Lisa on February 1st, 2012

February may have turned into April overnight (44F? Weather gods, what is going on??), but there’s still enough of a chill in the air to warrant baking muffins. Especially whole-grain muffins with a jammy surprise inside. I opted for locally made, naturally sweetened blackberry jam for this batch; next time I might go for raspberry [...]

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Lisa on December 23rd, 2011

Seeing as the Big Day is nearly here and everyone is rushing around like mad to get their holiday errands done, I thought I’d post a get-done-quick recipe that you can whip up to impress your guests (or yourself). The ingredients range from non-perishable to not-too-perishable and are simple enough to keep on hand. After [...]

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Lisa on October 7th, 2011

Chocolate chips are great, but a few words of advice for my fellow chocolate purists out there: cocoa nibs are even better. The nibs are straight-up, unsweetened cocoa beans that have been chopped into rough…well…nibs. You know how steel-cut oats are whole oats chopped a few times across with steel blades? They wind up being [...]

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Lisa on January 12th, 2011

Before King Corn and Queen Wheat took over the American agricultural throne, sorghum used to be a pretty big deal: we used to enjoy sorghum flour, whole sorghum grains, liquor distilled from sorghum, even sorghum syrup.  Sorghum is still a big deal in African countries, where it’s a valuable food crop as well as the [...]

Continue reading about A Tried-and-True Grain Makes a Comeback

Lisa on December 29th, 2010

If I could wave a magic culinary wand and make one aisle in the grocery store disappear, I’d probably make the cereal aisle vanish.  Even when you find a cereal that truly is whole-grain, unsweetened, and tastes as good as it is healthy, you’re going to be paying a lot more for store-bought cereal than [...]

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Lisa on August 4th, 2010

As a kid, I always liked marbled pound cakes and swirled cheesecakes.  And two-toned frozen yogurts.  Somehow, seeing two flavors intertwined on one plate (or in one cone) makes both of them doubly delicious.  And you know what the best part is?  It’s ridiculously easy to make marbled and swirled desserts — doing so usually [...]

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Lisa on October 1st, 2008

This tiny grain makes a great addition to both vegetarian stir-frys and savory chicken dishes. Like couscous and rice, you prepare quinoa by simmering the grains in liquid until all of it is absorbed and the grains are light and fluffy. Unlike couscous, however, quinoa is a non-wheat grain–people who cannot tolerate gluten can freely [...]

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