🌮 Eat More Plants: Issue #33
Hello, friends. I hope you're safe and healthy and hopefully vaccinated, or close to it. (I recently joined #teampfiderna and am thrilled about the new summer possibilities.)
Tomorrow is Canada Day, but this year, I'm not going to be celebrating. Instead, I'm going to be learning and listening and coming up with ways I can help make this country better. If you're looking to do the same, I can recommend new book Indigenous Toronto, and this Chatelaine article by Denise Balkissoon, and this resource guide from the On Canada Project.
And if you're low on cash but looking for a way to contribute, I recently donated a bunch of Aeroplan miles to Raven, an organization that provides legal support to Indigenous peoples trying to protect their traditional territories, in a way that drives conservation and helps fight against climate change. Maybe you also have some miles to spare?
The fake meat files
I have such a love-hate relationship with imitation meat products. On the one hand, they're convenient and often quite delicious, and have a tiny carbon footprint compared with real meat. On the other hand, they're highly processed (aka dubious nutritionally) and have a larger carbon footprint than, say, a bag of lentils.
So, I eat them sometimes.
Like many people, I got super into the Beyond Burger when it showed up at A&W. A vegetarian fast food item that actually contains a decent amount of protein! Since then I've tried the Beyond sausages and the ground beef substitute and they're fine, but they all have that distinctive Beyond Meat taste. My preference is definitely the burger, I think because it's mixed in with so many toppings, but I try to eat it sparingly so I don't get tired of the flavour.
But then, the other day, we tried the Impossible ground, and it is way more neutral, which in my opinion makes it much better as an ingredient. So far we've had it in tacos (yes, the '80s-style crunchy ones, albeit with pico de gallo on top) and next up we're going to make Halifax-style donairs: "meat", chopped tomatoes and special sauce inside a pita.
I got my Impossible ground at Greenhouse, but a lot of stores are carrying it now, though I think just in the U.S. and Canada. If you're a meat-eating household, it's a pretty good substitute for ground beef, with a much smaller environmental impact.
Other things I've been eating
Local strawberries, cherries and raspberries, for one, and I have plans to make a gooseberry pie, though it's been too hot to turn on the oven.
This lima bean hummus was really nice, and a change from chickpeas.
Though, speaking of chickpeas, I've been back on the smashed chickpea salad. It's the easiest summertime lunch ever.
I did a callout on Twitter for good sandwiches, and Bernie sent me this ultra-green one, which was very good, though it takes a bit of effort to gather all the ingredients.
Daniela sent me this recipe for sweet potato chocolate muffins and I made them immediately with no regrets.
I also made these honey poppy seed bites, except I did full muffin size and no icing, and they are very delicious.
Elsewhere
I've got my eye on this tahini-smothered charred cabbage, because I will basically eat anything smothered in tahini.
“I don’t think the average consumer knows that half the stuff they buy at the supermarket contains palm oil,” Schatz said, “and most of palm oil is from illegally deforested land.”
This article on the global palm oil situation is a real eye-opener.
I liked this piece on deserting meal planning to become a "continuous cook".
I would happily dig into any of these chilled desserts from various places in Asia, but I'm too lazy to make them, so I'll have to go hunting for local restaurants to make them for me.
This Mother Jones piece from last year on the dangers of natural gas kind of blew my mind. (Did you know "now we're cooking with gas" was a marketing slogan? I mean of course it was, but it's from so long ago that we've all forgotten.) I am now religious about running the fan on high while we cook.
And, finally, I appreciate Umbra's advice on whether we should give up dairy to save the planet: "Don't gorge, and don't waste." It's life advice, really.
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Eat More Plants is a sporadically published newsletter by Kat Tancock, sharing recipes and inspiration for vegetarian and vegan dishes, restaurants, products and more. Please reply with your own tips so I can include them in a future issue, and send this newsletter to your friends.
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