I have the hardest time eating salad in the winter because I crave warm things, so since I’m a believer in eating your greens everyday, I try to incorporate them into my meals in warm ways.

I love putting hardy greens like kale, swiss chard and collard greens into soups and I’ve noticed if I chop them small enough, my kids will eat them because they think they’re seasonings, not greens! I throw them in at the very end, when I’ve turned off the heat and the soup has just stopped boiling. I put the lid on and they steam down into nice soft vegetables as soon as I’m ready to serve.

Another thing I adore is sauteeing greens in olive oil, and/or a little organic butter and garlic. Be sure to salt them after cooking since they shrink so much. I usually salt and pepper and give a drizzle of lemon right before I eat or serve them.This year I’m most excited about growing greens indoors in pots. It’s really easy. Many health food stores and garden stores still have seeds for purchase during the winter. Here’s how:

1. Grab some hardy greens seeds like Mizuna Mustard, Red Swiss Chard, Collards or Lacinato Kale and some baggedsoil and compost.
2. When you get home, gather up some old pots or big cans and prepare them by mixing your compost and soil together and then filling the containers. Greens are hardy and can grow in slightly acidic or alkaline soil so you can also use dirt from your backyard if you’re ground isn’t frozen but it will compact quickly and won’t allow for good drainage if you don’t mix it with something lighter like a bagged or home made compost.
3. Once your containers are filled, plant your seeds following the instructions on the seed packets. Since most homes are very dry in the winter, it’s necessary to keep your seed bed very wet until you start seeing sprouts.
4. Once you have established sprouts, back off on your watering little by little until you’re only watering when the surface becomes gets dry. This will cause your plants to grow stronger roots.
5. You should have usable greens in about 3 weeks. Use the leaves in soups, stir fries, sandwiches, pastas and more!

Happy winter gardening!

Did you hear about the Child Nutrition Act? Every five years, it gets an overhaul and this year, President Obama requested that 10 billion dollars be allocated over the next ten years to improve our garish school lunches, but the program won’t get nearly that much. Check out this article about how Chef Jose Andres feels about the whole thing.

Meanwhile, I suggest sending your child to school with a good ol’ brown bag of goodies rather than subjecting them to the food we commonly know as “school lunch.”

Here are five really practicalways to make brown baggin’ it a little easier:

• Use leftovers as much as possible. I like to use dinner from the night before for lunch the next day. That way I don’t have to do any more work.
• Use these great reusable sandwich bags. They’re safer for your kid’s health, more economical, and better for the environment.
• Always add a piece of fruit and a veggie. This rounds the meal out, fills your kids up and helps ensure they’re getting their fruits and veggies.
• Make it a part of your kids’ jobs/chores/responsibilities to make their own lunch the day before. You’ll get them in the kitchen and you’ve delegated out one more job.
• Nut butter and jelly or honey sandwiches freeze really well. Make several on a Saturday and freeze them for those days when you don’t wake up in time!

When I was a little girl, one of my dad’s and brothers’ favorite Christmas treats was Chocolate Orange Sticks. They’d open the box with great anticipation, and there, lined up like a row of toy soldiers, were these “sticks” of orange flavored turkish-delight-like goo covered with chocolate. They’d grab them and take a bite and the orange goo would stretch out from between their teeth like melted cheese. Their joy was contagious so even though I knew from previous years’ experience that to me these little sticks were nasty, I’d pick up another and bite into it, thinking maybe they were better than I’d remembered. I’d chew and swallow that first bite and then sadly remember that they were definitely not on my list of favorite holiday treats.

It wasn’t until I started my food business and someone recommended I put a layer of raspberries between my famous Chocolate Truffle Pie, that I realized it’s not the fruit and chocolate combination I don’t like, it’s FAKE fruit and chocolate I don’t like. Of course this thrilled me and led me to create several more recipes involving chocolate and real fruit. Here is one of my favorites. Enjoy!

Orange Fudge

• 1 C cocoa powder
• 1 C real maple syrup
• 1/2 C cold pressed organic coconut oil (available at any health food store)
• 5 drops food grade orange essential oil (doTERRA brandare my hands-down favorite for cooking because they’re so pure)

I prefer to use non-alkalai processed organic cocoa powder. You can get this from the bulk section of most health food stores. Put all ingredients into a food processor and blend until smooth. You may also use a blender. If your coconut oil is hard, use a knife to scrape it out and just estimate your half cup. After the mixture is smooth and saucy, pour into a waxed paper or parchment paper lined pan and freeze. You can choose the pan based on how thick you’d like your fudge pieces. After about one hour, your fudge will be ready to cut into and eat, although letting it freeze overnight will make it even harder and yummier. Use a knife dipped in hot water and quickly dried to cut your frozen fudge. This fudge will hold up fine for a couple hours at room temperature. It will soften but not melt (unless it’s the dead of summer). Store it in the freezer.

Sometimes we use this fudge as dessert for catered events. I fold up a 4″ x 4″ tissue paper, place a chunk of fudge on it and garnish with an almond or a curl of orange peel. Enjoy!

We were making homemade pasta together for a photo shoot and when it was through, we had a ton of dough left. Later that day, Praline had some friends over and this is the video of their capers. Don’t forget to grab our recipe for homemade pasta dough below!

Homemade Pasta Dough

• 3 Cups flour (the secret is in the flour – double O or 00 flour is extremely fine and works best for this recipe)
• 4 eggs (farm fresh if at all possible)
• a good pinch of salt

I’ve noticed that in dry regions, less flour and more eggs works best (as above). If you happen to be in a really humid area, try adding a good 1/3 C more flour before you start. That will ensure a dough that’s not too sticky. The easiest way to mix this is in a food processor. That way, all the work is done for you with a machine, although I really like getting my hands into it, as it’s quite the earthy, grounding process. Once it’s well mixed and smooth, let it rest either tightly covered in the fridge or on the covered on the counter for about one hour. Once the dough has rested, you can roll it into thin sheets and cut it into thick pieces with a pizza cutter, or send it through a pasta machine like the one we use in the video. It works spectacularly. Ours is the Al Dente machine by VillaWare, available here. My parents bought it years ago for me for my birthday and it’s extremely sturdy and has held up beautifully.

Try our Lemon Pasta recipe with this pasta. It’s fabulous!

Nicolas and I really like fish, but we’ve been really confused about which fish to choose. One day we hear that we shouldn’t eat farmed salmon because so many chemicals are added to the hatcheries, then we hear we shouldn’t eat wild caught salmon because the water is polluted and they are being over-fished. How’s a person to choose? Well, luckily for us, many restaurants and other organizations are trying really hard to bring seafood to the consumer’s plate that is sustainably harvested.

Of course, what if you find yourself in a restaurant you’re not sure of or what if you’re trying to find that perfect poaching fish at the grocery store?

Monterey Bay Aquarium offers Seafood Watch pocket cards. This little guide (available for several different regions) is semi-famous for helping people out of a bind when they’re trying to figure out what to order at a restaurant or what to buy at the grocery store. It’s got three categories: Best Choices, Good Alternatives, and Avoid. Some people say it’s not enough, arguing that it hasn’t made a difference. I agree. Of course it’s not enough! When you’re faced with a problem as big as the ocean, a pocket guide is a drop in the bucket, but that’s exactly why I like them; it helps me, one person, make a small difference.

Another crusader in the fight for our oceans is, of course, Greenpeace. They’ve got a “red-fish-list” of  endangered or toxic seafood, a “green-fish post” listing all the things sellers of seafood can do to help, and an excellent blog with ways you can get involved, even on a small scale. They are also constantly on the lookout for practices and organizations that are either helping or hurting the cause. For example, Greenpeace surveys found that the giant box store, Costco, the one that all of us including me have shopped in, continues to sell fifteen of the twenty-two red list seafood items. Keep checking their blog for updates.

Believe it or not, there are also government agencies, especially those on the state level who are also working to make a difference. Despite this, fishermen are caught in the middle, feeling like government agencies can’t possibly make fishing environmentally friendly and allow them to continue to make a living.

All the confusion aside, there are always some positive and easy steps you can take to help fisherman and our oceans and fish (and the millions of other organisms) living there:

1. Eat less fish. Save seafood dinners for special occasions.
2. Get a Seafood Watch guide here.
3. Use one of these recipes when planning your seafood meals.
4. Ask your local store to stop selling red-listed seafood.
5. Take action urging Costco to implement a sustainable seafood policy so we can shop there without worrying.
6. Buy fish from The Super Green List, of wild and farmed seafood which are some of the healthiest choices for people and the oceans.
7. Check back to read about how we choose to cook the three farmed Rainbow Trout we bought from Whole Foods a couple days ago. They’re on the super green list so I’m excited to make them into something delicious!

Cora and I went on one of our wonderfully romantic dates, a few months ago, to Pizzeria 712.

I believe we went there because they have the best pizza around. This cozy restaurants offers seasonal and local salads, meats from animals ethically raised in Utah, decadent desserts, and a wide variety of wood-fired pizzas. The chefs love the food they make. Because we sat at the bar, which is right next to the food prep and oven areas, I had the opportunity to chat a bit with executive chef Ethan, an old acquaintance of mine. He asked me what I’d been up to, I said I was living an artist’s life, and he offered me a job.

Since then, I’ve been working as a sous chef. One of my duties is to make cheeses like pulled mozzarella and ricotta, by hand. The following is a simple and easy recipe for making ricotta. Oh, and make sure you have a large pot!

Homemade Ricotta

1 quart cream

2 quarts whole milk

1 quart buttermilk

2 tsp. salt

Mix the above ingredients together in a large pot. Cook on medium heat, stirring every minute or so to prevent scorching on the bottom of the pot. Small bubble will start forming and rising as the liquid approaches a boil. As soon as a rolling boil is reached, take it off the burner and let sit for 10 minutes. Line a colander with cheese cloth and set into a large bowl. Slowly pour the contents into the bowl and let drain for 5-10 minutes depending on desired thickness.

At the beginning of the summer, Nicolas and I had the joyous opportunity to travel to his hometown, Traverse City, Michigan. “TC,” as it is affectionately called, is a veritable garden of food and wine producers, most of which are sustainable, ethical enterprises. We had the opportunity to meet with many of them, including this wonderful woman, Mimi Wheeler, the owner and founder of Grocer’s Daughter Chocolate. You must read her story.

She uses Rainforest Alliance Certified chocolate, which has fair trade values and is sustainably produced, and she grows many of her own herbs and flowers, too. Mimi uses Star Thistle Honey (which is locally harvested) to sweeten many of her bonbons. Nicolas and I were lucky enough to purchase some at the food co-op there. It was so good that we had half a quart gone by the time we left!

One of things we liked best about visiting with Mimi was her story about herself and several other woman from the area putting together a micro-loan to help a Quechua Indian woman start a business of her own. To learn more, check out the videos. Enjoy! We sure did!

Oh, and Nicolas and I HIGHLY recommend you order some of her chocolates online. Nicolas and I both loved the Sea Salt Caramels and the Apricot Truffle, a dark bonbon with chocolate apricot filling and a hint of orange zest. Find out more at: grocersdaughter.com

Grocer’s Daughter Chocolate Part I

Grocer’s Daughter Chocolate Part II

Please pardon us as we work to make this an amazing food blog. We have a team of people who are designing, editing video, taking food photographs and otherwise frantically working to get this site looking beautiful. We have been traveling the country, from Chicago to New Mexico, Traverse City to New York City, to bring you articles and videos about food, farming, sustainability, local eating, and much more! Also watch for more videos, articles and a slew of recipes about cooking from scratch and getting the whole family involved.

We can’t wait to have you stop by again!

In health,
Nicolas and Cora

I wanted to let you know about several classes I have coming up. I hope you can can make one or more! Peace and health to you!

Dessert Class 1
Date: July 21st
Time: 7:00pm-8:30pmWhere: The Raw Melissa Kitchen
1190 N. Main St. #18 Springville Utah
(45 minutes South of SLC)
Desserts you’ll learn: Strawberry Sauce, Lime Mousse, Apple Crisp, Chocolate Peppermint Fudge, Oatmeal Cookies, Chocolate Sauce
Cost: $25

Dessert Class 2
Date: July 28th
Time: 7:00pm-8:30pm
Where: The Raw Melissa Kitchen
1190 N. Main St. #18 Springville Utah(45 minutes South of SLC)
Desserts you’ll learn: Strawberry Cheesecake, Macadamia Nut Thumbprint Cookies, Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream, Orange Cinnamon Shake, Chocolate No Bake Cookies, Candied Walnuts
Cost: $25

Expect to get samples for each dessert and to even take some of the goodies home with you! If you’d like to sign up for two sessions, the cost is only $45. Class size is limited because the Raw Melissa kitchen is SMALL, so sign up quickly!

Local and Seasonal Food Made Easy
Date: July 31st, 2010
Time: 11:30-1:00pm
Where: Jacob’s Cove Heritage Farm (1526 South Geneva Road Orem, Utah
(35 minutes south of Salt Lake just off of Exit 269)
What you’ll learn: Cherry Tomato Salad with Red Pepper Flakes and Radish, Garlic Sweet Peas with Prosciutto, Homemade Pasta with Wilted Arugula, and Summer Squash Raisin and Nut Muffins
Cost: $20

Local and Seasonal Food Made Easy
Date: August 14th, 2010
Time: 11:30-1:00pm
Where: Jacob’s Cove Heritage Farm (1526 South Geneva Road Orem, Utah
(35 minutes south of Salt Lake just off of Exit 269)
What you’ll learn: Caprese Salad (Mozzarella, Basil and Tomato), Colored Pepper and Yellow Squash Saute over Millet, Roasted Beets and Broiled Green Beans with Lemon, Chocolate Zucchini Cake with Cinnamon
Cost: $20

Local and Seasonal Food Made Easy
Date: August 28th, 2010
Time: 11:30-1:00pm
Where: Jacob’s Cove Heritage Farm (1526 South Geneva Road Orem, Utah
(35 minutes south of Salt Lake just off of Exit 269)
What you’ll learn: Gazpacho (cold cucumber and tomato soup), Italian Checca Sauce, Eggplant Rollatini, Sweet Yellow Pepper Muffins with Ginger and Currants
Cost: $20

Local and Seasonal Food Made Easy
Date: September 11th, 2010
Time: 11:30-1:00pm
Where: Jacob’s Cove Heritage Farm (1526 South Geneva Road Orem, Utah
(35 minutes south of Salt Lake just off of Exit 269)
What you’ll learn: Balkan Cucumber Salad, Odessa Beets with Lemon, Quick Walnut Bread, Pickled Eggs, Honey Butternut Squash Puree with Nutmeg
Cost: $20

Local and Seasonal Food Made Easy
Date: September 25th, 2010
Time: 11:30-1:00pm
Where: Jacob’s Cove Heritage Farm (1526 South Geneva Road Orem, Utah
(35 minutes south of Salt Lake just off of Exit 269)
What you’ll learn: TBA
Cost: $20

Expect to get generous samples of each of the foods listed! We can only take 15 participants in each of these classes so sign up QUICKLY. A BIG THANK YOU TO JACOB’S COVE HERITAGE FARM for supplying all the produce and the location for the above classes!

Fresh Food Full-Day Workshop
Date: September 25th, 2010
Time: 10:30am-3:30pm
Where: St. George, Utah
What you’ll learn: Several fresh salads, condiments, entrees and desserts to help you get more fresh foods into your life
Cost: $80

Expect to get abundant samples of each dish. We can only take 20 participants in this class so sign up quickly!

To register, either:

1) Send a check to: Raw Melissa, P.O. Box 721, Springville UT 84663. Include your name, email address, phone number, and date of class you’ll be attending.

OR

2) PayPal the class fee to us at register@rawmelissa.com. BEFORE you hit “send money” please scroll down and fill out the “email to recipient” section with your name, email address, phone number, and date of class you’ll be attending, in the body of the email. Then hit “send money.”

We will send you a confirmation of your registration in the class as soon as we receive your information.

See you there!

Yesterday evening I made an omelette for Cora!

She is such a wonderful person, in so many lovely and enduring ways.  For this reason I cook for her.  It was the most delicious omelette she had ever tasted, and truly a delight to see the look on her face as she took her first bite.  To be perfectly honest, I was a bit surprised by Cora’s reaction.  Now, I’ve made a few omelettes in my day, but I never thought of myself as a great omelette maker.  Until now.  Sometimes it just takes a little extra motivation, a little more faith, a little more immersion.

I decided to make myself the “same thing.”  Hmmm. . . It worked!  Again!  I loved it.  So much flavor bursting in different directions.  I had never made an omelette quite like the ones I made last night.  What a great feeling!  To try something new AND have it work so well…  Ahhh, the wonders of improvisation.  : )

Behold the few SIMPLE ingredients (okay, slightly more than a few):

• 4 medium-sized Crimini Mushrooms, sliced
• Tiny bit of onion (optional), sliced
• EVOO
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• Handful of Kale, chiffonaded
• Nip of fresh Rosemary
• Smoked Gouda, freshly shredded
• Kalamata Olives, sliced (not too many)
• Fresh Basil, chopped
• Salt
• Pepper

Oh, maybe I  should tell you a little bit about the stages of cooking that I used for this particular ingredient list:

In small saucepan, sauté mushrooms and onion in the extra virgin olive oil on medium-low heat for a few minutes before adding garlic and kale.  Cook for about 5 minutes more before adding rosemary, pepper, and salt.  Continue cooking for 2 minutes, then add olives and set aside.  In another small to medium sized saucepan make 3 egg omelette (you can be liberal with the olive oil!).  Cora and I tend to use water with the local free range eggs instead of milk.  Of course, don’t forget to season with salt and pepper!  When omelette is flipped, add cooked vegetables and shredded smoked gouda  before folding in half.  Plate the omelette, add more gouda if you so desire, then add basil and pepper and savor every bite!

Posted by:  Nicolas 

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