Rainbow Of Potatoes Color S. American Meals

Nowhere is the lowly potato more revered than in the Andes of South America. This is where potatoes originated. In just two countries -- Peru and Bolivia -- there some 10,000 different varieties of potatoes, in colors ranging from green to black to pink.

Each has a unique taste and culinary purpose.In Cochambamba, Bolivia, the market is a vast labyrinth of vendors and their wares. There are potatoes everywhere. Indian women in pretty straw hats sit beside colorful hand-woven blankets piled with what can only be described as mountains of potatoes.

"You can see the different sizes and colors," says Anabel Landa, who has come to the market with her cook, Maxima Apaza.They eat potatoes at every meal, but they're not bored. In the Andes, potatoes come in amazing variety. Some soups require three different types.Maxima points out a potato she calls papa (potato) huayco.

This potato is so purple it's almost black. Beside the papa huayco are huge baskets of brightly colored papa lisas, shocking orange with pink spots. There are potatoes that look like small brown rocks -- they're called chuno and grow at extremely high altitudes. Chuno is freeze-dried using an ancient process and can last for years."They soak it in water for a day, and they peel and cook it for half an hour in water and add scrambled eggs," Maxima says. "It's delicious."Spanish explorers brought potatoes from the Andes to Europe, and they instantly became an important part of the European diet.

They are a great source of Vitamin C, and they're easier and faster to grow than wheat. Potatoes became so important that when blight hit Irish potatoes in the 19th century, the result was widespread famine. The Irish planted only one variety of potato, which couldn't resist the blight.In the Andes, they're preserving thousands of varieties. Some require a lot of water, others very little.

Some potatoes grow at very high altitudes, while others are at sea level. Diversity like this is a proven tool against diseases and pests.Now a new culinary movement called Nuevo Andino has sprung up to take advantage of all this variety.
Classically trained chefs are combining native ingredients with modern techniques. For example: blue mashed potatoes.
"That's a real trend to let the color components of the potatoes come through now. Everyone's breeding for colors," says Maria Scurrah, a biologist at the International Potato Center in Lima, Peru, an institute dedicated to preserving the potatoes' amazing genetic diversity.
"It's funny because for years the breeders were throwing out all the colored potatoes," says Scurrah. "And now the next set of breeders are putting them back in, and that's why I say it's important to keep the genetic material, because they may not be like fashion, but we change our minds in what we really require.
"Back at the market in Cochabamba, Maxima is looking for eggs, an ingredient in the beloved Andean dish papas huancayna."When I was a kid, this was my favorite dish," says Anabel. "When it was my birthday, I asked my grandma to do it for me and she always did."This dish requires papa imilla -- red potatoes, perhaps a little less sweet than ours. Anabel and Maxima also buy lettuce, tomatoes, peanuts, medium hot yellow chilis and white cheese similar to the Mexican queso fresco or American farmers' cheese.Back at home, Maxima sets to work grinding the yellow chilis on the patio, wielding a 10-pound grinding stone -- a staple for Bolivian cooks. "It's an ancient instrument," says Anabel.
"You have to be strong in your arms to move the stone."In the kitchen, Maxima toasts the chilis over a flame on the stove. "She's going to do a cream with this yellow chili," says Anabel. "And then she'll cook it with the peanuts."The peanuts are toasted on a dry skillet, mixed with water and the chilis to make a rich sauce for the salad. Watching Maxima cook brings to mind that before the Spanish conquest, time was measured by how long it took to cook a pot of potatoes.

Source : http://www.knbc.com/foodnews/16167267/detail.html

Eat Fresh from a Farmers Market or Your Own Back Yard

Shopping for fresh fruits and vegetables at a local farmers market or growing your own in a backyard garden is a great way to add flavor to your meals and improve your health, according to a nutrition expert with the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.

Fresh fruits and vegetables are full of nutrients - vitamins, minerals, fiber and antioxidants - that can help prevent a number of diseases, and the fresher they are, the better they taste.

"When fruits and vegetables are in season, they not only have more flavor, they cost less," said Pat Kramer, a registered dietitian at the Department of Health and Senior Services. "Because a diet rich in fruits and vegetables can help prevent serious illnesses such as heart disease, diabetes and some types of cancer, planning your meals around produce from a farmers market or your own garden can help you reduce health care costs, too."

The most economical way to consume more fruits and vegetables is to eat seasonally by shopping for produce that's in season and grown locally, if possible. For example, look for asparagus, leaf lettuce, spinach and peas in the spring; strawberries, blueberries, peaches, peppers, tomatoes and broccoli in the summer; and apples, pears, squash and sweet potatoes in the fall.

"Stopping at a local farmers market or growing your own fruits and vegetables takes a little extra time, but the fresh flavors and the benefits to your family's health are definitely worth it," Kramer said.

Finding a farmers market in Missouri has become easier in recent years. Last year, Missouri was home to more than 130 markets, compared to just 53 markets 10 years ago, according to the state Department of Agriculture. A directory of farmers markets throughout the state can be found at: agebb.missouri.edu/fmktdir/view.htm.

For the do-it-yourselfers, a small backyard garden can produce many pounds of fruits and vegetables every year. Even planting a couple of tomato plants in a pot on a deck or patio can provide fresh tomatoes for salads and sandwiches all summer long. Cherry tomatoes are especially easy to grow and make a healthy snack.

Freezing and canning homegrown fruits and vegetables when they are in season can provide garden-fresh flavor throughout the year.

Gardening is also a good way to increase physical activity, another important factor in maintaining good health.

Getting family members to eat more fruits and vegetables can sometimes be a challenge, Kramer said, but getting them involved is a good way to help them make healthier food choices every day.

"Take your kids with you to the farmers market or have them help in the garden," Kramer added. "Research shows that kids who help shop for fruits and vegetables or help grow them are more likely to eat them."

Source : http://www.infozine.com/news/stories/op/storiesView/sid/28267/

Compost delights

Composting should come with a health warning: it can be strangely addictive. When I got a worm composter I was fascinated to watch as my wriggly charges made themselves at home and turned my kitchen waste into rich wormcasts and useful liquid plant feed, and I have friends who'll bring a teabag home to feed their home composter rather than throw it in a bin in a café. You'll find that your rubbish bin is a lot less full, which is particularly useful if your rubbish collections are only fortnightly, and you'll have a free source of a wonderful soil improver which will help your plants to thrive.

Compost Awareness Week is the perfect time to turn your mind to composting. Whether you live in a tiny flat, an urban terrace or a sprawling country pad, there's a composting system to suit you. Probably the most popular choice is a simple compost bin made of plastic or wood which breaks down green waste from the garden and kitchen waste such as potato peelings and tea bags. More advanced – and expensive – options for the experienced composter include wormeries, compost tumblers, food waste digesters and bokashi.

If you're an early adopter- the kind that had an iPod months before anyone else – Bokashi might be right for you. Bokashi is the new kid on the composting block, and there's a lot to be said for this system, particularly if you don't have a kerbside food waste collection service and want to compost in your kitchen because, provided you set things up correctly, there should be no smell. All you do is add waste to the bin and sprinkle on bran containing a special mix of microorganisms – bacteria, yeast and fungi – which will handle with ease stuff you wouldn't put on a regular garden heap or in a wormery – dairy, fish, cooked food and meat. In a fortnight or so the Bokashi mix will have turned the waste into a substance that looks a bit like the contents of a pickle jar, that can be added to a wormery, put into a kerbside food waste collection or dug into the soil, where it will breaks down very quickly.

Before shelling out on a composter, check with the local council – many have schemes to offer householders bins, wormeries and kitchen caddies at a reduced price. Plug your postcode into the Recycle Now website to find out what you're entitled to.

If you'd prefer to compost in the garden but you don't want to spend a penny on your compost heap, you can always just pile your composting materials in a suitable corner where they'll break down quite happily. For a tidier and quicker approach, try to lay your hands on four shipping pallets (try Freecycle, or local skips - ask permission first) which you can lash together with some strong twine for an instant bin. Top it with an old woollen blanket and tuck some cardboard sheets between the gaps in the slats to keep the compost – and the heat – in. If you want to get a little more hi-tech, you could make hinges out of old leather, dig some nails out of your toolbox and hammer the whole thing together for a sturdier frame.

Style mavens may find that a homemade composter doesn't really fit the aesthetic of their garden, and turn their noses up at some recycled plastic bins that admittedly aren't the prettiest of structures. There are stylish alternatives, though, if you are prepared to shell out for them. Wooden composters disguised as beehives will fool visitors into thinking you've turned to beekeeping – and you can buy them in a range of funky colours too. Suppliers include Gone Gardening and Wiggly Wigglers If you want to get your children involved or just prefer a more lighthearted approach, you can't beat the Rolypig – yes, that's a composter that looks like a pig.

The biggest composting turnoff is a horrible slimy mess that can develop if you add a regular block of grass cuttings to the heap. Cardboard – which we all have tons of in this age of internet shopping and home deliveries – is a free solution to the problem. Ripped up and added to the heap in alternate layers with the grass, cardboard will add air pockets to the heap and help to create ideal conditions for everything to break down speedily. Some worry that there may be compost-unfriendly glues in corrugated cardboard, but it's not so – cornstarch glue is used to stick the layers together, which will break down without any unfortunate byproducts and has Garden Organic's seal of approval. Shredded paper works just as well, and is probably a good place to put your ripped up bank statements – it would be a foolhardy identity thief who rifled through your green waste. There's more on the rules for composting here.

How to know when your compost is ready? The bottom of the heap or bin is likely to yield the finished product, which should look brown and crumbly, smell earthy rather than unpleasant, and won't have many of the red composting worms that inhabit the waste as it breaks down. If you're still not sure there are some useful pictures here. Don't worry if your finished compost doesn't look quite like the stuff you see on Gardeners World: a few twiggy bits and larger lumps can be picked out by hand and returned to the composter to continue breaking down. If you want really fine looking compost, get sieving – it's great exercise too.

"Compost" is a confusing term, because it's used to describe two very different substances: potting compost is the stuff that you buy in bags to plant up hanging baskets or containers, and it's a mixture based on either soil or peat (which is best avoided if you're trying to be green); garden compost is what you'll get from your compost heap. The two are best not mixed up – as celebrated gardener Helen Dillon writes, if you mistake garden compost for potting compost then you'll end up with plants "so stuffed with food they become the vegetable version of a Strasbourg goose".

So, if you can't use it as potting compost, what can you do with the fruits of your bin? The simplest and quickest way is to use your compost as a mulch – just mix it with some soil and spread it in a layer a few centimetres thick around plants on beds and borders. It can also be dug into new beds prior to planting or enhance fertility. If you'd like to use your compost on a garden veg plot or allotment, remember that not all crops like nutrient-rich soil that extra compost will bring – pumpkins, beans, tomatoes, and courgettes will all be grateful for the extra food though. For more ideas there's a pdf guide here.

· Jane Perrone is gardening editor and author of The Allotment Keeper's Handbook. She also writes about organic gardening, composting and allotments on her personal blog, Horticultural.

Source : http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/may/06/recycling.waste