Meatless March

Happy Vegan Vednesday! I gave " Biscuit-Topped Chickpea Pot Pie " (Nora Cooks) a whirl, and I probably won't be whirling that one again. It wasn't bad; we just found it uncompelling.  But don't be discouraged: there are lots of appealing dishes without meat and dairy, and choosing them is a way to fight climate change. Climate change is caused by "greenhouse gases" that trap heat around the earth. Food systems account for an estimated 34% of all greenhouse gas emissions , according to the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization earlier this year, and FAO had previously estimated that 14.5% of all human-induced greenhouse gas emissions come from the livestock sector . Methane machine A diet focused more on plants than animal products means fewer greenhouse gas emissions. Me observing Vegan Vednesday is, admittedly, a drop in the bucket. But me talking YOU into observing Vegan Vednesday is two drops in the bucket, so let's go from there. Search ...

I have previously shared my recipe for " Never-Fail Pastry ," and I'm afraid I have discovered the limitations of this recipe: it only succeeds when you actually follow it. Finding myself short on flour, I decided to halve the recipe, and proceeded to add half of all the ingredients...except the water. I added all the water. I am such a geek-dork. Anyway, I soldiered on, because people needed to eat, right, and actually it turned out okay. I took my soggy pastry and patted up up the sides of my mini ramekins, and then I put them in the oven at 350 for ten minutes or so, to pre-cook and hopefully dry them out. Then I filled them with a vegan mushroom filling.  The mushroom filling was from a recipe called " Vegan Mushroom Pot Pie with Sweet Potato Crust ," and you know what? I screwed that up too! But again, no sweat. All I actually screwed up was omitting the beans because I thought I had beans, but I had no beans. It would have been better wi...