I’m an avid cook, but I think in the past three months I’ve probably made a total of four meals. Menu planning, grocery shopping, and cooking elaborate meals—all activities I love—have been out of the question since March, when my mother was diagnosed with terminal breast cancer. We have spent so little time in the kitchen since the diagnosis that my mom, an enthusiastic and innovative chef in her own right, recently joked she had probably forgotten how to use a measuring cup.

Though I miss cooking and baking, spending time with my mom is my top priority these days, so I’m glad that our community has stepped in and set up an extensive network of people to bring us food so we don’t have to spend all day in the kitchen. We have gotten some truly amazing and delicious meals. Still, there have also been some pretty substantial bumps in the road.

Here are some tips to take into consideration if you’re called on to bring food to a family member or friend who’s ill, recovering from surgery, or dealing with a recent loss.

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Thanks to our guest poster of the week, Chana Rubin, RD for this article and recipe. Chana is a registered dietitian who lives in Israel with her family. She’s the author of the new book Food for the Soul: Traditional Jewish Wisdom for Healthy Eating (Gefen Publishing House Ltd, Jerusalem, 2007). Check out Chana’s first post - and keep your eyes open for a chance to win a copy of her book!

We recently had a major heat wave here in Israel - the kind of day when you don’t even want to step into the kitchen, let alone turn on the stove. A fresh green salad was definitely in order for dinner, but what could we have with it that wouldn’t take hours in the kitchen?

From the refrigerator, a small container of leftover cooked beet greens gave me the answer: PANCAKES! Mention pancakes and most of us think of breakfast, but vegetable pancakes are especially popular in Sephardic cuisine – spinach and feta cheese pancakes and leek patties are good examples. Vegetable pancakes can be a good way to get children to eat vegetables, especially if you serve them as “finger food”.

My recipe started with about half a cup of chopped beet greens previously cooked with onion and garlic. I added an egg and about 1/3 cup of flour, salt, pepper and a dash of cinnamon. Try spinach, chard, broccoli or grated zucchini. Add an egg or two and a binder – whole wheat pastry flour works well. Fresh herbs are a wonderful addition.

Here’s a recipe to get you started - what it is your favorite savory pancake?

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Here are two amazing opportunities for farming and Jewish learning this summer - with The Jewish Farm School:

Hillel Organic Farm Alternative Breaks
The Jewish Farm School, in partnership with Hillel, will provide a total of 60 college students the opportunity to participate in a weeklong farm-immersion experience. During the two programs, students will be volunteering on sustainable farms located on the East and West coasts. No previous experience is necessary. June 11-18 (Kayam Farm, MD) and June 24-July 1 (Oz Farm, CA). Cost $200 - details here.

Program Highlights:
Learn basic skills in sustainable agriculture, food preservation, natural building and herbal remedies.
Discuss issues of food justice, sustainability and Jewish tradition.
Work alongside other college students and enjoy delicious homegrown food.

JFS Seminar on Organic Agriculture and Eductional Gardening
June 2-5
Surprise Lake Camp, Cold Spring, NY

Join us for our 3rd annual seminar in Organic Agriculture and Educational Gardening. Run in partnership with the Teva Learning Center, this program is designed for educators seeking to incorporate gardening or farming into their work. Register here.

Seminar Highlights:
Experience an early morning harvest at an organic farm and learn how small-scale, sustainable agriculture operates - first hand.
Learn the skills to build your own Jewish garden.
Study traditional Jewish texts and contemporary scholarship.
Discuss garden-based curriculum and activities.

The Jewish Farm School is supported by Hazon.

Thanks to Chana Rubin, RD for this guest post. Chana is a registered dietitian who lives in Israel with her family. She’s the author of the new book Food for the Soul: Traditional Jewish Wisdom for Healthy Eating (Gefen Publishing House Ltd, Jerusalem, 2007). Chana will be guest posting throughout the week - and keep your eyes open for a chance to win a copy of her book!

I have lived in many different Jewish communities in the U.S. and in Israel and have seen the same patterns in most of them. Obesity and the sedentary lifestyle of our communities mimic that of the community at large, with added issues of kashrut, culture, Shabbat and holidays.

Preventative nutrition and nutrition education have always been my interest. It seems to me that it is easier and more cost effective to prevent illness before it happens rather than treat it after the fact. And there are many diseases – Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, osteoporosis, to name a few, that are certainly preventable.

Many books address general nutrition, but none of them address the Jewish community in particular. Food for the Soul – Traditional Jewish Wisdom for Healthy Eating does just that. The nutrition information is universal, but tailored to our specific needs and our own food culture.

More and a recipe for Surprise Cupcakes after the jump

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(x-posted from All Voices)

Yesterday, while waiting in line at Starbucks in New York City and perusing the refrigerated food case (mmm…pre-portioned cheese plates), I noticed something was different. It took a second for me to put my finger on it - like realizing that a friend got a haircut or is wearing glasses. But then it was all I could see: calories! Next to each cranberry scone and piece of chocolate-drizzled coffee cake was a small plaque bearing the name of the treat and the number of calories it contained.

As of March 31, all chain restaurants in New York City (restaurants with 15 or more outlets - Mc Donalds, The Olive Garden, TGI Fridays, and the like) were required to start posting calorie counts for all menu items in the hopes of enabling consumers to make informed (and ideally healthier) decisions. CNN reported in January:

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Is it just me, or is kosher cooking having itself a little bit of a renaissance? Over the last year, a slew of cookbooks have been published (like this one, this one, and this one!) that bring kosher cooking out of the Crisco era and into modern times. Ronnie Fein’s new book Hip Kosher is no exception. The book’s manifesto? Kosher cooking should be innovative, delicious, and accessible to all home chefs. And Fein is willing to prove it with creative, easy-to-prepare recipes like pea soup with mint and bulghur salad with feta and dill sauce.

Fein, who is the founder of the Ronnie Fein School of Creative Cooking in Stamford, CT spoke to The Jew & The Carrot about what hip kosher really means, Jewish food’s chameleon tendencies, and the many virtues of an ear of corn.

Read her interview below and, while you’re at it, WIN a copy of Hip Kosher! Answer the following question and be entered in a drawing to win: If you were a vegetable, what you’d be and why? (I promise this will make more sense when you read the interview.)

And congrats to Judi for being the randomly-selected winner in our last raffle for Arthur Schwartz’s Jewish Home Cooking.

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This past weekend, our synagogue hosted a “Pesach University”: A community-wide day of Passover workshops, on everything from the anthropological roots of the seder, to how to “green” your Pesach.

But the true highlight of the event was a live Passover cooking demonstration by none other than Ellie Krieger - an adjunct professor in the New York University Department of Nutrition, Food Studies and Public Health, and star of the Food Network’s hit show, Healthy Appetite with Ellie Krieger. (She also happens to be the sister of one of our Tuv Ha’aretz CSA’s core group members, and a genuinely warm and funny person to boot.)

In honor of the occasion, Ellie chose to focus on two themes of the seder: dipping, and the tension between bitter and sweet in the story, and the food that accompanies it. Ellie made two delicious recipes, adapted from her new cookbook The Food You Crave: Luscious Recipes for a Healthy Life, which she has graciously allowed me to share, after the jump: Read more »

x-posted from All Voices.

Scene from inside a fancy restaurant circa 2015:

Man: (scanning the menu) - What are you thinking of getting dear?
Woman: Hmmm…pasta looks good, but I think I’d actually prefer a steak.
Man: Do you know where the meat comes from?
Woman: Of course! I always inquire about the source of the meat I eat. It’s from vat 13 at Acme Labs!

This scene may sound like fodder for a science fiction novel, but according to Wired, test tube meat may end up on consumers’ plates in the not-too-distant future.

Grown in bioreactors, the in vitro meat would be created to mimic the texture and flavor or real meat, from to ground chuck to filet mignon. As of now, scientists say that they have a ways to go before reaching the desired results - but they’re making progress. Wired reported: “Researchers can currently grow small amounts of meat in the lab, and have even been able to get heart cells to beat in Petri dishes. Growing muscle cells on an industrial scale is the next step.”

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It’s the week before Passover and the foodie blogosphere is ready. Like hand-grated horseradish, fluffy meringues and caramel-coated “matzah crack” ready.

The most exciting news (for us anyway!) is The Daily Green’s sustainable Passover story, which features tips from The Jew & The Carrot’s Healthy Sustainable Passover Resources. Check out their (gorgeous) feature here.

Below the jump, we’ve rounded up a number of other great Passover stories, ideas, and recipes from the Jewish food blogosphere. The creativity coming out of these bloggers minds and kitchens is truly inspiring - feel free to share more resources below.Also keep your eyes peeled for a chance to win Arthur Schwartz’s new cookbook Jewish Home Cooking - early next week.

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Sorry for the last minute notice, RSVP at the Facebook page. 

We’re proud to announce this week’s super special event: on Wednesday, 4/9 EATING LIBERALLY welcomes SCOTT STRINGER, the Manhattan Borough President, to discuss “Go Green East Harlem,” a grassroots guide to wholesome home cooking.

To improve public health in East Harlem, Stringer’s office has created a cookbook with recipes contributed by community groups & local restaurants that offer ideas for affordable, accessible, healthy eats.

This FREE event hosted by Eating Liberally will feature snacks, Q&A, guest speakers & a live–and lively–cooking demonstration featuring the Borough President himself.

Lynn Fredericks from Family Cook Productions.
& Author of Cooking Time Is Family Time
will join the conversation.

EATING LIBERALLY with SCOTT STRINGER
& “Go Green East Harlem”
Wed, April 9th - 6-8pm
The Tank @ C:U - 279 Church St
www.eatingliberally.org

I don’t know about you all, but spring is here in Brooklyn, and I’m psyched. Walking in the park near my apartment yesterday, the trees were popping, the air smelled fresh and flowery, and it seemed like the whole neighborhood was outside soaking in the spring-ness.

It’s this combination of seasonal renewal and the giddy energy that comes with it that makes Passover one of my favorite holidays - there’s just such an optimism and joy this time of year. I also love how Passover offers a perfect opportunity to combine the wisdom of a traditional Jewish holiday with my desire to live healthily and sustainable in our world.

On that note, I’m pleased to announce the return of The Jew & The Carrot’s Healthy Sustainable Passover Resources! Find tips and tricks to shake off the winter (and the chametz), green your seder table, and celebrate the holiday in sustainable style.

(x-posted at All Voices)

The AP reported this week that inmates in Vermont prisons are suing the Vermont Prison System for cruel and unusual punishment: disgusting dinner food.

Instead of the processed meat and cheese-heavy dinners served throughout most of America’s prison system, the worst offenders in Vermont (particularly those inmates with a history of disruptive and dangerous behavior at meal times) are served Nutraloaf: a mixture of cubed whole wheat bread, nondairy cheese, raw carrots, spinach, raisins, beans, vegetable oil, tomato paste, powdered milk and dehydrated potato flakes.

The prison system argues that the “square meal” is nutritionally complete. More importantly, because it can be served without utensils or trays, it doubles as an effective tool for behavior control. Speaking about Nutraloaf, Vermont Corrections Commissioner Rob Hofmann said:

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What do parsley, pickles, and charoseth have in common?  They constitute the exhaustive list of Jewish foods that fit neatly into a raw food diet.  The remaining arsenal of heavy, noodle-egg-and-shmaltz-filled dishes that dominate the world of traditional Jewish cuisine don’t exactly make the cut.

But now - proving that there is indeed an online community for every interest - there is a new Yahoo group for raw foodists who love Jewish food.  Members will swap Jewishly-inspired recipes created through vegan and raw techniques.  While I can see how borscht and hummus would be fairly straight forward to make raw, I’m having a little trouble wrapping my mind around an uncooked matzah ball…

Check out Jewish Raw Food here.

Photo credit: Judy Pokras “Raw Vegan Potato Latkes and Mock Sour Cream”

National Geographic is known for its compelling articles on the wonders of the ancient and modern world - and also its photographs of bare chested women (the ones that brought a blush to the cheeks of more than one generation of kids.).

Now, National Geographic can also be known as a resource for green living - they’ve launched a new magazine, Green Guide, which they claim is for everyday folks, not “enviromanics.” (ummm…thanks, that makes me feel great about myself).

They’ve also created a series of online quizzes that test one’s knowledge on things like saving gas and plastic recycling, and allow one to find out which “eco-celebrity” they most resemble.  Two of the quizzes are food related: Food Safety and Get to Know Your Inner Organic Foodie, so if you’re in the mood for a little wholesome, nerdy fun (beats reading another story about the recall - or staring warily at your hamburger), take a few minutes to test your food savvy.

(hat tip to Slashfood)