Getty Anna - Anna Gettys Easy Green Organic

cook welleat welllive well

PHOTOGRAPHS BY
DAN GOLDBERG AND RON HAMAD

Text copyright 2010 by Anna Getty.

Food photographs on pages copyright 2010 by Dan Goldberg.
Lifestyle photographs on pages copyright 2010 by Ron Hamad.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
Getty, Anna.
Anna Gettys easy green organic : cook well, eat well, live well / photographs by Dan Goldberg and Ron Hamad.
p. cm.
Includes index.
eISBN 978-1-4521-0005-0
1. Cookery (Natural foods) I. Title. II. Title: Easy green organic.
TX741.G48 2009

Prop styling by Kami Bremyer
Food styling by Erin Quon

The photographers wish to thank Alex Marshall Studios, Heath Ceramics, Laura Newlin/Sausalito Pottery, and Soule Studio for graciously lending us props for the photographs.

Chronicle Books LLC
680 Second Street
San Francisco, CA 94107

http://www.chroniclebooks.com

To my husband, who tells me all the time how much he loves the food I cook. Thank you for your loving support.
To my daughter, for inspiring me every day.

Thank you:

To Mom, despite your reluctance to be in the kitchen, I have learned so much about food and cooking from you.

To Oma Gail, you gave me my first real set of pots and pans.

To all my family members for being on this great ride of life with me.

To Darra Crouch for hiring me with so little experience and forgiving me when I burned the salmon. Hadley, you introduced me to Darra in the first place. You are a true good friend to me. We will always have the mashed potatoes on the face night.

To Alex, another amazing cook.

To Akasha, my dear friend and organic food mentor. You always told me I was a good seasoner. And thank you for letting us shoot photos in your amazing restaurant Akasha. I am so proud of you.

To Alisa, my dear, dear friend and backbone in this endeavor and others.

To Rob Weller, Gary Grossman, and Debbie Supnik. Wasnt the cookbook your idea in the first place? You have all been my cheerleaders.

To my faithful recipe developers Amy Brown, Paul Barnet, and JJ. You all kept my spirits high in the kitchen while lending me your distinguished palates and skills.

To all my friends who came by day after day for tastings.

And to all my friends who have supported me along the way. Jeff Vespa, always there to push me in great ways; Debbie de la B., for your love and never-ending encouragement; Sat Kaur, for lending me your husband in the kitchen and for your love and support; Laura Holmes Haddad, for your expertise and for really saving the day.

To my photographers Dan Goldberg and Ron Hamad and the entire team who helped make this book so beautiful.

To Bill LeBlond, Sarah Billingsley, Doug Ogan, Anne Donnard, Jane Chinn, and the Chronicle team. It has been a great honor working with you.

To the Organic Center for your support and the great work you do.

To all the farmers who strive to bring us organic food that is as pure as nature intended.

To all the chefs who inspire me.

To Gahl, the astrologer, you always told me I was meant to write. Your words have guided me and continue to do so.

To all the leaders in the health and sustainability movement. We still have a long way to go to help this planet heal but because of all of you, I am optimistic.

To Justin Meyers, Paul Knobel, and my Sutton Place team, thank you all. You always have my back.

To Matthew Guma.

To David Silverman. Thank you for the second kitchen.

To Nina and Jessica for recipe logging. You rock.

To Dan and Hal. Youre the best.

To all my friends who came by day after day for tastings, Amy S., Hartwell, and Juliet R.

Thank you Dr. Alan Greene and Cheryl Greene for your never-ending support. You inspire me... and for loaning an excerpt from Raising Baby Green to this book.

Thank you Green Gulch and Tassajara for my roots.

Thank you to the farmers at Hollywood Farmers market, especially Julian and Carol Pearce at Soledad Goats, Laura my avocado gal, and the Jazzy Sproutman.

I was born in Germany and raised in both Los Angeles and San Francisco. My mother, Gisela, studied Buddhism in the early 1980s at the Green Gulch Center in Marin County, California. And that is where my food education began. I watched Buddhist monks lovingly farm organic fruits and vegetables, which made their way across the Golden Gate Bridge to the famous vegetarian restaurant, Greens, which we frequented. We were strictly vegetarian at the timeand I mean really vegetarian. I remember going into our small local health food store and slicing chunks of milky-white tofu from large slabs floating in tubs of water. (It sounds really appetizing, right?)

I grew up eating lentil soup, whole-wheat pasta, and nutritional yeast flakes when those ingredients were virtually unheard of in most American households. We had a lovely little garden at our house, and my mother cut fresh herbs, which she added to our soups and salads. That was the extent of the cuisine in our home: no homemade cookies or pies, no casseroles like macaroni and cheese. I didnt appreciate the simplicity of our food and, as a kid, I may have even thought it disgusting at times. But looking back now I realize our meals were simple, fresh, locally harvested, seasonal, and very flavorfulexactly the way food should be.

I have spent much of my life traveling and enjoying flavors and dishes from all over the world. Even now, my husband, daughter, and I feel blessed that our families are spread out across both America and Europe. Whether were in Chicago for Thanksgiving, in the English countryside for Christmas, or in Italy for whatever reason we can find, Im always on the lookout for new healthful, satisfying food experiences.

Thats not to say it has always been this way. When I moved to Paris to attend college, all I knew how to make were scrambled eggs, ramen noodles, my grandmothers easy pasta sauce, and a cup of coffee. Like Julia Child, I refined my palate in France. However, Julia gained culinary expertise while I gained weight and only a smattering of kitchen skills. But I also gained an appreciation for fresh food. I started enjoying the benefits of the neighborhood farmers markets and the vast array of fresh and local produce that is commonplace in Paris, a food lovers paradise. As I became more comfortable with the language and my neighborhood, I also became more comfortable in the kitchen and tried my hand at soups, quiches, sauces, and dressings.

After three years in Paris, I returned home to Los Angeles in desperate need of a job. This is not the best way to show up in any city, particularly L.A. As great as it isand it is a truly wonderful cityL.A. can be a very unforgiving environment if you dont have a car or a sense of direction. (And I mean that geographically as well as in reference to life choices.)

In 1995, one of my best girlfriends told me her catering boss needed someone to help in the kitchen and I jumped at the opportunity. Although I knew how to hold a knife correctly and could tell a shallot from a garlic bulb, I was not especially qualified to be an assistant to a professional caterer (a Hollywood caterer, no less). But I had a great attitude, was willing to work with people, and truly wanted to learn how to cook.

This passion to learn was so strong that I worked in catering on and off for seven years, gaining a lot of experience, allies, and one significant life-changing friend: One of my employers, Akasha Richmondknown as the chef to the starsreintroduced me to organic food and simple, pure ingredients with great joy and passion. It was through her enthusiasm that I became reacquainted with the uncomplicated, beautiful ingredients of my childhood. My catering days began more than a decade ago, and my love affair with organic food and cooking has been growing every day.