Blogs

Genevieve of local food blog

I heard someone say the other day as she examined an heirloom tomato: “I get so excited—it’s like seeing an old friend that I haven’t seen for a year.” We’re about to encounter peak harvest season again, with its gorgeous array of nightshades, squashes, fruits and berries. This year we’ll be celebrating the bounty with the 4th annual Local Foods Week, August 11-19.

Every week our Veggie Vans deliver bags of affordable, fresh foods to neighborhoods without groceries or other healthful food sources. But what happens afterwards in the kitchen? If you're used to relying on processed and boxed foods, you might not be sure how to prepare easy meals using fresh produce. That's why we do a cooking demo at every Veggie Van delivery site to help people learn to cook with the produce from that week's bag.

Roasted Asparagus and Red Potatoes

Ingredients

1 pound of red potatoes, diced
1 bunch of asparagus, tough stems removed
2 Tbls. olive oil
Kosher salt to taste

Method

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.  Toss diced red potatoes with olive oil and salt. Place potatoes on a foil-lined sheet pan and bake for 20 minutes.  Remove from oven, stir, and add in the asparagus. Drizzle with more oil if necessary. Bake for 10 more minutes until asparagus is crisp tender. Serve immediately.

Yield: 8 adult portions

Spinach Salad

Ingredients

1 (8 ounce) package fresh spinach
1/2 cup sliced celery
2 cups fresh broccoli florets
1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
1/2 cup red onion, sliced julienne
1/2 cup raisins

Dressing:

1/3 cup light mayonnaise
1/4 cup sugar
2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar

Method

In a large salad bowl, combine the spinach, celery, broccoli, mushrooms, onions, and raisins. In a small bowl, whisk the dressing ingredients until smooth. Drizzle over salad and toss to coat.

Nobody learns anything—whether it's a trade, a discipline or how to be an effective CEO—without making plenty of mistakes. If you've decided to start cooking more (either for health reasons, financial reasons, or just for fun), you'll probably run into these common mistakes:

Have you ever heard of a food forest? I hadn’t, until reading this story from Grist.

Have you ever heard a food company use the phrase "part of a balanced breakfast"? I don't think I'm alone in wondering how Reese's Pieces could truly be an ideal start to your day. 

We have a job opening for substitute Food Educators for our Food Matters classes. See the details below!

JOB OPPORTUNITY: Substitute Food Educator

LOCATION:  Columbus, Ohio

Local Matters, an Ohio based non-profit whose mission is to transform the food system to be more secure, just, prosperous and delicious, is currently looking to hire dynamic, motivated individuals for the position of Substitute Food Educator.