A Change from the Norm: Northampton's Amanouz Cafe
Once in a while, in the midst of all the pizza and wings that frequent the typical college student’s diet, it’s nice to have a change of pace. Amanouz Café, located at 44 Main St., Northampton, Mass., offers just that. With an eclectic mix of both Mediterranean and Moroccan classics, and an award for “Best Mediterranean Restaurant” by the Valley Advocate Readers’ Poll in 2007, diners can be sure that their meal will be anything but ordinary.
The restaurant is small and usually tightly-packed with patrons ready to embark on a cultural culinary adventure. The walls are always displayed with the work of local artists, which patrons can buy if they so choose. One week it might be hand-painted pottery in a slew of vibrant colors; the next, framed photography. Either way, the décor is always eclectic and ever changing.
Read more at The Amherst Wire.
In Season Now: Spinach
Oh the power of those dark, leafy greens. Popeye’s claim to fame (other than having his own TV show) was eating spinach and getting buff, so we know it must be good for us. Still, it’s easy to think of spinach, arugula, swiss chard and many others as simply lunch and dinner ingredients to be used in dishes like salads.
I on the other hand have been a huge fan of spinach for breakfast from the beginning. And when other vegetables may not be in season, spinach usually is. The great thing about throwing even a handful of spinach into your scrambled eggs or omelettes is that you’re automatically starting the day off with a punch of vitamins A, K and many other nutrients. Just one cup of spinach contains 1,110 percent of your daily vitamin K and 377 percent of your daily vitamin A…so eat up!
For the complete article and more recipes for seasonal cooking, visit Food for All Seasons.
Dirt to Dinner Plate: One Ingredient, Farm to Fork
Celeriac is not the prettiest of vegetables. It's brown, covered in hair-like fibers, and looks a little bit deformed. But its mild celery flavor and creamy texture are two reasons why professional chefs are utilizing it in soups, purées, salads and many other dishes.
Celeriac is just one of the many vegetables grown by husband and wife, Timothy N. Wilcox, 28, and Caroline C. Pam, 32, owners of The Kitchen Garden in Sunderland, Mass. They started their careers as long-time foodies from New York. After farming on rented land for two years, the couple decided to buy their own piece of land, a seven-acre stretch of lush river bottom soil that today they call The Kitchen Garden. Now, two years later, they provide local chefs, like Paul C. Hathaway, 41, executive chef at Chez Albert in Amherst, Mass., with many of their products.
For more of this three-part series and recipes from the chefs themselves, visit Dirt to Dinner Plate.
Eat your way to a greener you
The local food movement is on the rise in the food industry, but chefs aren’t the only ones able to take advantage of fresh, organic food anymore. These days, farmers’ markets, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) shares, and even large grocery store chains are providing the public with the quality ingredients they crave.
The great thing about buying locally-grown products is that it supports both the local economy and the environment as a whole. By buying fresh produce; eggs, cheeses, and even meats from local farmers, you’re often able to cut out the middleman completely. So instead of shopping at a store that orders crates full of produce and has them shipped from California, you’re getting your food from the source itself. Buying directly from farmers cuts down on harmful emissions that would be produced by trucks, boats and planes in order to deliver the ingredients from other parts of the country and the world.
Read the whole article at The Daily Collegian.
Budget Gourmet
UMass Amherst swimmer Tavis Potter, 21, goes for speed in the pool and in the kitchen. “We’re all about quick,” she said while standing in front of her not one, but two refrigerators, and this time she’s not talking about swimming races.
Potter, who lives in a house with six other swimmers, said that although they try to eat healthy, time is an important factor in what finally ends up on their plates for dinner.
“When we get back from practice there’s at least five of us, and we’re starving, so we just try to get it done fast,” she said. “We’re not about to start boiling water to make dinner.”
Read the full article and find more inexpensive recipes at Budget Gourmet.
