The chefs at Grace’s Marketplace share their favorite springtime foods

Written by: Maria & Rusty Pacheco

Spring signifies new beginnings and fresh starts. As we leave the chill of winter behind, we eagerly look forward to seasonal blooms, and this holds true for those of us in the food industry as well.

Spring in the food industry heralds the arrival of plump artichokes, hearty asparagus, fresh fennel, rhubarb, and swiss chard—just to name a few vegetables. Fruits we look forward to include apricots, casaba melon, fresh currants, figs, and luscious cherries.

Local fish is abundant and readily available. Flounder, tuna, monkfish, and skate caught off the shores of Montauk all make for healthy and delicious meals. Oyster Bay yields a wealth of shellfish including clams and, of course, Blue Point oysters.

Spring also signifies the arrival of holidays celebrated over meals that call for lamb. At Grace’s Marketplace, we carry organic baby spring lamb that is raised nearby in Pennsylvania. Here’s a recipe for our favorite way to prepare it.

Roast Baby Spring Lamb

1 organic baby spring lamb, cut in pieces
Extra virgin olive oil
6 garlic cloves, sliced
6 sprigs fresh organic rosemary
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Zest and juice of one organic lemon
1 bunch organic parsley

Heat the oven to 350°F. Place the lamb in a baking dish. Generously coat the lamb and the baking dish with olive oil. Using the point of a sharp knife, make small incisions in the lamb pieces and push in the slices of garlic. Roughly chop the leaves of three of the rosemary sprigs and sprinkle over the lamb along with salt and pepper. Tuck the remaining sprigs of rosemary under the lamb. Sprinkle the lemon zest over the lamb, then pour the lemon juice over the lamb. Roast the lamb in the preheated oven for 1 hour. Baste regularly with the pan juices, using the bunch of parsley as a basting brush.

Lately, I’ve been reading different articles on how bottled water isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Researchers have now examined the plastic that holds the water and they’ve found that some chemicals, which certain types of plastic contain, such as pthalates (found in many toys and other soft plastic goods made of PVC plastic) and bisphenol A (organic compound known as BPA), may seep into the water. These toxins can disrupt the endocrine system, messing with your hormonal balance. This can cause fatigue and even weight gain — defeating the purpose of your workout, etc. When these bottles are exposed to the heat (sitting on your porch after a delivery on a hot summer day) the chemicals release into the water that much faster. And all this time I thought bottled water was the bomb. Guess I was wrong.

Today was the clincher. Thanks to Poland Springs, I’ll be switching over to a water filtration system as soon as possible. Besides the fact that the delivery guy forgets to pick up and deliver water from time to time and the endless 1-800 calls back and forth to the company…putting me on hold for minutes, hours, days at a time. When the hot water heater stopped working about a month ago, I procrastinated in making that dreaded call to the company. Friday I finally conceded, made the call and left my cooler outside to be switched for a new one. When I arrived home, I opened the cardboard box only to find a completely different kind of cooler. That would have been cool, but the orange juice stains on the top and the filthy innards of the cooler were not so cool. Very uncool, as a matter of fact.

I was given a completely used, UNCLEANED water cooler. Even worse, the inside metal container where the water goes in was freezing cold and had condensation around the perimeter…as if this cooler may have been running in another home only minutes before. The company explained to me that they recycle their coolers when they break, instead of replacing them with brand new ones. They fix them, fumigate them and send them back out. Now, I’m all for recycling, and I love when my coffee cups say ‘recycled paper’ but that doesn’t mean I would drink from a dirty coffee cup. What are the odds that other Poland Springs customers have been given back unsanitized coolers as well? Tomorrow the cooler and three unopened water bottles will be sitting on my porch. Only this time they’re going back for good. Goodbye, Poland Springs. Hello, water filter system.

I dare the Coen brothers to make a movie that I don’t like. Their latest, “Burn After Reading” couldn’t be more directly opposite than last year’s Oscar-sweeper, “No Country For Old Men”. Apparently (and amazingly), they were working on this script while writing “No Country” – alternating days on each. Like “Raising Arizona” and “Fargo”, they once again carry out the theme of the ordinary Joe trying to pull off the extraordinary heist — one that perhaps in an alternate reality, could change their little lives. They also casted the usual suspects: Frances McDormand, George Clooney, Richard Jenkins and J.K. Simmons with newcomers Brad Pitt and John Malkovich as perfect additions (if not stand-outs).

The story goes as such: A disk containing the memoirs of an ousted-CIA agent (Malkovich) ends up in the hands of two screwy gym employees (McDormand and Pitt) who believe it contains top-secret intelligence. What follows are their attempts to sell it and the disastrous results of their large pipedreams and small brains. I laughed the whole way through. They poke fun at everything from Internet dating to the paranoia of political espionage. And in between, everyone’s sleeping with everyone…especially George Clooney. “Burn” has all the makings of the Coens: Amusing and macabre with the dark side of human nature lurking just beneath.

Apparently, this is their first film without cinematographer, Roger Deakins. I’m not sure I would have known the difference, as the writing and acting were the main attractions for me. What made it especially hilarious was the willingness of all these A-list actors to adapt into roles that made them look like total buffoons. Kudos to Brad Pitt! I didn’t know he was so funny. Long story short: It’s a bright flick about dim-wits. Don’t miss it!

Written by: Mike Biltonen

Organic wasn’t such as bad thing 10 or 20 years ago. Then the government got involved. That wasn’t such a bad thing either, except that lobbyists for multinational ag businesses were able to control the way USDA certification was written and cajole it to serve their interests. The real fallout from their efforts is just now being felt and I contend that organic certification will not mean anything in 10 years. Organic food will be just another commodity item in stores.

We’re already seeing it as the premiums growers used to get are disappearing, and the produce shelves are becoming dominated by strictly organic produce and commodity prices. Where I come from, we call that commodification. If organic is no longer value-added, then the cost of the paperwork and expensive production techniques cease to make sense, except to those that controlled the process: i.e., large agribusiness. For a farmer like myself, who is admittedly not organic and doesn’t really want to be, we need to figure out what the next steps are. What’s “Beyond Organic”? I originally started this blog to debunk the whole idea that organic was the end-all, beat-all to food production.

Last week, I was in Manhattan and I visited several stores to see what was on the shelves. Many of the supermarkets have made a verbal commitment to local. Some have even been leaders and exemplary businesses over the years. But lately most have started to act more like trend-surfers than a business with a mission. For example, my visit revealed very few local apples or cider on their shelves. There was plenty of West Coast organic apples and gobs of overpriced fruit drinks and waters. But where was the local? Remember, New York is the second leading apple-producing state in the US and apples store great through the winter, so availability isn’t the issue. But that’s OK. We live in a capitalistic society and those businesses are just doing what they think will make them money. But for us growers, especially here on the East Coast, there is very little incentive to enter the organic market as we see prices shrink and a diminishing commitment to local after “the season.” I’ve set my sights on implementing a production system that takes us beyond organic and allows us to compete in a way that can’t be taken away from us. I don’t know what that system is going to look like exactly, but more than likely it will be a combination of many different styles of production that will include traditional, organic, bio-dynamic, and whatever else I can beg, borrow, and steal from the myriad styles that are out there. Twenty years ago I wouldn’t have done this, but back then it all meant something. We’re now looking to redefine a method of ecological growing that means something to the trade and the consumer, and the only way to do that without having it co-opted by the big guys is to develop in concert with the fact that we are local. Nobody can co-opt our geography, especially if we define the concept of what local means first.

In the early 1990s there was an attempt by a researcher at Cornell to develop something called the Environmental Impact Quotient (EIQ). It was underdeveloped and never successful, but it always struck me that what we really needed to do with our production systems is to develop an algorithm for calculating a whole-farm EIQ. Production systems have to be analyzed by more than just what we spray or fertilize our plants with. We live in a complex world and it shouldn’t be a bad thing to utilize technology and science as well as certain pagan rituals in how we grow crops. The goal should be to have the least negative impact on the land, communities, and regional food systems as possible. Beyond organic lies in a production system that is a complex and challenging as nature itself. As I develop this new production system, I make sure to keep everyone informed. But I don’t think we’ll ever actually “get there”. Farms are complex, biological organisms that include people, buildings, tractors, and plants. They evolve and change every day. There’re a new set of problems and challenges to contend with all the time. Our production systems should mimic and work with that reality . . . naturally.

Michael Biltonen is passionate about growing foor at his 200-year-old Stone Ridge Orchard in upstate New York. Mike was formally trained in pomology at Cornell University and in horticulture at Virginia Tech, and has spent the last 23 years working with trees and small fruits including apples, peaches, raspberries, Asian Pears, red currants, and the luscious TriStar strawberry. Visit his website at stoneridgeorchard.com

Reprinted from Chronogram (chronogram.com) by permission of the publisher

Is the food you eat dead or alive?

Written by: Lana Russo

I’d always considered myself a healthy eater, but wouldn’t you know it? After chatting with Dr. Christy Russell-Shae, of Simply Vibrant, I had decided that at least 50 percent of what I consume daily isn’t even alive. Pretty disgusting, eh? I hate to break the news, but some of what you eat might just be corpselike, too. What am I referring to? Dr. Christy categorizes foods in two groups to improve her clients’ health: dead and live. Which type does yours fall into? Read on…

canvas: Can you explain what you mean by dead and live foods?

Dr. Christy: Living foods are foods that are in their natural state. They contain a full assortment of natural vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals, which are essential for life. When you consume these life-giving foods, they provide energy to the body. If you eat foods that are dead, processed, and lacking energy, you will feel lifeless and lethargic. This energy is very real and can be seen with Kirlian photography [see example above], which measures the energy coming from food. If you look at a Kirlian photo of a sprout or green vegetable, the picture will light up with energy; if you look at a photo of meat or processed food, the picture will be completely black and devoid of life energy.

canvas: What are some living and some dead foods?

Dr. Christy: Living foods include raw fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, sprouts, greens, fresh juices, sea vegetables, grasses, and super foods such as spirulina and chlorella. When introduced to your body, these foods increase your body’s energy and increase the oxygen and available nutrients in your system. However, these vital nutrients can be destroyed under extreme heat. Most enzymes are destroyed at a temperature of 118˚F, so you want to be sure not to cook these foods past this temperature. Dead foods are foods that have been processed or in essence, killed. These include all forms of animal products such as meat, dairy, and eggs, in addition to highly processed foods such as bagels, cookies, candies, and pasta. Although these foods may contain some nutrition, it comes in a form that is difficult for the body to assimilate, and therefore they deplete energy from the body.  We make nutrition too hard and stringent. You don’t have to eat perfectly to be rewarded with vibrant health. The goal is to keep an optimal balance of 80 percent raw, living foods with no more than 20 percent of dead, processed foods.

canvas: Why are dead foods toxic?

Dr. Christy: Our body is not designed to digest dead, lifeless foods. When we process food, we kill most of the enzymes and nutrients that are present in these foods. Your body needs these enzymes to function optimally and to absorb the nutrients present in the food. Every time you put something into your body that is not living, it wastes a lot of your body’s energy to break it down. This results in fatigue, illness, foggy thinking, and inflammation.

canvas: What is the benefit of the type of diet you promote?

Dr. Christy: Focusing your diet around living foods gives your body the ideal fuel it was designed to run on. It helps address the three main reasons that we lose health and vitality: too many toxins in our system; lack of what our body needs; and stress . . . including physical, emotional, and environmental. Eating a living diet allows your body to effortlessly cleanse and detoxify itself, reduces inflammation, and provides optimal energy and nutrition to every cell in your body.

canvas: What made you separate foods into categories?

Dr. Christy: My research on this topic started with my quest to help my patients achieve lasting health, regardless of age or their current life condition. I work with many children who have autism, allergies, ADHD, and asthma, and many adults who are overweight or are struggling through chronic disease. Rather than researching medications or conventional approaches, I chose to study spontaneous healings. I started seeing patterns of similarity. Many of these individuals looked to diet as a way that they could empower their body to heal, and 95 percent of those who successfully healed incorporated eating raw, living foods into their diets. Our bodies are meant to heal and do best in an oxygen-saturated environment.

canvas: If we eat this type of “live” food, what changes might one expect and how soon?

Dr. Christy: Changes start dramatically happening once you convert at least 51 percent of what you consume to living food. Once you hit this point, you can expect to feel a surge of energy, weight loss, a decrease in inflammation and achiness, clearing of the skin, and strengthening of the immune system.

canvas: Where can people meet with you for an appointment or to learn more?

Dr. Christy: I have founded a natural family wellness center, located in Rockville Centre, called Simply Vibrant (simplyvibrant.com), and our goal is to empower children and their families in attaining lasting health and happiness. Our team of natural practitioners utilizes technologies and methods from the world’s healthiest countries, and empowers our clients to become their own best doctor.

EATING RIGHT

“Eating living foods needn’t be difficult. In fact, once you become familiar with foods and find combinations you love, it’s actually much easier than preparing processed meals,” says Dr. Christy. “We are creatures of habit. On average, we each have only10 different meals that we rotate among. So changing your diet can be quite simple. Find 10 recipes that you like, and you’re set!”

Ideas to Get Started

• Upon Waking: Drink 1 liter of water before eating any food—the greatest thing you can do to kick-start your metabolism.
• Breakfast: Energizing smoothie (almond milk, greens powder, frozen fruit, hemp protein, handful of almonds, etc.)
• Snacks: Hummus and carrots, apples and almond butter, raw almonds, coconut date balls, veggies and guacamole
• Lunch: Veggie wrap with romaine, hummus, avocado, peppers, sprouts (small amount of chicken optional); mixed green salad with veggies and olive oil, sea salt and lemon dressing; vegetable soup
• Dinner: Stir-fry with mixed vegetables and Bragg’s liquid aminos; coconut curry veggies with optional choice of meat; always with a large salad
• Dessert: Homemade coconut milk ice cream