Student Farm Project for Edible Brooklyn's Summer Issue

All Images © Valery Rizzo

Last month I had the pleasure of shooting another story for Edible Brooklyn's Summer Issue. This time it was about farmer Nora Painten's Student Farm Project in Brownsville, Brooklyn, where an abandoned lot was turned into an 8,000 square foot urban teaching farm. I was also thrilled to be paired with amazing Edible Editor Rachel Wharton who wrote the piece, so be sure to give it a read here or pick up a copy or subscribe. Besides the lovely printed piece I wanted to share some of my other favorite photos from the day. The kids were great! 

I almost got the cover this time but in the end the wonderful editors at Edible choose Emily Dryden's beautiful photo of the Wyckoff Farmhouse, but it was still nice to be considered and to see my photograph mocked up as a cover! 

Mixed Bean Salad and Ceramics from Helen Levi

All images © Valery Rizzo

Lately I have been inspired by ceramic artists in Brooklyn, only to find my good friend Helen Levi is among the top ceramicists on the scene today. Helen works in both the traditional brown clay as well as contrasting white porcelain clay, out of her studio in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Helen makes a porcelain colander, a variety of cups, mugs, glasses, bowls, plates, planters, creamers, sculptures and more recently beautiful porcelain fruit necklaces. You can find several of her pieces at the lovely Steven Alan Home Shop in Tribeca or at Helen's web shop. If that is not enough Helen is also a very talented photographer. To see some of her photographs visit her website here.

For the longest time I have been longing to make Chef Gennaro Contaldo's salad of mixed beans with tomato and arugula (from his cook book, Easy Italian) and thought it would go beautifully with the earthiness of Helen's dishes. It is a wonderfully healthy recipe using two kinds of beans, chickpeas, fava beans, peas and lentils, together with tomatoes, scallions, arugula, marjoram and sage. You just soak the dried beans and chickpeas overnight then cook them the next day while also cooking the lentils, fava beans and peas each separately until tender. Then you combine everything with the herbs, arugula, tomatoes, scallions and season with olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper. This could not be more simple or more nutritious.

The beauty of this recipe is that you can get creative with it and use any kind of beans you want or find. I did not really stick to the amounts suggested in the recipe, instead I just made 1 half cup to a cup of everything, added the amount of olive oil and vinegar needed and then saved a lot of it for the next day's lunch or added it to salads for the next couple of days. If it's easier for you to stick to Gennaro's recipe then please do.


Salad of Mixed Beans with Tomato and Arugula
Insalata di Legumi misti al Pomodoro

1 1/2 oz fresh fava beans (Pull the piece at the top like a string to open and reveal the beans)

1 1/2 oz fresh or frozen peas (I used frozen organic from the Park Slope Food Coop)

9oz soaked and precooked mixed beans, such as chickpeas, lentils, barlotti beans and black-eyed beans, well-drained. ( I used beans I found that the Food Coop, NYS Organic Merlot Beans and Pinta Beans and Garbanzo from Spain, as well as red lentils. I might suggest using green or brown lentils as the red lentils tend to be very soft but equally delicious and are pretty! just don't overcook if using the red)

4 salad tomatoes, deseeded and cut into small cubes

A bunch of arugula leaves

4 scallions, finely chopped

2 marjoram branches, leaves removed and stalks discarded

A few sage leaves (I used the sage and marjoram from my backyard garden)

6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Salt and pepper (I used sea salt and freshly ground black pepper)


Cook the fava beans and peas until tender. drain and leave to cool.

Place the well-drained beans, fava beans and peas in a large bowl or serving dish and add the tomatoes, scallions, arugula and herbs.

Pour over the olive oil and vinegar, season with salt and pepper and mix everything together.

Leave to rest for 10 min, then serve.

Serves 4


Not familiar with cooking beans here is a helpful link to get you started, and this link for advice on cooking lentils.

Brooklyn Tourism Postcard Set

A photograph I took of The Brooklyn Grange Rooftop Farm at The Brooklyn Navy Yard received an honorable mention in the Mi Brooklyn Postcard Competition presented by Brooklyn Tourism, an initiative of Borough President Marty Markowitz, in collaboration with United Photo Industries. All seven winning images will be part of the new Brooklyn Tourism Postcard Set which will represent Brooklyn to the world. I am thrilled to be able to share a view of the rooftop farming happening in Brooklyn as well as a peak into the Brooklyn Navy Yard. 

Click here to learn more about Mi Brooklyn and the other talented photographers in the set, Don Alman, Mustafa Onder, Monia Lippi, Douglas Ljungkvist, Kirk Lawrence and Robert Banat.

2013 Food Book Fair Foodieodicals Event

All images © Valery Rizzo

For the second year the Wythe Hotel in Williamsburg, Brooklyn hosted the Food Book Fair. Three days of books, magazines, panel discussions, cooking demos, signings  and tastings. This year I was one of the photographers asked to photograph my favorite event, Foodieodicals. Food + Periodicals = Foodieodicals, a zine fest celebrating creative food publishing in the magazine world. ACQTASTE, Sweet Paul, Swallow Magazine, Edible Brooklyn, Rocket, Gather Journal, Diner Journal, Chickpea, Modern Farmer and many many other beautifully produced magazines attended. 

Brooklyn Photo of the Week / Marlow & Daughters

Photo © Valery Rizzo

Marlow & Daughters, 95 Broadway, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, 2013.

The Chicago Tribune Garden Issue

Photo of Annie Novak © Valery Rizzo

It's that time of year again, where we start thinking about our gardens and begin planting our seedlings. This will be my fourth year with my vegetable garden in our backyard and I have my eye on exploring a few new urban farms in Brooklyn.

Last weekend I was thrilled to have a photograph I took of farmer and co-founder Annie Novak of Eagle Street Rooftop Farm published in the beautiful Garden Issue of The Chicago Tribune. Annie was featured as World's Cutest Urban Farmer and that she is! 

I also have great news about a photograph I took at The Brooklyn Grange Rooftop Farm during my residency at The Brooklyn Navy Yard being chosen to be part of the new Brooklyn Tourism Postcard Set. You can read more details about that on my other photographer's blog by clicking here.

In and Around Brooklyn / April 2013

All images © Valery Rizzo

Instagram has become a community in itself and a great way to document each day and it's just downright fun and addictive. I also realize not everyone is on instagram so in addition to the recipes, stories and Brooklyn Photo of the Week, I will be adding another segment to Eating Brooklyn, once a month, called In and About Brooklyn, dedicated to showing some of my iPhone captures of everyday life.

1. Arugula scramble with hemp toast.

2. Orange tree in Brooklyn, Botanic Garden.

3. Vollkorn bread with almond butter.

4. Farmacy, Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn.

5. Taylor Farms baby kale, from the Park Slope Coop.

6. Soon-to-be masterpiece, my niece Siena painting.

5. Vintage cameras, Kings County Salvage, Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

6. Cara Cara Oranges.

7. Ramonita's Restaurant, Moore Street Market, East Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

8. Coco, Moore Street Market.

9. Platanos, Moore Street Market.

10. Vintage car during Hurricane Sandy.

11. Historic Cannon, The Brooklyn Navy Yard

12. Repurposed the coolest whiskey bottle ever, with my homemade Limoncello.

13. Lunch, fettuccine with arugula and cherry tomatoes.

14. The same!

15. Bierkraft, Park Slope, Brooklyn.

16. Cafe Regular du Nord, Park Slope, Brooklyn.

17. Vollkorn Bread, dense malty loaf made with 100% organic rye flour and sprouted rye berries, topped with seeds, from Bakeri, Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

18. Vintage flour package, Bakeri.