Plateworthy: Eco-Friendly Eats

It was Earth Day earlier this week, and perhaps the best way to spend Earth Day is reflecting on and learning more about the impact your lifestyle has on the planet and the 6.8 billion people who call it home. One place to start is your pantry.

An easy way to be greener is to eat local food where you can find it, less meat, and less animal products (as raising lifestock uses far more resources than farming plants and grains). This also means you'll be eating healthier food. Bonus! (Aside: if you've never heard of Michael Pollan, check out his captivating talk at a recent TED conference.) If, like me, this appeals to you but you're not ready to take the plunge and go vegan, try eating a vegan meal as often as possible. Start small and work your way up. (The benefits of cutting back on your weekly meat intake is the subject of Mark Bittman's related TED talk).

If "vegan food" makes you think "protein deprivation," "I'll starve to death," or—worst of all—"hippie food," then you've never heard of Isa Moskowitz and Terry Romero's Post Punk Kitchen. Just reading the ingredient list of these recipes can make a die-hard steak lover's mouth water.

This recipe is from Veganomicon, one of their many cookbooks (and who doesn't love their names for these things?). If you can't find Israeli couscous, you could substitute ordinary couscous, small pasta, or even pasta broken into bits (couscous is pasta, after all), though the texture would of course be quite different, and I would avoid whole wheat pastas for this recipe. If you really want flavor, double the recipe for everything but the couscous.

Israeli Couscous with Pistachios and Apricots
Time: 40 min.
Serve: 4

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups Israeli couscous
2½ cups water
1 cinnamon stick
1 teaspoon ground cumin
¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
Several pinches freshly ground black pepper
½ teaspoon salt
Zest from 1 lime
Juice from ½ lime
½ cup dried apricots, chopped to the size of raisins
½ cup shelled pistachios
¼ cup chopped fresh mint

• Pour the oil into a large, heavy-bottomed skilled over medium-low heat. When heated, add the garlic and sauté for 1 minute.
• Add the couscous and raise the heat to medium. Stir constantly for 4 or 5 minutes, toasting the couscous until it’s a shade or two darker.
• Add the water, cinnamon stick, cumin, cardamom, pepper, salt, and lime zest. Raise the heat and bring to a boil. Once the mixture is boiling, lower the heat again to as low as possible and cover. The water should be mostly (but not completely) absorbed after 10 minutes.
• When the water is mostly absorbed, add the apricots, pistachios, lime juice, and 2 tablespoons of the mint. Stir, cover again, and cook for 5 more minutes (by which time the water should be fully absorbed).
• Remove the cinnamon stick, fluff the couscous with a fork, garnish with the remaining mint, and serve.

[Note: From here on out, Plateworthy will be a bi-weekly, Friday morning thing. See you again on May 8!]