Green Holiday Entertaining -- and a Recipe for Vegan Latkes

When you throw a dinner or party for the holidays -- whether for Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or New Year's -- you use a lot more of the earth's resources than you do in day-to-day life. How can you reduce the ecological footprint of your feast without compromising on hospitality? Follow the game plan in Holiday Entertaining for a Small Planet, the December issue of This Green Life.

One of many recommendations is reducing the amount of animal products you serve -- not just meat, but dairy and eggs. If you celebrate Hanukkah, try this recipe for vegan latkes (potato pancakes):



Here's a printable version of the whole article:



Please share your own green holiday tips and recipes.

Local foods in March: Jerusalem artichokes and fava greens

The big greenmarket at Union Square in Manhattan was jammed yesterday due to the pseudo spring weather. I went there hoping for a taste of the real thing, and while disappointed in that regard -- most of the produce still came from winter storage -- I got the usual lift from buying, and later cooking, ingredients straight from the farm.

What was available? In the fruit department, still nothing but apples. The vegetables were divided into two camps:

1) Roots, roots and more roots, including potatoes, onions (many
varieties), parsnips, celeriac, carrots (yellow and orange) and Jerusalem artichokes.

2) Sprouts and micro-greens, including fava greens, pea shoots, corn
sprouts and sunflower sprouts, among others.

I chose the Jerusalem artichokes, also known as sunchokes, and fava greens.

There are countless ways to prepare Jerusalem artichokes. One that I learned from Marcella Hazan is a gratin with butter and parmesan. But I like them even better raw, in which state they are crisp and crunchy like water chestnuts, but with a slightly sweet, nutty taste.

Combined with the fava greens in a salad, they actually do taste of spring. Here's the recipe:

3 c. fava green leaves (stems removed)
1 c. Jerusalem artichokes, peeled (or well-scrubbed) and sliced
1 tbsp. minced red onion
Olive oil
Lemon juice
Salt and pepper

Toss the greens with enough olive oil to lightly coat the leaves, a few drops of lemon juice and salt and pepper. Scatter the slices of Jerusalem artichoke on top, and then the red onion. Drizzle with a little more olive oil. Serve and enjoy.

Local foods, even in December

Humans have been importing foods from far-off places throughout recorded history, so we're not likely to stop now. But perhaps we could strike a better balance, as of old, choosing local foods when available, and thinking of imports more as supplements for what we can't get at home.

My December This Green Life addresses this topic and points out that seasonal eating with local foods is possible even at this time of year up north. It includes a wonderful seasonal recipe for Green Gumbo, created by the green New York caterer, Mary Cleaver of The Cleaver Company. Here it is again in printable form. (Click the iPaper down arrow in the top band for the print and email controls.)

Green Gumbo Serves 12 8 T. 6 T. 2 ½ bunch 2 1 cup 1 T. 1 tsp 1 tsp ¼ tsp 3 8 cups 2T 2 quarts 1 To taste 4T Grapeseed or Olive oil Flour Medium onions, chopped Celery, chopped Green bell peppers, chopped Scallions, chopped (plus ½ cup for garnish) Garlic, minced Ground white pepper Aleppo pepper Cayenne pepper Medium turnips, diced Three or more of the following winter greens, chopped: Turnip greens, mustard greens, collard greens, spinach, kale, or chard Fresh thyme leaves Vegetable broth Bouquet Garni (parsley stems, bay leaf & thyme) Salt, pepper & Tabasco sauce Chopped Italian parsley 1. In a heavy-bottomed pot, heat 8 T. oil and whisk in the flour. Whisk over mediumhigh heat until the roux is the color of peanut butter. 2. Add the onion, bell pepper, celery, turnips, scallions, garlic, white pepper, Aleppo and Cayenne. Stir to coat with the roux. Add the Cover and sweat over medium low heat for 5 minutes or until beginning to soften. 3. Add the turnips and greens, stir and cook for about 10 minutes or until wilted. Add thyme. Stir in the vegetable broth, 2 cups at a time, bringing the mixture to a boil after each addition. 4. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat to a simmer. Add the bouquet garni and simmer gently for about an hour. Cool and refrigerate. Reheat gently when ready to serve. 5. Garnish with chopped parsley and scallions.

Vegetable broth recipe

In moving to a more plant-based diet, I have found vegetable broth (or vegetable stock as some call it) to be indispensable. It is much quicker to prepare than its meat-based cousins, so much so that I make it one or two times a week.

I even use vegetable broth in meat dishes if I have no homemade meat stock available. It's more to my liking than the canned chicken and meat broth I used to use.

My basic all-purpose vegetable broth uses the following ingredients:

2 medium onions, peeled and chopped
3 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
3 carrots, well-scrubbed (or peeled) and chopped
1 leek, well-cleaned and chopped
2 stalks of celery, chopped
1 or 2 large potatoes, well-scrubbed (or peeled) and cut into chunks
a few sprigs of parsley
1 bay leaf
6 peppercorns
4 cloves
1 tsp of salt

If I have vegetable odds and ends in my refrigerator, I add some, but not too many different kinds -- I find it muddies the taste of the broth.

A sweet potato lends a lovely sweet flavor. Other sweet additions that work very nicely are peeled butternut squash (in winter) or corn cobs (in summer).

If I have mushrooms handy, I often add them, but not if I've gone in the sweet direction.

To cook, I put all the ingredients in a stockpot, cover with cold water and bring to a simmer. Then, I partially cover the pot and keep it on a simmer for an hour or an hour and a half if I have the time. When it's done, I strain and press the vegetables in the strainer with the back of a big spoon to get the liquid out.

If I'm not planning to use the broth immediately, I cool it to room temperature, then freeze half or all in ice cube trays. When frozen, I move the cubes to covered containers. That way I can get a cube or two when I need it without the hassle of defrosting.