Roger Ebert, who can no longer eat, drink, taste or smell, writes a cookbook.
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Archive for the 'Food' Category
The NYC Board of Ed — which of course really means Mayor Bloomberg nowadays — has effectively banned bake sales. In the name of — say it with me — fighting obesity.
The problem I have with this is that the bake sales became necessary because of funding cuts; vending machines and bake sales and whatnot didn’t become common until the Reagan-era tax cuts and resulting slashing of school financing. So if you aren’t going to restore funding for sports programs and uniforms and clubs and activities, AND you take away their ability to make money to cover the costs that the city’s not providing, then you’ve just hamstrung your sports programs. Which might not be the most effective way to “fight obesity,” given that physical activity is generally considered an important part of that, if you’re actually serious about “fighting obesity” and not just putting on a show of being tough.
It’s also yet another way to shift the focus from the structural and systemic issues to the individual, putting the sole responsibility on the individual to fix the problem rather than on the system to fix the things that make it more difficult for individuals to fix things for themselves.
Now, Bloomberg actually has some ideas which *do* address systemic problems, such as the grocery gap, and I would even argue that his ban of trans fats and his requirement that chain restaurants post calorie counts of items also address a systemic issue, which is lack of information about what’s in the food or how many calories are actually in a “serving,” without which you can’t really make informed choices about your food. But all this ban is going to do is exacerbate the original problem, which is the underfunding of schools. Until you’re ready to fix that by raising taxes on your rich friends, don’t take away the workaround.
I’ve kind of given up on being a mostly-full-time vegan. As I started paying attention to how much protein I should be getting in order to support my weightlifting, I started realizing that it was just too difficult for me to do it with only plant sources unless I consumed far more soy protein powder than my intestines would really like me to consume. It’s not impossible, mind you, but it requires a level of attention to detail and planning that I just can’t really handle while juggling all the stuff I’m juggling.
I began casting around for protein sources that didn’t cost an arm and a leg and were tasty and easy to prepare. Which led me to yogurt. Greek yogurt, and specifically nonfat Greek yogurt. I had bought some full-fat Fage yogurt for dessert (with honey and almonds) when some friends came over, and by damn, it was good. But it had a lot of fat, so I didn’t eat all that much of it. Then when I went to pick up some more, I started reading labels.
And — holy hell! — I discovered that the nonfat version has 22 grams of protein per cup. And only 120 calories. So a pint has 44 grams of protein. Which is almost a third of what I should be taking in per day.
I snatched up several quart containers. Highest price I found was $10 at a gourmet market; lowest was $6.69 at Fairway. Since blueberries are in season, I’ve been having the yogurt for breakfast with some honey and vast quantities of blueberries (you eat vast quantities when you buy two-pound containers and have no more room in the freezer for more).
Fabulous! Delicious! Nutritious! But still a little pricey, and the containers were piling up. They don’t have a top that makes them reusable for storage, so they had to be recycled. This was becoming an issue, since I’m trying to cut down on my waste.
Then I saw this post over at Hullabaloo, and knew it was time to start making my own yogurt. I scaled up since I eat so much of the stuff (I used a gallon and a half of milk rather than one quart), but it worked! I have yogurt. And it was dead easy, even if I don’t have a microwave and it took over two hours for the milk to boil, and had to heat the oven up again because I had so much that it didn’t set within a few hours. It’s chilling now, and I’ll start straining the first batch with a strainer lined with coffee filters (or a cheesecloth if I can find mine) once it’s cooled. I’d like to have a sense of how much milk is required to make a quart of strained Greek-style yogurt.
Item the first: Anti-donut signs can get you fired from your job as a county health director, but only if you name and piss off local businesses:
A 38-year-old former Army doctor who served in Iraq, Newsom returned home to Panama City a few years ago to run the Bay County Health Department and launched a one-man war on obesity by posting sardonic warnings on an electronic sign outside:
“Sweet Tea (equals) Liquid Sugar.”
“Hamburger (equals) Spare Tire.”
“French Fries (equals) Thunder Thighs.”
He also called out KFC by name to make people think twice about fried chicken.
Then he parodied “America Runs on Dunkin’,” the doughnut chain’s slogan, with: “America Dies on Dunkin’.”
Some power players in the Gulf Coast tourist town decided they had had their fill.
A county commissioner who owns a doughnut shop and two lawyers who own a new Dunkin’ Donuts on Panama City Beach turned against him, along with some of his own employees, Newsom says. After the lawyers threatened to sue, his bosses at the Florida Health Department made him remove the anti-fried dough rants and eventually forced him to resign, he says. . . .
In May, lawyers Bo Rivard and Michael Duncan, co-owners of a new Dunkin’ Donuts, asked Newsom to take down the “America Dies on Dunkin’” message. Newsom already had run other anti-doughnut warnings, including “Doughnuts (equals) Diabetes,” and “Dunkin’ Donuts (equals) Death.”
The businessmen had the backing of County Commissioner Mike Thomas, who owns a diner and a doughnut shop. Thomas called for Newsom’s ouster, saying the doctor shouldn’t have named businesses on the message board.
Note the two statements I’ve bolded. If that’s not conflation of health and thinness/aesthetics, I don’t know what is. But what I find a little disturbing is that his bosses were okay with this kind of hatefulness being funded by the taxpayers until the businesses he called out by name lawyered up.
It’s summer, which means that cool, refreshing beverages are in order. And while water’s great, it can get a little monotonous. It’s good to switch it up sometimes.
I’ve had the hibiscus cooler at Angelica Kitchen, and thought I’d like to try it at home. But I wasn’t sure where to get dried hibiscus flowers other than in Red Zinger teabags. And, well, I can get those anytime. I wanted the real thing. And then this weekend, some friends and I were at Sahadi’s — and there they were, with the pre-packed bulk spices. So I bought some, and I got some candied lemon peel because why the hell not, and I put them together. To about a gallon of cold, filtered water, I added about a tablespoon of the lemon peel, a good handful of the hibiscus flowers, and a squeeze of agave nectar. Then I turned the flame on low and walked away for a while. When the water was good and deeply colored and just about to simmer, I shut off the heat and let it cool, then strained and stored in the fridge. To serve, fill a glass (with or without ice; I prefer without) about 2/3 of the way with the cooler and 1/3 with seltzer. Garnish with lime and enjoy.
Seems that there are many ways you could enjoy this; next time, I’ll probably use lime zest and skip the sweetener, though I might add some freshly sliced or grated ginger. Speaking of ginger, fresh ginger juice is DIVINE in lemonade.
It’s been a rainy week here in Brooklyn (like, EVERY DAY), so I’ve barely peeked at the garden. But today, I decided to follow some of the suggestions in the thread below and pull out the flowers from the tomato boxes, mix a few coffee grounds into the soil, and pull off any dead leaves.
So far, so good. The cilantro plant’s still being a diva, though. How this thing can sit in the rain for a week and STILL have dry soil is a mystery.
More tomatolettes on the Early Girl and Mystery Variety plants. One tomatolette on the Jersey Devil plant, which is amusing because it’s a plum-shaped tomato and therefore pointy. Not a thing on Green Zebra.
The basil in Box #2 is doing much better than the basil in Box #1, as, really, are the tomato plants. I think the petunias were sucking the life out of the other plants in that box. Hopefully, that will be remedied now that the flowers are gone.
My god, I’ve successfully grown something!
Windowbox #1:
Windowbox #2:
Tomatoes from windowbox #1:
Tomatoes from windowbox #2:
So far, the winners are the Early Girl in #2, and the one whose tag I lost in #1. Or never had a tag. And the other two plants — the Jersey Devil and the Green Zebra — have flowers, which looks like the precursor to actual fruit-bearing.
The basil’s doing nicely, but the cilantro’s being a little fussy. It gets a lot of yellow leaves, but it seems to be a water issue, so I just have to keep on top of that. None of the flowers except for the one in the ceramic pot in #2 are doing that well; all have yellow leaves and dead flowers. I can’t tell if they’re getting too much or too little water, or what, but they’re annoying me enough that if they don’t shape up soon, I’m just going to pull them out and let the tomatoes take over their space.
Been a while. I’ve been cooking, and even taking pictures, but I just haven’t been posting. Here’s a delicious one from Vegan Planet by Robin Robertson:
2T olive oil
1 large sweet yellow onion, chopped,
2 med. carrots, halved lengthwise and cut into 1/4-inch-thick half-moons
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 large fennel bulb, trimmed and diced
1/2 c. dry white wine
1-1/2 c. veg. stock
1 pound small red potatoes, unpeeled and quartered
One 14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes, undrained
Salt and freshly ground pepper
2 small zucchini, cut into 1/4-inch-thick rounds
1-1/2 c. cooked or one 15-oz. can cannellini or other white beans, drained and rinsed
1T minced orange zest
2 t. minced fresh rosemary leaves or 1 t. dried
1. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onions and carrots, cover, and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds. Add the fennel and wine and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer, uncovered and stirring, until the wine is reduced by one-half, about 5 minutes. Add the stock, potatoes, tomatoes and juice, and salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes soften, about 20 minutes.
2. Add the zucchini, beans, and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer until the ingredients are tender and the desired consistency is achieved, about 15 minutes. If a thicker stew is desired, puree 1 cup of the stew in a blender or food processor and stir back into the pot.
3. A few minutes before serving, stir in the orange zest and rosemary. Serve hot.
Somehow, I never thought I’d be having trouble getting enough calories (and in particular, calories from protein). And yet, here I am, struggling to find enough high-protein plant-based foods to meet my protein-gram target for the days I lift.
And when I eat a high-protein meal (often no more than some tofu and rice-based dish), I don’t really get hungry for a long time, which kind of makes the getting-five-or-six-meals-a-day thing difficult.
Huh.
I know, a little late, but here’s what I had:
Clockwise from top:
Baked acorn squash
Baked sweet potato
Steamed kale with garlic, drizzled with the marinade (which I doubled) from
Maple grilled tempeh.
And for dessert:
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