Green St. Paddy’s Day Dinner and Workout: Good for You, Good for the Planet

Green St. Paddy’s Day Dinner and Workout:

Good for You, Good for the Planet

It’s St. Patrick’s Day today and the color of the day is green! If you’re like me, you probably want to eat a delicious dinner and work in a good workout while still managing to be "green" (click on the link to find out more.)  Check out my St. Patrick Day plans below to make a "green" dinner that's locally-sourced and to visit a "green"gym that's LEED certified.  Although almost everything's green today, I'll definitely be skipping the green beer!

Veg Out This St. Paddy’s Day

Tired of corned beef, cabbage and potatoes for St. Paddy’s Day? In this tasty version of a Reuben sandwich, the corned beef is replaced by tempeh (click on the link to find out more) and the bread is replaced by potatoes, making this dish both vegetarian and gluten-free.   Because most of the ingredients for this dish are local to Ann Arbor, Michigan, this is a very “green” dish for locavores  near my neck of the woods to prepare! 

Ingredients for the Broiled Tempeh Reuben Casserole

Broiled Tempeh Reuben Casserole 

The recipe is adapted from Eat Clean Live Well, by Terry Walters. The ingredients or ones similar to what's pictured are available at the People's Food Co-op, Busch's, and Whole Foods  in Ann Arbor or a farmer's market or food store near you. 

Russian Dressing

4 T mayo

2 T ketchup

3 T finely chopped sweet gherkins (or sweet pickle relish)

Casserole

2 cups fingerling or baby potatoes

4 T olive oil or more, divided

½ cup onion

1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds

12 ounces tempeh cut into ¼ inch strips

1½ cups sauerkraut, drained

4 ounces shredded regular or vegan Swiss cheese (I use Dairy Fresh from WI with no animal rennet)

salt to taste

1) Broiling is a dry heat method of cooking where the heat is applied by an element at the top of your oven or toaster oven.  The broiler might even be in it’s own oven drawer located below the regular oven.  You will need to use an 8-inch  x 8-inch all-metal pan (like a cast-iron skillet or broiler pan) or a ceramic dish designed for high heat. Don't use Pyrex. For more on broiling try Wikihow or Better Homes and Gardens.

2) Scrub the potatoes in running water and then steam them, covered, in a half inch of water until soft when pricked half way through with a fork.  Cut the potatoes into pieces about 1 inch by 0.5 inch, so halving or quartering the fingerlings should be about right.   Place the potatoes in a broiling dish or pan.  Add a little salt to taste.

3) Peel and thinly slice the onion. Add 1 T of olive oil to a frying pan and sauté on medium high until it turns a brown, about 5 minutes.  Add the caraway seeds until they become fragrant, about a minute.  Spread them over the cooked potatoes.

4) Slice the tempeh evenly into ¼ inch slices.  Add 3 T of olive oil to a frying pan, turn the heat to high and when the oil is fragrant, add the sliced tempeh, browning on both sides. My family likes tempeh best when it is thin and well browned.  Lay the slices in a single layer on top of the potatoes and onions. 

5) Mix together the mayo, ketchup and chopped pickles and spread the dressing on the tempeh.

A serving of Broiled Tempeh Reuben Casserole

6) Drain the sauerkraut and add it to the frying pan on medium heat to warm it though.  Distribute it on top of the tempeh and dressing.

7) Grate the cheese.  Sprinkle it on top of the sauerkraut and broil on high until golden brown.  This serves four, but everyone in your family will want the leftovers for lunch, so make extra!  

Be a LEED-er When You Exercise

Today I visited the Health and Fitness Center at Washtenaw Community College, which is located in a LEED  Gold–certified building.  The acronym "LEED" stands for "Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design" and certification consists of a rating system for the design, construction, maintenance and operation of buildings.  The amazingly friendly staff was wearing green because EVERYONE is Irish on St. Paddy’s Day! 

Staff on St. Patrick's Day at the Health and Fitness Center at WCC

Green is also the color for sustainability and the game at the gym today was to find out in what ways the building is "green."  Members can play by reading the shamrock- bedecked flyers with information that are posted around the gym and winners can earn a discount at the Primo Fitness Café.

 LEED Gold plaque at WCC Fitness Center

Here’s what I found out in the gym (quoted from the flyers),

“The building is at least 20% more efficient than buildings with conventional mechanical systems,” high-efficiency long-life LED lights turn on only when there’s insufficient daylight, “natural light from windows and skylights reduces electricity costs, temperature control is maintained with room monitoring sensors for automatic adjustments, interior wood products including benches an counters are made from recycled materials, and at least 75% of construction waste was diverted from landfills.”

 
In the women’s dressing room I learned, “Dual-flush toilets help reduce water consumption, low-flow faucets conserve water while providing acceptable water pressure, formaldehyde-free carpeting and drywall were used, there is a green cleaning program using green products, and ozone system for laundry sharply reduces demand for hot water and toxic chemicals.”

Near the outside doors, I discovered, “Water retention ponds catch water runoff, permeable parking lot allows rainwater to be absorbed into the ground, sidewalks are made of pervious pavement to allow water drainage, and low maintenance landscaping requires little or no irrigation.”

How cool is that?  The WCC gym is "green" in so many ways!  Driving there, however, is not and you can minimize driving by going with a friend or by combining going to the gym with other errands. Fewer driving trips means lower impact on the environment.

If you don't belong to a gym, or if you want to be super-green, you can always lace up your shoes and go for a walk or a run, right out your own front door!  Or if it's bad weather, you can stay indoors and do the Seven Minute Workout (try the YouTube site for a video or the New York Times blog for an explanation).  Because you have no driving trips at all if you exercise at home, this is the exercise option with the very lowest impact on the environment.

Do make your friends green with envy and enjoy your sustainable St. Paddy’s Day dinner and workout.  It’s good for you and good for the planet!

Notes:
1) The sauerkraut and classic tempeh came from The Brinery (MI).
2) The fingerling potatoes came from Tantre Farms (MI).
3) The Swiss cheese that is free of animal rennet came from Dairy Fresh (WI).
4) Here's another article on the LEED Gold certification of the WCC Fitness Center.
5) Washtenaw Community College offers CON 180, Introduction to Green Building, which includes the topic of LEED certification. Click here for the WCC academic schedule.