iEat Green - Guest Mitchel Cohen and Robin T. Falk Esser, Ph.D

Mitchel Cohen coordinates the No Spray Coalition in New York City, which successfully sued the City government over its indiscriminate spraying of toxic pesticides. In 1997, he organized the campaign to rid NYC public schools of milk from cows injected with genetically engineered Bovine Growth Hormone, and in 2001, he ran for Mayor of NYC as one of five Green Party candidates. He was editor of the national newspaper Green Politix, and of the NY State Green Party newspaper. Mitchel edited Red Balloon, the journal of the Red Balloon Collective that he co-founded at SUNY Stony Brook, and chaired WBAI radio’s Local Board. His writings include:

 

• The Social Construction of Neurosis, and numerous other pamphlets under the rubric of Zen-Marxism
• What is Direct Action?, a book that draws on personal experiences as well as lessons from Occupy Wall Street
• An American in Revolutionary Nicaragua
• Listen Bookchin!

and two books of poetry, 

• One-Eyed Cat Takes Flight and
• The Permanent Carnival

 

Bio

Robin T. Falk Esser, Ph.D. earned her Ph.D. in Physiology & Biophysics at SUNY Stony Brook Health Sciences Center Medical School and has published papers in the journals: Science, Nature, Journal of Physiology, Journal of General Physiology, and the Biophysical Journal. She worked as a New York City high school science teacher for 30 years, teaching Advanced Placement (AP) Environmental Science, AP Bio, and Chemistry, among other courses. She was a recipient of the Siemens AP Science Award for excellence in teaching. She was also the subject of two NY Times articles and was interviewed by Tom Brokaw NBC Nightly News for exemplary teaching. She is a life-long political activist, having been involved, as a teenager, in the 1965 anti-apartheid mobilization, 1968 Poor People's Campaign with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., against the Vietnam War, in the draft resistance movement, anti-nuclear power movement, and with the Red Balloon Collective at SUNY at Stony Brook. 

 

Vegetable Lasagna with Cashew and Tofu Ricotta (GF)

Preheat oven to 350°

 

Ingredients

1 lb Miyoko’s Cashew Mozzarella cheese, grated

1 & 1/2  box GF rice lasagna noodles

 

Cashew Ricotta Filling

1 cup cashews, soaked for 2 hours or more

1 Tbs. Nutritional yeast

1 t. chopped garlic

½ t. salt, ¼ t. white pepper

1 cup water

 

Tofu Filling

1 block firm tofu

½ cup vegan pesto (recipe on my website) 

1 cup coconut milk 

1 Tbs. Nutritional yeast

Spinach Sauté

2 lb. pk org. froz. chopped spinach, 

1 Tbs. chopped garlic

 

Mushroom Sauté

1- 8 oz. box Baby Bella mushrooms

1 Tbs. chopped garlic

2 Tbs. red wine

1 Tbs. Tamari

4 cloves garlic

 

Sauce

Olive oil

2 Tbs. minced garlic

1 onion, diced

1 yellow or orange organic pepper, diced

¼ cup white wine

2-  32 oz. Jar  Organic Marinara Sauce 

1 can diced fire roasted tomatoes

½ cup chopped parsley

1 Tbs. dried oregano

 

Directions

For sauce, sauté onion, garlic and pepper in olive oil in stock pot. When soft, add ¼ cup white wine. Cook for 5 minutes, then add marinara sauce, can of diced tomatoes and ¼ cup chopped parsley.

Meanwhile, drain the cashews and pulse in food processor with 1 cup of water, nutritional yeast, garlic,

salt and pepper. Pulse until smooth. Taste and adjust S & P. Scrape out cashew ricotta into a bowl and set aside. 

Using the same bowl of the food processor, puree the tofu with the coconut milk, garlic and pesto. Pulse until very smooth.

Cover the bottom of cast iron pan with olive oil. Sauté the mushrooms until they start to sweat. Add the garlic and continue to cook for five minutes until the liquid evaporates. Add the red wine and cook until the wine is absorbed. Then sear it with the splash of tamari. Remove from pan. 

Defrost the spinach in hot water and drain. Squeeze out all excess water from spinach. Cover the bottom of cast iron pan with olive oil. Sauté the spinach with garlic for a few minutes, add salt and pepper to taste.

 

Assemble the Lasagna

Use a deep lasagna pan. Cover bottom of lasagna pan with sauce, Then add a single layer of dry lasagna noodles, right out of box. Spread ½ of  the tofu ricotta filling over noodles. Add ½ of the spinach mixture and one half of the mushroom mixture over the tofu ricotta. Spread a thin layer of tomato sauce. Repeat with another layer of noodles, the remaining tofu ricotta, the remaining spinach and remaining mushrooms. Add another layer of sauce. Cover with a final layer of noodles, the cashew ricotta and then the sauce. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for about 45 minutes. Remove aluminum foil and  sprinkle with grated Miyoko’s mozzarella cheese. Bake for another 10 minutes, until the cheese melts. 

Garnish with remaining ¼ cup of fresh chopped parsley.