From Our Inbox: Gluten-Free Options in South Philly
From Our Inbox: Gluten-Free Options in South Philly
This just in: tomato paste is a vegetable
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At least, it enjoys legal vegetable status according to the United States federal government which essentially means that I can eat pizza and get my daily serving of vegetables. Never mind that (1) a tomato is a fruit and (2) seriously? do I have to say why this is ridiculous?
That's just one of many outrageous bits of news to be found in this story about Congress pushing back against the Obama administration's attempts to promote healthier school lunches.
I posted this story on our Facebook page and asked the question of why government attempts to promote healthier eating are considered by conservatives to be "overreaching" while changes made to a spending bill at the behest of "food companies that produce frozen pizzas, the salt industry and potato growers" are perfectly fine. It would seem to depend on whose behalf they're doing the reaching.
I rarely get so political on this blog. And I write all of this as someone who believes in government and its capacity to effect positive change. That's what makes this all so darn frustrating. I prefer to keep my writings on this blog about why it would be so good for there to be a food co-op in South Philly.
So I'll end with this point. Our elected government failing to act on behalf of public health by making it easier for children in the low-income, federally funded school lunch program to have access to more than just pizza and french fries is a prime example of why we need to take matters into our own hands. There are numerous examples of how government policy that was written to please large corporate food manufacturers has resulted in a system that is unsustainable, unhealthy, profit-driven, unaccountable and unsafe. There are plenty of good reasons to become one of the South Philly Food Co-op's 250 Founding Members. One of them is that it is our chance, at least in this little corner of the world made up of four zip codes, to take control, establish a place that we own and where we get to decide that pizza, however awesome it is, is not a vegetable.
And here is the usual disclaimer about how the opinions expressed in this piece are mine and mine alone and do not reflect any policies or opinions of the South Philly Food Co-op, its members or its board. Feel free to disagree with me in the comments section of this post or via email at dan.pohlig (at) gmail.com.
This just in: tomato paste is a vegetable
At least, it enjoys legal vegetable status according to the United States federal government which essentially means that I can eat pizza and get my daily serving of vegetables. Never mind that (1) a tomato is a fruit and (2) seriously? do I have to say why this is ridiculous?
That's just one of many outrageous bits of news to be found in this story about Congress pushing back against the Obama administration's attempts to promote healthier school lunches.
I posted this story on our Facebook page and asked the question of why government attempts to promote healthier eating are considered by conservatives to be "overreaching" while changes made to a spending bill at the behest of "food companies that produce frozen pizzas, the salt industry and potato growers" are perfectly fine. It would seem to depend on whose behalf they're doing the reaching.
I rarely get so political on this blog. And I write all of this as someone who believes in government and its capacity to effect positive change. That's what makes this all so darn frustrating. I prefer to keep my writings on this blog about why it would be so good for there to be a food co-op in South Philly.
So I'll end with this point. Our elected government failing to act on behalf of public health by making it easier for children in the low-income, federally funded school lunch program to have access to more than just pizza and french fries is a prime example of why we need to take matters into our own hands. There are numerous examples of how government policy that was written to please large corporate food manufacturers has resulted in a system that is unsustainable, unhealthy, profit-driven, unaccountable and unsafe. There are plenty of good reasons to become one of the South Philly Food Co-op's 250 Founding Members. One of them is that it is our chance, at least in this little corner of the world made up of four zip codes, to take control, establish a place that we own and where we get to decide that pizza, however awesome it is, is not a vegetable.
And here is the usual disclaimer about how the opinions expressed in this piece are mine and mine alone and do not reflect any policies or opinions of the South Philly Food Co-op, its members or its board. Feel free to disagree with me in the comments section of this post or via email at dan.pohlig (at) gmail.com.
How to Freeze Vegetables
Whether we grow our own veggies or receive too much in our CSA or scramble to the farm market to get the last of our favorite produce before the end of the season, sometimes we end up with too much. Freezing is a great way to keep the goodness of seasons past on hand and ready for a meal. But just throwing most vegetables into the freezer isn't the best route to ensuring that today's harvest tastes fresh a few months from now.
I've acknowledged that my freezer overflows with homemade foods and preserved produce and bits of things (butter wrappers for greasing pans, ends of bread for making breadcrumbs, and all the leafy, scrappy ends of things I save for stock). About once a week, I look in the fridge and figure out what's just not going to make it onto our plates in time, and then I get a pot of water boiling.
I use my biggest pot.
This pot happens to have a strainer component, which is helpful but absolutely not necessary.
If your pot doesn't have a strainer - and really, whose does? - just be prepared to use a slotted spoon later on.
I turn the heat on to get the water boiling and then I prep my veg.
I'm really not one to boil vegetables, so what's going on here? Yes, I'm going to drop these nice fresh, crisp veg into boiling water, but I'm not going to cook the heck out of them and end up with something mushy and grey, I'm just blanching them to stop them from ripening.
The freezer isn't magic. So you've got veg, let's say it's a carrot, and it's firm and crisp and wonderful, but if you wait too long, the same enzymes that caused it to ripen and turn into a delicious carrot will keep going with their ripening until they've gone too far. You've seen it happen in your fridge. Yesterday's bright, crunchy carrot turns soft and flexible and dark. Yuck. Just freezing most vegetables doesn't stop the enzymatic ripening process, and freezing doesn't kill all of the bacteria. So, gross things can happen, even in the freezer. Since we want out veg to be fresh and wonderful when we pull them out next week or next month, we blanch the veg first. Blanching is just about boiling briefly, then chilling immediately.
Today I have carrots, kale, and spinach to freeze. The spinach just needed a good washing.
The kale gets de-stemmed and washed.
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="320" caption="tired kale"]
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The carrots get scrubbed and cut into rough sticks. I don't peel my carrots, but this is the time, if you're going to. Of course, you can cut them into whatever shape you like, but carrot rounds remind me too much of canned carrots, so I just avoid that shape. These sticks will work nicely in a stir fry.
When the water is boiling, we're ready to go. This is when I think about the order of things. Sure, you can use fresh water for each vegetable, but I don't. Instead I think about how the veg will affect each other. I'm going to do greens first and then carrots, because if the carrots get infused with a bit of the goodness from the greens, that's no problem, but I might not want any of the sweetness of the carrots to leech out into my greens. This probably isn't a thing, but it's something I think about. Of course, if you're dealing allergies or strong preferences in your house, you'll want to separate your veg accordingly.
I dropped the kale into boiling water.
Then waited for a few seconds to be sure the water had come back up to a boil, and then set the stop watch. You only want the kale in there for two minutes. This is true of all greens, except collards, which need an extra minute.
This is the time to prep your chill bowl. Cold water and ice, enough to cover your veg when they come out of the pot.
When my two minutes are up, I pull the strainer basket up out of the pot. If you don't have a basket, use a slotted spoon to remove the veg.
And drop the kale right into the ice water.
The kale need to chill in the ice water for at least as long as they boiled (2 minutes).
Then I drain it - well - squeezing and such.
And into a zipper bag. Squeeze the air out well, and use a plastic straw if you have one handy.
I like to use masking tape and a Sharpie to label them. That way when you're reusing your bag you don't have to cross out whatever was in the bag last.
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="320" caption="My husband, Sous Chef Brian, was excited at this point in the labeling"]
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The spinach is done the same exact way. Boil 2 minutes, drain, ice for 2 minutes, bag and freeze.
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="320" caption="I think Sous Chef Brian was bored with the labeling at this point. He actually does like carrots. "]
[/caption]
Veg like this keep a good 6-9 months in the freezer, and after that they don't spoil but they lose some of their flavor.
How do you know how long to blanch your veg for freezing? The Internet is your friend. The National Center for Home Preservation provides guidance on blanching and freezing, canning, drying, smoking and more. If there's a vegetable you're itching to freeze that isn't listed, just Google "blanching rutabega" and you'll get the appropriate time from something like Colorado State University Extension Center or New Mexico State University. Lots of schools have great info on preservation.
My most common veg are:
- Greens - 2 minutes
- Corn on the cob - 9 minutes
- Eggplant - 4 minutes
- Green beans - 3 minutes
- Label your veg. You don't want to think you're pulling out spinach one day and find out after the first bite that it's actually mustard greens.
- Freeze them in the quantities you're going to want them in once they're defrosted. No, you're not going to successfully break off half a block of frozen carrots. The advanced technique, which I do when I have bigger quantities, is to blanch, drain, and then lay out on a cookie sheet (lined with parchment or silicone) in the freezer. Then, once each piece is frozen, drop them in a bag or other storage device. That way you can get at just some of them, like how your supermarket veg are frozen.
- Of course, if you use your freshest veg, they'll be more delightful when you defrost them. But this is how I clean out my fridge.
How to Freeze Vegetables
Whether we grow our own veggies or receive too much in our CSA or scramble to the farm market to get the last of our favorite produce before the end of the season, sometimes we end up with too much. Freezing is a great way to keep the goodness of seasons past on hand and ready for a meal. But just throwing most vegetables into the freezer isn't the best route to ensuring that today's harvest tastes fresh a few months from now.
I've acknowledged that my freezer overflows with homemade foods and preserved produce and bits of things (butter wrappers for greasing pans, ends of bread for making breadcrumbs, and all the leafy, scrappy ends of things I save for stock). About once a week, I look in the fridge and figure out what's just not going to make it onto our plates in time, and then I get a pot of water boiling.
I use my biggest pot.
This pot happens to have a strainer component, which is helpful but absolutely not necessary.
If your pot doesn't have a strainer - and really, whose does? - just be prepared to use a slotted spoon later on.
I turn the heat on to get the water boiling and then I prep my veg.
I'm really not one to boil vegetables, so what's going on here? Yes, I'm going to drop these nice fresh, crisp veg into boiling water, but I'm not going to cook the heck out of them and end up with something mushy and grey, I'm just blanching them to stop them from ripening.
The freezer isn't magic. So you've got veg, let's say it's a carrot, and it's firm and crisp and wonderful, but if you wait too long, the same enzymes that caused it to ripen and turn into a delicious carrot will keep going with their ripening until they've gone too far. You've seen it happen in your fridge. Yesterday's bright, crunchy carrot turns soft and flexible and dark. Yuck. Just freezing most vegetables doesn't stop the enzymatic ripening process, and freezing doesn't kill all of the bacteria. So, gross things can happen, even in the freezer. Since we want out veg to be fresh and wonderful when we pull them out next week or next month, we blanch the veg first. Blanching is just about boiling briefly, then chilling immediately.
Today I have carrots, kale, and spinach to freeze. The spinach just needed a good washing.
The kale gets de-stemmed and washed.
The carrots get scrubbed and cut into rough sticks. I don't peel my carrots, but this is the time, if you're going to. Of course, you can cut them into whatever shape you like, but carrot rounds remind me too much of canned carrots, so I just avoid that shape. These sticks will work nicely in a stir fry.
When the water is boiling, we're ready to go. This is when I think about the order of things. Sure, you can use fresh water for each vegetable, but I don't. Instead I think about how the veg will affect each other. I'm going to do greens first and then carrots, because if the carrots get infused with a bit of the goodness from the greens, that's no problem, but I might not want any of the sweetness of the carrots to leech out into my greens. This probably isn't a thing, but it's something I think about. Of course, if you're dealing allergies or strong preferences in your house, you'll want to separate your veg accordingly.
I dropped the kale into boiling water.
Then waited for a few seconds to be sure the water had come back up to a boil, and then set the stop watch. You only want the kale in there for two minutes. This is true of all greens, except collards, which need an extra minute.
This is the time to prep your chill bowl. Cold water and ice, enough to cover your veg when they come out of the pot.
When my two minutes are up, I pull the strainer basket up out of the pot. If you don't have a basket, use a slotted spoon to remove the veg.
And drop the kale right into the ice water.
The kale need to chill in the ice water for at least as long as they boiled (2 minutes).
Then I drain it - well - squeezing and such.
And into a zipper bag. Squeeze the air out well, and use a plastic straw if you have one handy.
I like to use masking tape and a Sharpie to label them. That way when you're reusing your bag you don't have to cross out whatever was in the bag last.
The spinach is done the same exact way. Boil 2 minutes, drain, ice for 2 minutes, bag and freeze.
I gave the carrots a minute longer. There is science to this (and actually, the science says just two minutes on the carrots, but I cut mine pretty big).
Veg like this keep a good 6-9 months in the freezer, and after that they don't spoil but they lose some of their flavor.
How do you know how long to blanch your veg for freezing? The Internet is your friend. The National Center for Home Preservation provides guidance on blanching and freezing, canning, drying, smoking and more. If there's a vegetable you're itching to freeze that isn't listed, just Google "blanching rutabega" and you'll get the appropriate time from something like Colorado State University Extension Center or New Mexico State University. Lots of schools have great info on preservation.
My most common veg are:
- Greens - 2 minutes
- Corn on the cob - 9 minutes
- Eggplant - 4 minutes
- Green beans - 3 minutes
You'll find tables with more veg at the links above.
Just remember, as much time as they spend in the boiling water, they should spend the same on ice before you drain them and pack them up.
A few tips that should be obvious, but I've messed them both up in the past.
- Label your veg. You don't want to think you're pulling out spinach one day and find out after the first bite that it's actually mustard greens.
- Freeze them in the quantities you're going to want them in once they're defrosted. No, you're not going to successfully break off half a block of frozen carrots. The advanced technique, which I do when I have bigger quantities, is to blanch, drain, and then lay out on a cookie sheet (lined with parchment or silicone) in the freezer. Then, once each piece is frozen, drop them in a bag or other storage device. That way you can get at just some of them, like how your supermarket veg are frozen.
- Of course, if you use your freshest veg, they'll be more delightful when you defrost them. But this is how I clean out my fridge.
Happy Freezing!
This is cross-posted at Saturday’s Mouse, where I’m working on making food out of food.
Co-op as base of operations for food's new foot soldiers
50 new foot soldiers in the war against ignorance in food. The service members, most of them in their 20s, just went to work at 41 sites in 10 states, from Maine to Oregon and Michigan to Mississippi. (FoodCorps concentrates on communities with high rates of childhood obesity or limited access to healthy food, though these days every state has communities like that.)For a total budget of less than $2 million (mostly from foundations), this crew will be out there teaching kids about nutrition, showing them how to create gardens and generally connecting them with their food so that maybe they start think of food as something that comes from the ground, not from a box. It's a great program considering how moribund and underfunded nutrition education is AND how much cash is poured into anti-nutritious marketing. ($2 million is what McDonald's probably pays for one spot during the NFL's big game.) So where could a co-op fit into this? Time to engage in the "vision" thing for a second. But first, this would be a good time to remind ourselves of the mission of the South Philly Food Co-op:
To open a member-owned cooperative grocery store that provides nutritious food to all residents of South Philadelphia while empowering the local community through sustainable practices, food-centric education, outreach, and community building.That's the difference with a cooperatively owned grocery store. When the profits stay in the community, the member-owners can decide to put some it towards, say, "adopt a Food Corps" and helping to subsidize part of their $15k annual salary. In exchange, the Co-op would be the base of operations for this foot foot soldier (or squad of them) and become a working classroom where parents and children learn how to find the best food at the fairest prices and what to do with it once they get home. End result: a healthier, fitter community; healthy, active kids whose brains are on full power. Together, we will own not just a food store but a social club, a place to learn, and the best kind of health care facility: one that helps prevent bad health from happening in the first place. Oh yeah... and buy your Garden Tour tickets.
Co-op as base of operations for food's new foot soldiers
50 new foot soldiers in the war against ignorance in food. The service members, most of them in their 20s, just went to work at 41 sites in 10 states, from Maine to Oregon and Michigan to Mississippi. (FoodCorps concentrates on communities with high rates of childhood obesity or limited access to healthy food, though these days every state has communities like that.)For a total budget of less than $2 million (mostly from foundations), this crew will be out there teaching kids about nutrition, showing them how to create gardens and generally connecting them with their food so that maybe they start think of food as something that comes from the ground, not from a box. It's a great program considering how moribund and underfunded nutrition education is AND how much cash is poured into anti-nutritious marketing. ($2 million is what McDonald's probably pays for one spot during the NFL's big game.) So where could a co-op fit into this? Time to engage in the "vision" thing for a second. But first, this would be a good time to remind ourselves of the mission of the South Philly Food Co-op:
To open a member-owned cooperative grocery store that provides nutritious food to all residents of South Philadelphia while empowering the local community through sustainable practices, food-centric education, outreach, and community building.That's the difference with a cooperatively owned grocery store. When the profits stay in the community, the member-owners can decide to put some it towards, say, "adopt a Food Corps" and helping to subsidize part of their $15k annual salary. In exchange, the Co-op would be the base of operations for this foot foot soldier (or squad of them) and become a working classroom where parents and children learn how to find the best food at the fairest prices and what to do with it once they get home. End result: a healthier, fitter community; healthy, active kids whose brains are on full power. Together, we will own not just a food store but a social club, a place to learn, and the best kind of health care facility: one that helps prevent bad health from happening in the first place. Oh yeah... and buy your Garden Tour tickets.