Queer Kitchen Connection #4

Hi Taste Buds!

First, allow me to reintroduce myself. I’m Jex Calvert with Food Focused Nutrition, and thank you for having a seat at the Queer Kitchen Connection table! Names can be tricky little things, and I’m delighted to finally share my new name with you all. May we all have the freedom to change names when they no longer fit.

I’m taking some time off at the end of May, which feels a little strange since work has had a bit more ebb than flow lately. Other than my protected time away, I have availability to work with more folx, and I’d love your help spreading the word about the awesome work I do. Maybe I can support someone you know (or know through a few degrees of separation)!

While on vacation, I’m really looking forward to sharing space (and food!) with my dearest chosen family. They make me feel loved, supported, and cared for in ways I didn’t know I needed or could ever have. I hope you can all find some of that for yourselves in the coming months! And if you are making the choice to travel: be safe out there.

Be well,

Jex

Send Foodz

Food pictures, stories, and connection from my kitchen (and yours)!

In a white pie plate, golden corners of puff pastry are folded up around a spinach and cheese filling. The exposed filling is in a green, plus-sign shape.

Spanakopita was on the menu at a recent event I wasn’t able to attend, and I realized a day later how much I craved the well-seasoned, spinach, onion, and cheese filling. So I found an easy recipe that wraps the filling in pre-made puff pastry, and now we make this spinach pie every other week because it’s simple-ish and delicious.

I make refried beans most weeks, but this batch was important because I made it while working with a client on making blended foods for easier digestion. A student shadowed our adventure, and we discussed afterward how little we learned in school about texture-modified diets. Pureed foods are actually a big part of what a “regular person” might eat, if you think about it—yet the leap to eating foods that are all blended can be huge and daunting.

The inside of a stainless steel pot, almost half-full of blended pinto beans. The immersion blender is in the beans, emphasizing the blended texture as a thick puree but not a liquid.

On a blue-rimmed plate is a large pile of shell pasta fully coated in red-orange sauce, with spinach on the side.

Other than potatoes, nothing really beats a cozy meal of pasta with a creamy sauce. The sauce here is a vegan vodka sauce, using simple ingredients like tomato paste, coconut milk, a bit of oil, a bit of vodka, and a bit of garlic. The vodka surprised me with how integral it is to the flavor—it provides a subtle sharpness–just an edge more than the tomato–to balance the otherwise rich and creamy sauce.

In April, I celebrate Waffle Day with some friends, and this year I had a dream the night before about cheddar-stuffed waffles with ham. That changed all my waffle plans for the day! New plan: Marinate tofu in a smoky, ham-like marinade; Add cheddar inside my waffles; Cook a savory side vegetable. (I still made the blueberry compote that was the original plan…) It was the best food joy I’d had in a while!

On a blue-rimmed plate are 2 square waffles with crispy cheese around the edges with thick-sliced marinated tofu on top, and spinach on the side.

A large blue-rimmed bowl filled with chopped lettuce and tomato, topped with shredded white cheddar cheese, and strips of vegetarian chicken.

Lately I’ve been making salads with random leftovers I have in the fridge (today, that meant reheated french fries on top of my salad! Yum!). For this salad, I used up a romaine salad mix, tomato, homemade ranch dressing, and added some veggie chick’n patty and shredded cheddar cheese for fun. I realized it helps me to have a really big bowl when I make meals like this, because then I can load them up and toss everything together without everything spilling out of the bowl!

Want to send foodz? Reply with a photo/story and we'll try to include it in the next Queer Kitchen Connection!

What’s Cooking?

Upcoming special events—Food Focused Nutrition-related or otherwise!

Rainbow PRIDE Graham Cracker
Food-Play Adventure!

The next group adventure is coming up fast—

Sunday, June 11, 2023
3-5pm EDT on Zoom

Come have fun with colors and/or be really frickin’ gay with me!

A photo of a small white and brown dog lying on a rainbow Pride flag, looking into the camera. A speech bubble includes text that reads, "Wanna PLAY?" Below is white text that reads: "Let's celebrate PRIDE with rainbow foods and community!"

We’ll be playing with colorful foods (it’s up to you what those are) and making Pride-themed constructions. Whether that’s a rainbow house or village, a design like a Pride parade float, or some other exploration of color that brings you joy.

We’ll be making the same icing “glue” as I use for graham cracker houses in December, but don’t feel put out if you want to make something savory instead of sweet—there are so many ways to have pride and/or make food rainbows, and I can help you narrow the ingredient list to meet your tastes!

I hope you’ll give yourself permission to play and join us.

On a cookie sheet are 6 small glass bowls, each holding a different color of candy. In the top left corner is a clear plastic package of Rainbow Sour Belts, wide strips of rainbow striped candy.

On a sheet pan is a village of 6 graham cracker houses decorated in rainbow colors with trail mix scattered across the ground. A rainbow road passes between the houses and off into the distance.

The Intersection

I'm always working on making Food Focused Nutrition more accessible with baked-in, intentional inclusion. What's the latest step in my journey?

An illustrated green frog sits on a dark green lily pad, smiling and holding a heart with the colors of the transgender pride flag in front of itself. There is a blurred rainbow illustration in a light blue "sky" behind the frog.

I’ve been struggling with the transition of changing my name for a long time. Telling people has been really difficult, even just asking people to try out my new name for me when I wasn’t sure Jex was the right name yet. But when this comic by Sophie Labelle came up in my news feed the other day, I just shared it and told everyone. EVERYONE.

A comic from Sophie Labelle showing a person answering a call for the Gender Helpline, and the caller saying they came out as trans and was wondering if they could try out a new name, Emiliana, with them. The person happily obliges.

So thank you, Sophie Labelle: for your art, for your stories, and for your trans joy!

And thank you, Taste Buds: for practicing and using my new name, and for being a part of this community!

On a green background is a red starburst "bang" shape, as in a comic book, with lines and stars emitting from it. Within the shape is text that reads, "Support the Pay It Forward fund!"

All contributions to the Pay It Forward Fund support folx in accessing low- or no-cost services with Food Focused Nutrition. Learn more or share my recent post about the fund on Instagram or Facebook!

Suggest-ipe

Because the way I see it, all recipes are merely suggestions!

Snickerdoodle Hummus

Chickpeas, peanut butter (or other nut butter), sweetener of choice, cinnamon, salt, vanilla extract (optional).
For quantities, about ¼ c nut butter and sweetener per can of chickpeas; cinnamon, vanilla, and salt to taste—with cinnamon being the strongest flavor (maybe 2-3 t), and salt being just enough to awaken all the flavors (no more than ¼ t).
Blend everything together in a food processor until smooth, scrape down the sides as needed. Taste and adjust flavors accordingly.

This is a great dip for apple slices, or to spread on graham crackers. I’ve also been thinking about somehow making cinnamon toast with it—or spreading it on a waffle with a scoop of ice cream on top.

It tastes really close to snickerdoodle cookie dough, though admittedly less buttery and rich (you could always add some butter to change that…)

Enjoy!

That’s all for now!

Queer Kitchen Connection is a quarterly newsletter from Food Focused Nutrition.

I want this newsletter to be an invitation for us all to foster more connection around food.

My dream is that Queer Kitchen Connection will be the start of a conversation, and I welcome you to taste, savor, and share in the creation of community with direct replies to the newsletter.

Author Jex Calvert, RDN, Food Focused Nutrition
“Edible-in-Chef” Ashley Bovin, Ease Up Consulting