Beans and Rice and Beans and Rice and Beans and….
Sharon July 15th, 2008
In my last post I talked about the fact that the diets common in the rich world *appear* to be very diverse, and that diversity, and the idea of constant “choice” are something we emphasize a lot. Eating out of food storage, and eating cheaply both seem to constrict our choices dramatically - and thus we may feel deprived.
Now the truth is that as Michael Pollan showed so well in _The Omnivore’s Dilemma_ the classic American diet isn’t diverse at all - it is almost all corn based. Corn is as central to our diet as it was to any Native population - the difference is that the corn is processed into corn syrup, Confinement meat, alcohol and other crap that isn’t good for us. We really haven’t changed anything - we’re eating corn 3 times a day, just like our ancestors, but we’re eating the worst possible form of corn for us and the planet. It would not be a loss of diversity to go back to eating corn or some other staple grain more often - and it would be a gain for the planet.
But that doesn’t change the fact that we’re used to the idea of eating a varied diet, and eating a lot of staple foods doesn’t necessarily line up with our mental image of what we or our families should be eating. In fact, it is pretty much precisely what we should be eating - we’ve seen this several times. There’s the Western Diet Paradox, in which immigrants from cultures with staple style diets made up of fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains and legumes and small amounts of meat become less healthy and have shortened lifespans when they move to the US, and start eating a typical American diet. Or there’s the research from WWII, which showed that the British got healthier during periods of restriction in which they were eating more grains, and fewer meats, fats and sweets.
But the stigma of “poor people’s food” of reduced “choice” (which often isn’t any kind of meaningful choice) is huge, and we’ve got to overcome it. That means making the staple diet a badge of honor, talking about it, enjoying it, and integrating it into the culture as a source of pleasure. The thing is, food trends are fairly easy to start and move - and they can be really powerful. All of us have the potential to change the culture’s relationship with inexpensive, basic staple foods, simply by cooking them well, eating them enthusiastically, serving them to guests. The words you want to hear are “I never knew lentil soup/beans and rice/whatever could be so delicious.”
And that means learning to cook inexpensive foods well, and to create a varied diet using basic ingredients. Which means you need recipes and ideas.
Which brings me to the point - first, here’s my own stuff: sharonastyk.com.
There are some ideas for meal planning here at my friend Pat’s blog:
entire-of-itself.blogspot.com,
Not so much a rice and beans thing, Hillbilly Housewife has some recipes for very low cost family menus - $70 for a week (although some prices have risen since then). There are also links to even cheaper ones, but from an older period. There are some foods I simply don’t recommend - margarine, for example, but the price qualities are good, and they are “typical American” but cheap, which is nice and accessible to a lot of people: hillbillyhousewife.com. She also includes a schedule, which is great. Hers is a great site, btw - particularly for those who are new to frugal food.
There are a gazillion bean recipes on this site: americanbean.org , and tons of ethnic bean and grain recipes here: inmamaskitchen.com
For cookbooks, here are a few of my favorites - some of which I’ve mentioned before on the blog, and some of which I haven’t.
1. The More With Less Cookbook (and its several sequels) by Doris Janzen Longacre has a lot of simple, staple food recipes that are wonderful and delicious - if I had to choose only a couple of basic cookbooks, this one and its sequels (including the wonderful children’s cookbook, Simply in Season (there’s an adult one of the same name) would be the start of a library. We eat their Apple-Cinnamon Crunch as a snack regularly, or mix it into yogurt, and it was where I got the idea of serving not-too-sweet rice pudding for breakfast.
2. Anya von Bremzen and John Welchman’s _Please to the Table: The Russian Cookbook_ is really a cookbook of the whole former Soviet Union. And while it has plenty of meat recipes, it emphasizes the staple foods of Eastern Europe - lots of roots, whole grains and very simple, inexpensive foods. The recipes are delicious as well. I lived on cabbage pie (which is really bad for you but spectacularly delicious), lentil and dried apricot soup, and pumpkin fritters in college, and they are still part of our regular food rotation. Great borscht, too.
3. Down to Earth: Great Recipes for Root Vegetables by Georgeanne Brennan - Brennan is one of my absolute favorite food writers (among other things, she’s the author of my son’s favorite cookbook, The Dr. Seuss Cookbook). Rutabaga and barley soup, deep dish turnip gratin, green onion and gruyere bread pudding and salsify fritters are all favorites of my family.
4. Paula Wolfert’s book _Mediterranean Grains and Greens_ is one of my favorite all-time cookbooks. It was from her I learned the easy way of making polenta without all the stirring (it works on American style mush as well). Eric and I eat pasta with bitter greens and tomatoes all summer long, particularly as the greens start to bolt, and my favorite bean and grain soup ever is her Greek-style medly of lentils, herbs and grains. Spiced barley bread is also one of the best things I’ve ever eaten, especially dipped in Harira.
5. Lane Morgan is the author of _The Winter Harvest Cookbook_ which I discovered through Carla Emery. The emphasis is on foods available in the Pacific NW in the winter, which means, roots, beans and greens. Very nice recipes - how many other cookbooks have more than a dozen parsnip recipes, or seven for daikons? My kids love her teriyaki beets (me too) and we like her broccoli dal as well.
6. Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid’s _Seductions of Rice_ cookbook is fascinating and wonderful. It explores authentic rice recipes (and foods served over rice) from all over the world - their “Flatbreads and Flavors” did the same for wheat and flat breads of other sorts. The risotto al birra, which sounds weird (risotto with beer) is spectacular. We eat beef and lettuce congee anytime we can get it, and we make khao ped (Thai fried rice) all the time. Yum.
7. All the Moosewood Cookbooks are good, of course, but for diversity of staple food recipes _Sundays at the Moosewood_ which focuses on their Sunday ethnic days, is probably the best. Some of the sections are better than others - the sections on Japan and Finland are good, others not quite as much. And generally, IMHO, the recipes need more seasoning. But they are still good. We make their sweet potato paratha quite often, and the tomato, lime and tortilla soup is a summer staple.
8. Crescent Dragonwagon’s _Soup and Bread Cookbook_ is one I’ve mentioned before, but it has the remarkable utility of offering ways to make just about everything (I mean everything - she has a section on nut soups!) into soup. The recipes are great - flavorful and accessible, and she’s a fun writer. I have no southern credentials at all, but I like her Green Gumbo a lot, and the Broccoli and Potato Curry soup is a winter staple here, as is her Split Pea Soup with Caraway.
9. I think I’ve praised Eileen Yin-Fei Lo’s _From the Earth: Chinese Vegetarian Cooking_ before, but I’m going to do it again, because it is so damned good. I’ve never made a bad recipe from this cookbook. The sizzling rice soup is incredible, and the many congee recipes (did I mention congee before - we love the stuff!) are wonderful. Lima beans with soybean cake sounds beyond weird and is terrific, and lemon noodles with mushrooms are spectacular! I don’t think I can say enough good things about this cookbook.
10. Finally, _Foods of the Southwest Indian Nations_ by Lois Ellen Frank has a fair share of foofy recipes for people with lots of money, but also a ton of great recipes for staple foods, southwestern style. The posole is great even without the meat, and in the fall, we eat sunflower cakes as a snack or as a breakfast. I wish I lived where I could try the recipe for tumbleweed shoots with pinto beans and wild rice, but we make pumpkin corn soup often.
sharonastyk.com |
