iEat Green with Bhavani

iEat Green - An Interview with Sara Romeo-White, Author of “Binge My Story” - 05/29/14

My guest tomorrow on the Progressive Radio Network is someone who finally conquered her life long struggle with an eating disorder. Sara Romeo-White just completed her memoir,bingemystory.com, which is a multimedia account of her  struggle to get control of her Binge Eating disorder. The memoir is so honest and touching, that one can’t help feeling her pain, embarrassment, and desperation, as her weight exceeds 300 pounds. Please join me for what promises to be an eye opening exposé, into the life of someone with an eating disorder. Sara also blogs at bingemyblog.tumblr.com.

iEat Green - Rally against Fracking, Boycott GMOs - 05/22/14

Take Action: Rally to Ban Fracking at the State Democratic Convention, Tell New York – I Want GMO Labeling, Boycott the GMA and Traitor Brands!

TOMORROW! Rally to Ban Fracking at the State Democratic Convention

This Thursday, May 22nd, Governor Cuomo is attending the Democratic Convention on Long Island and New Yorkers from across the state are planning on meeting him there to tell him to ban fracking. This is a very important event for Cuomo – and for New Yorkers fighting to protect our state from fracking. Cuomo will describe his vision for New York’s future, and we must show him the power of the movement demanding it be frack-free. Cuomo will ask New Yorkers for their support – and New Yorkers will call on him to ban fracking and stop fracking infrastructure. Food and Water Watchhas arranged for buses from different locations through-out the State. For more information, or if you are interested in purchasing bus tickets, click here.

Tell New York – I Want GMO Labeling

Two weeks ago in Vermont, Governor Peter Shumlin signed the first no strings attached GMO labeling bill into law in the U.S. This is an incredible moment for our country. Let’s keep the momentum going and make sure that New York will be next! Earlier this month, Bill A.3525 was successfully voted out of the Assembly Consumer Affairs and Protection Committee by a margin of 9-6 and has another committee hurdle to clear before a potential full vote by the Assembly. The problem is, already Monsanto and Big Food lobbyists have promised to sue Vermont and they’re working to kill mandatory labeling in DC, so we need your help today! Make a stand for GMO labeling today, tell your elected officials that you support mandatory GMO labeling and want them to act immediately to pass a bill into law in New York! Click here to take action.

Boycott the GMA and Traitor Brands!

Soon after Vermont passed a GMO labeling law, the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) began its campaign to destroy it. The GMA plans to sue in federal court to overturn Vermont’s new law, H.112. On top of that, they are currently pushing  a bill in Congress that would not only overturn every state’s right to enact a GMO labeling law, but also legalize the practice of labeling GMO foods “natural.” This is unacceptable! We have a right to know what is in our food! Take the pledge today to boycott the 300-plus members of the GMA, including the Traitor Brands! Your message will be sent to the 12 Traitor Brand companies listed. Monsanto, Dow, Dupont, Kellogg’s, General Mills, Coca-Cola. These are just a few of the 300-plus members of the GMA. Combined, they own more than 6,000 brand name products, including foods, beverages, seeds, home and garden supplies, pet food, herbicides and pesticides. Even if you don’t buy most of those products, you may not be aware that many of your favorite organic and natural brands, like Honest Tea, Muir Glen, Odwalla, Kashi, Earthgrains, Santa Cruz and others, are owned by corporations that do belong to the GMA. If we stop buying their brands, they know there’s a good chance we’ll find alternative brands. And we might never look back.  It’s time for consumers in every state to band together on consumers’ right to know what’s in our food, on states’ rights and on our basic freedoms to protect our health and our communities.Click here to take the pledge today!

iEat Green - An Interview with Bryant Terry, Chef & Author of “Afro-Vegan” - 05/15/14

This week, I am very excited to have Bryant Terry as my guest, the award winning chef, author and food activist. I invited him on to talk to us about his new book, Afro-Vegan, which is a cookbook that celebrates the foods, flavors and traditions of the African and Caribbean people, while exploring the history and cultures that created these foods. As a food activist, Bryant recognizes that access to good, healthy, real, unprocessed food, should be a right and not a privilege, but that our broken, industrial food system does not support that belief. His work in educating the public to reclaim our food system and our traditions, supports the building of community, the growing of our food and the joys of cooking together. Please join me, this Thursday, as we hear from Bryant Terry.

iEat Green - An Interview with Mark Bittman, Author & Food Writer for The New York Times - 05/08/14

This weekend is the Edible Institute at the New School, where there will be great discussions and presentations on topics ranging from The Future of the Food Movement, Fracking, Technology, Sustainable Fisheries, and Cultural Realities within the Food Justice Movement. The keynote speaker on Saturday is Mark Bittman, who is my guest on today's show. Mark is a New York Times food writer,  Opinion columnist, and author.  His books include the bestselling, How to Cook Everything, and VB6 (Vegan Before 6), where he introduces people to theconcept of the flexitarian diet. This week, his latest book, the VB6 Cookbook came out, which is the perfect compliment to the VB6 Primer, and would make an awesome Mothers Day gift! I hope you can join us this Thursday!!

Gluten-Free Fig, Goat Cheese and Caramelized Onion  Pizza

Preheat oven to 500’

Makes 2 Individual Pizzas

Start with 1 package Udi’s Gluten-Free Pie Crusts

Olive Oil

2 Onions, cut into thin slivers

Balsamic Vinegar

1-pint fresh figs, cut into quarter wedges

1- 5oz. Organic Goat Cheese log

¼ cup shredded mozzarella cheese

parsley

1. Brush crusts with a little olive oil.
2. Sauté onions in olive oil until they start to brown.
3. Drizzle with a little Balsamic Vinegar (about 1 teaspoon) Continue to cook on medium heat, until the onions are caramelized.
4. Spread out onions evenly onto both pizza crusts.
5. Divide Goat Cheese between the two pizzas and crumble all over
6. Sprinkle the pizzas with mozzarella cheese
7. Place the figs all around the pizzas
8. Bake in a 500 degree oven on cookie sheet for 6 minutes. Garnish with fresh parsley.

iEat Green - Food Hackathon - 05/01/14

An Interview with Tim West – Chef, Writer and Co-Founder of Food Hackathon

My guest is Tim West, one of the chefs who has been recognized by Zagat’s as one of their “30 under 30″ chefs. Tim was responsible for starting the first Slow Food chapter at Culinary Institute of 
America, and went on to working at the St. Regis Hotel in NY, before moving out to California to become the chef at the Facebook Headquarters. His experience at Facebook showed him how he could merge his passion for sustainable food with technology entrepreneurship, to help change our food system for the better. In 2013, Tim co-created Food Hackathon, a coming together of chefs, entrepreneurs, social media people, food producers, investors and foodies, to brainstorm, cross-pollinate ideas, and spark innovation in the eco-food system. The Food Hackathon model is being replicated this weekend in Washington DC and in two weeks in Germany. And this is just the beginning! 

Stuffed Acorn Squash

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.

Ingredients

5 acorn squash, cut in half, seeds removed, bottom made flat

1 onion, chopped

2 carrots, diced

2 parsnip, diced

6 oz. shitake mushrooms, sliced

2 stalks celery, chopped

½ t. Chinese Five Spice

1 zucchini, diced

1 yellow summer squash, diced

2 cups broccoli, small florets

½ cauliflower, cut into florets

1 can cannelloni beans

1 Tbs. chopped sage

1 Tbs. minced garlic

1 Tbs. minced ginger

¼ cup nutritional yeast

¼ cup water

1 cup chopped assorted peppers

1 bunch asparagus, cut on the diagonal into 1” pieces

Olive oil

1 Tb. tamari

1 Tbs. aji mirin

1/3 cup toasted slivered almonds

2 cups cooked Wild Rice

¼ cup chopped parsley

1. Cut acorn squash in half lengthwise. Remove seeds and cut off bottom, so squash can sit flat.
2.  Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with mixed herbs. Lay face up in casserole pan. Pour a little water around the squash to help it cook, cover with aluminum foil and roast in 400 degree oven for 20 minutes. When soft, remove from oven and let cool.
3. Meanwhile, sauté onions in olive oil till translucent. Add carrots, parsnips and celery, and cook another 5 minutes. Add the garlic, ginger and Chinese Five Spice. Then add broccoli and cauliflower. Cook for 5 more minutes and add the sage.
4. Add the Aji Mirin, Tamari, Nutritional Yeast and water, and stir well.
5. Add the peppers, shitake mushrooms, and asparagus.
6. Add the zucchini and yellow summer squash and cook for 5 minutes.
7. Add the cannelloni beans, almonds, and wild rice and combine.
8. Add parsley
9. Fill acorn squash with vegetable mixture.
10. Bake at 375 for 20 minutes, covered.
11. Remove from oven and serve immediately! Enjoy!

iEat Green - An Interview with Jeffrey Smith, Author of “Seeds of Deception” and producer of the documentary film,”Genetic Roulette” - 04/24/14

This week, my guest on the Progressive Radio Network is Jeffrey Smith, an expert, and a leader in the fight to remove GMO’s (Genetically Modified Organisms) from our food system. We hear a lot about the fight to get GMO’s labeled, and our “Right to Know” what’s in our food, but wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could even take it one step further, and remove GMO’s from our food system entirely! Jeffrey Smith is an expert on the subject and the author of the book, Seeds of Deceptions, and the producer of the documentary film, Genetic Roulette:The Gamble of Our Lives.  By the way, Genetic Roulette is screening this Saturday, at The Waldorf School of Garden City, on Long Island. The film shows the scientific evidence that connects the ingesting of GMO’s to increased gastrointestinal disorders, allergies, inflammatory diseases, and infertility, and it’s increased danger to children. It is also an in-depth exposé of Monsanto’s connections within our government, and how the USDA and FDA ignore the evidence and growing health concerns, caused by GMO’s, to side with big industry. Similar to the corruption taking place within the fracking industry, our food system has been bought out by the likes of Monsanto and Syngenta, along with the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA), where our governmental agencies care more about keeping corporations happy, then the health of the people. This is a subject that I am passionate about, and I hope you will join our conversation, as Jeffrey Smith shares with us some of the latest studies on GMO’s and together, we explore the growing movement to label these ingredients in our foods and what each of us can do to help win our “Right to Know!

Almond Milk

1 cup raw almonds, soaked overnight in waterIngredients

3 cups water

2 -3 dates

½ t. vanilla (optional)

dash of salt

Cheesecloth

Directions

1. Drain soaked almonds and put in Blender
2. Add 3 cups of water, dates, vanilla and salt
3. Blend on high speed until completely smooth
4. Pour through large sieve, lined with cheesecloth
5. Squeeze excess water out of almonds, by folding up cheesecloth, and twisting

iEat Green - An Interview with Michael Dimin, Founder of Sea to Table - 04/17/14

My guest is Michael Dimin, one of the founders of Sea to Table, an organization that is creating a direct link from the fisherman to the chef. When I first heard about Sea to Table, I knew I wanted to invite them on my show, because I loved what they were doing. They were creating markets for fisherman, who otherwise didn’t have a place to sell their catch, while at the same time, getting the freshest, line caught fish into the marketplace. The new model they have created allows chefs to purchase directly from local fisherman, through an online program, where everything is transparent. You know what fish is locally available at each dock, and when it was caught, and by whom. You then select what fish you want, and Sea to Table will overnight the fish right to your door. It is a win-win proposition for everyone. Please join me this Thursday, at 10am, to learn more about Michael Dimin and his company Sea to Table.

Quinoa Vegetable Tagine

 Serves 4-6

6 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, diced

½ red onion, slivered

2 celery stalks, chopped

1 cup green beans, cut into 1” pieces

6 cloves garlic, minced

2 carrots, cut into small chunks

1 broccoli, cut into florets

½ cauliflower, cut into florets

1 can chick peas, drained

1 t. ground saffron

1 t. cardamom

½ t. cumin

½ t. salt

1 cup quinoa, rinsed

1-cup vegetable stock

½ cup chopped parsley

In a large Tagine pan, cover the bottom with the olive oil. Heat olive oil and then add the onion. Cook for a few minutes until it softens. Then add the carrots, celery and garlic and cook until they start to soften. Add 1 t. of ground saffron, cumin, salt and cardamom. Add the chick peas and cover with Tagine lid. Let simmer for 5 minutes.  Then add the remaining vegetables and cover again.  Let simmer another 5 minutes. Mix in the quinoa and 1 cup of vegetable stock, and bring to a boil. Lower heat to simmer, and cover with Tagine lid.  Let simmer for 15 minutes, until all of the liquid is absorbed and the quinoa is fluffy. Mix in the parsley, right before serving.

iEat Green - An Interview with Michael Veracka, Chairman of the Department of Urban Horticulture & Design at Farmingdale State College - 04/10/14

My guest is Michael Veracka, an Assistant Professor and Chairman of the Department of Urban Horticulture and Design at Farmingdale State College. Along with his students, he designed in 2011, a one half acre Sustainable Gardenon the campus grounds. Now in its second year of construction, the garden’s major components will demonstrate sustainable landscape design and horticultural principles thatpromote environmental stewardship. SUNY Farmingdale used to be an agricultural school, but closed that portion of the school when farming didn’t seem like a viable career. Now, with a renewed interest in sustainable agriculture, maybe this department will continue to grow to fill the need for a sustainable agricultural program on Long Island. This Saturday, the Department of Urban Horticulture and Design, will host an all day event with speakers and presentations, called, “Waste Not Want Not.” The event is open to the public and will benefit the Sustainable Garden. This event will coincide with the Long Island’s CSA Fair (10:00 am – 2:00 pm), where community members can meet and talk with farmers who offer shares into their Community Supported Agricultural programs, and have an opportunity to sign up for the CSA program that is best suited to their needs. The CSA Fair is free, and the “Waste Not Want Not” event is $10.00. 

Crispy Sweet Potato Fries

Ingredients

3 sweet potatoes, cut into long fries

1/4 cup olive oil

3 Tablespoons cornstarch

Dredge sweet potatoes in cornstarch by placing cornstarch in a large zip-lock bag, and adding the sweet potatoes. Close bag and shake, until evenly coated.

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and cover with the olive oil. Lay out sweet potatoes and toss in the oil. Sprinkle with salt and paprika. 

Bake in pre-heated 450* oven for 15-20 minutes, until crispy.

iEat Green - An Interview with Michael Livingston, Head of The Sharon Academy - 04/03/14

This week, my guest is a dear friend and mentor, Michael Livingston. Michael has been involved in the educational system for over 35 years, first as a teacher, and now as the Head Master of The Sharon Academy in Sharon, Vermont, and I invited him on to share with us his insights and concerns about the trends he is sees, both in the educational system, and also within the family structure. His knowledge, passion and love of children, motivates him to speak out about these trends, and to shed some light on the predicament we are in. Please join me, this Thursday at 10am, as I interview Michael Livingston, and learn more about the many challenges facing our kids today.

Best Vegan Macaroons

Ingredients

2 Tbs, flax seed, soaked in 1 Tbs warm water

1 Tbs apple cider vinegar

½ cup organic sugar

¼ cup organic maple syrup

¼ t. baking powder

6 Tbs coconut oil

2 ½ cups unsweetened shredded coconut

1 ½ tsp. vanilla extract

1 tsp. almond extract (optional)

Chocolate chips (optional)

Directions

In large bowl, beat coconut oil. Add maple syrup, sugar, and baking powder. Mix. Add soaked flax seed. Add coconut. Add vanilla extract. Divide batter in half. Add almond extract to half of the mixture.

Place macaroons on a well greased cookie sheet in shape of little peaks. Add a slivered almond to the top of the almond flavored macaroons. The macaroons will spread out on the cookie sheet while baking, so leave plenty of room between cookies.

Bake 10 minutes at 350° then 8 minutes at 250°.  After baking, you can melt chocolate chips and dip the tip or bottom of the vanilla macaroons in the chocolate, if desired.

Makes 25 cookies.

iEat Green - An Interview with Brian Hetrich of Hippocrates Health Institute - 03/27/14

On today's show I interview Brian Hetrich, the Hippocrates Health Institute's resident Sprout Master. I met Brian a few months ago, while visiting the Institute, and was so impressed by his clarity and ease with which he grows all of the sprouts consumed at the Institute. I’m sure you will find him inspirational, and it might just be what you need to get started in the world of sprouting!

Slow Roast Buckwheat and Brown Rice Tempeh

Serves 8

1 Buckwheat Tempeh, 1 Brown Rice Tempeh, (no soy, no gluten) cut into slices on the diagonal

 1 onion, chopped

3 carrots, cut into lg. chunks

1 green pepper, chopped

1 yellow pepper, chopped

2 Tbs. chopped garlic

1 lg. can fire roasted tomatoes         

¼ cup tomato paste

6 Tbs. apple cider vinegar

½ cup water

¼ cup honey

3 Tbs. chopped parsley

8 baby potatoes, cut in half

1/4 cup white wine

Salt and pepper to taste

2 Tbs. brown sugar

¼ t. red pepper flakes                                  

Cut tempeh on the diagonal, creating large slices, ¼” thick. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and cover with olive oil. Place slices of tempeh on cookie sheet, and then turn over, so both sides of the tempeh have oil on them. Bake in a 425-degree oven, until golden brown on both sides, (about 15 minutes). Remove tempeh from oven.

Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, sauté the onions in a little olive oil, with 1 Tbs. chopped garlic. Add the peppers and continue sautéing for 5 more minutes. Add the fire roasted tomatoes, tomato paste, vinegar, honey, remaining garlic, parsley, water, red pepper flakes, and white wine. Let simmer for 10 minutes. Cover the bottom of an 8 x 11” Pyrex dish with 1 cup of the sauce. Add the tempeh, carrots, and potatoes. Cover with remaining sauce, and sprinkle with brown sugar.  Serve with Quinoa Pilaf or Brown Rice Pilaf Rice.