Thanksgiving Parties

I grew up celebrating Canadian Thanksgiving in Montreal, a low-key tradition involving cleaning out the garage and eating turkey.

So the American Thanksgiving extravaganza is intriguing to me. Every year I pester Larry with questions about what his childhood Thanksgivings were like, what they ate, what traditional foods we should cook this year. He's really tired of it.

So this year I questioned Tracie instead. I think she enjoyed the experience as much as Larry does.

Fortunately, some people are happy to share their Thanksgiving experiences with me.

Our friend Ramsay on the East Coast roasted sweet potatoes to take to a Thanksgiving potluck. She transported them in a pyrex bowl with fresh rosemary sprigs tucked in. As they were reheated in the oven, the rosemary gently perfumed the dish.

(She made me envious by saying that the host made mashed rutabagas. There have been no rutabagas at the Hollywood Farmers Market this year.)

I hope your Thanksgiving was also full of good food and good traditions. I'd be happy to hear about them.

Excellent Squash

We had an excellent vegetarian Thanksgiving meal. The company was good, the conversation was lively and interesting, the football was boring enough to be muted, the wine was delightful, and the food was exceptional.

Larry made Creamed Spinach (from Jamie Oliver's Best of British Cookbook — highly recommended), Tracie brought mashed potatoes infused with garlic and sage, and I cooked an heirloom squash with lentil loaf. What a feast!

I overcooked the cranberry sauce, so it was more like jam than sauce. Still good. It will be yummy on toast.

Organic freezer corn was a highlight (doesn't that say it all?).

The salad of persimmons and pomegranates whetted the appetite. (See the recipe here.)

But I have to say, the squash thoroughly impressed me. I stuffed it with lentil loaf, cooked it at 350°F for 90 minutes or so (until a knife slipped in easily), and then let it rest until the rest of the meal was ready. It was great. And a little spicy. I used crushed dried chiles I'd grown, and it turns out they were pretty hot —a good foil for the sweet orange squash. I sliced it into wedges to serve. (I'm sure turkeys don't slice as easily or look as beautiful.)

The apple pie was delicious - it scented the house with apple and cinnamon and made us think of fall, even though we live on the West Coast where fall means temperatures in the '70s. Before we gathered in the kitchen to cook dinner, I spent time in the garden admiring the birds – warblers, wrens, finches, bulbuls, mockingbirds and bushtits – as I filled the birdbaths, watered the pansies and the fava beans, and rejoiced in the flowering narcissus and the budding peony. Nature is truly a wonder to celebrate.

This heirloom pumpkin has a dusky suede-like skin  — nature creates the best art.

Giving Thanks

On Thanksgiving Day I give thanks to all the farmers and their families and the farmworkers for growing the beautiful food that keeps me healthy.

Every week at the Hollywood Farmers Market I look in amazement at the piles of fresh organic fruit and vegetables, and I place my dollars with gratitude in the dirt-grimed hands of the farmers who grew them.

Thank you Jorge and Jared; Finley Farms and St. Benoit yogurt makers; Mr. Ha; James at Flora Bella; the growers of almonds, walnuts and pistachios; the South Central Farmers Cooperative; and Tutti Frutti.

Your hard work helps keep us healthy and strong.

We will raise a glass to you at our Thanksgiving table, as we enjoy the food you raised from the earth.

Lentil Loaf

I know many vegetarians celebrate Thanksgiving with a Tofurky, but not me. I want something beautiful as my holiday centerpiece, not something that looks like a dead animal.

So this year I will be serving a squash or pumpkin (haven't decided which one!) stuffed with lentil loaf. It will be a truly festive and seasonal dish.

With it we'll have corn and carrots, creamed spinach, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, and the persimmon and pomegranate salad I made last year. (You can read the recipe here.) With goat cheese walnut puffs as appetizers and apple pie with whipped cream for dessert, we will be suitably rotund when we rise from the table. That's okay, Friday we'll have Green Soup for dinner.

Unlike the lentil loaf I made a couple of years ago which fell apart at the table, this one will hold its shape. (I know because I made it today. On Thursday I will cut the top off the squash, take out the seeds, and stuff the already cooked lentil loaf in the cavity. Then I'll cook it at 375° for an hour, by which time with luck the pumpkin will be cooked through.)

If you are going to a non-vegetarian dinner, take a couple of slices of this loaf wrapped in foil and heat it in a corner of the oven for 10-15 minutes. As long as you're not somewhere bacon is added to every dish, you'll have great sides to go with it.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Lentil Loaf
2 tsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, peeled
2 sticks celery, chopped
1/3 cup kidney beans, cooked (or 1 14-oz can, drained)
1/3 cup brown lentils, cooked (or 1 14-oz can, drained)
1 egg
1 carrot, grated
1/2 cup Cheddar, grated
1 cup whole wheat bread crumbs
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp tomato ketchup
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp chili powder

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Sauté the onion, garlic and celery in the olive oil until tender, about 5 minutes.

Put the kidney beans and lentils in the food processor. Add the egg and the onion mixture. Process until smooth.

Pour into a large bowl. Add the remaining ingredients, along with salt and pepper to taste.

Grease a 9x5x3 inch loaf pan. Spoon the mixture in the pan, smooth the top, and bake one hour.

Let rest a few minutes before tipping out of the pan to serve. (Or let it cool in the pan.)

Can be served any way meatloaf is: with vegetables and mashed potatoes and gravy, cold in a sandwich, shaped into patties and dipped in breadcrumbs and fried like burgers, or as I will be doing Thursday - stuffed into a pumpkin.

Makes one loaf - enough for 8-10 servings.

Preparing for the holidays

Most people prepare for Thanksgiving by brining turkey or making pies.

This year, I prepared by making Green Soup.

Holiday food is higher in fat and sugar than our regular daily fare, but it wouldn't be a holiday without butter and whipped cream and dessert. So Green Soup is our preventative medicine. We ate it last night, we'll eat it again next weekend, and I froze some to eat over the Christmas holiday too - in between the feasting.

Green Soup is a nutrition powerhouse - loads of liver support, blood support, bone support - you name it. Just what a body needs to feel strong enough to withstand the food assault of the holiday season.

After we ate the Green Soup last night, Larry thanked me for making it. It's not his favorite food - one bowl is enough - but he can feel the goodness while he's eating it.

The first time you serve Green Soup to your family, serve it in small bowls before the main course. And use greens you know your family likes, like chard or spinach or collard greens. A combination is nice. And of course, dandelion greens and nettles add to the mineral load, so add them if you think your family will handle it.

This is the recipe I made yesterday. It's unlikely you'll be lucky enough to have the diversity of greens I did, so use what you have. Use mild greens like collards and spinach to tone down the spicier mustard and turnip greens. (See my recipe for Radish Green Soup for another version.)

This recipe makes a large pot - make a half recipe the first time.

Looks like green goop. Tastes delicious. And your body will thank you for it.

Green Soup
3/4 lb potatoes

1 bunch turnip greens

1 bunch mustard greens

1 bunch collard greens

1 bunch nettles

1/2 large onion (1 cup diced)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 bulb fennel
1 clove garlic
1 cup vegetable stock
1 cup water


Peel and dice the potatoes. Boil in salted water until tender. Drain.

Gently rinse the nettles in cold water. Be careful touching them because they can sting. Remove the toughest stems, then cook them in a little water until they are very soft. Purée them with extra water if necessary - they make a wonderfully vibrant green liquid - and set aside.

Wash the other greens well. Chop them (including the stems), and set to one side.

Sauté the onion in olive oil until tender. Cut the stems off the fennel. Quarter the bulb and remove the core. Dice the remaining bulb and add it to the pot along with the chopped garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the fennel is soft.

Add the stock and water. Add handfuls of greens, stirring them and sprinkling with a little salt. When all the greens are in, cover the pot and let them simmer until they are very soft.

Let cool a little. Stir in the potatoes, then purée in batches in a blender or food processor. Make sure it's really smooth. Add extra water if necessary to make it soupy.

Return to a clean pot, reheat gently, and season with salt and pepper to taste.

A little lime juice or lemon juice or apple cider vinegar added at the end will brighten the flavor. Or serve lemon wedges on the side.

Makes 8-10 cups of soup.

Sunday shopping

This year we'll be having a vegetarian Thanksgiving. Our niece Tracie has decided to be vegetarian, and since she is joining us, Larry decided that he would forego turkey so we could all eat the same delicious vegetable bounty.

Today we went and bought the bounty and hauled it home. The Hollywood Farmers Market was bustling at 8 a.m. as people shopped for the big food feast. This is the organic produce we bought:

22 oranges, 2 carrots, cilantro, 4 shallots, 3 onions, dinosaur kale, garlic, red onion, 1 celeriac, 2 pomegranates, 1 early girl tomato, 1 bunch parsnips, fresh goat cheese from Drake Family Farms, 2 dozen eggs, 2 garlic, 3 fuyu persimmons, 1 bartlett pear, 4 pink lady apples and 4 sundowner apples which will be mixed in a pie, 2 quarts plain St. Benoit yogurt, 2 grapefruit. We also stopped at Flora Bella farmstand, where James had chickweed and nettles. Yes, I know those are weeds in my mother's Montreal garden, but they are full of nutrition and I can't grow them in the dry heat of southern California. (James' farm is up near Three Rivers where it is cooler and moister.) So I bought some of each - the chickweed for salad and the nettles to add to Green Soup.

Spiced Cabbage and Tofu

I'm really enjoying Lorna Sass' book Short-Cut Vegetarian. It's full of meals that are quick-to-make, healthy and full of flavor. She uses more prepared foods and sauces than I do, but there are lots of fast simple recipes to enjoy.

The other night we enjoyed this simple dish of tofu, cabbage and spices. I could have served rice with it to make a bigger meal, but it wasn't necessary.

The recipe calls for 3 tbsp tomato paste. That's less than a tin. I scoop the remaining tomato paste into tbsp-size lumps and freeze them on a cookie sheet. When they're solid, I toss them together in a freezer bag. The next time a recipe calls for a tbsp of tomato paste, or a soup could use a little extra flavor, I'm prepared.

Spiced Cabbage and Tofu
1 lb green cabbage
1 lb firm tofu
3 tbsp tomato paste
1 cup warm water
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp brown mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup frozen corn, defrosted
1/2 cup frozen peas, defrosted
2-3 tbsp lime juice

Cut the cabbage into 3-inch wedges. Cut out any hard central core, and slice the remainder crosswise into 1-inch wedges.

Drain the tofu and cut into 3/4 inch dice.

Blend the tomato paste in the warm water.

Heat the oil over high heat in a large skillet. Add the mustard and cumin seeds and let sizzle until you can hear the mustard seeds start to pop, about 15 seconds. Turn down the heat to medium and stir in the water-tomato paste mixture, curry powder and salt. Add the cabbage and tofu and stir to coat in the sauce. Cover and cook about 10 minutes until the cabbage is just tender, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes.

Add the corn and peas and continue cooking, covered, until the cabbage is wilted and the texture you like - a little crunchy or a little soft. Stir in lime juice and serve with extra lime wedges on the side.

Serves 3

Roast Salted Sweet Potatoes with Sage

I'm always looking for new ways to cook sweet potatoes. Larry would be happy if I just cooked regular potatoes, but sweet potatoes are so much healthier - not to mention more colorful on the plate.

Sweet potatoes are high in antioxidants, and contain compounds that help our digestive systems be less sensitive to heavy metals and other toxins. We've done so well at polluting our soil and groundwater that our bodies need all the help they can get.

One of the challenges with sweet potatoes can be their texture. I buy from a farmer who has three or four varieties of sweet potato, some the soft juicy orange kind, others are dryer and more chestnut-y, and yet others are purple-ish. I tend to buy the orange ones because I like the color. And then I have to find a way to dry them out a little.

Slicing thin, sprinkling with salt, and roasting made the sweet potatoes delicious. I added garlic and sage, and a drizzle of lemon at the end, and Larry said these were the best sweet potatoes ever. (He thinks it was because of the salt.) If you don't like sage, leave it out. Or use thyme or rosemary instead.

The oil is essential, because we need to eat sweet potatoes with a little fat in order to get the health benefits. (That's true of so many vegetables, isn't it?)

In the picture on the right, the sweet potatoes are below, and a casserole of roasted shallots is on top. I keep experimenting with baking members of the onion family because I feel I should like them, but I don't. They get slimy and are hard to cut. We ate a couple of the shallots as a side dish, but I chopped the rest and added them to Green Rice the next day.

Roast Salted Sweet Potatoes with Sage
1 lb sweet potatoes
2 tsp olive oil
coarse salt
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tbsp chopped fresh sage
juice of 1/2 lemon (or so)

Preheat oven to 375°F. (400°F works fine too if you're cooking something else at the same time, just keep an eye on the sweet potatoes so they don't burn.)

Peel sweet potatoes and cut into 1/4 inch slices across. Place on an oiled cookie sheet and lightly brush with more oil. Sprinkle with coarse salt and garlic.

Bake until the potatoes are tender when you poke them with a fork. Sprinkle with sage and lemon juice and serve.

Serves 2-3

Sunday Shopping

Turnips are back at the Hollywood Farmers Market!! Well, they were today. Who knows if they will be there next week. That's part of the pleasure and frustration of shopping at a farmers' market.

This is what we bought this morning: 1 red butter lettuce, 1 bunch turnips with greens, 10 small red potatoes, 1 dozen eggs, cherry tomatoes, 1-lb jar of raw organic wild-fermented in LA aromatic Four Thieves sauerkraut by Brassica & Brine, 2 bartlett pears, 2 anjou pears, 1 bunch of red fine-leaved mustard, 11 cippolini onions, 2 bunches scallions, 1 green pepper, 2 bunches carrots with tops, 5 cremini mushrooms, 2 yellow onions, 20 oranges, 1 red pepper, 1 bunch collard greens, 2 pomegranates, 2 bunches parsnips with tops, 1 bunch giant purple radishes with greens, green seedless grapes, 6 grapefruit, 12-oz lightly-salted pistachios in the shell, 4 apples (2 cameo, 1 winesap, 1 mutsu), 4 pixie tangerines, 6 gold nugget tangeries, 2 fuyu persimmons.

Winter Squash

I've been writing a lot recently about winter squash because that's what is coming in to the farmers' market. I always buy organic squash, even for decorative purposes. The picture at right is my Thanksgiving centerpiece. After the holiday we will eat the squash over the next few weeks.

I just learned a disturbing thing, however.

It turns out that American farmers are growing (non-organic) winter squash as a remedial crop in contaminated soils. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are effectively pulled out of the soil by winter squash plants. These are contaminating chemicals, and farmers are consciously planting the winter squash to pull them out of the soil so their soil becomes healthier. This is to be lauded. But I'm not sure I want to be eating squash with PAHs in it.

Do these chemicals get into the winter squash we eat? Into the butternut squash soup we buy at the store? That hasn't been studied. But I can't imagine the leaves and roots and stems of the plant absorb the PAHs and not the fruits.

The only way to know for sure you do not have PAHs in your squash is to buy organic squash, and products made with organic squash.

For me the only difficulty this presents is deciding which of the beautiful organic heirloom squash to buy.

Roast Chipotle Squash

Move over Spiced Squash, Roast Chipotle Squash is even better!

Chipotles are smoked jalapenos. You can get them in cans with adobo sauce, which is a spicy tomato sauce. Look for them at Mexican markets and well-stocked grocery stores. Unfortunately I have yet to find them organically produced.

They are spicy and smoky and make squash taste delicious!

This is another of those recipes that is too easy to write down, but here goes.

Roast Chipotle Squash
1 kabocha, acorn or other winter squash
1 tbsp minced canned chipotles in adobo
1 tsp salt
3 tbsp canola or other light oil
2 tsp water

Preheat oven to 400°F. Wash the squash, then cut it in half and scoop out the seeds. Place the halves cut side down on a cutting board, and with a big sharp knife carefully cut them lengthwise into 2-inch wedges.

Stir together the chipotles, salt, oil and water. Slather this onto the wedges (the flesh more than the skin, because the skin might be too tough to eat after roasting), using about half the sauce. Put the squash on a cookie sheet and bake, loosely covered with foil, for 15 minutes. Remove the foil, turn the pieces and drizzle the rest of the sauce over the top. Bake uncovered until tender, about 15 more minutes. Sprinkle with salt and serve.

Serves 2

The Week's Groceries

It was another excellent week for organic groceries at the Hollywood Farmers Market.

This is what we brought home with us:

Cherry tomatoes, romaine lettuce, red butter lettuce and spring onions for our lunch salads; 1 lb coffee from El Salvador, 1 avocado, 1 dozen eggs, 16 oranges and 1 whole wheat rosemary boule -- awesome Sunday breakfast; 1 poblano chile; 7 small red potatoes; 2 small green peppers; 2 leeks; 1 quart and 3 cups plain yogurt; 2 small tomatoes; 2 heirloom squash, 1 small pumpkin and 1 kabocha squash -- for Thanksgiving decorations and then to eat; parsley; 1 large fennel; 3 bartlett pears and 6 grapefruit for morning fruit; tarragon; 5 shallots; 1 bag pistachios in their shell; cilantro; 1 bunch celery; chestnuts(!); 1 onion; 5 tangerines and 6 apples for our lunches - the apples are 2 mutsu, 1 black Arkansas, 2 cameo, and 2 whose name I have forgotten.

Roast Squash

There are so many adorable little squashes and pumpkins at the market these days that I always end up with a couple to serve as vegetable sides during the week.

Winter squash are not just great to look at. They are high in antioxidants, and contain polysaccharides that have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.

My latest addiction is spiced squash, but that requires cutting the raw squash and sometimes that is just too much work.

It's easier to throw a whole little pumpkin or squash in the toaster oven at 375°F. When it's soft, 30-45 minutes depending on the size, I cut it in half, let it cool a little, then scoop out the seeds.

I either cut it in wedges to serve, or I use a half as a cute little bowl for whatever bean or grain dish I've cooked.

It's a simple use of a healthy vegetable.

The Week's Groceries

Everyone was perkier than usual at the Hollywood Farmers

Market this morning, probably because of the time change.

A chilly breeze blew through the market, making it really feel like fall. I indulged in squash as a consequence, including the most beautiful heirloom pumpkin I've ever seen.

This is what we brought home with us:

6 small daikon radish (with greens!), 1 heirloom pumpkin, 1 quart and 6 cups plain yogurt, 1 lb almonds, 1 jar almond butter, 1 sweet dumpling squash, 14 oranges, 2 celeriacs, 1 kabocha pumpkin, a bag of trail of tears beans, mustard greens, 3 pink lady apples and 3 cameo apples, 2 grapefruit, 3 smallish eggplant, 2 onions, 7 small red potatoes, 2 small bunches of celery, 3 bartlett pears and 2 dozen eggs.

Tomatillo Salsa

Tomatillos are interesting vegetables (actually fruits). They look like giant cape gooseberries with a papery husk that covers a hard green ball which has a sticky surface. They are tart and tangy, and form the base of the green sauce poured over cheese enchiladas.

I made this variation the other day and poured it over cheese omelets for breakfast. It was great.

Tomatillos are coming to the end of their season, but they last for a few weeks in the fridge still in their husks. I've also husked and rinsed them and frozen them successfully in the past.

The poblano pepper adds a slight heat to the salsa. But this is not a hot sauce - it makes an interesting but not overwhelming breakfast dish. It would also be good on enchiladas or stirred into rice.

Tomatillo Salsa
1 tsp vegetable oil
1/2 poblano pepper, seeded and chopped
2 tbsp chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1 cup husked, rinsed and diced tomatillos (4-5)
cilantro for garnish

Warm oil in a small pan over medium heat. Sauté poblano and onion until tender. Add the garlic and tomatillos. Cook until they start to brown, just a few minutes. Remove from heat and keep warm.

Make a 2-egg omelet, layering a little cheddar in the middle before you fold it over. Spoon some of the salsa on top and serve.

Makes enough salsa for 2 omelets.