Healthy holidays

It's hard to eat healthy at this time of year.

First, there's all the holiday food - high in fat and sugar.

Then there's the cold weather, perfect for soups and stews, but not so good for salad.

I'd been puzzling how to get us eating more raw vegetables and less cheese and crackers, when I came across this walnut and roasted red pepper dip.

I am not generally a fan of veggies and dip - dips are often dairy-based and runny enough to make the trip from bowl to mouth precarious.

But this one is firm enough to stand up on a celery stick, and it's vegan. I found the recipe in Seasons and Celebrations, a book published by Relish magazine.

The sun-dried tomatoes make it a pretty red color, the roasted red pepper gives it sweetness, and the walnuts form the solid base and add a ton of heart-healthy nutrition.

Best of all, it whirls up quickly in the food processor. I served it with raw kohlrabi, radishes, carrots, cauliflower and celery. It was good as munchies before the meal, and it went well with a bowl of soup.

The recipe makes a lot. It stores well in the fridge for a few days, and then I stirred the last of it into a casserole of rice and lentils.

Put this dip on your holiday table, and you will find your family eating many more raw vegetables.

Roasted Walnut and Sun-Dried Tomato Dip
1 1/2 cups (3 oz) sun-dried tomatoes, not oil-packed
1 1/2 cups walnut pieces
3/4 cup chopped roasted red peppers (I pulled a frozen red pepper from my freezer - you could use a bottled one)
1 clove garlic
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp fennel seeds
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

Pour boiling water over dried tomatoes. Soak 1 hour.

Toast walnuts in a cast iron skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until you can smell them, about 5 minutes.

Drain tomatoes in a colander over a bowl, reserving the soaking liquid.

Place walnuts, tomatoes and 1/2 cup soaking liquid in the food processor. Add remaining ingredients. Pulse a few times, then process until fairly smooth. Add more soaking liquid, 1/4 cup at a time, until you get the texture you like.

Serve at room temperature. Serves 8.

Breakfast fruit

Pomegranate seeds are fun to eat - the bright red color, the crunchy flavor pop. We've been enjoying them on our breakfast fruit. Paired with the fabulous grapefruits we get from Jorge at the Hollywood Farmers Market, they give us a flavorful and nutritious start to the day.

I resisted pomegranates for years because of their tendency to squirt staining red juice all over me. But in recent years I've been practicing my technique, and am now pretty comfortable with them. Early in the season, I was timid in my preparation. I submerged a pomegranate in a bowl of water, then scored the skin in quarters with a paring knife, pried it apart and pulled out the seeds - all under water. The pulp fell to the bottom, the seeds floated on top. No mess.

Now, however, I'm feeling more confident, and I do it without the water. I score the pomegranate, pull it apart, and gently, with the flesh away from me, open up the sections to reveal the seeds. I gently flip these out into our bowls of fruit.

We don't drink fruit juice - except freshly-squeezed on Sunday mornings. Fresh fruit has more vitamins, bioflavanoids, enzymes, minerals and other phytonutrients than any juice or pill. I cut the grapefruit so we get some of the membranes - rich in bioflavanoids which boost the power of the vitamin C.

Plus, the seasonal variety makes morning fruit an ever-changing and interesting part of the day.

Healthy and Delicious

The other day on Belief (formerly Speaking of Faith) on NPR, Krista Tippett interviewed chef and flavor-lover Dan Barber about the ethics and enjoyment of growing and eating delicious food. I can't recommend this interview more highly. Click here to listen or podcast it.

Barber is a young chef with two New York restaurants, one on a farm. He respects the flavors of fresh food and says it's his job to enhance them, not show off with fancy chef tricks. When he is cooking, he feels the farmer standing behind him, and remembers that it is the farmer who should receive credit for the food, not the cook.

He is a proponent of organic farming methods and heirloom varieties because he has found they taste better. He tested the brix (natural sugar) level of the carrots growing on his farm, and found it was twice the normal level for carrots. Then he tested organic bagged grocery store carrots and found their brix level was practically non-existent. He theorized that people are genetically wired to eat sweet foods like healthy carrots, but as produce is hybridized for easy growing and transporting, a lot of the flavors and sweetness have been lost, so it's no wonder kids don't want to eat their vegetables.

He's also connected with a doctor doing cancer research to see whether these super vegetables have more antioxidants and cancer-fighting chemicals than regular produce. He is sure that vegetables that taste better must be healthier, and he is looking to prove it scientifically.

Another story he told was of a friend who grows kosher spelt. To be certified kosher, the grain has to be harvested with no weeds in it. At harvest time, a rabbi walks at the front of the harvester, checking for weeds. If he sees any, the harvest stops while workers rip the weeds from the field. The farmer did some research, and found that the non-kosher weeds indicate a soil imbalance. As he improved his soil, mainly with manure from his cows, fewer weeds grew in it, and he was able to harvest more quickly and reap more grain from his land. The old ways made good sense.

Barber also emphasized that in order to eat healthy, we need to cook our own food. Not necessarily grow it, because farmers are generally bettter at that than we are, but take fresh food home and turn it into good simple meals. Krista Tippett asked how we can do that in our busy lives - she was hoping to be let off the hook, but he wouldn't do it. He pointed out that 10 years ago if someone had said Americans will spend four hours a day on the internet, everyone would have said they didn't have time. If someone had said 30 years ago that everyone would pay for television cable service instead of watching free t.v., or 10 years ago that everyone would pay for cell-phone and internet services, everyone would have said no one could afford it. Yet we do. So there's no reason we can't cook food and buy local organic produce - the time and the money is there if we choose to focus on it.

He's so right.

Migrant workers

The question of migrant labor has bothered me since seeing an exposé on 60 Minutes many years ago on the sub-human conditions some Florida citrus pickers lived in: shacks with holes in the floorboards, unspeakable toilet situations, company stores with overinflated prices so workers ended up owing the farmers money. I was appalled.

And yet it continues across North America, and probably in other countries too.

In our desire for cheap food, we create tight profit margins for farmers, so they squeeze their workers. And agribusiness is out to make megabucks, so it cuts corners wherever it can. Illegal immigrant migrant workers have no power at all, so they are the easiest to take advantage of.

It's one of the dark secrets of the food industry - the way we treat the people who plant and harvest our food.

Organic farmers can treat their migrant fieldworkers as badly as non-organic, but at least the workers aren't exposed to pesticides.

The good news is that some farmers take really good care of their workers. Penning's Organic Farm in Ontario, Canada, runs a literacy program. Literacy workers live and work alongside the migrant workers, and create tailor-made English and math lessons to advance their academic skills.

Unfortunately, supportive employers are the exception, not the rule. Because many migrant workers are illegal immigrants, they are powerless to stand up for their rights, and vulnerable to abuse. Earlier this month, migrant farmers in Simcoe, Ontario, went on strike because they were not being paid. Many were deported.

I read a book recently called Highwire Moon, by southern Californian novelist Susan Straight (HoughtonMifflin 2001 and Anchor Books 2002 - National Book Award Finalist). It's the story of a mother and daughter separated by the U.S. - Mexican border. Of most interest to me were the descriptions of working in the fields and living in the migrant labor camps. This is not a polemic. It's a story of family and survival. And I recommend it for its harsh but not strident look into where our food comes from.

Gingerbread Cookies

While I was visiting my mother in Montreal, we made Christmas cookies for the neighbor-hood children. She hands them out in little bags with a tube of icing attached. It's a great combination of craft and treat, even if the little boys squirt the icing directly into their mouths instead of on the cookies.

Mum's baking is a little healthier than most because she only uses organic whole wheat flour. This sometimes has interesting results - a recent lemon poppyseed loaf took twice as long to cook as the recipe suggested. But it tasted great - people asked for the recipe.

She buys whole wheat pastry flour, which is ground from soft wheat and has less gluten than hard wheat. If you're making bread, use hard wheat flour. For all other baking, use soft. And store it in the fridge or freezer to keep it fresh.

Mum had two items that make cookie-cutting easier. One is a blue silicon pad to roll the dough out on so it doesn't stick. The other is a set of wooden slats you place beside the dough and run the rolling pin on so you get the cookie dough to a uniform height. She has three sets of these slats, all 14" long by 7/8" wide, and with heights of 1/8", 1/4" and 1/2". I covet them, and have asked Larry to make me a set.

These gingerbread cookies are a lovely dark color, and while they're baking the whole house smells of Christmas.

Mum's Gingerbread Cookies
3 1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup butter at room temperature
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground allspice (for luck)
1/2 cup molasses
1 egg

Whisk together flour, baking soda and salt.

Separately, beat the butter until creamy. Add sugar and beat until fluffy. Beat in spices, then molasses and egg, beating well after each addition. (The more you beat the dough, the fluffier the cookies will be. I like them on the dense side.)

Beat in the flour 1/3 at a time until well blended.

Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm enough to roll out easily (2 hours or overnight).

Roll the dough out between two pieces of wax paper until 1/4" thick. Cut out shapes. Bake on ungreased cookie sheets at 350°F for 10-12 minutes. Transfer to racks. The cookies will harden as they cool.

Makes about 45 cookies depending on the size of your cookie cutters.

Traveling Vegetarian

East Coast Trip Part 6

From Pittsburgh we drove across the state to York, PA, where we had a cook-out with Larry's brothers and their wives.

Randy barbecued chicken, and I was happy to see that he did not grill vegetables too. That is not a slur on Randy's barbecuing ability, but there is an art to vegetarian barbecue. I have appeased too many meat-eaters by choking down the charred yet half-raw vegetables they threw on the grill especially for me. If you invite a vegetarian to a barbecue, do what Randy and Lorraine did and serve lots of great side dishes.

I enjoyed fresh corn on the cob, black beans, creamy noodles, green salad - a great vegetarian meal.

The next morning we drove south to Maryland's western shore to visit Susan and Rich. Susan sang at our wedding in Montreal in 1998, and we'd only seen her once since. This was the first time I had visited her stables and riding arena, and met the horses.

For dinner we went to Solomons Island and ate on the pier watching the sunset.

When my mother and I drove from Montreal to South Carolina in 1986, traveling as a vegetarian was a real challenge. Everyone served seafood and french fries. Salads were iceberg lettuce with a wedge of tomato if you were lucky. Even fancy restaurants had limited options. Further inland, vegetable soup had beef in it.

I'm happy to report that times have changed for the better. We ate at a place called Solomons Pier. Larry had crab cakes - his favorite - and I had a great salad (although a litttle too heavy on the dried cranberries) with feta and pecans for protein. We all shared an order of hush puppies - gotta have something fried - which were really good.

I was sorry we only had one night to spend on the Maryland shore, but we were on a schedule. Next stop Baltimore.

Creative Cooking

When I got home from Montreal late Tuesday evening, I looked in the fridge and saw two rutabagas, some leeks and carrots, and half a cabbage. I did what any sensible person would do: closed the door and went to bed.

The next evening, however, I came home from work determined to make a delicious meal.

I gently cooked the sliced leeks in olive oil until tender, then added some chopped garlic, basil and the last tomato from our garden. I stirred in some white lima beans I had pressure-cooked, sprinkled some salt and pepper, and let it simmer. A squeeze of lemon juice before serving finished the provençal-inspired main course.

On the side I served mashed rutabagas, just like mashed potatoes but orange and fluffier. Normally I would have used half potatoes and half rutabagas, but we had no potatoes.

Then I cooked my mainstay cabbage recipe, one I got from my friend Queenie years ago in Montreal. Its bright yellow color cheers the plate and the light cooking makes many of the nutrients more available to the body. Best of all, it cooks on the back burner while I'm making the rest of the meal. If I'm not ready for it, I turn off the heat and let it sit until I need it. It reheats well.

I often make this simple recipe even simpler. I throw the mustard seeds in hot oil. When they pop I add the cabbage, salt and tumeric and toss until the cabbage is well-coated. I then let it cook until it's done. But I recommend you try the full recipe for the real Indian flavor. If you like to make curries, this is an excellent side dish along with the dal. But that's a story for another day.

Queenie's Spiced Cabbage
1 small cabbage, processed or cut fine
1 large onion, chopped
2 tbsp oil
1 tbsp black mustard seeds
1/4 tsp tumeric
1 green chili, split in half
salt to taste

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat.

Add the mustard seeds. When you hear them starting to pop, add the onion, tumeric and chili. Stir for about 1 minute.

Add the cabbage and salt to taste.

Set the heat to medium-low. Cook for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Serves 4.

Calabacitas

At Thanksgiving, I made this sauté of peppers, zucchini and corn to spoon over the lentil loaf. It's also great with mashed potatoes or wrapped in warm corn tortillas.

Regular readers know my affection for the poblano. When roasted, it has a smoky depth that enhances this dish. (Click here for roasting instructions. You could substitute a regular diced green pepper. The heat of the jalapenos is mellowed by the cream -- add more or less to taste.

The recipe calls for a lot of stirring, but it's more a matter of keeping an eye on it and stirring as needed rather than hovering over the pot.

Calabacitas
1 poblano, roasted and peeled
1 red pepper
1/2 lb medium zucchini
2 jalapenos
1 tbsp oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups corn kernels, thawed if frozen
1 tbsp chopped fresh oregano or 1 tsp dried
1 tbsp whipping cream
1 tbsp chopped cilantro

Seed and quarter the roasted poblano and the red pepper and cut into 1/2 inch wide strips. Keep separate. Halve zucchini lengthwise and slice across in 1/3 inch half-moons. Seed and chop the jalapeno.

Heat oil over medium-high heat. Sauté the onion until golden, about 5 minutes. Add zucchini, red pepper, jalapeno and garlic. Sauté until zucchini begins to brown, about 5 minutes. Add corn, oregano and poblano. Stir 3 minutes. Add cream and half the cilantro. Cook, stirring, until the cream thickens, about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Serve sprinkled with the remaining cilantro.

Leftovers can be refrigerated for a few days.

Serves 4

Agricultural Chemicals in Drinking Water

There has been a rash of stories recently about agricultural chemicals getting in the drinking water of farming communities.

More than 1 million Californians live in places where the tap water is not reliably safe to drink.

And I'm not talking chlorine or fluoride, chemicals intentionally added to municipal water supplies. No, the dangers are the chemicals that seep into the groundwater from chemical applications in the fields and orchards.

I'm glad people are realizing that what you spray on plants and soil will end up in the water supply. Now we need to crack down on the types of chemicals that are sprayed in this way (including lawn-care chemicals and garden pesticides).

We consumers have an impact by buying organic produce. Also organic cotton, because cotton is the most heavily pesticided crop in America. Better yet, wear hemp, which requires no chemicals to flourish.

On Fresh Air the other night, Terry Gross interviewed oncologist Siddhartha Mukherjee who has just written a book called The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer. The highlight for me was near the end of the interview when he mentioned the role chemicals play in causing cancer. He said that all chemicals, not just newly-introduced ones, need to be re-examined solely and in combination, and those that cause cancer should be banned or restricted.

Wouldn't that be great?

While they're doing the testing, they could look at the effects chemicals have on hormones too, and look at which ones are poisonous to humans. Even better, science might find ways to achieve the same beneficial results without harmful chemicals.

I keep hoping.

Emptying the fridge

Last week our fridge was bulging at the seams.

I figured that most of it was Thanksgiving food, and that after Thursday, things would calm down.

Not so.

It seems I was a little over-inspired at the farmers market, and we had a plentitude of kohlrabi, rutabagas, parsnips and greens.

I was leaving for a week with my mum, and knew that Larry would eat bachelor food while I was away. So I did my best to empty the fridge.

I roasted the parsnips and cooked the kohlrabi to eat with Thanksgiving leftovers.

I cooked the greens from the kohlrabi with lacinato and red kales. I froze some, and we ate the rest for dinner with potato cakes made from leftover mashed potatoes. (Is there anything better than mashed potatoes patted into cakes and lightly browned in a little olive oil?)

The lettuce was washed and wrapped in paper towels for Larry to make into salads. (Or feed to the compost heap.)

Finally, I found three bunches of cilantro. I picked out the freshest leaves and found I had enough to make a double-batch of this spicy cilantro pesto, which I stashed in the freezer. I'll serve it as a dip with raw vegetables, toss it with pasta, or drizzle it over vegetables and rice.

The recipe comes from A Celebration of Herbs, a lovely book published by the Huntington Library and Gardens in Pasadena, and given to me by my friends Lisa and Sally. It has old botanical prints from the library and modern recipes inspired by the Huntington herb garden and the diverse cultures of southern California. It would make a nice gift for any cook on your list.

There is more space in the fridge now, and I feel good knowing that my freezer is well-stocked for when I return.

Spicy Cliantro Pesto
2 1/2 cups fresh cilantro, stemmed and coarsely chopped
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
1/2 cup walnuts
1 1/2 heads (yes heads, not cloves) of garlic
1/4 cup lime juice
1 tbsp plus 1 tsp chili powder
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried crushed red chiles
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup olive oil

Put all but the olive oil in the food processor. Whir until minced. With the machine running, gradually pour the oil through the feed tube. Blend smooth. Season to taste. Refrigerate for 1 week, or freeze for 1 month.

Update: I defrosted this pesto for supper on Christmas Eve. I tossed it with hot rotini and halved grape tomatoes, and served parmesan on the side. It was spicy and garlicky and delicious, although the saltiness had increased in the freezer. If I make it to freeze again, I will cut the salt by half. Also, I think it would be a little intense as a dip.

Thanksgiving Hiccups

Even when it's just the two of us, Thanksgiving dinner takes time to prepare. I wanted to spend Thursday outside planting my winter vegetable garden, not inside cooking, so I was in the kitchen first thing doing what I could. I made the lentil loaf and the pie, and stirred together the dough for the dinner rolls so it could slow rise in the fridge all day. Maybe the early hour was responsible for the challenges I encountered in the kitchen.

My favorite Thanksgiving tradition is listening to Turkey Confidential on NPR from 9-11 a.m. Lynne Rossetto-Kasper fields calls from people across the country trying to get dinner on the table. Lynne is a masterful problem-solver. One caller had left the eggs out of her pumpkin pie filling and it wouldn't set. Lynne suggested turning it into a parfait - scooping the filling out of the pie crust and layering it in individual glasses with whipped cream. And of course telling the guests it was the latest dessert from Paris.

Lynne reminds us that the Thanksgivings people remember are the ones where there was a calamity. She said that no one talks about the time she gilded apples and pears with gold leaf, instead they laugh about the time she dropped the turkey on the floor.

I remembered this as I stumbled through my Thanksgiving cooking this year. My stand-by never-fail lentil loaf did not work. (Did you try it - did it work for you?) I guess I didn't cook the lentils long enough, because it did not hold together well. It was a lentil casserole, not a lentil loaf.

I baked an apple-pear pie with a rum crust from Diana Shaw's Vegetarian Entertaining. I baked the pie crust blind for a few minutes, using dried chickpeas as pie weights. When I took it from the oven, I tipped out the chickpeas and the whole crust slipped out with them, crumbling into pieces of partially-cooked dough. So much for pie. I poured the filling into the bare pie plate, covered it with the lattice top, and baked it.

I spent the day planting, and Larry and I met in the kitchen at 4:30 p.m. to put dinner together. When his pre-cooked turkey part came out of the oven, the rolls went in. I made calabacitas and mashed potatoes while Larry heated gravy and stirred together stuffing.

We had a good meal. The lentil loaf was a pile of lentils, but the calabacitas were a delicious sauce for it. The mashed potatoes rocked, and the rolls were light and fluffy.

By the time we'd eaten all this food, we had no room for dessert. The not-quite pie made an excellent breakfast the next morning.

PA cheese please

East Coast Trip Part 5

From Pittsburgh we drove northeast to Amish country. Near the town of Smicksburg we found a shop that sold cheese made from milk supplied by local Amish dairy farmers.

When I'm traveling, I love to try the local cheeses. Amish dairy farms don't use pesticides, chemical fertilizers or growth hormones, so their cheese fits right in with my organic philosophy.

Larry had picked up a flyer for an Amish cheese factory, but we found it had closed amidst rumors that the Englishers who opened it were ripping off the Amish.

We continued up the road and found B & B Country Cheese Shoppe, where they sell a wide variety of local cheese, respect the Amish, and are respected by them.

While we were at the cheese shop, a local farmer drove up in his buggy. Larry chatted with him and asked if he could take a picture of his buggy. You can see why.

Although we were spending nights at the homes of various friends and relatives, our days were spent on the road. Picnics of good bread, cheese and fruit made a great lunch. Way better than any of the fast food options on the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

One of the pleasures of a cheese shop is tasting before buying. And I tasted many varieties at B & B Cheese Shoppe. Because Smicksburg is near the Pennsylvania / Ohio border, the store sold cheese from Ohio Amish dairies like Heinis and Yancey Fancey as well as PA cheese. I bought some garden yogurt cheese (tangy) and spicy Buffalo Wing Hot Sauce Cheddar (way spicy!). I also picked up some fresh cheese curds - the kind that squeak when you chew them. They evoked fond memories of poutine in Montreal.

(If you're in Smicksburg, it's just a short jaunt to see Punxsutawney Phil, the weather-forecasting groundhog. We headed south instead.)

As usual, I bought more cheese than we needed. We learned to freeze water bottles in our hosts' freezers overnight to use as ice packs to keep our cheese cold.

The Amish cheese was delicious, and got us through to Philadelphia, where I found a health food store to re-stock. You can never have too much good cheese.

Bearing Vegetarian Dishes

When I am invited to a potluck, I take something filling that I will enjoy eating. I'm one of the few vegetarians I know in this low-carb town, and I find most gatherings serve animal protein and green salads. Although I enjoy salad, it is not a meal. Especially on these cold evenings.

So I take a filling vegetarian dish that I will enjoy. That way I eat well too.

To take pressure off the host, I take an entrée that needs no last-minute heating, because I don't know what demands there will be on the stove. I take my own serving plate and spoon, and carry everything in one bag that can be easily tucked out of the way.

This rice salad fits the bill, and it got great reviews at a potluck I went to in late October. The soy sauce and orange juice give it a rich flavor. To distract from the brown color (the downside of brown rice), I served it on a bed of romaine lettuce and garnished it with nasturtiums and violas from my garden.

You might consider this recipe as a side with your Thanksgiving dinner. You can make it a few hours ahead and let it sit at room temperature until it's time to eat.

Wild rice is a Native American food, so eating it is a way to honor the people who first cultivated this land.

Brown and Wild Rice Salad
Salad:
1/3 cup brown rice
1/3 cup wild rice
1/4 cup chopped red onion
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, quartered
1/4 cup dried apricots, snipped small
1/2 cup chopped red pepper
3 tbsp chopped cilantro

Cook brown and wild rice together in 1-1/3 cups boiling water, lid covered, until the water is absorbed and the rice is tender - about 40 minutes.

Turn out into a bowl, toss with a fork, and stir in the remaining salad ingredients. Meanwhile, make the dressing:

Dressing:
1 tbsp minced fresh ginger
1 tbsp dijon
2 tbsp soy sauce
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup orange juice (from 1 juicy orange)
2 tbsp rice vinegar
3 tbsp toasted sesame oil

Combine all but sesame oil. Whisk in oil and add salt and pepper to taste.

Pour half the dressing over the salad. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add dressing to achieve the consistency you like.

Serve the extra dressing on the side, or save it in the fridge to use on green salads.

Serves 4-6

Pierogi in Pittsburgh

East Coast Trip Part 4

From Washington, DC, we drove northwest to Pittsburgh, PA, to visit our friends Dave and Becky.

Dave and Larry were childhood friends who lost touch when Dave moved from eastern PA to western PA after grade 5. Last year, through the wonders of Google, they reconnected. And we made a point of seeing them on our east-coast tour.

They took us to a ball game at PNC Park, on the Allegheny River in Pittsburgh. The tickets were four rows behind home plate, and came with a pre-game buffet in the Home Plate Club.

For a vegetarian, it was a step up from Dodger Stadium. I had to search, but I found a mixed-greens salad and a beautiful heirloom tomato salad.

I filled out the meal with fettucine alfredo, and a token pierogi when I was assured that it was filled with potatoes and onions - no meat. Pierogi are Eastern European dumplings. They are a big deal in Pittsburgh.

What amused me most was the guys filling their plates with beef medallions and fettucine alfredo. No vegetables for them.

Outside in the stadium, young men swarmed Primanti Brothers, a Pittsburgh institution whose signature sandwich is grilled meat, coleslaw, tomato slices and french fries between two pieces of Italian bread. The story is that in the 1930s, busy truckers needed to be able to eat with one hand while driving.

During the 7th inning stretch, I watched giant pierogi race around the field.

It was a memorable trip to Pittsburgh.

Thanksgiving Dinner

This Thursday, vegetarians across America will be digging into Tofurkey.

Not I.

I don't want to eat turkey. Why would I want to eat fake turkey?

(Yes, I know the fowl in the picture are not turkeys - they're our neighbor's chickens. In this case, they are fake turkeys - tofurkeys!)

As I've mentioned before, I like the look of vegetables. If we were having company at Thanksgiving, I would serve a stuffed squash, or a vegetable pot pie, or a beautiful filo vegetable tart.

But it's just Larry and me this year. He's doing the Trader Joe's pre-cooked piece of turkey, stuffing and gravy. And I am going to make a lentil-nut loaf.

Like turkey, lentil-nut loaf makes great leftovers: cold in sandwiches; or patted into burger shapes, dusted with breadcrumbs, and fried. And the last piece will freeze well for a few weeks, quick to defrost for dinner.

This is one of my favorite loaf recipes, even though it's not baked in a loaf pan. It's light, with a nice crunch from the nuts, and good flavor from the mushrooms, tamari and fresh herbs. (You can use dried if necessary.)

The loaf can be made the day before and refrigerated. Reheat it, covered, in a 350° oven for 20 minutes until warmed through.

I'll serve it with mashed potatoes and calabacitas - a sauté of zucchini, corn, red peppers, jalapenos, and my favorite poblanos.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Lentil-Nut Loaf
1 1/4 lb green lentils
1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup diced onions
1/2 cup diced red and/or green peppers
1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs (1 slice bread)
1/2 tsp minced fresh basil
1/2 tsp minced fresh oregano
1/2 tsp minced fresh thyme
1/2 tsp chili powder
pepper to taste
1 tbsp tamari
2 egg whites, beaten to soft peaks
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup shredded jack cheese
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup water

Place lentils, mushrooms, onions, bell peppers and water to cover in a 4-quart saucepan. Bring to boil over medium-high heat, then reduce heat and simmer until tender, about 1 hour. Drain lentil mixture and cool slightly, 10 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Place lentil mixture in large bowl and stir in remaining ingredients. Pour into lightly greased 9" square pyrex dish, spreading evenly.

Bake until lightly browned, about 30 minutes. Cool 15 minutes before cutting and serving with gravy or tomato sauce.

8-10 servings.

Postscript: Make sure to cook the lentils until they're very soft. Otherwise you'll end up with lentil casserole, not lentil loaf.

Keeping Healthy in Flu Season

During flu season, it is important to listen to your body: rest when needed, consume lots of vegetables and very little sugar, and eat a large amount of garlic.

Garlic has been known for centuries for its healing ability. Science documents its anti-biotic and anti-viral activity. This means it can kill not only flu bugs but also those cold viruses that don't respond to antibiotics.

I knew someone in Montreal who swallowed a peeled clove of garlic every night during winter. He never got sick.

But that's a little intense for me. I prefer to eat my garlic for dinner, and share it with my loved ones. (Garlic has to be shared.)

The other night we had this wonderful garlicky pasta. I've written before that different nutrients are absorbed in different ways. Some are better for us to consume raw. Others need to be broken down for our bodies to use, and others need to be cooked with a little fat. This recipe includes garlic in all these forms so we can absorb the wide variety of beneficial compounds that it contains.

There's also a good amount of barely-wilted spinach for vitamin C and minerals. I used the Malabar spinach from Finley Farms at the Hollywood Farmers Market, which holds its crispness but is sweeter than regular spinach. You could substitute bagged baby spinach. Don't forget the thyme -- it soothes inflammation of the respiratory system.

See Roasting Peppers for instructions on roasting and peeling the orange peppers. If this is too much work, use them raw but cook them a little longer. The chickpeas add some protein to help your body stay strong. Skip the parmesan for a vegan dish - but add more salt to taste.

Despite this nutritional analysis, this pasta dish tastes like comfort food, not health food.

Garlicky Pasta with Spinach
1 head of garlic (about 13 cloves)
1/2 tsp salt
2 orange or red bell peppers, roasted and peeled
1 tsp chopped fresh thyme (or 1/2 tsp dried)
1/4 lb spinach, washed and dried
1/2 bag penne
3 tsp olive oil
1/3 cup dry chickpeas, cooked (or 1 can drained)
3 tsp balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp parmesan

Separate and peel the cloves of garlic. Keep three aside and put the rest in a small pan with 1 cup cold water. Simmer, covered, until garlic is very soft, about 30 minutes. Purée the garlic and liquid in a blender with 1/2 tsp salt until smooth.

With a large knife, chop 1 reserved garlic clove with the thyme and 1/4 tsp salt. Place in a large serving bowl and put the spinach on top.

Cook pasta according to package directions.

Chop last 2 garlic cloves and cook in 3 tsp olive oil over moderate heat, stirring, until pale golden, 3-5 minutes. Add peppers, diced in 1/2 inch pieces, and cook, stirring, 3 minutes. Add chickpeas and garlic purée and bring to a simmer over moderate heat, stirring occasionally. Season with salt and pepper.

Drain pasta and add to serving bowl with chickpea sauce, vinegar and parmesan. Toss to combine. Serve immediately.

Serves 3-4

Amazing Okra

East Coast Trip Part 3

One of the great things about traveling is the opportunity to try new foods. Like pickled okra.

I had tried okra a couple of times, mainly in Indian food, and not enjoyed it. It's a texture thing. I find it slimy, like when I cook nopales (which I do very badly).

So when our friends Bill and Ramsay in Arlington, VA, encouraged me to try an okra pickle, I was dubious. Ramsay understood. She did not grow up eating okra either. Bill, who hails from New Orleans, introduced her to it. And she assured me that okra pickles are crunchy, not slimy.

Well, I will try anything vegetarian once, as long as no one is offended if I spit it out, so I tried an okra pickle. And it was good. Crunchy. Like a dill pickle.

I don't know how many health benefits are retained when okra is pickled, but even if it's just a few, it's worth eating. It helps the body cope with trans fats; it slows the absorption of sugar; it feeds the good bacteria in the intestines; it binds cholesterol; and in Kami, Japan, the elderly attribute their youthful appearance to it.

All the more reason to eat okra. I'm going to stick to the pickled version, which, here in Los Angeles, I'll probably have to make myself.

Mmmm Biscuits!

On Sunday morning I had a craving for scrambled eggs and biscuits.

There's nothing like a hot fluffy biscuit. On a plate with scrambled eggs, maybe spread with a little pomelo marmalade, it starts a weekend off right.

A healthier biscuit would be made with whole wheat flour. These are not. However, they're also not made with chemicals. And they are scrumptious.

This recipe comes from a book my mum gave me called Biscuits, Pancakes and Quick Breads by Beverly Cox.

If I was feeding teenage boys, I would use this book every day. Cox gives a recipe for biscuit mix that you store in the freezer (like you would store Bisquik in the cupboard) and then scoop out enough to make almost-instant biscuits, pizzas, cobblers, and everything else you can make with biscuit dough.

I have not stored it in the freezer, because we are two middle-aged people who should not eat biscuits on a regular basis.

Instead, I mix the butter and dry ingredients the night before, or in the morning before we go to the farmers market, and refrigerate it. When we get home I turn on the oven while I unpack the groceries. I put the tablespoon of butter in a small pyrex dish in the pre-heating oven to melt. Then I stir the liquid into the dry, pat the dough into a rectangle, cut it into rectangular biscuits (it's too early in the morning to mess with fancy shapes), and bake.

While the biscuits bake, I scramble the eggs and Larry squeezes the o.j. And then we have a feast.

(In the unlikely event you have leftover biscuits, store them at room temperature and re-heat them to eat with soup or for breakfast the next day.)

Fluffy Biscuits
1 3/4 cups unbleached white flour (I use Arrowhead Mills organic)
2 1/2 tsp aluminum-free baking powder (Bob's Red Mill or Rumford's)
1/2 tsp salt
3 tbsp unsalted butter
3 tbsp salted butter
1/2 cup whipping cream, plus up to 3 tbsp milk if needed
1 tbsp butter, melted

Sift flower, baking powder and salt together. Using a pastry blender or your fingertips, cut in the 6 tbsp butter. It should resemble large breadcrumbs with a few larger pieces of butter remaining. At this point it can be refrigerated (2 weeks) or frozen (3 months) until you need it.

Preheat oven to 450°F. Put the biscuit mix in a bowl and stir in the 1/2 cup cream with a fork. Add extra milk, 1 tbsp at a time, to make a moist, workable dough. (I added no extra milk, but flour varies. You want a dough that holds together, but is not too wet. Worst case scenario - your biscuits are too crumbly or too dense. They'll still be good to eat, and each time you make them you'll get a better feel for the dough.)

Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Pat to a 3/4-inch-deep rectangle. Cut into 8 roughly even pieces. Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet (I use a reusable silicon liner called a Sil-Pat that I got at Sur La Table). Brush lightly with the melted butter. Bake in the middle of the oven 10-12 minutes, until lightly browned top and bottom.

Makes 8 fluffy biscuits

Teachable Moments

The New York Times recently noted the passing of the creator of Cheez Doodles, Morrie Yohai, a World War II veteran and junk food pioneer who helped shape the Baby Boom generation – literally.

Joy’s childhood was split between England and Canada. She wasn’t exposed to the quality and quantity of junk food that I was in the USA, the Saudi Arabia of sugar.

I was to sugar what Scarface was to cocaine. We liked it white, refined, and as often as possible.

In previous posts, I’ve talked about my family’s addiction to Coca Cola and Charles Chips. But I also loved Milk Duds, Turkish Taffy, Atomic Fireballs, Ju Ju Bees, Necco Wafers, and Sugar Daddies. My parents were enablers. They never said no to sugar.

When it came to veggies, I had trauma. I could handle canned string beans and corn, sprinkled with salt, but I gagged on garden-fresh vegetables. They were squishy and irregular and smelled earthy and did not come in plastic packaging. They were not advertised on TV.

I still remember the first time I tasted vegetables like tomatoes and asparagus. Blech! My first exposure to sweet potato was in the cafeteria in 1st grade. I was revolted, and subsequently instituted a six-year cafeteria boycott, switching to a nuclear submarine lunch box instead.

I decided I wasn’t cut out for vegetables.

So I didn’t learn how to identify or eat them. And the anxiety that I carried around not knowing how to buy, peel, slice, cook or chew fresh vegetables lasted through college.

When I was talking to a friend about his kid’s football team recently, I had a traumatic Little League flashback. I was 9 or 10 years old and playing 3rd base when I got steam-rollered by a massive 12-year old baserunner because of my bad tagging technique.

That could have been a teachable moment, but my father wasn't there to pick me up, dust me off, and coach me on what just happened and how I could avoid being flattened repeatedly. I subsequently drifted, demoralized, out of Little League. Looking back, I realize I just didn't have good sports coaching.

I now see that I could have used some food coaching from my parents as well. When I reached for a Sugar Daddy, they could have said “not now, honey.” When I spit out a Brussels sprout, they could have said “Let’s try again next week.”

These days, I actually appreciate many of the scary vegetables that Joy cooks. I can tell chard from collard greens, and I like Brussels sprouts. I even know what to do with a turnip, if forced.

Too bad I missed out on all that nutrition as a kid.

Sweet Potato Hash

When Larry goes out of town, I take advantage of the opportunity to eat the foods he is not so keen on.

Like sweet potatoes.

He doesn't understand why I would eat sweet potatoes when I could eat white potatoes. Especially for breakfast.

But I have to say, there's nothing like this sweet potato hash with a fried egg on top to start a Sunday on the right note.

Sweet potatoes are nutritional powerhouses. They have large amounts of the antioxidants glutathione, beta carotene and vitamin C. They are anti-inflammatory and a good source of dietary fiber.

Plus they taste good.

I find sweet potatoes are sweet enough without the fruit, brown sugar and marshmallows so often paired with them on the Thanksgiving table. I like to eat them with mushrooms and onions to enhance their earthiness, as in this sweet potato hash that I bake in the toaster oven.

Sweet Potato Hash
5 oz cremini mushrooms, cut in half-inch pieces
5 oz sweet potato, peeled and chopped in half-inch pieces
2 tbsp chopped shallot or red onion
1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 450°F.

Toss all the ingredients together. Spread in an even layer on a baking sheet, and cook 10 minutes. Stir well and cook another 8-10 minutes until tender and golden brown.

Serves 1-2 as a side dish, or as brunch with fried eggs on top.

Good News on Monsanto

I've written before that I don't want to give a dime to Monsanto and their genetically-modified Franken-foods.

Well, it seems I'm not alone.

The NY Times reported on October 4th that it's not just earth-friendly people like me who don't like Monsanto. Some of their seeds are not living up to the hype, and farmers and investors are losing patience.

One of the problems is that weeds have grown resistant to Round-Up, Monsanto's widely-used herbicide. Monsanto genetically modifies their seeds to be resistant to Round-Up, so farmers can spray the chemical on their fields to kill weeds without damaging their crops.

(Let's ignore the fact that Round-Up, brand name for glyphosate, is among the top reported pesticides causing poisoning in many countries. The range of acute symptoms includes recurrent eczema, respiratory problems, elevated blood pressure and allergic reactions, according to Friends of the Earth.)

Now that the weeds are resistant to Round-Up, the farmers have to spend money on other weed-killers. And worry that the chemicals will damage their crops.

(I recommend they find non-chemical ways to weed - machinery, hoes - but then I'm an organic girl at heart.)

Another problem is that Monsanto's genetically-modified (gmo) seeds aren't producing as much as the company thought they would. Monsanto makes deals with farmers that because their seeds will produce more than regular seed, the farmers will give 1/3 of their extra profit back to Monsanto. With their newest most genetically-modified seeds, Monsanto is wanting a 50-50 split with farmers. But the seeds are not producing, so farmers are requesting the less-gmo seeds and are giving less money back to Monsanto.

Now Monsanto stock prices are dropping. Last week, t.v. stock promoter Jim Cramer said that Monsanto might be the worst stock of 2010.

I would be rejoicing, but the bad news is that Dupont's gmo company, Pioneer Hi-Bred, is gaining market share as Monsanto loses theirs.

It seems that there is still too much emphasis on chemicals and genetic modification in the farming community.

I have hopes this will change.

By the way, corn and soy are the two major genetically-modified crops. Don't buy either (any product with soy protein isolate or other soy derivatives, or corn in any form including high-fructose corn syrup) unless it says organic right next to the ingredient. Otherwise put the product back on the shelf.

And keep the faith -- nature will always win out.

Roasting Peppers

The peppers were overflowing the Tutti Frutti stand at the Hollywood Farmers Market last week, and I brought home a big bag of organic red peppers, poblanos and jalapenos.

I froze the jalapenos whole to use in chili and other spicy dishes throughout the winter. They defrost quickly, and still retain much of their heat.

The red peppers and poblanos I roasted and peeled, and then stored individually wrapped in the freezer. They add color and flavor to bean dishes and cobblers -- I feel rich when I have peppers in the freezer.

You might have noticed that I don't use a lot of red peppers on this blog. That's because organic locally-grown ones are only available for a short time each year. The rest of the year I pull them from my freezer - not for eating raw, of course, but for any cooked purpose they are great.

Poblanos are available year-round at Mexican markets, but I prefer the organic ones that only come to the farmers market in the fall. I grew some in my garden this year too - and harvested a dozen over the weekend. These are my favorite peppers - they have a rich flavor and a slight spiciness that I find addictive.

There are many recipes for roasting and freezing peppers. Mine is the simplest.

Roasting Peppers
Rinse and dry the peppers. Turn the gas flame on the stove to high and lay the peppers on the rack above the flame to char. I fit three on each burner. (If you don't have a gas stove, put the peppers on a rack under the broiler.)

Use tongs to turn the peppers as they blacken on each side. When a pepper is black all over, put it in a saucepan and cover it with the lid. Add peppers as they are blackened, and let them sit in the covered pot until they are cool enough to handle. The steam released as they cool helps release the skin.

To peel a pepper, hold it by the stem, and with a small knife scrape off the blackened skin. Do not run the pepper under water - this washes away the flavor. Don't fuss if some of the skin won't come off.

When you've peeled the pepper, cut off the top and then slice down one side to flatten it. Scrape out the seeds and the thickest membranes.

When you've prepped the peppers, put each one in an individual baggie and seal it. Then put them all in one big freezer bag labelled with the date and the kinds of peppers, and toss it in the freezer.

This winter, when you want a pepper, just pull it out and let it defrost in its small bag on the counter. Then chop it and add it to whatever you are cooking. Or toss it with olive oil, garlic and herbs as a quick appetizer.

Inexpensive and delicious - organic roasted peppers from the freezer are great.

Caponata

East Coast Trip Part 2

When we travelled back East in September, we spent most evenings with friends and family. We reminded them beforehand that I'm vegetarian, so everyone planned dinner accordingly.

I never feel bad about letting people know my dietary preferences ahead of time. It gives them a chance to pick up something suitable for me to eat, or cook extra vegetables or pasta to go with the meat. And it lets them be the good hosts they want to be.

I would feel terrible if I cooked a special meal only to find my guests couldn't eat it, so I ask ahead of time if there are food preferences or allergies. And I'm happy to cook or buy food according to whatever their parameters are.

I think the whole point of breaking bread with people is to be inclusive and sharing. And the friends and family we visited did a great job of it, sharing food that both Larry and I enjoyed.

Our first stop was in Arlington, VA, with our friends Ramsay and Bill. We arrived late in the afternoon, a little worn out by our 4 a.m. start, cross-country flight, and the D.C. beltway traffic.

Ramsay set out an Italian eggplant relish with some sliced baguette, and poured a glass of red wine. All the travel stress drifted away, and we settled in for a good visit.

She had made this relish (which I am calling caponata) in August and frozen it. I could not tell it had been frozen and thawed, so good did it taste. So I asked for the recipe, because I love having good food in my freezer.

When we got home I watched impatiently as our Black Beauty eggplant slowly ripened. Finally, on Sunday, we sat by the fire eating this delicious caponata on slices of fresh baguette. It was worth the wait, and it brought back memories of a great trip. Thanks Ramsay!

Caponata
1 eggplant (about 9 oz)
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup thinly sliced celery
1/2 large onion, chopped
1 large red pepper, diced
1 small clove garlic, minced
2 tbsp tomato paste
1/2 cup water
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tbsp capers, drained
1/4 cup oil-cured black olives, pitted and sliced

Peel eggplant and cut into 1/2 inch cubes. Warm oil over medium heat. Add eggplant, cover and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Take the lid off and keep cooking until eggplant is browned, about 10 minutes more. Stir occasionally but don't worry if the eggplant sticks to the pan. It will unstick later and add good flavor.

Stir in celery, onion, peppers and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is soft, about 5 minutes.

Combine tomato paste, water, vinegar, capers and olives and add to the pan. Cook, stirring more frequently, until the sauce is thick and the eggplant is soft, about 10 minutes.

Serve cold or at room temperature. Leftovers will last a week in the fridge, and freeze well for at least a month, probably longer.

An apple a day…

There's nothing like a fresh, crisp apple.

I enjoy one every day after lunch.

It's common to have something sweet after a meal, but I don't do sweets at lunch time. Sugar lowers the immune system for a few hours after we eat it. I don't know what germs I'll be exposed to in the afternoon at my office or running errands, so I prefer to keep my immune system at peak performance.

It doesn't matter whether it's sugar, honey, fructose or corn syrup - all sugars have this short-term immune-suppressant effect.

Now, while an apple has sugar, it also has carbohydrates, minerals, vitamins and enzymes that boost the immune system, so I figure it evens out. Apple juice, applesauce or cooked apples don't have the same benefits as a raw apple.

I find that although I might feel like a cookie after lunch, once I've eaten my apple my sweet tooth is satisfied and my mouth feels fresh - I don't want to put anything else in it.

Fortunately I'm able to get good apples year round at the Hollywood Farmers Market. The varieties change with the season: fuji, gala, pink lady, now the Arkansas blacks are coming in. It never gets boring.

On Monday, I ate my apple for lunch, instead of after. I added it to a salad of soft butter lettuce from Finley farms and freshly harvested walnuts from La Nogalera, with a robust dressing of mustard and walnut oil. Mustard is a great fall flavoring, and it goes well with nuts and apples.

You could add a few cubes of cheddar or a handful of nutty chickpeas to boost the protein content. Vary the other ingredients as you like. The dressing makes enough to dress a salad for four. Any leftover will keep in a jar in the fridge for a week or so.

Robust Mustard Dressing
3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp chopped red onion
1 tbsp coarse-grain or dijon mustard
3 tbsp walnut oil
salt and pepper

Whisk vinegar, onion and mustard. Whisk in walnut oil until blended. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Makes a scant half cup.

Barley and Mustard Greens

We celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving Monday night with a harvest risotto of barley, butternut squash, and purple mustard greens.

Canadian Thanksgiving is much less of an ordeal - er, celebration - than the U.S. version. It's the last three-day weekend before winter sets in, so people clean out their garages, test the snow blower, put up the winter bird feeders, and enjoy the colorful fall leaves and crisp air. Dinner is turkey (at least it was at my house). When I became a vegetarian, Mum added a stuffed pumpkin to the table.

This year, Larry used the Columbus Day holiday to clean out the garage. I puttered in the garden. And then we gathered in the kitchen to stir up dinner.

Risotto is usually made with arborio rice, but I read it could be made with barley, which felt more Canadian (even though most Canadian barley is fed to beef). Barley is a nutritional powerhouse which balances blood sugar, lowers cholesterol and improves cardiovascular health.

The purple greens and orange squash were stunning as I added them to the pot, but the purple faded to green as it cooked. Still beautiful, with that little kick that mustard greens have. You could substitute any greens, but boil tougher ones like collard greens and kale separately to be sure they're well cooked and not bitter.

You won't need a whole butternut squash. Keep the leftover piece (with its peel intact) well-wrapped in the fridge for a few days to use in soup or stews.

Risotto requires constant attention. This recipe might have worked if I had just boiled everything together, but Larry and I enjoy the companionship of cooking risotto. There's something about gathering in the kitchen around a simmering pot that makes us feel thankful.

Barley Risotto with Mustard Greens and Butternut Squash
4-5 cups vegetable broth
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup diced onion
1 cup pearled barley (the brown kind from the health food store)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 cup butternut squash in 1/4 - 1/2 inch dice
1 bunch mustard greens, washed, stemmed, and chopped
salt and pepper

Bring the vegetable broth to a boil in a covered saucepan. Keep it barely simmering on low.

Heat the olive oil in a 4-quart pot over medium heat. Add the onion and barley and cook, stirring often, about five minutes until the barley is lightly golden and aromatic. The oil will be absorbed and you'll be dry-roasting the barley in the pan.

Add the garlic and cook another minute. Then stir in 1/2 cup hot broth. Stir until it is absorbed, then add another cup along with the butternut squash. Keep adding 1/2 cup broth as it gets absorbed. Stir regularly. (This is where I always worry the squash will never cook, but it does.)

After 10 minutes, add the greens, stirring the barley up from the bottom and onto the greens so that the heat compresses them down into the dish.

Keep adding broth and stirring as needed for another 20-25 minutes. The barley will be chewy, and then will suddenly soften and become toothsome. Add 1/2 tsp salt and many grinds of black pepper. Taste, season more as needed, and serve.

Serves 4

Happy Thanksgiving.

White Beans with Rosemary and Thyme

If you have room for just 3 plants on your Southern California patio, choose rosemary, thyme and bay. They grow well in pots, are drought tolerant (their flavor is more intense when they are mildly stressed), and make a big flavor pop in whatever you're cooking. They require a few hours of sun a day to thrive. The bay will try to be a tree. Trim it to the size you like.

I ventured into the rain last night to pick these herbs to serve with the big white lima beans from Lompoc that I buy at the Hollywood Farmers Market. I cooked the beans with bay, garlic, leek and carrots, and then stirred in a pesto of rosemary and thyme at the end. Wow. Served with acorn squash, it made a wonderful fall dinner.

For a quicker version, use 2 cans of cannelini beans. Drain them well and add to 2 cups simmering vegetable broth. Cook until they are warmed through, stir in the pesto, and dinner is served. You can speed up the roasting of the squash by cutting it into wedges, tossing it in olive oil, and roasting it for 20 minutes until tender. Or serve steamed vegetables or greens as a quick side dish.

White Beans with Rosemary and Thyme
1 1/2 cups dried white beans
6 cloves garlic, peeled - divided use
1 carrot, cut in 1" lengths
greens from 1 leek, washed well, (save the rest of the leek for another recipe) or 1/2 onion cut into large pieces
1 bay leaf
4 tsp rosemary leaves, stripped from the stems
1 tbsp thyme leaves, stripped from the stems
1/4 cup olive oil

Soak the beans overnight. (Or do the quick soak method. Cook beans 10 minutes in boiling water. Let stand one hour. Drain and proceed.)

Combine the beans with 3 cloves garlic, carrot, leek greens and bay leaf. Cover with 2 inches of water, bring to the boil, and cook until tender, about 45 minutes, adding some salt and pepper in the last 10 minutes. Drain, reserving 2 cups of the cooking broth. Discard the vegetables. (All their flavor will be in the broth.)

In a mini-chop or blender, mince the rosemary, thyme and remaining 3 cloves garlic. Add the olive oil and purée. (It will look more like salad dressing than regular pesto.) Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Combine the pesto, beans and reserved cooking broth. Warm over moderate heat. Serve in the squash halves.

Baked Acorn Squash
Preheat oven to 450°. Put the whole squash in the oven and cook 30-45 minutes (depending on the size of the squash) until a knife slides in easily. Let the squash cool until you can handle it. Cut it in half and scoop out the seeds. Serve the halves, or cut it into wedges for smaller servings.

Serves 4.

Beans in Coconut Milk

Almost every culture in the world has ways of cooking beans. You could probably eat beans with different seasonings every day for a month and still not run out of possibilities. Who ever said vegetarian cooking was boring?

I recently perused a book called A Taste of Africa by Tebereh Inquai. It's not a vegetarian book, but there were plenty of recipes for beans and vegetables.

This dish from Tanzania is very satisfying spooned over brown rice. I served it with roast beets and carrots for color contrast. Greens would be good too.

It is a real mellow comfort-food dish. Add red chili paste and vegetables if you want a spicier, more Thai-like dish.

Coconut milk gets a bad rap because it contains saturated fat, yet it has many health benefits. It is anti-carcinogenic, anti-microbial, anti-bacterial, and anti-viral. The main saturated fat that it contains, lauric acid, is also found in mother's milk and has been shown to promote brain development and bone health.

Don't waste your money on low-fat coconut milk. Buy the full-fat version and dilute it half and half with water if you want less fat. Store left-over coconut milk in the freezer.

I like to make this dish with pinquito beans, a small bean native to Southern California, but you can use any bean you like. Larger ones might take longer to cook.

Let this nourishing bean dish soothe you as the fall evenings draw in.

Beans in Coconut Milk
1/2 lb (1 cup) dried beans
2 cups onion (1 large)
1 tbsp oil
2 serrano chiles, sliced (leave seeds in for a spicier dish)
1/4 tsp tumeric
14-oz can coconut milk
1 tsp salt

Pick over the beans and rinse them. Cook in boiling water for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and let the beans rest one hour in the hot water. Drain and rinse the beans.

Chop the onion and fry it in the oil until soft. Add chiles halfway through. Stir in tumeric and beans. Add the coconut milk and 1 cup water. Cook, covered, 30 minutes. Stir in salt. Keep cooking until tender, another 1/2 hour or so.

Serve over brown rice.

Serves 4-6.

Easy Brunch

Larry and I turned 20lbs of tomatoes into our winter supply of salsa on Sunday. Our niece Tracie came to help, and I fortified us all with a simple brunch before the chopping and stirring started.

At the Hollywood Farmers Market that morning, I found wonderful arugula at Flora Bella -- young and tender with a bite. I combined it with potatoes, zucchini and eggs for a simple frittata. I cooked and served it in a cast-iron frying pan -- no fancy flipping of frittatas here. Leftover corn and snap peas rounded out the meal.

Fresh rosemary is wonderful with potatoes. I have many bushes, including a potted one outside the kitchen window, and one that cascades over a retaining wall. Rosemary has many health benefits: it increases circulation to the brain, enhancing focus and memory, and possibly helping to prevent Alzheimer's; it stimulates the gall bladder and helps digestion, including the breakdown of saturated fats; it protects the DNA against certain kinds of damage; and its anti-bacterial properties help prevent yeast and bladder infections.

This recipe makes a thin frittata. If you prefer a thicker one, use a smaller frying pan. It will take a little longer to cook. If you can't find arugula, use spinach instead. Frittatas taste good hot, at room temperature, or cold. We enjoyed the leftovers for lunch the next day.

Frittata of Potatoes, Zucchini and Arugula
2 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 cups thinly sliced Yukon Gold potatoes (about 2 medium)
1 medium zucchini, sliced
1 1/2 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
3 cups arugula, thick stems removed, coarsely chopped
1 large garlic clove, minced
6 eggs
1/2 cup grated cheddar

Heat olive oil in 12" cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add potatoes and toss to coat with oil. Cook until lightly browned and nearly soft, stirring occasionally to separate slices. (Lower heat a little if they stick too much.) Add zucchini and rosemary and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring as needed, for 2-3 minutes until zucchini and potatoes are tender. Lower heat to medium and add arugula and garlic. Cook, turning with tongs, about a minute until garlic is fragrant and arugula is wilted.

Turn heat to low, and distribute the vegetables evenly in the pan. Whisk eggs and season with a scant 1/4 tsp salt and a few grinds of pepper. Pour eggs over vegetables. Let cook 5 minutes or so until the bottom and sides have set and the top is still slightly runny.

Sprinkle with cheese and run under the broiler for 1-2 minutes until the top is set and the cheese is melted.

Cut into wedges and serve, or let sit at room temperature for a couple of hours. Refrigerate for longer storage.

Serves 4.

Airport food

Larry and I went back east to visit friends and family in early September. It was too technically difficult for me to blog during our travels (11 days, 4 states, 7 beds) but I have plenty of stories to share with you over the next few weeks.

We were lucky to spend many nights with friends and family who understood my food needs.

But traveling was a different story.

My first food surprise was at Los Angeles International Airport. We were on an 8 a.m. flight, so we planned to pick up something in the terminal to eat on the plane.

(Back in the good old days, we complained about the bad free food on airplanes. I remember a vegan breakfast on an Air Canada flight from Moncton, New Brunswick, to Montreal - rice pudding topped with a stewed prune. Nowadays, the food airlines charge you for is execrable. I won't put it in my body.)

So I prowled Terminal 7 for a healthy food choice.

But the airport let me down. La Brea Bakery offered mozzarella sandwiches, but I wanted something healthier. It is so easy when traveling to let down your guard and eat too much fat and carbs. Baja Fresh Express had vegetarian options, but I couldn't imagine chewing on a cold burrito on the plane. Wolfgang Puck Express had $8 salads on the menu, but none were available at 6:30 a.m.

(The Los Angeles Times is writing about the intense lobbying involved in the proposed upgrading of food choices at the airport. I am not optimistic that the quality of the food will improve any time soon.)

It was a four-hour flight. No fear of starvation. And I had eaten granola (see post June 2010) at home, and had a few apples in my carry-on. So I was fine without picking up food. But it was still eye-opening to see how little is available for vegetarians in the health-conscious City of Los Angeles.

We did better at Washington Dulles on the flight home. It was an early evening flight, so I had a good salad at the Firkin and Fox pub in Concourse C. And before leaving our Rehoboth Beach hotel that morning, we had made sandwiches with the last of our picnic bread and cheese. Along with apples from a Pennsylvania farmstand, that was a good airline meal.