Neal Barnard, M.D., is a clinical researcher, author, and health advocate. He has been the principal investigator or co-investigator on several clinical trials investigating the effects of diet on health. He was a co-investigator on a study, conducted in conjunction with Georgetown University, of the effect of dietary interventions in type 2 diabetes, and was the principal investigator of a study on dietary interventions in diabetes, funded by the National Institutes of Health and conducted under the auspices of the George Washington University School of Medicine, in association with the University of Toronto. Dr. Barnard was also the principal investigator of a study assessing the effects of dietary interventions on premenstrual and menstrual symptoms and of a study on weight loss in postmenopausal women.

Dr. Barnard grew up in Fargo, N.D. He received his M.D. degree at the George Washington University School of Medicine in Washington, D.C., and completed his residency at the same institution. He practiced at St. Vincent’s Hospital in New York before returning to Washington to found the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) in 1985. PCRM has since grown into a nationwide group of physicians and lay supporters that promotes preventive medicine and addresses controversies in modern medicine. As president of PCRM, Dr. Barnard has been instrumental in efforts to reform federal dietary guidelines.

Dr. Barnard is an Adjunct Associate Professor of Medicine at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, a Life Member of the American Medical Association, and a member of the American Diabetes Association.

Recipes Courtesy of Dr. Neal Barnard’s Program for Reversing Diabetes

Golden Mushroom Soup
Serves 6

Serve this delicious soup with rye or pumpernickel bread and a nice salad.

Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 onions, chopped
• 1 pound mushrooms, sliced
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 1-1/2 teaspoons dill weed
• 1 teaspoon caraway seeds (optional)
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce or light soy sauce
• 1 cup water or vegetable stock
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 tablespoons unbleached flour
• 2 cups soymilk or rice milk
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 3 tablespoons red wine (optional)

Instructions:

1. To brown and soften the onions, heat 1/2 cup of water in a large pot and add the onions. Cook over high heat, stirring often, until the onions are soft and all the water has evaporated, about 5 minutes. Add another 1/4 cup of water, stir to loosen any bits of onion that have stuck to the pan, and continue cooking until most of the water has evaporated and onions begin to brown, about 3 minutes.
2. Add the sliced mushrooms and spices. Lower the heat slightly, cover and cook 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
3. Add the soy sauce and stock. Cover and simmer 10 minutes.
4. In a separate pan, mix the olive oil and flour to form a thick paste. Cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute, then whisk in the soymilk or rice milk and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until steamy and slightly thickened.
5. Add the non-dairy milk mixture to the soup. Stir in the lemon juice and red wine just before serving.

Tips:

• When choosing mushrooms, select those which are firm and unopened. Small mushrooms work best for this recipe.
• Light soy sauce has less salt per serving than regular soy sauce-both are fat-free and low in calories.

Nutrition information per serving: 105 calories; 4 g protein; 17 g carbohydrate; 1.5 g fat; 337 mg sodium; 0 mg cholesterol

Grilled Polenta with Portabella Mushrooms
Serves 4

Polenta, which is coarsely ground cornmeal, has long been a staple grain in northern Italy. It cooks easily and is delicious grilled with vegetables, like the portabella mushrooms in this recipe.

Preparation time: 25 minutes
Chilling time: 2 hours
Grilling time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup polenta (coarsely ground cornmeal)
• 1 15-ounce can Swanson’s Vegetable Broth or 2 cups vegetable stock
• 1/2 cup water
• 4 large portabella mushrooms
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 2 tablespoons red wine
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 roasted red pepper, cut into thin strips for garnish (optional)

Instructions:

1. Combine the polenta, vegetable broth, and the 1/2 cup of water in a saucepan. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring frequently, until very thick, 15 to 20 minutes. Pour into a 9- x 9-inch baking dish and chill completely (at least 2 hours). To grill, cut into wedges, brush or spray lightly with olive oil, and cook over medium-hot coals until nicely browned.
2. Clean the mushrooms and remove the stems.
3. Prepare the marinade by stirring the remaining ingredients together in a large bowl.
4. Place the mushrooms upside down in the marinade and let stand 10 to 15 minutes. Turn right side up and grill over medium-hot coals about 5 minutes. Turn and pour some of the marinade into each of the cavities. Grill until mushrooms can be pierced with a skewer, about 5 minutes longer.
5. Serve with grilled polenta. Garnish with roasted red pepper strips, if desired.

Tips:

• The polenta may be prepared up to two days in advance. Simply cover and refrigerate until ready to grill.
• The polenta and mushrooms may be broiled in the oven instead of grilled.
• Many other vegetables are delicious grilled as well. Grilled zucchini, eggplant, sweet potatoes, peppers, or asparagus would make great accompaniments.

Nutrition information per serving: 141 calories; 4 g protein; 20 g carbohydrates; 3 g fat; 308 mg sodium; 0 mg cholesterol

Deborah Madison has been hailed as one of the most creative cooks in America.

A champion of cooking that’s tasty, beautiful, and healthful, Deborah Madison got her start cooking at the San Francisco Zen Center in the 1970s. She later cooked at Chez Panisse in Berkeley and then became the founding chef at the seminal vegetarian restaurant Greens in San Francisco.

Madison is widely credited with helping to make vegetarian cooking both accessible and delicious, and is a pioneer in the local food movement.

She’s the author of The Savory Way, which won the award for Cookbook of the Year in 1990 by the International Association of Culinary Professionals, and The Greens Cookbook.

The founding chef of the Greens restaurant, Madison received the M.F.K. Fisher Mid-Career Award in 1994.

Her articles appear in Saveur, Fine Cooking, Kitchen Garden, and Gourmet, and she writes a monthly column for Eating Well.

She has been a board member of the Santa Fe Area Farmer’s Market for the past six years in Santa Fe, where she lives with her husband, Patrick McFarlin.

Other books:
Local Flavors

A Santa Fe, New Mexico based chef, author, Native foods historian and photographer Lois Ellen Frank was born and raised on Long Island, New York and her first career experiences were as a professional cook and organic gardener.

She is a featured cooking instructor at the Santa Fe School of Cooking where she teaches about Native American foods of the Southwest. Guest Chef appearances have taken her to many famous restaurants around the country where she, with Native Chef Walter Whitewater (Diné) have prepared delicious menus from the foods she has studied. She continues to teach about foods as a guest chef, lecturer, and instructor Nationally.

Books: Foods of the Southwest Indian Nations (Amazon)

Articles: American Indians Bring Southwestern Native Cuisine to New York City

Photography: Lois Ellen Frank Photography

Cliff Feigenbaum is the founder and managing editor of the GreenMoney Journal, an award-winning newsletter focusing on socially and environmentally responsible investing, business and consumer resources publishing since 1992.

Cliff also runs GreenMoney.com and is co-author of “Investing with Your Values: Making Money and Making a Difference.”He is a member of a variety of organization including the Social Investment Forum and Slow Food USA.

Patricia Klindienst is an award-winning scholar and teacher. She holds a Ph. D. in Modern Thought and Literature from Stanford University and is a certified Master Gardener.

When she is not traveling to give slide lectures about the cultural and political meaning of sustainable ethnic gardens, she lives and gardens in Guilford, Connecticut. Patricia is the author of “The Earth Knows My Name” - an intimate portrait of an immigrant nation and some of the remarkable individuals whose traditions are being kept alive through their work on the land. Now in paperback.

Show Links

The Earth Knows my Name (book)

Thanks so much to Antonin Bastian at the Podsafe Music Network for todays music. Check him out on MySpace.

Super easy, delicious hot or cold, and a great alternative to the same old roast chicken . . .

1 medium sized roasting chicken, 3 to 6 lbs.
1 C Water
1 C Honey
1 C Soy sauce
1 C Mirin (rice wine)
2 cloves crushed garlic
10 *star anise

Place all but the chicken in a Dutch oven or a soup pot, and bring to a simmer. When the brew is simmering, place your chicken in the pot and cover. Let all bubble at a medium simmer for 30 minutes. At the 30 minute mark, turn your chicken over with a pair of tongs. Simmer for another 30 minutes. Remove the chicken, de-fat the cooking liquid, and simmer the liquid for ten more minutes. Cut the chicken into eight pieces, drizzle with about 4 T of cooking liquid, sprinkle with a handful of chopped scallions and serve.

Serving suggestions: steamed or sautéed sugar snap peas or snow peas, sticky rice with sweet coconut milk…..

*available at specialty food stores and sometimes at the supermarket

Arty Mangan, Food Farming Director for Bioneers has worked with farmers and agriculture since 1978, when he became a partner in Live Juice, a fresh, local, organic apple juice company in Santa Cruz.

In 1986 he joined Odwalla, where he was instrumental in developing production systems, product lines and fruit supply, helping grow sales from $1 million in 1986 to $55 million in 1997. He held the position of production manager, and later was in charge of fruit sourcing.

He joined the Bioneers in 1998 as the Project Manager for the Restorative Development Initiative, which produced “Wisdom at the End of Hoe” ecological agricultural workshops, collaborated with John Mohawk and the Iroquois White Corn Project and worked with The Federation of Southern Cooperatives and African American farmers in Mississippi and Alabama. In 2005 he became a board member for the Ecological Farming Association, a nonprofit educational organization that promotes ecologically sound agriculture. Their special events bring people together from all over the world to share ideas and experiences in producing healthful food from a healthy earth. When you support the Eco-Farm Association, you are supporting the growing of abundant food, protecting natural resources, preserving diversity, honoring rural life and work, and inspiring better farming.

Bioneers was conceived to conduct programs in the conservation of biological and cultural diversity, traditional farming practices, and environmental restoration. Our vision of environment encompasses the natural landscape, cultivated landscape, biodiversity, cultural diversity, watersheds, community economics, and spirituality. Bioneers seeks to unite nature, culture and spirit in an Earth-honoring vision, and create economic models founded in social justice. Visit Bioneers at www.bioneers.org

Show Links

Bioneers

Angelic Organics

The Organic Center

Odwalla

John Mohawk and the Iroquois White Corn Project

The Federation of Southern Cooperatives

Ecological Farming Association

Soup is a model of resourcefulness - and it’s a great way to clean out the fridge. Once you have it you’ll be glad you do - it makes a healthy and satisfying lunch, and takes the worry out of what to have for dinner when it looks like you’ll be late - and it freezes beautifully - although my soup almost never makes it to the freezer. If I’ve made too much for the two of us, soup makes a welcome gift to all friends and neighbors.

I roast a chicken every Sunday, and immediately make a stock with the leftovers, you could easily do the same with just vegetables for a vegetarian stock - remember no potato skins or eggplant in veggie stock. Lay the foundation of your soup with a few aromatics; sauté in butter or olive oil some chopped spring onions and garlic, leeks, or shallots. Add your spring vegetables - peas, paper-thin skinned turnips, asparagus, spinach, tiny carrots - you can add one or all. Plan on about a pound and a half of vegetables for 4 cups of stock. Your vegetable of choice can be roughly chopped. Sauté briefly and add the stock, simmer gently just until the vegetables are cooked through. Remove from the heat, taste and add salt and pepper. Cool, and puree in a blender - a blender works better than a food processor. If you like a thinner soup, you can always add more stock, or a bit of milk or cream. I love to swirl a pat of butte into the soup just before serving to richen, but it’s optional. Let the market be your guide no matter what the season, but here are some recipes for what’s out there now.

The Foundation

Lay your aromatic foundation: Sauté your choice of chopped onion, shallot, leek, spring onion, green garlic and/or garlic or garlic scapes in butter or olive oil - about a tablespoon per cup of vegetables. Cook until softened.

Add your vegetables, trimmed and chopped. Figure on about 1 1/2 pounds of vegetables to 4 cups of stock.

Sweet Pea and Fresh Mint Soup

You must ONLY use sweet fresh peas from your garden or the market - if you can only get starchy peas, don’t bother as it will not be the same sublime soup.

3 T. virgin olive oil, plus more for garnish

1 cup fresh mint leaves (only fresh!!) - reserve 10 leaves

1 cup chopped sweet onion

3 cups shelled English peas (from about 3 pounds unshelled peas)

4 cups chicken or vegetable stock, or more as needed

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

8 slices day-old baguette

1 garlic clove, halved

Crème fraiche for garnish

To make the soup:

Heat olive oil in a large pot over moderately low heat. Add the sweet onions and sauté 10 minutes, then cover and steam, stirring occasionally, until the onion is soft, about 5 more minutes.

Add peas and 2 1/2 cups broth. Bring to a simmer, adjust heat to maintain a gentle simmer and cook, uncovered, until peas are just tender, 5 to 10 minutes.

In a blender, puree half the soup and all but ten mint leaves until smooth. Return the pureed half to the pot and add enough broth to achieve the consistency you like.

Season with salt and pepper, taste and adjust, and reheat gently.

Toast the baguette slices until lightly colored. Rub one side with the cut side of the garlic. Drizzle with olive oil.

Stack the mint leaves atop one another and roll into a mint cigarette, slice thought the cigarette on the diagonal cutting the leaves into thin strips - this is a chiffonade.

Divide soup among warm bowls, topping each portion with a dollop of crème fraiche, and a couple of toasts. Sprinkle a bit of the mint chiffonade atop the soup and serve immediately.

Jerusalem Artichoke and Potato Soup

1½ lb. Jerusalem artichokes, peeled and roughly chopped
2 T. knob of butter
2 leeks, finely chopped, white part only
1 large potato, peeled and diced
4 cups vegetable stock
3 T. heavy cream
2 T. white truffle oil
2 T. fresh chives or garlic scapes, snipped
salt and white pepper

Truffle Oil (optional but wonderful)

Heat olive oil in a large pot over moderately low heat. Add the leeks and sauté 10 minutes, then cover and steam, stirring occasionally, until the onion is soft, about 5 more minutes.

To make the soup:

Put the Jerusalem artichokes in a pan of salted water and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for eight minutes, then drain.
Melt the butter in a large saucepan and add the onion and potato. Cover and sweat until soft, about ten minutes.

Mash the artichokes, then stir them into the onion and potato mixture. Add 3 cups of the stock, and simmer for 20 minutes.
Purée the soup in a blender, if it is very thick add enough remaining stock to thin it a bit. Pour the soup through a sieve into a clean pan. Stir in the heavy cream and reheat the soup gently, without letting it boil. Taste and adjust the salt and pepper.

Ladle the soup into four warm bowls. Drizzle a few drops of the truffle oil over the surface and sprinkle with the chopped chives or garlic scapes and serve immediately.

Jerusalem Artichokes

The Jerusalem artichoke is a type of sunflower, in the same genus as the garden sunflower Helianthus annuus. Despite its name, the Jerusalem artichoke has no relation to Jerusalem, and little to do with artichokes. The Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus L.), also called a sunroot or sunchoke, is a flowering plant native to North America grown throughout the temperate world for its tuber, which is used as a root vegetable both cooked and raw.

The Jerusalem artichoke has a delicious sweet, nutty flavor, and the texture when raw is like that of a water chestnut. It has high calcium content, and some A, B, and C vitamins, as well as the minerals iron, magnesium, and calcium.

Storage : Store them in a plastic bag, for up to two weeks in the refrigerator.

Preparation: This lovely vegetable is found in late fall and early spring in most markets, and can be eaten raw in salads where they add a crunchy sweetness. If the chokes are young, their skin will be thin and they can be eaten raw peeled or unpeeled. They make a lovely soup, and can be roasted or steamed and served as a side dish with a bit of butter, or boiled and mashed with potatoes.

Chef John Cox of Baleen Restaurant writes:
Sunchokes, otherwise known as Jerusalem artichokes, are a highly underutilized vegetable. Their ginger-like knobs filled with dirt seem to discourage chefs and cooks alike. Once you get past their rough exterior, sunchokes have similar characteristics of potato-with an intriguing hint of earth and smoke. This is a fast and easy way to enjoy them.

Sunchoke Gratin
1 lb. Sunchokes (spray with cold water in sink and scrub with kitchen towel)
1 lb. Yukon gold potatoes
2 roasted and peeled green chiles - or ¼ c. chopped green chile
1T. sage, chopped
1t. fresh rosemary, chopped
1 t. fresh thyme, chopped
3 T. butter
½ c. Oaxaca cheese, grated
½ c. Cotija cheese, grated
1 c. heavy cream
1 T. smoked sea salt *
Freshly ground black pepper

Slice the cleaned sunchokes into roughly even length sticks the width of a pencil. Cut the potatoes the same way, to resemble the size of the sunchokes. Toss together all of the ingredients chopped reserving half of the grated cheeses. Put the mixture into a 10″ cast iron skillet or a heavy baking dish-sprinkle the remainder of the cheese on the top. Cover the pan with aluminum foil and put into a 350º degree oven for 1 hour-remove the foil and turn oven up to 400º-cook for 20 more minutes or until golden brown. Gratin is done when you can easily poke the bottom of the pan with a butter knife.
* You can find smoked sea salt at specialty food stores.

Warm Salad of Jerusalem Artichokes, Radicchio, and Proscuitto
This recipe is for a warm salad, but I would just as easily do the whole thing as a raw salad. Also, if you can, splurge on the walnut oil - it has a distinct walnut flavor that really works here. Of course you can use olive oil but it won’t be the same…

Adapted from the Produce Bible by Leanne Kitchen
1 lb. Sunchokes, peeled and sliced not too thinly on the diagonal
½ lemon
1 head radicchio, quartered lengthwise
¼ c walnut oil
Juice and zest one orange
1 T. chopped, fresh parsley
6 slices proscuitto, sliced into thin strips

After you slice the sunchokes, squeeze a bit of lemon juice over the top so they don’t brown, set aside. Preheat the broiler. Put the radicchio, cut side up, into a medium, shallow, heatproof dish. Drizzle with half the walnut oil. Broil for about one minute, until the edges of the leaves begin to brown. Remove from the broiler and cool.

Cut out the radicchio stems if you haven’t already, and in a salad bowl toss the leaves with the sliced sunchokes, the remaining walnut oil, the orange juice and zest, parsley, and a generous pinch of salt. Sprinkle sliced proscuitto and the toasted walnut pieces over the top, and serve immediately.

Garlic Scapes
Allium is the scientific name for the garlic/onion/leek/chive family, and is derived from the classical Latin alium meaning “garlic.” “Scapes” are the flower stalks found on certain members of the allium family. Garlic scapes, which only appear on the finest hard neck garlic varieties, curl upward as they grow, ultimately straighten, and then grow little seed-like bulbs. A young scape makes one or two loops before straightening out, and then develops seeds. By snipping off the scapes before the seeds develop, more energy goes into making a bigger garlic bulb.

When the garlic scapes are still in full curl, they are tender and delicious. They have a taste that is milder than garlic cloves, and have a broad spectrum of uses from soup to salads to garnishes. Use only while the scapes are crisp and tender, still curled.

Storage: Use garlic scapes within two to three weeks, keep covered in the fridge or they will flavor your fridge and other foods.

Preparation: Scapes tend to get tough and will lose flavor if overcooked. To learn how much cooking is enough and how much is too much, cut scapes to desired lengths and sauté in a little olive oil over medium heat, adding salt and pepper to taste. The end result will be an unusual and delicious side dish. Below is a list of other uses for Garlic Scapes.

Cut scapes into 2-inch lengths and sauté in olive oil or butter over medium heat, adding salt and pepper to taste, when cooked, puree and add to mashed potatoes.
Add scapes to your favorite stir-fry dishes.
Chop and add raw to salads.
Add to pickled vegetables.
Use as a garnish like you would chives, on smoked or broiled salmon, cream cheese, steamed potatoes, or in egg dishes.
Use chopped fresh scapes as a garnish for pureed soups, or add to vegetable soups and stews just before end of cooking time.
Make garlic scape pesto (see recipe).
Chopped fresh on pasta, or sautéed with a little olive oil to dress pasta.
Slice and add to any sauce that you would use garlic in.
Chop and mix with softened cream cheese or butter.
Sprinkle chopped scapes on pizza.

Garlic Scape Pesto
1/2 lb. organic scapes (chopped into 1″ sections)
1 c. organic olive oil
2 c. grated asiago (I like it better than parmesan - but you can use parmesan)

In a blender or cuisinart, combine the scapes and olive oil. Pour mixture into bowl and blend the cheese in by hand. Taste and add salt or a little lemon juice to taste. This pesto freezes well if you don’t use it all.

My Podcast Alley feed! {pca-7f96ef0dd7e7e27590142eb42e445bb7}

Here at Kitchen Sync, we will be talking to chefs, foodies, activists, farmers - anybody who has something to say about food and the way it is produced, perceived, marketed, eaten, distributed.

We will explore everything from books, products, services, equipment, food trends, themes and ideas. There will be conversations and recipes shared. We’ll cover the delicious and fun aspects of food, as well as try to navigate through the troubling information on things that threaten our food and health. With that in mind, my goal is to broaden my community of friends in food by sharing information, ideas, inspiration, and news that affects our food supply, foodshed, and the health of our local as well as global community .

Along the way, I will invite you to participate in some of my projects, ask you for feedback, and will welcome your comments and ideas. If there is anything you would like to see discussed, or anyone you would like to see me interview, let me know and I will do my best to contact him or her. In the next few months, I invite you to stop back often and see whom we’re talking to and what we’re talking about.