The secret to easy weeknight vegetables
In her book, she not only shares her favorite recipes for vegetable side dishes, but also offers tips and strategies for how and why to bring more veggies to your plate and bowl.Mk:I never had a mission about convincing people not to eat meat;I sometimes eat meat myself.What i really care about is seeing vegetables featured on everybody's dinner plate, regardless of whether it's on the plate with meat, tofu, or an omelet.I want vegetables to be something people fall in love with, get totally enthused about.That's my mission.Ww:How can people bring more vegetables into their diet?Mk:I think people need to peruse the produce section of their favorite grocery store and make friends with the people who run that section.They're usually specialists.Find out what's in season, if the produce is local.If they can get to a farmers' market, that's great.And what i suggest people do may seem like a bit of a chore at first, but when people start doing it, they love it is buy vegetables like leafy greens, green beans, broccoli, and cauliflower.Then when they get home from the store, they should put up a big pot of water to boil with a little pinch of salt and then blanch everything.You don't even need to cut it first.Just take a stalk of broccoli, cut it into two big broccoli spears.Get it into the boiling water for a minute or less.Get the green beans into the water;You don't even need to trim them first.Blanch kale and all the leafy greens.Squeeze out the excess water, let the vegetables drain.Then pack them into zipstyle plastic bags and put them in your refrigerator or your freezer.And what you give yourself by doing this is:Your vegetables will take up half the space in the refrigerator because blanching them compacts them.Their shelf life is sometimes more than doubled, which means your broccoli won't go bad in three days.You've created an instant vegetable side dish because from that blanched state to the table is 10 minutes or less.From that blanched state, warm some olive oil in a shallow pan and heat the vegetable in it with some garlic, salt and pepper.People love this.Once they start doing it, they're hooked.The other thing that i point out in the book is that small touches go a long way for flavor.Research shows that a little bit of olive oil or a good monounsaturated oil like a nut oil is very healthy.It actually helps us absorb the nutrients from the vegetables.You don't cook with the roasted nut oil, you just dress the vegetables with it before you serve them;It's a beautiful flavor boost that adds nutrients and satiety.And when the vegetable tastes that good, people want seconds.I want the experience of cooking and eating vegetables to be joyful and delicious.I also want people especially people who are watching their weight to understand that one of the great things about vegetables is that, in most cases, they're a highvolume freebie.You can eat a lot of them.So, you can go through an entire bunch of broccoli if you need to nibble.It's a lot of mouth pleasure for very few calories.Ww:What's your absolute alltime favorite vegetable?Mk:My alltime favorites are so unsexy!I love squash.I especially love roasted butternut squash with walnut oil and pomegranates.It might be one of my favorite dishes in my book.But, i really adore brussels sprouts and kale.People look at me like i'm some kind of total weirdo. "You're excited about those vegetables?Passionately in love with them? "I am.I love kale;I have four different kinds in my garden and i'm always out there picking it, giving it away, eating it.I'm just a kale freak.And brussels sprouts roasted in the oven at 425f or even hotter, until they're crispy around the edges, with olive oil.That recipe is also in the book.Brussels sprouts are not for everybody, but i'm just crazy about them.Preheat the oven to 425f.Line a baking tray with foil and coat it with oil.Place the brussels sprouts cutside down on the prepared tray, moving them around so the cut surfaces touch some of the oil.Place the tray in the center of the oven for 10 minutes.At this point, shake the tray and/or use tongs to redistribute the sprouts so more surfaces can come into contact with the hot oil.Roast for another 5 minutes, or until a taste test tells you the sprouts are done to your liking. (They will cook a little further, from their own heat, after they come out of the oven. )Remove the tray from the oven and let the sprouts cool for about 10 minutes on the baking tray.You can salt them lightly during this time, if you wish.Serve hot, warm or at room temperature.
800 in bag fees for Army unit returning from Afghanistan ignites backlash
Washington delta air lines hastily changed its baggage fees for troops wednesday after a youtube video showed soldiers complaining that they had to pay $200 apiece to check extra bags as they made their way home from afghanistan.
The video was posted tuesday and was viewed almost 200, 000 times before it was removed the next day by the person who put it up.By wednesday afternoon, a facebook page called boycott delta for soldiers had sprung up, and the airline was backpedaling and apologizing to the soldiers.
In the video, titled"Delta airlines welcomes soldiers home,"Two army staff sergeants say their unit was told it would cost $200 apiece to check a fourth bag on a tuesday morning flight from the baltimorewashington airport to atlanta a total bill of more than $2, 800.
The defense department typically reimburses such costs, which the soldiers may not have known before they made their displeasure
Ralph Lauren Outlet known.The airline said late wednesday that it would refund the fees if the government doesn't cover the bill.By then, the public relations damage to delta was done.
In the video, one sergeant, robert o'hair, wearing a camouflage uniform and sitting inside the plane, says his fourth bag was a weapons case containing an m4 carbine rifle, a grenade launcher and a 9millimeter pistol that he had used in afghanistan.
"The tools i used to protect myself and afghan citizens while i was deployed,"O'hair says.
With a bite to his voice, the other sergeant fred hilliker of allendale, mich.Closes the video: "Good business model, delta.Thank you.We're actually happy to be back to america.God bless america.Not happy, not happy at all.Appreciate it.
Initially, delta apologized to the soldiers but didn't change its policy.It posted a blog item attributed to an anonymous customer service representative explaining that delta allows troops traveling in economy
Louis Vuitton Bags uk class up to three bags free but charges for the fourth.
As the storm of online complaints about the incident grew, the airline posted a new blog item wednesday saying fourth bags will now be free for troops traveling in economy class and five bags will be free for those traveling in business class.
In a blog post, delta said it regretted"That this experience caused these soldiers to feel anything but welcome on their return home. "Airline officials declined to answer further questions.
One sergeant in the video said the unit was returning from afghanistan to fort polk in louisiana.Paul boyce, a spokesman for army forces command, said the soldiers who made the video weren't available for interviews.
"I don't know if delta is going to reimburse these individual soldiers or not, but i do know that we would,"Boyce said. "In the past, the airlines, if there's been some sort of a misunderstanding, have done that. "
At least some of the soldiers traveling on the flight were with an army reserve unit based in oklahoma, boyce said.He said troops on the plane were returning from a military training center in kabul.He did not have the name of their unit.
It was not clear why the video was removed from youtube.The soldiers in the video also did not explain the total bill of more than $2, 800 in detail.
It's not unusual for returning soldiers to check weapons when flying on a commercial airline if the weapons have been certified as unloaded, said joe davis, a spokesman for the veterans of foreign wars' washington office, who was critical of the fee.
"A $200 bill for extra baggage by a governmentcontracted airline is the worst welcome home any soldier could receive,"Davis said.He acknowledged the troops would be reimbursed but said,"The shock of even being charged is enough to make most servicemen and women simply shake their heads and wonder who or what it is they are protecting. "
The incident underscored how quickly a company's reputation can be tarnished when a web video, online picture or posting goes viral.And airline passengers have made no secret of their hatred of baggage fees, which have become common in recent years.
The lesson, said jonathan bernstein, president of bernstein crisis management inc., is that companies should let airline workers make decisions in the name of good customer service.In this case, the delta employee who handled the fee was just following the rules of delta air lines inc.
"Then those situations never have to escalate into crises,"Bernstein said. "They(Delta) end up with a hit on their reputation that Theycould have avoided. "
On youtube, facebook and other websites, posts were overwhelmingly critical of the airline, some suggesting that delta was insensitive to the tough conditions troops face in afghanistan and that flying them home completely free was the least the airline could do.
At least one congressman joined the fray.Rep.Bruce braley, diowa, called on delta to immediately reimburse the soldiers.
"Since being elected to congress, i have logged hundreds of thousands of miles on delta the only carrier serving my home airport in waterloo,"Braley said in a statement. "If delta doesn't reimburse these soldiers and reconsider its approach to servicing our troops, i'll have to reconsider using their service. "
Other airlines have policies similar to the one that got delta in trouble.United and american both allow three checked bags for free for active duty military personnel.