Vegan

Years ago the bakery at a local natural foods store was famous for its Bird Man of Alcatraz Bread.* The name was a play on one ingredient common to bird feed: millet, the tiny round yellow seeds that dominate many bird seed mixes. The bread …

Not that long ago, beans were far down on the food sophistication scale. You could politely describe them as economical. A cheap protein source, if you couldn’t afford meat. Times have changed. The focus on plant-based diets puts humble beans front and center for many …

Sweet potatoes for dessert? As I remember it, my mom’s traditional Thanksgiving sweet potato casserole might as well have been dessert. She sliced the potatoes in half, coated them generously in a mixture of brown sugar, orange juice concentrate and butter. Of course, they were …

What better antidote to the end-of-year holiday food excess than a simple cup of broth on a cold afternoon.  There are plenty of options: bouillon cubes, powders, pastes, canned, shelf-stable boxes.  If you’d rather treat yourself to something more natural, give miso a try.  It …

Lots of home cooks find dry beans (legumes) intimidating. Black beans, kidney beans, pinto beans — they take a really long time to cook. Soaking them overnight before cooking helps, but the beans still need to simmer for hours. That means planning your meal one …

Kale is my favorite dark leafy green vegetable. It does well in my garden, it’s loaded with nutrients, it’s versatile, it tastes great, and it keeps producing well into fall. If you don’t have a garden, you can find kale in the grocery store all …