How about a bowl of soup?

With the days of holiday treats behind us, it feels like time to get back to basics. Here is a soup sent in by Mary in Michigan called Dominican Chapea Stew. Mary says this dish "consists of a lot of ordinary vegetables with rice, no fancy seasonings. I worried that it might be boring and need spicing up. But those ordinary vegetables came together magically. ... I think the avocado garnish is important."
Dominican Chapea Vegetable Stew

And here is a butter substitute I made recently with good results. It reminds me a little of unsalted butter, with a bit of a coconut flavor.
Better Butter

Starting the new year on a hopeful note, Betsy in California sent this article, "Small is Really Beautiful", by Vandana Shiva. She makes the case for a return to small farms:"... small ecological farms are a more effective solution to world hunger than the Green Revolution or genetic engineering." Small farms actually produce higher yields. Good news!
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2014/01/03-7

Christel in California just sent a review of the Engine2extra website, which I will be posting under Kitchen Chat. Here it is, hot off the press:
Engine2extra If you need a first-hand information on plant-based nutrition, guidance on this very special path in form of coaching, forum, live chat, e-books, videos, tele/web classes, weekly challenges, a huge variety of sub-groups ( topics for instance: weight-loss, T2 Diabetes, fitness, meal-planning etc. ) the Engine2extra community is in my experience one of the best places in the web: http://engine2extra.com/ You can listen and watch to Dr.Caldwell Esselstyn and his son Rip, Dr.Neil Barnard, Dr.McDougall, Jeff Novick, Doug Lisle and Lindsay Nixon for to mention some of many experts presented by the team of Engine2extra. For me the e-books are real treasures, packed with tips for healthy, happy living and cooking. And all these tips are easy to implement in daily life. A one-month-membership is really affordable and worth a try and will bring much benefit. And if you like the place there are no hindrances to stay a little bit longer there.

This new year will be the 7th for our project---sounds auspicious. I wonder what new ideas and recipes we'll be enjoying in the months ahead. Do keep your letters coming!

Happy cooking,
Eve