recipe

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life – Book Review

Jeff

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life
by Barbara Kingsolver, 2007
Pages: 384, ISBN: 9780060852559

Reviewed by Jeff Ross, Master Gardener, Maricopa County, AZ – 2007



“Our highest shopping goal was to get our food from so close to home, we’d know the person who grew it. Often that turned out to be ourselves as we learned to produce what we needed, starting with dirt, seeds, and enough knowledge to muddle through. Or starting with baby animals, and enough sense to refrain from naming them.” — Barbara Kingsolver

Master Gardeners have a diverse set of interests and concerns some of which may be directly connected to gardening. I have always had a respect for nature and science and how they relate to the various methods involved with successful gardening, i.e. composting, vermiculture, pest management, etc.

It was because of these attractions that I read the book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. Kingsolver first got my attention because she lived in Tucson and did her fair share of desert gardening. This book, however discusses her journey from the desert southwest to “a place that could feed us”; Virginia. Not only did she and her family change their geographic location, they took this opportunity to revise their lifestyle to adapt their lives to creating as small an environmental footprint as possible as a one-year experiment which could be extended.

She readily admits that what she and her family embarked upon is not practical for some and may be difficult for others. The book, however, is an attempt to encourage most of us to think about how we obtain our food and water and whether we can do so in a way that is better for our health and the health of our planet.

Barbara Kingsolver does not attempt to force this lifestyle on the reader. Throughout the book she simply says this is what I am doing and you can do it too. There is no preaching, just an explanation of her methodology and environmental philosophy. The author makes note of the trade-offs. Naturally some of the adjustments will not work in other geographic areas or meld well with certain lifestyles. The main takeaway is that most of us can probably do better and work smarter to help ourselves and our environs.

The reader follows along as Kingsolver and her family raise their plants for both immediate consumption and preserving for out-of-season use. The sections related to raising animals for family meals may prove a bit more difficult for some to appreciate. Even turkeys are cute when they are chicks, but this does not shield them being served on a dinner platter in Kingsolver’s household once they become adults.

This book does not portray the family’s adventure as a panacea and we suffer along with Kingsolver and her family as they deal with a variety of pests, blights and animal infertility. Through it all she exhibits her witty take on the entire situation as only she can do. Injecting humor into serious topics proves to be one of her fortes and makes the book immensely enjoyable even as she refers to the slaughtering of animals using the euphemism of “harvesting.”

Not only do we read the thoughts of Barbara Kingsolver herself, but also those of her husband Steven Hopp and her daughter Camille. Camille focuses on the nutrition aspects of the family’s locavore inclination and contributes recipes for us to consider. Steven offers a deeper dive into the science and business-related aspects of their new lifestyle and how it contributes to their goals.

One of the last chapters of the book discusses her ordeal with trying to raise turkeys who are generally artificially inseminated for this process, but she is determined to encourage her charges to do it the old fashioned way. We follow her trials and tribulations thorough this ordeal. It is perhaps the most poignant and satisfactory section of the book.

To make the book and subsequent message more enriching for readers, the author(s) have created a website to add to and enhance their story in hopes of helping all readers to consider some of their suggested lifestyles modifications.

NOTE – The website, http://www.animalvegetablemiracle.com/, is divided into several sections: The Book (a few brief excerpts), Farm Tour (seasonal happenings), Recipes (downloadable format), Harvest Table Restaurant and more.

The One Pot Pasta Recipe from Martha Stewart

Jeff

I was badgered to try this spaghetti recipe. Nobody actually nagged me, but I had read about it on the Internet so many times that I decided I had to see what all of the talk was about.

We have made this twice and each time it has come out very well. It is hard to believe that all the ingredients can be thrown together crock-pot style and it will taste very good, but it does! The one thing you have to keep in mind is that after you have made it the first time you may want to modify to suit your tastes. Here is one of my recipe tenets:

ALWAYS make the recipe exactly as it is presented the first time.

You need to see how it comes together as the developers intended. After that, modify to your heart’s content, but I generally don’t alter more than one or two ingredients in every iteration just to make sure I know what went wrong if it doesn’t taste as good as the original.

With that in mind, here are the ingredients for Martha Stewart’s one dish pasta meal.[ My notes about ingredients appear in brackets after the item is listed. ]

Ingredients:

  • 2 – Cups, thinly sliced onion – [we used one large onion]
  • 12 – Ounces cherry or grape tomatoes, halved or quartered if large
  • 4 – Garlic cloves, very thinly sliced – [I don’t like to bite into a slice of garlic so we minced our garlic. If you don’t mind the slices, feel free to try it that way.]
  • 2 – Sprigs basil, plus torn leaves for garnish – [Using fresh may be a problem for some, but try it that way first. After that, feel free to substitute dry basil, but it probably won’t have the pungent kick that fresh basil tends to provide.(So “What is a sprig?” you might ask. Well it is a stalk or one branch of a basil plant. Use no more than 6 or 7 medium leaves per sprig is my best guess) ]
  • 1/2 – tsp red-pepper flakes [or more to taste – we added more]
  • 2 – tsp salt
  • 1/4 – tsp freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 – Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for serving
  • 12 – Ounces linguine [ Place lying flat in the middle of the pan. The strands can be stacked on top of one another as shown in the video below.]
  • 4 1/2 – cups water

For Serving:

  • Freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese [ or your favorite Italian grated cheese ]
  • Black Pepper
  • Red pepper flakes if desired
  • Good quality olive oil

Instructions:

In a large sauté-type pan or pot with sides high enough to hold all the ingredients, combine pasta, tomatoes, onion, garlic, red-pepper flakes, basil, oil, salt, teaspoon pepper and the water; bring to a boil uncovered over high heat.

Use tongs to stir pasta frequently as it cooks. When the pasta is al dente and water is almost absorbed it is finished. This should take between nine and twelve minutes. We have a propane gas stove and it always takes a bit longer.

Divide the pasta into separate bowls and use ingredients listed under the “For Serving” to adjust to personal taste.

Some versions of this recipe indicate that this will feed four people, but I don’t think it will feed four average adults if this is the only item for dinner. It is definitely enough for two adults with some left over. It can be stretched to three IMHO, but I don’t suggest four.

You can watch the Martha Stewart’s One Pot Pasta Recipe Video