We eat lots of hummus and so go through quite a bit of tahini. I’m pretty sure when people set out to reduce their waste, their hummus intake becomes inversely proportional. There’s likely a mathematical theory that proves this. This past weekend, I cooked two cups of chickpeas in my pressure cooker for hummus but […]
vegetarian
Drawdown: A Book that Just Might Save the Planet
The bad news on the environment is as unrelenting as a California wildfire. We’re well over 400 parts per million of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere (scientists consider 350 ppm safe). A 2012 report from the World Bank describes the world as “barreling down a path to heat up by 4 degrees at the end […]
Simple Kimchi
How important is kimchi to Korean cuisine? Well, Koreans eat 1.5 million pounds of it every year, the Korean stock market’s “kimchi index” tracks the prices of kimchi ingredients and when Korea sent its first astronaut to the International Space Station, it sent kimchi along with him too—after spending millions researching and developing a recipe suitable […]
Rice Milk
The short version of this post To make rice milk, whir 1/2 cup of cooked rice and 2 cups of water in a blender until the mixture reaches a smooth consistency. Drink. The long version Homemade rice milk made with leftover cooked rice prevents both food waste—because you can use up that rice sitting in […]
Almond Milk
One post on my blog that gets regular traffic is my no-cook rice milk recipe. I need to update it a bit actually… But in the meantime, I thought I should add a nut milk to my recipe index. I hadn’t made almond milk for, well, a few years. It’s easy to make, it tastes better […]
Vegetarian Chili
I have tried to make good vegetarian chili many times over the years—and have consistently failed. Instead of hearty and filling, it had always turned out thin, soupy and unsatisfying. We eat lots of soup and I love it—when I intend to make soup. But I don’t like chili soup. So I consulted the expert cook […]
Zero-Waste Menu No 3
If you have access to decent bulk bins and a good farmer’s market, with a little preparation and perhaps a substitution here and there, you can prepare almost any recipe without producing waste. Just follow the rules below. When we first went plastic free in 2011, it took at least a couple of months to […]
Chana Masala (Chickpeas in Tomato-Onion Sauce)
I had planned to post this recipe midweek but I wasn’t happy with the pictures. So I made it again, which is fine because I could eat it just about every day, I love it so much. Even my picky daughter will eat this. In summer, I buy lots of Early Girl, dry farmed tomatoes […]
Not-Too-Spicy Black Beans
Click here to jump to the recipe I am in the throes of moving. Packing ALL of your cookbooks, several pots and pans and even some of your food really forces you to get resourceful in the kitchen. I feel like I’m camping indoors, except I don’t have to look out for bears when I use the […]
Cauliflower “Couscous”
Click here to jump to the recipe I need to eat more vegetables. Going zero-waste certainly forced me to clean up my diet—I cut the POP (processed and over-packaged) “food”—but I do love sugar and I can buy that in bulk where I live 😉 My older daughter first made this cauliflower dish last year, almost […]
5 Tips for a Zero-Waste Romantic Dinner
Holidays generate so much trash! Don’t let love blind you to an overflowing garbage bin this Valentine’s Day. 1. Plan your menu in advance Planning makes zero-waste success possible—and not just on Valentine’s Day. For example, let’s say I need sour cream for a dish. I merely have to stir a spoonful of cultured buttermilk into […]