Low Impact Living

Today is Christmas and with only a week away to the New Year, it's a perfect time to step back and think about how to make Vegetable Alchemy, Oscar and my interest in plant based living a business in 2012. In 2011 I aligned my interest with Oscar, a parrot image I love who to me represents ecologically and body smart food. The last month I took this image to the marketplace, asking people around me if they understood why I loved the graphic icon. Many said, they did, but there was a disconnect with a parrot as their mascot. While they thought him fun and he drew their attention, I needed to give him a tag until the image conjured by his presence is clear in the minds of those who follow the brand, just as other icons make a statement. Wise thoughts and very well appreciated.

Yesterday, one man in particular, a successful businessman with global ties, loved Oscar in his hat, but was forth coming suggesting that I morph my interests into a movement called, 'low impact living.' http://www.lowimpact.org/ He understood my focus for a better quality of life with plant based food. He had already experienced many of the terrific tasting dishes that were designed for today's eating which I have been showcasing on the blog and in demonstrations as well as in restaurants. He loved the idea of a less costly home kitchen and eating with quick, smartly organized redesigned casual recipes for a modern age regardless of less demand for home cooking at present. His point was to reach out with Oscar and the idea of 'low impact living' for the body and the planet as a daily way of life. Point well taken. Low impact living becomes part of our mantra for a quality of life in earth sustainable ways. Until we meet again......Merry Christmas to all!

Focusing on my Marketplace

Setting out to turn Vegetable Alchemy into a commercial venture the first most obvious path seems to be a restaurant. But then, sometimes when I see the amount of new spots on the streets I wonder, does the world really need another restaurant, even if it is plant base, but not plant only. For the time spent, could I not find some other way of reaching a much broader group of people? Facts, I needed facts on the market in order to define a space I could succeed. I confirmed with my planet smart mascot, Oscar who immediately checked for current details from great sources like The Hartman Group:

1) there is a changing food culture with mass scale meal fragmentation;

2) almost 44% of adults eat alone;

3) we have become a 'snack' culture;

4) whimsy and immediate delivery is critical: turn the retail experience on its head;

5) the Modern family is here: intertergenerational, non-traditional, single parent, unmarried, multi-ethnic, in spite of what marketers say;

6) healthier means having a better quality of life, and fun with it;

7) food culture: way beyond personal preference: value, ideas, practices, ingredients,

preparations, tools and techniques, players;

8) nutrition education move over: show help in daily life inspiring food and cooking;

9) traditional daypart meals are surpassed by 150 additionally cateloged eating occasions;

10) regardless of claim by innovator's it is today the victim of today's marketing mix for money.

Information is only as good as one reads it. I see Time Magazine in front of me: ;What to Eat Now' on a November cover. I skim an article in Town and Country on The Quantum Kitchen which I know. I love both but to me what is important is to address the food chain, the outdate production and product and to the guy on the street, the one who is in for a surprise if we do not adapt. And while I admire a recent spot on TED:

http://www.ted.com/talks/roger_doiron_my_subversive_garden_plot.html

I think the idea that someone in an apartment with kids or solo will have the space and the inclination to have a vegetable garden may be a bit out of synche with the reality of the design, although admirable. Glossy press is fun and informative, but what we need is a new system. Disruptive keeps coming to mind but before I say more, Vegetable Alchemy has to dig deeper for a way to significantly alter daily eating to the betterment of people and planet. It is clear the body needs fresh food, mostly plants. Like Holmes did to Watson, I sent Oscar in his best duds back back to find insights and numbers while I work on the new biology of the kitchen. Until then......

Nothing Says Vegetable Alchemy More than a GREAT Burger

I am looking for a way to bring my views on plant based eating to market as a commercial venture. In addition to background in restaurants and hotels, I am very familiar with food production, manufacturing, teaching, and media. I consult for small to enormous companies. I found myself in a dream last night doing an ideation on Vegetable Alchemy! How about that! I kept asking a circle of people, what do they think about a plant based diet, looking at them for comments. Almost ALL said they did not get it; that they liked how they ate now; that other people will take care of the planet; that even if we are going to 8 billion people there are those paid to figure it out; that they do not want to cook. Most said it was not worth adding more vegetables or a plant based lifestyle to their day when other foods were cheaper. Clearly to me this is very short sided, especially not taking into account the health care costs later in life from a damage eating model.

In the dream I kept asking more questions but slowly one by one, half of them left! Half, not bad. All I can keep thinking now is how to turn this love for plant based eating into an economic opportunity and a platform to attract others to follow. The platform means educating people on eating, and helping them to rethink for many reasons. When in doubt, ask true friends for opinion. One returned my thoughts with and email saying, "Too many people in the present system benefit from the way food and cooking are now addressed. They have no motivation to change. But it doesn't mean it won't happen. If you start reframing our thinking under a new basic premise, that a plant based diet is best, we have so much to gain just as other industries have reframe consumer thinking from communications and clothing to architecture and social media."

Present ways are causing many health challenges. Present ways have a food chain and production seeded with environmental issues that many are shading. We live under a false pattern. We have to change that pattern. In a world of 1 or 2 billion people missing evidence was not as apparent as it is now becoming at 7 billion and growing. Economic Opportunity is there and I know I can find it. For now, back to putting on the thinking cap while I make a little dinner for friends. I give you one of my favorite's burgers from Vegetable Alchemy, in honor of a great place to start!

Farm Styled Wild Rice Burgers

Ingredients

1 medium onion, cut into fine dice

4 tablespoon olive oil, divided

3 tablespoons parsley, freshly chopped

2 tablespoons rosemary, freshly chopped

2 tablespoons sage, freshly chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped fine

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

1 cup wild rice, cooked

1 cup brown rice, cooked

2 acorn squash, peeled, diced into 1/2 inch cubes, steamed

2 medium eggs

2 tablespoons yogurt

1 teaspoon sea salt

fresh ground white pepper to taste

1/4 cup fine bread crumbs, or as needed

6 pieces of boston or iceburg lettuce

6 slices of ripe or oven dried tomato

1 jalapeno, sliced into thin pieces

6 (2 oz.) slices of pepper jack cheese

6 sesame or other favorite burger bun

Method

Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a 10 inch saute pan. Add the onion and cook until soft. Add the parsley, rosemary, sage and garlic. Cook on medium-low heat for about 5 minutes. Turn off heat and cool. Mash half the acorn squash in a 2 quart bowl with the back of a spoon. Add the rice, the cubed squash and the chili powder. Stir. Whisk the eggs with the yogurt and add to the bowl. Add just enough bread crumbs to make the mixture workable. Wet your hands with water and form the mixture into patties. If the mixture is still too sticky, you can add a little more breadcrumb..

Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil in a medium skillet. Cook the patties for 3 to 5 minutes on each side, or until they start to brown. Serve on toasted buns garnishing with any or all on the list.

The Vegetable Alchemist

There are three simple reasons that the world needs The Vegetable Alchemist.

1) Because The Vegetable Alchemist and Vegetable Alchemy represent more than just recipes that are plant based but not plant only. They are organized as a lifestyle in today's smart living that has a much lighter burden on the planet as a whole. Modern science and super wonderful easy flavors are the center of Vegetable Alchemy, ecologically minded for the effect ingredients have on the planet with a clear eye on cost from start to finish, farm to table refined and expanded. The purpose of The Vegetable Alchemist is to teach a new way of modern eating from home kitchens to retail, fast food to fine dining. It takes into account ALL the fantastic information we can integrate now in a world growing past 7 billion;

2) Far increasing numbers are showing that Sports, Fashion, and Everyday Consumers are finally paying attention to smart honest research. We have known for decades that the effects of eating a plant based diet clearly are supported in healthy looks, terrific body, wellness, longevity, and for sure, the pocket book! The Vegetable Alchemist responds by bringing this uber appeal style and lifestyle to a broad based audience;

3) The Modern Kitchen is way behind the times. For centuries, across the globe historic recipes have dictated equipment, kitchenwares, high overhead, lengthy cooking and classical preparations now outdated. History defines them by the country of origin in cuisine. Those consumption driven kitchen's might be great for those recipes but hundreds of years later, today, they result in unnecessary overhead and ecological CHAOS, a true kitchen CONUNDRUM with nothing confidential about it! Most often recipes have NOTHING to do with modern research demonstrating the body's need for more proactive foods rooted in a whole new world of cooking, facts. The last 50 years a routine American kitchen has grown in too many complicated ways. It has been novel but now cluttered rom the effects of trying to sell hundreds of ingredients and thousands of pots and pans. It is time for a change. Everyday meals are not rooted in good health but in marketing. Time to fill your thoughts, your kitchen, your purpose with the VOGUE of The Vegetable Alchemist, practical, fun, real and in the spirit and of a new ecologically minded culture.

Next: the emerging kitchen design for The Vegetable Alchemist.

7 Billion Footprints and Counting

After 35 years of working in the trillion dollar food and beverage industry, I turned my layers of experience into helping companies of all sizes, the tiniest locally to some of the very largest globally. It is a great use of my experience having connections in an industry of such magnitude with multi-talented exceptionals to help. In the last four years I have worked with a fantastic brain trust team in a range of challenges that have had great practical success: product research and development; strategic marketing directives; packaging teams; consumer testing; ingredient sourcing; operational issues; equipment design; start-ups; creative ideation for new ventures; menu and recipe development; manufacturing and distribution, at home and abroad.

A few days ago, early in the evening clients had left and my friend Oscar shook up a couple of tasty chilly cold ones. A bunch of us gathered to discuss a plan to consider business in 2012. The Cocktails...Pure Blue Parrot Perfection! Moments later we had to start to address work in 2012 and our role effecting a planet about to hit 8 billion people. How will that impact clients? At a now crispy compounding birth rate of one per 7 seconds against a death rate of one every 11 seconds, numbers are showing a net gain of 1 person every 14 seconds! In 1950 we had just hit about 2.5 billion people. Almost unbelievably by the 1990's we humans grew to 6 billion! Records show it took humans 150,000 years to get to the first billion by 1850. That means in my lifetime we will hit 2 billion more. And......that last billion took only 12 years!

All during 2011 client issues centered around sales, ' what consumers want ' were the most popular topics. ' You can't stay in business unless you do business.' But NOW how much and how it is done is certainly THE factor we have to help companies add as a factor. We can keep that information under our pillow, hide it fearfully in vaults, or use it with wisdom and integrity. Without exception there is NO WAY we can possibly do business the same way we did when the planet was even 5 billion in this rapidly changing population and ecology. Oscar and I see that companies have to start working at opening their to ideations to foster opportunities that help change the consumption effect by designing products around a future of 8 to 9 billion consuming people. This is not the call for drama but honest proaction! Planet numbers are evident at...

http://jamesjoe.com/joe-taylor/articles/how-many-people-are-there-in-the-world.asp

Oscar and I are adding a plan, a vision, a team to drive the next global economy in more ecologically sensible ways. We know that while we work in the medium of food and beverage, it will take a lot more than integrating a plant based but not plant only diet into the United States, even at a yearly slow growth rate of 1% of the 321 million population to make big impact. OUR PLANET PLAN will take looking at what other big businesses do too. Energy, housing, clothing, water, 'security'....BASIC needs for humans.

Oscar suggests we engage big business: Wall Street, Pharmaceutical Companies, Energy, Social Media to produce sustainable plans. One of us suggests Oscar get some organizational, interactive power point help and share his point of view. Present the ideas of The Green Planet Project on TED bringing the vision to the marketplace. We know that a new collectively positive attitude, no matter how hard it is economically for many at present, could turn the focus to from woes to more positive solutions and jobs that fit a new sustainable lifestyle. Starting on TED with insights into food would be a great way others industries can add their thoughts and get more proactive.

As a food blog we leave you recipes. This time Oscar and I give you food in a different more important way. Taste: FOOD for thought! We can give you 7 Billion reasons to get involved while you count, and that includes, one very important planet. Ours!

Farm Animals Globally are Talking: ' Ingest More Cauliflower! '

Not long ago I found myself being interviewed on a live television broadcast after winning a national chefs’ challenge. About 300 people participated in the process of elimination over a number of months. The final cook off with 12 of us was rough but worth it. When the media asked what was one of the biggest factors to help make the dish succeed? I said, ‘Vegetables, Herbs and Spices. I got to combine them in a way that rocked the dish.’

Next day the stories centered around me as winning, but as a vegetarian, vegan, flexitarian and more. Nothing wrong with any of that, but nothing to do with the win.

That morning at this studio I sat there in front of the camera. The show host suddenly asked……’So..... I heard you won this contest. Certainly you have a great reputation around the United States, but what made you so into vegetables?’ Not thinking there could be a developing plot in his line of interview I said….’Well, I like vegetables and with herbs and spice a great cook can do something with them that many cannot. I think vegetables need a much higher place in the food world.’ Well that seemed to be all it took to get him a sly smile, next asking me, unbelievably, if I thought people might think I was ‘soft, a tree hugger, light in the loafers, or against meat and poultry, fish and game?’ I was stunned….’a tree hugger, light in the loafers?’ What the hell. Did he actually just say that?

A sense of humor is paramount. But I realized that maybe I had said something or suggested something DISRUPTIVE! It might be almost as disruptive as the corporate challenge in the 'Eat More Kale' issue! http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/05/us/eat-more-kale-t-shirts-challenged-by-chick-fil-a.html

Maybe he thinks of a burly image of a chef, male or female, as slaughtering and eating meats, butchering chickens, fishing or hunting game as center of plate. Maybe vegetables shattered it! lol! Maybe my thoughts on celery, onions and carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, tomatoes, cabbage, grains, herbs, and spices were dismantling the rough and tough image of America! I had no reason to respond aggressively. His comments surprised me on live camera. I sat there looking at this guy in his snake tall cowboy boots and thought.... I think he is offended by the image of what someone who eats vegetables might suggest. Not vegetables only mind you, but just vegetables in general. After all, I am on his show and maybe he wants me to be some way as a chef he sees as acceptable. There could be a perception problem about people who like vegetables. Maybe part of that was the J. Edgar Hoover mentality that anything that challenged the status quo was done by subversives or freaks. What he probably was remembering were who he saw as hippies, animal rights activists, religious zealots and others, part of a changing culture and a good part.

Reality is, eating a balanced diet with smart food is just plain common sense that most people continue to reject. No matter who we are: omnivore, carnivore, herbivore or whatavore… taste and preparations kill good basic ingredients at home or in restaurants. It is not brain surgery to see the time has come to make vegetables and lots of other fantastic enriching foods part of mainstream menus. What you take in for your fuel makes a difference in how you look, how you feel and in your health. And it makes a difference for the planet. Research and common sense, no matter how uncommon it often seems to be, align veggies with better health for the smarter who get it.

Vegetables are truly maligned by just plain bad cooking. Americans are not exactly known for their reverence on the vegetable trail history. However, things are changing and you don't have to hug a tree to say thanks. Thank the Chinese, the Italians, Japanese and others who show some R-E-S-P-E-C-T for dishes that sing of mainstream wonderfulness. So let the throwdown begin.....

Viva la Vegetable! Viva los herbs and spice! I share with you a recent pasta dish that rocks veggies big time. Enjoy it for four as a snack or generous two of your for lunch or dinner.

Pan Roasted Cauliflower with Orecchiette

Ingredients

1 head cauliflower, broken into florets and cut in half lengthwise

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons butter

3 cloves of garlic chopped fine

1 medium onion, chopped fine

12 ounces cooked whole wheat orecchitte, 1 cup of pasta water reserved

¼ cup Italian parsley, chopped coarsely

1 lemon, seeded and juiced

½ cup Pecorino Romano, grated or parmesan, grated

½ teaspoon sea salt

¼ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

Method

1. Head a 10 inch skillet or wok to medium and add olive oil and butter. When melted add the cauliflower, smooth sides down. Brown 4-5 minutes slowly on both sides. Add the garlic and onion. Continue to cook slowly about 3 minutes.

2. Toss in the pasta and stir. Add the pasta water, the lemon juice, parsley and seasonings. Mix.

3. Serve in deep bowls, sprinkling the grated cheese evenly on top.

Eco Minded, Body Smart

My life as a chef keeps taking me more and more to flavorful ways to eat with light ingredients. I want to not only taste combinations that are exciting, I want to cook them. If the world wants to head out for fast fake food or terrible eating, let them. Cooking is one of the best rewards you can find in the day. What is the sense of having great ingredients and a body that needs mental and physical nutrition if you don't take a minute to experience and appreciate how to make quick easy dishes.

It's definitely Winter. Fall passed a few days ago. The half hour run outdoors gets replaced by an early skate on Chicago's ice rinks just opened. Early morning stretching with floor mat pilates and an occasional swim at a club keeps my weight, skin and insides energized. No dry skin for this guy. Gotta keep that body motor purrring. This sexy hot pot recipe is part of what does it for me. Eco-minded with low cost to market for the simple fresh ingredients. Rewarding, body smart, Why? Well, if you want to know......you'll just have to make it! The answer is in each taste and the beauty of digestible lusciousness. A little extra jalapeno never hurt your senses. Grinding the black pepper at the last moment keeps the aroma. And, as you see it has a world of healthy notes.

http://www.organicfacts.net/health-benefits/herbs-and-spices/health-benefits-of-black-pepper.html

Winter Vegetable Hot Pot
Ingredients
10 ounces (firm) tofu
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup broccoli, stems and fleurettes
½ cup red bell pepper, cut into 1 inch strips
¼ cup celery, stalks and leaves, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 tablespoon fresh jalapeno, seeded and chopped fine
4 garlic cloves, chopped fine
½ cup of peas (frozen are fine)
2 medium tomatoes, cored, quartered
4 cups vegetable stock or chicken stock
¼ cup fresh cilantro
¼ cup fresh basil leaves
½ teas sea salt
½ teas fresh ground black pepper

Method
1) Cut tofu into one inch cubes. Place the cubes on a paper towel. Top with another sheet of paper towel, then a sheet pan or baking dish on top. This weight will work to remove some of the excess water from the tofu. Set aside.

2) Cut the broccoli stems in half lengthwise so they cook evenly. Heat a non-stick skillet or wok over medium heat. Add the olive oil. While shaking the pan, gently toss in the broccoli, red pepper, celery and garlic. Stir and cook 3-4 minutes. Add the peas and tomato quarters. Cook 2 minutes. Add the stock.

3) Bring vegetable liquid to slow simmer. Add the tofu, cilantro and basil leaves. Season with
salt and pepper. Continue cooking at a slow simmer 3-4 minutes occasionally shaking the pan so the tofu picks up the aromatic flavors of the vegetables, herbs and spice.

4) Ladel vegetable mixture into soup plates . Enjoy the YUM!