Caffe Mizzica

Tuesday night was my first day working at the West Broad Garden and it was awesome (despite the several fire ant bites I got)! While there I stumbled upon Caffe Mizzica at the Tuesday Farmer's Market. Gregory, the owner, makes classic Sicilian dishes using fresh, local ingredients from his garden. He is a fifth generation Italian keeping alive the rich food culture of Italy by making traditional meals such as Capunata, a Sicilian sweet and sour dish made with eggplant, olives, and other seasonal vegetables. Gregory is famous for his Arancini, a Sicilian specialty. Arancini are rice balls stuffed with meat, cheese, and herbs that are lightly fried. I tried a cheese one with no meat. The food was delicious! I especially loved the Capunata and definitely want to try making it at home!

Capunata with eggplant, capers, celery, olives, pine nuts, golden raisins, herbs, and spices.

Cheese Arancini.

Ciao Maddio!

Last Thursday night I went to the opening party for Uncle Maddio's Pizza Joint in East Cobb. The pizzas and salads at Maddio's are amazing! My favorite pizza is the Portobello Pesto, which I had at the opening. A few of the great things about Maddio's is that they use hormone-free chicken; fresh local veggies; organic spinach and field greens; and all their doughs and sauces are made from scratch. I love that they make this effort to use fresh, local ingredients. However, there is always room for improvement. One of my favorite pizzas of theirs is the Steak & Blue (minus the steak). I would love to be able to eat this pizza without taking off the meat, but the only description of the meat is that it is "All Natural Angus Steak." This is an example of how using words like "natural" make people feel that they're making a good choice, but in reality that could mean anything. I've heard restaurants like McDonald's boast about their "natural angus burgers." However, Uncle Maddio's is lightyears better than McDonald's when it comes to quality food. In fact, while at the restaurant, I met the man who started the very first Uncle Maddio's and came up with the concept. I told him that I loved his pizza, but they should really look into using grass-fed steak and pasture-raised chickens. He was actually really receptible and began to ask me what made grass-fed meat better. Besides the many benefits for the environment, I explained to him the many health benefits of eating grass-fed meat as well.

Though some people say that the government will never get on board of the local food movement as they keep subsidizing GMO corn and promoting monoculture, we shouldn't have to wait for the government to make a stand for the food we want. In a market driven culture, we as consumers need to vote with our dollars and speak up for what we want. By asking restaurant owners about where they source their meat and vegetables and requesting changes, we can be the change that leads to more and better options. So next time you're at a restaurant and you want the fish tacos, don't be afraid to ask if the fish is wild caught or if the meat from your burger comes from a local farm. Asking these questions raises awareness and informs people that there are alternatives to GMO produce and meat from a factory farm...and that we as consumers want more alternatives.

Portobello Pesto pizza from Uncle Maddio's Pizza Joint in East Cobb.

East West Bistro & First Day of School Lunch

I've lived in Athens for two years now but this weekend was the first time I ate at the East West Bistro. It was so good that I ate their twice! Lunch on Saturday and brunch on Sunday. I had the swordfish tacos after I learned that the fish is wild caught and a Blackened Salmon BLT for brunch. They were both delicious! East West Bistro makes a point of sourcing a lot of their food from local farms and they make their own bread every few days with no preservatives. I did however make one mistake. I was reassured by the bacon being used on the BLT when I saw that it was "applewood" bacon. I accidentally confused with the Applegate company which makes a point of only using meat from small family farms where the animals are allowed to move freely and exhibit their natural behaviors. The animals are also fed an all vegetarian grain or grass diet without antibiotics, hormones or animal by-products. I never claimed to be perfect, and we all make mistakes. But I learn from them and still appreciate this restaurant's commitment to serving fresh, local ingredients. Unfortunately I don't have a picture because when I went to eat my leftovers for dinner, I was so excited I forgot to take one.

I do however have a picture of my first packed lunch in college. I plan to post these regularly. Maybe not every day as classes start and my schedule gets busier, but I still plan to keep up the blog. Also, I will be posting about my experiences in my new gardening internship. I'm so excited to learn more about organic farming and local food systems!!

Organic grapes, trail mix, whole grain bread & almond butter sandwich, and half a banana.

Good Eats in Savannah

I haven't posted in a while but this past Thursday-Sunday I was visiting Savannah for the first time. I fell in love with this city! Everything from the beautiful buildings to the beach, it can be relaxing and charming as well as exciting. There seems to always be something fun to do from concerts to gallery openings. Of course, my favorite thing about the city is its dedication to sustainability. There were lots of restaurants and coffee bars that sourced local food, thrift stores, and galleries that supported local artisans.

My first night we went out to Green Truck Pub, where I got a Rustico (grass-fed beef) Burger. It was amazing!! I even saved room for one of their delicious desserts - Hummingbird cake, also delicious!

Rustico Burger: Goat cheese, balsamic caramelized onions, roasted red peppers and fresh basil.

Hummingbird cake. The desserts are made in-house or by local partners.

What I really appreciated is on their menu they explained their philosophy of cooking from scratch; they make their own ketchup and other condiments! Green Truck also included a list of the farms where they source their food! I love to see more farm-to-table restaurants developing- it makes dining out a lot easier and more pleasurable!

The next morning we walked to a local bakery, Back in the Day Bakery, for fresh bread to make our sandwiches for the beach. I got a rosemary bread, and it was perfect with my Caprese sandwich! They also had an assortment of delicious treats. I couldn't resist a snicker doodle cookie- it was a vacation after all! One of the things that makes this bakery/café so special besides its charm, is that they don't use any artificial ingredients!

Bakery treats!

My triple decker Caprese sandwich.

Green Bean Salad & Ravioli

On Monday night, I was inspired by the long green and purple beans I got from the garden to make my dad's green bean salad that he makes every Thanksgiving. I cut up lettuce from the farmer's market and added red onion, carrot, a tomato and cucumber (from the garden as well), some feta cheese, and of course, the beans. I tossed the salad in some olive oil and balsamic vinegar and finished it with some black pepper. Overall, the salad was great! This particular variety of beans were a little bitter for my taste though. Next time I'll probably use the shorter beans.

Tonight, I finally cooked up the sweet potato ravioli that I bought from Antonio at the Farmer's Market on Saturday. I threw the ravioli in a pot of boiling water for four minutes. Afterwards, I tossed the ravioli in a bit of butter and added some basil and shredded a little parmesan cheese on top. I could have cooked the ravioli a tad more, but I'd rather have undercooked that overcooked mushy pasta. The ravioli itself was amazing! With such fresh ingredients so strong, you don't need sauce, just a bit of herbs to make the flavors stand out. The sweet potato made the ravioli (not surprisingly) sweet which was complemented well by the parmesan. I can't wait to try more flavors!

Veggie Fajitas

Since both my parents had been having pretty stressful/hectic weeks, I decided to cook dinner for them Saturday night. Following my meal plan, it was fajita night!

To start off I had to make the rice since this would take the longest to make. Instead of buying a package of "Spanish Rice" from the supermarket, I decided to season the rice myself. In general, this is a really good way of avoiding unnecessary ingredients such as extra salt and "natural" flavorings. If you don't know how to season whatever it is you're trying to make, look at the pre-made version and read the ingredient list for some ideas. I seasoned my brown rice with half a red bell pepper, a clove of garlic, some onion, and paprika.

For the veggies, I sautéed some green Carmen peppers, red onion, and baby portobellos in a pan with some olive oil and garlic as per usual. For the rest of the toppings I heated up some black beans, cut up some cherry tomatoes from the garden and for the greens I used a spring mix. I also grated up some cheddar cheese. As part of my plan to avoid processed foods, I will now no longer buy pre-grated cheese. Most pre-shredded cheese contains an anti-caking agent called cellulose. I learned that from one of the posts from 100 Days of Real Food and you can find the post here http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2012/06/18/cheese-and-other-dairy-products-are-they-processed/ Finally we wrapped up the fajitas in whole-wheat tortilla shells.

The rice could have used a bit more seasoning but other than that everything turned out pretty good!

Toppings.

The veggies.

The final product :)

Saturday at the Farmer's Market

This morning I went to the Athens Farmers Market again, but this time I knew to come with an empty stomach. I had my breakfast of organic blueberry pancakes at Farm 255's last Farm Cart at the market. They were knock your socks off good! The smells of breakfast cooking are intoxicating.

At the market I bought some two heads of different types of lettuce, a Romanian garlic, celery, and home-made ravioli. When I asked Antonio, my new Italian friend, which ravioli he recommended, he said it was an easy choice - the sweet potato. Trusting his wisdom, I bought some of the orange colored ravioli and can't wait to try to it!! Needless to say, I was ecstatic to meet Antonio because of my love of everything Italian! When I expressed this love, he invited me to help him set up during market days and speak Italian with me. I can't wait to take him up on his offer! Antonio makes his pastas using freshly picked herbs and vegetables from his own garden. He also makes the ricotta and mascarpone that goes into the ravioli himself. I can't wait to try more flavors and learn more about Italian culture and cuisine my next time at the market. You can learn more about Antonio and his pastas at his website: http://antzenere.wix.com/antoniosfreshpasta#!

Once I got home and finished unloading my produce from the market, I decided to cut open the cantaloupe that I brought home from the garden on Monday. After smelling the sweet fruit every day to check to see if it was ripe, I couldn't wait another day. And the wait was worth it - I sliced it open at its peak of ripeness!