Six Weeks to Go!

Six weeks to go! That is, six more weeks until this semester is over, I find out the admissions decision from Hunter College, and I begin my 10 day vacation in London! I've been super busy lately with school and work, so I haven't had much time to read up on food/nutrition or cook. I've been making big one-pot meals that will last me a few days, so that I have more time to study. Last week I tried cooking soba noodles for the first time in VegWeb's recipe for "Sesame Noodles with Tofu & Veggies." I made a few changes using the ingredients I had on hnad, replacing the bok choy with nori seaweed, swapping peanut butter with tahini. using dried shitakes, and replacing the fresh cilantro with cilantro chutney from an Indian market. The overall taste was strange, probably because I made too many weird substitutions. It was too vinegary and I didn't like the raw tofu. I did love the chewy texture of the soba noodles and the creamy quality from the nut butter sauce. On Tuesday, I went to an acupuncturist (for the first time!...I'll let you know how it goes) that was near Live Island Cafe. I got a raw sampler platter for dinner that came with soup and dessert. Like my first experience, the meal was tasty, but raw food definitely takes some getting used to. I also thought I'd pass along a vegan recipe that Danny baked up in his kitchen at work this week. He made VegWeb's recipe for "The BEST REAL Peanut Butter Cookies," and they got rave reviews from his coworkers.

One other thing on my never-ending to-do list is to grow an organic vegetable garden with my dad this summer. We really need to start this weekend, because I was hoping to start transplants indoors and get some cold-weather seeds in the ground (I had really aimed to get this done last month)! My dad grew up on a farm in Sicily, and as much as he probably hated farm chores as a child, he has kept a garden ever since he moved to New York. This is the first year that we want to try for an all-organic garden. We hope to grow: tomato, cucumber, bell pepper, carrot, string beans, zucchini/cucuzzi, butternut squash, delicata squash, beets, sugar snap peas, lettuce, augula, radish, kale, swiss chard, tatsoi, garlic, basil, rosemary, parsley, sage, chives, and mint. My dad also has fig, persimmon, and chestnut trees (although only the fig is mature enough to bear fruit). It seems like a ridiculous amount of stuff to grow, but this year is just a trial! Last summer I interned on an organic CSA farm, so I guess I'm trying to recreate the experience on a smaller scale in my own backyard. I joined another organic CSA on Long Island this summer called Golden Earthworm (which is a much larger operation than Sophia Garden, where I interned).  If you're not familiar with the term, CSA means "community-supported agriculture," and it is a really economical and sustainable way to eat organic. Members buy seasonal shares (subscriptions), and in return they each get a big box of fruits, veggies, herbs, flowers, or whatever Mother Nature chooses to grow each week. Every CSA is unique in size, crop variety, harvest season, membership cost, etc. Some require that you volunteer a small number of hours each week on the farm. Sophia Garden required members to pick up their shares at the farm, whereas Golden Earthworm will drop off my box at a location near my house. For more information and to search for CSA's, farmers' markets, or co-ops near you, go to http://www.localharvest.org/csa/.

Spring is Just Around the Corner!

So maybe the groundhog was right this year....spring seems to making its way onto Long Island earlier than usual. Or maybe it just seems earlier after the brutal winter we had this year. Either way, I'm loving the milder temperature and sunshine we've been having. I know this blog is about food, but veganism and fitness go hand in hand. So I'll chat a bit about my favorite outdoor fitness activities. I was a competitive distance runner back in high school and college, but a chronic foot problem has kept me from running in the past two years. I keep looking for activities that give me the same satisfaction as running, namely the "runner's high." When I lived in South Korea, hiking was the most popular sport because of the mountainous terrain covering most of the country. Danny and I bought some gear and went hiking a few times and loved it. I will have to give it another shot this summer on New York's Appalachia Trail. This past winter we went ice skating, and it turns out I'm a natural on skates. Danny suggested we buy some rollerblades for the warmer weather, so we both bought a pair of K2 skates a few weeks ago. I tried them out this past week, and the "soft boot" technology makes them so comfortable. I'm super clumsy, so I bought the protective knee, elbow, and wrist padding set too. I enjoy biking as well, but I feel too constricted on a bike and my butt tends to hurt after sitting on a seat for too long. I prefer rollerblading, because it allows more freedom of movement, so it's closer in feeling to running. Aside from running, my favorite all-weather fitness activities are yoga and pilates. I have only taken classes two or three times, but I prefer to do yoga and pilates in my own home using an MTV dvd set. My absolute favorite is Power Yoga, which is the only activity that gives me the same lean and toned look as running. Since following the dvd 2-3 times a week, I have felt stronger, more flexible, and I rarely experience back or neck pain anymore. I used to use the Pilates for Dummies dvd in college to help tone my muscles and prevent injuries while I was a runner.

The weather was so nice yesterday that Danny and I had a picnic dinner in Huntington's Hecksher Park. We stopped at Live Island Cafe for the first time to pick up a gourmet sampler of raw vegan food. The owner, Chef Okima, has just opened the cafe, so it is currently take-out only and the menu changes from day to day. She walked us through everything included in our sampler trays: caprese salad, marinated stuffed mushrooms, falafel, sundried tomato pizza with cashew cheese and kale, zucchini pasta, nut and seed crackers, sauerkraut, and tabouli salad. Everything was incredibly flavorful and fresh. We also had chocolate chip cookies for dessert, which tasted just like raw cookie dough (but were made instead with nuts, coconut, cocoa powder, and probably dates)! Raw food involves too much preparation and expensive appliances, so I don't think I could do it. But I would like to take one of Chef Okima's raw cooking classes to see what it's all about!