Hi Everyone,

It’s with great sadness, but also with some excitement about the future, that I wanted to let you all know that next week will be the last week of home deliveries for Narrative Food. After that, Narrative Food will pivot our entire focus to our new mail order site which features shelf-stable/pantry foods (starting in February this site will live at narrativefood.com and we will send you more info about this by email).

Since the pandemic, the landscape has changed a lot for us, and after investing in our infrastructure to meet the incredible demand we experienced during the pandemic, we find ourselves back to our pre-pandemic volume but with much increased costs. This means that unfortunately, home delivery of fresh foods just isn’t a sustainable business model for us anymore.

What does this mean for you? You will still be able to order many of your favorite items – from dry farmed walnuts to locally made granola, to regenerative organic persimmon vinegar, to direct trade spices – and it will come to you promptly by mail instead of couriers. You will be able to order gifts for your family or company.

What I’m most excited about is our new recurring pantry box – shipping nationwide – so please tell your friends far and wide – This box will ship monthly and include specially curated items on a different theme each month, with recipes and stories to bring these items to life, and a donation to a related non profit. As always, these items will be sourced from small makers who care about the environment, and tell stories of community. By eliminating the huge demands of fresh foods, fleets of drivers, new boxes needing to be designed every single week, my band-width for curation and story-telling – the areas I really love – will be hugely increased.

Lastly, many of you know that after the Woolsey Fire I moved, ironically, to a converted grocery store in Echo Park. I’m really excited to offer the opportunity for all of you to visit by appointment, and buy in person from our “secret pantry” of curated yummies. After knowing so many of you by name over the years, I would love the opportunity to meet you in person this way!

I do hope you turn to your local farmers markets or growers that offer a CSA program, for your produce needs! I am happy to provide recommendations.

Thank you again for making these past 12 years possible, and trusting my company for something as fundamental as your food. I want to thank all of our home delivery stakeholders – from our customers, to our growers and makers, to our crowd funding investors, to our hard working team – for twelve years of relationships which I hold dear to my heart. 12 years of amazing food on the table which nourished a community and our soil – And since I’m my oldest customer – I’m so grateful for 12 years of lasting memories for my entire household – of meals prepared and enjoyed together as a family – and then there’s the 12 years of learning – learning about food systems, about community, about how to serve you best, and how to lead our amazing team. All of this thanks to our amazing community – thanks to you. We are excited about what the future holds for us and truly hope many of you will continue with us on this adventure. This will help me continue to employ Narrative’s faithful team, each one of whom has earned a huge debt of gratitude for everything they have done to support our mission to get great food to your doorsteps.

See you soon!

Jennifer Field Piette

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ag3YowQiJOM

Co-authored by Anne Applebaum, Jennifer’s childhood playmate, our final Classic Narrative Provisions boxes and Supper Kits of 2021 combine traditional Polish comfort food with a festive twist.

Landing on doorsteps December 18th & 19th

Order deadline 5p, Monday December 13th

Classic Narrative Provisions Boxes have Returned! As in the past our boxes are inspired by the theme of the week — with ingredients, creative suggestions, and 2-4 recipes based on the featured cookbook, culinary creative, or holiday.

Upcoming Featured Recipes:

Klingeman Farm pork sirloin roast with Prunes

Pierogis with Coleslaw

Mushrooms with Bub & Grandma’s Seeded Bread.

Scroll down for details.

We admit: We are unlikely cookbook writers. I’m a columnist and a historian, born in Washington, but now living in London; my friend Danielle is also a journalist, based in Washington. We’ve also picked an unlikely topic.

While writing From a Polish Country House Kitchen, we were often teased: “How many recipes can you get out of boiled potatoes?” Unfortunately for many of us, including even the millions of North Americans with Polish ancestry, the very term “Polish cooking” conjures up a vision of heavy, greasy dishes, the food of exile and poverty.

But as I’ve known for a long time – ever since my husband and I restored an old house in the Polish countryside, twenty years ago – Polish cuisine is long overdue for a reputational revival. Traditional cooking has always been based on fresh vegetables and meat which is organic because it has been raised in someone’s garden – and it has always included aromatic soups, flavorsome game, and crisp chopped salads.

In recent years, creative chefs have also begun to experiment with new versions of traditional dishes, from herring tartare to pierogi as exotic as the dim sum of Hong Kong. Our cookbook is meant to impart the flavors of the traditional cooking and the taste of the more exotic innovations – with, of course, an American twist that we bring ourselves. We hope you come to enjoy these dishes as much as we do.

Anne Applebaum

Narrative Provisions Box (Omnivore)


Narrative Provisions Box (Vegetarian)

Featured Recipes:

Klingeman Farm pork sirloin roast with Prunes

Pierogis (omnivore and vegetarian options) with Coleslaw

Mushrooms with Bub & Grandma’s Seeded Bread

Featured Ingredients:

Pasture-Raised Meat  (Omnivore Only)*:

• Klingeman Farm pork sirloin roast 
• Stemple Creek ground beef

Dairy, Pantry & More!

• Alexandre Family Farm eggs
• orange juice
• 4th & Heart ghee
• Hayden Flour Mills all-purpose flour
• Morning Glory prunes
• Organic Valley sour cream
• Bellwether ricotta 

Locally sourced & fair-trade produce:

Marjoram, dill, lettuce, green cabbage, green beans, crimini mushrooms, garlic, white onion, russet potatoes, celery root, red potatoes, carrots, lemon, green apple, tangerines, and kiwi!

*Not included in Vegetarian. 

Check your pantry for vegetable oil, salt, pepper, yogurt. 

Sunday Supper Kit

Pork with Prunes, featuring:

• Rancho Llano Seco pork
• Morning Glory prunes
• and locally sourced produce (garlic, marjoram, celery root, dill, and greenbeans)

Check your pantry for sea salt, pepper, and extra virgin olive oil. 

Vegetarian Supper

Vegetarian Pierogis with Coleslaw, featuring:

• Hayden Flour Mills all-purpose flour
• 4th & Heart ghee
• Organic Valley sour cream
• Bellwether ricotta
• and locally sourced produce (red potatoes, crimini mushrooms, white onion, carrots, green cabbage, green apple, and lemon)

Check your pantry for salt,  pepper and extra virgin olive oil. 

For nights tight on time…

Weeknight Supper Kit

Twice-Cooked Mushrooms with Bub & Grandma’s Seeded Bread, featuring:

• Bub & Grandma’s seeded bread
• Organic Valley sour cream
• Sierra Nevada butter
• dried mushrooms
• and locally sourced produce (mushrooms, onion, and dill)

Check your pantry for oil, salt, and pepper. 

In between festive holiday dinners we like to rely on easy quick recipes. Scroll down (or click HERE) for a few of our favorites.

Landing on doorsteps December 11th & 12th

Order deadline 5p, Monday December 6th

Classic Narrative Provisions Boxes have Returned! As in the past our boxes are inspired by the theme of the week — with ingredients, creative suggestions, and 2-4 recipes based on the featured cookbook, culinary creative, or holiday.

Upcoming Featured Recipes:

Sausage & Peppers with Cabbage

Roasted Cauliflower & Cheese Mini Frittatas

Scroll down for details.

Narrative Provisions Box (Omnivore)


Narrative Provisions Box (Vegetarian)

Featured Recipes:

Sausage & Peppers with Cabbage

Roasted Cauliflower & Cheese Mini Frittatas

Featured Ingredients:

Pasture-Raised Meat  (Omnivore Only)*:

• Electic City Butcher beef stew meat
• Keller Crafted Sweet Italian sausages
• Pasturebird boneless skinless chicken breast 

Dairy, Pantry & More!

• Alexandre Family Farm eggs
• orange juice
• Sierra Nevada Monterrey Jack wedges
• Bakers Kneaded milk buns
• Manzanita Manor dry-farmed heirloom walnuts
• Jacobsen’s flake salt
• California Coast Naturals extra-virgin olive oil

Locally sourced & fair-trade produce:

Persimmons, apples, tangerines, lemon, peppers, kohlrabi, russet potato, yellow onion, garlic, cauliflower, green cabbage, bell pepper, chard, parsley and lettuce!

*Not included in Vegetarian. 

Check your pantry for paprika, red wine vinegar, milk, black pepper, and seeds (fennel, cumin, and mustard – optional). 

Sunday Supper Kit

Sausage & Peppers with Cabbage, featuring:

• Keller Crafted Sweet Italian sausages
• Bakers Kneaded milk buns
• Milton Creamery Prairie Breeze cheese
• and locally sourced produce (yellow onion, bell pepper, garlic, and cabbage)

Check your pantry for sea salt, pepper, and extra virgin olive oil. 

Vegetarian Supper

Tomato Soup with Bub & Grandma’s bread and more, featuring:

• Bub & Grandma’s sourdough bread
• Fiscalini cheddar
• HLTHpunk harissa
• labneh
• butter
• and locally sourced produce (onion, carrots, parsnip, garlic, thyme, tomatoes, lettuce, granny smith apple)

Check your pantry for salt,  pepper and extra virgin olive oil. 

For nights tight on time…

Weeknight Supper Kit

Fresh Pasta Night, featuring:

• Mission Rose torchiette pasta & black pepper butter
• and locally sourced produce (mushrooms, chard, thyme, garlic, lemon, and lettuce)

Check your pantry for oil, salt, and pepper. 

During the weeks between festive holiday dinners our families like to enjoy the simple pleasures of easy to make comfort food. Scroll down (or click HERE) for a few of our favorites.

Landing on doorsteps December 4th & 5th

Order deadline 5p, Monday November 29th

Classic Narrative Provisions Boxes have Returned! As in the past our boxes are inspired by the theme of the week — with ingredients, creative suggestions, and 2-4 recipes based on the featured cookbook, culinary creative, or holiday.

Upcoming Featured Recipes:

(Turkey) Shepherd’s Pie

Tomato Soup with Bub & Grandma’s Sourdough + cheese

Scroll down for details.

Narrative Provisions Box (Omnivore)


Narrative Provisions Box (Vegetarian)

Featured Recipes:

(Turkey) Shepherd’s Pie

Tomato Soup with Bub & Grandma’s Sourdough + Cheese

Featured Ingredients:

Pasture Raised Meat  (Omnivore Only)*:

• Electic City Butcher beef kebabs
• Llano Seco pork chops
• Ferndale ground turkey

Dairy, Pantry & More!

• Alexandre Family Farm eggs
• orange juice
• Bub & Grandma’s sourdough bread
• HLTHpunk harissa
• parmesan
• Braga almonds
• Bianco DiNapoli tomato sauce
• Fiscalini cheddar
• butter
• labneh
• Belfiore smoked mozzarella

Locally sourced & fair-trade produce:

Thyme, lettuce, kale, bell pepper, tomatoes, parsnips, garlic, yellow onion, russet potatoes, carrots, leeks, scallion, lemon, granny smith apple, pomegranate, and bananas!

*Not included in Vegetarian. 

Check your pantry for salt & pepper, and extra-virgin olive oil.

Sunday Supper Kit

Turkey Shepherds Pie, featuring:

• Ferndale ground turkey
• Smart Simple Gourmet chicken stock
• Bianco Di Napoli tomato sauce
• Belfiore smoked mozzarella
• and locally sourced produce (garlic, carrots, yellow onion, bell pepper, thyme, leeks, potatoes, scallion, lettuce)

Check your pantry for sea salt, pepper, and extra virgin olive oil. 

Vegetarian Supper

Tomato Soup with Bub & Grandma’s bread and more, featuring:

• Bub & Grandma’s sourdough bread
• Fiscalini cheddar
• HLTHpunk harissa
• labneh
• butter
• and locally sourced produce (onion, carrots, parsnip, garlic, thyme, tomatoes, lettuce, granny smith apple)

Check your pantry for salt,  pepper and extra virgin olive oil. 

For nights tight on time…

Weeknight Supper Kit

Cauliflower Tacos, featuring:

• Mesa salsa
• Late July tortilla chips
• corn tortillas
• and locally sourced produce (cauliflower, onion, avocado, jalepeno, lime, garlic, cilantro)

Check your pantry for oil, salt, and pepper. 

After enjoying a delicious Thanksgiving meal with your household, get ready for tasty and festive recipes for Hanukkah! Scroll down (or click HERE) for the recipes featured in our upcoming Classic Narrative Provisions boxes and Supper Kits.

Landing on doorsteps November 27th & 28th

Order deadline 5p, Monday November 22nd

Classic Narrative Provisions Boxes have Returned! As in the past our boxes are inspired by the theme of the week — with ingredients, creative suggestions, and 2-4 recipes based on the featured cookbook, culinary creative, or holiday.

Featured Recipes:

Date Glazed Chicken with Tangerine Studded Greens and Jeweled Rice (Morasa Polo)

Latkes and Herbed Citrus Salad

Woon Kitchen Dumplings with Sauteed Garlic Kale

Scroll down for details.

Narrative Provisions Box (Omnivore)


Narrative Provisions Box (Vegetarian)

Featured Recipes:

Date Glazed Chicken with Tangerine Studded Greens and Jeweled Rice 

Latkes and Herbed Citrus Salad

Featured Ingredients:

Pasture Raised Meat  (Omnivore Only)*:

• Pasturebird chicken leg quarters
• Rancho Llano Seco prok stew meat
• Electric City Butcher meatballs

Dairy, Pantry & More!

• Alexandre Family Farm eggs
• orange juice
• matzoh meal
• almonds
• dried persimmons
• basmati rice
• Just date syrup
• apple sauce
• sour cream

Locally sourced & fair-trade produce:

Parsley, mint, kale, lettuce, winter squash, green beans, parsnips, garlic, shallots, russet potatoes, carrots, green onion, onion,  pomegranates, lemon, tangerines, oranges, and grapefruit!

*Not included in Vegetarian. 

Check your pantry for salt & pepper, and extra-virgin olive oil.

Sunday Supper Kit

Date Glazed Chicken with Tangerine Studded Greens and Jeweled Rice, featuring:

• Pasturebird chicken leg quarters
• Just date syrup
• basmati rice
• almonds
• dried persimmons
• and locally sourced produce (kale, tangerines, parsley, shallots, carrots, pomegranate, and green onion)

Check your pantry for sea salt, pepper, and extra virgin olive oil. 

Vegetarian Supper

Latkes with Applesauce and Sour Cream & Herbed Citrus Salad, featuring:

• Alexandre Family Farms eggs
• matzoh meal
• sour cream
• applesauce
• and locally sourced produce (russet potatoes, onion, scallions, oranges, grapefruit, tangerines, lettuce, shallot, mint, and lemon)

Check your pantry for salt,  pepper and extra virgin olive oil. 

For nights tight on time…

Weeknight Supper Kit

Wook Kitchen Night, featuring:

• Woon Lucky Dumplings & Cucumber Salad
• jasmine rice
• kale
• garlic

Check your pantry for oil, salt, and pepper. 

It’s time to enjoy one of the most delicious meals of the year with your family and households! Scroll down (or click HERE) for our Thanksgiving Favorites.

Landing on doorsteps November 20th & 21st

Order deadline 5p, Monday November 15th

Order Your Ferndale Pasture-Raised Turkey

We are proud to partner with Electric City Butcher and Ferndale for another delicious Thanksgiving. Ferndale’s compassionate approach to flock management and regenerative farming is practiced in a dynamic dance between land, steward, farmer, and mother nature rotating the turkeys with the seasons from green pasture grown to a free-range turkey house. Read more about their practices in the description HERE. 

Bakers Kneaded Pie and Breads

We are excited for all of the tasty treats our friends at Bakers Kneaded are making to sweeten and delight our Thanksgiving tables!

Bourbon Pecan Pie
Honeycrisp & Green Apple Pie
Pumpkin Pie
Buttermilk Rolls and more!

Shop Thanksgiving Favorites

We are looking forward to being in the kitchen with our family in the kitchen prepping veggies and sharing stories. Here are a few of our favorites that we planning on cooking up: 

Brussels Sprouts, Squash (Butternut & Acorn), Herbs (Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme), Green Beans, Cranberries, Mushrooms, and more!

Classic Narrative Provisions Boxes have Returned! As in the past our boxes are inspired by the theme of the week — with ingredients, creative suggestions, and 2-4 recipes based on the featured cookbook, culinary creative, or holiday.

Our upcoming boxes and kits include cozy recipes you’ll want to enjoy in the busy days leading up to Thanksgiving.

Featured Recipes:

Braised Short Rib with Polenta and Kale & Mushrooms

Wild Rice with Spinach & Pear Salad

Scroll down for details.

Narrative Provisions Box (Omnivore)


Narrative Provisions Box (Vegetarian)

Featured Recipes:

Braised Short Rib with Polenta and Kale & Mushrooms 

Wild Rice with Spinach & Pear Salad

Featured Ingredients:

Pasture Raised Meat  (Omnivore Only)*:

• Pasturebird bone-in & skin-on drumsticks
• Electric City Butcher short ribs
• Keller Crafted breakfast sausage

Dairy, Pantry & More!

• Alexandre Family Farm eggs
• orange juice
• ricotta
• parmesan
• poenta
• dried cranberries or raisins
• wild rice
• pecans

Locally sourced & fair-trade produce:

Rosemary, parsley, kale, lettuce, broccoli, mushrooms, garlic, yellow onion, shallots, ginger, lemon, pear, apple, persimmon, and butternut squash!

*Not included in Vegetarian. 

Check your pantry for salt & pepper, and extra-virgin olive oil.

Sunday Supper Kit

Braised Short Rib with Polenta and Kale & Mushrooms, featuring:

• Electric City Butcher short ribs
• Brametti polenta
• ricotta
• parmesan
• and locally sourced produce (garlic, rosemary, bay leaf, kale, crimini mushrooms)

Check your pantry for sea salt, pepper, and extra virgin olive oil. 

Vegetarian Supper

Wild Rice Pilaf with Spinach Pear Salad, featuring:

• wild rice
• dried cranberries or raisins
• pecans
• and locally sourced produce (spinach, pear, shallot, butternut squash, yellow onion, garlic, parsley, lemon, and ginger)

Check your pantry for salt,  pepper and extra virgin olive oil. 

For nights tight on time…

Weeknight Supper Kit

Bridgetown Roti Night, featuring:

• Bridgetown Roti patties (Curried Yam and Mango with Coconut Chutney)
• red cabbage
• lime
• carrots

Check your pantry for oil, salt, and pepper. 

Our Classic Narrative Provisions Boxes have Returned! As in the past our boxes are inspired by the theme of the week — with ingredients, creative suggestions, and 2-4 recipes based on the featured cookbook, culinary creative, or holiday.

Our upcoming boxes and kits share recipes from Nanor Abkarian’s kitchen and stories from across the Armenian diaspora.

Featured Recipes:

Gaghampi Patuyt (Cabbage Rolls with Ground Beef)

Keshkeg Ghabakh (Winter Squash Stew from Marash) with Pearl Barley

Landing on doorsteps November 6th & 7th

Order deadline 5p, Monday November 8th

“When I think of Armenian food, I think of apricots, pomegranates, seeds handpicked from giant sunflowers, golden honeycombs, and hearty stews…Armenian food is Lebanese food, Syrian food, Iranian, Turkish, Ethiopian, French, Argentinian, et al. When I think of Armenian food, I think of my grandmother’s hands kneading dough, my uncles barbecuing kebab and offering steaming bites folded into pita; I think of my aunts—their individual specialties and their collective magic: the ability to transform any space into a world of abundance. Armenian food is family. It is music and laughter and dancing in celebration of the simple fact that we are here, and we are together.” – Nanor

Scroll down for recipes, details and Nanor’s piece “There was and there wasn’t”!

Narrative Provisions Box (Omnivore)


Narrative Provisions Box (Vegetarian)

Featured Recipes:

Gaghampi Patuyt (Cabbage Rolls with Ground Beef)*

and

Keshkeg Ghabakh (Winter Squash Stew from Marash) with Pearl Barley

Featured Ingredients:

Pasture Raised Meat  (Omnivore Only):

• Pasturebird boneless, skinless chicken breast
• Electric City Butcher beef kebab
• Electric City Butcher ground beef

Dairy, Pantry & More!

• Alexandre Family Farm eggs
• orange juice
• labneh
• Seed & Mill tahini
• HLTH punk tomato paste
• Voila! spice blend
• Sierra Nevada butter
• Eden Foods chickpeas
• basmati rice
• pearl barley
• pita bread

Locally sourced & fair-trade produce:

Kale, scallions, avocado, potatoes, lettuce, tangerines, apples, pomegranate, parsley, garlic, lemon, yellow onion, green cabbage, tomato, eggplant, and butternut squash!

*Not included in Vegetarian. 

Check your pantry for dried mint, salt & pepper, and extra-virgin olive oil.

(Recipes below.) 

Sunday Supper Kit

Gaghampi Patuyt (Cabbage Rolls with Ground Beef), featuring:

• Electric City Butcher ground beef
• Voila! spice blend
• Bub & Grandma’s sesame loaf
• HLTH punk tomato paste
• labneh
• rice
• Sierra Nevada butter
• and locally sourced produce (green cabbage, tomato, yellow onion, parsley, garlic, and lemon)

Check your pantry for sea salt, pepper, dried mint, and extra virgin olive oil. (Recipe below.) 

Vegetarian Supper

Keshkeg Ghabakh (Winter Squash Stew from Marash) with Pearl Barley & Mutabal (Eggplant Dip) featuring:

• Seed & Mill tahini
• Sierra Nevada butter
• HLTH punk tomato paste
• Eden Foods chickpeas
• pearl barley
• pita bread
• and locally sourced produce (butternut squash, garlic, lemon, pomegranate, eggplant, and parsley)

Check your pantry for salt, dried mint, pepper paste pepper and extra virgin olive oil. (Recipe below.) 

For nights tight on time…

Weeknight Supper Kit

Pasta Night, featuring:

• Mission Rose pappardelle 
• Mission Rose red pepper cream sauce
• parmesean
• lettuce
• parsley
• lemon

Check your pantry for oil, salt, and pepper. 

Keshkeg Ghabakh: Winter Squash Stew from Marash

Ingredients

1 medium butternut squash, cubed 

1/2 cup dried chickpeas or 1 cup cooked chickpeas

6 garlic cloves, crushed 

3 tbsp fresh lemon juice

2 tbsp tomato paste

1 tbsp pepper paste*  (if not available in your pantry, add more tomato paste)

1 tsp dried mint

1 tbsp olive oil

½ tsp salt water

Instructions

1-Place ½ cup of dry chickpeas in a bowl with 2 cups of water and soak overnight. Rinse the chickpeas and pour them into a medium pot with 1 ½ cups of fresh water. Bring to a boil then let simmer for at least 1 hour or until the chickpeas are soft. 

2-Boil 5 cups of water. In a separate pot, sauté the garlic and mint with olive oil. Add the boiled water, tomato paste, pepper paste, salt and mix. Add the butternut squash and chickpeas. Bring to boil then reduce to medium heat for about 45 minutes. 

3-Mash some of the butternut squash with a fork or handheld mixer. Remove from heat and add lemon juice.

4- Serve with Pearl Barley

GAGHAMPI PATUYT: CABBAGE ROLLS WITH GROUND BEEF

Ingredients

1 head of green cabbage, washed

1 cup medium-grain rice, rinsed*

½ lb ground beef  

1 large tomato, finely chopped

1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped

½ bunch parsley, finely chopped

11 garlic cloves, crushed

½ cup fresh lemon juice

1 ½ tbsp tomato paste

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp Allspice

1 tsp black pepper

¼ tsp Aleppo pepper

1 tbsp dried mint

yogurt (optional)

salt

water

Instructions

Fill a large pot with salted water and bring to a boil. Cut the stem of the cabbage and peel the leaves. Add the leaves in boiling water and steam for 1-2 minutes, then place on a tray to drain excess water. 

To prepare the filling, mix the ground beef with tomato, onion, parsley, 6 crushed garlic cloves, ¼ cup lemon juice, tomato paste, olive oil, Allspice, black pepper, Aleppo pepper, and ½ tsp salt. 

To wrap the cabbage leaves, first trim the tough stem of the larger leaves. Place leaf on a plate with the stem side down and fill with 2 tbsp of filling on each leaf. Fold the cabbage leaf up over the meat, fold the sides to the center, and roll forward. Place the stuffed cabbage in a large pot. 

Pour 2 cups of water mixed with ¼ cup lemon juice, 5 crushed garlic cloves, 1 tbsp dried mint, ½ tsp salt. Bring to a boil then simmer for about 45 minutes or until the filling is cooked. Move the stuffed cabbage onto a serving platter. Serve with yogurt topped with crushed garlic.

There was and there wasn’t… by Nanor Abkarian

There was and there wasn’t a song about the Armenian kingdom of Cilicia. It is only one of many songs that capture our sense of longing, and I recall finding my great-grandmother, an orphan of the Armenian genocide, singing for Cilicia while recording her voice on a cassette tape.

There was and there wasn’t is the way that all Armenian folk tales begin. I have a hunch this speaks to our history: the kingdoms that were and weren’t, the drawing and redrawing of borders, and a severance from magnificent mountain ranges through which our understanding of the cosmos has been shaped. (1)

Each time I try to share my family’s story, I’m forced to begin with “genocide.” Perhaps one day we can discuss it over coffee. I won’t be relaying historical facts either—though I’ll note that the genocide of 1915 was not the only attempt to erase the Armenian people and culture, just the largest massacre of the 20th century; but this has already been documented.

I am more interested in being myself in the world that you and I share: an impulse that has led to my obsession with the painter Arshile Gorky. He’s described as being an island of his own because he was the last of the great Surrealists and one of the first Abstract Expressionists.(2) Gorky is Vostanik Manuk Adoian, a boy who fled to the United States from his natal village of Khorkom in 1919 shortly after his mother died of starvation in his arms.

Upon his arrival in New York, he first considered the name Archie Gunn or Archie Colt, “like the hero of a cowboy movie,” then tried “Arshel” which may be derived from “Aysaharel,” meaning “possessed by an evil spirit” or “blown by an evil wind,” until finally, he decided on “Arshile”: the Russian variant of Achilles.(3)

Gorky’s need to pass is haunting and propelled by an even more intense call to create. He spoke incessantly of the Armenian landscape and broke into Armenian song or dance on impulse. He wanted “to create so far from our homeland the shapes of nature we loved in the gardens, wheatfields and orchards […] which [he] will repossess in [his] art.”(2)

The language used to describe my fatherland is often mystical, but I have also lived with the assurance of a free and independent Armenia. During the last twenty-eight days, Armenians around the world have unified to wave a red flag to the international community. This isn’t a thing that diasporan Armenians had to discuss but rather an instinct we bear as descendants of survivors. If we can sleep, we wake up thinking of our brothers and sisters in Artsakh and Armenia with whom we are linked because of our immortal Armenian world, which we share through art, music, food and fragrance.

There was and there wasn’t sounds like both a beginning and an end, but our Happily ever after is meant to preserve the tradition of storytelling, to encourage a retelling, and to inspire a closer reading

Three apples fell from heaven:

one for the teller of this tale,

one for the listener,

and one for him who heeds the teller’s words.

1 – NL Interviews Laleh Khadivi.Youtube, uploaded by Newslaundry, Mar 2, 2013.

2 – Armenian Palette: Cultural Book Serial Vol. 16 Arshile Gorky: Vostanik Adoian Yerevan, Armenia: Armenian Society for Cultural Links, 2015.

3 – Spender, Matthew. From a High Place: A Life of Arshile Gorky. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1999.

Our upcoming Narrative Provisions boxes and Supper Kits theme comes from our archive and is inspired by Whetstone magazine, a print magazine and media company dedicated to food origins and culture.

Featured recipes were selected to pair with Ishay Govender’s essay Finding Africa in Lisbon and includes a few personal notes and interwoven memories shared by both our founder and creative director – memories of family, of place, and of comfort meals that taste of sodade.

“The history of (Portugal’s) food is deeply entwined with the so-called Age of Discoveries, the subsequent colonial years, and Portugal’s fraught relationship with Africa and the rest of the world. As the Portuguese carted ingredients such as chiles, corn, potatoes and tomatoes, as well as cookery vessels, cooking methods, recipes and slaves between the New World, Africa, Europe and Asia, knowledge and ideas danced between master and captive and back again. The dishes we know today were born in these voyages.” – excerpt from Ishay Govender’s essay “Finding Africa in Lisbon”.

 Landing on doorsteps November 6th & 7th

Order Deadline 5p. Monday, November 1st.

Next weekend’s featured recipes:

Frango Piri Piri (Chicken with Chiles) with Portuguese Style Roasted Potatoes

Piri Piri Poached Eggs with Greens and Batatas Doce to “Feed the Resistance”

Scroll down for details!

Narrative Provisions Box (Omnivore)


Narrative Provisions Box (Vegetarian)

Pasture Raised Meat  (Omnivore Only):

• Pasturebird bone-in, skin-on chicken thigh
• Emigh lamb
• Charlito’s Chorizo

Dairy, Pantry & More!

• Alexandre Family Farm eggs
• Bub & Grandma’s baguette
• Your choice of Diaspora Co. turmeric or nutmeg
• Your choice of Malibu honey or Manzanita Manor dry-farmed walnut butter
• New! Voila Piri Piri spice mix
• orange juice

Locally sourced & fair-trade produce:

Fresno chiles, cilantro, lettuce, spinach, mushroom, winter squash, fennel, garlic, yellow onion, potatoes, beets, parsnips, sweet potatoes, shallots, ginger, lime, pomegranates, oranges, apples, and lemon!

*Not included in Vegetarian. 

Check your pantry for salt & pepper, extra-virgin olive oil, smoked paprika, butter, and rice (optional).

Sunday Supper Kit

Frango Piri Piri (Chicken with Chiles) with Portuguese Style Roasted Potatoes , featuring:

• Pasturebird bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
• Charlito’s chorizo
• Sierra Nevada butter
• and locally sourced produce (cilantro, ginger, lemon, ginger, potatoes, shallot, and lettuce)

Check your pantry for sea salt, pepper, smoked paprika, and extra virgin olive oil. Click HERE for the recipe.

Vegetarian Supper

Piri Piri Poached Eggs with Batatas Doce, featuring:

• Your choice of Diaspora Co. turmeric or nutmeg
• New! Voila Piri Piri spice blend
• Malibu honey
• Sierra Nevada butter
• and locally sourced produce (yellow onion, garlic, spinach, lettuce, sweet potatoes)

Check your pantry for salt, pepper and extra virgin olive oil. Click HERE for the recipes. 

For nights tight on time…

Weeknight Supper Kit

Bricia’s Black Bean Soup with Mole Negro, featuring:

• Guelaguetza Mole Negro
• Eden black beans
• Braggs apple cider vinegar
• sour cream
• cilantro
• garlic
• yellow onion

Check your pantry for cornstarch, vegetable broth, ground cumin, ground coriander, oil, salt, and pepper. Click HERE for the recipe. 

“When living in Portugal the best post beach meal was always to get Frango Piri Piri while listening to Cesária Évora…” – Jennifer Field Piette

Click HERE to listen to our playlist that pairs with this week’s recipes, featuring Cesária Évora, Ibeyi, and more!

Our upcoming Poetic Tortillas Narrative Provisions boxes and Supper Kits originally were created in collaboration with UCLA’s Fowler Museum exhibition (Feb 2016-July 2016) which featured artist, poet, and activist José Montoya (1932-2013).

A Chicano activist, poet, artist, intellectual, professor, and musician, he often found inspiration in the verdant fields of the San Joaquin Valley where his family arrived from New Mexico in the 1940s looking for work. José Montoya’s Abundant Harvest retrospective at the Fowler museum included works on paper that were displayed in nearly 100 boxes placed in rows reminiscent of grapevines and trays that used to hold grapes – the fruit that would become the symbol of the farmworkers’ struggle in the 1960s.

In honor of Montoya, his tireless support of Cesar Chavez’s United Farm Workers movement (and in time for Dia de Los Muertos), we are happy to continue sharing this box of locally and sustainably grown food celebrating Chicano culture here in Southern California.

 Landing on doorsteps October 30th& 31st

Order Deadline 5p. Monday, October 25th

Our Classic Narrative Provisions Boxes have Returned! As in the past our boxes are inspired by the theme of the week — with ingredients, creative suggestions, and 2-4 recipes based on the featured cookbook, culinary creative, or holiday.

Next weekend’s featured recipes:

Roy Choi’s Carne Asada with Pico de Gallo

Wes Avila’s Sweet Potato Tacos with Leeks and Almond Salsa

Scroll down for details!

Narrative Provisions Box (Omnivore)


Narrative Provisions Box (Vegetarian)

Pasture Raised Meat* (Omnivore Only):

• Electric City Butcher carne asada
• Pasturebird boneless skinless chicken breast
• Keller Crafted sausage

Dairy, Pantry & More!

• Alexandre Family Farm eggs
• Queens SF gochujang
• Cacique queso fresco
• Monterrey jack cheese
• Mi Rancho corn tortillas
• Ohsawa mirin
• Braga almonds
• cascabel chiles
• orange juice

Locally sourced & fair-trade produce:

White onion, garlic, scallions, sweet potatoes, carrots, jalepeno, tomato, red bell pepper, tomatillos, leek, cilantro, thyme, flat parsley, lime, avocado, kiwi, oranges, and pears!

*Not included in Vegetarian. 

Check your pantry for white wine or broth, lager beer, red wine vinegar, ancho chili powder, sugar, sea salt, pepper, and extra virgin olive oil, 

Sunday Supper Kit

Roy Choi’s Carne Asada with Pico de Gallo, featuring:

• Electric City Butcher carne asada
• Queens SF gochujang
• Mi Familia corn tortillas
• and locally sourced produce (white onion, cilantro, oranges, limes, jalepeno, scallions, tomatoes, and garlic)

Check your pantry for white sugar, ancho chili powder, lager beer, sea salt, pepper, and extra virgin olive oil. Click HERE for the recipe.

Vegetarian Supper

Wes Avila’s Sweet Potato Tacos with Leeks & Almond Salsa, featuring:

• Braga almonds
• Sierra Nevada Monterrey Jack cheese
• Mi Familia corn tortillas
• Cacique queso fresco
• Cascabel chiles
• and locally sourced produce (green onions, garlic, carrots, leeks, flat parsley, thyme, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, tomatillos, avocado, jalepenos, and red bell peppers)

Check your pantry for red wine vinegar, white wine or broth, salt, pepper and extra virgin olive oil. Click HERE for the recipes. 

For nights tight on time…

Weeknight Supper Kit

Woon Kitchen Night, featuring:

• Woon’s chewy homestyle noodles and wood ear mushroom salad
• Bluegrass soy sauce
• scallions
• ginger
• bok choy
• carrots

Check your pantry for oil, salt, and pepper.

“When you have the best and tastiest ingredients, you can cook very simply and the food will be extraordinary because it tastes like what it is. ” – Alice Waters

Our upcoming Narrative Provisions box is inspired by Alice Waters’ wonderful book The Art of Simple Food. This homage to Alice’s inspiring opus is a welcome reminder that we really need to do very little to create a delicious meal. Simple is the best way to let beautiful ingredients shine.

Landing on doorsteps October 23rd & 24th

Order Deadline 5p. Monday, October 18th

Our Classic Narrative Provisions Boxes Have Returned! As in the past our boxes are inspired by the theme of the week — with ingredients, creative suggestions, and 2-4 recipes based on the featured cookbook, culinary creative, or holiday.

Next weekend’s featured recipes:

Grilled Top Sirloin with Broccoli & Smashed Potatoes

Carrot Soup with Marinated Red Pepper Salad

Scroll down for more!

Narrative Provisions Box (Omnivore)


Narrative Provisions Box (Vegetarian)

Pasture Raised Meat* (Omnivore Only):

• Electric City Butcher Top Sirloin
• Pasturebird Drumstick, bone-in & skin-on – 1 lb.
• Keller Crafted Bacon

Dairy, Pantry & More!

• Alexandre Family Farm eggs
• Smart & Simple Gourmet Mirepoix vegetable broth
• champagne vinegar
• cheese
• Bub & Grandma’s baguette
• Braga almonds
• orange juice

Locally sourced & fair-trade produce:

Oregano, broccoli, garlic, lemon, potatoes, onion, thyme, carrots, mixed peppers, lettuce, artichoke, kale, persimmons, pears, and fair-trade bananas!

*Not included in Vegetarian. 

Check your pantry for sea salt, pepper, extra virgin olive oil, stock, and bay leaves. 

Sunday Supper Kit

Grilled Sirloin Steak with Smashed Potatoes and Steamed Broccoli, featuring:

• Electric City Butcher Top Sirloin
• Sierra Nevada butter
• and locally sourced produce (thyme+oregano, broccoli, garlic, lemon, Yukon Gold potatoes )

Check your pantry for sea salt, pepper, and extra virgin olive oil. Click HERE for the recipe.

Vegetarian Supper

Carrot Soup alongside Marinated Red Pepper Salad with a Bub & Grandma’s baguette, featuring:

• Smart & Simple Gourmet mirepoix vegetable broth
• champagne vinegar
• Central Coast Creamery cheese
• Bub & Grandma’s baguette
• and locally sourced produce (yellow onion, thyme, carrots, garlic, mixed peppers)

Check your pantry for butter, salt, and extra virgin olive oil. Click HERE for the recipes. 

For nights tight on time…

Weeknight Supper Kit

Pizza Night, featuring:

• Lupa Cotta pizza dough
• Bianco Di Napoli tomato sauce
• mozzarella cheese
• tomato
• basil

Check your pantry for oil, salt, and pepper.

Amelia Saltsman is one of our all-time, most beloved cookbook writers. Her tome, The Seasonal Jewish Kitchen, has become a Narrative Food favorite over the years. Amelia and her beautiful cookbook are the inspiration for our upcoming Supper Kits, Narrative Provisions boxes (they’re back!), Pantry Provisions bundle and more!

When we read Amelia’s recipes, we feel as if we are side by side with her perusing fruits and vegetables, taking in her knowledge of the Southern California seasons, climate and food cycles.

Landing on doorsteps October 16th & 17th

Order Deadline 5p. Monday, October 11th

Classic Narrative Provisions Box Update: As in the past our boxes are inspired by the theme of the week — with ingredients and recipes based on the featured cookbook, culinary creative, or holiday. Recipe inspiration is included, but unlike our prior boxes we will provide creative suggestions rather than a full 5-meal menu with all recipes and ingredients included. Please expect 2-4 recipes using the ingredients in your box along with some basic pantry items you have to hand like Olive Oil, spices etc. Scroll down for details!

Narrative Provisions Box (Omnivore)


Narrative Provisions Box (Vegetarian)

Pasture Raised Meat (Omnivore Only):

• Pasturebird Drumstick, bone-in & skin-on – 1 lb. 
• Emigh Lamb
• Rancho Llano Seco Ground Pork – 1 lb. 

Dairy, Pantry & More!

• Alexandre Family Farm eggs
• Manzanita Manor walnut oil 
• Just Pomegranate Syrup
• orange juice
• dried plums or pitted prunes 
• couscous or maftoul
• labneh

Locally sourced produce:

Arugula, Bosc pears, butternut squash, celery, flat leaf parsley, garlic, lemon, lettuce, carrots, Napa cabbage, yellow onion, oranges, pomegranates, quince, radicchio, and sweet potatoes., Butternut Squash, and Quince Tagine, featuring:

• Emigh Lamb
• couscous or maftoul
• and locally sourced produce (quince, yellow onion, garlic, parsley, butternut squash, pomegranate, and lemon)

Check your pantry for ras el hanout, sea salt, extra virgin olive oil, stock, and bay leaves. Click HERE for the recipe.

Sunday Supper Kit

Lamb, Butternut Squash, and Quince Tagine, featuring:

• Emigh Lamb
• couscous or maftoul
• and locally sourced produce (quince, yellow onion, garlic, parsley, butternut squash, pomegranate, and lemon)

Check your pantry for ras el hanout, sea salt, extra virgin olive oil, stock, and bay leaves. Click HERE for the recipe.

Vegetarian Supper

Hearty Autumn Slaw alongside Roasted Carrot & Sweet Potato Tzimmes (in photo), featuring:

• Manzanita Manor walnut oil & dry-farmed walnuts
• Prunes
• and locally sourced produce (lemons, Napa cabbage, radicchio, celery, arugula, Bosc pears, oranges, carrots, and sweet potatoes)

Check your pantry for Dijon mustard, sea salt, white pepper, and finishing salt. Click HERE for the slaw recipe and HERE for the quiche recipe. 

For nights tight on time…

Weeknight Supper Kit

Pasta Night, featuring:

• Mission Rose radiatore pasta & Caponata sauce
• Parmesan
• lettuce
• parsley

Check your pantry for oil, salt, and pepper.

New! Each week our Pantry Provisions bundle will feature a few of our favorite small batch artisan goods that share a theme with our Supper Kits. Pair it with Our Favorite Farms produce bundle (or the bounty from your garden!) for a delicious culinary experience.

Pantry Provisions

Next weekend’s selection is inspired by Amelia Saltsman’s recipe for Brussel Sprouts with Pomegranate and features:

Hlth Punk harissa paste

Just Pomegranate syrup

Canaan maftoul 

and Manzanita Manor walnut oil

Just add thyme and Brussels sprouts as well as check your pantry for salt, labneh, za’atar, extra-virgin olive oil, and Aleppo pepper. Click HERE for the recipe. 

Next weekend’s Supper Kit recipes are taking us on a trip to San Luis Obispo (SLO) – home to 20 weekly farmers’ markets and a vibrant local food scene of rich cheeses, meats, fish, bread and produce. SLO is fertile ground for chefs, small-batch food makers, and culinary creatives – including Kendra Aronson. In her cookbook,“San Luis Obispo Farmers’ Market Cookbook: Simple Seasonal Recipes & Short Stories from the Central Coast of California”, Aronson has compiled a collection of delicious recipes spotlighting folks in the SLO community. Scroll down for details!

Landing on doorsteps October 9th & 10th

Order Deadline 5p. Monday, October 4th

Sunday Supper Kit

Grilled Sausage, Poached Eggs & Hasselback Potatoes with Pistachio Pesto, featuring:

• Electric City Butcher sausages
• Alexandre Family Farms eggs
• Pistachios
• Parmesan
• and locally sourced produce (potatoes, basil, and garlic)

Check your pantry for butter, olive oil, salt and pepper. Click HERE for the recipe.

Vegetarian Supper

Butternut Squash Apple Soup alongside Mushroom Leek Quiche, featuring:

• Marcie’s pie shell
• Alexandre Family Farms eggs
• Straus heavy cream
• Fiscalini cheddar cheese
• and locally sourced produce (celery, carrots, butternut squash, yellow onion, green apples, chives, leeks, mushrooms, garlic, and spinach)

Check your pantry for butter, vegetable broth, nutmeg, ginger (optional) vinegar, salt, and pepper. Click HERE for the soup recipe and HERE for the quiche recipe. 

For nights tight on time…

Weeknight Supper Kit

El Machete night, featuring:

• El Machete salsa
• Sierra Nevada Monterrey Jack cheese
• tortillas
• and locally sourced produce (avocados, limes, mushrooms, spring onion, cilantro)

Check your pantry for hot sauce, oil, salt, and pepper.

New! Each week our Pantry Provisions bundle will feature a few of our favorite small batch artisan goods that share a theme with our Supper Kits. Pair it with Our Favorite Farms produce bundle (or the bounty from your garden!) for a delicious culinary experience.

Pantry Provisions

California Coast Naturals Olive Oil – a mainstay in our pantry. 

Pacific Coast Nut Mix – a crunchy and flavorful addition to any salad, soup topping, or just as a snack.

Finley Popcorn – perfect for movie night!

Naive Organic Tahini Milk Chocolate – decadent and delicious. 

Next weekend we are embracing the season change and getting cozy with a few recipes featuring some of our favorite fall stars – pears, squash, pomegranate, and more! Scroll down for details.

Landing on doorsteps October 2nd & 3rd

Order Deadline 5p. Monday, September 27th

Sunday Supper Kit

Chicken Cacciatore, featuring:

• Pasturebird chicken legs
• Keller Crafted bacon
• CA Coast Naturals olives
• HLTH punk tomato paste
• Bianco DiNapoli tomato sauce
• and locally sourced produce (carrots, mushrooms, potatoes, frisee, pears, parsley, bay leaf)

Check your pantry for olive oil, salt, pepper, flour, dried chili pepper, chicken broth, and sugar. Click HERE for the recipe.

Vegetarian Supper

Dahl & Kabocha Squash Soup alongside Apple-Fennel & Almond with Blue Cheese Salad, featuring:

• Point Reyes blue cheese
• Braga almonds
• Bub & Grandma’s baguette
• lentils
• and locally sourced produce (pomegranate, escarole, fennel, apple, celery, lemon, onions, garlic, kabocha squash, and cilantro)

Check your pantry for oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper. Click HERE for the soup recipe and HERE for the salad recipe. 

For nights tight on time…

Weeknight Supper Kit

Woon Kitchen Night, featuring:

• Mama Fong’s Veggie Dumplings
• Woon Chilled Cucumber & Tofu salad
• rice
• mushrooms

Check your pantry for oil, salt, and pepper.

New! Each week our Pantry Provisions bundle will feature a few of our favorite small batch artisan goods that share a theme with our Supper Kits. Pair it with Our Favorite Farms produce bundle (or the bounty from your garden!) for a delicious culinary experience.

Pantry Provisions

Rancho Meladuco Medjool dates: Perfect for pairing with the Point Reyes blue cheese in our Vegetarian Supper Kit. 

HLTH punk tomato paste and local olives: Pair with Bianco Di Napoli tomato sauce and our Butcher’s Bundle to make chicken cacciatore. 

Pearl barley lends itself to a cozy meal when enjoyed with the kabocha squash in Our Favorite Farms produce bundle.

Next weekend we are featuring adaptations and recipes from a few of B. Evy-Marie’s favorite cookbooks and magazines in her kitchen library: honoring Latinx Heritage month by traveling to her abuelita’s Puerto Rican roots with Von Diaz and her cookbook Coconuts & Collards, as well as a throwback to Food & Wine’s spread The Original Innovators which was curated by Dr. Jessica B. Harris and features chef Ashleigh Shanti, culinary historian Micheal Twitty, writer Osayi Endolyn, and more! Scroll down for details.

Landing on doorsteps September 25th & 26th

Order Deadline 5p. Monday, September 20th

Sunday Supper Kit

Pernil-Style Pork Loin with Coconut-braised Collard Greens and Fried Plantains*, featuring:

• Rancho Llano Seco pork poin
• Diaspora Co. turmeric
• More than Fair coconut milk
• fairtrade plantains
• and locally sourced produce (collards, garlic, lemon, limes, oranges, scallion)

Check your pantry for olive oil, salt, pepper, butter, soy sauce, garlic powder, dried oregano, and coconut oil. Scroll down for the recipe.

Vegetarian Supper

Roasted Squash with Collard Miso Pesto paired with Fennel-Apple-Collard Salad, featuring:

• Omiso miso
• Diaspora Co. turmeric
• fairtrade plantains 
• unsalted roasted peanuts
• and locally sourced produce (lemon, garlic, acorn squash, collard greens, fennel, pink lady apples, shallots)

Check your pantry for oil, vinegar, sumac, salt, pepper and mustard. Scroll down for the recipe.

For nights tight on time…

Weeknight Supper Kit

Lupa Cotta Pizza Night with Mission Rose Heirloom Tomato Sauce:

• Lupa Cotta pizza balls
• Mission Rose heirloom tomato sauce
• Bellwether Farms ricotta

Check your pantry for oil, salt, and pepper.

“Oftentimes, I find cookbooks to be glorified coffee table decor, beautiful albeit lacking function…This one is somewhere in between the margins; a repository of emotions; a family history; catharsis; a cookbook.”

– Von Diaz, Whetstone Magazine Volume 3

Sunday Supper: Pernil Style Pork Tenderloins

Ingredients

From your Narrative Food box:

1# pork tenderloin

2 T fresh lemon juice (for pork)

½ t fresh lime juice (for adobo)

1 t fresh orange juice (for adobo)

½ t Diaspora Co. turmeric* (for adobo)

4 garlic cloves (for adobo)

From your pantry:

½ t ground black pepper

1 ½ t dried oregano

3 t kosher salt

3 T olive oil

Instructions

Mix adobo: Put garlic, black pepper, oregano, turmeric, salt, olive oil and lime and orange juice into a small food processor and blend into a smooth puree, scraping the sides halfway through to incorporate fully. Alternatively, you can use a mortar and pestle or mash the mixture to a paste on a cutting board with the side of a knife.

Cut a series of deep holes throughout the tenderloin with a paring knife and rub it down with the adobo, pushing the seasoning into the holes. Let marinate for 30 minutes on the counter or up to overnight in the refrigerator. (The longer you can wait, the more delicious it will be!)

When you’re ready to roast, heat the oven to 400°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil for easiest cleanup.

Place the tenderloin in the center of the pan and put the pan on the center rack of the oven. Roast until the internal temperature is 145°F in the thickest part, about 30 minutes, flipping every 10 minutes to evenly brown the outside. (If your pork hasn’t browned by the time it hits 145°F inside, you can give it a quick blast under the broiler for more browning.)

Remove the pan from the oven and set the tenderloin on a carving board to rest for about 10 minutes.

Pour 2T lemon juice into the baking pan and carefully mix it into the pork juices, scraping up any browned bits with a wooden spoon or spatula. Pour the pan juices into a small bowl and adjust the seasonings to taste.

Cut the pork into 1-inch slices and transfer to a serving dish. (It will taste best and won’t dry out if it’s still slightly pink inside, so if you see that, it’s a good thing!) Serve with the reserved pan juices

Vegetarian Supper Kit: Roasted Squash with Collard Miso and Fennel Apple Salad 

Roasted Squash With Collards Pesto

Ingredients

From your Narrative Food box:

2 acorn squash, stemmed, halved lengthwise, seeded, and sliced crosswise into 1” half moons

2 c loosely packed collard greens, stemmed and chopped

⅓ c unsalted roasted peanuts

3 T miso

¼ t lemon zest + 3 ½ t fresh lemon juice

1 t minced garlic

From your pantry:

½ c + 2 T olive oil

4 t kosher salt

½ t black pepper

8 c water

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 450°F with the oven rack in lowest position. Toss together squash, 2 tablespoons oil, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper on a rimmed baking sheet. Spread in a single layer. Roast in the oven on the lowest rack until squash is tender and browned, 26 to 30 minutes, flipping squash after 18 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring 8 cups of water to a boil in a medium saucepan over high, and fill a bowl with ice water. Stir in 1 tablespoon kosher salt to the boiling water. To blanch greens: Add collard greens; cook until tender and bright green, about 2 minutes. Transfer collard greens to ice water; let cool for 2 minutes. Drain and pat greens completely dry; set aside.

Toast peanuts in a small skillet over medium, stirring often, until fragrant, 4 to 5 minutes. Set aside; let cool for 5 minutes. 

Place greens, peanuts, miso, lemon juice, and garlic in a food processor; pulse until a chunky paste forms, about 10 times. With the food processor running, gradually stream in remaining 1/2 cup oil until well combined, about 20 seconds. Add remaining 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt and remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper; pulse to incorporate, about 3 times. Spoon into a small serving bowl.

Arrange roasted squash on a serving platter; sprinkle with lemon zest, and garnish with flaky sea salt. Serve with pesto.

While the squash is roasting….

Collard Fennel Apple Salad 

Ingredients

From your Narrative Food box:

Plantain, cut crosswise into ¼” slices

1 bunch collard greens, stemmed and thinly sliced

1 bulb fennel, trimmed and thinly sliced. Reserve and chop fronds for garnish

2 apples, unpeeled and thinly sliced

2 shallots, minced

½ t ground Diaspora Co. turmeric

From your pantry:

¾ c neutral cooking oil (grapeseed, vegetable)

1 ½ t kosher salt

⅓ c sherry vinegar

1 T dijon mustard

1 T molasses

¼ t black pepper

Instructions

Heat 1/2 cup oil in a 12-inch cast-iron skillet over medium. Working in batches, fry plantain slices until light golden, 1 minute and 30 seconds to 2 minutes per side. Transfer plantain slices to a cutting board; smash to 1/8-inch thickness using bottom of a measuring cup.

Working in batches, return smashed plantain slices to hot oil; fry over medium until golden brown and crisp, 30 seconds to 1 minute per side. Transfer plantain slices to a baking sheet lined with paper towels.

Sprinkle fried plantain slices evenly with 1/2 teaspoon salt. Let cool 10 minutes. 

Meanwhile, whisk together vinegar, turmeric, mustard, molasses, pepper, remaining 1/4 cup oil, and remaining 1 teaspoon salt in a large bowl. Add greens; massage mixture together with your hands until collards are wilted and tender, 1 to 2 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes.

Add sliced fennel bulb, apples, and shallots to collard mixture; toss to coat. Add plantains; fold once to incorporate. Transfer to a serving platter; sprinkle with reserved chopped fennel fronds

Shop Supper Kits

Fall is just around the corner, and with it comes the cravings for all things apple…including the delicious mulling spices, shrubs, and vinegars from Joanne Kruger’s Little Apple Treats. To celebrate the autumnal shift, next weekend’s Sunday Supper & Vegetarian Supper Kits features their delicious and versatile apple cider vinegars. Scroll down for details and check out some of their other treats!

Landing on doorsteps September 18th & 19th

Order Deadline 5p. Monday, September 13th

Sunday Supper Kit

Little Apple Treats x Massey Honey Glazed Chicken with Squash, featuring:

• Little Apple Treats Original apple cider vinegar
• Massey honey
• Bluegrass soy sauce
• Pasturebird chicken
• and locally sourced produce (garlic, onion, squash, scallion)

Check your pantry & fridge for olive oil, salt, and pepper. Scroll down for the recipe.

Photo: Little Apple Treat’s Magnum Bonum apples, used in their apple cider vinegar.

Vegetarian Supper

Cider Roasted Veggies, featuring:

• Little Apple Treats Wildfire apple cider vinegar
• Massey Honey
• and locally sourced produce (red potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, beets, parsnips, sweet onion, shallot, garlic, and lettuce)

Check your pantry  for oil, salt, pepper and mustard. Scroll down for the recipe.

For nights tight on time…

Weeknight Supper Kit

Mission Rose Fresh Pasta Night:

• Mission Rose fresh torchiette pasta
• Mission Rose fennel pollen butter
• Bub & Grandma’s baguette (to make epic garlic bread!)
• and locally sourced produce (squash, garlic, lettuce)

Check your pantry  for oil, salt, pepper and parmesan. Scroll down for the recipe.

And a few little treats…

Apple Cider Caramels with Rose & Cocoa Nibs

Little Apple Treat’s luxurious caramels start as freshly-pressed cider, made from the heirloom apples grown on their Sonoma County organic farm. They  slow-cook their candies to buttery perfection using local butter and cream, dried heirloom roses from their farm + freshly ground spices.  Every caramel is then dusted with their Pink Pearl apple powder and vanilla bean sea salt. 

These award-winning caramels  are packed with rich cocoa nibs from Dick Taylor Chocolate, an award-winning chocolatier in Northern California, and sprinkled with dried heirloom rose petals from Joanne’s garden.

Triple Citrus Shrub

Triple C 

Ingredients

1 tbs Triple Citrus Shrub

Fresh fruit (blackberries are a fave!)

8 oz sparking water

1 jigger of alcohol (opt.)

Spring of mint, tarragon, or basil.

Instructions

Muddle the fruit, add the shrub and alcohol (if using), pour over ice, top with sparking water, and garnish.

Modern Mulling Spice

As beautiful as it is delicious, this blend combines dried heirloom rose petals from Little Apple Treats’ gardens, dried apples from their orchard, organic hibiscus blossoms, and organic spices including two types of cinnamon sticks, green cardamom pods, cloves, and allspice.

Each jar includes simple instructions for using this blend to make a modern mulled wine that can be enjoyed chilled or hot! 

Ingredients: organic hibiscus flowers, organic dried apples, organic rose petals, organic cinnamon sticks, organic cloves, organic allspice, organic black pepper, organic cardamom, organic lime

A note from Little Apple Treats founder, Joanne Krueger:

I’m a candy maker, granola baker, and apple farmer in Sebastopol, California, specializing in creating handcrafted and delicious products that support small-scale agriculture. While I spend my days in the kitchen, turning our apples into unique, exquisite products that showcase the high-quality apple cider and apple cider vinegar that our fruit produces — I wasn’t always an apple farmer. 

My love affair with apples began, somewhat accidentally, in 1999 when my husband, Dan, and I became apple growers. We were running a flower nursery, Flatland Flower Farm, out of several backyards in Berkeley and decided it was time for a bit more space for our business. We left the city behind and found a little house in Sebastopol, a small town in western Sonoma County, California.

Ten years after moving to our apple farm, using an old wooden apple press, we juiced some of our apples for the first time and aged that juice in barrels. After a year, our aged juice had fermented into startlingly delicious farm-direct apple cider vinegar.  We were hooked, and that first batch sparked a deeper curiosity — “What else can we make from our apples?” The answer, it turns out, is “a lot!”

Since creating our first batch of apple cider vinegar in 2009, I’ve used my culinary creativity to turn our apples, apple cider, and apple cider vinegar into the shrubs, caramels, granolas, and other treats!

Sunday Supper: Apple Cider Vinegar Glazed Chicken and Roasted Winter Squash

Ingredients

From your Narrative Food box:

2# Pasturebird chicken thighs (bone in)

¼ cup Massey honey

5 T Little Apple Treats apple cider vinegar

2 T Bluegrass soy sauce

8 ea garlic cloves

1 bu scallions – cut into rounds

1 ea squash

1 ea onion

From your pantry:

Olive oil

Salt/Pepper

Instructions

Season chicken thighs and bring to room temp 1 hour before cooking

Preheat oven to 400° and place the rack in the middle of the oven

Finely chop 8 cloves garlic and place in a small bowl. Whisk together with honey, apple cider vinegar and soy sauce. Use half of the mixture for the chicken and reserve the other half for the roasted squash.

Prepare the vegetables: cut the squash in half and scrape out the seeds. Cut into 1” cubes, removing the skin. Cut the onion into petals and add to squash. Toss the vegetables with olive oil, salt, pepper and the rest of the honey, soy, acv mixture. Put on a baking sheet (with parchment paper) and bake until tender ~30 minutes. Baking times may vary depending on the size and thickness of the squash.

Heat a large cast iron over medium-high heat for 5 minutes. Add the chicken, skin-side down and cook until the fat is rendered and the skin is golden-brown and crisp, 6 to 8 minutes.

Flip the chicken so that it is skin-side up. Pour the honey-garlic sauce over the chicken. Place the skillet in the oven and roast for 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and spoon the sauce from the pan back over the chicken. Continue roasting until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165°F, about 5 to 7 minutes more. 

Serve drizzled with the pan sauce and garnish with sliced scallions.

Vegetarian Supper: Apple Cider Roasted Vegetables

Ingredients

From your Narrative Food box:

1# red potatoes

1# sweet potatoes

½ bunch carrots

1 bunch beets

1 # parsnips

1 ea onion

6 T apple cider vinegar

3 T honey

1 ea shallot

1 head lettuce

From your pantry:

Olive oil

Salt/Pepper

2 t Dijon mustard

Note: Cut vegetables into similar size pieces so that they cook at the same time and use three baking sheets, 1 for larger/harder vegetables, 1 for smaller/quicker cooking vegetables and one for the beets separately so they don’t bleed onto the other vegetables.

Instructions

Prep the vegetables:

Potatoes: wash and cut into 2” cubes.

Carrots & parsnips: wash, peel and cut into 1” pieces.

Onion: cut into large cubes

Beets: remove tops and wash thoroughly. Will remove skin once cooked.

Preheat oven to 425° and gather 2 sheet trays and 1 roasting pan or pie pan with higher sides for the beets.

Place beets (whole) in a roasting pan or pie pan with ½-1” water in the bottom. Salt heavily and cover tightly with foil. Cook in oven for 30-45 minutes or until tender. Once the beets are done, peel the skin using a paper towel to rub the skin off.

Preheat the two sheet trays for the other vegetables by placing them in the oven for 5 minutes before adding the vegetables. This will add a nice sear to the vegetables and should sizzle when you add them to the pan. Make sure the veggies are not too crowded on the pan, which will result in steaming instead of roasting.

Toss potatoes together with olive oil, salt, and pepper and place on a HOT baking tray. Roast for ~30 minutes, tossing them halfway through, until tender.

Toss carrots, parsnips, and onion together with olive oil, salt and pepper and place on a separate HOT baking tray. Roast for ~20 minutes, tossing them halfway through, until tender.

While the vegetables are cooking, whisk together the vinaigrette: minced shallot, honey, apple cider vinegar, dijon mustard, and salt/pepper. Wash and cut lettuce for a quick side salad as well.

Once all the vegetables are cooked thoroughly, toss with vinaigrette (reserving some for the salad) and enjoy!

Weeknight Supper Kit: Fresh Pasta and Fennel Butter with Roasted Squash and Garlic Bread

Ingredients

From your Narrative Food box:

1 package fresh pasta

1 ea fennel butter

1 ea lemon, quartered

1 ea winter squash

1 ea baguette

1 ea head of garlic, minced

1 ea head of lettuce

From your pantry:

Salt/Pepper

Olive oil

Parmesan cheese – optional

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400° and place the rack in the middle of the oven

To prepare the squash: cut the squash in half and scrape out the seeds. Brush the squash with olive oil, salt, pepper. Put on a baking sheet (with parchment paper) face down and bake until tender ~30 minutes. Baking times may vary depending on the size and thickness of the squash.

To prepare the garlic bread, carefully slice the baguette in half lengthwise. In a small sauce pan heat up butter and minced garlic on low heat. Brush on or spoon the garlic butter onto both sides of the baguette. If using parmesan cheese, grate cheese onto baguette after butter. Wrap in foil and bake for ~10 minutes. Keep in foil until ready to serve.

To prepare your pasta bring salted water to a boil and cook as directed. Toss your finished pasta with the fennel butter and lemon juice, salt, and pepper to taste.

Wash and cut the lettuce and serve with your favorite salad toppings and dressing!

Shop Supper Kits

We were thrilled to see our friend Bricia Lopez (co-owner of Guelaguetza, author of Oaxaca, and cofounder of RegardingHer) in our new favorite family Netflix series Waffles + Mochi. In episode two, the adorable pair of puppets visit her and learn what mole is, where it comes from, and Bricia shows them all the ingredients are going to used to make the dish: chile guajillos, oregano, thyme, sesame seeds, cloves, allspice, cinnamon, almonds, garlic, raisins, onions and breadcrumbs. She even teaches them how to use a molcajete to grind things up, and invites them to share a meal around the dining room table with family.

Next weekend, enjoy the delicious experience of cooking with Guelaguetza mole and more!

Landing on doorsteps September 11th & 12th

Order Deadline 5p. Monday, September 6th

Sunday Supper Kit

Chicken with Mole Negro, featuring:

• Pasturebird chicken
• Guelaguetza Mole Negro
• El Machete Insurgente hot sauce
• El Machete Salsa Fresca 
• rice
• black beans
• And locally sourced produce: avocado, lime, cilantro

Check your pantry & fridge for tomato sauce and chicken stock (optional). Click HERE for the recipe.

Photo by Quentin Bacon.

“Mole is the essence of Oaxaca. The word triggers so many emotions for me: my memories, my grandma; my family…It’s a dish that sings community and it’s a dish that makes me proud of being Oaxacan because of all the ingredients in it that Mexico gave to the world: chocolate, chiles, corn, and tomatoes.” – excerpt from Oaxaca: Home Cooking From The Heart of Mexico by Bricia Lopez and the family behind LA’s Guelaquetza with Javier Cabral.

Vegetarian Supper

Sweet Potato Mole Tacos with Avocado Crema, featuring:

• Guelaguetza Mole Coloradito
• El Machete Verde Rebelde hot sauce
• rice
• corn tortillas
• black beans
• and locally sourced produce – sweet potatoes, cilantro, lime, avocado, garlic, lettuce

Check your pantry  for oil, salt, and pepper. Click HERE for the recipe. 

And for nights tight on time…

Weeknight Supper Kit

El Machete Nacho Night:

• El Machete pico de gallo
• Late July tortilla chips 
• Monterrey Jack cheese
• refried beans
• and locally sourced produce: avocado, Roma tomatoes, white onion, limes and lettuce

Shop Supper Kits featuring Guelaguetza Mole

Amelia Saltsman is one of our all-time, most beloved cookbook writers. Her tome, The Seasonal Jewish Kitchen, has become a Narrative Food favorite over the years. When we read Amelia’s recipes, we feel as if we are side by side with her perusing fruits and vegetables, taking in her knowledge of the Southern California seasons, climate and food cycles.

Landing on doorsteps in time for Rosh Hashanah, our upcoming Supper Kits celebrate the season and the sweet promises of a new year. Stay tuned for more from Amelia in the fall!

Order Deadline 5p. Monday, August 30th for weekend delivery.

Sunday Supper Kit

Chicken with Citrus & Prunes 

“This dish was inspired by Moroccan braises with preserved lemons and an old favorite Silver Palate recipe.”   

• Pasturebird chicken
• HLTH punk harissa 
• farro
• prunes
• And locally sourced produce: carrots, cilantro, parsley, lemon, oranges and apples

Check your pantry & fridge for green olives, honey, dry white wine, and chicken stock. Click HERE for the recipe.

Vegetarian Supper

Spicy-Sweet Grilled Vegetables with Homemade Silan and Shanklish

“Marry silan (also known as date honey, syrup, or molasses) and harissa (the classic North African spice paste) for a super simple, versatile, and exciting grill sauce. This is no mere marriage of convenience. This three-ingredient blend has notes of caramel, coffee, citrus, earth, heat, and smoke…I especially love it with hearty beet, carrot, and sweet potato “steaks” on the grill. Shanklish—thick labneh seasoned with za’atar and Aleppo pepper—is the perfect creamy counterpoint.”

• HLTH punk harissa
• Canaan za’atar
• flat bread
• farro or couscous
• labneh
• and locally sourced produce – sweet potatoes, rainbow carrots, garlic, thyme, and apples

Check your pantry  for oil, salt, and Aleppo or Urfa pepper.  Scroll down for the recipe. 

And for nights tight on time…

Weeknight Supper Kit

Woon Kitchen Night:

• Mama Fong’s dumplings
• Wood Ear Mushroom & Bean Curd Stick Salad 
• rice
• fresh cucumber

Wine & Grazing Board Supper Kit

Take a night off from cooking and enjoy our Wine & Grazing Board Supper kit in the backyard, poolside, or cozied up on the couch.  

• Subject to Change Wild Child Red Field Blend
• Seed + Mill Tahini
• Manzanita Manor dry-farmed walnuts
• Rancho Meladuco Sun-ripened Medjool dates
• Rustic Bakery Artisan Fruit Crisps
• Scout Garden Pesto tuna
• Olympia Provisions Saucisson Sec
• Local goat cheese 

Amelia Saltsman’s Spicy-Sweet Grilled Vegetables with Homemade Silan and Shanklish

INGREDIENTS

For the vegetables:

1/3-1/2 pound each sweet potatoes, carrots, and tennis-ball size beets 

1/4 cup healthy oil, such as olive, avocado, or safflower

1/8 cup silan, homemade (click HERE for the recipe) or Just Date syrup from last week’s Vegetarian Supper Kit

1 heaping tablespoon HLTH punk harissa

1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt

For the Shanklish:

1 cups labneh

1 cloves garlic

1 tablespoon Canaan za’atar spice blend

Aleppo, Maras, or Urfa pepper to taste

To serve:

Chopped thyme leaves

Cooked grain

Flatbread

INSTRUCTIONS:

Scrub or peel carrots and cut on the diagonal into largest possible oval slices, ¼- to ½-inch thick. Scrub sweet potatoes and cut lengthwise into ½-inch-thick wedges. Scrub beets and cut on diagonal into largest possible disks, ¼- to ½-inch thick

Have a bowl filled with ice and water ready near the stove. Cook carrots in generously salted boiling water until their color brightens and carrots are slightly flexible, 2 minutes. Lift carrots out with a spider or slotted spoon and drop into the ice water bath to stop the cooking process and preserve color. Repeat with the sweet potato wedges. Lift carrots and potatoes out of ice bath and drain on cloth or paper towels. Repeat blanching process with beets and place on separate towel. Pat vegetables dry. Vegetables may be prepared a day ahead to this point and refrigerated covered.

Prepare the Shanklish. Crush garlic through press into the labneh and add za’atar and Aleppo pepper to taste. Stir vigorously to blend. Labneh may be prepared a day ahead and refrigerated.

Heat a gas or charcoal grill to medium. Place oil, silan, harissa, and salt in a microwavable or heatproof bowl. Heat briefly in microwave oven or in a pot of simmering water to soften ingredients. Whisk to blend.

Toss silan mixture with vegetables to coat generously (toss red beets separately to prevent staining the other vegetables). Grill vegetables, reserving silan mixture, until nicely scored and tender, 4 to 6 minutes per side. Adjust heat or move vegetables to cooler part of grill as needed to avoid burning. As vegetables are done, return them to the remaining silan mixture and toss to coat.

Arrange vegetables on a platter, top with chopped herbs, if desired, and accompany with the shanklish, and your choice of grain or pita. Vegetables may be grilled several hours ahead and served at room temperature.

Shop Supper Kits inspired by Amelia Saltsman

Sara Leana Ahmad has been a part of our Narrative Food family and sharing her recipes and stories with our community since 2017, and we are honored that she is returning as guest narrator next weekend!

Order deadline 5p Monday, August 23rd for weekend delivery.

“IRAQ is: Mesopotamia, the Cradle of Civilization, the Fertile Crescent, the land of the Tigris and Euphrates, the birthplace of Abraham, the site of the Garden of Eden, the supposed burial ground of Noah’s Ark, home to Gilgamesh. It has deep and powerful roots. And those roots are reflected in the cuisine.

The very first cookbook ever written was from Mesopotamia, on stone tablets.

Iraq’s rich history and glorious ethnic and cultural diversity means its food is complex. Iraqi cuisine is influenced by Levantine, Iranian, Turkish, Kurdish, Armenian, Jewish, and Indian cuisine, among others, creating something wholly original and beautiful.

Alas Americans seem to know very little about Iraq other than war, destruction, and violence. It’s all we get to see. This limited view of such a beautiful country, which up until the sixties was known as “The Jewel of the Middle East,” continues an Orientalist tradition of pigeonholing the entire region as violent and destructive. We learn that the violence is somehow inherent and so we choose to ignore it, without considering the consequences.

More and more Iraqis are using social media to show us a different view of Iraq than the one portrayed in media. They are moving the camera lens an inch, to the parts we don’t usually see, the beauty and life that exists despite the violence, corrupt policies, and foreign meddling, the curses of such rich land and soil.

A few years ago Snapchat featured a Day in the Life of Baghdad, in which Iraqi snaps of daily life were selected, surprising millions. We don’t think about carnivals, delicious food, beautiful landscapes, people laughing and enjoying life when we think about Iraq. And sadly unless we look for it we won’t see it. The popular Instagram account @EveryDayIraq features a collection of photographs that depict daily life among its people, beyond the scope of violence.

Yes, there is corruption and violence in Iraq – as there is here and anywhere. But there is so much more to Iraq. And given our active participation in the region, it is at the very least our responsibility to attempt to understand our shared humanities.

As it always is, food is a powerful cultural bridge. These kits are more than just recipes and ingredients: they are a positive social force! Enjoy!

Bil Afya | Bon Appetit

With love, Sara

Sunday Supper Kit

Nena’s Tashreeb Istanbuli

“Tashreeb is the name for a type of dish with broth-soaked bread as the base. It can be soaked with meat or bean broth, depending on the dish. This particular tashreeb is very uncommon. Iraqis do not know this tashreeb if you ask them. Only the Iraqi Turkoman in Kirkuk made this tashreeb, and even then it was uncommon.”  

• Emigh Lamb
• Flatbread
• Yogurt
• And locally sourced produce: eggplant, tomatoes, bell peppers, scallions, and parsley

Check your pantry & fridge for eggs (opt.), turmeric, and lamb broth. Click HERE for the recipe.

“Part of what makes Iraqi cuisine so special is that a family recipe can never fully be replicated. Iraqi recipes are always verbal sketches, mere attempts at defining a dish; but Iraqis don’t cook that way. Iraqis don’t cook with measurements, they cook with their senses.I can tell you to add a tablespoon of cumin, but I don’t really know how much cumin I’ve added. As I cook, I taste along the way, adding a bit of this here and a bit of that there, and I only know it’s right when it tastes right. The essence of my mother’s tastes and textures were passed to me because I grew up eating her food and watching her cook. There is no way to pigeonhole taste; there is no way to reveal the secrets of your mother’s taste. And Iraqi food is just that; it is the food of your mother’s taste. And her taste is deeply rooted in Mesopotamian history…” (Read more HERE.)

Vegetarian Supper

Dibis Maqluba is a dish to prepare when you have guests. It literally means ‘upside down’, and is a layered rice dish that you triumphantly finish by flipping upside down onto. platter. It is popular throughout the Middle East, each region having its own variation. The Iraqi version stands out with its beautifully bright colors and warm, comforting layers.” – excerpt from A House with a Date Palm will Never Starve

Dibis Maqluba & Mama’s Kubba’t Hallab, featuring:

• HLTH punk tomato paste
• Just Date syrup
• Alexandre Family Farms eggs
• Basmati Rice
• Almonds (opt.)
• Raisins (opt.)
• Labneh
• and locally sourced produce – onion, garlic, tomatoes, mushrooms (opt.), eggplant, bell peppers, and parsley

Check your pantry for veggie broth. Scroll down for Sara’s Dibis Maqluba recipe, and click HERE for Mama’s Kubba’t Hallab (swap the ground beef or lamb for your choice of filling: mushrooms, eggplant, etc.)

And for nights tight on time…

Weeknight Supper Kit

Lupa Cotta x Mission Rose Pizza Night, featuring:

• Lupa Cotta pizza dough
• Mission Rose roasted red pepper sauce 
• baby eggplant
• basil

Wine & Grazing Board Supper Kit

Take a night off from cooking and enjoy our Wine & Grazing Board Supper kit in the backyard, poolside, or cozied up on the couch.  

• Subject to Change Wild Child Red Field Blend
• Seed + Mill Tahini
• Manzanita Manor dry-farmed walnuts
• Rancho Meladuco Sun-ripened Medjool dates
• Rustic Bakery Artisan Fruit Crisps
• Scout Garden Pesto tuna
• Olympia Provisions Saucisson Sec
• Local goat cheese 

“Only when I started cooking did I learn to truly delight in food. Although I live in Los Angeles, my parents grew up in Iraq and I learned how to eat from them. In our culture, as in many non-Western cultures, food is a central part of family life. When possible we would eat at a table, together. There are usually grains or legumes, meat, and tons of vegetables at every shared meal. When we sat for dinner — since lunch was always reserved for school or work — we sat for hours eating, talking, arguing, laughing. Meals were relaxed, never rushed…”

Dibis Maqluba

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups basmati rice, soaked and strained
• 4 cups water, for boiling
• 4 tbs salt (3 for boiling, 1 for taste)
• 1/2 large onion, diced
• 2-3 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 tbsp tomato paste
• 1/4 cup vegetable broth
• 1 tomato, diced
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1/2 cup date syrup
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 large aubergine (eggplant), cut in 1/2 in rounds
• 1/2 large onion, sliced
• 2 bell peppers, sliced
• 2 tomatoes, 1/2 in slices
• 1 1/2 cups oil for sauteing
• 1/2 cup parsley, finely chopped

Instructions

Bring the water and salt to boil and add the rice. Boil for seven to ten minutes, drain, and set aside. Sate the diced onions in oil until translucent. Add the salt, garlic, and tomato paste to coat the onions. Sate for three to five minutes before adding the vegetable broth and diced tomato. Simmer for five minutes, add to the rice along with the lemon juice, and cook over a low heat. 

Combine the date syrup, olive oil, and salt to coat the aubergine rounds and the onion slices. In batches, lightly pan fry the aubergine; cool on paper towels. Caramelize the onions, sate the peppers with salt, and lightly pan fry the tomatoes; set aside each vegetable as they are ready. 

Cover the bottom of a non-stick pot in oil. Layer the aubergine to cover the bottom; add the tomatoes, then the peppers, and the onions in layers. Finally, add the rice, flatten it down, and cook on a low heat for at least fifteen minutes. 

To flip the maqluba, place a serving platter that is larger in diameter than the pot and quickly turn over. Top with parsley and serve with thick yoghurt. 

Sara is an Iraqi-American educator, writer, and keeper of family traditions based here in Los Angeles, California. Her food blog Add a Little Lemon has been featured in Food52, Ajam Media Collective, Middle East Eye, and Buzzfeed, among other places; and was nominated as Saveur’s Best New Voice in 2017. You can find her recipes in the cookbook anthology A House With A Date Palm Will Never Starve (2019) alongside many greats. She is a founding member of the Iraqi Narratives Project, an oral history project documenting the stories of Iraqis at home and in diaspora. Recently she has been featured in the series Third Culture Kitchens; and her prose-poem [FRAGMENTS: UNTITLED] has been published in the Joao-Roque Literary Journal. She is currently working on a cookbook and a collection of vignettes.

Photo by @ahmadmousa

Next weekend’s menu shines a spotlight on some of our favorite late summer ingredients – tomatoes, plums, and corn – and pairs with with Mission Rose pasta and Bub & Grandma’s baguette.

Order deadline 5p Monday, August 16th for weekend delivery.

Sunday Supper Kit

Roast Chicken with Green Beans & Bulgur Wheat Salad. Featuring:

• Pasturebird chicken
• Bub & Grandma’s baguette
• bulgar wheat
• and locally sourced produce – corn, lemon, garlic, arugula, tomatoes, cucumber, mint, green beans, as well as figs for dessert

Check your pantry for extra-virgin olive oil, butter, salt, Diaspora Co. black pepper.  


Vegetarian Supper Kit

Mission Rose Pesto Pasta & Plum Kuchen. Featuring:

• Featuring Mission Rose mafaldine pasta
• Belfiore cillegini
• Bub & Grandma’s baguette
• Bob’s Red Mill organic flour
• Alexandre Family Farm eggs
• active dry yeast
• pine nuts
• and locally sourced produce – basil, garlic, lemon, and plums.

Check your pantry for extra virgin olive oil, salt, and Diaspora Co. Aranya black pepper. 

And for nights tight on time…


Weeknight Supper Kit

Mission Rose Summer Pasta with Corn Featuring:

• Mission Rose conchiglie
• Parmigiano Reggiano
• and locally sourced produce – corn, shallots, basil, lemon and lettuce.

Check your pantry for olive oil, salt and pepper. 

Wine & Grazing Board Supper Kit

Take a night off from cooking and enjoy our Wine & Grazing Board Supper Kit in the backyard, poolside, or cozied up on the couch. Featuring:

• Vin de California Amethyst Field Blend
• Bivalve Mendoca cheese
• Manzanita Manor chocolate covered walnuts
• Scout lobster
• La Quercia Prosciutto Americano
• hazelnuts
• and Rustic Bakery crackers

The Vegetarian Wine & Grazing Board Supper Kit skips the conserva and charcuterie.

Next weekend’s menu features family friendly recipes that are equally delicious as they are easy to prepare. Whether in-person or at-home, a new season of apples gives the Sunday Supper kit tasty Back-to-School vibes. For the #MealKitRebel, add apples or stone fruit to your Vegetarian Supper Kit to make a sweet pie instead of a savory quiche.

Order deadline 5p Monday, August 9th for weekend delivery. 

Sunday Supper Kit

Sausages & Roasted Green Beans with Sweet Potato & Apple Mash and Apple Crumble for dessert! Featuring:

• Electric City Butcher sausages
• rolled oats
• and locally sourced produce – sweet potatoes, apples, green beans, lemon, and rosemary

Check your pantry for extra-virgin olive oil, salt, Diaspora Co. black pepper, cinnamon, cayenne, all-purpose flour, Malibu honey, butter, and brown sugar.  

Vegetarian Supper Kit

Orzo Sakad with Leek & Mushroom Quiche with Market Greens & Herb Salad. Featuring:

• Alexandre Family Farms eggs
• Straus heavy whipping cream and butter
• Fiscalini Cheddar cheese
• flour, and locally sources produce – leeks, mushrooms, garlic, lettuce, lemon, parsley, dill, and mint

Check your pantry for red wine vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, Malibu Honey, Diaspora Co. Aranya black pepper, and mustard. 

And for nights tight on time…


Weeknight Supper Kit

Curried Cauliflower with Rice

• Koda Farms rice
• More Than Fair coconut milk
• curry paste
• and locally sourced produce – white onion, ginger, garlic, cauliflower, potatoes, bell pepper, scallion, and cilantro.

Check your pantry for olive oil, salt and pepper. 

Wine & Grazing Board Supper Kit

Take a night off from cooking and enjoy our Wine & Grazing Board Supper Kit in the backyard, poolside, or cozied up on the couch. Featuring:

• Vin de California Amethyst Field Blend
• Bivalve Mendoca cheese
• Manzanita Manor chocolate covered walnuts
• Scout lobster
• La Quercia Prosciutto Americano
• hazelnuts
• and Rustic Bakery crackers

The Vegetarian Wine & Grazing Board Supper Kit skips the conserva and charcuterie.

Next weekend’s menu features delicious, and easy to prepare meals with the best of what midsummer has to offer. Tomatoes, eggplant, chili peppers are stars of the meal paired with a few of our favorite pantry staples – Malibu Honey, Bluegrass soy sauce, and more! 

Order deadline 5p Monday, July 26th for weekend delivery. 

Sunday Supper Kit

Sticky Honey Soy Chicken Wings with Charred Eggplant, featuring:

• Pasturebird chicken wings
• Bluegrass soy sauce
• Malibu Honey
• and locally sourced produce – eggplant, lettuce, lemon, cilantro, ginger, and garlic

Check your pantry for salt, Diaspora Co. black pepper, butter, and sesame seeds.

Vegetarian Supper Kit

Orzo Sakad with Lemon Vinaigrette paired with Gazpacho featuring:

• Belfiore feta cheese
• Manzanita Manor dry-farmed heirloom walnuts
• Bub & Grandma’s baguette
• California Coast Naturals olives
• orzo
• and locally sources produce – cherry tomatoes, Roma tomatoes, red bell peppers, lemon, red onion, and basil.

Check your pantry for red wine vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, Malibu Honey (included in our Sunday Supper Kit), Diaspora Co. Aranya black pepper, and broth. 

And for nights tight on time…


Weeknight Supper Kit

Taco Night with Mesa Salsa

• Mesa Salsa
• Late July tortilla chips
• corn tortillas
• and locally sourced produce – cauliflower, onion, avocado, chili pepper, limes, cilantro, and garlic.

Check your pantry for olive oil, salt and pepper. 

Wine & Grazing Board Supper Kit

Take a night off from cooking and enjoy our Wine & Grazing Board Supper Kit in the backyard, poolside, or cozied up on the couch. Featuring:

• J.Brix Stay in Bed Red
• Meredith marinated sheep cheese
• Manzanita Manor dry-farmed walnut butter
• M.Greenwood marmalade, Patagonia mussels
• Hayden Sonora crackers
• Olympia Provisions Saucisson

The Vegetarian Wine & Grazing Board Supper Kit skips the conserva and charcuterie.

Next weekend’s menu – celebrating our eleventh anniversary – features a few easy seasonal recipes that spotlight some of our favorite farms and local artisans that we have come to know over the years. 

Order deadline 5p Monday, July 26th for weekend delivery. 

Sunday Supper Kit

Skirt Steak, Potatoes, and Heirloom Tomatoes with Mission Rose and Bub & Grandma’s Garlic Baguette, featuring:

• Electric City Butcher skirt steak
• Mission Rose garlic & herb butter
• Bub & Grandma’s baguette
• and locally sourced produce – chives, heirloom tomatoes, potatoes, lettuce, and red onion

Check your pantry for olive oil, vinegar mustard, salt, Diaspora Co. black pepper and coriander, cumin and fennel seed. 

Image: A throwback to one of our favorite menus from the last year that celebrated the release of Whetstone Magazine Vol. 6 and featured poetry by Krystal Mack. 

Vegetarian Supper Kit

Beans & Chard with Poached Eggs paired with Stuffed Tomatoes, featuring:

• Koda Farms rice
• California Coast Naturals black olives
• artisan goat cheese
• dried beans
• and locally sourced produce: lemon, onion, garlic, Fresno chile, basil, chard, tomatoes, and oregano

Check your pantry for extra virgin olive oil, kosher salt, baharat, Diaspora Co. Aranya black pepper and labneh. 

And for nights tight on time…


Weeknight Supper Kit

Lupa Cotta x Mission Rose Pizza Night

• Lupa Cotta pizza dough
• Mission Rose puttanesca (their mildly-spiced Puttanesca combines sweet and salty flavors of tomatoes, Castelvetrano olives, capers, garlic, with crushed chili flakes)
• Bellwether Farms crescenza cheese 
• and basil

Check your pantry for olive oil, salt and pepper. 

Wine & Grazing Board Supper Kit

Take a night off from cooking and enjoy our Wine & Grazing Board Supper Kit in the backyard, poolside, or cozied up on the couch. Featuring:

• Amy Atwood’s So Far Out chillable red 
• Bivalve Mendoza cheese
• Braga Pacific Coast nut blend
• M.Greenwood marmalade
• Hayden Flour Mill Sonora crackers
• Jose Gourmet octopus conserva 
• La Quercia Prosciutto Americano 

The Vegetarian Wine & Grazing Board Supper Kit skips the conserva and charcuterie.

Next weekend’s menu features a few recipes that are perfect for enjoying outside in your backyard, at the park, or packed up and brought the beach.

Order deadline 5p Monday, July 12th for weekend delivery.

Sunday Supper Kit

Pulled Pork Tacos with East Guacamole, featuring:

• Marin Sun pork butt
• corn tortillas
• dried beans
• guajillo chile
• and locally sourced produce – onion, garlic, oranges, avocado, limes, and cilantro

Check your pantry for olive oil, chicken stock, spices (ground coriander, cumin, chili powder, pepper) and salt.

Vegetarian Supper Kit

Mission Rose Summer Pasta Salad with Bub & Grandma’s sesame loaf panzanella on the side and grapes for dessert. Featuring:

• Mission Rose fresh torchiette pasta
• Bub & Gramdma’s sesame loaf
• Bellwether Farms ricotta
• grating cheese
• and locally sourced produce: mixed summer squash, basil, cucumber, heirloom tomatoes, grapes, onion, garlic, and lemon.

Check your pantry for extra virgin olive oil, kosher salt, FigureAte persimmon vinegar, and Diaspora Co. Aranya black pepper. 

And for nights tight on time…


Weeknight Supper Kit

Mission Rose Pasta Night

• Mission Rose fresh bucatini pasta
• Mission Rose Parmegiano black pepper butter
• and locally sourced produce –  cherry tomatoes, lettuce, red onion, and cucumber

Check your pantry for olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper. 

Wine & Grazing Board Supper Kit

Take a night off from cooking and enjoy our Wine & Grazing Board Supper Kit in the backyard, poolside, or cozied up on the couch. Featuring:

• Amy Atwood’s So Far Out chillable red
• Bivalve Mendoza cheese
• Braga Pacific Coast nut blend
• M.Greenwood marmalade
• Hayden Flour Mill Sonora crackers
• Jose Gourmet octopus conserva
• La Quercia Prosciutto Americano

The Vegetarian Wine & Grazing Board Supper Kit skips the conserva and charcuterie.

Next weekend’s menu features a few summery recipes from our archive and highlights some of our new & longtime favorite pantry staples – Hilltop & Canyon Preserved lemons, Fly by Jing Sichuan chili crisp, and Villa Jerada chermoula.

Order deadline 5p Monday, July 12th for weekend delivery. 

Sunday Supper Kit

Chicken with Hilltop & Canyon Preserved Lemons and California Coast Naturals Black Olives paired with an adaptation of Helene Henderson’s Isreali Couscous Salad. Featuring:

• Pasturebird chicken leg quarters
• Hilltop & Canyon preserved lemons
• California Coast Naturals black olives
• couscous
• and locally sourced produce – onion, garlic, parsley, lemon, snap peas, corn carrots, and figs

Check your pantry for saffron, extra virgin olive oil, chicken stock, spices (ground coriander, cumin, paprika), butter, salt and pepper.

Vegetarian Supper Kit

Roasted Red Pepper Frittata with and Bub & Grandma’s house loaf and Villa Jerada chermoula paired with Cucumber & Peach salad. Featuring:

• Alexandre Family Farm certified regenerative eggs
• Milton Creamery Prairie Breeze Bub &Grandma’s house loaf, Villa Jerada chermoula spread and locally sourced produce: shallot, lemon, cucumbers, peaches, red peppers, onion, potatoes, basil, and mint. 

Check your pantry for extra virgin olive oil, kosher salt, FigureAte persimmon vinegar, and Diaspora Co. Aranya black pepper. 

And for nights tight on time…


Weeknight Supper Kit

Woon Kitchen & Fly by Jing

• Woon Kitchen homestyle chewy noodles
• Woon Kitchen cucumber salad
• Fly by Jing Sichuan chili crisp and locally sourced produce –  garlic, bok choy, cilantro, and green onion.

Check your pantry for vegetable or grapeseed oil, salt and pepper, soy sauce, sesame oil, and honey. 

Wine & Grazing Board Supper Kit

Take a night off from cooking and enjoy our Wine & Grazing Board Supper Kit in the backyard, poolside, or cozied up on the couch. Featuring:

• Amy Atwood’s So Far Out chillable red 
• Bivalve Mendoza cheese
• Braga Pacific Coast nut blend
• M.Greenwood marmalade
• Hayden Flour Mill Sonora crackers
• Jose Gourmet octopus conserva 
• La Quercia Prosciutto Americano 

The Vegetarian Wine & Grazing Board Supper Kit skips the conserva and charcuterie.

Next weekend’s menu transports us to the Mediterranean and Middle East with easy to prepare meals that encourage you and your household to gather around the table (or a picnic blanket) and enjoy your meals at a leisurely pace.

Order deadline 5p Monday, July 5th for weekend delivery.

Explore Our New Supper Kits

Sunday Supper Kit – Grilled Lamb Kefta with Carrots, Mint & Pistachios paired with Crispy Smashed Za’atar Potatoes. Featuring:

• Emigh Lamb
• Canaan Za’atar
• Braga Pistachios
• Bellwether Farms Yogurt
• Weiser Family Farms Potatoes
• Carrots, Garlic, Lemon, and Mint

Check your pantry for white wine, olive oil, mustard, spices (ground coriander, crushed red pepper flakes, cumin, paprika, cinnamon), skewers, butter, salt, and pepper.

Vegetarian Supper Kit – Maftoul Salad and Grilled Halloumi & Chickpeas paired with Figs & Grapes featuring:

• Canaan Maftoul
• Grillies Halloumi
• Chickpeas
• Parsley, Mint, Scallions
• Cherry Tomatoes, Persian Cucumbers, Lemon, Zucchini, Red Onion
• Figs & Grapes

Check your pantry for olive oil, tahini, salt and pepper, raisins (opt.), fresh chili pepper, tahini,  za’atar. 

And for nights tight on time…

Weeknight Supper Kit –  Mezze

• Organic Flatbread
• Baba Small Batch hummus
• Cauliflower
• Raw Spice Bar Sumac or Baharat
• Mixed Cucumbers
• Sungold Tomatoes

Check your pantry for olive oil, salt and pepper. 

Take a night off from cooking and enjoy our Wine & Grazing Board Supper Kit in the backyard, poolside, or cozied up on the couch. Featuring:

• Vin de California Belafonte Mission chillable red
• Cowgirl Creamery Pierce Pt. cheese
• Manzanita Manor dry-farmed walnuts
• M.Greenwood jam
• Rustic Bakery crackers
• Scout Garden Pesto tuna conserva
• Charlito’s cured chorizo.

We were honored to be able to attend this week’s Eco Farm Queering Farming conference which featured Nikiko Masumoto as a guest speaker. The hours spent in discussion and community with folks on Tuesday was encouraging and reminded us of the call and response between Nikiko and her father David in their book “Changing Season: A Father, A Daughter, A Family Farm”. (Scroll down for details.)

Next weekend’s menu features Masumoto’s beloved peaches and nectarines and celebrates the various ways we enjoy stone fruit – charred and paired with meat for Sunday Supper, sliced and tossed in a salad Vegetarian Supper, eaten fresh and juicy over the kitchen sink (Snacking Fruit & Lemon), or the #MealKitRebel summer dessert favorite – peaches & crème.

Explore Our New Supper Kits

Sunday Supper Kit – Grilled Pork & Peaches with Harissa Yogurt & Spice Crusted Veggies, featuring:

• Rancho Llano Seco pork
• Masumoto peaches
• HLTH Punk harissa, and more.

Check your pantry for olive oil, unsalted butter, salt, and pepper.  Photo: A visit to Masumoto, June 2019.     

Vegetarian Supper Kit – Savory Pie with Fire Roasted Peppers alongside Spring Mix Salad with Champagne Vinaigrette, featuring:

• Bellwether crème fraîche
• Alexandre Family Farm eggs
• O Cal citrus champagne vinegar
• Masumoto Nectarines and more

Check your pantry for olive oil, salt and pepper. 

Photo: A visit to Masumoto, June 2019. 

And for nights tight on time…

Weeknight Supper Kit –  Lupa Cotta Pizza Night featuring:

• Lupa Cotta pizza dough
• Bianco Di Napoli tomato sauce
• Rumiano block mozzarella, basil, and summer squash. 

Check your pantry for olive oil, salt and pepper. 

Celebrate Pride with our Wine & Grazing Board Supper Kit featuring:

• So Far Out chillable red (an Amy Atwood collaboration with Field Recordings)
• OmNom Caramel + Milk Pride Bar
• Fishwife rainbow trout
• Rustic Bakery crackers
• fennel pollen salami and more

In Her Words: Amy Atwood – I am a proud to be a queer woman business owner. I started Amy Atwood Selections (Cleanskins Wine LLC) in 2009 because I wanted to work with wines I love and winemakers I respect. After 15 years of working for other wine wholesalers and importers, my focus had shifted towards smaller production wineries, making wines more naturally. This means organic or sustainable farming, and little to zero intervention in the winery. And most importantly, the wines have to bring joy and be delicious to drink. Wine. Naturally.

A LA CArte

We are proud to have been working with Amy Atwood since 2013. She and her team connect us with the artisan wine makers and beautiful wines we share with our Narrative Food community. We are especially excited about her recent projects:

Flora Vermouth is a joint project between distiller Morgan McLachlan and Amy. Made with rosé of pinot noir from Sonoma County California, neutral grape spirit, birch bark, cacao, grapefruit peel, lemon verbena, wild cherry bark, coriander, and blue cornflower, Flora is a pleasure to enjoy with sparkling soda and a slice of orange!

So Far Out is Amy’s collaboration with winemaker and vineyard manager, Andrew Jones of Field Recordings Wine. 65% Malbec 35% Riesling.

Both are perfect companions for next week’s summer suppers.

Hands down our favorite spice sourceress Sana Javeri Kadri has done it again! Her new nutmeg is what takes the beloved peaches & crème duo to the next level and is alsom amzing in curries, ragu, spice blends, cocktails, and more! Click here for Diaspora Co.’s piece “What Does  It Means To Be A Queer Business”. 

Excerpt from Changing Season: A Father, A Daughter, A Family Farm.

NIKIKO: …ideals about gender, sex, sexuality, and race are wrapped up in who we think of as farmers. Even the “we” of that sentence matters and is worth defining; I am specifically challenging us in the United States, where we think of farmers as straight white men….I am none of these things. And I am a farmer…It is from this perspective that I believe feminism is essential to farming. We know that the nation’s population of farmers (still mostly straight white males) is aging, and as we build the next generation, we must recognize that now is the time to dismantle the concepts and structures that make it more difficult for certain types of people to fill their shoes. This includes immigrants, women, people of color, queer people, and other marginalized groups…All farmers will benefit from such dismantling, and from the re-creation that follows. Feminism is my lifeline; it is a tool I use every day as a farmer. It was forged by all the people who think I can’t do this. As I cultivate a vision of the feminist world we can create, my spirit strong and enduring, I say to the doubters, “Watch me.”

DAVID MAS: Nikiko asks me, “Are you a feminist farmer?”…Nikiko tells me she doesn’t belong and may not want to “fit” into the a narrow definition of the American farmer. As a queer woman. Of mixed race. As a worker and thinker…Now I see the connection between feminism and food: it means dismantling the meaning of what it means to be an American farmer. Nikiko is helping change the narrative, helping us to reimagine food not as a commodity but as part of a movement to construct a world where justice and equality are part of the flavor and taste of our peaches…So call me a feminist farmer, one who works to carve a place in the land and claim a space in the long line of farmers. I seek to build a new network of relationships, to celebrate differences, and to forge new identities. I want to watch, witness, and learn from the next wave.

Peaches & Creme

Ingredients

1 large or 2 small Masumoto ripe peaches, sliced

1 tbs creme fraiche

2 tsp honey

1 dash ground cinnamon

Freshly grated Diaspora Co. Anamalai nutmeg

Instructions

Mix the honey and creme fraiche in a small bowl.

Place peach slices alongside or on top of the honeyed creme fraiche.

Top with grated nutmeg.

Serve with cornbread, biscuits, or enjoy on its own!

“CONJURIN’ IN THE KITCHEN

is about feel more than measurement

the syncopation of ingredients is essential

improvisation strongly encouraged”

– Alison Saar

Cooking is more than putting together a list of ingredients and following a specific recipe. It is the gathering of stories – where ingredients originated from, how they got here, who grew them (historically and present day), and the cultural context of how we learned how to use/cook them. For years, centuries even, many of these stories have been overlooked or erased from the conversation. However, over the last decade, and especially in the last few years, we have been encouraged by and embrace the shift in the whose voices are speaking out from the bookshelves and kitchens – calling for change and getting into good trouble.

Curated by our creative director B.Evy-Marie Harris, next week’s menu features summery adaptations of Alison Saar’s Recipes for Trouble alongside several recipes from Dr. Jessica B. Harris, whom you may have watched on the recently released Netflix series based on her book, High on the Hog. This menu is not only a preamble to Juneteenth*, but a digestible reflection on where we were as a community this time last year – an invitation to pause and plan how we can grow, learn and gather together for change.

Order deadline 5pm, Monday, June 7th for weekend delivery.

*Juneteenth is celebrated on June 19th to commemorated the emancipation of enslaved people in the US. The holiday was first celebrated in Texas, where on that date in 1865, slaves were finally declared free, three years after the 1862 Emancipation Proclamation. 

Explore Our New Supper Kits


Borrowing words from Dr. Jessica B. Harris, okra is the connector. Know as okrum in Twi, or quin gumbo in Bantu, okra was brought from Africa to the Americas by slaves. Next weekend’s Sunday Supper Kit gives you the opportunity to choose your okra experience. Alison Saar’s Aunt Jai’s Gumbo shares ingredients with Dr. Jessica B. Harris’s Fried Chicken with Succotash – giving you both guidance and creative license to feel your way thru the kitchen and conjure something delicious for you and your household. For dessert – watermelon. If making Alison’s gumbo, check your pantry for flour, bay leaf, cayenne pepper, stock, hot sauce, rice, salt and pepper. If making Dr. Jessica B. Harris’s fried chicken and succotash, check your pantry for hot pepper, cornmeal, salt and pepper.

The Vegetarian Supper Kit  includes the ingredients for a summery adaptation of Alison’s Hoppin’ John with Good Money Greens and Black Skillet Cornbread featuring Tehachapi Grain cornmeal and Koda Farms Kokuho Rose rice. Check your pantry for flour, sugar, butter, cumin, hot sauce, baking powder, vegetable stock, smoked paprika (optional), salt and pepper.

Image: Alison Saar’s Sorrow’s Kitchen, 2020. 

And for nights tight on time…

Our easy to make enjoy Weeknight Supper Kit features Woon’s Homestyle Chewy Noodles with Spread the Love peanut butter, lime, garic, ginger, carrots, green onion, broccoli leaves, cilantro and hot peppers. Check your pantry for soy sauce. 

Plan a summery picnic, backyard soirée (or get cozy and watch a movie) and enjoy the Wine & Grazing Board Supper Kit featuring: 

• J.Brix Stay in Bed Red
• Bivalve Mendoca Cheese
• CA Coast Naturals Olives
• Manzanita Manor Chocolate Covered Walnuts
• Effie’s Oatcakes
• Scout Garden Herb Pesto Tuna
• and La Quercia Prosciutto Americano

The Vegetarian Wine & Grazing Board Supper Kit skips the charcuterie and conserva but includes the option to add hummus or a spread.

A LA CArte

This week’s featured a la carte selections are inspired by the red beverages and foods enjoyed during Juneteenth. Why red? Culinary Historian Micheal Twitty says in his Afroculinaria essay Terroir Noire: African American Foodways in Slavery, Texas, “The practice of eating red foods—red cake, barbecue, punch and fruit– may owe its existence to the enslaved Yoruba and Kongo brought to Texas in the 19th century.  For both of these cultures the color red is the embodiment of spiritual power and transformation.” 

We’re busy in the kitchen making the sorrel tea found in Toni Tipton-Martin’s cookbook Jubilee using Masienda dried hibiscus (included in next weekend’s Narrative Provisions box finale) and a few of the spices in our pantry. Add some  mint, ginger, and citrus for a refreshing and delicious beverage!

Enjoy refreshing watermelon in salads, sorbets, or just sliced and enjoyed on your next picnic. 

Due to your amazing and delighful response, Harry’s Berries Mara de Bois strawberries are available for your indulgent snacking pleasure. 

New Wine and a Suggested Reading List

We are excited for the return of the refreshing collaboration between Jenny & Francois and Chris Christensen of Bodkin wine. Pop open a bottle of their lightly hazy, unfiltered Sauvignon Blanc for enjoy delicious notes of gooseberry and citrus while perusing pages from our suggested reading list (below). 

About: Chris Christensen never thought winemaking was an actual career path that people who weren’t born into a winery or vineyard could pursue, until he went on a wine tasting trip to the Sonoma Valley his Junior year at Stanford. From then on he was hooked on the idea of working at a winery. And here he still is, making wine. As an African American vintner, Chris works to promote diversity and inclusion in the wine industry through speaking engagements, podcasts and mentorship opportunities for aspiring vintners and winery owners.

Suggested Reading List

On Juneteenth, Annette Gordon-Reid

High on the Hog, Dr. Jessica B. Harris

The Cooking Gene, Michael W. Twitty

Barracoon, Zora Neale Hurston

We are Each Other’s Harvest Natalie Baszile

Claudia Rankin, Citizen

Voyage of The Sable Venus, Robin Coste Lewis

Whetstone

For the Culture

Jubilee, Toni Tipton-Martin

Narrative Provisions Boxes (Exclusive to current subscribers)

After eleven years, we are retiring our weekly Narrative Provisions boxes. Our upcoming “Conjurin’ In the Kitchen: Alison Saar’s Recipes for Trouble” menu is our grand finale. Read our founder’s letter about why were are making these changes here.  

Our Narrative Provisions boxes are filled with pasture-raised meat & eggs, curated pantry items, and local produce to make our featured recipes, but you’ll need to check your pantry for these few items found HERE.

Large Omnivore Narrative Provisions Featured Recipes:

• Buttermilk Fried Chicken with Collard Slaw and Cornbread
• Choose your own experience (Aunt Jai’s Gumbo or Sausages & Succotash)
• Chicken with Sweet Potatoes & Plantain
• Hoppin’ John Grain bowl with Good Money Greens-inspired salad
• “Put Your Foot In It” Sweet Potato Pie
• Juneteenth Tea

Featured Ingredients: 

• Electric City Butcher Andouille Sausage
• Pasturebird Chicken Leg Quarters (Wings for Small Omnivore)*
• Keller Crafted Bacon*
• Alexandre Family Farm Eggs
• Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice
• Diaspora Co. Nutmeg
• Masienda Hibiscus*
• Koda Farms Kokuho Rose Rice*
• Blackeyed Peas*
• Tehachapi Grain Project Cornmeal*
• Straus Buttermilk
• and locally sourced produce for the above recipes*

*Included in Small Omnivore Narrative Provisions Boxes. 

Large Vegetarian Narrative Provisions Featured Recipes:

• Choose your own experience (Aunt Jai’s Gumbo or Sausages & Succotash)
• Hoppin’ John Grain bowl with Good Money Greens-inspired salad
• Collard Slaw & Cornbread
• “Put Your Foot In It” Sweet Potato Pie
• Juneteenth Tea

Featured Ingredients: 

• Alexandre Family Farm Eggs
• Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice
• Diaspora Co. Nutmeg
• Masienda Hibiscus*
• Koda Farms Kokuho Rose Rice*
• Blackeyed Peas*
• Tehachapi Grain Project Cornmeal*
• Straus Buttermilk
• and locally sourced produce for the above recipes*

*Included in Small Vegetarian Narrative Provisions Boxes. 

Harry’s Berries are the most beloved strawberries in Southern California. Their certified organic family farm is located in Oxnard, California. Established in 1967 by Harry Iwamoto, it is now operated by Harry’s daughter and son-in-law, Molly and Rick Gean.  They grow beautiful Gaviota and Seascape strawberries that have a cult following, but our favorites are their Mara Des Bois. Reminiscent of a “French Wild” Strawberry with a hint of concord grape notes, they are the essence of late spring/early summer. Perfectly red and warmed to room temperature, a small clamshell of these perfumed jewels were the muse that took Jennifer on a delicious journey down memory lane thru the South of France and inspired next weekend’s Supper Kits. Scroll down for details.

Order deadline 5pm, Monday, May 31st for weekend delivery.

Explore Our New Supper Kits

My first trip to the South of France was in 1971, when I was 8.  We stayed near Avignon, in a classic Auberge nestled beside a pasture which my brother and I joyfully discovered was full of adorable snails — my father wasted no time warning us that these cute antenaed creatures would most likely end up on someone’s plate in the Auberge dining room that night — “they’re called Escargots!”  After spending the entire dinner darting concerned glances at our neighbors’ dinner plates to see if they were really eating our snail friends, a bowlful of fresh strawberries and cream was finally placed in front of me for dessert, and my mood abruptly improved.  These were the most delicious, plump, red, juicy, messy strawberries imaginable for a little girl dressed for dinner in a white dress. My mother, to this day, still brings up my white dress permanently stained with strawberry juice! But she knew very well that there are moments in life when strawberries take over, and that’s all that matters —  and yes, we both still remember them 50 years later. 

When I lived in Europe during the mid-80’s and 90’s, I would find my way to Cannes most years, for the Film Festival.  But I wasn’t particularly interested in the Croisette or the movies, you could always find me at the farmer’s market, hunting out, amongst other things, “les Fraises des Bois” a tiny, delectable and very fragile strawberry with the sweetest aroma — Finally, in the early 2000’s, I brought my own children with me to Cannes, and introduced them to the wonders of the sculpture garden at the Maeght Foundation, strawberries and sorbet, (and of course aioli and heirloom tomatoes, basil and baby artichokes), on their first trip to the Provence.

Next weekend’s menus will transport you to the South of France and inspire nostalgic memories of your own.

Next weekend, treat yourself to our Sunday Supper Kit featuring Little Apple Treats Original Apple Cider Vinegar and Pasturebird Chicken. It includes the recipe and ingredients for Sara Woodward’s Roast Chicken Thighs with Lemon & Aioli  and Heirloom Tomatoes. Check your pantry for olive oil, butter (optional), salt, and pepper. 

The Vegetarian Supper Kit  features CA Coast Naturals Olive Oil and Green Olives and includes the recipe and ingredients for Herbed Farro Salad with Feta, Chickpeas, Olives & Whole Lemon Vinaigrette. Check your pantry for salt and pepper. 

And for nights tight on time…

Our Weeknight Supper Kit features Mission Rose Fresh Pasta and Creamy Tomato Sauce with Basil, Marjoram & Oregano and a side salad featuring Garden of lettuce.

Plan a summery picnic or backyard soirée and enjoy the Wine & Grazing Board Supper Kit featuring: 

• Vin de California Amethyst Field Blend
• Cowgirl Creamery Pierce Pt.
• Manzanita Manor Dry-Farmed Walnuts
• M.Greenwood Jam
• Rustic Bakery Crackers
• Scout Lobster
• and Charlito’s Cured Chorizo

The Vegetarian Wine & Grazing Board Supper Kit skips the charcuterie and conserva but includes the option to add hummus or a spread.

A LA CArte

Experience firsthand the wonders of Harry’s Berries Mara de Bois Strawberries . 

Inspired by the famed Proust’s memory inducing treats, we are excited to welcome Pagnol Boulanger’s new pastries:

• Lavender Honey Madelines
• Bread Pudding
• Lemon Tart
• Flourless Chocolate Torte
• and Lemon Poppyseed Cookies 

Narrative Provisions Boxes (Exclusive to current subscribers)

Our Narrative Provisions boxes are filled with pasture-raised meat & eggs, curated pantry items, and local produce to make our featured recipes, but you’ll need to check your pantry for these few items found HERE.

Large Omnivore Narrative Provisions Featured Recipes:

• Roast Chicken with Lemon & Aioli with Heirloom Tomatoes*
• Fennel Marinated Pork & Crushed Potatoes
• Chicken with Mushroom Sauce & Roasted Vegetables
• Frisee Salad with Poached Eggs & Mustard Vinaigrette*
• Herbed Farro Salad with Olives & Whole Lemon Vinaigrette

Featured Ingredients: 

• Rancho Llano Seco Pork Chops
• Pasturebird Chicken Thighs* & Breasts
• Alexandre Family Farm Eggs*
• Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice
• Harry’s Berries Mara de Bois Strawberries
• CA Coast Naturals Green Olives
• Farro
• Creme Fraiche
• Bub & Grandma’s Baguette*
• Manzanita Manor Dry-Farmed Walnuts
• and locally sourced produce for the above recipes*

*Included in Small Omnivore Narrative Provisions Boxes. 

Large Vegetarian Narrative Provisions Featured Recipes:

• Lemon & Aioli with Heirloom Tomatoes
• Frisee Salad with Poached Eggs & Mustard Vinaigrette
• Herbed Farro Salad with Olives & Whole Lemon Vinaigrette

Featured Ingredients: 

• Alexandre Family Farm Eggs*
• Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice
• Harry’s Berries Mara de Bois Strawberries
• CA Coast Naturals Green Olives*
• Farro*
• Artisan Cheese 
• Bub & Grandma’s Baguette
• Manzanita Manor Dry-Farmed Walnuts
• M.Greenwood Mustard*
• and locally sourced produce for the above recipes*

*Included in Small Vegetarian Narrative Provisions Boxes. 

Dear Narrative Food Community,  We are very excited to present our new box options. Hopefully you have read the letter from our founder, and are already familiar with the exciting news about our new products. If not, and you’d like to read it, please find it HERE.  

Details about our new format:

We have essentially broken our big provisions boxes down into modules that can be built together to offer an experience with Narrative Food that is more customized to the unique needs of your family. To serve as a the foundation of the week, we have supper boxes that are designed to be more like meal kits.  As always, our meal kits will be centered around a culinary creative, cookbook, theme, or artisan so that you can still experience that connection to the compelling stories behind great food. The specific options are outlined below.  After you choose your meal kits, we invite you to add on the right amount of other weekly staples for your family: a produce box filled with the abundance California has to offer, a weekly fruit selection, a butcher’s bundle, or our *new* plant-based protein bundle, and a selection of basics we know you already love: bread, milk, eggs, and more. Of course, you can always shop a la carte to add one-time tasty items to your cart, or to add recurring items you love to have each week. (Ex.Jennifer has a Bub & Grandma’s sourdough loaf set on recurring every week!) 

Do you prefer to do your own thing? 

We love our #mealkitrebels! You like to do your own thing and freestyle in the kitchen. You have a few options: (1) Feel free to choose from our produce and meat selections to build an entirely a la carte box from our marketplace (2) Get a supper kit but don’t feel constrained by the recipes! You can still enjoy the beautiful ingredients and incredible artisan pantry items the you’d like to.  

STEP ONE: CHOOSE YOUR SUPPER KIT

For nights when you have time to cook and for the folks who enjoyed the curated themes of our Narrative Provisions boxes. These individual supper boxes change weekly to explore different cuisines, to celebrate a holiday, cookbook release, theme, or local culinary creative!

The Sunday Supper Kit ($75) feeds 4 – or, 2 with leftovers! The box is inspired by our weekly narrative and includes a recipe card, organic and locally sourced produce, pasture-raised butcher cut meat from our friends at Electric City Butcher, and thoughtfully sourced small-batch ingredients covering the gamut from Diaspora Co. single-origin spices to PNW wild-forage morels, Santa Monica Farmers Market favorites, as well as new and beloved local makers you will be excited to enjoy. 

The Vegetarian Supper Kit ($70) feeds 4 – or, 2 with leftovers. A generous vegetarian meal including elements which could be split into two lighter meals. Also featuring carefully chosen ingredients paired with a recipe card, this meal will share the same theme as the Sunday Supper Kit and feature specialty items that you will love – and that will love back our soil health and community. And for nights tight on time…

The new Weeknight Supper Kit ($50) feeds 2 adults+ and is a 4-week rotation of quick, fun, family-friendly vegetarian meals with elements from some of our favorite local makers. If you add on a butcher’s bundle, one of your meat selections will pair well with the week’s meal:

• Week 1:Lupa Cotta Pizza Night
• Week 2: Taco Night with Tehachapi Grain Project flour tortillas
• Week 3: Handmade Mission Rose fresh pasta
• Week 4: Woon Kitchen Noodles, Sandita’s Dumplings, or Rice Stir Fry

The new Wine & Grazing Board Supper Kit ($110) is an indulgent pleasure to take outside on a lovely evening, and just nibble the night away in the candlelight – or dwell around your kitchen table telling stories. And yes, we are calling this supper for the night! It includes:

• a bottle of natural CA wine 
• a beautiful cheese from an artisan dairy
• a box of crackers
• olives, nuts, or pickles
• an artisan charcuterie item
• conserva 
• a sweet treat (jam, honey, chocolate)

The Vegetarian Wine & Grazing Board Supper Kit ($90) skips the charcuterie and conserva but includes the option to add hummus or a spread. 

STEP TWO: CHOOSE YOUR PRODUCE SELECTIONS

Choose from our rotating a la carte produce selections and bundles, or add on a Fruit Bowl to your order.  STEP THREE: CHOOSE YOUR PROTEIN BUNDLES 

Choose from our Butcher Bundle (renamed from our Medium Meat Selection), our brand new Plant-based Protein Bundle ($39), and other proteins like, eggs, milk, cheese, etc. You can set any of these items to weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, or one-off orders. 

STEP FOUR: CHOOSE YOUR BEST-SELLING BASICS

Choose your favorites from our best-seller, at the frequency that’s right for your household, and then shop a la carte for any additional items. Don’t forget the wine!) 

Narrative Food founder Jennifer Field Piette celebrating and enjoying one of our new Wine & Grazing Board Supper Kits with creative director B.Evy-Marie H.Yarde. 

Dear Narrative Food Community,  Our signature Narrative Provisions Box is the produce that inspired me to found this company and that I’ve personally received every single week, since the very first week we delivered in July 2010! These boxes have celebrated diverse food stories, and the best ingredients we could source for you to cook the recipes, working with an extended family of makers and growers to create a unique weekly experience. While the curation of these boxes has led us on an amazing culinary journey, these are involved, big boxes of food and we’ve come to recognize  that at times if feels daunting to make use of everything in the box in the course of a week.  So this year, for the first time since 2010, we started reimagining how we could create a slightly different experience that would be more manageable for busy lives, and better meet the needs of you, our customers and friends. And we’d like to share that vision with you, and the things we took into account while reimagining our signature product: 

1. We wanted you to experience the abundance and beauty of all of our farm partners and favorite artisans without the overwhelm.
2. We knew we needed to meet the diverse needs of your different families by giving you more options to build a box just for you.
3. We wanted to connect you to the creatives and artisans we love through new recipes and stories, without such a large time commitement of five full new recipes.
4. We wanted time and energy to focus on bringing you exclusive artisan products and an increased array of fresh produce options so that Narrative Food is always making it easy for you to get the best of the best.

With these considerations in mind, we made the difficult decision to distill the best parts of the Provisions Boxes into new, smaller bundles. Our individual Supper Kits – still curated around a favorite culinary creative, maker, or theme – will be complemented by a series of smaller “module” boxes so you can build them into just the right balance of cooking an ease, for your particular household and schedule. Other “modules” you can add into your box include additional supper kits or easy weeknight meal kits, protein and plant-based protein bundles, produce boxes, and the additional fruit options we know you love.  We will be phasing out our Large and Small Narrative Provisions Boxes over the next three weeks, with our final Narrative Provisions boxes landing on doorsteps June 12th & 13th. For details, click HERE. Thank you so much for being with us for the ride, and we are excited to hear back from you about how you like our new approach. Please feel free to reach out to me directly with any feedback or concerns you might have about the changes! On a personal note, I have had a Narrative Provisions box in my kitchen every single week for the past 11 years. I am my oldest customer and indeed it’s hard to imagine a life beyond the box. Though I will miss them, I am also very excited about the changes and trying something new! I hope you will be too.  Warmly, Jennifer Field Piette