Broccoli Rabe (Attempt One)

   Tonight, I have for you a sad story, a tragedy. The title of this tragedy: Lisa In the Kitchen. Most who know me know that I am not a good cook (there are infamous stories that I will not share from my newlywed days of my attempts to impress my husband with recipes that went awry from a Barbie cookbook). I've come a long way, but I'm always learning...and making mistakes in the process. Well, today was our farm share pick up day and I was delighted to discover that our share included Broccoli Rabe.

   For those of you who are not familiar with broccoli rabe, it is a somewhat bitter leafy green with little yellow flowers. The last time my husband cooked it, it was amazing! So tonight, I got brave and thought that I would try to cook it by myself. Well, the whole process took a turn for the worse the minute I turned on the stove. I couldn't figure out how to lock the food processor to chop the garlic, I overboiled the broccoli rabe, I didn't check to see if we had lemons (a necessary ingredient) before I started, and I diluted the soy sauce, which I wasn't supposed to do. Major fail. Luckily, my husband came to the rescue and managed to turn it into something edible.

   I will not share my husband's recipe (mostly because I don't know the details/amounts of the ingredients he used the first time), but I will share a recipe that I found on www.myrecipes.com that is very similar.

Ingredients:

2 pounds broccoli rabe (rapini), trimmed

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper

Directions:

1. Cook broccoli rabe in boiling water 6 minutes or until crisp-tender.
2. Drain and plunge broccoli rabe into ice water; drain. Coarsely chop.
3. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic; cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
4. Stir in broccoli rabe, salt, and peppers.

   I was hoping to be able to share more of a success story along with a recipe with specific instructions, but unfortunately this will have to do. I plan on watching more broccoli rabe get cooked later this week, so hopefully I will have a better recipe to share later on. Until then, enjoy! 

   

Brussels Sprouts & Farm Pictures

   I'm a huge vegetable lover! Even when I was little, the first dish I hit up at parties was always the relish tray. I loved snacking on raw carrots, celery, broccoli, and cauliflower! As I got older, I discovered many new vegetables that I loved and continued to expand my vegetable repertoire. Up until recently, I thought that I was some sort of a vegetable expert...UNTIL I got a farm share at a local farm and realized that I KNEW NOTHING! There are SO MANY vegetables out there that I didn't know about! I was shocked. Not only had I never heard of many of them, but I had no idea how to cook them. As a result, I have spent many hours in recent years researching and learning more than you can imagine about vegetables.

   One of the vegetables I had never tried over the years was, surprisingly, Brussels Sprouts. My mother never served in our house when I was a child so I was not familiar with them. I had no idea how they tasted or how to cook them. One day, I was doing some research on them when I stumbled upon a recipe on one of my favorite websites, Organice Your Life. Organice Your Life is a website that provides advice through articles, recipes, videos and more on how to live a healthier lifestyle. It was founded by Lonneke Engel, one of my favorite international models. Being a huge fan of fashion magazines, I've followed the work of Ms. Engel over the years and remember some of her earliest work in the Abercrombie & Fitch catalog and various Guess? advertisements. But I didn't know that she is now a certified health counselor! I was thrilled! If you are interested in healthy recipes, skin and beauty advice, or articles on overall well-being, I highly recommend adding Organice Your Life to your list of websites you check daily.

   This recipe for Brussels Sprouts was written by Antoniette Costa for Organice Your Life and can be found here http://organiceyourlife.com/brussel-sprouts. 

1. Cut the ends off of the Brussels Sprouts.
2. Coat in extra virgin olive oil in baking pan.
3. Sprinkle with sea salt and freshly ground pepper.
4. Roast in the oven at 400 degrees for 45 minutes (shake pan occasionally during cooking time to help cook evenly).

   It's so simple and so delicious! I like to cut the Brussels Sprouts in half so that they get even crunchier. We also like to pull out the crispy outer leaves as they fall off during cooking and snack on them while the inner parts finish cooking.

   In other news, I picked up our farm share on Monday and snapped a few shots of the beautiful farm. Some of our farm share this week included lettuce, baby cabbage, baby bok choy, broccoli, kohlrabi, spinach, kale, summer squash, radishes, garlic scapes, and snow peas (that I picked myself!).

You can't get snow peas fresher than this!

   It's so beautiful to eat fresh foods and make healthy choices! It can change your life! I promise!  

   For more information about Organice You Life, please visit http://organiceyourlife.com. For more information about Mountain View Farm go to http://www.mountainviewfarmcsa.com/welcome. For more information about Lonneke Engel, check out http://lonneke.com/. 

      

Caprese Salad

   Our farm share starts this week for the summer and I can't wait (pictures to come soon)! We get so many fresh vegetables and they taste so much better than what you can buy in the grocery store. One of my favorite things to make with the farm ingredients is a Caprese Salad. It's super easy to make and so tasty! All you need is:

Tomatoes
Fresh Mozzarella
Fresh Basil Leaves
Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
Balsamic Vinegar
Salt and Pepper
Toothpicks

1. Slice thin slices of the tomatoes and mozzarella. Wash and pat dry the basil leaves. 
2. Using a toothpick to hold everything together, poke on the tomato slice, then the mozzarella, then a basil leaf. Repeat to the end of the toothpick.
3. After you have made all of the toothpicks you want, drizzle on top the olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
4. Top with a little salt and freshly ground pepper.
5. Enjoy!

   Not only does it look pretty but it tastes great! Last year I ate so many basil leaves that I got a stomach ache, so be careful not to overdo it!

   It's a beautiful day and I'm hoping to convince the family to go on a family bike ride this afternoon! Thanks for reading!    

Springfest 2012

   My computer is up and running again so all is well in the world. I was scared for a few hours because I hadn't backed up my photographs in about a month. I was concerned about losing all of the shots I had taken since then. Luckily, the computer only need a minor fix and then it was working again, so I immediately backed everything up. Phew!

   Moving forward, a couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of attending Springfest in downtown Northampton. Springfest is a festival of music put on by the Northampton Community Music Center. It first started in 1995 and takes place on Main Street in downtown Northampton. It features live music performed by the students of the music center every half hour. The festival is also a fundraiser for the center. Neighborhood businesses sponsor the students' performances and the students individually raise money to go towards scholarships for families that can't afford lessons. It's a great opportunity to support the music center and the children of the community.

    In addition to it being Springfest, the Saturday Northampton Farmers Market was also taking place that day. The outdoor market is another great way to support the community as well as eat fresh and healthy! The market takes place on Gothic Street every Saturday from 7am-1pm from April 28-November 10.

      
   For more information about the Northampton Community Music Center visit http://ncmc.net/. To learn more about the Northampton Farmer's Market go to http://www.farmfresh.org/food/farmersmarkets_details.php?market=122.

Accommodating Difficult Diets and Grocery Shopping

   With everything we know about food these days, grocery shopping can be a frustrating and time consuming task, especially if your family has special dietary needs that you have to accommodate. Reading labels and making good choices can be exhausting and pricey! But there are many ways you can quickly weed out the bad stuff and save time and energy, if you do a little research.

   I can only speak for the diets that I have to accommodate in my own household, but I wanted to share the top three things I’ve learned throughout my years of learning how to eat healthier and how to grocery shop. It may or may not work for you and your family, but hopefully you will find something helpful.

1) For starters, as a general rule I try to eat as FRESH as possible. This can be more expensive than buying in bulk and freezing, but I’ve had some bad encounters with frozen foods, so this is what works best for both me and my family. It’s also a pretty healthy form of eating, which if you think about it, can save you money in the long run because it decreases future health problems and doctor visits. This rule also requires quite a bit of foot work. A lot of people are shocked when I tell them this, but I go to some kind of a food store probably 5 out of the 7 days a week. I know that seems time consuming, but it really isn’t if you know where you are going and what you’re getting before you head out. It just becomes part of your weekly routine. I feel very lucky that we live near several amazing bakeries, fish stores, and locally grown food stores in addition to our large chain grocery stores, so eating fresh is made really easy for us, but I know it’s not always possible for everyone.

2) Because of certain health needs in my family, every time I pick something up when I am grocery shopping I have to run through “the checklist” in my mind:

1-Is it low in carbohydrates? I have a blood sugar problem where I need to eat foods very low in sugar and high in protein. I don’t avoid ALL forms of carbs because some carbs are good for you (I LOVE bread and will never give it up) but I am mindful of my sugar intake. This is VERY difficult because virtually all food has sugar in it! Even things like pasta, ketchup, fruit, cereal, and honey can make me feel very sick if I don’t eat the low sugar versions or have protein with the sugary item. I always read the labels and try to buy the wheat bread with the least amount of sugar in it, the least sugary kinds of fruits, etc. Even if you aren’t sensitive to sugar, we are learning more and more how bad sugar can be for your body, but it’s hard to avoid it entirely. Also, unfortunately, some items that are low in sugar are then sweetened with artificial sweeteners (like light yogurt) which leads me to…

2-Are there artificial sweeteners added? If so, avoid it. I once tried to replace the sugar in my coffee with Splenda and had to stop after a week because it was causing me to have severe headaches. The minute I stopped using it, the headaches stopped. This experience really proved to me how badly artificial sweeteners can affect your body, but for people with sugar problems sometimes it’s your only choice. I rarely drink pop/soda (maybe once every two months, if that) but if I do, it has to be diet and caffeine free. This is something I always check for.

3-Is it low in cholesterol? High cholesterol runs in my family so I try to buy things that aren’t too high in cholesterol just to be safe (and for my husband’s health).

4-Is it organic? I try to buy as many organic foods as I can. Although I can’t always buy everything organic, I at least try to make sure I buy organic when it comes to the “Dirty Dozen” (which are the most contaminated with pesticides) foods: peaches, apples, sweet bell peppers, celery, nectarines, strawberries, cherries, pears, imported grapes, spinach, lettuce, and potatoes. Some other high pesticide foods include corn, green beans, apricots, cucumbers, raisins, and soybeans.

5-If it is boxed, canned, or packaged, does it have 10 or less ingredients? I try to eat mostly whole foods but it’s very difficult to avoid all processed foods. When I DO have to buy them, I try to make sure they are as “pure” as possible. The least amount of ingredients and preservatives, the better!  

So what does that leave us with? Mostly vegetables, but you’d be surprised. There are still many wonderful things to choose from, but I LOVE vegetables so I’m ok with this! They are a HUGE part of my family’s diet. This leads me to…

3) Buy a farm share or CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). We belong to an amazing farm in Easthampton, MA called Mountain View Farm. Each week during the summer, we are able to pick up our “share” of several varieties of fresh vegetables (and fruits occasionally) as well as go out in the fields and pick some of the items. The cost of the share averages out to about $20 a week, but you get WAY more than that in your weekly pickup as opposed to what you would get if you went to the grocery store and spent $20. Sometimes I feel like I am robbing them when I go because I leave with so much food! You can also split a share with another family which can help bring down the cost. Regardless, it is totally worth it!

   A few other tips I always try to live by to accommodate my family’s dietary needs: shop in the outer parts of the grocery store where the fruits and vegetables are (avoid the inner isles where the boxed, canned, and processed foods are), make sure your plate has a variety of colors (for example, not too many white things like starches or too many brown things like meats), watch your portion sizes, and eat what your ancestors would have eaten. This means mostly fruits, vegetables, nuts, fish, etc. This website http://www.foodtimeline.org/ is fascinating if you are interested in learning more about the history of the foods we eat.

   Have you learned any tips or acquired any habits over the years that have helped accommodate a certain dietary need in your family? Please do share! 

To find a CSA near you, visit http://www.localharvest.org/. For more information on Mountain View Farm, visit http://www.mountainviewfarmcsa.com/.  

Traverse City Salad

A little taste of Northern Michigan…

My family used to vacation in Traverse City, Michigan every summer when I was growing up. I have many fond memories of hanging out on the beaches with my siblings, swimming, jet skiing, shopping downtown, and (my personal favorite) eating out! There’s one particular dish, a salad, my parents used to order at one of the restaurants that always brings back those happy memories every time I recreate it at home.

Behold the Traverse City Salad! The ingredients consist of:

A Mix of Romaine & Iceberg Lettuce

Grated Asiago Cheese

Pecan Pieces

Dried Cherries

A Grilled Chicken Breast

Raspberry Vinaigrette Dressing

That’s it! Simple, right? Over the years, I’ve made a few changes to it. I prefer to use only Romaine lettuce (I rarely eat Iceberg) and Blue Cheese instead of the Asiago. Both versions are delightful! After some research, I discovered that there several other variations of the salad.

Another version from http://www.tcfirefly.com/soup.html:

Lettuce (doesn’t specify what kind)

Dried Cherries

Ginger-Candied Walnuts

Goat Cheese

Red Onion

Cherry Vinaigrette Dressing

Another version from http://www.yummly.com/recipe/Traverse-City-Salad-Recipezaar.

2 Cups of Greens (mixed)

1 Slice Red Onion (chopped or separated into rings or to taste)

3 Tablespoons Cherries (dried, taste)

3 Tablespoons Walnuts (pecans, roughly chopped)

6 Grape Tomatoes (1 small tomato quartered)

2 Tablespoons Blue Cheese (crumbled or to taste)

4 Ounces Turkey (optional or chicken cut into strips optional)

Raspberry Vinaigrette

The list of variations could go on, but you get the idea. No matter which one you make, I hope you’ll enjoy the salad as much as I do!

Bread Euphoria

     I was hesitant about sharing this (I tend to be selfish with the things that I love) but this place is too good to not say anything. We’ve had pizza at every restaurant and bakery in town and most of it is very tasty, however, if you want the BEST pizza around here you need to venture out a little bit further into Haydenville to Bread Euphoria.

   Bread Euphoria is a restaurant, cafe, and bakery connected to a pottery studio. They sell bread, cakes, cookies, sandwiches, pizza, salads, coffee, and more! I read a very informative article about its history here http://www.gazettenet.com/blog/table-hopping/bread-euphoria-is-serving-up-much-more-than-bread. The owner, Mark Pollard, purchased the company in 2003 and ran it from his basement for several years before moving to a small space in Andrew Quient’s pottery studio. They later renovated the building to expand the restaurant and bakery to accommodate more guests and make better use of the space. They use organic and locally grown ingredients and pride themselves in “never compromising the quality or purity of their ingredients for price.” Everything I’ve ever eaten there has been amazing. The baguettes are crunchy and tasty, the molasses cookies melt in your mouth, the Cesar salad is crisp and delicious, but the pizza is by far the best!

   We usually pick up a pizza and bring it home but today decided to eat inside and I was super excited to take pictures. Unfortunately, I didn’t have my good camera with me so I had to use my iPod to snap the pictures (and they just don’t do the place justice). Hopefully you’ll go there to check it out for yourself!  

     

For more information on Bread Euphoria visit their website at http://www.breadeuphoria.org/index.html.

River Valley Market

   I read an article in People magazine recently about a “Zero Waste Family” in California. It was really inspiring! It was fascinating the lengths that this family went too to reduce their waste. While I don’t aspire to have zero waste (I refuse to use anything other than paper towel to clean the outside of the toilet!), I was inspired to take a closer look at some of the ways I could reduce my waste.

   One of the things that the Johnson family did that I loved was buy snacks in bulk and store them in glass jars. I decided this was something that my family could do so I took a trip to River Valley Market, Northampton’s organic and local food grocery store/co-op (or as we call it, simply The Co-Op). River Valley has a wide variety of bulk foods and glass jars in the back corner of the store. I brought my reusable bulk bag that was supplied free at the Cummington Creamery (another good spot for bulk buying) and stocked up on all kinds of goodies.

   Some of the things I like to buy in bulk are almonds, peanuts, pistachios, dried mangos, chocolate covered pretzels, and dark chocolate. There’s also quite a selection of pasta you can buy in bulk, which I haven’t done yet but will eventually. My favorite snack of all time is the “Zen Mix” which you can purchase already packaged at Target, but is really easy and so much cheaper to purchase and throw together yourself. It’s a mix of almonds, rice crackers, wasabi peas, and sesame sticks. It’s so delicious and healthy!

   Even though we’ll never have zero waste, it feels so good to cut back on your waste where you can and have an overall much healthier lifestyle. Reusable grocery bags, snack bags, bulk bags and glass storage jars are a good start to getting greener!

Check out the “Zero Waste Family” at http://zerowastehome.blogspot.com/. To learn more about or join River Valley Co-Op, visit http://rivervalleymarket.coop/.        

The Old Creamery Grocery and Deli in Cummington

   A few months ago, a friend of mine suggested that I check out The Old Creamery Grocery and Deli in Cummington (aka Cummington Creamery). It took me a few months to get around to visiting it but last weekend my family was looking for something to do so we decided to go check it out. What a cute, little grocery store! It was so cozy and inviting!

  The Creamery offers a variety of baked goods, wines, bulk food, local art, and other delightful organic and local foods. There’s also a little café area for enjoying snacks, coffee, or chatting with friends.

The drive out to the Creamery was charming as well!

 We purchased dark chocolate goat cheese truffles, a chocolate chip brownie, pita chips, and dried mangoes and all of it was very tasty. I even went back a few days later to purchase a tart cherry pie for my husband’s birthday! It was delicious!   

To become a member of the Creamery Co-op or for more information, visit http://oldcreamery.coop/.