Fast, Fresh, Raw Foods for Spring, from The Mix

Fast Fresh and Raw

Spring is in the air, and the first shoots have made their way from the newly warmed soil. The urgency and vigor with which the earliest edibles sprout up is a testament to their liveliness. Filling a niche in the growing season, these fast maturing crops are the first taste of what will be a satisfying season of harvests. Spring is always a time of rebirth,...

The Gluten Free Boom in 2009, from my blog at amillioncooks.com

‘Tis the time of year for trend-spotters to make their predictions for the foods that will take off in 2009. One that is a good bet is the niche of “gluten-free” foods and products. The phenomenon of new and better wheat and gluten free food is one that is gratefully accepted by the celiac sufferers among us. What is odd is that the majority of the purchasers of these products have not...

Star Tribune Review: Whole grains stack up

By Beth Dooley, Special to the Star Tribune / October 12, 2007
http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/taste/11434786.html

We know we should eat whole grains for our health. With sophisticated recipes that make much of grains' nutty flavor and versatility, a local author convinces us we should eat them for...

Great Greens, Reprinted with Permission from Real Food Magazine, Fall 2007

Great and Green

We hear it again and again: “Eat green leafy vegetables.” For many of us, that translates to an occasional salad for lunch, or spinach lasagne for dinner. If that’s the case with you, you are missing out on the vast and varied world of dark, leafy greens, in all its gutsy glory. The greens we call “cooking greens” are bold and sometimes spicy, and eaten daily just...

Springtime Salad Meals

As the weather warms, we turn away from heavy roasts, and start to think about lettuce. It's a good thing, because we often need to shed a little of our hibernation weight. I'm a practical cook, and that often means one dish meals. The big salad is a perfect way to eat your vegetables, and your entree and side dishes, and only wash one plate.
If you are stuck in a salad rut, go global....

Summer is for Eating

It's finally here! The sunshine has arrived to draw us outside, and to bring crops of splendid produce up from the dirt. Nature provides us with this moment of culinary harmony, in which we are not in the mood to hover over a hot stove, but still dine well, because the fresh bounty needs little in the way of adornment. When the first local supersweet corn hits the market, all we need is a pot...

Aphrodisiacs in the Grocery Aisle

Long before the pharmaceutical companies started marketing Viagra, people sought out ways to put a little pep in their love lives. Originally, foods and herbs were all we had to turn to for fertility and romance. The term "honeymoon" actually comes from an Arabian custom of drinking honey wine for the first 30 days of the marriage, which must have helped somebody to conceive, and a tradition...

East Berlin and the Hungry Traveler

TCWellness.com: July 2002: Go Elsewhere Than East Berlin For German Food

FLAVORFUL OILS: A Tasteful Take on Healthy Fats

(Reposted with permission from Today's Health and Wellness Magazine)

Fat paranoia. That was the all or nothing approach of the ‘80’s that grew out of the good advice to cut back on fat in the diet. In our rush to avoid the culprit we blamed for heart disease and chubby thighs, we collectively threw the baby out with the bathwater. Now that we are older, wiser, and not any thinner...

Black Soybeans: A Darker Side of Soy (Veggie Life Magazine, Autumn 2004)

Posted on VeggieLife.com