New Richmond Area Food System Website

The Richmond Area Food System Council (RAFS ) has a new website. The RFC has had the privilege of being a member of the RAFS Council and are featured on their new website's front page. If you have an interest in learning more about our local food system or feel that you have something to offer for it's improvement check out the new website. You can sign up to join the website and then can post about upcoming relevant events, market news and more. Many of Richmond's most dedicated and active supports of a healthy local food system are members of RAFS. You can check in and keep up with what their up to at this new site. The RAFS information page says this "site is devoted to building a community of individuals and groups that are willing to share their ideas and resources toward the greater cause of making the region's food system more sustainable....If you are willing to share what you know and/ or share your talents you are welcome here. If you're a consumer looking for local food...you are welcome here. If you are a food producer, restaurant owner, food distributor, or food waste recycler looking for a place to buy, sell, or trade your wares or services...you are welcome here. If you are a local food advocate or non-profit looking to make things better for all by giving your time, talent, or financial support...you are welcome here. If you simply have a question or an answer to share...you are welcome here."
To visit the site click here.

Winter Dinner Party Recipes

Yesterday we were supposed to be hosting a dinner party for seventeen people. Unfortunately the snow storm saw to it that we were left to gorge ourselves alone on the foodstuffs for four different appetizers and a four course meal for yes, seventeen people! At the very least I figured I would post our menu and a few of the recipes here in hopes that some may try a couple of them out and enjoy them!

Menu

Cocktails...

Dirty Martinis with Jalapeno Stuffed Olives

Bourbon Infused with White Tangerine Tea served with an Orange Zest

or Prince Michele Cabernet Franc

Appetizers

Spinach and White Bean Dip Served with Fresh Winter Vegetables

Petite Roasted Potato Wedges served with Garlic, Scallion and Chive Greek Yogurt

Pan Fried Tofu in a Cayenne Peanut Oil served with Persimmon Chutney

Lemon Lavender Goat Cheese with Red Pear and Baguette

Dinner

White Wine

Curried Butternut Squash Soup

Tarragon Pot Pies made with Chicken or Oyster Mushrooms

Salad of Mesculun greens, figs, Night Sky chevre, toasted walnuts and edible flowers
Dessert

Peach Kuchen

A Few Recipes...

Shannon's Spinach and White Bean Dip

4 oz fresh baby spinach

1 lemon, cut into 6 wedges

1 shallot, diced

4 med-large cloves garlic, minced

5 pitted kalamata olives cut in half

1 15oz can white beans

sea salt and fresh ground pepper

1 1/2 tbsp. olive oil

Saute fresh baby spinach in olive oil and the juice of 3 lemon wedges until just wilted through.

Rinse and drain one 15oz can white beans and puree in a food processor with juice from remaining lemon wedges. If lemon is large you may need to leave out one or two wedges to keep it from being overly tart. Add the sauteed spinach, a couple good pinches of the salt and about 1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper along with all the remaining ingredients and run through the food processor again. Serve with cauliflower, raw fennel, radishes, and bread.

Curried Butternut Squash Soup

There are dozens of ways to make delicious butternut squash soup. For this soup, I started with a couple of different recipes and blended them together. The spices and saute times came from the recipe for Molly Katzen's Curried Apple Soup from the Enchanted Broccoli Forest cook book. I substitute butternut squash for the apples and veggie broth for the water as well as sometimes adding thyme and marjoram. I also have used powered ginger instead of fresh. I have made my butternut squash soup with and without the addition of apples and it is good either way. Serve this soup with a drizzle of plain yogurt, or eat it unadorned. I actually think I prefer this without the apples (but my husband disagrees), and served heated with a little whole milk for a creamier, less tangy taste. I eat this with warm, buttery baguette.

1 large Butternut Squash

2 tbs olive oil, plus more to coat the squash for roasting.

1 large yellow onion, finely chopped

2 Granny Smith Apples, peeled and chopped, optional

If using the apples I also add 1-2 tbsp honey

3 large garlic cloves, minced

4 cups vegetable broth

2 tbs. fresh lemon juice

2 tbs. powdered ginger

( or minced fresh.. if using fresh I'd go with out the milk at the end)

2 tsp salt

2tsp dry mustard

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp ground cardamom

(cardamom is expensive, but it makes all the difference!)

1/2 tsp allspice

1/4 tsp cayenne

Pre-heat oven to 350. Cut one large Butternut Squash in half length wise and scoop out the stringy/seeded portion. Lightly coast a baking tray and fleshy side of the squash with olive oil. Place squash flesh side (flat side) down on the baking tray and bake for about 35 minutes or until a fork easy pierces through the skin and into the flesh. Remove from oven and let cool until it can be easily handled.

Meanwhile, saute the onions in the olive oil with the salt until they are translucent- about 5 minutes. Then add the apples (if desired), garlic, and all the spices and saute for another 5 minutes. The extra sauteing with the spices prior to adding the liquid help improve the depth of flavor. Pour in the broth and lemon juice and start to simmer. Scoop out the the squash from the skin and add it to the liquid. Let the soup simmer for about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and once it's cool enough to handle run through a blender in batches.

Warning.... turmeric will stain easily so be careful not to splash the soup on your counter tops, clothes etc. That's it. If you add milk do so just when you reheat before serving. If you add yogurt, drizzle it atop the individual bowls of soup immediately before serving.

The Tarragon Pot Pies

The pot pie recipe I used, (and love) is Martha Stewart's Tarragon Chicken Pot Pie. It uses Phyllo dough for the top and a rue for a little thickness while cutting way down on the fat. This is one recipe I follow to the letter it is so good. It calls for a whole chicken to be cut into eight pieces and then poached to create the needed chicken broth as well as the tender chicken. For a vegetarian version, we used vegetable broth and oyster mushrooms in place of the chicken. Check out the recipe here.

More Recipes! Love from Bulgaria- Tarator and Baked Feta

My good friend Matt married a lovely Bulgarian lady named Rali not too long ago. We got to visit over New Year's, and the talk turned to- what else? Yep, food. We talked about the differences in the foods of our native countries. Rali also told us all about preserving food for winter in Bulgaria, and how her whole family would work together to fill the larder. Even with my very small experiences in canning, I know how essential all of those hands must have been with that much work.

I got a fantastic gift the other day from Matt in the form of two Bulgarian recipes, a yogurt soup called Tarator and Baked Feta. Enjoy!

Tarator is an awesome cold yogurt soup. It's a staple and one of the dishes that is approachable for foreigners - i.e., not too exotic...

Tarator

300-400g cucumbers (10.5-14ozs)

1/2 kg yogurt (1 pound, 1 oz)

7-8 chopped walnut kernels

5-6 cloves garlic crushed

1 teaspoon vinegar

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/3 cup chopped dill

salt to taste

1. Peel and dice cucumbers

2. Beat yogurt with fork or whisk, thin with water until soup consistency, and pour over cukes

3. Add walnuts

4. Thoroughly crush garlic, add vinegar, and add to soup

5. Add oil, salt and dill

Baked Feta in Gyuveche (also called Gyuvechete)

400g Bulgarian feta (~14 oz) (note: BG feta is different than regular Greek feta. It's a bit more sour, and is more wet - it's stored in water like mozzarella)

4 tablespoons butter

4 tomatoes

2 bunches green onions (or 2 onions)

4 eggs

4 roasted chili peppers (optional)

This dish is prepared in small, single serving ceramic or oven-safe bowls, with lids. It is served hot, out of the oven, with fresh bread

1. Put 1 tablespoon of butter in each bowl (note: Rali doesn't use butter so I don't think you need it)

2. Chop onions, dice tomatoes, and crumble cheese (or cut in small cubes)

3. Break 1 egg over mixture in each bowl

4. Cover bowls and bake for about 10 minutes in moderate oven (350?)

5. Remove lids, put a chili pepper in each bowl, serve.

Recipes for cozy winter nights: Chickpea Chili and British Cornbread

I had the most lovely dinner with friends last night, and even luckier for me, they are fantastic cooks. Stephanie made the best chili I have ever had (that is right- we are using superlatives here) and my British friend Melissa made the best cornbread ever. The chili has chick peas and tomatillos, so it is very fresh, and the cornbread is more like cake than bread- in texture, not sweetness. Here are the recipes, in the voices of the lovely women who made them. Enjoy!

Stephanie's Chick Pea Chili

• 8 lb. Tomatillos, husked, cleaned

• 3/4 cup olive oil

• 2 cups cilantro leaves

• 1/4 cup lime juice

• 2 tsp. garlic powder

• 1 tsp. cayenne pepper

• 1 tsp. black pepper

• 1 lb. 4 oz. onions, chopped

• 6 lb. Chick peas, canned drained

• Salt to taste

Preparation

1. Combine tomatillos and 1/2 cup of the olive oil in pressurized

steam cooker. Steam for 20 minutes; strain through fine-mesh strainer.

2. Blend in blender or food processor cilantro with lime juice,

garlic powder, cayenne and pepper until liquefied. Add to tomatillo

puree; set sauce aside.

3. Cook onions in 1/4 cup of remaining oil until softened. Add chick

peas and tomatillo sauce; simmer 5 minutes to thicken slightly,

stirring often. Salt to taste.

I don't have a pressurized steam cooker, so I just chopped up the

tomatillos, put them in a bowl, filled the bowl with water and popped

them in the microwave for ~20 minutes. I didn't use any oil in the

tomatillos, because that seemed kind of gross and unnecessary.

The recipe seems to be missing a step between 1 and 2. Step 2 says

something about tomatillo puree, yet step 1 doesn't say anything about

pureeing the tomatillos. I used an immersion blender to puree the

tomatillos after draining off the water used to steam them.

Also, I halved this recipe, which seems designed to feed a small army,

though I did keep the amount of spice the same (cayenne and black

pepper) because I really like spice.

Melissa's Cornbread

from Susan Reimer's book 'Muffins Fast and

Fantastic' (1998) and because it's an English book, the measurements are

by weight, not volume. I'll give them in imperial.

6 oz plain flour

6 oz cornmeal

4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

3 oz sugar

1 egg

9 fl oz milk

3 oz butter, melted

1. Prepare muffin tins or loaf pan (I use butter and then line the bottom

only with greaseproof paper). Preheat oven to 375-400F.

2. In a large bowl, combine all the first 5 ingredients, mixing well. Make

a well in the centre.

3. In another bowl, beat the egg with a fork. Add milk and melted butter

(if the butter is hot from melting and the milk and egg are cold, you will

get a scrambled effect - don't worry if this happens; just mix it all

together anyway).

4. Pour all of wet ingredients into dry. Stir until just combined. Batter

will appear lumpy, but no dry flour should be visible (stir as little as

possible).

5. Fill muffin cups 3/4 full or pour into loaf pan. Bake for 20 mins for

muffins, 35-45 mins for a loaf, until edges appear golden brown and top

springs back when touched, or a knife or skewer comes out clean on

testing. Let cool in the pan for a bit, then take it out.

She also suggests adding 1-2 oz grated cheddar cheese or some finely

chopped cooked bacon, but this recipe is so good that I don't mess with

it. It's also quick - you can make the muffins in 30 mins, start to

finish.

More Good Recycling News

From Jerry Veneziano of Sweetwater Farms:

There was a time when I didn't drink wine. That all changed when we settled the farm here at the gateway to Virginia's wine country. With 2 wineries no more than 15 minutes from my door, how could I not try them out, and discover what I'd missed out on? Which has led to numerous empty glass bottles...and a pile of corks. Dealing with the bottles is easy...you hang them from trees (thanks to Sister Dawn for that inspiration) or haul them to the recycling center if you prefer. But, what about the corks? They're kind of cool and all, but after awhile they start to pile up...

A quick visit to Feast! in Charlottesville (an epicurean's dream) turned up the answer, and some rather disturbing statistics. Apparently, billions (yes with a "B") of wine corks end up in landfills every year. That's not good! Especially since they can be recycled into so many things (insulation, soil conditioner, building materials, etc. etc. etc.). The only tricky thing is finding a place to turn them in. That's why Carpet Plus has started Re-cork C'ville. Take your natural wine corks to one of the drop off locations they've set up, then they'll convey them to a cork recycling facility.

Unfortunately, they don't have any drop off locations in Richmond (at least, not yet), and I'm not aware of any similar local program (again, at least not yet). Still, this would be a perfectly good excuse to take a ride to the mountains...and sample all that C'ville has to offer, yes?

Learn more at: http://www.carpetplusonline.com/recork/

Wendell Berry's Dec 3 Talk At UVA

Thank you to Jo at Manakintowne Speciality Growers for passing this along to us. Wendell Berry spoke to an overflow crowed in early December. I am so sorry that I missed it, however, we don't have to miss out entirely. Mr. Berry's one hour talk can be downloaded for free via itunes. To read a bit about the talk and to listen to the lecture you can follow the link on the Manakintowne Specialty Growers web page here. Just click on Events at the top of the page and scroll down.

Chocolate Cravings Open House Today

Just a Reminder that the Chocolate Cravings Open House is today.

Samples of hot chocolate and other confections doesn't sound like a bad way to spend part of a cold January day!

Open House on Saturday, January 23 from 10:00 - 5:00.

Chocolate Cravings

6929 Lakeside Avenue

(In the Hub Shopping Center at the corner of Lakeside and Hillard)

Richmond Va. 23228

804-363-6873

Come and sample some hot chocolate and preview Valentine Treats.

Urban Foraging in the 2010

Thanks to my friend Jonah who pointed me to the RVA blog Buttermilk and Molasses for news of a new app for your iphone. Use the app to find the closest public fruit trees to your current location! I was going to (eventually, one day) create a map of the fig, mulberry and other fruit trees around town, but now that seems so terribly old school. Now I think I'll just grab my friends with fancy phones (you'll love it, guys!) and go a huntin'.

Here is the info from the Neighborhood Fruit Website:

Find Fruit unlocks cities, enabling you to explore in new ways. Instead of being trapped in the concrete jungle, this app is your key to the edible urban forest! Find Fruit helps you find fresh fruit growing down the street and learn more about fruit trees.

Features:

Location of thousands of trees on public land nationwide on a standard Google Map.

Current location or zipcode/address enabled search.

Directions from your current location.

Configurable fruit tree search by seasonality, type of tree, proximity, and number of trees displayed.

Usage, description and factoids for all available fruit types, ranging from the pedestrian Apple, to the exotic Yellow Mangosteen!

Beautiful and informative illustrations to help identify the fruit.

Intuitive and fun interface!

Requirements:

iPhone OS2.0 or later

Have you been to Black Hand Coffee Co.?

I have been getting Black Hand Coffee through Fall Line Farms, and have loved it, so when I found out they have a shop at 606 North Sheppard Street, I had to check it out. The laid back shop in the Museum District roasts its own beans, and makes one of the best lattes (my coffee drink of choice, always) ever. I talked with Chris, the shop's roaster, who has been at Black Hand for nearly a year. The roasts range from light to very dark and oily, and are sold whole bean or ground in a reusable tin. Go there for the coffee and for Flour Garden breads and pastries. (Photo courtesy of Black Hand Coffee Company)

2010 Virginia Association for Biological Farming Conference

The 2010 VABF conference will be held February 19 and 20 in Danville Virginia. For more information on this year's conference visit http://www.vabf.org/annual-conference . There you can find a schedule of speakers, a vendor list and info on registration fees, hotels and lodging.
Michael Ableman is one of this year's featured speakers. An excerpt from the VABF page reads... "Michael champions the cause of sustainable agriculture through books, films, television and many public presentations. During the last 50 years we have lost over 5 million acres of arable farmland to real estate development in Virginia. If this trend continues, there will not be much farmland or forested land in this state. Can you imagine the entire state of Virginia as one connected urban and suburban sprawl? Michael Ableman will suggest that islands of land preserved for farming and forestry could exist within this future landscape.
Other Conference speakers will discuss permaculture, composting, seed saving, pastured poultry, raspberries, heirloom vegetables, beekeeping, biological controls of insects and diseases, tomatoes and mushrooms. We will have two presentations on food safety. We will have three of the best representatives in Virginia on hand to talk about state and federal government programs that support agriculture. We have two personnel from Berea College in Kentucky who can describe how small liberal arts colleges might become engaged in agriculture. We will have two excellent film presentations and one tour of an incredible composting operation."

Top Vegan Products of 2009

Label readers, celebrate! Vegan Action posted the favorite vegan products of 2009 contributed by their members and supporters. Check it out!

2009 Vegan Favorites for the Web

Primal Strips vegan jerky, Tree Huggin Treats candy bars, and Wizards Vegan Worcestershire Sauce

- Krissi Vandenberg (Vegan Action campaign director)

Soyatoo! Rice Whip and Liz Lovely's Cookies

- Alanna Wiggins (Vegan Action supporter and former board member)

Veganaise, Silk Yogurts (especially blueberry), Soy Boy Raviolis, Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar cookbook

- Alyssa Murray (Vegan Action board member)

Health is Wealth Buffalo Wings, Sweet N Sara's Smores, Boca Chicken Patties( the all natural and spicy ones aren't vegan), Smoked Tempeh Strips, back to Nature Chocolate Chip Cookies, Blenheim Ginger Ale

- David Phinney (Vegan Action volunteer)

Field Roast Wild Mushroom sandwich slices, Soy Delicious coconut milk soy yogurt, Veganrella mozzarella flavor soy cheese

- Nick Bergheimer (Vegan Action supporter)

Smoked apple sage Field Roast grain meat sausages, Galaxy vegan grated cheese alternative, Tofitti cream cheese, and Gimme Lean soy sausage, Purely Decadent chocolate coconut milk ice cream

- Erin Waldoch (Vegan Action supporter)

Pizza Fusion's Very Vegan Pizza, Trader Joe's house brand oreos and UFOs

- Leslie Sanford (Vegan Action board member)

Rice Dream Mint frozen ice cream pie and Lush Ultralight face moisturizer

- Erin Wright (Vegan Action supporter)

For more info on the great work that Vegan Action is doing around Richmond (including great recipes), click here.

Orange Fennel Chicken

Tis the season for fennel and citrus so I had two fennel bulbs in my fridge and a surplus of oranges. Of course local fennel is most available around Richmond in October and November (if my memory serves me), so my fennel was a-la-Elwoods. I was just throwing stuff together, perhaps thoughtfully throwing stuff together, but we thought the meal turned out really well. Here's what I did... some of the measurements are approximate since as often happens I didn't measure.
3 boneless, skinless chicken breast
2 large fennel bulbs
1/2 tsp. dried, minced orange peal
2 tbsp. olive oil
3 tbsp. lemon juice
2 whole navel oranges
1 tsp. dried thyme
French Grey Sea Salt
Fresh Ground Black Pepper
Using a baking dish with a lid coat the bottom of the dish with olive oil. Lay the chicken breast in a single layer on the bottom. Coat the chicken with lemon juice top and bottom. Cut one of the oranges into 8ths and squeeze the juice over the chicken. Discard the rest of the orange. Cut the peal from the second orange and slice the orange cross ways into disk and lay them over top of the chicken. You should have two orange disk for each chicken breast. Sprinkle the thyme, dried orange peal, over top and add salt and pepper. Core and half one large fennel bulb, removing the outer layer if it's browned or puckered at all. Slice the fennel halves into 1/3 inch thick slices. I put the slices from one half of the bulb in the dish with the chicken soaking in the lemon and orange juices. Cover and let sit for 20 minutes. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until done.
While the chicken was sitting... I made a side dish of Whole Wheat Pasta with olive oil, sauteed mushrooms, onions, garlic, roasted fennel, Green Olives, a 1/2 cup of Parmesan with a local hard cheese, and a little bit of feta cheese. Put the water on for the pasta. Chop the second bulb of fennel the same as the first. Coat the fennel with olive oil and lay out in a single layer on a baking sheet. I just do my in the oven at 350, turning about every 10 minutes until the fennel is tender, lightly browned and somewhat translucent. While the fennel is cooking saute the onions, mushrooms and garlic then set them aside until the chicken is done cooking and the pasta is ready.
Once the chicken is done baking take it out to set for a few minute and use the time to mix the pasta with all the ingredients... a single large green olive cut into somewhat thin segments and a tablespoon of feta were added per serving.
I will definitely make this again. We had mixed greens with a tarragon mustard vinaigrette along with this. In the end we both ate the chicken mixed with the pasta, enjoying the flavor of the fennel with the orange and green olives. The feta was actually added to the left overs and was not originally included, but I decided it was an improvement.

For another delicious idea check out this Citrus Salad recipe from Mark Bittman's January 15th column in the New York Times. His column 'The Minimalist' is wonderful for simple in season recipes.

Center for Rural Culture's Annual Growers Workshop

From Lisa Dearden of the CRC:

5th Annual GROWING FOR MARKET WORKSHOP

Saturday, Jan. 31st

9:00 - 5:00 pm

Location: J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College Western

Campus 1851 Dickenson Rd. Goochland, VA 23063

• Vegetable Production

• Small Fruit & Berry Production

• Marketing—Creating a Farm Brochure

• Web Basics & Social Media for Farmers

• Backyard Poultry Production

• Beekeeping

• Tomato Grafting

• Shiitake Mushrooms

• Seed Saving

• Specialty Niche Markets

To register go to:http://5thgrowersworkshop.eventbrite.com/

Scholarships are available in limited quantity. If you are interested in a scholarship, please email: admin@centerforruralculture.org and answer the following three questions:

1) Why do you need a scholarship for this workshop?

2) What are your future plans for using the knowledge gained from the workshop?

3) Are you willing to volunteer at the workshop?

Vegan Beer Dinner at Ipanema on Sunday

From Kendra Feather of Ipanema Cafe:

Just wanted to let you all know that we are hosting a Vegan beer dinner on January 17th at 6pm. The tickets are $45 which is tax and tip included. There are five courses and five beers. Should be alot of fun. Last years was amazing!

Tickets are on sale at rvanews.com

Thanks!

Kendra

Ipanema Cafe

917 W. Grace St.

213-0190

Andouille Sausage, Anaheim Pepper, and White Bean Stew

You are now entering the recipe free zone. I try. I do. It's just I like to cook, but don't like to measure. I decided that sometimes it's okay if throw out some simple ingredients lists and let you decide the amounts. Soups are the perfect example. I love making soup in the fall and winter. Soup is a perfect vehicle for all of those winter produce items you have stuffed in your fridge. Mixing them together within the bubbling goodness of a broth, be it delicate or hearty, can give new life to cool season staples.

Let's start with one Matt and I made this fall. We had an over abundance of late season peppers. We had hot peppers in many forms and red, orange, and green sweet peppers. By late October we had harvested all of our sweet peppers. This left us with lots of green peppers, in particular Anaheim peppers which are perfect for roasting. We roasted them by the arm load! Just lightly coat the skin with olive oil, sometimes this step is not even necessary, and place on the grill over medium high heat. Check and turn them regularly until the flesh is cracking and chard. To read more about roasting peppers, and peeling them click here. We peel, slice, bag and freeze them in smaller bags so they are ready to season soups and chili into the winter.

We have also been turning to a Turkey Andouille Sausage that Ellwood Thompson sells. I will state right now that I know nothing about the company that makes this sausage. This fall I caved in and gave it a try. It great for us because I only eat fish and poultry. I have talked to multiple vendors at the farmer's markets and they all said that producing sausages from poultry is too complicated and cost prohibitive for their small operations. So while my red meat eating husband can find anything he wants at the market I turned to this Andouille sausage from Ellwood's. I thought this sausage would be great with roasted peppers some fresh greens and some of my dried black eyed peas or white beans. The soup turned out wonderfully!!! Here is what we used in the end:

4(?_ quarts Vegetable stock
1 double handful of roasted Anaheim peppers coarsely chopped(Roasted Sweet Peppers would be fine if that's what you have)
3 small heads of roasted garlic
3 links of Turkey Andouille sausage cooked in a skilled and sliced into 1/4 inch pieces
Multiple handfuls of Swiss Chard (remove stem, chop stem and then coarsely chop greens. Be aware that if you use the red veined chard your soup will take on a pink hue. If this doesn't appeal to you use the white veined chard or another green such as kale. In the case of kale discard the stems. )
2 medium-large onions finely chopped
2 hot peppers, deseeded and finely minced
About 2 cups pre-cooked or canned beans
Salt and Fresh ground pepper
I may have thrown in Thyme and Marjoram to taste
Remember all these measurements are after the fact "guesstamations". The import thing is to add ingredients in ratios that taste good to you.
Bring the soup to a hard boil and then cook over medium-med. low heat so that it is simmering but not at a hard boil. I just tossed the onions in the broth, but cooking the onions in a tablespoon or two of olive oil at the bottom of your stock pot and then adding the broth over top will add a richer flavor. If using chard, add the leaf greens shortly before serving as they will cook very quickly.

Good Recycling News!

As I am sure you know, in Richmond we can only recycle plastics numbered 1 and 2. That leaves out yogurt containers and many takeout containers. I have been reusing these as tupperware and ice cream containers, but they do seem to accumulate. Lucky for me, my friend Krissi told me that Whole Foods Market is collecting #5 plastics, and sending them on to be repurposed! On their Facebook Page, Whole Foods says:

We now accept #5 plastics for recycling! Please drop the cleaned items in the Preserve Gimme 5 bin next to the exit door. Your item will be turned into new Preserve products, like a toothbrush or razor handle.