Sustainable Eating - Lentil Soup with Leftover Ham Bone

As previously stated, I personally hate waste and one of the ways I reduce food waste is to use up my leftovers. It’s an important part of sustainable food recycling.

Lentil Soup with Leftover Ham Bone

All photo Copyright - ©2010 - La Casa e Il Giardino - picasaweb

Ingredients

1 pound bag of lentils

Leftover ham bone
2 ripe tomatoes (chopped)

1 cup celery chopped

1 cup carrots chopped

1/2 cup olive oil

1 onion chopped

2 cloves of garlic chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

Wash lentils thoroughly.  In a large pot, place lentils and ham bone and cover with water.  Bring it to a boil and then cover and simmer until tender. Remove the ham bone.  Remove pieces of ham from the bone and save.

In another pot, add the olive oil, onion and garlic.  Saute' for 2 minutes, add celery, carrots and tomatoes.  Simmer until carrots and celery are tender.  Add the cooked lentils, pieces of ham and adjust salt and pepper to taste.  At this point, if soup is too thick, add some water, mix well and simmer for few minutes.



SUSTAINABLE EATING - Leftover Turkey Burgers

Bored of leftover turkey sandwiches?  Why not try these healthy turkey burgers.

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Ingredients
4 tablespoons of olive oil
1 green and 1 red pepper finely chopped
6 scallions finely chopped or red onion
1 1/2 pounds ground turkey or fresh turkey meat
2 medium eggs slightly beaten
2 tablespoons of parsley chopped
1/2 cup bread crumbs

Colorful chopped onions and peppers being sauteed

Procedure

In a food processor, finely grind the leftover turkey (white and dark meat).

In a small pan, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil, sauté scallions and peppers (about 6 to 10 minutes).  Set aside to cool off for few minutes.

Add the pepper and scallion mixture into the ground turkey.  Mix well.  Add the eggs and parsley and continue to mix well.

Place the breadcrumbs on a piece of wax paper.  Take enough of the turkey mixture to make a burger.  Place the burger on the breadcrumbs and press lightly.  Turn over and do the same.
In a non-stick frying pan, add the additional oil and sauté' the burgers few at a time, turning once with a spatula. Approximately 10 minutes. Serve.

turkey burgers before sauteing

SUSTAINABLE EATING: Means Serving Meals that Are Lower on the Food Chain

This can be achieved by shifting food consumption from red meat to chicken, fish, eggs, or a vegetable-based diet.

In our household, we enjoy lamb, veal and read meat but we also enjoy of the innards of animals like chicken gizzards (cheap,very popular in Europe and Asia, and good for you).

Our dinner this evening -

Green Beans with Mint and Garlic

Chicken Gizzards with Peppers and Olives

Ingredients

1 lb, chicken gizzards
3 red peppers (sweet or hot)
5 or 6 cloves garlic squashed with skin on
1/2 cup cured olives
1/4 cup olive oil for gizzards
1/2 cup olive oil for frying peppers

Procedure

In a pot, place gizzards and cover completely with water.  Boil the gizzards for about 45 minutes and drain.  In the meantime, saute' peppers and remove.  Saute' garlic and remove.  In a medium sized frying pan, add 1/4 cup of olive oil, add the drained gizzards and saute' in a low heat for about 20 minutes turning occasionally.  Add fried peppers, garlic and olives continue to cook for 5 minutes and serve.

Chicken gizzards with peppers and olives

Don't knock it, until you try it.

SUSTAINABLE EATING: Means Reducing Food Waste

I personally hate waste and one of the ways I reduce food waste is to use up my leftovers. It’s an important part of sustainable food recycling.

Fresh Picked Arugula

Here is one of my very simple, leftover creation.




Arugula and Chicken

Took leftover chicken breast, combined with arugula and few strips of charred peppers, drizzled with extra-virgin olive oil, wine vinegar, salt and pepper.

Images: ©2010 - La Casa e Il Giardino - picasaweb

SUSTAINABLE EATING: Means cooking from scratch and starting with fresh produce

Eating better goes beyond cookbooks. 

Broccoli

Yesterday, at the local Farmers’ Market, besides the beautiful and colorful display of fruits and vegetables, I noticed that the shoppers had one thing in common – they were middle-aged to older immigrants like me. Is it because we have more time to spare? Possibly.

 - Or is it because our eating habits reflect our roots and cultural identity?
 - Or is it the instinctive frugality of our family meals made of humble and seasonal ingredients?

By the way, I bought cranberry beans.

Cranberry beans (Fagioli Borlotti)

  

On my way home, I stopped at the supermarket, where convenience rules, to buy milk. At the checkout counter, I struck a conversation with a young mom who came to the store to buy ingredients for an old-fashioned, Italian dish called Pasta e Fagioli (Pasta and bean soup). In her shopping cart, she had 2 cans of beans, canned tomatoes, chicken broth and chopped meat. She was following her mother’s recipe. My immediate thought: sugar, preservatives, sodium, nitrates.  She knew no other way. 

Had she planned her meal ahead of time, she could have purchased a bag of dry beans the day before and cooked them in the evening while doing homework with her children. The next day, she could have sauteed some onions, added 3 or 4 diced fresh tomatoes (if available) or a can of whole or diced tomatoes, the beans and pasta, and Voila!

Think about it, she would have had enough beans for several meals. Like anything else in life, planning ahead means getting the most for your money and time while minimizing waste.

But what do I know? I am an old, Italian immigrant.

Oh yes. The cranberry beans.

Fresh Shell Bean Stew

Time: 1 hour

6 servings

Ingredients

3 cups fresh cranberry beans (3 pounds in the shell)

1 quart of water

2 garlic cloves, halved

2 thyme sprigs and 1/2 teaspoon of thyme leaves

Pinch of baking soda

1 pound of tomatoes, diced

1/2 cup olive oil

Salt and pepper

1. In a saucepan, combine the beans, water, thyme sprigs and baking soda and bring to a boil.  Simmer over low heat until the beans are tender. 30 minutes or so.
2. Drain beans, reserving 1 1/2 cup of cooking liquid.  In a saucepan, add the olive oil, saute' the garlic until golden, add the tomatoes and cook for 5 to 10 minutes, then add the beans and the cooking liquid.  Simmer the stew over moderate heat for an additional 5 minutes.  Remove the pan from the heat.  Add thyme leaves and serve.