On a Roll

Julia has now found herself more and more often behind the cutting board, the stove and the grocery cart. Having to watch her own diet in order to avoid dairy, she now rolls up and down the grocery aisles picking up containers, spinning them to check out the back labels for the important CONTAINS: line checking for common allergens such as dairy.  Meal planning becomes critical; fresh ingredients become more and more appealing.  I have now heard her ask for me to make sure and get some kale

when at Festival!  Don't forget the avocados.  Can I eat pesto?  Well, let's take a look.  Nope, this pesto batch actually includes romano cheese! But, if you chop up fresh basil and add olive oil...let's do that.  Cookbook shelves now abound with 'food plans' that generally advise to simply eat more pure food (the way every other generation except the last few have) by avoiding highly processed, fast foods, replacing your white with wheat bread; fresh veggies instead of canned; make

your own granola, for example, so you know that the chocolate chips are pure cocoa or dark not milk.   The daily blogger turned cookbook writer Hallie Klecker said this in her introduction to a cookbook I recently ordered for Julia, The Pure Kitchen: Clear the Clutter from Your Cooking with 100 Gluten-Free, Dair-Free Recipes: "My journey toward wellness began when I first eliminated gluten and dairy from my diet. After experiencing various health issues – unexplained weight loss, fatigue, digestive problems, achiness, and mental fogginess to name a few – I cut the gluten and dairy from my diet on

the recommendation of a holistic health practitioner.  Within a week, I felt better than I had in months. Over time, as I began living life free of gluten and dairy, I came to realize that the allergen-free products sold in the grocery store were nowhere near healthy substitutes.  Most of the packaged foods hinged on refined, starchy flours, sugar, and low quality oils.  I quickly discovered that the easiest and most cost-effective way to eat would start by cooking at home." What Hallie is saying is more simple, yet radical in way, than merely cruising the aisles and looking for ingredients lists.  She's suggesting we grow or buy more simple products to start with, fewer to no additives, then using those to assemble our various recipes.  No doubt easier said than done.  For better or worse food health is time and it is access to those single, no additive, products (I've often thought that a new food chain – small stores everywhere like Subway – selling veggies like a farmer's market would provide the access part for people). We grew

three pots of lettuce this spring and Julia now 'harvests' nightly and sticks spinach on wraps, creates simple tossed salads, or assembles fresh crab rolls as shown at top.  Next year, so the demand has gone, we will plant kale.  The year after that, we've decided, avocados.