets. Consider a table/plate of colorful salads: carrot and parsley, beet and dill, fennel and olive, cabbage and chicken, yogurt and cucumber-- with crusty bread and a platter of local cheeses, finished with a bowl of berries. Simple, sophisticated, slimming.

The cabbage and chicken salad recipe, from Vietnam, is in How to Fix a Leek...at the end of June so no need to repeat it here. To make carrot salad, just grate a few carrots into a bowl, chop an almost equal amount of parsley and add that, season with salt and pepper, dress with fresh lemon juice and olive oil.

You do have to boil or bake beets to get a salad or pickle but that's not too difficult. Cool and peel them. Slice each into thin disks and put in a wide, shallow bowl. Slice a purple onion or Vidalia sweet onion into very thin disks, break these into rings and add to the beets. Season with salt and pepper and a pinch of allspice.  Make a dressing that is 3 parts cider vinegar to 1 part olive oil and moisten the beets. Then chop fresh dill all over them.

For a fennel salad, cut off the stems off a large bulb, but keep a few of the frilly fronds for garnish. Core the fennel, wash, dry and chop it into bite sized pieces.  Combine in a serving bowl with 8-10 pitted black Kalamata olives and 1/2 cup roasted walnut pieces. Season with salt and pepper. Dress lightly with pure olive oil blended with 1 tbsp orange juice. Chop some of those frilly fronds and sprinkle on top.

The yogurt/cucumber salad known in Greece/Turkey as tsatsiki and in India/Nepal as raita is also in How to Fix a Leek... It take about two minutes and lasts (stored in the refrigerator) for days.  This is typically used in hot climates to cool the body so it's a perfect summer side dish.

And finally, tomatoes are almost here. So don't forget that summer special, real Greek salad. The authentic farmer's salad--and it's called farmer's salad in Greece is simply sliced cucumber disks, chunks of fresh tomato, strips of green pepper, black olives, crumbles or chunks of fresh feta cheese--available at farmers' markets--olive oil and fresh lemon juice.  Nothing else.  Nothing expresses the yumminess of summer better than that. And it's so easy if you shop right.

Yo Farmers: a word from the complaint department

Dear Farmers:
If I or anybody else wants to buy our food wrapped in cellophane packaging, preweighed and priced, we can go to any supermarket or convenience corner store in the country. We don't go to the Farmers' Market to buy greens pre-bagged in amounts you want to dump, often amounts far larger than we want or need.  So please get over this and let us do what we go to the super farmers' markets instead of ordinary supermarkets for: to smell, feel and choose our food in the amount we want.

And btw: salad mix is not supposed to be all your overgrown lettuce, herb tops and other garbage bagged up for sale.  If we want to cut each lettuce leaf to serve a salad, we can buy a whole head. Salad mix should be baby greens, period.

Sorry to be crabby but somebody has to keep pushing for some quality control. It's in everybody's best financial interest. Besides, those bags just add to the garbage we're trying to reduce.  Duh...

The Top of the Crop

Vegetables are starting to flow into farmers' market stalls, energizing not just the markets but our bodies as well. There's wonderfully nutritious greens--kale, broccoli rabe, chard, arugula, lettuces--and colorful roots--carrots and beets, peas of all variety. Even if you don't want to cook in this extremely hot, humid weather afflicting much of the east and west, you can still enjoy these veggies without much effort.

Snow and snap peas make wonderful substitutes for bread and crackers as a scoop for your favorite dip, especially hummus. Carrots can be quickly grated and blended with plenty of fresh parsley into the most refreshing and colorful salad: douse with lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper to serve. Shred kale off any thick stems and simply boil it with rotini or tube pasta, drain, douse with fresh lemon juice, good quality olive oil, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes. Garnish with minced green garlic and sit down to a surprisingly rich dish.

Most importantly right now, don't tell the farmer to tear off the beet or carrot tops, and don't throw away those shelling pea pods either.  These are good friends. Simply put the carrot greens in water you're boiling for rice or pasta and scoop them out when you're ready to add them. They'll magically flavor the grain, especially rice. Chop them into store-bought chicken broth too.

Beet greens are very very tasty chopped and sautéed five minutes in olive oil with a bit of diced red onion and a lot of garlic. Sauté the onion first for five minutes to soften it. Add the greens, garlic and freshly ground black pepper, stir and sauté over medium/low heat for 5-8 minutes. (You don't have to be exact.) Season with sea salt and serve. They are great with grilled  or steamed seafood. Sometimes I cut up a cooked beet or two to mix in with them for extra glorious eating. I served these a few nights ago at a dinner party beside a huge central dish of Sardinian style paella: seafood and sausage with tomatoes and Fregola instead of peas and rice.

Use those shelling pea pods to flavor your rice or pasta water like the carrot greens.  There is, in fact, a very old Italian recipe that relies on this technique. Peas with pasta in my book (available at stores and on Amazon, hint hint) Veggiyana, the Dharma of Cooking. It really is peas with pasta and NOT the other way around. Amazingly tasty eye catching dish with no sauce!

Serves 3 (double to serve 6)

1½ lbs fresh shelling peas in the pod

2 soft lettuce leaves (red lettuce works great)

¼ tsp coarse sea salt or other salt
1 bunch Italian flat leaf parsley (you will need a dozen sprigs)
1 garlic clove, peeled and minced
3 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
½ cup vegetable broth
¼ tsp freshly ground or cracked black pepper¼ tsp sea salt
1cup tubettini/ditalini tiny pasta

Wash peapods carefully in cold water. Shell them, saving the pods.

Put the pods in a large saucepan or small stockpot with lettuce and cover with 1 gallon of water. Bring to a boil and add coarse salt. Cook over medium low heat for about 20 minutes. You are trying to get highly flavored cooking liquid.

Meanwhile, rinse and dry the peas. Remove the leaves from the parsley sprigs and coarsely chop them. (A small food processor works as well as a cleaver.) Discard the stems.

Remove the peapods and lettuce from the boiling water, saving the water. Bring it back to a boil and put in pasta in. Cook according to package instructions, which should be about 12 minutes.

In a medium size heavy gauge saucepan or casserole, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add chopped parsley and garlic. Sauté 1 minute. Add peas, black pepper and salt. Cover the pot and cook 5 minutes.


Add broth to the peas, cover the pot and cook over low heat about 15 minutes or until almost all the liquid has evaporated.

Drain the cooked pasta and add it to the peas. Blend well. Cook 1 minute over low heat. Add more salt and/or pepper if you wish and serve immediately in shallow bowls.

Then go buy the book so I can earn a living.
Thanks.

Quick Trick for Busy June

The babies are busting out all over Eastern farmers' markets as June breezes by. Wee green garlic, spring onions and potatoes smaller than a ping-pong ball dominate the stalls. And often sit there because nobody knows what to make of them. 

It shouldn't be a secret that these can be turned into delicious treats in a jiffy. Cut the top half off the garlic and onion stems, scrub the potatoes and pile them onto a foil covered baking sheet. If you don't have too many, that baking sheet can be the one in your toaster oven.
Sprinkle olive oil like dew and scatter salt like pollen. Then roast at 450º for 10 minutes. Crank up the black pepper mill to season and serve.

What you'll get are crusty skinned potatoes whose pulp melts in your mouth and sweet caramelized garlic and onions to go with them.  Optionally you can toss on some dried rosemary too. Perfect with an omelet or a piece of grilled meat. And only available right now.

And a Little Guile shall Lead Them

I recently spent three hours at a large conference table listening to more than two dozen people speak up about their work supporting local food. It was mostly enthusiastic talk of research methods, strategy development and comprehensive plans--the stuff of self-satisfied policy wonks who don't have boots in the ground. And it was all talk about the supply side of local food: getting, sustaining and distributing more of it.

Since we all know how wonderbar supply side economics and its trickle down is, I finally spoke up to point out the elephant in the room: demand. As long as local people remained enthusiastic consumers of canned goods, fast food and the industrial lettuce of gigantic supermarkets, strategies and plans to increase the supply of local food were simply feel good food for NGO fans.

A few people nodded in agreement, a few said things had changed. I'm still trying to find which ones. Yes, more people frequent farmers' markets now and more of them look local, but no, most farmers haven't ever changed what they grow to sell: large white potatoes, pumpkins, carrots and thick skinned industrial tomatoes. California people can eat a lot of local food because California small farmers grow a lot of different foods.

The sparse new organic crowd is coming up with kale, French baby carrots, Tokyo turnips and braising greens--a euphemism for bitter, spicy weedy plants. There's even raw milk. But states like Maine which seem to have nothing else to do are busy both trying to ban raw milk and trying to keep local food out of its school cafeterias where locals might learn about the braising greens and heirloom tomatoes visitors and vacationers who went to school elsewhere rush to buy.

It seems the education about nutritious, non-toxic food and the value of having it close at hand has for the moment to fall to farmers. They need to bravely plant more of what people need to eat: less large white potatoes and, say, more burdock, more mustard and collard greens, more fava and other beans. Now that we know how poisonous garlic coming from China is, why not double the crop to exploit the news? And dandelion greens? Hello.

Growing the same things over and over only solidifies the dangerously unhealthy habit of eating the same things over and over, poisoning the body by the overload. Lack of change also stunts economies. I know a very successful cheesemaker whose output has been drastically stymied because she can't find people to raise goats and supply the milk to her. "They're afraid to do something new," she said, "and if I spend more time raising and milking goats, I won't have time to make cheese."

We are now all part of an international network of news, commodities, hopes and hard facts. It's been the onset of immigrants from seemingly exotic places with seemingly exotic tastes that's led a farmer here and there in white bread places to start producing goat meat. Meeting growing demand by growing a supply was a good financial decision. No reason we can't also produce and eat pea shoots like the Chinese, fava beans like the Italians, the original purple potatoes from Peru and those very healthy dandelion greens.