Green Options

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The calendar says May, but where I live in San Francisco, it’s been feeling like the dead of summer lately. My thermometer says 85, which is unseasonably hot for my otherwise moderate city. Usually, my lunchtime staple is soup, however a warm bowl full of chili may be great in November, but none too appealing today.

I decided instead to concoct a cooling summertime soup. I’m a sucker for Gazpacho, but I wanted something a little lighter today. I also needed to use up all the dill from my herb garden that’s been withering away in the heat.

Here’s my recipe for Cucumber Dill Soup that as refreshing as it is delicious (and not to mention, healthy and quick to prepare!)

When it comes to the commercialization of holidays, people tend to point most of their angst towards Christmas. And who can blame them, when it’s not just a day, but a whole season of consumption? I have a similar knee-jerk reaction when it comes to Cinco de Mayo.

A day that’s supposed to celebrate Mexican patriotism, instead conjures up images of frat boys in factory-made sombreros, red, white, and green beads, drinking out of plastic margarita cups. All of this festive decor will find itself in the dumpster tomorrow. (And we had just finished getting rid of all the plastic Easter eggs and St. Patrick’s Day streamers.)

This year instead of wallowing in holiday cynicism, I decided to let it inspire me to create a great meal. Luckily, my neighborhood has dozens of small Mexican shops and produce stands, where the veggies are a steal. (I bought my supplies for this entire meal for under $10!)

I decided, rather than serving up some seitan, or veggie crumbles, which are taco staples in my vegan household, to go with something a bit more authentic and light: black bean tacos with mango salsa. Here’s my recipe:

It’s springtime and love must be in the air! We’ve had a few wedding related posts lately around the Green Options Network. Check out some green wedding tips here on Feelgood Style as well as some sources for eco-friendly wedding bands on Crafting a Green World. My own green wedding took place last summer, and I return to writing about it now because my husband and I were honored with being featured in this month’s issue of VegNews Magazine.

The publication profiles several weddings every year. I highly recommend picking up a copy (because I also love their recipes and features.) If you can’t find it at your newsstand, here’s a scan of the article where I’m featured.

I’m not just posting this to brag (but seriously, squeeeeee!). I also wanted to point you towards some green catering resources. Whether you’re planning a wedding, a fundraiser, or any other special event, we all know that large groups of people can create a lot of waste. So choosing caterers who specialize in local, organic food is one way to lower your event’s carbon footprint.

I have to give a lot of respect to Jews that keep Kosher, because I know how difficult it can be to stick with a restricted diet. During Passover especially, that diet becomes so limited, that some of my Jewish friends recently asked me if I thought it was possible to stay vegan during Passover. At first I thought, “No leavened bread? No problem!” but then I realized that some keep rules far more strict than that.

I learned that Ashkenazi Jews also avoid a group of foods categorized as kitiniyot which includes rice, peas, lentils, beans, and corn. (Now I know what Meredith was referring to in her recent Passover foods post, when she mentioned becoming aware of so many corn additives!) So no legumes, eh? No soy products… no grains… Ok, that does in fact rule out a major chunk of my vegan diet.

But I wasn’t ready to back down from this challenge just yet…

Does anyone really need an excuse to bake a chocolate cake? I know I don’t. But it happened that I had a couple of ingredients at home that I was looking to use up. I was excited to discover a great recipe I could adapt to fit the bill.

I have an abundance of fresh mint from my herb garden. Drinking Mojitos with every meal seemed a little impractical, so I did the next best thing and combined my mint with chocolate. While scouring the internet for a basic chocolate cake recipe. I was so excited to find this great recipe from FatFree Vegan Kitchen that included an unusual ingredient: beets!

Beets are admittedly not high on my list of favorite vegetables. But a co-worker brought me some from his CSA and assumed the office vegan would know what to do with them. They’ve actually been sitting in my crisper for weeks, so I was quite happy I got to use them before they went bad. Here’s the (only slightly modified) recipe for this delicious cake, published with permission.

I thought about writing an April Fool’s Day post, wherein I pretended I’d gone back to eating meat. But I realized that a) Beth already did a great job covering our practical joke bases, and b) I’m a terrible liar.

So I decided to stick with something I’m much better at: creating new recipes. After my black bean burger recipe got such great reviews from testers, I was inspired to make a new version of the recipe. Jeff had asked if one could substitute pine nuts for pumpkin seeds (sure!) and I started concocting from there.

This week I decided to make an Italian version: White Bean Burgers! The directions for this version are nearly identical — all that’s changed is the ingredients.

Ah yes, the veggie burger. If you’ve ever gone meat-free for a substantial amount of time, chances are you came to rely on this tried and true staple. It’s gotten me through many a company barbecue and airport layover. It turns out though, that most big name veggie burger brands are not actually vegan — most use eggs as binding.

Furthermore, let’s take a look at the three leading producers of veggie burgers. Boca Foods, makers of the Boca Burger is a subsidiary of Kraft Foods. Morningstar Farms is owned by Kellogs, as is Gardenburger. While it is possible to find small independently run veggie burger producers (Dr. Praeger’s comes to mind), these three dominate the market. There’s nothing particularly eco-friendly about the packaging. None of the brands I checked use recycled materials, and the patties come individually wrapped in plastic.

So what’s an earth-conscious herbivore to do? Make your own, of course!

In my last post I touched on a few reasons why vegetarianism is one option to consider in your efforts to pursue a more sustainable lifestyle, and “eat better.” Mark’s original EcoWorldy post on vegetarianism, which inspired my post asked, “Do you have any suggestions on managing the conversion to vegetarianism now that half the food on my plate is off limits?” Whether you’re interested in transitioning to vegetarianism, veganism, or just looking for some ways to supplement your omnivorous diet with some meat-free meals, here are my top 10 suggestions for easing the transition:

1.Don’t think of things as being “off limits.” Some things haven’t changed since childhood. When we tell ourselves we can’t have it, it often makes us want it more. Remember that each meal you consume is a choice, and you will feel empowered to pursue the best choice possible.

2. It doesn’t have to be all or nothing. I often hear people say “I could never be vegan because I couldn’t give up cheese.” Or bacon, or ice cream, or some other food. OK, so then give up everything but that. The Veggie Police will not come and arrest you if you indulge in a sustainably raised piece of fish every now and then.

In an act of precognition, Mark Seall wrote a post today on EcoWorldly raising a number of questions about vegetarianism. While it would be near impossible to address all of his questions in one post, I do want to get the conversation started. I call his post precognitive because it provides a perfect segue to promote an event happening tomorrow: The Great American Meatout.

Every Spring, thousands of activists and educators get together at events all over the world to raise awareness of vegetarian diets. Despite the event’s name, it has in fact grown into an international phenomenon. You can find a calendar of events here to see what’s going on near you. This is certainly a great place to start in terms of resources, and I plan to address that further in my next post.

For today I want to look at Mark’s question, “Should we be eating animals in the first place?” Here’s my take…

I love finding new recipes and trying out new things. But one of the problems with following a recipe to the letter is that you can end up with a lot of leftover veggies, grains, etc. After my recent Mac and Cheese taste test, for example, I found myself with half a potato, half a carrot, and a big chunk of of onion leftover. I also had a whole lot of fresh spinach burning a hole in my vegetable crisper.

My favorite way to use up just about any leftover veggies is to scramble them. You could use eggs of course, but tofu scrambles are a cholesterol-free approach that even soy-substitute-skeptics can enjoy. I find that half a block of tofu makes about one serving.