I ordered Super Natural Every Day sometime in early May. I had come across rave reviews of the recipes on at least ten blogs that I read regularly. And I'm totally into following the pack. So I decided I needed to check out this natural foods cooking. Heidi Swanson, the author, has a quite-famous blog called 101 Cookbooks, and while I perused the beautiful pictures on the site...it all seemed Greek to me. When I read Pioneer Woman Cooks I know immediately what she is talking about. Many of her recipes are like the food my own Momma cooked for me growing up. The ingredients, the methods...it's all familiar and comfortable. 101 Cookbooks uses some familiar and some not-so-familiar ingredients. Also, it's all vegetarian. Really, I'm not sure what the deal is with my brain block...but I needed to look through the entire book.
Apparently the cookbook is like #6 right now on the New York Times Bestseller list, so there were some glitches in catching up with demand. Last week, FINALLY, my book came. And I got right down to business. Friday night I made Weeknight Curry (I don't seen this exact recipe on her site, but there are a ton of curry recipes). I wasn't sure how the kids would respond to zucchini, cauliflower and asparagus all dressed up with coconut milk and curry paste. But, boy howdy! They scraped the pan and were asking for more. It was super good and super quick and easy. Point 1 for super natural.
Saturday, I grabbed Becca and Maddie and we headed down to Whole Foods. Heidi Swanson buys her ingredients from farmer's markets in San Francisco. Ummmm. Not happening in suburban Houston (unfortunately). At Whole Foods I scored some coconut oil (although Heidi calls for extra virgin coconut oil -- I'm working with what I've got here). I also found dandelion greens! There's a recipe in the book that calls for dandedlion greens. I excitedly showed Sterling, and he was all, "You have to pay for those?" Umm...yes.
Also got some fennel (which they have at HEB, by the way). Guess what I found out yesterday? I don't like fennel. I don't like how it smells, and I'm not super crazy about the way it tastes. Me and fennel? We're not really pals. What I did like? This Farro and Millet Risotto. Except I couldn't find any farro, so I subsituted with pearled barley. WHERE DOES ONE BUY FARRO? I topped the risotto with roasted summer squash (FROM MY GARDEN, BOOYAH) and asparagus. And chives (FROM MY GARDEN) and curried brown butter. It was great. And healthy. And the whole family loved it. Point 2.
I have to tell you, I'm pretty stoked about the natural foods. They are tasty and satisfying and (so far) relatively easy to prepare. Also, they completely fit in with my hippy aspirations. Oh Birkenstocks! Where art thou????
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