Behind the Masks of Yale Dining

It’s been an — ahem — weird school year. A lot of things have been missing from campus this year. One thing that’s still with us? Yale Dining’s Chicken Tenders. That’s because dining hall employees have been working hard to adapt Yale’s iconic food experiences to the era of distancing, plexiglass, and masks. Y Pop-Up spoke to May Cabahug, General Manager of the Jonathan Edwards Dining Hall, about how things have been going.

Can you briefly describe how the dining hall has been operating this year?

It goes without saying that this has been a very challenging year for all of us. Who would have thought that we would have had to serve our students behind plexiglass? The main focus has been, and continues to be, health and safety for everyone. In addition, making delicious food that can easily be transportable, and is also craveable!

To create that comfort we put new models in place, to have one-way service flow, mask wearing and social distancing at all times, and of course, sanitation protocols to serve our students smoothly and safely. New operation models included kicking off grab and go for students to take meals with them (which we didn’t offer before!); pre-ordering SmartMeals to pick up and go, without waiting in line. For students who wanted to dine-in, they could do so thanks to the plexiglass set up on all dining tables.

How has the recipe development process and menu planning process changed because of COVID restrictions?

Our food had to be transportable, reheatable, and no self-service at all – which was a big change! Recipe development had to account for menu items that would focus on solids (travel well) instead of food that has a lot of liquid, broth, etc. With all of these changes, we have been constantly watching and paying attention to student feedback to see what you like and what options you care less for, so that we can change menus and recipes as we go. Based on students reaching out, we have been able to keep pushing the envelope with menu research, development, and innovation. We all encourage each other to test new recipes to better fit the new to-go model.

How has the menu itself changed? Which Yale dining favorites are still offered and which can’t be made anymore?

Traditional menus have changed in a few ways – we are no longer able to provide things like the Mezze Bar and Ice Cream/Sundae bar. However, we are glad to continue offering clean protein upon request – as well as menu favorites like Kale & Feta ‘Meatballs,’ Hand-breaded Chicken Tenders, Yale Blended Burger, Three-Cheese Grilled Cheese Sandwiches and more. We also get really excited about bringing pop up events to our dining halls, providing delicious surprises like Sushi, Ice Cream, Popcorn and other items not regularly featured on our current menus.

How has daily work life for dining hall staff changed? What do you miss most about pre-pandemic dining, and what (if anything) do you hope to continue when we’re back to normal?

Although many aspects of our daily work have changed, the hardest part for our dining hall staff was not being able to see all of our students come back and welcome them with warm smiles and hugs. Our dining halls are places for connection and community – not being able to host all the large-scale events we normally would have has been challenging. Despite that, we continue to be here for our students and smile wide under our masks – knowing that we’re supporting them in every way we can!

Is there anything else you’d like to add that you think students should know / would be interested in?

We never stopped! Although many areas of Yale shut down as a result of the pandemic, I’ve been personally proud of the Yale Hospitality team for all of our work. We were able to swim through some scary waters and I’m hopeful that we will come out of this experience stronger and more united than ever!

Photos Courtsey of Christelle Ramos

Back to My Roots: Plant-Based Italian Pasta Dishes

As a child, I loved being in the kitchen near dinner time, watching a big steam cloud emerge from the sink as my mom poured a hot pot of pasta into a colander. My eyes followed as she transferred the drained pasta into a pan, mixing it with other ingredients-- sometimes a simple tomato sauce, other times cheese and eggplant, pesto, or plain butter. Being Italian via my father’s family, pasta was a weeknight staple at home, and boxes of various shapes, from penne to capellini, lined the cabinets. I was instructed at a young age not to break spaghetti before placing it into boiling water, and to twirl it on my fork patiently until it became a firm knot. The most exciting meals were when we went to my grandparents home for lunch or dinner-- my mom and I would frequently discuss the delicate spinach-ricotta ravioli with giddy anticipation. 

As I got older and became a teenager, I started to go to restaurants with friends and gravitated toward ordering pasta. I discovered a new found love for cacio e pepe, a simple Roman pasta dish made with parmesan and fresh black pepper that was silky and retained a decadent, cheesy flavor in each bite. After high school, I spent a gap year in Israel, and my diet shifted: not only was I eating middle eastern dishes like falafel and hummus on a daily basis, but I had decided to become plant-based along with some friends after learning about the environmental issues around the meat and dairy industries. There was a lot of time to practice and develop my cooking skills in Israel-- while having to make dinner for others on my program and visiting friends’ families on weekends and watching what they prepared. Yet I was mostly focusing on vegetable-centered dishes like whole roasted cauliflower, eggplant, and salads and rarely ate pasta. It was only last year in quarantine that I realized I could return to making my childhood comfort food. 

Like others at the start of the pandemic, I was transported back to living with family and had more time to think about childhood memories. I decided I wanted to return to the fundamentals of Italian cooking, creating a punchy and decadent flavor without the dairy, eggs or meat. In order to do this, I turned to some underrated tricks and ingredients that greatly enhance the taste, texture and composition of a dish. 

1. Always cook your pasta short of al dente, so that it then becomes al dente when cooking/mixing it with the sauce. 

2. Leave some starchy pasta water in a cup on the side, and use a little bit of it to make the sauce and when mixing the pasta with the sauce. This creates a silky, not-dry texture and taste and allows the sauce to stick to the pasta correctly. 

3. Use Nutritional Yeast: this is a plant based cook’s favorite ingredient. It has a cheesy flavor, thickens sauces, and is a great parmesan replacement in homemade pesto. 

4. Use tomato paste in tomato-based sauces: whether it is pomodoro, vodka, or a (mushroom) ragu, tomato paste provides thickness and sweetness to a sauce, holding the dish together. 

5. Use fresh herbs: I always have fresh basil on hand and place generous amounts of it in sauces, especially tomato-based ones. 

Over quarantine, I developed several pasta recipes that I prepared for myself and my family. While I started with a mindset to ‘replace’ certain key ingredients since I lacked animal products, I began to appreciate the minimal approach of plant-based cooking. I realized I was actually starting from the ground up, creating dishes with only a core set of fresh ingredients-- it doesn’t take much to prepare a good pasta. I also began playing with ingredients and making new versions of classics-- for example, a sweet potato-spelt flour gnocchi, with a stronger flavor than the more muted classic. I now rely on some of these recipes on a regular basis for weeknight meals. 

Here are Three Plant-based recipes I developed throughout the past year: 

Gnocchi made from Sweet Potato and Spelt Flour:

2 large sweet potatoes (or 3 medium sweet potatoes)

2.5 - 3 cups spelt our

2 tbsp nutritional yeast for taste 3 tbsp olive oil

Salt & fresh basil to taste (can sub fresh rosemary)

Directions: 

1. Place ingredients into a bowl and mix until dough forms. Knead the dough into a ball and dip hands in water so that the dough doesn’t stick to your hands too much. Add extra our as needed. Let sit for around 15-20 minutes.

2. Divide dough into four sections. Roll each section into strips one at a time, cutting them into small pieces. Make sure to add extra flour to the surface you are cutting on, and sprinkle our onto the gnocchi.

3. Bring a pot of water to boil. Once bubbles form, add salt to water. Place gnocchi into the pot and cook until they float to the top.

4. Place into a pan with olive oil and garlic for crispy edges. 

Fresh Pesto Pasta:

Cooked pasta of choice

3 handfuls fresh basil leaves

1 handful greens (spinach or kale) 

1 handful of pine nuts

(Optional: extra handful of cashews or walnuts)

2-3 cloves garlic chopped

⅛- ¼  cup olive oil

Sea salt & juice from half a lemon 2 tbsp nutritional yeast for taste

Directions:

1. Cook pasta in salted water, leaving aside a small cup of starchy pasta water.

2. In a bowl, mix ingredients listed above. Begin with the basil and greens, add in the squeezes of lemon, salt, oil. Chop garlic finely until it becomes pasty, chop the pine nuts and then bring it all together, adding nutritional yeast. Can also use a food processor. 

3. When everything is mixed evenly, place 1-2 tbsp starchy pasta water to make the pesto more fluffy/ smooth.

4. Pour the pesto onto the cooked pasta and mix together on a low ame.

5. Optional: serve with crispy roasted brussel sprouts, any other vegetable, or pan toasted pine nuts on top for extra avor. 

A’ La Vodka: 

Cooked Pasta

(Penne, Rigatone, or any fun shape)

Olive oil, Salt

1 small can tomato paste

1 can whole peeled tomatoes chopped 2-3 cloves garlic chopped

1 onion chopped

Handful of fresh basil leaves

1/3 cup almond or oat milk

1/4 cup vodka

1/4-1/3 cup nutritional yeast

Optional: greens 

Directions:

1. Cook pasta in salted water and save a cup of the starchy pasta water.

2. In a pan, place olive oil at high heat. When hot, add garlic, onion, chopped basil, and salt. Cook on medium heat.

3. Add in tomato paste and chopped whole peeled tomatoes along with half of the nutritional yeast and stir.

4. Add splashes of milk and continue stirring, increasing the heat to absorb excess liquid. Add in vodka and continue stirring. Add some more nutritional yeast. When it becomes a thick dark orange / light red sauce with no excess liq- uid, add a handful of greens if desired.

5. Add the cooked pasta with a few splashes of pasta water and a tiny bit of nutri- tional yeast, increasing the heat to high in order to absorb the liquid. Lower the ame, stir, and serve with fresh basil on top. 

Lauren's Morning Granola

Our Co-President, Lauren Salzman tried out the Healthful Blondie’s Healthy Nutty Granola and well, the results speak for themselves. Nothing else to say!

Jordi Bertrán Ramírez reviews Mexican food fails

Watch Jordi Bertrán Ramírez '23+1 react to the internet's worst Mexican food fails (and do a little ASMR.)

Special thanks to Adam Wassilchalk, Ava King, Lauren Salzman, and Sam Bezilla for their work on this video.

Pop-Up's Vegan Baking Guide

A Guide To Baking Vegan

If there’s one thing I’ve learned this semester, it’s this: you don’t need eggs or butter to bake great things. The myth of French cuisine! Any baked good (challenge me!) is vegan-izable, and it doesn’t have to be super processed and sugary. Here, I’ve compiled what I’ve learned about substituting from the internet, trial and error, and endless Instagram videos. And, after, some of my favorite recipes for any occasion.

Egg

Flax “egg”

• 1 tbsp flax meal + 2 tbsp water

• Mix, then allow to gel for 10 minutes

Starch 

Adding some starch (tapioca or corn) will add chewiness. This isn’t always necessary.

Butter

Coconut Oil

Or Vegan Butter. Coconut oil will work in any cake or cookie, but if you want a buttery-er taste for a crust or shortbread, I would just recommend buying vegan butter! It’s literally as cheap or cheaper than regular butter.

Milk

Any plant milk will work. Literally anything. Maybe with the exception of making cappuccinos… which you’ll need to find a frothier, more emulsified plant milk for. Oatly’s Barista Blend Oatmilk is great, or Califia Farms Almondmilk.

Buttermilk

Curdled plant milk

Mix ~1 tsp vinegar for every ½ cup of plant milk a recipe calls for, and let it sit out for 15 minutes. It may not look curdled, but it will help any baked good rise just as well as buttermilk would.

Caramel

Date paste

Use medjool dates OR soak deglet dates for about an hour in hot water. Then, blend using a food processor with any liquid or plant milk until you have the consistency you want – this can be used as a caramel sauce, or a thicker paste. Add some salt for salted caramel.

Yogurt

Applesauce or banana work well to moisten cakes.

Cream Cheese

Cashews

Soak these, then blend in a food processor. 

---

Vegan Blueberry Scones

3/4 cup coconut milk

2 tsp apple cider vinegar (ACV)

2 cups all purpose (AP) flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1 cup cold vegan butter (any brand or spread is good, solid coconut oil works, too)

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup wild frozen blueberries (the little ones)

Glaze

1 cup powdered sugar

1-2 tbsp plant milk

Oven: 375 F

1. Mix coconut milk and ACV, set aside to curdle ~15 min.

2. In a medium bowl, mix flour and baking powder. Add vegan butter and cut into the flour until mixture is crumbly.

3. Mix in sugar and salt.

4. Mix in vanilla and curdled coconut milk to form dough.

5. Rinse frozen blueberries once or twice and mix into dough (make it blue!).

6. Remove from bowl, form dough into two circles (about 3/4” thick), and cut into eighths (wedges).

7. Bake on parchment paper 18-20 min.

8. While scones are cooling, mix powdered sugar and plant milk to form glaze

9. Drizzle glaze over scones and enjoy! 

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Vegan Pecan Pie

Crust

1 1/4 cup flour

1 tbsp sugar

1 tsp salt

1/3 cup coconut oil (solid)

4 tbsp water

Vegan Pecan Pie Part

1 cup dates (soaked in hot water 10 min-1 hour, medjool are better here than deglet)

1 cup brown sugar + 2 tbsp molasses

2 flax eggs (each is 1 tbsp flax in 3 tbsp water, 15 min to gel)

2 cup pecans chopped (very finely)

1/2 tsp salt

3 tbsp corn starch

1/2 cup coconut milk cream part 

Crust: 

1. Mix together flour, sugar, and salt. Mix in coconut oil.

Pie:

1. Prepare the flax eggs and set aside.

2. In a food processor, blend the dates into a paste (this is where the caramel flavor will come from).

3. Mix together the brown sugar, molasses, and flax eggs. Mix in the cornstarch, salt, and coconut milk cream.

4. Mix pecans in, and pour into pie crust.

5. Bake for 1 hour, and let cool a bit before serving.

---

Vegan pumpkin chocolate chip cookies

1/2 cup coconut oil, solid (not melted at all)

3/4 cups dark brown sugar, packed

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 tablespoons water

1/3 cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie mix!)

2 and 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (be sure not to pack your flour)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

Cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice to taste (we used a lot)

1 and 1/2 cups chocolate chips (use vegan chocolate chips if vegan), divided

Flaky sea salt

Oven: 375 F

Beat oil and sugars until combined and fluffy, then beat in water, pumpkin puree, and vanilla.

1. Add in all dry ingredients and mix.

2. Add chocolate chips and flaky salt on top.

3. Bake 10 min (or more if electric stove) until slight browning on the edges.

---

Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies



1/2 cup (8 tablespoons) vegan coconut spread butter, slightly softened to room temperature
1 cup brown sugar

3 tbsp almond milk


2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract


1 1/2 cups all purpose flour


2 teaspoons tapioca starch


1 teaspoon baking soda


1/4 teaspoon salt


1 bar of chocolate chopped

Oven: 350 F

1. Cream together vegan butter and sugar for 5 min with a hand mixer. Mix in vanilla and almond milk.

2. Add in all dry ingredients and mix well.

3. Mix in chocolate + chocolate shavings.

4. Form balls on baking sheet – bake 10-15 min (want edges a lil brown, centers white and puffy, slight crackling).

5. Let cool.

---

Vegan oatmeal raisin cookies

Dry ingredients

2 cups oats + 1/2 cup oatmeal

3/4 cup + 2 tbsp almond flour

1/4 cup tapioca starch

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 tbsp cinnamon

Wet ingredients

3/4 cups almond milk

1 tsp vanilla

1 flax egg (1 tbsp flax meal + 2 tbsp water sit in the fridge 10 min)

Flavor (optional)

A little molasses

1 cup mixies (chocolate chips or raisins)

2 1/2 tbsp chia seeds

Oven: 375 F

Bake time: 8-10 min

1. Mix together dry ingredients.

2. Add in all wet ingredients.

3. Add flavors (optional).

4. Bake 8-10 minutes, at 375 F.

The View from Booth A1

Growing up in a Chinese restaurant, I had two homes. In many ways, my second home, the restaurant, resembled a real house: it had a kitchen, a dining room, bedrooms, and a front yard—that is, if booths are beds and if parking lots count as grassy lawns. Memories also fill this home: eating fried rice here stopped my crying when I moved to Mississippi; bus #11 dropped me off here from kindergarten onwards; celebrating Lunar New Year here taught me about Chinese culture and traditions. Five places in particular truly made this home. Or as TikTok would say, “five places in New China Restaurant that just make sense.” Let me walk you through them. 

欢迎光临, welcome. First stop, the entrance.

1. The Entrance

With just a neon OPEN sign hanging beside the door, the entrance is unassuming. Prior to the pandemic, a little more than 200 people would walk through the door each day and, about 45 minutes later, walk out. Most people gave little thought to the entrance, but to me, it was a physical separation between Petal, Mississippi and my family. Outside, I was Danny, who spoke English and said “yes ma’am” and “yes sir.” Inside, I was Wei Tian, who spoke a dialect of Chinese and only spoke English to customers. But more importantly, the entrance was also a window into my world, both physically and metaphorically. When I say window, I mean an (almost) literal window; the door and surrounding panes were completely made of glass. Walking in and out, 200 people a day have watched me grow up. There's something vulnerable about growing up in public. But something special, too. Regulars have followed my adventures, and I theirs. 

 2. The Kitchen

Right after the entrance, you’ll see what made New China Restaurant a restaurant: the kitchen. It leaves little to be desired, with woks on woks on woks and a walk-in cooler that provides refuge on hot, humid summer days. I’ll have to admit that I’ve never been the best cook though—just ask my fire alarm or any of my roommates. In fact, one of my first times cooking at the restaurant involved the phrase “don’t pour water into grease,” (luckily I started no fires) a veryemphatic one at that. After this setback, I didn't try to learn how to cook again, which my parents seemed content with, almost too content. But things changed the summer before college when I realized that 1,000 miles would soon separate me from my parents' cooking. That summer, I finally took my second shot in the kitchen, and I learned some of my parents' best recipes, including eggplant with garlic sauce, tomato egg, and short ribs. 

3. The Front Counter

 Stepping back out into the dining room, we’ll pass the front counter, where I spent the majority of the time working. The question I got asked the most was “aren’t you a little young to be working?” As a nine-year-old who could barely see over the counter, I agreed. Over the years, the questions became less about my age and more about our lives. In a small town of 10,000, it was easy to follow along to customers' stories, from engagements to pregnancies to graduations, and my family listened intently as they beamed with pride. All the while, customers closely tracked my sister, brother, and my progress through school and congratulated my mom when she became a U.S. citizen. But it wasn't just milestones; offhand stories and advice on girls were common. I don't remember every story, but I do remember the emotions and warmth they have evoked since childhood. 

4. The Table

In the restaurant, tables are identified by a letter, A-D, and a number, 1-6. My favorite was the one closest to the front counter, A1. I sat here after school every day doing homework as I kept an eye on the counter. I laid my head down on the cold surface here after playing outside. Most of all, it was a place of gathering. On weeknights, my siblings and I ate dinner at home while my parents worked, and other meals depended on the number of customers in the restaurant. On Fridays and Saturdays, though, my family always ate together, no matter how busy or how late. For me, A1 meant consistency and family cohesion.

5. The Dessert Bar

Last but not least, the dessert bar is just a few steps away from A1, right beside the ice cream machine. The dessert bar itself was never meaningful to me, but I grew to find significance in the desserts themselves. Unlike our other buffet lines—where there were typical dishes you’d find in a Chinese restaurant like General Tso’s Chicken, Crab Rangoons, and Lo Mein—the dessert bar included both Chinese and American desserts. We had Chinese pastries alongside brownies and five-spice peanuts with chocolate chip cookies. Not only did we have soy and duck sauce, but we also had ketchup. For me, the dessert bar was a physical representation of my Chinese identity fusing with my American identity.

Looking back, I’ve grown up in New China, but more so, I’ve grown up because of New China. My parents' long shifts meant that I had to learn how to be independent. On the nights after band competitions and concerts, I found ways to safely get home; at open houses, I met with my teachers and collected forms by myself. These five places won't follow me in the future, but the comfort, curiosity, and autonomy they have evoked since childhood will. 

After dessert, 45 minutes have usually passed. Customers walk past A1 and the front counter and through the glass door, ready to come back the next week. 

Miso Walnut Raspberry Crumb Cake

Adapted from Chris Morocco’s blueberry-miso crumb cake. Follow Chris’ original recipe and find Mao’s nutty ingredient list below. 

CRUMBLE

• 5 tbsp wholewheat flour

• 2.5 tbsp brown sugar 

• 2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

• 1 heaping tbsp miso 

CAKE

• 7 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

• ¾ cups wholewheat flour

• ½ heaping tsp baking powder 

• 1 tsp salt

• ⅛ tsp baking soda

• 1 medium egg

• ⅓ cup brown sugar

• ⅓ cup greek yogurt

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• Handful of fruit 

Happy Thanksgiving! I Killed Your Turkey.

At Three Peas Farm, the animals have transcended “free range.” The turkeys in particular know no bounds—they lounge on the farmhouse’s brand new wraparound porch, the kid’s jungle gym, and the driver’s seat of your car if you leave the doors open and unattended (they also like it if you leave the keys in the ignition with a full tank of gas). They sleep on the roof and peck the farmer’s window at dawn demanding breakfast. The farmers’ five-year-old son named them Holler and Abilene, Snoopy and Burger, as they took turns getting hugs on his lap. They were our pets, and on Saturday, October 17th, we slaughtered and froze them.

Owner, farmer, and turkey mama Amy holding Abilene

I decided to live my cottagecore gap year on Eric and Amy’s pint-sized organic farm in rural Washington. While I didn’t move here to farm (I’m one of the many tenants renting a room while serving an AmeriCorps term), living amongst the vegetable patches and roving chickens, turkeys, ducks, and rabbits was an opportunity to understand the gritty work that fills our supermarket shelves. With Thanksgiving’s main course squawking around the property, the part of agriculture we’d most like to forget suddenly became, quite literally, my own backyard. 

I was eager to help, and not just because a turkey pecked me in the crotch during an important ZOOM meeting the week before. I’ve been struggling to justify eating meat for years, balancing its obvious moral and environmental shortcomings with its irresistible taste and abundant protein. Red meat was off my menu because of its carbon footprint, but I still ate a turkey sandwich every day for lunch. This could be the decisive battle of my dietary war: was I willing to kill an animal, to spill real blood, just to sate my palate?

We started at lunchtime on a grey Saturday. The sounds of the farm—turkey gobbles and kindergartner shrieks and dog barks—were absent in the minutes before the first kill. It was just the wind and our few words of preparation. My housemates had set up a white pop-up tent with three white folding tables: one with big coolers to hold the birds, one with hot water and bleach to prepare our knives, and one to disembowel and clean. There was also a plucker and a partitioned area containing the kill cone (yes, the kill cone) where the actual slaughter would occur.

Three Peas Farm

Eric went in search of a bird. Until the moment he scooped it up in a towel and brought it to the cone, it was an average day in its turkey life, comprised of walking around, picking its last bit of food, getting one last turd on the porch. With difficulty, he got the turkey upside down in the cone (which is basically a bullhorn on a post), where, while whispering and stroking its head, he waited for its twitching to stop as it lulled into unconsciousness. Then Eric, the only vegetarian of our group, stabbed a pithing stick through its jugular and into the brainstem. After a disquieting pause, the bird began bucking its wings and legs in its autonomic nervous system’s last bid at life.

“With Thanksgiving’s main course squawking around the property, the part of agriculture we’d most like to forget suddenly became, quite literally, my own backyard.”

The turkey was dead, but it wasn’t close to being food. We put it through the plucker, a big metal cauldron lined with rubber rods, that, when the floor spun, whipped the bird against the walls to knock the feathers loose. I’d always imagined that a plucker, well, plucked the bird with care and precision. This was more like a shakedown, with limbs flailing around pell-mell as the feathers were ripped off. Eric used pruning shears to cut off their dragon-scale legs and placed the pink body on the bleached white folding table—my station. 

To be technical, what came next was the evisceration of the bird. To spare you any more gruesome details (I know, a little too late, right?) I’ll give you the short version. We threw its guts and organs and sacs of goop into five gallon buckets, washed it with a hose to remove the blood, and lifted its wings to tweezer out any last feathers. Its flesh wasn’t yet cold when we put it in the cooler.

While we worked, chickens and turkeys sauntered about our feet. Some tried to drink the wastewater from the plucker. A few chickens investigated the bloody canopic buckets. Two even decided our makeshift morgue was the perfect place to get it on. I still haven’t decided if I was more comforted by the animals’ casual approach to death or worried at their interest in cannibalism.

This is the part where I tell you I was horrified by the carnage and haven’t eaten the flesh of our feathered friends since. Unfortunately, that would be a lie. I still have my daily turkey sandwich; I sear up juicy, spiced chicken breasts for quesadillas and pitas; and come Thanksgiving, when Snoopy’s on the table, I’m digging in. 

Abilene (left) and Holler (right) were pardoned by the farm’s five-year-old. The couple enjoys their retirement lording over the smaller birds

Frankly, it bothers me that the process didn’t bother me more. In some ways, I actually felt better about eating meat—at least if the animals are raised like ours. Rotating its hip to pull out one last feather was proof that meat wasn’t corn syrup and horse toenails and glue squeezed into a tube (at least our meat wasn’t). Thighs, drumsticks, tenders all corresponded to the anatomy of a real creature. Somehow, the farm-to-table movement of the past decades has made me care more that my food is natural than if it’s ethical. 

Of course, there is no better life for a turkey than on Three Peas Farm (putting aside the terror that must come from an overexcited five year-old), but their ultimate purpose is the same. I think I can accept that truth, knowing they have one really bad day in an otherwise enviable life. Deep down, though, I know it's a fallacy to extend that to what I buy in the supermarket. We sold our turkeys for $5/lb, meaning a good sized bird was nearly $100. That’s the cost to do it right. At my local Safeway, the right set of coupons fills your thanksgiving table for 50¢/lb. That prices a similar bird at barely ten bucks. Ten dollars swapped for five months of an animal’s existence. Imagining what agricultural horrors make life that cheap makes me queasy.

“Frankly, it bothers me that the process didn’t bother me more. In some ways, I actually felt better about eating meat—at least if the animals are raised like ours.”

I love a good deal (especially while I’m on a full-time volunteer’s salary). However, with meat, eggs, or dairy, odds are that deal comes at a cost ultimately borne by the animal. My experience with poultry processing has transformed “free range” and “grassfed” and “organic” from abstracted slogans into moral signposts. Knowing what I know, I should pony up to buy from a farm like ours or opt for the tofurkey. 

Processing meat defined my feelings on animal welfare and continually pushes me to shop accordingly. But buying ethically-raised meat doesn’t absolve me of the larger issue with industrial meat production: its abysmal effects on climate change. Animal rights are just one piece of the larger food industry’s environmental entanglement; a well-cared for chicken can still harm our fragile planet. 

I’m building an ethical relationship with meat as a stopgap, hoping that one day I’ll have the willpower and the knowhow to give up animal products entirely. Then, I’ll truly eat by my values. But for now, I’m Sam Bezilla, animal-rights carnivore, aspiring vegetarian, and one day vegan. 

How to Shop Like a Chef

Grocery stores are scary. Not in a shit-your-pants kind of way, but in an anxiety producing way, like when a waiter asks you what you’d like to order and you’re not really sure what you want, but you also don’t want to ask for more time, but you can’t really decide and… you get the point.

There’s simply too much choice. Oftentimes we overshop, leaving us with too much food and a ton of waste, creating both financial and environmental burdens. Plus, recipes typically don’t plan for each other (rude, right?), so one recipe may use up too much of one ingredient, making it impossible to cook a recipe you had planned for the next night. 

Shopping doesn’t have to be this way. Instead of being held captive by certain recipes or buying too many vegetables only to see them wither in the fridge, buy ingredients that can easily be used in a wide range of dishes. Our mindset has to change: we need to minimize waste and maximize the possibilities that we have with our food. This allows us to make the most of the money we spend on food; eating delicious, cheap, and healthy food all starts with shopping.

“Cooking on a budget doesn’t mean totally minimizing how much you spend on food (living on rice and beans is cheap, but not too pleasant); it means spending on ingredients that give you the most bang for your buck.”

When I shop, I divide up my list into several categories. First, I have starches/carbs. This usually means rice. pasta, bread, and some grains like farro or cornmeal. I tend to buy these ingredients in bulk, since they will last forever if stored in a cool, dry place. Potatoes are kind of the exception, so I tend to buy no more than 3 weeks worth at any time. Since there’s a starch in almost every meal I make, it’s useful to have a variety so that I can swap out carbs for whatever I’m feeling and don’t get bored. I don’t buy them too often; only when I run low on these staples.

Next, proteins. This is usually the core component of the meal, and I typically base my recipe around whatever protein I’ve decided to make. For me, proteins include eggs, meat products, and alternative proteins like tofu or tempeh. However, it’s totally possible to just consider this category one for “centerpiece” vegetables, such as a cauliflower steak or a big roasted root vegetable medley. Whatever your preference, I would buy enough protein ingredients for about two meals a day for a week unless you have the freezer space to store more. Variety is also great here. If like me you aren’t ready to switch to vegetarianism but are conscious of your environmental impact, the guiding principle here is to buy less but better-raised and higher quality meat. This “centerpiece” is where it’s worth spending a bit more. Cooking on a budget doesn’t mean totally minimizing how much you spend on food (living on rice and beans is cheap, but not too pleasant); it means spending on ingredients that give you the most bang for your buck.

We all just want to be looked at the way James looks at his Beet Gnocchi.

Speaking of value ingredients, one of the big keys to cooking great food cheaply is investing in high-flavor ingredients, such as soy sauce, sambal and other hot sauces, sesame oil, lemons/citrus, vinegar, and mustards. While some of these ingredients may seem expensive (sauces at $5 each can really add up!), they provide the most flavor per dollar and can elevate tons of simple meals. Lots of these ingredients can be bought in larger quantities if you want to save money, and they bring a lot of flavor to the table cheaply (you don’t need to add that much to any dish). It’s also really fun to experiment here! Buy a new sauce or try new kinds of mustard and vinegar. This is a great way to learn about new ingredients and incorporate them into your repertoire, which is one of my favorite parts about cooking!

I lump oil, spices, and sugar into one category. These are staples that make their way into pretty much every meal. I think there’s really only two oils that are absolutely necessary: some kind of high-heat cooking oil (I like canola, but vegetable oil is also great) and extra-virgin olive oil. The high-heat cooking oil is needed for stir-frying, sauteing, shallow frying, greasing pans, and 90% of cooking tasks. Extra-virgin olive oil loses its flavor at high temperatures, so it’s used mostly for salad dressings and finishing pastas or roasted vegetables.

 Spices are a little harder to buy. Salt (is that a spice?) is an absolute necessity. Sea salt and kosher salt are both worth having in the kitchen. Depending on on cuisine you like to cook, different spices will be considered staples. I think it’s worth buying spices based on the dishes you know you’ll make the most. Once you have an idea of your most frequently used spices, buy them in larger quantities to save money. I have a huge container of peppercorns, garlic powder, chili powder, and red pepper flakes. For a American/Western palate, this works for most of what I need to cook, but it’s up to you.

“Here’s a basic formula that will work for many meals: Pick a starch, a protein and a cooking method for each. With those ingredients in mind, think about what vegetables you have that will work, and use the flavors and spices you have on hand accordingly.”

 For sugar, I think buying one granulated white sugar bag, a smaller light brown sugar bag, and a container of honey will cover 95% of all sweetener needs for the beginner home cook. Depending on whether you plan on baking a lot, powdered sugar may also be worth it. While raw sugars and alternative liquid sweeteners like agave are nice, I find them a bit too expensive for what they offer. Just get the basics; explore once you get comfortable.

Now to produce. This is the hardest to shop for, since fruits and vegetables all spoil at different rates, need different storage options, and it’s difficult to plan for how much you need. The solution: buy a mix of long-lasting and fast-spoiling fruits and vegetables that can be used in many different meals. Pretty much any root vegetable will last for a long time if stored in a cool, dark, dry place. I love getting lots of carrots, parsnips, and onions so that I always have cheap, flavorful, vegetables on hand. Fast-spoiling produce, like tomatoes, salad greens, herbs, and berries are often the most expensive produce we buy and the most likely to go bad before we even use it. The key to getting the most out of these purchases is buying produce that can be used in many different dishes. If that sounds like what I’ve said for all the other categories, that’s because buying flexible ingredients is always the best option, but with produce it’s even more important. So you don’t need to buy three dozen heads of cauliflower.

If you buy flexible, you also have to cook flexible. We’ll release more recipes on this blog, but I think the best way to cook is to have an idea of all the things you can do with the ingredients you have on hand. So as you near the end of the week and run low on some ingredients while having more of others, you’ll be a bit less flexible but will still have enough staples to throw together good meals and high-flavor ingredients that bring out the best of your cooking. Here’s a basic formula that will work for many meals: Pick a starch, a protein and a cooking method for each. With those ingredients in mind, think about what vegetables you have that will work, and use the flavors and spices you have on hand accordingly. Here’s an example: couscous with grilled fish would go well with some greens and citrus, so I’ll use some spicier flavors with the couscous and the vegetables. As you learn to cook more, you’ll get more and more flexible with the ingredients you have. Plus, it’s always fun to experiment with one or more of the components to your meal! With flexible ingredients in mind, grocery shopping can be stress-free and finding new ingredients can be really exciting!

Sample Grocery List

OIL

• Canola oil

• Extra-virgin olive oil

SUGAR

• White sugar

• Light brown sugar

• Honey

SPICES 

• Kosher salt

• Sea salt

• Black Pepper

• Garlic Powder

• Chili Powder

• Red Pepper Flakes

• Paprika

• Thyme

• Sage

• Cumin

HIGH-FLAVOR

• Lemons

• Limes

• Rice wine vinegar

• Peanut butter (Added to bread and also a component for sauces!)

• Cholula Hot sauce

• Sambal Olek (a kind of hot sauce)

• Harissa (a kind of hot sauce)

• Soy sauce

• Dijon Mustard

CARBS

• Medium-grain rice

• Steel-cut oats

• All-purpose flour

• Couscous

• Boxed pasta (Macaroni, Farfalle, Bucatini, Radiatori) 

• Cereal

PROTEIN/CORE

• Boneless skinless chicken thighs

• Extra-firm tofu

• Ground beef (80/20 Chuck)

• Ground pork

• Eggs

PRODUCE

• Baby Spinach

• Bell Peppers

• Baby bella mushrooms

• Bag of onions

• Bag of potatoes

• Carrots

• Bananas (no more than 1 bunch a week for me because they go brown to fast)

• Strawberries

• Apples

• Head of cauliflower

• Head of broccoli

• Romaine lettuce

• Eggplant

• Cucumbers

• Head of garlic

• Knob of ginger

• Cilantro

• Parsley

• Green onions

Image Credits: "Shopping on Aisle Eight" by arbyreed is licensed with CC BY-NC-SA 2.0SD. Photo of James Han by Josh Cough