Two sustainable recipes for culinary summer travels

This article is part of a series on sustainable food produced in collaboration with Crop Trust.

Cooking sustainably starts with using what ingredients are readily around, geographically and seasonally. But this doesn’t mean the resulting meals can’t also be transportive.

Courtesy of chef Ska Moteane, likhobe is a stew traditional to Lesotho made from beans, berries and sorghum – a resilient crop that’s rich in carbohydrates and fiber. These ingredients are staples in the southern African nation, where plant-based diets are the norm.

From Catalonian chef and restaurateur Ada Parellada comes arròs amb conill, a traditional rice dish with rabbit meat that’s designed to help finish leftovers and prevent food waste. If unavailable, the rabbit can be replaced with another local meat.

And in the spirit of minimal impact, both recipes can be easily prepared at home using just a single pot.

Lesotho Likhobe (stew with sorghum)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup cracked wheat berries
• 1 cup sorghum
• 1/2 cup dried beans
• 40g solid vegetable oil
• Salt to taste
• Water
• Black pepper (optional)
• 1 tablespoon turmeric (optional)

Directions:

1. Sort the wheat berries and crush/crack them into smaller pieces on a mill or in a food processor. Winnow the cracked wheat from the husks and any other particles.
2. Rinse all the berries, sorghum and beans in clean water.
3. Put all the ingredients into a pot, including the seasonings. Add water to completely cover the grains and bring to a simmer.
4. Let the grains simmer on low heat for two hours, or until all the grains are nice and tender,
   stirring occasionally. Replenish water throughout the cooking process as necessary.
5. Serve warm.

Catalonian Arròs amb conill (rice with rabbit)

Ingredients:

• Meat broth
• 1 rabbit, cut in small pieces
• 1 rabbit liver
• 400g rice
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 3 ripe tomatoes, sliced
• 400g mushrooms, cleaned and cut
• 1 garlic clove
• 100ml white wine
• 50g almonds
• 50g hazelnuts
• 1 bunch parsley

Directions:

1. Prepare the meat broth by placing rabbit bones (alternatively calf or beef bones) on a baking tray, sprinkled with olive oil and salt. Roast at 200ºC for half an hour.
2. Meanwhile, add two onions, two carrots, four tomatoes and a head of garlic to an oven-proof pot, and add a good pour of white wine. Roast for
   another half an hour.
3. Once slightly cooled, add the bones and drippings to the pot and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil, then cook on low heat for two hours.
4. Strain the liquid to receive meat broth.
5. In the pot to be used for cooking the rice, roast the rabbit liver with a good dash of oil over medium heat.
6. Remove the liver into a mortar with the nuts, garlic and parsley leaves. Mash together and set aside (alternatively: use a food processor).
7. Add olive oil to the pot the liver was roasted in. Salt and pepper the rabbit and roast it over high heat until golden.
8. Add the chopped onion and cook on low heat until translucent, about ten minutes.
9. Add the sliced tomatoes and continue to sauté. Then add the rice and increase the heat, stirring. Then add the mushrooms.
10. Cover the rice mixture with hot broth. Cook on low heat for 12 minutes. Five minutes before it is ready, add the liver and spice mixture and dilute with white wine.
11. Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper.