Broccoli Rising and All for One (Earth)
I’d started a semi-cheeky little post last week about how the incoming president has vowed to annex Greenland, Canada, and the Panama Canal, and what that might taste like. But all that changed when Los Angeles as we know it went up in flames. Your home may be next.
Cherished Broccoli Rising subscribers, it is my pleasure and my mission to provide you with exciting and nourishing plant-based recipes each week, and maybe a little fun, brightness or uplift too. I do it for you. I do it for the rest of the world too. So it doesn’t burn up. Whether you’re in Greenland or Greensboro, Panama or Palestine, Canada or Kyiv, Los Angeles or Lebanon, our real home, our common home, is Earth. And we have not been good housekeepers.
We’ve seen — and felt — signs of climate change for decades, with storms developing faster and with greater intensity, wildfires blazing out of control, rising tides, last year’s off-the-charts temperature and more. And we’ve consistently failed to act. At least not in the united, whole-hearted, all-for-one-and-one-for-all approach it’s going to take to make a difference.
I like to think individual actions count. That’s why I’m a plant-based pusher, serious composter and recycler, and semi-successful grower of my own food. That’s my choice, but I’d love to jolly you along so it can be yours too. Climate change is an equal opportunity monster of our own making. It doesn’t care if you’re rich or powerful. None of that will save you. We will have to save ourselves. Together.
How? Start by believing it’s possible. Start by realizing caring for yourself and caring for the planet aren’t mutually exclusive. Embrace a delicious way to live, to be, and to eat that doesn’t rely on cruelty, capitalism, and heavy carbon load. Before all other options burn up.
I have faith we can do it. Because we have to. Martin Luther King Jr. knew having faith was tough. He was right. It’s tough but necessary. He said, “Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.”
We need to have faith that we can still find a way to clean up the mess we’ve made of our one and only beautiful home. Faith doesn’t need formal religion. It’s bigger than that. And yet smaller and more specific too. It can come from playing with your child, petting your dog, a heart-to-heart chat with a friend. It can come from watching a movie, or reading a book, like Victoria Moran’s brand new and yet timeless Age Like a Yogi. Faith can be whatever lifts you up and lights you up.
Don’t let the chaos and heartbreak of these past few days eclipse today. It’s Martin Luther King’s birthday. Honor him with his favorites like macaroni and cheese. And have a little faith. Take a step. Now take another step. Translate that faith into action.
Donate to World Central Kitchen, Los Angeles Regional Foodbank or another nonprofit coming to the rescue in Los Angeles
Commit to a plant-forward diet
Recycle and compost to reduce food waste
Explore more than a dozen other ways to tidy up the planet
Choose what you’re able to do. Then do it. The Earth is home for all of us. Together, we can put out this fire.
All right, I’ll shut up now and share a curated world tour in flavor profiles:
A quick Google search reveals Greenland’s cuisine is driven by its indigenous ingredients — makes sense for an island. But it doesn’t lean into plantbased; in fact, it lurches away from it. But the flavor profile is much like other Nordic cuisine, so we’re skipping the animal and going for Arctic. Arctic Grub’s Sunny Gandara kindly provided this recipe for her nutrient-dense and bright-flavored Nordic Barley Salad.
Nordic Barley Salad
Serves 6
For the salad:
1 cup (200 grams) pearl barley, rinsed
1 x 15 oz (425 grams) can butter beans or broad beans, rinsed and drained *
1 large English cucumber, diced
1 cup (250 grams) cherry tomatoes, halved
1 medium red beet, roasted, peeled and diced
1 medium yellow beet, roasted, peeled and diced
2-3 radishes, thinly sliced
½ large bunch lacinato kale, ribs removed and thinly sliced
Couple of handfuls fresh dill, chopped plus more for garnish
Handful of flat-leaf parsley, chopped
⅓ cup (40 grams) almonds, toasted and chopped**
Pickled red onions for garnish
½ cup (125 grams) vegan goat cheese
*sub any beans of your choice; you can also cook your own beans from scratch
** Toasted sunflower seeds are great, too if you want to avoid nuts
For the vinaigrette:
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
Juice of ½ lemon
1 small garlic clove, grated
1-2 tablespoons fresh dill, chopped
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 tablespoons maple syrup
4 tablespoons good quality extra-virgin olive oil
1 bunch scallions, sliced finely (white and light green parts only) divided
Salt, pepper to taste
To make the vinaigrette:
Combine all ingredients (only half the scallions; reserve the rest for topping on the salad) in a bowl and whisk together. Season with salt and pepper and set aside until ready to use.
To make the salad:
First, preheat the oven to 400℉ (200℃). Cut off the greens from the beets (if attached), rinse and scrub them, and place them in a large sheet of foil. Drizzle with a little olive oil and kosher or sea salt, and wrap loosely.
Bake in the middle of the oven for about 1 hour until a knife or cake tester pierces easily through the middle. Let cool slightly before peeling and dicing them.
Second, cook the barley in about 2 quarts of water with 1 tablespoon kosher or sea salt. Follow the package directions, but the cooking time for pearled barley should take 20-25 minutes. Drain and add into a large mixing bowl.
Slice the kale thinly and add it to a separate bowl. Massage the kale with your hands and a few drops of lemon juice and olive oil to remove some bitterness, and sprinkle with a little salt. Add the kale to the bowl with the barley and butter beans. Season with salt and pepper, pour in half the dressing, and toss with tongs to combine.
Add in the diced beets, cucumbers, tomatoes, and parsley and with a large spoon, carefully tossing to combine. Drizzle in the remainder of the dressing, top with pickled red onions, goat cheese, toasted almonds, the remaining scallions and a few sprigs of fresh dill.
We can thank Canada for maple trees and for showing us general kindness of character. I’m sure there’s pissed-off Canadians, I just haven’t met any. Perhaps it helps to be kind to yourself. These maple raisin scones may help. Their sweetness comes from a kiss of pure maple. They’re buttery, tender, crumbly and so good my husband turned to me after eating one at breakfast and said with some urgency, “The scones are amazing.”
Maple Raisin Scones
1-3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus a little more for rolling out the dough
1/4 cup rolled oats
1 tablespoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon. baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
½ cup (1 stick) vegan butter, chilled and diced
1-3/4 cup plain unsweetened vegan yogurt
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1/2 cup raisins*
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, oats, baking powder and baking soda, and cinnamon.
Work in the vegan butter with your fingertips, rubbing it into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Spoon in the vegan yogurt and maple syrup and stir just until the dough comes together. It should be soft but not sticky.
Add the raisins or other chopped dried fruit and nuts and give a light stir to combine, taking care not to overmix.
Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and roll it out so it’s 1-inch thick. Use a biscuit cutter about 3 inches in diameter (I used a clean jar lid) and cut out as many scones as the dough permits.
Place them on the prepared baking sheet about 2 inches apart.
Gather any dough scraps into a ball and roll out the dough again. Cut out more scones. Repeat until you’ve used all the dough.
Bake for about 25 minutes, or until the scones are puffed and golden brown on top. Let cool slightly and enjoy.
Makes 8 to 10.
*Feel free to substitute your favorite chopped dried fruit or nuts for the raisins.
Panama and Miami are only a thousand mile apart, and they share Latin and Caribbean cultures and foodways. Sancocho, the national dish of Panama, is a sultry stew touted to cure ailments from hangover to heartache. It’s rich with yam, pumpkin, corn and, traditionally, chicken. I break with tradition by leaving out the chicken but keep sancocho’s power to comfort and cure.
Next week — a Broccoli Rising exclusive for paid subscribers only, an interview with yogini and Main Street Vegan maven Victoria Moran. Victoria’s newest book, Age Like a Yogi guides you through practices for spiritual awareness, physical vitality, and a way of living that can make this world kinder, saner, and a little more beautiful. Don’t miss it!
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