These Earth Day recipes are easy to make, very versatile, and a first step to help you create a greener kitchen and reduce your environmental footprint.
In honor of Earth Day, I’m sharing my simple approach to help you create a greener kitchen. Let’s be honest for a minute: as much as we all agree we care about the planet, it can seem slightly overwhelming to think about all of the changes we need to make to protect the environment. Remember that you don’t have to do it all at once! I’m a firm believer that the small things add up, and it’s better to start with baby steps rather than not starting at all.
This is why today I’m choosing to share 5 Earth Day recipes (and only 5!) with the idea to get you started. These are recipes you can make from scratch, using local ingredients, and without buying packaged alternatives. These recipes are also very versatile, so you can adapt with various seasonal produce. Discover them now, and don’t forget to check my tips to reduce food’s impact further below.
Why you’ll like these Earth Day recipes
- Simple vegetarian recipes using local ingredients
- Versatile: you can swap the ingredients for most of the recipes
- No packaging needed (perks of cooking from scratch)
- Bonus: Tips to reduce food’s impact (see below)
1. Carrot Hummus
Carrot Hummus. Avoid the use of unnecessary plastic and make hummus from scratch with simple ingredients. It’s easy, earthy, packed with flavors, and easy to customize.
2. Vegetable Quiche
Vegetable Quiche. Quiche is probably my very favorite recipe to use veggies and almost any leftovers. For more inspiration, check all my quiche recipes and do not miss my olive oil whole wheat pie crust.
3. Vegetarian Lentil Shepherd’s Pie
Vegetarian Lentil Shepherd’s Pie. This simple dish is packed with earthy flavors and requires ingredients that are easy to produce locally.
4. Easy Carrot Cake
Easy Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting. Carrot cake is always a hit! I have many recipes on the website like this beautiful layered traditional carrot cake, or this original carrot and zucchini cake and you can even make little muffins with coconut cream on top! But my favorite recipe is this one, simple and easy, it does not require a lot of time and never fails to impress.
5. Apple Crisp
Apple Crisp. Whenever you have fruits that turn bad, crisps are the easiest and if you ask me most delicious way to use them. It works with apples, pears, banana, berries, you name it!
Tips To Reduce Food’s Impact
- Choose local & seasonal. Always think local and seasonal when it comes to produce, starting with fruits and vegetables. It’s common sense and also a great first step to reduce your environmental foot print.
- Buy in bulk. You can avoid so much plastic and packaging through shopping the bulk bins! Bring your own bags to fill and you can stock up on shelf staples without all of that unnecessary waste. Bonus: bulk bin items are often more affordable!
- Avoid food waste. When you happen to have leftovers from vegetables, more often than not, you can reuse them in your recipes. You can for instance reuse the carrots peel to add to your pad thai, or use the leaves to create a green pesto!
- Choose a reusable bottle. Try to carry a reusable water bottle with you wherever you go to reduce single-use plastic consumption. This goes as well for coffee/tea, for which I recommend you invest in a reusable thermos when traveling or running errands.
- Compost. Compost is organic material that can be added to soil to help plants grow. You can make it simple by simply composting materials indoors using a special type of bin. Also, consider carrying a small, tightly sealed container with you wherever you go so that you can compost on the go and add the scraps to your home compost later.
