This year the picnic and picnic season started very late, so we all want to be outdoors as soon as possible. Those of us who follow a Mediterranean diet - the real one, based on cereals, vegetables, legumes, fruit and a few animal by-products - may find it difficult to organize outdoor lunches, especially if we want to share our dishes with other people, less accustomed to such a varied and seasonal diet.
The comfort of the classic sandwich stuffed with cold cuts and cheeses is unquestionable: it is quick to prepare, it takes up very little space in the backpack, it is very full and generally appreciated by everyone. Let's consider, at least for once, the disadvantages of this lunch:
Nutritionally speaking, it is not a balanced meal, because a large quantity of sliced meats and cheeses should be associated with a large amount of vegetables, which is rarely done, and a meagre leaf of salad between mayonnaise and ham certainly does not make that difference.
From an energetic point of view, the stuffed sandwich represents the most important part of the meal: the baking of bread in the oven contracts the liver, while the sliced bread, a very fat, very salty and seasoned product, creates tension in the entire solar plexus, in particular in the pancreas. The contracting energy of the food also generates a lot of internal heat and in summer it is decidedly counterproductive.
Last but not least, let's consider the real cost of this meal in terms of environmental resources and not only for our portfolio: how much water, how much CO2 produced, how much soil do we consume to eat that ham sandwich? How many plastic and non-recyclable wrappings do we sacrifice to prepare this single meal?
I know that it is difficult to re-evaluate in these terms such a simple and fast gesture, as that of preparing a sandwich, which we have done and seen do thousands of times and consider so innocent. What I invite you to do this summer is to try to find alternatives "read" in all senses, for health and the environment. Not all cereals have such a long cooking time, summer vegetables can also be tasted marinated or raw and legumes for once we can buy them already cooked in cans, today they are also found organic and without preservatives. All this has a much lesser impact on the environment, on the wallet and also on our stomach! Lightness in our lifestyle should be a much broader concept than we are used to thinking about, taking into account not only our body, but also the consequences of our daily choices.
On the shelves of traditional supermarkets there are more and more surrogates for animal products.
Processed and refined food with - very often - prohibitive prices.
And yet, the best solution is also the easiest: it would be enough to follow the true Mediterranean diet, preferring seasonal fruit and vegetables to processed and industrial products.
"Italian cuisine is not only one of the best, most varied and balanced in the world: thanks to the climate and the territory, it is also one of those that has the good fortune to draw on a greater number of ingredients, especially vegetables - explains the association -. In our tradition the vegetarian or vegan component has always been very present.
Here are some ideas for preparing excellent dishes to eat outdoors and share, which are tasty but also quick to prepare:
Wholemeal pasta salad with ginger marinated zucchini and carrots and toasted pumpkin seeds;
Semi-whole rice salad with corn, peas, parsley and radishes seasoned with sesame and lemon sauce;
Couscous with chickpeas and grilled vegetables;
Chickpea flour with onions and grated zucchini (to be prepared the day before);
Millet or buckwheat salad with steamed vegetables (cooking the vegetables in the basket over the pot where we cook the cereal) and basil pesto;
Mexican style red beans with corn, peppers, zucchini, red onion and chilli oil;
Hummus of legumes and pinzimonio of vegetables;
Fake sushi: semi-whole rice wrapped in nori seaweed and stuffed with smoked tofu and cucumber;
Panzanella with leftover bread.
All these dishes can be easily transported in the appropriate containers for hermetically resealable and reusable food: the environment and our body will thank us for giving them a little 'of ... lightness!