Lentil Rice with Dates

No matter how completely I have internalized a mostly vegetarian diet over the past five years, I still feel hopeful when I come across an article with a first line like this one: "Cows are not the problem." My saliva glands swung into action as I read about livestock farming practices that support carbon sequestration. 

"It's me, hi, I'm the problem, it's me. At tea time, everybody agrees."

Regenerative agriculture practices are great -- really great, seriously! -- but the key word above is carbon. None of the solutions described in that article addressed the problem of cows being a major source of methane, which dissipates faster than carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, but traps more heat around the Earth, pound for pound. When it comes to methane, cows really ARE a problem.

Then I turned to an article whose headline stated that "Innovative solutions will be necessary to reduce methane emissions". And again, this article has useful and hopeful information, but what does it say about humanity that we're willing to lose time and commit vast amounts of money to innovations against methane emissions, while eating between 2 and 3 servings of animal-source foods per day, on average?

At scale, dietary changes toward plant-based foods could make a big difference with respect to the ever-worsening climate crisis. The EAT-Lancet Commission's findings on this are interesting and inspiring.

How can we get to scale? We can make daily choices as individuals that move us away from a reliance on animal agriculture. It's NOT innovative. It doesn't cost anything (in fact, you might save money by eating less meat). And you don't have to wait any longer than your next meal to start.

"Adas Polo ba Khorma (Persian Lentil Rice With Dates)" (NYT Cooking) is a meatless (and gluten-free) dish you could try. 

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: taking selfies while cooking is hard

I would decrease the proportion of lentils/rice to the onion-date mixture, because the onion-date mixture is what makes the dish tasty. I served it with toasted pistachios and plain yogurt, but you could omit the yogurt to make it vegan, or choose a plant-based yogurt.

My backup dancer couldn't resist a fingerful of yogurt