Christina Cooks: Back to the Cutting Board

Has eating locally become the province of the elite and the affluent, or is that just nonsense?

Sure... we struggle with food deserts in big cities, but many of us have access to fresh, locally produced foods that are actually less expensive than the processed stuff.

we're told is food (but it really isn't.)

All over America, farm markets have become the norm, along with community gardens and produce trucks in neighborhoods.

Today we'll discover the joy of eating as locally as possible on Christina Cooks: The Macroterranean Way.

Underwriting for Christina Cooks is provided by Suzanne's Specialties, offering a full line of alternative vegan and organic sweeteners and toppings.

Suzanne's Specialties.

Sweetness the way Mother Nature intended.

and by Jonathans Spoons.

Individually handcrafted from cherry wood, each designed with your hand and purpose in mind.

Additional funding provided by: Hi, I'm Christina Pirello and this is Christina Cooks, where each week we take fresh, seasonal ingredients and whip them into amazing dishes.

Will they all be plant based?

Yeah.

Will they all be delicious?

Absolutely.

Eating locally has become sort of the province of the elite.

We take our lattes and go to the farmer's market on a Sunday.

But the truth is, eating locally is so important, right?

We we help to preserve little farms.

We have fresher food that's more nutrient dense.

You know, back when supermarkets really hit in the fifties, it changed everything about the way we shop.

It changed the butcher down the street and the guy who sold the pickles and the bread baker and put it all in one gigantic place.

And the result of that is the footprint is huge because we bring in foods from all over the world to fill that amusement park sized supermarket, and it discourages us from shopping locally.

But as much as you can, you make a lighter footprint on the planet if you can, in fact, shop locally, small businesses, who might do some importing, But it's a small family business.

The more we can do that, the more we can lessen the burden we place on our very overworked and underpaid Mother Nature.

So in our first recipe, we're using a pasta from Sardinia, and it's called fregola, and fregola is made with bronze dyes.

And you can see it's a very coarse, coarse, coarse texture.

So it's cooked for a long time, 10 minutes in a lot of water.

Right.

And when the fregola is cooked, it comes out looking slightly puffy like this, almost like puffed wheat or popcorn.

But as a result, if you're not using it immediately, you need to put it on a tray like this and spread it out so that it doesn't stick together and you'll see why.

So to go with our fregola, we're going to roast some veggies in the oven.

We are going to take some red onion cause they're really sweet and I love them.

We will take some big chunks of zucchini to give moisture to the dish, some big chunks of carrots for sweetness, some cherry tomatoes because it's fregola, and we're making sort of an Italian style dish.

And then we're going to dress this with a little bit of extra virgin olive oil.

Remember, these are going in the oven.

So you kind of need to really give them a little hit Some balsamic vinegar to really boost the sweetness.

Buy... See how syrupy this is, you need to buy a syrupy balsamic.

You need to buy something that's thick and sweet, right?

Balsamic vinegar is aged in wooden barrels.

It's the probiotic of Italian cooking like miso is to Japanese cooking.

A little bit of salt.

You can use hot spice or not.

I'm not going to in this.

You want to toss these until they're coated and shiny with oil and vinegar.

Can see it's really... it's this really simple dish.

Then all these vegetables I bought locally.

You're going to spread these on the sheet to avoid overlap.

And the reason you do that is so that they bake evenly.

Now these are going to go into the oven at 350 or 375, depending on your time, and you want to bake them until they're tender.

But don't let them start to brown on the edges, keep them just fork-tender.

So these are going to go into the oven.

I'm going to say pieces this size will take about 30 minutes and then we'll come back and we'll finish the dish.

[gentle music plays] So now that the veggies have roasted, we're going to let them cool for a few minutes.

And while we're going to make a pesto, while we do that.

So we're going to take some walnuts, walnut pieces, two cloves of garlic, as much garlic as you like.

I kind of like mild when I make pesto, so it's a little bit sweeter.

Some miso in place of parmesan cheese goes in.

It's about two tablespoons to about a half a cup of walnuts, something like that.

A good cup of basil, extra virgin olive oil.

This is your liquid, remember?

The pesto just means paste.

So what we're looking to do is make sort of the sauce that's going to go over our regular dish, and you're just going to pulse this until it all comes together and creates a sort of paste.

In fact, a little coarse is good because the whole dish will have better texture.

That's it.

So now using the same bowl that I dressed the veggies in, I really am lazy in the kitchen.

If I don't have to wash a bowl or a dish, I can use the same spoon twice.

I'm on it.

We take our cooked fregola using my best kitchen tools.

Just scrape that all in.

Fregola.

It tastes just like pasta.

It's very mild and you're thinking, Wait, what about eating locally? I'm doing the best I can, just like everyone does.

Not every product you use can be local.

And could I make this dish with a locally made pasta?

Yeah, sure I could.

But I really like fregola, so I'm indulging every now and then.

You need to do that, too.

Our roasted veg go next.

They're nice and tender and sweet, but you can see the reason that you don't want them to color.

You want really bright.

Bright colors in this dish.

Okay.

And finally, our pesto.

Take the blade out so we don't lose any.

Pesto goes on top and we'll mix it in and just create this lovely, lovely dish.

And while I'm mixing this, I have to tell you, I'm so excited.

Usually I take you to Italy, someplace romantic and dramatic, but today we're staying a little bit closer to home.

We're off to meet Christa Barfield, an urban farmer who has taken care of the planet and eating locally to a whole new level.

It's unbelievable the work that she does.

So let's quickly plate our dish.

Never serve your dish in the volume, mixed it in.

It goes right on top.

So you can see the colors are great, the veggies look lovely, the pesto is beautiful.

One bite before we go off to see Christa and I'll see you guys on the farm.

[gentle music continues] CHRISTINA: So I am here in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, with Christa Barfield, better known in the Philadelphia area as Farmer Jawn.

Hi, Christa.

Nice to see you again.

CHRISTA: Excited to be here.

CHRISTINA: I'm not going to spend a lot of time talking CHRISTINA: about what you do.

I would like you to tell me how you got to this part of your life and what your goal is.

CHRISTA: You know, I wasn't a farmer my whole life, right?

CHRISTINA: Thats amazing!

I did not know that about you.

CHRISTINA: Yeah.

CHRISTA: I'm from Philadelphia.

Elkins Park is about 15 minutes away from where I grew up in northwest Philly, in Germantown.

CHRISTINA: Yeah.

CHRISTA: And I've lived a life of service in health care and love science and medicine and teaching people CHRISTA: how they can become healthier people CHRISTA: and also helping them pay for it.

CHRISTA: So that's really what my skill set is.

CHRISTA: I managed practices CHRISTA: all over the Philadelp CHRISTINA: And so this... CHRISTINA: Like, what turned the light on for you?

CHRISTINA: What made you say, I'm going to, this is why... CHRISTA: I'm gonna be a farmer?

Yeah, working in health care, um CHRISTA: burnt me out, to be quite honest with you.

CHRISTINA: Its a little dispiri CHRISTA: You know, walking into a health care facility every single day and not taking care of your own health was my reality.

CHRISTA: And I decided and one of the moments in 2018 that I was going to quit my job and a light bulb went off and was like, Christa, you can't live your life like this anymore. And I decided to travel for the very first time, and I took myself by myself on a vacation to Martinique.

And when I got there, I saw black people farming for the very first time, and it was something that they wanted to do with their own business.

They were self-sustaining.

And I said, I want to do that.

I don't have a job.

Let me let me go figure out how to become a farmer. CHRISTINA: By empowering yourself.

It enabled you to I mean, this is amazing.

CHRISTA: Yeah, re-imagined what my life could really become.

And I never considered myself a food entrepreneur, but here I am.

Yeah, it's about reintroducing farming into the lifestyles of urban people, and nobody knows where their food comes from.

CHRISTA: We're not connected CHRISTINA: at all.

CHRISTA: And you know, you ask even a kid or even an adult, Where are you getting your where does the carrot come from?

CHRISTA: And they'll say the store, CHRISTINA: Theyll say the supermarket.

CHRISTA: but they should know who their farmer is.

CHRISTINA: It's sort of a birthright.

CHRISTINA: don't you think?

Like fresh food, clean soil, clean air and fresh water.

CHRISTINA: And we've lost touch with all that.

And we just sort of accept.

CHRISTINA: What is sort of, no pun intended, fed to us.

CHRISTA: Absolutely.

CHRISTINA: But when you start to I noticed it when I was volunteering in schools.

When you show someone how to grow something, they become they stand taller.

It's amazing.

Yeah.

CHRISTA: Empowered.

Yeah.

CHRISTA: And so immediately you're going to want to eat it cause you you put your blood, sweat and tears into it.

Yeah.

CHRISTINA: So do you also do education programs here?

CHRISTA: We do.

So our nonprofit is Farmer Jawn and Friends Foundation and that is the educational platform for agriculture CHRISTINA: Okay.

CHRISTA: and specifically, we focus on city people making sure that, again, they know where their food comes from, but also know that they could be a farmer CHRISTA: if they'd like to.

CHRISTINA: Thats right.

CHRISTA: So it's been amazing being able to teach black and brown people how they can give back to their community by way of agriculture.

CHRISTINA: And don't you also teach people, you know, how they can grow, no matter how much space they have, they can produce some of their own food, which is, you know, we talk about food deserts, which, of course, we have even in our beloved city.

CHRISTINA: But you can overcome that a little bit.

Even a little bit.

CHRISTA: Oh, for sure.

Right on a windowsill.

You know, a little your porch, a stoop.

You can grow some really quality food regenerative, organically and be healthier for yourself and your family.

CHRISTINA: And in a country where... we have more than 350 million people, and only a million one million identify as full time farmers, CHRISTA: Yes.

CHRISTINA: those farmers should be cherished by this country.

I know we have the big agribusinesses, but the farmers CHRISTINA: that really feed us are small.

CHRISTA: Small farms.

CHRISTINA: These little farms.

CHRISTA: It's true.

CHRISTA: And then for for me, as a black farmer, that number drops even lower because we're at 31,000, you know, of black owned farms in the nation.

So there's a lot we are doing to make sure that people know where their food comes from, who their farmer is, and make sure that we can change and really even out the faith of farming.

CHRISTINA: Just, yeah, make the playing field level.

CHRISTINA: Shall we go see what we're growing?

I know it's early spring and everything's baby, but we should go take a look.

CHRISTA: I can't wait to show you.

CHRISTINA: Okay.

Great.

CHRISTINA: Let's go.

[gentle music plays] CHRISTINA: So here we are in some of the beds that we're growing.

CHRISTINA: And it's... it's pretty early spring, and yet there are things that are growing and sprouting.

So tell me what we have.

CHRISTINA: This looks like mizuna to me.

CHRISTA: This is!

So all the leafy greens do really well CHRISTA: in this time of year.

CHRISTINA: They do?

CHRISTA: They do!

CHRISTINA: Like even that over there which is... CHRISTA: Thats some lacinato kale, also known as...

BOTH: Dinosaur kale!

CHRISTA: Yeah.

Yeah.

CHRISTINA: And that's coming up already!

CHRISTA: Yes.

CHRISTA: So we've we started some of this stuff we direct-sowed right into the soil.

CHRISTA: And then some, we had little small transplants that we started in our greenhouse.

Yeah.

CHRISTINA: So if somebody wanted to, let's say I have, you know, a postage stamp size and I want to grow some food that my family can say.

CHRISTINA: We grew this and I picked the lettuce for my.

CHRISTINA: What's the best thing they can start with?

CHRISTA: Kale.

CHRISTA: Yeah, I would say kale.

CHRISTINA: Its indestructable.

CHRISTA: It really is.

It'll go through the winter for you.

They call it overwintering kale.

And then it's a plant that will continue to push out leaves throughout the entire season.

CHRISTA: So you can start it this early.

CHRISTINA: Really!

CHRISTA: And then you can still be grabbing kale in September.

CHRISTINA: In October.

CHRISTA: Yeah, exactly.

CHRISTINA: So if you want to try like, get your kids involved and maybe get them to start eating greens, the best way to do that is start with something like kale.

And lettuces are quick.

CHRISTA: Yeah... CHRISTA: Lettuces are so fast you can get a nice head of lettuce in about 30 days.

CHRISTINA: Which is very good for instant gratification.

CHRISTA: Itso true.

But also baby lettuces.

You can get in like twenty days.

CHRISTINA: and they're so nice.

CHRISTA: They are.

CHRISTINA: it makes your salads feel... elegant that way.

CHRISTA: It does, right?

CHRISTINA: So everything that we have here right now early is something that anybody could get a pot, get some seeds or seedlings and have within a month.

CHRISTA: And very simply, too, because you can grow a packet of seeds, you might have like 50 of these, you know, leaf seeds in there right?

This one plant takes one seed.

So like you can grow a lot of food just with one packet of seeds.

CHRISTINA: So and as cheap as that is, there's kind of no CHRISTINA: excuse to not grow some food.

CHRISTINA: Im just sayin.

CHRISTA: Yes.

CHRISTINA: And like you said, even if you have a windowsill you can grow in a small pot, these things.

CHRISTA: There's some arugula over there I'd love for you to taste.

CHRISTINA: I would love to.

Let's go!

I love arugula.

[gentle music plays] CHRISTINA: But it looks like its so abundant already.

CHRISTA: Oh, it is.

Yes.

And this is going to keep getting larger and larger.

But some chefs, I will say, love the smaller leaves much more.

CHRISTINA: Maybe... yes!

CHRISTA: Tell me your opinion.

CHRISTINA: Baby arugula is more delicate in a salad.

And also I think the flavors are more intense and bitter in a more bitter in a more sweet way.

CHRISTA: Okay.

Okay.

CHRISTINA: Than the big leaves, which can be stringy and just plain bitter.

CHRISTA: Okay, well, I need your professional taste.

CHRISTINA: I can't wait to try it.

CHRISTA: So you harvest your own leaf, pick which one is calling you.

I knew it was going to be that one!

CHRISTA: I did.

(laugh) CHRISTINA: I love... CHRISTINA: And this time of year I love the shape of the leaves.

CHRISTA: Yeah, they're really pretty.

CHRISTA: Mm.

I love the smell.

My favorite.

Oh, my goodness.

CHRISTINA: Gosh, this is... CHRISTA: So I'm always surprised by my own crops... (laughs) CHRISTA: Its so good.

CHRISTINA: This is... CHRISTINA: It's miraculous.

It's so good.

CHRISTA: Oh yeah Its delicious.

CHRISTINA: Wow!

CHRISTA: Yeah, super tender.

CHRISTA: Im getting a little bit of a nut... CHRISTINA: See if I were to make a salad with this, I would have just a tiny bit of olive oil and salt.

No vinegar, no nothing.

CHRISTA: It doesn't anything.

And, regenitive, organic.

So that also adds to the flavor when you're not adding all these unnecessary chemicals in.

CHRISTINA: Right.

CHRISTA: You are getting more of the actual essence of the plants CHRISTINA: This is an amazingly beautiful crop.

CHRISTINA: I would harvest the whole thing, like, right now.

And how long, if someone did harvest this.

CHRISTA: Yeah.

CHRISTINA: How long would it keep in their fridge?

CHRISTINA: Just a couple of days.

I mean, I only keep it a couple of days.

CHRISTA: Yeah, you know, I think too, the other part is, is how you're storing it.

You need to make sure you can't just leave it open air.

CHRISTINA: No.

CHRISTINA: Because it wont have vivaciousness to the leaf CHRISTINA: Right.

The vitality of the leaf.

CHRISTA: But it will if you put it in like a nice plastic bag or a clamshell.

I know we're trying to get away from plastic, but honestly, the best way to keep green and you.

CHRISTINA: You reuse them.

CHRISTA: You reuse the bag, right?

CHRISTA: The best way to keep greens is going to get is going to be in plastic.

CHRISTINA: Okay?

Yeah.

CHRISTINA: Okay.

Christa, thank you so much for having me.

Thank you for letting me taste.

CHRISTA: Yes, indeed!

CHRISTINA: Yes, thank you for showing me this.

CHRISTINA: I, I look forward to doing more work with you.

CHRISTA: Yes, youve got to come back when were in full season.

CHRISTINA: Thank you so much for having me.

CHRISTINA: I will.

I will definitely come back.

CHRISTINA: Thanks a lot.

CHRISTA: So now you see regenerative agriculture can exist even in the heart of a city, a major metropolitan city.

So there's no excuse not to eat well.

[gentle music plays] Was that not the coolest jawn?

As in Farmer Jawn?

I had the best time with Christa getting to know her, seeing what she does, the difference she's making in our community.

I mean, I think I do a pretty good job of sustainability, but I learned so much from her.

I can't wait to use it in my own life, so I hope you can use some too.

Okay.

In that vein of eating locally and staying close to home, we are going to work with local ingredients as much as we can.

There are some things you can't avoid, like if you live in New Jersey and you want to use olive oil.

We don't produce it in New Jersey, so the closest you can come is California.

So you kind of have to pick your battles.

But when it comes to your produce, to your beans, you try to get those as close to what you're doing as possible, as close to where you live.

It's not elitist.

It's being responsible.

It's keeping rural communities working.

Okay, so we have a cast iron skillet, which I'm going to start to heat and we're going to add to it some olive oil, a generous amount.

This is, this dish is rich.

It's a rich, wonderful dish.

Some hot spice because it's bitter greens and hot and bitter is from heaven.

It's so good.

Some onion before the oil gets hot so that the olive oil tastes like olive oil.

Some garlic in with the onion together.

There's a saying, if you notice in French cooking, the French put their garlic in late in the dish, which gives you a stronger flavor.

But if you're talking to Italian chef or cook, they say they put the garlic in later because they don't know how to cook without burning the garlic.

I don't know if that's true or even think it's true, but I put my garlic in at the beginning like a good Italian girl, and then we start to let these sweat.

You can saut them or let them sweat.

But since I started with cold oil, they're going to sweat before I can even begin to saut them.

And sweating means they just sit in the oil and start to release their juices.

And when you hear the sizzle build, then you can start to saut.

Now it takes a little bit longer, but what that gives me is a sweeter onion, so try it.

Yeah.

You miss the pshhh when you put it in the hot oil, but that's nice drama.

What I'm looking for is a dish that's remarkable.

So I'd rather take that little bit of time and sweat the onions and then saut them.

Okay, so you can hear the sizzle starting to build just a little bit.

The next thing that goes in will be cherry tomatoes.

And cherry tomatoes I use more than any other tomato because they are the lowest in the alkaloid known as solanine, which is an alkaloid that affects your joints.

People who are arthritic really struggle when they eat tomatoes.

So those big juicy beefsteak tomatoes have more solar nene than these little guys.

So I tend to use these more.

They're also a little bit sweeter, so they're going to go right on top of our onions, another little pinch of salt.

I'm going to just let this all sort of begin to play well together and blend.

The color of the tomatoes is beautiful and we're going to cook them just until they start to blister.

By the time this dish is done, they're not going to be tomato gravy.

They're going to be or sauce, depending on where you're from.

They're going to be just starting to wilt and the onions will be just tender.

These are cannellini beans.

Cannellini beans are Mother Nature's gift to us.

They're high in protein, high in fiber.

They make their own creaminess.

I cooked them before this dish because this dish is quick.

You can also use them in a can.

Rinse them if you're going to use canned beans because they're more tender and you get all that stale water away.

The beauty of canned beans, if you are new to eating them, is that they are softer, so they're easier to digest.

So go ahead and use them.

So they're going to sit and sort of simmer.

And then we have broccoli rabe, the star of the show, the bitter green.

That takes the cake.

In my view.

It's something that is a staple in my household.

It's a staple whenever it's in season is a staple on every Italian table.

There's even a saying that you can enjoy the sweet of life without the bitter, bitter greens help the liver to do its job better.

They help you to be a happier camper.

And if you're a happier camper, the people around you are happier campers, too.

It's going to go right on top of our beans.

I can't fit all of it.

So we'll use some later.

Another pinch of salt.

Now I'm seasoning the other pinches were just to allow the food to begin to release their juices into the pan.

Now I just seasoned it.

When you season you want to season in a way that makes the food tastes like itself.

You don't want your food to be salty.

You don't want your food to be bland, and you want to season properly in the skillet what you don't want to do is season at the table.

You want a season now.

So we're going to let these wilt.

They're going to take a couple of seconds.

If you're in a big hurry, you just put a cover and as soon as they wilt, then you're ready.

But be careful.

If you cover them, you have to pay attention.

If you're not paying attention, these little guys are going to turn black like that, and then you've lost the nutrients, so you want to cook them just until they wilt.

And we are almost there.

As soon as they turn a darker shade and you have lots of escapees out of the pan, has been my experience cooking greens.

But that's why we have sponges to clean our stoves.

But you see how they turn darker and they're shiny with oil.

We're about two seconds away from plating.

They're so beautiful.

Okay, I cook them just until they wilt.

I really don't cook them much, much longer.

When I was growing up, my mother used to cook them until they were really dark and really bitter and not so delicious.

I don't do that.

Okay.

They're going to go right into this bowl.

So you've got beans, you've got greens, you've got tomatoes, you've got spice.

A little bit of natural sweetness from the tomatoes and the onions.

And you have the perfect main course with the big chunks of bread.

This is it.

So what are you waiting for?

Let's get back to the cutting board and I'll see you next time on Christina Cooks: The Macroterranean Way.

Underwriting for Christina Cooks is provided by Suzanne's Specialties, offering a full line of alternative vegan and organic sweeteners and toppings.

Suzanne's Specialties: Sweetness, the way Mother Nature intended.

And by Jonathans Spoons individually handcrafted from cherry wood, each designed with your hand and purpose in mind.

Additional funding provided by: You can find today's recipes and learn more by visiting our website at ChristinaCooks.com, and by following @ChristinaCooks on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

Learn how to add delicious plant-based dishes to your daily diet with the companion cookbook VegEdibles, featuring more than 80 easy-to-make recipes.

To order your copy for $29.95 plus handling, call 800-266-5815 Or visit ChristinaCooks.com.

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