World Food Day

Today is World Food Day. Why not use this day as an excuse to help feed the hungry?  World Food Day USA has a list of World Food Day events that can give you an idea of how people are serving communities locally and internationally.

One easy idea:

For less than $100 you can buy the ingredients for more than 200 ham and cheese sandwiches in about an hour. Your local homeless shelter would be happy to have them. Often, these kinds of donations are the only food these people will get in a day. Some organizations like 363 Days are trying to do this in an organized way.

Why stop at one day? Get your friends together and commit to making sandwiches for a particular shelter once a month. You get to socialize with your friends and help those in need. It’s win-win!

Then make yourself a delicious dinner and enjoy every bite…because everybody’s gotta eat.

Breakfast Pears Will Have to Wait

I am unable to upload pictures due to a technical problem, so the recipe I wanted to post today will be delayed. Check back later in the week for a yummy, pear-licious breakfast recipe.

In the meantime, check out this weekend’s NY Times Sunday Magazine, which is all about food. Of particular interest is this article by Michael Pollan (author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma and In Defense of Food). It is a letter to our next president, debriefing him on what may be one of the most pressing issues of his administration: the world food crisis.

Fridays with Flora: Romanesco

Happy Friday everyone! My name is Flora, and I want you to eat your vegetables. Did you know Hippos are the most dangerous animals in the world? It’s true; we are! Like I said, eat your vegetables.

Today, we have a beauty by the name of Romanesco. It’s kind of like cauliflower or broccoli, but it grows in an adorable Christmas tree shape. Also, it is positively sprightly with mint.

Romanesco. Romanesco! Sounds like a breezy city on the Mediterranean coast, doesn’t it? Now is the time to slap on your capris and send your mouth on vacation!

Roasted Romanesco with Mint

• 1 head of romanesco, cauliflower or broccoli (or a combination), divided into florets
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 3T olive oil, divided
• salt and pepper
• 1 1/2T balsamic vinegar
• handful of raisins
• handful of pine nuts, toasted

Toss the romanesco, onion and garlic with 2T olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast at 400 degrees until they are browned (but not crispy), about 25 minutes. You should be able to pierce the florets easily with a knife. Put in a large bowl, and add the pine nuts, raisins, mint, the remaining 1T olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Check for seasoning and add salt or pepper as needed. Serve hot.

More Mint: Now With Eggplant

Did you just say, “Eww”? This is good stuff. Stop making that face! I don’t have a picture, so you’ll just have to trust me.

Eggplant and Mint Spread

• 2 eggplants
• 1T olive oil
• 1 clove chopped garlic
• juice of 1/2 a lemon
• 1/4c chopped walnuts
• 1/4c packed mint leaves,
• chopped finely salt and pepper

Roast two whole, pierced eggplants the grill until collapsed. Scrape out flesh into a bowl, and mash with potato masher. (discard skins)

Add olive oil, garlic, lemon zest and juice, chopped mint, chopped walnuts, and salt and pepper.

Mash some more.

Chill.

Serve with pitas, crackers or vegetables.

Sweet and Savory

I think most of us grew up associating mint with sweet foods like ice cream or candy, but mint is terrific in savory dishes, too. Like basil or cilantro, it adds a pungent, fresh flavor that brightens whatever’s on the plate, and it can be used interchangeably with those two herbs. (In fact, a combination of mint, basil and cilantro instantly turns any rice or stir fry into delicious Thai food.)

Mint can be used in just about any ethnic cuisine you can imagine: Greek, Italian, Thai, Chinese, Indian, Mexican and more. Try it in salsa with cucumbers, tomatoes and red onion. Add it to a stir fry with lemon and chicken. Mix it in with cauliflower that’s been sauteed with onion, garlic and curry powder. Combine it with raisins, chick peas, roasted red peppers and cous cous.

If you’re new to the savory side of mint, here’s a simple recipe to get you started. It makes a great lunch for  kids (or grownups)!

Pasta with Mint (fills 4 lunch box thermoses)

• 1/2 lb small pasta
• 1/4c packed mint leaves, chopped
• 1/4c grated parmesan
• 1 lemon, juiced and zested
• salt and pepper

Cook the pasta in salted water until al dente. Drain. Return to warm pot. Add chopped mint, lemon zest, lemon juice, cheese, and salt and pepper. Mix well and serve hot.

If you have leftovers, you can add a little oil and vinegar to the cold pasta, and mix in any vegetables, cooked beans, nuts or cheese you have on hand to make a great pasta salad.

Minty Monday

What I Learned This Summer

A person can do just about anything with mint.

In late spring, while I was waiting for my wee basil, tarragon and thyme plantlets to grow large enough to use in quantity, I started experimenting with the mint that was exploding in the neighboring garden space. First, I used it in place of basil in a pesto that my kids loved. Then in place of cilantro in a Thai noodle salad. Next, in place of tarragon in my carrot soup.

Delicious, all. It seems that anything is possible with this lovely plant.

Even though mint is incredible in savory dishes, for many, the flavor of mint still says ‘dessert.’ Here’s an easy and delicious recipe that can be used as a cold soup, a refreshing drink or a light dessert.

Cantalope Soup (serves 4)

I small cantalope, peeled and cut into chunks

1 c. crushed ice

1/4 c. packed mint leaves

Put all ingredients into a blender or food processor. Blend until ice is dissolved. Serve immediately.

Vegetable or Candy?

I give you chiogga beets.

What kid could resist a vegetable that looks like a lollipop?

“Every Day?”

Recently, I met a neighbor’s mother who was visiting from Greece. The neighbor and I were standing in front of school, casually talking about school lunch. We both make our kids lunches, thinking them a healthier alternative to what gets dished out in the lunch line. I mentioned that another reason I make lunch is that one of my daughters is a near vegetarian, and school lunch features meat every day.

Soon, the conversation moved along to other topics of outrage like “what’s the deal with all the candy in class?” and “since when are cupcakes a healthy snack?”

My neighbor’s Greek mother was silent through most of the conversation. Then all at once, she shook her head in disbelief and interjected,

“Wait. These children eat meat…EVERY DAY?!”

She was astounded. Apparently, that just isn’t the way they roll in Greece.

Or is it? The NY Times reports this week that while many health-conscious Americans are trying to eat the famous Mediterranean Diet, Greeks are increasingly modelling their diet on ours. The result: two-thirds of Greek children are overweight, and their life expectancy is lower than that of their parents (who, interestingly, mostly still eat a traditional diet).

The article goes on to offer this sad statement:

Greece, Italy, Spain and Morocco have even asked Unesco to designate the diet as an “intangible piece of cultural heritage,” a testament to its essential value as well as its potential extinction.

I for one, will be doing my part to keep the Mediterranean Diet alive. Tune in next week when I will offer some recipes featuring of one of my favorite Mediterranean ingredients: Mint!

(Tell me some of your favorite Meditteranean ingredients, so I can try to work those in as well!)

Focus Group

Why Should Charities Have to Play the Marketing Game?

 

Today I was lucky enough to participate in a focus group for our local branch of America’s Second Harvest/Feeding America, a network of food banks that offers a variety of hunger relief services. They are trying to figure out how to best reach potential donors of time and money. The interview took about an hour and included questions like, “How would you describe people who use food shelves?” (Um…hungry?) 

 

A major part of the interview involved gauging my response to a series of statements. I thought it was extremely interesting to hear what kinds of marketing angles they are developing. Two statements were very bland and sounded like they’d been put together by a PC committee.

 

The rest were specifically targeted to socio-political demographics and included key phrases like “environmental damage,” “honoring our veterans,” and “fulfilling religious obligations.” I agreed with all of the statements, but it bothered me to see them used as charity marketing.

 

I’ve never been a joiner, and I don’t have much use for labels or identity politics, so I really bristle when I feel that someone is trying to ‘group’ me. I told the interviewer as much. Also, I just hate that hunger relief agencies need to pander to the socio-political identity (read: egos) of target donors. Seriously, can’t we just help our fellow man because it’s the right thing to do?

 

So the next time a hunger relief agency sends me a mailer, I’d like to see some slogans like these:

• “Help us feed the hungry…because you’ve already had enough to eat.”

• “Do you see the size of your cheeseburger? Maybe you could share!

•  “Donate to the hungry…because you have money, and they don’t.”

   

   

Really. Does it need to be more complicated than that?

Hurricane Hunger

Remember the news about Hurricanes Gustav and Ike? Gustav broke up upon approach and spared New Orleans from another Katrina-like disaster, while Ike wreaked havoc on Houston and killed 23 people.   

But that was just the American edition. Move your finger south on the map to a whole different reality in Haiti that has been virtually ignored by the American media.

Over the course of three weeks, four hurricanes hit this small island nation. Gustav, Ike, Hanna and Fay killed hundreds and have decimated the island’s already paltry food stores, risking the lives of thousands more. Floods and rising waters bring threats of typhoid and malaria.

A Haitian child sits next to an improvised kitchen after four hurricanes ravaged the island. (courtesy of Save the Children)

The hunger crisis in Haiti is dire. Fortunately many competent and reliable organizations are working hard to provide relief. Donating to these organizations or providing them volunteer hours is simple. If this news sits in your heart, I urge you to help. Below are just a handful organizations I think are doing good work. 

 

 

Feed My Starving Children    World Vision   
World Food Programme    Save the Children

(Some are ‘faith-based.’ Some aren’t. All have a four-star rating from Charity Navigator.)

 If you know of others, share them in the comments!

Gimme a C! Gimme an S! Gimme an A!

Thank you Harmony Valley Farm!

Check it out. This is the bounty from my CSA box this week.

If you aren’t familiar with CSA’s (Community Supported Agriculture), they are programs wherein you can buy a share in a local farm and receive regular deliveries of produce throughout the growing season. Harmony Valley Farm in Viroqua, WI, sends us weekly deliveries of vegetables, as well as biweekly boxes of fruit and cheese.

It’s terrific.

I used the carrots with last week’s celeriac to make soup. You can substitute turnips or parsnips instead of celeriac, or just make up the difference with more carrots.

Carrot and Tarragon Soup

1 small bunch of carrots, scrubbed and sliced into 1″ pieces

1 small onion, diced

2 small celeriacs, peeled and cut into 1″ pieces

1 16 oz can of low-sodium chicken broth

1 handful tarragon (leave sprigs whole)

1/2 c. buttermilk

1. In a medium saucepan, saute onion in olive oil with salt and pepper over medium heat until translucent.
2. Add carrots and celeriac and whole sprigs of tarragon, and saute for 5 minutes.
3. Reduce heat to lowest setting and cover vegetables with foil. Push foil down to cover vegetables. Cover pot and cook for 10-15 minutes. Check occasionally to be sure vegetables aren’t browning.
4. Uncover and remove foil. Add chicken stock AND enough additional water to cover vegetables. Simmer 20 minutes until veggies are soft.
5. Remove tarragon and discard.
6. Use a stick blender to puree soup until smooth. Add water or stock if needed.
7. Add buttermilk and blend. Check seasoning. Add salt or pepper if desired.
8. Serve hot.

Hurricane Hunger: update

Mia Farrow wrote a terrific piece, plainly speaking about the devastation in Haiti. You can read it here.

Just a reminder

Haiti isn’t better yet. I’ll link to this weekly for awhile just in case in helps.