California is still deep in a drought. The aquifers are depleted. The snowpack is low. Yet the state is responsible for 71 percent of the nation’s fruit and nuts and 45 percent of its produce—and growing things need water. But don’t worry, the news isn’t all bad. For every thirsty veggie, there’s a less water-sucking alternative. We asked veteran food writer and recipe developer Alison Roman to create a low-on-H2O yet high-on-delicious summer supper.
Roasted Chicken and Dry-Farmed Tomatoes with Spelt and Escarole
Ingredients
1 3½–4 lb. chicken
4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
3 dry-farmed tomatoes, halved crosswise
1 head garlic, halved crosswise
1 cup spelt, farro, or wheat berries
½ head escarole, torn into small pieces
1 shallot, thinly sliced into rings
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
½ cup toasted pistachios, chopped kosher salt, freshly ground pepper
Makes 4 servings
Preparation
Preheat oven to 425°F. Place chicken in a large baking dish and rub all over with 2 tablespoons olive oil; season with salt and pepper. Scatter tomatoes and garlic around chicken and drizzle with 2 tablespoons olive oil; season with salt and pepper.
Roast chicken until the skin is golden- brown and crisped and a thermometer inserted into the deepest part of the thigh registers 165°F, 50 to 60 minutes. The garlic should be tender and golden and the tomatoes saucy and giving up their juices.
Meanwhile, cook spelt in salted boiling water until the grains are cooked through, 30 to 40 minutes. Drain and set aside.
Once chicken is cooked, let it rest about 10 minutes in the baking dish, then transfer it to a cutting board along with the tomatoes and garlic, leaving all those juices behind.
Add grains and pistachios to baking dish and stir so they get coated in the chicken juices; season with salt and pepper and let sit for a few minutes.
Add vinegar to shallots and season with salt. Let sit 5 minutes.
Add escarole and pickled shallots to the grains and toss to coat (even better if the grains are still a little warm; the escarole will wilt slightly). Serve alongside chicken, tomatoes, and garlic.
5 Rules for Drought-Friendly Cooking
1. Eat chicken, not beef. Pound for pound, if you put a roasted bird on the table you’ll use just 15 percent of the water needed to grow a steak. Beef is a real planet-killer, using 11 times more water and emitting five times more greenhouse gases than other livestock. Pigs, poultry, dairy, and eggs are easier on the environment, though of these, piggies have the biggest impact on water usage.
2. Load up on leafy greens. Leafy greens like escarole, spinach, and lettuce (as well as staples like cabbage and carrots) are among the least water-intensive crops. Grow your own to cut the impact of a nice salad even more.
3. Search out dry-farmed produce. Dry farming is a technique that deprives the plants of water, so crops like tomatoes produce fruit with a more intense flavor. Win-win! Avoid water-hungry veggies like asparagus, which are just green straws sucking H2O from the ground.
4. Go nuts with pistachios. Trees require more water than other plants, and nuts grow on trees. The pistachio, however, drinks about a quarter of the water of its peers.
5. Buy from out of state. Wheat is thirsty, yes, but California produces less than 1 percent of the nation’s supply. Get your rice from elsewhere too.
Illustrations by Kyle Hilton
Food 2016
