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."
Friday, January 15, 2010
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.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
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.
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.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
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?
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
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.comThanks!KendraIpanema Cafe917 W. Grace St.213-0190
Friday, January 8, 2010
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.
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.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
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.
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