Gettting Creative With healthy Cuisine From Robin Asbell

Now that the idea of going "green" is entering the mainstream, people are looking at ways to shrink their carbon footprint. Recycling, driving more fuel-efficient cars, and shopping local are just a few of the things that we can do to live more lightly on the earth. But if you really want to have an impact, try cutting back on meat consumption. The energy and resource-intensive way that we produce meat makes the standard American diet as environmentally friendly as driving a Hummer.
It's ok to love meat, but it's also ok to eat less of it. Once you get past the mind-set that you have to build a meal around a piece of beef or chicken, you will find that there are lots of satisfying alternatives out there. If you eat less meat, you can afford to buy free-range and grass-fed meats, which are better for you and the environment too.
Our collective fixation on protein has lead many of us to think that we need way more of it than we do. It's really not that hard to get protein from a diet based on whole plant foods, like whole grains, beans, nuts and seeds. There is a little bit of protein in all the vegetables that you eat, believe it or not, and it adds up.
In a dish like these roasted potatoes, you get 20% of your daily protein needs (about 18g) from the veggies and some pine nuts. If you want more protein, a sprinkling of feta cheese would be a tasty way to get it.
Crispy potatoes, kissed with olive oil and sprightly lemon, all tossed with tender spinach and garlic, and punctuated by crunchy pine nuts will give your mouth so much to enjoy that you won't miss the meat.
Robin Asbell, '84
Author of New Vegetarian (Chronicle Books)

Garlicky Roasted Potatoes
With Spinach, Green Olives, and Pine Nuts
Ingredients
1 pound Fingerling new poatoes (or other small new potatoes)
3 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Coarse salt
Coarsely cracked black pepper
8 ounces spinach
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup Italian green olives (pitted and sliced)
_ cup lemon juice
_ cup pine nuts, toasted

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Slice fingerling potatoes in half lengthwise. Place into a heavy roasting pan, and drizzle with 2 tablespoons of the oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast for 20 minutes, stir, and depending on the size of the potatoes, roast for 10 to 20 minutes more until browned and crisp.
2. Stem and wash the spinach, then chop coarsely. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat, then add the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add the garlic and stir until fragrant, then drop the damp greens in and toss just to wilt. Add the potatoes and olives and toss to combine. Serve drizzled with lemon juice and sprinkled with the pine nuts.
From New Vegetarian by Robin Asbell, '84