Happy Father's Day and Quinoa

Have you heard of Quinoa? You can find it at all health food stores and some grocery stores. Look for it where you find rice and dried beans. 

It is being billed as a Super Food.

It is amazingly high in protein and packs 9 essential amino acids. If you are a vegetarian or are trying to limit your meat intake, I highly recommend you try Quinoa. 

I make this refreshing salad with toasted Quinoa. It's simple, tasty and oh so good for you.

Healthy eating is my special Father's Day gift to The Best Husband In The World, even though he's not my dad, he is a great dad to our children. 

Toasted Quinoa Salad:

1 cup Quinoa, toasted (directions below)

2 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 carrot, chopped

3 scallions, chopped with some green tops

1 small bunch cilantro

1/4 cup fat free feta cheese crumbles

1 lemon, juiced

optional, dried cranberries

Toasting the Quinoa is not necessary, but will give it a slightly more nutty taste. 

Toast the Quinoa by placing in bottom of a dry skillet over low heat. Stir and toast for 3-5 minutes until Quinoa is golden.

Cook Quinoa according to package directions. Typically, like you would cook rice. 1 cup Quinoa to 2 cups water. Bring water to boil, add Quinoa, cover and simmer until water is absorbed. About 15 minutes. Uncover, fluff with fork and cool. 

Mix cooled Quinoa with chopped vegetables and cilantro. 

Whisk together olive oil and lemon juice. Pour over Quinoa mixture and toss.

Stir in Feta and optional dried cranberries. 

Serve chilled. 

Cheers to you (and your's) health! Happy Father's Day honey. 

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle - Fiddleheads!

I recently took a class called "Living as a Locavore". And what you ask is a Locavore? 

A Locavore is any person committed to eating, and learning about food grown and produced in their local community. Local is generally considered to be anything grown or produced with products from within a 100 mile radius of "home." The class led me to buy and read  "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" by Barbara Kingsolver. It is a true account of one family who committed to eating only locally produced or grown food for one year. 

Only 20 pages into the book it is literally changing the way I look at food. And I look at food a lot. I feel about grocery stores and farmers markets and food stands the way a senior girl feels about prom dresses. 

I LOVE to food shop. One of my favorite things to do is visit food stores, road side stands and markets while on vacation. I love to peruse aisles and vegetable bins, meat racks and fruit stands. Weird huh? 

The one question I never seriously asked myself though is where is this food coming from? Good question, and the answer is shocking. It comes from everywhere. Literally, everywhere. And it comes at a cost. A high cost. 

Some basic food facts:

1. On average, a standard grocery store food item travels over 1,500 miles before makings is way to you table. 

2. Almost 96% of the commercial vegetable varieties that were in existence in 1903 are now extinct or nearing extinction. 

3. 91 cents of each dollar spent on vegetables in a typical grocery store go to producers, processors, midddlemen and commercial agencies - leaving only 9 cents on the dollar for farmers.

4. A standard 400 calorie meal sourced from a major grocery store uses over 2800 calories of fossil fuel energy in transport.

5. On average, Americans spend only 10% of their food budget on locally sourced products.

6. According to chamber of commerce statistics, 43 cents of every dollar spent in local community stores stays in that community. In comparison, only 13 cents of every dollar remains that is spent in chain or major retailer stores.

7. The food industry burns nearly 1/5 of the petroleum consumed in the US, and only 1/5 of that total energy is spent on farms - the remainder is in processing and transportation.

8. Although Americans now spend nearly 1/4 of their food dollars on "organic" products, nearly 3/4 of those dollars are spend at large commercial chains. 

9. Shipping 1 strawberry from California to New York requires 435 calories of fossil fuel but only provides 5 calories of nutrition. 

10. The word "organic" has changed definitions. I personally worked for Rodale Inc, Robert Rodale having coined the word organic back in the 60's. Since then, major commercial operations have spent millions lobbying Washington to change the criteria for "organic". Today's "organic" food is NOT grown without the use of certain fertilizers and pesticides. 

Phew - I'm getting dizzy up here on my soap box. Can you stand just one more, this from "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" (page 5)

"...... If every US citizen ate just one meal a week [any meal, breakfast, lunch or dinner] composed of locally and orgainically raised meats and produce, we would reduce our country's oil consumption by over 1.1 million barrels of oil every week. That's not gallons, but barrels. Small changes in buying habits can make big differences. Becoming a less energy-dependent nation may just need to start with a good breakfast."

Okay - so here's my challenge to you, my readers. It is the growing season right now in many parts of the country. Here in the Northeast we are blessed with some of the most fertile farm lands in the country. They don't call New Jersey "The Garden State" for nothing. Can you join me in having just one meal a week that is totally locally sourced? 

For some help in finding locally produced fruits, vegetables, poultry, eggs and more, check out these websites:

www.localharvest.org (this is good nationwide)

www.eatwellguide.org (US & Canada)

Think about it. I'm not asking you to give up your daily banana from South America, or your New Zealand Kiwi - I'm not even asking you (or me - guilty as charged) to never buy a strawberry from California. Just commit to one meal a week and see what happens. Your tastebuds, your wallet and your local farmer will thank you. 

Fiddleheads:

YES! Fiddleheads are out, but only for a week or two. If you've ever seen these tasty little fern shoots in the store or farmer's market and had no idea what to do with them, this recipe is for you. They are local (they just can't be shipped) and they are a taste between a fresh young green bean and new asparagus. 

Buy bright green, tightly curled heads. 

In a saute pan place 1 part unsalted butter and 1 part olive oil. Heat till almost smoking. 

Add washed fiddleheads and 2 smashed garlic cloves. 

Saute quickly - just two or three minutes

Sprinkle with a pinch of Kosher Salt and a Grind of fresh black pepper. 

Amazing! 

Note: The CDC (Centers for Disease Control) recommend boiling fiddleheads for 10 minutes before consuming. 

ps. If you find a vegetable or fruit at your local farm stand or CSA (community supported agriculture) and don't know what to do with it, give me a shout at thegoodcooknj@comcast.net and I will shoot you back a recipe or two within 24 hours. I promise! 

All Kidding Aside - here are the sides!

Oh I just crack me up. Get it? Okay, maybe it's just me. 

As luck would have it I have contracted an ear infection just in time for my Women's Wine Weekend (notice there is no H in wine). And I can't even whine about it because no whining is in the WWW bylaws. Oh bother. I am on antibiotics and motrin and will soldier on, but curses to these allergies of mine - every spring it seems....

I'm making two side dishes with the beef tenderloin on Saturday night. Crisp New Potatoes with herbs and roasted sticky carrots. I'm also going to make an herb butter for the hot ciabatta rolls I'll be serving with dinner. So, all kidding aside, here are the sides:

Crisp New Potatoes: (serves 4)

One small bag (about 1 pound) small creamery new potatoes (you can also use baby red skinned or fingerlings)

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 tablespoons olive oil

3 sprigs fresh rosemary OR thyme, stripped and chopped.

1/4 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped

Kosher or Sea Salt

Fresh Ground Pepper

Wash and pierce potatoes. Starting with COLD, salted water, cook for about 10 minutes until just soft enough to pierce (we're going to cook them some more - so don't cook them all the way).

Drain, let dry naturally.

Melt butter in large saute pan. Add oil and heat to medium high. Add potatoes. Salt & Pepper to taste. Cook potatoes until they begin to crisp and brown, turning to brown all sides. Add rosemary (or thyme) stir one more minute. Place on platter, drizzle oil/butter combo over and sprinkle handful of fresh parsley over. 

Roasted Sticky Carrots: (serves 4)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

16 carrots (about 2 pounds) select thin, rather than big carrots. If more than 1/2 inch in diameter, split in half.

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme, stripped and chopped

2 tablespoons honey

Peel carrots, wash and dry.

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in oven proof casserole or rimmed cookie sheet. Add oil. Add carrots and roll around to coat. Sprinkle with ginger and thyme. Roast for 20 to 30 minutes until soft and slightly carmelized. Roll carrots about halfway through. When easily pierced with a fork, drizzle carrots with 2 tablespoons honey. Roast for 5 more minutes. 

These carrots go great with pork, beef and chicken and kids LOVE them! 

Herb Butter:

There is no end to the variations of herbed butters you can make. Always, always, start with unsalted butter, it has a more pure taste and you can always add salt to your liking!  

I make my butter and keep it in a little butter jar in my fridge.  You an also roll it into a log in plastic wrap and then slice it. It keeps for as long as, well, butter - but don't plan on having it around long, it just won't last. 

Try these:

Zest of one lemon, 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley. Great with fish and chicken

Herbs de Provence - perfect with meat dishes

thyme and sea salt - chicken, fish

rosemary and sea salt - chicken, fish, beef, lamb

honey - on toast with tea

Use your imagine. Any herb or flavor you are using in your cooking you can mirror in the butter. What a nice surprise for your family; warm bread from the oven and a lightly flavored butter to spread on it. Put it on the table before dinner to give them a little taste of what's to come.