Eat less meat

My little family aren't strictly vegetarian, but we don't eat meat very often.

Even if you don't go veggie all the time, once or twice a week can make a BIG difference to your carbon footprint. Beef alone contributes to almost 10% of anthropogenic greenhouse gasses, which in turn contributes to climate change. If you're looking for a less impactful meat, chicken is the way to go. Chicken contributes 20% less emissions than beef (so 2% of anthropogenic gasses). I would of course like to encourage you all to always try and buy free range. They cost a bit more, but who can put a price on a happy life? 

Vegan is, of course, the best you can get. But, we understand it's not for everyone and every little helps!

Our recipes...

Vegan tex-mex chilli (serves 4):

My tex-mex chilli, which happens to be my daughters favourite meal, is an easy family recipe. Of course, you can make this in bigger batches to freeze too. I don't follow a strict recipe, but here's the gist of it...

Method:

1. Peel and chop the carrots into rough 1cm cubes. Roughly chop the onions and add into frying pan or wok with the carrot on a medium heat, cook until the onions soften.
2. Chop and add the rest of the veggies, the crushed garlic and your tin of kidney beans, chopped tomatoes and the spices (I sometimes add a bit of nutritional yeast but it isnt needed if you dont have it).
3. Cook for 15 mins and then add your passata.
4. Cook the rice by pack instructions.
5. Cook for an additional 15 mins on low-medium heat until carrots are your preferred texture.
6. Fluff the rice up with a fork and dish out!

Veggie chickpea and pistachio burgers (makes 10):

Lydia's chickpea and pistachio burgers are one of our favourite meals... honestly, I'm a little annoyed she only shared this recipe with me a few weeks ago. They're freezable, so super handy to make in bulk then defrost for an easy midweek dinner or a healthy lunch! You can also add potato wedges on the side, but the below recipe doesn’t include that.

Method:

1. Prep: Finely chop pistachios. Roughly chop coriander (including stalks). Trim and grate carrots (leave the peel on if you want to). Drain and rinse the chickpeas in a sieve, then pop them in a food processor to mash (you can do this with the back of a fork if you don’t have a processor).
2. Mix the chickpeas, grated carrots, pistachios, coriander, flour, curry powder and mango chutney in a bowl. Squeeze over the lemon juice, then season with salt and pepper.
3. The messy bit… squish the mixture up with your hands until it sticks together and form 6 burger patties.
4. Heat a splash of oil in a frying pan over a medium-high heat. Fry the chickpeas until golden on both sides (around 4-5 mins per side)
5. Halve the buns and spread on a bit of mayonnaise on both sides (you can toast them slightly too if you want - I do this under the grill). Slice the tomatoes and add a few slices to each bun. Then pop your chickpea burger on and assemble.

You probably won't be making these for 10 people at once, so pop the left over patties in your freezer for another day! They can be cooked form frozen (yay!).

Try out these recipes and let us know what you think on social media!

- Sarah

@eco.coachhouse