Roots and then some

Our guest chef today brought all his own ingredients and equipment, so there was not much need for kitchen prep. Instead, Jason (a 12-year-old volunteer) and I took the rolling cart on an adventure to procure the roots for next week's festival. CUESA will be hosting a "root tasting," with roasted root kabobs. We picked up Tokyo turnips, red and golden beets, rutabagas, orange and yellow carrots, and black and watermelon radishes. About 20 pounds of each! Then I chopped the greens off the beets and the turnips, and bagged them separately. I could have taken some of the greens home to experiment with, except by the time I left the market, my bags were filled to overflowing.

Before our chef, we had a "Meet the Artisan" talk with June Taylor, a soft-spoken British lady who makes wonderful preserves (she refers to herself as a "jam wifey"). She described her work as "wholesome and soul-satisfying," and what more could you want from your daily activities? She was followed by Leland Jung, the proprietor and chef of Alive! Restaurant, which is raw and vegan. He made a delicious raw apple pie with a crust of ground coconut, almonds, and dates, filling it with sliced raw apples tossed in a "dressing" made of dates, apples and cinnamon. Then he assembled a "lasagna" -- resembling "real" lasagna only because it was built in layers. His consisted of "marinara" sauce made of blended sun dried tomatoes, "noodles" of thinly sliced marinated zucchini, and a filling of nuts and tahini. The whole casserole was covered with chopped marinated kale. It was fresh-tasting and surprisingly flavorful.

In between the roots and the jam and the sweeping, I had plenty of time to shop for myself. I came home with fat carrots, baby bok choy, italian sausage, bacon, goat cheese, bread, eggs, olive oil, clementines, fresh pasta and gnocchi. Oh, and a six pound piece of pork shoulder. "Cook it low and slow." -- I can hear Chef Al now.