B is for Beetroot

When I was a kid, the big decision was whether you had beetroot in your salad sandwiches or hamburgers with the lot. I grew up in the country and can recall stopping at a roadhouse in the middle of nowhere which served salad sandwiches: buttered white bread, soggy tomato and tinned beetroot. It wasn't until I went to University that I discovered that beetroot could be bought in the grocer's and eaten cooked, not just out of a can!

Beetroot, carrot and potato cakes

Recipe for beetroot, carrot and potato cakes
2 medium beetroots, greens removed, peeled & grated
2 medium carrots, skin on, grated
2 medium potatoes, skin on, grated
½ medium onion, thinly sliced
½ tin of green lentils
1 egg, beaten
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
25g wholemeal plain flour
3 chopped spring onions
1 garlic clove, crushed
3 tbsp olive oil

Preheat oven to 150C/300F/gas2. Combine all the vegetables in a large bowl, then mix in the lentils, egg, salt and pepper. Sieve in the flour and seasoning and stir well until it’s all blended.

Heat half the oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Using 2-3 tablespoons of mixture per cake drop four cakes into the frying pan. Flatten each out with a spatula, and cook until just browned and cooked through, which should take 3-4 minutes per side. Be careful that the pan isn’t too hot, or the cakes will burn before they’ve cooked in the middle. When they are done on each side transfer the cakes to a tray in the oven to keep warm, then repeat with remaining mixture until finished.

Serve with a green salad, houmous and if you’re feeling frivolous, put them under the grill and melt some cheese on top.

© Katheryn Rice 2007


Beetroot Pesto


500g cooked beets (there are several ways to cook beets)
2 cloves garlic
1/2 cup coriander (or basil)
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1/3 cup sunflower seeds (toasted) or walnuts (toasted)
Salt to taste

Mix all the ingredients in the food processor til it reaches desired consistency.

A is for Avocado

Avocados are really cheap at the moment. We all know how to make Guacamole and avocado on toast with tomato and cracked pepper but there's loads of other things you can make. You might like to try this site or here's some other ideas:

Avocado, spinach and walnut salad

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 1 1/2 tablespoons roughly chopped walnuts
• 200g baby spinach leaves
• 1 ripe avocado, peeled, stone removed, sliced
• juice of 1 lemon

Method

1. Place walnuts into a small frying pan. Cook over medium heat, shaking frying pan often, for 3 to 4 minutes or until walnuts are golden and roasted. Remove from heat.
2. Arrange spinach and avocado on serving plates. Sprinkle over walnuts. Drizzle with lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

Source : Super Food Ideas - August 2003 , Page 24, Recipe by Annette Forrest

Linda McCartney's Avocado and Green Chili Soup
From: Tony & Karen Greenlee

Source: Home Cooking - by Linda McCartney and Peter Cox; Yield: 4 servings;

Preparation time: 10 minutes

• 2 Ripe avocados
• 3 c Soy milk
• 4 oz Canned green chilies
• 1 md Onion; chopped
• Salt and pepper; to taste
• 2 tb Lemon juice
• 2 tb Dry sherry

GARNISH:
Chopped chilies -OR- Fresh parsley

Cut the avocados in half and remove the pits.
Scoop out the avocado pulp and puree in a blender.
Add the remaining ingredients except garnish to the blender and puree until evenly smooth.
Pour the mixture into a serving bowl, garnish, and serve immediately.

Chocolate Avocado Dessert

Ingredients (you can use vegan versions):

2 ripe avocadoes
1 package silken tofu
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 tablespoons golden syrup
2 cups melted chocolate chips

Directions:

Peel and pit avocadoes. Blend in a food processor together with the tofu (room temperature), vanilla and golden syrup.

Blend in the melted chocolate chips.

This can be eaten alone, in a pie shell, or layered individual dishes with whipped topping and or fruit.

Serves: 6

Preparation time: 1/2 hour
From Vegweb.com

A is for Artichoke

This article is the first in a series of recipes featuring winter vegetables. Buying seasonal vegetables is a great way to ensure you are getting fresh, ripe produce. Futher, eating with the seasons is a great way to ensure you are eating a healthy mix of different seasonal fruit and vegetables. It’s natures way of giving us the blend of nutrients we need.

A is for Artichokes

I've always loved the look of Artichokes but besides buying them for pet bunnies or pickled in olive oil or on a pizza, I've never been particularly confident about cooking them. So I've done a quick search of the Internet for recipes.

Kristina’s Artichokes

-To clean them, set a big bowl of water with lemon in it, and start by breaking off the exterior leaves until they come off very easily. You’ll notice the difference as you get closer to the center, and they’ll be more yellow at the base than green.

-Lop off the toughest ends of the ‘flower’, and then take a sharp knife, specific trimming knives exist but I don’t have one, and trim the ends of the leaves all the way around to clean it up. (The woman from whom I buy my produce said to worry about the ‘hairy’ inside after cooking, which saves time, so I do.)

-Trim off the stems, just long enough so they’ll fit in your pot and use a knife or vegetable peeler to clean the tough outer part of the stem. As your clean each artichoke, place them in the bowl of water. IMPORTANT: Use the lemons to thoroughly and excessively clean your fingertips or else you will have stained cuticles and underneath your nails will stain for a week to follow. Not cute if you work in an environment where proper grooming is expected of you.

-Finely chop two or three cloves of garlic, a handful of parsley, and a handful of basil. Place these in the bottom of a pot that is high enough to hold your artichokes.

-Pour 1 / 2 (one half) cup of olive oil in, and then a cup of water, or enough so that the artichokes are covered by about two-fingers of liquid. Put the artichokes in face down, add salt and pepper, cover the pan with aluminum foil (or not) and then the lid.

- Bring to a boil, then lower heat to a simmer until they are cooked, about 20 minutes. (A knife inserted through the center goes in with little resistance).

Ten ways to save money by going green

Most everyday, simple green acts do also happen to save money

June 3, 2008
By Leo Hickman, The Guardian Newspaper.

Leo Hickman trials cloth nappies on his daughter. Photograph: Graham Turner

With all this talk about how an economic downturn will spell the death of environmentalism, it seems like a good time to remember that there can be some very good savings to be made by "going green".

The central logic is undeniable: any act where you try to reduce your energy use will lead to savings in both costs and emissions. Equally, being thrifty with precious resources such as water will also leave you with more money in the pocket.

It all sounds so crushingly obvious when you spell it out, but this message often gets drowned out by all that talk about how much a loaf of organic bread can cost, or how cripplingly expensive it is to pay the upfront costs of fitting solar panels.

But most of the everyday, simple acts to live a more environmentally sensitive life do happen to save money.

To get the ball rolling, here are 10 ways to save money by going green. Please do add your own ideas below ...

Zonal living

You've fitted draught excluders and heavy curtains to your external doors and windows. You've turned the thermostat down a couple of degrees. You've put on a woolly jumper. But there are still other ways to keep your heating costs down. One of the simplest is to think about the "zones of living" in your house and heat them accordingly. For example, you only really need to heat your bedroom and bathroom for a maximum of a couple of hours each day, typically in the morning.

Equally, you only really need to heat your sitting room for the few hours in the evening when you are likely to be in there watching TV, or whatever. Thermostatic valves and timers can help you heat each zone accordingly rather than simply flicking the "on" switch on your heating and firing up the whole home.

Video conferencing

Why waste hundreds, if not thousands, on traveling all the way by plane to some faceless hotel for a two-hour meeting with a business associate when you could just save time, hassle, money and emissions by speaking to them via video conference? The technology is improving all the time and it is now even free if both parties use software such as Skype.

Change your driving style

You can knock up to 20% off your fuel costs simply by changing the way you drive your car. In the US, the Drive 55 campaign tries to educate drivers about how much less fuel efficient a vehicle becomes once it exceeds 55mph. In the UK, there are now even eco driving lessons on offer to teach drivers how to go through the gears smoothly when pulling away from a junction - one of the most fuel-intensive actions when driving. One good tip in a petrol car is to try and change gear before the engine reaches 2,500 revs.

Cloth nappies

The Women's Environmental Network estimates that parents can save almost £1,000 over the 2.5 years a child is typically in nappies if they use "real" nappies instead of disposable ones. It's probably fair to say that the savings are even better than this given how much disposable nappies are going up in price at the moment due to the fact that they are materials produced from petrochemicals. But don't be tempted to use a ...

Tumble dryer

Of all the white-good appliances in our homes, nothing munches kilowatts quite as ferociously as the tumble dryer. A washing line or clothes horse will help you save hundreds of pounds over the life of an average tumble dryer, very few of which are A-rated in terms of energy use. Even the Church of England recently got in on the act of calling "for an end to spin". For a list of Energy Saving Trust-recommended dryers, click here.

Water butts

Water bills seem to be rising along with just about every other utility at the moment so it clearly pays to reduce your water consumption wherever possible. Hose pipes can use huge amounts of water, particularly if you're watering a lawn, or washing a car. Getting a spring-loaded nozzle for your hose can help you get your water use down, as can using a bucket and sponge to wash your car. Lawns are a much trickier one. Sprinklers are a no-no, really, as they can use hundreds of litres of water an hour.

Better just to let your grass grow a bit longer in summer so it can better retain moisture. Better still, get a water butt and use rainwater to water your garden. Many local authorities now offer subsidised water butts.

Invest in a flask

It's funny how old technologies are so often the best. For many of us, flasks have slipped from the mind as an everyday tool, but they are incredibly useful - and, more importantly, incredibly efficient. For example, you only need to boil a kettle once in the morning to provide all your hot water for tea and coffee for the rest for the day. And if you take it to work you will save yourself a few quid each day by not needing to buy tea or coffee once there.

Food cooperatives

For just a few pounds a year, you can join a local food cooperative, which will help you to keep your food costs down by taking advantage of the wholesale prices that collective buying allows. And it means that you get to support local farmers and keep food miles to a minimum. The Soil Association has a long list of local food networks and cooperatives on its website so have a look and find the closest one to you. And if you want to set up your own, it's worth knowing that there is currently £50m worth of Lottery-funded grants up for grabs to support local food projects.

Seed swaps

People have been doing this for centuries, of course, but the act of swapping your spare seeds (steady now) with other gardeners seems to have formalised in recent years into proper community get-togethers, as seen by the popular Seedy Sunday meets. Made all the more attractive by the fact that seed prices are, like everything else, going north all the time. Why pay £3 a packet for some generic carrot seeds, when you can get some Cherokee Trail of Tears beans for free?

Car clubs

Get public transport... Yadda, yadda. Yes, we all know the drill by now, but one increasingly popular way to reduce car use and save money is to join a car club. It's a concept that is only really suited to city-dwellers, but car clubs are nonetheless a very economic for the occasions when only a car will do. Street Car in London, for example, starts at £3.95 an hour, and there's usually one parked within a few streets of your home. Plus, you don't have any of the extra hassles of owning a car such as MOTs, insurance and garage bills. Oh, and the first 30 miles of fuel you use per day are free.

So what other money-saving green actions can you think of? Post your own suggestions here ...