Growing a Green World

Verno Green Tip of the Day #2 – Food Sourcing, Sustainable Seafood; Wild Alaskan Sockeye Salmon

Sustainable seafood is very important in order to keep our oceans stocked for the future, and there are many poor choices that can be made while shopping for the perfect piece of fish. There are fish with high mercury levels, there are fish that are about to be fished to extinction, and there are even fish that are farmed with poor practices. One wild fish that is still well managed is the wild Alaskan Sockeye Salmon. The Alaskan Sockeye Salmon population is certified as sustainable according to the Marine Stewardship Council, and the Alaskan Sockeye Salmon population has not run into any damming or deforestation problems and the vast majority of Alaska’s rivers are pristine, allowing a healthy population of Sockeye Salmon. The Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch lists these fish as a Best Choice on their Seafood Guides.

Salmon is also a great source of omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3 fatty acids are polyunsaturated fatty acids that have a double carbon bond three carbons in from the end of the fatty acid chain. (if you don’t know what that means, don’t worry about it! ) This type of fatty acids are beneficial to cardiovascular health by lowering triglyceride levels. Replacing a few meals’ worth of pork, beef, chicken protein with some fish is highly beneficial to cardiovascular health.
Because these fish are not farm raised and have grown up in their natural habitats, eating their normal sources of food, you will find that they are redder and much better in flavor in comparison to farmed salmon. To get this pure flavor you can follow this simple recipe*:

Ingredients:
6oz Sockeye Fillet
Sea Salt
Freshly Cracked Black Pepper
Olive oil

Score the skin side of the fillet at quarter inch intervals about a half inch deep and put a few flakes of sea salt in each of your score marks. Lightly dust each side of the fish with some freshly cracked black pepper. Put some olive oil on the skin side of the fish.
Heat a skillet on high heat with 2 tablespoons of olive oil.
When you can see the olive oil shimmering, or just about ready to smoke, lay your salmon fillet skin side down in the pan. Salt the top of the fish a little and do not turn or touch the fish until you see that the salmon changed color 2/3 of the way up (3-5 minutes). (Be your own judge of how hot your stove is, don’t burn the skin!)
Turn the fish over when the color change comes up 2/3 of the way up (very easily seen) and cook on the meat side for about 2 minutes.
Serve the fish skin side up with mashed potatoes for a hearty meal, or some steamed broccoli for a lighter healthy meal.

If you want to try something different and perhaps a little more sophisticated in flavor, it is quite easy as well:

Ingredients:
6oz Sockeye Fillet
Sprig of fresh thyme
Sea Salt
Freshly Cracked Black pepper
Olive oil
Quickly blanched broccoli, asparagus
Parchment paper

Take your parchment paper and lay it on a baking sheet, oil the parchment paper just so it shimmers and put a bit of salt in the center of the parchment paper (just enough to season one side of your fillet).
Lay the fillet in the center of the parchment paper skin side down. Salt the top of the fillet and lay your vegetables to the side. Salt your vegetables lightly and pepper your fish and vegetables.
Lay a sprig of fresh thyme over top, or even a sprig of fresh rosemary. If you like a bit of lemon or lime flavor you can use a wedge or slice of lemon.
Fold the parchment paper in half, and crimp the edges shut all around folding overlapping creases every 1 inch so that you have an air tight package as much as you can.
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees and bake for 10-12 minutes. (longer for larger pieces of fish).
The parchment paper should puff up and hold air inside while in the oven.
Take the packages out of the oven and let stand for 3 minutes before cutting open. You will get a nice, beautiful piece of fish just slightly opaque in the center. (if you like your fish well done, let it sit in the package a bit longer!)

Note: not all ovens created equal – some ovens make take more time, some ovens may take less time.

http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/SeafoodWatch/web/sfw_factsheet.aspx?gid=49
http://www.msc.org/track-a-fishery/certified/pacific/alaska-salmon/alaska-salmon-1/?searchterm=sockeye%20salmon

*I do love to cook, BUT I am not a chef. Measurements for recipes that don’t involve pastries or desserts that I post will usually be approximate/ close enough measurements. This is in sharp contrast to any scientific work. (Baking pastries from a recipe is science) I also apologize for not having any photos. I was going to wait for the wild salmon to hit the market at Costco so I could have some photos for you, but I decided to post early since nearly everyone else already has wild salmon for sale… here it is!

Verno Green Tip of the Day #1 – Food Sourcing, Container Gardening

For those of you who are gardeners already, you will recognize that this post is about a month too late since we have been updating our website… But, if you want to start this year, now is absolutely better than starting later. If you have never done any vegetable gardening before just because it seemed like too much work or that you don’t have much space to do it on, or if you just want to get fresh vegetables straight from your own garden, this is for you. Planting some vegetables at home guarantees that you can get the freshest produce and also helps reduce your carbon footprint by reducing the need for all of your food to be shipped to your local grocery store.

Container gardening is easy, and you can start by planting your favorites. Popular container plants include tomatoes, green pepper plants, and herbs. To start you will want to get 5 gallon containers for your tomato and green pepper plants. For herbs you can go with a smaller 1-3 gallon container or even a long rectangular planter. While you can start from seed, it is currently a bit late in the growing season, so your best bet is to go to a home improvement store or a local plant nursery to pick up some already sprouted and healthy plants. Each 5 gallon container can hold 1 tomato plant or 1-2 green pepper plants.  Make sure the containers do have drainage holes at the bottom. Fill each container 80% of the way up with a good quality potting soil, and plant your new tomato or pepper plants inside. Put the containers in a spot where there is 6+ hours of sun for your tomatoes or 8+ hours of sun for the pepper plants for optimal results. Water daily and watch the plants grow!

From the Bottom left blue pot going left to right: Meyer Lemon, Yellow Watermelon

2nd row left to right: pomegranate bonsai, Tea olive tree bonsai, Green Bell Pepper, Everbearing strawberry

3rd row: Yellow cherry tomato, Heirloom tomato (Mr. Stripey)

Visit the Patapsco Addition website for more information as well as virtual renders of what the project will end up looking like.  http://www.umbc.edu/reslife/news/pat_addition.html This project will be UMBC’s first LEED certified project and will also include improvements to the residential area, including a volleyball pit between Chesapeake and Dining hall as well as a Basketball court between Dining hall, Potomac and Back Road.

We will be presenting our LEED Innovation & Design project for UMBC’s Patapsco Hall Addition tomorrow, in Harbor Hall’s multipurpose room. Come join us! Food & refreshments will be provided, courtesy of UMBC Residential Life.