The delicious recipes and community spirit that have made Appetite for Change a force for good in North Minneapolis

Feed someone a delicious meal, and you've satisfied a moment’s hunger. Show someone how to cultivate, cook, and share good food, and you satisfy the hungry soul of a whole community. Feeding the soul is what Appetite for Change does, working to improve the foodscape in its Northside community through youth-led urban gardens and farmers markets, cooking workshops and a meal box delivery service, and the Breaking Bread Cafe. Sharing both enticing recipes and heartfelt stories of sustenance, Appetite for Change is filled with soul food classics that feature light twists and local touches and show how multiple cultures can commingle within one cookbook—and even one plate.

There are recipes here for everyone: side dishes like Caribbean Coleslaw, Okra Succotash, and Curried Potato Bites; salads, including Purple Rain Salad and Beet It Salad, both created by AFC youth members to sell at Twins baseball games; small plates, from Jackfruit Nachos to Fried Green Tomatoes; and family-favorite soups and stews, like Lentil Sweet Potato Stew and Jambalaya. There are even breakfast options—including Jerk Shrimp and Cheese Grits, Banana Pecan Bread, and a Big, Beautiful Frittata—and desserts ranging from Flourless Chocolate Cake to Cranberry Cream Cheese Bars. And when it’s time to feed a crowd, look no further than the “Community Feasts” chapter, chock-full of recipes as familiar as Fried Chicken and as singular as Delicata Black Bean Tacos.

Healthy, affordable, easy, and delicious, all of the recipes shared here connect with stories of how the people and purpose behind Appetite for Change have brought nourishing hope and new life to an entire community.

Personal and simple, earthy and warm—recipes and stories from the Steger Wilderness Center in Minnesota’s north woods
 

The Steger Homestead Kitchen is an inspiring and down-to-earth collection of meals and memories gathered at the Homestead, the home of the Arctic explorer and environmental activist Will Steger, located in the north woods near Ely, Minnesota. Founded in 1988, the Steger Wilderness Center was established to model viable carbon-neutral solutions, teach ecological stewardship, and address climate change. In her role as the Homestead’s chef, Will’s niece Rita Mae creates delicious and hearty meals that become a cornerstone experience for visitors from all over the world, nourishing them as they learn and share their visions for a healthy and abundant future. 

Now, with this new book, home chefs can make Rita Mae’s simple, hearty meals to share around their own homestead tables. Interwoven with dozens of mouth-watering recipes—for generous breakfasts (Almond Berry Griddlecakes), warming lunches (Northwoods Mushroom Wild Rice Soup), elegant dinners (Spatchcock Chicken with Blueberry Maple Glaze), desserts (Very Carrot Cake), and snacks (Steger Wilderness Bars)—are Will Steger’s exhilarating stories of epic adventures exploring the Earth’s most remote and endangered regions.

The Steger Homestead Kitchen opens up the Wilderness Center’s hospitality, its heart and hearth, providing the practical advice and inspiration to cook up a good life in harmony with nature.