Vegan Southern-style meal, and why factory meat is terrible for everyone

This article covers a lot of ground about why people go vegetarian, or why spending more money on quality meat is important: How the meat industry turned abuse into a business model | Grist

I've said multiple times that I don't expect most people to go vegetarian, let alone vegan. What I would like to see is people buy better meat, less often. Spend the same amount of money, eat less meat, have that meat be delicious and healthy (for the animals, the workers, the environment, and you).

I figure the least I can do is offer some yum meatless meals for those who feel lost at the concept. Here's what I made the other night. It'd be perfect for a True Blood watching party, as it's vaguely Southern-style food.

Vegan Southern Greens

2 tsp cooking oil
1 medium onion, coarse chopped
1 TBSP minced garlic
2 LBS of washed, chopped greens (Collard, mustard or turnip greens, spinach, kale - any mixture works. Trader Joe's sells a big bag of Southern Greens that's perfect - use 2 in this recipe)
3/4 cup vegetable broth (sub water or wine, just add more salt)
2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
2 TBSP rice vinegar (sub: red or white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar)
salt & pepper to taste
Tabasco sauce to taste (optional)
2 tsp sesame oil, to finish (sub liquid smoke or smoked salt/paprika)

1. Heat oil in your biggest stew pot or wok on medium-high heat. Add onions & sauté until partially translucent.
   
2. Add garlic & sauté until fragrant.
   
3. Start adding handfuls of greens and mixing top-to-bottom. As they cook down, add more greens until they're all in the pot.
   
4. Add the broth and bring to a boil. Stir greens in broth until they're fully wilted (they should reduce by 80% or more).
   
5. Add the red pepper, vinegar, salt, pepper & Tabasco & stir.
   
6. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook uncovered for 30+ minutes, until the greens are tender but not falling apart.
   
7. Taste & add any extra seasonings as needed. Turn off the heat and stir in the sesame oil.
   

Serve with a slotted spoon. They'll be soupy, so either serve with something to soak up the broth or strain it for the next time you make rice or soup. While the greens were simmering, I made a box of Zatarain's Dirty Rice (Jambalaya would work) and in place of meat, drained, washed and mixed in a can of black beans and a can of black-eyed peas (sub kidney, garbanzo or white beans). I feel ok about using Zatarain's once in a while, because they're a New Orleans-based company and there's not too many sketch ingredients as processed food goes, but if you want you can make your own from scratch - I don't like TVP so I would still sub in beans.

Serve side by side with some limeade, sweet tea, bourbon or a mint julep and watch you some "vamperrs".

The Self-Sustaining, Solar-Powered Emergency Shelter

The Self-Sustaining, Solar-Powered Emergency Shelter: We’re Going to Need It - Environment - GOOD

YES.

Dutch-influenced New Orleans Water Management

I do agree with the style that the Dutch have taken, in terms of using natural systems to their best advantage (they are cheaper, durable and scalable in the long run, whereas most manmade infrastructure can be costly to maintain and even more difficult to upgrade). I'm not sure how easily and quickly they'll be able to implement it, based on the typical response to government in the area, with good reason.

The Dutch approach partially depends on cooperative agreement and large scale land-use changes. If they're able to couch their solutions by taking an urban design approach (i.e. canals or parks) they may have a better shot. Perhaps New Orleans citizens are more willing to try new and different things, since the old ways failed spectacularly. Or perhaps they're still gunshy. I could understand either, and the architects and planners should be prepared for both concerns, if they're using a combination of those approaches. I hope they're able to make the choices they want to, and they're able to communicate their intentions clearly and not in engineer-speak.

Architecture Firm Waggonner & Ball Tapped for New Orleans Water Management Project | News | Architectural Record

“The Daily Rind”, a Better Way to Plan the Day

Possible scheduling solution, which I desperately need:

“The Daily Rind”, a Better Way to Plan the Day — A. King in Society via Lifehacker.

White Bean & Artichoke Dip

I based the following recipe off of the comment on this recipe:
· 3 cloves garlic, minced
· 1 t fresh rosemary
· 2 t dried basil, thyme, Italian spices or whatever you prefer
· 1 can white beans (15.5 oz), drained and rinsed
· 2 t extra virgin olive oil
· 3/4 cup frozen chopped spinach, thawed
· 1 can (14 oz) artichoke hearts (set aside 4 hearts), packed in water and drained
· Lemon juice, red pepper flakes, and/or pepper to taste
· 1/4 c nutritional yeast
· 10 kalamata olives, pitted
· 2 oz pine nuts
· 1/8c of sun-dried tomato pieces, as a topping

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Put everything except for the 4 reserved artichoke hearts and the sun-dried tomatoes in the food processor and blend until it has an even consistency.
3. Add the reserved hearts and pulsed a few times until they're chopped up but still chunky.
4. Spoon into a shallow baking dish (8" oval or 6x6" should fit).
5. Top with sun-dried tomatoes, pressing them into the dip slightly. Make a little design if you're a nerd like me.
6. Bake for 15 minutes or until the edges and tips start to brown.

You could also serve it cold, just let it sit for 20+ minutes before serving to the let the flavors meld.

Use as a spread on bread or sandwiches, or as a dip with chips, crackers or veggies.
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I actually made a Double Batch Chickpea Cutlers before this, so the oven was already hot. I make the following changes:
-leave the gluten out, and put everything else in the food processor. Mix the gluten in last.
-instead of breadcrumbs, use Hot & Spicy Shake and Bake, and 3/4 cup of water instead of the soy sauce and broth (Shake & Bake is salty!)
-a couple drops of lemon oil instead of lemon zest

Nobody tells this to people who are beginners

Via nancylicious:

"Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through."   Ira Glass

Preparedness 101: Zombie Apocalypse - Blog

The CDC released a zombie preparedness kit. Like I said, people like to think about zombies way more than pandemics or floods.

CDC | Preparedness 101: Zombie Apocalypse

I never finished my game but I would like to work on it when I have a break and see if I can use it for zombies, alien invasions, werewolf outbreaks etc.

Designing Streets for Emergencies

I like this take on explaining why street grid systems lead to a safer, more resilient city. It's logical, as opposed to a lot of urban designers who just say "it's ugly, we don't like it" or talk about density and paved surface areas.

Sometimes the people who don't care about the environment do care about themselves and their families, and you need to tailor your argument to them. I don't think it's being dishonest, as long as your facts are correct. Tailoring the message to your audience is a basic communication skill.

I also like how traffic is good for business, and narrow streets have fewer accidents. So far I haven't seen a great argument for hiking parking rates or creating pedestrian areas for business, though. It's so risky to own a business, the owners are not going to want to experiment based on what a planner thinks is good for society.

Cul-de-sacs suck, though, and it really is dangerous to only have a main road in and out of an area. I love being able to take side streets to avoid traffic, buses, garbage trucks, construction, etc. I have like 20 routes home depending on what variables are in play.

Designing Streets for Emergencies | Medill National Security Zone

Make Your Own Veggie Chips

This one is definitely going on my list:

Make Your Own Veggie Chips - Project - Food News - CHOW

I also had some parsnips, carrots, sweet potatoes and leeks to get rid of, so I made maple-roasted root veggies based on this recipe (I added 2 small chopped leeks).

My garden is mostly in the sunroom/arctic entry because it's still in the 40s at night and we have another cold front on the way (boo!). I want to transplant my tomatoes, damn it! The beet seeds are finally going in the ground today, though. YEAH.

Jane Jacobs, Andy Warhol, and Eyes on the Street

Jane Jacobs, Andy Warhol, and Eyes on the Street: Places: Design Observer

Reading list: old life vs new life.