Veggie Might: Potluck Grits and Quinoa with Spicy Pink Beans Recipe

Written by the fabulous Leigh, Veggie Might is a weekly Thursday column about all things Vegetarian.

Kris and I, as she mentioned in her Serious Eats column this week, participate in a semi-monthly gathering of food-minded friends who love to cook and love to eat. We rotate hosting duties and themes (spicy food, Mediterranean, Feast of St. Maximillian). People mostly take care to consider the food issues of all in attendance and no one could possibly go hungry.

This month, though, there wasn’t really a theme beyond “I’m making a brisket; you guys bring whatever.” In the past, I’ve used potluck to be creative and take risks with varying degrees of success. This time, I decided to make something really “potlucky,” and to me, that means a casserole.

The potlucks of my past have been a vegetarian hell of meatballs, fried chicken, tuna casserole—and if I’m lucky, macaroni and cheese. Some brave church lady (probably my mom) will decide there should be a vegetable and make a green bean casserole. Maude bless her, but Maude help you if you’re vegan.

I wanted my dish to be healthier and dairy-free. Is it possible to have a casserole that isn’t cheesy, creamy, and fatty? CB suggested “something Mexican,” and an idea began to form. I could picture the dish in my mind. I just needed a jumping off point.

Then I remembered the Pan-American Grits and Quinoa recipe I shared with you some time ago. What if I just layered that with beans and vegetables? It sounded good to me, but I needed precedent. To Moosewood.

There was a recipe for Instant Tamale Pie that was essentially what I pictured in my head, only with store-bought ingredients (pre-cooked polenta, jarred salsa). I put the cookbook away and went to the stove. A little while later, my 9” × 13” baking dish, which sees little action, was full (and heavy) and ready to hit the road.

It’s misleading to call what I ended up with a casserole. The only baking necessary was to reheat on arrival. Nonetheless, it was a huge success. Thumbs up from stuffed faces around the room—and there was bacon mac and cheese (only 1/2 bacon—thanks KJ!), homemade foccacia, and brisket on that table.

Cheap, healthy, and vegetarian proves, once again, to be a contender. Take that, church ladies. Actually, here, I’ll make you one for Spring Fling Supper.

~~~

If you enjoy this dish, you might also quite appreciate:

• Black Bean Burrito Bake
• Refried Beans
• Quinoa Soup with Avocado and Corn

~~~

*Grits and Quinoa with Spicy Pink Beans
yields approximately 20 servings

Bottom layer
8 cups water
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup grits
1 cup quinoa
1 large onion, chopped (about 2 cups)
2 red bell peppers, diced
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp ground coriander
2 cup frozen corn kernels

Top layer
3 cups pink or pinto beans, soaked and cooked
1 medium onion, chopped
6 cloves garlic, crushed and minced
2 jalapeño peppers, diced with seeds
1 cup canned diced tomatoes
2 cups frozen spinach
1 tsp salt
cilantro, chopped for garnish

1) Add water and salt to a large saucepan. Bring to a boil.

2) Whisking constantly, slowly add grits to water. As soon as saucepan comes back up to a boil, add quinoa. Stir.

3) Drop heat to low. Simmer around 25 minutes, stirring frequently.
While the grits are cooking...

4) Spray a large skillet with canola cooking spray and sauté 2 cups of the onion for 7 or so minutes.

5) Add the peppers, cook for a 2–3 minutes; then add spices, cook for 1 minute; then add corn.

When grits/quinoa is ready...

6) Mix sautéed veggies into grains, salt to taste, and pour into a 9”×13” baking dish. Be sure to leave about 2 inches of room at the top.

7) Rinse out your skillet with a little water, but don’t wash it. Spray again with cooking spray and sauté the remaining onion for about 5 minutes.

8) Add garlic and jalapeño and sauté for another 2–3 minutes.

9) Toss in the diced tomato with juice, salt, and frozen spinach, stirring well to combine.

10) Add the cooked beans and a little water if necessary. You don’t want it to be soupy, but wet enough not to scorch. Allow to simmer for about 5–7 minutes.

11) When the beans are done, spread over the grits/quinoa base and top with chopped cilantro. Cheese is optional.

12) Serve warm with a side of this and that and oh Maude THAT for dessert.

Approximate Calories, Fat, Fiber, Protein, and Price per Serving
142.9 calories, 1g fat, 4.8g fiber, 6.1g protein, $.58

Calculations
1 1/2 cup grits: 864 calories, 3g fat, 3g fiber, 21g protein, $1.00
1 cup quinoa: 626 calories, 10g fat, 12g fiber, 24g protein, $1.59
2 large onions: 120 calories, 0g fat, 6g fiber, 4g protein, $1.50
cooking spray: 6 calories, 0g fat, 6g fiber, 4g protein, $.02
2 red bell peppers: 102 calories, 0g fat, fiber, protein, $2.99
1 tbsp ground cumin: negligible calories, fat, fiber, protein, $0.02
1 tbsp ground coriander: negligible calories, fat, protein, $0.02
2 tsp salt: negligible calories, fat, fiber, protein, $0.02
2 cup frozen corn kernels: 240 calories, 2g fat, 6g fiber, 8g protein, $1.25
3 cups pink or pinto beans: 735 calories, 3g fat, 45g fiber, 45g protein, $1.00
6 cloves garlic: 26 calories, 0g fat, 0g fiber, 2g protein, $.07
2 jalapeño peppers: 8 calories, 0g fat, 0g fiber, 0g protein $.16
1 cup canned, diced tomatoes: 41 calories, 0g fat, 2g fiber, 2g protein, $.38
2 cups frozen spinach: 90 calories, 1g fat, 10g fiber, 12g protein, $.99
cilantro: negligible calories and fat, $0.50
TOTALS; 2858 calories, 19g fat, 96g fiber, 5.3g fiber, 122g protein, $11.51
PER SERVING (TOTALS/20): 142.9 calories, 1g fat, 4.8g fiber, 6.1g protein, $.58

10 Cheap Shortcuts to Making Cooking Oh-So-Much Easier

When it comes to cooking, there's no doubt about it: time is the chief obstacle to getting started. If you’re pressed for it, whipping up a three-course meal can seem as overwhelming as running a marathon in a bunny suit.

That’s why it pays to know some tricks. Some cheap tricks. Specifically, ten cheap tricks. (Note: not including this Cheap Trick, though they are also quite enjoyable.)

Some might find the following time-savers, like, “Oh, duh. I was born knowing this information. Get a job!” Others may be all like, “Oh, duh. I never thought of this. This is the most informative literature I’ve ever read, and that includes the ‘You’re a Woman Now’ pamphlet I got from my gym teachers in sixth grade.” Either way, they’re my story, and I’m sticking to 'em.

Readers, what did I miss? What are your easy shortcuts? Add ‘em in the comment section.

1) Wash fruit and veggies as soon as you get home from the supermarket.
It takes ten minutes and you can pick freely from your stash for the rest of the week. Don’t forget to dry the food completely, and include a paper towel in your storage vessel, preferably lining the insides. This should extend the life of your produce by a few days, at least. And hey - if you want to chop, slice, or dice to prep for future dinners at the same time, more power to you.

2) Read the recipe (at least twice) beforehand.
Who here has been gotten all psyched up to make a delicious dinner at 6pm, only to find Step #4 takes two hours? (*raises hand*) Or that you’ve forgotten the tomatoes? (*raises both hands*) Or that you have no idea how to braise? (*raises both hands and foot*) Scanning the instructions can save you infinite failed meals, plus a few bucks on last-minute emergency purchases.

3) Set out all your ingredients before you begin to cook.
Not only does it make reaching for stuff much simpler, but it ensures you have all the ingredients on hand. If you want to measure and chop as well, go crazy. Chefs and Frenchy types call this “mise en place,” and it streamlines the whole cooking process. Pretty prep bowls (a la Alton Brown) can make it look professional, too.

4) Take care of long-cooking items (rice, roasted veggies) first.
When I first began cooking, one of my biggest problems was timing every dish so they finished together. The chicken was ready 15 minutes before the broccoli, and the rice wouldn’t be good to go for another half-hour. Nowadays, I take a minute or two to think of cooking intervals: What will take the longest? What can be prepared relatively quickly? Then, I get going on the food that requires the many-est roasting/braising/steaming minutes. Dinner doesn’t always time out perfectly, but at least we’re not eating in installments anymore.

5) Learn how to chop an onion.
Onions are the basis for … every dish, ever. In history. Seriously. I can’t think of an ingredient I use more frequently. And in the olden days, dicing one would cost me ten minutes and two Kleenex. Mincing one? Fuggedaboudit. Now that I know the correct technique, it takes less than 60 seconds. I’m much happier. So are my sinuses.

6) Do dishes as you go along.
Let’s face it: if recipes listed “Dish Washing Time” along with “Cooking Time” and “Prep Time,” they would practically double in duration. (30-Minute Meals – ha!) And for those of us without dishwashers, scrubbing plates, pots, and forks can take all the fun out of cooking. However: if you clean as you go along, you’ll reduce back-end soaping tremendously. (Maybe entirely, even.) And then your night can be your own again. (For Lost, presumably. Did you SEE last night? Husband-Elect has been in the fetal position ever since.)

7) Fear not the eyeball.
We’re using the Rachael Ray-approved definition of “eyeball” here, meaning: approximating ingredient measurements based on what they look like in your hand, rather than precise recipe quantities. As you cook more frequently, you’ll get a feeling for how much chili powder or olive you need. Even better, you’ll be better able to customize to your tastes. Of course, if you’d rather go by specifics…

8) Memorize measurements.
How many teaspoons are in a 1/4 cup? (Twelve.) How many cups are in a quart? (Four.) When a recipe calls for 2/3rd cup of flour, but you’re only making half a batch, how many tablespoons do you need? (A little less than six.) Knowing simple measurements by heart will make the scaling process go much faster. If this seems like too much to commit to memory…

9) Keep a calculator in the kitchen.
It could come in useful for a bunch o’ other things, anyway: estimating grocery bills, projecting portions, showing your roommates how much they owe you in back rent, etc.

10) Have a super-basic reference cookbook at the ready.
Whether it’s Betty Crocker or Better Homes and Gardens, owning a How To tome is invaluable. A good one will give you technique tutorials, cooking times and temperatures, measurements, substitutes, and plenty of pictures. And when you’re stuck, a quick flip-through will solve just about any problem.

BONUS
Get a garbage bowl.
Rachael Ray was right on this one, too; during your prep period, keep a large bowl at your side for scraps and garbage. It cuts down hugely on trips to the trash bin, plus a lot of leaning over. Great for people with bad backs and/or finite patience.

And that’s a wrap. Readers, the comment section awaits. Let’s compile the world’s greatest shortcut thread.

~~~

If you like this post, these might also delight you:

• Cheap Healthy Master Recipes: Eight Versatile Dishes Entirely Adaptable to Your Tastes
• Frugal Food Hacks: 10 Tricks to Simplifying Online Recipe Searches
• Overcoming Your Cooking Obstacles

Traditional Preparation Methods Improve Grains' Nutritive Value

Soaking or Germinating Grains

The most basic method of preparing grains is prolonged soaking in water, followed by cooking. This combination reduces the level of water-soluble and heat-sensitive toxins and anti-nutrients such as tannins, saponins, digestive enzyme inhibitors and lectins, as well as flatulence factors. It also partially degrades phytic acid, which is a potent inhibitor of mineral absorption, an inhibitor of the digestive enzyme trypsin and an enemy of dental health (1). This improves the digestibility and nutritional value of grains as well as legumes.

I prefer to soak all grains and legumes for at least 12 hours in a warm location, preferably 24. This includes foods that most people don't soak, such as lentils. Soaking does not reduce phytic acid at all in grains that have been heat-treated, such as oats and kasha (technically not a grain), because they no longer contain the phytic acid-degrading enzyme phytase. Cooking without soaking first also does not have much effect on phytic acid.

The next level of grain preparation is germination. After soaking, rinse the grains twice per day for an additional day or two. This activates the grains' sprouting program and further increases their digestibility and vitamin content. When combined with cooking, it reduces phytic acid, although modestly. Therefore, most of the minerals in sprouted whole grains will continue to be inaccessible. Many raw sprouted grains and legumes are edible, but I wouldn't use them as a staple food because they retain most of their phytic acid as well as some heat-sensitive anti-nutrients (2).

Grinding and Fermenting Grains

Many cultures around the world have independently discovered fermentation as a way to greatly improve the digestibility and nutritive value of grains (3). Typically, grains are soaked, ground, and allowed to sour ferment for times ranging from 12 hours to several days. In some cases, a portion of the bran is removed before or after grinding.

In addition to the reduction in toxins and anti-nutrients afforded by soaking and cooking, grinding and fermentation goes much further. Grinding greatly increases the surface area of the grains and breaks up their cellular structure, releasing enzymes which are important for the transformation to come. Under the right conditions, which are easy to achieve, lactic acid bacteria rapidly acidify the batter. These bacteria are naturally present on grains, but adding a starter makes the process more efficient and reliable.

Due to some quirk of nature, grain phytase is maximally active at a pH of between 4.5 and 5.5, which is mildly acidic. This is why the Weston Price foundation recommends soaking grains in an acidic medium before cooking. The combination of grinding and sour fermentation causes grains to efficiently degrade their own phytic acid (as long as they haven't been heat treated first), making minerals much more available for absorption (4, 5, 6, 7). This transforms whole grains from a poor source of minerals into a good source.

The degree of phytic acid degradation depends on the starting amount of phytase in the grain. Corn, rice, oats and millet don't contain much phytase activity, so they require either a longer fermentation time, or the addition of high-phytase grains to the batter (8). Whole raw buckwheat, wheat, and particularly rye contain a large amount of phytase (9), although I feel wheat is problematic for other reasons.

As fermentation proceeds, bacteria secrete enzymes that begin digesting the protein, starch and other substances in the batter. Fermentation reduces lectin levels substantially, which are reduced further by cooking (10). Lectins are toxins that can interfere with digestion and may be involved in autoimmune disease, an idea championed by Dr. Loren Cordain. Grain lectins are generally heat-sensitive, but one notable exception is the nasty lectin wheat germ agglutinin (WGA). As its name suggests, WGA is found in wheat germ, and thus is mostly absent in white flour. WGA may have been another reason why DART participants who increased their wheat fiber intake had significantly more heart attacks than those who didn't. I don't know if fermentation degrades WGA.

One of the problems with grains is their poor protein quality. Besides containing a fairly low concentration of protein to begin with, they also don't contain a good balance of essential amino acids. This prevents their efficient use by the body, unless a separate source of certain amino acids is eaten along with them. The main limiting amino acid in grains is lysine. Legumes are rich in lysine, which is why cultures around the world pair them with grains. Bacterial fermentation produces lysine, often increasing its concentration by many fold and making grains nearly a "complete protein", i.e. one that contains the ideal balance of essential amino acids as do animal proteins (11, scroll down to see graph). Not very many plant foods can make that claim. Fermentation also increases the concentration of the amino acid methionine and certain vitamins.

Another problem with grain protein is it's poorly digested relative to animal protein. This means that a portion of it escapes digestion, leading to a lower nutritive value and a higher risk of allergy due to undigested protein hanging around in the digestive tract. Fermentation followed by cooking increases the digestibility of grain protein, bringing it nearly to the same level as meat (12, 13, 14, 15). This may relate to the destruction of protease inhibitors (trypsin inhibitors, phytic acid) and the partial pre-digestion of grain proteins by bacteria.

Once you delve into the research on traditional grain preparation methods, you begin to see why grain-eating cultures throughout the world have favored certain techniques. Proper grain processing transforms them from toxic to nutritious, from health-degrading to health-giving. Modern industrial grain processing has largely eschewed these time-honored techniques, replacing them with low-extraction milling, extrusion and quick-rise yeast strains.

Many people will not be willing to go through the trouble of grinding and fermentation to prepare grains. I can sympathize, although if you have the right tools, once you establish a routine it really isn't that much work. It just requires a bit of organization. In fact, it can even be downright convenient. I often keep a bowl of fermented dosa or buckwheat batter in the fridge, ready to make a tasty "pancake" at a moment's notice. In the next post, I'll describe a few recipes from different parts of the world.

Further reading:

How to Eat Grains
A Few Thoughts on Minerals, Milling, Grains and Tubers
Dietary Fiber and Mineral Availability
A New Way to Soak Brown Rice

Green Kitchen: How to Eat Green Without a Greenmarket

Green Kitchen is a bi-weekly column about nutritious, inexpensive, and ethical food and cooking. It's penned by the lovely Jaime Green.

Around the environmentally-/socially-conscious foodosphere (those being categories and a word I just made up), tons of focus falls on farmers markets and CSAs. Last time 'round these Green Kitchen parts, we looked at why eating locally and getting your food from those sources is so good (for you, the planet, and your wallet). But not everyone has access to a greenmarket or CSA. So how can we eat green without a greenmarket? Like this:

Buy Local at the Supermarket
In the last year, I’ve noticed that Whole Foods has started highlighting local produce with big signage, but even your average (or below-average) supermarket tells you where produce comes from. If you can’t find vegetables from your local area, aim for your region, or even your country or hemisphere. The shorter the food had to travel to get to you, the fresher it is and the less carbon its transport put into the air.

Buy Seasonal
Citrus is not local to me by any means, but when it’s in season it’s cheaper and way more delicious. Supermarket asparagus this time of year is also probably coming from closer by than South America, where it often hails from in off-season months.

Buy Unprocessed
Processed food comes with packaging, which takes resources to manufacture. Then the processing of the food itself takes power, which (odds are) isn’t coming from a happy green windfarm. You also save yourself the sodium and additives gunking up the works. 99% of the time, unprocessed foods are way, way better for you.

Process Food Yourself
Some processed foods are value-added - for example, turning milk to cottage cheese makes it a more protein-dense food. Processing cabbage into sauerkraut makes it tastier and better for you. These are usually old-timey sorts of processing your grandma could’ve done on a farm. So, try it yourself! Make your own bread, jam, cheese, or pickles. You’ll be spending kitchen time rather than cash, and accruing valuable post-apocalypse survival skills. Oh, and you control what goes into your food, in terms of energy and ingredients.

Store it Right
A full fridge or freezer uses less energy to stay cold. And don’t leave that door open! Keep your shelves organized so you don’t have to stand there with the door open looking for stuff.

Cook!
If you’re reading this website, you’re probably already on the cook-your-own-food bandwagon, but it does more than save you money and pounds (or pounds and kilos, if we’re being British). Cooking is just a way of processing food yourself. You save on packaging, you skip the mysterious additives, and you choose how much energy is expended.

Don’t Cook!
Even if you sign up for green energy for your home, no energy is even better. A raw or minimally-cooked meal saves on power usage, whether it’s electricity or gas. And when you do cook, use efficient appliances.

Eat Ethical Animal Products
Although I’m a vegetarian, I am a passionate believer in humane and environmentally-sound meat-eating. However, most large-scale meat production puts a huge tax on resources by consuming food resources (and the water and energy that goes to grow those crops) and polluting the environment with untreated animal waste. Look for grass-fed, hormone- and antibiotic-free meat and milk, and buy cage-free, hormone-free eggs. The extra cost is worth it. You might not be able to eat as much meat this way, but you can also choose, then, to eat a little less.

Choose the Right Fish
The Environmental Defense Fund has a handy guide to choosing fish that are good for you and the ocean: Use it.

Compost
Why send scraps to the landfill when you can turn them into fertilizer? (Not that way.) Start a compost pile or get a worm bin. (It’s not nearly as gross as it sounds.) In New York City, the Lower East Side Ecology Center collects compostables, and I make my contribution every couple of weeks. See if an organization in your town does the same.

Bike or Walk to the Market
Truckers aren’t the only ones putting carbon into the air to transport food. If you can walk or bike to the supermarket, do. If it’s too far, consolidate your trips. You’ll save cash on gas, too.

Don’t Buy Bottled Water
Come on.

It’s kind of amazing how many of these ways to be good to the Earth also end up being good to our bank accounts. It sometimes takes a little more effort, but it isn’t actually harder to make these choices. And that extra hour in the kitchen every so often is something I’ve really come to love. I’m hoping to delve into canning this summer. Is there anything you’re planning on tackling to make your kitchen a little greener?

(Photos courtesy of And Now a Word From Our Sponsor [cows], DCist [jars], and Eaves.ca [bottles].)
~~~

If you like this article, you might also enjoy:

• Angus Anguish: Is Angus Beef Worth the Money?
• Food Labels That Ate My Sanity
• Newsflash! Scientists Getting Closer to Lab-grown Meat

Ask the Internet: Eating During a Move?

Today’s question comes from Holly, who is soon moving to the greatest city in the world. (Besides NYC, of course.) (If I don't say that, they throw me out of the state.):

Q: So, I will be getting in the car in a few weeks to move from Boston to Seattle. I'm thrilled at all of the people and places I will get to visit along the way for a 1-2 week roadtrip. My cat will be considerably less thrilled, but she'll live.

The dilemma that I'm facing is that I'm poor as a church mouse already, and the added expenses of moving make eating good healthy food along the way pretty tough. Add to that, who knows how many weeks I'll be in Seattle before my belongings arrive, so I can't even cook up something tasty when I arrive!

I'm desperate to not be eating fast food/takeout/pizza for a month or longer! Please help!

A: Thanks for writing, Holly! Alas, since most of my moves have only been between neighborhoods, I don’t have much experience with extended on-the-road/where-are-all-my-things eating.

Howevs, raw fruits, veggies, and dips seem like good places to start. I might invest in a huge bag of granola or whole-wheat bagels for breakfasts – or really, any fairly good-for-you food that doesn’t involve cooking (for which you don’t have any/many implements.)

I mightn’t dismiss takeout entirely, either. Sometimes, a big ol’ order of Chinese food can give you leftovers for several days. (Steamed for the health benefits, of course.)

Readers, how about you? How did you survive after a big move? What saved you cash and kept you nutritionally balanced? What are your favorite no-kitchen-equipment-needed foods? The comment section, she is open.

Want to ask the interweb a question? Post one in the comment section, or write to Cheaphealthygood@gmail.com. Then, tune in next Tuesday for an answer/several answers from the good people of the World Wide Net.

Polenta with Swiss Chard, Pancetta, and a Fried Egg: A Group Recipe!

Today in my column for 2010 JAMES BEARD AWARD WINNING FOOD BLOG Serious Eats: Greek Orzo Salad. I want to eat it as my job. (Congrats, you guys!)

Sweet readers! You did it! Using last week’s Ask the Internet column, you jointly refined an okay recipe to be inexpensive, healthy, and totes delicious. Color me excited.

To recap: last week, I posted that I’d been having problems with a new dish, Parmesan Polenta with Spinach and a Fried Egg. The polenta was dry, the spinach left a funky aftertaste, the texture was mushy, and it lacked overall oomph. Based on your suggestions, I experimented with it three separate times, tweaking the ingredients and methodology a little each time. It kind of went like this:

ATTEMPT #1
Changes: For the polenta: skipped the parmesan, replaced milk and water with chicken broth, increased the amount, and stirred in butter at the end. Added a little more garlic and red pepper flakes to the spinach, and cooked it for a slightly shorter period of time. Left the egg as-was.
Result: Improved polenta flavor and texture. Egg so-so. Spinach and oomph still questionable.

ATTEMPT #2
Changes: Sauteed one ounce of chopped pancetta to start. Stirred it into polenta, and used the leftover oil to cook the garlic, red pepper flakes, and quick-wilt the spinach. Then, used the leftovers to “fry”/steam the egg.
Result: Pancetta an EXCELLENT addition – increased flavor and textural fun-ness. Didn’t need extra fat to cook the egg, either. Spinach continued to be the bane of my existence.

ATTEMPT #3
Changes: Swapped Swiss chard for spinach.
Result: VICTORY, sweet readers. The chard gave it all the scrumptious veggie goodness with nary a fraction of that annoying metallic residue. Now we dance!

Ultimately, the whole shebang was maybe a tad heavier and a few cents more expensive than I intended. But the former makes it suitable for dinners, and the latter can be easily remedied by buying Swiss chard in season. (Which I did not do. Mine was plated in gold, apparently.) These are minor quibbles, though. Overall, the whole thing rocked my socks. (And I’m not even wearing any. Go figure.)

So, I’m raising a pretend glass of champagne to y’all. Then I’m pretend drinking it. After that, I’m pretend stumbling around and wondering why the apartment is spinning. Finally, I'm pretend sauntering downstairs, pretend shoving my face into the fridge, and pretend eating the leftover pancetta raw. Woo hoo!

~~~

If you like this recipe, you might also quite enjoy:

• Grilled Swiss Chard
• Kale with Mushrooms and Polenta
• Swiss Chard with Pinto Beans and Goat Cheese

~~~

Polenta with Swiss Chard, Pancetta, and a “Fried” Egg
Serves 2.
With help from Carrie, Ira, Morgan, Ona, Evelyn, Clea, Michelle, Meagan, Anna N., Claire Dawson, Diane, Katy, Rick, Val, anotheryarn, biankat, wosnes, Happy in Nevada, Katie, Rachel, LaDonna, JohnB, Deeds, Mary Joy, Dana, Elizabeth, Sassy Molassy, Rebecca, and sweet, sweet Anonymous.

2/3 cup corn meal
1 14.5-ounce can low-sodium, reduced-fat chicken broth
1 teaspoon butter
1 ounce thinly sliced pancetta, chopped
1 small clove garlic, minced
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
4 ounces fresh Swiss chard, stemmed and torn into bite-sized pieces
2 eggs
2 teaspoons parmesan
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1) In a medium pot, whisk the cornmeal and broth together. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until all liquid is absorbed. This should take 8 to 12 minutes. When finished, turn off heat. Stir in butter until melted. Set aside.

2) Meanwhile, in a large nonstick skillet, cook pancetta over medium heat until it releases its fat and is almost crispy. This should take 8 to 12 minutes. Remove meat from pan with a spoon, and stir into polenta. Evenly distribute the mixture between two serving bowls.

3) Turn skillet heat up to medium-high. Add garlic and red pepper flakes. Cook in pancetta oil until fragrant, 30 to 60 seconds, stirring frequently. Add Swiss chard. Saute about 2 minutes, until just barely wilted. Spoon on top of polenta.

4) Crack two eggs into the skillet, making sure you keep the yolks intact. Add a teaspoon of water to the side of the skillet and cover. Cook 2 to 4 minutes, until the barest white film appears on the top of each egg yolk. Gently place the eggs (one each) on the polenta and chard. Sprinkle each bowl with 1 teaspoon parmesan. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve.

Approximate Calories, Fat, Fiber, Protein, and Price Per Serving
333 calories, 12.2 g fat, 4.4 g fiber, 15.9 g protein, $2.13

Calculations
2/3 cup cornmeal: 336 calories, 1.6 g fat, 6.8 g fiber, 7.8 g protein, $0.30
1 14.5-ounce can l-s, r-f chicken broth: 9 calories, 0 g fat, 0 g fiber, 1.8 g protein, $0.75
1 teaspoon butter: 34 calories, 3.8 g fat, 0 g fiber, 0 g fiber, $0.03
1 ounce thinly sliced pancetta, chopped: 100 calories, 8 g fat, 0 g fiber, 6 g protein, $1.05
1 small clove garlic, minced: 4 calories, 0 g fat, 0.1 g fiber, 0.2 g protein, $0.03
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes: negligible calories, fat, fiber, and protein, $0.04
4 ounces fresh Swiss chard: 22 calories, 0.2 g fat, 1.8 g fiber, 2 g protein, $1.49
2 eggs: 147 calories, 9.9 g fat, 0 g fiber, 12.6 g protein, $0.42
2 teaspoons parmesan: 14 calories, 1 g fat, 0 g fiber, 1.3 g protein, $0.12
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste: negligible calories, fat, fiber, and protein, $0.02
TOTALS: 666 calories, 24.5 g fat, 8.7 g fiber, 31.7 g protein, $4.25
PER SERVING (TOTALS/2): 333 calories, 12.2 g fat, 4.4 g fiber, 15.9 g protein, $2.13

Saturday Throwback: Dr. Veg-Love, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Seasonal Produce

Every Saturday we post an older piece from CHG’s archives. Today’s article comes from August 2007. Thems was good times.

I’ll be honest: when I started researching this article, I assumed 90% of it would focus on cash. Specifically, I thought the money saved from buying in-season fruits and vegetables would far outweigh any other benefit.

Man alive, was I wrong.

Between Google and Nexis, it took approximately 2.2 seconds to discover that snagging chronologically-appropriate produce has massive political, nutritional, emotional, and environmental perks. What’s more, it tastes better. And that’s gotta count for something.

So, without further ado, nine reasons you should raid crops from the seasonal section:

It costs WAY less. Simple economics here: an abundance of anything lowers its price. Plus, because in-season produce is often grown domestically, overseas transportation costs are cut. All told, this means you can save between 10% and 50% on beans, greens, and all the in-betweens. Need proof? Check your berry section, where writer Briony Harmer notes, “strawberries in November … will cost nearly three times more than what you would have paid in June."

It tastes better. When fruits and vegetables are imported off-season, they’re often harvested prematurely, because that way they hold up better in transit. Once the food arrives here, it’s then sprayed with ethylene gas to ripen it artificially. By the time it reaches grocery stores, you’ll see decent color, but the flavor blows. See for yourself: eat a plum tomato in winter, and write down your thoughts. Try another one at the end of the summer. Odds are, the winter tomato will taste like air in comparison.

It’s better for the Earth (probably). The expert consensus is that an average pound of produce travels about 1500 miles. Imported off-season crops can raise that number significantly since they’re coming from all over the world. That scrumptiousness has to be shipped somehow, and it’s usually via truck, train, plane, or boat, all of which consume energy and add to pollution. To give some perspective, in England, “importing just a kilogram of strawberries from America is the equivalent of running a 100 watt light bulb for a week.” Buying seasonal produce can help offset the waste.

(That is, unless you buy this alarmingly convincing article from the New York Times, which pokes some pretty big holes in the transportation argument. Still, it concedes, “the connection between lowering food miles and decreasing greenhouse gas emissions is a no-brainer.”)

It’s healthier. Off-season fruits and veggies tend to lose their nutritional punch over time, since they’re shipped long-distance for weeks and months. As the London Observer reports, “freshly dug potatoes have about 21mg vitamin C per 100g which falls to 9mg after three months of storage.”

What’s more, that produce may not have started out on equal footing to begin with. A 2002 Japanese study found that Vitamin C and carotene are “significantly influenced by the cropping season,” meaning that a carrot grown in winter is missing half the carotene it would have had in the summer. For some reason, spinach, tomatoes, carrots, and broccoli are particularly affected by this, while “sweet peppers, celery, and kiwifruit [are] fairly stable.”

It’s less poisonous. You probably won’t croak eating off-season produce from abroad, but there’s a good chance it harbors more toxins than its in-season counterparts. Why? Well, according to the BioDiversity Project, “Many countries have neither the pesticide regulations nor the labor safety practices that are the law in the U.S., so there's no telling what is on or in your imported fruits and vegetables.” That added flavor you detect? It’s the bitter taste of uncertainty.

It’s in better condition. “Handling and storage … is one of the main problems in the deterioration of produce. From the way the grower packs it, to the loading and off-loading in the truck yard, to the handling in the markets, it all contributes to knocks and bruises that will quickly affect the quality of the produce,” says the Canberra Times. If you’ve ever flown cross-country, you can relate: the further something travels, the worse shape it’s in when it arrives at its destination.

It can be frozen or canned for future use. Imagine having a sweet, delicious blueberry in the middle of March. Now imagine that same piece of fruit hasn’t lost an iota of vitamins, minerals, or flavor because it was iced right after being picked. NOW imagine you’re not spending $6 on a pint of blueberries from the farthest corners of the planet, because you bought it for $2 six months ago and had the forethought to shove it in your freezer. Okay, you’re done imagining. Pat yourself on the back and eat a blueberry.

It’s politically correct (and not in an annoying way). This is a bit difficult to summarize, but I’ll give it a shot: essentially, Third World farmers make more (but not a lot of) money importing specialized off-season produce to richer countries than by growing food for themselves. According to Briarpatch, this not only “threatens the extinction of [their] local crops,” but leads to hunger and “[slavery] to international commodity prices.” Meanwhile, local farmers are hosed by big-name suppliers who purchase cheaper goods from abroad. Buying seasonally benefits everyone more in the long-run.

It’s a mental trigger for the good times. BabyFit.com’s Rebecca Pratt makes a fabulous point: “[Food is] tied to the special days and seasons of our lives: sweet, luscious watermelon paired with the memory of fireflies and fireworks; fragrant hearty soups that temper winter’s chill; sweet young vegetables that accompany spring’s first warm day.” Think about it: on Christmas, do you crave gazpacho? When Easter rolls around, do you drool over the light, airy taste of parsnips? Food is key to socialization, and in-season fruits and veggies can play major parts in our memories.

Of course, none of this information is any good unless you know what produce is ripe at which times. The guides at Food Network, Nutritiously Gourmet, and Cornell University are all good places to start. Consumo felice!

Sources:

• “Buy Organic and Locally Produced Foods,” BioDiversityProject.org.
• Dowden, Angela. “The food that's travelled 35,000 miles to reach your plate,” The Daily Mail (London). September 2005.
• Harmer, Briony. “How to become a vegetarian without increasing grocery bills,” Essortment.com. 2002. essortment.com/food/vegetarianincre_skfk.htm.
• “How Food Finds its Way to Your Plate,” Talk of the Nation. NPR Radio. November 2006.
• Lempert, Phil. “The squeeze and sniff test: Tips on how you can pick out fresh fruits and vegetables,” SupermarketGuru.com. April 2002. supermarketguru.com/page.cfm/287.
• McWilliams, James E. “Food That Travels Well,” New York Times. August 2007.
• Monks, Helen. “How to buy food that doesn't cost the Earth,” The Independent (London). April 2006.
• “Pass the fresh test,” Canberra Times (Australia). August 2006.
• Pratt, Rebecca. “Seasonal Foods Exceptional Flavor & Nutrition that Fits in Your Budget,” Babyfit.com. babyfit.sparkpeople.com/articles.asp?id=669.
• Ross, Alicia and Beverly Mills. “Save Money: Buy in Season.” Dallas Morning News. July 2007.
• “Seasonal Vegetables in Temperate Countries,” Food & Fertilizer Technology Center for the Asian and Pacific Region. January 2001. agnet.org/library/pt/2001002/
• Watson, Julia, “Eat To Live: Buy seasonally, eat healthily,” UPI. Jaunary 2006.
• Wiebe, Nettie. “Who's cooking the food system? Globalization & the struggle for food sovereignty,” Briarpatch. February 2007.