Variety is the spice of life, at least when it comes to nutrition. As for our brain power, moving out of our comfort zone and doing something we haven’t done before is a great mental exercise as well. This was definitely the mindset I was in when buying my first-ever batch of okra. Honestly, I hadn’t heard of this vegetable until my husband declared that he really likes it and was bombarded simultaneously by it at farmers markets everywhere. In fact, I had to look at cookbooks for inspiration, and the German name of okra in the dictionary for translation (Okraschoten, for those who care). So if you crave okra, read on to see what I learned about this rather unusual vegetable. If not, take this as inspiration to go out and add some lesser-known vegetables such as Jerusalem artichokes or celeriac to your diet. Come and cook with us! Continue reading “Let’s OK the Okra”
Category: Featured Fruit and Vegetable
What’s in season and sounds good
Nutrient-Rich Foods
We are constantly bombarded with messages on what foods we should eat to stay healthy and sometimes it can be difficult to make the right choices in front of so many options. It may help to have a list of what nutritionists consider nutrient-rich foods. When it comes to health, these foods are just higher achievers than others and I’m happy to report that we have already posted on many of them. Hopefully this provides for a little inspiration to try some of the recipes. Come and cook with us! Continue reading “Nutrient-Rich Foods”
The Flotte Lotte and What She has to Do with Canning!
It’s best to say YES when Jessica proposes a culinary project. It’s what I did when she said that we should be canning tomatoes. A look at our calendars, a call to Riverdog Farm, a visit to the store to stock up on canning supplies and we were ready to process five large boxes of 2013 Early Girl tomatoes. Come and can with us! Continue reading “The Flotte Lotte and What She has to Do with Canning!”
Juicing, According to the Wall Street Journal
My mother has always been at the forefront of sustainability, health and nutrition. Early on, we learned about the importance of saving the environment, living a healthy lifestyle and making sound nutritional choices. Being reminded to switch off a light bulb when leaving a room, using environmentally friendly cleaning products and taking advantage of public transportation might all be very “old-fashioned”, but they are hard habits to kick. What she also knew back then, is that juicing is good for you. I remember the times when I was pretty much forced to drink what I thought was the most ghastly thing ever: raw beet juice. It looked like blood and tasted like the earth, but my mother insisted that it would be good for me. Well, fast forward to now and we are inundated by juice bars, which are popping up left, right, and even in The Wall Street Journal – not exactly where you’d expect to see information about juicing, or is it? Here for your benefit is the Juicing A-Z according to the WSJ. Come and juice with us! Continue reading “Juicing, According to the Wall Street Journal”
The Caper Caper
If you like spaghetti alla puttanesca, tartar sauce or chicken piccata, then you must be partial to the taste of capers. Those tiny little dark green things are small in size and big in flavor. They are actually unopened flower buds of the caper plant which is a shrub-like bush that grows, primarily, on two tiny islands in the south of Italy. A few years back, Doug and I went on a trip to one of them, Pantelleria, which is a gorgeous fleck of land closer in proximity, if not culture, to Africa than to Sicily. We enjoyed the clear blue water, explored the beautiful beaches, ran into some old friends from London and learned a lot about capers. They were everywhere! Come and cook with us! Continue reading “The Caper Caper”
Come and Cook with Us 