Category Archives: Vegan Recipes

Antiviral Kitchen Herbs

My little garden is also overrun with mellow spearmint and pungent peppermint, both traditional medicinals that do in fact contain powerful antibacterial and antiviral compounds. Both also make a pleasant sipping tea, combined with chamomile (antibacterial and antiviral), more lemon balm, and calendula petals (antiviral and anti-inflammatory). I’m tossing garlic greens and sprigs of fennel, thyme and oregano (antibacterial and antiviral) into raw kale and apple salads and in leek and mushroom omelets as well (fennel, onions and garlic being rich in many beneficial properties). As I glean these wholesome, health-enhancing snippets, I’m also breathing in their fragrances along with fresh, cool air. Just poking around in my still-chilly garden calms my mind and soothes my spirit. As they say these days, stay calm and wash your hands. Onward…. Continue reading

Posted in Health & Wellbeing, Hoarding, Nutrition, Recipes, Sustainable Gardening, Sustainable Living, Vegan Recipes | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Baking Edible Wreaths

For one thing, I’m more aware now of the chains of obligation that can get started with even a small act. Yesterday a young woman mentioned receiving a $5 Starbucks gift card at the office and feeling dismayed and conflicted. Should she reciprocate? Should she give something to everyone? She works in a government office mostly staffed by men and had assumed (probably quite rightly) that obligatory gifting wouldn’t be an issue. She was wondering if she should buy a big jar of treats and make little gift bags to give everyone. Yikes! Several of us encouraged her to resist the reflexive gifting, because it can cascade into far more than anyone intended. Busy young moms don’t need to come up with another 50 “little” gifts that don’t mean anything significant to anyone, including the giver. In such situations, maybe donate to Habitat For Humanity or an aid/service ground and post the card in the staff room. Continue reading

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When Tradition Meets Trend

Treasuring A Heritage Crop I recently took part in an ongoing if slightly weird community discussion about kale. It all started with a social media post asking if anyone actually liked kale. Yikes! The floodgates opened and hundreds of people … Continue reading

Posted in fall/winter crops, Gardening With Children, Recipes, Sustainable Gardening, Sustainable Living, Vegan Recipes | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Green Tomatoes Galore

Bacon, Chantrelle & Tomato Tart

1 sheet puff pastry or pie crust
1 tablespoon avocado or olive oil
4 slices bacon, chopped
3 leeks, thinly sliced (white and palest parts only)
1/8 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
4 cups sliced chanterelles or any mushroom
2 cups thickly sliced red tomatoes
2 cups thinly sliced green tomatoes

Spread puff pastry or pie crust on a rimmed baking sheet and brush lightly with oil, set aside. In a heavy bottomed pan, cook bacon over medium heat until barely crisp, then remove to a plate. Add oil and leeks to the bacon pan over medium high heat. Sprinkle leeks with salt and cook for three minutes. Add mushrooms, sprinkle with salt stir to coat and cook, covered, until barely soft (5-7 minutes). Remove mixture to a shallow bowl to cool and preheat oven to 400 degrees F. When mushroom mixture is close to room temperature, spread over center of puff pastry or crust, leaving several inches bare all around the filling. Layer on the tomatoes, sprinkle with bacon bits, fold up edges of pastry or crust to partly cover filling and bake at 400 degrees F until puffed and golden (about 20 minutes for puff pastry, about 30 minutes for pie crust). Let stand 10 minutes before serving. Serves about 6. Continue reading

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