May 16th, 2009 Newsletter
Bardstown Road Farmers’ Market Newsletter
Sarah’s Corner
From our friend Sarah Fritschner
“On Tuesday, five potato farmers rang the bell of the New York Stock Exchange, kicking off a marketing campaign that is trying to position the nation’s best-selling brand of potato chips as local food,” the New York Times reported on Wednesday.
The Frito-Lay company, in states that grow and process potatoes, is advertising their potato chips as a local product. A Frito-Lay spokesman, quoted by the Times, said “We are interested in quality and quickness because we want consumers to get the freshest product possible. . .”
Not only are potato chips “local,” but they are also “fresh.”
We could call Tyson chicken a local product. Kentucky farmers grow millions of chickens (or so) a year, in houses that hold 25,000 birds, that send fecal dust, ammonia and hydrogen sulfide into the air of the Western Kentucky community.
Once more, food processors have co-opted terms that once connoted health, agricultural economic stability, and a reduced carbon footprint. Let the confusion begin.
In the end, people who are thinking about the health of themselves, their community and the earth will continue to make choices – sometimes tough choices -- about how and what they purchase. Thank goodness for the Bardstown Road Farmers Market, where “locally raised” isn’t a cynical marketing term.
The following recipe for curried garbanzo beans is a fast, foolproof, vegetarian answer to “What’s for dinner.” When you have absolutely no time or energy, depend on this recipe to get dinner on the table fast. If you have the time, add a tablespoon of fresh grated ginger.
Curried Garbanzo Beans
2 teaspoons ground coriander
2 teaspoons ground cumin 2 cans garbanzo beans (chickpeas), 15 to 19 ounces each
28 ounces crushed canned tomatoes
10 ounces (or so) baby spinach leaves
½ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper, or ½ minced jalapeno pepper, or to taste
2 teaspoons curry powder
1 teaspoon salt
Fresh cilantro, chopped
½ plain yogurt, optional
Rice (brown, basmati, white etc)
If you’re serving this dish over brown rice, start the rice first as it takes 45 minutes to cook. Basmati takes about 20.
Heat a wide, heavy pan over medium heat. Add the coriander and cumin and cook, stirring, until they darken a few shades and are aromatic. Drain and rinse garbanzo beans and add beans to pan. Add tomatoes and bring to a boil, stirring often. Add spinach, hot pepper, curry powder and salt and simmer 15 minutes (or longer). Add a little water if you need to thin it.
Serve over hot cooked rice, topped with chopped cilantro and yogurt if you like. Serves 4.