These days you hear a lot about people radically changing the way they approach food. Some have pledged to eat nothing grown outside a short radius of home. Others have sworn off packaged foods. A brave few have even vowed to consume only what they can raise in their own backyards. If you’re like me, you hear about these noble efforts and immediately feel guilty about the store bought chips sitting in the cupboard and the Indian tea, shipped halfway around the world, both items equally cherished and impossible to give up. My intent is always to do something about the “chips” in my life, when I find the strength someday. The remorse fades quickly though, in the face of the larger struggle at hand – to get some food, any food, on the table each and every day. How does a busy family seriously find the time, energy, and sheer willpower to fundamentally change the way we feed ourselves?
Still, I can’t deny that all these endeavors speak to my heart and soul – what’s not to love about cooking food grown by a farmer whose name you know and slowing down long enough to savor it with those you love? Even better, what about sharing the experience of cooking from scratch with your kids, so they know what it means to knead dough, shell beans and husk corn – to cook (not just heat in the microwave) meals together every day? What about picking herbs and tomatoes from your own garden for the simplest and most sublime summer salad? So many of these joyful experiences are lost on a regular basis to convenience foods and reheated take-out from last night, as we head out the door to pursue the next activity on the schedule. What about making growing, cooking and eating together the activity on the schedule?
I’m wary of pledges, especially those that include the words “never” or “give up”. Moderation is my thing. I know it won’t work to say I’ll never buy a Mexican mango again or give up going out for Indian food. I need a good potato chip from a bag now and then, and don’t see any harm in that. At the same time, I’m energized by the idea of getting most of our food from a local source, growing whatever we can (and the gophers don’t destroy) and cooking together, the whole family, the old-fashioned way, most of the time.
So, with all of this excitement in my head, I recently sat this mostly vegetarian family of four down and presented my plan. How about if, this summer, and hopefully thereafter, but at least through the tomato season, we try our very best to cook and eat together at least one meal each day (or if that’s too difficult, every other day) that is mostly comprised of ingredients grown or produced within a “reasonable” distance of our home? It came out just like that, as a rather convoluted and possibly confusing question. I emphasized the “mostly” and “try our very best” in an effort to avoid the eye rolling and muttering that I imagined might occur. To my surprise, everyone was intrigued by the plan, admittedly some more than others, but no one muttered even once. It’s true my husband, known to be a reluctant cook, said something like, “sure, how about we start tomorrow”. His reaction, guarded in its enthusiasm, reflected that I was asking him to cook way more than the usual once in a blue moon. Later he more earnestly pledged his support, offering to be our official taster – a job for which he feels most qualified. I couldn’t argue with the logic that any team of serious cooks can benefit from the feedback of some skilled taste buds.
I was encouraged to see the girls exude true excitement. Our almost fourteen year old commented that, “cooking together is fun!” Her younger sister was quick to add that since small farms take better care of their crops and land, it “feels good” to buy from them. Both girls agreed it’s just plain “satisfying” to eat food you’ve helped cook. Ready to start immediately, they proposed taking their father under wing and gently enticing him into the role of cook (no doubt in a more supportive manner than their mother). We’ll see where that goes, but in the meantime, we have one dedicated taster and three willing and eager cooks.
Getting started was simple since we had just picked up our weekly CSA vegetable box, plus we have a garden chock full of herbs and several trees with lemons, oranges and limes still hanging on. Clearly we had plenty of locally grown raw materials, ready to go.
We decided to roast the sweet cherry tomatoes from the farm box with onion, garlic and fresh basil from our garden for a savory pasta sauce – simple to make yet wonderfully rich in flavor. The crisp, fresh lettuce was tossed into an equally effortless salad, along with oranges from our tree, and an avocado and some walnuts from the nearby farmers’ market. With the addition of fresh bread from a local baker, the feast was complete. Judging by the empty plates and satisfied smiles after our meal, I’d say our experiment is off to a strong start. Stay tuned to see if the enthusiasm continues into another week!
Recipe – Pasta with Roasted Cherry Tomatoes and Basil
Recipe – Mixed Green Salad with Orange, Avocado and Radish
