Chuck a Spear at Childhood Obesity: Support Purple Asparagus

Photo Credit Kelly Angeline Photography

Today, I read two pieces of frustrating news.

The first was a gracious rejection letter from a major grant funder. After careful consideration, blah, blah, blah. Bottom line, yet again, Purple Asparagus will enter a new year nowhere near fully funded.

I must admit that even though Purple Asparagus has been in existence since 2005, it’s only been a year since our getting into the grant game. Hopefully by the time 2013 rolls around, the organization will be more sustainable financially and not entirely reliant upon the efforts of our deeply dedicated volunteers, especially my own.

The second bit of news came from the Atlantic, which reported on a study demonstrating that kids like vegetables more when served with dip or hummus.

Here’s what I’ve got to say to The Atlantic, to the Temple University researcher, and the foundation that funded the project: No duh.

“METHODOLOGY: For seven weeks, Temple University obesity researcher Jennifer Orlet Fisher served broccoli at snack time to 152 preschool-aged children and analyzed the effect of offering them various dips.”

“CONCLUSION: Low-fat dips can help children accept bitter food like broccoli or Brussels Sprouts.”

Is this seriously what passes off as research worthy of funding in this country? Times are hard and money is tight. Schools can barely pay their teachers, much less find funding in their limited budgets for nutrition education. But we can all rest assured now that Ms. Orlet Fisher has concluded without a shadow of a doubt that children like vegetables more when paired with sauce. A better, and more interesting, question would be: who doesn’t?

If the funder of Ms. Orlet Fisher’s research truly wants to increase the consumption of fruits and vegetables by children, they should fund the work that we do at Purple Asparagus and similar organizations operating in cities all over this nation. With our food service and food loving backgrounds, we take it as a given that vegetables will be more appealing when paired with a sauce. We also understand that some vegetables taste better cooked.

For the vegetable tastings we organized for Chefs Move to School Chicago, the largest coordinated response to Michelle Obama’s call to chefs, we showed our kids how to make their own ranch dip and then paired them with a combination of raw and cooked vegetables. Peppers, tomatoes, and celery root were popular raw. Cauliflower best roasted and broccoli blanched. The vast majority of the kids loved what they tried.

Enough with funding for research that simply confirms common sense notions. Instead, let’s find funding for organizations that implement common sense solutions.


Photo Credit Artisan Events

If you’d like to chuck a spear at childhood obesity, please participate in Purple Asparagus’ first ever annual appeal. With an entirely volunteer team, we’ll visit monthly at least 25 underserved Chicago Public Schools this year. We believe that to break the cycle of obesity, we need to teach children about good, whole foods and so we introduce children to the joys of Carrot Tacos, Homemade Cranberry-Lime Pop, and Double R White Bean Crostini. Just $35.00 will buy the ingredients for a single classroom and every dollar goes directly to support our programming. If you love food and care about the health of kids, please support Purple Asparagus by clicking here.

Drink, Eat at Corks and Crayons and Support Purple Asparagus

Photo Credit, Artisan Events

Imagine a class full of children swearing that they hate vegetables. Not hard to envision, right? Come back in an hour and watch them swarm the teacher’s desk for any leftovers from their veggie tasting. Believe that? I’ve witnessed this transformation on hundreds of occasions while teaching in the Chicago Public Schools for the non-profit that I founded and run, Purple Asparagus.

Purple Asparagus educates children, families and the community about eating that’s good for the body and the planet. Every year, we present Delicious Nutritious Adventures, our cornerstone education program, to thousands of parents and children throughout Chicago at schools, community centers, and farmers' markets. Delicious Nutritious Adventures invites families to explore the foods we eat in an entirely different way. We teach about the farmers who grow the food, the places it comes from, what’s good about food grown close to the earth, and how to prepare healthy, delicious recipes. Combining nutrition education, food literacy, cooking, and fun, our highly popular hands on classes celebrate farm fresh fruits and vegetables.

Obesity is a national crisis, one that’s hit Chicago particularly hard. Overweight and obese children are at greater risk for diabetes, hypertension, increased risk of heart disease, and poor self-esteem. The issue is particularly prevalent in the underserved communities where good food is in short supply. Purple Asparagus is working to combat this issue in these communities by taking a new approach to healthy eating.

While teaching kids about healthy choices is a priority to Purple Asparagus, we’re sneaky about that message. Everything about our classes (even our name) is fun. Kids are more willing to try “healthy” foods when they’re not presented as such. A first grade boy will surely turn up his nose at a chickpea when told that it’s high in fiber and protein. Explain instead that its Italian name comes from its resemblance to a wart on a famous Roman’s face and he’ll climb all over his classmate’s to try it. Describe mint as a gum plant and a child’s resistance to the green leaves will melt. We explore food in a way that’s interesting and fun that makes kids happy to try new foods.

In the 2010-11 school year, we provided 250 hours of free educational programming to schools, community centers, farmer's markets, and health fairs in Chicago serving roughly 2,500 students in over 30 Chicago neighborhoods on a shoestring budget with an all volunteer staff. We also served as a lead partner with Healthy Schools Campaign on the largest coordinated response to Michelle Obama's call to chefs, Chefs Move to Schools. Through this program, we trained over 175 chefs who visited close to 200 schools reaching 8,000 children.

All this is great, you say, but how can I help? It couldn’t be a better week to ask this question. Purple Asparagus’ annual fundraiser, Corks & Crayons Benefit at Uncommon Ground, 1401 W Devon Ave, Chicago, on Sunday, August 28, 2011 from 3-7 p.m. The family-friendly event that brings foodies old and young together to celebrate the joys of family meals and healthy eating all for a good cause. The event will include a mini farmers’ market sponsored by Harvest Moon Organics farm, live music from Old Town School musicians, the Kohl Foundation Storybook Bus as well as Truck Farm Chicago, a traveling mini-farm exhibit connecting kids to food and health.

If you cannot attend, please consider bidding on our online auction. We have some terrific auction items to buy now as well as some new items coming on in the next few days - even for out of towners!

A Market Inspired Alternative Meal Plan to Let's Move's Let's Cook

Photo credit, Chicago Tribune, from an article about Monday's Chefs in the Classroom Event

Since my critique of the Let's Cook series on the White House's Let's Move website, I've posted several delicious meal plans from guest bloggers. It's now my turn.

In the past, to create a meal plan, I would scour through magazines and cookbooks on a Friday night searching for inspiration. Saturday, I would shop, both at farmers’ markets (during the season) and the grocery store for the staples not available at the market. This year changed all that. As a member of two CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture), my menu is defined by what arrives in my produce box from Harvest Moon Organics and what meat is in the freezer from my monthly pick up from Cedar Valley Sustainable Farm, a meat CSA. We still go to the market and the grocery store, but that’s just to fill in around what’s already here. As I’ve written before, it’s a very comforting way to plan a menu.

I served the following meals late in September, a particularly good week for my kitchen. With few evening meetings, we were home for dinner every night that week – a rare occurrence. I think it’s a terrific set of dinners for early autumn.

You'll likely notice that there’s something missing from my meal plan that you may want to reincorporate for your family: bread, pasta, and potatoes. My husband adheres to a low carb diet after his doctor strongly recommended it for the health of his heart. He has a family history of heart disease and high cholesterol and a severely bad back prevents him from vigorous exercise. We don’t go crazy, so you’ll see breadcrumbs, legumes and other starchy ingredients here, but we have tried to excise all of the simple carbs from our daily routine. Well, except one, nobody’s given up wine around here.

I suggest setting aside a few hours on Sunday, whatever time is good for you, to prep for the rest of the week’s meals. Much of this Sunday time is unattended, so you could read a book, help your kid with their homework, play a game, or watch television while you’re getting ready for a week full of delicious, nutritious meals.

SUNDAY:

1. In the morning, soak a pound dried chickpeas by covering them with water in a large bowl.
2. At any point at least an hour before dinner, start making your meat mixture to stuff in the peppers for Sunday’s supper. You’ll use the remaining mix to make Meat Loaf for a meal later in the week.
3. Cook the hollowed out green peppers in salted boiling water for 3 minutes. Remove with tongs and drain. Add ½ pound of trimmed green beans. Cook for 2 minutes and then remove to a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking immediately. Set the peppers in a pan ready for stuffing. Wrap the green beans in paper towels then package in a container and refrigerate.
4. While the Stuffed Peppers and Meat Loaf are baking, prepare the Moussaka up until the point at which it goes in the oven.
5. Cook the chickpeas. Drain the chickpeas and put them in a large saucepan. Cover with about 1 ½ inches of water and add a teaspoon of salt. Bring to a boil, skimming any foam that rises to the top (you don’t have to be obsessive about this). Reduce to a simmer and cook until tender. Let cool then package the chickpeas in their cooking liquid and refrigerate.

Stuffed Peppers/Meat Loaf
Makes 1 loaf and 4 stuffed peppers

2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 carrot, peeled and diced
1 celery, diced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 pound ground pork
1 ½ pounds ground beef
2 teaspoons kosher salt
½ cup chopped Italian parsley
1/3 cup ketchup
1/3 cup sour cream
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
2 large eggs
1 cup bread crumbs
Freshly ground pepper
4 large green peppers, blanched
6 slices bacon

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Heat the oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add onion, carrot, and celery and cook until softened approximately 7 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant. Remove from heat and let cool slightly. Whisk the eggs slightly in a large bowl. Mix in the sautéed vegetables. Add the pork, beef, salt, parsley, ketchup, sour cream, Worcestershire sauce, bread crumbs, and a few grinds of freshly ground pepper. Combine with your hands, being careful not to overmix.

Slice off the first ¼-inch top of the stem of each pepper. Remove the ribs and seeds. Slice off a small bit of the bottom so that it will sit flat. Sit the peppers into a 9-inch round baking pan. Press half of the mixture into a standard metal, glass or ceramic loaf pan. Lay two slices of bacon on top of the meat. Scoop the remaining meat loaf into the green peppers. Halve each of the remaining slices of bacon and lay on top of the peppers.Set each pan onto the center rack.

Bake for 30-45 minutes or until the meat reaches 165° F. Let it sit for 10 minutes while the cauliflower is roasting. Serve the peppers on Sunday. Let the meat loaf cool and then wrap in aluminum foil. Refrigerate for up to a week or freeze. You can serve the leftovers either at room temperature or reheated.

Roast Cauliflower
Serves 4

1 large cauliflower, trimmed and separated into florets
1 ½ tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
½ teaspoon kosher salt

Increase the oven temperature to 400° F. Arrange the cauliflower in a single layer on a 9 by 13 baking pan. Drizzle with oil and sprinkle with salt. Roast for 10 to 15 minutes or until the cauliflower is lightly browned.

Braised Green Beans with Tomato and Onion
Serves 4

1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
1/2 white or yellow onion, chopped
3/4 pound green beans, trimmed
1/2 tomato, chopped

Heat the oil over medium heat in a skillet with a cover. Add onion and cook until slightly softened, approximately 3 minutes. Dump in green beans, tomato, and 1 tablespoon water. Cover and cook for 15 minutes or until the green beans have softened. Season with salt to taste.

MONDAY

Moussaka
Serves 4 with leftovers

I prepare the Moussaka and prebake it on Sunday night so that all I have to do on Monday, usually a busy day, is heat the oven, brown the Moussaka, and make a green salad.

1 large eggplant
1 pound ground lamb
Approximately ¼-cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
2 large cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg, preferably freshly grated
1 teaspoon dried oregano
12 ounces tomato puree
½ cup red wine
½ stick unsalted butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups warm milk
pinch nutmeg, preferably freshly grated
2 large eggs
5 grinds freshly ground pepper
1/3 pound grated goat cheddar or mozzarella (substitute cows milk mozzarella, if you can't find the goat variety)

Preheat the oven to 300º F.

Peel the eggplant and cut into 1/2-inch slices. Set them in a colander and sprinkle with approximately 1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt. Let the eggplant drain for 1/2 hour.

Cook the ground lamb in a large sauté pan or skillet over medium high heat until it just loses its pink color. Add onions and garlic and cook for 10 minutes. Add the cinnamon, nutmeg, oregano, tomato puree, red wine and salt and pepper to taste. Reduce the heat to medium and cook for about 1/2 hour. Remove from the heat.

Wipe the eggplant slices dry. Heat 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil in a large non-stick sauté pan over high heat. When hot, add a single layer of eggplant slices and cook until they are just browned on the exterior. Repeat with additional oil and eggplant slices.

Melt the butter in a small sauté pan over medium heat. Sprinkle in flour and whisk until the mixture is smooth. Whisk in the warm milk and cook until the mixture thickens, stirring constantly. This will take between 1 and 3 minutes. Let it cool slightly, then whisk in the eggs, salt, pepper and nutmeg.

In a medium sized oval casserole or a 9 by 9-inch baking pan, layer half of the eggplant slices. Spread all of the lamb sauce on top. Sprinkle the meat with half of the cheese. Top with remaining eggplant. Smooth on the white sauce over the top and then sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake for 1 hour. Cool to room temperature and then refrigerate overnight.

The next day, preheat the oven to 350° F and bake until browned.

Yogurt-Scallion Dressing
The recipe makes dressing for 2 salads.

This is delicious with romaine or green leaf lettuce. I like to cut up a cucumber or radish to toss with the lettuce.

3 tablespoons plain low fat yogurt
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
2 teaspoons finely chopped scallion
¼ teaspoon kosher salt

Mix all ingredients in a small bowl.

TUESDAY

I do admit that there’s a little irony in the ingredient list. One of the biggest critiques that I had for Let’s Move Let’s Cook series was that it called for hard to find ingredients like smoked paprika. That being said, when I looked back at what I used to make this soup – one of the seasonings was smoked paprika, which I use frequently given its versatility. If you can find it, it’s a good spice to have. If you cannot, substitute sweet paprika, chipotle chili powder or chili spice mix. The resulting soup will taste a little differently, but it will still be delicious.

This is a terrific almost vegetarian soup. You could round this out with some whole wheat pita bread and a green salad.

Chickpea and Tomato Soup
Serves 4

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 leek, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon cumin
pinch coriander (optional)
1/8 teaspoon smoked paprika, sweet paprika, or ground chipotle
3 red beefsteak tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped (you could substitute canned)
4 cups chicken stock
2 cups cooked chickpeas
1 small bunch kale or Swiss chard, ribs removed

Heat the oil in a large sauce pan or a soup pot over medium heat. Cook until the leeks give off moisture and are softened about 5 minutes. Add garlic, cumin, coriander, paprika or chipotle. Stir and cook until fragrant about 30 seconds. Scrape in tomatoes, pour in the chicken stock, and add half of the chickpeas. Bring the liquid to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Cover and cook for 15 minutes. While cooking, thinly slice the kale. After 15 minutes, remove the soup from the heat. Let cool slightly. Puree the soup in a blender, food processor, food mill or with a stick blender. Return the soup to the pan. Add the remaining chickpeas and the greens and cook until the greens are wilted, about 10 minutes. Serve warm.

WEDNESDAY


The chicken with peppers and a touch of arugula, another way to serve it.

Hummus
Makes approximately 2 ½ cups

On our low carb diet, we often substitute hummus for mashed potatoes. If you don’t have time to make it, there are certainly many delicious commercially prepared versions.

1 15-ounce can chickpeas
¼ cup tahini
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 garlic clove, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon lemon juice or more to taste
¼-½ teaspoon kosher salt

Strain the chickpeas over a small bowl. Put them in the bowl of a food processor. Add tahini, olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, and kosher salt then process until smooth. Add liquid from chickpeas through the feeding tube until the hummus reaches the desired consistency.

Parmesan-Crusted Chicken Breasts
Serves 4

Of course, you could always buy bone-in chicken breasts for this recipe and remove the bone to use for stock. Since this is a regular dish in my after work repertoire, I often take the easy way out with pre-pounded chicken cutlets. I like to pair it with roasted, marinated, multi-colored peppers.

4 chicken cutlets or chicken breast halves, boned, skinned, and pounded between two pieces of plastic wrap or parchment
¼ cup all-purpose flour
2 large eggs
3 tablespoons water
½ cup whole wheat crumbs (I use panko-style)
½ cup grated parmesan style cheese (I use a Midwestern cheese called Sarvecchio)
2 tablespoons snipped chives, optional
Zest from half of a lemon
1 teaspoon kosher salt
5 grinds of pepper
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Place two shallow bowls side by side. Put the flour in one bowl. Mix together the water and egg in the second and then the bread crumbs, cheese, chives, lemon zest, salt and pepper in the third. Heat the olive oil in a non-stick sauté pan over medium high heat until hot but not smoking. Dredge the chicken first in the flour, then the egg mixture and finally the bread crumb mixture. Add each piece of meat into the pan and immediately turn the heat to medium. Sauté for approximately 4 minutes on one side, 3 minutes on the other. Serve warm with the following recipe for marinated peppers.

Mama Lena’s Roasted and Marinated Bell Peppers
Serves 4

6 bell peppers of various colors
6 garlic cloves
5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
¼ teaspoon sherry vinegar
½ teaspoon fine sea salt

Grill, broil or roast the peppers over an open flame. Put the peppers into bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap until cool to the touch. Remove the skins and the seeds from the peppers. Slice into ¼-inch slices. Very thinly slice garlic cloves. Mix together the peppers, sliced garlic cloves, olive oil, vinegar and salt in a medium-size bowl and marinate for at least an hour, preferably overnight.

Green Beans with Balsamic-Shallot Dressing
Serves 4

½ green beans, trimmed and blanched on Sunday
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 shallot lobe, finely chopped
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

Heat the oil in a sauté pan over medium heat. Stir in the shallots and cook until softened. Let cool slightly and whisk in the balsamic vinegar. Toss with the green beans and sprinkle with salt.

THURSDAY

Whole Wheat Pasta with Broccoli-Tomato Sauce
Serves 4 with leftovers

1 large clove garlic (3 large if using tomato puree)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 bunch broccoli
1/3 pound bulk Italian sausage (optional)
4 cups tomato puree or tomato sauce
pinch dried basil (if using puree)
½ teaspoon dried oregano (if using puree)
1 teaspoon salt (if using puree)
pinch of red pepper flakes, optional
1 pound dried whole wheat pasta, such as shells or rotini
parmesan or romano cheese to top, optional

Chop the garlic very finely. Remove the broccoli tops from the stems and separate them into florets. Slice the stems to ½-inch thick. Heat the olive oil in a medium soup pot over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook, stirring constantly, for a minute. Add the broccoli and stir to coat with the oil. Dump in the sausage (if using) and cook until no longer pink. Pour in tomato puree or sauce and sprinkle in red pepper flakes. If using puree, add the herbs. Cover and cook for 15 minutes to a half hour depending on how soft you like your broccoli. Taste for seasoning.

While the sauce is cooking, cook the pasta according to the directions. Serve topped with cheese.

Raw Kale Salad with Tomato and Almonds
Serves 4

1 tablespoon orange juice
1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
A few dashes hot sauce
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 small bunch kale, preferably dinosaur, sliced ¼-inch thick
½ medium tomato, diced
6 toasted whole almonds, chopped

Stir together the orange juice, vinegar, hot sauce, and salt and pepper to taste in a medium bowl. Whisk in olive oil until thickened. Stir in kale, tomato, and almonds. Let sit for about an hour or until the kale has softened.

FRIDAY

It doesn’t have to be Friday, but on one of days of the week, we have a leftover night with Meat Loaf as our protein. You could serve the rest of the hummus and roast peppers with a green salad. You could also toss the peppers with pasta and a bit a cheese, goat or mozzarella.

SATURDAY

You can start this in the morning and set into a slow cooker all day, perfuming the house with its meaty fragrance. By the time the dinner rolls around, you’ll have a plateful of tender meat slices to top pasta, polenta, or mashed potatoes. Serve with a green vegetable on the side either a salad, broccoli, or peas.

Beef Braised in Wine & Onions
Serves 4 with leftovers

1 chuck roast, approximately 3 pounds
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 large yellow onion, thinly sliced
6 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup full bodied red wine
1 cup beef broth, preferably homemade
1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes
¼ teaspoon dried basil
½ teaspoon dried Greek oregano
Pinch of red pepper flakes

Season the roast with salt and pepper. Brown it on all sides in a Dutch oven over set over medium-high heat. (I do this in the insert to my slow cooker). Remove the meat to a plate. Reduce the heat to medium and add the olive oil. After about a minute, add the onion, stirring until softened and slightly browned, approximately 10 minutes – you may need to reduce the heat to medium-low. Add garlic and cook for approximately 2 minutes. Add red wine and bring to a boil. Reduce slightly. Add broth, tomatoes, basil, oregano and red pepper flakes, return to a boil. Add the chuck roast and any juices that have accumulated onto the plate. Reduce to a low simmer, cover, and cook for 3-5 hours until extremely tender, flipping the meat about half way through. This can be done in a slow cooker on low, which would take about 6 hours. Remove the meat from the pot and put onto a plate. Reduce the sauce by increasing the heat to medium high. Let the sauce reduce to your preference. Adjust the sauce seasoning with salt and pepper. Serve on top of the polenta.

No Stir Polenta
Serves 4

I found this recipe in the dearly departed Gourmet Magazine. It’s so easy that it makes polenta more plentiful in my household. If, however, you don’t have 45 minutes to wait, you can always use an instant polenta.

2 cups water
2 cups chicken stock
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup polenta or coarsely ground cornmeal
2 tablespoons unsalted butter (optional)
1 tablespoon grated parmesan cheese (optional

Heat the water and chicken stock in a large saucepan to a boil. Add salt and reduce the heat to low heat. Whisk in the polenta in a slow stream. Stir constantly for 2 minutes. Cover for 10 minutes. Remove the cover and stir continually for one more minute. Repeat this process 4 more times. Remove the cover and add butter and parmesan.

A Seasonal Meal Plan from Bret Beall of GOD-DESS

The third installment in our alternative meal plans comes from my friend Bret Beall. This series takes full advantage of the farmers' market bounty of late summer. I love the fact that Bret considers the season not just in ingredient choice, but also kitchen technique - suggesting oven-free dishes for the often hot days of early September.

Bret S. Beall, MS, PhD (Cand), is the Founder and CEO of Global Organic Designs – Discovering Earth’s Science & Spirit, or GOD-DESS. Thanks to his often-insane parents, Bret has been a locavore for most of the entire half century of his life, first in the San Francisco Bay area, then in St. Louis, then on a farm in southern Missouri. As an undergrad he continued to mooch off of his parents’ homegrown, home-raised and home-prepared foods, preferring his own cooking to typical collegiate fare. As a grad student at The University of Michigan, Bret quickly found the farmers market and became a regular there. Since moving to Chicago in 1987, he has haunted local farm stands and farmers markets all over the Midwest. With formal education in evolutionary paleontology, biology, ecology and geology, plus over a decade in healthcare management, Bret now uses this diverse background to teach others how to live fantastic lives with minimal time, effort or money. For more information, visit www.god-dess.com, or call 773.508.9208, or email bret@god-dess.com.

The following menu plan is a collection of prime summer recipes. That means that they take advantage of farm fresh, in-season produce and require minimal cooking times (and no oven usage; once the temperature gets over 75 degrees, the oven stays off … it’s earth-unfriendly to have air conditioning, and then require it to work overtime because you’ve turned on the oven in the middle of summer. These recipes have been simplified in most cases to minimize the numbers of ingredients; once you become familiar with the techniques, feel free to enhance these recipes to make them your own!

You may also notice some common elements through some of the week’s recipes. This is to take advantage of perishable ingredients that have been bought for one recipe, so that they don’t go to waste. You could choose to prepare some of these ingredients for freezing, but that is beyond the scope of this meal plan, so I’m just going to help you use these perishable ingredients.

Shopping list for the week:
One small bottle of peanut oil (16 oz)
One small bottle of olive oil (8 oz)
One small bottle of red wine vinegar (8 oz)
One small bottle of balsamico (industriale) (8 oz)
Two pounds of salmon fillet, skin-on but scaled, but into eight ¼ lb portions
Two pounds of London broil
Two pounds of pork steaks
Five ears sweet corn on the cob
One jar/bag Garlic Powder
One head Garlic
Six limes
Two medium zucchini
Seven medium onions
Two jalapeno chiles
Seven tomatoes, ideally red and yellow, or heirloom
One small (preferably seedless) watermelon
One jar or bag oregano
One bottle hot sauce
One-half pound mushrooms, sliced
Three red bell peppers
One medium cucumber
One stick butter
One pound rice (long grain)
One small bag of sugar
One small bunch of cilantro
One small bunch basil and/or mint
One small jar peanut butter (at least one cup; crunch or smooth)
Four bay leaves
One jar/bag pepper corns, or ground pepper
One container salt
One package of small flour tortillas (12 tortillas)

SUNDAY
PAN-SEARED SALMON WITH ITALIAN FLAG ZUCCHINI AND A SIMPLE SALAD

PAN-SEARED SALMON
four ¼ lb portions of salmon fillets
3T peanut oil
salt and pepper to taste
Heat skillet to medium high. Add peanut oil. While oil is heating, salt and pepper the fillets on all sides to taste. When oil is hot, place the four fillets in the skillet side-by-side, skin down, and cook for about four minutes. Do not disturb. After five minutes, use a spatula to completely turn over the fillets, and cook another three minutes. Remove to a paper towel lined plate, and hold until the Italian Flag Zucchini are done.

ITALIAN FLAG ZUCCHINI
1.5 medium zucchini (about 8"), halved, cut into half moons (save the remaining half zucchini for Wednesday’s dinner; wrap in cellophane and refrigerate)
1 small onion (about 3" diameter), peeled, halved lengthwise, cut into thin half moons
3 tomatoes (about 3" in diameter), peeled, coarsely diced
1 medium clove garlic, finely minced
1 T oregano, dried
2 T extra-virgin olive oil
1 T red wine vinegar (there is no alcohol in wine vinegar, so it's fine for children)
1 t salt
20 grinds black pepper
Heat the olive oil in an 8" sauté pan over medium heat. Add the onions and sauté until translucent and slightly browned, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the zucchini, garlic, salt, pepper and oregano to the onions and stir to combine; sauté about 3 minutes. Add the tomatoes and red wine vinegar, stir to combine, and cook until the zucchini are tender, about 5 minutes.
NOTE: this recipe is really flexible and multipurpose. You can use it as a pasta sauce, as a sauce for pan-seared fish (such as salmon) or chicken (including boneless, skinless breasts for a low-fat meal), or pan-fried pork chops, lamb chops or beef steak, or as a topping on a hamburger or hot dog. Double or triple the recipe so that you have leftovers for other applications. It freezes well.

SIMPLE SALAD
Please remember that “vinaigrette” has only THREE syllables … the word is NOT “vinegar-ette.”
These are proportions for 4 servings:
¼ c olive oil
1 T plus 1 t red wine vinegar (use wine or citrus as alternates)
Salt to taste (up to ½ t)
pepper to taste (20 to 40 grinds)
8 c greens, torn into bite-sized pieces.
Combine all of the ingredients except the greens in a large bowl that can hold all of the greens loosely. Using a fork or a whisk (I hate cleaning whisks, so I use a fork), vigorously whip the ingredients until the vinegar is emulsified evenly in the oil, as if you were scrambling eggs. Add the greens and toss gently, ideally with your hands. Gently lift the dressed greens out of the bowl and onto the main plate with the steak and zucchini side; serve immediately.

MONDAY
PAN-ROASTED LONDON BROIL WITH MUSHROOM SAUCE, SLICED TOMATO SALAD AND CORN ON THE COB

Steak, tomatoes and corn … is there any more American combination?

PAN-ROASTED LONDON BROIL AND MUSHROOM SAUCE
1 lb London Broil, cut into ¼ lb portions
salt and pepper to taste
1 t garlic powder (optional)
2 T peanut oil
8 oz sliced mushrooms
¼ c balsamico
Heat large medium skillet to medium hot. While skillet is heating, season the London Broil with salt, pepper and garlic/chipotle powder (if using). Once the meat is seasoned, and the skillet is hot, add the peanut oil, turn the skillet to spread the oil around, and add the meat. Let the meat sear for one minute, then cover the skillet, and continue cooking for another two minutes. Remove lid, turn meat over, and cook for one minute, then cover and cook for another two minutes. Remove the meat, and let it rest for 10 minutes while you work on the tomato salad and the corn on the cob, and prepare the mushroom sauce.
Mushroom Sauce: To the hot, empty skillet, add the sliced mushrooms, stirring as they begin to wilt and release their moisture into the skillet; when the mushrooms are limp, add ½ c water and ¼ c balsamico; as the liquid boils, scrape the bottom of the skillet to remove any crusty bits (the fond). Allow the mixture to reduce until syrupy.
NOTE: you purchased another pound of London Broil. Go ahead and cook it as above, and let it cool; after dinner, prepare it for use in Thursday’s Thai dinner, and go ahead and prepare the cucumber salad for Thursday as well.

SLICED TOMATO SALAD
Four medium tomatoes, sliced into about eight slices each; using red and yellow tomatoes, or heirlooms, will add interest
2 T chopped fresh mint and/or basil
2 T olive oil
2 t balsamico
salt/pepper to taste
Spread the sliced tomatoes on four plates attractively; evenly distribute the salt and pepper. Sprinkle one quarter of the mint and/or basil on each of the tomato plates. Serve immediately.
NOTE: if you prepare extra tomatoes, you can chop up the leftover salad, and use with cooked pasta as an easy sauce, or on bruschetta, or as a sauce on meat, poultry or fish.

CORN ON THE COB
4 ears corn, husks and silks removed
¼ c salt
Butter, salt and pepper to taste
Bring one gallon of water to boil in a large pot. Add salt and return to a boil. Add the ears of corn to the boiling water, and boil for three minutes. Remove the ears and drain on toweling. Serve immediately with butter, salt and pepper.

To serve, place one piece of steak on each plate, drape each meat portion with ¼ of the mushroom sauce; to each plate, add one fourth of the tomato salad, and one ear of corn. Enjoy!

TUESDAY
SAUTEED PORK STEAKS WITH NOODLES WITH PEANUT SAUCE/RED BELL PEPPERS/ ZUCCHINI PLUS WATERMELON SALAD


SAUTEED PORK STEAKS
4 pork steaks, about 1 pound total
salt and pepper to taste
1 t garlic powder (optional)
3 T peanut oil
Add the peanut oil to a large hot skillet over medium/medium high heat. While oil is getting hot, season the pork steaks with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Arrange the steaks in the hot oiled skilled in a single layer, and cook for approximately five minutes. Turn the steaks using a fork, and cook for another four minutes. Remove from the skillet to a plate covered with paper towels.

NOODLES WITH PEANUT SAUCE
1 c peanut butter (smooth or crunchy); if allergic to peanuts, use soy or sun nut butter
½ c water
2-3 garlic cloves, finely minced (up to 1 T)
up to 4 T hot sauce
½ - 1 t salt
1 T sugar, preferably brown sugar
juice of one lime
½ zucchini, sliced into rounds and then into matchsticks
½ red pepper, cut in half and then into matchsticks (save the remaining half for Friday’s dinner)
1 pound of your favorite pasta, any shape, but long noodles like linguine or fettuccine are best.
¼ c salt
While the pork steaks are cooking, heat a large pot of water; add ¼ c salt; when the water is boiling, add the pasta or noodles, and cook until done, about 8 to 10 minutes.
Peanut Sauce: Place the first seven ingredients in a large serving bowl and stir to blend; if sauce is too thick, add some of the pasta cooking water to loosen. When cooked, transfer noodles to the peanut butter mixture, and stir to coat; add the matchstick zucchini and red bell pepper. Serve as a bed or side for the pork steaks.

WATERMELON SALAD
½ small watermelon, peeled, seeded and cubed into ½” pieces
½ c cilantro leaves
¼ c balsamico
½ t salt
10 grinds black pepper
Combine all five ingredients in a large bowl; stir/toss to combine ingredient flavors. Serve as a side to the pork steaks and noodles.

Any leftovers make great lunches

WEDNESDAY
POACHED SALMON WITH SIMPLE SALAD

POACHED SALMON
You can prepare the salmon the night before and refrigerate it if you want cold fish. The poaching liquid is known as a court bouillon.
1 lb salmon, divided into ¼ lb portions
3 bay leaves
1 t salt
1 T black peppercorns, or 2 t ground black pepper
1 small onion, coarsely chopped
Place salmon fillets in a frying pan. Add water to just cover. Add the bay leaves, salt and pepper, and turn on heat to high. When the water reaches a boil, turn the heat down to a simmer, and continue cooking for about 10 minutes, until salmon fillets are cooked through. Remove fillets from the water and drain on paper towels. Remove skin, and chill salmon if desired, or leave at room temperature while you make the salad.

SIMPLE SALAD
See instructions for Monday’s salad; if you want a heartier salad, you can add cheese, nuts, or fruit, but since these are optional, they are not included in the shopping or ingredient list.

With leftovers, make a salmon hash with fried potatoes and onions for breakfast.

THURSDAY
THAI BEEF SALAD WITH CUCUMBER SALAD AND RICE
All of this should have been done on Monday; just remove from the fridge and serve on the freshly cooked rice.

BEEF SALAD
1 lb London Broil, pan-seared and cooled, sliced
3 cloves finely minced garlic (about 1T)
1 medium onion, cut in half, then in half moons
1 jalapeno chile, seeds and membrane removed, finely diced
1 c chopped cilantro
½ c red wine vinegar
1 T salt
Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Allow flavors to marinate for at least 24 hours.

CUCUMBER SALAD
One large English cucumber, halved, seeds removed, and sliced into half moons
Juice of one lime
1 T sugar
1 t salt
Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Allow the flavors to marinate for at least 24 hours.

RICE
2 cups rice
1 T salt
4 cups water
1 bay leaf
Combine all three ingredients in a pot with a tight fitting lid. Bring to a boil with lid on the pot. Reduce heat to a low simmer without removing lid, and cook for another 20 minutes. Remove lid, check tenderness of the rice, and continue cooking until kernels are tender.

To serve: Place two ½ c mounds of cooked rice on each plate. Spoon the Beef Salad onto one mound, and the Cucumber Salad onto the second mouth.

Leftovers salads are great for lunch. The leftover rice should be retained for Friday’s dinner. If you make even more rice, it freezes really well, and will save time and energy in the future.

FRIDAY
PORK STEAK FAJITAS TACOS WITH MEXICAN RICE AND WATERMELON SALSA
These soft tacos are adaptable to any number of ingredients.

PORK STEAK FAJITAS
1 lb pork steaks, trimmed from the bone, with most of the fat removed, cut into ¼” strips
2.5 red bell peppers, cut longitudinally into ¼” strips
2 medium onions, halved and cut longitudinally into ¼” slivers
¼ c hot sauce
¼ c balsamico
1 t salt
20 grinds of pepper (or about ½ t)
6 T peanut oil, separated
12 flour tortillas
Combine the pork strips, hot sauce, balsamic, salt and pepper, mixing to combine; ideally, this can be done the night before. Head a large skillet on high heat. When hot, add 2T peanut oil. When hot, add the pork strips to the skillet, and cook as a stir fry, continually moving the strips until they are cooked and slightly browned. Remove the cooked strips to a bowl. Add an additional 2T peanut oil, and the onions; cook until the onions are limp and slightly browned/caramelized. Remove the onions to a bowl. Add the final 2T peanut oil, and the peppers; cook until the peppers are limp; remove to a bowl.

MEXICAN RICE:
2 c cooked rice (from Thursday night)
1 ear sweet corn, completely husked, kernels cut from the cob
1 red bell pepper, finely diced
1 medium onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic
¼ c cilantro leaves
1 lime
2 T peanut oil
In the skillet used to cook the pork, over medium heat, add 2T peanut oil. When hot, add the onions and red bell peppers, and cook until the onion is translucent. Add the garlic and corn, and cook until the garlic is aromatic, about three minutes. Add the rice, stir to combine, and continue cooking until hot. Add the juice of one lime, and the cilantro, and remove to a bowl.

WATERMELON SALSA
½ small watermelon, peeled, seeded and cubed into ½” pieces
1 jalapeno, halved, seeds and membranes removed, cut into fine mince
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1 lime, juiced
½ t salt
Combine all of the ingredients, and stir to evenly distribute all ingredients.

To serve: place three flour tortillas on each plate. Evenly divide the pork strips on all tortillas. Evenly divide the rice on each tortilla. Evenly divide the watermelon salsa on each tortilla. Enjoy!

You can increase the proportions of all of the parts in order to create leftovers for burritos or quesadillas for lunches

The above recipes are extremely flexible. They emphasize techniques rather than specific ingredients, so give them a try, adapt them to your own palate, and become a Master of your kitchen.

All the Single Ladies: Dana Joy Altman of Real Food Rehab's Alternative Meal Plan

This is the next installment in our alternative menu plans for the Let's Cook series. The first was a family-friendly plan from California's Michelle Stern. This second one comes from closer to home.

Dana Joy Altman is the writer and creatrix behind Real Food Rehab, a blog committed to authentic living and eating. She believes that cultivating a deep understanding of who you are and what you value are key ingredients in the recipe for a rich and beautiful life.

Dana Joy founded the culinary public relations firm, a better place media relations, inc. and served as Assistant Manager of Chicago’s Green City Market under the late, great Abby Mandel. In addition to Real Food Rehab, she writes a weekly food and drink column on The Possessionista and is the author of The Pantry Essentials Guide - a real food guide to the grocery store. She also created and leads the popular exercise class, Dance It Off!

I really love this meal plan for single folks and families alike. It shows that cooking isn't always about long, involved recipes but can instead be about one killer sauce or an awesome salad dressing especially when you use top-notch, fresh from the farm ingredients.

I'm a single gal and I work from home so, on average and with the exception of dining out, I have the luxury of preparing my own meals two or three times a day. Some of you may think I must be joking - luxury? But I'm dead serious. I do consider it a luxury to prepare my own meals. Why? Because I never have to question the quality of my food since I source it. I never have to compromise on what I feel like eating because it's me I'm satisfying. I also welcome the chance to break up a day spent inside my head in front of a computer, to get back into my body and work with my hands in an intuitive, tactile and sensual way.

Right now, as I'm writing this, I'm actually making a breakfast of Eggs en Cocotte. Sound elaborate and fancy? It's three ingredients, took me 2 minutes to prepare and will be ready-to-eat, out of the oven in 15 minutes. That, accompanied by a piece of great toast, is the most beautiful breakfast a girl could ask for.



I think a lot of women still carry the unfortunate stigma around being single and cooking for themselves. For some it brings to mind the image of a lonely spinster shuffling around her kitchen weeping into her biscuits. There's this cultural impression that we should keep up with the new, hot place or thing, be ambitious in the workplace, go to yoga class, fluff and preen and find that man! Wow, does that ever make me tired. I guess I'm at a place where keeping up is no longer appealing or authentic to me. And while I do enjoy a good night out, cultivating domesticity is one of my greatest pleasures. I think cooking for oneself is downright sexy; it connotes a beautiful act of self-care.

I want to clarify that I am not chopping a million ingredients and toiling endlessly in the kitchen every day. Do I have days when the thought of preparing anything is anathema to me? You betcha. I am not above having chips and wine for dinner. It's a guilt-free good time as long as it's an occasional thing and I'm eating good chips and drinking good wine.

I believe in sourcing the very best quality food I can afford. That means I shop farmers' markets in season, and supplement with trips to Whole Foods and smaller, independent food shops. Yes, it is more expensive but I like to feel (and look) good. That's my first priority! I don't like to put foods in my body that have been unnecessarily modified or treated with chemicals. Also, my time is valuable to me and I'd much rather spend it shopping outdoors and from people who are consciously sourcing, growing and handcrafting my food from scratch. I realize this may sound precious and elitist to some but hey, you spend a good amount of money to buy nice clothes and drive a nice car, don't you? In my heart I believe our health is dependent on what we eat and what we think and that's about it. There's nothing precious or elitist about that.

I also make a habit to always keep foods I love and ones that truly satisfy me in my fridge and pantry. This way, even when I don't feel like cooking, at the very least I can throw together a great snack or meal in a snap. After years of denying myself the foods I really love and suffering the tortured consequences, I am committed to enjoying and feeling nurtured by the foods I eat. I don't want to eat anything that's mediocre and I don't have a problem compromising on quantity, but I will not sacrifice quality.

I've found the foods that satisfy me the most have fat in them. I love full fat yogurt, cheese and butter. I adore an occasional croissant. I am mad about skin on chicken thighs and well-marbled steak. And I'm happy to say, they love me back. I am a walking testament to the fact that they alone, do not make you fat.

I also believe it's important to rethink old notions about what you should and shouldn't eat. If you are eating lots of processed, low fat, low calorie foods out of fear because you think you should, I urge you to stop. Because I believe you know, somewhere deep down, that they're not really satisfying you. Let yourself have what it is you really want. Just make sure you either make it yourself from great ingredients or source the very best version of it you can find.

So let me give you an example of what's on rotation right now Chez Dana: I am all about eating as much summer fruit as possible. Breakfast can be a blended smoothie, a bowl of granola, fruit and yogurt, or eggs and toast. It's also easy to improvise when you keep great ingredients around. I recently threw this together for breakfast and it was killer: sliced peaches, bacon, and a slice of Capriole's Mt. St Francis goat cheese on a warm croissant.



I love to eat big salads for lunch. I buy whatever vegetables look good at the market, slice them up and toss them together with some homemade dressing. My salad is usually accompanied by a little protein: it could be leftover chicken or steak from the night before, boiled egg, pickled herring (love the stuff) or a few slices of andouille sausage from Paulina Market. Today it was really warm and all I felt like eating were Jupiter grapes from fruit farmer Mick Klug, Marcona almonds and a slice of Manchego.



For dinner a couple nights a week, I will light wood burning coals in my barbecue and grill a steak, lamb shoulder or a bunch of marinated chicken thighs, eat some and save the rest for the next days meals. Last night I made a salad of lettuces, soft boiled egg, bacon and red wine vinaigrette alongside a bowl of smashed fingerling potatoes with butter, garlic, herbs and salt. I also love pasta with sautéed greens, garlic and olive oil. These are all simple, quick and manageable meals that can be prepared in 30 minutes or less.



Examples of snacks that also double as last minute meals in my home are prosciutto and melon, cheese, crackers, and fruit, pickled veggies with bread and butter, and sometimes kettle chips dipped into my homemade tzatziki. A good piece of chocolate or some fruit drizzled with fresh cream and honey is always a great dessert.

Eating well is about first listening to what your body really wants, keeping your fridge and pantry stocked with foods you love and learning a few skills in the kitchen to help make the food at home that really satisfies you. There are scads of information online, in books, YouTube videos and classes near you that can help you get there.

I also wrote a Pantry Essentials Guide that helps you easily find the best products in the grocery store. I am also available to answer any questions you have, so please email me at danajoy@realfoodrehab.com.

A Family-Friendy Alternative Meal Plan for Let's Move by Parent Blogger Michelle Stern

Not too long ago, I expressed my frustration with the Let’s Move Let’s Cook series of videos on the White House’s website. With poorly written recipes calling for hard to find ingredients (smoked paprika and haricots verts), I think that these meal plans have the potential to do more harm than good. While the White House and Chef Marvin Woods, the author of the original meal plan, ignored my criticisms, the Chicago Sun-Times incorporated them into a larger article on the Chefs Move to School program. Timing couldn’t have been better.

Ever since my critical post, I’ve been prodding several of my favorite bloggers to create alternative meal plans, ones that take into account the realities of everyday families. And today, we release them.

The first comes all the way from California. Michelle Stern owns What’s Cooking, a certified green company that offers cooking classes for children in the San Francisco Bay Area. Not only do her classes teach kids and their families to enjoy delicious homemade foods, but they also motivate families to use food and cooking to help those less fortunate. Like me, Michelle was invited to the White House, where she participated in the launch of Michelle Obama’s Chefs Move to Schools initiative. She has appeared on ABC's View From the Bay 7 times and was recently a guest on a radio show about Childhood Obesity. In addition, her blog won the 2010 Parent & Child Green Blog award from Scholastic. When she isn’t in the kitchen or at the computer, she’s the head chauffeur for her two children, dog walker to her two mutts, and chicken feeder for her backyard flock.

To check out her family-friendly meal plan, visit her blog, What's Cooking.

A Maddening (and Irresponsible) Meal Plan from Let's Move

In a recent post, I made it clear that while I’m a supporter of the Let’s Move initiative I still view it with a critical eye. Obviously, I believe in its goal and don’t question the motivation behind it; its execution, well, that’s another story.

I criticized the Chefs Move to Schools for its lack of clear goals – something that I believe can be rectified. Unfortunately, I don’t think I can say the same of Let’s Cook.

Unveiled last week, Let’s Cook is a program of the Let’s Move initiative, in which:
“Chefs from across the country visit the White House kitchen to create nutritious and affordable menu plans for busy families. With one shopping list, a little preparation and dinner recipes to take you through the week - Let's Cook makes it easier to eat healthy at home. Print, email and share recipes with friends, tell us about your healthy cooking on Facebook and visit often for new recipes.”

The first installment featured Chef Marvin Woods. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Chef Woods, his bio states:

“Cookbook author and TV chef Marvin Woods is recognized for his inventive take on food rooted in northern Africa, South America, the Caribbean and the Low Country. Woods has developed a wellness program called "Droppin' Knowledge with Chef Marvin Woods" that is designed to teach lifestyles that are healthy for kids and their families.”

Personally, I love meal plans. In this country, despite its obsession with chefs, food literacy isn’t high. Therefore, I think that meal plans – ones that create intersecting recipes that help people understand how they can preserve resources, time and money are awesome. Skipping over the video, I went straight to the recipes. Looking at the first one, I was a little surprised.

The Sunday meal is Spice Roasted Pork Loin, Sweet Potatoes, and Cooked Green Beans, which is interesting because the accompanying picture is of a pork loin, paired with rice and lentil pilaf, and roasted tomatoes. Problem two, nowhere does the recipe indicate how many people it should serve, though it does provide nutrition facts and cost per serving (costs that don’t add up as $3.55 multiplied by 4 does not equal $14.25). The third issue, the pork loin is cooked for 1 hour at 350º F, while the sweet potato is cooked for 40 minutes at 425º F. I don’t know about you, but my kitchen only has one oven and even if I had two I wouldn’t waste the energy to fire up two ovens for two dishes.

With as many boo boos in this first recipe, I was intrigued to see what the rest would yield. The second meal is “Asian Stir of Pork and Vegetables” (I believe the title is missing a word because a stir without a fry is just a salad). I understand the intent is to use a ½ pound of the cooked meat from the previous night’s dinner, but looking back at the first recipe, there’s no indication that anything should be saved, or how it should be stored after it’s cooked. Then this meal and the next two call for barley as the grain, except that instead of cooking it all at once, lessening the time and energy (both personal and natural) required, it suggests cooking a small amount ½ cup each day. Do any of you like plain barley enough to cook and eat it three days straight?

I could go on and on, but I think you get the point. Instead of beating a dead horse, I’ll give you my top 4 criticisms:

1. Far too many of the recipes call for ingredients that are not readily available to most Americans, such as smoked paprika, green Sicilian olives, and fresh or frozen black eyed peas.
2. The costs aren’t a true accounting. For example, one recipe calls for ½ cup ricotta (mind you no other recipes in the plan call for ricotta, though there is one that uses 1/8 pound of mozzarella and feta cheese). I suspect that the costs were calculated by dividing the cost of ½ cup from the total cost of the tub. All of us smart shoppers know that this doesn’t reflect the true cost. The cost is what comes up on the check out register and since you can’t buy a ½ cup of ricotta, it’s the price of the 2 cup tub.
3. The recipes are too complicated. If you make a nice pork loin with a spice rub, there’s nothing wrong with serving a side dish of simple sautéed veggies. There’s no need for all these chef-y flourishes or recipes with multiple steps that lengthen the time needed to prepare and increase the cost. In fact, these flourishes may make the recipes less appealing to the picky eaters in your family. The little locavore is a healthy eater who eats a broad variety of foods, but he would turn his nose up at many of these recipes.
4. Poor copy editing. While I’m the first to admit that I am not the best proofreader. I will personally guarantee that you’ll find errors in this post and maybe just a few others. That being said, if my recipes were being posted on the White House website, I would have everyone I know and a few people that I paid proofread it to ensure it was as close to perfection as it could possibly be. If these typos weren’t frequent, glaring, and often misleading, I might not make this point. But they are and if Chef Woods’ people didn’t catch them, they certainly should have been corrected by someone at the White House.

I found that I’m not alone in my criticism. Allow me to share some comments that I received after posting this on Facebook:

"This recipe plan, while lovely and I'm certain delicious, is a disaster for busy families. Mrs. Obama ought to ask herself whether she, a non-cook, would make this plan when she was working full-time, pre-private chef, before it is presented as part of the Let's Move program. I would doubt it."

My status update inspired a lively discussion, all critical of the plan. Here are a few highlights:

“I'd like to see some start in the morning/eat in the evening crock pot meals. Also, single pan/pot meals would be nice, too. I cringe at three bowls, a cutting board, two pans, and a commercial kitchen - and probably some staff in the background to do all the dishes... sheesh!”

“Oh my! Melissa, you are so right! Not only is it a disaster from a time/busy-ness perspective, but it calls for a variety of specialty ingredients. And then there's my pet peeve: turning on the oven during the summer! If we are supposed to be green, it makes no sense to turn on the oven just to cool down with AC, using up more energy. I think three nights required the oven. Stir fries are great, and pan sautes are great. Such a lost opportunity.”

“Thanks for pointing this out, Melissa... I would call the shopping list prohibitive to start with. s/o who is not yet cooking will not be able to afford all this stuff in one week. True, a lot is pantry items, but I bet people get scared looking at this list. Plus, wondering why the pictures do not show the dish described? That is surely confusing... “

“I edit cookbooks for a living. I was about to defend this since I thought the idea was that you cook pearl barley one day and have leftovers for another. Same thing with pork roast—roast on sunday when you have time, then use leftovers for stir-fry. However, that is certainly NOT clear. And then I saw the chili. Raw ground turkey into the sauce and no cooking of it other than residual heat! I think that's a food safety issue, no? Am I missing something?”

“People will just ignore this in favor of the $1 menu at the local fast food spot. Too expensive, too time consuming, too difficult. Most Americans do not have the cooking skills for this and noncooks are not going to be inspired by it.”

This final comment nails the problem. This meal plan is not just poorly thought out and written, but it is also irresponsible. To restate, food literacy in this country is not high. Recipes on this site should be simple, clearly written, and easy. In addition, they should call for ingredients readily available in an ordinary grocery store. Simply put, these don’t fit the bill and the danger in posting them is that, after seeing the list of ingredients or the list of steps, ordinary non-cooks will be discouraged.

Ultimately, I think that the White House is asking the wrong people to execute a good idea. Menus plans are brilliant. They can be a huge time saver and teaching tool for busy parents. However, I would submit that chefs, at least ones with restaurants who have staff and well-stocked larders at their disposal, may not be the right people to write them. It takes a special talent to not only cook well, and then to explain accurately and entertainingly how to replicate your recipes. If the White House really wanted to create realistic solutions for everyday people, it needs to be more careful in who it selects to highlight. Personally, I think that it shouldn’t limit itself to restaurant chefs, but should instead highlight cookbook authors and bloggers whose specialty is decoding delicious dishes for their readers.

If the White House would be willing to look beyond chefs, who would you like to see create a meal plan for Let’s Move?

Chefs Move to Schools: An Unvarnished View

As many of you already know, early last month, I went to the White House for the launch of the Chefs Move to Schools Initiative. On a day in June that felt more like August, approximately 600 chefs, cooks, and culinary instructors descended upon our nation’s capitol, toured the year-old garden and sweated through our “whites”. Much has been written on the event in the press and the blogosphere, mostly rah rah pieces just a breath away from puff, with an occasional tempered assessment. It was my intent to post on the event soon after my return, but a number of other commitments gave me a legitimate excuse for procrastination. Procrastination led to percolation and finally, I’ve gotten around to writing up my view, an unvarnished one of Chefs Move to Schools.

The Chefs Move to Schools program is part of First Lady Michelle Obama’s anti-obesity campaign. The Let’s Move campaign seeks to spread its fingers into society in several directions: early childhood, food deserts, physical activity, and, of course, schools.

The “Chefs Move to Schools” program, run through the U.S. Department of Agriculture, intends to pair chefs with interested schools in their communities “so together they can create healthy meals that meet the schools’ dietary guidelines and budgets, while teaching young people about nutrition and making balanced and healthy choices.”

I had advance knowledge of the program from friend Rochelle Davis, executive director of Healthy Schools Campaign, who’d told me that Sam Kass wanted to create a chef corps for schools. So I was unsurprised to receive the email from Let’s Move announcing the program in early May. I was, however, pleasantly surprised to find myself invited to the launch.

Living dangerously, I flew in the morning of the event after a late night catering. My turbulent flight, canceled once, arrived at 9, only an hour prior to the opening of the gates. I was impressed by both the humility and humanity of Marcus Samuelson who waited patiently in line with the rest of us at the head of the long snaking line down the street.

Making it through security, two check points and some finely tuned metal detectors was a thrill. Being one of the first through the gates, I took a leisurely stroll through the garden. As the sea of white chef coats, dotted with a few pink, denim, and even a tie-dye one, rolled in, we were escorted to the orderly formation of seats in the hot sun of the south lawn.

Given that the sun was beating down on us, the presentation, thankfully, was brief. Chef Sam Kass provided an introduction to his East Wing boss. The first lady then presented an example of her view of a successful chef/school partner: Each of the two halves described their experience. After FLOTUS’ conclusory remarks, the event ended and we departed.

And this is where my story begins.

Obviously, given what I do, I am very supportive of the First Lady’s initiative. Childhood obesity, hell, obesity in general is a scourge that our country can’t seem to shake. The repercussions from this condition are wide-ranging – increased health care costs, decreased self-esteem, and just generally making us an unhealthy society. This being said, why am I not as gung ho about the Chefs Move to School program as many of the other blogging participants? I have a few concerns.

It’s been two month since the program was announced and a month after the launch and it still is not clear what it means for a chef to “adopt” a school. Are we looking at the Jamie Oliver-Food Revolution model or Alice Water’s Edible Schoolyard? How much time is a chef expected to volunteer? How will the schools and chefs be paired? How is the USDA recruiting schools? How does an initiative like this work in districts like Chicago, which is comprised of 100’s of schools?

Since signing up through the USDA website, I’ve only seen one email from the powers that be – one that passed along a request from Epicurious for chefs to demo at the Daley Plaza farmers’ market. It does seem that with all of the resources at the USDA’s and First Lady’s disposal, that we would have received some direction by now.

On the positive side, the lack of direction from the Let’s Move initiative on this program should allow individual schools, districts, and individual chefs to create programs that work best for their communities. But this does require more effort and time from the individual chefs, which leads me to my second concern.

Without a clear understanding of what it means to adopt a school, how can a chef make a firm commitment to participate in the program? The brief description found on the USDA’s website seems to imply that it would like chefs to both improve the food served in schools AND provide nutrition education. From my experience of working in the schools for the past 5 years, to do even one of these two would require a significant commitment of time and resources. It’s a pretty big ask even if funding were involved. But the USDA and the White House have requested that this all be done on a volunteer basis.

Chefs are a busy bunch. They work hard, long hours and it’s hard to believe that many would be able to fit in the many hours that Chefs Move to Schools really requires. From my research, it appears that the inspiration for this program came from Slow Food’s Edible Schoolyard and New York City’s Wellness in the Schools, both of which are sophisticated and well-funded. There are other models as well including Art Smith’s Common Threads and Gracie Cavnar’s Houston based Recipe for Success. I am hoping that when some direction comes from the White House/USDA, they recommend chefs seek out organizations like these in their communities, ones with the resources, connections, and institutional knowledge to help chefs effectively work in the schools.

Here in Chicago, we’re doing just that by co-convening a meeting with Share our Strength and Healthy Schools Campaign where participating chefs will learn about the new nutrition standards that will be in effect in the coming school year and CPS’ Go for the Gold partnership with Healthy Schools Campaign, to help individual schools meet the gold standard of the U.S. Healthier Schools Challenge. They’ll also hear from organizations, like mine, about working in the schools either as individuals or within the context of another entity. We don’t want to dampen anyone’s enthusiasm, but instead help translate that enthusiasm into effective action. I also hope that it will encourage some of the chefs to work in some of the more underserved communities, which leads me to my final concern.

The USDA has not stated how chefs will be partnered with schools. The website states that it will “pair chefs with interested chefs in their communities.” But what does a community make? In Chicago, is it the city or is a neighborhood? If the latter, from looking at the map, there will be plenty of chefs for the north side, but there are very, very few on the south and west, neighborhoods that coincide with the greatest need for nutritional assistance. Yet again, these communities will be underserved. Unless the USDA makes some attempt to equitably divide the resources of the Chefs Move to Schools, it will only serve to perpetuate social inequities.

On the subject of social justice, I was a bit surprised to see that the USDA has allowed private schools to sign up for the Chefs Move to School program, at least one of which in Chicago has a tuition that ranges from between $22,000 (for JK) to $35,000 for high school. When I posted an informal poll on my facebook page, many suggested that regardless of tuition, all kids should be taught good nutrition. Agreed. However, I do feel that private schools, especially one with ample resources, shouldn’t be looking for volunteers through this program. Certainly, if a chef has a personal connection to this school, the story is different. For example, I founded a wellness committee for my son’s school, another Chicago private school; nevertheless, I view that as fulfilling my volunteer commitment to his school, not as part of the Chefs Move to Schools. With close to 700 public schools in CPS, I feel strongly that the resources of Chefs Move to Schools should be used to support those schools, especially because the infrastructure of the program is supported by our tax dollars.

Obviously, the intent behind the Chefs Move to Schools – getting new creative ideas from food service professionals – is excellent. I’m sure with a little consideration of these concerns, the USDA, the White House, and individual communities can address them. So I ask you readers, how would you deal with my criticism of the program?

Growing Healthy Kids

The statistics are staggering. I'm not much for numbers and yet I can even quote the stats by heart:

- 1/3 of American children are obese (2/3 of American adults)
- For the first time since the marvels of modern medicine, health experts are predicting that children will have a lower life span than their parents (2-5 years)
- 10 percent of America's health care bills are obesity-related, whether it be treatment for diabetes, hypertension or joint injury and this doesn't even include mental health related costs
- Illinois has the fourth highest rate of childhood obesity.

It's bad.

To combat this national scourge, First Lady Michelle Obama recently announced her "Let's Move" campaign with an ambitious goal of ending childhood obesity in a generation. While I agree with some commentators that the initiative's dependence on industry cooperation seems too hopeful, I believe that the national attention brought about by this announcement moves the ball far down the field on this important issue.

In light of the recent unveiling of the White House program, I wanted to share some news of a local initiative intended to pool resources in this important battle.

On January 24, the non-profit that I founded, Purple Asparagus, with the help of a tireless committee,* spearheaded the first Growing Healthy Kids event at Logan Square Kitchen. The Sunday lunch meeting brought together approximately 30 organizations dedicated to educating children about nutrition, gardening, the environment, and, in general, how to lead a healthy lifestyle. It was an event that our board had long tossed around at our meetings. Ultimately, we wanted to provide groups working with Chicagoland kids around issues of food and wellness an opportunity to meet and learn more about one another so that we could find ways to collaborate. As we all know, the issues facing our city's children are huge and daunting and no one organization can solve them alone.


Photo Credit, Grant Kessler

In attendance were representatives from the following groups:

Academy for Global Citizenship
Chartwells Thompson Hospitality
Chicago Botanic Garden
Common Threads
Food Atelier
Fooditude
Fresh Connections
Green Sugar Press
Good Food Project
Gourmet Gorilla
Green City Market
Growing Power
Healthy Schools Campaign
NURTURE
Organic Life
Seven Generations Ahead
Share Our Strength
Slow Food
The Kids' Table
Urban Worm Girl
We Farm

Other groups, like CLOCC (The Consortium to Lower Childhood Obesity) and Openlands were unable to attend, but provided their contact information for upcoming events and programs of Growing Healthy Kids.

We were treated to a surprisingly delicious from Chartwells, CPS main food service company, who donated the winning lunch from Healthy Schools Campaign's 2009 Cooking Up Change Event: Chicken Jambalaya and Tomato and Cucumber Salad. We also enjoyed fair trade, sustainably raised coffee from Crop to Cup.


Photo Credit, Grant Kessler

We've heard almost uniformly positive comments from the event - the only small criticism was that it wasn't long enough. Imagine that, a 2 hour Sunday afternoon business meeting that wasn't long enough! It goes to show how much we have to say to one another.

Going forward, the Growing Healthy Kids list will act as a listserv providing to its members news about events like Seven Generations Ahead's Fresh From the Farm Training and CLOCC's meeting of the Healthy Teacher Network. We also plan to meet for an April GHK Green Drinks at Uncommon Ground to continue our networking efforts. Ultimately, we hope to organize a health fair that will be open to parents, teachers, and administrators who will be able to learn about the programs available to promote healthy lifestyles among their parents and students.

In a few weeks, Purple Asparagus will be posting on its site (www.purpleasparagus.com) the first version of the Growing Healthy Kids brochure, which provides information on the mission and initiatives of each of these organizations. It's already been a tremendous resource for those of us in the group and has set off a series of meeting between individual groups. For example, in just this week, I've had meetings or calls with CLOCC, Organic Life, and Fooditude.

If you know of an organization that should have been included, but wasn't, please email me at info@purpleasparagus.com. We want this group to be as expansive as possible.


The only effective way to achieve Mrs. Obama's important goal is to work together, children with parents, parents with schools, non-profits with for profits and of course other non-profits. To borrow a phrase from her campaign, let's stop citing statistics and wringing our hands and let's move.

Are you working on any programs in your communities to combat obesity? Please share any successes, challenges, etc.

*Committee members: Nancy Lufrano, Tim Magner, Nora Gainer, Sara Gasbarra, Melissa Tobias, Trish Rynolds, Ryan Kimura.