Cream of Dandelion Soup Recipe

By Melissa Breyer, Senior Editor, Care2 Green Living
The oft-maligned dandelion has taken a bum rap in the American diet. What a shame! This steadfast and happy plant offers amazing nutrition and medicinal benefits, and can be as tasty as greens can be. Try this recipe for Cream of Dandelion Soup and elevate dandelions from troublesome weeds to celebrated greens.
There is a traditional soup in France, creme de pissenlits, which balances dandelion’s spiciness and subtle bitterness with other savory flavors. It is delicious, and in my opinion is the perfect way to eat dandelion greens. The traditional French recipe uses Dijon mustard. I think it adds some lovely depth, but you may prefer it without.
See Eating Dandelions for more information about harvesting and preparing dandelions.
INGREDIENTS
2 pounds (about 6 cups) dandelion greens, trimmed and washed
1 tablespoon butter or olive oil
4 cups vegetable stock
2 large leeks, white and light parts only, cleaned and sliced
1 carrot, cleaned and diced
2 1/2 cups milk
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste
Dandelion buds and/or flower petals for garnish
1. If using more mature or very bitter tasting greens, blanch them in a pot of boiling salted water, then drain and squeeze out the excess water, chop and set aside.
2. Heat butter or oil in a large pot over medium high heat, add greens, carrot and leeks and cook, stirring often, for 15 minutes.
3. Add stock and simmer for about 15 minutes. Reduce heat to medium and whisk in milk, cook stirring frequently, until slightly thickened.
4. Puree mix in a tightly-covered blender until smooth, taking care with the hot liquid. Season with salt and pepper, and add Dijon if you like.
5. Serve in bowls and garnish with flowers or buds.

Green Car Wash

Excerpted from "Wake Up and Smell the Planet" (Skipstone, 2007), by Grist.org.
We like to pretend the most responsible car wash is no car wash at all, but that’s because we’re lazy sods. In truth, keeping your car clean of grime and salt can help prolong its life, which keeps you out of the car-consumption game. So what’s the greenest way to wash the car?
The most water-friendly way to wash the car might surprise you. Doing it at home might be cheaper and handier, but it’s nearly always better to go to the commercial car wash. By mixing air and water half and half, car wash businesses use 60 percent less water in the entire process than you use just rinsing off your car!
U.S. commercial car washes are also required to send their used water off for treatment, or to take other measures that lessen the impact of their discharge. Some of them even reuse their water.Home washes, on the other hand, waste approximately 116 gallons of water, which usually drains directly to storm sewers, eventually emptying into streams, lakes, rivers, or bays, adversely affecting our fish friends and their habitat.
A survey by the International Carwash Association found that a little under half of Americans prefer to suds up in the driveway, though. So if you do decide to keep washing the car at home, here are a few tips.
Try not to do it very often.
If you can, park the car on your lawn, which acts as a natural filter for the soaps, dirt, oil, and other gunk that would otherwise run straight into storm drains. (Of course, you might not want that stuff on your lawn, either; see first tip.)
Use less water by buying a nozzle that controls the flow from your hose or by using a bucket—this will help you keep an eye on how much you’re using.
Collect rain water or lightly used water (like the soapy stuff in your dishwashing bin) from your house and wash with that.
Try an eco-friendly soap like Dr. Bronner’s, or no soap at all. The detergents in regular car cleaners hurt fish, and even those labeled biodegradable and low-phosphate can make our fish friends unhappy.

The Best Window Cleaner

By Annie B. Bond, executive producer of Care2's Green Living
A little dab of this and that from your kitchen cupboard will provide you with thebest window cleaner!
Around Earth Day 1990, every newspaper in the country (or so it seemed) offered recipes for non-toxic cleaning with the basics we all have in our kitchen cupboards, and the recipe for windows was invariably just plain vinegar and water with the option of drying the windows with old newspapers.
People by the thousands tried this and swore off cleaning with homemade recipes for good because the formula left streaks on their windows.
Unfortunately, the commercial products they had used for so many years had left a wax buildup and vinegar alone wouldn’t do the job of removing the residue. Adding dab of dish soap to the vinegar and water would have removed the buildup.
THE BEST WINDOW CLEANER~Make a great all-purpose window cleaner by combining 1/4 cup vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon liquid soap or detergent, and 2 cups of water in a spray bottle. Combine in a spray bottle. Shake to blend.

Olive Oil for Flavor and Health

We’ve been hearing about the health benefits of olive oil for years now, but you might be very surprised to learn about some of its less publicized perks. Like leaner body weight—wow! In this segment of Healthy Eating with the Gallands, read about olive oil’s amazing potential and learn which olive oil has extra health-giving properties.
A Star of Global CuisineOne of the first crops cultivated in the world, the olive produces excellent oil that has been treasured since antiquity for its rich flavor and versatile uses. In recent years, olive oil has become increasingly popular in global cuisine. New research has focused a considerable amount of attention on the significant health benefits of extra virgin olive oil.
Olive oil may help decrease the risk of diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and Alzheimer’s disease. A study from Spain has shown that higher olive oil consumption was associated with leaner body weight. This demonstrates the importance of including the right types of healthy fats in an effective weight loss program, and why we use extra virgin olive oil in many recipes in our book TheFat Resistance Diet.
Exciting Potential Benefits
Research indicates the health benefits of olive oil can be traced to two main factors:
1. Oleic acid, a monounsaturated fatty acid, which is highly concentrated in olive oil. Consumption of oleic acid may be associated with:
Reduction of total cholesterol and an increase in the high-density cholesterol (HDL-C), which has a protective effect on blood vessels.
Improved sensitivity of cells to insulin, which helps to prevent diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity.
Decreased risk of heart disease.
Decreased risk of Alzheimer’s disease.
Decreased risk of breast cancer.
2. Phenolic compounds, which are potent antioxidants found in virgin and extra virgin olive oil. These compounds give unrefined olive oils their distinctive flavors and high degree of stability. Studies indicate these compounds may help to:
Turn off the activity of genes that produce the kind of inflammation that causes coronary heart disease.
Decrease production of inflammatory chemicals.
Decrease the production of the most damaging form of cholesterol, oxidized LDL cholesterol.
Extra Virgin Olive OilRecent research has identified the antioxidant called oleocanthal, which is only found in extra-virgin olive oil. Oleocanthal is a natural inflammation-fighting compound with potency strikingly similar to that of the drug ibuprofen in inhibiting an enzyme that causes pain and inflammation.
A Delicious Oil for Kitchen and TableThe amount of olive oil associated with protection against inflammation is only two teaspoons a day, which is easy to achieve. We prefer to buy organic olive oil, because pesticides can accumulate in oils. A sprinkle of olive oil makes a simple salad dressing, and a little oil can be used for dipping bread, instead of butter. For free recipes that show you how to use olive oil, and a free one day meal plan visitwww.fatresistance.com.