Tag Archives: Locavorism

Food Policy & Change

VeggieBasket_viaIWannaBeGwyneth

I’ve been interested in food ever since I became a vegetarian the summer after I graduated from college. It was my gateway drug to foodie-ism and to all things healthy and environmentally sound. The impetus was an offending pork chop that I picked up from the A&P. It was disgusting. Turned me off to meat for a good ten years, until one day I had a craving for a pan-fried steak. Wise, by then, to the ways of good food, I drove myself directly to Whole Foods and bought a delicious if pricey grass-fed, hormone free steak which I fried up in an iron skillet with fresh rosemary and olive oil. Best meal I’ve ever had. I’ve been a dedicated omnivore ever since, though my vegetarian days have left their beautiful mark.

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In Season:
Roasted Butternut Squash

by Paula Puryear

Here in California, where the seasons are decidedly subtle, I mark fall’s arrival not so much by the weather (which may or may not turn cool), but by the arrival of winter squash. My perennial favorite is butternut squash. It can form the hearty backbone of a vegetarian feast, or provide the perfect accompaniment to any roasted or braised meat.

The easy way to prepare butternut squash is to simply slice it in half with a large, sharp knife, scoop out the seeds and drizzle it with a little olive oil. Toss it in a preheated 400 degree oven for about an hour and finish with a little sprinkle of salt.

If you can invest a little more prep time, slice the butternut into disks or chunks and roast it for 30 minutes in a 475 degree oven along with some spanish onions, purple onions, red and yellow bell peppers, and tomatoes. It’s absolute decadence. The flavors caramelize, and leaving the vegetables in their skins while they cook adds a depth of flavor that can’t be gotten any other way. I learned this way of cooking butternut squash from Clare Ferguson’s Simply Good Food. She calls it “Spanish Roasted Vegetable Salad” and I share her recipe here:

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In Season:
Brussel Sprouts

by Paula Puryear

This morning I remarked to my husband that summer was over, even here in L.A. My first clue? The sky was a little grey. second clue? I found myself reaching for a sweater for the second time in less than a week. Clue #3? I made brussel sprouts for dinner.

I love brussel sprouts. They’re one of the many formerly “yucky” vegetables that I came to absolutely love during my “vegetarian years”. My vegetarian years, ten of them in all, happened to coincide with my New York years — or, as I teasingly call them, the years when my sophisticated inner self finally found a sophisticated outer world to gallivant around in. In my fancy new world, vegetables weren’t just tossed in a pot to boil. Non. Flavors were built. Techniques were employed.

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The Simple Pleasures Of A Farmers Market

by Paula Puryear

The first time I went to a Farmers Market I was in my early twenties and living in New York City. I would ride the subway down from my uptown apartment to the Union Square Greenmarket on 14^th Street. There I learned to eat food in season. That’s when I learned how delicious food — the kind grown from the ground rather than purchased in the supermarket — really is. I had just become a vegetarian — and would remain such for the next 10 years until a craving for a pan-fried steak brought that little moment to an unceremonious end. With meat off the proverbial plate, I tried everything, from heirlooms tomatoes to vegetables I’d scarcely heard of. This was back in the days before fancy food was around every corner, so I fancied myself a food pioneer, wandering off to the wilderness of 14th Street to forage for goodies that someone had grown nearby with their actual hands. What I learned is this:

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The Revelry [Week’s Best]

by Paula Puryear

THE REVELRY [WEEK’S BEST] explores some of the week’s best social & cultural finds from around the Web.

MR. PORTER
Interview with Photojournalist and Change-Maker Mr. Sebastian Meyer
Explore more at mrporter.com/journal

Natalie Massanet was on to something when she founded Net-A-Porter, the online luxury retailer wrapped in a media brand. She understood that she wasn’t just selling clothes, she was selling a story. Massanet followed her first stroke of genius with another, the Net-A-Porter brother site, Mr. Porter. This week, on Mr. Porter The Journal, Mr. Chris Elvidge interviews Photojournalist and Change-Maker, Mr. Sebastian Meyer who has lived in Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, since 2009. He runs Metrography, Iraq’s first photography agency, which he helped establish and which now represents more than 60 photographers. In the Mr. Porter interview, Mr. Meyer speaks eloquently about empowering a nation of photographers, the curiosity that fuels his work, and the upside of letting romance lead the way. Read interview here.

T MAGAZINE
The Place|California’s Central Coast
Explore more at tmagazine.com

T Magazine, The New York Times Style Magazine, has a wonderful spread in its Travel Fall 2012 edition on California’s Central Coast. The four-parter, written by Tanvi Chheda, introduces the young, talented winemakers (a few still under 30) pushing the boundaries of winemaking in more experimental Paso Robles, with acclaimed results, and showcases an array of Central Coast gems, from inns and restaurants, to artisanal food you can sample right on the farm, to the slew of wineries and the local-centric restaurants that have sprouted up in the midst of the verdant farmland of the Central Coast. Read articles here.

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Revel In It Mag

The Fully Realized Life

Tag Archives: Locavorism

Food Policy & Change

In Season:
Roasted Butternut Squash

In Season:
Brussel Sprouts

The Simple Pleasures Of A Farmers Market

The Revelry [Week’s Best]