[1] The narrow footprint of the Aquasana Clean Water Machine fits on most kitchen counters. This style, which dispenses from the unit, is available in black (photo courtesy Aquasana).

[2] This style, which we have, dispenses filtered water into a removable half-gallon pitcher. It is available in black or white (photo courtesy Aquasana).

[3] We pour our water from the Aquasana dispenser (photo #1) into reusable plastic bottles (photo courtesy FreeImagesLive.co.uk | Gratuit).

April 22nd is Earth Day, and each year we take a few minutes to think about what else we can [easily] do to help save the planet.

An alternative to buying and tossing plastic water bottles is a good way to start.

Last week we recommended SodaStream as a way to do the same with soft drinks and sparkling water. Today, we present the Aquasana Clean Water Dispenser, a countertop filtration system.

If you prefer filtering your tap water to purchasing water—whether to please your palate or to eliminate contaminants—you may have tried a Britta or ZeroWater pitcher filtration device, or even a larger countertop unit.

But if you’re kitchen-space-challenged as we are, you have neither space in the fridge nor on the counter top for one—without sacrificing something else.

THE AQUASANA CLEAN WATER MACHINE

Thanks to Aquasana, we no longer have that limitation. The company, which specializes in water filters for sinks and showers—plus handsome individual water bottles with built-in filters—has come up with a space saver countertop unit that nicely hugs the side of the kitchen counter next to our fridge (photo #1).

Plus, truth to tell, the filter yields better-tasting water (i.e., flavorless water) than other brands we’ve tried. Often, guests think we’re serving Fiji Water.

The Clean Water Machine has the same Aquasana professional filtration system that keeps the good minerals dissolved in your tap water (calcium, magnesium, potassium).

 
 
IT FITS INTO TIGHT SPACES

Just 4.5 inches wide and 17 inches long, the Aquasana Clean Water Machine dispenses a half gallon of filtered water by the glassful or the pitcherful. Choose from the self-dispensing model that holds a gallon (photo #1), or the model with a removable pitcher that holds a half gallon (photo #2).

The device is electric, and claims to remove “10x more contaminants than leading gravity pitchers.”

Instead of slowly trickling through the filter via gravity, Aquasana’s electricity-driven motor filters a half gallon in a minute.

Two filters, each making 320 gallons of clean, flavorless water, are included with each machine.

 
Aquasana Clean Water Machine is available in black or white, and is sold at retailers including Costco, e-tailers and from the company website.

The list price is $129.99 ($124.99 at Costco).

*PFOA/PFOS are two contaminants of emerging concern, perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid. (1) Here’s are more about them.

We were admiring this dessert from Caviar Russe in New York City. It’s art on a plate.

Then we realized: This is relatively easy to put together.

We love artistic food, so we set out to make our version of this cake-and-ice cream dessert.

If you buy the loaf cake instead of baking it, the only time-consuming parts are making mini meringues and cream cheese frosting.

You can combine any flavors, use fruit purée instead of frosting, and add your own signature garnishes.

Here’s what we did.
 
 
RECIPE: CAKE ART

1. Cake

To save time, we purchased a dense carrot cake—the same type used by Caviar Russe.

Instead of cutting a square-ish slice, cut something more stylish, like the slim rectangle in photo #1.

Don’t worry about “wasted” cake trimmings. In our book, cake is never wasted. At the least, you can toss it into the freezer to serve later, with a bowl of ice cream or an ad hoc trifle.

2. Meringues

It’s easier to pipe meringue cookies, especially the mini meringues used in this recipe. There are three on the plate.

You can buy them from Miss Meringue, although homemade meringues, without preservatives, taste better.

Here’s the recipe for the mini meringues in photo #3.

You may also know a local bakery that sells them.

Or, if you can only find large or jumbo meringues, cut them and serve the rough pieces—“rustic art.”

Whatever you choose, make them all one color. Different colors are distracting on an already-diverse plate.

You’ll note that there’s a dab of something white on the top right of the carrot cake. That’s crème fraîche, not a meringue.

While we love it, we omitted it. There’s enough going on.

3. Cookie Crumbles

These serve as a bed for the scoop of ice cream (top left of cake), and are a crunchy textural addition.

We bought, instead of baked, the cookies; and chose oatmeal cookies for their homey flavor pairing with carrot cake (we bought cookies without raisins, for ease in crumbling).

Use the cookies of your choice, from chocolate wafers to shortbread. It’s all about flavor pairing.

4. Ice Cream

[1] Simple ingredients like carrot cake are put together to look spectacular: a work of art from Caviar Russe.

[2] A close-up.

[3] Mini meringues colored in pastels. Here’s the recipe from Taste | Australia.

5. Swirl

You can create your swirl from fruit purée or frosting. Since we chose carrot cake, we used cream cheese frosting, which also holds its shape better then purée.

We added lemon zest and yellow food color, and copied the swirl pattern in the photo.

If you like canned frosting, you can buy it and add the zest and color.

6. Garnish

Lastly, a color counterpoint to perk up the plate.

Caviar Russe used herb fronds (the spots of green), but we didn’t want anything on the plate that people wouldn’t eat. We like mint with chocolate and other flavors, for example, but we didn’t want it as an edible with carrot cake.

So we bought pomegranate arils, and they looked great. We could have used raspberries (or pastel candy lentils), but wanted a more delicate touch.
 
 
That’s our version of this artistic dessert. Now it’s your turn!

[1] A PB&J Burger with vanilla ice cream. It’s a popular menu item with both children and adults (photo courtesy Slater’s 50/50).

If you’re a burger person and an adventurous eater, here’s an idea from Slater’s 50/50, a burger gastropub with locations in Southern California, Honolulu, Las Vegas and Dallas.

The restaurant is known for its signature burger, a 50/50 burger patty with equal parts of ground beef and ground bacon. To us, that sounds good enough to book a trip to the nearest location.

The chefs continue to push the boundaries with “inconceivable” flavors. They certainly have done so with the “PB & Jealousy.”

It’s an Angus beef burger on a honey wheat bun, layered with:

 
and the pièce de resistance…

He advises to “gently scoop on [the ice cream] before you take each bite.”

To us, most of it makes sense.

 
But the vanilla ice cream?

Well, we do enjoy an ice cream sandwich made of vanilla ice cream on raisin bread toast, and we’ve also made it on chocolate chip bread and a brioche bun.

PB & Jealousy’s honey wheat buns have a similar sweetness.

As the sage says, “Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it.”

We look forward to trying it at home—perhaps a taste-off with a beef burger, a turkey burger and a veggie burger.

And how about blue cheese ice cream or cheddar ice cream instead of the vanilla?

Thanks to Flavor & The Menu for this story.

If you’re accustomed to serving your dinner protein with one vegetable and a starch (potato, noodles, rice)—or veg and a side salad—here’s a tip on “diversification.”

It was inspired by this dish from Bluewater Grill, with several locations in California and one in Phoenix.

Their chefs know that serving multiple items generates more excitement. That’s why buffets are so popular.
 
 
YOU CAN DO THE SAME

Just a bit of planning enables you to easily pair your protein with two cooked vegetables, a raw vegetable, and a grain or legume/pulse (the difference is below).

Put together your plate with:

 
No sauce is needed, but you can swirl balsamic glaze [photo #1], or dot the plate with pesto, flavored olive oil (basil oil in photo #2) or red bell pepper purée.

Voilá, a healthful, colorful dinner.

Serve with an optional salad:

 
 
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LEGUMES & PULSES

Both legumes and pulses are the edible seeds of plants in the pea family (Leguminosae), a class of vegetables that includes beans, peas and lentils.

Pulses are a subcategory of legumes. The difference is that legumes are sold fresh, and pulses are grown and harvested to be sold dried. The same product can be sold fresh (legume) or dried (pulse).

[1]Salmon with red quinoa, Brussels sprouts and cipollini onions, topped with shaved fennel and dill.

[2] Salmon with a different set of garnishes: purple asparagus, spring peas, cipollini onions, topped with lightly dressed pea leaves and shoots, plus droplets of basil olive oil (photos #1 and #2 courtesy Bluewater Grill).

[3] Salmon on a bed of grains (here, red quinoa) with baby carrots, green peas and baby artichokes, topped with pea shoots (it’s fresh pea season) (photo courtesy Charlie Palmer Steak).

[1] A carbon dioxide cartridge in the back of the appliance carbonates creates a bottle of sparkling water. There are colors for every decor.

[2] A four-pack of the most popular flavors. First you carbonate the bottle of water (photo above; then you add your flavor.

[3] Fizzy cocktails, anyone? Make a sparkling Bellini, G&T, Margarita or wine spritzer (all photos courtesy SodaStream).

If you drink a fair amount of sparkling water or soda, there’s one item you should have in your kitchen: SodaStream.

We love SodaStream, the at-home sparkling water maker.

It’s the best way to reduce plastic and metal waste by eliminating the need to buy plastic bottles or cans of sparkling water and soda.

It also saves you gas and muscle fatigue from carrying heavy bags of soft drinks, not to mention disposing of the empties, if you do your best to recycle.

It encourages the family to drink more water: sparkling, plain or with flavors.

It requires no electricity, no battery. It’s lightweight and portable (bring it onto the patio, a boat, etc.).

The carbon dioxide cartridge that provides the fizz is returned for a credit when you purchase refills at SodaStream retailers.

In addition to the company website, SodaStream is sold at Bed Bath & Beyond, Staples, Williams-Sonoma and other retailers. Here’s a store locator.
 
 
DRINK WHATEVER YOU WANT

Many people use SodaStream to make sparkling water.

But just add flavor to the bottle, and it’s easy to offer everyone the soda of their choice.

We have six different flavors on in our pantry: cola, diet cola, ginger ale, lemon-lime, root beer and Diet Dr. Pete (like Dr. Pepper).

There are almost 50 flavor choices: something for everyone including cucumber water, energy drinks, coconut water, peach iced tea, cocktail makers (BYOB), even Welch’s grape juice.

We keep three ready-to-drink flavors in the fridge at any time, and can make something a guest requests in a minute.

Just keep extra bottles of cold water in the fridge, and you’re ready to insert one into the SodaStream maker, carbonate in seconds and add flavor.
 
 
SPECIAL SAVINGS

Every family making soft drinks in SodaStream’s reusable bottle can reduce more than 3,700 bottles and cans from the planet.

That’s an impressive statistic—and it’s Earth Month. How can you resist a purchase that helps you save our planet?

In addition to sitewide savings, you can take an EXTRA 15% discount with promo code EARTHDAY, through April 27th.

Head to SodaStream.com.

AND REMEMBER MOTHER’S DAY AND FATHER’S DAY: COMING SOON!