Going Green @ Haverford

I have to admit that part of the reason for this blog is that it keeps Sustainability at Haverford on the college’s main page. Go Green!!

With that little confession out of the way, I’d like to introduce you to the pressure cooker. I’m a big beef and root vegetable person. Stews, soups you name it, it’s on my plate. These types of foods are perfect for the pressure cooker. Okay, you ask, so how does all this relate to sustainability?

Let me give you a little example.  Sunday, with the cooler temperatures, I decided it was beef stew season. I whipped out the pressure cooker, chopped the vegetables and threw everything in. 10 minutes to achieve pressure, 16 minutes cooking time. Voila!  Mouth watering stew. Gone are the days of letting it simmer for hours. Less simmering, less energy. Pressure cookers, because you use very little liquid, maintain most of the vitamins and minerals. You also keep good vegetable color.

Also gone is the somewhat volatile nature of the appliance. I’ve never seen it, but I believe there is an I love Lucy episode where it exploded and she had food dripping off the ceiling. Pressure cookers today are state of the art, you really can’t go wrong.

I’ve added a couple links below. The first, gives you all the benefits of using a pressure cooker, including the environmental and economical. The second is an article I found in Organic Gardening Magazine by Lorna Sass. Sass has written several books on pressure cooking, two of which I own, and has really perfected the technique.

With local food markets and home vegetable gardens, the pressure cooker is the perfect compliment to anyone’s kitchen.

missvickie.com/library/whyuseapc.html#Safe%20and%20Dependable

www.organicgardening.com/cook/cooking-under-pressure