iEat Green with Bhavani

iEat Green - Kathy Lawrence - Interim Director of NESAWG

Kathy Lawrence lives in Newburgh, New York, and wears a number of hats including Interim Director of NESAWG while Tracy is on leave, advisor to the Antibiotic Resistance Action Center out of George Washington University regarding the Certified Responsible Antibiotic Use standard, and Airbnb superhost. Kathy was co-founder and senior director for School Food Focus, a national collaborative that leveraged the procurement power of large urban school districts to make school meals healthier and strengthen regional food production. A national consultant and educator on sustainable ag and food systems, she was executive director of the National Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture and founding director of Just Food (NY).

 

Turkish Vegetarian Meatballs

 

Makes 60 balls

 

For Veggie Balls

2 cups cooked lentils

2 Tbs Olive Oil

1 Onion, chopped

2 carrots, chopped

2 Tbs minced garlic

2 stalks celery, chopped

1 yellow pepper, chopped

8 oz mushrooms, chopped

2 Tbs tamari

2 t. salt

1 t pepper

¼ cup fresh chopped parsley, plus 2 Tbs.

1 sweet potato

3 Tbs chick pea flour

 

3 cups cooked millet (I cup uncooked)

3/4 cup Gluten Free Bread Crumbs

3 tsp. cinnamon

1-1/2  tsp. ground allspice

¼ t. cayenne pepper

 

For the Sauce

2 Tbs. olive oil  

4 onions halved lengthways, cut in half crossways, and sliced with the grain

4 Tbs. pine nuts

2 tsp. cinnamon

2- 14oz. can chopped tomatoes

3 tsp. sugar (I use less)

salt and pepper to taste

Sauté onions in Olive oil until translucent.  Add carrots, celery and chopped garlic, and cook for 5 more minutes.. Add peppers and mushrooms, and continue cooking until soft. Add tamari, and spices. Cook for 5 more minutes. Meanwhile, steam sweet potato until soft. Remove veggies from pan and transfer to food processor. Pulse the vegetables until finely chopped. Pulse the sweet potato.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the sautéed vegetables, sweet potato, lentils, millet , chick pea flour and parsley, In a small bowl, mix the GF Bread crumbs with the 2 Tbs. parsley. Form into balls and coat with GF Bread Crumbs. Place on greased cookie sheet. Bake at 375’ for 20 minutes, turn over and bake another 10 minutes.

 

To make the sauce heat the oil in a heavy pan and sauté the onions till they are golden brown.  Stir in the pine nuts and cook till they begin to color, then add the cinnamon, cook a minute, then add the tomatoes and sugar. Simmer the sauce uncovered for 20 min. until reduced and is thickened.  Season with salt and pepper

 

*Balls can be made ahead of time and kept in freezer.

iEat Green - Onika Abraham-Director of Farm School NYC

Onika Abraham, Director of Farm School NYC, is a farmer and educator with more than 15 years of experience as a senior nonprofit manager with an MBA in marketing and entrepreneurship from City University of New York’s Zicklin School of Business.

Onika joined Farm School NYC as Director in May 2014. Less than six months into her tenure, Farm School NYC faced a crippling financial situation when it did not receive a renewal of its USDA Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program funding.  With Onika’s leadership, the School streamlined staffing, galvanized volunteers, forged new partnerships, restructured its earned income structure, developed an individual giving program, and organized the School’s first fundraising events including a film series and a play premiere. Due to these efforts, in 2015 Farm School NYC continued to offer all 20 courses to more than 50 individual students and graduated 14 certificate students – more than double the number of graduates in any prior year—with 1/6 of the budget and 1/3 of the staffing of the prior year.

A Farm School NYC teacher before she was the Director, Onika has always been drawn to growing and teaching.  After leaving her position as Vice President of Marketing and Communications at Safe Horizon in 2010, she spent the next five years with her hands in the soil—learning as much as possible about growing sustainably.  Onika’s first formal training was the Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s Brooklyn Urban Gardener certification program, an experiential, participatory course that focuses on sustainable horticultural practices suited to the urban environment, street tree stewardship, community engagement practices, effective teaching methods, and greening resources available in Brooklyn.

In 2012, Onika completed the Farm & Garden Apprenticeship in Ecological Horticulture at the Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems (CASFS) in Santa Cruz.  The Apprenticeship provides intensive training in the concepts and practices of organic gardening and small-scale farming. The full-time program is held at the Center's 30-acre CASFS/UCSC Farm and 3-acre Alan Chadwick Garden on the UCSC campus. The Apprenticeship training program offers 300 hours of classroom instruction and 700 hours of in-field training and hands-on experience in the greenhouses, gardens, orchards, and fields. 

At CASFS, Onika valued the hands-on agricultural training but was concerned by the lack of focus on social justice—one of the pillars of Agroecology.  She served on the Social Justice Action Committee, helping expand the curriculum, diversify staff and faculty, and create more support systems for apprentices of color, including hosting the first CASFS People of Color Reunion, now an annual event which has drawn farmers from across the country each year.

Onika’s work to support farmers of color and increase the number of black farmers nationally, in particular, predates her time at CASFS.  She is one of the co-founders of Black Urban Growers and has helped organize three national Black Farmers and Urban Gardeners Conferences since 2010. Her commitment to this work continues in her efforts to recruit Farm School NYC students that reflect the diversity of New York City, especially those from low resource and socially disadvantaged communities, and help them achieve their professional farming goals.

 

French Lentil Stew

 

1 cup French lentils, rinsed

4 cups vegetable broth

1 onion, cut in half, then sliced into crescent moons

2 carrots, cut into chunks

1 celery, diced

1 turnips, cut into chunks   

1 Tbs. minced garlic

2 Bay leaves

1 teaspoon salt

½ t. pepper

2 Tbs. Khmeli Suneli, ( a Georgian spice)

2 Tbs. chopped cilantro or parsley

Lemon wedges for serving.

 

 

Rinse the lentils well and pick through them. Place in saucepan with the broth. Bring to a boil and add the vegetables and bay leaves. Lower heat to a simmer, and cook for 30 minutes.

Add the garlic, salt, pepper and Khmeli Suneli. Continue cooking for 10 more minutes until desired consistency is reached.

 

If you would like, you can add some mixed greens to the stew, such as kale, swiss chard, spinach or arugula at this time, and just cook them until wilted.

 

Garnish with cilantro, and serve with rice and a lemon wedge on the side.

iEat Green - Anita Lo- Chef Author – Solo: A Modern Cookbook for a Party of One

ANITA LO is an acclaimed chef who worked at Bouley and Chanterelle before opening the Michelin-starred restaurant annisa in the heart of Manhattan’s Greenwich Village in 2000, which she ran until it closed in 2017. Food & Wine named her one of ten Best New Chefs in America, and The Village Voice proclaimed her Best New Restaurant Chef. She has appeared on Top Chef Masters, Iron Chef America, and Chopped; in 2015, she became the first female guest chef to cook at the White House. She lives in New York City and on Long Island.

 

 

Miso Vegetable Chowder with Wakeme

 

8 cups water

5 cloves garlic

1- 2”-3” piece of ginger

1 cake of tofu (soft or firm, whichever you prefer)

1 organic onions, chopped

2 organic carrot, washed and chopped

1 turnip, peeled and diced  

1 organic broccoli, cut into florets

2 Tbs wakame- soak in 1 cup of boiling water to reconstitute

3 Tbs white miso

3 Tbs. red miso

1- 8 oz package ramen noodles, cooked according to directions

 

Fill a large pot with the water. Add the onions, carrots, garlic, ginger and turnips and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Add the broccoli and tofu. Drain the wakame and add to soup. Cook for another 10 minutes. Remove 1 cup of broth only, and in a separate bowl, dilute the 6 Tbs of miso in the cup of broth. Add the miso mixture back into the soup pot. Add more miso if desired for taste preferences. DO NOT BOIL THE SOUP ONCE THE MISO IS ADDED!

Keep the noodles separate and add individually to each bowl, to prevent the noodles from getting over cooked.

iEat Green - Dave Chapman Executive Director of The Real Organic Project

Dave Chapman has been an organic farmer for 39 years and owner of Long Wind Farm in Vermont. The farm started as a mixed vegetable operation, but transitioned to growing tomatoes in soil on 2-1/2 acres of glass greenhouses. Today, Long Wind Farm sells most of its crop through the wholesale market to stores around New England.

For the past six years, Dave has been actively working to reform the National Organic Program (NOP). He is a co-founder of Keep The Soil In Organic, a grassroots effort to change the NOP. After the National Organic Standard Board failed to protect the integrity of the NOP in Jacksonville in 2017, Dave became a co-founder of the Real Organic Project, where he is the current Executive Director. The Real Organic Project is a coalition of organic farmers and advocates who have come together to protect the integrity of organic farming. Organic farmers believe this effort is needed since the current USDA National Organic Program is now permitting hydroponics and CAFOs (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations) to be certified as organic. An integral part of organic farming includes improving soil fertility and that animals have adequate outdoor access and pasture, and our current system is falling short of that.  

Dave is also a proud member of the Organic Farmers Association and serves on its Policy Committee, in a continuing effort to reform the NOP and represent organic farmers in Washington

 

Mushroom Bolognese with Cashew Mascarpone

1 Ib. Organic Rigatoni (whole wheat, brown rice, semolina)

1 oz. dried porcini mushrooms, soaked in 1-1/2 cups hot water

3 stalks celery, diced fine

3 carrots

1 red pepper, seeds removed, diced

1 onion, chopped

10 oz. assorted mushrooms, chopped

3 Tbs. tomato paste

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

½ cup cashews, soaked for 2 hours

½ cup red wine

2 teaspoons dried oregano

1 t. dried basil

½ t. dried thyme

2 Tbs. minced garlic

¼ t. red pepper flakes (optional)

3 Tbs. chopped fresh Italian parsley

1-1/2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon pepper

Coat bottom of cast iron pan with olive oil. Sauté onions, carrots, celery for a few minutes, then add garlic and cook for 5 minutes. Drain the porcini mushrooms (reserve the mushroom water) and dice. Add the porcini mushrooms, along with the assorted chopped mushrooms, the dried herbs, and the tomato paste and cook for 5 minutes.  De-glaze the pan with the red wine and the reserved mushroom water, and let the mixture cook down for about 10 minutes, until the liquid is reduced by half.

In a food processor, mix the drained cashews with ½ cup of fresh water. Pulse until completely smooth, scraping down sides of food processor to incorporate all of the cashews. Add cashew mixture to the sauce. Taste and adjust salt, pepper and add the parsley.

Meanwhile, cook pasta according to directions in salted water, (al dente). Time it, so that the pasta just comes out of the water, when you are ready to mix it with the sauce. Reserve some of the pasta water to add to the Bolognese sauce if it needs to be thinned out. Garnish with parsley.

iEat Green - Qiana is the Executive Director of Just Food

Qiana is the Executive Director of Just Food, a food justice nonprofit based in New York City that galvanizes small-scale farmers, producers, and community members throughout the region. Just Food aims to shift the power, health, and wealth of historically marginalized and under resourced communities. Building towards a sovereign and healthy food system rooted in racial, social, economic, and environmental justice is the focus of her work. Qiana earned her Food Hub Management Certificate from the University of Vermont and her B.S. in Marketing from Hampton University. She serves on the Organizational Council of the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC). Qiana is an active CSA member of Rock Steady Farm & Flowers, volunteer, and serves on the boards of The Point CDC and the South Bronx Farmers Market.

In addition to her food system and advocacy experience, Qiana has also worked with municipal leaders across the country to help them find unique ways to improve the financial livelihood of their residents. She worked as the Cities for Financial Empowerment Coalition (CFE) Consultant for three years and served as the Paid Sick Leave Consultant during the initial public outreach phase of the Law in 2014. Both consultancies were with the NYC Department of Consumer Affairs. 

iEat Green - Seth Itzkan and Karl Thidemann Co-Founders and Co-Directors of Soil4Climate

Seth Itzkan is Co-founder and Co-director of Soil4Climate. He is an environmental futurist investigating innovative means of land management that offer hope for reversing global warming. He is a TEDx speaker on restoring grasslands and with planned grazing. He has consulted for The Boston Foundation, the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative and the US Bureau of the Census. He is a graduate of Tufts University, College of Engineering and the Studies of the Future Program at University of Houston-Clear Lake. His private consultancy is Planet-TECH Associates.

 

Karl Thidemann is a Co-founder and Co-director of Soil4Climate. He serves on the board of the Somerville Community Growing Center, a quarter-acre, urban oasis offering organic gardening experiences, as well as artistic and cultural programs, to the public. Karl is also Co-founder of Somerville Climate Action. Karl holds a B.A. in chemistry from Wesleyan University. His focus is climate communications, including poetry.

 

Cauliflower Fried Rice     

*Designed to meet the standards of the Whole30 Diet

 

4-6 servings

Ingredients

1- 12 oz. package of organic riced cauliflower

½  teaspoon salt

1 Tbs olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

1 stalk celery

1 Tbs minced garlic,

1 Tbs grated ginger

1 cup frozen organic peas

2 Tbs. coconut amino acids

2 t. dark sesame oil

¼ cup cilantro

1 lg or 2 small carrots, diced

1 t. hot sesame oil

 

Procedure

1. In a wok, sauté onions, celery and carrots in olive oil with garlic and ginger for 7 minutes.
2. Add the riced cauliflower, and peas.
3. Add the cilantro, coconut amino acids, and the hot and dark sesame oil.
4. Taste. Add salt and pepper to taste

 

*Feel free to add other vegetables. I was serving it on the side of a Vegetable Stir-Fry, so I didn’t want anymore veggies.

iEat Green - Wen-Jay Ying - Founder and Director Local Roots NYC

Wen-Jay Ying is the founder and CEO of Local Roots NYC, a small business that has revolutionized the way New Yorkers shop for food. Through their Farm Share, subscribe online for a season's worth of food that comes direct from a farm within 2 hours of NYC. Then pick up at a neighborhood bar, cafe or have it delivered. It's a customized farmers market brought right to you. Wen-Jay believes the way we eat can change the world and is dedicated to healing our local food system. She has spoken on various panels, Sirius Radio, Heritage radio and NY1 on entrepreneurship, fighting food waste, and local food. Wen-Jay received the Entrepreneur of the Year award by former Mayor Bloomberg, is an alumni of the Good Work Institute which is dedicated to creating regenerative businesses, and featured in Viceland's new show Hustle. 

 

Link: LocalRootsNYC.com and @LocalRootsNYC. 

Camellia Pinto Beans with Swiss Chard and Vegan Chorizo

1 lb pinto beans

3 Bay leaves

4 cloves garlic

10 cups water

1 organic onion, chopped

1 Tbs. chopped Garlic

1 tsp. salt

½ t. pepper

2 bunches Swiss Chard, cut into thin threads

2 Vegan Chorizo, cut lengthwise and then into 1” pieces

1 tsp. cumin

1 tsp. smoked paprika

1 tsp. sweet paprika

Olive oil

 

1. Rinse and drain the pinto beans. Put them in a large heavy pot with 10 cups of water, the bay leaves and the cloves of garlic. Bring to a boil, and cook for 10 minutes.
2. Lower the temperature, and simmer the beans for 1-1/2 hours, until soft. Drain the beans and reserve the water they were cooked in.
3. In the same pot, sauté the onion in oil for 5 minutes and then add the vegan chorizo and garlic.
4. Cook for 5 minutes, then add the Swiss Chard and cook for another few minutes until wilted.
5. Add the beans back in, along with the salt, pepper, cumin, and paprikas. Simmer for 10 minutes, stirring regularly, and adding the reserved water to get the consistency you want.
6. Adjust the spices according to taste.

iEat Green - Kayleen St.John - Genuine Foods

Kayleen St.John, MS, RD is an Executive Director at Genuine Foods, a for service management company that measures it's success by the health and well-being of the communities it serves. Prior to joining Genuine Foods, she was the COO at Euphebe Healthcare and the Director of Nutrition at Natural Gourmet Institute. Kayleen is currently an adjunct professor of Nutrition in Food Studies at NYU. In addition to her roles at food-based companies, she has also worked in private practice consulting with clients on the topics of heart disease, gut health, and weight loss.

 

As a registered dietitian with a deep-rooted love for food, she is passionate about sharing a simplified method for approaching culinary nutrition, and demystifying nutrition science as a whole. She developed the Culinary Nutrition Certificate Program at Natural Gourmet Institute and collaborated with Vegetarian Times magazine to develop and instruct the ‘Foundations of Plant-Based Nutrition’ online course, which covers the fundamentals of nutrition and plant-centric cooking techniques.

Vegan BBQ Pulled Jackfruit Sandwiches

To Make 4 Sandwiches

 

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 1 hr & 35 minutes

Total Time  1 hr & 50 minutes

4 servings

 

Ingredients

For the pulled jackfruit:

• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 tsp. chopped garlic
• 1- 20 oz can young green jackfruit in brine or water
• 8 baby Portobello mushrooms, sliced
• 1 cup red pepper diced
• 1 celery stalk, diced small
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon liquid smoke
• ½ teaspoon paprika
• ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
• ½ tsp. cayenne pepper
• 1 cup BBQ-sauce
• 2 cups vegetable stock
• 1 tsp. salt
• ½ tsp. black pepper
• 2 star anise
• 2 tsp. vegan Worcestershire Sauce
• Olive oil

 

For the vegan slaw:

• 1 cup savoy cabbage
• 1 cup red cabbage
• 1 carrot grated
• 3 tablespoon cilantro, chopped
• salt, to taste
• black pepper, to taste
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• Juice from ½ lime

 

Instructions

1. Drain and rinse the jackfruit.
2. In a heavy stock pot or Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Sauté the onion for 5 minutes or until it becomes translucent. Then add the garlic and cook for another minute.
3. Add the jackfruit, and all of the spices, including the liquid smoke and star anise. Cook for a few minutes, making sure the jackfruit is covered with the spices. Then add the mushrooms, peppers, and celery, and cook for about 5 minutes. Then add the stock and simmer on low for 20 minutes, until half of the liquid is evaporated. Add the BBQ sauce and cook for another 15- 20 minutes. Use 2 forks to separate and shred the jackfruit.
4. Either transfer the jackfruit to a baking pan or place the Dutch oven into a 350 degree oven, and cook the jackfruit for another 40 minutes, stirring half way through.
5. In then meantime make the vegan slaw: Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and let marinate until needed
6. Serve the pulled jackfruit on a roll with the slaw.

iEat Green - Alicia Newton - Nourish My Soul

Alicia Newton is the Founder and Executive Director of Nourish My Soul where her passion for using healthy food to heal more than a body, but also mind and spirit is put to work in communities every day. Getting hands in the dirt and nurturing life can have a profound impact on reducing stress and anxiety, while cooking and sharing a meal with others feeds more than a body, but also a soul. Alicia believes in the strength and resilience of every community and brings a legacy of health, hope, and strength to the many communities she has worked in  - building school and community gardens, outdoor learning experiences, farmers markets, youth empowerment programs, culinary training, and community meals and food access programs.

 

Outside of Nourish My Soul, Alicia can be found enjoying time with her husband and four children (usually outside!) , running in the woods with her dog, laughing with friends until her stomach hurts, or sewing fun creations.

Vegan Broccoli Mushroom Quiche

Preheat oven to 425’ degrees

Makes 2 quiche

Ingredients

2 prepared Vegan pie shell

1 Block soft Tofu

1 cup coconut milk

½ t salt

1/8 t. white pepper

2 t. chopped garlic

½  t. turmeric

¼ t. nutmeg of nutmeg

1 t. dried oregano

1 t. dried basil

2 Tbs. fresh chopped parsley

1-2 Tbs. Dijon mustard

1 broccoli, cut into florets

1 onion, diced

10 baby Portobello mushrooms, sliced

2 cups fresh spinach

1 cup cherry tomatoes, cut in half

1 Tbs. mirin

1 Tbs. tamari

2 Tbs. ground flax seed

1 Tbs. apple cider vinegar

1 Tbs. water

Directions

Soften 2 Tbs. of ground flax seed in 1 Tbs. of apple cider vinegar and 1 Tbs. water. Let sit for 10 minutes.

In the meantime, using a food processor, combine tofu, salt and pepper, nutritional yeast, garlic, and coconut milk. Pulse until smooth. Add apple cider vinegar and flax seed mixture. Blend again. In heavy sauté pan, sauté onions till translucent, add broccoli, cook for a few more minutes, add Portobello mushrooms, then add tomatoes  and spinach. Season with the mirin, tamari and parsley, and cook until soft and most of the liquid has evaporated. Drain vegetable to remove and remaining liquid. Spread 1-2 TBS. of mustard over entire bottom of pie shell, then add the sautéed vegetables. Pour tofu mixture over vegetables and mix lightly in pie shell. Bake for 15 minutes at 425’, then reduce temperature to 375’ and bake for 40 minutes more.

iEat Green - Alina Zolotareva - Aero Farms

Alina Zolotareva is the Senior Marketing and Nutrition Manager at AeroFarms, the largest indoor vertical farm in the world, based in Newark, NJ. A Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN), Alina leverages her background in nutrition science and public health to translate nutrition science to consumers, playing a key role in AeroFarms’ mission to combat food deserts and bring fresh, local, nutritious leafy greens to all communities. In addition to marketing, communications and product management at AeroFarms, she also leads marketing strategy for AeroFarms' consumer brand, Dream Greens. 

Before AeroFarms, Alina worked for a culinary nutrition foodservice consulting company based in NYC focused on improving health through great tasting and sustainable food. Alina is a graduate of Cornell University and Presidential Research Scholar with a B.S. with Honors in Nutrition Sciences and Dietetics.