Vibrant, fresh vegetables. Sparkling, brilliant colors hinting at the glorious flavors soon to be savored. A delightful spread of rich, nutritious food is laid out before you, the aromas are intoxicating. No, you’re not a member of some ancient royal court at banquet.
The key to this kind of food experience is far more simple and humble. Straight-forward cooking skills and techniques can open your world to this kind of experience just as readily as a royal treasury. Even with a brief comparison of the prices of prepared and processed foods to those of fresh, raw ingredients it quickly becomes clear: Basic cooking skills can not only up the quality of what you’re eating, but it can reduce the bills.
Take a simple pizza dough . Inexpensive ingredients, a little time, and some basic technique, and you are eating a fluffy, crisp, deliciously topped pizza. Top it with fresh basil, sliced tomato, and fresh mozzarella, and you’re eating a dish conceived for the Italian Queen, Margherita, in the late 19th century.
Then the big bonus, the basic techniques you learn making a pizza dough can translate into dozens of other recipes and meals, including fresh breads and pasta.
So, this weekend or one night this week, gather the ingredients for a simple pizza dough. Walk through your favorite place to buy fresh produce, and grab what looks good, maybe something you haven’t tried yet. Try a beet and goat cheese combination, or spinach onions and some crumbled blue cheese, get really adventurous and shave some hard squash and apples. Make yourself a fresh pizza, and send in your photos and comments to: sfreedman@mendezfoundation.org
Let us know about your royal feast!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 9th, 2009 at 7:30 am and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.