MY FAVORITE RECIPES - Jan. 14, 2010

Jana Mathia | Jan 14, 20100

Meet the Loco Locavores: Jim, Jan and Anna Roberts, Palouse

While many people have already resigned their New Year’s resolutions by now, Jim, Jan and Anna Roberts are still getting ready for their resolution to eat only locally grown foods for one year.

“We’re not trying to prove something,” said Jan who came up with the idea with husband Jim after reading Barbara Kingsolver’s book ‘Animal, Mineral, Miracle’. The book tells about how the author and her family lived eating only foods grown within a set radius of their home. Jim and Jan had recently retired and thought they could also live on only foods grown locally.

“Fortunately, we live in such a productive area,” Jan said.

Starting in May these Loco Locavores, as they call themselves, will eat only foods grown locally with few exceptions. Daughter Anna moved home to help prepare for the experiment and their other daughter Angela will also join them in May.

Locavores signifies eating locally; in this case, local means regional.

Anna admitted when she first heard about the idea she was skeptical. She hadn’t read the book like the rest of the family and thought it would be too much work to check the source of all their food. But, having grown up in the area, she knew homegrown tasted better and thought it would be a fun family activity. Now she heads the family’s blog so they can share their experience with others.

While the idea seems extreme to some, eating what’s grown locally was the only choice for people at one time.

“What we’re doing is not really new,” Jim said. People used to grow their own or knew the grower it came from. He pointed out that Jan’s family had a farm in Farmington passed down from her great-grandfather, and growing up she ate mostly what was grown around her. The Roberts are simply getting back to that and have already found resources they didn’t know about.

When Jan first read Kingsolver’s book, she had a vision of a back yard full of an abundance of produce and chickens. Since May of last year they have been working to make that vision a reality. The family built raised garden beds and a chicken house. This winter has been somewhat of a test run. They determined how long the produce they grew in the summer could last so they can store up enough this year.

“Now we have a better idea of what we’re getting into,” Anna said.

The Roberts have a tentative 250-mile radius for drawing their food, but they do plan to make a few exceptions. Salt, for example, is not produced regionally—historically people have had to get if from outside sources. But, instead of buying salt from the Mediterranean, they’ll get it from Utah. Olive oil might be another exception—or they’d have to use lard.

“The idea is we’re doing better than we would have,” Anna said.

“We’re not going to deprive ourselves. But it’s not that big to give up a few things,” Jan said. Some things are going to be hard to go without, like chocolate, avocados and citrus, but they are pretty committed to drawing the line.

Of course, even the line wavers a little bit. Anna let it be known that this won’t interfere with her social life. When the Roberts go to join friends and family for meals, they won’t pass something up because it was grown out of the area. They will still go out to eat at times, but will think about the restaurant and where the food comes from.

Eating locally also has an economical angle to it, Jim pointed out.

“I’m shocked at how expensive food has gotten,” he said. Jan added that the food we eat can have a large carbon footprint with all the chemicals used to grow and transport it to market. There’s something wrong, she said, when you eat an apple from New Zealand or salad from Chile while apples and lettuce down the street are going to waste. Eating local foods can also boost what is available.

“The more people commit to support these farmers, the more will be available,” she said.

Experimenting with old recipes has yielded some new dishes as the Roberts get ready for being locavores. Jan pointed out that in many cases they just substitute ingredients and come up with something new and delicious. Instead of sugar, they use local honey, for example. They are practicing cheesemaking, and Anna brews homemade beer and hard apple cider.

The Roberts hope their example can encourage others, especially since they’re doing the hard part of researching where to get things. With their blog (locolocavores.wordpress.com) they plan to share experiences to make it easier for others.

Preparations continue as they get ready for the start of the project in May. They are still looking for some items, like local milk, and deciding what to grow in the garden and if they should have a green house to grow citrus. But, from what they’ve done already, it’s already a fulfilling experience.

Squash and Apple Soup

3 cups vegetable stock or water

2 Tbsp. light cooking oil

1 med. yellow onion, diced small

salt

pepper

3/4 cup apple juice

4 lb. (approx. 6 cups) butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cubed

1 Tbsp. butter

2 apples (not too tart) peeled, cored and diced small

sour cream, optional

In a soup pot put oil, yellow onion, 1/2 tsp. salt and a pinch of pepper. Saute slowly about 10 minutes. You may need to add small amounts of stock to keep onions from sticking. Stir often with wooden utensil. At the very end, add 2 Tbsp. apple juice and cook another minute or so. The pan should be almost dry.

Add squash, 1 tsp. salt, and stock just enough to cover the squash. Cover pot and cook over medium heat for 20 minutes. Squash should be very soft when pricked with fork. Puree the soup, using vegetable stock as needed to produce a desired consistency. Return pureed soup to the pot, cover and simmer for 30 minutes.

In the meantime, melt butter in a pan and add chopped apples. Saute, coating the apples with butter. When heated through, add 1/2 cup apple juice, over and cook 15 minutes. If necessary, cook uncovered for an additional 10 minutes or so to reduce the liquid until the consistency is similar to apple sauce.

Stir apple mixture into soup and serve. Can be served with a dollop of sour cream.

Potato-Zucchini Casserole

From family cookbook. Jan makes several batches and freezes.

4 med. zucchini, sliced

3 med. potatoes, sliced

1/4 cup parsley, minced

4 or 5 basil leaves, minced or 1/2 tsp dry basil

2 garlic cloves, minced

4 tsp. butter

1 cup graded cheddar cheese or cheese of your choosing

1 cup fresh bread crumbs

salt and pepper to taste

1 Tbsp. olive oil or melted butter

Butter a casserole dish. Layer the potatoes and zucchini, cheese, spices, bread crumbs and butter in each layer. Sprinkle a little water and oil or butter on the top layer. Bake, covered, for 30 minutes at 350 degrees, then bake an additional 30 minutes uncovered.

From the freezer: Place in oven, covered, at 375 for about 1 1/2 hour. Check for doneness. When done, remove cover and let bake another 10 minutes or until lightly browned.

Jim’s Winter Stew

Jim cooks dinner once a week. It’s simple and he’s really good at this one. Here’s how he does it.

In a stew pot put (throw)

1 lb. lean beef (locally grown!), broken apart (meat is optional)

1 yellow onion, diced

1 qt. diced tomatoes (fresh, canned or frozen)

1 pint tomato sauce (homemade, canned is delicious)

2 cloves garlic, minced

Salt and pepper to taste

Herbs to your taste (oregano, bay leaves, thyme, all purpose seasoning) Whenever you can, use fresh from your garden

Water, enough to cover all ingredients

Simmer for 10 minutes, then add (dump in):