Recipe · Eco-Chick

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Raw Food Recipe: Late Summer Peach Cobbler

Guest Post by Nathalie Lussier

When a person first discovers raw food, the thing that surprises her the most is how great the desserts taste! Truly guilt-free desserts part of an eating plan that’s not only healthy, but also environmentally conscious? Can’t ask for more than that!

Here is a super simple recipe that everybody will love. It’s a simply delicious peach cobbler, and you don’t even need an oven.

peaches, raw food, recipe

La Pizza Toscana: Make Your Own!

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by Starre Vartan · 08/24/09

Unless you’re living in New York City (or Italy), a good slice of pizza is hard to find. And I don’t think I’m alone when I say this: a mediocre piece of pizza can ruin your day. So, in honor of good days (and un-ruinable meals), take back control and make it yourself. You don’t need a bread oven, nor is it necessary to do the whole throwing the dough up in the air thing. Once you do learn how to make your own pizza, you’ll never go back to eating medicore pies again. That, by the way, is a promise.

The following is an excerpt from In Late Winter We Ate Pears: A Year of Hunger and Love by Deirdre Heekin and Caleb Barber.

DIY, pizza, recipe

Carrot Gazpacho: A Tasty Cold Soup Alternative

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by Starre Vartan · 07/21/09

The carrot gazpacho I made recently for lunch: delicious and a bit sweeter than the tomato version

Ever since I studied abroad in Madrid when I was 20, I’ve been a huge gazpacho fan. Like few other dishes in the world, it’s hard to make badly (even bad gazpacho’s still OK). It’s simple, it’s healthy (clocking in at between 30 and 50 calories a serving), and it takes advantage of a summer staples that are incredibly fresh and abundant.

But sometimes even old favorites get, well, old. Since one of my fave summer meals is a tomato sandwich, I wanted a delicious soup to go with, even for a tomato-lover like myself, it would be overkill to pair it with gazpacho. I recently found myself with a large bag of carrots and thought they might make a great cold soup, likely a bit sweet, but one that would mix well with the other traditional gazpacho ingredients, like cucumber, onion, red pepper, fresh parsley and cilantro. And voila, I was right!

Be sure to use fresh, organic carrots for this recipe, otherwise it won’t work; these carrots are more likely to be sweet, crisp, and full of water, which makes a better soup. I also used some tomato here, but just a couple and instead of red, I used yellow (orange would work too) as they are less acidic and sweeter than red tomatoes but still give you some liquid and a bit of the soft fleshiness that the soup needs. I don’t remove the skin from tomatoes or carrots, but you can if you want a soupier soup; I like mine chunky.

Starre’s Carrot Gazpacho Soup

5-6 fresh, medium-sized, organic carrots, chopped into five or six pieces each
2-3 small-medium yellow or orange tomatoes, chopped into quarters
1 medium sized cucumber (remove 1/2 the skin)
1/2 medium-sized vidalia onion, peeled and chopped in quarters
1 sweet red bell pepper (de-seeded and chopped in quarters)
1 clove organic garlic
1/4 cup red wine vinegar (less if you don’t like vinegar)
handful of fresh cilantro (to taste)
handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley (to taste)
juice from 1/2 medium sized lemon
2 tablespoons of EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
sprinkle sea salt (to taste)
fresh black pepper (to taste)
tablespoon agave or teaspoon brown sugar (or to taste)
Sprinkle hot pepper flakes or fresh jalepeno (if desired)

Add all ingredients (save salt, sweetener, and pepper) to a blender, and blend on lowest speed. Stop blending when desired chunkiness is reached. Taste, then add salt, pepper, and sweetener as appropriate (you might need less salt than you think).

fast food, recipe, soup, summer

Sara Snow's – Fresh Living: The Essential Room-By-Room Guide to a Greener, Healthier Family and Home

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by Kimberly Jordan Allen · 03/18/09

I first became familiar with Sara Snow when I was pregnant and on bed-rest. Between reading baby books and eating I watched her Discovery show Get Fresh with Sara Snow and enjoyed her ease and playful approach to environmentalism. I love how Sara always mixes stories of her childhood into her day-to-day recipes for green living. This adds a personalized touch to her passion for all things green.

Growing up the daughter of Tim Redmond, co-founder of Eden Foods, informed Sara’s life as a green foodie and all around eco-advocate. In her new book, Fresh Living: The Essential Room-By-Room Guide to a Greener, Healthier Family and Home, Sara traverses the modern home, discussing every aspect of our lives and what we can do to connect more with nature and minimize wasteful practices. This unpretentious guide is an easy read that is full of useful information. Sara discusses everything from how to maintain a green lawn naturally (or better yet, how to plant wildflowers and indigenous greens that attract butterflies and deter mosquitoes,) to how to decorate a toxin-free baby nursery.

Sara gives detailed lists of what ingredients to avoid in beauty products, toys, household cleaners, and pretty much anything else one may have in their home or garden. Comprehensive definitions explain the origins of chemicals, how they are used and what is most harmful. These days many products, including purported “organic” or “natural” items, contain dubious ingredients. The explanations of scientific terms really help one to weed through the ambiguous marketing language of greenwashing. There are also recipes for how to make your own cleaners and home products that are totally natural and inexpensive.

A small part of the book I really enjoyed was the simple reminder that house plants are good. They bring the outside in, clean our air, and promote healthy chi. Sara shares a list of the top fifteen plants to have indoors to remove various pollutants from the air. These days people spend hundreds, even thousands on air fresheners and purifiers. Plants!

The description of composting is user friendly. Sometimes composting can seem detailed or labour-intensive, but Sara keeps it simple with a description of what we need and what ingredients can assist in maintaining a healthy compost, even for those living in urban areas.

An important theme reiterated throughout the guide is that there are real dangers in our environment, but we can be empowered by educating ourselves and creating an atmosphere that is fresh, vital and thriving. This book would make a sweet gift but is also an excellent resource to just have handy around the house.

atmosphere, Baby, Beauty, beauty products, book, books, decor, eating, farm, FDA, Food, garden, Green Living, greenwashing, health, Home, Organic, Outdoors, Personalized, Plants, recipe, urban, waste

Green Gifts for All the Lovable Weirdoes in Your Life

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by Starre Vartan · 12/07/07

You know those lists of gifts everyone has now? They’re killing me. So I had to make my own because my friends and family are a motley bunch, and the usual stuff (even the usual green stuff) isn’t going to cut it. Plus, they have high expectations because I am an Eco Chick! Sheesh! Well here goes what I’m going to give some of my favorite folks (yes, all of these are actual people in my life!) this year:
For The Discerning Partyer

Who doesn’t love vodka? There are some great ones out there that are organic and/or sustainable. Check out my reviews of 360 vodka and Reyka, which are both good bets. I’ve also enjoyed Square One at more than a couple of green events I’ve attended in the last year. It’s delicious and made from 100% organic rye. If your local liquor store doesn’t carry it, ask them to stock it, or check here.

For the Obsessive-Compulsive Worried Mom’s Kids

Oompa toys are classy and so very adorable so they will fit in with “grown-up” decor from modern to antique. Blocks and playsets are made from wood, not plastic, a healthier, more eco-friendly (and less tacky) choice. Besides the wooden toys, there are super-mod sustainable easels and organic stuffed animals. So cute I kinda want some of these playthings!

For the Essentialist Dad

My Dad’s been a minimalist for years, eschewing anything that isn’t utilitarian; you know, he’s one of those people who’s living room looks a bit like an art gallery with barely a chotchke in sight. He’s also a surfer and loves the ocean as much as I love the mountains, so this year I’m going to give him a Starfish from Oceana, which is an organization that works to protect marine ecosystems. Of course I’m not buying a real starfish, but a symbolic one, which comes with a cute cookie cutter in the shape of a starfish (there are 15 other animals you can buy, each with it’s own cutter). A sugar cookie recipe is included from celebrity chef Warren Brown of eco-friendly bakery CakeLove in DC.

For the Ex Who’s Still a Good Friend

A laptop case from Act2Greensmart is a great gift for someone that deserves a something they can really use. This one is the only one I’ve found that’s 100% recycled as its made from recycled plastic bottles.

For the Vegan Chef

They’ll love you forever if you show up with some vegan marshmellow (technically ricemellow) or hot chocolate mix, both of which are hard-to-find items when you’re totally a totally animal-free eater.

For the Back-to-the-Lander

The Self-Sufficiency Handbook is a comprehensive, illustrated, and detailed new book that gets into the nitty gritty details of how to live an off-the-grid lifestyle. Topics include water collection and storage, soil care, sections on geothermal, wind and solar power, toilet systems, stoves, chicken- and beekeeping and more. Fun reading even if your idea of getting back to nature is sipping a soy latte at the corner cafe al fresco.

For the Design Whore

The Green Glass Company makes this gorgeous, gorgeous glassware, all by recycling wine bottles!

With the machinery Bobby and Kobus custom engineered and built (only one of its kind in the world), The Green Glass Company added a ‘twist’ to its original goblet design. Producing two separate drinking glasses from one bottle without any waste glass was the challenge. The result was separating the bottle into two pieces, creating a tumbler from the bottom portion of the bottle and a goblet from the top portion of the bottle.

For the Green Tech-head

The Hymini is just so damn cool. This little device (it’s about the size of my hand) converts either solar power or wind power into stored charge that you can then connect to your iPod or cell phone for instant energy. Use the wind-converter while you’re riding your bike, on a boat, or just out the window on a breezy day. Use the little solar panel when it’s….sunny! Either way, in about an hour you’ll get enough for two hours of playback on a device. The energy can be stored for about two weeks, so you can collect free energy now and use it whenever. You can also stick it into the wall to grab a charge from conventional power sources. The Hymini has a cool little LED light and it’s cute too!

For the Spa Junkie

There’s a lot of great eco-friendly bath stuff out there. I should know as it’s one of my jobs to keep up on this stuff. But when you’re talking luxury, and you also want some seriously sustainable suds, Maile Kauai makes quite the impressive combo. Most ingredients are organic, and essential oils are wild harvested (meaning they are culled from uncultivated lands without overharvesting). In a handmade box you’ll get (to give) a whole home-spa set including a soy candle, Body Lather, Mango Butter Bun and Body Cream. Choose your Hawaiian-inspired aromatherapy with options of Pikake, Plumeria, Gardenia or Coconut Vanilla.