Click above to see the Hippy Gourmet make a vegan sushi roll

Even though I don’t seem to have much time to cook, I somehow have enough time to watch other people cook, and the Hippy Gourmet (PBS, check local listings for airtimes) is right up my alley. Chef Bruce Brennan is a tie-dye clad, bearded, and beret-wearing old-school hippie, who uses his hands as mixing paddles and is about as unpretentious as you can get. He advocates local and sustainable agriculture, organic foods, and responsible consumption, along with a healthy dose of hippie-goofiness (lots of swirly graphics and jokes only a stoner could love).

There’s lots of great recipes and videos on YouTube (I can’t show them all here, you have to go to YouTube and search under Hippy Gourmet). Chef Hippy (Brennan) also travels around the country to report on food and environmental stories and has guest Chefs on the program. If you are really into the show, you can order DVDs of the episodes that interest you, all of which come in hemp plastic DVD cases. How….hippie! Oh, and there’s a Hippy Gourmet blog, too!

Click above to watch the Hippy Gourmet make mango-papaya salsa