Thursday, April 8, 2010

Thursday's Thinking of Food

Well, I have a couple interesting food-related stories for you, as well as a book recommendation and a link to a cookbook giveaway...so dig in!

*I read this post on hunger on change.org's Poverty in America blog, which then linked me to these amazing photographs and stories of hunger by Michael Nye. His new exhibit "About Hunger and Resilience" is on display at San Antonio's Witte Museum. Click here to see/hear his interview with NPR. Did you know that in 2008, 49.1 million Americans lived in food insecure households? Go to Feeding America for more facts about hunger and ways you can help.

image via here

*This past Sunday I prepared 2 very healthy and delicious, (if I do say so myself), spinach lasagnas to feed my students when they came to eat dinner at my house Monday night. The recipe I used is from the book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver, Camille Kingsolver & Steven L. Hopp. I have yet to read the entire book, but it is on my short-list.

Here's the recipe, with my tweaks:
SPINACH LASAGNA
Ingredients:
1 lb. whole grain lasagna noodles-Prepare according to package directions
4 cups chopped spinach (I used fresh spinach, and didn't steam it--worked fine)
Steam for 2-3 minutes, let excess water drain
16 oz. tomato sauce (I used an Earth Fare brand organic pasta sauce)
2 cups fresh ricotta (I used reduced fat)
2 cups mozzarella

Directions:
Spread a thin layer of tomato sauce on the bottom of a large casserole. Cover surface with a layer of noodles, ½ of the ricotta, ½ of the spinach, 1/3 of the remaining sauce and 1/3 of the mozzarella. Lay down another layer of noodles, the rest of the ricotta, the rest of the spinach, 1/3 of the sauce and 1/3 of the mozzarella. Spread a final layer of noodles, the remainder of the sauce and mozzarella, bake uncovered at 350 for 40 minutes. (I found the top layer of noodles got a bit crispy cooking it uncovered, so if you don't want a crispy top-layer, cook it covered for most of the 40 minutes)

image via here

*Sarah McColl of Pink of Perfection--one of the first blogs I ever started reading, years ago--gave me the go-ahead to include a link to her awesome giveaway-- In the Green Kitchen by Alice Waters. I would looove to have this book, and I am seriously diminishing my chances of winning it by sharing the giveaway with all of you, but I'm selfless like that. :) Leave a comment describing your favorite thing about Spring cooking on this post by 12 midnight tomorrow, Friday, April 9th to be entered to win.



*And, for those of you who say you have no room for a veggie garden, or those who live in an apartment or big city--here's your answer: window-farming. This is a fast-catching-on fad apparently; there is even a website windowfarms.org that explains more about the project and can help you set up your own window farm. Watch the video above. I first read about it on NPR, here.

And speaking of farming...I promise to post about our veggie garden this weekend. Anyone else planting a garden this year? I'd love to hear about it.

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