Consumers and farmers practicing sustainable, organic methods are facing another battle: genetically engineered alfalfa will make its way into farmers fields unless the public actively weighs in against its deregulation.  After years of fighting for the deregulation of its genetically engineered, Roundup-ready Alfalfa, Monsanto may be granted its wish as the USDA is considering deregulation of the crop.    The USDA has opened up a public comment period, which ends on Tuesday, February 16th – so now is the time to vocalize your feelings regarding the continuation of genetic engineering and …

You’ve got one week under your belts: you’ve cleaned out your pantry, learned about the proper preparation of grains, prepared a soaked flour recipe, started your sourdough, sprouted some grain and – perhaps – even attempted milling your very own flour. So it’s time to check in and let everyone know how you’re doing.
Did you really clean all the processed food from your pantry?  Are you still struggling with placing stevia, whole grain pastas and agave nectar on the forbidden list?  How’s your sourdough starter going?  What, in this first …

Olive oil.  There is nothing quite like a fruity, complexly flavored olive oil – teeming with antioxidants, polyphenols and vitamin E.  It’s sacred, mystical – weaving its way in and out of Mediterranean
folklore and myth. Homer referred to it as “liquid gold,” and rightly so – it imparts a beauty to foods and supports wellness with its wholesome serving of m
onounsaturated fats paired with other micronutrients and antioxidants.  Too often, though, olive oil is never given the opportunity to shine in its own right – to revel in its own …

Veal gets a bad rap. We all can’t help but to equate any veal with industrial veal.  We imagine cute black-and-white calves, chained in a box, their faces forlorn as they lonesomely moo for their mothers.  Yeah. It’s a grim thought.  For that reason, I’d never really consumed veal until this summer when a box of meat that included little else but veal arrived from our meat CSA.  A note in the box and a subsequent email explained that this veal was different.  This veal was raised by momma.
Indeed, the …

It’s February 1st, and that means the 28-day Real Food Challenge is underway here at Nourished Kitchen.  Day #1’s assignment – cleaning your cupboards – has been sent out and participants should be receiving it shortly.  We’ll follow up with another assignment every day for the entire month of February with goal of  introducing the principles of a nourishing diet to newcomers of the traditional foods movement while helping to reinvigorate the passion of those who’ve followed a traditional diet for some time.
We’ve over 500 participants, and I’m thrilled to …

Swimming a pool of fresh cream and seasoned with fragrant herbs, baked salmon makes for a satisfying and deeply nourishing supper.  Simple food is often the best food.  Indeed, good food needn’t be complicated.  When you rely on wholesome ingredients of the best quality you can reasonably afford, the simplest of preparations will illuminate their natural beauty.  In simple preparations, as in this 4-step recipe for baked salmon in cream and herbs, allow the full, but often quite subtle, flavors of individual ingredients to shine.
A sacred food in many …

Baked garlic, savory and sweet, finds its way into our kitchen more often than it should – weaving its way in and out of sauces, breads and soups.  And, without a doubt, we enjoy it in its own right – unctuous and smooth, intensely garlicky and scented with fresh thyme.  Garlic, mellowed but simultaneously made richer by roasting, provides a lovely, but mild sweetness to savory dishes.
Garlic, like leeks, onions and most alliums, is a potent food – rich in nutrients including sulfur-compounds which account for its strong odor, vitamins …

1. Start a community garden.
Gather a group of friends or like-minded enthusiasts of local food with the goal of creating a community garden.  Together your group can begin the planning and eventual execution of a community garden.  First select a series of potential sites.  Consider petitioning your local government for space.  Next, develop your application, rules and regulations and bylaws – those documents that will protect and govern your garden. Will you require adherence to sustainable growing practices?  Read more from the American Community Gardening Association.
2.  Offer to coordinate a …

Quinoa is a remarkable grain – rich in magnesium, phosphorus and manganese as well as the amino acid lysine which offers antiviral properties.  Quinoa is not truly a cereal grain in the same manner as wheat or rye; rather, it’s a pseudocereal and, as such, is gluten-free and well-tolerated by those who choose to consume it. This quinoa salad combines pine nuts, feta cheese, parsley and radicchio and is best served with a very light olive oil vinaigrette.
This quinoa salad is fresh, and savory but also dense in nutrients.  Pine …

Black bean soup – warm, spicy, brimming with chicken, beans and vegetables – is a dish that everyone can appreciate.  There’s nothing quite like a nourishing black bean soup on a cold winter’s afternoon, that, when paired with a salad of fresh winter greens and full-bodied unrefined olive oil, makes for a fully satisfying meal.  A good black bean soup is both hearty and delightful, and decidedly filling.  This black bean soup combines homemade mineral-rich broth with chicken while the addition of salsa and chipotle chile powder provides a lovely …