There are so many great individuals and organizations fighting the good fight of food justice for all and D.C. is the perfect place for such activism. The Arcadia Center for Sustainable Food and Agriculture works tirelessly to create more equitable and sustainable food systems in the D.C. area with the goal that everyone should have access to food that is grown, harvested and prepared fresh.
In her cookbook, “The Arcadia Mobile Market Seasonal Cookbook,” culinary educator Juliet “JuJu” Harris shares her journey of being a WIC mom and supplementing the program’s staples with food from her garden and farmers markets to teaching adults how to make cook easy and affordable meals that are healthy. Her tips to anyone struggling to make healthier choices is to make one meal a week substituting one new nutritious ingredient for a bad one. Sounds pretty simple.
In her book, she starts with the basics such as identifying standard kitchen tools, a seasonal food calendar and key pantry items. The recipes are so easy and typically don’t require a lot of ingredients. In addition, you’ll see a twist on a few favorites such as Green Gumbo, Swiss Chard with Dried Cranberries and Pine Nuts and Chicken Meatball Fricassee.
If you are a visual person, the photos of the fresh fruits and vegetables will immediately catch your attention and draw you to the recipes. New recipes on our list to try definitely include the tomato jam and Sweet Potato and Kale Soup.
The book is truly intended to be unintimidating and allow for those easy ingredient substitutions. Whether you are a novice or more experienced cook or chef, there is a recipe full of nutritional goodness for all.
In the final pages, Harris even provides moms with helpful tips for making baby food. There is nothing like making sure your baby is eating the healthiest food without additives and preservatives from the start.
“The Arcadia Mobile Market Seasonal Cookbook” is available at Acadiafood.org and is $20 + $5.60 for shipping and handling. Sales will support distributing the cookbook to WIC Mobile Market and SNAP customers.
