The Essential Omnivore | A Taste of Everything

May 12, 2013
by Lucia
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Citrus Pickled Carrots

One last hurrah for the winter vegetables; those starchy and dense sources of energy. These carrots, eaten straight from the chilled jar, are the opposite of summer preserving–they bring a bit of winter to your hot days, a subtle spice mixture that takes your mind off the blistering sun. Lactofermented vegetables impart friendly bacteria into the body’s system, strengthening the gut and fortifying your ability to digest food. Not bad for a little bacterium and his buddies.

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May 5, 2013
by Lucia
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Parsley Persillade

Last year, the herb sauce heart-throb in my life was chermoula, a zippy and drippingly flavorful cilantro sauce, good on vegetables and meat alike. Out on the farm back then the dry and hot winds would push intensely fragranced plumes of cilantro over neighboring acres. Slicing off rhubarb flowers? Mmm, cilantro. Running to stay ahead of the irrigation system while rogue-planting some peppers? Cilantro clouds boisterously envelope your weary frame.

Anyway, to me cilantro is for the hot months. This cooler, Minnesotan weather keeps me with another herb, parsley. And as you will soon see, persillade is just the jumping off point…

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April 21, 2013
by Lucia
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Tongue with Mustard Glaze

If you’re in the mood for new animals parts, tongue is tantalizing. An easy, slow prep, a little bit of fear tackling, slice and you’re done. It’s ready. It’s simple, it’s cheap, it’s not tough, it’s different and its flavor is perfection.
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April 12, 2013
by Lucia
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Crucifer Stir-Fry

After a brief tousle with Floridian thunderstorms and eating to be kind last week, I came home (to Minnesota thunder snow, aloha) a few days ago and have since found myself falling back into an ardently deep like with vegetables. How is it so easy to forget that? In the midst of my veg crushin’ I say thank you, hard-working leaves, stalks, roots and the rest.
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April 12, 2013
by Lucia
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Kombu Powder

Try adding this powdered seaweed to soups and stir-fries, or sprinkle over meat just before roasting. Kombu’s flavor is not overpowering; instead it’s slightly salty, briny and pleasingly umami. Using kombu as a seasoning provides a nice source of iodine (especially for us folk living in the goiter belt!).

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April 7, 2013
by Lucia
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Pea Soup

Chilled and strained for a delicate texture or served just a few minutes after a light whirl in the blender, pea soup easily incorporates itself into your day. Do with it what you’d like–you can’t hurt it (though try as I may, no pea soups will top those made by cricket chefs).
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March 25, 2013
by Lucia
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Caraway Molasses Carrots

It’s just, like, a thing these days. Toss a root with something sweetish, something spicy, something intense and something to infuse it all. I mean, I’m game for that. Are you?

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March 17, 2013
by Lucia
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Curried Cauliflower Ferment

Now that we’re officially one week in to that great big leap forward, why not pay homage to these bright and sunny days with a little bit of edible sunshine? Zippy, red, orange, crunchy, garlicky–you like flavor? This is it. We won’t even get into the sneaky fridge sips of brine, but know this… they’re a thing.

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March 10, 2013
by Lucia
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Lavender & Thyme Roast Chicken

It’s hard to be an ineffectual roaster. Beginning preparations allow a gentle entry into the pre-dinner work and wait ritual; muted sizzles and crackling heard stimulate the senses and you tick towards an even higher degree of anticipation. Midway, great puffs of warmth envelop you as you check in to move a vegetable or two around and coo at your creation. Once a chef told me (you know, through the T.V.) to be bold. Let’s.
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March 3, 2013
by Lucia
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Roasted Garlic

Achingly simple to prepare, roasted garlic could become your next kitchen plaything, easily. Work a few of the mellow cloves into a simple vinaigrette, or perhaps some buttery mashed roots and tubers, or tossed with a vegetable of your choice. Another consumption option? Try popping back a few of the unadorned cloves; an essential garlic experience (very anti-dracula).
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