FEB20

If Vincent were still alive, I think he’d Van-Gogh for this pointillist pesto!

During my four year tenure in Chicago, I spent many a wintery afternoon at the Art Institute, admiring this famous pointillist painting by Seurat. I’d alternate between getting real close, then gradually backing up, ever marveling at how anyone could paint hundreds of thousand of dots up close and know that this beautiful landscape was going to be the end product.

The Art Institute had a huge collection of Impressionist paintings, and I became a big fan of the style, the era, and the famous people who lived in Paris and Provence.

French movies.

Lavender.

Red wine.

So when we got this glamorous peacock kale yesterday, Impressionism is what immediately came to mind. And I decided to do some pointillist cooking. Pesto was the perfect ode to my love of all things Impressionist.

As I was putting this together, I realized it is probably foods like peacock kale that inspired these artists and their color schemes in the first place! I can see Seurat, with his easel propped on a hill, looking out over fields of lavender and peacock kale, inspired to create by the many shades of purple before him. I love that the food inspired the artists who then inspired the foodie!

I absolutely love how the pesto bits mimic Seurat’s pointillism. Who knows, if he’d had a food processor back then, maybe he could have invented a pesto-ist/spatula technique that would have completely changed the course of art history as we know it.

Here is the finished product on spinach fettucini. It just seemed too regal to throw onto the regular white stuff.

I’m betting Monet on it, you’ll love the appearance and flavor of this artistic pesto as much as I did!

Pointillist Pesto

3 cups packed chopped fresh peacock kale leaves

3 large garlic cloves

2/3 cup pine nut/pecan mixture

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Place kale leaves and garlic In a food processor and mix well. Add nuts and continue to blend until the nuts are finely ground. With the machine running, drizzle in olive oil. When you have a smooth paste, transfer to a bowl and stir in Parmesan.

Per serving: 179 calories, 5 grams carbohydrate, 4 grams protein, 18 grams fat, 4 mg cholesterol, 75 mg sodium

FEB19

The nutrition science of spicy radishes

In this week’s share, we included a root vegetable whose paled appearance disguises the the wondrous nutrition science within. Daikon, an Asian radish that is shaped like a carrot but often quite a bit larger in size, contains compounds representative of many cruciferous vegetables that are spicy or somewhat pungent in flavor.

Many crucifers, from radishes to broccoli to wasabi, have built-in defense mechanisms to minimize the amount of damage caused by hungry pests. Compounds called glucosinolates exist in all of these veggies that, by themselves, are not at all active. However, if a bug comes along and munches on the plant, the cells within are broken down, and an enzyme called myrosinase is released. When myrosinase comes into contact with glucosinolates, active compounds are formed called isothiocyanates (eye-so-thigh-oh-sigh-uh-nates). It’s these pungent and spicy compounds that drive pests away and give cruciferous vegetables their characteristic smells and flavors.

We’ve actually evolved to make good use of isothiocyanates. It turns out some of them happen to be very bioactive in humans. They activate our own defense mechanisms that help fight off potentially cancer-causing compounds that sometimes make their way into our bodies. Lots of good epidemiological evidence suggests that consistent intake of cruciferous vegetables, like daikon, broccoli, radishes, cabbages, and others, are associated with decreased risk for a variety of cancers.

So, don’t ignore the big, pale carrot in your share. Find a great recipe, or use one of ours, and eat away for good health.

FEB9

Blueberries? Who needs those when we live in Arizona?

Source: Monika on Pinterest

If you look at any list of top ten “super foods”, blueberries invariably make the cut. They have gained culinary rockstar status because of their high concentration of anthocyanins, an antioxidant family known for its power in improving brain function and cancer, among other things.

Blueberries’ constant presence on this superfood list can lead to the impression that it is the ONLY fruit containing significant anthocyanin levels. Your recent Chow Share boxes have contained a few stellar examples of locally grown products that offer the same antioxidant power as blueberries, with a more carbon-neutral footprint.

Why would northern berries and desert fruits and vegetables be biochemically similar? Antioxidants don’t just benefit the humans who eat them. They protect the plants they live in, from potentially destructive environmental elements. They are particularly effective at preventing sunburn (yes, plants need sunscreen too!), In northern climates where long summer days mean more sun exposure, anthocyanins help to keep fruits from aging before they can be eaten. Arizona days are shorter, but the sun’s rays are more intense; sun protection is important for species survival. Native plants containing anthocyanins include purple prickly pear fruits and many cactus fruits, like those seen on prickly pears and saguaros.

That hibiscus growing in your yard? It is full of anthocyanins and great for making tea.

Some purple power we’ve brought to you from local farmers include: blood oranges, and the Merlot lettuce pictured here. Radishes, figs, purple cabbage, and grapes are other examples you may see in other seasons. And don’t forget red wine from our Arizona vineyards! That resveratrol you always hear about in wine that prevents cancer and heart disease? It’s part of the anthocyanin family.

All those gorgeous beets you have been getting contain betacyanins, another great antioxidant that is part of the anthocyanins family.

One of the surprisingly beneficial aspects of living in a location with climate extremes, is that we are surrounded by a treasure chest of super foods that evolved to live in this climate ready and available to help us do so as well.

It’s easy to take advantage…just think purple when painting your dinner picture!

FEB3

Chow Share for the weekend of February 4-5

We know a lot of you love to show off the amazing meals you create with your Chow Share produce. And, we know lots of our customers have LOTS of great recipes worth sharing. So, we’re working on a new function for our website where you can trade info with each other on how to use what you get each week in the share.

Until that’s up, we’ll create blog posts like this one where you can share recipes and ideas in the comments section. So take this opportunity to tell us and the Chow Locally community what you’ll be making with this week’s Chow Share!

And, for a preview of what’s coming in the box, check out this week’s Chow Share video.

FEB3

The easy answer for extra veggies

These days, to say that people are busy is a dramatic understatement. We have a job or jobs; we have side ventures; we have commutes, classes, and other commitments. And it all adds up to lots of time spent trying to add to the GDP or make ourselves professionally more competitive in order to do so later.

Really, our busy-ness is reflective of the best and worst aspects of our western lifestyle. We have the opportunity to work hard and hopefully reap the benefits of that work. But then we have to figure out how to make time for fun, family, and health. And one area that seems to be most easily trumped by busy-ness is healthy eating.

Fresh veggies can be part of that problem, but they can also be part of the solution. On those weeks you find your beautiful whole foods languishing, unchopped, unwashed, unpeeled, and generally uneaten in your fridge, you can use alternative strategies to get that healthy food into your belly.

First, and perhaps easiest, is the smoothie route. You might be thinking, “no no, these are vegetables, not fruits, that are not getting used…it is unequivocally gross to suggest I make a smoothie out of this stuff.” I would contend otherwise. Check out these recipes for ideas on how to use kale, or even an entire head of lettuce, to make tasty smoothies. Here are a few others. You can find these all over the internet, and if you balance the veggies with some fruit, your smoothies will taste great! All you really need is a good blender. I’ve heard lots of people talking recently about the Vitamix, which is on the expensive side but very good. However, if you have a regular blender, you can easily get away with making smoothies out of most vegetables, especially leafy greens.

Another option you have is to make soups. Here’s an good place to start. And you can find plenty of other recipes if you go casually surfing for them. The nice thing with soups is that you can make one big batch very quickly and easily, and then have leftovers for days to come!

And of course, this is all crazy healthy. And it takes minimal preparation. So, when you’re feeling overwhelmed by all the stuff in your life, make sure your veggies aren’t part of your stress. Instead, blend them up and drink them down, and know that even when you’re busy you can still be healthy.