Bringing Balance: Veggies for Earth Day

Have you been toying with the idea of starting Meatless Mondays at your house?  One of the biggest positive impacts you can make for our planet (and your children’s future on it) is to choose to eat less meat, and just one night of meat-free dining a week can really make a difference.

Meat production accounts for about one-fifth of all man-made greenhouse gas emissions worldwide.  It is also a major factor in deforestation and pollution, and freshwater depletion.  Most of us eat more eat than is recommended or needed, so why not make a conscious effort to reduce your family’s meat consumption, starting this week, in honour of Earth Day? 

Easy “meat-free” family dinner ideas include:  Pasta with tomato sauce and navy beans, veggie chili, breakfast for dinner, or vegetable stir-fry. My go to stir-fry sauce is a peanut or almond-butter based concoction. Kids love it, we love it, it takes five minutes to whip up and it goes well with every random veggie a person might have hanging about. What more could a family ask for?  Turns out —  a little variety.  We were all growing weary of the old standby so this weekend I got creative and came up with this dressing, which was a big hit and is now my “Go-To-Number Two” sauce. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
1/3 c. water
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp Bragg’s Soy Seasoning (or low-sodium soy or tamari sauce)
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp tahini*
2 tbsp nutritional yeast*
2 cloves crushed garlic
juice of a half a jumbo orange, or one medium orange
1 tbsp fresh grated ginger (or one tsp dried)

*no need to make a special trip anywhere, tahini and nutritional yeast can be found in the natural food section of the grocery store. Tahini is a sesame seed paste found near the nut butters and jams, and nutritional yeast is a super-flavourful natural ingredient that adds zest to a lot of my recipes.

To prepare:
Whisk ingredients together in a glass measuring cup. Pour over 4 cups or so of pre-sauteed veggies (a mixture of chopped veggies and dark leafy greens sauteed in coconut oil is nice) with some cooked cubed tofu if you like, bring to a low boil, reduce heat immediately and let thicken for a few minutes. Remove from heat and enjoy over brown rice or whole grain pasta.

Wendy McCallum, LLB, RHN, is passionate about providing busy parents with the tools & support they need to feed their families wholesome food, so everyone can play, learn, and feel better!  She is a mother of two terrific HRM kids, aged 8 & 9. For information and recipe ideas, visit her website.