Vegan burger history begins with the hippie-era lentil loaf. Often described as hearty, what they really mean is heavy, earnest, unlovely and involving a slew of ingredients. Don’t believe me? Google it. Then came the first wave of commercial plant-based burgers. They had the virtue of being vegan, but lacked flavor and fat. They were cardboard. Recent big vegan brands used some crazyass biotech methods to produce moist and meaty-tasting burgers that were hot. . . until they weren’t.

What’s your favorite vegan burger brand or recipe? Sharing is caring, loves. Lmk.

I’ve worked with DIY vegan burger recipes with varying degrees of success, but none address the pain points of the past:

• A plant-based burger should be delicious

• It should require relatively few ingredients

• It should be made with ingredients you recognize and understand

• It should be affordable

• It should be doable in a home kitchen, not produced in a lab

• It should be pretty

America’s a new country. We have a magpie’s attraction to shiny new things. We love innovation. But not every new invention is a winner. Remember New Coke? The perfect plant-based burger is still in development, at least at my house. So I have gone back even further in history and stretched far beyond our shores to share a naturally plant-based recipe from Turkey — mercimek köftesi. Hunh? Honey, call it red lentil kofte.

Red lentils are the teensiest lentils and the quickest-cooking. They’re loaded with protein and fiber; they’re affordable, versatile, chewy and umami. Mixed with fine bulgur, a few spices, a blob of tomato paste and not a whole lot else, these kofte shape easily into patties that can be baked, pan-fried or even in these meltingly hot days of summer, enjoyed room temperature or chilled. And they’re pretty and perky. This is the burger for our time. At least for now.

Broccoli Rising free subscribers, I’d never leave you recipeless. Here’s a bean burger recipe from The Veggie Queen, my friend Jill Nussinow. Jill is also the queen of breathwork.

Paid Subscribers, keep scrolling for my Red Lentil Kofte recipe.

Not a paid subscriber? You can upgrade today to get full access to all of my exclusive content. And thanks for your support.

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As Father’s Day approached, I thought about my dad who never said no to dessert. It’s hard to know which he’d prefer — a good-sized wedge of tender, chocolatey red velvet cake — the game-changing recipe that got him to eat beets — or buttery, fruity crostata di marmaletta. Italy’s classic jam tart. With a buttery crust and a fruity filling, it’s a homey, anytime treat my father interpreted literally — he’d eat it for breakfast. He loved this recipe. I know you will too. That’s why I’m unlocking this Broccoli Rising paid subscriber exclusive:

What Dad didn’t love — eggplant. Neither did my dear father-in-law. This gutsy eggplant salad. might have changed their minds.

It’s one of the Aegean’s happy combinations of cooked salad, relish and dip. Enjoy a dollop over greens, as part of a mezze platter with hummus, olives, and my so easy, so ridiculously good Moroccan carrot salad, as a topping for pide (Turkey’s boat-shaped flatbreads) or stuffed into a pita.

It’s inspired by a recipe I learned ages ago from Aglaia Kremezi.

Aglaia inspired me in other ways too. Eggplant was our first connection, but far from our last. Her spirit will always be a warm and welcome presence in my kitchen, but it seems terribly wrong the two of us never got to meet — and hug and laugh and cook— in person.

Hug the people you love and feed them when you can. And when they’re beyond the reach of your arms or spoon, call or honey, at least text. Make an effort before all the people you love become ghosts.

What food or flavor keeps the memory of someone alive for you?

For more about hungry ghosts and how to feed them, check out my podcast and video with Vegan Pulse host Nancy Arenas.

July 4, marks our 250th anniversary as a nation. Next Monday’s Broccoli Rising offers a (vegan) taste of America. It’s a Broccoli Rising paid subscriber exclusive post. Join the tribe and be part of it.

And now here’s one for my mom, and for you too, Broccoli Rising paid subscribers.

In their latter years, my folks escaped Miami summers to spend time in Vermont, renting a cottage surrounded by cornfields. Every summer, my city-chic mama lamented heading back home before the Vermont corn was ripe for picking, and I’d always say, We grow corn in Miami too, you know. We do. Corn may well be a summer friend where you are too, so here’s a recipe for corn pudding. Corn pudding is the love child of corn bread and creamed corn, and the subject of a sweetly goofy song from the sweetly goofy and very funny Tony-award winning musical, Schmigadoon. Fresh corn and classic musicals — my mother loved both. So this recipe is a way of keeping her close too.

Corn Pudding

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Also known as Emancipation Day, Juneteenth commemorates the day two years after Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, when U.S. forces came to Galveston, Texas, to enforce the liberation of enslaved Black people. It came way later than it should have, but it’s still a red-letter day, a national holiday, a time to celebrate resilience and commit to building a better future for all.

Red for Juneteenth represents the blood shed in the pursuit of justice, or to put a sweeter spin on it, triumph over oppression, so paint the town and the table red with red drinks like hibiscus iced tea and strawberry soda and red foods from watermelon to red velvet cake. They aren’t just summery treats; they’re sweet symbols of spirit, strength, and Black pride.

Red velvet cake is chocolate cake with a slightly red tinge from the chemical magic created when Dutch process cocoa meets baking soda and clabbered milk. Some chefs really ramp up the red with artificial red food coloring. Historically, Black communities used beets to impart a rich red color naturally. So do I. My red velvet cake no more tastes of beets than carrot cake tastes of carrots. It’s chocolatey, and it’s vegan.

One beet does double duty here, adding color and moisture to both the cake and frosting. But while you’re at it, you might as well roast a whole bunch of beets. Then you can use the rest to make another red beauty, roasted beet salad with chili lime vinaigrette. Nice for Juneteenth and Father’s Day this Sunday. The cake does double duty too — make two, one for Juneteenth and one for Father’s Day. My dad could never say no to dessert.

More Juneteenth-worthy recipes here.

Broccoli Rising paid subscribers, I’ve got a special red recipe for you, jollof rice which autocorrect keeps changing to jolly rice. Well, it is jolly, and a Nigerian favorite, the centerpiece of every party, the pride of every family and community gathering. Each household puts their own spin on it, but jollof rice is always chili-charged, tomato-intense and very vermillion.

Red Velvet Cake (Vegan Chocolate Beet Cake)

Wanna make a layer cake? Just double the ingredients and pour into two 8-inch cake pans.

• 1 beet cooked* and cooled

• 1-1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

• 1 cup evaporated cane sugar

• 1/2 cup Dutch process cocoa

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• pinch salt optional

• 1/2 cup strong brewed coffee

• 1/4 cup grapeseed or other neutral oil

• 1 tablespoon white vinegar

• 1/3 cup unsweetened oat milk or other nondairy milk

• 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla

Preheat oven to 350℉. Lightly oil an 8-inch cake pan.

In a bowl, sift together unbleached flour, sugar, baking soda and Dutch process cocoa.

Slice the beet, saving one small slice for the frosting. Purée the rest in a blender or food processor. Pour in coffee, oil, vinegar, plant-based milk and vanilla and process just until they reach a creamy, milkshake-like consistency.

With a light hand, mix the wet ingredients into the flour dry till they coalesce and form a thickish batter.

Pour into the prepared cake pan. Bake for 45 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean.

For the blushing frosting:

• 1 good-sized slice of cooked beet (about 1 teaspoon)

• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) vegan butter, chilled

• 4 ounces vegan cream cheese, chilled

• 2 cups powdered sugar (yeah, lotta sugar, sorry about that)

• splash of vanilla extract — about1/2 teaspoon

In a standing mixer, beat together the vegan butter and cream cheese on medium speed, just until light and combined, maybe 2 minutes.

Add the powdered sugar in two batches just till incorporated, and frosting is billowy, creamy and not at all gritty. Cover and chill the frosting for at least 30 minutes to let it thicken and firm up. Then spread on the cooled cake.

• To roast beets, preheat oven to 40 ℉. Slice beet roots (the pretty red bulb parts) from the greens. Wrap the beets (minus beet greens) tightly in foil. Place in a baking dish and roast for an hour, just as you’d bake a potato. In fact, you can do both at once. Make baked potatoes or sweet potatoes for part of tonight’s dinner and throw your beets in there too. I think of it as culinary hitchhiking (proper name: passive cooking). Remove from oven and let cool. When beets are cool enough to handle, rub the beets and their skins should slip right off.

• Save your beet greens! Rinse them well of grit, blot dry, chop, sauté with olive oil, lemon and garlic and enjoy. Beet greens are kin to Swiss chard, tender and mild-flavored. Juneteenth is all about red, but you know I love my greens.

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Carlo Petrini tried to get us to put the brakes on fast food, not by scolding or even through public policy, but by offering something different, something better. He founded the Slow Food movement, bringing together growers, artisans and chefs to preserve and celebrate seasonal and regional gastronomy and maybe put the joy back in cooking and eating.

So did cookbook author and culinary instructor Aglaia Kremezi. Chef José Andrés called her his Greek grandmother. I called her my kitchen sister. Both Petrini and Aglaia ( still feel I can call her Aglaia) died last week. They leave behind culinary legacies we can feel, taste, and cherish.

I never met Aglaia in real life, though we sometimes exchanged emails, always, always, always about food. She’d ask about aquafaba, I’d ask about olive oil, and man, did we bond over our love of greens. Both she and Petrini —gregarious, larger than life — were big-hearted champions of a food system to feed us all, one that’s good, clean and fair, one that’s transparent, honoring terroir and tradition, culture and community. If that sounds quaint now, it was radical then.

While Slow Food started 40 years ago with a Mediterranean focus— Petrini was Italian, Aglaia was Greek — every culture and cuisine has its slow food. Petrini was instrumental in establishing a series of Slow Food Gardens throughout Africa.

Call it slow food, call it farm-to-table, it’s not elitist, not Eurocentric, and not expensive. It doesn’t mean dinner takes all day and every pot in the house to make. It’s valuing — and sharing — meals crafted by hand — your hand, my hand — rather than manufactured. It’s cooking with ingredients from the garden, not the lab. This kind of food is better for us, better for the planet and truly offers a happy meal.

But we have more work and more cooking to do. Americans still spend less time at the kitchen and the table than any other nation. Afraid you wouldn’t make the cut on “Master Chef”? Honey, neither would I. This isn’t showbiz, it’s dinner. Just honor the ingredients and share the food.

Most Americans — presumably the ones ordering DoorDash rather than making a meal, would like to feel comfortable making comfort food — pasta. So here’s an easy but classic recipe for pasta agile olio e pepperoncino for everyone.

What I Do To Get Through

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Mushroom Pasta

You can use any kind of pasta here, but I suggest whole wheat. Fresh cremini or button mushrooms plus a small handful of dried porcini or other wild mushrooms offer wonderful richness for not a lot of money. For more about mushrooms’ talent to please plus a schmancy recipe from me, visit Modern Daily Knitting .

And here’s some advice from Petrini, Aglaia and me — take it slow.

Broccoli Rising subscribers will enjoy this exclusive Mushroom Pasta recipe. Not a paid subscriber? Upgrade today to access all my exclusive content.

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“The message is simple: eat real food.” So say the folks at the United States Department of Agriculture. I wish it were that simple. I don’t care what your tax bracket is; food costs are way up. Fresh vegetables alone cost 11% more than they did last year. My husband now braces himself to go food shopping with me because I’m likely to go on a tirade about how broccoli was a dollar less last week or burst into tears. We’re fortunate — we can afford to put an occasional bunch of broccoli in our basket. Not everyone can.

SNAP (Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program) eligibility requirements got tougher under Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill, and it wasn’t so beautiful for the 42 million eligible American families to have federally funded benefits slashed, withheld, delayed, and cut in half.

I’m all for fresh fruits and vegetables. You probably are too, and so are most moms on assistance. The problem is affording them. The House Appropriations Committee has proposed cutting $141 million in WIC (Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children) fresh produce benefits for recipients. Mothers are resourceful. They have to be. Without fresh produce benefits, WIC moms have reached for the next best thing — jam and jelly. Not ideal, but fruity, comforting, shelf-stable, affordable and when paired with peanut butter, beloved by both kids and moms. Until now. USDA director Brooke Rollins says jelly no longer counts under WIC credits. Slashing resources for fresh produce while targeting jelly makes no real sense.

Eat real food? I wish everyone could. I wish the message really was that simple. But the real message seems to be something else.

This recipe for PBJ squares had been a Broccoli Rising paid subscriber exclusive. I’m glad to share it here for free, with peanut butter and jelly for all.

PBJ Squares

My mother was a huge Ina Garten fan. My father was a big fan of dessert. They’d both approve of these peanut butter and jam squares. I hope you do too. Recipe slightly tweaked and easily veganized from Ina Garten’s classic recipe.

• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) vegan butter

• 2/3 cup cane sugar

• 1 teaspoon vanilla

• 3 tablespoons aquafaba

• 3/4 cup natural peanut butter, preferably without sugar

• 1-1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/2 cup jam or preserves — use your favorite

Preheat oven to 350℉. Lightly lube an 8 X 8-inch Pyrex baking dish with vegan butter.

Line baking pan with parchment, butter the parchment, then dust with flour, knocking out any excess.

In a standing mixer, cream together vegan butter and cane sugar at medium speed for a minute or so until pale and creamy. Mix in the vanilla, aquafaba and peanut butter.

In a small bowl, sift together the unbleached flour and baking powder. Turn mixer on to low and add the flour to the peanut butter mixture just until combined.

Spread 2/3 of the dough so it cover the bottom of the baking dish. Smooth evenly.

Spoon the jam on top and spread to cover the dough. Drop the remaining dough by spoonfuls on top of the jam. It may not cover completely now but have faith. It will spread during baking.

Bake the PBJ squares for 30 minutes or until the top is tawny and kitchen smells nutty, toasty and terrific. Allow to cool completely then cut into 16 squares.

PBJ squares keep refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

June Happenings

June 8 World Ocean Day. Celebrate our seas. Not all seafood means fish — it can be seaweed, which brings fishy but fish-free flavor to my poke bowl with watermelon ahi.

June 17 Every day is a good day to eat vegetables, but especially today — it’s Eat Your Vegetables Day, and have I got some green goodness for you. Don’t go for greens? Try carrots.

June 19 Juneteenth aka African-American Emancipation Day. Mark the day with my Juneteenth Bowl showcasing edible gifts from Africa including yams, black-eyed peas, collards, peanuts and sorghum. All the ingredients are nutrient-dense and covered under SNAP benefits. Sorghum is all that plus it’s gluten-free and a sustainability superstar.

June 21 Two reasons to celebrate — It’s Father’s Day and summer solstice — so there’s all the more reason to grill. Add some thrill to your grill with my mango barbecue sauce recipe from Miami Vegan.

You don’t have a copy of Miami Vegan? What are you waiting for?

Getting political parties to agree on anything these days seems like it takes a force of nature. It had one — Olympic medalist, Dotsie Bausch, one of the plant-powered athletes profiled in the documentary “The Game-Changers,” says moving to plant-based dairy not only helped her beat physical and mental health challenges — big ones — it drove her to peak performance.

Bausch wants everyone to be able to unleash the power of plant-based. That’s why she founded the nonprofit Switch4Good, championing dairy-free choices. It’s also why she spent years lobbying Congress to make the dairy-free option clause in Federal Bill S-222 a reality. No surprise, the dairy industry wasn’t too keen on that.

“We knew we were going to have to be the ones to tell schools about this new law,” says Bausch. So she and her team launched The Justice Tour, with fellow athletes and experts going out to schools across the country to let kids know about this new law and how it affects them. More than that, Bausch wants students to realize they have a voice, they have a choice.

Dairy is a major allergen — something else the dairy industry doesn’t advertise — and a good chunk the world’s population is lactose-intolerant. That includes Bausch and maybe you, too. Maybe you don’t even realize dairy’s the reason you or your child often feel cruddy. It’d be a good thing to know. Dairy allergies can impact academic as well as athletic performance. Choosing plant-based dairy at school — and at home — means kids can live better (cows can live longer, too).

Bringing The Justice Tour from school to school has been a Herculean effort, Bausch admits. Wrangling the government to pass a law mandating plant-based dairy options in public schools couldn’t have been a breeze either. But going from feeling bad to feeling great can be as easy as switching to vegan dairy options. In terms of wellness, though, it can be a game changer.

Wanna bring plant-based power to your school? The Justice Tour wants to deliver.

Contact Switch4Good’s Tiffany Bruno tiffany@switch4good.org

Oat milk, vegan butter and vegan cheese — three plant-based greats — make for a mighty vegan mac and cheese.

Rich and creamy plant-based yogurt is the secret ingredient in many of my recipes these days, including this personal summer favorite, refreshing, bright borani esfanaj.

Paid Broccoli Rising subscriber exclusive recipe, PBJ Squares, follows this content. Not a paid subscriber? Upgrade now.

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Every subscriber gives me a thrill, but I’m especially grateful for you. Your support and kindness are what keep Broccoli Rising and me going. I want to keep you going too, so by way of thanks, here’s five — no — six exclusive recipes designed to be quick, easy and fabulous. And because I like to overdeliver, the…

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Easy recipes delivering big fun flavors had participants dancing in their kitchens during my Soulful Dinner virtual cooking class, part of the national community-building initiative 10 Days of Connection. I’d have been dancing too. The irony was, I couldn’t see them. Or hear them. Let alone dance with them. Connectivity issues.

Hey, tech glitches happen, and one hour of feeling cut off from the world is crazy-making but endurable. But what if you feel that way all the time? More than half of us do, so much so that loneliness is a public health crisis. It’s not obvious like a rash or a broken bone, but it’s painful. More than that, loneliness impacts lifespan and quality of life in a not good way. So it’s not a coincidence 10 Days of Connection, now in its 10th year, happens in May, Mental Health Awareness Month.

Virtual connection can be amazing. It got a lot of us through the pandemic shutdown. I’m grateful for the energizing, funny, warm, brilliant friends I’ve met online who I might never have met in real life. But Sunday’s audio/video fail on my end reminded me that virtual connection has its limits. Even when it works, it won’t let you smell the warm fragrance of just-picked rosemary from my garden, won’t let me feed you a spoonful of something delicious right out of the pot. Closing your apps, getting out of the house and connecting with new people is where the magic happens. And I say this as a nervous introvert who can enter a room full of strangers and want to run back out. But I still try to do it.

Stepping out of my comfort zone is challenging in a way virtual connection is not. But it’s vital to building community, relationships, tolerance, communication, and creating real connection — the stuff and support reminding us we’re not alone in the universe.

I love creating plant-based recipes, menus and programming, but as fantastic as plants are, the secret sauce is — wait for it — us — you, me and all of us very flawed human selves. In my first book Feeding the Hungry Ghost, I wrote about how experiencing care and connection nourishes us the way a good meal does. It brings down our frazzled energy, it lets us take a breath. It makes us go ahhhh. It feeds us. And if we’re lucky, it makes us want to dance.

Fast and Fabulous Fruit Tarts

These tarts, made as part of the Soulful Dinner cooking class might make you dance. Dessert is not a cure for loneliness. But share them with with a colleague or neighbor and I pretty much guarantee you’ll be feeling an enhanced connection. (Recipe available to paid subscribers, only.)

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You know what else is fast and fabulous? Find out next Monday with Broccoli Rising’s five fast and fabulous plant-based recipes, a paid subscriber exclusive. If you’re a free subscriber, now may be the right time to upgrade your subscription. You’re pretty fabulous, too.

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Did you miss connecting at our Soulful Dinner? The next one’s August 9. Join us and be part of the soulful dinner community. Let’s cook up something delicious together.

This was love at first bite. I cooked it with a guest chef when we taught together for Common Threads. He didn’t have a name for it; it was just greens the way his momma made them. Smart woman, his mom. I call it Momma’s Greens in Miami Vegan. It’s also called sukuma wiki, Swahili for stretch the week. It’s a budget-stretcher too, doing more with less. It’s kin to jama-jama. In Cameroon, it’s made with local huckleberry greens. You can make it with local collards in the South, you can make it with callaloo in the Caribbean, you can make it with spinach or kale everywhere else. It tames any leafy green into lusciousness. The recipe begins in Africa, but mothers, chefs and home cooks everywhere give it their own spin and flavor — a delicious diaspora. You can call it sautéed greens, but like mother love, there’s so much more to it.

You don’t have to be human to experience the mystical, powerful bond between mother and child. All animals feel it. But you can show your humanity this Mother’s Day by celebrating and protecting mothers of all species. My friend here, Esmerelda, a mom herself, will be happy if you do.

Tomorrow, put a little extra joy in Cinco de Mayo with Mexican chocolate love bites.

Paid subscriber bonus below!

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I love playing in the kitchen with friends. April’s had me cooking up fun with the folks at Miami Cancer Institute, where I got to teach with one of my favorite chefs, Cindy Hutson, with the fab femmes at LEAP for Ladies, with a bunch of chocolate-loving martial arts black belts, and I brought friends to my table for 1 Million Tables.

I want to be in the kitchen with you, too. Join me this Sunday for the Soulful Dinner series. This free virtual plant-based cooking class returns to your kitchen for a special Make it For Mom Mother’s Day brunch class. You can cook along with me this Sunday and enjoy a great meal, then make it next Sunday and show your mom she raised you right. Or just come to connect with a wonderful community. Everyone’s welcome.

Event is free — free! — sponsored by Sustainable Spin and the Ikigai Partnership. All you gotta do is sign up through EventBrite.

Sign up and you’ll get the shopping list, kitchen needs and recipes.

When Ikigai’s founder, Andy Chabassol, and Lauren Reilly of Sustainable Spin and I first started noodling over the idea for these Soulful Dinners, we all had different ideas of what we wanted to deliver:

Andy said joy

Lauren said sustainability

I said empowerment in the kitchen

The great thing is, we can do all three in one delicious, joyful, sustainable, empowering and welcoming go — that’s the power of plant-based. See you Sunday.

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, and Jewish American Heritage Month. At a time when hate crimes have shot up 100% according to the FBI, we all need to show kindness to those we love, those we don’t even know, and especially to ourselves. The theme of Mental Health Awareness Month is More Good Days, Together. Let’s make it happen together.

May 3 5pm ET Join Make it for Mom, my free virtual cooking class, sponsored by The Ikigai Partnership and Sustainable Spin. Register with Eventbrite and grab your chef’s knife.

May 4 Adeena Sussman and James Beard Award-winning chef Michael Solomonov will be at the Hub at Temple Beth Am for one delicious evening.

May 5 Cinco de Mayo, is about more than mezcal, it celebrates Mexico’s victory at the Battle of Puebla

May 10, Mother's Day. Have I got a brunch menu for her (and for you). Register with Eventbrite.

I’m super-grateful to you, Broccoli Rising subscribers, especially those of you who’ve upgraded to paid subscriber status. This recipe’s for you.

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Look how beautiful we are. We lucked out to have such a magnificent home. Considering it was built 4.5 billion years ago, the Earth’s held up pretty well. But like every home, it requires occasional upkeep. Wednesday’s the occasion. It’s Earth Day.

Home improvements can involve unpleasant surprises — more cost, more mess, the fixture that won’t fit, the missing part that’s out of stock and needs to be special ordered from another country. Not here.

Fixing up the planet doesn’t mean a full-scale renovation. Little actions can have a big impact.

Take a lesson from lentils. The littlest legume can do some heavy lifting. It’s super sustainable, low water, high yield, and carbon negative. You read that right. And that’s even before lentils reach our kitchens, where they offer high protein, high fiber, high folate and endless versatility. Lentils can fritter, lentils can burger, they can salad, they can soup and more. All that and they’re easy on the wallet too.

Little and affordable lentils are just the start of something big. A new study indicates moving to a plant-based diet saves you money, all while shoring up our home’s foundations. Going plant-based lightens our environmental load. We should really call it a planet-based diet because that’s what it is.

Support your local farmer, especially small local family farms. They keep the organic flame alive. Organically-raised produce makes for more nutrient-rich soil for the planet, more nutrient-dense food for us, and it’s just good fun.

You can improve your home just by sharing a planet-friendly meal with your favorite people, especially in time for Earth Day. That’s the idea behind 1 Million Tables for the Planet. Register your table, whether it’s hummus and pita for you and a friend or a plant-based potluck for 50. The nonprofit will send you resources galore, from recipes to hosting tips. It’s a delicious form of activism.

Reduce food waste. America’s the world’s biggest offender. I’m a relentless repurposer and composter. We had a dozen plain lentils that somehow escaped and didn’t make it into dinner. I thought my husband was going to sweep them into the trash. I must have gasped. He looked at me, swept them into our compost bucket instead, then kissed the top of my head. Reducing food waste should earn you a kiss, too. Shop smart, use what you have and compost extras. There’s probably a community compost program right where you live.

All these little actions add up to keep our beautiful planet beautiful.

The Italians have always appreciated the power of lentils. They eat them on New Year’s Day to bring good luck, the way in the South we eat hopping john. Lentils even earn their place in Baroque art.

Paid Broccoli Rising subscribers, enjoy the art of lentils in Sunny Sicilian Lentils, treating lentils to Italy’s winning combination of woodsy rosemary, briny kalamatas, sweet, savory tomatoes, the brightness of balsamic, and an optional but highly recommended smack of red pepper flakes. There’s a dozen types of lentils, and basic brown or green guys will do nicely here, but extra points if you get heirloom brown lentils from Umbria. It’s also home to St. Francis of Assisi, Italy’s patron saint.

Wishing you and the Earth a happy Earth Day.

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Right around the time of the American Revolution, the French were also rising up, protesting widespread food shortages and outrageously high food prices. The biggest pain point? The cost of bread. Bread was part of every meal, but more than that, it was a cherished part of the French soul. A loaf might set you back more than half a day’s wages. You can see why this would add up in a bad way. You can see why this might piss people off. It did.

Maybe bread doesn’t define our soul these days, but the price of a loaf has jumped almost five percent under the current administration. Here’s another sad statistic— we waste more food in this country than anywhere else in the world. We can’t afford to throw away our money or our food.

You deserve better. So does your bread. You can start a revolution, or do what kitchens all over the world have done since the days of ancient Rome. Reuse old bread. The bread may be stale but these recipes remind us that making more out of less never goes out of style.

And for paid Broccoli Rising subscribers, I’ve got one more. That French pastry you probably never heard of — bostock. It doesn’t even sound French, but it is, and it magically turns bread into dessert.

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The French ultimately did get with the French toast program, but, being French, they call it something else — pain perdu, meaning "lost" or "forgotten" bread. So how did French toast get its name anyhow? An American guy named French named it after himself. Sheesh.

This Week’s Fabulous Happenings

April 17 Sanctuary Day — Join 140 animal sanctuaries across the country as Farm Sanctuary, the first-ever farm animal sanctuary, celebrates 40 years of protecting our animal friends.

April 17 and 18 Modern Daily Knitting hosts Nash Yarn Fest. Can’t make it to Nashville? Knit from the comfort of your couch on streaming day.

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Or we could do a brilliant work-around — switch to organic.

Some pundits argue that transitioning to organic will result in a short-term drop in crop yield. Well, honey, slightly less is better than the nothing we may well be looking at.

Do you wanna argue or do you wanna eat? More nuanced research shows organic production can compete with and often outperform conventional agriculture by utilizing organic farming practices like composting and crop rotation. These simple, doable, time-tested methods come with longterm benefits. They enrich the soil naturally, making for more nutrient-dense produce.

Or to hell with all that, as my Organic Marketing Association team says, organic is just good fun. Beats war and starvation.

Bombing our soil with synthetic fertilizers isn’t doing us any favors. Relying on it continues to degrade farmland while increasing global temperatures and greenhouse gas emissions. Without it, we’re at risk of worldwide food insecurity. Either way, we’re in a no-fun zone.

Or we can produce food organically. Let’s have some fun. Choose carrots over chemicals. Make food, not war.

Welcome, welcome, welcome Broccoli Rising subscribers longterm and new, and many thanks to those who referred new readers and/or upgraded your subscription level. Here’s a fantastic recipe for you all, with my thanks for your support.

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Roasted Carrots with Green Tahini

• 1 pound carrots, preferably slender organic spring carrots

• 2 cloves garlic, minced

• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika

• 1 teaspoon coriander

• sea salt

• 1 tablespoon organic olive oil

For the green tahini:

• 1 cup organic dill. chopped coarsely and loosely packed

• 1 cup organic mint leaves, chopped coarsely and loosely packed

• 1 cup organic cilantro, chopped coarsely and loosely packed

• 3 garlic cloves

• 3 tablespoons tahini

• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

• 1/2 cup water

• sea salt

Preheat oven to 400℉. Line a rimmed baking sheet with a sheet of parchment paper or a Silpat.

Peel carrots and trim them so they’re roughly the same length.

Place carrots on the baking sheet. Sprinkle on the minced garlic, smoked paprika, coriander and sea salt.

Drizzle the olive oil over all. Give the baking sheet a shake or stir the carrots so they get a little coating of the spiced oil. Spread them out so they roast, rather than steam.

Roast carrots for 15 minutes, then give them a stir so they roast evenly. Continue roasting until the carrots are caramelized and slightly softened, about another 10 minutes. Remove from the oven set aside.

In a food processor or high-speed blender, add the chopped dill, mint and cilantro and pulse briefly, so herbs are chopped fine. Add the garlic, tahini and lemon juice and process until you have a thick pale green paste. Pour in the water in a stream and process again until you have a creamy, pourable sauce. Add sea salt to taste, give it one last blast in the food processor or blender and drizzle over the carrots. Or almost anything really.

Have a slice of carrot cake (paid Broccoli Rising subscribers, this one’s for you).

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This main course salad was something I threw together for Sunday lunch and realized it could be terrific for the spring holidays — bright for Easter and Passover. I couldn’t keep it to myself. I hope you feel the same way about Broccoli Rising.

Th…

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April comes from the Latin word aperio, meaning to open. That’s what spring is — an opening up. After the cold and gray of winter, the sun comes our way again (at least in this hemisphere), taking us from darkness to light, coaxing flowers into bloom, sweet berries into ripening, tender greens to unfurl and baby birds to hatch. Look what my husband and I found on our morning dog walk. All these pretty signs of life remind us to open up too, to wake up and pay attention. So why do we celebrate by eating eggs? Lots of em, a whole henhouse’s worth.

There are eggs in kuku sabzi, the herb-intense omelet served at Nowruz, eggs binding just about everything served at Passover, and, of course, Easter eggs.

Eggs are the perfect symbol of renewal. Unless you’re a chicken or a vegan. Open up to another option — quinoa. You want protein? You got it, plus fiber and a heap of body-supporting minerals, including potassium, iron, and folic acid, with zero cholesterol or cruelty. Quinoa is the Whole Grains Council’s Grain of the Month for March, but it’s open to delighting you in April. It’s light and fluffy, sings of springtime, is plant-based and seder-safe for Passover. Enjoy it in my recipe for quinoa with mint pesto and spring greens.

For a significant main course dish, here’s a riff on (or radical detour from) kibbeh. It’s a cravable fave that spans across the Mashreq (Syria, Lebanon, Palestine — that neck of the woods - Thanks, Jocette for explaining this region!) and Turkey, where it’s called kofte. By any name, it traditionally features meat and bulgur. But not here. I lose the meat entirely and bump out the bulgur for quinoa, but keep the spice and sass.

Kofte is often shaped into balls or patties, but plating is an easier way to go, and you know me, I’m all for easy. It’s plant-based, Passover-appropriate and can be part of every spring celebration. Be open to it.

Open up to April. It’s blooming with opportunities.

April 1 Passover begins at sundown, and yeah, yeah, it’s April Fool’s Day

April 3 Good Friday

April 5 Easter — Chocolate Easter bunnies — delicious! Toy plush Easter bunnies — adorable! Real live rabbits for Easter? No way!

April 7 World Health Day

April 20 Food Systems of New England and Interaction Institute for Social Change’s 21-Day Racial Equity Challenge. Register now.

April 22 Earth Day

April 23-26 New Orleans Jazz Fest — Will you be there? Me too! Look for some new NOLA-inspired vegan recipes coming from me soon.

Paid Subscribers,

I’m pleased to share a vintage Broccoli Rising Passover post with vegan matzo ball recipes from two kitchen mavens, Joan Nathan and Nava Atlas. You will also find my Quinoa Kofte recipe below. Thanks again for your support!

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While angry grandads are busy destroying things at our expense, granny hobbyists do the opposite — create. Sure, you get a scarf or a sourdough out of the process, but it’s proven to offer mental health, boost cognitive function and build community as well. Beats doomscrolling and it’s cheaper than therapy. Or war. But for goodness sake, let’s give the movement a more dignified name. Any ideas? How about badass artistry?

I have called for 2026 to be the Year of Badassedness, observed by committing radical acts of kindness and cooking. I invite everyone of every age to get back to real, hands-on ways to look after ourselves and those we love. Even angry grandads. Especially angry granddads. My dream is to gather world leaders, and rather than have them wage war, lock them in a kitchen together with orders to make dinner or die trying. They’d get with the program.

What’s the badass art you’ve wanted to develop? Knitting? Honey, I wish I could help you, but I know the folks at Modern Daily Knitting can, whether you’re a knitting newbie or pattern pro. They knit together community online and IRL by engaging in fundraisers like Knit for Food. Badass artistry is its own kind of activism.

While you’re there, check out my root ragout recipe. Knitters gotta eat. So do you. So today’s recipe is a real badass granny recipe — vegan banana bread, adapted from a recipe by my paternal grandmother Marcella, a fierce card player, avid golfer and badass baker.

Hers was the first banana bread I ever tasted. It was tender, moist, banana-intense, racy with vanilla, homey and comforting. As a kid, I had no idea banana bread could be otherwise. But as I grew up, I discovered what you probably know too — there are crumbly, dry banana breads, heavy, greasy breads, and others bereft of banana. There are also breads studded with nuts and chocolate, others spiced with cinnamon and ginger. Lovely if you like that sort of thing, but my ideal banana bread is all about the bananas. Not firm, perky ones. The secret to badass banana bread is bananas — spotted, soft and close to collapse, bananas with the richness of age.

Marcella’s original recipe is full of unvegany things like butter, eggs and dairy. Early attempts at veganizing it were beta at best. Thanks to my own badass persistence, new high-performing vegan products and lots of old bananas, I’ve got a recipe as good as granny’s, and plant-based too.

Paid subscribers will find the Badass Banana Bread recipe below. Upgrade your subscription today to get access to all Broccoli Rising exclusive content.

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About two so-called traditional St. Patrick’s Day foods:

• Green beer is a purely New York invention, ruining perfectly good beer.

• Corned beef and cabbage is neither Irish nor vegan.

Hold the corned beef (please!), but keep your cabbage — it’s the Year of Cabbage, after all, even Vogue says so — and do something truly Irish with it — make bubble and squeak.

Soda bread. It’s Irish, oaten, earthy and awesome. IT IS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE A CAKE. It’s called soda bread for a reason. It’s made with baking soda, not yeast, and it’s a bread. Got it?

You want cake? Have your cake and be Irish too with stout cake. Guinness stout is the pride of Ireland. But is it actually good for you? That, my dears, seems best explored over a pint or two at your local.

Eid al-Fitr does not involve beer of any color, but the foods at the feast are less contentious — at least I hope so.

Fussy but fabulous tadig or tacheen, a sweet-savory crispy rice cake.

Harira, a soup heady with saffron and rich with beans and vegetables.

Silky, sensuous rosewater pudding.

Easiest and most elemental of all — dates. Nutrient-dense, naturally sweet and native across the Middle East, dates are a sweet Ramadan tradition. They even come recommended by Mohammed, no less.

Both St. Patrick’s Day and Eid al fitr are worthy of celebrating separately and together.

It’s not traditional, but a pot of harira and a loaf of soda bread sounds like my kind of meal, a cozy warm-up for a chilly spring evening.

And though I still fiercely maintain that soda bread is not meant to be a cake, the sweet, chewiness of dates and the toasty, nutty goodness of oats are made for each other. So with apologies to Eid observers and Irish traditionalists, I’ve created:

Oat and Date Soda Bread. This recipe is found below for paid subscribers.

For another winning date treat, everyone head on over to Modern Daily Knitting for my Medjool Jewel recipe. You don’t even have to knit (God knows I don’t) to enjoy these cookies and be part of the whole inclusive Modern Daily Knitting community.

If you’re here, you’re part of the Broccoli Rising community, and I am grateful. Broccoli Rising depends on the support of readers like you. Erin go bragh. Eid mubarak. Thank you.

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If you’re eating pie today, thank Archimedes.

Archimedes, the ancient Greek mathematician, was a genius of STEM before we even knew the acronym, and it is thanks to him we understand the constant ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter is 3.141592654, aka pi. Good to know.

Archimedes lived in Sicily in the 3rd century, which was then under Greek rule. Everybody wanted a piece of Sicily at some point in history — the Romans, the Greeks, the Phoenicians, the Carthaginians, the Arabs, the Normans, the French, the Spanish, as well as some lesser-known tribes like the Visigoths and the Vandals.

For a much-desired port, ancient Sicily lacked the wealth of city-states like Venice, Florence and Milan. Life for the inhabitants tended towards the hardscrabble, regardless of the invader del giorno. Folks adjusted. They lived and ate frugally.

So how did we get to pie? In much more recent history, a clever soul wanted to make math fun. He figured out pi was worth celebrating, and it would be most fitting to do so on March 14 — the fourteenth day of the third month — 3/14, get it? And how do we mark the day? By solving complex mathematical equations? Fortunately, no. We make great use of a pun. On Pi Day, rather than admire the elegance and eternity of pi, we bake and eat pie.

What kind of pie did Archimedes go for? Apple? Cherry? More likely it was chickpea.

Chickpea pie, also known throughout the Mediterranean as farinata and socca, is a crispy pancake that’s high-protein, high-fiber, gluten-free, and naturally vegan. Made with just chickpea flour, water, salt and oil, the proportions might change from region to region, but it was savory, satisfying subsistence grub for generations of Sicilians, because chickpea flour was cheaper than wheat flour. Crispy on the bottom but pillowy to the bite, chickpea pie is still adored street food that can be topped with all kinds of things — a dollop of chopped tomato and basil, tapenade, roasted vegetables or enjoyed just by itself.

Oh, sweetie, does that fail to meet your definition of pie? Cheer up. Another pie enjoyed throughout Sicily and Italy as a whole is a crostata di marmellata — jam tart. Like chickpea pie, it’s a wondrous thing elevating accessible, affordable ingredients. It’s jam or preserves baked in a piecrust, a comforting, homey treat often finished and fancy up with a pastry lattice top.

Here’s the great thing — you don’t have to wait for dessert. Crostata di marmellata can be enjoyed at breakfast or as a mid-morning or afternoon tiramisu (Italian for pick me up) . The shortcrust pastry paired with the sweet fruity hit of jam is guaranteed to make you smile.any time you taste it.

Paid subscribers will find the Crostata di Marmellata recipe at the end of this post.

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Back in your nonna's (grandmother’s) day, or your nonna’s nonna’s day, the jam or preserves would have been homemade. However, modernity has some things going for it. Any quality commercial jam performs fine.

Savory, sweet or both, here’s plant-based pie recipes to make Pi Day affordable, delicious, nutritious, and yes, easy as pi.

Hey, speaking of nutritious, it’s National Nutrition Month, and tomorrow, join me at the Palms Hotel and Spa for a curated community dinner featuring überfresh local produce from Swank Farm, a recipe from Miami Vegan and um, me. Nutrition’s never tasted so good.

Space is limited, so grab your tix here: https://bit.ly/swankdinner.

Chickpea Pie

• 1 cup chickpea flour

• 1 cup warm water

• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt

• fresh ground pepper

• 2 tablespoons olive oil or peanut oil

Whisk together chickpea flour, water, sea salt and fresh ground pepper in a mixing bowl until mixture is incorporated into smooth, golden batter.

Cover and set aside for 30 minutes, or cover and refrigerate for up to a day, but bring batter back to room temperature before proceeding.

Preheat oven to 425℉. Place a 9-inch ovenproof skillet (preferably cast iron) in the oven to heat for a few minutes. The batter meeting the hot pan is where the magic happens.

Using a potholder, remove the pan from the oven. Swirl the 2 tablespoons of olive oil or peanut oil around the skillet and pour the batter on top. Set the skillet on a burner and cook over medium-high heat until bubbles form and the batter starts to firm up.

Now return the chickpea pie to the oven and bake for about 20 minutes or until golden and firm. Finish with another sprinkle of sea salt and serve in wedges.

Check out more pies to celebrate for Pi Day.

Paid Broccoli Rising subscribers, the crostata di marmellata recipe awaits.

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And yet the cold hasn’t dimmed our golden sunlight, and the geckos and iguanas who survived the freeze are happily basking in it. So am I. It hasn’t put off the mango trees, thick with blossoms, the promise of a healthy summer crop of fruit. Sure, Miami locals — including me — go around like we got dressed in the dark, with mismatched clothing chosen for warmth rather than looks, but it hasn’t chilled our spirits. We’re full-body huggers, big smilers, chatting with each other, whether we’re old friends or new acquaintances, with a cafetico-fueled energy like nowhere else. It’s a Miami thing.

Oh, it isn’t all bliss. Local authors like Carl Hiaasen and Dave Barry and more-or-less real folk like Florida Man, have mined Miami’s craziness. The traffic here is ridiculous, and often, the politics are too. I think of Miami as my bad boyfriend — one I can’t quit.

This Thursday, I join all of Miami to celebrate our city, our delicious mix of cultures, even our maddening traffic on 305 Day. 305 is Miami’s local area code, and on the fifth day of the third month — 305, get it? — we party for the city we love.

Be part of 305 Day wherever you live with a copy of Miami Vegan: Plant-Based Recipes from the Tropics to Your Table. It’ll warm your spirit and your stomach. It’s the perfect way to enjoy National Nutrition Month and have a good time too. Here’s a taste:

Florida native tribes call it sofkee. You may know it as grits, polenta or mamaliga, but by any name, cornmeal mush is a classic winter warmer that’s easy on the wallet.

Also affordable and warming is tacu tacu, a Peruvian mashup — literally — of beans and rice. Fun to say, fun to eat.

And paid Broccoli Rising subscribers, I’ve got something special for you: the 305 Orange Bowl.

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I lack the sports gene, so don’t ask me who played the Orange Bowl. But when I was little, my parents would bundle me up against the cold and bring me to the Orange Bowl parade with its magical parade floats, booming marching bands, beaming street performers, who seemed the height of glamour and grace, and the crush of crowds. I hope this bowl — with the beans, rice, avocado and orange Miami loves— offers that kind of excitement.

March is National Nutrition Month

March 5 305 Day

March 8 Daylight Savings Time begins — we spring forward

March 11 Miami folks! Join me at The Palms Hotel as we celebrate National Nutrition Month with a seasonal, farm-to-table dinner in collaboration with Swank Specialty Produce, plus a presentation from me plus a taste of Miami Vegan. This thoughtfully curated menu highlights South Florida’s freshest harvest—vibrant greens, heirloom vegetables, and nutrient-rich ingredients—prepared with a focus on flavor, balance, and well-being. Rooted in community and mindful sourcing, the evening invites guests to connect more deeply with where their food comes from and how it nourishes both body and planet. Space is limited, so get your tix now.

March 12 Urban Oasis Project Vizcaya Night Market

March 14 Pi Day — check out next week’s Broccoli Rising for the pi backstory and, of course, pie recipes (doh).

March 17 St. Patrick’s Day — eat your greens. Easiest way to do it is with Catalan spinach. Spanish rather than Irish, but pretty fabulous.

March 20 Eid el Fitr, the end of Ramadan

March 29 Palm Sunday

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