sustainability - Related Content

Ingredients: 
Salad: 
2 C uncooked quinoa
3 C green beans
2 C cherry tomatoes, halved
1 green apple, sliced thinly
½ currants, raisins or dried cranberries

Candied Cashews:  
1 C raw cashews  
¼ C natural maple syrup
1/8 tsp cinnamon
4 dashes nutmeg
1 dashes cayenne
Pinch of salt
 

Dressing:
1 C raw cashews
½ C tahini paste
2 T honey
Zest and juice of 2 lemons
2 shallots (1-2 T), finely diced 
4 dashes cayenne
½ - ¼ C water

Directions: 
Place 4 C water and 2 C quinoa in a large pot.  Bring to a boil and then simmer until quinoa is cooked and water is absorbed (12-15 minutes).
Wash and trim green beans.  Microwave for 2 minutes on high to soften. Or blanch the green beans for 3 minutes
Combine all ingredients for the candied nuts in an oven-sage glass dish and bake at 350 degrees for about 10-15 minutes, stirring half way through.  Remove from oven and let cool.  After a few minutes, stir the nuts to prevent sticking.
Place all ingredients except water in a food processor or blender and blend.  Add water gradually until the texture is smooth and creamy.  This can also be done by hand with a whisk or in a large jar.  Pour all or part of the dressing over the quinoa and combine.  Add other salad ingredients, top with candied nuts.  Serve over a bed of lettuce or baby spring or fall spinach pictured in above photo from Bonnie Plants who provide seeds, plants and lots of garden guidance!

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Story: 

A family recipe for her Mom’s Spinach Salad in the spring American Farmland Trust newsletter features spring greens we'll see soon in gardens and Farmer's Markets.   It was contributed by Stephanie Castle who manages the New York Women for the land program for American Farmland Trust.   AFT is one of the first U.S. organizations to collaborate with experts in many "fields" to address both the needs of farmers and the environment.  

Learn more about American Farmland Trust, one of the first organizations to combine the needs of farmers with the needs of the environment.  AFT is a leader in sustainable farm policy, research and consideration for the environment.  Their most memorable slogan “No Farms, no Food” has added “no Future”.  In the late 1970’s AFT began it work with the problem of urban development and dwindling farmland.  They began to apply conservation tools to retain farmland and support farmers.  Early members were talented leaders in farming, agriculture and policy.  One was Father A.J. McKnight, a civil rights leader who saw the connection between farms, food, and social justice.  AFT has worked with farmers, legislators, the USDA and scientists on practices that build soil health, reduce erosion, improve water quality, reduce need for fertilizers and atmospheric carbon.  Their work and that of the many organizations who followed them continues to help the environment and help farmers succeed, increase productivity, income and care for their mental health.

Besides putting farmland in legal trusts for future generations, American Farmland Trust has become one of our most trusted advocates for farms, food and the future of Mother earth and her human and more than human inhabitants.

Ingredients:
½ C mayonnaise (olive oil mayo works well or regular mayo)
¼ C maple syrup
2 T raspberry vinegar (or other fruit vinegar, such as apple cider)
1 large bunch of kale, ribs removed and leaves cut in *chiffonade style
2-3 carrots, shredded 
2-3 C cabbage, red or green

Instructions:
Whisk the dressing ingredients together until smooth.  You may also use a hand blender.
Add dressing to prepared vegetables and mix well. 
Let rest in the fridge for a while before serving. 

Notes: *Chiffonade is a slicing technique in which leafy green vegetables such as kale, spinach, or Swiss chard, or a flat-leaved herb like basil, are cut into long, thin strips.  Stack leaves, roll them tightly, slice them perpendicular to the roll. 

Ingredients can be adjusted up or down to feed a large or small group.  The dressing is also great on a broccoli salad, a fruit salad and baby greens as well as the kale slaw. 

An easy way to remove ribs from kale is to hold the stem end with one hand and with the other hand, squeeze the space where the leaves and kale stem meet to soften that fibrous connection. Run your fingers in the opposite direction along the stem, removing the leaves as you go. It’s kind of like opening a zipper. You can chop the leftover stems and use raw or cooked as you would use celery or compost them. 

If you would like to be notified when we share new recipes, be sure to scroll to the bottom, provide your email address, check the box confirming you are not a robot, click on a few photos to prove it and click subscribe! You will then receive an email after each new post. Remember, we're always looking for new recipes, so keep sending them to ecopact@fspa.org!

Story:
“Kale Cole Slaw” was one dish served after a recent “pasture walk” at Anathoth Community Catholic Worker Farm
 in Polk County near Luck, Wisconsin (pictured above).  In late July, over 60 farmers, ag experts and friends toured veggie and pollinator gardens and grazing pastures of beef cattle, hogs and chickens.  It was fun to learn and share as we walked. 

The pasture walk was an experience of sustainable farming and how people of all ages work and support each other in restoring the land.  Barb, her husband Mike and others live and work in this 50+ acre parcel and exemplify hard work, loving hospitality, and peace-making.  They are advocates for peace and justice and stand in solidarity with their neighbors and native people of northern Wisconsin.  I hope to stay in touch and share more about food, faith, farming and working for justice.

Anathoth Catholic Worker Farm is based on the study and practice of nonviolence, community, and sustainable living.  It is named after a small village near Jerusalem that is believed to be the birthplace of the prophet Jeremiah.  Anathoth (pronounced an’ a thoth) also means “an answer or response to prayer” or “poverty”.  Their facebook page describes them even more.

Learn about other Catholic Worker Farms in the upper Midwest by clicking on their names in blue: Saint Isadore Catholic Worker Farm near Cuba City, WI and Lake City Catholic Worker Farm near Lake City, MN.