Open your fridge. Can you tell the exact history of where one item came from? Eating local doesn’t seem like a hard challenge until you start thinking about it. Last Sunday night, a group of us got together and cooked a meal that was made almost entirely with local ingredients. The best part of it all was that we didn’t intentionally mean to have a dinner made completely of locally sourced ingredients, but once we realized we had the beginnings of one, we made it our goal to get as a close as we could to a completely local dinner.

When you start learning where your food really comes from, you learn how much labor, transportation and energy and resources go  into everything you eat. Eating local doesn’t just mean you help out the farmers, gardeners and butchers in your area, you are also saving other costs that add up, including energy, gas, storage and other hidden resources used to get those items off a truck and onto a shiny display. Challenge yourself to make it a personal goal to eat one thing at one meal a day that is sourced locally, not only will you feel good, believe me, it will taste better!

The Menu

Locally Caught Salmon with Lemon, Herb Butter: The salmon was caught locally by my friend Neil. Oregano, thyme and dill all from Washington state. Our splurge was the lemon, salt and pepper and olive oil, purchased from the grocery store.

All Blue Potato Salad with Fresh Dill: The all blue potatoes came from a farm that I was apprenticing at, about 20 miles away. Fresh dill and a sweet onion came from the Ballard Farmer’s market that morning. Our splurge was purchased Dijon mustard, mayonnaise and salt and pepper.

Summer Corn and Tomato Salad: The corn, basil and sweet onion came from the farmers market. The tomatoes were grown in my garden. Our splurge was olive oil, red onion and salt and pepper.

Winter Greens with Garlic and Lemon: The Swiss chard, kale and collard greens were all from the Ballard farmer’s market, our splurge was olive oil, lemon, garlic- (although it should have been bought at the farmer’s market), and Parmesan Reggiano.

Katy’s Blackberry Pie with Lemon Verbena Infused Fresh Whip Cream: The blackberries were purchased at the farmer’s market, the whip cream was from a Washington state organic creamery and the lemon verbena was from my friend Katy’s lemon verbena plant. Our splurge: organic pie crust from PCC, lemon juice, purchased spices.

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Categories:	American • Baked Goods • Cooking tips • Fish & Seafood • Organic • Salads • Uncategorized • Vegetarian • Veggies • desserts	5 Comments
Tags:	all blue potatoes • blackberry pie • corn salad • eating local • eating local in the northwest • salmon • winter greens

Photo: FranUolla

This recipe for quinoa is one of the best I’ve ever made.  It’s easy and rich – substantial enough to stand up to a steak dinner but still delicate enough to be served with fish.  Give this a try.

Ingredients:

1. Quinoa
2. Chicken Broth: homemade is best though I do use Swanson’s when I don’t have any of my own.
3. Shallots
4. Garlic
5. Dukka (see link to recipe below)
6. Salt & Pepper
7. Mushrooms: I used shitake, but any will do.  A blend is also nice.
8. Butter
9. Herbs/Garnish: green onion, chives, parsley

Technique:

1. Melt a tablespoon or so of butter and saute 4 tablespoons of minced shallots.  Add 1/2-1 teaspoon of garlic, to taste, and saute until soft.  Add quinoa and saute until toasted.  Add sliced mushroom.
2. The key to this recipe is the change I made to the proportions.  Ordinarily, the ratio of liquid to quinoa is 2:1.  Here, I used 4 or 5:1.  I added the liquid to the mixture and boiled it down in an open pot – essentially reducing the broth while providing enough liquid to completely cook the quinoa.  Quinoa is cooked when the grain has become fluffy looking with a neat little curl of the husk still visible.  I find quinoa one of the most beautiful of grains and love its soft and slightly chewy texture.
3. When the quinoa is cooked, add 1-2 tablespoons of Dukka (though any blend of coriander seeds, cumin, and such will do) and minced green onion (or chives) and parsley.
4. Serve hot and creamy.

Enjoy.

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Categories:	Cooking tips • Fish & Seafood • Herbs • Meat & Poultry • Organic • Pasta & Grains • Salads • Seasoning & Spices • Uncategorized • Veggies	4 Comments
Tags:	Chicken Broth • dukka • garlic • grain • quinoa • shallot • side dish

Photo: adactio

Last night I made an absolutely delicious roast chicken, the recipe for which I must share. It started with the desire to have rice with a yummy gravy – led me to pick up a chicken to roast – and wound up with real prize of a dish that I will certainly share with you and my future guests. The rub I created for this dish was a completely spontaneous concoction that defies exact measurement – so, read the mixture and add/substract/adjust at will. I served this roasted chicken with steamed cauliflower and plain white rice. The gravy this chick created was the best I’ve ever made. If you have suggestions for improvement – please send along.

The picture above is not mine, I did not have a camera last night – but this chicken so pretty I just had to post it.

Ingredients:

Whole Chicken: I only use organic, folks.

Onion and Garlic: 1-2 small to medium onions (cut into quarters) and approximately 10 cloves of garlic (peeled and slightly smashed).

Shallots: 1 shallot, cut into quarters, stuffed inside the bird’s cavity.

Parsley: Smallish bunch – enough to loosely fill the cavity of the bird.

Tarragon: 3 good long sprigs to stuff inside the cavity of the bird.

Chicken Broth: I only use Swanson’s or my own…

Spice Rub: These are rough measures, I was free-wheelin’ when I made this, so feel free to experiment with the amounts.

• Kosher Salt (1 tablespoon)
• Black and White Pepper (1 Tablespoon)
• Coriander Seeds (1/2 to 1 teaspoon)
• Cumin Seeds (1 teaspoon)
• Anise Seeds (2 teaspoons)
• Fennel Seeds (2 teaspoons)
• Cayenne (1 teaspoon)

Technique:

1. Wash and dry your bird, inside and out. I also like to cut off any extra flaps of skin/fat. Rub with a little vegetable oil.
2. Stuff bird with quartered shallots, approximately 5 cloves of garlic (peeled and smashed), tarragon sprigs, and parsley. Sprinkle with a small amount of the above spice rub. You could tress this bird – I did not do so – I simply placed it breast down in my roasting pan, stuffed it with the shallots, garlic and tarragon and inserted the parsley at the end to keep those items inside the bird. Do not stuff too tightly or it will affect your cooking time.
3. Place stuffed bird onto a bed of roughly cut onions and garlic.
4. Rub with remaining spice mixture and a little nob of butter (can’t resist).
5. Cook at 425 until the internal temperature reaches 160.
6. Midway through the cooking process I did a few things that I think are worth repeating: (a) I allowed the bird to brown and then began to baste it with the drippings and a little chicken broth; (b) about 1/2 way through the process I began to baste with chicken broth – which added liquid to the roasting pan and began the process of deglazing the pan before I took it from the oven – I would not add more than 2 cups of liquid. This chicken broth boiled down nicely – intensifying the chicken flavor and incorporating the flavors of the rub. A roasting purist would say I did not truly roast this bird, and they would be right. This technique roasted the bird for the first 1/4 of its cooking and braised it the rest of the way. The result was a very rich broth and moist breast.
7. Gravy: Remove bird and any bits from the roasting pan and add 4 more cups of broth. I reduced this to 1/2, added a little pepper, wondra flour (my mom’s trick for thickening gravy), and fresh chives and parsley at the end. It was good. Didn’t need salt – though will want to check it.

Great gravy for potatoes and rice. Lovely on my cauliflower. A real comfort meal. Enjoy.

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Categories:	Cooking tips • Entertaining • Herbs • Holiday • Meat & Poultry • Organic • Seasoning & Spices • Uncategorized	3 Comments
Tags:	anise • cayenne • chicken • fennel • gravy • kosher salt • pepper • roast • spice rum • spices • tarragon

My new favorite thing -thanks to my friend Tracy who made it for us the other night- is herb yogurt. Made with multiple fresh herbs one bite is like a mouthful of your lovely herb garden (minus the dirt, of course).

It makes a wonderful, healthy alternative to sour cream. Just mix plain yogurt with a bunch of whatever herbs suit your fancy. I chose the following:

• Mint
• Basil
• Dill
• Chives
• Italian parsley

I added a clove of minced garlic, kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper for some extra spice.

This is absolutely delicious on tomatoes, fingerling potatoes, lamb…but would be fabulous on about anything. We spooned it over the one precious heirloom tomato our garden produced, then we drizzled it with a bit of white truffle oil.

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Categories:	Fruit • Herbs • Organic • Salads • Uncategorized	5 Comments
Tags:	Food • foodista • Fruit • herb yogurt • Herbs • salad • tomatoes • truffle oil • yogurt

In 1973, at the age of 5, my family moved from the San Francisco Bay Area to Sunriver, a little resort town in Central Oregon just south of Bend. Sunriver is nestled at the feet of the beautiful Cascade mountains and hugged by both the Big and Little Deschutes rivers. My parents, who had visited Sunriver numerous times before, finally decided to move their kids from the cement jungle to the more wholesome forested resort.

And wholesome it was! Miles of bicycle paths, rivers and lakes to swim in, tennis in summer, cross-country and downhill ski teams in winter; we were healthy and active. Fueling our active bodies was mom’s healthy hippie cooking. She was much more athletic than hippie, but her food was total granola. It was delicious, but as a kid it was just too healthy for my junk food craving taste buds. I wanted Cap’n Crunch and Wonder Bread. We got All-Bran and homemade bread. I did love the smell of her homemade bread, but it was so whole grain and hearty that it had to be sliced in massive thick slices or it would fall apart. My brother and I called it Birdseed Bread because she used millet and sunflower seeds (I would kill for that bread today). My sandwiches were about 4 inches thick! Bless my friend, Donna, who would always trade me half of her American cheese on white bread sandwich and one of her Suzy-Qs.

Mom also made soup. My favorite: cream of broccoli. I just didn’t want it for breakfast. I tease my mom today, “who gives their kid broccoli soup for breakfast!?” She replies, “Well, it was always so cold, I had to warm you kids up somehow.” Yes, folks, that was because we would cross-country ski 2.5 miles to the bus stop ( I swear it was uphill both ways). But only when our diesel was frozen and wouldn’t start (which was often). Or maybe that’s just what she told us…

Another “favorite” breakfast was a slice of her uber-grainy bread topped with cheddar cheese and a bit of garlic salt which she’d then throw under the broiler. Yummy after a long day of playing in the snow, not so much first thing in the morning.

We never had sugar, white flour or chocolate in our house. When we semi-jokingly cried child abuse for never having any chocolate chip cookies she would whip up a batch of, brace yourself: whole wheat, honey, carob chip cookies. I still cannot stomach carob.

What I did love were her fresh juices. She bought a juicer and, to our glee, went nuts in the juice test kitchen. You name it, she juiced it (fyi, lettuce doesn’t work). Our favorite was carrot juice. My brother and I drank so much of it that we started to turn orange (seriously) and our pediatrician said we needed to chill out. What a buzz kill.

My mom is still an exceptional cook, much more gourmet than hippie, but still healthy and wholesome. Even though I tease her about the meals of our past I am thankful for the hearty, organic foods she prepared for us, which helped me develop the appreciative palate I have today.

Here are a few things I have learned from mom’s hippie cooking:

1) I prefer saltier things over sweet for breakfast (although I’m sure I could eat an entire box of Cap’n Crunch at one sitting).
2) I can drink carrot juice until I turn orange again.
3) I would take a grainy thick sandwich over a wimpy white one hands down.
4) My mom’s homemade soups are better than your mom’s (wink).

Picture note: This is mom on the front page of our local newspaper, the Sunriver Sun.

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Categories:	Baked Goods • Cheese • Fruit • Organic • Soup • Veggies	3 Comments
Tags:	broccoli • carrot juice • Food • foodista • granola • healthy eating • hippie • homemade bread • mom • Soup • sunriver

Commitment to the Earth and to their community got Ken Wetherell, Neil Robinson and Kwah Waadabi (ardent members at Portland, Oregon’s People’s Food Co-op) thinking about new ways to move people and their things. So they created Portland Pedal Power (PPP), a bicycle delivery service that caters to customers of the ecologically responsible People’s Food Co-op.

One happy customer, the new mother of a newborn baby, ordered PPP’s combined shopping/delivery service making those first days much easier. Fees range from free to $10, depending on location. PPP is working on building delivery agreements with local businesses and establishing a riders network.

For more information contact PPP’s voice mail service at 503-296-2120. You can also find them at People’s Co-op.

Pedal on to sustainability!

Note: I must add that I am the very proud younger sister of the brilliant Earth-loving Ken.

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Categories:	Organic	Leave a Comment
Tags:	bicycle delivery • cycling • grocery delivery • organic food • organic groceries • People's Food Co-op • Portland bicycling • Portland Pedal Power • sustainability • sustainable transportation