Garlicky Broccoli and Butternut Squash

How do you make vegetables taste great? Roast them with garlic and sprinkle them with cheese, of course.

This dish will entice the fussiest eaters. The aroma will draw them to the kitchen like moths to a flame.

And it's not that much cheese. You can still feel good about it.

The recipe is from Crescent Dragonwagon, an inspired vegetarian cook.

Garlicky Broccoli and Butternut Squash
2 lbs butternut squash
2 tbsp olive oil
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
4 cups large broccoli florets
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 tsp salt
pepper
1/2 cup parmesan

Peel squash and chop into 1-inch pieces. Toss in 1 tbsp olive oil and roast in 350°F oven until tender, about 20 minutes.

Heat 1 tbsp oil and red pepper flakes in heavey skillet until aromatic. Add broccoli, salt and pepper to taste and stir-fry 3-4 minutes. Increase heat to high, pour in 1/3 cup of water, cover and steam 3-4 minutes until the broccoli is bright green and tender, but not soft.

Scatter broccoli and garlic over squash in baking dish. Stir well. Sprinkle with parmesan and bake 15 minutes until cheese melts.

Serves 4-6

Roasted Parsnips

Roasting brings out the sweetness of root vegetables, and parsnips are no exception. The sweet earthiness of this dish is enhanced with a sprinkling of fresh sage.

You could cut carrots the same way and roast them with the parsnips for a more colorful side dish if you like. And if you don't have any fresh sage, leave it out. The roasted vegetables will still be full of flavor.

Finley Farms at the Hollywood Farmers Market has had wonderful tender parsnips this year. Most recipes tell you to remove the parsnip's tough core, but up to 1 1/4 inches in diameter they don't have one.

Traditionally parsnips are served with roast meats, but I served them the other day with sautéed mustard greens and a hearty dish of wheat berries.

The parsnips roasted in the toaster oven while I made the greens and grains on the stove. It was a simple meal for a cool winter night.

Roasted Parsnips
1/2 lb parsnips, about 7-8 small ones
6 fresh sage leaves, chopped (optional)
3/4 tbsp olive oil
sprinkling of salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 450°F. Peel parsnips and cut in half crosswise. Cut the skinny end in half and the wider end in quarters. If you have parsnips over 1 1/4 inch in diameter, cut out the tough core and discard. Then cut the parsnips crosswise into 1/2 inch pieces.

Toss parsnips with sage, oil, salt and pepper. Transfer to a shallow baking pan, spreading in one layer. Roast until the parsnips are tender and lightly browned, turning occasionally, 15-20 minutes.

Serves 2-3

Love them Rutabagas!

Finley Farms has had excellent rutabagas this year - starting with small tender ones in the fall, and progressing to the large ones I remember from Canadian winters.

I was raving about their rutabagas last Sunday at the Hollywood Farmers Market, when they asked me what I did with them. Well, I said, last week I roasted them, over the holidays I mashed them, and this week I will cook them in soup.

If I sound like a rutabaga addict, it's because I am. There's nothing like these yellow turnip-like roots (called swedes by the Brits and neeps by the Scots).

I adapted this soup from Anne Bianchi's book Zuppa! Soups from the Italian Countryside. This is a lovely book on the traditional cooking of the impoverished landscape of northern Tuscany. It's a land where you eat whatever is available. I'm looking forward to trying the rice and dandelion soup next week. (Both McGrath and Finley farms have had great dandelion greens recently.)

Autumn Vegetable Soup
3/4 cup dried beans (I used pinquitos, you could use any smallish bean)
6 leaves fresh sage, chopped
1 red onion, minced
3 cloves garlic, sliced in half
1 bunch (7 oz) dinosaur kale
1 (12 oz) rutabaga
1 tsp salt
12 oz butternut squash
1 fennel bulb
pepper to taste

Soak the beans overnight (or all day) in water to cover by 2 inches. Drain. Place in a soup pot with the sage, onion and garlic. Add fresh water to cover by 2 inches, and bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook, covered, 1 hour, adding more water if necessary.

Wash and chop the kale, stems included. Peel the rutabaga and chop in 1/2 inch pieces. Add to the beans along with the salt and cook, uncovered, for 20 minutes, stirring often.

Peel the squash and cut in 1/2 inch chunks. Remove the stalks and fronds from the fennel. Halve the bulb lengthwise and cut out the tough core and base. Slice the remaining sections in half lengthwise and then slice across. Add squash and fennel to pot and cook, covered, another 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serves 6

Spinach Salad

It's easy to get run down at this time of year and succumb to the colds and flus that are so prevalent. The keys to staying healthy are plenty of rest, good exercise, and great food.

This spinach salad is an example of great food - full of vitamin C and antioxidants to help your body stay strong, and tasty as well. The toasted sesame seeds add a nutty flavor and a little calcium to the orange juice dressing.

I made it with malabar spinach from Finley Farms. Bagged baby spinach would work too.

It's a little unusual to put pieces of orange in a salad, but try it. The textures and flavors go well together. Larry was surprised at how much he liked it.

Spinach and Orange Salad
3 tbsp sesame seeds
3 cups fresh spinach
1/2 red pepper, chopped
2 tbsp chopped red onion
1 orange
1 tbsp rice vinegar
3 tsp orange juice
3 tsp water

Toast sesame seeds in a small heavy frypan until they are aromatic. Grind them in a spice grinder or small blender.

Meanwhile, wash the spinach well, dry it, and tear it into bite-size pieces.

Cut the orange in half. Juice one half for the dressing. With a small knife, slice the peel off the other half, and cut the flesh into chunks. Don't peel off all the membranes because they are full of bioflavanoids that make the other vitamins more effective.

Combine the spinach, pepper, onion and orange chunks.

Whisk together the ground sesame seeds, orange juice, rice vinegar and water. Toss with the vegetables.

Serves 2

Roasted Root Vegetables

Something magical happens to a root vegetable when you dice it, toss it in olive oil, and bake it in the oven. It gets tender and buttery - nothing like the tough gnarly thing you brought home from the market.

I like to use a variety of root vegetables in a casserole - each provides different nutrients, textures and colors. I can make a meal on this dish alone.

The ingredients vary depending on what is at the market. The recipe below is one I used last week, but vary it depending on what you like. I use roughly 1/3 potatoes and 2/3 other roots, by weight. I scrub all the roots well, and remove any hairs or nubbly parts. I always peel celeriac (celery root) and rutabagas. I sometimes peel parsnips, turnips and sweet potatoes. I never peel beets - way too messy.

Cut the vegetables in similar sizes - 3/4 inch is a good standard. Sweet potatoes cook more quickly than the others, so either cut them a little larger, or enjoy them a little soft.

What roots should you use? Start with potatoes and carrots, and add a few others. Try roots you don't think you like - you'll be amazed at the difference in flavor and texture when they're roasted.

You can use thyme or bay leaves (fresh or dried) in place of the rosemary. Sometimes I add peeled shallots or chunks of onion. Peeled garlic cloves are a good addition, as are cubes of peeled butternut squash.

This casserole is also wonderful re-warmed the next day - either as breakfast hash with a fried egg, or reheated in the oven as a side. Sometimes I make a quick root vegetable soup by puréeing them with some vegetable stock and reheating gently on the stove.

Roasted root vegetables - you'll wonder how you ever lived without them.

Roasted Root Vegetables
3/4 lb potatoes
1 celeriac (celery root)
1 sweet potato
2-3 beets
2-3 turnips
2 parsnips
1 rutabaga
1 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper
1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary

Scrub all the roots well. With a sharp knife, remove the peel and all nubbly parts from the celeriac - you'll probably remove about 1/4 inch of peel in total. Peel the rutabaga, and the sweet potatoes, parsnips and turnips if you like. Trim the ends off the beets and remove any hairs from the stem end. Chop all the vegetables in roughly 3/4 inch dice.

Toss them in a large bowl with the olive oil, a good seasoning of salt and fresh pepper, and the rosemary. Pour into a casserole, cover, and bake at 375°F for 45-60 minutes until they are tender.

Serves 4-6

Dining in Rehoboth

East Coast Trip Part 10

Our final leg of the trip was a couple of nights at Rehoboth Beach on the Delaware Shore.

Larry grew up vacationing a little further south at Fenwick Island. I like Rehoboth because it has sand dunes and a long beach, a walkable boardwalk, and great food.

There was a little Italian store, Touch of Italy Bake Shop, where if we had been self-catering I would have gone wild on Italian pastas, dried mushrooms and canned tomatoes. As it was, I restrained myself to a little cheese and a few cookies.

We walked to the Dogfish Head brewpub (motto: Off-Centered Ales for Off-Centered People). We had enjoyed reading about the passion of owner Sam Calagione in the New Yorker in 2008. I forget what we drank there, but it was really good. They also distil spirits, and we toured the distillery. We later saw them featured on the Discovery Channel making Chicha, an Incan beer that requires the grain to be chewed before brewing. Prepare to be disgusted if you watch the short clip on the Brew Masters website.

We happened to be in Rehoboth when the farmers market was open, and I enjoyed looking at the local produce, even though I had no need to buy any.

Finally, we celebrated our anniversary at my favorite Rehoboth restaurant, Planet X Café. I had an excellent mushroom risotto (the secret was the truffle oil drizzled on at the last minute) and a glass of organic wine while we enjoyed the over-the-top conversations of the people around us. (On a previous trip I had swooned over the stacked eggplant dish - I might try to recreate it next summer.)

After a last sunrise over the Atlantic, we headed for Washington Dulles and our flight home to LA. It had been a good trip.

Healthy Fast Food

I was asked the other day if I know any healthy take-out places.

Actually, I don't. I'm sure Whole Foods and similar stores have good prepared meals, but I've only eaten them cold while traveling.

When we do take-out, it's pizza (spinach on my half) or Thai from our local delivery place (spicy eggplant tofu!). It tastes good, and the next day we are swollen with salt.

If I want healthy take-out, I look to my freezer.

Last week I dug out a container of Lentils Burgundy. This is a great dish because it tastes good, freezes well, and can be turned into soup by adding more liquid. I make it with Two-Buck Chuck, not burgundy, and it is still delicious. (Lentils Chuck doesn't have quite the same ring.)

When I originally cooked it, I used the large brownish-green lentils I buy at the Hollywood Farmers Market. Lentils are a good source of protein (9 grams per half cup) and have lots of iron. They are also loaded with heart-protective nutrients, including folate and fiber. My dad would recommend serving them with a nice sausage. I've never found the need.

While the lentils were defrosting, I reheated some leftover sweet potatoes, and prepared some Tuscan kale. I washed the kale, removed the stems, and chopped the leaves coarsely. I sautéd half an onion and a clove of garlic in a little olive oil. When it was tender I added the kale and a chopped tomato, sprinkled on salt and pepper, and let it cook, covered, until tender, stirring occasionally so it didn't burn.

It was a good healthy meal in less time than it would take to call for delivery.

Lentils Burgundy
2 1/2 cups brown lentils, rinsed
6 cups water or vegetable stock - I used 3 cups of each
1 bay leaf
2 onions, diced
2 tbsp oil
3 carrots, diced
2 leeks, halved, washed well, and sliced
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 tsp dried thyme or 2 sprigs fresh
1 1/2 cups burgundy

Combine lentils, water or stock, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil and cook until lentils are done, about 30 minutes. Don't drain.

Sauté onions and carrot in oil until tender, about 8 minutes. Scoop out and add to lentils. Sauté leeks in the same pan until soft but not browned. Add them to the lentils and cook gently until all the vegetables are tender. Then add the garlic, thyme and wine. Cook another 25-30 minutes until thick.

Serves 4-6.

Chesapeake City, MD

East Coast Trip Part 9

Upon leaving Ben and Tanya's, we stopped at Spring Run Natural Foods, an independent health food store in Kennett Square, PA, that reminded me of the ones I frequented in Montreal in the '80s - homey, decorated in wood and dark green paint, earnestly healthy, with lots of real food. There we found Hillacres Pride Lancaster County Family Tradition Garden Dill 100% raw jersey milk cheese. It made great sandwiches through the rest of our trip.

Our next stop was Chesapeake City, MD, on the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal. We've stayed there before because it's close to many of Larry's aunts and uncles. We stay at the Shipwatch Inn because we love the verandah overlooking the canal, but the breakfasts are execrable. Better to starve.

We ate dinner at The Bayard House, an establishment dating to the 1780s. We sat outside watching the water traffic. Once we saw a huge ocean liner that towered above us. We enjoyed watching the river pilots help steer it under the bridge. There's a lot of traffic on this working canal between the Chesapeake and Delaware Bays.

Larry enjoyed fresh seafood, and the chef made me a fine plate of vegetarian pasta. When I'm eating in a higher-end establishment with no vegetarian options, I always ask if the chef can create a meal for me. I am rarely disappointed.

We ended the evening with a stroll along the streets of this quaint Victorian town, enjoying a slight drizzle while Larry took pictures.

The next morning I had tea on the verandah watching the mist burn off the canal.

Then on to the final stop on the tour - Rehoboth Beach.

Thai Coleslaw

East Coast Trip Part 8

From Baltimore we drove into Pennsylvania to stay with our nephew Ben and his family just outside Philadelphia.

We strolled through Longwood Gardens; bought fresh donuts and organic beet chips at the local country store; admired fields of sunflowers; and enjoyed good food, wine and company.

Tanya was training for a triathlon, and her coach had given her this recipe for Thai Coleslaw. It tastes so good, it's hard to remember that it's health food.

Once you've cleaned and stemmed the herbs, it's quick to make in the food processor. The combination of fresh mint, basil and cilantro is the key. Add some chives if you'd like an oniony zip.

This is the perfect post-holiday dish - zesty and nutritious.

Thai Coleslaw
3 cups finely shredded cabbage
1 cup finely shredded zucchini (1 medium)
1 cup finely shredded carrots (2-3 medium)
1 cup mint leaves
2 cups basil leaves
2 cups cilantro leaves

Dressing:
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup tamari
2 tbsp honey
1/4 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 inch piece ginger, grated
1 tsp chili powder
1 1/2 tbsp curry powder

Put the herbs in the food processor and mince finely. Change to the grating blade for the zucchini and carrots. Then either use the slicer blade for the cabbage, or slice it by hand. Tip the slaw into a large bowl.

Whisk the dressing ingredients together. Stir into the vegetables.

Serves 6

Whole Foods

East Coast Trip part 7

On our way from Maryland to Pennsylvania we stopped at the Baltimore Inner Harbor, where we found a Whole Foods, bought bread and fruit to go with our Amish cheese, and picnicked by the water.

I rarely shop at Whole Foods when I'm at home - I prefer to support the farmers market and my local independent health food store - but when travelling I gravitated towards it like the stereotypical American in Paris honing in on McDonald's.

At the Whole Foods in Arlington, VA, we picked up salads that we ate at a service center on the Pennsylvania Turnpike - way better than any of the fast food options available.

It's so easy to eat badly when on the road, but carrying healthy food and being disciplined about not eating in the car meant we ended our road trip the same size we started it - not an easy feat in Fast Food America.

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.