In Praise of Leeks
Leeks might be my new favorite vegetable. I used to only buy them occasionally when a recipe called for them. Those recipes always wanted just the white and light green part of the leeks, so the rest would go into the trash or, once I started composting food waste, into the compost bin. But not anymore.
A few months ago, I came across an offer from Kate Bartel, the author of a cookbook focused on creative ways to use scraps that most people discard. She offered a free digital copy of the complete book, ReShape Food Waste, to anyone who made one of three sample recipes and posted a photo to Instagram. I signed up and chose leek pesto.
Homemade leek pesto and sourdough bread.
All the recipes in Bartel’s leek section use the dark green part of the leek. The pesto is a mixture of leek, cashews, and few other ingredients pureed with an immersion blender. It is simple and delicious. I recently made leek chips, which involves seasoning coarsely chopped leeks and baking them. Those were great, too.
When I was growing up, I don’t recall knowing that leeks even existed. Vegetable options in the produce section of grocery stores were more limited than they are today. My mom made green salads regularly, served in a large black bowl that I can still picture even though I think she got rid of the bowl decades ago. For cooked vegetables, our go-to favorites were broccoli or green beans. We never ate Brussels sprouts because my mom didn’t like them.
Over the decades, my tastes and dietary habits have evolved. When I was a graduate student living on a limited budget, I quickly discovered that the cheapest cuts of meat tasted terrible, so I became vegetarian. By doing so, I was able to eat well on $100 per month (this was in the early 1990s).
There are many excellent reasons to maintain a primarily or exclusively plant-based diet. One of those is successfully feeding a world population that could reach 10 billion people by 2050. A proposal called the EAT-Lancet diet (based on a study published in Lancet in 2019) calls for drastically reducing meat consumption. The proposed flexitarian diet allows for about 100 g of red meat per person per week.
I did start eating meat once I married and started a family. I would be happy being vegetarian, but I’ve got family members who wouldn’t agree to a meat-free diet. So, we live as flexitarians.
We enjoy many vegetarian dinners (mushroom lasagna and pizza are some of our favorites) but do eat chicken and fish regularly, along with the occasional bison burger. We eat much less meat than many families in the US. A whole chicken will last us several meals, and I make stock from the bones.
Switching to a diet that includes less meat and dairy and more fruits, vegetables, and grains is a great idea. But many people have become accustomed to the taste of meat and dairy products and don’t want to give them up. Enter “cultured meat.”
I learned about the topic from a podcast that launched in 2020 called Red to Green. The first season is all about alternative ways to make protein without slaughtering animals. This concept is entirely different from Impossible or Beyond Meat that make plant-based burgers from vegetable proteins and a boatload of other ingredients. I have bought Impossible to make burgers, but I prefer homemade veggie burgers. One of my favorite recipes includes grated beets, pinto beans, and a jar of carrot baby food.
The Red to Green podcast features entrepreneurs who are starting with actual animal proteins and growing cultures. Several guests liken their technology to the process of brewing beer. Some of them even grow their products in stainless steel vats.
Cultured meat sounds at first like something from Frankenstein’s lab. That was my initial impression. But as I kept listening, I learned that cultured meat undergoes less processing than plant-based meat substitutes. It certainly contains fewer ingredients. Maybe it’s not so creepy after all.
I recommend listening to the Red to Green podcast to learn more. (Full disclosure: if you keep listening through season two on food packaging, you’ll hear an interview with me about the definitions of compostable, biodegradable, and recyclable.)
It will be at least a few years before cultured meat is on grocery store shelves. Meanwhile, I control my consumption of meat products and enjoy a wide variety of fruits and vegetables. I appreciate the advice about ways to make better use of all parts of the plant. While eating the green parts of leeks is not going to save the planet, it is still a great way to reduce food waste.