Prolific Minnesota cookbook author Beth Dooley has long been an advocate for cooking with regional, seasonal ingredients. We sat down with her to discuss what it means to shop locally, cook seasonally and stock your pantry while keeping budgets, nutrition and sustainability in mind.

A lot of your books focus on that idea of cooking with regional, seasonal ingredients. How have your personal and career backgrounds helped develop and influence that ethos?
I grew up learning to cook with my grandmother. She had a fabulous garden. She made everything she could from scratch. She knew all of her farmers. And she also knew who had the best blueberries, who had the best corn. It’s not until I was older that I recognized that that was because she knew flavors were dependent on how and where things are grown. 

I took that lesson with me when my husband and I lived in Princeton, New Jersey, for a little while. That was when the land was in transition from small, family-run farms to shopping malls, because that’s the corridor between New York City and Philadelphia—big sprawl. I was working at the time for a small independent weekly newspaper, and I covered everything from the Baptist church potlucks to the zoning and planning board meetings that nobody wanted to attend. And that’s when I began to understand that what happens to that land is really going to change the fabric of the community.

So, when my husband and I landed in Minnesota, because I love to cook and because I’m interested in food and flavor and always have been, I went to the farmers market. And all of a sudden, I was tasting tomatoes and corn like the tomatoes and corn I grew up with. At the time we left New Jersey, if you wanted to find a Jersey tomato, you had to grow it yourself. Everything, by that time, was being shipped in from California. I recognized the difference in flavor, and as a cook that was important to me. I got really interested in these smaller farmers and their food. 

I joined the Wedge Co-op [in south Minneapolis]. At the time, the vegetable department was being run by Eddie Brown, who had a very funky little newsletter that came out as part of the Wedge newsletter called Ask Dr. Produce. I learned so much from Eddie.

When I think about regional and seasonal food, it all starts with flavor. But then you start to tease apart what that really means, and it comes down to the soil, and it comes down to how and where that food is grown and how fresh it is. As a cook, that’s always been my point of reference. I’ve used that understanding in my recipes and in the writing that I do to help consumers, who are so distanced from the land and from their farmers, to understand how that chain links together.

You’ve co-written several books now—The Sioux Chef’s Indigenous Kitchen with Sean Sherman; the Appetite for Change cookbook; and Chile, Clove, and Cardamom with Gary Paul Nabam, among others. How have those collaborations expanded or challenged your understanding of regionality and seasonality?
I’m a terrible student, so these collaborations are an opportunity to travel to places I will never go. Right now, I’m co-writing a book with the folks at Oro by Nixta, the big Mexican place in downtown Minneapolis. The co-owner, Gustavo Romero, has been up for a James Beard Award, and he’s working with Dr. Keith Williams, USDA agronomist with the University of Wisconsin, to plant some indigenous, heirloom varieties of Mexican corn on our landscape to help expand the diversity of the U.S. corn crop. He’s a master of nixtamalization, and he’s training other chefs on how to nixtamalize this dried corn. I think that’s fascinating. 

I am not going to go out and research the history of corn, but what I will do is learn first-hand from a chef. Writing about food and writing about these traditions, when you’re working with really good chefs and researchers, is a lens into not just flavor but also cooking technique. It’s a lens into sourcing. It’s a lens into culture. It’s a lens into architecture. It’s a lens into anthropology. It makes it really personal—and that’s what food does. 

What are some of the ways you suggest balancing that local, regional mindset with budgets that are strained by rising grocery prices?
That’s a really good question. And I always struggle to answer it. I try to answer it with empathy, because I do sit in a place of privilege where I can buy whatever I want. For me, food is not luxury. But I also think there are certain things that people can be aware of in terms of budgets. 

First of all, dried beans are an incredibly nutritious and inexpensive source of protein, and we just don’t eat enough of them as Americans. And there are a number of really good growers, both small and large growers, in our region. 

I think we also throw too much away without realizing it might still be OK. If the potatoes are too soft, peel them until you get down to a firmer part of the potato. Don’t throw old bread away—make croutons out of it, or make stuffing out of it, or use it as a topping for a casserole. 

Also, I’m a big proponent of shopping at the co-ops, because you still can buy a lot of things in bulk, and that’s so much less expensive. 

If you have a pantry that’s stocked with grains and beans, and you’ve made your own stock in the freezer—or if you haven’t made your own stock, buy the cheap package, that’s fine—you can make something really hearty with wheat berries or rye berries. Or oat groats are terrific. Barley is also a wonderful grain. We have local barley. So, pair those grains with beans and you’ve got a complete protein. 

If you can cook as much as you can from scratch, you’re going to save so much money. But I do think beans are the food of our future. I think we’re going to see a lot about beans coming up.

What are some practical ways people can integrate shopping locally and cooking seasonally into their routine? 
CSAs are fabulous for both. A lot of CSAs now have not only vegetables but also eggs and cheese and bread. I’m on the board of the Good Acre and get their winter CSA, which is every other week. I love it because it’s all those root vegetables. And then I have an egg subscription, a mushroom subscription and cheese—you can add things on. And with two of us at home, that will last the two weeks, easily. 

Shepherd’s Way Farms has a cheese CSA. There are meat CSAs you can sign up for—online services like MTRY & CO in Mankato. It’s all local meat farmers and their stuff is fabulous. They have both smoked and fresh meat, and they have probably the best bacon I’ve ever had. You subscribe to them, and it comes fresh delivered to your door or comes frozen delivered to your door within a day or two. That’s an interesting model, I think, for all farmers.

For our readers who aren’t farmers, how would you recommend they get to know their local farmers or growers or suppliers? 
The easiest, most expedient place is to go to the farmers markets. And then also look into CSAs in your region, because often CSAs have opportunities to go in and either volunteer, or when you go to pick up your produce, you can meet some of the farmers. Or there are stories about those farmers in the newsletters that come out. There’s also the Minnesota Grown website, which lists farms in different areas if you’re looking for farmers in your area that might have pick-your-own option or farm stands on their farm or direct-order meat kind of things. That’s a good place to start to investigate who’s near you and what they’re doing.

Also, if you’re near a co-op—and there are more and more co-ops in our region all the time—that’s a good way too, because often the co-ops will invite farmers in. Most co-ops will also list where the products come from. They’ll name the farm that’s nearby, and you can go see them or reach out to them. And farmers love that. And I know that the Minnesota Grown website lists farm tours, and so does Renewing the Countryside, so you can join a farm tour in your area. 

I think what we need is more of these opportunities to connect people who live in the city with farmers. I have so much respect for anybody who decides they want to farm. Your margins are razor thin. It’s really hard, taxing, physical work and you have to be a Jack of all trades. You have to know how to fix things, how to deal with weather, run the business side of it. I mean, there are so many uncertainties. People who farm are really my heroes. 

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.