Matt Van Maanen and Rob Lancaster are hosting dinner for the third night in a row this week in their Cedar Rapids home. Earlier in the week, the couple received their weekly summer Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) share, including a bounty of summer squash, which prompted tonight’s main dish: a zucchini-loaded pasta primavera with just-plucked basil and balsamic drizzled on top. On the side: kale salad with sliced almonds and a lemony emulsion, garnished with decorative-yet-edible nasturtiums.
Helaina Thompson
Posted inFood & Drink
Family Dinner: The Toïngars gather for African cuisine
Ask Judith Toïngar, 5, what she wants to be when she grows up, and she will reply, “A lot of things.”
A police officer, a doctor, a nurse, a cashier at Dollar Tree: Considering the examples set before her, Judith’s vision is perfectly logical. Her mother, Brigitte Toïngar, is a part-time nurse, landlord and graduate student; her father, Ésaïe Toïngar, is a manager at Rockwell Collins, the author of three memoirs and the founder of two immigrant rights organizations. Both are parents of five children; Judith is the youngest.
Posted inFood & Drink
Family Dinners: The Chávez-García family keeps traditions going
When their mobile home began to sway back and forth as their son, Pablo — 6 feet 2 inches tall and built like a football player — walked down the hallway, Pedro Chávez and Malena García agreed it was time to buy a bigger house. So last summer, the Chávez-García family of five moved into their new Iowa City house on a cul-de-sac near Sycamore Mall. But an updated kitchen and two-car garage could not change family tradition.
Posted inFeatures, Food & Drink
Family Dinner: Health and togetherness in the Graf-Sherburne home
Before the table is set and the salad is tossed, dinner with the Graf-Sherburne family begins with a bicycle ride — training wheels optional.
Posted inFood & Drink
Family Dinner: Vegan Delights with Cadry’s Kitchen
Cadry Nelson’s dinner table is not centered in the middle of her dining room. Instead it’s pushed to one side, so the head of the table meets a window where natural light comes in. Nelson, the writer behind the vegan blog Cadry’s Kitchen, captures photos of her recipes, plated and garnished, on this end of the table, sometimes standing on its sturdy top to peer down through her camera.
Posted inDining Recommendations, Food & Drink
LV Recommends: Nile Ethiopian Restaurant
“Finally” seems to be the most frequently expressed response to the recent opening of Nile, an Ethiopian restaurant just off the Coralville strip. Finally Iowa City transplants who once hailed from big cities rich with international food scenes can reconnect with a long-lost comfort food. Finally Eastern Iowa natives, young and old, can again enjoy a lesser-known cuisine without a long drive — or trial-and-error in one’s own kitchen.
Posted inBread & Butter Dining Guide, Dining Features
How one Linn County farm is blazing a trail for a growing regional industry
[vc_row class=”bb-row”][vc_column][vc_column_text] On their Linn County farm, Lea and Denny Rehberg raise shrimp alongside heirloom pigs, blazing a trail for a growing regional industry. Overnight, Styrofoam coolers of 20,000 post-larval shrimp arrive from the Florida Keys to the Rehberg family farm in Walker, Iowa. “They’re about the size of your eyelash when you get ‘em,” […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Women on Fire highlights female chefs and other food workers in Iowa City
Women on Fire Pullman Bar & Diner — Monday, Sept. 26 at 6 p.m. There’s no question: Many women love to cook. Traditionally, a woman’s role was — and for some, still is — to run the kitchen at home. Still, men overwhelmingly dominate chef positions at restaurants nationwide. Last year, only 19.6 percent of […]
Posted inFood & Drink
LV Recommends: Dumpling Darling
Dumplings — adorably bite-sized pockets of dough packed with various fillings — excel in convenience. At Dumpling Darling on Dubuque Street in Iowa City (their brick and mortar location shared with Pops Old n’ New BBQ), an order of Korean-style dumplings is steamed and ready to eat in about five minutes or less. But the […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Downward dudes: The past and future of men and yoga
In the past ten years, exactly one man has made the cover of Yoga Journal. Matt Pesendian’s March 2011 cover, featuring the California-based yoga instructor seated in lotus pose, is one in 90 female-dominated covers over the last decade of the most popular yoga magazine in the world. Only 26 percent of those who practiced […]
