I often felt a certain pang when food needed to be composted. Maybe the heat has claimed a piece of fruit before it got eaten, or perhaps the monks didn't finish all of a particular leftover before it lost its nutritional value. Whatever the reason, it always hurt my heart a bit to see it go into the compost bin. I've been watching this process for some time and have come to recognize the illusion of separation that was being maintained and the ever-so-subtle suffering that was there.
We have a beautifully caring composting process where we grind up the food and then pour it directly onto the soil, sandwiched between the ground and a layer of straw. As one monk put it, it's like a smoothie for the earth. As I feed the soil its compost-smoothie, I like to imagine it thirstily lapping up all those nutrients and moisture, making itself ready to give it right back to us through the vegetables we grow. It’s such a generous cycle-of-life system where we are both the stewards and the beneficiaries! No separation. As our Project Joy quote reminds us, "For everything that lives is holy, life delights in life."
Here is a recipe that never ends up in the compost bin! A favorite around here.
Gassho,
Rebecca
QUORN* STROGANOFF
Serves 10
24 oz. light sour cream
1½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. black pepper
Whisk together in a bowl and set aside.
32 oz. Quorn Tenders chopped into thumbnail size pieces
1 cup water
¾ cup “chicken” flavored veggie broth powder
Whisk together water and broth powder until smooth. Add Tenders and set aside.
3 cups diced yellow onions
3 cups diced mushrooms (about 9 oz.)
Heat a large, nonstick pot over medium-high heat. Sauté onions and mushrooms. For depth of flavor, sauté until onions begin to caramelize.
Add Quorn/broth powder mixture to pot. Reduce heat to medium. Sauté for 2-3 minutes.
Reduce heat to lowest possible setting, well below “low” setting. Add sour cream mixture and heat until just heated through, testing often. Do not simmer or boil. Serve over rice.
*Quorn is the brand name of a mycoprotein product that is meat-free and soy-free. It can be found in almost all grocery stores, certainly natural food stores.