Lucid Food_ Cooking for an Eco-Conscious Life - Louisa Shafia [32]
So far I haven’t touched upon the question of whether it is morally wrong to kill animals for food, nor what might constitute humane treatment of livestock. One trip to a slaughterhouse or industrialized egg farm is often enough to make people rethink their entire diet. For years I didn’t eat meat or animal products because of the inhumane treatment of farm animals, and even today close to 95 percent of my diet consists of produce, grains, and legumes. On a recent trip to Italy, however, I decided to eat whatever my very generous hosts served, and that included prosciutto, wild boar, and—most problematically for me—veal. Under normal circumstances I wouldn’t serve veal myself, and perhaps I’ll never eat it again, as I wholly disapprove of the way it’s produced. Still, in that instance, it made more sense to me to participate in the social bonding that took place around the dinner table, even though it meant compromising my beliefs, than to sit out the experience with my conscience intact. For me, it feels appropriate to assess eating choices as they arise, based on factors ranging from the social to the environmental.
I urge you to make an informed choice about eating meat and animal products, one that supports your goals for the environment. Visit small animal, dairy, and egg farms; try to view film footage from factory farms (in general, you can’t visit them—they are simply too gruesome); and look into the effects of farming on the region in which you live. You may decide to stop eating meat, eat only locally raised animals, or save meat for special occasions.
Apple Pomegranate Sangria
Exotic, jewel-like, and demanding considerable labor to penetrate their maze of pulp, pomegranates are a ravishing winter treat. A constant on the Lucid Food cocktail menu during cold weather, this drink pairs well with food but also stands on its own. You can make the sangria the day before, but wait until the day you serve it to add the orange slices, as the pith can cause the drink to turn bitter. Use a cheap red wine; I prefer a rioja or a tempranillo.
Serves 6
1 (750-ml) bottle dry red wine
4 cups apple juice
½ cup brandy
Juice of 1 lime
2 sweet, crisp apples, finely diced
Seeds of 1 large pomegranate
1 orange, halved and sliced into half moons ¼ inch thick
Sparkling water for serving (optional)
Combine all the ingredients in a pitcher. Refrigerate for a few hours before serving to allow the flavors to marry. If you’d like a little fizz, top off glasses of the sangria with sparkling water.
Nutty Banana Shake
This rich drink makes a filling breakfast. For a superb eggnog, add orange zest and rum, brandy, or bourbon. Before buying bananas, read about their production in “Must-Buy Organics.” If you like nondairy milk, then blending your own nut milk, as described in this recipe, is much more economical than buying it premade. And unlike store-bought nut milk, it comes without added sugar, preservatives, and hard-to-recycle cartons. Homemade nut milk works beautifully for cereal, smoothies, baking, and simply drinking on its own.
Serves 2 to 4
1 cup almonds, soaked in water for ½ hour, or 3 cups commercially prepared almond milk
1 banana, peeled and broken into pieces
½ cup smooth almond butter
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
If you are making your own almond milk, drain the almonds, then place them in a blender with 3 cups water and blend until the almonds are completely pulverized, about 1 minute. Pour the milk through a fine-mesh strainer, using a ladle to press the liquid from the almonds. You should end up with 3 cups of almond milk.
Rinse out the blender, then pour in the almond milk. Add all of the remaining ingredients and blend until smooth. Serve at room temperature or chilled. Or, for a colder drink, blend in a few ice cubes and serve immediately.
Green Smoothie
Take