iEat Green with Bhavani

iEat Green - Tristram Stuart - 07.14.16

Tristram Stuart is an international award-winning author, speaker, campaigner, and expert on the environmental and social impacts of food production. His books, The Bloodless Revolution (2006) and Waste: Uncovering the Global Food Scandal (2009), have been described as "a genuinely revelatory contribution to this history of human ideas” (Daily Telegraph) and his TED talk has been watched over a million times.The environmental campaigning organization he founded, Feedback (www.feedbackglobal.org), has spread its work into dozens of countries worldwide, working with governments, international institutions, businesses, non-governmental organizations, grassroots organizations and the public to change society’s attitude toward wasting food. Its campaigns and events include Feeding the 5000, a free public feast using food that would otherwise be wasted; the Pig Idea, which seeks to change laws that restrict food waste being used to feed pigs; and, the Gleaning Network of volunteers that harvest surplus produce that would be left to rot and redistributes to UK charities. Tristram was the winner of the international environmental award, The Sophie Prize, in 2011. He is an Ashoka Fellow, a National Geographic Emerging Explorer, a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader and, most recently, a Champion 12.3 for the UN Sustainable Development Goal of halving food waste and reducing food loss globally by 2030. In 2016, Tristram launched Toast Ale, a beer made with surplus bread that would otherwise be wasted. All profits go to the charity Feedback.

Tempeh Sauerkraut Chili Reuben- Makes 4 sandwiches

1- 8 oz. block organic tempeh,

Olive Oil

Sriracha Sauce, Vidalia Onion Sauce and Hot Sauce

2 cups Organic Sauerkraut, drained

½ cup vegan mayo (Just Mayo is my favorite)

¼ cup Organic German mustard

8 whole sweet Piquante Peppers, chopped

4 small organic tomatoes, sliced

Lettuce Greens or Arugula (optional)

8 slices of your favorite bread, toasted (I used Ezekiel sprouted bread)

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Slice the tempeh block into quarters, and then divide each quarter horizontally in half, creating 2 thinner slices, 8 slices total.

Sauté each slice in oil until golden brown, turn over and repeat on other side.

In a small bowl, make a sauce with Sriracha Sauce, Jalapeño Sauce and Vidalia Onion Sauce. (I used sauces I found in my fridge. Feel free to improvise on what you have on hand. A BBQ sauce can work well too!) When both sides are golden, brush the side facing up with sauce mixture, and turn over in the hot pan and allow it to sizzle and coat the tempeh. Repeat on other side. Remove from pan and lay out on paper towel to absorb the oil.

Make a mixture with the Just Mayo and mustard, and add the chopped Piquante Peppers to it.

Heat the sauerkraut over medium heat until hot. 

Toast the bread and spread each slice with the vegan mayo mixture. Place 2 pieces of the tempeh on each of the bottom 4 pieces of bread. Cover with tomato slices and sauerkraut. Top each sandwich with a piece of toast, with the mayo mixture on it. Serve with Salad greens and pickles on the side

iEat Green - Amanda Oborne - 07.07.16

Amanda Oborne is Vice President of Food & Farms at Ecotrust. Amanda leads a team seeking to re imagine and re-regionalize our food system. By harnessing the purchasing power of schools and institutions, empowering midsize local farmers and ranchers, and developing infrastructure to connect the two, Ecotrust is helping build a resilient regional food economy that nourishes communities and renews the resources on which we depend. Amanda has a master’s degree in integrated marketing communications from Northwestern University, and spent 15 years in private enterprise before joining Ecotrust in 2010.

Mushroom Medley Stir Fry

1 lb. package of organic Brown Rice Spaghetti, cooked al dente

2 lbs. organic white mushrooms , cleaned and quartered

1 onion, cut into slivers

2-3 carrots, julienne

3 Portobello mushrooms

2- 8 oz. pk. of tempeh, cut into cubes

1 cup olive oil

¼ aji mirin

¼ cup tamari

2 Tbs. dark sesame oil

¼ cup peanuts

20 cloves garlic, chopped fine

3 scallions

½ bunch of broccoli

1 cup snow peas

¼ - ½ t. red pepper flakes (optional)

¼ cup or more of Fresh parsley or cilantro

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1. In wok, sauté mushrooms on high heat, in olive oil with 4 cloves of chopped garlic, until soft. Set aside in bowl. Wipe out wok.
2. In wok, sauté carrots and onions, on high heat, in olive oil with 4 cloves of chopped garlic, until soft. Set aside in bowl. Wipe out wok.
3. In wok, sauté tempeh cubes on high heat, in olive oil with 4 cloves of chopped garlic, until golden brown. Add tamari, aji mirin and dark sesame oil. Add the peanuts and sautéed mushrooms back into wok.
4. Add the scallions and broccoli and cook for another 3 minutes.
5. Add the snow peas and cook for 1 minute.
6. Add the fresh parsley or cilantro, or a mixture of both. Taste. Add more Tamari or dark sesame oil to desired taste.

iEat Green - Wenonah Hauter - 06.30.16

Wenonah Hauter is an activist, author and progressive policy advocate. She is the founder and executive director of Food & Water Watch, an organization that, under her leadership, has fundamentally transformed the national debate about hydraulic fracturing (fracking), energy and the environment.

Wenonah has three decades of experience campaigning and writing on food, water, energy and environmental issues. She has played leading roles in successful campaigns to ban fracking in New York, label genetically modified foods, protect public water systems from privatization and promote renewable energy. She has trained and mentored hundreds of organizers and activists across the country and worked at the national, state and local levels to develop policy positions and legislative and field strategies to secure real wins for communities and the environment.

Sesame Bok Choi and Snow Peas with Rice Noodles

1 lb. package of Thai Rice Noodles, cooked al dente

4 lg. organic baby Bella mushrooms

1 onion, cut into slivers

4 cups cut, washed and spun, bok choi

2 Tbs. chopped ginger

2 Tbs. chopped garlic

4 cups snow peas, cut on angle

olive oil

1 t. corn starch

2 Tbs. aji mirin

¼ cup tamari

2 Tbs. dark sesame oil

1 t. hot sesame oil (optional)

Sauce

¼ cup tahini

1 Tbs. chopped garlic

1- quarter size piece of ginger

1 Tbs. Mirin

1 t. hot sesame oil

¼ cup chopped peanuts

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1. Cook the pasta according to the directions. Time it, so that the pasta is ready when the stir fry is finished.

2. Sauté the onions in olive oil until translucent.

3. Add the Bok Choi, ginger and garlic, and cook for 3 minutes at high heat.

4. Add the baby Portobello mushrooms, and cook for another 3 minutes.

5. Make a mixture of the corn starch, the mirin and the tamari. Add it to the vegetables.

6. Add the snow peas and cook for 1 minute. Add the hot sesame oil if using.

7. Make the sauce in mini food processor or blender, by adding all of the ingredients and blending well.

8. Pour sauce on top of Noodles and toss well. Add Vegetables to rice Noodles and toss gently.

9. Serve immediately.

iEat Green - Charlie Marshall - 06.23.16

Charlie Marshall grew up on his family's farm and their restaurant on Lummi Island, in Washington State. He worked in the family restaurant from the age of 12 - a career path he has continued along ever since. Charlie's parents' restaurant naturally used many ingredients from their own island farm and from an early age he was lucky enough (though he didn't realize how lucky at the time) to eat and cook locally, seasonally, and sustainably. When it came time to open his own restaurant he wanted to emulate that, while still making it a fun, casual experience.

Charlie opened The Marshal, his casual NYC farm-to-table restaurant, in the fall of 2013, to great success and is currently working on opening his second restaurant, Dianne & Elisabeth in late summer of 2016.

Mint, Feta and Watermelon Salad

Serves 8-10

1 medium Seedless Watermelon

1/3 cup white Balsamic Vinegar

Juice of ½ lemon

2 Tbs Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper

1 Red Onion, chopped

1 lb Feta cheese, cut into small cubes

1 medium bunch mint leaves, chopped

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1. Chop the watermelon into 1” cubes. Drain in colander for ½ hour with a bowl underneath, so you can drink the juice!

2. Whisk together the white balsamic vinegar, olive oil and lemon juice in a bowl.

3. Mix the watermelon, feta, onion and mint in a large bowl. Chill in refrigerator. Drizzle with dressing and toss right before serving
4. Sprinkle with salt and pepper

iEat Green - Elise Golan - 06.16.16

Elise H. Golan is the Director for Sustainable Development for USDA.  In this role, she provides leadership in planning, coordinating, and analyzing the Department's various policies, programs and activities that impact and relate to sustainable agricultural, natural resource, and community development including food security. 

Prior to this position, Elise served as the Associate Director of the Food Economics Division at the Economic Research Service, USDA. She received her Ph.D. in agricultural economics from the University of California at Berkeley and completed a post-doctorate fellowship focusing on environmental economics at the University of Haifa, Israel.  Before joining USDA, Elise did consulting work for, among others, the World Bank, the International Labour Organization, and the California Department of Finance.  She served as a senior staff economist on the President’s Council of Economic Advisers from 1998-99. 

Dr. Golan’s research has spanned a wide range of sustainability issues, including land tenure and sustainable land management in the Sahel and West Africa; rice-straw burning and sustainable land management in California; regional and U.S. food-system modeling; food labeling and market development; food access, affordability, and security; and the distributional consequences of food policy. 

Gluten-Free, Vegan, Lace Chocolate Chip Cookies

Preheat oven to 350*

Ingredients

1 cup coconut oil

½ cup organic brown sugar

½ cup organic white sugar

1 Tbs. apple Cider Vinegar

1 tablespoon vanilla

¼ cup organic apple sauce

1 cup Pamela’s gluten-free, vegan flour mix

1 cup organic gluten-free oats, pulsed in food processor for a few seconds.

½ t. salt

½ t. baking soda

½ t. baking powder

1 t. cinnamon

¼ t. nutmeg

1-1/4 cup organic choc chips

• Cream coconut oil, brown sugar and white sugar in electric mixer. Beat for 5 minutes. Then add apple cider vinegar, apple sauce and vanilla.
• In separate bowl, mix dry ingredients together. Add to wet, one cup at a time, mixing between additions. When thoroughly mixed, add choc chips,
• Drop cookies onto parchment paper. Sprayed with oil. Bake for 8 minutes. Turn pan halfway thru if your oven is hotter in the back.

Let cool before transferring to cookie platter

iEat Green - Denise O’Brien - 06.09.16

Denise O'Brien is a farmer and community organizer from Atlantic, Iowa. She has farmed with her husband, Larry Harris, for 40 years. She maintains sixteen acres of organic fruit and vegetable production incorporating high tunnel production. O’Brien also raises turkeys and chickens for meat and egg production. Denise mentors many women who are the next generation of farmers.

Through farming, Denise has had numerous opportunities to work within the agricultural community working on policy development on the state, national and international level and becoming involved in the community of women in agriculture, organic production, local food systems and conservation issues.

Denise has been involved in her community as well as in the agricultural sector. She is the founder of Women Food and Agriculture Network. O’Brien was a Food and Society Fellow, a W.K. Kellogg funded program from 2001 to 2003. She currently serves on the board of the Pest Action Network and the Sustainable Iowa Land Trust. In 2012 O’Brien completed a year assignment with the United States Department of Agriculture as an Agriculture Adviser in Afghanistan.

Baba Ghannouj  

3 lg Eggplants, roasted, 

1 cup Tahini

2/3 cup lemon juice

2 Tbs. chopped garlic

1 Tbs. cumin

1 ½ t. salt

¼ t. pepper

¼ cup chopped Parsley   

In a food processor, pulse eggplant until blended. Add remaining ingredients and process until smooth. Add water, and puree until desired consistency. Adjust seasonings for taste.  

*Garnish with Olive Oil, pine nuts and parsley or pomegranate

iEat Green - Michael Phillips - 06.02.16

Michael Phillips is known across the country for helping people grow healthy fruit. The “community orchard movement” that he helped found at www.GrowOrganicApples.com provides a full immersion into the holistic approach to orcharding. His Lost Nation Orchard is part of a medicinal herb farm in northern New Hampshire. Michael’s newest book, The Holistic Orchard: Tree Fruits and Berries the Biological Way, recently received Garden Book of the Year honors from the American Horticultural Society.

Mediterranean Spring Medley

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

10 cloves garlic, chopped fine

2-3 organic portabella mushrooms, sliced and cut into 1” pieces

2 cups sugar snap peas

1 can cannelloni beans

2 can organic fire roasted tomatoes

½ t. thyme

1 t. oregano

2 Tbs. white wine

1 Tbs. small capers

¼ t. red chili flakes, optional

¼ cup organic calamata olives, sliced

¼ cup chopped fresh tomatoes

¼ cup chopped Italian parsley, stems removed

2 cups cooked organic brown rice fusilli pasta (or any pasta of your choice)

Salt and Pepper to taste

Olive oil

Fresh parsley to garnish

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Cover the bottom of a medium size cast iron pan with olive oil. When oil is hot, add the onions. And cook for a few minutes and then add the garlic. Continue cooking at med. high heat, stirring constantly for 5 minutes. Then add the Portobello mushrooms. Cook for a few minutes more, than add the white wine, thyme, oregano, and red pepper flakes. Cook at high heat for a few more minutes, and then add the sugar snap peas, cannelloni beans, fire roasted tomatoes, olives, and capers. Add the pasta. Add the chopped parsley and fresh tomatoes and cook for a few more minutes to bring the flavors together. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Do not over cook the snap peas!

iEat Green - Jasmine Fuego & Leah Song - 05.19.16

Jasmine Fuego

Co-Founder of the Permaculture Action Network and Bay Area based Performance Artist. Jasmine is an animated mover, shaker and cross pollinator dedicated to bridging entertainment, education and ecology to bring about a just and generative cultural narrative. Jasmine specializes in social permaculture, currently facilitating at the Regenerative Design institute and also does mindfulness training with elementary students in Richmond, Ca. Her non-profit has hosted more than Permaculture Action Days, HUBS and courses nationwide, bringing ecological education and action to thousands of concert and festival goers across the nation.

http://www.jasminefuego.com/  

www.permacultureaction.org

Leah Song

Rising Appalachia brings to the stage a collection of sounds, stories, and songs steeped in tradition and a devotion to world culture. Intertwining a deep reverence for folk music and a passion for justice, they have made it their life’s work to sing songs that speak to something ancient yet surging with relevance. Whether playing at Red Rocks or in rail cars, at Italian street fairs or to Bulgarian herbalists, this fiercely independent band has blazed a unique and colorful path across the globe. 11 years into their movement, Rising Appalachia believes that the roots of all these old songs are vital to our ever evolving soundscape.

http://www.risingappalachia.com/

Gluten Free Pecan and Chocolate Biscotti

Dough

• 6 tablespoons butter
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups GF Flour
• 3 tablespoons fair trade cocoa powder, Dutch-process preferred
• 1 ½ cups ground pecans
• 1/2 cup org, fair trade chocolate chips, mini chips preferred
• 2 tablespoons powdered sugar for sprinkling on top

Directions

1) Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease (or line with parchment) one large (about 18" x 13") baking sheet.

2) In a medium-sized bowl, beat the butter, sugar, salt, vanilla, and baking powder until the mixture is smooth and creamy.

3) Beat in the eggs; the batter may look slightly curdled.

4) At low speed of your mixer, add the GF flour, stirring until smooth; the dough will be sticky. Add the ground pecans

5) Divide the dough in half, leaving half in the bowl, and placing half on the prepared pan. Volume-wise, half the dough is a about 1 1/2 cups.

6) Shape the dough on the pan into a log that's about 14" long x 2 ½" wide. Straighten the log, and smooth its top and sides; a wet spatula or wet bowl scraper (or wet fingers) works well here. Place the pan in the freezer while you make the chocolate dough.

7) To prepare the chocolate dough, add the cocoa powder to the vanilla dough in the bowl, stirring to combine. Stir in the chocolate chips.

8) Remove the pan from the freezer. Using your wet fingers, spread the chocolate dough atop the vanilla dough, pressing it down.

9) Bake the dough for 25 minutes. Remove it from the oven, and allow it to cool on the pan anywhere from 10 to 25 minutes; just work it into the schedule of whatever else you're doing in the kitchen. While the biscotti are cooling slightly, reduce the oven temperature to 325°F.

10) If you've used parchment on your baking sheet, use it to lift the biscotti off the sheet onto a flat surface. If you haven't used parchment, carefully lift the biscotti off the sheet onto a flat surface. Using a serrated knife or sharp chef's knife, cut the biscotti crosswise into 3/4" slices. Or cut the biscotti on the diagonal — for fewer, longer biscotti. As you're slicing, be sure to cut straight up and down, perpendicular to the pan; if you cut unevenly, biscotti may be thicker at the top than the bottom, and they'll topple over during their second bake.

11) Set the biscotti, on edge, back on the baking sheet. Return the biscotti to the oven, and bake them for 30 to 40 minutes, till they feel very dry and are beginning to turn golden. They'll still feel a tiny bit moist in the very center, if you break off a piece; but they'll continue to dry out as they cool.

12) Remove the biscotti from the oven, and transfer them to a rack to cool.

13) Sprinkle them once they're cool with the confectioners' sugar. Yield: 21 biscotti, about 4" to 5" long.

iEat Green - Catherine Gill – 05.05.16

Catherine manages investor relations, communications and marketing at Root Capital, an agricultural lender that provides loans and advisory services to small and growing agricultural businesses in Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, and Indonesia. Since its founding in 1999, Root Capital has disbursed nearly $1BN in capital to more than 500 enterprises that represent over 2M farmers.

In her role at Root Capital, Catherine oversees all debt and philanthropy fundraising, including management of $125M in assets from over 200 individual, corporate, foundation and government impact investors. In 2012, Catherine played a leadership role in launching Root Capital’s Women in Agriculture Initiative, which aims to strengthen and grow gender-inclusive businesses that provide reliable economic opportunities for women in agricultural value chains.

Prior to joining Root Capital, Catherine spent ten years in the Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) industry, at both the Nonprofit Finance Fund and the Structured Employment Economic Development Corporation (SEEDCO), working as a loan officer and financial management consultant for community development projects across New England.

She has served as an adjunct professor at Boston University’s School of Management and lectures widely on impact investing and social enterprise development. Catherine holds a bilingual M.B.A from the Instituto de Estudios Superiores de la Empresa (IESE) in Barcelona and a B.A. in ancient Greek from Wellesley College. She lives in Lexington, Massachusetts with her husband, son, daughter, and two lop-eared rabbits.

Chocolate Flourless Cake

Ingredients

1 pound organic semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1 inch slices
1/4 cup Café Patron

8 large eggs
1/4 cup organic sugar
1-1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
Confectioners' sugar for garnish
Fresh raspberries, for garnish

Butter to grease pan

Directions-   Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Grease a 9-inch spring form pan with butter and line the bottom with parchment paper, cut into a round to fit. Wrap the bottom and sides with tin foil.

Combine the chocolate, butter, and Café Patron in a double boiler. Melt, stirring constantly, until smooth and creamy, about 5 minutes; set aside

Meanwhile combine eggs, sugar, vanilla, and salt in an electric mixer bowl, and beat until double in bulk, about 7-10 minutes. Using a rubber spatula, fold 1/3 of egg mixture into chocolate mixture. When combined, fold in another 1/3 of egg mixture, and fold until incorporated. Repeat with remaining egg mixture, and fold in again, until all of the egg mixture is evenly combined with the chocolate mixture.

Pour the batter into the prepared spring form pan and place in a roasting pan. Pour boiling water all around the pan, until it comes halfway up the sides. Bake for 40-45 minutes. You will know it is ready when the edges of the cake start to set and pull away from the sides. Remove the cake from roasting pan and let cool on wire rack to room temperature. Remove foil, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight.

To remove spring form pan, run a knife around the edges, and release pan. Invert the cake onto a large plate, and remove the parchment paper from bottom. Re-invert cake onto a platter (so the top is up) and garnish with confectioners' sugar and raspberries. Serve with vanilla ice cream or fresh whipped cream.

Serves 16-20

iEat Green - Courtney Paisley – 04.28.16

Courtney Paisley is the director of Young Professionals for Agricultural Development (YPARD), a global youth network bringing stronger engagement and inclusion of youth in the agricultural sector.  Courtney’s educational background is in natural resource management with an emphasis on international programmes.  She has previously worked for SolarAid, IOM, Oxfam and the CGIAR in Kenya and Tanzania.

Braised Seitan with Shitake and Portobello Mushroom Medley

1 package of your favorite seitan, drained and lay out on dish towel to dry

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

2-3 carrots, cut into chunks      

1 head broccoli, cur into florets

3 portabello mushrooms, sliced

6-8 Shitake mushrooms, stems removed, sliced

2 Tbs. grated ginger

2 Tbs. chopped garlic,

Olive oil

4 Tbs. tamari (to taste)

¼ t. smoked paprika

1 Tbs. Dark sesame oil

2 Tbs. Aji Mirin cooking wine

1 t. hot sesame oil (optional)

2 Tbs sesame seeds, toasted

Cover the bottom of wok with oil. When oil is hot, add the onions. Add 1 Tbs. garlic, 1 Tbs. ginger and carrots. Continue cooking at med. high heat, stirring constantly for 5 minutes. Then add the broccoli, Add more oil or a little water if needed. Cook for a few minutes more, than add the mushrooms, and let those cook down for a few minutes. When the mushrooms are soft, remove the vegetables from the wok and transfer to bowl, set aside. Add more oil to the bottom of the wok. Add the remaining ginger and garlic to the wok and cook for 30 seconds. Add the seitan, and sear that for 5 minutes. Add smoked paprika, and cook for 2 more minutes. Add 2 Tbs. tamari and sear for another few minutes. Return the vegetables to the wok and add aji mirin and another 2 Tbs. tamari. Cook the vegetables with the seitan for a few minutes to allow the flavors to meld. Add the dark sesame oil for taste and the hot sesame oil, if using. Taste. Add more tamari if desired. Sprinkle with 2 Tbs. of toasted sesame seeds.