traditional Guatemalan worry dolls

Does making a change or just anticipate making a change make you nervous? I feel that way on occasion. Usually before I read a book to tell me ever more about how to eat better and everything that is wrong with the current food system. Because there is so, so much that is broken, and so many people that don’t know how to eat to sustain their bodies because they have never been taught how.  I sometimes worry that the more I read and learn the more I might doubt what I am doing or feel guilt for not doing more.

Well, I’ve been meaning to read Nourishing Traditions for quite a while now; but I had that apprehension about it. But when I saw it waiting for me on the library endcap, I knew it was time. I took the book that had been waiting for me and dove in. Nourishing Traditions is all about eating in the way people used to, not fearful of bones in meat and other signs of food with a life: sprouted, lacto-fermented and thoroughly unprocessed. I liked that idea: food that wasn’t totally dead. Live cultures from home cultured dairy products, fruits and vegetables. Not wasting innards and bones; parts of the animal that nutrient rich, have delicious potential, and often thrown out. My liver and onion loving grandfather would approve.  Continue Reading →

strawberries from last summer's garden

So this year I am still in transition. Just like last year. Last year was a small garden, since we moved in June. That meant lots of strawberries from our perennially productive  6×1 foot patch, some mint, a little bit of lettuce and one cherry tomato plant that my son just had to have from the farmer’s market.

This year, sadly, at our rental house there are no strawberry plants to park the kids next to for an after school snack. And we are watching the market, waiting to buy the right house. So, I cannot commit to this yard for a full growing season. I don’t really want to invest the time and money into putting the kind of garden I really want. Yeah, I know I could move a bunch of containers, but that also felt expensive when I what I really want is some lovely raised beds  at my real house, in my real yard. So for now, I am making do.  Continue Reading →

My husband wants to know why in the world I am writing about jicama for this series. “Why would anyone want to eat that thing? I hate the texture,” he says.

I challenge. I love the crisp texture. I love the ease of preparation. I love the mellow sweet flavor. It is such a team player, pairing well with savory or sweet dishes.

“Bah,” he says. “It is like water chestnuts, no good.”

I also happen to like water chestnuts. This is going nowhere.  So I’ll give you a few more reasons to see things my way.

The texture is like a raw potato, but sweeter, closer to an unripe pear. Often called a “Mexican turnip,” it is wrongly nick-named. Jicama is a tuber root of a legume vine. While the rest of the plant is not edible, the root, which can range from1-6 pounds, is. While jicama can be cooked, it is most commonly enjoyed raw, especially in salads. Jicama must be peeled, but it goes fast, the high water content in jicama makes it easy to cut. Then simply shread, dice, julienne the crunchy ivory flesh into the sizes you wish.

Jicama is loaded with fiber and low in calories, so enjoy it to your hearts content. Store it on the counter or in a cool place no colder than 50 degrees and jicama will keep for a month. The fridge is too chilly, so keep it out of there, while it is whole and uncut. Easy to store, easy to prepare and satisfyingly crunchy, crisp and mellow to eat;  jicama is a perfect salad and snacking vegetable.

Check back tomorrow for my favorite jicama salad recipe.

Do you like side with me or my husband- do you like jicama or not so much?

Other new things to try:

Lentils, okra, juneberries, cabbage, fennel, parsnips