As soon as I heard about the NYC Vegetarian Food Festival, I knew I had to check it out. This year’s festival was a two-day event (March 3rd & 4th) featuring food and drink from green-minded food vendors, restaurants, and health and wellness companies, as well as live talks and cooking demos. The way to someone’s social conscience is often through their stomach, and One Green Planet, a media platform dedicated to championing a “humane, healthy and green lifestyle,” definitely served up plenty of food for thought!
On Saturday morning, I braved long lines and threatening skies outside the Metropolitan Pavilion. Over 75 national and local vendors came to share samples, including big names like VitaMix, Peanut Butter & Co., and Honest Tea. There was something for everyone– vegetarians, semi-vegetarians (or flexitarians, if you prefer), vegans, and omnivores were all welcomed and encouraged to learn more about healthy living and sustainable cuisine.
My first stop was the Coconut Bliss table, where Luna and Larry were serving up non-dairy frozen desserts. The founders love coconut milk for its health benefits and source fair-trade and sustainable ingredients.
I’m not typically a huge coconut fan, but the coconut milk gave a rich, creamy texture to the iced treat without an overpowering coconut taste. It was a delicious way to start the festival, and their mint chocolate chip (my favorite ice cream flavor) certainly gives dairy-based frozen desserts some tough competition.
Next I wandered over to Rescue Chocolate, a company whose sweet products are backed up by a serious message: 100% of the net profits from each chocolate sale are donated to animal rescue organizations across the country. Each flavor highlights an aspect of pet overpopulation, like Pick Me! Pepper, which encourages prospective pet adopters to find pets at shelters rather than breeders.
Continuing the chocolate & mint theme, I sampled the Foster-iffic Peppermint, a rich dark chocolate bar with crunchy cacao nibs and a refreshing hit of peppermint.
Of course, vegan food isn’t all about sweets and treats! There were many savory options, and one of my favorites was the Raw Hot Sauce at Bao Food & Drink.
As a mango fiend, I considered it my duty to do a shot of the mango sauce. Tangy and spicy-sweet, I could see it going well as an accompaniment to Indian food, or as a glaze on BBQ’d veggies in the summer.
After fortifying myself with some samples, I was ready to hear what some of the speakers had to say. Given my own dedication to an active lifestyle, I was eager to hear from Matt Frazier, the No-Meat Athlete. One of my favorite takeaways from his talk was that a plant-based diet shouldn’t be held up as healthier than one that does include meat, eggs, and dairy. Going full vegetarian or vegan is challenging, and given constraints of time, money, and location it’s certainly not for everyone. There are also plenty of people who simply enjoy a steak, burger, milkshake, or dish of Eggs Benedict for brunch, and it’s alienating and counter-productive to lecture about healthy choices from a standpoint of absolutism.
Matt also recaps and expands upon at the Festival on his blog. If you’re thinking about cutting down on the meat in your diet (or adding more vegetables), it’s a great resource.
After Matt’s talk, I realized I had neglected an entire aisle. As I wandered past cookbooks displays and heaps of sandwiches, rolls, wraps, and veggie burgers, a table piled high with brightly-colored paper caught my eye. The vendor smiled and handed me a piece of elephant dung paper (no, really!). Human encroachment on elephant habitats in Sri Lanka often results in the deaths of many elephants. Mr. Ellie Pooh encourages villagers to instead make use of the dung (which I would think is a nearly inexhaustible resource) to create paper products and gifts. In addition to preserving the wild elephant population, this encourages economic growth in rural areas and reduces dependence on clear-cutting to make paper.
A little closer to home is Clean Plates, a guide to healthy eating in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and LA. They share restaurant reviews, healthy eating tips, recipes, and more on their site. I’m already a big fan of their recipe makeovers, and plan to make the vegan spiced black-eyed peas this weekend.
I found I had room for dessert after all, so my last stop was Sweet & Sara‘s table for a vegan marshmallow. I avoid marshmallows due to the gelatin, and it’s been tricky to find a satisfying substitute. I’m happy to say that the soft, tender goodies were even more satisfying than the “real” thing. I tried a vanilla marshmallow s’more, and picked up a box of the strawberry marshmallows and some spring-shaped almost-too-cute-to-eat treats for a friend’s birthday:
I find that large food festivals can almost be too overwhelming to navigate. If you got there later in the afternoon, the line to get in was certainly daunting. NYCVFF was definitely well-attended, but samples were plentiful and my fellow seitan worshipers were all on their best behavior. One of my favorite aspects of the festival was the real-time photo blogging. I saw and tasted quite a bit, but there was still no way to seek out every last vendor, speaker, or sample. You can view the photo gallery here. I’m already looking forward to next year’s festival!
ETA: read One Green Planet co-founder Nil Zacharias’s take on the market for vegan food over on HuffPost Food, plus some bonus recipes from the NYCVFF!
One of my favorite authors, Neil Gaiman, has written many stories– weird and whimsical, frightening, fantastical, and magical. I especially love the poem he wrote for the birth of Tori Amos’s daughter, Natasha, which was made into a book illustrated by Charles Vess.
Ladies of light and Ladies of darkness and Ladies of never-you-mind,
This is a prayer for a Blueberry girl.
First, may you ladies be kind.
It’s a beautiful poem, full of love and well wishes for a little girl and the woman she will become. It’s also a great gift for an expectant mom– I am not one, but I currently know a few!
When one of my close friends recently had a birthday, I started to think of what I could make for the occasion. Something told me that I should choose a dessert a little different than my usual “death by chocolate” approach. My friend is artistic and expressive, and I thought of the blueberry girl from Gaiman’s poem. And then it hit me like a bolt from the blue: a blueberry crisp.
Crisps, crumbles, slumps, grunts, bucklers, and cobblers (and probably several more that I’ve omitted) are all in the family of baked fruit desserts with some sort of topping. Maybe it’s biscuit dough, or oat-based, or (my favorite) large crumbs of buttery goodness. They’re simple and fairly quick to prepare, and you can use fresh, frozen, or even slightly past-prime fruit. I used a mixture of fresh blueberries and the last of the wild berries I had picked last summer and frozen for just such a day, stirred together with a little Meyer lemon juice and zest. The sweet tartness of the lemon complemented the juicy berries perfectly, and the topping-to-berry ratio was just right for a dessert that was satisfying without feeling too heavy.
Blueberry and Meyer lemon crisp
After the comforting taste, one of the nicest things about a crisp is that you can assemble the fruit directly in the baking dish. Mix the topping separately, cover the berries well, slide the whole thing into the oven, and in about half an hour you’re rewarded with the most mouthwatering aroma. It’ll perfume your home for at least a day after baking.
Fruit filling:
4 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
Juice and zest of one Meyer lemon
Topping: (Adapted from Nigella Lawson)
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
6 Tb brown sugar or raw sugar
1 stick unsalted butter, melted, or the equivalent raw food-quality coconut oil
Preheat your oven to 375°F. Grease a shallow 1 1/2-quart baking dish. Rinse the blueberries, if using fresh, and pat dry. Spread the berries evenly over the bottom of the baking dish and combine with the lemon juice and zest.
Welcome to Friday fitness! Every Friday I’m going to make a “this is why you’re fit” post, touching on an aspect of health and wellness. I plan to cover physical matters such as nutrition and exercise, as well as mental and emotional topics like building positive habits.
This week, I want to talk about a good habit that will affect your ability to engage in your favorite active pursuits, the inner workings of your body, and even your appearance. There are no tricky moves involved, nothing to buy, and you can do it pretty much everywhere you go. I’m talking about drinking water, of course!
Staying hydrated is just as important as getting enough rest, eating a balanced diet, and avoiding a sedentary lifestyle. This week, the Huffington Post demystified the “rules” of getting enough liquid in your system.
Just as you can drink too little water, you can over-saturate your system if you start guzzling H2O by the gallon. Everyone knows the 8 x 8 method (aim for 8 8-0z. glasses daily), but as with most health matters, it’s different for every person depending on your age, activity level, and a host of other factors.
The HuffPost article referenced something I’ve used since my days as a counselor at Girl Scout camp: the next time you have to use the restroom, take a quick glance at the color of your urine. During hikes or weekends spent camping in the woods, we’d frequently stop for water/bathroom breaks. As the campers headed off for the woods or latrines, we’d shout, “all clear?” “I’m clear, we’re clear, everybody’s clear!” they’d reply.
You can sound the all-clear for yourself with a look at this handy chart from the Boy Scouts of America, posted by Blisstree.
However, saying “stay hydrated” is one thing. Actually forming the habit is another! In a nation with a clean and plentiful water supply, it shouldn’t be a challenge to remember to sip water throughout the day. But we’re busy. And it can be hard to remember to keep the water flowing if you’re not engaging in physical activity.
One of my co-workers keeps a 32-oz. bottle at her desk, and makes sure she fills and finishes it twice throughout the day. I found that what works for me is having a cute and cheerful water bottle. I smile every time I see it:
Kick the dehydration habit!
It’s a fairly small bottle, holding about as much as a can of soda. That makes it the perfect size for my bag; it also means that I drain it fairly quickly, forcing me to stand up and walk away from my desk for a refill. As sitting all day is another common issue to avoid, having a task that keeps me hopping up frequently breaks two bad habits for the price of one.*
And I have to say, not only does drinking more water gives me a bit more energy, it helps protect my skin from the ravages of winter dryness.
Share with me– what’s your “this is why you’re fit” this week?
*Extra credit because this gets you moving whether the water is coming or going– I may have taken a bathroom break in the course of writing this post. Yes, mom, I washed my hands.
As a home cook and baker, I am always in awe of the stunning presentation and creative ideas that professional chefs bring to the table. The only thing better than beautiful, delicious food is when that food is served and enjoyed for a good cause. And that’s what the Careers through Culinary Arts (C-CAP) annual benefit is all about.
C-CAP is dedicated to helping under-served youth develop careers in the culinary and restaurant industries. The program was started by culinary educator Richard Grausman over 20 years ago, and has raised over $30 million in scholarships for students across the country.
The 2012 benefit honored Michael McCarty of Michael’s NY and Michael’s Santa Monica. Chef McCarty was instrumental in pioneering local, seasonal farm-to-table cuisine in California, and his contributions to the culinary world are impressive and far-reaching.
Bette Midler and Martin von Haselberg were in attendance as honorary chairs of this event. As a personal friend of the honoree, Ms. Midler brought a warm personal touch to her address but wasn’t afraid to take the guests at the Shun Lee table to task for clamoring for Peking Duck during the speeches.
Over 800 guests made the trip to Chelsea Piers to enjoy the signature dishes of 38 of New York’s top chefs. (View the full list over on the C-CAP blog.)
Kerry Alexander, Jessica Scholl, Deborah Grausman, Jamie Davis at the 2012 C-CAP Benefit
Sampling the offerings of nearly 40 chefs is an ambitious task. As I don’t eat meat other than fish, some of the decisions were made for me. However, every omnivore around me had no hesitation about going back for seconds and even thirds of the meatier options.
To name just a few of the dishes I tried:
Asiate‘s quinoa crusted sea scallop, onion marmalade and grapefruit butter sauce; decadent without being heavy
Park Avenue Winter‘s black truffle croquettes, which looked like chocolate doughnut holes but tasted like pure, earthy truffle
Barbuto‘s crudi salad with shaved Brussels sprouts, baby carrots, radishes and pecorino cheese was a light dish with a lot of crunch– great in between a couple of the richer offerings. Chef Jonathan Waxman trained under Michael McCarty at the start of his career.
Extra Virgin‘s tuna tartar cones with avocado mousse and pomegranate was both tasty and portable, making it the perfect cocktail party food.
On the sweeter side, Daniel’s pistachio dacquoise with fresh raspberries and vanilla cream was almost too pretty to eat. Almost.
The team from The Modern offered a variety of petit fours, lollipops, and chocolates, but they won me over with their irresistable chocolate-passion fruit macarons. A complete stranger and I glanced at each other and nodded in silent, mouth-full-of-macaron ecstasy.
A couple of dishes went beyond delicious with their commitment to delivering sustainable and ocean/earth-friendly treats.
Oceana had prepared wild Alaskan king salmon a la plancha with Meyer lemon jam and a radish salad. The Ocean Institute notes that wild king salmon from Alaska is ranked by the Marine Stewardship Council as a best environmental choice; the species is relatively abundant, and catching methods cause minimal habitat damage. The salmon was a bright orange hue, and the tangy lemon jam contrasted nicely with the rich fish.
C-CAP alum Mehdi Chellaoui, founder of Dörk Chocolate, was serving an assortment of chocolate truffles– my favorite was infused with cardamom. Dörk Chocolate makes hand-crafted chocolates in small batches, using “native heirloom cacao exclusively from sustainable family owned farms throughout South America.”
The benefit raised over $900,000, the highest in C-CAP history. All proceeds will go to support the program’s many services and training opportunities, from career counseling to culinary school scholarships.
Check out more about the event over on the C-CAP blog, get the Zagat take on the night, or discover 2010 honoree Marcus Samuelsson‘s favorite dishes of the night.
To learn more about C-CAP and make a donation, you can visit their website.
All photos by Kerry Alexander.
Just when you thought it was safe to stop thinking about body policing, health, and self-esteem, the Academy Awards blew into town. I personally wasn’t invested in which film won what award (except for The Muppets!), but I was bowled over by one overwhelming media reaction:
Angelina Jolie needs to eat a goddamn cheeseburger.
From individuals on Twitter and Facebook to news sites like TMZ, it was like lolcats had brainwashed the entire internet[s].
Yes, Angelina is thin. But unless you yourself are Angelina Jolie (and if you are, thanks for reading!) OR her doctor, get your nose out of her business and step away from the snark. Two of my friends mentioned that they were sick of people using hamburgers as a universal panacea for being thin. I did a little searching (for “Angelina cheeseburger”, amazingly) and found some wonderful support for my own feelings on the matter.
Kelsey Wallace of Bitch Magazine had this to say:
“Look, I get that Angelina Jolie is thin, and that she also burns the brightest of all of our Bright Hollywood Stars and is therefore subject to more scrutiny than your average woman. However, body snarking of the “eat a sammich, skinny” variety is hardly different from body snarking of the “stop eating sammiches, fatty” variety that we (hopefully) know better than to post in our Facebook feeds.”
BlissTree‘s Briana Rognlin weighed in, and called for a cheeseburger embargo:
“Even if we knew more about the state of her health or body image, telling someone who you suspect has an eating disorder to eat more just isn’t body positive, and it’s not helping Jolie or anyone else.”
Even Bill O’Reilly referred to Jolie as “emaciated” on The O’Reilly Factor, which Jezebel‘s Tracie Egan Morrissey calls “concern-trolling.”
“You’re a little late to the game on this one, but we’re sure you’re genuinely worried about whether or not she has an eating disorder, so much so, in fact, that you’d be willing to call out how gross you find her, physically, on TV because we all know how women respond so well to having their bodies scrutinized. I’m sure she’s stepped up her caloric intake all because of last night’s broadcast. Good work, pal!”
My thoughts exactly. As someone who struggled with body image in college and had more than a handful of friends with eating disorders, the worst thing you can do for someone with disordered eating is to judge them and tell them how they should own their health. On top of that– how do you know if Angelina or anyone else has disordered eating, engages in unhealthy behavior, and eschews cheeseburgers? For all you know, she made the limo driver stop at a drive-thru on the way to the Oscars, and Brad had to help her fish a pickle slice out of her decolletage.
You can’t make a snap judgment on someone’s health based on their looks. A friend of mine who self-identifies as “zaftig” runs over 40 miles a week and has textbook-perfect blood pressure, cholesterol, triglycerides, and glucose levels. Another friend, while visually on the tres petite end of the spectrum, has a family history of high cholesterol which wasn’t helped by her cheese addiction.
My point is that everyone feels pressured to conform to a very small range of acceptable– that whole “be skinny, but don’t lose your curves!” message again. This is especially true for someone as visible as a Hollywood star. I’m glad to see backlash for “eat a [calorie dense food]” because the truth is, we don’t really know the truth. I’d rather we concentrated on the industries that create this type of pressure, and work to grow acceptance for bodies of all shapes and sizes.
Judgment in the guise of concern is not the answer. Burgers are not a cure for issues with body image, and disordered eating can’t be solved with a prescription for sandwiches.
Angelina can haz cheezburgr by toughcookienyc on polyvore.com
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This is not the post I had planned for today! But we’ll put that post on the back burner for now, because I just saw something that made me realize need to cover another aspect of health that’s just as important as eating well and exercising– if not more! One of my favorite resources for banishing fitness boredom is BodyRock. The “home workout movement” features free daily workout videos, and their challenging moves fall under the category of high intensity interval training. Their instructors are encouraging and upbeat, although it feels a little gratuitous to see the female trainers only work out in sports bras and very brief shorts.
I also follow them on Facebook, and today they posted “like this post if you feel the same way!” with a picture of a very zaftig lady wearing lacy pink briefs. The picture was captioned “a woman without curves is like jeans without pockets: you don’t know where to put your hands.”
First of all, this message isn’t about the woman, it’s about the person wanting to put their hands on her. Why is she just an object? Second, I don’t want soft-core images from my workout gurus. I want pictures of people challenging themselves, pushing their limits, and being active, not come-hither. Third, women come in all sizes and shapes. They’re all capable of being happy, healthy, and attractive, although I’m more concerned with accomplishing my personal goals and less concerned with which men want to put their hands on me (actually I’d prefer not to think about that… otherwise I’d never walk down the street).
Men come in all sizes and shapes, too, although I’ve never seen an image that says, “a man without muscles is like jeans without pockets: you don’t know where to put your hands.”
Your sense of self matters more than having six-pack abs. Call it inner health, call it self-esteem, confidence, or whatever makes sense to you. I’d rather be happy and comfortable in my own skin than obsess over every morsel of food that goes into my mouth. I never want to feel that I need to work out to maintain my dress size, rather than just exercising because it makes me feel good. Yes, I admire my arms (frequently), but I don’t beat myself up if I skip a day, or if I can’t lift as much as the woman at the next bench. Each and every athlete is different, and I’m not in competition with them. I’m not even in competition with myself!
The problem with being interested in health and fitness is that you see a ton of health and fitness messages by companies who want your repeat business. Magazines want you to keep subscribing. Stores want you to keep buying. Gyms and trainers want you to keep up your membership. There are some great people out there who really do have their customers’/students’ best interests at heart, but at the end of the day, that magazine/clothing store/gym is a business, and they need you to make a profit. What sells?
Insecurity, that’s what.
There have been many studies done about the number of messages women receive in a day. Ads, articles, commercials, TV, internet, movies, magazines. You’re bombarded with people who are Photoshop-perfect, smiling with white teeth as they effortlessly glide through life. These unattainable, aspirational images are meant to sell you on the product, whether it’s deodorant, pink razors, diet pills, or shapewear.
I try to avoid generalizations, but I think it’s safe to say that most women have something they’d like to change about their bodies. Ads used to blatantly dance along the edge of women’s desire to lose weight. Then, finally, women started fighting back with body-positive messages like “I love my curves” or “kiss my big butt!”
Did companies respect this message? Did the people behind the ads say, “hey, we should stop telling women there’s something wrong with them?”
If you believe that, I’ve got this great bridge for sale…
The message is still there. It just has a new face, or a more subtle hook. Some companies, like Nike actually do a pretty decent job with positive motivation:
“A WOMAN IS OFTEN MEASURED by the things she cannot control. She is measured by the way her body curves or doesn’t curve, by where she is flat or straight or round. She is measured by 36-24-26 and inches and ages and numbers, by all the outside things that don’t ever add up to who she is on the inside. And so if a woman is to be measured, let her be measured by the things she can control, by who she is and who she is trying to become. Because every woman know, measurements are only statistics and STATISTICS LIE.”
Great message, right? Although they’re still trying to sell you shoes/pants/sports bras, this is at least a step in the right direction.
What I have a problem with is messages that try to play women against each other, or elevate one body type by bashing another. The biggest weapon in this body battle royale is one simple word: “curves.”
Having curves used to mean that you weren’t as thin as society thinks you should be, and you were okay with that. That you were proud of your womanly figure. That in itself was problematic (you can still have a womanly figure if you’re not terribly curvy, right?) but it was a stand against the “thin is in!” tsunami.
Then curves became a gauntlet in the face to any woman who wasn’t voluptuous enough. “Real women have curves.” I’m pretty sure a real woman… is anyone who identifies as a woman. Curvy, not-so-curvy, two X chromosomes, transgendered… if you feel like a woman, you’re a real woman.
I’m simply not a fan of this body-conscious trend. What does it matter, as long as you’re happy and healthy and comfortable in your own skin? And when did curves become the new C-word? Women get enough messages telling them they’re not ____ enough (fill in the blank with young, sexy, skinny, successful, etc.). We shouldn’t be encouraged to turn on each other and judge who gets to be a woman and who’s left out.
Exercising my right to bare arms
Ah, the dreaded bathroom mirror self-portrait. It’s an awkward and somewhat unsightly cliche, but I didn’t feel entirely comfortable asking a co-worker to photograph my [admittedly rather nice] gun show. I’ve been training regularly, though, and poorly-lit pic aside I’m very pleased with my progress.
While I’ve had some ups and downs with self-esteem and positive body image, I’ve always been happy with my ability to add muscle fairly easily. One of the most popular fitness myths is that a lady should avoid lifting large weights, lest she “bulk up” and look like a man. Well, unless your goal is to add a ton of muscle mass, and you’re planning your workouts and meals accordingly, it’s not going to happen. Even female power lifters, while typically ripped and well-defined, don’t get to the point of looking masculine or bulky. Ultimately, hoisting a pastel 4 lb. weight isn’t going to have the same health benefits as hauling around some serious iron, so why let an old superstition get in the way of your fitness?
One of my favorite sources for weight-lifting facts is The New Rules of Lifting for Women. Strength and conditioning specialist Lou Schuler (together with fitness expert Alwyn Cosgrove and certified nutritionist/registered dietician Cassandra Forsythe) put together a program that combines strength training and conditioning moves, a sensible eating plan, and a good dose of myth-busting.
Did you ever go to a Pilates class hoping that enough Hundreds would grant you the promised “long, lean” dancer muscles? Well, the truth is that your muscles are a certain length and thickness based on your genetic makeup. Nothing less than a medieval torture device will make them longer. Now, you can develop the tone of your muscles, and make your entire body leaner by decreasing your body fat percentage. I’m not terribly tall, meaning my muscles aren’t all that long, comparatively. But my muscles are well-defined, and I’m proud of that. Going beyond looks, my muscles are strong. I can squat and deadlift a respectable percentage of my body weight, or explode up into a high box jump.
And that translates well to my martial arts practice: I may frequently be the lightest person in the room, but my instructors, training partners, and students don’t expect me to sit out a technique just because the other person outweighs me by 25 or 50 pounds. You’re not going to tell a mugger than they need to choose another target in their own weight class, are you? Plus the feeling of lifting and throwing a larger guy properly is a huge rush.
I want to encourage everyone to get out of their comfort zone a little. There’s nothing wrong with a cardio program if you enjoy that type of activity and it works for you. But if you’ve been looking longingly at heavier free weights, and dream about loading up a bar, don’t let anything hold you back!
There’s something truly empowering about checking yourself out in the mirror, liking what you see, and loving how you feel. One of my other weight-lifting lady friends and I even greet each other by flexing. Yes, in public. If you’re ready to challenge your preconceived notions of what exercising has to be like, step away from candy-colored weights and high reps. I’m not an expert, and all my advice comes from personal experience. But I’d be willing to bet most women are lifting far less weight than they’re actually capable of using.
Start with a weight 5-10 pounds higher than your usual, and slowly go through a set of your favorite exercise. Pay close attention to your form! Try a few reps with heavier weights, gradually getting heavier, until you find a weight that you can move for about 12 reps, still using proper form. Start slowly– the only thing worse than undertraining is overtraining. You want to be able to go back to the weight room regularly, not sideline yourself with a pulled muscle or other injury.
If you’re really a novice, work with a trainer first. There’s really no substitute for working in person with an expert who can correct your form and help you come up with a fitness plan that’s best for you. But I’ll bet you my favorite medicine ball that channeling your inner She-Hulk is going to be much more satisfying than tricep kick-backs with 3 lb. Barbie weights.
Happy Friday! This has been a really exciting week for me. Last night, I had the privilege of attending an event hosted by C-CAP (Careers Through Culinary Arts Program). It’s an amazing organization that helps underserved students prepare for a career in the culinary industry. Some of today’s top chefs got their start through C-CAP, and the annual benefit is a showcase of talent and a chance to support the program. I’ll be posting a full review next week!
After last night, I rested up and did some finger stretches for today’s treat: it’s Social Media Week in NYC and around the world, and I attended/attempted to liveblog (@toughcookienyc) a keynote talk on the new food role models (Chefs, bloggers, cookbook authors) and a debate on what makes a food trend (who’s kale’s PR rep?). The panels were fun and informative, and I got to meet a really friendly group of bloggers, chefs, and fellow food-lovers. We all agreed it was tough talking about food without having some snacks to carry us through the lunchtime stomach-rumbles!
One aspect of the two events that I loved: it really brought home how food brings everyone to the table. And I think it shows that the sustainable/eco-friendly movement is much more lasting than a fad or a trend. Blue Hill and Oceana represented the local/seasonal and sustainable seafood aspects of cooking last night at C-CAP. Today, Bun Lai from Miya’s Sushi in New Haven, CT talked about growing his own seaweed and using invasive species rather than fish from faraway waters. Robyn O’Brien spoke on how her children’s allergies opened her eyes to how food and health are inextricably linked.
I’m going to be exploring both events (and the interrelation between food and wellness) much more in subsequent posts. I’m also planning a visit to Miya’s with my mom– Chef Lai was thrilled to hear she’s a naturalist with an interest in invasive species, so we’re going to take a road trip for some sustainable sushi ASAP!
Concentrating on how food can improve and enhance your life is probably the biggest, best This is Why You’re Fit I can imagine. We’ll just have to see how to keep raising the bar!
What are some of your favorite foods for health, or wellness practices in your daily routine?
Welcome back!
The women in my family suffer from a terrible curse. We don’t sprout fangs and fur at the full moon, but a little extra hair might be preferable to this burden:
We have timing issues with special meals. “First world problems,” you might scoff, and you’d be right. But when you’re planning a fancy dinner, timing is almost as important as taste! The night my mom first cooked for my dad and his family, the rice took so long to cook that they went out for a walk in between courses. In my case, the special dessert I had been planning refused to set, and so it’s been sulking in the fridge all day today. Luckily, I had just read a recipe for a One Bowl Chocolate Pudding Cake, which took minutes to mix and only half an hour to bake, so the evening ended on a sweet note after all.
Dessert issues aside, last night I was given a wonderful gift– better than sushi, more precious to me than rare jewels or a set of really good chef’s knives. My husband elect said just one simple sentence: “that was the best steak I’ve ever eaten.” And he meant it, too. But before you protest that I just preached about making healthier choices, let me note that I didn’t just cook steak.
I cooked bison!
Bison... it's what's for dinner!
Although I don’t eat meat (other than fish), I’m very interested in new and exotic food sources. There’s a restaurant in our neighborhood that serves elk, bison, and ostrich, and choosing these lean proteins (less fat and cholesterol) can be one way to have your meat and eat it, too.
I bought this filet from the friendly folks at Elk Trails Bison Farm, who sell at the Union Square Greenmarket. They certainly know their bison, and with good reason– they’ve been raising herds in Susquenhanna County, PA since 1985. The gentleman behind the counter confirmed that their Bison is free-range and grass-fed, and they use no antibiotics; he also gave me some cooking tips, which I followed to the letter.
With the turf taken care of, I turned to thinking of surf. Lobster is the obvious special occasion equivalent, but it’s not actually my favorite. I’m much more of a scallop fan– they’re perfect little bite-sized morsels of protein, not to mention quick and simple to cook. And when you’re planning a special meal for a weeknight, there’s no shame in keeping it simple.
Since our entrees were so simple, I kept the side dishes pretty low key, too: sauteed spinach with lots of garlic (it’s okay as long as both parties have garlic breath) and roasted [baby] carrots. I had completely forgotten to pick up carrots this week, so I resorted to using the baby carrots I usually bring to work to eat with some hummus! Shameful, I know. Luckily, the bison was so good that my baby carrot faux pas went unnoticed.
The neat thing about bison is how quickly it defrosts. The packet of steaks I bought were frozen, so I asked how I would go about bringing one out of deep freeze. “An hour before you want to cook it, place the steak in two layers of plastic bags,” I was told, “then put that in a bowl of cool water and it’ll soften right up.” It worked!
One note when cooking bison: because the fat content is so low, you need to be careful not to let the meat dry out/get tough. It’s actually better to cook the steak slowly over low heat (or “low and slow,” as they say in the biz) rather than sear fast in a really hot pan.
Bison Filet Mignon
1 bison steak, roughly 8 oz.
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Rinse the steak under cool water, then pat dry. Rub with some olive oil, then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Heat a skillet over low heat, melt some butter into the pan, and add the steak. Cook on one side for 8 minutes, until a nice crust forms. Flip and cook an additional 8 minutes. Remove from heat and place steak on a plate; cover with foil and let rest 5-10 minutes. Add the juices back to the pan and reduce over low heat, then drizzle the sauce over the steak for added juiciness. You can flavor this liquid with wine or broth, or use it to cook mushrooms, onions, garlic, or anything that comes to mind. I kept it fairly plain to focus on the flavor of the meat.
Seared sea scallops
1/2 lb. sea scallops
Olive oil and butter
Salt and pepper
Rinse the scallops in cool water and pat dry. Heat a pan over medium heat and add the oil and a dab of butter; once the oil spatters when a few drops of water are flicked in, add the scallops. Grate some pepper and salt over the scallops, then resist the temptation to move them around in the pan. They need to develop a nicely caramelized seared top! Scallops vary in size, so cooking time may not be uniform. Cook for 2 minutes, then gently peek under the edge of the scallops to see if they need to be flipped. If the scallop’s underside is nicely browned, it’s time to turn it over. Flip, cook for another minute, then serve immediately. They should still be slightly translucent in the middle.
Cider-glazed carrots
6 carrots, peeled and cut into rounds (or one bag of baby carrots)
1 Tb. olive oil
1/4 c. apple cider
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
pinch of ground cloves
Preheat oven to 350. Toss the carrots with the olive oil, cider, and spices. Spread in a single layer and bake for 15-20 minutes, turning carrots over halfway through for even cooking. Carrots should be fork-tender.
I’d love to go out on a high note with the elaborate dessert I made up, but it’s currently being a prima donna. I’ll try to update later, or maybe give it its own post tomorrow. In the meantime, I’d love to hear what you ate and/or cooked for your Valentine’s dinner!
ToughCookieNYC 
