Sustainable and Sensual: A Valentine's Day Menu

If you and a special someone are planning a Valentine's Day meal this Sunday, you probably won't want the taste of pesticide lingering on your tongue afterward. So amp up the aphrodisiac power and make it sustainable by remembering these three tips: keep it light, keep it spicy, and keep it green (figuratively).

Keep It Light
We all like to indulge on holidays, but isn't this the one day you don't want to feel bloated and sleepy? Try starting off with this Avocado and Grapefruit Salad. Although avocado is out of season (I know, shame on me), it's reportedly an aphrodisiac and pairs wonderfully with the grapefruit, which is in its peak-season.

To prepare:

• Peel, pit, and dice 1 avocado, and place in large bowl
• Peel 1 grapefruit with a knife to remove all white pith, and over the same bowl, carefully cut each segment along the membrane sides until it drops into the bowl. The idea is to remove the entire thin white membrane from the segments
• Add a small amount of very thinly sliced red onion and serve over torn butter lettuce
• For a dressing, squeeze the remaining grapefruit juice into a small bowl, mix with olive oil, salt, and honey or agave, and drizzle over salad

Keep It Spicy
Capsaicin is the chemical in chilies that's responsible for the heat, and it also stimulates our nerves, raises our pulse, and is thought to raise endorphin levels — all very aphrodisiac-friendly properties. As I've hinted at in prior posts, I believe that a meal without meat is a (more) sustainable meal in itself, regardless of what else it includes. So turn up the heat with this Chipotle Sweet Potato Soup:

• Sweat 2 carrots, 1 onion, and 2 stalks celery in olive oil until tender as described in my previous post
• Add 2-4 minced canned chipotle peppers with adobo sauce, 3 cloves minced garlic, and a few shakes of ginger, cumin, and cinnamon (add more chili powder if you can handle it!), and saute for 2 minutes
• Add 2 peeled and diced sweet potatoes, about 4 cups vegetable broth (enough to cover everything), bring to a boil, and reduce heat and simmer, covered for 30 minutes
• Puree, salt to taste, and finish by squeezing in the juice of 1/2 lime, garnishing with chopped cilantro

Keep It Green
I associate strawberries (especially chocolate-covered) with Valentine's Day, but according to the Environmental Working Group, conventionally grown strawberries retain more pesticide residue than almost any other fruit or vegetable. Recently proposed changes in California could also result in the replacement of an environmentally damaging pesticide with a potentially carcinogenic pesticide -- bad for you and bad for fieldworkers. Not to mention that strawberries are out of season and will likely taste so. But if you must have strawberries, buy organic if possible.

Better yet, skip the berries and make one of these delicious treats using fair trade chocolate, the benefits of which were explained earlier this week by Nicole Makris.

However you choose to celebrate (or not), eat well!

Photos: Muffet