thislastwholeearth-blog - Tumblr blog

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Since ive been a little delinquent lately i wanted to post about this project ive been doing offline. a friend and i are putting together a foraging guide to south florida, and were photographing all the tropical delicacies that can be found on these crazy hot city streets. the Starfruit tree in my backyard is nearing ripeness so today we snagged the first ripe specimen to shoot this illustration for the zine. im so excited about getting this publication going and theres definitely some scrambling happening to photograph some summer edibles before heading into the Appalachian mountains in august. 

[thislastwholeearth-blog]

heres the tamarind i was talking about harvesting yesterday. they dont look like much, kinda like dead pea pods, but when you crack them open and scrape off the sticky flesh that surrounds the seeds it makes the most amazing natural candy ever. they taste just like sweet tarts; sour and tart but also sweet. Ill be heading back later in the week to snag more, so i can preserve some as a paste, for cooking, since this batch is mostly being snacked on. free exotic fruit is the best!

[thislastwholeearth-blog]

i found these guys in my backyard today, how lucky i am. i recently moved into a home in a historic neighborhood that is full of mature tropical fruit trees, and it happens to be mango season. we get this many falling ripe off the tree every day! but, to maximize my harvest today i purchased a fruit picker, a 12 foot pole with a basket on the end, for reaching the fruits way up high. later today ill be trying it out on a tamarind tree in a vacant lot nearby that is heavy with fruit. living in a tropical paradise does have its advantages... 

[thislastwholeearth-blog]

i know i havent been posting a lot lately, cause im a bad irresponsible lazy vegan blogger, whose working a lot and traveling and moving, but i did manage to write an article and recipe for the spring issue of Chickpea Magazine about sprouting and microgreens that you all should check out. this is the third issue of Chickpea and its really well done and full of fun reads. You can read the entire thing as a PDF here: http://issuu.com/chickpeamag/docs/spring2012

[thislastwholeearth-blog]

last night i went to my folks house to cook for my bro and dad and ended up accidentally making a really delicious meal. I made "crash hot potatoes" from the Pioneer Womans blog, which has been a favourite non-recipe of mine for years, steamed broccoli, and the star of the night, a bean and veggie dish that was just thrown together with random elements from around the home, but was soo good. This photo is from todays lunch, there was enough for leftovers so i heated it up and ate it with some sauteed mustard greens from my garden and a sprout and tomato salad. im including a recipe for the bean dish here, but take it as more of an outline to work with, since i didnt measure and am writing this from memory. let this be a chance for you to make it your own, and let your tastes guide you away from the template! Beany Dinner serves 5

1 can black beans (not drained) 1 can black eyed peas (not drained)  1 leek, chopped into rounds 1 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels 1/2 of a red onion, diced 3 cloves of garlic, minced 1/2 cup of any marinara/pasta sauce that you have in the fridge or pantry 2 tablespoons paprika 1 cup chopped fresh parsley (keep some to garnish with) about 4 cups, or two full hands, of a green leafy veg, like spinach, mustard greens, kale, chard. salt and pepper to taste

Sautee garlic, onions and leeks in a bit of olive oil in a heavy bottomed saucepan. once theyve turned translucent and a little burnt, add the cans of beans, with their liquid, and all other ingredients besides the leafy green, stir it all together and cook it so it mixes and gets a bit thicker for maybe 15 minutes, on medium heat. taste it to see what you think, and make some creative adjustments! once its done, stir in the leafy green so it will wilt but not overcook. 

[thislastwholeearth-blog]

my dad will eat anything you put infront of him, and im so glad that that includes big portions of yummy vegan lunches full of greens and good for you things. this lunch plate, which he loved, took 10 minutes to prepare and is healthy and delicious. its pan sauteed rice and barley (i cooked a big bunch the day before for this kinda thing) with red onions and apple sage sausage and broccollini, topped with a big handful of fresh watercress and vegan asian salad dressing from a local awesome farm, Glaser farms that ive been putting on everything these days. if youve got a few solid staples around the house, like precooked grains, high quality dressings and marinades (homemade or otherwise), sausages, and fresh veggies, you can make bomb meals super quick and feel great about it. 

[thislastwholeearth-blog]

i posted a while back about my discovery of hasselback potatoes, and today for lunch i made some baby ones and they are so cute and charming and delicious. i got a variety bag of mini potatoes and the purple ones look especially good when theyre hasselback-ed, i recommend giving this a try when entertaining. just slice through the potatoes almost all the way, leaving the very bottom in tact, and as they bake they will fan open. i pushed some thin slices of garlic into some of the slits for flavor, but its not necessary. since they were small they only took about half an hour to cook. this plates also got some locally grown rainbow chard and some pan fried miso tempeh. 

[thislastwholeearth-blog]

now that im living in a tropical paradise im gonna start eating like it! this weekend i went to this tropical fruit stand called Robert is Here thats half tourist trap half legit local fruit stand, and i left with this box of exotic goodies. theres lots of tropical fruits that arent well known enough to be shipped around the world but are local and abundant here, like Jujube, canistel, carambola, black sapote (its green and looks like a persimmon but when its ripe its black and you eat the inside like chocolate pudding), asian guava, and ofcourse the staples like tiny bananas, fresh coconuts, and sun ripened mangos. oh, and the large bean pods are tamarind. tropifruit extravaganza!

[thislastwholeearth-blog]

Once, when eating out at a super vegan unfriendly brunch spot in nyc I only had one option... baked grapefruit. i wasnt so hot on it, but i didnt really have a choice, so i got it, and was really impressed. Today, i used that dish as inspiration to bake a pomelo, which is my favorite oversized local citrus. its like a grapefruit, but twice the size, and sweet. even though citrus isnt in season in the chillier parts of the country this would make a really comforting warm winter breakfast, cause its fresh tasting but also warm. I just cut the citrus in half, then ran a knife around the edge (so that when its way softer and cooked itll be easier to cut), sprinkled some sugar on top, and baked on 350 for about 20 minutes. at the end i turned the broiler on and burnt/caramelized the top layer just a bit, and shazam! next time youre looking for a good simple healthy vegan brunch dish, try this out, you wont be disappointed. 

[thislastwholeearth-blog]

ok, so i know i should shut up about the everything mix already, but its seriously like my favorite thing in my pantry right now. today i made a batch of vegan cornbread muffins and topped them with everything mix and theyre the best! this is my standard cornbread recipe that i have memorized and make all the time, and i just whipped up a batch and then sprinkled everything on top before baking. i got a little flavor crazed and also sprinkled half of the tray with old bay seasoning, making them tiny vegan savoury flavor explosions, the perfect side-dish for a southern themed dinner. although honestly, ive eaten most of them for breakfast, toasted with a bit of vegan margarine on top. yumz. 

[thislastwholeearth-blog]

last week i found a brand new "snackmaster" dehydrator from the 80s at a thrift store for 10 bucks! ive been dehydrating some herbs from the garden and some fruit, and this past weekend my big brothers family came to visit and they dropped off like 40 starfruit, which are a local tropical fruit that lots of people in miami dont like, but have growing in their yard. I happen to love them so ive been dehydrating trays of them for days, so i can squirrel them away and then snack attack them. i also dried some strawberries that my mom picked at a local u-pick. i cant wait to make fun stuff like vegan jerky and fruit roll ups, lovin the new/used kitchen appliance!

[thislastwholeearth-blog]

this morning i had another yummy low-carb all veggie brunch salad thing that i wanted to share cause its so pretty. its a bed of spinach with baby yellow tomatoes (from my garden) and boiled peanuts topped with sauteed shiitake mushrooms, red onions and broccoli and just like everything else i am eating right now, it was sprinkled with a bit of everything mix. hope u guys have a greenz filled new year!

[thislastwholeearth-blog]

just incase santa didnt get you enough veggie cookbooks i wanted to whole heartedly and enthusiastically recommend the newest addition to my library: Plenty, by Yotam Ottolenghi.He’s an amazing israeli chef who owns my favourite restaurant in London (named Ottolenghi, after him) and who is for sure not a vegan chef but nevertheless is passionate about vegetable dishes. This most recent publication of his is all veggie dishes, and id say at least 20% of them are vegan, but many are easily veganized or are just a great inspiration for different flavors and combinations. for christmas dinner i made two recipes from this book and everyone was obsessed with them: Roasted parsnips and sweet potatoes in caper vinaigrette, and Cucumber salad with smashed garlic and ginger. next up for me are Burnt eggplant with tahini, and caramelized potato tart. my copy is literally littered with scrap paper bookmarks im so stoked to get into these recipes. plus the photos are great, total food porn…

[thislastwholeearth-blog]

christmas morning nog french toast

merry xmas! this morning ill be whipping up a batch of this super-simple-low-stress festive-as-hell french toast for myself and my vegan holiday guest. My mom had some leftover fresh cranberries after making cranberry sauce for tonights dinner so i whipped up some cranberry maple syrup, which is delicious, impressive and really easy to make. heres a recipe for both the cran-syrup and the french toast. seasons greetingz.

(makes 4-6 slices)

Cranberry Compote: 2-3 cups fresh cranberries 2 cups grade A maple syrup pinch of cinnamon

French Toast:

loaf of fresh crusty white bread, thickly sliced 2 cups silk nog 3 tablespoons syrup 5 tablespoons flour pinch of cinnamon dash of vanilla extract margarine and cast iron skillet (for cooking)

making the compote is super easy, just pour your cranberries in a dry sauce pan and turn the heat to low. they will slowly start to pop and get juicy as their interiors heat up and they burst. cook them for about 10 minutes, or until most of them have popped, then add the syrup. stir to incorporate and allow syrup to heat up, so that its nice and warm when you pour it on your french toast. what you don't use you can always store in a jar in the fridge. 

slice your fresh crusty white bread thick, and mix all other ingredients together in a bowl. whisk the flour in quickly tablespoon by tablespoon to avoid clumping. stab each slice of bread a few times with a fork to aerate it and make it more susceptible to soaking in the batter. soak your bread in the batter for a few minutes on each side. this part of the process is the most important one for the success of your french toast if you ask me; if it soaks for too long the center will loose firmness and get sloppy and no amount of time in the skillet will bring it back from mushy mess, and not long enough and the center will remain just bread, and so the french toast will be dry and hard. so keep an eye on your slices when they're in the batter and be prepared to lift them out at just the right moment and throw them onto the skillet. your skillet should be hot enough so that when you throw a bit of margarine in it sizzles and bubbles,  which should also happen when you start to cook the french toast. once one side is golden brown, flip your slice. i flip a few times to ensure even cooking while i take my french toast from golden brown to caramelized kind-of-burnt brown. plate and drizzle with cranberry compote syrup and powdered sugar! 

[thislastwholeearth-blog]

healthy vegan breakfast

these days im trying to cook more meals that dont have a carbohydrate element in them, i.e. rice, other grains, oats, cereal, bread, and this deliciousness is what i came up with this morning for breakfast. its a bed of lightly sauteed and steamed kale and chard, with a diced tomato, basil, olive oil and salt mixture (this was originally made to go on top of bruscetta for the party, but there were leftovers...) and quick fried vegan sausage on top. and of course, i sprinkled some everything mix on top! if youre ever looking for a 10 minute one pan healthy and hearty vegan brunch item, try this out. 

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everything in a jar

i feel kind of like an evil genius for making this jar of "everything" happen... cause it was so easy and its so awesome. just combine poppy seeds, sesame seeds, coarse sea salt, dried onions and dried garlic, and bam! everything! in a jar! my reason for making this was for homemade bagels, but i havent had time to get started on the bagels so this morning i sprinkled my everything on a piece of toast and it was sooooo good. and later today, i think ill sprinkle some everything on some brown rice for dinner. hell, maybe ill make some sweet corn muffins for desert and sprinkle it on top.... the possibilities here are endless... seriously, if youre a fan of everything bagels you should make yourself a jar of it for your pantry, its like the new york deli version of gomasio, and it rules. 

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preserving spree

ive been in miami for just about two weeks now, and havent found a job yet, so im kinda losing it. im one of those people that needs structure and thrives when they are organized with their time and really busy, so all this free time is kinda blowing my mind. so, yesterday i spent a lot of time in the kitchen experimenting and pickling stuff. If you havent tried pickling anything yet, youve gotta get on it cause its so easy its nuts. I sanitized my jars by putting them in the dishwasher on a high heat wash, and then just went to town. The patty pan squash i got at the farmers market last week got cut in half and pickled, i like the big chunks instead of smaller bits or slices for squash, and i also pickled some local red onions. my brother is opening a food cart this winter, specializing in rustic pizza's, and im making the red onions for one of his pies. the other jar has star fruit and citrus jam/compote in it. i just boiled down some local oranges and some star fruit from my neighbors yard along with some florida sugar cane, and ive got 100% local jam!