More uses for agar, and that Carnegie Mellon study

Penny from Long Beach, California, is joining us this week. Welcome, Penny!

Our new recipe is an old favorite of mine, a delicious stuffed acorn squash from the Moosewood Cookbook. It's so comforting on a cold January night --- hope you like it!
Comprehensively Stuffed Squash

Last week's agar gelatin recipe brought enthusiastic responses from John in Texas and Linda here in Portland:

Eve, I greatly enjoyed seeing the agar recipes here! Agar is a very popular and common ingredient in macrobiotic cooking, where it is usually called kanten. It’s so easy and versatile! I used to just dissolve it in whatever fruit juice I had on hand (berry juices are especially great) and refrigerate for a simple, all-natural dessert.
Take care, John Snyder

I did a science project with agar for my 8th grade science fair. I even won a prize! There are recipes using agar to make bean cheese in David Gabbe's book "David's Vegan Kitchen". I've made the "Mozzarella Bean Cheese" and the "Provolone Bean Cheese". I thought they tasted pretty good on Mary's crackers. Very easy to make. I used agar powder from an Asian grocery store.
Linda

Maybe you have seen those recent puzzling headlines claiming that a vegan diet is environmentally damaging. I'm grateful to John for looking into the issue and helping us understand what's going on:

Many of us may have recently been astonished to see articles popping up in the media purporting to interpret the results of a Carnegie Mellon University study of the environmental impacts of various diets. I saw a number of headlines similar to “Lettuce More Harmful To the Environment Than Meat.” The articles go on to suggest that following the USDA’s recent recommendations to eat less meat would result in even more harm to the climate through extra greenhouse gas emissions. Of course, many of these articles have been generated in one way or another by the meat industry, and they contradict the findings of many other scientific bodies regarding the harm done to the environment by meat production. Nevertheless, the Carnegie Mellon study has been grossly misrepresented as a way of creating an extra layer of confusion in the public’s mind regarding diet. I recommend the following blog article by Ginny Messina, RD, as a particularly understandable rebuttal of the pro-meat interpretation. She also finishes up with some really good points about how we zealous vegans sometimes play the same game of fast-and-loose with the scientific facts.
http://www.theveganrd.com/2015/12/lettuce-and-bacon-and-the-environment-...
All the best,
John Snyder
Austin TX

Here in Portland the NWVEG 22-Day Veg Challenge is well underway. Numerous emails are coming my way with all kinds of cookbook recommendations, videos and more. Here is link that stood out for me ---a concise explanation of the health benefits of going plant-based:
http://www.forksoverknives.com/7-things-that-happen-when-you-stop-eating...

Also in Portland, we're getting ready for our Winter Potluck! Susan and Jerry are hosting this one in their condo at 10th and Jefferson, right across from the Portland Art Museum. Let me know by email if you would like the details.

Happy cooking,
Eve