Macaroni Salad
I like coleslaw but my boo likes macaroni salad. Here is a recipe using Hellman’s mayo. Just don’t forget to keep it cold or you may be in for an unpleasant surprise later. Use all mayo. Southerners (down south and up south) may prefer Duke’s Mayo. Smoked paprika is the best.
How To Build a 1-Minute Tomato Sandwich
Pop your fresh, soft white bread in the toaster so it can get going. Or you can use a good, multi-grain bread. But, hey, Southerners used Wonder Bread. Toast lightly. Keep an eye on it. You want golden brown and still a tiny bit soft. Then, grab your largest cutting board for both the slicing and assembly:
Using a serrated knife, slice your tomato the same thickness as your bread, about 1/2 inch. You’ll need two fat slices per sandwich. Season both sides with kosher or sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Next up is the Boursin, which, for those unfamiliar, is a garlic-and-herb-flecked cheese that has an irresistible creamy-crumbly texture. It’s also wrapped in gold foil, which will make you feel fancy. [Real Southerners use Duke’s Mayo here instead of fancy, schmancy cheese. Otherwise, continue.]
Spread a heaping tablespoon onto one side of each slice of still-warm toast. It will start to melt like butter—another perk of toasting. Spread it to the edges so it creates an effective barrier between the toast and the juicy tomatoes.
Top one piece of toast with the tomato slices stacked on top of one another—this makes for a much more pleasant eating experience than overlapping slices. Close the sandwich and cut it in half with that same serrated knife, using a slow sawing motion so nothing gets smooshed. Enjoy.
My Favorite Vegan/Vegetarian cookbooks:
- Forks Over Knives―The Cookbook by Del Sroufe (Author), Julieanna Hever (Contributor), Judy Micklewright (Contributor), & 2 more
- Sweet Potato Soul: 100 Easy Vegan Recipes for the Southern Flavors of Smoke, Sugar, Spice, and Soul : A Cookbook by Jenné Claiborne
- The Complete Plant-Based Cookbook: 500 Inspired, Flexible Recipes for Eating Well Without Meat from America’s Test Kitchen
- Cooking from the Spirit: Easy, Delicious, and Joyful Plant-Based Inspirations (A Feeding the Soul Book) Hardcover – October 4, 2022 by Tabitha Brown
- Bad Manners: Fast as F*ck: 101 Easy Recipes to Pack Your Plate: A Vegan Cookbook (originally called Thug Kitchen 101) by Bad Manners
- The Southern Vegetarian: 100 Down-Home Recipes for the Modern Table by Justin Fox Burks , Amy Lawrence , et al.
- Bad Manners: The Official Cookbook: Eat Like You Give a F*ck: A Vegan Cookbook (previously published as Thug Kitchen Eat Like You Give a F*ck: The Official Cookbook)
- The Moosewood Cookbook: 40th Anniversary Edition by Molly Katzen (a staple in my kitchen for 40 years!)
- The Complete Vegetarian Cookbook: A Fresh Guide to Eating Well With 700 Foolproof Recipes (The Complete ATK Cookbook Series)
- Afro-Vegan: Farm-Fresh African, Caribbean, and Southern Flavors Remixed by Bryant Terry
- Vegan Soul Food Cookbook: Plant-Based, No-Fuss Southern Favorites by Nadira Jenkins-El
- Dick Gregory’s Natural Diet for Folks Who Eat: Cookin’ with Mother Nature by Dick Gregory (Author), James R. McGraw (Author)
- The Inspired Vegan: Seasonal Ingredients, Creative Recipes, Mouthwatering Menus by Bryant Terry
EWG’s 2023 Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce™
Nearly 75 percent of non-organic fresh produce sold in the U.S. contains residues of potentially harmful pesticides, EWG’s 2023 Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce™ finds. In this year’s guide, blueberries and green beans join our Dirty Dozen™ list of the 12 fruits and vegetables sampled that have the highest traces of pesticides.
THE 2023 DIRTY DOZEN
Of the 46 items included in our analysis, these 12 fruits and vegetables were most contaminated with pesticides:
- Strawberries
- Spinach
- Kale, collard, and mustard greens
- Peaches
- Pears
- Nectarines
- Apples
- Grapes
- Bell and hot peppers
- Cherries
- Blueberries
- Green beans
- All of the produce on the Dirty Dozen had at least one sample with at least 13 different pesticides — and some had as many as many as 23.
- Kale, collard, and mustard greens, as well as hot peppers and bell peppers, had the most pesticides detected of any crop — 103 and 101 pesticides in total, respectively.
Sweet Potato Fries by Mark Bittman
Ingredients
- 2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- Heat the oven to 400.
- Cut the sweet potatoes into sticks ¼ to ½ inch wide and 3 inches long, and toss them with the oil.
- Mix the spices, salt and pepper in a small bowl, and toss them with the sweet potatoes. Spread them out on 2 rimmed baking sheets.
- Bake until brown and crisp on the bottom, about 15 minutes, then flip and cook until the other side is crisp, about 10 minutes. Serve hot.