Food and cooking tips

Buy Local Food : Cultivate an awareness of how far your food travels. When Rich Pirog, Food Systems Program Leader for the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University, tracked the miles traveled for 16 types of produce, he found that locally sourced fruits and vegetables such as apples, lettuce and tomatoes traveled an average of 56 miles, compared to 1,494 miles — nearly 27 times farther — for the same fruits and vegetables delivered through conventional retail channels. Things get stickier with combination foods, strawberry yogurt for example. Pirog came up with 2,216 miles by adding up the distance traveled for the yogurt’s milk, sugar and strawberries. That figure could be slashed by 90 percent if you buy plain yogurt and stir in some locally grown honey and fruit.

Buy Local Food : See if you can find out where your food has gone before it gets to your plate. You may be suprised by the results. Often it will make financial sense for companies to transport food enourmous distances by planes, boats and lorries. This dosn't take the environmental cost into account (which of course is likely to lead to greatly increased economic costs in the long term).

Have a Local Food Party : Instead of counting time or distance, simply enjoy the pleasures of local food by organizing a potluck meal in which everything must be local. Keep your fingers crossed that someone will splurge on handmade goat cheese, and don’t forget some local wine, beer or juice. If you’re organizing a big catered event, the Society for Nutrition Education has a downloadable brochure to help you line up local food resources.

Dolmas (Greek Stuffed Grape Leaves) Recipe

	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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<h1>Dolmas (Greek Stuffed Grape Leaves)</h1>
    <b>Ingredients And Procedures</b><p>
        <TABLE cellSpacing=2 cellPadding=3 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD><P>1 c Long-grain white rice <P>1 c Plus 3 Tbsp olive oil <P>1 c Finely chopped yellow onion <P>3 Green onions, including <P>-green tops, finely chopped 1/4 c Minced fresh parsley <P>2 tb Minced fresh mint <P>1/2 c Pine nuts <P>1 ts Ground cinnamon <P>1/2 ts Ground allspice <P>1/2 ts Salt <P>1/4 ts Freshly ground black pepper <P>16 oz Jar grape leaves <P>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 <BR><BR></P></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>     <p>
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