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Anne Young

Features Recipes

GET UP STAND UP

May 9, 2016

INVITE YOUR FRIENDS AND GET INTO THE KITCHEN

The Food Revolution is underway! As you know, this month we’re partnering with Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution Day to do our part to fix the food system. You’ve been showing us your #FoodRevolution posts on the Foodstand app, but there’s power in numbers—so why not bring some friends?!

Invite 3 friends to join the Revolution on Foodstand! Each friend you bring to Foodstand enters you to win $100 at Brooklyn Kitchen. Help your friends take charge in their homes and kitchens, and inspire them to cook a meal to fight back—have them join today to get a starter pack of recipes and tips from Jamie and Foodstanders.

A big congratulations to last week’s Brooklyn Kitchen prizewinner @MelissaSteward for inviting a friend to Foodstand, and the winner of Jamie’s new book, @carpe_deli, for her Tropical Maracuja Ice Cubes #FoodRevolution post! Keep up the good work, and stay tuned for next week’s winners!

 
 

EAT & DRINK

 

MINESTRONE SOUP by Jamie Oliver

minestrone_soup_food_revolution_foodstand_jamie_oliver

INGREDIENTS

1 clove of garlic
1 red onion
2 carrots
2 stalks of celery
1 zucchini
1 small leek
1 large potato
1 x 15-ounce can of cannellini beans
2 slices of higher-welfare smoked bacon
olive oil
½ teaspoon dried oregano
1 fresh bay leaf
2 x 14-ounce cans whole peeled tomatoes
4 cups organic vegetable broth
1 large handful of seasonal greens, such as savoy cabbage, curly kale, chard
4 ounces whole wheat pasta
optional: ¼ of a bunch of fresh basil
Parmesan cheese

METHOD

Peel and finely chop the garlic and onion. Trim and roughly chop the carrots, celery and zucchini, then add the vegetables to a large bowl. Cut the ends off the leek, quarter it lengthways, wash it under running water, then cut into ½ inch slices. Add to the bowl.

Scrub and dice the potato. Drain the cannellini beans, then set aside. Thinly slice the bacon.

Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the bacon and fry gently for 2 minutes, or until golden. Add the garlic, onion, carrots, celery, zucchini, leek, oregano and bay and cook slowly for about 15 minutes, or until the vegetables have softened, stirring occasionally. Add the potato, cannellini beans and canned tomatoes, then pour in the vegetable broth.

Stir well, breaking up the tomatoes with the back of a spoon. Cover with a lid and bring everything slowly to a boil, then simmer for about 30 minutes, or until the potato is cooked through. Meanwhile…

Remove and discard any tough stalks bits from the greens, then roughly chop. Using a rolling pin, bash the pasta into pieces while it’s still in the package or wrap in a clean tea towel.

To check the potato is cooked, pierce a chunk of it with a sharp knife – if it pierces easily, it’s done. Add the greens and pasta to the pan, and cook for a further 10 minutes, or until the pasta is al dente. This translates as ‘to the tooth’ and means that it should be soft enough to eat, but still have a bit of a bite and firmness to it. Try some just before the time is up to make sure you cook it perfectly.

Add a splash more broth or water to loosen, if needed. Pick over the basil leaves (if using) and stir through. Season to taste with sea salt and black pepper, then serve with a grating of Parmesan and a slice of whole wheat bread, if you like.

Serves 8; Ready in 1 hour 20 minutes

 
 

ROASTED ASPARAGUS WITH LEMON, CHORIZO AND FETA CHEESE by gingerandchorizo

food_revolution_foodstand_jamie_oliver_asparagus_chorizo_lemon_recipe

INGREDIENTS

600g (21 ounces) asparagus, snap off the woody ends (save for stock if you like) and peel the end of the stems (optional)
1 un-waxed lemon, thinly sliced
8-10 slices of chorizo
50g (just under 2 ounces) feta cheese
A handful of whole raw almonds
Salt and pepper
Olive oil
Fresh mint leaves (optional)
serving ideas:
on its own
on top of grains like quinoa or millet
filling for baked sweet potato (or potato)
in wraps
on sourdough
with mixed leafy salad

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees celsius (390 F).

Arrange the asparagus (in one layer) on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Give a good few twists of pepper. Lay the lemon slices on the asparagus and then drizzle a good glug of olive oil. Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes (depends on the size of your asparagus—if they are thin ones, minus 5 minutes roasting time) then add the chorizo slices. Bake in the oven for another 5 to 8 minutes or until the sausage turns crispy.

While the asparagus is roasting, toast the almonds in a dry frying pan on low heat until they are lightly toasted and aromatic, about 5 minutes. Transfer the nuts to a cutting board and roughly chop.

When the chorizo is nice and crispy, remove the tray from the oven. If you are serving it straight from the tray then crumble feta cheese on top and sprinkle over the chopped almond. Season with salt if needed. Alternatively, transfer the asparagus, lemon and chorizo to a serving platter (or individual plate) before adding the cheese and nuts. Serve immediately.

Serves 2

Behind the Plate

BEHIND THE PLATE: BARRY BENEPE

May 6, 2016

 

There was still a little chill in the air the day Foodstand’s Summer Rayne Oakes (@sugardetoxme) sat down to interview Barry Benepe. They agreed to meet at the Union Square Greenmarket on a Wednesday—one of the busiest market days of the week (~300,000 walk throughs in a given day) —and spend a good forty minutes talking about how it all came to be. It is the Greenmarket.

Barry, who was an urban planner in the 70s, went on to spearhead urban revival throughout New York City by ushering in the creation of our city’s Greenmarkets as a way to connect urban dwellers to surrounding farms. So in a way, you can say that Barry is the Father of NYC’s farmers markets. That’s how Summer introduced him to those who stopped by Foodstand’s demo booth at the market when Barry paused to thank Summer for the interview. Rest assured—the people there were genuinely starstruck, particularly because the 50+ Greenmarkets and 15 Youthmarkets in the city have become a fixture for many-a-people’s daily or weekly shopping habits. Here’s how it all began:

Why did you go with “Greenmarket” vs. the more traditional “farmers market”?
We talked to the city law department and consumer affairs and we wanted to have them say the “farmers market”. To do it legally they had to be farmers selling farm produce. They wouldn’t do it until city council passed a law. So we couldn’t go farmers market and then had to explain what a Greenmarket was—from the farm to table. You are really dealing with farmers—buying from the farmers. It used to be the farmers that sold, and it wasn’t until recent years that they began hiring city people. Even now, the farmer has to be there a certain number of days in the year.

Who was initially buying [from the market]? Ordinary citizens? Chefs?
Everyday people. Not chefs. Danny Meyer from Union Square Cafe said he located here because the market is here. He is devoted to local produce. That was the beginning of chefs shopping here, and I believe they pay retail prices when they shop here. I think there are at least 70 chefs that shop here now, if not more.

How often do you cook for yourself at home?
All the time. I love cooking for myself. I’m totally inventive. I love food. I love leftovers especially! One thing I do: I never repeat a meal.

What were the problems that you were looking to solve when you came up with the idea for creating a farmers market in New York?
I was a planning consultant and I hired a man named Bob Lewis… I had developed a zoning map that was unique. Up until that point, zoning maps were flat. I had a sense of the larger picture of land and how it was used.

While Bob and I were working with our clients, we saw the lack of attention to farming. That led Bob and me to discuss how we could help farmers save farming. The other thing that was obvious to us was that the quality of food in our stores was terrible! In August when peaches are ripening in Long Island, they weren’t appearing in New York. They were hard and green and from California or somewhere else. There was no sense of food taste, smell or handling—everything was wrapped in shrink wrap. We didn’t have a sense of real food. We wanted to link the sense of a farm economy with a concept of nutrition and enjoyment of eating food.

Also, I grew up on a farm. My father bought the farm in 1938 when I was 10, and as I became a teenager, I worked on the farm. I helped harvest, package and deliver the food to market which was usually an auction block. Or canneries for tomatoes and freezing plants for food to be frozen. None of it was shipped fresh. Occasionally my brother would drive to the market in Baltimore or maybe in New York to sell wholesale by the basket, but generally none of our food wound up fresh on anyone’s table.

Was there anyone running something equivalent to a farmers market at the time—whether in the city or otherwise?
The city of Rochester was running a successful farmers market program run by the Chamber of Commerce. And they did it because they wanted to bring business downtown. Business was suffering and they thought a farmers market would do it, and they were correct.

The woman who was head there, Susan Snook, was very generous with information and helped us get started. Bob also read about Richard Po who was part of Williams Farmland Preservation. Richard Po gave us a cash contribution of $800 to go out and raise money. At that time I did a feasibility study for the city to do a farmers market. We went to a couple of foundations—the Kaplan family (part of Welch’s Grape Juice) made a donation, and America the Beautiful Fund to bring life to city spaces.

Any stories of farmers markets in the city before yours?
Well, when I was looking for farmers, I came upon a farmer by the name of John Monaghan who I was told used to farm in Queens. He was a man in his eighties—and don’t forget this was in 1976. And he told me that he remembered being a young man in his 20s and coming to sell at the foot of the Queensborough Bridge. I looked this up in the 1911 Bureau Farmers Report and there was a farmers market there that only allowed the farmers to sell as a retail market. He said when that market opened, he would come across on the ferry. And that he was the first farmer on the bridge ever. I had this confirmed in an article on the 100th Anniversary of the bridge in the New York Times. I thought it was an interesting story that we were coming back to that origin, to that place, where the first market opened.

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Where did the farmers come from for the Greenmarket?
Bob went to the county agents and cooperative extension agents in NJ and NY because they already had a list of farmers with farm stands and pick-your-own and things like that. These were farmers who were used to retailing. But they were very suspicious about coming in. Ocean County, NJ is just across the harbor—not one farmer from Ocean County was interested in coming. One made the comment, “Yeah we’re going drive our trucks home with empty pockets.”

They thought that somehow the mafia would control things. And that was a real fear because the waterfront was controlled by the mafia and they controlled everyone with a truck. They held people up, and took money from them—New York was a crime city. That was mainly in the 40s and 50s, and we were far from that time, but there was still suspicion about New York.

So it took some heavy convincing. What did he ultimately do?
Bob spent time on the phone reaching out to them. So that summer, we opened three markets—59th Street first. We handled publicity and got responses from three major TV channels. They wanted to cover the market—it would appear at the end of the major news. The news was bad back in the 70s and this was the “good news” at the end of the show. People were calling City Hall asking where the farmers market was, but City Hall knew nothing about it! It took time to educate the city that we were working there.

How was the Union Square Farmers Market formed?
We were asked if we would come down to Union Square; they were trying to revive the area. They had prepared a plan for Union Square that showed a tennis court where the market is, and I said, “Change your plan; take the tennis court out and have a farmers market,” which they did. And they also took charge in getting the permits that we need.

What was the area like?
Oh, this was a BAD area, all the stores were closed, and they were trying to use us as a mechanism to turn the area around. And so when we started, it was a dismal area. And people didn’t want to shop there.

How many farmers were you able to convince to showcase at Union Square?
We had at least 12 farmers, and grew to 18. We had 9 on each side on 59th Street. It was Saturdays only to start and didn’t go to the end of the day, but we had around 2,000-foot traffic. The farmers did well.

Did you go back to your original farmers?
I think in general, the farmers from 59th Street did both locations. Some of them are still around and can probably tell you—S & SO Produce Farm. Not only the same farmers came down but when we broadened Union Square to additional days—we went from Saturday to Wednesday and then we later added a Friday and a Monday—the same farmers kept on coming in and no other farm could gain access to the Monday markets. So we said Monday is only for new farmers. We had a lot of organic growers who couldn’t get into the other markets or didn’t know about them.

What were the rules of the farmers market—if you had any to start?
We were in the process of developing rules. The first day we opened at 59th Street, one farmer came in with toys, and another came in with bananas. I asked the guy, “What’s up with the toys?” He said, “Well, they were up in the attic, so I thought I’d bring them down.” So we nixed things outside of produce to start. Then the other rule became: you had to grow your own, but could buy 25% locally. That rule I think still holds. We started with fruits and vegetables, and then we started to move into dairy products, eggs, butter, and meat.

How were you advertising in the city?
My children worked with me in the Greenmarket and we made t-shirts in the first year. Signage was important. We tried a banner across 2nd Avenue where 59th Street location was, and we had it very high, but a big boom truck ripped it down, so we gave up on that. We got permission to put up signs on the poles.

What food issue do you want to see put back on the political agenda?
I would like to see all the stores sell food directly from the farmers.

So all local all the time?
I want to see the Greenmarket go out of business because all the stores go local.

What’s a good day at the farmers market?
Here [in Union Square] $3,000 or more. People who shop in the market often don’t shop for price (even though we might be cheaper). First of all, people shop from their favorite farmers. Also, they like the choices. We have 50 varieties of lettuce! You can’t find that in the supermarket.

What’s your local farmers market?
Abingdon Square Farmers Market. Usually on Saturday we go there first and get some of the heavy stuff, and then come here to Union Square. I need to get the dairy products here, the milk and things. Flatbreads we can get here.

What is your biggest #foodfail?
That’s funny. The one that failed also succeeded. Chocolate soufflé. The first one I made was perfect. The second one I made collapsed. I don’t know what I did wrong, but still ate it. The other thing I failed at was cooking roast beef for Colette Rossant, an acclaimed food writer and critic. And it failed when she came—I didn’t realize I put in a frozen piece of meat. So after two hours, when it was supposed to be done, it was still hard! I forgot to thaw it out the day before.

Any great restaurants you particularly like in the city?
One restaurant just opened a block from my house called Bespoke Kitchen. Judith, my wife, introduced me as the founder of the Greenmarket and the chef and team were so excited to talk about food. When the bill came out it said, $0.00, and the food was just magnificent. We have gone back, and they came with a huge amount of food. I took enough food home for five more meals. Another restaurant we love to go to is the restaurant in the Jane Hotel—Cafe Gitane. Seeing the sunset come through the windows over the Hudson… very beautiful. And they are very nice people. They do Moroccan cuisine there which is really good.

What are some good food tips?
One little thing I’ll do is use beet juice to cook carrots because it deepens the orange of the carrots. It’s fun. With greens, I use apples, raisins and nuts sometimes. One thing I particularly love to do are omelets. I beat the whites up separately and then add the yolk to it. I like to use a lot of ingredients.

How are you involved with the Greenmarket today?
As a customer!

Features Recipes

YOU SAY YOU WANT A REVOLUTION

May 2, 2016

food_revolution_day_jamie_oliver_foodstand

FOOD REVOLUTION DAY WITH JAMIE OLIVER AND FOODSTAND

This month, we’re partnering with Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution Day to do our part to fix the food system. We know hyper processed food makes our communities and our planet unhealthy, but we can take charge in our own homes and kitchens, and cook a meal to fight back. It’s not always easy, so all month long, we’re challenging you to share your best kitchen tips and recipes using #FoodRevolution to help us all get in the kitchen more often. Join today and get a starter pack of recipes and tips from Jamie and Foodstanders to help you master the kitchen.

How can you participate?

1. Join Jamie Oliver on the Foodstand app and share recipes and tips that have saved your life using #FoodRevolution. Every tagged post counts as an entry to win an autographed copy of Jamie’s new book.

2. Once you share, invite 3 of your friends to join the Revolution on Foodstand—each friend you bring to Foodstand enters you to win.

3. Meet at a Food Revolution Day x Foodstand event! We’re celebrating around the country, all month long. Our next event is in everyone’s backyard—it’s online! We’re co-hosting a Twitter chat with CSPI and Moms Rising, talking about all things sugar. See you there!

EAT & DRINK

 

SALMON & PESTO-DRESSED VEGGIES by Jamie Oliver

salmon_pesto_veggies_jamie_oliver

INGREDIENTS

1 1/4 pounds baby white potatoes
8 ounces fine green beans
8 ounces broccolini
4 x 5-ounce salmon fillets, scaled and pin-boned, from sustainable sources
olive oil
1 lemon
For the pesto:
3 tablespoons pine nuts
1/2 a small clove of garlic
2 ounces fresh basil
extra virgin olive oil
1/2 ounce Parmesan cheese
1 lemon

METHOD

To make the pesto:

Place a small, non-stick frying pan over medium heat, tip in the pine nuts and toast until very lightly golden—keep them moving so they don’t burn, then place in a small bowl and put to one side.

Peel the garlic, then place in a pestle and mortar with a pinch of sea salt. Pick and tear in the basil leaves. Bash the mixture to a paste, then add the pine nuts and pound again, leaving a little bit of texture. Scrape the mixture into the small bowl.

Add 2-3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil—you need just enough to bind the pesto and give it an oozy consistency—then finely grate and sir through the Parmesan.

Add a squeeze of lemon juice. Have a taste and season with a pinch of black pepper and a squeeze more lemon juice, if you think it needs it.

To cook the vegetables:

Scrub the potatoes well, then trim the beans and broccolini. Fill a large sauce pan three quarters of the way up with water, add a pinch of salt and bring to a boil. Once boiling, carefully add the potatoes and cook for 15 minutes, adding the beans and broccolini for the final 5 minutes. Meanwhile…

To cook the fish:

Heat a large non-stick frying pan over high heat. Rub the salmon fillets all over with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

Place in the hot pan, skin-side down, turn the heat down to medium and cook for 4 minutes, or until golden underneath. Use a slotted spatula to turn them over, then cook the fillets for a further 2 to 3 minutes, or until just cooked through.

Remove the pan from the heat, rest for 30 seconds, then add a good squeeze of lemon juice, and give the pan a good shake.

To assemble your meal:

Drain the vegetables well, then tip into a large bowl. Add the pesto, then use tongs to coat everything nicely.

Divide the fish fillets and vegetables between your plates, drizzle over the juices from the frying pan, then serve with lemon wedges for squeezing over.

Serves 4; Ready in 30 minutes

 
 

SPICY SZECHWAN EGGPLANT by palaknyc

spicy_szechwan_eggplant_palak_patel_foodstand

INGREDIENTS

3 Asian eggplants, about 2 pounds
3 tablespoons coconut oil
1 tablespoon dark sesame oil
3-4 dried red chilies
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 green onions, white and green parts, sliced on a diagonal
1 inch piece fresh ginger, grated
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 fresh red chilis, sliced
1/3 cup vegetable broth
¼ cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons sweet soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
Thai holy basil and fresh culantro or cilantro leaves, for garnish

METHOD

Cut the eggplants in half lengthwise and then slice crosswise into wedges, no more than 1-inch wide.

Heat a wok or large skillet over medium-high flame and add the oils; tilt the pan to coat all sides. When you see a slight smoke, add a layer of eggplant, stir-fry until seared and sticky, about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Remove the eggplant to a side platter and cook the remaining eggplant, adding more oil, if needed.

3. After all the eggplant is out of the pan, add the green onions, ginger, garlic, and chili to the pan; stir-fry for a minute until fragrant. Add the broth, and mix in the soy sauces. Put the eggplant back in the pan, tossing quickly, until the sauce is absorbed. Garnish with Thai basil, and cilantro and serve.

Behind the Plate

BEHIND THE PLATE: EDIE FEINSTEIN

April 29, 2016

 

edie_feinstein_brooklyn_foodworks_behind_the_plate_foodstand

Edie Feinstein (@EdieBKFW) is the Community and Marketing Manager at Brooklyn FoodWorks. As a native New Yorker, Brooklyn is familiar territory, but running a kitchen that houses over 50 food startups is entirely new! We’ve gotten to know Edie and Brooklyn FoodWorks through various events Foodstand has hosted in her space, including Foodstand Spotlight, and most recently our first Food Book & Film Club. Hopefully you’ll join us at our next event and meet Edie in person.

 

For those just getting to know you, how would you describe Brooklyn FoodWorks?
Brooklyn FoodWorks simplifies food entrepreneurship. Through comprehensive educational events and training, a diverse roster of industry experts and access to a state of the art, commercial kitchen facility, Brooklyn FoodWorks provides culinary entrepreneurs with affordable, turn-key solutions to accelerate their business growth.

What are some of the principles that guide your business?
We operate a 10,000 square foot facility with very few walls, so we are working really hard on building a community based on trust (no stolen ingredients!), and shared learning. We have 50+ companies in various stages of business that have so much knowledge to share with one another (where to print labels, which stores to approach, etc).

What’s one of your first (and most memorable) interactions with food?
I had an adventurous palate from day one. During my second grade graduation speech, I mentioned that my favorite foods were artichokes and hearts of palm.

Are you making a food resolution this year?
I am trying really hard to cut down on added sugar. I have a red licorice, which makes this challenging, but I really do want to cut back.

What inspired you to open your business?
We responded to a Request For Proposal put out by the NYC Economic Development Corporation and the Brooklyn Borough President’s Office, and won the bid! We were interested in this project because we know that there are so many great food businesses springing up in Brooklyn, and recognized the severe lack of shared kitchen space for them to produce out of. We see this as a huge opportunity, and are so happy for the 50+ businesses that we’ve been able to bring on board to date.

Food issues have barely made it into the race for President. If you could ask the future President to consider a food issue that needs to be addressed, what would it be?
Mandatory nutrition education programs in schools! Kids need to learn about this from a young age. Most med schools don’t even include courses on nutrition! Crazy.

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Who is one famous person, dead or alive, that you want to share a meal with? and where?
Julia Child at her home in Paris!

What’s the most rewarding aspect of Brooklyn FoodWorks?
The most rewarding aspect is when I see our members out in the real world—members busting their butts at Smorgasburg each weekend, and #BKFW made products on the shelves in grocery stores around town. Seeing their success makes it all worth it!

If you could get the general population to change ONE aspect of their eating habits, what would it be?
Study the nutrition label before you purchase/eat!

What has been your hardest moment in relation to your business?
Construction was delayed for a few months beyond the expected opening date. This was super tough because we had members already on board who were waiting and waiting. This was a good lesson in setting realistic expectations!

If you weren’t doing what you’re doing, what would you be doing?
Traveling the world. I have incredible wanderlust, and would love to continue to explore various cultures and all of the wonderful food that is out there.

What’s always in your fridge? What do you use it for?
Sriracha on top of everything! Tahini. Soy sauce. Sundried tomatoes. Miso. Lots of flavor bombs!

Your good food wish?
My good food wish is that nobody goes to sleep hungry at night.

BONUS: Favorite recipe.
Short Ribs!

Features Recipes

PAY NOW, OR PAY LATER?

April 25, 2016



 

ANOTHER KIND OF GREEN: DELAYED HEALTH COSTS

No, eating the occasional hamburger is not going to automatically trigger significant health issues when we get older (and yes, that burger up there does look delicious). But a consistent diet of food that is cheaply made with ingredients that lack integrity and are sprayed with pesticides will. Fast food, highly processed foods and conventional produce may seem like the cheaper option, but they’ll likely cost a pretty penny down the line when we start facing health problems that we’ll pay for in lifestyle, as well as in medical bills.

Many of us are prone to purchase the least expensive option available—why pay more when we can pay less, right? But the inexpensive option might not seem so cheap once we factor in all of the delayed costs one will face in the future.

According to research from the McKinsey Global Institute, obesity results in healthcare costs of $2 billion dollars annually. And the Union of Concerned Scientists reports that if we consumed the recommended amount of produce it would save $27 billion in healthcare costs each year, as well as 127,000 lives. According to the World Health Organization pesticide poisoning is the cause of 20,000 deaths, and affects 3 million people annually. And a study out of Iowa State University shows that we pay $1 billion per year in health costs from pesticides. One of the common herbicides used on conventional crops was even declared to be a probable carcinogen by the WHO last year, yet we eat those crops!

If you knew that you could pay $1 more for an organic apple now, and not have to pay thousands upon thousands of dollars and be sick later, would you? Most likely yes, but not everyone has that extra dollar in their pocket to spend. It’s a systemic issue—low wages, subsidies for some crops but not others, misleading marketing, support of Big Ag… There are many elements to blame. But we are seeing some progress—minimum wage increase, discussion surrounding subsidies, and fast food chains eliminating antibiotic-fed meats… And an increased awareness surrounding heath costs that result from a poor diet. Knowing is half the battle, so spread the word! And share your good-for-you eats on the Foodstand app. Join us in the fight for good food.

 
 

EAT & DRINK

SEARED SCALLOPS WITH MARINATED MUSHROOMS, CORN AND RED SORREL
by sugardetoxme

foodstand_health_costs_recipe_seared_scallops

INGREDIENTS

6 scallops
2 tbsp ghee
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
handful of red-veined sorrel
1 cup of mushrooms of your choice
1/2 cup of corn
1 clove of garlic
2 small potatoes, peeled
salt, to taste
ground black pepper, to taste
spritz of lemon

METHOD

For scallops: Place on a paper towel and pat dry. Season with a little salt and pepper. Heat 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Place scallops in the skillet and cook until golden brown—about 3 minutes/side—and depending on how thick the scallop is.

For mushrooms: Sauté mushrooms in 1 tbsp of olive oil for 3-4 minutes. Salt and pepper them. Adding herbs, such as thyme, is optional.

For corn mash: Boil two small potatoes, remove from pot and drain. Take fresh corn and simmer in ghee until soft. Mash potatoes and corn together in with the ghee. Salt to taste.

Plate scallops over the mushrooms, mashed corn and red-veined sorrel.

 

 

ASIAN SHRIMP VERMICELLI SALAD WITH PEANUT SAUCE
by annefood

foodstand_recipe_delayed_healthcosts_asian_shrimp_vermicelli_salad

INGREDIENTS

12 shrimp, shells removed and deveined (tails on)
1 cucumber, cut into matchsticks
3 multicolored carrots, cut into matchsticks
2 handfuls cilantro, chopped
1.5 ounces fresh mint, chopped
3 scallions, sliced at a diagonal (white and green parts)
6 heads baby bok choy, sliced into strips
8 ounces brown rice vermicelli (I used Annie Chun’s)
extra virgin olive oil
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
cayenne pepper
sesame seeds, for serving

Peanut sauce:
2 inches fresh ginger, grated
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 teaspoons plus 1 tablespoon sesame oil
6 tablespoons smooth peanut butter
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
juice of 1.5 limes
2 tablespoons Bragg’s Liquid Aminos
a large dash of cayenne pepper

METHOD

Set a pot of water on the stove to boil, and preheat the oven to broil. Toss the shrimp with olive oil, a few dashes of cayenne pepper, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Arrange on a sheet pan in a single layer, and set aside.

Make the peanut sauce by whisking together the ginger, garlic, 2 teaspoons sesame oil, peanut butter, apple cider vinegar, lime juice, Bragg’s and cayenne pepper. Set aside.

Combine the cucumber and carrot sticks in a small bowl, and set aside. Combine the cilantro, mint and scallions in a small bowl and set aside.

Place the the shrimp into the oven, and cook until opaque. While they cook, add a splash of olive oil and the bok choy to a large skillet over medium heat. Sauté for a few minutes until slightly tender, then remove from the heat.

Meanwhile, add the vermicelli to the boiling water and cook for about 2 minutes. Drain, and toss with the remaining tablespoon of sesame oil.

Assemble by placing a scoop of noodles onto a plate. Top with bok choy, a couple spoonfuls of the carrots and cucumbers, and a generous serving of the herbs. Add three shrimp around the plate, and drizzle with peanut sauce. Garnish with sesame seeds, and serve.

Serves 4

Behind the Plate

BEHIND THE PLATE: ANASTASIA COLE PLAKIAS

April 22, 2016

anastasia_cole_plakias_farm_on_the_roof_brooklyn_grange_behind_the_plate_foodstand

Anastasia Cole Plakias, Co-Founder of Brooklyn Grange Rooftop Farms (@brooklyngrange) and author of The Farm on the Roof, lives and breathes urban, sustainable farming. She’s the ultimate inspiration for Earth Day! What was once a dream is now the world’s largest rooftop soil farm, and her book tells the story.

Join us Monday, April 25th at 6pm at Brooklyn FoodWorks to meet Anastasia in person at Foodstand’s Food Book & Film Club. Anastasia will present a short reading from The Farm on the Roof before answering your questions. We will also feature a short film screening of Brooklyn Farmer—the night will revolve around what it means to run a small food business in New York, with a special emphasis on maintaining one’s values as business grows. Be sure to use promo code GRANGE at checkout for $5 off. Here’s Anastasia to whet your palate.

 

For those just getting to know you, how would you describe Brooklyn Grange?
Brooklyn Grange is a triple bottom line rooftop farming business. We grow over 50,000 lbs of organically-cultivated produce per year on two rooftops spanning 2.5 acres. Brooklyn Grange also hosts events from educational farming workshops, to product launches, and weddings; and provides urban farming and green roof consulting and installation services to clients worldwide. We also partner with numerous non-profit organizations throughout New York to promote healthy and strong local communities.

Are there any personal beliefs that you have on the overall food system that make their way into your everyday business (e.g., curbing food waste, sustainable sourcing, local sourcing)? Do tell.
If anything, the farm’s mission has made its way into my every day life! I really don’t waste anything anymore. I see how hard our farmers work to grow the beautiful food we harvest, so when I bring it home, I use every last bit of it. After taking the leaves off a sprig of thyme, I’ll save the stem and stick it in a pot along with other scraps for veggie stock. What I don’t eat, I compost. It’s not unusual to see me bicycling along the East River greenway to the farm in the morning with a bunch of dead flowers and some watermelon rinds overflowing from the compost bin in my basket.

What’s one of your first (and most memorable) interactions with food?
Every summer, I make my mom’s Pasta alla Cecche recipe and it brings me back to squishing just-blanched, farm fresh tomatoes between my fingers as a kid—the sweet-tart fragrance mingling with the spicy perfume of fresh basil and pungent raw garlic in a big bowl on the counter of our tiny galley kitchen. I am forever grateful to my parents for raising me with a reverence for quality ingredients and a passion for preparing them.

What’s your favorite meal-on-the-go: What do you make or where do you buy it?
I’m a native New Yorker, so a good slice of pizza will always hit the spot. It’s in my DNA. I love throwing handfuls of fresh basil, arugula, hot chilis, and thick slices of ripe tomato from the farm on a piping hot piece of cheese pizza. Nothing like it in the world.

Are you making a food resolution this year?
My partner and I have decided to start bringing our own food containers with us when we go out to eat in case we need to bring leftovers home! We’re tired of recycling take-out boxes. It’s just too much packaging.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of Brooklyn Grange?
Without a doubt, the most rewarding aspect of Brooklyn Grange is the community that has come together around the farm. Our team is made up of the most incredible individuals, and not a day goes by that I don’t learn something new from one of my colleagues. And it’s not just the Brooklyn Grange team that inspires me—the network of organizations with whom we partner to engage a wider segment of the community has become essential to our company culture. When I see City Growers, our sister non-profit organization, bringing a group of NYC public school youth to the roof, I cannot help but harken back to my days as a NYC public school student, and I’m so glad that these kids have an opportunity to experience the world of possibility just above their sight-lines. And they’re not the only ones—Refugee Immigrant Fund, which brings asylum-seekers to our farm for training and community-building, has introduced us to some of the most incredible individuals I’ve ever met who have really changed the way I think about my daily life. I don’t take things for granted as I once did. To that end, I should admit that the second most rewarding aspect of Brooklyn Grange are those moments I find myself alone on the farm. Maybe I’m working late and duck out of the office to harvest a few things for dinner before the sun sets—the rest of the city is a million miles away. The birds are swooping into the cucumber vines to snatch up beetles, or are happily pecking away at the face of a sunflower, and a row of baby mustard greens catches the last light in a dazzling shimmer. It’s magic, and in those moments I feel like the luckiest lady on earth.

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Your new book The Farm on the Roof tells about entrepreneurship, community, and growing a sustainable business. What inspired you to write it?
I feel strongly that when you innovate—when you start a project as unprecedented as ours—you are obligated to a certain level of transparency, and to share the lessons you’ve learned with the wider world. To that end, our policy at Brooklyn Grange is that we answer every single message we receive, and doing so has meant spending many, many hours at a computer or on the phone, having conversations with academic researchers, fellow farmers, policy makers, journalists, architects and designers, and the merely curious. It occurred to us that organizing all those conversations in one place might be useful to folks. I also personally really want to make a case for small businesses!

What was your biggest challenge writing the book?
It was just a really challenging process through and through. Balancing my other duties with a rigorous writing schedule wasn’t always easy. At the time, Brooklyn Grange’s offices were just a tiny little room that the whole staff shared (we’ve since moved into much more spacious digs) so I mostly wrote from home, or the coffee shops of northern Greenpoint, near my apartment. Staying connected to the subject matter—the farm—while being so removed from it was difficult at times.

Food issues have barely made it into the race for President. If you could ask the future President to consider a food issue that needs to be addressed, what would it be?
I know, right?! Thank you for pointing that out. It’s truly incredible that our candidates dedicate so much time to discussing healthcare and climate change but none on food and farming, by which the former are directly affected. There’s a lot to discuss when it comes to food, so it’s tough to even know where to begin, but I would almost certainly ask that they create a plan to move our farming systems towards greater independence from fossil fuels and corn-based foods.

If you could get the general population to change ONE aspect of their eating habits, what would it be?
I wish we’d eat fewer processed, packaged foods. When we eat real food, we eat less of it because it’s more expensive but also more nutritious and fills you up faster. And when we buy meat at the butcher or cheese at the cheesemonger, it should be wrapped in paper instead of sitting in a styrofoam boat or individually wrapped in plastic sheets which take energy to produce and never decompose. But we can’t ask people to pay more for food when healthcare is so expensive, and we can’t expect parents working multiple jobs and making a minimum wage that isn’t livable to spend time preparing and cooking whole foods when they get home at the end of a twelve hour day. So we have our work cut out for us before we can start making demands of our citizenry.

Who is one famous person, dead or alive, that you want to share a meal with? And where?
I’d invite Earl Butz, the Agriculture Secretary under Nixon and Ford who’s “get big or get out” model for America’s farmers was largely responsible for monocultures and the current corn-dominant diet that has lead to obesity and illness in so much of this country. I would like to meet him in one of the corn, soy, and cattle farming communities of America devoid of any place to buy fresh foods, and challenge him to source and cook us dinner.

If you weren’t doing what you’re doing, what would you be doing?
I would likely pursue a political career. I’m a pretty passionate advocate for that in which I believe strongly, and I think I can be pretty convincing.

What’s always in your fridge? What do you use it for?
There’s always a bin in my fridge collecting clippings and scraps from the food I prep: garlic and onion skins, ginger peels, carrot and fennel trimmings, old celery stalks. When the bin fills up, I toss everything with a drizzle of olive oil, salt, and peppercorns, and place it on a baking sheet in a 350 degree oven till it starts to fill the kitchen with its aroma, anywhere between 5 and 15 minutes. Then I scrape the whole mess into a pot, cover with water, and simmer for 30-45 minutes till I’ve got a stock. If I don’t need it right away, I freeze it in ice cube trays or tupperware to use later on in soups, risotto, or to cook grains like rye berries, einkorn, farro, or couscous.

How do you define good food?
I think good food is an extremely subjective concept. Trying to create a universal definition for it has gotten us into a lot of trouble: that’s how we’ve ended up with fad diets and snake oil supplements that often cause more anxiety and body image issues than health and well-being. But generally speaking, good food doesn’t cause harm to the people or ecosystem that produces it, and consuming it is both enjoyable and nourishing.

You’re not new to writing, having written for magazines in the past. How did writing your book differ from your previous experiences?
That’s a great question! In a lot of ways, the experiences were more alike than different. For example, The Farm on the Roof is less of an account of my own personal experiences as a co-founder, than it is the story—written primarily in first person plural—of an organization. Just as magazines have certain tones they like to strike with their readers, so too does Brooklyn Grange have a distinct voice and message of its own. And while I’ve definitely contributed to that voice and message as a co-founder and operator over the last six years, there were certain moments over the years that I undoubtedly experienced quite differently from my teammates. So, much like writing in the tone of a magazine, I tried to find the voice of Brooklyn Grange.

The best part about being in the food industry?
Being able to talk, think, write about, and play with food all the time!

Your good food wish?
I wish that access to clean, healthy, fair food was a right rather than a privilege.

BONUS: Favorite recipe.
Pasta all Cecche (pronounced in my house as “Pasta alla Kiki!”)

3 lbs large, red, ripe or slightly overripe tomatoes (about 6-8)
1 box high quality spaghetti, or the pasta of your choice!
3-4 cloves garlic
1 big bunch basil leaves
1/2 cup good quality olive oil
Pinch(es) chili flakes (optional)
Hard cheese for grating, such as Pecorino Romano, or Parmigiano-Reggiano
Salt

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt it liberally. How much salt? Well, as they say in Italy, that water should be “salty as the sea!”

When the water is boiling and salted, add the tomatoes and boil about 30 seconds, until the skins begin to peel back from the flesh. Use a wire mesh skimmer to gently lift the tomatoes out of the water and into a colander to drain. Cover the pot of water and bring down to a simmer.

While the tomatoes are cooling, set out a large ceramic or wood bowl. Peel the garlic cloves and use the side of a knife to smash them. Rub all over the inside of the bowl, then throw the whole cloves in and add the olive oil. Tear the basil leaves into small pieces and add those as well. If you are using chili flakes, throw those into the bowl too.

Bring the pot of water back to a full boil, and add your pasta, stirring. I like to set a timer for the lower cook time suggested on the package. It is very important that the pasta be al dente (a bit toothsome) because it will absorb some of the tomato water.

While the pasta is cooking, peel the tomatoes and use your hands to break them up into the bowl with the other ingredients, removing the core, or any hard bits around the stem, as you go. When the pasta is done, use tongs (or the wire mesh skimmer, if using a piece pasta) to lift it from the boiling water onto the tomatoes, bringing a bit of the pasta water with it. Let it sit for 2-3 minutes, steaming, before mixing it into the tomato-oil sauce. Let come to room temperature and serve garnished with grated cheese, and if you’re feeling super decadent, a piece of bread for fare la scarpetta!

Behind the Plate From the Team

THE TOP 10 WAYS TO BE A GOOD EATER

April 19, 2016
Photo @diginn

Photo @diginn

One of our Behind The Plate questions that we ask interviewees is “If you could get the general population to change ONE aspect of their eating habits, what would it be?” It comes down to this—know your food, as awareness is a crucial element of eating well. Cook. Eat more plants and less animals. And don’t eat too much of anything. Here are ten of our favorite answers.

  1. Sanjay Rawal – Care about who is responsible for your food—whether it’s a farmworker, a restaurant worker or your mom!
  2. Palak Patel (@palaknyc) – Reduce their meat consumption! Even if it means replacing a single meat meal with a vegetarian option. That’s a start.
  3. Simran Sethi – Stop supersizing everything. Let’s recognize how precious food is and stop wasting 40 percent of it (here in the U.S.).
  4. Audrey Snowe (@unconventionalbaker) – Just encouraging the understanding of where your food comes from, how it has been raised/developed/handled, and using your money as a vote to help sustainable enterprise/farmers.
  5. Noni Vaughn-Pollard (@darkchocolatepeanutbutter) – I agree with Michael Pollan, that we as a society need to get back into the kitchen. There’s something magical and exciting about creating nourishment for your body with only a few simple ingredients. Whenever I cook my food, I don’t feel stress or guilt. It’s hard not to feel stress or guilt when food isn’t made by you and becomes a mystery.
  6. Emily Van Raay (@modelsforwellness) – Know where your meat comes from.
  7. Jill de Jong – To eat more whole foods!
  8. Emily Summerlin (@etsummer) – I want more people to realize that a plate doesn’t need meat to be a complete, substantial meal. That mentality is so frustrating to me. I think people are getting better about it, but I can’t tell you how many times I get the question “what do you eat?” when I say I’m a vegetarian. There are so many foods out there that don’t come from animals that are full of protein and are nourishing and filling.
  9. Matthew Preston (@diginn) – Moderation! You don’t necessarily have to cut anything out, just reduce your consumption of it to achieve a good balance.
  10. Matthew Kenney – Eat one plant-based meal a day.
Behind the Plate From the Team

DEAR MR(S). PRESIDENT

April 19, 2016

One of our favorite Behind The Plate questions that we ask interviewees is “If you could ask the future President to consider a food issue that needs to be addressed, what would it be?” What we learned is that food policy is key to the health and wellbeing of our country. From protecting the land and the workers, to keeping big business and empty calories in check—we want change, and the government can help.

  1. Jeremy Kranowitz (@SustainableAmerica) – We should change food subsidies to encourage healthy, nutritious calories and by taxing cheap calories. It has been said that obesity is the face of hunger because cheap calories are high in sugar, salt, and fat. We should still make those calories available to those that want them, but they should be harder to obtain and more expensive to buy than fresh vegetables, fruits, and grains.
  2. Emily Summerlin (@etsummer) – I would ask the future President to consider the soil! 2015 was the International Year of Soils and a lot of great things happened around that, but I want that momentum to keep going. Not only does healthy soil produce nutritious and delicious food, but it also sequesters carbon! It’s one of the keys to reducing our climate impact and it is very worth taking care of, not only for the future of farming but for the future of the the entire planet.
  3. Rebecca Sparks – At present there is a movement in the government to limit access to SNAP benefits by making it a block grant where states can make decisions of eligibility and access. This is a crime. Every American resident should be guaranteed the right to food.
  4. Matthew Preston (@diginn) – Land access and ownership. The first barrier for young people interested in the farming industry is access to land.
  5. Sanjay Rawal – About 20 million Americans work in the food sector, many of whom barely make ends meet. Without their service we have no food security. Same goes for the 3 or 4 million undocumented workers who are in the food sector (farmworkers, meatpacking, distribution, dairy, etc). Without job security and dignity much less a non-draconian immigration policy, our food system will absolutely disintegrate. I am shocked and appalled that the issue of equity in our food system isn’t being discussed in even the most basic way.
  6. Palak Patel (@palaknyc) – Addressing the increasing role that corporations have on our food system. We must understand where our food comes from. Right now, we’re headed toward a future where decisions about our food are decided in closed boardrooms by executives putting profits before people.
  7. Jill de Jong – I would ask the president to demand that companies take the chemicals OUT of our food. No colorants, preservatives or additives. That would make a huge difference.
  8. Simran Sethi – There should be a lot more scrutiny around the Trans-Pacific Partnership and implications for domestic farmers, preservation of heirloom seeds and transparency around what consumers know about their food sources.
  9. Jessica Sennett (@cheesegrotto) – What concerns me the most is farm workers’ rights and agricultural practices. Limited water resources are a present day reality in California. We have to change our practices and not let a few large food corporations and buyers determine the method and quality of our farming. They control the whole industry and subject farm workers and owners to endless cycles of debt and dependence. The framework that exists does not take into consideration resource depletion.
  10. Massimo LoBuglio – I would love for a lot of things to be addressed, but to pick one… How about an environmental impact statement included on nutrition labels! Data about the carbon pollution associated with food choices.
Behind the Plate From the Team

EXPERTS’ EPIC FOOD FAILS—IT’S NOT JUST YOU.

April 19, 2016
Photo @jfdouble

Photo @jfdouble

One of our favorite Behind The Plate questions that we ask interviewees is “What was your biggest #foodfail?” We’re all human, and even the best chefs have disastrous kitchen moments. Here are ten of our favorite answers.

  1. Audrey Snowe (@unconventionalbaker) – Broccoli cheesecake. Worst idea ever! Don’t judge! I try lots of crazy things—sky is the limit—and I often land on winners that become “cult classics” on the web. But this one was clearly out of range. When I made it at first it was absolutely delicious—tasted nothing like broccoli at all (in case you’re wondering). Just a beautiful pale green cheesecake. I left it in the freezer for a week amidst all my other frozen cakes, and when I re-tasted it later it tasted absolutely horrible. Like broccoli gone horribly wrong with sugar and roses on top.
  2. Noni Vaughn-Pollard (@darkchocolatepeanutbutter) – Homemade injera, never again.
  3. Emily Summerlin (@etsummer) – Ridiculously enough I’ve done this more than once. I make a smoothie and upon the first sip realize that I didn’t rinse the soap out of the blender well enough beforehand. No thanks to soapy smoothies.
  4. Jessica Sennett (@cheesegrotto) – My biggest #foodfail was a persimmon tart. This was before I knew how to pick persimmons that wouldn’t be cloying and drying in the mouth. (If you have tasted an underripe persimmon, you know what I mean.) I tried to cook the tart anyway, and it really wasn’t edible.
  5. Emily Van Raay (@modelsforwellness) – I have food fails all the time. I’m not an expert in the kitchen but I love making new dishes and tend to bite off far more than I can chew… Roasting acorn squash is something that I can NEVER seem to get right! I end up leaving it in for far too long or taking it out way too early and can never get it off the skin. It’s probably one of the easiest things to make. Help!
  6. Matthew Kenney – One of the first times I served raw cuisine to a group I spent a lot of time preparing our zucchini lasagna in sheet pans ahead of time. I had never served this at a large event before, and the extra moisture turned the lasagna to mush. I had to serve a group of my peers this horrible dish and was mortified. I never plated this in advance again!
  7. Jill de Jong – Cauliflower crust pizza. It drove me crazy; I was trying so many different things but I have not been able to master it and have given up!
  8. Palak Patel (@palaknyc) – Generally baking. But my biggest fool fail happened in Paris while I was attempting to make meringues for a French-Indian pop-up dinner. Meringues have a reputation for being easy to make, but that night things got surprisingly complicated for a dish containing just two ingredients! I calculated the conversions incorrectly, plus using a French oven made my meringues lifeless and flat. Needless to say, I proceeded to crumble them and presented the dessert as “deconstructed”.
  9. Margaret Gifford (@MargaretG) – My biggest food fail was the split pea soup I tried to prepare for my stepdad’s birthday. I didn’t know you had to soak the peas.
  10. Jennifer Emilson (@JenniferEmilson) – I made fish tacos. The tortillas were made with amaranth flour. They were thick, chewy, not a texture my hubby liked at all. And I didn’t marinate the cabbage long enough. All in all, too raw a meal. He said they didn’t deserve to be called fish tacos!
Behind the Plate From the Team

WHAT IS GOOD FOOD? THE TOP 10

April 19, 2016

One of our favorite Behind The Plate questions that we ask interviewees is “How do you define good food?” What we’ve learned is that while good food means something different to each of us, the underlying theme is you can’t have good food without people. Some answers focus more on flavor and what good food brings to the eater, others on process, and others even on the source—who was involved along the way. Here are ten of our favorite answers.

  1. Amanda Fuller (@RootedNY) – I’ll borrow Carlo Petrini’s definition—good food needs both taste (to be delicious to us personally) and knowledge (to tell a cultural and historical story).
  2. Audrey Snowe (@unconventionalbaker) – Easy, wholesome, fresh, vibrant, nourishing, and flavorful are all words that come to mind. And anything from my garden 🙂
  3. Ben Flanner (@brooklyngrange) – Good food utilizes and emphasizes the natural flavors of the ingredients, without preservatives.
  4. Sanjay Rawal – I don’t care if something is organic or sustainable if the people that picked, grew, manufactured or served the food aren’t treated and paid well. Too many people care too much about what goes into their bodies at the direct expense of caring about those responsible for creating that food. Should we eat organic? Sure. But organic doesn’t mean workers were treated well—there is zero correlation. Same goes for local, natural, everything that gets foodies excited. The food movement has left the worker behind. We need to fix that.
  5. Noni Vaughn-Pollard (@darkchocolatepeanutbutter) – I believe good food is any food that gives me pleasure. Whether it’s a fresh hot doughnut or a kale salad, I like food to be simple and delicious.
  6. Julie Qiu (@inahalfshell) – Good food creates value for every stakeholder: the eater, the producer, the chef, purveyor, and environment.
  7. Palak Patel (@palaknyc) – Good food is simple, but packed with flavor. To me good food also creates connections, and it’s how I show love. I grew up in a large Indian family where daily meals were the center of our day. Having grown up with Indian spices and bold ingredients, I enjoy incorporating these ideas into everyday cooking to create delectable, healthy dishes that deliver big flavors.
  8. Omar Rada (@omar) – Olive oil + garlic + salt + pepper + almost anything.
  9. Simran Sethi – Food that has been grown and prepared by people who have been treated well and paid a fair wage, coming from land that has been sustainably managed. And cooked by people who are also treated equitably and love what they do. Delicious food isn’t delicious if people or natural resources are harmed in the process.
  10. Beth Reed (@simplywithout) – Food that is thought about, cared for and loved. It is literally from the moment the seed begins to grow that the food journey starts. Everyone involved in the journey has an impact on the food and can help to make the end result good food. One of my favorite things to do is, not just cook and eat good food, but think about it. Thinking about and planning meals makes the flavors and ingredients come to life—as they take on their own place on the chopping board, pan or plate, they all become important parts of the bigger picture. To me, good food is food that nourishes you, invokes conversation and of course tastes good.