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Cultivating Sustainability

Cultivating Sustainability

Monthly Archives: October 2009

CSA Share Week 5

31 Saturday Oct 2009

Posted by John Reinhardt in CSA, Farmers' Market

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

CSA, Food System

Share week 5

CSA Share Week 5

Greg and I rode our bikes down to Adam’s Morgan to pick up the CSA share at the farmer’s market.  We had a great conversation with Michael about his farm operation, food systems, capitalism, obesity and the built environment, and a whole slew of other interesting things.  I mentioned this blog to him, and he was really excited about it.  It was very stimulating conversation.

We got another nice mix of items, and with some leftover items from last time it should be a week full of delicious meals.  We got:

  • 1 liter of apple cider
  • 1 acorn squash
  • 6 red apples
  • 2 green apples
  • 3 pears
  • 4 sweet potatoes
  • 1 butternut squash
  • 2 turnips
  • 1 bunch Tok Choy (similar to Bok Choy and to be used in the same way)
  • 1 bunch spinach
  • 1 bunch arugula
  • 1 small green cabbage

I also picked up 4 conventional beets, which I’m going to use to make borsch.

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Multigrain Pancakes with Fruit

31 Saturday Oct 2009

Posted by kimhodgson in Breakfast, Recipe, Vegetarian

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

apples, blueberries, cornmeal, pancakes, raisins, raspberries, spelt flour, yogurt

This is a hearty, breakfast pancake recipe. Unlike most pancakes, you won’t be hungry 2 hours after eating these. The recipe calls for fresh apples and raisins, but the pancakes are also delicious with frozen raspberries and/or blueberries.
INGREDIENTS
  • 1 ½ cup spelt flour
  • ½ cup unbleached, all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup oats
  • ¼ cup yellow cornmeal
  • 3 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp kosher salt
  • 1 ½ to 1 ¾ cup skim milk (use less for denser pancakes or more for lighter, fluffier pancakes)
  • 2/3 cup plain, low-fat yogurt
  • 2 tbsp canola oil
  • 2 eggs
  • ¼ cup brown sugar
  • 1 large apple, peeled, and finely diced
  • ¼ cup golden raisins (optional)
  • 1/4 tsp cinnamon (optional)

DIRECTIONS

  1. Combine first 6 ingredients; stir well and set aside.
  2. Combine milk through brown sugar in a separate bowl, whisk until combined well.
  3. Add to flour mixture, stirring until smooth. Fold in diced apple and raisins.
  4. Spoon about 1/4 cup batter for each pancake onto a hot nonstick griddle or nonstick skillet. Turn pancakes when tops are covered with bubbles and edges look cooked. Serve with maple syrup.

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Happy Beer’Oween

31 Saturday Oct 2009

Posted by kimhodgson in Beverage

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Tags

beer

BeerOween

In addition to all the fabulous pumpkin ales available this time of year, there’s also plenty of seasonal ales and lagers. Here are a few of our favorites. Thanks John and Sutton for a wonderful evening of socializing, beer drinking, and gourmet eating.

  • Rogue | Mogul Madness Ale
  • Dog Fish Head | Pangea
  • Dog Fish Head | Punkin’ Ale
  • Dog Fish Head | Palo Santo Marron
  • Brewery Ommegang | Rare Vos
  • Trader Joe’s | 2008 Vintage Ale
  • Victory Brewing Company | Weizen Bock

For more information about these and other great beers, click here.

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Spinach and Arugula Pesto

31 Saturday Oct 2009

Posted by John Reinhardt in Dinner, Entree, Farmers' Market, Lunch, Recipe, Vegetarian

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Tags

arugula, garlic, parmigiano-reggiano, spinach

Spinach and Arugula Pesto

Last week was busy.  Greg was out of town and I had several work events.  I didn’t get to do much cooking, and we had some items left over from the week this morning.  The arugula was starting to wilt a bit, as was the bagged spinach we purchased, so I decided to turn it into a pesto.  This is not a traditional recipe, but it ended up bright, fresh, and delicious.  The arugula maintains its crisp flavor.  I served it on an egg sandwich to make “green eggs,” and will be serving it over pasta tonight.

Ingredients

  • 1 bunch arugula (about 2 cups loose)
  • 1 bunch baby spinach (about 2 cups loose)
  • 1/4 cup raw almonds (you can substitute pine nuts or walnuts)
  • 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
  • 2 cloves garlic (add 1 if you don’t like garlic as much)
  • salt to taste
  • olive oil to drizzle

Directions

  1. In a food processor, pulse the almonds until crushed.
  2. Add the garlic, greens, cheese, and salt.  Stream in olive oil and process until a creamy pesto forms.
  3. Serve over warm pasta, as a dip, or spread on a sandwich.

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Bon Appetit Montreal!

31 Saturday Oct 2009

Posted by kimhodgson in Food System, Restaurant

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

food stores, Food System, montreal, urban agriculture

IMGP7556

Last weekend my cousin got married in the beautiful, romantic city of Montreal. As a kid, I grew up visiting Montreal every summer, where my Polish grandparents – Babcia and Dziadzio – lived. I can remember walking with my sister and Babcia to the small grocery store at the end of the street to pick up fresh bagels, bread, yogurt, cheese, and other food items to complement the deliciously fresh produce from Babcia’s backyard garden. Every meal was homemade and scrumptious. Breakfast always included some type of fresh fruit, homemade jam, and fresh bread. For lunch I can remember eating raw, sliced radishes, Polish coldcuts, cucumbers, tomatoes, cheese, and bagel sandwiches with some sort of Polish soup – potato or cucumber. For dinner Babcia would concoct some type of Polish meal – cabbage rolls; kasha, beets, and meat; stew; pierogies; or some other yummy, hearty food. My sister and I would often be given the chore of picking raspberries, strawberries or some other fruit from the garden for dessert. Of course we would eat everything we picked, and come back inside, empty handed but with bright red lips, tongues, and fingers and try to convince Babcia that there were no more berries on the bushes.

While I have such fond memories of Montreal, it’s been wonderful to explore the city as an adult. My husband and I have had the opportunity to visit the city twice in the last 4 years. The first time we stayed in the English section of town and this past time in the French section. The city is walkable and bikable, has an amazing public transportation and subway system and an amazing arts and culture scene. We definitely ate and drank well, walked everywhere, and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

Here are some of the places we visited:

Jardin Communautaire L’Eglantier | Parc Maisonneuve, Boulevard Rosemont, Montreal, QC

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While biking around Montreal, we had the opportunity to visit a community garden. Unfortunately everything had already died, but we were impressed by its size and number of composting bins and the view of the Olympic Stadium in the background. For more information about Montreal’s extensive community garden system, click here.

Cafe Santropol | 3990 Rue St-Urbain, Montreal, QC H2W 1T7, Canada, (514) 842-3110

CafeSantropol

A quaint, cozy cafe in a converted corner row house in the Plateau Mont-Royal neighborhood. The sandwiches are huge and delicious and come on fresh bread made down the street at a small bakery. Highly recommend the carrot and apple sandwich – delicious. Save room for dessert and coffee!

La Maison des Cyclistes | 1251, rue Rachel Est, Montréal, QC H2J 2J9, Canada

IMGP7545

This small, cozy cafe shares space with Vélo Québec – a non-profit cycling member-based organization that has been defending the rights of cyclists since 1967. Try the coffee, chai tea, biscotti, and other baked goods. This makes the perfect pre- or post-pit stop for a day of biking on Montreal’s bike sharing program – Bixi.

St Viateur Bagel | 1127 Mont. Royal East, Montreal, QC

StViateurBagels

A great, local bagel chain. If you’ve never had Montreal bagels, you’re in for a treat. This bakery/restaurant serves up tasty bagel sandwiches, salads and soups and offers options to-go, including a dozen bagels.

Corner Stores | Integrated into all neighborhoods throughout Montreal

IMGP7542 IMGP7562

There is no shortage of healthy foods in Montreal – or at least in the neighborhoods we ventured to. It seems like there’s a corner produce shop or market on every other corner. Here are some pictures of a few of them.

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Denver Dining Guide

30 Friday Oct 2009

Posted by kimhodgson in Food System, Restaurant

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Tags

denver, Food System

In preparation for the 2009 American Dietetic Association Food & Nutrition Conference & Expo, my friend Kelly teamed up with some Denver locals to put together a list of restaurants in Denver and surrounding towns that feature local, seasonal and sustainably grown food. A map of these restaurants can be found at: http://tinyurl.com/eatsustainabledenver.

For more information about my favorite places, see the Rocky Mountain West Food Scene post.

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The Rocky Mountain West Food Scene

30 Friday Oct 2009

Posted by kimhodgson in Food System, Restaurant

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Tags

beer, denver, Food System, microbrew, urban agriculture

Last week I traveled to Denver, CO for a work related trip. I wasn’t sure what to expect, and was pleasantly impressed by the city. From the network of community & urban gardens, trails, pedestrian bridges, and other bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure, to the amazing selection of microbrews and restaurants. Considering how difficult it is to find good, scrumptious food while on the road, I’ve decided to expand the scope of my “seasonal culinary journey” to include my culinary and food system experiences in other parts of North America.

Saturday morning, I woke up early to attend a field trip of Denver Urban Gardens (D.U.G.). Below are a few pictures from 2 different sites: Atlantis Community Inc. (a community center in Denver for people with disabilities) and Fairmont School. Unfortunately, the weekend prior, Denver had its first frost of the winter season, so all the beautiful vegetables, except for a few winter greens, died.

Denver Urban Garden

Atlantis Community Inc.

Denver Urban Garden

Fairmont School, Denver

Winter Greens

Winter Greens, Fairmont School, Denver

After spending some time exploring the local Denver food system, I had the opportunity to try several delicious microbrews. My favorite included: Avery Double IPA, Avery Dougana, Great Divide Brown Ale, and Russian River Damnation. For more information, check out the beer page. I highly recommend grabbing a beer or two at the Falling Rock Tap House. They have over 50 regional microbrew beers on tap.

Sunday, I made it out to Denver just in time to grab lunch at The Kitchen, a fabulous restaurant in Boulder, CO that features locally produced produce and meat. Each day, the staff updates a large blackboard with information about growers and producers in the region that provide the restaurant with ingredients. The Kitchen is quite expensive for dinner, but decently priced for lunch. I recommend the portabello mushroom sandwich – delicious.

Other great restaurants I tried while in Denver include: Lola, Osteria Marco, Sushi Sasa and the Wazee Super Club. Everything I ordered was delicious. Try the roasted vegetable chile rellenos at Lola, the beet salad and mushroom panini at Osteria, the dragon roll at Sushi Sasha, and a pizza with sun dried tomatoes, pesto, and chicken at Wazee Super Club.

For more information about The Kitchen and other great restaurants, check out the restaurant page.

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Autumn Vegetable Pot Pie

29 Thursday Oct 2009

Posted by kimhodgson in Dinner, Entree, Lunch, Recipe, Vegetarian

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

broccoli, dill, havarti cheese, mushrooms, potatoes, radishes, sweet potatoes

This is an extremely versatile vegetable pot pie recipe adapted from a wonderful cookbook that my sister bought for me a few years ago: Moosewood Restaurant Celebrates – Festival Meals for Holidays and Special Occasions. Don’t be fooled by the title of this cookbook – I use it for every day occasions, not just holidays and special occasions. The recipes are creative and unique. Definitely a must have in my kitchen.

Back to the recipe…I’ve made this several times with a variety of different vegetables. It’s a fabulous recipe for using those odds and ends from your CSA share. The recipe below includes what I used this time, but I’ve also used butternut squash instead of the sweet potatoes, turnips, carrots, green beans, kale and collard greens, and leeks. If you’re going to do some substituting, I recommend following the havarti cheese sauce and pastry recipes, but improvising on the other ingredients.

INGREDIENTS

Filling

  • 1 tbsp EVOO
  • 1 large sweet onion, chopped
  • 3 bay leaves
  • 1 bunch of radishes (about 5-8 medium), washed well and cut into 1/4 inch cubes
  • 1 tsp kosher salt
  • 1-2 cups vegetable stock
  • 3 small to medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/4 inch cubes
  • 2 large potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/4 inch cubes
  • 1/2 large head of broccoli, separated into small heads (about 1/2 inch wide)
  • 2 1/2 cups mushrooms, washed and sliced (about 1 small container)
  • 1/4 cup chopped FRESH flat leaf parsley
  • 1/4 cup chopped FRESH dill

Havarti Cheese Sauce

  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 1/3 cup unbleached white flour
  • 2 cups vegetable stock
  • 1 1/2 cups grated dilled havarti cheese (about 6-8 oz)
  • salt and pepper to taste

Pastry

  • 1 3/4 cup unbleached white flour
  • 1 1/2 tsp dried rosemary
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1/4 cup ice water

DIRECTIONS

  1. In a large soup pot, warm the oil. Add the onions, bay leaves and radishes and saute for about 10 minutes on medium heat, until the onions are soft. Stir in the potatoes, sweet potatoes, salt and cup of vegetable stock. Cover and bring to a boil; then lower the heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
  2. Add the broccoli and continue to simmer for 5 minutes more. Stir in the mushrooms, parsley, and dill and cook for 3-4 minutes to soften the mushrooms and until all the vegetables are just barely tender.
  3. Remove and discard the bay leaves. Cover the vegetables, remove from heat, and set aside.
  4. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
  5. In a saucepan, melt the butter and whisk in the flour to make a roux. Cook for 2 minutes over medium heat, stirring constantly. Whisk in the stock and cook on medium heat, whisking often, until the sauce thickens and simmers gently. Whisk in the cheese until melted and stir the sauce into the pot of cooked vegetables. Add salt and ground pepper to taste. Pour the filling into a 9x13x2 inch baking pan or a 10 inch round deep-dish pie plate and set aside.
  6. Prepare the pastry. Mix together the flour and rosemary in a large bowl. Rapidly work the butter into the flour with a pastry cutter or your fingers until it resembles a coarse meal. Sprinkle the ice water over the mixture a tablespoon at a time, and lightly mix in. Push the dampened dough into the center of the bowl and form a ball.
  7. On a floured surface, roll out the pastry to fit your baking dish. Completely cover the top or arrange cut-out designs on top of the filling. If you totally cover the pie with pastry, cut a few slits in the top. That way steam can escape during baking for a crisper crust. Gaps between cut-out designs will make good “vents” too.
  8. Bake for 40-50 minutes, until the crust is golden and the filling bubbly. Cool for 10-15 minutes before serving.

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Moroccan Chickpea Curry with Couscous

28 Wednesday Oct 2009

Posted by kimhodgson in Dinner, Entree, Lunch, Recipe, Vegetarian

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

bell peppers, butternut squash, chickpeas, cilantro, tomatoes, winter greens

This is a really quick and simple curry, with a lot of savory moroccan flavors and beautiful mixture of color – red, orange, white, and green. Adapted from Cooking Light, September 2007. Serve with couscous.

Moroccan Curry

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 tbsp EVOO
  • 1 1/2 medium onions, chopped
  • 1 small to medium butternut squash, peeled and cubed
  • 2-4 small to medium bell peppers
  • 4-6 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1/2 tbsp ground cumin
  • 1/2 tbsp ground paprika
  • 1 tsp ground ginger
  • 2 tsp ground turmeric
  • 1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
  • 1/4 tsp kosher salt
  • 2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/8 tsp ground cayenne pepper
  • 1 1/2 to 2 cups vegetable broth or chicken broth
  • 2 tbsp tomato paste
  • 2 (15 1/2 oz) cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
  • 1 (14 1/2 oz) can diced tomatoes, undrained
  • Fresh cilantro, chopped
  • 1 medium to large bunch of winter greens (kale, collards, swiss chard, mustard greens, or other)
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice (such as Santa Cruz Organic)

DIRECTIONS

  1. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion, bell pepper and garlic to pan; sauté 5 minutes. Stir in cumin and next 7 ingredients (through red pepper); cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add stock, tomato paste, chickpeas, butternut squash and tomatoes; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes.
  2. Stir in cilantro, winter greens and juice. Cover, and simmer an additional 5-10 minutes, or until butternut squash is tender and greens are cooked.

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Eating Locally in the Twin Cities

27 Tuesday Oct 2009

Posted by kimhodgson in Farmers' Market, Food System, Restaurant

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Tags

Food System, minneapolis, st paul, urban agriculture

IMGP6652

Last spring, I collaborated with several organizations and individuals living in the Twin Cities area to create a local food system guide for visitors. I visited several of the restaurants – my favorites appear on the restaurant page.

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Categories

apples arugula basil beer beets bell peppers black beans bok choy broccoli rabe butternut squash cabbage carrots cauliflower cheddar cheese chicken chickpeas cilantro cinnamon collard greens corn cornmeal cranberries CSA cucumber cumin dill eggplant eggs feta fingerling potatoes Food System garlic ginger greek green beans green chilies green onions hummus jalapeno jalapenos kale lemon juice lentils lettuce lime juice mint mushrooms onion onions orange parmigiano-reggiano parsley parsnips pasta pecans peppers pizza potatoes raisins red bell pepper scallions star hollow farm summer squash sweet potatoes swiss chard tatsoi tofu tomato tomatoes turnips urban agriculture walnuts yellow squash yogurt zucchini

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