Archive for January, 2013
Use slender asparagus and you won’t need to scrape the stalks. If you still believe that asparagus should be a harbinger of spring (even though it’s in the market nearly year-round now), make this dish a tradition by serving it every April or May. Read More→
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One of my favorite things about Paris—after the museums, the streetscapes, the Seine, the style, the beauty, and so on—are the green beans. Yes, you read that right. Parisian green beans are ubiquitous, and always served perfectly ripe and tender-crisp. Here at home, perfect green beans seem to be available only for a month or so in the summer. This dish is a nice way to highlight them during that brief window; however, I’m so fond of it, that I use frozen green beans so I can make this regularly. I highly recommend using organic whole baby green beans, if you can find them; otherwise, French-cut beans will do. Read More→
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Turmeric is often referred to as the queen of spices, as its medicinal powers (healing, antioxidant, cleansing) have long been valued. Its bright yellow hue adds a ray of sunshine to Indian curries, and its warm flavor is beloved by many. I’m not one of them. Its kind of woodsy, odd flavor puts me off, and if I use it at all, it’s quite sparingly. So it came as somewhat of a shock to me how much I loved the samples I received from Tumeric (yes, it’s spelled without the “r”): The Elixir of Life. In fact, I was crazy for the flavor, and soon became hooked. Read More→
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It just dawned on me that VegKitchen.com went live in January, 1996 — seventeen years ago, and ancient history in internet terms. Of course, it started small, but that’s how things usually start, right? And it has changed and grown ever since. I remember chatting with Mollie Katzen back then, comparing notes, as we seemed to be among the first food authors to go online with our own sites. We marveled at the prospect of having 500 visitors per day; now VegKitchen receives more than 5,000 visitors per day on average, and much higher in the fall due to the popularity of the vegan Thanksgiving area. The numbers continue to mount as interest in healthy, plant-based eating grows.
The biggest change to VegKitchen happened in November 2010, when we switched to the WordPress platform and went from vegetarian to vegan (lagging way behind my actual lifestyle change, as I had gone vegan in 2001). Not that I’m doing a commercial for WordPress, but it made it so much easier to grow the site rapidly and edit at will. We also began incorporating a lot more contributors from the food world, who share articles and recipes on the site, adding other voices to this fast-growing area. And by the way, when I say “we,” I’m basically referring to myself, my webmaster Allen Jezouit at Berkshire Direct, and my assistant, Rachael Braun, who tends to the site almost daily. I thank them for their contributions to VegKitchen’s recent growth.
VegKitchen is but one of three major careers I juggle simultaneously — the others include writing cookbooks and other non-fiction; and visual art (mostly text-driven — I guess I really like words!). It has become a great way to connect with others in the healthy food and vegan communities, and a platform for sharing information that people are seeking these days. It still boggles my mind that VegKitchen is seventeen, and I look forward to celebrating twenty years online in just three years from now.
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This summer salad filled with berries and veggies will cool you off and fill you up. It’s not only beautiful it’s great for you! Contributed by Susan Powers from her book Rawmazing: Over 130 Simple Raw Recipes for Radiant Health (Skyhorse Publishing, 2012). Read More→
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This raw dish makes the perfect lunch or dinner. It’s easy to make, delicious and great for you! Contributed by Susan Powers from her book Rawmazing: Over 130 Simple Raw Recipes for Radiant Health (Skyhorse Publishing, 2012). Read More→
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The better the strawberries, the better the guacamole. That’s why I make this guacamole only during the few weeks when our local strawberries are in season. Habaneros, while very spicy, are jam-packed with flavor; use the quantity that’s right for you. You may want to wear gloves while working with the habanero, to avoid painful experiences when inadvertently touching tender parts of your anatomy. Recipe from Frontera: Margaritas, Guacamoles, and Snacks by Rick Bayless with Deanna Groen Bayless. Read More→
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Cook’s Note: I’ve made this guacamole with and without the almond butter, and while it’s really tasty without, the almond butter infuses every bite with a rich nuttiness that I love.
Ideas for Serving: This is an impressive chip-dip guacamole for winter, when both avocados and grapefruit are at their peak. Its citrusy lightness goes well with raw vegetable “chips”—think jícama, sunchoke, small Japanese white turnip. But don’t overlook this guacamole as part of a light entrée or first course: spoon the guacamole into leaves of endive, romaine hearts or Little Gem lettuce. Recipe from Frontera: Margaritas, Guacamoles, and Snacks by Rick Bayless with Deanna Groen Bayless. Read More→
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