VegNews.com is currently running my interview with vegetarian chef Rachel Demuth. I met Rachel earlier this year at her fantastic Fast and Delicious Cooking Course in Bath, England (click here for photos). Rachel was kind enough to share some advice with me on how to gain more speed and confidence in the kitchen, plus a delicious recipe for Slow Roasted Red Peppers with Smoky Chickpeas (reprinted below).
I can vouch for this recipe, as I’ve made it myself for a dinner party a few weeks back. The peppers were as delicious as they were simple to prepare and made the perfect compliment to my Muhammara Kebabs and Tim’s spiced couscous. I can also vouch for Rachel’s cookery school. I had so much fun and I’m still making the recipes we learned in class (just yesterday I made her roasted butternut squash and beetroot salad).
If you’re ever in Bath, and don’t have time for a whole cooking lesson, definitely check out Rachel’s restaurant. The first time I ate at Demuths, I was so wowed I bought the cookbook, visited the website, subscribed to the newsletter, and even emailed Rachel to ask how she made her phenomenal salad (yes, she wrote me back personally, with the recipe and all!). Now I consider Demuths one of the best restaurants in all of England. It’s really superb. But if you can’t get to Bath, she also has two excellent cookbooks: Green Seasons
and Green World
, both of which I own, and both of which have provided endless inspiration for fresh, seasonal vegetarian dishes.
Now, on to more immediate gratification: a recipe!
Slow Roasted Red Peppers with Smoky Chickpeas
Serves 4
2 large red peppers, halved and deseeded
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1 (14-ounce) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
12 cherry tomatoes, halved
2 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
4 sage leaves, chopped
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
Pre-heat the oven to 390 degrees. Oil a baking dish and rub olive oil all over the peppers. Place them, cut side up in the baking dish on top of the thyme.
Divide the chickpeas between the peppers (extras can be placed around the peppers).
Divide the tomatoes and garlic between the peppers and push in between the chickpeas. Sprinkle with the chopped sage. Mix together the paprika and olive oil and drizzle over and around the peppers.
Bake for 40 to 50 minutes. The skin of the peppers should be just starting to blacken and be soft but still holding their shape. Serve garnished with chopped parsley and season to taste.
Recipe from Green Seasons Cookbook by Rachel Demuth.
And don’t forget to check out my interview with Rachel in Vegnews: England’s Vegetarian Cookery School.
Crossposted to SmarterFitter.com
Things have been a little quiet around here. I just started a part-time gig teaching at the Open University, the UK’s distance learning government-supported university. My students just submitted their first assignment and, for the first time since grad school, I’m inundated with papers to grade. I don’t mind, though. The class has been going well, I like my students, and I actually enjoy the “feedback” part of the grading process. This is a far cry from the differential equations (aka “Diffy Q” aka “Diffy Screw”) class I TA’d at University of Texas. It makes a huge difference teaching a.) to a smaller class (20 vs 200) and 2.) to “grown-ups” rather than undergrads.
But I didn’t start this post to wax nostalgic, so let me get to the point.
One of the BIG HUGE benefits of teaching at Open University is that every year I’m eligible for a fee waiver of up to £1,190 for any course of my course. This is a pretty major benefit and I don’t want to pass it up. The thing is, I’m totally stumped as to what to take. My goals are kind of … varied.
This is the question I posted to Directgov’s career advice forum:
I’m a freelance writer in the health and fitness space, with a bent towards nutrition and vegetarian cooking. I write for several publications, including my own blog. I’m really looking to become an authority in this space and I’m wondering what kind of coursework or degree would get me there. I already possess and MSc in Applied Maths and Computer Science. What can I add to increase my credibility and an expert in health, fitness and nutrition?
Yep, I’m just a few months away from 30 and I still don’t know what to do with my life.
Current course candidates are (and the list keeps growing):
This is total Amazon Associates candy, but still funny and proof that there’s a market for all kinds of writing: Ridiculous Book Titles
Such as…
Old Tractors and the Men Who Love Them: How to Keep Your Tractors Happy and Your Family Running
The Thermodynamics of Pizza
Tea Bag Folding
Lightweight Sandwich Construction
The Art and Craft of Pounding Flowers: No Ink, No Paint, Just a Hammer
The History of Lesbian Hair
How to Succeed in Business without a Penis
Dining Posture in Ancient Rome
Whose Bottom Is This?
Straight Talk About Surgical Penis Enlargement
Scouts in Bondage
People Who Don’t Know They’re Dead: How They Attach Themselves To Unsuspecting bystanders and what to do about it
Get Your Tongue Out of My Mouth, I’m Kissing You Good-bye!
Even God Is Single, So Stop Giving Me A Hard Time
Circumcisions by Appointment
Click on the images to read funny Flickr notes about Tim’s and my home office.
Writer’s Residence has been coming along. Slowly. I’ve started a blog to help with our marketing efforts. It’s been an interesting learning experience and I’m glad to see that it’s far easier to gain traction in the writing blogosphere than the fitness blogosphere.
Speaking of fitness, I’ve been keeping a daily food/photo diary at SmarterFitter, part of an experiment for an article I’d like to write on food diaries. Check it out.
Seems all this writing and blogging elsewhere has kept me from keeping up a personal blog. That’s me, “all business.” Not really.
I just got my copy of the December 2008 issue of VegNews Magazine featuring my article (!!!) about veggie travel in London! I’ve been waiting for months to see this in print and am not disappointed by the result. Not only did I write the article, but it also features four of my photos.
You can check out the article by clicking on the thumbnails below, visiting my portfolio or better yet, by picking up a copy of VegNews!
VegEscapes: London Calling
In case you haven’t heard, I’m guest-posting today on Freelancewritingtips.com, Linda Jones’ incredibly useful blog of tips, inspiration and advice for freelance writers. Linda has been awesome enough to let me share a few of my own tips. Thanks, Linda!
Now go check out the post!
Monica Shaw’s tips on starting an online writing portfolio
I’ve been pimping out my online portfolio a bit. I see it as an essential marketing tool for getting people signed up to Writer’s Residence. I want it to be THE example I show people when demonstrating what Writer’s Residence is capable of. I’m also hoping it helps ME get a few more writing gigs of my own.
Check out my portfolio and let me know what you think.
You may already know that I’m bonkers for Bircher muesli. This week, I continue to spread the word over at Diets In Review. Check out the post for a little history lesson and a tasty recipe.
Here’s a snip:
In 1900, Bircher invented the now famous “muesli cereal”. His original recipe is vastly different from the sugar-coated, toasted muesli we typically find in the grocery store today. Instead, Bircher combined soaked oats, fruit and nuts with grated apple and lemon juice to create a naturally sweet breakfast cereal designed to energize and heal the body.
For any raw foodies in the audience, be aware that rolled oats aren’t raw (they are usually steamed before packaging). However, you can sub sprouted buckwheat or whole oat groats for a totally raw breakfast treat.
Read on for the recipe…
Veggie Breakfast Bircher Muesli [Diets in Review]
Crossposted to SmarterFitter.com
Now that Tim and I have released Writer’s Residence, we’re in full-tilt marketing mode. Meanwhile, I’m trying to get my own freelance writing career off the ground, an entirely different beast in itself. Or is it? Both are marketing problems, and it doesn’t end at the commission or the sale. The writer has to sell their work to the reader, as well, usually by creating a hook, and then working that in to the rest of the piece to keep the reader’s attention.
Tim sent me an interesting article that talks about the parallels between this writing approach and effective marketing:
For a web site, you start with a Hook that’s short, sweet and above all else is an idea that everybody can get. Then you start working through your message, getting more detailed, more technical, more finegrained. As the reader (or viewer, or listener) goes down the trail you’ve laid out, take the time to connect back to what you’ve already said, what you’ve already started to explain. Use the power of association to make it easy to follow the dots.
To reach customers, layer your message
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