Guess: which fruits and vegetables contain the most pesticides?

The Environmental Working Group has put together a chart of the worst vegetables and fruits for pesticide load. Can you guess which ones are the most harmful? What do you think: strawberries? That's what I would guess. Oranges? Nah, should be okay, all that rind...What about leafy vegetables?

Guess again. The top five worst offenders:

1 (worst)	Peaches	100 (highest pesticide load)
2	Apples	96
3	Sweet Bell Peppers	86
4	Celery	85
5	Nectarines	84

Click here for the full list from foodnews.org.

Organic Roots in East Greenbush

Where was I the other day? Near the corner of nowhere and Route 4 in East Greenbush. It doesn't look like much, but trust me, if you're living in East Greenbush, this is going to be heaven because you can get good clean organic food for lunch here: at Organic Roots. Apparently the place has been around for a while (like a couple of years) but I only found out about it a couple of weeks ago thanks to one of my sources.

Organic Roots is a cozy café with sandwiches, a soup of the day, coffee, and assorted health-nut drinks. Service was quick and attentive. There were two women in there when I was there, and they also commented that it was surprising they hadn't heard of the place until recently, in spite of one of the women living right nearby. Organic Roots needs better advertising (like better signage for starts). It also needs desserts. When I was there, they didn't even have chocolate bars by the register. Isn't it some kind of law that all lunch places must have chocolate? [Edited to add: the owner has written to me and expressed that they usually *do* have dessert but happened to be out the day I visited. She wrote, "I went to school for pastry arts and the day you came we hade no cookies or muffins but if you were a regular you would have known we usually always have cookies or some kind of dessert." Thanks for the clarification. Also, she says there are chocolate bars on the retail shelf.]

Chocolate appeases the masses.

I had a lovely sandwich with avocado and veggies plus a cup of broccoli soup. It was tasty; there was some kind of flavorful sauce (I want to say aioli) on the bread, and everything was fresh. They gave me a cup of bean salad (I could have also gotten something else-- I think pasta salad) and some croutons. I felt so healthy! I was then ready for sinfulness with dessert. See, this is the real reason to eat healthy: then you can feel so virtuous you don't mind being a little sinful from time to time.

Organic Roots is at 91 Troy Road, at the intersection of Route 4 with Route 151, just West of I-90. It's a bit far for me to go there often, but it's nice to know it's there.

Harvest time!

September is well on its way and my garden is still giving forth tomatoes every day. I've also got eggplants, fennel, cabbage, squash (summer and winter this year! A banner year!), potatoes, carrots, chard, kale, and broccoli. Today I made a cold tomato soup--kind of a gazpacho with lime, cumin, and cinnamon. Tomorrow: what to do with the lovely tiny eggplants that squirrels keep taking little nips out of?

Above is a salad grown entirely from my garden this spring.

I don't believe that I can ever become self-sufficient. Unlike some writers who have argued for the locavore movement lately (I'm still really wanting to read Barbara Ehrenreich's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle; and there was a really funny feature in New York Magazine by Manny Howard detailing his many failures trying to live off what his yard produced in Brooklyn), I don't think we will solve our many environmental problems by hunkering down by the campfire eating moldy but homegrown turnips through the long Northeastern winters. Every place has its own local food culture, and trading to mutual benefit is never a problem. It's not the 'where' as much as the 'what' and the 'how.' Do I really need to buy apples from Washington when I can get them from New York? No, but if I want pineapple, bananas, or green peppers in the winter, I'm going to have to get them from afar. Is this reasonable? Yes, but it's also reasonable to ask that these things be sustainably farmed and shipped with respect to the environment.

We are social creatures, and we need each other to survive. There is no such thing as truly self-sufficient. Still, my vegetable garden has become central to my life these past few years, changing the way I think about food, and I've gotten better at growing stuff. Mostly, I'm more organized than I was (my first year I had a tomato forest and total chaos! But it was beautiful) and better at spacing plants. I just never believe that such tiny seedlings will grow up into edible veggies. But look, a casserole of roasted garden veggies:



As a result of growing my own vegetables for a small portion of the year, I've come to realize how much sweat labor food takes. (Answer: lots.) From digging and composting to planting, weeding constantly, watering, and harvesting, it's pretty much non-stop work. It's one of the most pleasurable forms of work I know, however, and oh do those tomatoes taste sweet! Even at the farmer's market there aren't such juicy, flavorful tomatoes as I grow. My fav. varieties: Lillian's Yellow heirloom tomatoes, which really don't become ripe until September 1 or so, and Cherokee tomatoes, a dark winey tomato with dark green shoulders. Here is my little plot of earth.



The reason I called this blog "Dish and Dirt" is because I believe that what we 'dish' ultimately relies on the condition of our dirt. In plain terms, what we eat grows on this earth, and its quality depends on the soil. Despite a certain degree of cantankerousness (and the desire to keep eating imported chocolate), I do believe that we could all do a lot more local eating. I try to resist processed foods, foods that have traveled too far to get to me (except for chocolate), and especially foods that have been slapped together and shipped with no thought to quality, care, or health. So let's all get out and enjoy those farmer's markets, apple picking farms, and local honey while it's harvest season.

Ambitiously funky: Ambition in Schenectady

The Ambition Café in Schenectady is disco-funky and cool, with user friendly food and hours. They even have a disco ball hanging in the center of their elongated dining area, which is also decorated by a wall of soda bottles. And while you are eating, pop-alicious songs by Janet Jackson ("My name aint 'Baby'! It's Janet. Miss Jackson if you're Nasty!"), her bro Michael, and Pat Benatar keep you feeling upbeat. (But are not too loud at all, for the disco-phobic.) I love a good vintage pop tune. Album covers decorate the walls and bar area, with an album of Barbra Streisand and Donna Summer together. I had no idea they collaborated! This valuable information is only one of the benefits of dining at Ambition Café. But you can take anyone here: your mom, boss, friend.

The food is quality lunch fare: lots of sandwiches, a daily soup (tomato rice was yesterday's option), and a daily special, which I ordered: salmon over greens. It was tender and just perfect for a healthy lunch. My husband got the black bean burger, which I had had the last time I was there, and it is scrumptious, served on herby focaccia style bread.
Next door to the café is Skinny and Sweet, a candy and gift shop with fun cards, chocolates, and gelato. We got gelato for dessert in the café: two chocolate peanut butters. It was only 1:30 pm and WHOA!!! Talk about sugar high. But it was so good-- it had a hazelnut tinge to it. The small, pictured here, was really large to me= 3 scoops! We could have (should have) shared.

What is also nice about Ambition is that they have ample space in the back for people to spread out and read or work. It's a bit dark in the restaurant, but the cheeriness of the decor and friendliness of everyone makes up for that. And both times I've been there, it's been pleasantly full of people enjoying themselves.

They are located at 154 Jay Street, which is on the pedestrian walkway in downtown Schenectady. They are open M-Fri 8 am- 6 pm and until 8 pm for Proctor's events; Thursdays until 9. Saturday 10-5.

Food, not nutrients

Michael Pollan did it again in this past Sunday's New York Times Magazine. His in-depth essay shows the many ways our "food science" agribusiness-fueled industry has created a sick country with unhappy, food-obsessed, unhealthy people.

"Our personal health is inextricably bound up with the health of the entire food web," he writes. One cannot eat healthy, be healthy, in other words, without considering the health of the soil, the planet, the ecosystem.

And:

"Today, a mere four crops account for two-thirds of the calories humans eat. When you consider that humankind has historically consumed some 80,000 edible species, and that 3,000 of these have been in widespread use, this represents a radical simplification of the food web."

His recommendations? Eat real food, not polyhydrocarbonated high corn-fructose-crack. Eat more plants, less meat. Eat less food. And enjoy what you do eat.

Fishy tales

I've been on a fishing adventure, sailing the high seas of-- well-- Central Ave., mostly. Alas, the Capital Region doesn't have a single great independent fresh fish market. You'd think we'd be awash in fish, since we're so close to Boston and New York harbors. But overfishing has affected the market, and it seems harder to get fresh fish in general. Buying fish has also become an ethical puzzle: do I go for the fish with higher mercury content that's not endangered? Or the endangered but safe-for-me fish?
There are a few places you can find good fresh fish in the Capital Region. Above is a photo of some of the fare at the China Supermarket on Colvin Ave. Based on what I saw there the one day I looked at the fish, I would not rely on them. However, they did have fresh (live) crabs... and more.


Covered in this review:

Cousins Fish Market
581 Livingston Ave
Albany, NY 12206
(518) 449-8830

Price Chopper
716 Hoosick Rd
Troy, NY 12180
(518) 266-9947

China Supermarket
91 Colvin Avenue, Albany
458-8166

I also heard about a place near the Home Depot plaza in East Greenbush that I have yet to check out.

First I went to Cousins, with great hopes of dockside barrel talk and Nor'easters. Alas, 'twas not so. I did buy some shrimp there, and I'm still alive after eating them, so that's the good news. Oddly, some of the shrimp tasted really good, but a few of them (I had maybe 5 or 6) tasted of iodine. I hear that's got something to do with what the shrimp eat, and it's not unhealthy. But it is irksome.
Cousins seems to serve a vital function as a neighborhood grocery/deli, with lots of takeout meats. You can even buy things like pasta and sauce there. But much of their fish and shellfish were frozen. In addition, the fish didn't look too appetizing: some of the fillets were lying in their own fish juice, not on well-drained ice, as they should be.

I'm not going to completely knock Cousins, because it's an independent store, and apparently they've been in Albany forever. And this Times Union writeup, from 2000, highly recommends their fish fry, which I did not get to try:
Cousins courtesy Times Union


Next on my menu was the China Supermarket on Colvin Ave., just off the busy Central Ave. across from Westgate Plaza.


Let me say right away that I really like the China Supermarket, and rely on them for some Chinese herbs that I use. They have absolutely wonderful, and incredibly low-priced spices, beans, rice, condiments, and an impressive produce aisle with fresh bok choy, long green beans, scallions, and the like. It's worth going to the China Supermarket for these things. However, the fish department seems touch and go.



This was a picturesque barrel of fresh crabs. I haven't the foggiest clue how to cook a crab, plus I'd have to kill it first, so I didn't jump for those.


I do feel I must point out that they also have fresh, live frogs. They do not look like happy frogs. They especially do not seem happy when a customer chooses them from their crowded tank to be placed in a suffocating plastic bag, from which they are summarily taken to have their heads chopped off.

Yes, I am a vegetarian partly because I don't believe it's right to eat animals. I draw my own personal line at fish. I don't eat fish often, but I do believe I need to eat some protein to stay healthy, and I like fish. Frogs have legs, so they just seem too close to 'animal' for my comfort.

At the same time, I must here point out that, in the China market's favor is that these are undeniably fresh. And I would vastly prefer supporting the China market, which is an independent business, and suffering whatever qualms I may as I pass by the frogs (and turtles), rather than patronize a big box style grocery store--where animal suffering may not be on immediate display, but you know it is lurking everywhere in the details. For surely it is a far worse crime that millions of chickens are raised in squalid conditions, debeaked, diseased, than that a small market play a small role in frog despair, when the market's benefit to the community is so great. In case you need to be convinced about the chickens, (click here for graphic depictions of the disgustingness that is the poultry industry in the US).

I can't help the way I feel about animals. But I can make educated choices.

Alas, for fresh fish, my choice is with the local supermarket chains, for reliability and freshness. I was really impressed by the knowledge of the fish department at the Price Chopper in Brunswick, where they had *fresh* : cod, Atlantic flounder and pollock, monkfish, swordfish, catfish (one of Ocean's Alive 'best' fish choices) and clams.

They also had pre-frozen fish, much of which, they explained, is "frozen at sea," which I guess seals in the freshness. They didn't say "flash" frozen, which is a new process used by fishermen now. I will have to enquire further.


In terms of frozen they had West Coast salmon steaks, wild USA shrimp, and many other things. They also had farmed tilapia (but farmed fish is not supposed to be good for the environment), and Wild Alaskan smoked salmon (which is okay for the environment but has lots of salt in it, which makes me retain water, which makes me seem to weigh more than I really do...).

Conclusion: you can do pretty well, either at Price Chopper in Brunswick or the Hannaford in Latham (I can't speak for the other locations-- anyone out there know?)

Where's the FISH??!

Forget where’s the beef. Where is the seafood in the Albany area? I’m a vegetarian who eats seafood, and I know fresh fish is healthy, low in bad fats, and high in healthy brain-food omega fatty acids. We in Albany live a mere three hours from Boston, and less than three hours from New York City up the Hudson River, so you’d think that this would be a watery, swimmin’ hub of seafood activity.

It is *so* not.

In today's blog I will cover restaurants. Next up, actual purveyors, where one can (in an ideal world) buy fresh fish to take home and cook.

A little background: the salmon I had at Tai-Pei the other week was some of the worst salmon I’ve ever had in my life, *counting* airplane food. After that horrid experience, I was determined to find fresh fish. I'm a woman with a mission. I already knew that Jack’s Oyster House is top of the list, with fresh fish prepared elegantly in a classy, Old Albany style setting.

Next comes the Real Seafood Co, although there’s a BIG distance between Jack’s and Real Seafood in classiness. Real Seafood is a more down-home, family friendly, almost diner-esque type restaurant, which you’d expect on Wolf Road. Real Seafood Co. is at 195 Wolf Road in Albany, tel. 518-458-2068.



My first experience with Real Seafood Co. was last week. Even though I’ve lived here for 8 years, I’d never wanted to go to this restaurant on Wolf Road with the huge lurid neon octopus sign out front (pictured above). It just looked-- scary. Kind of like the sleazy motel version of seafood. But then I heard from someone that it was actually a good place. So we went. And I was immediately reassured by the impressively long menu: name the fish, and you can pretty much get it here. And by the oyster bar, and the helpfully informative background on fish on their web page. They have total disclosure here in terms of what comes from where when, which is excellent.

Although, of note is that some of their fish is not top-of-the-line. The salmon is farmed, not Wild Alaskan salmon. Most of their seafood does seem to be fresh from the East coast, however, which is good. Click HERE for a printable list from Oceans Alive of ecologically and healthy fish choices to make!!!!! You NEED to take this list with you to ensure that you are not ordering something full of mercury or creatures from depleted stocks.

The good news first: my main course, which was the Lemon Cod, was excellent. Fresh, cooked just right, and with a simple breaded buttery lemony crumb and a side of sweet potato fries, this is just what I look for when I’m needing some extra omega-3s and sixes. Most of their main dishes come with potato and veg, and prices are reasonable.

Now the not-so-good news:

We waited. And we waited. And then, we had to wait. I’m talking, I watched my nails grow into talons while we waited for, first our appetizers--nothing exciting here: Asian-style tuna spring rolls, in which the tuna was indistinguishable from any other meat-unidentifiable object-or-tofu filler; and my clam chowder, which was abysmal--only a few languid clams, NOT fresh, in a Campbell’s-Cream-Soupy glutinous pasty broth-- then our main course. I swear my hair grew about an inch as we waited.

We arrived around 8:45, and there was a decent crowd, but not anywhere near a full house. So why the incredibly agonizing wait, while we watched the ornamental fishies in their aquariums swim doomfully around and around, and commented on and noted each object of acqueous decor (the fish-shaped planter, the jellyfish-like lamp)? Then, to add insult to injury, they started using a battery operated vacuum near our table as we finally started in on our main courses. I hate it when it's only 9:30 and restaurant staffers start cleaning up around you as you eat. Anyway, I know the wait was not due to lack of staff.

The other bad thing: my husband does not eat seafood, so we need a restaurant where he can also find good things to eat. And Real Seafood Co. does not, so far, do the trick here. They only have a couple of steaks and one pasta dish as non-fishy options. He asked if he could get the pumpkin ravioli appetizer as his main dish, which they courteously agreed to. It was basically pumpkin pie filling in ravioli, smothered in, again, a kind of Campbell’s-Cream-of-Mushroomey sauce.

Bleah.

But-- silver lining--my main course was very very good. Next time I go to this restaurant, I’m skipping the appetizer and asking to sit near the kitchen so we can be within closer nagging distance of the waitstaff. Or just telling my credit card to shut up and going to Jack’s.

Next: Cousins’, Hannaford/Price Chopper, Lee’s Market, suffering frogs, foreign national shrimps, and dull-eyed urchins!!!! Stay tuned at dish and dirt.

Home made soup from my garden

I cannot tell a lie: I prefer eating at home these days, mostly because my garden is bursting with produce. This is a picture of the yellow tomato soup I made the other day.

It was delicious and had a real tomato-ey flavor, despite the yellow color. It had exactly two ingredients:

1) Lillian's yellow heirloom tomatoes from my garden and
2) garlic, also from my garden.

It doesn't get much easier than that!
First, I boil the tomatoes each for about a minute, and peel the skins off. (The tomatoes get hot and can burn your hands, but if you wait another minute, it won't hurt!) Then quarter them and put them in a pot with garlic. Let simmer for about an hour, longer if you want a thicker soup. Then put all in a blender.

This is the way food is meant to be eaten: really fresh, totally organic of course, and just brimful of flavor.

Now, if we could only get some restaurants around here with the same philosophy....
Does anyone else around here grow Lillian's yellow? They are absolutely my favorite tomato, even better than the red tomatoes. I don't know why, they just are. They also come very late in the season. I've always been fond of late bloomers.

At the Farmer's Market: Vegan Creations

I took this photo a week ago of Rada and Nena, purveyors of Vegan Creations at the Troy Farmer's Market. Their cookies are one of the weapons in my diet arsenal. See, I have to have something sweet to nibble on during the day. Most days around 3 p.m. I hit this real low. I get a craving for some little tidbit or sweet morsel to go with a cup of tea or decaf. But this can lead to a cookie here, a piece of cake there... and before you know it I'm up a waist size.

The solution is to nosh on something delicious and tasty but light. Enter Vegan Creations, with the just-right-sized cookies they sell in many flavors. My favorite are the double chocolate and the regular chocolate. Just one or two of these fulfills my craving, and you see since they are Vegan, there is no sinful butter or egg.

Just for the record, I am not vegan. I am a lacto-ovo-fisho vegetarian. But vegan baking intrigues me (it's such a challenge: how to make delicious baked goods without the dairy or eggs?). It's not often well met. But Vegan Creations have figured out how to do it, at least for the things I've tried.

They also sell baklava, and things like carrot cake. Some of their delights are wheat- free as well, and their card says they specialize in seitan.

Their telephone number is: 518-479-5112
They also take orders.

The other intriguing development here is that they say they will soon start selling their baked goods at a vegetarian cafe that's supposed to be opening up in Averill Park (not far from Troy) called Slow Jed's Mud House Inc.

Here is their web site, but the links don't seem to work yet: Slow Jed's


More when I know for sure what the story is.

Wild blueberries on State Street

I haven't been active here because I've been battling my demons. I've had an extended period of the major demons. But I'm coming out of it. In the meantime I've relied on DeFazio's pizza and Edie's frozen yogurt (vanilla) as well as the double-chocolate vegan cookies sold at the Troy Waterfront Farmer's Market (subject for another post) to get me through. And of course, now that I'm starting to feel better, the first thing on my mind is food.

Today (a Wednesday, around noon) I was in downtown Troy, and there were three farmer stalls set up on State Street and Third. One woman was selling, among other things (cukes, zucchini, corn, potatoes), tiny wild blueberries. Natch I got some.

That I can buy wild blueberries on State Street in downtown Troy gives me hope, not only for our fair city but for humanity.

Feast well, friends.