Comments on: Beans and Rice and Beans and Rice and Beans and…. http://sharonastyk.com/2008/07/15/beans-and-rice-and-beans-and-rice-and-beans-and/ Sharon Astyk's Ruminations on an Ambiguous Future Wed, 19 Nov 2008 22:41:45 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.2 By: PUTTING FOOD (AND OTHER THINGS) BY « deep green sources http://sharonastyk.com/2008/07/15/beans-and-rice-and-beans-and-rice-and-beans-and/#comment-7790 PUTTING FOOD (AND OTHER THINGS) BY « deep green sources Thu, 17 Jul 2008 07:16:49 +0000 http://sharonastyk.com/2008/07/15/beans-and-rice-and-beans-and-rice-and-beans-and/#comment-7790 [...] Beans and Rice and Beans and Rice and Beans and…. [...] […] Beans and Rice and Beans and Rice and Beans and…. […]

]]> By: Kati http://sharonastyk.com/2008/07/15/beans-and-rice-and-beans-and-rice-and-beans-and/#comment-7783 Kati Thu, 17 Jul 2008 04:20:03 +0000 http://sharonastyk.com/2008/07/15/beans-and-rice-and-beans-and-rice-and-beans-and/#comment-7783 I'm loving these last couple of articles, Sharon!!! Some great tidbits even when one isn't yet feeling a tight crunch. I introduced my dad (with rave reviews, I might add) to Colcannon this spring. I've used dandilion greens in it without any great difference in flavor from the cabbage. (Well, ok, different from cabbage, which I prefer with the potatoes, but would taste just like turnip greens or collards if used instead of dandilions.) I've also dried a decent-sized jar of lambsquarters that I hope to add to the odd soup this fall and winter. Have more to dry as it continues to grow, as well. One question, I believe you mentioned a while back that the outter leaves of cabbage and broccoli are usable.... How would one go about harvesting and using those outter leaves???? The garden we have over at the inlaw's house is producing a LOT of cabbage and broccoli (who's heads have been subsequently harvested by rabbits), and the FIL is wondering if something can be done with the outter cabbage leaves and broccoli leaves to avoid otherwise wasting them. Any tips and suggestions would be greatly appreciated! I’m loving these last couple of articles, Sharon!!! Some great tidbits even when one isn’t yet feeling a tight crunch. I introduced my dad (with rave reviews, I might add) to Colcannon this spring. I’ve used dandilion greens in it without any great difference in flavor from the cabbage. (Well, ok, different from cabbage, which I prefer with the potatoes, but would taste just like turnip greens or collards if used instead of dandilions.) I’ve also dried a decent-sized jar of lambsquarters that I hope to add to the odd soup this fall and winter. Have more to dry as it continues to grow, as well.

One question, I believe you mentioned a while back that the outter leaves of cabbage and broccoli are usable…. How would one go about harvesting and using those outter leaves???? The garden we have over at the inlaw’s house is producing a LOT of cabbage and broccoli (who’s heads have been subsequently harvested by rabbits), and the FIL is wondering if something can be done with the outter cabbage leaves and broccoli leaves to avoid otherwise wasting them. Any tips and suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

]]> By: Meadowlark http://sharonastyk.com/2008/07/15/beans-and-rice-and-beans-and-rice-and-beans-and/#comment-7727 Meadowlark Wed, 16 Jul 2008 15:50:33 +0000 http://sharonastyk.com/2008/07/15/beans-and-rice-and-beans-and-rice-and-beans-and/#comment-7727 American Wholefoods Cuisine. And I'm not even a vegetarian. The one I have in old (70s?) and full of whole grain recipes and menus. American Wholefoods Cuisine. And I’m not even a vegetarian.

The one I have in old (70s?) and full of whole grain recipes and menus.

]]> By: Traci http://sharonastyk.com/2008/07/15/beans-and-rice-and-beans-and-rice-and-beans-and/#comment-7710 Traci Wed, 16 Jul 2008 04:35:01 +0000 http://sharonastyk.com/2008/07/15/beans-and-rice-and-beans-and-rice-and-beans-and/#comment-7710 I posted earlier, it must be lost in space somewhere... My Sister and I grew up eating beans and corn tortillas with tomatoes, onion, lettuce and cheese EVERY NIGHT for most of our childhood. We ate whole grain toast with butter or eggs for every breakfast. We occasionally had seasonal things like artichokes. Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner were huge treats. We never questioned it until we grew up and looked back on it. I made a huge pot of Collards & Black-Eyed Pea Soup, we have been eating it for days. It is one of our favorites... 6 cups stock or water 2 cups black-eyed peas (rinsed) 1 bunch of collard greens 2 large onions, coarsely chopped 3 ribs of celery, finely chopped 4 large cloves garlic, finely minced 1/2 tsp dried thyme pinch red pepper (more if you like heat) sea salt to taste Bring stock & peas to a boil. Meanwhile wash and prepare collards (chop into 1 inch strips) Add collards and everything else except the salt to the pot. Bring to a boil, simmer covered until peas are tender about 45-55 minute. Salt to taste. Add more red peppers or hot sauce if desired. ~Traci Vancouver, WA I posted earlier, it must be lost in space somewhere…

My Sister and I grew up eating beans and corn tortillas with tomatoes, onion, lettuce and cheese EVERY NIGHT for most of our childhood. We ate whole grain toast with butter or eggs for every breakfast. We occasionally had seasonal things like artichokes. Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner were huge treats. We never questioned it until we grew up and looked back on it.

I made a huge pot of Collards & Black-Eyed Pea Soup, we have been eating it for days.
It is one of our favorites…

6 cups stock or water
2 cups black-eyed peas (rinsed)
1 bunch of collard greens
2 large onions, coarsely chopped
3 ribs of celery, finely chopped
4 large cloves garlic, finely minced
1/2 tsp dried thyme
pinch red pepper (more if you like heat)
sea salt to taste

Bring stock & peas to a boil. Meanwhile wash and prepare collards (chop into 1 inch strips) Add collards and everything else except the salt to the pot. Bring to a boil, simmer covered until peas are tender about 45-55 minute. Salt to taste. Add more red peppers or hot sauce if desired.

~Traci
Vancouver, WA

]]> By: Megan http://sharonastyk.com/2008/07/15/beans-and-rice-and-beans-and-rice-and-beans-and/#comment-7700 Megan Wed, 16 Jul 2008 02:16:17 +0000 http://sharonastyk.com/2008/07/15/beans-and-rice-and-beans-and-rice-and-beans-and/#comment-7700 Here is my very favorite low-budget recipe for Koshari. Egyptian comfort food with lentils, rice, pasta and tomato-onion sauce. It's only got 5 or 6 very cheap ingredients. I make it with shell pasta and I run the sauce in the blender after it's cooked, it ends up bright orange. This is SO inexpensive and easy to make from stored things. And it is YUMMY. And filling. http://www.recipezaar.com/39446 Here is my very favorite low-budget recipe for Koshari. Egyptian comfort food with lentils, rice, pasta and tomato-onion sauce. It’s only got 5 or 6 very cheap ingredients. I make it with shell pasta and I run the sauce in the blender after it’s cooked, it ends up bright orange. This is SO inexpensive and easy to make from stored things. And it is YUMMY. And filling.

http://www.recipezaar.com/39446

]]> By: greentangle http://sharonastyk.com/2008/07/15/beans-and-rice-and-beans-and-rice-and-beans-and/#comment-7678 greentangle Tue, 15 Jul 2008 21:36:16 +0000 http://sharonastyk.com/2008/07/15/beans-and-rice-and-beans-and-rice-and-beans-and/#comment-7678 For ultimate simplicity there's Helen Nearing's Simple Food for the Good Life, probably more fun for reading than recipes. As the cover of my copy reads: the funniest, crankiest, most ambivalent cookbook you'll ever read. For ultimate simplicity there’s Helen Nearing’s Simple Food for the Good Life, probably more fun for reading than recipes. As the cover of my copy reads: the funniest, crankiest, most ambivalent cookbook you’ll ever read.

]]> By: Paula Hewitt http://sharonastyk.com/2008/07/15/beans-and-rice-and-beans-and-rice-and-beans-and/#comment-7675 Paula Hewitt Tue, 15 Jul 2008 21:17:17 +0000 http://sharonastyk.com/2008/07/15/beans-and-rice-and-beans-and-rice-and-beans-and/#comment-7675 This is a great list of cookbooks, I own a couple. I particularly like the Brunswick stew in Moosewood - seems to be one of those reicpes that includes every summer veggie in the garden....we eat it a lot when everything is ready to harvest. I think Ive commented before -but we have been moving to a rice and beans, or rice and greens diet - and our kids think nothing of it. when it comes the time that we have something simple 6 times a week, instead of three, i dont think anyone in the family is going to notice. Wolferts book on grains and greens is great - i just wish I had to guts to work out which local weeds are edible.... you make a good point about serving food to others to change the culture. when we have guests I still go down the expensive meat/ fancy cheese route - i havent been able to bring myself to dish up lentils and rice to guests (not unless its part of a more elaborate meal)- maybe i need to start! This is a great list of cookbooks, I own a couple. I particularly like the Brunswick stew in Moosewood - seems to be one of those reicpes that includes every summer veggie in the garden….we eat it a lot when everything is ready to harvest. I think Ive commented before -but we have been moving to a rice and beans, or rice and greens diet - and our kids think nothing of it. when it comes the time that we have something simple 6 times a week, instead of three, i dont think anyone in the family is going to notice. Wolferts book on grains and greens is great - i just wish I had to guts to work out which local weeds are edible….
you make a good point about serving food to others to change the culture. when we have guests I still go down the expensive meat/ fancy cheese route - i havent been able to bring myself to dish up lentils and rice to guests (not unless its part of a more elaborate meal)- maybe i need to start!

]]> By: Squrrl http://sharonastyk.com/2008/07/15/beans-and-rice-and-beans-and-rice-and-beans-and/#comment-7662 Squrrl Tue, 15 Jul 2008 20:09:30 +0000 http://sharonastyk.com/2008/07/15/beans-and-rice-and-beans-and-rice-and-beans-and/#comment-7662 I second what Meadowlark says about leftovers. My husband, an engineer, takes leftovers for lunch nearly every day. His coworkers, who all go out to eat, are torn between thinking he's a freak and recognizing that he's saving a lot of money. (Also, eating better than them, but they wouldn't know that except by the smell ;-) Speaking of my husband, he will not thank you for this post when I start pestering after every single book on it except the two I already have. Actually, I made a dish out of More With Less last night, and it is one of my top three or so cookbooks...and I have two bookcases full. We've been working on staple eating here, and we made a big step by buying a 50# bag of potatoes (for two people) a while ago. Since then, we've been eating potatoes nearly daily, but we never _feel_ like we're eating a lot of potatoes...we're just eating, you know, _food_. Which is the point. I second what Meadowlark says about leftovers. My husband, an engineer, takes leftovers for lunch nearly every day. His coworkers, who all go out to eat, are torn between thinking he’s a freak and recognizing that he’s saving a lot of money. (Also, eating better than them, but they wouldn’t know that except by the smell ;-)

Speaking of my husband, he will not thank you for this post when I start pestering after every single book on it except the two I already have. Actually, I made a dish out of More With Less last night, and it is one of my top three or so cookbooks…and I have two bookcases full.

We’ve been working on staple eating here, and we made a big step by buying a 50# bag of potatoes (for two people) a while ago. Since then, we’ve been eating potatoes nearly daily, but we never _feel_ like we’re eating a lot of potatoes…we’re just eating, you know, _food_. Which is the point.

]]> By: homebrewlibrarian http://sharonastyk.com/2008/07/15/beans-and-rice-and-beans-and-rice-and-beans-and/#comment-7659 homebrewlibrarian Tue, 15 Jul 2008 20:06:11 +0000 http://sharonastyk.com/2008/07/15/beans-and-rice-and-beans-and-rice-and-beans-and/#comment-7659 While I love cookbooks and ones that take staples and make them delicious in particular, I haven't yet run across any that take into account the foods that grow up in Alaska. Now Alaska has seen it's fair share of locally written church, women's groups, 4H, bank employees, hospital employees, etc. cookbooks but they all call for wheat flour and lots of tomatoes and peppers. Those things don't grow here in any quantity, particularly wheat. What I really want to see is a cookbook that emphasizes amaranth, potatoes, rhubarb and fava beans. Okay, beets, carrots and turnips, too. I am heartened, however, by a recent publication by the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium Cancer Program called _Traditional Food Guide for Alaska Native Cancer Survivors_. ANTHC is trying to help Alaska Native cancer survivors improve their health by going back to their traditional foods (yep, Alaska Natives are suffering from the Western Diet, too). It's a small, spiral-bound book that is more of an overview of Alaska Native foods (with over 15 different cultural identifications that span the state, how could anyone address all foods?) but talks about modern and historic ways to prepare them and includes 30 recipes which take traditional foods and prepare them in modern (low-fat, low-cholesterol) ways. Absolutely my favorite part of the book is the two pages that describe moose and caribou parts. For instance: "Backbone - The meat is cooked or dried and is considered very high in quality. This is especially true for the anterior meat along the high shoulder vertebrae. The bones are not used, but the spinal cord is removed from the cooked vertebrae and eaten. The sinew is removed, dried and used for sewing. Back sinew is considered the best for sewing and making snares." Now how cool is that? I did notice that there were several "staples" such as seal oil in the collection of Alaska Native reminisces about traditional foods. But what I really noticed was the seasonality of those staples. Seal oil could be around all year but some foods like sourdock were only available when it wasn't frozen outside. And there's always the different times that certain fish are around. Nevertheless, for what I'd want out of a cookbook it would require me to look through dozens of other cookbooks to find recipes that include wild and grown foods from Alaska. Guess I should start keeping a notebook as I do things but I sure wish somebody had beat me to it. Kerri in AK While I love cookbooks and ones that take staples and make them delicious in particular, I haven’t yet run across any that take into account the foods that grow up in Alaska. Now Alaska has seen it’s fair share of locally written church, women’s groups, 4H, bank employees, hospital employees, etc. cookbooks but they all call for wheat flour and lots of tomatoes and peppers. Those things don’t grow here in any quantity, particularly wheat. What I really want to see is a cookbook that emphasizes amaranth, potatoes, rhubarb and fava beans. Okay, beets, carrots and turnips, too.

I am heartened, however, by a recent publication by the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium Cancer Program called _Traditional Food Guide for Alaska Native Cancer Survivors_. ANTHC is trying to help Alaska Native cancer survivors improve their health by going back to their traditional foods (yep, Alaska Natives are suffering from the Western Diet, too). It’s a small, spiral-bound book that is more of an overview of Alaska Native foods (with over 15 different cultural identifications that span the state, how could anyone address all foods?) but talks about modern and historic ways to prepare them and includes 30 recipes which take traditional foods and prepare them in modern (low-fat, low-cholesterol) ways. Absolutely my favorite part of the book is the two pages that describe moose and caribou parts. For instance:

“Backbone - The meat is cooked or dried and is considered very high in quality. This is especially true for the anterior meat along the high shoulder vertebrae. The bones are not used, but the spinal cord is removed from the cooked vertebrae and eaten. The sinew is removed, dried and used for sewing. Back sinew is considered the best for sewing and making snares.”

Now how cool is that? I did notice that there were several “staples” such as seal oil in the collection of Alaska Native reminisces about traditional foods. But what I really noticed was the seasonality of those staples. Seal oil could be around all year but some foods like sourdock were only available when it wasn’t frozen outside. And there’s always the different times that certain fish are around.

Nevertheless, for what I’d want out of a cookbook it would require me to look through dozens of other cookbooks to find recipes that include wild and grown foods from Alaska. Guess I should start keeping a notebook as I do things but I sure wish somebody had beat me to it.

Kerri in AK

]]> By: Meadowlark http://sharonastyk.com/2008/07/15/beans-and-rice-and-beans-and-rice-and-beans-and/#comment-7652 Meadowlark Tue, 15 Jul 2008 18:43:03 +0000 http://sharonastyk.com/2008/07/15/beans-and-rice-and-beans-and-rice-and-beans-and/#comment-7652 Society does seem to tell us that beans/grains are "poor person food". For me, they are "farm food". We grew lentils and split peas and that's what we ate. For many a meal. Leftovers seem to have the same stigma. I grew up eating spaghetti or bean soup for 3 days in a row and wasn't bothered a bit. It wasn't that we didn't have food (we raised cattle, so there was certainly beef in the freezer) but that we ate simply and heartily. My husband (the city boy) does not like leftovers at all. But after 20+ years, I've nearly "fixed" him. :) Society does seem to tell us that beans/grains are “poor person food”. For me, they are “farm food”. We grew lentils and split peas and that’s what we ate. For many a meal.

Leftovers seem to have the same stigma. I grew up eating spaghetti or bean soup for 3 days in a row and wasn’t bothered a bit. It wasn’t that we didn’t have food (we raised cattle, so there was certainly beef in the freezer) but that we ate simply and heartily.

My husband (the city boy) does not like leftovers at all. But after 20+ years, I’ve nearly “fixed” him. :)

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