Happy Belated Earth Day!

Photo source: http://food-management.com/colleges-amp-universities/low-carbon-food-earth-day-2013

Earth Day was on Monday, so I'm a few days late, but I wanted to share this article about a cool event that occurred at 500 college-campus cafeterias and cafes managed by Bon Appetit Management Company:

The catering company hosted Low Carbon Diet Day, as it has been doing since 2008, replacing typical dishes with versions with a lower carbon footprint.

Foods that have a high carbon footprint that they eliminated included beef, cheese, milk, and fresh air-freighted fruit.

Instead, they cooked edamame burgers, pesto (cheese-less) pizza, and almond-milk smoothies with flash-frozen fruit.

Photo source: http://twincommodities.com/Almonds.html

As their VP explained regarding the impact of cow's milk and fresh berries, “Cow’s milk…is a high-carbon product—of all food animals, cows produce the most methane, a greenhouse gas that is accelerating climate change... Meanwhile, instead of using air-freighted berries from another continent, we can use berries that were flash-frozen last summer at the peak of ripeness, retaining all of their flavor and nutrients.”

See the entire article here.

I thought this event was a great reminder of the carbon impact of a lot of common food items, and also of what types of foods can be used as replacement ingredients if you decide to have a low carbon diet day. Happy Earth Day!

Thai Market in Silver Spring

I've had a Thai cookbook for the past year or so which I've been meaning to try some recipes from, but I got stalled every time I did because I couldn't find all the ingredients at my typical grocery stores. Luckily, there are a few specialty grocery stores in the DC area that sell Thai groceries, and one in Silver Spring a short walk from the Silver Spring metro, called Thai Market.

 

As a huge food nerd, I thought this was a lot of fun. It was exciting to walk around a store with such a variety of unusual (to me) ingredients and pick things to try. In general, they have much more dried and canned items than fresh foods, but I found almost all of what I was looking for. And for really good prices. 

I bought: a couple types of dried red chiles, fresh green chiles, dried shrimp, jarred shrimp paste, oyster sauce, fresh lemon grass, fresh Thai basil, cardamom pods, garlic, dried kaffir lime leaves (which smell amazing), soba noodles, and several packages of really awesome-looking rice noodles for making Pad Thai and Drunken Noodles later.

I wanted to buy, but didn't want to carry home, one of their huge bags of jasmine rice.

They also had several types of coconut water and juice and lots of types of soy sauce and fish sauce... and a lot more.

I spent $50 on all of this, which I feel like is a really good price for the number of things I bought, especially since spices and sauces are usually expensive at regular grocery stores. I've been having fun trying out some of the things I bought, and will have a lot on hand for a while, so this is definitely a good place to go and stock up. And I'm sure I'll be back.

Ginger-Melon Hydrating Recovery Juice

A short post with another running-related recipe. This is a quick juice that you can make in a blender using cantaloupe (or another melon) and ginger. Melons have a higher glycemic index than other fruits and high water content, and ginger has anti-inflammatory properties, so they make a good post-running combination. Plus, the ginger is really refreshing. Use more or less ginger based on your preferences and enjoy! I think this could also be good mixed with some sparkling water for carbonation.

Ginger-Melon Hydrating Recovery Juice
From realbuzz.com

2 chilled melons, skinned and seeded
1-2 T skinned and chopped ginger
8 crushed ice cubes

Put all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.

Stovetop-Baked Eggs over Vegetable Stew

 

I have been running a lot recently, since I'm training for a half marathon in mid March. Even though I've been jogging since high school as a workout, this is really the first time that I've worked on increasing my mileage and the first period I've ever regularly run more than four or five miles at one time. So I've been hungry. I'm running with a training organization, Team in Training, and we have our long training runs early on Saturday mornings, so I've gotten into a pretty regular routine of coming home and making a huge brunch on Saturdays.

 

I thought it could be an interesting tangent to add running recipes to the blog- the longer I do this the harder of a time I have of coming up with new ideas, so I thought this could be a good new topic! So watch for similar posts in the future.

I was curious, first, to do a little research on what a good post-running meal should include. None of it is super surprising, but I found some good reminders.

 

Cooking After a Long Run

 

Post-running recipes should have a couple of main components:

Carbohydrates

Protien

Antioxidants

Says Discovery Health, "A run that lasts an hour or more taxes your body in such a way that you need to give it carbohydrates and protein in a particular proportion -- ideally, a 4-to-1 ratio of carbs to protein -- that will maximize immune function while restoring energy and rebuilding your muscles better than before."

So, protein and carbs are obviously both very important. I thought it could be a good challenge to come up with a vegetarian protein-rich recipe, since a vegetarian protein is typically more environmentally-friendly than a meat protein.

The resulting recipe was a modification of something I'd read about on another cooking blog and had been wanting to try. It's heavy in eggs and vegetables, which is good:

Eggs: From Runner's World: One egg fulfills about 10 percent of your daily protein needs. Egg protein is the most complete food protein short of human breast milk, which means the protein in eggs contains all the crucial amino acids your hard-working muscles need to promote recovery. Eat just one of these nutritional powerhouses and you'll also get about 30 percent of the Daily Value (DV) for vitamin K, which is vital for healthy bones.

Vegetables: Research shows that eating a combination of antioxidants [found in vegetables including bell peppers and onions], such as beta-carotene and vitamin C, may lessen muscle soreness after hard interval workouts by reducing the inflammation caused by free-radical damage (from Runner's World).

 

The recipe is pretty simple once you have everything chopped up, and an added bonus is that it makes a LOT. Which is nice when you're using it as a post-running meal, since you can eat a lot and still have leftovers. I ate it with a sliced wheat baguette, since I felt like it needed something to sop up some of the liquid and balance out the flavor. I was really happy with it in the end- basically a nice way to eat a lot of different types of vegetables at once, and good flavor from the stewing. I think you could really do some creative, things, though, and use any vegetables or cheeses you have around.

 

 

Stovetop-Baked Eggs over Vegetable Stew
adapted from katechristensen.wordpress.com

1 onion
1 red bell pepper
1 8-ounce package of baby Portobello mushrooms
4-5 cloves of garlic, chopped and mashed
2 medium zucchini, chopped
1 T hot red peper flakes
4 eggs
1.5 C shredded parmesean cheese
about 6 C chopped baby arugula
"jot" of half and half (a few tablespoons)
sprinkle of paprika
salt and pepper
1-2 T olive oil

1. Chop the onion, mushrooms, and red peper. Saute these with the chopped garlic in a large oven-proof skillet with the olive oil until vegetables have softened but are not fully cooked.
2. Add the chopped baby arugula and let it cook until it wilts down to almost nothing. Season with the paprika, red hot pepper flakes, and salt and pepper to taste.
3. Stir and let simmer uncovered for five to seven minutes, until the vegetables are tender, and then sprinke parmesan cheese over it in a layer.
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
5. Crack four eggs one by one onto the surface of the vegetables and pour a jot of half-and-half over each egg yolk.
6. Remove the skillet from heat and put in the oven. Cover and let bake until the egg whites are just barely set and the yolk is still runny.

Serves approximately six.

**I ate this with some baguette, which worked really well. This soaked up some of the liquid from the dish and balanced out the flavor and richness of the eggs and cheese.

"Foodie Getaway" Union Market in Northeast DC

Standing out for its shiny new facade and golden-lit aisles among warehouse buildings that probably haven't changed much in decades, it's easy to see why Union Market is called a "foodie getaway." They're probably referring to more than just the location, since it's also trying to carve out a niche type of food options, mainly artisanal grocery items and small-scale restaurants. After hearing about it for the past few months as a unique place to shop and eat, I checked it out last weekend.

Union Market just opened this past September near Florida Avenue and 5th Street NE in a building originally built in 1967 as an indoor food market and used for several decades as a wholesale food retail space. It has now been revitalized as a food market, event space, and series of restaurants, all contained in the wide aisles of the industrial space.

Walking up to the Market gives you a sense of its history, since it was actually not on Florida Avenue, but behind several rows of other warehouses.

Inside, my first impression was that it was a welcoming space with wide aisles consisting of different small vendors - either stands or counters selling grocery items, or small restaurant counters. I really liked the concept of different small restaurants in one place, but that is something I'll have to come back for next time; when I went, I was actually assuming that it was much more of a market, and was hoping to find some unique and hard-to-find cooking ingredients. There wasn't as much of that as I would have hoped, although I was able to find some spices for Thai cooking that I looking for.

All in all, there was a lot more there than I had time to try, and since it's only been open a few months, I will definitely try and go back sometime. When I was there, the woman I bought spices from said that they are planning to eventually open a beer garden on the second floor, which would be a cool addition. But to give you a better sense of what you'd find if you went, a partial list of businesses I saw:

• Diner restaurant counter
• Wine bar
• Home decor and specialty food items shop
• Spices shop
• Meat counter
• Korean taco counter
• Hot sauce kiosk
• Artisanal honey kiosk

There were a few things that I felt could be improved. For one, I felt like the market part could have been expanded and could have had more unique options. It's not necessarily that unique to sell artisanal cheese; there are a lot of places in DC where you can buy that. But I think if they had expanded options, it would make it more worth it to go there. It would also be interesting to get away a bit from the typical "foodie" options of fresh ingredients and lots of meats and cheeses, and have unique options in terms of ethnic foods or other food ingredients that are hard to find at typical grocery stores.

 

All in all, though, go if you get a chance! But if you go, maybe just don't buy into the developer's description (bordering on condescending to the neighborhood?) of the adventure that it is to go there because of the neighborhood it is in:

"Located in the middle of a patchy wholesale district where few shoppers have tread for a generation, getting there is part of the adventure... McLean thinks people are willing to pay extra for the story they can tell about exploring an industrial district of Washington in search of a foodie paradise" (Washington Post).

You don't really experience the industrial district, since Union Market is completely different than all of those types of businesses that are around it, other than the fact that the building its in used to be a part of that. Developers have to make up a story I suppose. But I'm looking forward to seeing what else comes to this space in the name of good food!

"Climate silence" in the 2012 Presidential Election

The Presidential election is a week from tomorrow, and I'm writing this from my house in DC with Hurricane Sandy advancing outside my window. A hurricane that is probably partially caused by the one-degree increase in sea temperatures since the 1970s. So it seemed like the perfect time to ponder something that has confounded me about the campaigns of both Romney and Obama, particularly during the debates: the lack of discussion of climate change as a problem the US needs to address.

source: http://www.latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-mo-hurricane-sandy-washington-20121029,0,3333190.story

Watching the second Presidential debate, I was thrown by the part of the debate devoted to energy. While I recognize that during an election climate change might not be enough of a hot-button issue that a candidate is about to include it as a major campaign issue, I had assumed that, in 2012, climate change was enough of a known global issue among voters that it would be awkward and backwards-seeming to not even acknowledge it in a conversation about energy. Instead, both Obama and Romney promised to enhance US oil and coal production. Which, seen through the lens of climate change policy, is a very confusing goal.

Some questions:

Is climate change usually discussed in Presidential debates? Interestingly, the "climate silence" of this election is somewhat of a departure from the recent past, as this is the first time since 1988 that climate change has not been mentioned in the series of Presidential debates. During the 1988 Presidential debates, the candidates were asked about climate change for the first time, following a famous Congressional testimony on climate change by James Hansen.

Why aren't Romney or Obama discussing it more? While Obama does mention climate change in public statements and speeches, both candidates failed to mention in any of the three debates. For one, candidates probably don't feel that they should give a lot of airtime to the issue because the economy is the issue that polls as the first priority to voters. Even when questioned about energy directly in the debates, Romney and Obama both seem to want to ensure that they will protect coal-related jobs and keep the cost of gas down during a recession. As has been documented in several news articles, neither candidate is willing to acknowledge the negative side effects of fossil fuel use when such a sentiment could suggest loss of jobs or rising household costs.

There is something surreal, though, about living in the era of climate change, and hearing candidates try and one up each other to be more of "friend to coal." As Will Oremus reported in Slate, during the debate, "when Romney accused Obama of not being 'Mr. Oil or Mr. Gas or Mr. Coal,' the president defended his record of opening public lands for oil drilling and fired back that Romney was no great friend of coal either."

While I don't want to diminish the economic concerns of those whose employment is based on fossil fuel production, or those for whom an increase in gas prices would present a major obstacle, left unaddressed climate change will likely have very significant economic consequences, especially for the poor. As the United Nations Intergovermental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) concluded regarding the impact of climate change, "It is the poorest of the poor in the world, and this includes poor people even in prosperous societies, who are going to be the worst hit."

Chorizo, egg and rosemary breakfast risotto

The weather has been autumnal here in DC, and as I was thinking about the weekend at the end of this week, I started to crave a really hearty brunch. After coming across a couple of recipes for savory breakfast risottos, as indulgent as that sounds (and is...), I couldn't resist. Colder weather + breakfast ingredients + risotto makes tons of sense to me.

I wound up combining two different breakfast risotto recipes, particularly because I wanted to make one that had a more autumnal flavoring, which to me means herbs like rosemary and sage.

The resulting flavor is interesting, because it's a bit like eating porridge, and a bit like eating a favorite comfort food, with the rosemary, roasted tomatoes and chorizo. I also love the addition of the egg on top - although it doesn't take away from the richness of the dish, the egg is such a different texture, and has such a bland (in a good way) flavor, that I think it makes it a lot more interesting. While it's rich, it's great for when you feel like something substantive for breakfast; it made a great post-run brunch this weekend.

 

 

This is also not the quickest of recipes. So make it on a weekend when you have some extra time, and want to dig into a cooking project. The reward is that it makes a pretty big batch, so you should have leftovers.

(Try to ignore the imperfect job I did on this sunny-side-up egg... which turned out to more of just a fried and slightly scrambled egg.)

Chorizo, egg and rosemary breakfast risotto

Adapted from the Smitten Kitchen and Jamie Oliver recipes

Serves: Approx. six

6 cups low-sodium chicken stock or vegetable broth
3-4 links of chorizo sausage
3-4 tablespoon olive oil
2 large or 3 smaller leeks, quartered lengthwise, cleaned of grit, and chopped small
1/2 small onion, finely chopped
2 cups arborio rice
1/3 cup dry white wine or vermouth
6 small Roma tomatoes or other small tomatoes
4 sprigs fresh rosemary
1 cup finely grated fresh Parmesan cheese, plus extra for garnish if desired
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
approx. 6 large eggs; one per serving

1. First, start the tomatoes roasting. Heat the oven to 350 F, wash the tomatoes, cut then in half, and place skin up in a roasting dish. Coat with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Throw in a spring of rosemary and cook for about 30-35 minutes. After tomatoes are finished, set aside to cool and then cut into chunks, discarding rosemary.
2. Place stock or broth in a small-medium saucepan over very low heat on a back burner and keep it heated until steaming, but not so hot that it simmers.
3. Heat a second medium saucepan (3 quarts) or skillet over medium heat. Add chorizo, leeks, and rosemary, and cook for 10-12 minutes. Leeks should be softened and mostly tender. Next remove all from pan and set aside, but leave pan with sausage flavoring. Transfer to bowl with bacon and set aside, leaving stove on.
4. Add olive oil to pan and cook onions until translucent and tender, about 5 minutes. Add rice and cook sauté until faintly toasted, about 4 minutes. Add wine or vermouth and cook until it almost disappears, about 2 minutes. Ladle 1 cup of hot broth into the rice mixture and simmer until it absorbs, stirring frequently. Add remaining broth 1/2 cup at a time, allowing broth to be absorbed before adding more and stirring frequently until rice is al dente, about 25 to 30 minutes.
5. From smitten kitchen regarding the risotto's consistency: "What you’re looking for in well-cooked risotto is a creamy but loose dish. When ladled onto a plate, it should spill into a creamy puddle, not heap in a mound. You might need an extra splash of broth to loosen it."
6. When risotto is the desired consistency, add the cheese and chorizo, leeks and rosemary mix, and then add the chopped roasted tomatoes.
7. Then, quickly, in a small skillet, heat a olive oil over medium-high and swirl it to coat the pan. Crack one egg into the skillet, season with salt and pepper and reduce heat to medium. Cook egg sunny side up. Cook one egg per serving of risotto.
8. To serve, garnish each serving of risotto with a bit of Parmesan cheese, and lay the egg on top.