In praise of Kingsolver

As I've mentioned in previous posts, I'm now a huge fan of Barbara Kingsolver and am so happy to have been exposed to the locavore movement after reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. I haven't gotten to the point of stalking Ms. Kingsolver, but can't help but find more information about her most recent book. I find myself re-reading portions of this book and wanting more.

Tonight the Fireside Readers Book Discussion Group will be discussing the book. There are many links to information about this book:

Kingsolver discusses the book in a radio segment, "The Ethics of Eating," from NPR's Speaking of Faith with Krista Tippett. (Thanks, Joyce, for forwarding this link to me, this was fantastic!)

I've also found a link to a recent commencement speech by Barbara Kingsolver. Her 2008 Commencement Address at Duke University doesn't offer any new insight into the book, but I found it to relate in some ways...

Finally, the publisher offers a reading group guide, in addition to the vast amount of information offered on the author's book website.

Even more SQUASH!!!!

So yesterday I had another armload of squash. Considering I had just finished making a new zucchini recipe, that bunch made its way into work to be shared....

Here's the recipe I made yesterday morning, adapted from one of the recipes found in Barbara Kingsolver's book, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. (Out of a chapter aptly named "Zucchini Larcency"!)

Even more seasonal recipes are available on the book's website at http://www.animalvegetablemiracle.com/Recipes.html.

DISAPPEARING ZUCCHINI ORZO
¾ lb pkg orzo pasta (multicolored is fun)
Bring 6 cups water or chicken stock to a boil and add pasta. Cook 8 to 12 minutes
1 chopped onion, garlic to taste
3 large zucchini
olive oil for sauté
Use a cheese grater or mandoline to shred zucchini, sauté briefly with chopped onion and garlic until lightly golden.
thyme
oregano
¼ cup grated parmesan or any hard yellow cheese
Add spices to zucchini mixture, stir thoroughly, and then remove mixture from heat.
Combine with cheese and cooked orzo, salt to taste, serve cool or at room temperature.

I used a couple zucchini and one yellow squash... It was really quite pretty all grated in the bowl:


I, of course, left off the cheese. Instead of using fresh herbs, I used Penzey's Italian herb seasonings. Here's the final product:


I'm thinking my recipe turned out a little dull, so next time I might switch things up a little by adding either some black beans or tofu... Also, I ended up draining the liquid that formed when cooking the zucchini. It gave off quite a bit of liquid and started getting soupy. But give it a try and see what you think!

I couldn't find tri-color orzo, which would certainly make this a very pretty salad.