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Mains, Recipes

Double pea barley risotto

Pearl barley seems to have got stuck in the winter stew category. No more! The chewy fat grains make a great summery (and very affordable) risotto.

I’m loading it up with peas but add any veg you have kicking around in the fridge. Top with radish slices, herbs and/or leaves from the top of veg.

You can find pearl barley in lots of small supermarket stores – Tesco express has a 500g packet for 55p. Carnaroli risotto rice is £1.69.

How is this eco?

Growing rice, including risotto rice, produces a lot of greenhouse gas. Rice is grown in paddies, which are flooded fields. When plant matter degrades in water, it releases methane, the second most potent greenhouse gas. Growing rice accounts for 20% of the the world’s manmade methane emissions.

And worryingly rice paddies produce more methane as the climate gets hotter, this 2012 study showed.

Pearl barley isn’t grown in paddies, so it has a much lower footprint. And we are very good at growing it in Britain. Together with France, we have the greatest yield ratio for the amount of nitrogen fertiliser used to grow it (see page 87 of this 2o12 Defra report).

Nitrogen fertiliser results in the release of nitrogen oxide, another greenhouse gas. We need nitrogen to fertilise crops but it is a huge contributor to the greenhouse gas footprint of food – much more so than transport. So the less used to grow barley, the better!

RECIPE

Ingredients

Serves 4

For the pea puree

  • 150g frozen or fresh peas
  • 1 tbsp oil
  • 150ml veg stock

For the risotto

  • 1 onion, finely diced
  • 2 tbsps oil
  • 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 300g pearl barley
  • 100ml white wine
  • 500ml veg stock
  • 40g hard cheese, grated
  • Juice of half a lemon
  • 200g frozen or fresh peas
  • Garnish – pea shoots, leafy veg tops, sliced radishes or extra cheese sliced with a vegetable peeler

Method

  1. To make the puree, cook the peas for 3 minutes with the oil then add the stock and simmer for 3 more minutes. Blend with a handblender or in a mixer and leave to cool.
  2.  In a big saucepan, add the oil then sweat the onion over a low heat for two minutes. Add the garlic and pearl barley and cook for 3 minutes to toast the barley lightly. Add the white wine and cook for 2 minutes. Then add all the remaining stock, give it a big stir and put a lid on the saucepan. Keep the heat low.
  3. After 25 minutes, check the barley is a texture you want to eat. If it’s too hard, cook for another 5 minutes or until al dente. Add the peas – if frozen, cook for 2 minutes, if fresh, cook for 4. Stir in the pea puree, cheese and lemon juice and top with any garnishes.
Just add eggs and toast
Starters and sides

Asparagus and golden mayo

Not much beats a plate of asparagus slathered in hollandaise. But if you fancy a more eco-friendly swap, mayo is the answer. That’s because the carbon footprint of butter is four times higher than olive oil and twice that of rapeseed oil.

This homemade mustardy mayo is easy to make, as long as you’re willing to give your whisking arm a workout! Have it with boiled eggs and toast for a simple but excellent dinner.

Why is this eco?

If you are going to make hollandaise or cook anything with butter, you’ll be doing much better by the environment by using olive or rapeseed oil instead.

About 7.3kg of CO2/equivalent is produced per kg of butter while olive oil produces 2.3kg (more if it comes in a smaller bottle). The study is calculated with butter from American dairies but this journalist uses Carbon Trust numbers to estimate that UK butter is actually higher at 9.4kg CO2/eq.

CO2/eq is a way of measuring all greenhouse gases under one common unit. For example, methane produced by cows can be measured in CO2/eq. These carbon footprints were calculated by adding up the greenhouse gases produced in all stages, from farm to packaging and transporting.

Speared
Double dipping is encouraged

RECIPE

Serves 2

Ingredients

  • 1 egg yolk
  • 1 tsp white wine vinegar (or lemon juice)
  • 1 big tsp Dijon mustard
  • Big pinch of salt
  • 75ml British rapeseed oil, or olive oil
  • 1 bunch asparagus (about 12 spears)
  • Chilli powder, paprika or black pepper to taste

Method

Whisk the egg yolk for a whole minute with the vinegar, mustard and salt.

Drizzle in just a teaspoon of oil and whisk for another whole minute. Add another teaspoon and whisk for one more minute.

Now pour in a thin steady stream of the remaining oil, whisking constantly with your other (aching) arm.

Steam the asparagus for 5 minutes or up to 8 if it’s thick. I use a steamer or a sieve with a lid on, placed over a pan of boiling water.

To serve, spoon some mayo over the asparagus and sprinkle over chilli powder, or dip spears in a ramekin of the stuff.

Use up any leftover mayo in sandwiches or in a potato salad. Store it in the fridge for up to a week with clingfilm pressed against the top of the mayo to stop a skin forming.