Agriculture
Five Ways to Eat Jicama
I've always like jicama (pronounced HEE-kuh-muh), a starchy, slightly sweet root popular in Mexico. It looks like an ugly brown turnip (and is sometimes called Mexican turnip) and, when raw, has the crunchy texture of a firm pear or a raw potato. Until a few weeks ago, raw was the only way I'd ever...
January 13, 2010 |
By Lisa Bramen
Sub a Veggie for Spaghetti
I love pasta as much as the next person. It's easy, it's cheap and it's convenient. But it's not exactly packed with nutrients. I think I have found a great alternative to the simple pasta dish. Don't get me wrong, I will eat pasta, but subbing in a healthier alternative once in a while can't hurt....
January 12, 2010 |
By Abby Callard
Five Ways to Eat Pomegranates
Post-holidays, most people take at least a passing interest in eating healthier. I know I do, anyway. That's what motivated me to pick up a whole, fresh pomegranate at the grocery store a few days ago—I'd heard that this round, red fruit is a "superfood," packed with antioxidants and vitamins. Neve...
January 04, 2010 |
By Amanda Bensen
Oh My Darling, Clementine
There are two small, sweet treats on my desk right now, and I predict that they won't make it to lunch break. I can't resist; I end up downing dozens every holiday season. But that's not so bad, since unlike cookies and candy, clementines are fat-free and full of vitamin C (though I suppose their n...
December 08, 2009 |
By Amanda Bensen
Five Ways to Eat Rutabaga
The first time I tasted rutabaga—or so I thought—was when I started spending Thanksgiving and Christmas with my fiancé's family. Bowls of mashed rutabaga, seasoned with salt and pepper and a little butter, are a staple of their holiday table, although some of the cousins turn their noses up at it. ...
December 03, 2009 |
By Lisa Bramen
Learning to Love Olive Oil
Olive oil has never been a particular passion for me, although I cook with it almost daily. Its main appeal is utility—creating texture and moisture; browning without sticking—more than taste. But after attending a recent Smithsonian Resident Associates event about Italian foods, I won't be taking ...
November 30, 2009 |
By Amanda Bensen
Taking Sides: A Vegetarian Thanksgiving
The New York Times food section recently featured a fun face-off between writers Kim Severson and Julia Moskin over what you might call a silly question: What's more important on a Thanksgiving table, the turkey or the side dishes? Moskin wrote an article titled "Show-Off Sides to Rival the Pull of...
November 23, 2009 |
By Amanda Bensen
Loofah on the Menu
There aren't too many foods that are equally at home in a stir-fry or a shower caddy. But on a trip to New York City last week, I spotted an ingredient on a Chinese restaurant menu that I would normally associate with smoothing rough elbows: loofah.Until then, I had no idea that loofah was edible, ...
November 18, 2009 |
By Lisa Bramen
Five Ways to Eat Beets
I ordered a salad with roasted beets when I was out with my parents recently. They looked at the hunks of purple of my plate and wrinkled their noses. The "I remember when…" statements weren’t far behind. They recalled stinky, pickled beets from a can, which is something they never subjected me to ...
November 11, 2009 |
By Abby Callard
Baking Apples in a Schnitzer
While visiting an Irish friend in the Kilkenny countryside a few years back, I admired her mother's charming wood cookstove. It was nearly the size of a twin bed, was always kept burning, and produced daily loaves of delicious brown bread and amazing apple pies. But, until I moved to New York from ...
November 06, 2009 |
By Lisa Bramen
Five Ways to Eat Brussels Sprouts
Yes, I said "eat" and "Brussels sprouts." Oh, stop making that face...Properly prepared, these tiny brassica plants can be a real treat—and they're nutritionally noble (low-cal and fat-free, yet just a handful will provide all the vitamin C you need for the day, plus several grams of protein and fi...
November 05, 2009 |
By Amanda Bensen
Eat Your Carrot Greens
Last weekend, I picked up some beautiful carrots—the kind that Bugs Bunny would drool over; classic orange cones topped with plumes of greenery—at an organic farmstand. From childhood experience, I already knew that the sweet crunch of garden-grown carrots tastes far better than those mass-produced...
November 03, 2009 |
By Amanda Bensen
Five Ways to Eat Winter Squash
There are hundreds of ways to eat winter squash, but these are five of my favorites. Tell me yours...1) Baked maple squash. This is best with smaller varieties like acorn or delicata. Cut in half, scoop out the seeds and pulp from both halves, and place cut-side up in a baking dish with just enough...
October 22, 2009 |
By Amanda Bensen
Food Safety, and the Ten Most Dangerous Foods in the U.S.
Everyone's talking about food safety—or rather, the lack of it—in the American food system these days.The New York Times published a deeply disturbing account this week of the trauma inflicted on one young woman by E. coli-tainted beef. At age 22, Stephanie Smith was left paralyzed by the simple ac...
October 08, 2009 |
By Amanda Bensen
Hail Caesar—The Birthplace of the Famous Salad Closes
This time, Brutus had nothing to do with the death of Caesar. Instead, it was a drop-off in tourism—partly due to fears about swine flu and escalating drug violence, on top of a bad economy—that hastened the demise of the Tijuana restaurant credited with inventing the Caesar salad.As seems to happe...
September 30, 2009 |
By Lisa Bramen
Death by Durian Fruit?
Anyone who has ever smelled a durian fruit can tell you that it smells mighty strong. Although Wikipedia claims that this southeast Asian fruit's aroma can evoke "deep appreciation," an online search turns up a host of less favorable descriptions for durian's smell: "almost overwhelmingly foul," "r...
September 29, 2009 |
By Amanda Bensen
Discovering Sunchokes
I have a new vegetable obsession: sunchokes. I discovered them at the American Indian museum's wonderful cafe, Mitsitam, where the seasonal menu currently includes something called "roasted sunchoke soup." On Friday, as I wandered through the cafeteria trying to decide on a side dish, a fellow patr...
September 28, 2009 |
By Amanda Bensen
When Humans First Got Milk
Have you ever stopped to think about how strange it is that we drink the breast milk of another species?And no, I'm not going all PETA on you. I grew up down the street from a dairy farm in Vermont, and drank a glass of fresh cow's milk every morning at my mother's insistence. My morning ritual has...
September 25, 2009 |
By Amanda Bensen
Five Ways to Eat Apples
Honeycrisp, Gala, Macoun, Gingergold, Cortland, Macintosh... our fridge was full of apples after a recent trip to visit friends on the north shore of Massachusetts. We went to one of my favorite old haunts there, Russell Orchards in Ipswich, where the smell of fresh cider donuts is even stronger th...
September 22, 2009 |
By Amanda Bensen
Why Honey Is Eaten for Rosh Hashanah, and Other Burning Questions
Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, begins tonight at sundown. It's traditional to dip apples in honey to symbolize the hope for a sweet year ahead, a practice of which I was aware but never knew the origins. To find out, I consulted Jeffrey M. Cohen's 1,001 Questions and Answers on Rosh Hashanah a...
September 18, 2009 |
By Lisa Bramen
