Steady Diet of Nothing: The Road to Health

The wonderful and amazing Molly put together this SXSW panel, and invited me to be involved! I'm honored to be in such great company. Word to the Austin-bound: be there Thursday! I'm also going to blog photos of every taco I eat in Austin.

Better than sleep: strawberries!

Despite severe undersleeping after last night's brain-breaking (in the best way) Joshua Light Show with Silver Apples and Oneida, I didn't even snooze when my alarm bleated at 7:15 this morning - I was so excited about strawberries, which I missed last week. I arrived at the market at 8:30, buoyed by the gorgeous blue sky and green tea with fresh mint & sage. And: mission accomplished! Of course, I've eaten half of them already.

Oh, spring fever
1/4 lb. mixed baby greens
1/4 lb. arugula
1 lb. white button mushrooms
1 bunch asparagus
2 lbs. carrots
1 bunch broccoli rabe
1 bunch lacinato kale
2 pints strawberries
Total spent: $36

Not that there weren't minor disappointments. My greenmarket inside source told me that Eckerton had had sugar snaps and shell peas for a few minutes before I got there, and wild asparagus has already gone from Terhune.

But strawberries are worth it. My love for strawberries is well-documented (not the least of which, on my left arm), and while apricots may make better jam, and sweet cherries may be easier to eat by the pound, the first strawberries of the year are most evocative, for me, of sunshine and sweetness and - to take it a little over the top - the wonders of the vegetal world. I guess: they just make me happy.

The baby greens are my favorites, from Hawthorne Valley Farm, and they'll be paired with the arugula + dressed with herby shallot vinaigrette in one of the many protein + salad greens dinners I can't get enough of lately. I've been sautéeing broccoli rabe with ginger, sesame seeds, shoyu, and a splash of toasted sesame oil, and bringing it to work to eat cold, which is surprisingly great.

And of course, the strawberries will be gone before the weekend's over.

I've seen fire and I've seen rain

Well, I did make it to USG Saturday morning, but the rain and wind had already started - though they'd get worse - and the vendor turnout was understandably sparse. I bought some potatoes, onions, cheese, eggs, and milk, before heading to Whole Foods to pick up the rest of what I needed to cook for my old folks on Sunday.

And Sunday itself was almost laughably terrible, with the aggressive gloom continuing, the leak under my kitchen seak worsening, and my rushing to get everything done before I had to run to the office to bring merch for the Hauschka show at Le Poisson Rouge (which show was perhaps the only positive of the day). It was the kind of day where you find yourself making fennel and orange salad at 1 a.m. - we all have those, right?

Oh! And my camera's broken. I haven't even begun to figure out what to do about that.

On the positive side, I finally wrote down my permutations to this baked fettucine recipe I found on Epicurious. It's a great dish - one of my clients' favorites - and can easily be made ahead and popped into the oven when dinner guests arrive. While a bit heavy on the cheese, there are enough vegetables in the mix to make the whole thing seem, if not virtuous, then at least balanced.

Also on the bright side (literally, heyo!), it's sunny and in the 60s all week - further making me feel like not going to SXSW this year was the right decision.

Baked Fettuccine with Mascarpone and Vegetables

Ingredients:
2-3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 head broccoli, cut into bite-sized florets
2 lbs. spinach leaves, washed well
3 medium leeks, halved and cut into 1/2" strips (about 4 cups)
juice of 1 lemon (about 2 tablespoons)
zest of 2 lemons (about 1/4 cup)
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon flour
1 cup whole milk
8 oz. mascarpone (I've used fromage blanc for a lighter version also)
1 cup grated Grana Padano or Parmigiano Reggiano
3/4 lb. dry fettuccine (whole-wheat works great here)
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Sauté spinach in batches in a small amount of olive oil, adding a pinch of salt per batch. Drain, chop, and set aside.

Blanch broccoli in boiling salted water just until crisp-tender; shock, drain, and set aside.

Heat remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil in a skillet over medium heat; add leeks and a pinch of salt, and cook until softened; do not brown. Turn off heat and stir in lemon juice, zest, thyme, several pinches of salt, and several grinds of pepper. Set aside.

In a heavy-bottomed, medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat and add flour. Cook one minute, whisking constantly.
Whisk in milk, turn up heat, and bring to a boil, whisking constantly; turn down heat and simmer (keep whisking!) until thickened to the consistency of heavy cream, about 3-4 minutes.

Remove from heat and whisk in cheeses until mostly smooth (mixture will be a bit grainy because of the Grana Padano). Stir in leek mixture and taste for seasoning.

Cook fettuccine to al dente in salted water. Toss pasta with vegetables in a large bowl; add cheese sauce and toss until thoroughly combined. Adjust seasoning as needed. Transfer pasta to a baking dish and bake in preheated 350˚ oven until top is bubbling and golden, 15-20 minutes.

If making ahead, store, tightly covered, in the refrigerator, and toss to redistribute sauce and vegetables before baking. Can be frozen at this point, tightly wrapped in aluminum foil; allow to thaw completely before baking.


photo from Flickr: Ervin Bartis' photostream

Punk rock died when the first kid said...

Despite my morning grumpiness, the sun, perfect blue sky and not-quite-chilly temp made me glad to be a vegetable obsessive, rather than the sunglass-wearing aging punk I sat across from on the train back to Brooklyn. Nothing wrong with his way, of course, just that fiddling with the safety pins on a black hoody while reading Barthes (whom I recognized by the author photo alone - thanks, liberal arts education!) just doesn't strike me as the way to get the most out of such a lovely morning. Though shuffling through a crowded market with aching, laden shoulders may not appeal to lots of folks either, I suppose.
Greens greens greens:
1 bunch beets with greens
1 (gigantic) bunch Swiss chard
1 bunch dinosaur (lacinato) kale
1/3 lb. mixed salad greens
1 1/2 lbs. Brussels sprouts
1 head celery
2 1/2 lbs. carrots
2 lbs. German butterball potatoes
1 lb. seedless grapes - green Lakemont and purple Jupiter
6 lbs. mixed apples (Empire, Gold rush, Macoun, Gala)
2 Bosc pears
1 pint strawberries (?!?!)

Total spent: $56

Being on a budget at the market always requires sacrifices: today, I gave up on getting tomatoes, and had to forego goat cheese in favor of eggs and bread. Though I suppose there was no question of whether or not to buy the strawberries once I saw them, which are some of the best I've had all year...and will be perfect over our favorite coconut milk ice cream for dessert tonight. Beets always make me feel like a smart shopper, though, since they're two vegetables for the price of one.

The Brussels sprouts were an impulse buy as I was still in the shallows of the market - they're not really an economical choice for the household since the photo assistant won't eat them. But if buttered Brussels sprouts and toast for lunch at 11 a.m. are wrong, I don't want to be right!

It's become the time of year when hearty greens make it into every meal - blanched and chopped in tacos instead of lettuce, added to chilis and soups, and sauteed with garlic and olive oil to accompany just about anything. Tonight I'll probably have garlic-sauteed beet greens (my current fave!) along with roasted potatoes and veggie sausage for dinner. My friend Amanda makes a yummy dish with lacinato kale, lemon, and I think red pepper flakes - I'll try that this week.

And of course, given the tough economic times (which for me have nothing to do with Wall Street, rather the increase in my monthly student loan payment for culinary school), I'll save the stems from all the greens and stir-fry them with tofu at the end of the week, like I did last night. Not the tastiest dish in the world, but good if it's spicy enough, healthful with brown rice, and frugal.

One of my favorite greens dishes lately is toasted English muffin halves topped with (in this order) goat cheese, minced chives, garlic-sauteed chiffonade-cut greens (chard is ideal), a butter-fried egg each, and more minced chives on top. The chives may seem optional, but they absolutely make this dish - combined with the goat cheese they elevate an ordinary breakfast combo into a dinner-worthy meal. Tomatoes on the side are an excellent accompaniment and predictably, I precede this with a big green salad.

You might want to sit down for this.

Last night in class, I ate mushrooms...and I liked them!!

We also spent about four hours talking about vegetables, which was pretty much a dream come true. Things have started to get interesting.

No greenmarket this week, because I'm going to the UK for All Tomorrow's Parties. Wish me luck finding food.

(photo from Flickr - Ex Libris's photostream)

Warning: totally predictable.

Allow me to join the boring hordes and pledge my undying love to Veganomicon. Believe the hype - and I don't mean about Vampire Weekend, though you can go ahead and believe that hype too, they're pretty good - this is a great cookbook, with tons of recipes that even non-vegans will love.



More of the same:
3 beets
2 lbs. carrots
3 lbs. Yukon gold potatoes
1 box red clover sprouts
1 bunch kale
2 bags spinach
2 bags misc. apples
6 pears

I bought the pears for the pear pie I meant to make yesterday, using this recipe, but I didn't have time. I'm hoping I can make it happen this week, because Pear Pie with ginger and pecan streusel topping sounds about as good as it gets.

My first foray into Veganomiconing will be the Autumn Latkes, which are simply potato pancakes made out of other autumn vegetables instead of potatoes; the recipe calls for shredded beets, carrots, and sweet potatoes, but the previously mentioned dearth of sweet potatoes at USG means I'll be using regular Yukon Golds to replace them. Otherwise I want to try just about every single recipe in the thing, particularly the casseroles.

While we've been using the sprouts primarily in smoothies, where texture doesn't really matter, the red clover sprouts are more "hairy" and better for sandwiches than the mung or the lentil, so I think I'll only get them from now on. Since there's not really any lettuce to be had for our Tofurky-cold-cut-and-mustard sandos, the sprouts are essential for crunch and contrast.

The bad news: we had some of the carrots steamed alongside stir-fried seitan and brown rice, and they tasted like perfume. This happened a couple of weeks ago, and I stopped buying carrots from that vendor for awhile, but this time I didn't have another option. It doesn't taste chemical-y, just like these particular carrots have an odd flowery flavor. They're okay when combined with other ingredients and spices, but it's quite noticeable when they're steamed on their own. Weird.

The Veg vs. The Rock

The winner is pretty clearly The Veg since I'm at home before 3 a.m. on CMJ Thursday. I had decided this morning that I wouldn't go out to shows tonight, but I faced many temptations throughout the day (party at Mama's with free mac 'n' cheese being the most notable). And yet my plan to go home and bake a butternut squash won out over seeing live music in the company of other humans.

You see, I love squash, and butternut is my favorite. Squash is like the perfect carrot and potato got together and had sexy babies. Saturday night is squash ravioli night, and I'll be out of town until Saturday afternoon, so tonight I baked the squash, let it cool, then scooped the flesh into a tupperware for refrigeration (and for inevitable midnight snacking).

As part of the next step in my quest to take being a nerd back to its antisocial not-cool roots, for the rest of the night I will be watching cartoons while knitting socks, and probably daydreaming a little bit about squash ravioli night.

There is a light that never goes out

I put off this morning's USG trip for hours, because I was sleepy from a late night at a rock show, knew it would be crowded when I got there (I didn't wake up until 9:30), and I was not looking forward to my first weekly haul of fall vegetables. But once I started walking around the market, I got so wrapped up in all my options that I didn't notice the crowds or the startling ubiquity of apples and (already!) squashes. I should have known the USG wouldn't let me down - the fact that I spent way more money than usual despite having only one night of dinner at home next week notwithstanding.


None of this is murder:
1 box white raspberries
8 apples (Macoun, Empire, Mutsu)
1 lb. seedless grapes (half Marquis, half red)
1 pint Sungold tomatoes
1 pint Black Cherry tomatoes
1 lb. cranberry beans
3 ears bicolor corn
1 bunch carrots
1 bag spinach
1 bunch red Russian kale
1/4 lb. rughetta (spicy Italian arugula)
1 lb. golden nugget potatoes
2 heads Rocambole garlic
assorted chili peppers: Novallo?, Poblano, Scotch bonnet
Total spent: $56


I have no idea what to make with cranberry beans, but they are so lovely! Inside they're plain white, but the pods are just too beautiful. I am thinking maybe I'll create some sort of succotash with the cranberry beans and the corn for our one night of home-cooked dinner. And I'll use the gorgeous and probably way-too-spicy (Scotch bonnets? Am I serious??) peppers in a pot of black beans, assuming I can find the time to cook them during this crazy week.

Almost everything else will be used in lunches - the greens will be added anywhere I can put 'em, the potatoes and rughetta will be combined into a cold potato salad, and the carrots, apples, and grapes will be eated as is. (My worries about not having fresh fruit anymore have been momentarily assuaged by the abundance of grapes in many varieties.)

I have no plans for the white raspberries, because I already ate them! They were odd-looking, like Bunnicula had struck - about the color of champagne - but quite delicious. If I was in charge, all raspberries would taste this way. They were perhaps a bit tarter than their red counterparts, but nonetheless tasted absolutely raspberry-y. Lovely.

Next week I'll probably give in and buy my first squash. I'm trying to come up with a good way to use squash in lunches...perhaps just cubed and lightly-dressed as a side "salad." Since our microwave at the office stopped working last week, I've been working on cold and room temperature lunch dishes that are nonetheless filling and satisfying. It's been quite good for my creativity, I think, and I don't have to confront my (undoubtedly correct) fear of microwaving food in plastic. So far it's been all wraps and pasta salad, but I'm going to try the aforementioned potato salad and some grain salads next week.

Who needs money when you've got fresh fruit?

It was an overcast morning; I am in madcap desperation to eke the remaining joy out of summer; hence today's wild fruit spending spree.

Oh, the aching joy of shoulders:
1 pt. strawberries
1 box blackberries
1 box raspberries
3 lbs. white peaches
1.5 lbs. yellow peaches
2 lbs. nectarines
1 little watermelon
4 heirloom tomatoes
1 pt. sungold tomatoes
1 lb. spinach
1 bunch kale
4 big zucchini
1 head celery
1 bunch carrots
5 ears corn
Total spent: $55

Last week's seemingly-successful peach-freezing experiment means I'm going to try to repeat it until peaches are gone and I have a month or so worth of frozen lovelies for my smoothies. I'll be freezing most of the white Terhune Orchards peaches; the other peaches, nectarines, and berries are all going toward satisfying my apparently-endless appetite for fresh fruit.

Reading over answers to this Serious Eats thread, I realized that I couldn't think of a fruit I like that I wouldn't love to eat every day for the rest of my life, except maybe bananas. I can't imagine an occasion when the answer to "does a perfectly ripe peach sound good right now?" would be "no." Even - or perhaps especially - after eating a peach, the idea of eating a peach always seems like a great, irresistible idea. The same goes for berries, ripe melons, or citrus.

We're all friends here, so why lie? - sometimes I have eaten so many delicious seasonal fruits that I have suffered gastrointestinal distress. Logic and moderation fail me at times like these. Last week's fruit was all gone by Wednesday, and while I'd like to imagine this massive haul will last longer, I have no reason to think s6 - this week's strawberries are so delicious that I doubt they'll be around much longer.

Otherwise, it was a pretty standard day at USG. Apples are taking up more real estate than last week; soon they'll be abundant. The only new vegetable I'd like to try are some of the fresh beans, but I want to know how to use them before buying, as there are several varieties I'm not familiar with. If fresh lima and cranberry beans are still around next week, I'll pick up some of both. Green beans are waning, and shell peas are finally completely gone.

The spinach this year has been less bountiful, but quite delicious - the leaves are very tender at this point in the season, and the flavor is delicate and fresh. I bought kale as well, because it's one of the only cruciferous vegetables my photo assistant will eat, and we need to get some of those every week, I think. Swiss chard may be tastier and packed with nutrition, but since broccoli is unacceptable around here, I'll have to choose kale, bok choy, and tatsoi more often than my dear chard.

No photos this morning because we have a band staying with us and there are too many boys in sleeping bags on my floor to set up a shoot, but later I'll try to get a photo of my cute watermelon once I open it up, as well as the entwined love carrots I found in my bunch last week. [UPDATE: Just found the watermelon photo on my camera and added it later to this post.]

Ho-hum (not the veggies, but me)

It was a tough week at work, which unfortunately translated into kind of a downer Saturday. While I had pledged that I would buy less at the USG this week since my photo assistant is going away for the week, and therefore I only need food for one, I didn't quite manage...and spent almost the same as any other week.

So much green, so little time:

1 bunch peppermint
1 bunch tarragon
1 bunch Italian parsley
1 bunch Russian kale
3 small heads bok choy
3 zucchini
1 bunch (3) white onions
1 bunch leeks
1 lb. shell peas
4 white peaches
3 nectarines
4 apricots
2 yellow ("low-acid") tomatoes
1 pint orange Sungold cherry tomatoes
Total spent: $35

The tarragon is an experiment - I'm trying to get myself out of my fresh herbs comfort zone, which is made up entirely of basil, oregano, and parsley, though I've yet to find my tarragon recipe. I bought the mint to make this facial scrub from Urban Vegan, which actually calls for dried mint, though it worked wonderfully with the fresh herb. (My face felt amazing, but it was annoying to have to prevent the oats from going down the drain. I will make it again, though.)

Tonight's dinner was risotto with leeks, chard, and peas; Tofurkey sausage; and sliced Sungold tomatoes with parsley. The tomatoes were perfect - little sweet globes of warmth and light. I'd been planning to make a green risotto with the chard for the past few days, but when I saw leeks at the greenmarket, I realized their more-vegetal oniony flavor would suit the chard better than the shallots I had originally bought for the purpose. It turned out terrific.

I don't have solid plans for anything else I've bought this week, though I did recently make a new pot of black beans (with the poblano and jalapeno chiles I bought last week and didn't write about because I was in Baltimore to see friends at Virgin Fest), so the kale will probably end up in burritos, or with the beans over rice. We'll see what happens with the tarragon...and I've also got a ton of fresh mind leftover to find a use for.

Love hurts

It seems that the cherry season this year has been terribly short; it seems like only a week or two ago I was enjoying my first summertime cherries, and now they're already obviously on the wane. Strawberries disappeared all at once, but cherries are slowly fading - fewer USG vendors this week than last, and fewer next week, and soon they'll be totally gone, along with sugar snap peas, which are also past their prime. I feel winter creeping into my bones already!...and yet, it's mid-July.

Today's nevertheless-lovely harvest:

1 lb. cherries
1/2 lb. apricots
1/2 lb. plums (little purple ones, not sure what variety)
4 peaches
1 lb. sugar snap peas
1 1/2 lbs. green and yellow beans
1 lb. shell peas
1 bunch rainbow chard
3 zucchini
2 cousa squash
5 ears bicolor corn
1 pint orange heirloom cherry tomatoes
Total spent: $42

The tomatoes are delicious - as my photo assistant said while enjoying them with goat cheese, salt, and pepper, they're "outrageous" - and the little cherry tomato size is somehow less intimidating than the big ones, which I'm afraid will go bad before I can use them. The tinies are easy to snack on during every trip to the kitchen, which is good since I won't refrigerate them and they'll only last a couple of days in our hot lair.

Corn on the cob is quite a good consolation for the loss of earlier-summer crops - it's getting sweeter every week. There are already two husked ears in the steamer for dinner tonight, along with my favorite cherry tomato preparation, named above, and some squash and tofu sauteed together with garlic and spices, over rice.

I couldn't resist the green and yellow beans; I bought them from the same organic vendor I got them from last week, and they were delicious, and so versatile. They'll be blanched and served cold and salted in lunches, chopped into 1" pieces and added to pasta salads, stir-fried, and probably other ways I haven't imagined yet.

My fingers are crossed that the peaches will turn out better than the last ones I had; these are from the orchard I bought most of my peaches from last year, so I'm hoping they'll be as flavorful. I've already tasted a few of the plums and I'm experiencing my usual "blah" feeling about them; perhaps the Shiro and green gage varieties will be more to my liking, as they were last year.

I also bought some non-produce: goat cheese from Lynnhaven Farm (wonderful!), and fantastic basil pesto from an herb vendor. It's the second time I've bought the pesto - you get about 1 cup for $5, which lasts through lots of pasta salad servings - and it's really wonderful. I haven't made my own because I don't have a food processor... and I'm happy to buy it from the cute young couple who run the herb stand.

This morning I went to the USG about half an hour earlier than usual, as I had to get home early to go to the Sunburn Siren Festival, and it seemed more crowded than when I'm normally there. I wonder if there are more people who show up for the market's 8 a.m. opening than are there at around 9:30 or 10...before it gets crazily-crowded with regular folks around 11 or noon. I'm thinking of trying to get there when it opens one of these Saturdays, to see if I can get it on any extremely special, sells-out-immediately, produce...or perhaps that's a myth?

Finally!

I dragged myself to USG this morning before 10, despite the hay fever that has made me not want to get out of bed EVER...and, luckily, I was duly rewarded by asparagus's spring debut at the market. No longer will I have to envy the asparagus meals I've seen pictured on so many other sites for a month now (or spend $8/lb. at Whole Foods) - tonight, I can grill my own!

Otherwise, a quite lovely morning. Lots of greens in addition to the aforementioned asparagus, more ramps - things are picking up. Though I have to admit, I would really love some local fresh fruit; the only option I found today was rhubarb, which requires more sugar to prepare than I'm currently allowing myself. How will I make it to the start of cherry season?

Last week's photos were lost because I kept forgetting to post them, and last night I had to take the camera to the record store to photograph Mountain Goats - and to free up room for the live shots, I was forced to delete the cute ramps/garlic chives tableau I had captured. Luckily, I wrote down the recipe for risotto with ramps that I concocted last week. It's going to be dinner again tonight.

The Greenening:
1 bunch ramps
1 lb. asparagus
1 lb. spinach
1 bunch green chard
1 bunch kale
2 small yellow onions
2 heads garlic
8 Winesap apples
Total spent: $24

Risotto with Ramps
3/4 c Arborio rice
3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 bunch ramps, chopped (you should have about 1/3 c stem pieces, 1 c leaf pieces)
3 c vegetable stock
1/2 c Parmigiano-Reggiano (or more to taste)
freshly ground black pepper and salt to taste

I didn't write down any directions, but basically just sautee the stem pieces of the ramps in the olive oil until soft, add the rice and leaf pieces, stir until rice is translucent and fragrant, then follow normal procedure for risotto. One shortcut I learned is that it's easy enough to heat your stock, cup by cup, in a Pyrex in the microwave before you add it each time, rather than keeping it constantly simmering on the stove and dirtying another saucepan. After your risotto is done (you should use up all 3 cups of stock for sure), turn off the heat and stir in the cheese, salt, and pepper. Serve with more spring vegetables, preferably grilled asparagus!!

CMJ = no vegetables; no fun

No greenmarket this week - CMJ has me running around like crazy and staying up way too late. Next week, things should be back to normal! Though I do have a butternut squash, a sweet potato, and a few other hardy root vegetables left, the days are going to be bleak without apples, greens, etc.

"Honeycrisp" indeed!

Yesterday, I cut up one of the Honeycrisps for my lunchtime apple slices - a more aptly -named apple has ne'er been seen. I shared with my record-store coworker Koen, and we were both enamored of the things. So crisp, so sweet, but with enough tartness to keep things interesting - I'll definitely be stocking up on this apple next week!

8:30 a.m. - The Opposite Of Hallelujah

After forcing myself to wake up at 8:30 after being out 'til 2 at the Jens Lekman show, and 1.5 hours of travel time (due to multiple unexpected train changes), I arrived at the Union Square Greenmarket a bit sweaty and worse for wear. Luckily, I encountered strawberries and more compensations immediately, and couldn't regret the trip (or the sleep deprivation) one bit. Also, I would pretty much go to hell and back for Jens. (I think the coffee probably helped, too.)


The takings:
5 ears bicolor corn (for a barbecue tonight)
1 pint strawberries
1 lb. cherries
3/4 lb. tricolor snap beans
3/4 lb. tiny Yukon Gold potatoes
1/3 lb. salad mix
1 lb. shell peas
5 yellow peaches
3 Shiro plums
Total spent: $25-$30 (I stopped counting)

Forgive the photo background - my photo assistant was out of town. After photos and eating all the cherries and strawberries that didn't fit in my tupperware, I proceeded to make what will go down in history as the Greatest Lunch Ever, which was a bay shrimp-stuffed salmon fillet from Trader Joe's with oven-roasted green beans and Yukon Golds.

The green beans were from last week, and turned out perfect: I left them whole, blanched them for about 30 seconds, then, after they were completely cooled by cold water, tossed them with a little olive oil and sea salt, and roasted them in a 375-degree oven for 10 minutes, turning once. Similarly, the potatoes turned out divine - I cut the little guys in half, tossed with olive oil and salt, and roasted them along with my fish for 25 minutes. They were creamy and full of potato flavor, which is a weird thing to imagine until you taste it.

Very excited about the tricolor snap beans. The cute boy at the produce stand thrust a yellow bean into my hand, which I munched obediently - the beans are sweet enough to be delicious raw. I think a blanch and quick saute in some olive oil will take them to new heights. Meanwhile, I'm guessing produce boy has no trouble with the ladies.

The shell peas I bought for a recipe, but I've never had freshly shelled peas before, so I might prepare them simply - braised or sauteed in a little butter.

Strawberries felt like another miracle (especially given my rough morning). And unfortunately, I found out from a grower that the cherry season is on its way out, as well. There were certainly fewer cherry vendors this week than there have been for the last month or so, but I hope they'll last at least another week or two...I'm not ready to give up having fresh cherries whenever I want them!

Now reading: What To Eat by Marion Nestle. This was recommended by a friend, and is a clear, unromantic look at supermarket food offerings - from the health/political/environmental benefits of organic vs. locally-grown vs. conventional produce, to an explanation of what trans-fats actually are, to investigating the different sides of the health claims made for soy products, it's been quite educational thus far, and her writing style is compelling. Though her initial conclusion - that the best thing you can do for your health is eat more fruits and vegetables and exercise, and that successful weight loss/maintenance is based on calore consumption, are not revolutionary, they're certainly easily obscured by the marketing arms of the food industries she discusses.

Basil plant update: The remaining plant looks to be thriving, with lost of new little leaves, though an alarming yellowness is showing up near the roots of the plant. I've got to start cooking with basil pretty soon - there are some big leaves up top that need trimming.

cherries, and little else

Veggie consumption has been very low since Friday, because we've had a band staying with us, which makes everything extra-chaotic, and cuts down on time/space for food preparation. However, I did eat most of the rest of the cherries yesterday, and came to this conclusion: Sour cherries are really sour! I threw a handful into the sweet cherries when I bought them, just to test them out. I guess they're better used in recipes...I'll investigate. The tomatoes were consumed as per last week, and were even more perfect.