Eating low on the carbon chain

Last night my husband and I were midway through our meal when he looked at me and said, “You know, this is a very climate-friendly meal.” I looked back at him, in some surprise for in general my husband requires prodding in the direction of carbon conscious behavior and such utterances are occasionally delivered with a smattering of sarcasm. Then I looked down at my plate and realized that not only was the sarcasm missing but that he was right. I had been remarking how happy I was to have unexpectedly found bagged arugula from Food Works at New Seasons that afternoon biking home from work. I confess to being an arugula fanatic but what comes in from California is often disappointingly tough, sometimes yellow, and a far cry from the spicy, tender bunches found at the farmers’ markets around town.

Food Works is a fantastic project that offers job opportunities for low-income youth who learn farming and business skills through planting and harvesting food on Sauvie Island, and then selling that food at local farmers markets. I make a point of buying their mixed salad greens to have on hand for the week.

Prior to my gloating over local arugula I had been waxing enthusiastically about the beans we were eating, an heirloom variety native to Oregon and grown by Red Truck Farms, also located on Sauvie Island. After I had fully dissected our supper, first I found that all the ingredients were locally sourced (with the exception of the sea salt and the Greek olive oil I used for the salad), right down to the Oregon pinot noir that we were drinking. And second, with the exception of the pinot noir I had either walked or biked to collect the ingredients. When a simple, inexpensive meal also comes with a low carbon footprint the results are worth sharing. Here’s the menu, with the recipes:

Oregon Peregion Beans

• 1 Cup Oregon Peregion Beans (Red Truck Farm, St John’s Farmer’s Market)
• 1Onion (Sweet Leaf Farm, St. John’s Farmer’s Market), minced
• 1-2 Hot peppers (Red Truck Farm, New Seasons), minced fine
• 2 cloves garlic (Sweet Leaf Farm, St. John’s Farmer’s Market), sliced
• 2 Tbsp chopped fresh sage (New Seasons)
• sea salt to taste (France)

Because these beans are freshly dried they don’t need the long soaking time that most older dried beans require. First wash the beans, then cover them generously with water in a soup pot and bring to a boil with the onion, sage, pepper, garlic and salt. Cover and simmer for 1 1/2 hours, or until tender. Serve with warm tortillas and hot sauce.

Salad

• Arugula (Food Works, New Seasons)
• Mixed greens (Sweet Leaf Farm, St. John’s Farmer’s Market)
• Italian Parsley (Sweet Leaf Farm, St. John’s Farmer’s Market)
• Tomato (Wealth Underground Farm, St. John’s Farmer’s Market)
• Chives (New Seasons)
• Olive oil – drizzled
• Sea salt – to taste
• O’Reilly’s Pinot Noir from the Owen Roe Winery 2008 (Could stand a couple of years in the cellar – try the 2006 or 2007)