the whole local only food movement is a great one, but puzzling. How precisely are a large percentage of Americans to eat fruits and vegtables when they either {or both} live in non-farming metropolitan areas or the weather does not allow for a growing season 6-8 months of the year? Especially this year. Snow began in October and was still coming down outside my window this past Wednesday.
The ground is still hard and bare and even grass is finding it difficult to grow. There are a few nurseries operating their greenhouses, but they're mainly supplying pretty plants not food ones. In a larger population center {my address is a village of maybe 250 people, but that actual place is three miles from my home} there is a far better selection of food brought in, but that's not exactly within the required 30 to 50 or is it100 miles locavores suggest. Besides, the California strawberries and the Mexican blackberries at my stores are cheaper than the ones in the growing season. That and the fact that this rural area really doesn't farm means locals are stuck without options, even in summer.
We could all be growing our food. My neighbor raises and butchers hogs. His heifer just dropped her calf yesterday morning. We'll have pig and cow when he butchers them. But when it comes to veg, we're lucky if that same neighbor {a retired roofer who farms for fun and keeps house when his wife is at work} plants some sweet corn. We've attempted gardening at least once every three years since I can remember. The store's busy season doesn't allow for it.
There are some farmer's markets and friends who garden, but often those farmer's markets are stocked with items grown in Ohio or New York or clear across the state, more than the requisite locavore distance for food to have traveled. As such, I just don't care whether my food is local or not. I'd prefer it, but I've become far more worried about how much it's been processed before it hits my plate.
I'm nearly to the point where I only buy "whole" foods. Is it a piece of chicken? ok, then. Is it in a freezer bag, with enticing comments suggesting it is an easy appetizer? no thanks. Are there ingredients listed that I'm not sure I can pronounce but mean that the jarred whatever will last until 2025? nope. Is it a piece of fruit or veg that with a tiny bit of coaxing will taste delicious? I'm on board, season or no.
So, when whole tomatoes are in the grocery store and maybe they're from California or Central America {the same for early green beans and asparagus because I'm dying for any tiny bit of spring by now}, I'm still buying them. I'm buying out of season, out of country tomatoes and pretending it is spring.
This sauce and pasta will take just under 30 minutes, making it perfect for a thrown together meal that feels far more nuanced than opening a jar and microwaving it.
Simple Thyme Tomato Sauce, with Vegetables {scale up to serve 4, down to serve 1}
3-4 tablespooons olive oil
2 to 4 cloves garlic, smashed and peeled
pinch of dried rosemary, bruised
1 teaspoon dried thyme
2 to 8 Roma tomatoes, quartered (1 to 3 standard tomatoes, depending on size)
salt & pepper to taste
1/4 to 1/3 cup wine
1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 to 1 cup each, asparagus and green beans, cut into bite sized pieces
1/4 lemon
pour the oil into a cold pan, turn on low heat and add the garlic and herbs. Allow spices to meld for five or ten minutes, depending on how much time you have until service. After the appropriate time, turn pan to medium-high heat and add the tomatoes, salt and pepper. Cover and allow to simmer for 5 minutes, tossing occasionally. After five minutes, gently press the tomatoes with the back of a spoon, then add the wine (I prefer rose for this, though anything you'd like to drink with the meal works) and sugar. Taste for flavor, then reduce heat to low and allow to simmer to a thick sauce, usually about ten minutes.
Meanwhile, you should have heated salted water to a boil and been cooking your favorite pasta. When the pasta is two minutes from al dente, toss the asparagus and green beans into the sauce, increasing the heat back to medium-high. Then add the nearly cooked pasta (I prefer penne or gnocchi for this sauce but whatever you like is best) along with pasta water, if necessary, and the lemon juice. You're looking for a sauce that will soak into the pasta as it cooks for the final two minutes, but not so soppy that it will pool or run on your plate. Cook sauce, veg, and pasta until the sauce is desired thickness and the veg and pasta are done.
I prefer my asparagus and green beans to be lightly cooked. This method cooks them for five minutes or less. If you prefer a more tender and not at all crunchy veg, add it earlier before adding the pasta. Serve with some grated cheese, good bread, and possibly a salad and/or grilled meat.
Feel free, also, to omit or substitute the green beans and asparagus. Neither is required, but their addition makes it easier to get away without adding any sides.
"Be well. Do good work. Keep in touch." - Garrison Keillor
The ground is still hard and bare and even grass is finding it difficult to grow. There are a few nurseries operating their greenhouses, but they're mainly supplying pretty plants not food ones. In a larger population center {my address is a village of maybe 250 people, but that actual place is three miles from my home} there is a far better selection of food brought in, but that's not exactly within the required 30 to 50 or is it100 miles locavores suggest. Besides, the California strawberries and the Mexican blackberries at my stores are cheaper than the ones in the growing season. That and the fact that this rural area really doesn't farm means locals are stuck without options, even in summer.
We could all be growing our food. My neighbor raises and butchers hogs. His heifer just dropped her calf yesterday morning. We'll have pig and cow when he butchers them. But when it comes to veg, we're lucky if that same neighbor {a retired roofer who farms for fun and keeps house when his wife is at work} plants some sweet corn. We've attempted gardening at least once every three years since I can remember. The store's busy season doesn't allow for it.
There are some farmer's markets and friends who garden, but often those farmer's markets are stocked with items grown in Ohio or New York or clear across the state, more than the requisite locavore distance for food to have traveled. As such, I just don't care whether my food is local or not. I'd prefer it, but I've become far more worried about how much it's been processed before it hits my plate.
I'm nearly to the point where I only buy "whole" foods. Is it a piece of chicken? ok, then. Is it in a freezer bag, with enticing comments suggesting it is an easy appetizer? no thanks. Are there ingredients listed that I'm not sure I can pronounce but mean that the jarred whatever will last until 2025? nope. Is it a piece of fruit or veg that with a tiny bit of coaxing will taste delicious? I'm on board, season or no.
So, when whole tomatoes are in the grocery store and maybe they're from California or Central America {the same for early green beans and asparagus because I'm dying for any tiny bit of spring by now}, I'm still buying them. I'm buying out of season, out of country tomatoes and pretending it is spring.
This sauce and pasta will take just under 30 minutes, making it perfect for a thrown together meal that feels far more nuanced than opening a jar and microwaving it.
Simple Thyme Tomato Sauce, with Vegetables {scale up to serve 4, down to serve 1}
3-4 tablespooons olive oil
2 to 4 cloves garlic, smashed and peeled
pinch of dried rosemary, bruised
1 teaspoon dried thyme
2 to 8 Roma tomatoes, quartered (1 to 3 standard tomatoes, depending on size)
salt & pepper to taste
1/4 to 1/3 cup wine
1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 to 1 cup each, asparagus and green beans, cut into bite sized pieces
1/4 lemon
pour the oil into a cold pan, turn on low heat and add the garlic and herbs. Allow spices to meld for five or ten minutes, depending on how much time you have until service. After the appropriate time, turn pan to medium-high heat and add the tomatoes, salt and pepper. Cover and allow to simmer for 5 minutes, tossing occasionally. After five minutes, gently press the tomatoes with the back of a spoon, then add the wine (I prefer rose for this, though anything you'd like to drink with the meal works) and sugar. Taste for flavor, then reduce heat to low and allow to simmer to a thick sauce, usually about ten minutes.
Meanwhile, you should have heated salted water to a boil and been cooking your favorite pasta. When the pasta is two minutes from al dente, toss the asparagus and green beans into the sauce, increasing the heat back to medium-high. Then add the nearly cooked pasta (I prefer penne or gnocchi for this sauce but whatever you like is best) along with pasta water, if necessary, and the lemon juice. You're looking for a sauce that will soak into the pasta as it cooks for the final two minutes, but not so soppy that it will pool or run on your plate. Cook sauce, veg, and pasta until the sauce is desired thickness and the veg and pasta are done.
I prefer my asparagus and green beans to be lightly cooked. This method cooks them for five minutes or less. If you prefer a more tender and not at all crunchy veg, add it earlier before adding the pasta. Serve with some grated cheese, good bread, and possibly a salad and/or grilled meat.
Feel free, also, to omit or substitute the green beans and asparagus. Neither is required, but their addition makes it easier to get away without adding any sides.
"Be well. Do good work. Keep in touch." - Garrison Keillor
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