The Wild Leeks of Spring-time
Filed under: Food & Cooking Tips, Living Green, Potatoes & Veggies
Some call them Ramps, others Ramsons. Folks from the far South and the West of
our country don’t know them at all because they’re a wild spring vegetable
of northern hardwood forests from South Carolina to Ontario.
Ramps are a delightful relative of the onion family (also closely related to the lily family). Their flavor is strong and earthy. They have tones of garlic, shallot and onion, yet have an elusively unique gingery spiciness.
Pioneers made certain to hunt their ramps for the nutrients they offered, being one of the very first green edibles of spring after a long winter of subsistence on stored vegetables. They say that the city of Chicago got its name from the native Potawatami “Checagou” which means “onions” or “skunk”, most likely due to the aroma from the proliferation of ramps that could be collected in the hardwood forests on the shores of Lake Michigan.
Buying Salmon – Health and Value Secrets!
Filed under: Food & Cooking Tips, Healthy Lifestyle
by Chef MartyYaffee, Certified Culinary Educator
Martin Yaffee
It’s a dilemma! Even when cash is loose and flowing, the cost of wild salmon has always made salmon seem like an extravagance, but with a tight economy, it seems to look even more beyond our fiscal reach. Is it worth it? And if not, what are the alternatives?
Salmon is truly “the king” of “the good fats” fare. It’s one of those foods that has no equal in providing us with those omega-3 fatty acids that our bodies absolutely can’t do without in our continuous production of new cells. Our body literally makes billions of new cells every day and for them to be created healthy, we need an adequate supply of omega-3 fatty acids which our cell membranes are actually made of. These particular healthy fats come from oily fish like salmon, sardines and tuna.