Broccoli Rising and Home Improvements
Welcome, new Broccoli Rising subscribers! Welcome back, continuing Broccoli Rising subscribers! Make yourselves at home.
Look how beautiful we are. We lucked out to have such a magnificent home. Considering it was built 4.5 billion years ago, the Earth’s held up pretty well. But like every home, it requires occasional upkeep. Wednesday’s the occasion. It’s Earth Day.
Home improvements can involve unpleasant surprises — more cost, more mess, the fixture that won’t fit, the missing part that’s out of stock and needs to be special ordered from another country. Not here.
Fixing up the planet doesn’t mean a full-scale renovation. Little actions can have a big impact.
Take a lesson from lentils. The littlest legume can do some heavy lifting. It’s super sustainable, low water, high yield, and carbon negative. You read that right. And that’s even before lentils reach our kitchens, where they offer high protein, high fiber, high folate and endless versatility. Lentils can fritter, lentils can burger, they can salad, they can soup and more. All that and they’re easy on the wallet too.
Little and affordable lentils are just the start of something big. A new study indicates moving to a plant-based diet saves you money, all while shoring up our home’s foundations. Going plant-based lightens our environmental load. We should really call it a planet-based diet because that’s what it is.
Support your local farmer, especially small local family farms. They keep the organic flame alive. Organically-raised produce makes for more nutrient-rich soil for the planet, more nutrient-dense food for us, and it’s just good fun.
You can improve your home just by sharing a planet-friendly meal with your favorite people, especially in time for Earth Day. That’s the idea behind 1 Million Tables for the Planet. Register your table, whether it’s hummus and pita for you and a friend or a plant-based potluck for 50. The nonprofit will send you resources galore, from recipes to hosting tips. It’s a delicious form of activism.
Reduce food waste. America’s the world’s biggest offender. I’m a relentless repurposer and composter. We had a dozen plain lentils that somehow escaped and didn’t make it into dinner. I thought my husband was going to sweep them into the trash. I must have gasped. He looked at me, swept them into our compost bucket instead, then kissed the top of my head. Reducing food waste should earn you a kiss, too. Shop smart, use what you have and compost extras. There’s probably a community compost program right where you live.
All these little actions add up to keep our beautiful planet beautiful.
The Italians have always appreciated the power of lentils. They eat them on New Year’s Day to bring good luck, the way in the South we eat hopping john. Lentils even earn their place in Baroque art.
Paid Broccoli Rising subscribers, enjoy the art of lentils in Sunny Sicilian Lentils, treating lentils to Italy’s winning combination of woodsy rosemary, briny kalamatas, sweet, savory tomatoes, the brightness of balsamic, and an optional but highly recommended smack of red pepper flakes. There’s a dozen types of lentils, and basic brown or green guys will do nicely here, but extra points if you get heirloom brown lentils from Umbria. It’s also home to St. Francis of Assisi, Italy’s patron saint.
Wishing you and the Earth a happy Earth Day.
