Handpicked Links 09 April 2008

I’m keeping the snowy graphic for now as it snowed here big time at the weekend.  Roll on spring.

• Use your loaf and minimise food waste with a seasonal take on panzanella, a traditional Italian salad just made for using up slightly stale but otherwise good quality bread.  Deb at Smitten Kitchen has made a spring panzanella with asparagus, leeks and white beans.  I love Deb’s idea of rounding out the original recipe with a bit of protein by adding a can of beans.
• 3 meals from one chicken – David Latt writes on the NY Times Bitten blog about being the perfect house guest and cooking three meals from one chicken as a thank you to his hosts.  He can come stay with me any time!
• Use it all up vegetable pancakes from cookinpanda are a nifty way to make good use of all of those vegetable odds and ends in the fridge, served with a delicious avocado and ginger yogurt sauce
• Go Emma!  Hollywood’s obsession with size zero has gone a bit too far of late so kudos to British actress Emma Thompson for taking to task the producers of her latest movie, Brideshead revisited, after telling teeny-tiny co-star Hayley Atwell that she had to use weight.  And winning!

• Trends in traceable and accountable food production continue to develop apace, including this frozen creamed spinach from Iglo. Buyers can enter a tracking code from their packet to get a profile of the exact farm that their batch of spinach came from.  Expect to see more of this sort of labelling in the future.
• Fruit friendly lunchbox made by Concentrate (see picture) comes with two built in protective fruit compartments and a thermospot to tell you if your sarnies have overheated.  You can even buy a matching neoprene cooler.  Concentrate’s Design for Education range is aimed at school children, though I can’t see why I can’t have one too…
• You don’t have to be an athlete to enjoy these quick but nutritious meal suggestions from Ben Greenfield on Trifuel, including a healthy alternative to soothe those Reese’s peanut butter cup cravings using yogurt, peanut butter and dark chocolate