a little more crunch

How about a little more crunch? If you enjoy what you read here at Crunchy Greenola, you might also enjoy what I write over at Green Prophet. Green Prophet is written by a group of writers in Israel who are interested in promoting an environmentally sustainable future for Israel and its neighbors.

To check out my first article at Green Prophet about organic farm volunteer opportunities, click here.

i struck oil!

My most recent bottle of olive oil, which came from my infamous Moroccan grandmother, was in a Jagermeister bottle. Not because my grandmother is an alcoholic, but because she buys olive oil in big containers and then distributes the oil into glass bottles (that she reuses from other products, such as Jagermeister). Without even knowing it, she's reusing resources and reducing consumption of packaging.

It's not easy to buy olive oil in bulk when you live in a city, though. Even though I would like to buy it in bulk and reduce the packaging associated with olive oil, especially since it's something I use on a daily basis, I just figured it was pretty much impossible since I currently live in a city. I thought I'd just rely on my grandmother for all of my bulk olive oil needs.

But no more! Today I passed by Shook Levinsky (a great market for bulk dry goods) on my way home to pick up some loose black tea and found an olive oil store that lets you bring your own glass bottles from home and fill them from an olive oil tap that they have in the store. Some of the types of olive oil that they carry are even organic. The owner of the store is very nice and will let you try the different kinds of olive oil, too. The store - called "Hamesik shel Oded (המסיק של עודד)" - is located at the corners of Levinsky Street and Hachaluzim Street.

If you do decide to go there, my grandmother swears by keeping olive oil in dark glass bottles such as - you guessed it - Jagermeister.

in a pickle

One of my new year's resolutions is to make more of my own "processed foods" (and rely less on industrial energy, packaging and transportation to nourish my cravings for a quick hunger fix). Even though it takes more time and energy, there is a special satisfaction that comes from eating something that you made entirely by yourself and of knowing exactly what's in your food. When I make my own veggie burgers, I don't have to worry about hydrogenated corn syrup or preservatives or food coloring. And I can make exactly what I want.

So far, I've started making my own jam, bread, granola, gnocchi, and veggie burgers. This week my CSA put a lot of cucumbers into my vegetable delivery - a lot more than I could eat before they went bad - so I decided to try making my own pickles. They were surprisingly easy to make, and were ready to eat in a day. Since I made pickle slices (and didn't pickle the entire cucumbers), they'll go great in sandwiches or on top of a burger. The jars (which were re-used, of course) are very pretty and would make nice gifts, too.

Here's the recipe:
6-7 large cucumbers, sliced
1-2 onions, sliced
1/4 cup salt
1/2 liter white vinegar
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon mustard seed
5-10 whole black peppercorns

Use fresh cucumbers; wash and slice. Slice onions. Mix vegetables with salt and let stand 1 hour. (This makes them crunchy later on.)

Drain and rinse with 2 cups cold water (or until most of the salt is out). Combine vinegar, sugar, celery seeds and peppercorns and heat to boiling. Cook 3 minutes.

Pack vegetables into jars and add hot vinegar mixture over them, leaving 1/4" headspace. Seal the jars immediately and let them cool before refrigerating or storing.

ode to my farm

Okay, so its not really my farm... but I'm a member so a small part of it is kind of mine. At least a cabbage patch or a tomato plant. About four months ago, I joined a community-supported organic farm called Or-Gani (in Hebrew, literally, "light of my garden") and have been receiving weekly deliveries of freshly picked, pesticide-free, seasonal produce ever since. Before joining the farm I never really thought much about where my food came from or how it was produced - as far as I was concerned, cucumbers came from the supermarket. I didn't even know how certain vegetables grow.

But being part of the farm has made me a lot more conscious about the food I'm eating and of the effects that my food consumption has on the environment. I've learned not to take all of the energy required to transport my food to me for granted, to try and eat the food with the least amount of processing possible, and to reduce the packaging associated with my food. Being a member of the farm puts me into direct contact with the people growing my food (very nice guys called Yaniv and Offer), requires minimal packaging (the cardboard boxes and packaging can be returned to the farmer for re-use), and requires less energy to transport since the vegetables are going directly to the person eating them. And the vegetables are damn tasty, too. I made a sweet potato and carrot soup last night that got rave reviews.

Or-Gani is one of a few organic CSA farms that have started to emerge in Israel, and depending on where you live in the country one may have available deliveries in your area. Other CSA farms in Israel include Chubeza, Hazon, and Gabriella's Farm. I highly recommend giving one a try.