Spice up your Mondays

Sustainable nutrition is a huge topic, something we’re only just scratching the surface of and complicated to boot! At it’s simplest, it’s about eating in a way that is kindest to the planet and covers everything from pesticides to packaging, greenhouse gases to GMO.

We’re going to be talking about it a lot more LP, sharing the latest info and giving you options if you’re keen to make the switch. Like all things nutrition, it’s a really personal choice and so it will remain optional as part of my method.

Cutting back on red meat is one step we can take as part of sustainable nutrition due to the carbon emissions associated with rearing red meat. So for a simple swap (or just if you fancy a delicious Mexican inspired dish) try this chipotle black bean bowl. It’s incredibly simple to make, packed full of protein and a taste sensation.

With the carbohydrate in the black beans, I always serve without rice to keep a healthy energy balance in the dish. Once you get used to this, you’ll be amazed at how you just don’t miss the rice one bit. As always a dish like this is also delicious to re-heat as leftovers or freeze for a couple of weeks. Here’s the recipe…

In a non-stick pan, fry chopped frozen onions and garlic puree in a dessert spoon of olive oil until golden. I added some chopped mushrooms and diced red peppers at this point but this is optional. Next add in a handful of chopped tomatoes, a good squeeze of tomato puree and 2 teaspoons of Chipotle paste. After a couple more minutes cooking, add a tin of black beans including the water they come in.

Stir and simmer on a low heat adding a little water if it gets too dry. The longer and slower you cook this for the better, but it’s good to go after about 20 minutes.

I served mine with a tomato sales, coriander yoghurty dip, fresh chopped chilli and a good squeeze of lime all over.

It’s absolutely delicious and a small step towards sustainable nutrition.

Enjoy! LPx

For more tips on sustainable nutrition, we’ve written a post on 13 ways to eat sustainably.