Introducing the new "power food", a raw broccoli salad made sweet with fruit and nuts and tossed in a simple vinaigrette. It's a favorite with kids and grownups alike, light and fresh and fruity. COMPLIMENTS! "We took this salad to a potluck - it was a real hit!" ~ Doris "...it was delicious!" ~ Tziiki Parents know that kids really do say the darndest things. One night, friends from the next town over nvited me to join them for supper, Mom, Dad and sons Andrew and Nate. We sat down to chicken, rice and a big platter of steamy-green broccoli. I asked if the boys’ play toys included Power Rangers. “Sure!” exclaimed detail-happy Andrew and listed off Power Ranger guys. I conjured a dramatic voice. “Do you know,” I began, pausing for effect, “that broccoli is a power food?” Gregarious Nate looked impressed, as if glad to learn something so important. “No, I didn’t know that!” And hence our table conversation turned to power

Welcome to a special edition of Kitchen Parade, an introduction to Iowa 'pioneers' who are raising pork for Niman Ranch with new-but-old practices. If you like, skip straight to this week's featured recipe for Thick Chops with Mustard Crust , a 2003 column published online today for the first time. Otherwise, prepare to meet some happy pigs ... If there is a single place from which this country emits a steady heartbeat, it’s the swells and dales of Iowa, the state that means ‘beautiful land’ in the language of one its native tribes, the Ioway. Lub-dub, lub-dub. The more urban our country, the further the separation from our agrarian roots. And thus we must travel farther — or stretch deeper like trees reaching for water during drought — to seek out and understand the sources of our nourishment. Lub-dub, lub-dub, lub-dub. In early September, Elise Bauer and I joined a group of chefs and other passionate food people in Iowa as the guests of Niman Ranch , the m

Oatmeal cookies with a twist, a banana twist, that is. Move over, banana bread! They're slightly chewy and sweet with real, ripe banana flavor. Real Food, Fast & Fresh. Great for After School Treat. Budget Friendly. Low Fat, Just Two Tablespoons Butter for 30 Cookies. Rave Reviews. What're you waiting for?!

A 2005 column, republished in 2007 As women grow up, grow older, are we destined to shadow our mothers? In first unwitting and then unwilling but unstoppable mimicry of her Depression-era mother, my friend Jan finds herself rinsing plastic bread sacks to dry overnight above the sink, a 1950s homemaker frugality that once annoyed, no infuriated, her. Here, I saved last night’s leftover beans (two whole beans!) for today’s lunch. More tellingly, the pantry holds a long-empty glass bottle, appealing for its shape and lovely Aegean blue. It might be useful some time – you know, in case I ever make a fruity vinegar or a rosemary-tinged olive oil, never mind that I never have and likely never will. If I’m to shadow my mother, please, please, please let it be in knowing a thousand tricks for easy suppers like this simple COFFEE CHOP rather than a thousand potential uses for a thousand pretty bottles. ALANNA's TIPS This recipe illustrates the classic technique for qui