Food and cooking tips

Time for cooking is often in short supply, but you can cut cooking time in half by making large batches and eating the leftovers another day. In an age when the average American spends only 32 minutes a day preparing food, strategy is crucial to increasing your consumption of local food.


Microwave Tip : Microwave ovens use around 50 percent less energy than conventional ovens; they're most efficient for small portions or defrosting. For large meals, stovetop cooking is usually more efficient


Buy Local Food : As an ‘everything in moderation’ kind of guy, I’d find a strict local food diet fascinating but obsessive and intimidating, says Peter Marks, program coordinator for the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project in Asheville, N.C. He suggests a more gradual approach: Every week or month, replace one food in your diet that’s provided by a big, faraway company with a locally grown food.









Dolmas (Greek Stuffed Grape Leaves) Recipe

Dolmas (Greek Stuffed Grape Leaves) Category Appetizer Recipes 
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Ingredients And Procedures

1 c Long-grain white rice

1 c Plus 3 Tbsp olive oil

1 c Finely chopped yellow onion

3 Green onions, including

-green tops, finely chopped 1/4 c Minced fresh parsley

2 tb Minced fresh mint

1/2 c Pine nuts

1 ts Ground cinnamon

1/2 ts Ground allspice

1/2 ts Salt

1/4 ts Freshly ground black pepper

16 oz Jar grape leaves

Servings: makes about 50 dolmas Several stems of fresh parsley About 3/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice About 1 cup homemade chicken stock, canned chicken broth, or water, heated Additional freshly squeezed lemon juice Grated or minced lemon zest for garnish Wash and drain rice. Heat 3 Tbsp of the olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the yellow onion and saute until soft but not brown, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a mixing bowl and add the drained rice, 1/2 cup of the remaining olive oil, green onions, parsley, pine nuts, cinnamon, allspice, salt, and pepper. Set aside. Rinse the grape leaves under running cold water to removes as much brine as possible, pat dry, and stack on a plate. Place 1 leaf at a time, shiny side down, on a flat work surface. Cut off and discard the tough stem end. Spoon about 1 Tbsp of the rice mixture in the center near the base of the leaf. Fold the stem end over to cover the filling, fold both side inward lengthwise and then tightly roll leaf toward pointed tip end to form a compact packet. Repeat with the remaining leaves and filling. Pour about 2 Tbsp. of the remaining olive oil in the bottom of a large pot and strew with a layer of parsley stems to prevent grape leaves from sticking. Arrange the stuffed leaves, seam side down and almost touching, on top of the parsley, making as many layers as necessary. Drizzle the remaining 5 Tbsp olive oil, the lemon juice, and 1/2 cup stock, broth, or water over the leaves. Top with a heat-resistant plate and weight with a heavy can to keep leaves from unwinding during cooking. Cover the pot, bring to a gentle boil, reduce the heat to low, and cook until rice is tender, about 1 hour. During cooking, add a little heated liquid as needed to keep dolmas moist. Remove from the heat and cool in the pot. Sprinkle with lemon juice to taste, garnish with lemon zest, and serve at room temperature. Source: Rice by James McNair Posted by Linda Davis

 
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