If you want to get a head start on greening your grocery bags, stop by Earthbound Farm’s Web site and take their Conservation Quiz. Score at least a 9 out of 10, and get a free reusable shopping bag!
Go ahead and check it out — follow the highlighted links on each question to read the relevant articles that will give you enough info to find the answer. You may find you’ll pick up a lot more than just a free tote. You’ll learn about viable conservation initiatives and get definitions for buzzwords like “carbon footprint” and “sustainability,” and you’ll find good suggestions for easy choices every one of us can make to help ourselves and the environment stay healthy.
While you’re there, mouse around the Web site. You’ll find info on Earthbound’s products, organics in general, and even projects for kids.
Have fun! But hurry — the bags are available only while supplies last, and the contest is over April 30, 2008.
As much as I’ve been looking forward to the vegetables of spring (hello, asparagus!), there are a few hearty winter staples I am reluctant to say my farewells to. Especially this particular preparation, Curry-Roasted Cauliflower, which I discovered only a few weeks ago, and which became an immediate favorite in our household. I’ve had roasted cauliflower and curried cauliflower, but the combination of the two is simply wonderful, and the vinegar adds the definitive touch.
Feel free to increase or decrease the spices according to your own preference, but do use a good-quality curry powder, either store-bought or homemade. Also, only fresh — not frozen — cauliflower will do.
This is excellent hot or at room temperature, and leftovers reheat well the next day.
Enjoy now, during the last few days of cauliflower season!
Curry-Roasted Cauliflower with Red Onions
- 1 head fresh cauliflower, broken into bite-sized florets and cleaned
- 1/2 red onion, sliced
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon curry powder
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1/3 cup red wine vinegar
- 11/2 teaspoons coarse salt (kosher or sea salt work well)
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Place cauliflower florets and onion slices in a large mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, combine cumin, curry powder, paprika, pepper, oil, and vinegar. Whisk until all ingredients are well blended. Reserve 2 tablespoons of this mixture and pour the rest over the vegetables. Toss to coat.
Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with nonstick cooking spray or brush with oil. Pour vegetables out onto sheet and arrange in a single layer. Sprinkle with coarse salt. Roast vegetables until fork-tender, about 25 to 30 minutes, turning with a spatula about halfway through.
Remove vegetables from oven and let stand for five minutes on baking sheet. Place in serving bowl and drizzle with reserved dressing. Toss again and serve hot or at room temperature.
Serves 6 as a side dish.
It’s early April here on the East Coast, and I’ve been gradually “eating down the freezer,” getting rid of the last vestiges of the summer and fall foods we froze for winter eating. Aside from a few containers of soup and some pink grapefruit sorbet I made last week from a bag of beautiful, sweet grapefruit I bought for less than two dollars because of an amazing overstock at my local grocery, we’re nearly ready for the fruits and veggies of spring.
So what’s coming into season where you are? If you don’t know yet, check out this fantastic resource provided by the Natural Resources Defense Council. Simply use the pull-down menus to select a state and a season. You’ll see what’s in season in your area, from the field, the hothouse, or from storage. You’ll also see what’s available from neighboring states. In addition, you’ll find a recipe of the month, a link to find the farmer’s markets nearest you, links to neighboring state resources, and much more.
Happy spring, and season’s eatings!
(Image courtesy of Agricultural Research Service/USDA; photo by Keith Weller.)
Seems like spring is not only a time for saying hello — to crocuses and other bulb plants emerging from winter-chilled soil, and soon, to asparagus, culinary herbs, snap peas, and spinach, among the first of the later spring crops — but also a time for saying good-bye.
Specifically, last night I said good-bye to the final half cup of blueberries in my freezer, all that remained of last summer’s abundant crop. Along with a couple of handfuls of frozen raspberries, those lovely purple-blue berries went into a casserole I made for last night’s supper. I thought of a winter’s worth of muffins, pancakes, and sour cream coffeecakes, all polka-dotted with succulent berries whose trip from bush to baking pan could be measured in mere feet rather than mileage. July, blueberry season here in the Northeast, suddenly seemed a long way off.
But today, as we were braving early-April bluster to take down a hoary old apple tree nearly thirty years old and hollow in more than one limb, I saw something that gave me good reason to smile. There, on the reddish green striplings of the blueberry bushes, were tiny buds, waiting patiently to greet the sun.
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