Laura Klein2013-05-24T08:00:04-04:00Laura Kleinhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/author/index.php?author=laura-kleinCopyright 2008, HuffingtonPost.com, Inc.HuffingtonPost Blogger Feed for Laura KleinGood old fashioned elbow grease.Royal Rainbow Superfood Quinoa Salad Recipetag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2013:/theblog//3.31660012013-04-30T10:41:05-04:002013-04-30T10:37:00-04:00Laura Kleinhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/laura-klein/
This delicious quinoa recipe bursting with superfoods is perfect to make in large quantities on the weekend and eat throughout the week. You can bulk it up by adding a piece of organic chicken, a piece of salmon, or delicious roasted veggies and enjoy it for lunch or dinner. You can even serve it for breakfast with two sunny-side-up eggs on top.
Cook's note: To get a light fluffy quinoa, remember to let it rest covered for at least 10-15 minutes after you've cooked it. I also discovered that adding salt at the end of the cooking process creates a lighter, fluffier quinoa.
Royal Rainbow Superfood Quinoa Salad
Active time: 20 minutes
Total time: 45 minutes
Serves 4
Ingredients
Quinoa
1 teaspoon of coconut oil
1 cup royal rainbow quinoa
1 1/2 cups of veggie stock
1 1/2 - 2 cups chopped kale
1/3 cup dried cherries (or your favorite dried fruit)
1/3 cup sliced almonds
1/3 cup green onions
Dressing
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup Red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Directions
Rinse quinoa to remove any bitter sediment in a fine mesh strainer.
Add one teaspoon of coconut oil to medium sauté pan and toast quinoa for four to six minutes to bloom the nutty flavor.
Bring veggie stock to a boil, add quinoa. Turn heat to low, cover and simmer for 15-18 minutes until all of the liquid has been absorbed.
If the dried cherries are large, run a knife through them and chop. Add kale, dried cherries, and nuts to pot, lightly stir to combine and let sit for at least 10 minutes covered, until dry or slightly moist. Fluff with fork, cool.
Meanwhile, make vinaigrette: add vinegar to a smallish bowl and whisk in until emulsified: olive oil, mustard and salt and pepper to taste.
Once quinoa has cooled, drizzle about 1/4 cup of dressing over quinoa salad (start with less, you can always add more), salt and pepper to taste, stir to combine and serve!
Health Note: I add the kale at the end so it steams it. This helps heal the intestinal flora of your stomach and retains the nutrients of kale.
Images: John Klein]]>James Oseland on His Latest Book: Saveur's The Way We Cook: Portraits From Around the Worldtag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.20843602012-11-12T18:04:47-05:002013-01-12T05:12:01-05:00Laura Kleinhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/laura-klein/Saveur and its Editor-in-Chief, James Oseland, who also happens to be a judge on the Bravo television show, Top Chef Masters. James' latest creation, Saveur: The Way We Cook, Portraits from Around the World is a photo-intensive coffee table book and a breath of fresh air in a time when American culture is inundated with information overload (hello exploding inbox!) and celebrity overexposure.
Under Oseland's leadership, Saveur has won more than 30 major awards, including eight James Beard Foundation Awards for journalism. The release of Oselands' latest offering builds on the success of his previous books: Saveur The New Comfort Food, Home Cooking from Around the World and the James Beard Award-winning cookbook, Cradle of Flavor: Home Cooking from the Spice Islands of Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore. James is also a talented photographer and took more than 20 of the photographs in the new book.
This simple, gorgeous book focused on the unique, regional foods from across the globe and is hands down, the most exciting cookbook of 2012. Stunning, earthy photos of people from all around the world enjoying their local fare are accompanied by short stories. One simply can't help but fall in love; you begin to fantasize about what it would be like to be in each location, sharing each dish.
SAVEUR: The Way We Cook: Portraits from Around the World takes you beyond your everyday cooking routine and inspires you to think outside the box in a new way -- by simplifying your kitchen. It depicts a humbler life, away from the big city and the overcomplicated high-tech existence that has become, for many, simply exhausting.
Photograph by Todd Coleman, courtsey of Weldon Owen Publishing
As Francine Prose says in the introduction: Cooking really is magic. I truly believe that if you get into the ever-present moment, allowing for the inspiration that simple ingredients bring, and share your creations with loved ones, you too will find the magic in cooking as a way to experience true joy.
I caught up with James Oseland just a few days after Hurricane Sandy hit New York City where he resides. We discussed everything from the inspiration behind the stories and recipes in this book to his favorite international street food, how his culinary travels have influenced his life, which country he would fly to just for the food; and how his cooking travels prepared him for the after math of Hurricane Sandy.
Laura Klein: What's the inspiration behind The Way We Cook? Do we need another coffee table book about food?
The original impetus to make the book was honestly as simple as, "wow, I can't genuinely think of another book that's like this." What we strove to do was create a book where readers can see the great and amazing connectivity of how people all around the world eat. We tend to want to engage in a dialogue, usually about how differently we eat, but for me, when you look through the sum total effect of flipping through the book, there is that 'wow' moment, because actually, nothing could be further from the truth.
We all eat so similarly; how we procure our ingredients, how we cook them and how we share meals around the table. It is kind of fundamentally the same whether we're in a village in India or in New York City. And, really, that was the secret goal when we were putting the book together: to celebrate this extraordinary thing that usually doesn't get looked at in exactly this way.
Photograph by Landon Nordeman, courtsey of Weldon Owen Publishing
The culinary images in the book have a gorgeous, down-to-earth feel that draws a reader in and makes one feel as if they are in the same room, even in the same country. How did you choose from the thousands of photos and stories in the Saveur archives to include in the book?
This was a real labor of love; it was down to the Art Director, Dave Weaver, and myself. Because we didn't have time during the regular work week to go about poring over roughly 300,000 images to pull the few hundred that are ultimately in the book -- what we did over the course of a couple of months is meet over the weekend and start very early in the morning, sometimes as early as 7 a.m., and spend many, many hours just going through images and calling out when one particularly grabbed us. Of those 300,000, we probably found 2,000 that we really wanted to include in the book, and we were able to whittle that down to the few hundred that ultimately made it. It was a very laborious, but also a very joyous process.
Photograph by Todd Coleman, courtsey of Weldon Owen Publishing
What's your favorite story in the book?
There are just so many.... but one that is calling out to me right now, in particular, is an image on pages 140 and 141 (pictured above). This is a picture that was taken in the state of Zacatecas in Mexico. One of our favorite contributors to the magazine is a Los Angeles based food blogger named Javier Cabral. He pitched the story about returning to his mother's birth place in Zacatecas, which is a state in northern, central Mexico. He had only passed through Zacatecas as a child and didn't really know the place as an adult. So, he put together the story that he and his mother would travel there and hopefully she would allow him to understand the food ways that he has sort of taken for granted his whole life. They traveled there and stayed with his mom's sisters (the other two women in the photograph -- that's his mom on the right in the pink blouse). The three sisters are standing around a large table. One of the things they are doing is making fresh cheese that was probably drawn a few hours earlier. For me, it exemplifies that great primal thing that people do preparing food -- that fantastic, unconscious communication -- and for me there is a sort of wonderment in the picture and it's just a great harmonious, beautiful image. And the fact that somewhere out of the picture, I know that Javier was there learning things about his mother and her past that he never knew before, that for me resonates so powerfully.
Let's talk street food. Many of the photos in the book have a deliciously rugged-yet-gritty feel (which I love). They transport me straight to the street food experience. What's your favorite street food experience in the book?
Photograph by James Oseland, courtsey of Weldon Owen Publishing
Indonesia is a second home of mine, I've been traveling there since the early 1980s, and street food figures very, very prominently in the Indonesian culture. It's kind of just interwoven very much into the fabric of daily life. These wandering street vendors who sometimes carry their wares on their backs literally, or by way of three-wheel pushcarts. They announce their presence by a variety of different clacking sounds, things that they hit to let people know they are coming.
My last trip to Jakarta, I was with my friend Amalia and we were in a southern part of the city, that neither of us were particularly familiar with, and it's sort of the part of the city where, 20th century Jakarta kind of gives way to the Javanese villages, and all of a sudden we were in a place with banana fields and homes that were essentially, just grass huts. We were wandering around and we made quick friends with the woman on page 162 (pictured above). She explained the part of the city we were in and what her family does. They grow bananas that they bring to market in the city. She invited us into her home and we all sat around and we had tea. She made her granddaughter a quick lunch. After hanging out about 45 minutes or so, one of those street vendors came roaming through -- a guy who was offering a particular kind of noodle soup. So, myself, my friend Amalia, this woman and her entire family gathered around this guy's cart, and had some of the most phenomenal noodle soup that I've ever eaten. It was garnished with fresh lemon basil and this amazing sambal hijau, a sauce made from green chiles. It was such an aromatic and beautiful thing. The 10 of us bonded very intensely over a simple bowl of noodle soup.
How has traveling the world, writing about and photographing local food and culture influenced your life?
You know, it's funny, I think I've always had this very intense natural instinct to be able to understand a place through what it eats. I can trace my initial interest in understanding the world that way through being a kid in northern California. I used to read National Geographic like it was going out of style, and especially held onto images, really not very different from some of the pictures that we're looking at here in The Way We Cook. For some reason, it just seems so different -- yet so similar -- to the experience of food I knew as a suburban kid; and I so wanted to be in the places that these photographs showed. I made my first real significant trip abroad in the early 1980s when I was 19 years old, and from that moment on, it stuck with me. It's immensely pleasurable and endlessly interesting discovering what the rest of the world eats.
Do you have a favorite obscure ingredient that you discovered through your culinary travels that you always keep in your pantry? How do you use it?
One ingredient I find to be of so many magical uses is kaffir lime leaf. It is not something that is intensely common in the American pantry, although it is certainly more known and more available than it was even 10 years ago. It just has so many really terrific, unexpected uses, even finely chiffonaded or julienned. (It is amazing in an omelet -- the most extraordinary omelette aux fines herbes -- using ingredients that would never be used in France.) It is an absolute necessity in a lot of Southeast Asian cooking. That is one ingredient I always try to have on hand, even though in New York it can be a little hard to procure.
How do you find it in New York?
You know, funny, here in the office, we have a kaffir lime tree growing. Whenever I need to cook at home, I pluck a few leaves before leaving the office.
How does it survive year-round in the office?
It does incredibly well! Our Managing Editor, Greg Ferro, has it in his cubicle; it's a 4-foot kaffir lime tree in a giant pot. Greg tends to have the greenest thumb of anybody in the office. If ever there is an ailing plant, if you bring it anywhere within two feet of him, the plant miraculously thrives. Thus, the kaffir lime tree does incredibly well. It has yet to bear any fruit, but the leaves are incredibly healthy.
Photograph by Penny De Los Santos,courtsey of Weldon Owen Publishing
What country would you fly to just to eat the food? What would you eat?
Malaysia. I would eat any of a hundred things I can immediately think of. Probably the first thing I would eat is street food -- classic Malaysian street food. I would be in Penang, Malaysia, and I would eat Char Kuey Teow -- fresh rice noodles that are very broad, very flat and have been very quickly stir-fried with Chinese spring onions, shrimp, chili paste, and a few other ingredients that tie everything together and make, what is to my mind, the most delicious noodle dish anywhere on earth.
Photograph by James Oseland, courtsey of Weldon Owen Publishing
Do you have a favorite recipe in the book?
I do, but it's sort of like picking among your favorite children. There are two that resonate the most, but the one that resonates most of all, the photograph is on page 233 and the recipe is on page 235, Wild Greens with Fried Eggs (pictured above). It was a dish that I ate, in fact that is a photograph I took in Northern Greece not far from the Albanian border in a small village tavern. It's a dish they had on hand, wild greens that had just been picked in a nearby field that morning, simply sautéed with olive oil and only seasoned with a little salt, with a just-fried egg placed on top. The dish was really transcendental, especially when eaten with good crusty, local bread. It's probably one of the most phenomenal dishes I've eaten. It made me think about wild greens in a completely new way.
What do you hope that readers take away from the book?
I sincerely hope that readers take away how not-too-different we are in our food ways around the world but, instead how fantastically similar we are. In this day and age where there is a lot of food media focus on celebrity chefs and high-end cooking, it's my hope that a book like this would send a small and subtle message out into the world -- that food is something we all do, gloriously, fabulously. It's not just the domain of the celebrity chefs.
Photograph by Penny De Los Santos,courtsey of Weldon Owen Publishing
I have to share with you -- it is so refreshing to see real people and real food in this book. And not just another book full of celebrities.
Is there anything more extraordinary, more human? There are a few celebrity chefs in the book. There is Grant Achatz, and there is, to my mind, Las Vegas' greatest chef, Paul Bartolotta. The fact that Paul Bartolotta and Grant Achatz are a part of the amazing fabric of human cooking, to me is just exciting and wonderful. They're certainly no better or no worse. What the book does is celebrate the egalitarian quality of what goes on in our kitchens all around the world.
Since we're talking about local foodie culture around the world, I can't help but ask what is your favorite James Oseland go-to, home-grown recipe?
The way I cook tends to be different from the way my parents cooked. But there is in fact one dish from my childhood that I do continue to cook as an adult, with great satisfaction. And that's a dish called "Joe's Special," which is a Bay Area favorite. It originally came from a restaurant called Original Joe's.
It's a skillet scramble of eggs, onion, garlic, fresh spinach and a little bit of ground beef. It sounds a little odd. You quickly scramble all of it together. It couldn't be more ugly when it comes out of the pan, and you put on top of it fresh grated parmesan and you serve it with greens alongside crusty bread. As ugly as it is, it is immensely satisfying to this day.
Do you have a favorite kitchen tool?
It's my Henckels carbon steel knife. I tend not be real inspired by very high-end cooking gadgets because I learned a lot of the cooking that I do in village homes in Indonesia, in kitchens that were the exact opposite of tricked-out where it's basically a wood fire with some wood to cut on and a wok to cook in, and that's it. I think unconsciously I try and mirror that, having seen that you just don't really need all that to make really good food. In fact, sometimes I think it can be a deterrent from making good food -- having too tricked-out of a kitchen. Nevertheless, my not-cheap, Henckels carbon steel knife is a thing of great wonder. I love this knife so, so much and I don't think I'll ever part with it.
One of my favorite stories in the book is about the woman living in Transylvania who has a wood fire burning oven and bakes her bread until it is black. She lets it cool and then beats away the black char with a rolling pin to reveal a tender golden brown crust. It's so counterintuitive!
So interesting, right? I wonder about the origins of that, it must go back to cooking the bread literally over an open fire, pre-oven days, and it's some tradition that's sort of stuck. You can imagine how extraordinary it must taste. What an odd concept, right?
It makes you start to think outside of the box and ask yourself, 'What can I do differently? What am I missing?' Maybe a mistake really isn't a mistake and it's really something beautiful -- a reminder to embrace the imperfections, because most people would throw it out and start over from scratch!
Photograph by Todd Coleman, courtsey of Weldon Owen Publishing
Yes, yes..... Wish us luck in New York as we sow our lives together. It's funny because how I am cooking right now in our kitchen at home is not so different from that kitchen in Jakarta that we were looking in. It's basically really like that.
So what are you doing after Hurricane Sandy?
Luckily, we still have gas. We don't have heat (the apartment is freezing). I've been getting food to cook in the part of the city where there is power and bringing it home; and basically cooking like it was 150 years in the past, where you couldn't store stuff. You had to cook what you bought that day. So that's what we've been doing pretty successfully.
All images reprinted with permission from Weldon Owen Publishing, from SAVEUR: The Way We Cook: Portraits from Around the World.]]>Stuffed Figs with Burrata, Arugula and Wrapped in Prosciuttotag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.17573562012-08-09T13:03:29-04:002012-10-09T05:12:04-04:00Laura Kleinhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/laura-klein/
This fig recipe is simple and delicious! It doesn't require any cooking. All you need are four ingredients for this easy recipe. Get your figs at your local farmers market or natural food store. When figs are perfectly ripe, they are jammy, delicious and healthy!
8 fresh ripe figs
6-8 oz of burrata cheese
16 leaves of arugula lettuce
16 pieces of prosciutto
Optional tool: toothpicks
Method:
Wash figs and cut in half. Cut burrata into pieces large enough yet small enough (like tablespoon size) to fit on top of a half a fig. Check the width of the prosciutto slices. If they are double the width of the fig, or simply two wide for the fig, cut it in half length wise.
Next build the stuffed fig. Place a piece of arugula on top of fig, trim if necessary so the leaf doesn't hang over side of fig too much. Spoon cut burrata on top of arugula. Wrap fig with prosciutto, and secure with toothpick if necessary. Serve immediately.
image: Organic Authority]]>Organic Food Legend: Organic Valley's CEO George Siemontag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.16282962012-06-27T17:18:59-04:002012-08-27T05:12:06-04:00Laura Kleinhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/laura-klein/
Since 1988, Organic Valley has transformed American farmland by helping to create a demand for organic food, including dairy, eggs and meat products from small-scale, family-sized farms. A lifelong farmer and organic advocate, George Siemon founded Organic Valley using his unique combination of having one hand in the soil while seeing the big picture. This has helped propel the more than 1,700 family-owned farmers now part of the Organic Valley co-operative into leading the campaign to establish effective national standards for organic certification, and transforming the organic food industry. We caught up with George on the heels of winning the Natural Resources Defense Council's (NRDC) fourth annual "Growing Green Award," given for his efforts in making our food system healthier and more sustainable.
How does it feel to win the NRDC's 2012 Growing Green Award?
It was highly rewarding because it wasn't just about us winning; it was about them [the NRDC] recognizing the importance of food, and it is really exciting to see how excited they are about organic farming and the whole sector of food. Certainly Organic Valley is a pretty amazing story and deserved it, but I am just one part of the wheel.
What inspired you to become an organic farmer? Why not just go conventional like the majority of America?
I was a back-to-the-lander in the '70s. I was a naturalist, a Boy Scout, bird watcher. It was just natural once I found out about organic farming. It's so much more in tune with my roots and so I said "heck yeah that is who I am."
How does changing what America eats change the way our food system works?
We've allowed ourselves to get into this diet that is so dominated by a couple of commodities [corn and soy]. It's a huge change, and if you can, imagine what it would be like if we had a really diverisified diet instead. Isn't that what we're working toward? Agriculture defines food choices and it's why organic has done so well. Our conventional food system today is a broken one that favors the chemical industry, so that's why organic is such an important choice.
Is certified organic food a safer food supply source than conventional food?
Organic food prevents all the risks that are out there. If chemicals have a risk, you're avoiding that by eating organic food. Organic food is a production act, and can't really make a safety claim; we live in an impure world after all, but on a precautionary principle, yes, it's a safer food. And it's definitely a healthier food.
What does sustainability mean to Organic Valley?
Well, it's our core mission. It's more than some maintenance thing. It's a philosophy that's prospering and blossoming, and getting better with continued improvement all of the time. It always has to be more positive and more than just hanging on; it's got to be getting better all the time.
Part of Organic Valley's mission is to save family farms across the country through organic agriculture. How do you inspire conventional family farms to convert to organic farming and join the co-op?
It's a constant work of outreach. We put a lot of education out there. Our biggest emissaries are the neighbors -- someone who has already converted their land that's often the biggest spokesperson for organic. There are a lot of ways a farmer can come to organic, but we have to have the resources to be able to back them up and help with the process because they're not just transitioning their crops, they're transitioning the way they treat their animals, and that's a really big deal.
Why is animal welfare a top priority for OV?
It is, naturally. It is also a top priority for the consumer. Even before we had standards, organic farmers had a foundation that the more they care for the soil, the more they care for the animals. We have developed our own internal standards and our own audits.
Is organic worth the extra money?
I'm very prejudiced, of course, so the answer is yes, but it's yes for good reason. It's yes because of the quality of the food; it's yes because of the potential health benefits; it's yes because of avoiding the environmental issues that surround chemical culture. There are so many angles to it. The big debate though: Is it safer and more nutritious? We can debate that stuff all day long, there are studies on both sides. It's really a lifestyle choice.
Is the development of GMOs (genetically modified organisms), food and biotechnology a safe road for America and countries in Africa to go down?
Genetically manipulated food is a simple profit-making venture, and giving over the ownership of our seeds to corporations is a very big threat to sustainability. Biotech has only delivered crops that need more chemicals. It only serves the chemical seed industry. At the end of the day, if we really want to breed for nutrition, let's put some effort into it. Natural breeding gets excellent results. But they're not really doing that. The money is in the chemicals. It is all rhetoric to promote corporate grip and control, not about feeding the developing world.
How do you deal with a conventional farm next to an organic farm and crop drift?
We've always been as friendly as we can be. Those farms are our future organic farmers. Our co-op is dependent on interacting with conventional agriculture. The more and more that I see children being born with lifelong health issues because of chemicals, the more I have to say that it's different, that child didn't have a choice. That's a pretty serious responsibility. That combined with how much it is serving the corporate interests makes it much harder for me to talk about choice. We're all getting duped by the chemical and biotechnology companies.
The big thing we're doing is supporting the Right To Know petition and petitioning the FDA to label genetically modified foods. Basically the logic is simple: biotechnology is here, it's not going away. Can you at least label it so people can make a choice? There is just too much money and influence involved for it to be a fair conversation. Which makes me really proud of the Right to Know movement. Yes, it may not succeed, but it has certainly woken people up. Why shouldn't a consumer know what's going on?
Why did you launch "Grassmilk?" (And what's the difference between milk that comes from cows that eat grass vs. corn, soybeans or other supplemental grains commonly fed to dairy and beef cattle?)
The cows are fed no grains whatsoever. We make sure that our farmers take care of each animal so they can produce enough milk. We have a program to help the producers take care of their animals and produce a milk the consumers want as well. There has been a real anti-corn and soybean movement from the consumer, and so we are responding to the consumer. We want to make sure we aren't doing anything that isn't healthy for the animals.
Conventional medicine tells us to stay away from trans fats. Why should we care about having CLA (conjugated linoleic acid) in our diet?
The bottom line is that as we've gone toward industrial agriculture, we've lost some of these important elements and understandings about health -- and particularly fats -- like how to balance the omega 6s to 3s. We are constantly striving to produce quality products that have them and help our customers understand the benefits.
Thanks, George! So great chatting with you! Is there anything else you can share with our readers about yourself or Organic Valley?
Thank you! I guess the big thing about the organic lifestyle is that it is much bigger than food. I was just in Europe and they have a movement over there called "post materialist." I smiled about it, because we certainly have taken it to the max -- this artificial lifestyle we've been driven to through advertising and all that. But there is a big awakening happening out there. There are more gardens than ever. We are seeing a quiet but real movement here, and organic foods is proving to be a real mainstay in that. And being an organic co-op, we are eager to be a part of that. We're in it for the long haul.
Images: Organic Valley]]>The 'Red Goddess': KitchenAid's 7-Quart Bowl-Lift Stand Mixer in Reviewtag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2011:/theblog//3.11607612011-12-21T02:57:31-05:002012-02-19T05:12:01-05:00Laura Kleinhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/laura-klein/
I confess: I am a huge KitchenAid fan. When I registered for my wedding, at the top of my list was the KitchenAid Stand Mixer. The woman at Bloomingdale's who walked me through the store, actually tried talking me out of registering for the stand mixer saying, "you should only register for this if you do a lot of baking... and you really need to do a lot of baking." And she repeated again, "... you really need to do a lot of baking to get this stand mixer." I thought to myself, "Honey you don't know who you're talking to, I love to cook and bake!" Little did she know I would go on to culinary school and launch a New Media company and write recipes and publish articles about delicious food.
I've loved my KitchenAid Stand Mixer since the day I got it as a wedding gift. I could never part with it. In fact, when a friend cleaned out a storage unit and found an old KitchenAid stand mixer, to my horror, she was simply going to get rid of it. I immediately said I'll take it! And then I had two KitchenAid stand mixers. I cherish them both.
When the opportunity arose to review KitchenAid's latest 7-Quart Bowl-Lift Residential Stand Mixer, it was like a dream coming true (I had been considering trading my 2 mixers for the bigger 7-quart). The day the mixer arrived, my husband and I anxiously opened the box to reveal a hot metallic, candy apple, red 7-quart stand mixer. This thing is gorgeous to look at. My husband describes the paint finish like that of a classic sports car. It's shiny, smooth, and it just makes you feel like you want to pet it. My girlfriend used it while house sitting to bake a cake for her kids and nicknamed it, "The Red Goddess."
Sadly I have to admit, I wasn't the first person in my household to put The Red Goddess to the test - it was my husband. He is famous for his homemade bbq pizzas and makes his dough from scratch. He couldn't wait to make fresh, homemade dough with a new recipe recommended to us by the owners of Pitfire Artisan Pizza in LA. With this new, sophisticated kitchen tool, making pizza dough just got more inspired and even easier. As he attached the dough hook and assembled his ingredients, he said, "any piece of hardware that has the look of a sports car is fun to cook with!"
Okay, it's my turn to test out The Red Goddess! My mission: Test new cookie recipes for our yearly holiday fondue party. I had never made French Macaroons, and after admiring them and paying too much for the small, delicious indulgence in bakeries, I decided to get to work.
French Macaroons are about 50% meringue and 50% almond flour, so I had my work cut out for me to get the egg whites perfectly beaten. After separating the egg whites from the yolks, I put the whites in the mixer's bowl with a pinch of salt, turned on The Red Goddess's motor to high, and let her whip. I checked my meringue for stiff peaks and I was done in minutes with perfectly whipped egg whites for my French Macaroons. When my friends came over for a taste test they asked, "Is this your first time making these? These are delicious and gorgeous!" But, were they talking about the macaroons or the The Red Goddess?
Next, I whipped up some homemade banana, date pancakes that were divine, and took a matter of seconds. And I loved the extra air the mixer whipped into my batter which made the pancakes lighter and more airy. And by the way, for my party, I made 2 batches of French Macaroons, and the mixer handled the large job just as easily as the small one.
When it comes to baking, using the KitchenAid Stand Mixer is kind of like hitting the easy button. It completes your job with speed and ease. And when your friends see this hot piece of machinery sitting on your kitchen counter, they just might get a tiny bit jealous. I'm just saying...
By the way, all of the accessories are dishwasher safe. Next, I think I'll have to get the meat grinder for the power attachment hub so I can make my own terrines and sausages that my hubby can throw on the bbq. How cool is that! The 7-quart stand mixer retails for $549.
image: KitchenAid]]>Michael Pollan Has Some Food Rules to Live Bytag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2011:/theblog//3.11331072011-12-07T10:45:11-05:002012-02-06T05:12:02-05:00Laura Kleinhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/laura-klein/
Michael Pollan is a change-agent in the sustainable food movement. In 2010, Time Magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world. He is the author of five books including The New York Times bestsellers In Defense of Food, The Omnivore's Dilemma and The Botany of Desire.
Two years ago, Michael Pollan released Food Rules: An Eater's Manual, a small book that helped Americans change the way they think about their relationship with food by providing simple, honest rules to eat and live by. Pollan's rules (or guidelines, as I like to call them; rules can be rigid and we all need a little flexibility in our life!) aren't full of medical or nutritional jargon; just real, time-tested rules passed down from generation to generation that a grandmother would share with her daughter, or a simple piece of wisdom shared between two friends.
Food Rules hit a nerve. There was an overwhelming response from readers. Some readers even made T-shirts with their favorite rules. Many wrote to Pollan sharing their own bits and pieces of advice and wisdom that have been passed down through family history. So naturally, the inspiration behind the newest edition of Food Rules: An Eater's Manual: the readers.
For the latest edition, Pollan teamed up with the talented artist Maira Kalman to bring a down-home, earthy feeling to the book. There's something familiar yet inspired about Maira's illustrations. They take me back to my childhood, cooking with my mother and grandmother, or on a trip through Europe where real slow food is still treasured and honored. The new edition of Food Rules: An Eater's Manual also includes a fresh introduction from Pollan and 19 additional food principles.
Pollan's rules are intended to help Americans distinguish between real food (and sadly) the cheap processed junk foods our nation has so passionately taken to and called "food."
Pollan's collection of rules keeps it simple: No medical or calorie counting rules (don't people get tired of counting calories?). And my favorite rule is the super simple number 24: When you eat real food, you don't need rules. If you stick to this one rule, you can toss out all of the other rules (even the calorie counting!).
Here are a few more of my favorite rules:
Rule #2: Don't Eat Anything Your Great Grandmother Wouldn't Recognize as Food
As Pollan puts it, "There are now thousands of foodish products in the supermarket that our ancestors simply wouldn't recognize as food."
Rule #3: Avoid Food Products Containing Ingredients That No Ordinary Human Would Keep in the Pantry.
Many of these rules seem obvious when seen in the written word, but are so overlooked when walking down the grocery shopping aisle. Got any of these ingredients in your pantry: Ethoxylate diglycerdes, ammonium sulfate or calcium propionate? They're all common ingredients found in highly processed foods, and they're also toxic and potentially harmful to humans and the environment. That's kind of the opposite of real food, don't you agree?
Rule #6: Avoid Food Products That Contain More Than Five Ingredients.
Common sense tells us that the more ingredients in a product, the more processed the food is, and higher the chance of unrecognizable mystery ingredients winding up on our plates.
Rule #9: Avoid Food Products with the Word "Lite" or the Terms "Low-Fat" or "Nonfat" in Their Names.
Manufacturers have to replace the fat, sugar and other ingredients they take out with something, and usually it's in the form of carbohydrates or other mystery ingredients that contribute to America's expanding waistline. As Pollan states, "... removing the fat from foods doesn't necessarily make them nonfattening. Carbohydrates can also make you fat, and many low- and nonfat foods boost the sugars to make up for the loss of flavor." My advice: review rule number 24 above.
Rule #14: Eat Only Foods That Will Eventually Rot.
According to Pollan, "Real food is alive -- and therefore it should eventually die." (Honey is the exception, it can last centuries.) The eternal shelf life products can be found in the center aisles of supermarkets in cans, boxes, bags and the one container food should never come in: the tube (can you say chips?). Hint: shop the outer aisles of a grocery store or better yet, make a weekly visit to your local farmers market, sign up for a CSA (community supported agriculture) or start a vegetable garden.
Rule #15: Eat Foods Made from Ingredients That You Can Picture in Their Raw State or Growing in Nature.
I love this rule. It's an especially easy way to make certain you're eating real, wholesome and nutritious food. If you don't know what ammonium sulfate looks like, then why would you eat it? So much of our food choices are imparted by visual cues: colors, shapes, textures and size. Eat foods that conjure those images and avoid the rest.
Rule #17: Buy Your Snacks at the Farmers Market.
Farmers markets connect you with local farmers and a bounty of fresh, seasonal and local foods. Fruits make the best snack ever, and as Pollan says, if you're not hungry enough to eat an apple, you're probably not hungry. So why not have apples, or other fruits readily accessible?
Rule #19: Eat Only Foods That Have Been Cooked by Humans.
In the introduction of the book Pollan makes three great points about the connections between health and diet. These facts are not questioned and should be read by everyone. Number one: Those that eat the Western diet -- a diet high in fat, sugar, processed foods, meat, refined grains (like white flour), and very low in whole foods like vegetables, fruits and whole grains, are highly likely to suffer from what is now called Western diseases (or "diseases of affluence") like obesity, Type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and even cancer. Those processed foods are rarely in contact with humans; instead they're shuffled through machines and factories.
What's stunning, Pollan goes on to state:
"Virtually all of the obesity and type 2 diabetes, 80 percent of the cardiovascular disease, and more than a third of all cancers can be linked to this diet. Four of the top ten killers in America are chronic diseases linked to this diet. The arguments in nutritional sciences are not about this well-established link; rather, they are all about identifying the culprit nutrient in the Western diet that might be responsible for chronic diseases. Is it the saturated fat or the refined carbohydrates or the lack of fiber or the trans fats or the omega-6 fatty acids - or what? The point is that as eaters (if not scientists), we know all we need to know to act: This diet for whatever reason is the problem."
This is stunning and eye opening. America cannot continue to deny it's self created health and obesity epidemic. It is time, America takes responsibility for it's self created crisis. We have created a food system that is making America sick and costing our health system billions of dollars a year.
Fact number two: "Populations eating a remarkably wide range of traditional diets generally don't suffer from these chronic diseases." As Pollan states, the diet ranges on our planet are actually pretty extreme. From very high-fat diets like the Inuit in Greenland who subsist primarily off of seal blubber, to diets high in carbohydrates like the Central American Indians that live primarily off of maize and beans, to those that are high in protein like the Masai tribesmen in Africa subsisting largely on cattle blood, meat and milk.
With so many diets and lifestyle options today, like vegetarian, vegan and the Paleo diet, just to name a few, many preach that their way is the best. But Pollan goes on to make a great point based on the above.
"What this suggests is that there is no single ideal human diet but that the human omnivore is exquisitely adapted to a wide range of different foods and a variety of different diets. Except that is, for one: the relatively new (in evolutionary terms) Western diet that most of us is now eating. What an extraordinary achievement for a civilization: to have developed the one diet that reliably makes its people sick!"
The third fact gives everyone a light at the end of the tunnel and the simple solution they need to regain their health. Stop consuming the Western diet. Those that do, experience great improvements in their health, and rather quickly. Food is one of the most powerful healing tools we have on the planet. If you feed the body real nourishing food and give it a chance to heal, watch the human body perform miracles.
Remember, if you forget your favorite rules, hark back to the super simple rule number 24: When you eat real food, you don't need rules, you can forget about all of the other rules.
You can follow Laura on Twitter at @organicauthorit]]>Say Sayonara to Onion Sobbing with KitchenAid's New Food Processortag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2011:/theblog//3.10726392011-11-03T16:10:43-04:002012-01-03T05:12:02-05:00Laura Kleinhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/laura-klein/
I love to cook and I love to eat real, delicious food. I work from home and I make at least three meals a day in my kitchen. Delicious food, cooking and writing about it is a way of life for me. When the opportunity arose to review KitchenAid's new 13-Cup Food Processor I was ecstatic. KitchenAid has a fabulous reputation for quality products and this food processor has the first and only externally adjustable slicing feature. When I discovered this, I thought, "I can now control how thick or thin the cut of my vegetables are with a food processor?" That is unheard of and super cool (and by the way we're giving one away, read on!).
When I opened the box and pulled out the food processor, I was impressed. With its gorgeous modern lines and contour silver color, I knew I would feel proud having this small appliance sit atop my kitchen counter. What can I say, it inspires me to cook, and I love showing off my kitchen tools.
What really surprised me? The features. This food processor comes with its own storage case for the extra tools and blades. With my previous food processor, it was challenging finding a safe storage spot for the multiple blades and parts so no one would get hurt, or lose the tools. I knew if I stored the blades in an open drawer or cabinet, someone reaching in risked cutting a finger; not good! Now I can safely store all of my blades and tools in one spot without a worry.
This 13-cup food processor is BPA-free (I must admit, I was surprised to see this product made without BPA, a chemical compound we can all do without! Thank you KitchenAid!) and it comes with a second 4-cup work bowl that fits snuggly inside the 13-cup bowl. This is great for small kitchens because the second small food processor doesn't take up extra storage space! And did I mention the externally adjusting slicing feature? Somehow I knew I was going to love it.
I immediately started dreaming up ingredients and recipes to test. At the top of my list, soup. It is a fav of my hubby's and requires a large amount of chopping of veggies like carrots, onions, garlic and potatoes, etc. (I like to make enough to have plenty of leftovers so I usually double a recipe.) And with the chopping of onions usually comes a teary-eyed experience for someone in the house, unless you wear contacts like I do, but even then sometimes those onion oils manage to irritate my eyes.
I got to work quartering and peeling my onions to run through the food processor. I started with one onion. The appliance hummed like a well-run wind machine (you know the ones they use for indoor sky diving). It was quiet, and chopped my onions fine in a few seconds flat. Next, I put in two quartered and peeled onions. The machine chopped them fine too in just a few seconds. This got me excited. And there were no tears! If I had chopped this many onions with my knife in my open kitchen, someone in the house would have been crying.
Next up, carrots. I put several features to the test with the carrot. I used the slicing blade to see if I could get thin long slices using the 3-in-1 Ultra Wide Mouth Feed Tube (that lets you adjust to three different widths for slicing food horizontally or vertically), and the external adjusting slicing feature. It worked like a dream! The result: Long thin slices of carrot I could sear in my cast iron grill pan.
Then I switched to the chop/puree blade and roughly chopped more carrots into large, oversized chunks to see if it could chop them fine. I was a little concerned about how it would handle this hard vegetable. When I fired it up, initially the machine didn't run quite as smooth as it did through the softer onion, but in just a few seconds it chopped those large chunks into a fine dice. I loved it. My next ingredient: potatoes. They were no match. The food processor easily whipped through them, chopping them fine, just what I needed.
My next culinary challenge: Chop three-and-a-half pounds of hot peppers for my hot pepper mash (I'm turning this into hot sauce to give as gifts for the holiday season). Can you imagine doing that with a knife? I simply trimmed the tops off the peppers and tossed them into the food processor to whip the blade through the peppers to chop them fine. I was done in no time.
The next night I made a double batch of risotto with homemade chicken stock , fresh corn and chanterelle mushrooms. I needed two medium chopped onions fine. I skinned and quartered the two onions, put them in the KitchenAid food processor, turned it on low, walked to my stove to add my olive oil, butter mixture to my hot pan, walked back to the food processor and they were done. So nice. I even made my own almond butter in a snap (which is expensive in stores!). I loved that I could pour the olive oil into the feed tube and it slowly drizzled it into the mixture. So nice, so easy.
Overall this is a fabulous food processor. A couple of things I wasn't so thrilled with is sometimes when using the slicing disc or blade, food gets stuck around the top of the inside rim. Not a big deal. And I still love the way my fancy blender blends soup. It blends it super fine to a perfect texture. This food processor didn't achieve that, but I think it would be just fine for most people (remember food is my life!).
I can't wait to put the shredding blade to work on all the cheese I need to grate for my upcoming holiday fondue party! A tip: Grate your cheese cold or chilled. That will help prevent build up and sticking to the blade.
Do You Want This Food Processor?
Organic Authority is giving it away! What do you need to do to enter? It's simple. Sign up for Organic Authority's newsletter by November 30th, 2011 and share it on Facebook! One lucky newsletter subscriber will win KitchenAid's 13-Cup Food Processor. What are you waiting for? Sign up for Organic Authority's newsletter today. Good luck!
Organic Authority, LLC makes every effort to authentically test products and give an honest, transparent review. The opinions of the reviewer may not reflect that of Organic Authority, LLC. This product was sent for testing and review by the manufacturer. The review was not paid for.
image: KitchenAid]]>11 Questions With The Kitchn's Sara Kate Gillingham-Ryantag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2011:/theblog//3.10702822011-11-02T09:14:51-04:002012-01-02T05:12:01-05:00Laura Kleinhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/laura-klein/
When I thumb through my cooking magazines and cookbooks, I longingly gaze at gorgeous foodie photos and begin to fantasize. I imagine what I'll cook next with this season's inspired ingredients, where I'll shop, who I'll share the food with and the wine I'll pair with dinner.
When a friend introduced me to Sara Kate Gillingham-Ryan's latest cookbook, Good Food To Share: recipes for entertaining with family and friends, I was hooked. With deliciously, gorgeous photos, simple seasonal recipes and tips on entertaining effortlessly, I curled up on my couch and began to thumb through her book and romanticized about what I was going to cook next.
Sara is the founding editor of Apartment Therapy's The Kitchn, and has written for numerous publications including Food and Wine, Bon Appetit, O, the Oprah Magazine, and others. When I got the chance to sit down and chat about what inspires her in the kitchen, I couldn't resist! I discovered one of her secret ingredients and the one thing she loves (that's not food related), that almost none of her friends and family know about (it's really funny).
Read on to discover Sara's secrets for delightful, seasonal cooking and effortless entertaining.
OA: In your cookbook Good Food To Share: recipes for entertaining with family and friends, you really encourage people to shop and eat with the seasons. Why?
SKG: First of all, food that is in season simply tastes better. When we eat out of the seasonal rhythms, we're consuming food that was harvested when far from ripe and has traveled a long way. Also, it is important to support people who are growing food in traditional ways; and eating in season is essential to the long term health of the planet and our food system.
OA: Do you have one dish that you are known for?
SKG: I'm known for making pizzas and having pizza gatherings (I talk a lot about this in my book). And I'm also known for my carnitas. When someone has a baby or needs food, I take them carnitas. I love slow cooked meats.
OA: What is your favorite dessert to make at home?
SKG: I am more of a savory person versus a sweets person, but I make a lot of ice cream and I love to make it from scratch. It does make a difference when you make your own ice cream. I have my gigantic Italian ice cream maker that has a compressor built into it so I can make batches back to back. I also love to make pie.
OA: What is your favorite comfort food?
SKG: Slow cooked meat or eggs; I am a big egg person. Also, Mexican food is comfort food because I am from Los Angeles. It is downright comforting for me to have a taco!
OA: What is your secret to throwing a successful dinner party with ease?
SKG: I write about this in the book. Create a warm environment; with a warm environment the food is better and people are engaged. It's important to start with good ingredients, and make people feel relaxed. Have great music playing, make sure your guests have a drink, and involve them in the cooking process. I'm a believer in there are no stupid questions, let your guests ask questions. Ask them questions too. I always learn something about food and cooking from the people I have over for dinner.
OA: What inspired you to launch TheKitchn.com?
SKG: My husband and I started Apartment Therapy. I had been writing about food on Apartment Therapy and we felt a big part of the home is the kitchen. Those posts seemed really popular, and we were creating this brand about how we live in our home. So we started The Kitchn as a separate site. The Kitchn just celebrated its sixth anniversary.
OA: When you are tired from a long day at work, what inspires you to come home and cook?
SKG: I find cooking stimulating. To me it is rejuvenating to make food. I turn on some great music, have a glass of wine and it becomes invigorating. If it doesn't feel like a chore, it can actually be energizing.
And make sure your kitchen is stocked in a smart way. Have at least a few fresh ingredients and staples on hand to make a good dinner like grains, oil, garlic and onions. This way, when you come home and don't know what to cook, at least you have the building blocks for a solid meal. Also, having a few ingredients that will elevate a dish helps. I love anchovies because they add a lot of depth to sauces and dressings; it is one of my secret ingredients.
OA: What are your top three tips for pairing wine with food?
SKG:
Find a wine store you trust and talk to them. If you can find someone to help you, you can mooch off of their knowledge.
A lot of pairing wine with food is also about balance. Lighter dishes want lighter wines and heavier dishes want heavier wines. Look at the characteristics in your food: Is it tart, bitter or sweet, and match that.
And trust your palate. There are a lot of rules, but if you simply don't like a wine, the rules don't matter. Toss them out. Experiment and try one or two bottles of wine with a dish and see what you like and make it fun!
OA: What is your go-to seasoning that you always use in the kitchen?
SKG: Fat! Fat is where the flavor is, the right amount of fat in a dish heightens what else is going on there.
In terms of spices, I love sumac right now. I was in Turkey this summer and it is used in a lot of Mediterranean cooking. I love cilantro too. And it depends on my mood.
OA: What is your must have kitchen tool you can't live without?
SKG: I can't live without a really good chef's knife. You can do anything if you have one good knife.
OA: What is something that you love that no one knows about?
SKG: I've had my cowboy boots since the eighth grade, re-soled many times.
images: Sara Kate Gillingham-Ryan]]>Homemade Black Bean Burgers Recipe (Vegetarian)tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2011:/theblog//3.9817732011-09-27T10:33:52-04:002011-11-27T05:12:02-05:00Laura Kleinhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/laura-klein/
This is a perfect recipe for Meatless Monday or any night of the week you want to go vegetarian (or even vegan, just make appropriate substitutions). Black beans are super affordable (look for them in the bulk section) and high in protein!
Ingredients:
3 ½ cups dried black beans picked over and rinsed (you can substitute 2 cans of black beans but make sure you buy a brand that doesn't contain the bisphenol A or BPA lining)
If using dried black beans, soak overnight. Bring beans, onion, garlic and cilantro sprigs to a boil in a large wide pot. Cover with water. Water level should be at least 3-4 inches above beans. Reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, until beans are completely tender about 1.5-2 hours (if you cook them al dente you will have a grainy texture). When beans begin to tenderize, add a few pinches of salt. Drain beans and discard cilantro sprigs.
In a food processor or blender, pulse half of bean mixture with onions, garlic, mayonnaise, bread crumbs, coriander and chipotle until combined. Transfer to a bowl and stir in remaining bean mixture. Make 4 burger patties.
Heat oil in a heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Cook burgers until they are crisp and lightly browned, turning once. Total cook time is about 5-7 minutes (if you make thick burgers cooking time will be longer). Serve on buns immediately and garnish with your favorite accompaniments!]]>In the Kitchen With Food Writer and Cookbook Author Kristine Kiddtag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2011:/theblog//3.9647502011-09-15T17:48:17-04:002011-11-15T05:12:01-05:00Laura Kleinhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/laura-klein/
Kristine Kidd has been influencing America's foodie culture for quite some time -- she was the food editor for Bon Appetit for 20 years. As the resident food expert, she was responsible for filling the magazine's pages with delicious inspired recipes, wrote a monthly column and even created dishes for the cover. What a cool job!
Today Kristine Kidd is writing cookbooks, teaching culinary classes and is the Food Editor for the Monterey Bay Aquarium. I caught up with her to chat about what inspires her seasonal cooking and her latest cookbook Weeknight Fresh + Fast: simple, healthy meals for every night of the week. Kristine has a knack for creating quick and easy and delicious weeknight meals. Read on to find out how she does it.
Laura Klein: Kristine, what kept you inspired during your 20 years at Bon Appetit magazine creating and selecting recipes for the home cook?
Kristine Kidd: I love to cook and eat good food and am curious about new cooking styles, places, food and ingredients. I'm just curious and have a love of the topic and I've always been interested in food.
LK: In your most recent book, Weeknight Fresh + Fast you show readers how to put a simple yet delicious wholesome meal on the table every night of the week. What's your secret?
KK: I get inspired by the season and what's in the farmers market and start with the vegetables instead of the main course. I go to the farmers market at least one time a week. Most of my recipes in the book include vegetables.
I also love leftovers. It's fun to come up with something new with whatever is in my pantry and refrigerator, and I keep a well-stocked pantry so I don't make an extra stop at the market.
LK: If someone is new to cooking, what kitchen essentials do you recommend someone stock their pantry with?
KK: It's really important to have pasta -- I prefer Barilla's Plus pasta. It's high in protein, Omega-3s, legumes and has good flavor and texture. I like to have rice on hand like basmati or jasmine brown rice. It's healthy and cooks faster than regular brown rice. I also like to have on hand canned beans, tomatoes, extra virgin olive oil, vinegar, Swanson's organic chicken broth -- it's organic and has the best flavor on the market and comes in resealable packages that keep in the refrigerator.
LK: If someone is not used to cooking seasonally, what are some simple steps to get started?
KK: The first or top recommendation I have is visit a local farmers market. It's a joyful experience to buy direct from farmers and it's a sensual experience. You can experience and smell aromas, colors and flavors, and the food is so fresh it doesn't need much help.
And if you don't live close to a farmers market go to your favorite grocery store with an excellent produce section to see what's fresh and in season.
Last, check out a cookbook that is organized by the season (Kristine's cookbook is organized in such a way).
LK: What are your top 3 tips for turning leftovers into new family dinners?
KK: Tacos are a favorite. I always have good corn tortillas in the freezer. Almost anything can be wrapped up in them; rice, veggies, meats. And I love salads. At the end of the week I clean out the refrigerator with leftover bits and pieces and make a delicious salad; and of course soups are nice since we're moving into fall.
LK: Do you ever get tired of cooking?
KK: I rarely get tired of cooking because I love to eat well and love to cook. After a day at my desk, cooking is fun. The anticipation of eating something fresh and delicious is exciting. I take yoga a couple times a week and sometimes my beau, Steve, picks up brown rice sushi at Whole Foods.
LK: Do you have a favorite cooking season?
KK: I don't have a favorite season. What excites me is the change of season and what each new season brings like mushrooms and yams in the fall, spring peas, summer tomatoes and peaches. Change is what excites me.
LK: What do you recommend people do to stay inspired in the kitchen during the winter months when access to local fresh food is limited?
KK: In the winter I think about warming comforting food, with great aromas. So I think about braising, roasting and soup things that smell good and warm up me and the kitchen. I get inspired by what's going to warm me up like a white bean and vegetable soup, braised chicken, roast chicken with winter root veggies.
LK: What is your favorite go-to weeknight recipe that you make at home?
KK: I have three favorite things. I love roasted or grilled fish and I love to prepare pasta because it's so easy. The Spaghetti Carbonara with Black Kale is simple, easy and delicious. I love to add vegetables to pasta carbonara and it is a great way to sneak in eggs for dinner and it won't bother Steve (who does not think eggs are suitable dinner food). Another favorite is my Pasta with Broccoli Rabe, Feta and Mint. This is a good example of how I add fresh veggies to a simple tomato sauce. All of these recipes can be found in my book.
LK: What's your favorite comfort food dish to cook at home?
KK: I love pho-type soups like my Asian-Style Chicken Soup with Baby Bok Choi. There's something about the poached chicken with the herbs and spices. And I love the herbs and aromas that fill up the kitchen. It just makes you feel good.
LK: What's your favorite thing to eat when you go out?
KK: I'm more drawn to a restaurant for the chef. I love Nancy Silverton's and Mario Batalli's restaurants, Thomas Keller's, Suzanne Goin's and John Sedlar's restaurants. At Huckleberry in Santa Monica, I love how fun, casual, tasty and fresh it is. I go to the Santa Monica Farmers Market and then meet a friend at Huckleberry. The FarmShop in Brentwood is another favorite; the chef came out of Thomas Keller's kitchen and the food is fresh. And I can meet Steve at The Hungry Cat in Santa Monica and miss traffic. I prefer simple restaurants vs. fancy restaurants.
I also love fun, like biking down the coast to have huevos rancheros at a little spot called Senior G's - it's all about the outing.
LK: What are your top three essential cooking tools in the kitchen?
KK: I love my Santoku knife. I love the shape of the blade, it feels good in my hand and can easily transfer ingredients I just chopped to a skillet or bowl.
My 12" non-stick skillet. I use a heavy one because things don't stick, it transmits heat easily and has an even cooking surface. With these pans I don't have to use a lot of oil. I like Calphalon and All-Clad, and they are easy to clean. I get a good 7-8 years out of them and use them every day. They are great for sautéing.
I also love my microplane grater and a ceramic knife. The ceramic knife is great for fine work like chopping herbs and shallots.
LK: Why is it important to select sustainable seafood?
KK: It's important to preserve the oceans from over fishing, harmful fishing methods or harmful ways of raising fish. Farmed salmon is a disaster for the environment and humans. Artic char is farmed successfully. Go to SeafoodWatch.org to find out which fish is sustainable in your location. You can also download an app.]]>Mixed Berry Plum Crisp Recipetag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2011:/theblog//3.9547202011-09-09T15:58:42-04:002011-11-09T05:12:02-05:00Laura Kleinhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/laura-klein/
Image Curtosy of John Klein
This is one of my favorite dessert recipes to make in the summer when berries and stone fruit are in high season. It's simple, easy to make, I can make it ahead of time and it showcases the gorgeous, fresh fruit.
½ cup of chopped walnuts and pecans (or nuts of your choice)
Method
Put rack in middle of oven and preheat to 425°.
Butter a 9" pie dish.
In a large bowl combine sugar and cornstarch, whisk until combined. Add mint, plums and berries and gently fold with a rubber spatula until completely combined.
Place in oven and bake for 15-20 minutes until bubbly around the edges and lightly softened.
To make topping, whisk together flour, oats, sugars, salt, orange zest and cinnamon until thoroughly combined. Cut butter into ½" pieces and work in with hands or creamer until combined and crumbly. Stir in nuts.
Spoon topping onto fruit and place dish onto sheet pan (to catch juices) and place in oven and bake until brown and bubbly and crisp about 30-45 minutes. If desired serve with fresh whipped cream or ice cream, or serve as is!
]]>Interview with Food Revolutionary Maria Rodaletag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2011:/theblog//3.9509702011-09-08T15:40:00-04:002011-11-08T05:12:02-05:00Laura Kleinhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/laura-klein/
One of my icons in the organic food and green movement is the Rodale family. You don't read about the Rodale family in the press much, but behind the scenes they are a silent multimedia publishing behemoth that quietly publishes mainstream books, magazines, websites and more about advice, health and wellness and the environment (they are the largest independent book publisher in the United States).
Today Rodale publishes books like Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth, The South Beach Diet, Eat This, Not That! and many more. Their magazines include Women's Health, Men's Health, Prevention, Organic Gardening and more.
The Rodale family's commitment to organic food, sustainability and the right to healthy living is unparalleled. J. I. Rodale founded the American organic movement in 1942 when he launched Organic Gardening and Farming magazine. In 1947 J. I. launched the U.S. Soil Association, which today is known as the Rodale Institute and is a nonprofit organization.
The institute launched the longest-running scientific study comparing organic and chemical farming methods. Their research found that organic farming is more profitable, more productive and more beneficial for people and the planet. Their Farming Systems Trial also reveals that organic farming is the most vital way we can halt global warming, by eradicating extremely polluting chemicals and the carbon-sequestering abilities of organic soil.
When I got the opportunity to interview Maria Rodale, CEO and Chairman of Rodale Inc., I was thrilled! Read on and get inspired.
Laura Klein: Why is organic living important to you?
Maria Rodale: As a person who cares deeply about the health of our planet and, frankly, myself and my children, I believe that demanding organic is the most important thing we can do to protect ourselves and ensure a healthy, vibrant and safe future.
We have been misled into thinking that adding chemicals is normal and that farming without them is somehow strange or even impossible. Virtually every food in the world has been successfully grown and made organically in modern, productive and regenerative ways.
LK: If a person is new to cooking and wants to cook more at home, can you recommend an easy delicious recipe from your website, MariasFarmCountryKitchen.com?
MR: One of the reasons I started my blog is that I have learned that the most delicious food that pleases the most people (kids and adults) is truly simple and easy to make and doesn't take a lot of time or money. If you start with fresh, organic ingredients, you don't need fancy cooking to make it taste good! Here are three of my family's favorites: Chicken and Gravy, Summer Salad and Summer Gazpacho.
MR: I love comfort food, and to use fresh, simple, wholesome ingredients. But I also seek out new ways to carry on tradition, by cooking recipes passed down from my mother and mother-in-law. As we are also in tomato season, I thought this tomato sauce recipe that I have experimented with over the years would be good to share. I make a big batch and freeze it in wide-mouth mason jars to use through the year, and doctor it to go with whatever I choose to serve it over. Here is my recipe for Maria's Tomato Sauce.
I also love to experiment and try to make things that I have tasted in restaurants and while traveling. I am currently working on learning how to make paella as simply and Spanishly as possible. And next up is panna cotta.
LK: What are your top five things to always eat organic? Why?
MR: 1) All dairy; 2) all vegetables (especially corn and soy); 3) all fruits; 4) all meats; 5) all coffee and tea!
Eating organic is important for multiple reasons. First, selfishly, you can't wash the chemical toxins off, so you are protecting yourself and your family. Those toxins are in the food. Second, eating organically is an altruistic and political act. By choosing organic foods, you are protecting the farmers and their families who grow the food, and making a political and economic statement that gets heard around the world. What's better than that? Oh yeah, it tastes better, too!
LK: How can Americans be more responsible eaters?
MR: Think about the story behind everything you put in your mouth. Where did it come from? Who grew it, made it and brought it to you? Through constant, dynamic education, reading books, reading the news and reading labels, you will learn amazing, shocking stories about your food. Volunteering with or visiting local farms to learn more about where food comes from -- that simple understanding can be enough to drive people to alter their decision-making. And always, always ask questions.
The best thing is to start young with children. A garden is an amazing place to start; it teaches kids to not fear nature and to love vegetables! I also play a game with my daughter in the supermarket where she can't ask me to buy anything unless she can find the green USDA certified organic label on it. It has become a game with her, and people always stop and stare when she shouts, "Look, Mom, it's organic! Can I get it?!" And I almost always say, "Yes!"
LK: What can consumers do to demand non-GMO foods and products?
MR: First, recognize that GMOs are already in almost anything non-organic that includes corn or soy. So your first line of defense is to always buy organic foods. But the only other thing is to be vocal about your right to know! Ask questions. Write letters. Tweet. Facebook. Join a march!
As consumers, we have more power than we think; we vote with our dollars. If we buy factory-farmed meat, they will continue to produce it. Companies and the government count every purchase and make decisions based on those purchasing patterns.
We need to arm ourselves with knowledge, and that means we need to read up on what is happening with the Farm Bill. Our Farm Bill needs to be overhauled in a serious way to support and encourage farmers to make the transition to organic agriculture as quickly as possible. We need to reorient incentives so that the cost of organic foods and fiber are the real cost and an affordable choice.
We also need to keep the organic label pure. Lobbyists are at work to weaken the USDA's organic standards, which means that we need to keep vigilant watch to ensure that the seal is maintained.
LK: What can consumers do to demand safer and more humane ways of raising animals?
MR: Vote with your dollars and read labels carefully. Shop for meat and poultry that are certified organic, and ask your grocer to get it if they currently don't carry certified organic meats and poultry. Certain grocers like Whole Foods Market are taking steps to create animal welfare standards, so don't be afraid to ask your butcher where it came from and how it was raised. If they have no idea what you are talking about, ask why not and consider taking your business elsewhere.
LK: How do you respond to the excuse that organic food is too expensive?
MR: I realize that in these challenging economic times we are forced to make tough choices that often come down to dollars and cents. In Organic Manifesto, I challenge parents to ask themselves, what is the price of your children's health?
On another important note, the Farm Bill helps keep the price of food artificially low, trapping consumers who feel that organics are out of reach. If not for the Farm Bill, organic food would actually cost less than other food. The amount of money the government sets aside for research and support for organic farming is a very small portion of the Farm Bill.
It is very possible to eat an all-organic diet on a budget. Eating less processed food, more local food and growing your own garden are all ways that organic pioneers have been eating frugally for decades.
LK: What can parents do to take action to get schools to serve healthier food?
MR: Band together, get involved and stick with it. These changes won't come overnight, but there are increasingly great tools and resources out there to explain how it all works. I am a fan of Ann Cooper's thelunchbox.org, where parents, teachers and kids can find recipes, tutorials and ideas to push schools to make changes and better choices. And, of course, what Alice Waters has done with the Edible Schoolyard and Jamie Oliver with the Food Revolution are helping tremendously!
LK: Agribusiness claims that we can't feed the world with organic food, that we simply can't produce enough without using chemical fertilizers, pesticides and GMO seeds. Is this really true?
MR: No! "Conventional," chemical-based agriculture actually reduces yields over time, as the microbiology of the soil is destroyed, meaning that in order for crops to grow and resist pests, more and more fertilizers, pesticides, etc. need to be injected into the soil. This also leads to increased flooding and damage from droughts, which we are seeing happening around the world.
Without government subsidies, farmers would not find it cost-effective to increase land cultivation, buy larger machinery and farm more with less labor by using chemicals to artificially increase yields.
At the Rodale Institute, the Farming Systems Trial, the longest-running side-by-side comparison of conventional vs. organic agricultural methods (celebrating its 30th anniversary this fall!), has shown that organic production outputs have met or exceeded chemical production outputs, especially in years of drought and flood. For more on that, read "Why Modern Organic Farming Is the Only Thing That Can Feed the World."
Organic farming does not mean going back to times of horses and buggies (though maybe that would be nice!). Modern organic farming is an opportunity to apply the best of our science and technology resources to constantly improve our methods of growing and producing food.
LK: What can readers do to inspire friends and family to choose organic food?
MR: Cook with them! I find the best way to convince someone is to feed them organically in a way that they enjoy and find non-threatening and explain when they ask questions. Share great recipes that are easy, so that people are not overwhelmed by trying to create elaborate, organic dishes with hard-to-find ingredients.
Keep it light and fun, and don't get too preachy. Educate friends and family on organics when the door is open. Don't force-feed them information and bad news or they'll be turned off by the whole idea.
See documentaries and read books. Sometimes people learn best when they can draw their own conclusions.]]>Early Branch Peach, Apricot Pesto Pasta Recipetag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2011:/theblog//3.9527492011-09-07T17:31:21-04:002011-11-07T05:12:02-05:00Laura Kleinhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/laura-klein/
I made this pasta after an 8-day road trip from Los Angeles to South Carolina with my mother. Our mission, to deliver a dog, Phoebe, and a truck to Early Branch, SC. What a fabulous trip! We traveled through 10 states over nine days. My mother is very sensitive to processed foods, additives and preservatives. Really, her body rejects anything unnatural. So I packed two coolers full of fresh food before we left (that I refilled along the way from Whole Foods in major cities).
Upon our arrival to Early Branch, SC, we were tired and an hour away from anything. So I cooked up another dinner using the ingredients I had left in the cooler: Fresh peaches, apricots, pesto and gluten free quinoa pasta (my mother has a gluten sensitivity). Why not make a fresh stone fruit pesto pasta!? Here is the recipe and it is delicious!
4-6 oz of your favorite spaghetti pasta (I used gluten-free quinoa)
2 fresh apricots, seed removed sliced into ½" half-moon shapes
2 fresh peaches, seed removed sliced into ½" half-moon shapes
1 cup fresh pesto, homemade or store bought (recipe for pesto is below)
1-2 garlic cloves smashed, skins removed and chopped fine
Fleur de sel
Fresh cracked pepper
Parmesan or a hard goat cheese.
Method
Boil pasta according to the package directions (I like to cook it until al dente).
Add olive oil and butter to a large heavy pan over medium heat. Add garlic, peaches and apricots to the pan and sauté until fruit is just softened (don't overcook or they turn to mush).
When pasta is done cooking, drain.
Add pasta and pesto to pan and toss. Garnish with with your chosen hard cheese. Serve immediately and pass with chosen hard cheese.
Smash garlic clove with mortar and pestle. Add zest, lemon juice, salt. Add herbs and gently smash, while rotating mortar until you have a nice creamy sauce. Alternatively, you can blend ingredients in a small food processor until combined (do not over blend or you will burn up essential oils in herbs).
image: John Klein]]>How to Eat Healthy From Coast to Coasttag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2011:/theblog//3.8977492011-07-18T16:20:06-04:002012-12-20T14:56:56-05:00Laura Kleinhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/laura-klein/
I am approached frequently with a question that vexes many: How can I eat healthy while traveling? My answer: It's all about the restaurants you choose and the quality of the ingredients they serve. But, if you're like me, that just won't suffice. We want good quality organic fare that is healthy and delicious three meals a day, every day -- and with equally wholesome snacks in between. Take a virtual ride with me through the American landscape and we'll see exactly how to eat like a true health-foodie, even on the road.
Recently, my mother and I were given the mission to deliver a little dog, Phoebe, and a '98 Chevy Tahoe to Early Branch, South Carolina. This is not a short road trip; we live in Los Angeles. In total we would cover over 2,420 miles and travel through ten states, literally driving coast to coast. Now, that's a road trip! We knew unforgettable adventures and memories awaited us, so we couldn't wait to get started. What a great mother-daughter trip!
Having road tripped to Vail, Colorado a few months prior, I knew the quality of food on the road was not good (to say the least). And my mother has a long history of food allergies. She can't eat anything out of a can, and she must stay away from the preservatives, additives, fake sweeteners and unnatural ingredients in most processed fare. And she's gluten intolerant.
With such a restricted diet combined with my love affair with food, I knew I had to take things into my own hands. I couldn't rely on restaurants or corporate chains to deliver us truly healthy and delicious food. I decided to pack enough food so we could eat three meals a day out of two coolers. How did I do it? Read on.
I'm a Whole Foods shopper. I know many might object, throwing out the "whole paycheck" moniker, claiming it's too expensive. And sure, Whole Foods -- like any other corporation -- is not perfect. But, if you compare them to the conventional grocery stores, they're doing a lot of things right -- like giving Americans a choice. At Whole Foods I can buy delicious, high quality, and truly natural and organic foods. At conventional grocery stores, I simply cannot.
And by the way, the myth that everything is more expensive at Whole Foods, is just that -- a myth (read "Whole Foods 'Whole Paycheck' Myth Debunked?"). Yes they sell pricier gourmet items, but when you compare staples to staples they are very competitive and sometimes cheaper. So I put together a list of foods that I could make ahead and would pack well in an ice cooler, and I went shopping.
I am a breakfast eater. I never miss it. My blood sugar tends to run low, so it's critical I start the day with some sort of protein to set me up for success. And I'm not talking about a protein bar. I'm talking about real food. Eggs, avocadoes, steel cut oatmeal and homemade granola are a few easy and delicious favorites.
So, I hard boiled one dozen eggs and made my homemade superfood granola recipe. I figured I could eat an egg with an avocado, sprouts and wild, smoked Alaskan salmon (it stores well in a cooler on ice) or granola for breakfast (which is also great for snacking in the car). Not bad for eating breakfast out of a cooler!
I picked up a couple of premade things at Whole Foods like fresh pesto, gluten-free crackers, soft spreadable goat cheese and a goat gouda cheese for the evenings to have with my favorite chardonnay, and my mother brought her favorite vodka (we're not sacrificing anything!).
For lunch my mother brought her gluten-free bread for sandwiches. I picked up some organic deli meats, sprouts, roasted bell peppers and soft, spreadable herb goat cheese (Whole Foods 365 brand). In fact I used several coupons at Whole Foods that saved me at least five dollars each shopping trip and reused my bags.
For snacking I bought some organic blue corn tortilla chips (I threw in some salsa for the evenings), pink lady apples (they are a family favorite!), almonds, dried mangoes and my homemade granola. I also bought five gallons of spring water. As you can tell, we were not short on food!
Little did I know that packing this ready-to-go food would make our trip effortless when it came to eating! We didn't have to worry when we got to a motel or hotel (sometimes in the dark) where we would eat or what we would eat (I always think when I eat out, how was the food I'm about to eat raised?). In the mornings our prepacked coolers saved us money -- not only on food, but on gas too. We didn't have to make an extra stop to find breakfast, and I knew I could eat right versus having to settle for a "continental breakfast" that's usually full of pastries and fruits that set me up for blood sugar disaster (and weight gain), and is something my mother simply can't eat.
For lunch I could easily access our cooler, and make my mom and myself delicious sandwiches. As you can tell, we didn't have to sacrifice one bit. In fact, eating in restaurants would have been a sacrifice.
After making our first sightseeing stop, one of the seven natural wonders of the world, the Grand Canyon, I made it a point to search my GPS for a Whole Foods in the next major city near the 40 freeway. Next stop, Albuquerque, New Mexico, but not after first seeing a stark naked lady walking down the freeway (I'm not joking!).
This time we were ready for a change in flavors. I invested in some pre-cooked, but fresh, foods like grilled wild Alaskan salmon, spring veggie cous cous, grilled asparagus, a whole roasted chicken (for us and Phoebe -- she's got to eat healthy too!) that came with a free side of cole slaw (yes from Whole Foods). All fit neatly and snuggly in our cooler. After all, we needed to keep up our energy and strength to see Elvis' Graceland and the Country Music Hall of Fame and The Grand Ole Opry. Tennessee here we come!
On a lunch break outside of Amarillo, Texas, we saw what looked like two statues of large black guns that welcomed visitors to a home at the entrance of a driveway. Upon closer inspection they turned out to be custom designed BBQ Guns for sale! Texans love their guns (you can see them in the photo above behind my mother's head).
Our next two Whole Foods stops were in Little Rock, Arkansas and Asheville, North Carolina. Each time I restocked our cooler with delectable fresh made foods like salads, grilled veggies, fish and foodie items that took us all the way to our destination -- Early Branch, South Carolina.
When we arrived to Early Branch in the early evening where everything is about an hour away, we were too pooped to go to eat. Once again, I turned to our deliciously packed coolers. I made a very tasty pasta (if I don't say myself), what I now call Early Branch Peach Pesto Apricot Pasta (made with quinoa gluten-free pasta). It's now a family favorite!
As you can see, with a little planning, preparation and forethought, you truly can eat healthy while road tripping. Yes, it does take a little work and effort, but it's so worth it! Not only did we eat healthy, we saved several hundred dollars on eating out (and let's not forget the extra calories we saved our waistlines from). Not bad for eating scrumptious, high quality and healthy food on the road!
Here's a list of things I brought on the trip. I gathered some items from around my own kitchen and then it was off to the store to fill in the gaps (almost all organic!).
Alaskan smoked salmon Avocados
Balsamic glaze Basil
Bread
Cheese - soft goat cheese to spread on sandwiches, a hard goat cheese for the evenings
Coconut milk for granola and tea
Dates
Dried mango slices
Gluten free crackers
Hard boiled eggs (1 dozen)
Honey
Ice
Mayo
Mustard
My own sea salt and pepper
My superfood granola
Organic corn chips
Organic deli meats Peaches
Pink Lady apples
Pesto, for breakfast and sandwiches
Raw Spirulina Superfood snacks - so delicious made with dates, bananas and spirulina (kids love them for their natural sweetness)
Roasted bell peppers
Salsas Sprouts
Sugar snap peas
Tea
Water (I started with 5 gallons and picked up more on the road)
Other miscellaneous items you may need for your own road trip:
Acrylic plates
Knives (2)
Napkins
Reusable cups for hot tea
Reusable water bottles
Scissors
Sparkling water
Trash bags (at least 2)
Utensils
Vodka (optional)
Wine (optional, but less so!)
top image: Dr. DAD]]>Xandros -- Modern Greek Cuisinetag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2010:/theblog//3.7735862010-10-27T18:14:07-04:002011-05-25T18:05:23-04:00Laura Kleinhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/laura-klein/
Great Greek food is tough to come by in Los Angeles. In my opinion, most Greek food in LA is greasy and far from authentic. Have I had authentic Greek food? Yes. My husband and I took a tour through the Greek Islands, and got engaged on the island of Santorini. We share yummy memories of eating some of the best seafood we've ever had. They know how to cook calamari and it's never rubbery, always soft and tender. The fresh Greek salads are simply delicious and the 3am gyros oozing with traditional Greek yogurt, cucumber, dill sauce are still burned in my brain.
So when I had a chance to try a modern Greek cuisine at Xandros that's serving up organic and sustainable fare in LA, I jumped at the chance. We were treated to a delicious four course dinner. We started with a sampler of five dips served with oven fresh pita bread. Each one was deliciously unique. The Melintzanosalata, a simple puree of roasted organic eggplant, sheep milk yogurt, oregano and mint danced with bright flavors and immediately brought my palate alive. The traditional Tzatziki made with Greek sheep's milk yogurt Kefir, grated organic cucumbers, chopped garlic, lemon fresh dill and Greek olive oil took me straight back to my 3am gyros. The Taramosalata Mousse, is divine with a blend of smoked fish caviar, panko, lemon, Greek olive oil and herbs.
We then moved onto the Karpouzosalata one of Xandros signature salads. Made with organic local watermelon, heirloom tomatoes finished with sheep's milk feta, fresh mint and drizzled with honey and golden balsamic, this tasted like fresh summer on a plate!
Next came the entrees. Pasture raised lamb shank and striped bass. The lamb is slow cooked with red wine, tomatoes, and herbs served with market vegetables and Gigantes. If you don't know what Gigantes are, they are oversized beans that are commonly found in Greek and Mediterranean cuisine.
The tender lamb fell right off the bone and oozed with flavor from its delicious sauce. The striped bass was a little overcooked and somewhat dry. The ragu of farm fresh veggies served with the fish were a delectable delight.
Dessert: house made Greek fritters. One word: scrumptious. These perfectly cooked fritters boasted a slightly crispy exterior with light and fluffy interior. Served with strawberries, bananas, vanilla gelato and side of rose water. Many might be scared of the rose water, but it is really delicious and a beautiful twist. Something you'd be hard pressed to find somewhere else.
Xandros is fine dining, entrees start at $18 and go up to $45, so you'll need your wallet. If you're looking for a fresh take on Greek cuisine and don't mind the prices, this is your place.
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