I Am So Popular: For Eat's Sake

In general, at least compared to a lot of folks, I already eat relatively healthy foods. I quit land and sky animals twenty-seven years ago (reintroducing chicken for a few of years in my twenties before then quitting it again, hopefully for good). I do indulge in some seafood, simply because I really, really like it, not because I think fish are lesser beings than birds or cows. That fish is allegedly healthier than those other options isn’t really a factor, though I suppose I might lean on that argument when I’m feeling particularly guilty about not having been able to embrace a fully vegetarian lifestyle, which remains an extremely vague, semi-contemplated, sort-of-ambition of mine.

The Ominvore’s Dilemma and The End of Overeating, what with the outrages and evil they expose, have proved a nice catalyst, a real kick in the ass to truly following through on hunting and gathering better options. Not terribly difficult in this town, crawling as it is with countless foodies and a growing number of options to procure fresh, organic offerings from local growers.

Lucky for me, I also just scored a steady gig with Edible Austin, a free, small magazine that serves up, on a quarterly basis, all sorts of articles about what these options are and profiles of the people behind the healthier food movement in the Austin area. Just last week, while out on assignment, I found myself visiting with professional composters, Whole Foods Corporate “team members,” and the proprietress of a five acre farm ten minutes from my house.

You’ll have to wait til fall to read what I have to say about these folks and their offerings. But know that these experiences encouraged me to (finally) start a compost bin, pay even closer attention to what I’m putting in my mouth, sample some outrageously excellent products and produce and, most fun, hang out with a bunch of pigs lolling about in mud. Which is to say very, very happy pigs. Will they soon be slaughtered and eaten? Yep. But at least until that day they get to keep their nuts and their tails and live outside.

So yeah, now I’m in that place where, once I’ve decided something is easier than I thought, I want to shout it from on high and encourage the rest of you to do the same. Toward that end, I figure a good way to do this is to tell you about much of what I’ve been consuming lately, in hopes of enticing you to do the same. Herewith, a glimpse at my menu of late:

The other morning, I had a most satisfying breakfast of Egg in a Basket. I forget the Spanish name for this treat, though the first time I had it was in Mexico, in Real de Catorce, a little village I’ve been visiting for years. That first batch was cooked up by an Italian ex-patriate named Francesco, who has a little bakery/café in Real, which is where that terrible film The Mexican was shot. It starred Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts and Francesco was Brad’s chef during filming. Which makes Brad and me one degree separated.

To make Egg in a Basket, you put a little butter in a frying pan, melt it, and put two pieces of whole wheat bread in. You cut a hole in the center of each—I use a biscuit cutter, you can use the lid of a jar—and crack an egg into each hole. Don’t waste the bread innards—set them to the side in the pan and toast them up so you can use them to sop up bits of egg later. Fry this egg bread up, flip it, fry the other side until the egg is just how you like it. I like mine a little runny. Then top it with hot sauce and, there you go, a nice carb/protein combo.

What made mine particularly lovely was that I got the bread at Wheatsville Coop, which, if you haven’t been in a while, recently expanded quite a bit. The expansion combined with my efforts to go local more often inspired me to renew my membership, which has lapsed off an on since I first joined probably seventeen years ago.

The eggs came from the Farmers’ Market—I have gotten into the habit of visiting the one that happens downtown at 4th and Guadalupe on Saturdays. Those eggs are so brown and beautiful on the outside and so firm and orangey on the inside that they are little oval works of art. They make me long for the days when I used to raise chickens in my backyard—perfectly legal in Austin and really really fun unless your dogs get to the chickens, which is what happened to my last flock. Bummer.

The hot sauce was made by Abuelita Yolanda, an old woman who lives in Real de Catorce. I trade her hot sauce—which is super hot and smoky chipotle—for yarn, which she uses to make into hats that she sells to tourists. Sitting there, eating that breakfast, knowing the source of every ingredient except the butter, gave me tremendous satisfaction.

As far as fruits and veggies go, I’d picked up some local peaches and blueberries and garlic at the Farmers’ Market, too. I added to this assortment with peppers, Japanese eggplant, and onions from Green Gates Farm. And some friends I’m cat sitting for left me their locally grown CSA watermelon, yellow squash, and still more eggplant. This has yielded a number of delicious meals including a simple eggplant marinara on top of organic whole wheat pasta (the marinara came from Whole Foods and was made in Dallas). I also made a veggie casserole with most of the veggies, plus some Swiss cheese from Wheatsville and some jasmine rice I had laying around.

Another ongoing breakfast favorite is homemade yogurt. I’d tried making yogurt with mixed results a couple of years ago then gave up. Then, after I posted at my blog about being a whore for yogurt, a reader sent me a link to a NYT article about the secret to making awesome yogurt. I was skeptical. I am skeptical no more. I use whole milk from pastured cows. Is the milk pricey? Yes. But the cows are happy plus, when you make it at home you wind up saving more than if you pay $2 per container for yogurt, which I usually do. And you can store it in reusable glass canning jars. I mix this up with locally made cranberry-pistachio granola from Jake’s and the aforementioned Farmers’ Market fruits, with a little bit of local honey on top.

Don’t forget the best summer lunch possible: a tomato sandwich. Most of my garden, including my tomatoes, crapped out this year due to the heat. But, again—Farmers’ Market has an abundance of tomatoes. I recommend just a touch of mayo and a little fresh ground black pepper and sea salt on whole wheat or ciabatta bread. A little basil is nice, too.

I’ve also taken to making my own hummus. Warren, my young hot domestic partner, being Middle Eastern and all that, likes to make his by starting with dried garbanzo beans and going from there. I “cheat” with canned organic beans and it takes about five minutes to make enough to last two weeks if, like Zohan and Warren and me, you use the stuff for every meal as well as brushing your teeth. Throw a couple of fifteen ounce cans into a blender or food processor (drain most of the liquid but leave a little), add in about a ¼ cup of homemade yogurt (optional), throw in four cloves of local garlic, squeeze in the juice of a fat lemon, add four or six tablespoons of tahini, a little salt, and a couple of dashes of cayenne pepper. Blend for about thirty seconds and you will be emailing me to thank me for explaining just how simple this stuff is.

Speaking of fresh squeezed lemons, I spent ten bucks on this totally rad, heavy metal, bright yellow lemon squeezer at Central Market and just looking at it makes me happy. With rare exception these days I have swapped out my beloved, real-sugar-sweetened Mexican Coca-Colas for fresh-squeezed, agave sweetened lemonade and the stuff is so good—and takes two seconds to make—that I nearly weep at the sight of it twirling around in my ice-filled glass.

Eat fresh, eat local, people. It is so worth it.

Spike Gillespie blogs regularly at www.spikeg.com and KnitBuzz. She’s teaching a writing workshop in September, and yes, there will be food. Email spike@spikeg.com for details.