Healing Tomato Curry

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Heirloom Tomato Basil Sauce

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Is there anything better (or easier) than tomato sauce made from the freshest ingredients?  Not only delicious, fresh cooked tomatoes are are loaded with lycopene and vitamins A and C.

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Start by peeling and seeding the tomatoes; bring a pot of filtered water to a boil, then turn it off and carefully blanch the tomatoes until the skins peel away, about 10-20 seconds.  Use a slotted spoon to transfer the tomatoes into a bowl and allow to cool slightly.

Cut tomatoes in half and gently squeeze out the seeds.  Diced the tomatoes and set aside.  The skins and seeds can be saved for the stockpot.

Dice onions and sauté in olive oil until soft, about 5 minutes.  Moisten the onions with a few drops of balsamic vinegar and/or an ounce or 2 of red wine.

Add garlic and tomatoes and cook, stirring often, until most of the moisture has evaporated, about 20-30 minutes.

Add chopped fresh basil and oregano and season with sea salt and freshly ground pepper.

Use immediately, or allow to cool to room temperature before transferring to refrigerator or freezer.

Click on the closeup of the basil in the picture below and see if you can spot the perfectly camouflaged critter hiding in the leaves..

This post is part of Food Renegade’s Fight Back Fridays


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A Deadly Ingredient in a Chicken Dinner

By Douglas Gansler

Friday, June 26, 2009

“Most people don’t know that the chicken they eat is laced with arsenic. The ice water or coffee they enjoy with their chicken may also be infused with arsenic. If they live on or near a farm, the air they breathe may be infected with arsenic dust as well.

Why do our chicken, our water and our air contain arsenic? Because in the United States, most major poultry producers add an arsenic compound known as roxarsone to their chicken feed. Inorganic arsenic is a Class A carcinogen that has been linked to heart disease, diabetes and declines in brain function. Recent scientific findings show that most Americans are routinely exposed to between three and 11 times the Environmental Protection Agency’s recommended safety limit.

The poultry industry has been using the feed additive roxarsone — purportedly to fight parasites and increase growth in chickens — since the Food and Drug Administration approved it in 1944. Turns out that the arsenic additive promotes the growth of blood vessels in chicken, which makes the meat appear pinker and more attractive in its plastic wrap at the grocery store, but does little else. The arsenic additive does the same in human cells, fueling a growth process known as angiogenesis, a critical first step in many human diseases such as cancer…”

Arsenic, Chinese Wheat Gluten, Antibiotics.  What's in your chicken?

GM Corn, Arsenic, Contaminated Chinese Wheat Gluten, Antibiotics. What's in your chicken?

Three Sisters Succotash

Uh'Be'Ka'Yad'Un'Na', Alex Seowtewa

Uh'Be'Ka'Yad'Un'Na'

The Three Sisters (squash, maize, and beans) are the three main agricultural crops of some Native American groups in North America.

The Tewa and other Southwest tribes often included a “fourth sister” known as “Rocky Mountain bee plant”, which attracts bees to help pollinate the beans and squash.

Succotash (from Narragansett msíckquatash, “boiled corn kernels”) is a food dish consisting primarily of corn and Lima beans or other shell beans. Other ingredients may be added, including tomatoes, green and sweet red peppers, and possibly including pieces of cured meat or fish.

Using local ingredients and flavors of the Southwest, my variation attempts to honor the spirit of these important food traditions..

Roast white and yellow corn and carrots in a heavy skillet with some good animal fat such as bison or bear if you can get it, or beef marrow or pork belly if you can’t.  Cook until browned, about 10 minutes.

Add Lima or other beans, wild onions or leeks and summer squash, filtered water or bone broth and a fresh chili if you like, and simmer partially covered until beans are tender, perhaps 20 minutes.

Season with salt and smoked pepper and garnish with fried squash blossoms and toasted pumpkin seeds.

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This post is part of Kelly The Kitchen Kop’s Real Food Wednesdays


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Orange Ginger Salmon

Orange ginger salmon with black bean garlic udon..

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Marinate wild Alaskan salmon in ponzu shōyu (citrus-based soy sauce) with slices of soft crystallized ginger and fresh orange pieces and juice for no more than 1 hour.

Preheat a heavy skillet over medium heat for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, blanch, shock, drain and set aside fresh udon noodles.

In a second skillet, sauté sliced scallion and slivers of red bell pepper in a tablespoon of peanut oil.  Add julienned orange peel, sesame seeds and coriander.  A 2 tablespoons of black bean garlic sauce and stir to combine.

Lightly oil then sear the salmon skin side up until rare, then turn and spoon marinade over the top and allow to bubble until medium rare, about 2-3 minutes.

Toss reserved noodles in black bean sauce and use as a bed to place the salmon on.  Dust with shichimi tōgarashi (ground red chili pepper with nori and hemp).