Jonathan Safran Foer Interview

I love this interview with Jonathan Safran Foer about his book Eating Animals.

I especially like his point at the end that not everyone in the world needs to become a vegetarian. But the impact of eating less meat that we currently are -- even one more vegetarian meal per week -- would make a huge impact on the environment. That is definitely something everyone can do.

Tortilla Soup

This is one of our new favorites. I just made it up one night and it never ends up the same way since I've never even written it down until right now. But it's always good.

olive oil
1 onion, chopped
3 carrots, sliced
1 cup frozen corn
1 leek or some cabbage, chopped (optional, but I love cabbage in soup so I put it in whenever I can)
2 cans (or 3-4 cups) pinto beans
1 Tablespoon cilantro, chopped
salt
pepper
some cumin
some paprika
some garlic powder
some chili powder
1 quart vegetable stock

Saute the onion and carrot in a tablespoon or so of olive oil until they begin to soften. Then add the rest of the above ingredients. Let simmer for an 30-60 minutes until all vegetables are tender. Adjust seasonings as needed.

Serve with:
sour cream
tomato
avocado
crushed tortilla chips
more cilantro

Now, unfortunately, my photo up there is sadly lacking in a couple ingredients that make it most delicious: sour cream (I'm working on making my own. Yep, you heard me), avocado (Mine aren't ripe. Sad face) and I just forgot to add the chips before I took the photo and I'm too lazy to take another. But, it's still good.

If you wanted to add chicken you easily could. Maybe slow cook in a crock pot for a couple hours with the stock and then shred it up? I've never done it but it sounds viable and I'm sure you'll figure something out. :)

Vegetable Broth

I have been working on some recipes but between being sick and then my mother-in-law being in town, not a lot of cooking was happening around here.

So, I figured I'd talk about making your own vegetable broth. Because I love it. And it's so easy and so superior to anything you can buy pre-packaged. And I feel so environmentally friendly when I make it myself.

All you have to do is save all of your leftover bits of veggies as you're cutting them up. Ends of carrots, skins of onions, leaves from celery, leek tops, ribs of kale, mushrooms stems, herbs, almost anything (except broccoli, cauliflower, potatoes, asparagus, artichokes). I collect all of these scraps in a plastic bag in the fridge. After about a week I have enough to make some stock.

Dump the scraps into a big stock pot and add water. I usually add about 2 quarts. Then, just simmer for a couple hours. I simmered mine today for too long without watching it and I lost about 1/2 of a quart of water (oops).

Then, strain the now-stock into jars and either refrigerate for a few days or store in plastic containers and freeze for a month or so.

I love using something that is usually regarded as "garbage" and making something amazing (it'd be even better if I had a compost pile that I could toss the veggies in after making stock). I also love not having to buy something from the store that I can make myself, and not having packaging to throw away. It's a win-win-win situation!

I'll be back with some incred soup recipes you can make using this vegetable stock.

Eating Animals

Sorry for the long absence. But I'm back!

And the big news is...that I'm going vegetarian. The catalyst for this decision was primarily this book...

Eating Animals was written by one of my very favorite authors of all time (Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, Everything Is Illuminated) and this was his first non-novel. His writing always touches me on an extremely deep level and this book was no exception. He explores the moral, environmental and social implications of eating factory farmed meat and by the end of it, I felt I could not justify being a part of it any longer.

One of the great things about this book is that it's not just a hard-sell for vegetarianism. Foer is not trying to scare you into not eating meat. He explores family farms quite extensively and completely supports what they're doing -- giving animals the best life possible and a humane death before being turned into food.

I recommend this book to anyone seriously researching where our food comes from. While most of the information regarding factory farming is not going to be new to anyone who's read anything by Michael Pollan, the moral and nearly spiritual reasons to not eat meat are presented in a way I had never considered. Add in the facts regarding the environmental havoc we're causing (particularly the fishing industry), and you're left with a lot to think about.

So, with all of that said, I'm back to blogging and will hopefully have lots of amazing vegetarian dishes to share with you as I continue my quest into eating healthfully and wholefully (that should so be a word). I'll apologize in advance for the quality of my photos -- I know we're all used to excellence around here. My husband has been doing it all for me, but the truth is, he's way too busy with actual things than being bothered by me about a silly blog. So as long as you're cool with that, I'll see you back here soon.

Cheers.