Nature's Cookbook: Tips for Sustainable Cooking in your Kitchen Every Day!

Before we embark on this sustainable culinary journey, this is the seventh article on Nature's Notebook, I just wanted to extend my heartfelt gratitude to each and every one of you, who is reading this, and being a part of my journey. I have really enjoyed writing these articles, and I hope you have enjoyed reading them just as much! I am extremely grateful that we have been able to work together, and try and implement these changes in our everyday habits, to do our bit for a greener tomorrow! Let's dive in to our pans and plates, but from a different lens!

Food is a necessity of life. It nourishes us, revitalizes us, and is the fuel for our very existence. And when you cook, it evokes an entirely different feeling. It is an art, powered by determination, patience, passion, affection. When I cook with my grandmother, or with my mother, it makes me truly enjoy the process of creating food, and makes me value, rather than the product on the plate, the journey, the story, and the love behind it.

Cooking is such a diverse skill and art, from quiches in the charming cafes of France, to the curries from the Indian kitchens bursting with colours and vibrance, each dish has a unique story, a culture, a feeling assiociated with it, making it all the more special. Today, let's explore how we can not only deliver in elegance and emotion, but also, keep the planet in mind while creating our family's, our home's delicious masterpieces.

Firstly, we can use and source local and organic goods to use in our cooking. This shortens "food miles," or the carbon footprint of the transportation journey of foods being imported from outside our region. These foods are often highly processed for delivery, and use a lot of unsustainable materials for packaging. Therefore, local, organically grown fruits and vegetables are not only better for the environment, but encourage local farmers to build and care for their produce (nourishing the ecosystem), as well as being much more healthy for us due to better soil conditions and lack of pesticide use.

Secondly, we can optimize on our energy and water usage while cooking as well. While washing fruits and vegetables, we can wash them in a small bowl of water, rather than under a running tap, which causes a lot of water wastage in our water-scarce region.

We must use only the right flame size for the right size of pan, so as to not waste a big amount of energy for a just small item to cook. Also, we must cover our pans while cooking with a lid, to trap the heat and concentrate it to cook the food in less time, while also consuming less energy and carbon. We can always opt for more efficient appliances like air fryers, induction plates, and slow cookers, to consume less energy while cooking.

Now that we are done preparing our masterpiece, and ready to enjoy it with our family while making slight changes for sustainability, what do we do with the leftovers? For example, you are preparing an Indian curry, or a pizza, and you have leftover cut tomato and onions. Instead of throwing them away, since they carry their own carbon footprint, you can throw in some cottage cheese, your favourite sauce, some apple slices, pomegranate, lettuce and some herbs for seasoning, and turn it into a spectacular salad!! We must make sure we absolutely zero down our food wastage, as it is a valuable resource, and by being innovative and creative, we can create healthy combinations to give every piece of food a home!

So let's bring about these small changes in our kitchen whenever we cook, to help the environment, conserve energy and resources, all while pouring our heart, soul, and love into magical and wholesome meals with our family every day!