"Culinary Literacy"
I read an interesting article today, discussing the changing tastes of college students and the subsequent dining alternatives that have emerged in universities across the country. While the subject matter is intriguing in itself, something else picqued my interest. To describe students’ ever-increasing food knowledge, the reporter uses the term “culinary literacy.” As a college student, I consider myself relatively “literate” when it comes to food, especially in comparison to my Ramen-lovin’ peers. My culinary education came about as a result of my struggles with anorexia. As I explain on my “About the Hut” page, when it came time to gain weight I researched nutrition and found a new passion–FOOD. Much of my cooking education came from my pals Rachael and Giada, but eventually food blogs continued the learning process. I feel fairly comfortable in my assumption that you all are culinarily literate individuals, so I am curious: How did you come to love food? How did you learn to cook?
In other news, I had my last day of chem class today–hallelujah! To celebrate, I prepared some tasty meals:
Tuesday
My desire for crunch is getting more intense by the day. Yes, I would like some smoothie with my granola.
peach-strawberry-pineapple smoothie with berry HempShake, soymilk, Kashi H2H, & Vanilla Almond granola
Wednesday
After seeing CCV’s post about Banana Blender Cereal the other day, I decided it had been far too long since I had whipped up my own version. I love how coconut butter forms a hard shell when you pour it on cold items–it reminds of that Magic Shell ice cream topping.
Banana-Coconut Blender Cereal with coconut butter
It was a rainy and gross day here in Birmingham, so I took the time to make a delicious lunch. I prepared another batch of summer rolls, stuffed simply with broccoli slaw. For the sauce, I tried Gena’s Spicy Thai Dressing. The verdict? You must try this recipe! I added a bit more cayenne than the recipe called for, but it added the perfect amount of heat for my palate. For the salad, I tossed the chickpeas in garlic, lemon juice, salt, and orange zest. Yeah, I was basking in the glory of this meal’s freshness.
summer rolls with Gena's Spicy Thai Dressing; mango; salad with citrus chickpeas
After seeing this post yesterday evening, I was totally fascinated by the idea of apples in a curry dish. The end result was fantastic, especially in combination with the coconut curry tempeh strips–they were much tastier in this context than they were in Monday’s lunch.
Apple-Coconut Tempeh Curry with Ezekiel pita; salad with Annie's Papaya Poppyseed Dressing; plain yogurt
Off to read Julie and Julia–I need to finish it before I see the movie!
Filed under: Meals
Hello and welcome! I have created this blog for people who love food, especially healthful, vegetarian food.
I currently attend college in North Carolina, where I am studying English and psychology, although I plan on pursuing an additional degree in nutrition after I graduate. Ideally, I would like to combine my love of food and the written word someday as a health writer.
I think my interest in food/cooking/nutrition is a result of many factors. I come from a food-lovin’ family, and I’ve always been into using my hands to create things- I was a pretty creative/crafty kid.
So glad you liked it!!!
How are you liking the book?? I’m reading it too. I like it!
that’s my favorite part about the coconut butter!!!! i like to put it on gena’s banana soft serve at breakfast time, and i make a little puddle of it so that it freezes! then you can take little bites and let it melt in your mouth. HEAVEN. ON. TONGUE.
by the way, sorry this is kind of delayed but i bought the brown jasmine rice at whole foods. you can get brown basmati too. yum! where do you get the rice paper for your summer roles?
-JB
http://cardiovegsular.wordpress.com
Same here…my culinary literary started out from my ED…who says there aren’t a silver lining to dark clouds? But I learned to cook just abt 6 months ago…
Ever since I was a kid, I ADORED baking. As I grew older, I baked in my free time, and this led to my obsession with Food Network (i.e. watching other people bake). I too started with Rachael Ray, but my current fav is Giada
Since these two gals don’t just bake (and Rachael doesn’t bake at all), I found myself becoming more intrigued with the art of cooking! Later on, during late high school, I became more interested in *healthy* cooking and foods.
Apple in curry sounds kind of like mango in chutney—a fantastic, sweet addition to a spicy sauce! Speaking of spicy, that Thai sauce does sound fabulous!
I have always adored cooking and food. Ever since I was a little girl, I would help my mom in the kitchen and always ordered the most elaborate and sophisticated things on the menu. Food has always been something I loved and my mom has forever called me her “little gourmet girl” haha
And apples in curry! My mom ALWAYS put them in when she made chicken curry! So delicious
These summer rolls look interesting. What are they wrapped in? I have never seen these before.
I read Julie & Julia last year–loved it! Smart to read it before seeing it, as we all know the books are better
My love for food also came through my ED, mixed with a lifelong involvement in sports and fitness. It’s just a matter of taking the knowledge I have and using it for good and not “evil,” so to speak
Your creations always look delicious, by the way!
hey Caroline, thanks for the welcome back!! That curry looks amazing! My interest in cooking was a result of my ED recovery too– it was an obsession that eventually morphed into a healthier and more lighthearted outlook. Have a great day
We had a house plan where kids made the meal 2 nights a week. This usually meant velveta shells and cheese though! I have just recently become more aware of how food works with the body and how delicious healthy food can actually taste! Making delicious, healthy food is such a high for me.
The movie is also my deadline for finishing the book! So far I am really enjoying it! Happy page turning
I like granola in smoothies too! Mainly because I like to chew but it also reminds me of a crust or something!
Foods for me originated through athletic performance. I needed something in high school that was better than drastically cutting calories for making weight for wrestling back in high school. My mother was into ‘weight watcher’s’ but I didn’t really believe in the whole low-net gains food associated with that. Ergo, I ventured out and got to learning more about foods and food prep on my own. I was vegetarian actually unintentionally for a bit – I was never much for the whole red meat thing. I kept at vegetarian for a while and flirted with veganism. Then I went vegan full force and presently I try to incorporate raw here and there. My drives now are purely ethical, environmental, and nutritional.
So that’s that.
I just want to point out peach-strawberry-pineapple & berry HempShake are ingredients for success right there. I’ve done the standard coconut-curry before but apple? sounds intriguing. & with the Ezek pita, doy que un bien hecho (I give that a good job)
uhh… yum!? I need to try some blender oats… except I don’t have anything good to blen them with (my blender is a piece of junk).
How did I get interested in cooking and food? Well, it started kinda like you… when I realized I needed to put on weight and that I wanted to do that in a healthy manner. So researched nutrition and found a passions for cooking, shopping, and eating wholesomly.
Even after research, I often find myself reverting back to old “tricks” that my mom would use to cook… so where I actually LEARNED to cook of course comes from her and then my own practice…
Have fun with your book!
i think i learned to love food when i realized how embarassing it was to be picky. i was a scrawny little child who never ate anything. after being embarassed for so many years i made myself eat all the things i would never eat and learned to enjoy it! it also helps that my mom is a great cook and teaches me things to cook.
congrats on finishing school! you’re going to wonder every weekend for the next few weekends if you have anything due haha.
Yeah, I didn’t care about food/cooking before I got an ED. At first, the food obsession was borne of a period of restriction, and I spent a lot of time analyzing nutrition, adding up this-and-that, eating strange combinations, reading menus, etc. but gradually, my relationship with food has morphed into a healthy one as my disordered behaviors decreased.
but anyway! I agree that colleges have very gourmet/good quality food now! In fact, there were quite a few vegs/grains that I never tried until I got to duke. I think the marketplace has a “whole grains night” one day and had like 10 or so different grains that you could elect to put into a saute. I was fascinated. I always joke about how when I’m at Duke I’m basicaxlly eating out 3 meals a day and I’ll probably never be able to do that after I graduate (I could, I guess, but without the obligatory food points, who wants to spend 20$/day on food? ;p)
wow your breakfast looks fabulous!! thanks for leaving the recipe in the earlier post too
have a lovely thursday!
I became really interested in cooking from helping my mom out in the kitchen as a kid, especially with baking delicious treats
i like the background on how you became to love cooking. you are great at it. i have always loved it, i wanted to have a restaurant my whole life and i would write up menus and hand them out to the neighbors. i called it “janetha’s place” and my family still asks me to this day if “janetha’s place” is open!
apple coconut curry? phenom.
Yummy on those summer rolls! I’m gonna be trying your recipe for the overnight crockpot pumpkin oats this weekend…I’ll let you know how it turns out
Annie’s Papaya Poppyseed dressing is so magical!
I’ve always loved food. My first nutrition class made me fall further in love, before I switched to nutrition as my major, and eating at vegan restaurants in Minneapolis made me fall in love with the veg culinary movement…and I had to teach myself to cook to learn how to make culinary delights such as tempeh, kale, carob chip cookies…ya know. The vegan staples were so exciting and exotic to me that I just got sucked in to the whole vegan thing! Hamburgers and hot dogs and french fries just seemed so everyday and boring to me, and veggies and healthful cooking were an exciting adventure I was sooo excited to embark on!
i think my mom played a huge role in my passion for cooking and food. she was (is) a vegetarian and cooked dinner for the family every night. she encouraged us to help in the kitchen, and then as we got older, we each had a night to make dinner.
i never realized how rare this was until i moved away and discovered none of my friends could do anything in the kitchen. i found it sad that boiling water for pasta was considered talent in their eyes, but i guess i should be lucky that my mom had the time and energy to start me off on the right foot.
omg those spring rolls look amazinggggggg! and thai dressing sounds so bomb too!!
HURRAY FOR CURRY TIME!!!!!!
[...] A few weeks ago, I experimented with apples in my curry. I liked it so much that I decided to incorporate apples again, this time using Ginger Gold apples, which complemented the cinnamon-y aspect of garam masala. I also added curry powder and paprika. chickpea-apple curry; whole wheat pita; greens with squash & red pepper vinaigrette [...]
Love that dressing! What a nice day of eats.
My own love of food also came from a struggle with not loving food enough. It also came with discovering veganism and realizing that food could make me feel well, rather than unwell.
xo