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There’s hardly a Hoosier alive who doesn’t love a good cookbook, gardening book, or a how-to type of book. Earth Eats: Real Food Green Living by Annie Corrigan with Daniel Orr combines all of the above into one user-friendly manual dedicated to local food.
You may already be familiar with the Earth Eats brand. It’s a noteworthy WFIU radio show and a podcast hosted by Annie Corrigan and chef/gardener Daniel Orr.
FARMBloomington may be another familiar face. I did include the fabulous restaurant (and image) on my big guide on Indiana farm-to-fork restaurants. He is an author of multiple cookbooks.
Together, Annie Corrigan and Daniel Orr form an awesome powerhouse of sustainable living knowledge and local food resources and recipes.
This cookbook and how-to manual are no different.
Earth Eats: Real Food Green Living
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This cookbook is laid out in a different way than what you are used to because it isn’t only a cookbook.
Instead of sections for meats, desserts, and sides, Earth Eats is divided into seasons. Given its emphasis on using local foods, that was a smart move that will help you easily make use of your garden bounty–or at least what you can find at your local Indiana farmer’s market.
Local food, according to Annie Corrigan is “food grown close by, picked fresh, and prepared in your kitchen.”
It’s a collaborative effort, featuring recipes and tips from gardeners and chefs who know their field and are ready to share their favorite tips and tricks to help anyone create a better meal, snack, or dessert or take better care of their homestead.
You’ll find sections titled: “spring, summer, fall, and winter.” The first chapter jumps into spring, sharing how to grow a garden, to only grow the foods you will actually use and provides advice on composting (including a composting recipe) so the fruits of your labor will actually grow and thrive.
The chapter is followed by recipes to make good use of that spring harvest, like Saag: Indian style mustard greens, stir fried baby bok choy, and sesame roasted kale (to name a few).
Discover information for keeping your chickens healthy, advice on beekeeping, info on CSA programs, and a little info on maple syrup farms. If you want to try your hand at foraging for foods you will certainly enjoy the information on hunting for them.
That’s spring in a nutshell. The chapter is rounded out with recipes that run the range, using every bit of your spring harvest. You are wondering how a cookbook like that will handle a Hoosier winter, aren’t you?
In Earth Eats, the emphasis lies with those too often overlooked vegetables. The swiss chard, Brussels sprouts, collard greens, carrots, turnips, parsnips, and then some. Winter doesn’t have to mean a lack of fresh veggies. You just have to plan ahead and look to your year-round farmer’s markets to fill-in-the-blanks.
Recipes include selections from Carmelized Turnips and Pears (a recipe from FARMBloomington that takes advantage of Daniel Orr’s family farm along the Ohio River) to Sweet Potato Fries to Roasted Celery Root Soup. Soul-warming goodness.
Don’t miss the interesting twists like Caribbean-inspired hot chocolate or the eggnog. I’ll drink to that.
No-Bake Strawberry Rhubarb Tart Recipe from Earth Eats
There are more than 200 recipes with over 140 full-color images. With almost 300 pages, you know it is a substantial read that’s chock full of things you have always wanted to know but didn’t know where to turn.
Speaking of things you have always wanted to know…how does a recipe for a no-bake strawberry and rhubarb tart sound to you? This is pulled straight from the Earth Eats book (with permission from the publisher).
You know my love for all rhubarb recipes. This recipe and the rest of this info-packed book could prove to be a valuable addition to my collection–and yours too, don’t you think?
No-Bake Strawberry Rhubarb Tart
Ingredients
- 3 1/2 – 4 Cups Rhubarb (cut into 1/4"–1/2" pieces)
- 1/2 Cup Sugar
- Fresh Strawberries
- Strawberry Jam
- Prepared Pastry Shells
Instructions
- Cook rhubarb and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat for 15 – 20 minutes.
- The rhubarb will cook down and become tender, from a celery-like consistency to more of an apple-butter consistency.
- Meanwhile, combine strawberries with strawberry jam.
- To assemble the tart, spread rhubarb compote into a prebaked pu? pastry shell.
- Top with strawberries.
Yes, there are more delicious things where that came from. Look for the new Earth Eats: Real Food Green Living on Amazon, the publisher, and at all the wonderful bookstores near you.
Join in the fun of a new book release with the Earth Eats book launch party at FARMbloomington by FARMbloomington Restaurant Chef-Owner Daniel Orr tonight, May 10, 2017, from 5 PM – 7 PM. Enter and leave as you wish.
This all-ages event is free for those with a ticket and includes one cocktail and small bites (until they run out). Yes, there will be a cash bar available and of course, there are going to be books available for sale and signing so you can meet the authors.
Park on the street or in the lot behind the building (the first three hours are free).
RSVP for the Earth Eats book launch party here.
When the excitement of the book launch is over, there’s more where that came from. You can tune into the Earth Eats program and stay on top of the latest news you can actually use. Earth Eats airs on WFIU HD1 each Saturday morning at 7:30 AM.
Follow Earth Eats on Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter.
Little Indiana received a copy of Earth Eats for review. Opinions remain hers alone. Images and recipe used with permission from Indiana University Press.