Saturday Throwback: Cheap, Healthy Asparagus - 81 Recipes for the Springiest of Spring Vegetables

Every Saturday, we post a piece from the CHG archives. This one comes from April 2010.Despite the snow that fell in Syracuse yesterday, spring is pretty much upon us. And along with the warming sun and astronomical pollen count comes that earliest of vegetable bloomers, asparagus.I don’t know about you guys, but during April and May, I buy as much asparagus as humanly possible. (Perhaps an exaggeration, but you catch my drift.) What's more, I’m always looking for different ways to prepare it. Because I loves me some roasted shoots, but after awhile, you know – variety, spice of life – all that jazz.This may be coming a week or two early in some areas, but this compilation of 81 asparagus recipes should keep you in the culinary clear until next...

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Top Ten Links of the Week: 4/22/11 - 4/28/11

Food marketing was the hot topic this week, with excellent articles from Leo Babuta, Marion Nestle, and Jane Black, among others. Plus, we celebrate the fabulous debut of Tom Haverfoods, which will only make sense for the next month or so.1) Zen Habits: Breaking Free From Consumerist ChainsSuper-solid piece on willingly dropping out of consumer culture. The first line establishes the tone: "We are not consumers. We are people." It just gets better from there, punctuated by real, honest-to-god useful tips.2) Food Politics: At Last, FTC Releases Principles of Food Marketing to KidsMarion Nestle analyzes the new FTC advertising guidelines for kids, and what they mean for the general populace. Essentially, she: A) wishes this would have happened...

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Posted in: Links

Veggie Might: Steamed Asparagus - Don't Gild The Lily Shoots

Penned by the effervescent Leigh, Veggie Might is a weekly Thursday column about the wide world of Vegetarianism. She says: Please delight in these darling lambs from Avillion Farm and my favorite asparagus "recipe" from an April 2009 visit to NC. Veggie Might will return with refreshing new content next Thursday. Sometimes vegetables should just be left alone.This past weekend, I spent three glorious days in the North Carolina sunshine with my best friend, A., and her husband and two-year-old. It was little C’s birthday, and I just couldn’t resist a circus-themed party.Friday night before the big event, A. and I were fixing dinner: something light and fast before the hotdogs, cupcakes, and apple juice to come. A is the manager of the local...

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Posted in: 15 Minutes or Less,Sides,Vegan,Vegetarian,Veggie Might

Frugal Food Shopping: Hitting Up Multiple Stores

NOTE UP TOP: In almost four years of blogging, I can’t believe I haven’t dedicated a column to the following food shopping strategy, because it’s one of the most effective around. Experienced frugalists, you're probably familiar with this already, but it shouldn’t stop you from seeing the, er … surprise note from … uh … Bob, um, Barker? … at the end of this article. So let’s get to it.My old apartment was within a mile of three major supermarket chains. “Whee?” you might say. “Let’s throw a fiesta?”And while the prospect of ending this column here and grabbing a margarita is highly tempting, I endeavor to persevere, meaning this: It may sound like it ain’t no thang, but having access to multiple supermarkets allowed me to save huge, big, hulking bucks on my grocery bill every month. In fact,...

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Posted in: Buying Food,Frugality

Green Kitchen: Use-Up-Your-Herbs Cilantro Pesto

Green Kitchen is a bi-weekly column about nutritious, inexpensive, and ethical food and cooking. It's penned by the lovely Jaime Green.Give me your tired, your poor, your wilted herbage straining for the trash can, the rotting refuse of your crisper drawer. Send these, the yellowing, long-forgotten to me, I will make them into awesome pesto!That’s what your food processor is saying right now, if it were also the statue of liberty.Talk about eating and cooking in environmentally friendly ways often comes back to the same ideas – eat local, eat unprocessed, eat happy meat. These are awesome ideas – they connect your kitchen to lovely, independent farms, shortening the distance from the soil to your fridge – but they are also sometimes difficult...

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Posted in: 15 Minutes or Less,Dips and Sauces,Green Kitchen,Vegan,Vegetarian

Ask the Internet: Favorite Asparagus Recipes?

Today's question comes from the weather.Q: Oh, spring. How you delight us with your sunshine and your warmer temperatures and your happy, happy flowers. (We will not mention pollen.) (I SAID DON'T MENTION IT!) Perhaps your greatest gift, however, is that of asparagus. The crispy verdant stalks are in-season all too briefly, and we must take advantage of their fleeting goodness. So, sweet readers - what's your favorite asparagus recipe?A: This is mine, hands down: Pasta with Asparagus and Mushrooms. Though, come to think of it, this slight variation is pretty good, too: Spaghetti with Asparagus, Egg, and Parmesan.Readers?Want to ask the interweb a question? Post one in the comment section, or write to Cheaphealthygood@gmail.com. Then, tune in...

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Posted in: Ask the Internet

Sesame Snap Peas and R.I.P. Old Lady Cart (2007-2011)

Yesterday, HOTUS and I hosted (HOTUSted?) our first official family holiday, if you don’t count that one time everyone came over and sang karaoke for Arbor Day. We were celebrating Easter, as well as the debut of our wedding dishes ™, a monumental event in any aspiring adult’s life. My sister and her lovely man friend brought us roses, which were promptly made into a cat appetizer (catpetizer?). Alas, we were also commemorating the loss of our Old Lady Cart (2007-2011), a beloved and highly useful member of the family. If you’ve ever been to New York, you’ve seen an old lady cart, probably pushed around by a baby boy. (Just kidding.) The four-wheeled device is kind of like a shopping cart, but smaller, more colorful, and incredibly prone to...

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Posted in: 15 Minutes or Less,Sides,Vegan,Vegetarian

Saturday Throwback: Spend Less, Eat Healthier - The Five Most Important Things You Can Do

Every Saturday, we post a piece from the CHG archives. Today's comes from May 2009.Should you cut coupons? How do you make a grocery budget? What is high fructose corn syrup? Is an organic cantaloupe better for you than a regular cantaloupe? Where do you find a farmer’s market?Between the time, ethics, and effort involved, food shopping is inherently pretty complicated. Add nutrition and budget factors, and it becomes one of the most difficult regular chores anyone can undertake. Seriously, we’re not talking about vacuuming here. (No offense to all the professional vacuumers out there.)But what if it was simpler? What if there were a few rules anyone could follow that would ease the load? What if buying inexpensive, good food was as intuitive as flipping your Hoover’s ON switch?Look no further,...

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Happy Good Friday!

Sweet readers,We're taking the day to observe and not eat meat. Have a lovely weekend, and go read this right now:Hyperbole and a Half: Wild Animal (The Simple Dog Goes for a Joyride)Happy Easter!K...

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Veggie Might: Creamy, Cheezy, Smoky, Spicy Grits with Kale

Penned by the effervescent Leigh, Veggie Might is a weekly Thursday column about the wide world of Vegetarianism.This week’s recipe is brought to you by my recent jaunt to my second home state and adjectives. My boyfriend and I were in North Carolina’s Triangle region this past weekend to visit my best friend A and her hubby J, and to experience the 16th Annual Piedmont Farm Tour, sponsored by the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association. The farm tour was delightful, informative, and organically delicious. Over two days, we toured four farms despite thunderstorms and tornadoes, which were mercifully to the east and south of us. You’ll hear more about the farm tour in the coming weeks. In the meantime, I present to you these tasty, comforting...

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Posted in: Sides,Vegan,Vegetarian,Veggie Might

The Best Deals at Trader Joe's: A Cheat Sheet

Ladies and gentlemen, we have completed our survey of the Best Deals at Trader Joe's! Thanks to everyone who wrote in. There were 58 total commenters participating – 54 from the blog, 2 from Facebook, and 2 via email. And? Looking at the top ten vote-getters, this is going to be one hell of a party.To review the process from last week: Every product mention got one vote. (So, if three different commenters wrote "butter," it got three votes.) Some things, like honey, elicited one clear vote and were easy to tally. Others, like cheese, were much more varied, producing several similar-but-not-exactly-alike answers. In those cases, I tallied the category as a whole, and then elaborated on individual responses within parentheses. (Um … if that makes...

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Posted in: Buying Food,Frugality

Ask the Internet: Best Deals at Trader Joe's?

We had so much success with our Best Deals at CostCo question last week (nice work, everybody!), I thought we'd try a similar one with TJ's, with the intention of turning it into a larger article tomorrow. Here goes...Wiki Commons SprewQ: What are the best deals at Trader Joe's?A: The Trader Joe's in Brooklyn tend to be a tad crowded. (Think the Beatles at Shea Stadium.) Still, there are bargains to be had. My favorites are:Organic bananas Roasted red peppersCanned artichokesThis insane olive tapenade my friend S. always brings with herWINE In regard to that last one, I've never found a better place to stock up on vino. The price-to-quality ratio is ludicrously good at TJ's, and their house brand (Three Buck Chuck, holla!) is solid. And with...

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Posted in: Ask the Internet

Curried Pumpkin Hummus: For Certain Tastes

In some ways, recipes are a lot like bands. There are many, like mac-n-cheese and the Beatles, that everybody loves. There are others, like liver-n-onions and Michael Bolton, that a bold few will admit to even liking. And finally, there are the rare recipes/bands that you dig with your whole heart, but know that only a few like-minded others will appreciate. Like Curried Pumpkin Hummus and Concrete Blonde.Concrete Blonde was a late-80s/early-90s alt-rock group that boasted a frontwoman by the name of Johnette Napolitano, undoubtedly one of the greatest rock singers on Earth. Unfortunately, they had a tendency towards melodrama, and weren’t very adept at writing hooks. So CB had a huge hit, “Joey,” along with one or two smaller ones, and then...

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Posted in: Dips and Sauces,Vegan,Vegetarian

Saturday Throwback: 26 Common Food Labels, Explained

Each Saturday, we post a piece from the CHG archives. This one comes from May 2009.These days, grocery shopping involves a lot of reading. Food is rarely content to just be, and instead, must include dozens of labels designating it as CAGE-FREE, HIGH IN ANTIOXIDANTS, or the dreaded ORGANIC. And even if you know your PASTURED from your HUMANELY-RAISED chickens, odds are you still need a PhD to decode most of the other language.So, to make navigating your supermarket a tad easier, here are 26 food labels, defined and explained in terms understandable to humans. I have to be honest - 36 hours ago, I couldn't tell the difference between LOW-FAT, LITE and REDUCED-FAT. Now, I can. And I have this guide to consult when I forget.Readers, if I made a mistake (or several hundred) lemme know and I will...

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