I am a big fan of quinoa, not because it has the “health food” stamp, and not because it’s a “superfood” that sustained the Inca Empire, but because it really is a delicious and extremely adaptable food.  You can make it Indian curry style, Italian style, Chinese style, and the list goes on.  You can serve it with eggs for breakfast, with beans for a light vegetarian meal, or pair it with roast chicken and fresh veggies for a complete dinner.  And best of all, it’s pretty cheap, especially if you buy it in bulk from a health food store. Quinoa has an agreeable nutty flavor and light texture that tastes good hot, warm and cold.  I love how it goes from looking like a collection of tiny pebbles when its uncooked to a light brown translucent mass, with the outer part of the grain separating to form slightly crunchy C-shaped bits. I’ve tried the following recipe hot for dinner, warm with a salad for lunch, and cold with a hot fried egg for breakfast.  All three times, it was yum! Quinoa with Onions, Tomatoes, and White Beans (2-4 servings) 1 cup quinoa 1 medium onion, sliced into medium strips 2-3 cloves garlic, minced 1 can diced tomatoes 1 can white cannellini beans 1-2 Tbsp vegetable oil Fresh ground salt and black pepper In a deep pot with a lid, heat the oil at low/medium heat.  Add onion and stir occasionally until they start to brown.  Do not let the onion burn; turn down the heat if you see any blackness.  After a few minutes, add the garlic. While the onions cook, prepare your quinoa.  To avoid clumping you need to rinse the quinoa in cold water.  This can be complicated with your average...

Certain foods inspire an illogical revulsion in me. I find mushrooms, for instance, impossible to separate from the fact that they grow upon decomposing matter. Their very texture conjures up images of rotting meat and dead, wet, brown leaves. For my boyfriend, it’s the sight of bone or cartilage; he can’t stand any sign that the meat he is eating was ever part of a dead animal. Raisins are also a deal breaker in his world. I love raisins, but I can imagine that anti-raisin feelings might be related to their cursory resemblance to rodent droppings, or his aversion to all things dried out. I have a fear of undercooked pork and chicken that is so intense that the mere thought of eating it makes my stomach hurt. I have been faced with social situations in which I have been served pink turkey and basically raw pork, and have had to swallow bits of both. While I did not immediately sicken and die as I feared, my stomach cramped before I had even taken a bite and made the whole experience akin to running a gauntlet. Yet, paradoxically, I welcome bloody beefsteaks and pink in the middle burgers. While canned food frightens me because it has been marinating in its metal casket for months, even years, and tastes like iron to me even after it’s re-cooked. Then there is the creeping realization that any number of ingredients in our food may be tainted with toxic chemicals or fecal bacteria. Buying local or organic ingredients would seem the safe alternative, except for the fact that the cost is generally prohibitive. And there is the sad reality that a certain amount of rat fecal matter is allowed in our food no matter what. Food fears are...

During my childhood, dinnertime could be as late as nine o’clock due to my dad’s frenetic work schedule.  I had to have a snack after school to be able to wait for a long simmered Persian meat and vegetable stew over rice.  My mini-meal of choice was Oscar Meyer bologna and Kraft American cheese (always white, never the orange slices) on white bread with a glass of milk.  As part of my preparation I squeezed the sandwich together between my palms so the cheese and bologna would meld with the bread. Years later I read about another young girl who made her own supper: fried bologna served on white bread with mayonnaise.   The description of the bologna curling up in the pan, its fried edges turning brown, triggered a memory.  If we were out of baloney, my mother would sometimes make me a steak sandwich.  The edges of the thinly sliced frozen meat would crisp and darken as she fried them in oil with onions.  Then she garnished the steak sandwich with white sliced cheese and fresh beefsteak tomatoes from her garden. What we ate as children can shape our appetites later.  Taking frozen and prepared foods and making them taste fresher using fresh ingredients is my mother’s talent. Because of her I never tire of learning about kid food, quick food, and canned and frozen food made homemade with a little creativity.  There are few written records for the foods we grow nostalgic for. My Mother’s Steak Sandwich All Grown Up For one: 1 package Steakum or other thin sliced frozen steak 1 fresh hoagie roll 1 onion sliced thin American cheese Grated Parmesan cheese 2 wedges Laughing Cow spreadable cheese – onion flavor 1 beefsteak tomato, sliced 1 tbsp Vegetable oil for...