The Garden Apartment

Homemade Creamy Green Garlic Dressing (Hold the HFCS and Xantham Gum)

After purchasing some green garlic from the Farmer's Market a week or two ago, I am in love. The lovely green shoots have a delicate garlic flavor which is perfect if you don't want too strong of a garlic flavor in your cooking. At first, I simply added them to omelets, salads, and stirfries.

Then, last weekend, I had another idea.  I've always been a really big fan of homemade salad dressings. Although store bought dressings can be good, a homemade dressing is almost always far superior in taste. There are other reasons to avoid store-bought dressings. I've taken a survey of all salad dressings in my fridge. Every one of them (including "healthier" options) contained at least one or both of the following ingredients:

1. High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS): Just google it and a plethora of websites will emerge discussing its negative health qualities and existence in nearly every processed food.
2. Xantham Gum: a thickening agent developed in the 1960s created through fermentation and processing with corn syrup. 

Without going into a long tirade about these two ingredients, I will say that neither sounds particularly appealing, healthy, or natural to me.

So, let's go back to that Farmer's Market green garlic purchased from a local area farm. Last weekend I created a delicious Creamy Green Garlic dressing and dip.  Here is the recipe:

Ingredients

• 3/4 Cup Mayonnaise (Check out Feel Good Eat's Recipe for Homemade Mayonnaise)
• 1 TB Dijon mustard
• 3-4 green garlic shoots, finely chopped
• 2 TB fresh dill, minced
• 2 TB fresh chives, finely chopped
• 1 TB white wine
• salt and pepper, to taste

Combine all of the ingredients thoroughly.  Cover and chill for at least one hour before serving.

Serving Suggestions

Vegetable dip

Salad Dressing:

I added a little extra white wine and covered some cucumbers, scallions and radishes with the blend. After about an hour, I put this mixture on top of some lettuce.  Mmm. . . .

Coming soon: my favorite Greek salad recipe-- also with a homemade dressing. . . .

Fair Trade Coffee: Coffee with a Conscience

Let's face it: my husband and I are addicted to coffee.  It should come as no huge shock that coffee does not grow anywhere near northern Virginia.  Thank God I am not a purist when it comes to eating and drinking locally sourced foods. 

Despite my acceptance of the fact that I can't get everything I need from the greater Washington DC area, coffee poses a moral dilemma.  Most coffee comes from developing countries.  In these places, the land and the people working the land are easily exploited.   According to the Global Exchange coffee farmers are often paid less for their product than it costs to produce it. This places farmers and workers into an endless cycle of poverty. How can I get peace of mind that my daily cup of joe is socially conscious?

One solution to this problem is to buy fair trade certified coffee. Fair trade certification ensures that workers are paid a living wage.  It also prohibits forced child labor.  Often, fair trade products support sustainable agriculture.  To learn more about fair trade certification and other fair trade products, visit the Fair Trade Certified website.

I found my Fair Trade coffee at Trader Joe's.  In addition to the Fair Trade label, my coffee is also certified organic and shade grown.  Shade grown means exactly what it says: the coffee is grown under the shade of other trees.  Commercial coffee growers often plant the trees in hot sun.  They do this to increase efficiency, but it is often necessary for them to use pesticides and fertilizers to keep the coffee growing.  Furthermore, this practice depletes the soil and the environment.  Shade grown helps to restore habitats for migrating birds and is often organic.  Read more about shade grown coffee.

This 13 ounce container of whole beans cost around $8.00.  According to the label, the coffee is produced by "an all women organization in an effort to offer women of Peru a better life." In addition, "women participate in every step of the process" and "a portion of the purchase goes directly back to [them]" (in addition to their wages).  Now that's a cup of joe I can swallow guilt-free.