It's a Small Planet after All

Tuesday evening Dec.12th, in a green loft in Soho an intimate crowd gathered in celebration of the Small Planet Fund. The Small Planet Fund was founded by Francis Moore Lappe and Anna Lappe and supports grassroots democracy movements worldwide, assisting with citizen-led solutions to the root causes of hunger, poverty, and environmental devestation. It was the 5th anual fundraiser, hosted by Jamie Cloud of the Cloud Institute for Sustainability Education with wonderful hors d'oeurves were provided by the Cleaver Company. A host of organizations were there including Sustainable Table(the folks who created the Meatrix),Just Food, Added-Value, Heifer International, Satya, Green Drinks, and the list goes on. Panela Productions donated a private cooking lesson that went up for bid at the live auction, yeah! This year I had the great honor of meeting one of my heroines-Dr. Vandana Shiva, of the Navdanya Farmers Movement in India. Her work in protecting the rights to seeds and promoting sustainable farming practices is phenomenal. To learn more about Dr. Vandana's work check out her site. To learn more about the Small Planet Fund and their Interational grantees check out their site.

Sprout Tasting in Brooklyn

Here Phebe is sampling three different sprout recipes with some preschoolers at Maple Street School in Prospect Lefferts Gardens, Brooklyn! We tasted some pea shoots with citrus-vinagrette, spicy bean sprout spread on crackers and herbed parmeasan radish and alfalfa sprouts. YUMMY! The kids were a little hesistant at first, but after giving the green stuff a try they loved it! Teachers too! And parents, you said, "my kid will never eat that." Here is a recipe for the Spicy Bean Sprout Spread: 2 cups of pea, lentil and garbanzo bean sprouts 2 cloves of garlic 1 onion 1 avocado Juice of one lemon 1/4 cup of olive oil 1/4 cup of water salt and pepper to taste Blend until creamy in a food processor and then season to taste. Spread on crackers,or dip veggies or tortilla chips in this faux guacamole. Let us know what you think.

Promoting the work of Panela and GRUB at Chelsea Market

We were invited to promote our work at Chelsea Market with our amazing friend and colleague Anna Lappe. She co-authored GRUB along with our friend Bryant Terry- a fierce chef and food activist and founding director of B-Healthy. Check out their work at www.eatgrub.org for more info. The Cleaver Company provided us with wonderful treats- cupcakes and citrus chili popcorn. We had a great time. Stay tuned for a Panela-GRUB party in 2007. Lovely Japanese Turnips from the Green Market at Union Square. Turnip pickles are served with just about every meal in Japanese vegetarian restaurants and monasteries. 5-6 fresh turnips, no more than 2 1/2 inches in diameter 3 teaspoons sea salt Remove the leaves and stems from the turnips. Wash leaves, stems, and turnips carefully, then cut the turnips into 1/4 inch rounds. Place on a flat plate, then sprinkle with 2 teaspoons of salt. In a pot, boil the turnip leaves and stems for 1-2 minutes. Cool under running water. Cut into 1/4 inch long pieces. Sprinkle on the remaining salt. Spread the cut, salted leaves over the salted turnips in a screwtop pickling jar, or place turnips and leaves under a heavy weight. Leave the vegetable to cure overnight. It's a good idea to rinse the turnip pickles lightly before serving, then toss and drain in a collander. Serve cool. Add shoyu, minced garlic, and chives to taste.

The Culinary DIVAS of Panela Productions

For those of you who don't know us, you will soon. Phebe and I met while we were students at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. We discovered we both had a passion for food and sharing healthy, yummy, plant based cuisine with others. For us food is about celebrating culture and creating community while nourishing the the body. We believe in a plant based diet that consists of vegetarian, vegan, raw/living foods for optimal health. We also believe in meeting people where they are, so we provide support for those in transition to a more plant based diet. Our approach to food is simple: we use only the freshest, locally grown, seasonal, and organic ingredients available. Our menus are ethnically inspired, we prepare exquisite meals, that are good for you too. We draw our culinary inspiration from the cultural pastiche that brews only in New York. You may find dishes inspired by Morocco and the Middle East, the Caribbean, India, Indonesia, Brazil, and the American South. Each of us has a unique background in plant science, herbs and spices so we build menus in an interesting way, pulling tastes together and creating multi-dimensional dishes. Here we are shopping at the GreenMarket for some local ingredients.