Hello Meltingpot Community,
I’ve been thinking a lot about food lately. Why? Because living through a global pandemic with three children – two ginormous teen boys and a deceptively small, eight-year-old with a massive appetite – has me preparing food, cooking food, and shopping for food on a 24-hour cycle that seems unrelenting. Luckily, I enjoy cooking, and let’s be honest, eating too, so it’s not all bad. Still, I can’t help but pay attention to just how much we eat in this household.
Keeping it Real (Healthy)
For the most part, I’d say we eat pretty healthily in our Meltingpot family. During these days of lockdown, I do most of the cooking, but el esposo makes a meal once or twice a week as well. Since we’re cooking practically every day, however, we’ve tried to expand our repertoire to include dishes we’ve never had before. In fact, el esposo discovered a recipe for an Afghani tomato, potato and egg breakfast dish that he has adapted to be one of our favorite quick dinners. In general, we eat a lot of bean-based dishes, pasta, veggie based soups, poultry, fish, pork and lamb. I don’t cook beef because I don’t think it’s healthy and I actually just don’t know how to cook beef. And FYI, the lamb is very rare. We cook Mexican inspired, Caribbean inspired and Spanish inspired food a lot. And I can fake an Indian curry with the right spices. We do eat some vegetarian meals – Meatless Mondays come right before Taco Tuesdays – but that’s not my forte.
Flirting with the Vegetarian Lifestyle
Because of the aforementioned massive eating spree thanks to #theRona, I’ve started thinking about leaning into a vegetarian lifestyle because meat is expensive when you’re trying to make it the start of the show. Also, because of #theRona, I know the meat supply chain in this country is increasingly suspect and unreliable. I’d hate to successfully avoid getting the Covid, only to be felled by a wicked case of salmonella or some other food poisoning. Plus, as an aside, I stumbled onto the delightful Instagram feed of one Ms. Tabitha Brown, the vegan It-Girl of the moment, and suddenly she had me seeing carrots as bacon and mushrooms as a substitute for a burger. For the first time, I saw potential in living a happy vegetarian lifestyle.
The Impossible Burger Could Save the World
Let me be clear, as of this writing, I have never eaten an Impossible Burger, those manufactured plant based burgers that have been making headlines since 2016. I was wary of anything that claimed to bleed like a burger but be made from plants. I mean, do plants bleed? Anywho, the other day I was listening to the How I Built This podcast and heard the entire origin story of the Impossible Burger company. Founded by a Stanford biochemist, the mission of this company that I thought was only about Frankenfood, is actually so much more impressive and more important. Like really important. Impossible Burger wants to save the world by ending global climate change and the thing is, it is possible!
The Impact of Eating Animals
So, on the podcast, I heard a statistic that raising animals for human consumption creates more greenhouse gasses than all sources of transportation -cars, airplanes, trucks and ships – combined! I couldn’t believe it, so I fact-checked it and The New York Times agreed. Not only that, if humans stopped eating meat (or reduced the amount significantly) AND planted trees, grass, or even some lowly bushes where the animals had previously been kept, those plants would be effective at reducing carbon dioxide emissions from the atmosphere! It seems so simple really. Like would all the problems of the world be solved? No, but what a huge freaking difference we could all make.
What’s in My American Meltingpot?
So, that brings me back to me and my family and our dinner table. How do we incorporate this information into our meal planning? Into our activism? Into our responsibility for saving the planet? Luckily, I was already flirting with the idea of going vegetarian, but real talk, el esposo and my boys get red in the eye when I suggested we stop eating meat. Again, thanks to #TheRona, the grocery stores are limiting the amount of meat a person can buy anyway, so I have that excuse to slowly incorporate more vegetarian-ish meals into our culinary rotation. Last night, I made a huge shrimp curry with sweet potatoes, regular potatoes and garbanzo beans. Served over coconut rice and a side of greens and fried plantains. It was a huge hit.
I think the idea of “going vegetarian” sounds scary and intimidating to a lot of people. Myself included. Before my vegetarian lifestyle could actually become legit, I would definitely need to find a lot of new recipes to keep things diverse and delicious around here.
But you know what sounds scarier and more intimidating than eating tofu for dinner? The earth freaking melting while we’re still trying to live on it!
So, we’re going to ease our way in. Maybe not 100%. Maybe we’ll be pescatarians. Maybe we’ll eat meat on special occasions. Or every other Friday. Or maybe, just maybe, we’ll just start eating Impossible Burgers and help save the world.
Share Your Vegetarian Favorites
How many of my readers are vegetarian or vegan? Do you have some favorite recipes or cookbooks? Drop me any suggestions in the comments below. Also, is anybody a fan of the Impossible Burger? Do tell. You know I’m listening. And I’ll keep posting here and on my Facebook and Instagram accounts about my journey into this new way of eating.
Peace!
Comments
2 responses to “Can A Vegetarian Lifestyle Save the Planet?”
You asked for it, Lori, so here is a new favorite of mine.
Vegetarian Shepherd’s Pie
• YIELD 4 to 6 servings
• TIME 1 3/4 hours
French green lentils (Puy lentils) make a hearty base for this vegetarian shepherd’s pie. They may be slighter harder to find than other lentils, but they’re worth the extra effort. Unlike brown or red lentils, green lentils retain their shape and texture after cooking, which means they stand up well to a long simmer and this rich potato topping. Choose vegetable stock with a pleasant flavor that isn’t too sweet.
FOR THE TOPPING
• 2 Tablespoons kosher salt
• 2 lbs russet potatoes, peeled and quartered (about 3 large)
• 6 Tablespoons unsalted butter
• ½ cup whole milk
• ½ cup sour cream
• ½ cup packed grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
• Freshly ground black pepper
FOR THE FILLING
• ¾ cup French green lentils (Puy lentils)
• 4 sprigs thyme
• 3 ½ cups vegetable broth
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 4 Tablespoons butter
• 8 oz sliced mixed mushrooms, such as button, cremini + shitaake
• 1 large leek, white part only, thinly sliced (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 2 medium carrots, peeled and diced (about 1 cup)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 2 Tablespoons tomato paste
• 2 Tablespoons flour
• 1 cup frozen peas, thawed
• 1 to 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1 In large pot, boil a gallon of water and 2 tablespoons salt. Add potatoes to boiling water and boil for about 15 to 20 minutes, until soft; a knife should go in with almost no resistance.
2 Filling: In a 10” oven-safe skillet with high sides over medium-high heat, bring lentils, thyme and 2 cups of broth to a simmer with 1 teaspoon salt. Reduce heat and continue to cook the lentils, partly covered, until they are tender and most liquid is absorbed, about 20 minutes. Transfer the lentils to a bowl.
3 Topping: In a small saucepan or a microwave oven, heat 6 tablespoons of the butter and milk together until butter melts. Drain potatoes well and return to pot. Mash hot potatoes until smooth. Add hot butter mix and sour cream just until blended. Stir in 1/2 of the cheese. Season to taste with s+p. Cover.
4 Filling: Heat oven to 375. Melt butter in 10” skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and cook, stir often with wooden spoon, until they are deep golden brown, about 8-10 min. Reduce heat to med, add leeks, carrots and garlic, continue to cook until tender, another 10 min. Season to taste with s+p. Add tomato paste, cook until well combined, 2-3 min. Sprinkle flour over mixture, stir, cook 1 minute. Add remaining 1 1/2 cups broth, lentils and peas, and cook until thickened. Remove thyme stems and stir in lemon juice to taste.
5 Top the mixture with dollops of the mashed potatoes, then spread them out over the top. (Or transfer the lentil mixture to a 3-quart casserole dish and spread into an even layer, and top with potatoes.) Sprinkle with the remaining Parmigiano. Transfer to the oven and, if the mixture is at the top edges of your pan, set a foil-lined baking sheet underneath the pan to catch any drips. Bake the pie until the potatoes have begun to brown and the edges are bubbling, about 30 minutes. Let stand at room temperature for 15 minutes before serving.
I left the sour cream and cheese out of the mashed potatoes, and I just used brown lentils (probably Puy lentils are better but brown ones worked great). I used more peas and next time I would add more tomato paste – it really added to the flavor. And I didn’t add flour. In fact, I needed to add extra water to make sure it was moist enough. And I used scallions instead of leeks. And you might have to make double for your family!
Please let me know if you try it.
Thanks, Barbara!!!