The first lotus pad has opened in my water garden. It’s a beautiful and soft looking leaf, and water beads off of it immediately.

Food is an interesting intersection of plants, environments, animals and technology. It was a beautiful day here in New York, so I went to the markets as soon as I woke up. This is what I bought.

Ethical diets, are an especially interesting interdisciplinary cuisine. I’m vegan, and after completing a 5 day juice fast and cleanse I’m preparing lots of raw food. Raw vegan food is a diet is inspired by ethics (the equality of human and non-human animals) and also a cuisine that has been influenced by technology (blender, dehydrator, juicer, food processor) and chemistry/spirituality (the benefits of enzymes and living foods). This is my first attempt to cook without ‘cooking’. I was doing this today and decided to blog about it later, so I snapped some photos with my phone. All produce and grains used were raw and organic.

Raw Vegan Sprouted Lentil Curry w/ Avocado Salad

Sprouted Lentils
Soaked Almonds
Soaked Brazil nuts
Lemons
Carrots
Parsley (or Cilantro)
Garam Masala
Tumeric
Corriander
Fennel Seed
Sea Salt
Agave (or Maple Syrup)
Apple Cider Vinegar
–
Avocado
Miso Mayo (can sub a paste of miso, cider vinegar, vegetable oil)
Hemp Nuts
–
Greens & Fruit (I like Dandelion & Strawberry)

First, I sprouted some lentils that I bought in bulk at Integral Yoga Natural Foods. I didn’t buy lentils made for sprouting, just the bulk lentils. I barely sprouted them by soaking in spring water for two days. They soaked in a large plastic Tupperware with a lid, in the refrigerator. I changed the water once - and they were done when they had swollen and grown a little tiny white root.

After draining and rinsing the sprouted lentils, I squeezed one lemon over them and began to prepare the curry paste.

Then, To some olive oil in a bowl, I added Garam Masala, Coriander and Tumeric from Patel Brothers Grocery in Jackson Heights. To this paste, I added finely chopped parsley (cilantro works as well). Then I salted and sweetened to taste with Sea Salt and raw organic Agave. I also chopped some fennel seed and added that to the paste. The curry paste was then set in the sun while I continued with other ingredients.

Next, I cut several carrots into little rounds - and soaked them in water with a splash of raw cider vinegar. While the carrots are soaking, I chopped up some sprouted Brazil nuts and almonds and tossed these with the lentils.

The curry paste was then taken out of the sun and tossed with the lentils. If you don’t have enough, make some more paste.

Finally, I drained the carrots, chopped them, and tossed them into the lentils.

I served this curried lentil dish on a bed of dandelion greens, accompanied by a few strawberries and a simple dressed Avocado (miso mayo, lemon juice and topped with hemp nuts.) It’s great to let this marinate for a while before serving. Also, for those who don’t like it raw - just heat it up gently, then top with cool soy yogurt and chutney.

The water plant conservatory at the Brooklyn Botanic garden (above) has inspired me to do some aquaculture at home.

I’m starting with Umbrella Palm, Lotus and Duckweed.

By the way, it’s Cherry blossom season at the gardens, go check it out…

A new project I’m undertaking in the dining room. This is plantotype alpha - the first box. There is a skylight over our dining room table, and I’d like to take advantage of that light with some plants in that part of the house.

“The “Finger Plan” from 1947 was a pioneering attempt to locate the urban development of Copenhagen along five radials or “fingers” which connected the centre of the city with five older market towns in the region. The vision was that green wedges or corridors should dominate the space between the fingers which was characterised by transport and urban structures. The green corridors had a double function; they were partly to function as the lungs of Copenhagen and partly to function as green recreational spaces for the people living in the compact city districts of Copenhagen (Ferdinansen, 2002, p. 80-83).”

From Urban Green Spaces and Social Well Being

Cutest name ever for a project of this kind: BUGS, “Benefits of Urban Green Space”

Summary from their web site:

The inter-related issues of urban sprawl, traffic congestion, noise, and air pollution are major socio-economic problems faced by most European cities. The main objective of BUGS is to develop an integrated methodology to assess the role of green space in alleviating the adverse effects of urbanisation. Addressing the impact of green areas on such diverse areas as traffic flows and emissions, air quality, microclimate, noise, accessibility, economic efficiency, and social well-being, this methodology will allow to deduce a set of guidelines regarding the use of green space as a design tool for urban planning, at scales ranging from a street canyon or a park to an entire urban region. Potential end-users are actively involved to help focus and steer the work. Supported by a marketing strategy, the ultimate goal is to turn the methodology into a self-sustaining activity, to be offered as a service to urban and regional authorities in Europe.

Arcology Systems by Rowin Andruscavage of the University of Maryland.

The windowsills in our loft provide the perfect shelf for plants. Without this small architectural detail, we couldn’t have such happy sun-screening air-filtering companions.

Zumthor’s spa in Vals Therme opens visitors to the surrounding natural environment. Although the building is stone, it’s made of stone from the mountains nearby, although the architecture can be cavernous at points, there is always an experience of moving from the earth-core, the stone-nest out into the open nature. Even in the dead of the Swiss winter, exposure to falling snowflakes while standing in the thermal waters outside felt like a ‘greenspace’.

Patrick Blanc extends the green roof idea to the external walls of buildings.