Green Options

It might not be Monday, but that doesn’t mean you can’t sneak in some meat-free, carbon friendly eats at your weekend barbecues!  While burgers and hot dogs might be traditional, they’re certainly not doing the environment–or your health–any favors.  Why not surprise your hosts or guests by providing some unexpected and delicious vegan options at your next summer get together?  Here are my favorite ideas for meat and dairy free barbecue dining:

© Karin Lau | Dreamstime.com

Midsummer is upon us. How did that happen? Our CSA bag yielded fresh corn. While many folks have vilified corn because of it’s tainted connections to HFCS, livestock feed and corn ethanol and just about everything subsidized in foods, well, fresh corn on the cob is still one of my favorites of summer. This soup makes the best of simple ingredients and the fresh corn flavor.

Fresh Corn Soup
8 ears of corn, shucked, and kernels cut from the cob
1 cup water
4 tbs. butter
1 low sodium vegetable bouillon cube
2 cups milk
1 2 oz. can of roasted mild green chiles (or roast your own poblano and chop)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup half and half
4 oz. Cotija cheese (or queso fresco)
Cilantro for garnish

Put corn kernels and 1 cup water in food processor. Pulse until almost smooth. Heat butter in soup pot. Add corn and water puree. Bring to a boil, then drop to a simmer, stirring frequently for five minutes. Add 2 cups milk and the bouillon and the green chiles. Whisk to combine. Heat to boil, then reduce to simmer. Stir occasionally. Simmer for about 20 minutes.

Before serving, whisk in the half and half. Add the salt, taste and adjust salt if needed. Serve warm with Cotija cheese sprinkled on top and cilantro garnish.

After the jump, this week’s links and posts.

Spring is sprouting – at least here in the North East. I love having some basic herbs and vegetables growing outside my kitchen, and I’m ready to get started, even if the weather isn’t quite there yet.

Some years I’m more organized than others, but I almost always have some combination of edible vegetation to harvest throughout the growing season.

I take over the sunniest room in the house and cover every surface with my little egg cartons filled with wonderful nutritious soil and the baby sprouts that will become salad and pesto among other things in only a few short months.

Because I live in the wild suburbs of Northern New Jersey, we have significant challenges in having vegetable gardens because the deer and other critters are abundant, confused, and starving! If you don’t build a Fort-Knox style fencing system, it is a wonderful exercise in feeding the local wildlife, but don’t expect to have anything for yourself or your family.

So, we opt for primarily container gardening and keep it up on the deck and our really scary (not) golden retriever, woody, patrols the perimeter. We lose a little to the chipmunks, which are kind of like mosquitoes and have gotten far more brazen than I remember.

Here are my favorite edible things to grow in my little kitchen deck garden containers: