Local Gourmet: Roasted Pears with Goat Cheese & Shallots

I picked up a basket of pears at the public market this week that were bursting with flavor. Try this Roasted Pears with Goat Cheese & Shallots recipe for an amazing weekend snack that’s quick and easy. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. You will need 3 firm Bosc pears, peeled, halved, cored (about 1 [...]

Pollen: The Bee’s Knees?

For months, I passed by the beekeeper’s table at my local farmer’s market on Front Street in Toronto. Perhaps it was his proximity to the old guy who croaks Bob Dylan songs from his stackable chair or perhaps it was my fear that the lettuce guy was out of organic arugula that propelled me faster [...]

Urban Agriculturalist: Fruit Tree Harvesting

Urban Agriculturalist is a series on the ways city and suburb dwellers use their land as a food resource. Los Angeles has a dearth of publicly owned fruit trees, but who owns the fruit they produce? The three activists behind Fallen Fruit dare to ask, “Is this my banana?” By their estimate, 22 different crops [...]

Don’t Fear the Brussel Sprout: An Easy Side Dish Recipe

I’m not exactly sure why, but brussel sprouts somehow earned the reputation of the vegetable most feared by children everywhere. Threats of cleaning your plate before dessert have done a disservice to one of my favorite vegetables. Another problem, alluded to in a comment in Ali’s post yesterday is that many people don’t quite know [...]

A Downer Question: Should Food Safety and Livestock Welfare Be Separate Issues?

If you’ve been paying attention to food news over the past month, you have surely heard of the downer cow debacle between the Humane Society and the Westland/Hallmark Meat Company. In shocking, secret footage recorded by Humane Society activists at the Chino, California livestock farm, handlers are shown using electric prods, high-pressure hoses and forklifts [...]

Notes from A New Cook: Simple is Best

I’m not a foodie. At least I’ve never been one before. I was always a soda-guzzler, a nugget-snarfer, a fan of Lean Cuisine frozen dinners. But then I started reading about food. Fast Food Nation, Food Politics, The Omnivore’s Dilemma, the Ethicurean… What I read frightened me. It scared my pants right off (figuratively, that [...]

Local Gourmet: Roasted Onions with Caprese Stuffing

Onions, garlic, tomatoes, mozzarella and basil are among my favorite things. Roasted onions are especially delicious and, according to Beth’s harvest calender, they’re in season in my area. This dish is perfect for dressing up a salad or starting a meal. A lot of recipes call for bacon and bread crumbs, but this a lighter [...]