’Tis the season to ponder the environment. Each April we celebrate Earth Day, when millions of people around the world are inspired to celebrate the environment. But, in an era when planetary health can seem exceptionally dire, these moments are increasingly important to remind us all that we can have a tangible impact on improving the health of the environments around us―from tree planting to campaigning for tighter environmental laws.
Cooking can also help unite us and allow us to better understand how planetary health is paramount to being able to continue to bring cherished dishes from far and wide to tables everywhere.
Interest in global cuisine has never been stronger as we seek out new flavors and culinary adventures. A stroll downtown can take you past Japanese, Indian, East African, and Thai eateries all within a block or two. Once you try various foods from around this big, blue marble, you may be more inspired to protect the environment for the generations to come.
To help inspire you to travel the world through your taste buds and feel more connected, here’s a collection of recipes from different regions of the world that go big on some of the most lauded global flavors. Time to stamp your passport—one meal at a time.
These recipes originally appeared on alive.com as “Savour the Flavours of the World.”
Curried Dal Soup with Sri Lankan Pol Roti
Satisfying and nourishing dals and curries are synonymous with Indian and Sri Lankan cuisine. This is a heavenly spiced, dal-like soup you may get with a meal in southern India or northern Sri Lanka. Pol roti (Sri Lankan coconut flatbread) is an unleavened flatbread made of wheat flour (atta), salt, freshly grated coconut, and water that is rolled out into a circle and cooked on a hot cast iron skillet. It’s a wonderful accompaniment to this saucy lentil dish. You can find packages of frozen grated coconut and fresh curry leaves at Indian markets.
Sheet Pan Chicken Shawarma Lettuce Bundles
A descendant of the doner kebab, a Turkish dish made with sliced meat cooked on a vertical rotisserie, shawarma is a popular street food with Middle Eastern provenance. This shortcut version of chicken shawarma skips the long marinating and roasting time and relies, instead, on seasoned roasted poultry that is stuffed into greens, instead of pita, to keep it tasting extra fresh. Served topped with a herby yogurt sauce, it makes a satisfying meal any day of the week. Both ras el hanout and za’atar are available in many Middle Eastern markets.
Herring Beet Apple Salad on Rye Crisps
One type of fish, in particular, has become almost synonymous with Scandinavian cuisine: omega-3-rich herring. Specifically, pickled herring. In this Nordic-inspired lunch, the strong flavor of fatty herring is tamed when added to a tangy and sweet salad that is served on crispy crackers―Scandinavian cultures are also crazy for their rye. The salad can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. You can find jars of pickled herring in the seafood section of most supermarkets.
Miso Tofu Soba Bowls with Spicy Matcha Dressing
This satisfying plant-based bowl of nutrition brings together many cherished victuals of Japanese cuisine―nutty soba, vibrant matcha, earthy miso, and feisty wasabi. Baking the tofu that’s been slathered with a miso sauce yields cubes with a meaty texture and some flavorful caramelization. If you’re eating gluten free, you can find soba noodles that are made entirely of buckwheat flour, which is free of gluten. If you don’t have wasabi paste, you can spice up the dressing with chili sauce or cayenne.
Skillet Cannellini Bean Eggplant Parmesan
An iconic dish that epitomizes the essence of Italian cuisine? Eggplant parmesan. While the genuine Italian connection to eggplant parmesan, or Melanzane alla Parmigiana, remains somewhat controversial, what is not contested is the gastronomic delight of tomato-bathed tender eggplant strewn in melty cheese. This skillet version does away with the battering and frying of individual eggplant slices in favour of composing the dish in a single pan to make it a more accessible weeknight dish. A popular food in Italian kitchens, cannellini beans add some heft and protein to the meal.
