Thursday, June 30, 2011

Grilled Garlic Scapes

INGREDIENTS

Garlic scapes
Extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt
Lemon juice (optional)

DIRECTIONS

Heat your grill/BBQ to high. Trim the scapes, removing the flower bud if desired, and toss in olive oil to coat lightly.

Place the scapes on the grill. Use tongs to turn occasionally.

The scapes will cook quickly. When the scapes are browned and soft (they go limp when you turn them), remove them from the grill and toss with sea salt to taste and some lemon juice, if desired. Serve hot.

Simple Braised Chard with Garlic Scapes

INGREDIENTS

1 to 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 bunches fresh chard (about 8 cups)
1 to 3 garlic scapes, chopped
1/8 cup water or vegetable broth
Sea salt to taste
Optional flavourings: toasted sesame oil, ume plum vinegar, or tamari
Optional toppings: sesame seeds, chopped almonds or walnuts, toasted pumpkin seeds

DIRECTIONS

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chard and garlic scapes and stir to coat them both with the oil. Cook until chard is barely wilted - just a few minutes - while stirring occasionally.

Mix in the vegetable broth or water and cook, allowing the chard to steam until barely tender. Add salt and optional flavourings and toppings as desired and serve.

Garlic Scape White Bean Dip

INGREDIENTS

1/3 cup sliced garlic scapes (3 to 4)
1 can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp coarse sea salt
Ground pepper to taste
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

DIRECTIONS

In a food processor, process garlic scapes, cannellini beans, lemon juice, salt, and pepper until it forms a rough puree.

With the motor running, slowly drizzle the 1/4 cup of olive oil through feed tube and process until fairly smooth. Blend in about 2 or 3 tablespoons of water, until mixture is the desired consistency. Add more salt, pepper and/or lemon juice, to taste.

To serve, drizzle the dip with a bit more olive oil and sprinkle with more salt. Serve with bread, tortilla chips, etc.

The Reusable Bag, For Better or Worse

A draft report by the Environment Agency in the UK is fueling the bag debate... again.

I go a few trade shows every year - some for work and some just for fun - so I've acquired a collection of reusable bags that were free giveaways. I have fabric ones (nylon, cotton, and canvas), plastic ones and ones made out of recycled materials. I actually try not to get any new ones now, but sometimes the program guide or sample comes in one, so my collection grows despite my best intentions. I purge them by giving them to friends who swear that they will use them.

Using a reusable bag can be an good environmental choice. If it is used multiple times - at least once a week - four or five reusable bags can replace 520 plastic bags a year, according to Nick Sterling, the research director at Natural Capitalism Solutions, a nonprofit focused on corporate sustainability issues.

But I've come to realize that a reusable bag that is never reused is just more waste and clutter. One popular type of reusable bag is made of nonwoven polypropylene, which requires the same amount of energy to produce as an estimated 28 traditional plastic shopping bags or eight paper bags. In addition, their additional weight increases the fuel required to ship them, and if thrown away, they will take even longer to breakdown because of their thickness. Cotton or canvas options aren't perfect either, as they can require large amounts of water and energy to produce and may contain harsh chemical dyes. Paper bags, though recyclable, require the destruction of millions of trees and are made in factories that contribute to air and water pollution. They are also heavier than single-use plastic, further increasing their carbon footprint in shipping.

The solution is to use the bags long enough to off-set the increased environmental impact. A cotton bag would have to be re-used 171 times to balance out it's environmental costs in comparison to a single use plastic bag. Even a paper bag has to be used three times to balance. Getting into the habit of using your reusable bag for every trip to the store is crucial to making it environmentally friendly.

Don't forget to wash your reusable bags frequently. Past attempts to justify the single-use plastic bag include claims that reusable bags are often contaminated with dangerous food-borne bacteria, leading to food poisoning. The risk of this is minimized by simply washing the bags, with or without bleach.

Of course, buying from Green Earth Organics reduces your bag usage a lot. Our bins would have the same issue as reusable bags, so we are sure to reuse our bins many, many times, washing them with biodegradable soap every time, and when they are too old to use to deliver to homes, they get retired to our warehouse, where they keep our shelves tidy by holding bags of rice, pasta, and more. If they are too beat up for that, they get used to hold food to be composted, saving the warehouse staff from having to go to the compost bin out front for every bad apple.

Living greener is often not as straight forward as we'd like, but we can all make the best choices we can every day to reduce our impact on this planet.

Friday, June 24, 2011

Herby Salad Dressing

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
3 Tbsp white wine vinegar
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup chopped fresh dill
1/4 cup chopped fresh chives
3-4 sprigs fresh basil, chopped
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

DIRECTIONS

Mix the mustard with the vinegar in a bowl. Whisk in the olive oil, then stir in the herbs. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add a little more vinegar or oil to taste if needed.

Cheese & Chive Biscuits

INGREDIENTS

2 cups flour
1 cup finely grated extra sharp cheddar
Pinch of sea salt
2 Tbsp chopped fresh chives
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 egg yolk

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Sift the flour into a bowl. Stir in the grated cheddar, salt, and chives.

In a separate bowl, whisk the oil, egg yolk and 1/3 cup of water together. Add the oil mixture to the flour mixture and stir until well combined. Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface and knead until smooth. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Roll the dough out between sheets of lightly floured non-stick baking paper until about 5 mm thick. Use a 5 1/2 cm round cutter to cut out the biscuits. Place on a non-stick cookie sheet.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until light golden. Cool on cookie sheets for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Spicy Tomato Pasta

INGREDIENTS

3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup sundried tomatoes, drained and sliced
1/4 cup black olives, sliced
2/3 cup chopped fresh basil
4 lbs tomatoes, chopped
1/2 cup chopped fresh chives
1 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
3/4 tsp sea salt
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 package rotini pasta
1 package crumbled goat feta (optional)

DIRECTIONS

In a large bowl, combine olive oil, sundried tomatoes, olives, basil, tomatoes, chives, black pepper, salt, red pepper flakes, and garlic. Marinate for 3 hours at room temperature.

Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling water until desired tenderness. Drain. Pour sauce over hot pasta and toss. Sprinkle with feta cheese, if desired.

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Lemon Rice and Peas

Also a great way to use up leftover rice. I'll often cook about three extra cups of rice when having a stir-fry and use it a day or two later for this recipe.

INGREDIENTS

2 cups water
1 cups brown basmati rice
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin
6 green onions, finely chopped
2 cups shelled English peas
1 cup cashews
3 Tbsp tamari
3 Tbsp lemon juice
1/3 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1 tsp turmeric
Cayenne pepper, to taste

DIRECTIONS

In a medium saucepan, bring the water to a boil over high heat. Add the rice, cover, reduce the heat, and simmer until the water is absorbed, 30 to 40 minutes. Remove from the heat.

Heat the olive oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add the mustard seeds and cook, stirring, until the mustard seeds begin to pop, about 30 seconds. Add the cumin and green onions and cook until the onions have softened, about 1 minute. Add the cooked rice, peas, cashews, tamari, lemon juice, parsley, turmeric, and cayenne and cook, stirring often, for 3 minutes. Remove from the heat.

Excellent served with flour tortillas. Warm the tortillas and either wrap the mixture in them or serve with the tortillas on the side to scoop up the rice.

Thursday, June 16, 2011

English Pea Salad

INGREDIENTS

1 lb fresh English peas, still in pods
1 bunch fresh mint, washed and dried
1/2 lb spring salad mix, washed and dried
1/4 cup lemon juice
4 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt and ground pepper, to taste
100 g Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS

Bring a pot of very salty water to boil. While waiting, remove the peas from their pods. Add the peas to the pot and boil for about 1 minute, just until the colour of the peas changes to bright green. Drain immediately and cool in ice water to stop the cooking and keep the peas bright.

In a bowl, combine the cooked peas with the mint and the spring salad mix. Add the lemon juice, olive oil, and a pinch of salt and pepper.

Shave half of the Parmesan onto a cutting board and reserve. Grate remaining Parmesan quite fine, add to the salad and toss. Taste and adjust seasoning with more lemon juice or olive oil as desired.

Serve immediately, topped with reserved shaved Parmesan cheese.

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Cornflake Bars

INGREDIENTS

1 cup demerara sugar
1 cup coconut oil, melted
1 whole egg
1 egg white
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups cornflakes, crushed
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup sesame seeds
1/4 cup soy flour
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp nutmeg
1 cup raisins
1/2 cup dried cranberries or chocolate chips
1 cup shredded coconut
1 cup chopped almonds or other nuts

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (180 degrees Celsius). Grease a 9" x 13" pan.

Beat the demerara sugar, coconut oil, whole egg, egg white, and vanilla extract together in a large bowl until fluffy. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir to combine well.

Spread mixture evenly in the pan and press down lightly. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until crisp around the edges. Allow to cool completely before cutting into bars.

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Apple Berry Smoothie

INGREDIENTS

1 red apple
1 green apple
1/2 cup fresh or frozen berries (your choice or a mix)
1/2 cup apple juice
1/2 cup plain yogurt
2 ice cubes (more if using fresh berries)

DIRECTIONS

Chop the apples into medium sized chunks and put them in the blender. Add the berries and blend for about 20 seconds. Add the apple juice, yogurt, and ice cubes and blend again until smooth. Add more juice or some water if too thick or add more yogurt if too thin.

For a more filling smoothie, add 1/4 cup of rolled oats to the apples and berries prior to blending.

Makes 2 servings.

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Fresh Herb Availability

Our organic fruit and vegetable suppliers always have excellent selections of fresh herbs in 14 – 28 gram packages. We have been carrying some of them over the last couple of months, but we want to make sure we aren't skipping anyone's favourite herb.

To discover what our members want to buy in terms of fresh herbs, we have set up a poll on our blog: http://greenearthorganics.blogspot.com/ (right-hand side column). The poll will be available until noon on June 16th.

If there's another herb you are interested in, please let us know at 603-708-2345 or by email at info@greenearthorganics.com.

We would also love to know if you are interested in any of the specialty versions of mint. It turns out, mint is available in chocolate, pineapple, and mojito varieties!

We have left parsley and cilantro off the list because they are generally sold by the bunch and all of these herbs are in the small plastic packages. If you are interested in larger quantities of any of those on the list, please let us know!

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Takeout Without

"You aren't really going to, are you?" my partner is looking at the pile of reusable plastic containers I've just pulled out of a bag in the back seat.

"They don't mind," I assure him as we enter Broadway Station Sushi, "I've done it here before."

He looks embarrassed, but I am not easily deterred. We place our takeout order at the counter and I hand over the pile of containers. The woman behind the cash register doesn't even give us a weird look as she passes them to the sushi chef along with our order.

"OK, that was alright," my partner concedes as we head back to the car with our containers of food neatly stacked in a fabric grocery bag.

Though we try to cook at home most of the time - my partner is a talented cook who doesn't wince when I announce we've got mushrooms, ginger, and tofu in the house; can't he make something of them - we are also busy and do sometimes grab food to go. More and more, we've noticed how quickly the garbage can mount up. We are helped by the fact that Vancouver now allows pizza boxes to be recycled, but that doesn't help with our sushi habit.

We started cutting back our waste by declining all extraneous items when picking up or having delivery: no chopsticks, napkins, soy sauce packets, etc. Now we've moved to bringing our own containers to use as doggy bags when eating out (Anton's on Hastings didn't flinch when we asked for our leftovers in our own containers) and when getting takeout. Most restaurants are pretty good about this; my favourite food stand in the market at Granville Island - Curry 2 U: Indian Comfort Food - will even sell you a reusable "tiffin" which you can get refilled at a discount. Bring a fork and cloth napkin, and you are ready for a waste-free lunch.

We're not the only ones thinking about this, obviously. The Takeout Without website describes their creed as: ReFuse Unnecessary Stuff, ReTake Your Own Reusables, and ReConsider Your Habits. I follow their Twitter stream (takeoutwout) for tips and encouragement.

I did notice that Takeout Without's restaurant "participating restaurants" page is still empty, but I plan to check back. What other Vancouver area restaurants keep the waste down, or at least make it easy for patrons to reduce their unnecessary garbage? If you know one, please tell us!