Enjoying the last of autumn's bounty

Long Island had its first frost this past week. We were caught by surprise with snow, hail, and freezing temperatures on Halloween weekend. Many delicate garden plants succombed to the frost, but the hardier cold-weather crops are still going strong. This September, we enjoyed an abundance of fresh figs from my backyard tree. October was marked by chestnuts and persimmons from the trees of friends and neighbors. I harvested some beautiful butternut squash that grew accidently in my garden from organic seeds in last year's compost. I still have some carrots, arugula, mustard greens, and baby bok choy coming up in my garden. My weekly CSA box is teeming with cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, gai lan (delicious chinese broccoli), broccoli rabe, baby pak choy, cabbage, kale, collards, turnips, turnip root and greens, and arugula. The veggies in the cruciferous family are the nutrient superstars of the plant kingdom - packed with tons of vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals to fight cancer. Not to be forgotten are the other nutritious, antioxidant-rich veggies in my fall CSA boxes: sweet potatoes, yellow and red potatoes, carrots, lettuce, green beans, cranberry beans, beets, celeriac, acorn and butternut squash, fennel, onions, garlic, shallots, and scallions. Fall definitely makes me nostalgic for working on the farm!

string beans, figs, and squash blossoms from my garden

I'm still trying to balance school, work, and prepping healthy meals for myself. I recently discovered a ridiculously easy and delicious way to make use of about half of my weekly CSA box. For the past several weeks, Danny and I have arranged a large "Buddha Bowl," which is basically cooked grain + raw veggies + dressing. This allows us to incorporate raw food in a quick and easy way, with tons of leftovers to bring to work and school. We managed to put together the following Buddha Bowl in less than an hour (while the brown rice and quinoa was steaming): onion, shredded carrot and turnip root, baby pak choy, avocado, garlic and ginger (simmered with the quinoa on the stove), hemp and sesame seeds, black olives, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, flax oil, toasted sesame oil, ume plum vinegar, cayenne, red pepper flakes, black pepper, dulse flakes (seaweed seasoning). We served the veggies and dressing over the grains with tahini and sauerkraut, which is over new favorite topping for everything! Although the veggies are raw, if you mix them with the hot grains they will soften and and have a cooked quality. You seriously can't go wrong with a Buddha Bowl...just throw in whatever you have on hand with your favorite dressing! Here is the original inspiration from Kris Carr's Crazy Sexy Life.

A few other Autumn happenings:

1. The Northeast Organic Farming Association held the New York Locavore Challenge during the month of September to promote eating and acting locally and more sustainably. I played my part by eating organic food from my CSA and garden, riding my bike to work, and taking the train to school. I recently came across this cool blog promoting local living on Long Island. 
2. My town hosted a haunted house called Darkness Rising this year that donated 100% of its profits to local charities. It turns out that this haunt was hosted by my sister's friend, who used to hold the event at his home each year. It was voted best haunted house in the tri-state area this year! I didn't have a chance to attend, but I heard from coworkers that it was awesome! 
3. Huntington-based Healthy Planet will be having its annual Turkey-Free Thanksgiving event on Sunday, November 20. The event features a vegan potluck and a speaker on sustainable living. Last year almost 200 people attended the event, and I won runner-up for the best dish! 
4. I have been meaning to get involved with Long Island Food Not Bombs, an organization that holds weekly events to provide groceries, warm meals, clothing, and other items in low income communities on LI. They will be holding their annual Thanksgiving Bonanaza at the Hempstead Food Share on Sunday, November 20 (unfortunately I can't make that event because I will be at the Turkey-Free Thanksgiving!).

Hope you have a happy un-turkey day!!

pumpkin and butternut squash from my garden

my mom got creative with the butternut squash for Halloween

Food As Art

My mom worked in the art field while I was growing up. So naturally I was always drawing, painting, or working on an arts and crafts project. Until recently, I never thought to turn food into art. One of Danny's coworkers is an art specialist, and she introduced him to "watermelon sculpture." We checked out some YouTube videos on the subject and became intrigued. One particular series of videos, by Chef Chang, seemed really easy to follow. We decided to start with an easy flower design. One thing we noticed was that Chef Chang used a special "bird beak knife" to carve intricate designs in the watermelon. I was able to find this set on Amazon, but you might already have a thin carving tool in your own kitchen. After some hesitation, we dove right into carving and surprised ourselves with the end result!                                                                                                                       

You don't need to create a fancy sculpture to create food art. By simply paying attention to detail as you plate your dishes, you can create a satisfying work of art. I have found this to be especially important in raw food. The color and design of raw food dishes provides an additional sensory experience that makes the meal even more enticing. You can play up the natural colors and shapes of raw fruit and vegetables to enhance the taste, smell, and texture of a dish. This is also a useful technique in getting kids to eat more fruits and vegetables. Kids are drawn to anything visually appealing. You can use food design to make meals "fun" for kids (remember the old "ants on a log?"). 

Here are some of my recent creations that look just as great as they taste....

Strawberry Banana Parfaits for my mom's birthday

luscious chocolate avocado mousse, cashew vanilla cream, strawberries, and bananas layer to form a dessert that looks decadent, but is healthy and comes together in a snap

Raw Swiss Chard Salad

rainbow swiss chard, thinly sliced carrot (I usually shred them, but my garden carrots just looked so beautiful this way), onion, raisins, almonds, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, apple cider vinegar, dijon mustard, and maple syrup

Southwestern Purslane Salad

Purslane is a highly nutritious edible weed that adds a delicate quality to any salad. It makes a beautiful garnish to any dish as well. Here I added tomato, cucumber, onion, avocado, and a Southwestern style creamy chipotle cashew dressing

And some other pictures of my recent culinary adventures 

(though not as visually appealing as the pictures above)....

My first attempt at veganizing my past love, quiche, was a success! 

Tweaking this recipe, I created a rich filling that included kale, swiss chard, 

broccoli leaves, and leeks. I also used an organic spelt flour crust that I found in 

Fairway Market (it's probably carried in Whole Foods as well).

Vegan Diner Night!

TLT's (tempeh bacon, lettuce, tomato, and hummus) sandwiches, cole slaw, 

pickles, and sauerkraut - way healthier than my typical high school lunch!

(Almost Raw) Thai Peanut Noodles

zucchini noodles, carrots, onions, cilantro, raw peanuts, peanut butter, lime juice, 

olive oil, maple syrup, mellow white miso, and tamari 

And from the garden...

garlic is finally ready!

and big fat carrots!

Getting the Most Out of Your Vegetables: Using Stems, Stalks, Leaves, Flowers, and Seeds

I recently came across an article from The New York Times titled, "That's Not Trash, That's Dinner," and decided that its topic would be the perfect follow-up to my DIY post. The article discusses how you can stretch your dollar (and your CSA box or garden) by using all parts of a vegetable or plant. The article points out that we have become so familiar with the packaging and form of fruits and vegetables sold in the grocery store and served in restaurants, that we don't realize that the "scraps" are functional or edible. I began to realize this last summer when I interned at Sophia Garden, an organic CSA farm. I would bring home vines of leaves from our sweet potato crop, and saute them just like spinach with garlic and oil. Farmer Steve taught me that purslane, a common garden weed, is edible and highly nutritious (did you know that purslane was a favorite food of both Ghandi and Hippocrates?) The tiny white flowers that bloom on arugula is spicy-sweet and can be tossed into salads.

This summer has been my first attempt at an organic garden and my first time as a CSA member, so I have been getting the most out of my vegetables and plants by trying the following:

• Using other greens, such as arugula and swiss chard, to make pesto
• Trimming the curly garlic scapes that shoot from my garlic plants to make pesto

• Battering and frying yellow squash blossoms (my parents still eat this, but I have to pass on it since the batter has egg and cheese)

• Shredded broccoli stems to make broccoli slaw (or juicing the stems - there are tons of antioxidants in cruciferous vegetables like broccoli!)
• Simmering herb stems to flavor a vegetable broth or soup (you can strain them out after)
• Pickling green tomatoes that have not ripened at the end of the season
• Sauteing beet greens, turnip greens, and broccoli leaves or throwing them raw into salads (let them marinate in lemon juice or vinegar to soften if eating raw)
• Roasting pumpkin seeds with oil and sea salt
• Juicing anything else or placing the scraps in my compost bin (any raw fruit or vegetable that is not too moist can be thrown into compost)
• Letting some of my crops dry out and extracting seeds from their pods to save for next season
• Hanging fresh herbs from the ceiling of a very dry room to make my own dried herbs and teas

Click on the link for The New York Times article above to find even more suggestions for maximizing your vegetable usage. Some of the parts that we traditionally discard from our fruits and vegetables can be the most nutritious parts of a plant (e.g. the rind of citrus fruits contains most of the antioxidants - so juice your citrus fruits whole and use the rind for zest!)

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/.