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Rainbow Kitchen

Going Green for March

By Allison St. Claire
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Since corned beef and cabbage is traditional fare for March, here are some simple, inexpensive, recipes to cook cabbage without it becoming a soggy, smelly, distasteful pile of gray vegetable matter; a do-it-yourself corned beef brisket that is additive-free and generally cheaper than from the supermarket; plus a little added horseradish for zest.

From St. Patrick’s Day to the hope of young shoots of green growing things marching from southern to northern climes as the season progresses – let’s think about eating and cooking “green” for our health and the planet’s.

The more vegetables to augment the protein and fats in our diets, the better. Especially non-starchy vegetables. Here are some examples of the latter; note how many are green!

Amaranth leaves, arugula, asparagus, bamboo shoots, bean sprouts, green beans, bell peppers, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, raw carrots, cauliflower, celery, chicory greens, chives, collard greens, cucumber, dandelion greens, eggplant, endive, fennel, garlic, ginger root, green beans, hearts of palm, jicama, jalapeno, peppers, kale, kohlrabi, mushrooms, mustard greens, onions, parsley, radicchio, radishes, shallots, snap beans, snow peas, spinach, summer squash (including zucchini), Swiss chard, turnip greens and watercress. 31 out of 44 (more if you’re eating green onions and green garlic tops) – pretty strong message there!

Thinking and acting green in how we prepare our food is also important. An excellent book in starting to think and act on your “cookprint,” is Cooking Green: Reducing Your Carbon Footprint in the Kitchen – the New Green Basics Way by Kate Heyhoe (Da Capo Press, 2009). Without changing your politics, or completely disrupting your routine, according to the author, you can reduce greenhouse gases simply by rethinking what you must do every day: consume food. The kitchen is ripe with opportunities for going greener, the place where you can make real choices and take direct control of your impact – without letting your family feel deprived, hungry or stressed.

From appliances to cooking methods to energy-efficient ingredients, Heyhoe’s book is a treasure chest of powerful, energy- and money-saving ideas plus tasty recipes.

Since corned beef and cabbage is traditional fare for March, here are some simple, inexpensive, recipes to cook cabbage without it becoming a soggy, smelly, distasteful pile of gray vegetable matter; a do-it-yourself corned beef brisket that is additive-free and generally cheaper than from the supermarket; plus a little added horseradish for zest.

 


Recipe:

Home-Cured Roast Beef, Cabbage & Horseradish Cream


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Allison St. Claire loves to dream about, study, grow, play with, prepare and ultimately enjoy eating great food.

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