All Rise: Plants in Session
The honorables of the past couple of weeks are fruits and vegetables, legumes and grains. They’re not all crunchy-hippie eats, either.
Pickled Chilies
You’ve fallen for the sheer beauty of early autumn’s varied hot chilies and now have an unwieldly stockpile in your fridge threatening to turn on you at any minute. Time to bring in the calvary of vinegar and spices.
Never Too Many Cooks
It’s a club whose members are happy to gather weekly and prepare “elevated” foods that feed the Open Door Community Pantry of Frenchtown United Methodist Church – and their neighbors. Photographer Ian Peters sat in on a session, watching the volunteers at work and making make images that show why cooking is love.
Pigeon Peas
West African and Caribbean classics share space with vegan fare at this busy storefront that lets folks with disparate dietary preferences eat at one big table.
Boiled Apple Cider
Forget candles and air fresheners. Making a pot of this autumnal elixir is aromatherapy with a big benefit: a condiment you can use at the table for months to come.
How Delish
Much that’s fancied and trendy at chains is home-cooked and plant-based at this corner storefront owned and operated by one of the busiest chefs around. It’s all come to pass because she’s a mom.
Comeback Farm Asian Pears
The most intoxicating little tree fruits come in dazzlingly mottled packages. Maybe not the popular view of beauty, but definitely the good food lover’s ideal.
One Sweet Potato, Two Dozen Ideas
One of the most versatile vegetables on earth is being harvested on Garden State farms right now. Time to stock up – and stockpile ideas for giving it a star turn on your dinner table.
Tipping Points
In the matter of “to tip or not to tip” and, most often, how much is just, more information is needed for decisions to be made. It’s time to ask questions – and to get answers.
Pawpaw: Personal Pudding
Some use this large tree fruit in baking, but its growing number of fans know it’s best straight from the “cup” Mother Nature wraps it in, a kind of custard that needs no accoutrements to adore.
Seed to Sprout
Modern-day plant-based fare that’s not afraid to go bold is the order of the day at this congenial eatery in one of the Shore’s quieter boroughs, a place possessing a quiet charm that’s quite the complement to the jazzy, look-lively savories prepared by conscientious co-chefs.
Smoke, without Mirrors
Three of five favorites this go-round use various notes of smoky flavors to their advantage. You’ll catch those notes more with taste than sniff, no games being played. Then there’s a fine fry and a statement in ice cream, no gaming, either.