Simple Good and Tasty

Of all the foods I've experienced in my quest to eat local Minnesota foods this summer, none has surprised me more than the radish. Oh, I've eaten loads of overwintered parsnips, and was surprised by how sweet they were. I've enjoyed the salty twig taste of fried burdock. I've fallen in love with ramps over and over again - for all 3 weeks we could get them - and when they stopped coming back I felt a pang in my heart, as though jilted by a former lover.

In case you missed it when it was posted last Friday, 5/22, Simple, Good, and Tasty was featured in Rachel Hutton's terrific City Pages Hot Dish blog. Here's a little bit of what Rachel had to say:

I'm extremely happy to let you know that we've got an ideal location for our June Simple, Good, and Tasty meal: St. Paul's Heartland Restaurant. Here's what the City Pages said about Heartland, naming it St. Paul's best restaurant for 2009:

In a recent post about Just BARE Chicken, I published an email interview I conducted with Julie Berling, Director of Brand Strategy for Gold'n Plump Poultry. I found Ms. Berling's answers to be both measured and thoughtful. It seems to me that Gold'n Plump is doing the a good thing by introducing Just BARE Chicken line of products, from raising the chickens at local farms to allowing customers to track where they come from.

The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), a 1.2 million member environmental action organization (which The New York Times has called "One of the nation's most powerful environmental groups"), has an exceptionally broad, ambitious mission statement:

The Natural Resources Defense Council's purpose is to safeguard the Earth: its people, its plants and animals and the natural systems on which all life depends.

The waiting is finally over. On my way home from work tonight, I'll be picking up my CSA box from Harmony Valley Farm. Here's what I'm expecting to pick up (direct from Harmony Valley's "What's In The Box" email newsletter):

I'm not sure how to describe what I've recently tasted from Minneapolis' Rogue Chocolatier. I'm not used to eating chocolate that's as complex as fine wine or beer, as satisfying as a cheese plate, or as rich as King Midas. I know that I'm prone to superlatives, but here I go again: Rogue Chocolatier's Sambirano (the only kind I've tried so far), single-origin chocolate from the Sambirano Valley in Madagascar, is as good as any chocolate I've ever had.

I'm hooked on The Heavy Table, a new online magazine that's all about Minnesota and Upper Midwestern food. From the About section of their website:

Spring in the Twin Cities, and the events keep on coming. This one looks especially simple, good and tasty. Eat Yourself Healthy is a workshop that comes just in time to enjoy spring's first fresh, local (Minnesota) produce. Its focus will be on not just purchasing, preparing, and eating local foods, but also on what these foods can do for our health, our environment, and our community. The events featured speakers are:

Please join us for another amazing meal this month! The May local, sustainable Simple, Good, and Tasty dinner will be held at the Birchwood Cafe, whose praises I've sung several times here already. Openings for the meal are filling up fast - please email me at lee@simplegoodandtasty.com as soon as possible to reserve your spot.