Spelt Pilaf with Pickled Radish, Pumpkin Seeds, Golden Raisins & Parsley

In the past couple months, I have gone off such the deep end into Eastern philosophy it's embarrassing. I've traded coffee for tea, drunken bike crashes and homemade hangover brunch parties (as recalled in The Art of Eating In) for bikram yoga and granola with soy milk. I don't know what's going on. My latest obsession is with macrobiotics. It stresses the importance of many of the things we're already privvy to about food (unprocessed, well-balanced), but much more, like directional energy, color, and stuff I still can't comprehend.

Hungry Filmmakers III is Tonight

Get ready to see the films, eat some local food and maybe be inspired to make either at tonight's roundup of food documentaries, Hungry Filmmakers. It's the third event for this series, where we invite the filmmakers, a distinguished moderator and the community to see a sampling of recent and upcoming films. Following a ten-minute screening of each one, a panel discussion will further explore the topics covered in them. We're so proud that this time, the moderator for the panel will be Paula Crossfield, editor of Civil Eats. And that the films are...

Homemade Orecchiette (or something almost resembling it) with Broccoli Rabe & Lemon Butter

Anyone who's a real purist of pasta is going to take one look at these misshapen dumpling-like things and sneer. Can't blame me for being a little over-ambitious for a weeknight meal, but you can for exaggeration in calling these "orecchiette." Well, I'm just not sure what else to call them. But they taste alright -- especially when tossed in a buttery, fresh lemon sauce and surrounded by spicy broccoli rabe.

Reason For Not Eating Out #42: Because You Can Grow Your Own Food

In the epilogue of The Art of Eating In, I bemoaned my oversight of home gardening as one of the restaurant-free food subcultures that I explored in its chapters. Thinking that my outdoor space-free residence would eliminate the option, I'd left out the very preface to cooking: growing the stuff. Fortunately, there have been many sage leaders in doing just that, even in the tiniest urban crevices they can find, and their voices are getting some much-deserved attention. Last month, Just Food paid a lively tribute to the pioneering food advocate, Joan Gussow, who at one point during the ceremonies quipped that she'd originally wanted to title her classic memoir, This Organic Life, "Eating My Lawn." So since writing the book, I've been inspired to close the gap between agriculture and what's on my plate, both in theory and actual, trowel-wielding practice. This time, I am so not alone in my quest.

Brown Rice & Radish Bibimbap

If that isn't the most fun food name to pronounce, I don't know what is. Bibimbap is lots of fun to make, too. It simply means, "mixed rice" in Korean and it's an everyday, meal-in-one-bowl. Any vegetables you have on hand will do; you can marinate some sliced meat and sautee it to add, too. Then you just assemble everything on the rice, add a dollop of spicy gochujang and an egg to pop. You can mix in a little more than that, add fancier steps like grilling, or hot stone bowls that still cook. But that's the basic swing of things -- it's the bibim bop, can you dig?

Blanched Asparagus with Almonds, Shallots & Lemon

There are a few famous bedfellows for asparagus, when cooking it simply as a side. One is Hollandaise sauce. Shaved parmesan and a poached egg a la Milanese tradition has very much taken root in restaurants here. A faction of moms only dress asparagus with grated, hard-boiled eggs, according to some friends. And not that everything hasn't been wrapped with bacon, but a bundle of stalks secured with a strip has become quite notorious, too. Now, there are few things I think couldn't be ten times better with a runny egg placed on top of it, ready to poke (sometimes, transforming something insubstantial into recipe-writing worthy), but what else might do this spring veggie well?

Coffee Beer-Braised Short Ribs with Couscous

I know it's suddenly summer in the city, and yesterday's humidity prompted some to rev up the A/C already. But, like less fortunate others, I've come down with a rare case of spring allergies and can't tell you how many times I've sneezed this morning. My inner food forecast told me it was time for some animal protein. Moo, you flexitarian, tea-drinking weakling!