Satsuma mandarins...the perfect winter snack, gift, everything!

Satsuma mandarins...the perfect winter snack, gift, everything!
peel, eat, repeat

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

May I have some asparagus and green garlic please?

Stephanie and I just finished doing a cooking demo at the middle school highlighting a major spring hitters, asparagus and green garlic, tossed with organic brown rice pasta, lemon, olive oil,veggie stock and some grated parmesana reggiano. Sounds good right? It was excellent but what would it matter if the kids who make up our target audience heckle for pepperoni pizza and turn up their noses at this amazing concoction? They did not heckle and in fact loved the dish and wanted the recipe. We publish all the recipes on the schools electronic twice weekly newsletter. However this story had a different beginning when the demo’s started a few years ago. We planted the organic garden and got it into the science classes but we wanted more. We wanted the food from the garden to go into the cafeteria as well creating a broader audience and pool of participants for the garden. We quickly learned that we were going to have to have the demo’s to get the students to actually taste real food. Food that by the way, they grew all by their own sweet, little selves. We were not the queens of popularity to begin with. Over the last 5 years a shift has occurred. We are very popular now and working in the garden is a choice assignment at Pleasant Hill Middle School.

Michelle Obama did another kick off of her pet project “Let’s Move” on Friday. She is beginning to get the idea, along with all the people that are actually doing the work that it takes more than just plopping health and great food in front of people, students. It takes time and I just hope that they all stick with it. Our country did not develop the physical state that we are in overnight. It took years and it will take years to fix it.

Get the palates back I say. Show these kids at a young age what food is and how to produce it themselves. They may start out grumpy and raggin on about yucky bugs and mud on the designers but it only takes a little time before they are enamored by their work. Teenagers and most youngsters are pretty self centered so the key is to make it, whatever it is, all about them.

I guess what I really started this rant about is that it does not take billions of dollars to do something about childhood obesity and all the related diseases causing our kids to have shorter life expectancies than us. It takes action and involvement. It takes a little planning and commitment on a local level. Get out to your kids, or niece or nephew or grand kids or neighbor kids schools and start a garden. It really is not that hard or Steph and I would not have 4 of them going simultaneously on 4 different campuses. At least I don’t think I work that hard. These kids just need the info to be able to grow, cook and eat and these particular grains of knowledge are not on the STAR TEST so it aint going to be taught in school. We have to do it for the schools and students. We have to think that this is something worth fighting for in our communities. If we wait for Michelle’s business to trickle down to us we are advising you to not hold your breath. I am a little skeptical I guess but with all those aforementioned billions is seems that a good deal of it will get caught up in administration before we get a working garden in every school. One that actually has kids working it as well as eating from it. This is leading us to better health for our babies, our future operators of our communities, our states, our nation.

Steph and I do not run numbers except how much product we needed for a cooking demo so I can’t tell you if there are any changes in weight or related statistics but our success can most definitely be measured in the mouths and minds of our students. When they ask “what are we cooking today?” and we reply “organic brown rice pasta w/ sautéed organic asparagus and green garlic” and the say “Yay!! I want some”, well you can draw your own conclusions about it but we nod our heads and look at each other with big smiles. Yep, not very scientific but I think it is working for our kids.

If you need any information or direction on starting a school garden we can probably help. We have lots of experience now and know a bit more than a few years ago about it. Most schools want a garden and volunteers but need a leader, a coordinator for the project. Be that leader and give the kids of our communities a fighting chance against junk food giants and years of bad information devastating their health. You will be rewarded every time you get your hands dirty and see the satisfied determination on their amazing faces.

The recipe with the addition of cremini mushrooms and under that the samwe recipe but with quinoa instead of pasta. It's all good.

Asparagus Pasta w/ Green Garlic and Cremini Mushrooms
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound cooked pasta such as brown rice instead of wheat or Orchiette or small shells to hold sauce
1 cup vegetable or chicken stock, heated
1 pound asparagus, sliced in ½ inch pieces
4 stalks of green garlic, cleaned and sliced
1 cups sliced cremini mushrooms
6 ounces of Reggiano parmesan cheese
3 tablespoons chopped parsley
Kosher salt and freshly grated pepper
Heat olive oil in a deep sauté pan. Add green garlic and sauté for about 3 minutes until it begins to caramelize. Add the mushrooms and asparagus and sauté for 3 to 4 more minutes. Add a cup of stock and let it come to a boil. Simmer for a few minutes until asparagus turns bright green. Add pasta and heat through. Season w/ salt and pepper and toss in parsley. Garnish w/ shaved parmesan. Serves 4.

Asparagus Quinoa w/ Green Garlic and Cremini Mushrooms
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound cooked quinoa
1 cup vegetable or chicken stock, heated
1 pound asparagus, sliced in ½ inch pieces
4 stalks of green garlic, cleaned and sliced
1 cups sliced cremini mushrooms
6 ounces of Reggiano parmesan cheese
3 tablespoons chopped parsley
Kosher salt and freshly grated pepper
Heat olive oil in a deep sauté pan. Add green garlic and sauté for about 3 minutes until it begins to caramelize. Add the mushrooms and asparagus and sauté for 3 to 4 more minutes. Add a cup of stock and let it come to a boil. Simmer for a few minutes until asparagus turns bright green. Add quinoa and heat through. Season w/ salt and pepper and toss in parsley. Garnish w/ shaved parmesan. Serves 4.

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Closing the food gap and what the hell is a food desert??

There is a growing food gap in the United States just like the one that has been present all over the world for years. Food gaps as well as food “deserts” represent a growing financial gap as well. Food deserts are areas where there is literally no access to fresh food for the folks that live there. Large grocers have deemed these areas not profitable enough to have a chain there and farmers markets usually don’t operate in these areas because it is usually a merchant association or similar group that seeks out a market to come and revitalize a downtown or some other spot where people are trying to make money. If it is a location that would not prove profitable for the farmers it aint gonna happen. Usually transportation is difficult in economically depressed areas and people tend to not have cars. There is a twenty year life span difference between affluent areas and poor areas. So where do the people shop? Corner liquor stores and fast food franchises are where food is purchased daily. There are entire generations and cultures of people eating this way proven by the statistics of heart disease, obesity and diabetes among children as well as their parents and grandparents.

What to do? Simply offering produce stands and farmers market access to the neighborhoods is doomed to failure. Education is key. Teaching people how to cook, eat and enjoy fresh fruits and vegetable is a daunting task. In our school garden programs we have been presenting food tastings for a few years now. We are this year really making some progress with what kids will taste, eat and actually come back for. A lot of what they taste is grown by them in the school gardens. Beets sautéed with their greens in olive oil and garlic, coleslaw with cabbage, carrots, celery, herbs and a light herb vinaigrette, sautéed kale with brown rice pasta are a few of the items sampled. We are finding more and more that given the opportunity to try the food, they now trust us enough to do so. Imagine taking on the task of educating a whole community of all ages, races, colors, cultures with the common factor being little money, poor health and poor eating habits. Education must be followed immediately with some sort of subsidized farm stands, after school programs, in school programs, in home programs and then all must be not only constantly followed up on in the neighborhood but the tastings and education must be ongoing for several years to take hold and actually change eating and buying habits. This is a good place for Michelle Obama to start at with her campaign to eliminate food deserts in 7 years. Understanding the issues is a good place to start as well and her 400 million bucks will certainly make a starting dent. Act locally if you see an area that you can help in. Ask me any questions anytime!

That brings me to my rant about the broken food system in America, a noble rant but altogether too big for this blog.
Michele Simon, michelesimon@informedeating.org, creator of Appetite for Profit, a great site that has all kinds of great radical activist food facts and rants she can educate you about. Looking at it today I found a campaign called Retire Ronald, www.retireronald.org . Awesome in its hilarious simplicity, the movement is essentially directed at and an offshoot of food marketing to children. Ronald McDonald was the first time anyone ever tried focusing on the kid instead of the parent holding the wallet. It worked and is an industry worth billions of dollars annually. Build loyalty and brand recognition among children and you have a lifelong flow of cash as a direct result of said marketing. Genius, diabolical, and immoral are words that come to mind. She also has a great story about Yale and PepsiCo sealing a deal to finance a new research center about food and nutrition. Wow.

Spring has really sprung and thanks to some prolonged rain we are actually out of the drought. Recent hard rains may delay some of the strawberries coming in season right now but not for long. You can get berries at the markets from Santa Barbara but it is always nice when the more local ones start showing up. You always want the organic ones because of the methyl bromide on conventionally grown berries. Not good for you or your kids. Bought Brentwood asparagus today at the Concord Farmers market. Yum, yum. Look for fresh cut ends for best flavor. Grill, sauté, steam, whatever it is all good.
News on the street is that the Pleasant Hill farmers Market will be located on Crescent Drive downtown in front of the theatres! Yay! More room for more choices, hopefully lot’s more organic and lots of parking in the garage. Good be a perfect storm for finally getting a market that reflects the needs of Pleasant Hill. Market opens May 1st with a grand opening celebration May 8th.
Wildflowers are out in abundance in our hills. A walk up the Falls Trail on Mt. Diablo will reward your efforts tenfold with an amazing show of flora and fauna only seen this time of year. Briones has here show going full tilt right now as will and a walk out Carquinez Scenic this weekend was mind blowing with the flowers as well as the unforgettable views.