A sweet, savory, buttery, green and healthy food blog by Sanura Weathers
Delicious recipes using whole-grains, such as rice, farro, wheat, couscous and quinoa–to increase the nutritional value of a healthy meal.
Why become friends with the neighbor who has a large vegetable garden? You want to make this tomato sauce. It’s a simple recipe, but it requires the best ingredients. The best ingredients are garden fresh–minutes from being picked off the vine. At this time of year, gardens are overflowing with an abundance of overripe tomatoes, zucchini, eggplants, tender herbs, summer squash, and bell peppers. They’re the classic ingredients for making a simple, summer tomato sauce. Read more
Oh, holy grain, its quinoa! As one commenter on MyLifeRunsOnFood’s FaceBook page mentioned, it’s the fuel of marathoners. In America’s advancement of fast food that is supposed to save the world (it’s destroying it, but that’s another discussion), we’re missing out on interesting and natural ingredients that are also quick to make. People are increasingly curious about alternative choices outside America’s monotonous food system of taste. Quinoa first appears as tightly wound, packed grains (they’re actually seeds). After they cook, they become translucent and spirally. As mentioned before about seeds and grains, quinoa has a slight corn and nutty taste, for it mostly supports flavorful ingredients. Read more
It’s quite sad that vegetables are considered boring and bland. Truthfully, that’s how it’s presented. A former co-worker and I were at a buffet. It had fried and barbecue chicken, rice and peas, mac and cheese, and all the delicious ceremonial dishes. In the midst of the buffet was the notorious tasteless vegetable platter with grape tomatoes, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, and green bell pepper. Usually, there’s a gooey ranch dressing in the center of the platter. Honestly, I skip over the vegetable tray. The dry taste is not worth the “must-eat-your-vegetables” guilt. As my co-worker grabbed a few pieces, she said, “…Must take a few ‘feel good’ vegetables, but no one ever wants to eat them.” As predicted, the lightly nibbled vegetables were scraped into the garbage when she was done eating. Read more
My friends must think I’m avoiding them. April has proven to be whirlwind of hi-strung energy. There are too many priorities that can’t be ignored or delayed. In the beginning of April, I canceled a few coffee dates. Around mid-April, meetings were rescheduled for May, after canceling for the third time. When dates are canceled, it throws another person’s schedule off. It’s not like my friends have extra spare time. In addition to juggling priorities, the landlord schedules much needed repairs and a painting job for the whole apartment. There’s dust and painting supplies everywhere. The saying, if the house isn’t in order, life is unorganized. Read more
There’s this sudden fascination with grains lately. Such curiosity started last year when amaranth greens were included in a weekly farm share. A quick online search yielded information about amaranth grains. It’s commonly found in the bulk section of organic or natural food stores. Since then, I’ve discovered other types of grains.
Thanks to globalization, plenty of grains have been introduced to our market recently, such as amaranth, barley, quinoa, kamut, kasha, rye berries, and so forth. A few weeks ago, Melissa Danielle, a foodie friend, requested a recipe using wheatberries. Quite honestly, the name of the grain is easily recognized, but its visual appearance is daunting. Situations like this casually remind us how disconnected we are from food and it’s actual source. It’s commonly flattened into flakes for breakfast cereals or granola, similar to corn and oat flakes. It’s also baked in bread for additional flavor and nutrients, hence the name “Whole-Grain Bread”. Read more