It is now acceptable to have Caprese Salad for Dinner: Chilled Pasta with Fresh Basil, Mozzarella Cheese, Roasted Eggplant, and Julienne Tomatoes.

Chilled Pasta with Fresh Basil, Mozzarella Cheese, Roasted Eggplant, and Julienne Tomatoes.
Photography by Benner!

I have yet to meet someone who does not like caprese salad. The problem is that on hot days, which by the way appear endless in RI, it is not exactly acceptable nor fiscally possible to afford the dish for every meal. This is a recipe that Benner and I made as a way to make caprese salad a full, refreshing meal by bulking up the traditional caprese salad with rigatoni pasta and roasted eggplant!!

Ingredients:

2 Small Japanese Eggplants (Wishing Stone Farm)
1 Medium sized Tomato (Hill Orchards) or (Wishing Stone Farm)
1 Handful of freshly picked Basil
1 Large Mozarella Ball (Narragansett Creamery)
1 Pound of (Rigatoni) pasta.
Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper

1.Preheat the oven to 380. Wash and slice the eggplant into 1/4 thick circles. Then slice the circles in half. Put a pot of salted boiling water on the stove. When boiled, pour in the pasta, cook until al dente, drain, place in a boil with a little bit of olive oil, stir, and put aside.
2. Over medium heat, put enough oil in a pan so that there is more than just a thin film of oil on the pan, enough for stir frying the eggplant. Saute the eggplant until soft. Add salt, pepper, and red pepper to your liking.
3. Spread the eggplant out on a cookie sheet and put in the oven for about 7 minutes. Since the eggplant probably looks a little soggy, we put it in the oven so that it was a more sturdy looking.
4. Chop the tomato and mozarella into small pieces. Tear up the basil in to small pieces and mix this in too. Put these in the bowl that has pasta in it. When the eggplant is finished, put it into the pasta as well. Mix and enjoy immediately or after refridgeration.

Cu"ke"umber Salad

Cucumber Salad

This salad is similar to one that you find in many Asian restaurants. It's absolutely perfect for this hot, east coast weather!!! This recipe is from Amy ...thanks!

Ingredients:

2 seedless cucumbers (or 2 seedy ones with the tough seeds removed), peeled and sliced thin

½ cup rice vinegar or white vinegar

¼ cup canola oil

A little tamari or low salt soy sauce

2-4 Tbsp sugar (use more than you think you should)

¼ tsp salt, more to taste

Lightly toasted black or regular sesame seeds

Optional: a little sesame oil

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients except the cukes with a whisk or fork. The sugar won’t entirely dissolve, but that’s OK.

2. Pour dressing over the cukes and let them marinate in the refrigerator for an hour to a day.

Visit to Hill Farm in Foster, RI

A Visit to Hill Farm in Foster, RI


When I drove to Hill Farm, I turned into a driveway where a small path cuts through the forest. Surrounded by vegetation, a small clearing opens up where there are tall native trees are on the right, and there are blueberry bushes to the left. Over to the left, were two little boys and Louis, the owner of Hill Farm, picking blueberries. It was a bit difficult to park because two guinea hens who were very interested in my tires and not very intimidated by my car. The hens roam free at Hill Farm. Once out of the car, there is no evidence that this is actually a farm. The pigs and cows are not in clear view, and there is no scent that gives away their location either. After orienting myself, I started walking back to the blueberries. The two boys came running towards me. They were very excited to show be their newly acquired treasure, tons of blueberries. Welcome to Hill Farm, a beautiful, highly sustainable family farm in Foster, RI.

Louis and Maria Vinagro founded Hill Farm in 2003. Louis grew up on a pig farm and wanted the same experience for his children. So, they bought 14 acres of land and now raise pigs, cows, guinea hens, and chickens in a natural environment. The guinea hens walk around the farm un-caged, and the pigs and cows have rotating pens in the forest. The pigs are not fed anything outside of their natural diet, and since the land is so healthy, the pigs can obtain most of their food through the grass, roots, and vegetation on the forest floor! Louis moves the pens frequently, and he plants seeds in the old pens to make sure that the land remains healthy and fertile. In addition, as the purebred Bershire pigs grow, the size of their pen increases in order to make sure that they always have more then enough room to move around and play.

I was surprised by how happy these pigs were. They ran around playing in the dirt, drinking water, and they would come up to Lou to be pet. In one pen, Louis got inside the pen to wake-up the two- hundred seventy-five pound hogs! Next to the pen for the larger pigs was a fenced off grassy area. Louis explained that that area was where the pigs were during the winter. If he hadn’t told me, I would not have known that this grassy area was muddy a few months ago. He had living proof that when pens were moved frequently, the natural vegetation was able to grow back quickly and healthily.

The Vinagro’s have a similar set up for their fours cows. The cows graze leisurely on a vast fenced-in pasture. These animals are never fed grain, and they happily live off of the grass. Louis smiled saying, “I never mow the lawn!” When the grass gets high, he moves the cows there, and they do the job for him!




The Vinagro family has an admirable relationship with their farm. There is a mutual respect between the family, the animals, and the land. They respect the land, and as a result, the soil remains fertile, and the grass grows back quickly and nutrient rich. They treat their pigs and cows with care, and the animals are genuinely happy, healthy, excited, and curious to interact with people. In addition, Hill Farm is also a member of the Rhode Island Raised Livestock Association, which is a USDA meat- processing facility for local RI farmers; from beginning to end, Hill Farm’s products remains local, small-scale, and sustainable. Hill Farm’s treatment of their animals and the environment pays off too- the farm sustains 50% of the families agrarian needs, and Louis proudly, and accurately, states that the best meal he’s ever had was right here at Hill Farm.

When I was getting ready to leave Hill Farm, Louis and I started discussing the price of land, as well as everyone’s favorite subject, taxes. I had already been so impressed by Hill Farm’s dedication to sustainability; I thought there must be some sort of government reward. No, taxes on land are extremely expensive, and one of the main forces driving out small family farms. Louis explained to be that it would be impossible for his farm to be their sole source of income. Farms are expensive to start and maintain, and land is limited and expensive in Rhode Island. Even though Hill Farm is treating its land incredibly well, there is not reward for such admirable dedication to the environment. This is important because it has now been brought to my attention that farms like these should be rewarded for their local and sustainable agrarian products and should be treated differently/ taxed differently than their larger competitors.

Lou continues with his dedication towards the environment by also running Full Circle Recycling in Rhode Island. Lou also provides free recycling to the Farm Fresh farmers’ markets. You can find Hill Farm products at these summer farmers' markets in Rhode Island: Fisherman's Memorial State Park, Goddard State Park, Armory Park, and Scituate.

Even though I was a stranger visiting Hill Farm, Lou treated me with great hospitality. As I left, he gave me a huge bag of freshly picked blueberries; “Here, they’re about, an hour old.” Lou said with a slight hint of irony. As I drove home eating, mind you the best blueberries in my life, I began to think that eating locally is the good life- freshly picked food, the ability to shake the hand that feeds me, living fewer than thirty minutes away from my food, and knowing that this little slice of heaven wasn’t hurting the environment either.

Stuffed Focaccia with Caramelized Onions, Garlic, and Tomatoes

Stuffed Focaccia with Caramelized Onions, Tomatoes, and Garlic
Photography by Benner!

I made this in St. Louis, MO. It essentially tastes like deliciously stuffed bread. The caramelized onions are what really make this recipe stand out. Therefore, although the second way has not been tested yet, I’m providing two ways to go about this recipe. The first way has two layers of focaccia surrounding a layer of onions and tomatoes. The second way has three thinner layers of focaccia and two layers of onions and tomatoes. The second way is a little bit more of an ode to caramelized onions. Once again, I used Savory Baking from the Mediterranean: Focaccias, Flatbreads, Rusks, Tarts, and Other Breads by Anissa Helou as a guide for the ingredients. However, her proportions differ from mine a lot. The original recipe also does not include the stuffing component.


Ingredients:
• 4 ½ teaspoons (2 packages) of active dry yeast
• ½ cup warm water with a ¼ teaspoon of sugar or honey mixed in
• 3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2 ¼ teaspoons of sea salt
• Extra-virgin olive oil
For Stuffing (Double this if doing the second variation)
• ¾ cup chopped tomato. It’s about 1 large tomato, similar to the size of an heirloom but don’t pay the price of an heirloom just to bake it
• 2 large cloves of garlic finely chopped
• Extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 small red onion
• ½ small white/yellow onion
• 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar
• 2 tablespoons and 1 ½ teaspoons of brown sugar
• 1 ½ teaspoons of granulated white sugar
• ¼-1/2 teaspoon of sea salt
• 1 dabble (about 3/4 tsp) of molasses
• 1 pinch of red pepper flakes

1. Stir the yeast and ½ of warm water in a cup and let sit until it starts to foam a bit
2. Mix the flour and salt together in a bowl. Then make a well and pour in the yeast mixture. Slowly bring in the wall of flour/salt into the wet yeast until well combined. If it is too dry, add more warm water. If it is too wet, add a bit more flour. Knead for 16 minutes.
3. Knead the dough into a ball, and then turn the bowl over on top of the dough (like a person in an ingloo) and let it sit for 15 minutes.
4. Knead the dough for 3 minutes. Pour some olive oil into the bowl (about 1 tablespoon) Use the ball of dough to spread the olive oil around the sides of the bowl. With its nice layer of olive oil, put the ball of dough in the bowel, cover it with a kitchen towel, put it in a warm place. Let it rise for one hour or until doubled. This may vary depending on the temperature. In St. Louis, it took thirty minutes to triple in size. In San Francisco, it took two hours.
5. Brush a cooking sheet with olive oil. Remove the dough from the bowl and being to stretch the dough by hand across the cookie sheet. The dough should be no more than ¾ of an inch thick. It should really be more around ¼-1/2 inch. The dough’s thickness should be nowhere near that point where the dough is so thin that it starts to break. You want it to be much thicker than that. Aka. Pizza dough thickness is too thin. If you want the single stuff layer focaccia, option one, the dough can be thicker than the double stuffed type, option two. Cover with a damp kitchen towel and let rise for another 20 minutes.
6. Preheat the oven to 450°F
7. Chop the onions into about ½ inch slivers.
8. On the stove, in a small sauté pan, heat up 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon of olive oil. When heated, add the onions. Toss and let simmer until wilted.
9. Add the sugars and salt, stir, and let cook. Stir occasionally.
10. Add the vinegar. Stir occasionally. (7 minute mark ish)
11. Add the dollop of molasses and continue to stir until the onions begin to caramelize.
12. Add a pinch of red pepper, stir in thoroughly, and remove from flame.
13. Finely chop garlic
14. Dice the tomatoes
Option one. Single stuffed layer:
1. Fold the dough in half.
2. Lift one wing of the dough and pour in the caramelized onions. Spread the caramelized onions, including the liquid, on the bottom layer of focaccia. Sprinkle the tomatoes around it.
3. Begin pressing the two layers of focaccia together. It will sort of resemble a half moon or calzone.
4. Let rise under a damp kitchen towel for 30 minutes to an hour.
5. Using your finger, make indentations of the top layer of focaccia. Sprinkle the garlic on the top layer as well as some good salt. Trickle olive oil around the focaccia.
6. Put in the oven for 12-17 minutes. The bread should be golden. Let cool and eat up!
Option Two. Double stuffed:
1. Divide the dough into thirds.
2. On the bottom layer of dough pour half of the caramelized onions. Spread the caramelized onions, including the liquid, on the bottom layer of focaccia. Sprinkle half of the tomatoes around it.
3. Begin pressing the two layers of focaccia together. It will sort of resemble a half moon or calzone.
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 for the second layer of stuffed focaccia.
5. Let rise under a damp kitchen towel for 30 minutes to an hour.
6. Using your finger, make indentations of the top layer of focaccia. Sprinkle the garlic on the top layer as well as some good salt. Trickle olive oil around the focaccia.
7. Put in the oven for 12-17 minutes. The bread should be golden. Let cool and eat up!

Root Beer Breakfast Bread

Here is a recipe I made up today while I wasn't reading about sustainable agriculture (get excited!).
The ingredients are in bold.

Soda? For Breakfast?!?!? Root Beer Breakfast Bread

1. In a microwave, warm up ½ cup of natural root beer (mine was all natural from Whole Foods so I'd say, aim for something like that).
2. In a small bowl combine & stir 2 packets of rapid rise yeast (4 ½ tsp) and the warm root beer.
3. After giving it a couple minutes to bubble up, add 2/3 cups of flour to the root beer –yeast mix well again.
4. Give with a towel and let rise in a warm area for one hour.
5. Plump 1/3 cup raisins (or more!) in water for 30 minutes
6. Coarsely chop 1/3 cup of walnuts
7. In a large bowl combine about 2.5 cups of flour (more can be added later), and 1.5 teaspoons of salt. Make a well in the center.
8. After an hour, pour the root beer sponge into the flour mixture and start stirring.
9. Add the raisins and walnuts into the dough
10. Have on deck a mixture of 1/4c root beer, a sprinkle (1 tsp ish of brown sugar), and ¼ c of water. Use this mixture if the dough is too dry.
11. Add more flour and the rootbeer/water mixture until the proper bread dough consistency is achieved.
12. Knead for 2-4 minutes.
13. Put the ball of dough underneath a bowl (like turn the bowl upside down over the ball) for 15 minutes
14. Knead for another 2-4 minutes.
15. Shape dough into a baguette and cut shallow slits in the top.
16. Put the uncooked baguette on parchment paper on a baking sheet and let rise in a warm place for two hours with a damp towel over it. My dough rose about 2.5 times in size.
17. Preheat oven to 400 degrees fahrenheit with a oven proof pan on the lowest rack. You’ll cook the bread on the middle rack
18. Put the baguette in the oven and throw in 4-5 ice cubes* in the pan below. Cook the bread for 35-45 minutes.


*I must credit Anissa Helou's book Savory Baking from the Mediterranean for this tip as well as the yeast-to fluid ratio in the first two steps!!!

Update on Everything

Hello,
Sorry for the lag in posts; I've been wrapping up the semester. A couple of updates and an invitation is in store for this post. Within the past month I have:
1. Written my proposal
2. Had this proposal (semi-briefed for you all earlier) approved.
3. Made formal arrangements to volunteer with Farm Fresh.
4. Rented a house for the summer in RI (wohoo!!!!)

Within the next week, I will be posting another informative post. Until then, I'd like to open up the blog for questions and ideas. One of the points of writing a blog is to inform the reader, so I'd love to hear what you want to know about farmers' markets, food in general, sustainability, what Wheaton's doing to be sustainable, etc. Also, part of my work with Farm Fresh will be interviewing farms as well as restaurants that are involved in the FMs. If you have an ideas for interview questions, that aren't obvious, such suggestions would be appreciated.

Until then, live to eat.
-a

Why the Tomato

Many people have asked, “Why the tomato?” I chose the tomato because has multiple taste-purposes, experienced its fair share of abuse from the food industry and it is used by most cultures in food. When I was growing up, I remember that nobody knew if tomatoes were a fruit or a vegetable. They have seeds and grow on vines like fruits, but we eat them in dishes that are thought of as side veggies, not side fruits. When I think of a tomato based curry or tomato sauce, I think of those as vegetable dishes. When I was younger, I personally never found tomatoes to be a treat like other fruits, they were as much of a chore as salad or broccoli. Tomatoes are one of the most inconsistent items of produce around. They can be sweet and delicious or mealy and inedible. Tomatoes are one of the few items of produce that have never been clearly categorized.

Tomatoes have also been affected and manipulated by the food industry. The reason why tomatoes can be in the grocery store year round is because most tomatoes are genetically modified organisms (GMOs). At my high school, The Urban School of San Francisco, our science teacher had us read about tomatoes in our genetics class. In the article “Rich Tomato, Poor Tomato” by Michael Idov, I learned about the process that most heirloom tomatoes undergo in order to appear beautiful yet tasteless in the supermarket (New York Times Magazine. September 17, 2006). Tomatoes have undergone so much experimentation, that in order to appear normal in the produce aisle, they are picked before ripe, bathed in a chlorinated bath, stay in a “ripening room”, and then sprayed with ethylene. They are sprayed with ethylene to “turn tomatoes the desired sunset shade” (New York Times Magazine). The tomatoes’ identity crisis is exacerbated by the food industry’s aim towards homogeny and accessibility. GMOs have turned the growing of tomatoes into an unnatural process. This over-processing of produce has led for tomatoes to be accessible year round and sit in a grocery store for over a week without undergoing any changes to the taste or texture of the tomato (New York Times Magazine). Tomatoes are a key example of the changes that have occurred in farming over the past century hence another reason why the tomato is part of the title of this blog.

Another reason why I chose the tomato, is that tomatoes are consumed by most cultures. Tomatoes are used in many Italian, Middle Eastern, American, French, African, Indian, etc. recipes. I have yet to find a recipe book that does not call for the use of tomatoes in at least one recipe. Due to their ambiguity, they can be used in any dish. Some cultures use tomatoes for their acidity and tang, while others use them for their smooth texture and sweet taste. Some people grow tomatoes in their backyard and can eat them in their most simple form, off the vine, but the same household probably also has ketchup in their refrigerator. I used to think I hated tomatoes until I realized that I probably consume them in some form at least daily. Think about it.

The tomato has played an oddly prominent role in the food world. It is consumed by many and frequently; however, the sacrifices made in quality for accessibility should not be ignored. Tomatoes are a treasured fruit that have been both botched up by the food industry and preserved by the home gardener. I chose the tomato to be in the title of my blog because it is one of the better and subtler examples of how the food industry has altered some of the most popular foods.