Pooja R. Mottl: A 5-Course Sustainable Menu For Healthy Holiday Cooking

Pooja R. Mottl: A 5-Course Sustainable Menu For Healthy Holiday Cooking

The holiday season is in full swing! It's that fabulous time of the year which comes to us like clockwork -- a sustainable, annual feature of our everyday lives.

Yet, how sustainable is the food we're celebrating with? Interesting to think about, right? Last week I teamed up with GoodGuide and Sustainable Table to discuss just that concept.

We asked, what does "sustainability" mean anyway in the context of food, healthy eating and cooking? Well, there's not one specific answer -- "sustainability" is an overarching principle. Yet, at its core is the idea that anything you eat should come from a chain of events that provides a long-term ability to maintain wellbeing and nourishment. Here are some ways to think about "sustainable":

• Cooking gives you the control and lifelong skills to nourish yourself -- that's sustainable.

• Food that comes from soil that hasn't been tainted with chemical pesticides, and synthetic fertilizers is more sustainable for the planet and our health.

• Animal products that aren't from factory farming operations that use hormones, antibiotics, and food sources from unhealthy soil and genetically modified crops, are sustainable.

• Local, seasonal food is more sustainable than food imported from thousands of miles across the globe.

• Fresh food is generally more nutrient dense than food that travels thousands of miles after it's harvested -- more sustainable for our health.

• Sustainable food tends to be minimally processed, with very few ingredients, and perishes faster than "factory food."

• Because sustainable food stays close to how Mother Nature intended, it's more delicious!

• Foods canned in BPA-free cans are more sustainable.

• Food cultivated with respect and support for farm workers, that provide fair wage, and that are humane to animals is more sustainable.

Here I share a glorious five-course sustainable meal for this holiday season. Most of the ingredients I chose to use in these dishes are from sustainable sources, using plant foods that are in season, like squashes and roots, as well as traditional winter flavors and spices such as apple cider and star anise. I used grass-fed beef from a local farm in the pot roast, and minimally-processed ingredients in the dessert, with pasture raised eggs from Vital Farms. You'll also find a colorful fruit salad made of apples and pomegranates, two winter fruit superstars. Feel free to mix, match, and above all... enjoy! If you're ever in doubt about how to find the healthiest, most sustainable food items, cross-check using GoodGuide's rankings or learn how to locate sustainable food with Sustainable Table's online tools.

Have a happy, healthy, and sustainable holiday season!

Course 1: Creamy Vegan Butternut Squash Soup

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Yield: about 4 ½ cups Ingredients 1 teaspoon organic expeller pressed canola oil (preferred) or extra virgin olive oil 1 ½ cups yellow onion, diced (about 1 large onion) 4 cups butternut squash, skin removed, roughly diced into ¾ inch cubes (about ¾ squash) 2 ½ cups organic vegetable broth 1 ¾ cup organic apple cider ½ to ¾ teaspoon sea salt ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper 1 star anise ½ cup Bob's Red Mill whole grain rolled oats ¼ teaspoon ground cumin 1/8 teaspoon cayenne ½ cup filtered water Procedure 1. Warm oil in a large heavy bottom saucepot or dutch oven over low-medium heat. Add onions and sauté until soft and translucent, making sure not to brown. 2. Add squash, stock, 1 ¼ cup cider, star anise, ½ teaspoon salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer and cook, covered, for 10 minutes. 3. Uncover, remove star anise, add oats, spices, and continue to simmer, covered for another ten minutes. Or until squash softens and begins to fully dissolve. 4. Turn off heat. Add water and remaining apple cider and immediately transfer to a large mixing bowl to cool for a few minutes. 5. Transfer to a strong blender, and blend until creamy smooth. Blend in batches if necessary. Transfer back to sauce pot, add remaining salt (optional) and warm again as desired. Ladle into your favorite bowl and enjoy!

Yield: about 4 ½ cups

Ingredients
1 teaspoon organic expeller pressed canola oil (preferred) or extra virgin olive oil
1 ½ cups yellow onion, diced (about 1 large onion)
4 cups butternut squash, skin removed, roughly diced into ¾ inch cubes (about ¾ squash)
2 ½ cups organic vegetable broth
1 ¾ cup organic apple cider
½ to ¾ teaspoon sea salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
1 star anise
½ cup Bob's Red Mill whole grain rolled oats
¼ teaspoon ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
½ cup filtered water

Procedure
1. Warm oil in a large heavy bottom saucepot or dutch oven over low-medium heat. Add onions and sauté until soft and translucent, making sure not to brown.
2. Add squash, stock, 1 ¼ cup cider, star anise, ½ teaspoon salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer and cook, covered, for 10 minutes.
3. Uncover, remove star anise, add oats, spices, and continue to simmer, covered for another ten minutes. Or until squash softens and begins to fully dissolve.
4. Turn off heat. Add water and remaining apple cider and immediately transfer to a large mixing bowl to cool for a few minutes.
5. Transfer to a strong blender, and blend until creamy smooth. Blend in batches if necessary. Transfer back to sauce pot, add remaining salt (optional) and warm again as desired. Ladle into your favorite bowl and enjoy!

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Course 1: Creamy Vegan Butternut Squash Soup

Yield: about 4 ½ cups Ingredients 1 teaspoon organic expeller pressed canola oil (preferred) or extra virgin olive oil 1 ½ cups yellow onion, diced (about 1 large onion) 4 cups butternut squash, skin removed, roughly diced into ¾ inch cubes (about ¾ squash) 2 ½ cups organic vegetable broth 1 ¾ cup organic apple cider ½ to ¾ teaspoon sea salt ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper 1 star anise ½ cup Bob's Red Mill whole grain rolled oats ¼ teaspoon ground cumin 1/8 teaspoon cayenne ½ cup filtered water Procedure 1. Warm oil in a large heavy bottom saucepot or dutch oven over low-medium heat. Add onions and sauté until soft and translucent, making sure not to brown. 2. Add squash, stock, 1 ¼ cup cider, star anise, ½ teaspoon salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer and cook, covered, for 10 minutes. 3. Uncover, remove star anise, add oats, spices, and continue to simmer, covered for another ten minutes. Or until squash softens and begins to fully dissolve. 4. Turn off heat. Add water and remaining apple cider and immediately transfer to a large mixing bowl to cool for a few minutes. 5. Transfer to a strong blender, and blend until creamy smooth. Blend in batches if necessary. Transfer back to sauce pot, add remaining salt (optional) and warm again as desired. Ladle into your favorite bowl and enjoy!

Recipes Copyright © 2011 Pooja Mottl. All rights reserved.

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Source: www.huffingtonpost.com