Dining Out

What Will You Bring?

scleaver — Thu, 15 May 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Looking for something to do on Friday night? Well, who doesn’t love a potluck? You choose one dish to bring and, in return, you get to eat a whole buffet and enjoy the company of friends.

Four couples in Woodstock, OR, the self-proclaimed Green Team, are taking potlucks to a new level and celebrating the 3Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle) in the process. They hosted their first sustainable potluck in September—the peak of harvest. Everybody brought an all-local dish and came ready to explain and defend their green cooking, from how they chose the veggies to how they disposed of any waste created during cooking.

The menu: lamb casserole with eggplant and applesauce, tomato and cucumber salad, roasted carrots and potatoes, wheat berry salad, and peach cobbler.

The conversation: solar energy, recycling, how to store food without using plastics, and organ donation.

And that was only the first dinner. Since that first harvest, the Green Team has added couples, dishes, and changed it up at their monthly meetings, hosting a brunch in January, and a pizza party using canned tomatoes from their 2007 gardens in March.

So, as this year’s growing season gears up, how are you going to enjoy the bounty?

Photo from a vegetarian potluck of Southern Californian Vegetarians.

"Ode to a Burrito" Indeed

scleaver — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 01:00:00 -0400

The April 2008 issue of Fast Company Magazine has an intriguing article that explores all there is to know behind those huge burritos that, if you’re a fan, you’ll wait in line for 15 minutes or more (hours in fast-food time). (Read the article “Ode to a Burrito” by Arianne Cohen HERE). A quick run-down reveals what those of us who have dutifully and cheerfully studied the earth-health-conscious menu of four options (taco, burrito, burrito bowl, salad) before watching our burritos being made already knew—Chipotle’s commitment to producing food that’s good for the planet is paying off. Fun stats and facts:Chipotle’s brand has grown from 14 stores in 1998 to 500 in 2006, and more than 840 projected by the end of this year. Chipotle only serves rBGH-free dairy products (that’s milk and cheese from cows that aren’t injected with bovine growth hormone).All of the pork, 80 percent of the chicken, and 50 percent of the beef the chain uses is free of hormones and anti-biotics, and is humanely raised. Because they’re not 100 percent across the board yet, Chipotle is increasing its use of naturally raised meat by 40 percent this year to 52 million pounds.What’s happening at Chipotle is spilling into the fast food market—other chains are increasing their use of humanely raised meat. In the meantime, burrito anyone? Photo from the Menu Pages Blog. Learn more about burritos at Chipotle.

Vegan This!

Julia — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 22:34:07 -0400

When I think of veganism the first thing that comes to mind is skimping. I always feel as though if I were to take that drastic step that I would be missing out on so many guilty pleasures. Bland food, bland clothing, it all makes it seem not worth the hassle, despite its powerful environmental impact. It’s the single most sustainable thing a person can do, so it is important to motivate people to want to take this giant step.

Designers, chefs, and entrepreneurs alike are changing the way we approach what we eat and what we wear to make it more ethical, and more natural and organic. There is actually a market out there for vegan products, which means that people are making this transition. Natalie Dean is just one of these people using her talent in design to motivate people to convert to veganism, even in small steps.

Natalie creates a stylish kind of footwear that vegans can invest in. It is difficult to find posh, stylish shoes that are made without leather. Only sensible shoes like sneakers, boots, and sandals are available. Recognizing her dilemma, Natalie created Beyond Skin, which is a stylish, sophisticated and vegan shoe company.

It was launched in 2001 and they are manufactured with polyester-based satin, organic cotton and imitation leather or imitation suede made from cotton-backed polyurethane. All the shoes are handmade and contain no plastic products. Celebrities and animal rights activists are catching on worldwide! You can check out her website at www.beyondskin.co.uk.

Natalie Dean is, obviously, not alone in her quest. World renowned vegan chef, Sualua Tupolo is also working to promote healthy lifestyle and diets for people all over the world. Besides preparing dishes for royalty all over the world, he, more importantly, teaches all over the country how to make vegan and vegetarian cuisine.

He teaches people all over the world how to properly and healthily prepare vegan food so that you don’t miss out on all of the most important vitamins and nutrients. This can be a huge risk with going vegan. Veganism takes a lot of research about how to get nutrients from foods that you have eliminated. If you’re thinking about going vegan a good resource is www.goveg.com. They have a lot of information about how to make the switch in a healthy manner.

So if you are considering making any of these transitions, seek out the options available to you and do it the right way. Going vegan is a really noble step to take, even going vegetarian makes an impact. All of these small steps directly affect the condition of our environment, one person at a time.