Every time you stroll past a colorful table of herb seedlings, grand ideas abound. Complex yet delicate herbal flavors frame the perfect summer meal al fresco. Sweet herbs hit a high note when they marry with meat on the grill, while zesty leaves give iced tea a zing that lifts sans caffeine. A creamy tropical salad keeps the meal light on carbs yet oh-so satisfying, while imparting a fresh infusion of sunny summer flavor. These three herbaceous treats will have you on your way to improvising a brilliantly inspired seasonal feast.

Herbs to grow: pineapple sage, garlic chives, lemon balm, lemon verbena, mizuna & cilantro.

Pineapple sage & garlic chive grilled chicken

For the chicken:

• 4 organic, free-range chicken breasts

For the marinade:

• 3-6 cloves garlic, crushed
• 5-10 leaves pineapple sage, finely chopped
• 4-5 stalks garlic chives, chopped
• 1 beer (lighter/darker will achieve different flavors–feel free to experiment!)
• 1 tsp. sea salt
• 1 tsp. black pepper
• 1 tbsp. honey
• 2 tbsp. soy sauce or tamari

For the chicken:

1. Combine marinade ingredients in a large glass container with lid.
2. Marinate chicken overnight or close to it as possible.
3. Heat a gas grill (or charcoal if preferred) to medium high heat.
4. Oil the grill and cook breasts on indirect heat for about 15 minutes on each side, until juices run clear.
5. Cover chicken to retain moisture.
6. Squeeze fresh lemon over chicken before serving.

Mango, avocado & mizuna salad

For the dressing:

• 3 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 3 leaves pineapple sage, finely chopped
• 1 handful of cilantro, finely chopped
• 1 tsp. sea salt
• 1 tsp. black pepper
• 1 tbsp. honey

For the salad:

• 2 large firm & ripe avocados, cubed
• 1 Hawaiian mango, cubed
• 8 oz. mizuna, washed. (Arugula may be substituted)
• ¼ red onion, very thinly sliced.
• 2 tbsp. toasted sesame seeds

For the salad:

1. Blend dressing ingredients in a small food processor or shake to combine in an airtight jar.
2. When almost ready to serve, combine salad ingredients and dress lightly. Don’t do this until you are ready to eat or the avocado will brown and the mizuna will wilt.

Lemon balm & verbena iced tea

• 3-5 sprigs lemon balm
• 3-5 sprigs lemon verbena
• 6 c filtered water

For the tea:

1. Boil water.
2. Pour water over herbs in a large, heatproof glass pitcher.
3. Allow tea to cool before moving it to the fridge.
4. Serve on ice with a sprig of each for decoration!

Image via Flickr user jules:stonesoup.

Related Articles

• Raw Recipe: Tom GYI Soup
• Mom’s Chicken Soup
• Quinoa Tabbouleh

This Traditional Flag Cake: Made with over six sticks of butter and five cups of sugar, this colorful holiday treat could throw a wrench in anyone’s summer bikini plan. We knew we could do better! For a fresh unconventional take, try…

That Organic (and Healthier) Flag Cake:  Get tropical and swap that butter for organic, extra-virgin coconut oil. Your heart and waist will thank you. What about the sugar? Ripe bananas and honey are the perfect substitute. A decadent yet surprisingly fat-free Greek yogurt based frosting tops this wholesome version of a summer classic, while sweet organic berries give that kick of red and blue for a truly patriotic treat.

Organic Flag Cake Recipe

For the cake

Dry:

• 3 ½ c organic flour (We like King Arthur Flours.)
• 2 ½ tsp baking powder
• 1 ½ tsp cinnamon
• ¾ tsp salt

Wet:

• 2 organic, free-range eggs
• ½ c organic extra-virgin coconut oil
• 3 very ripe, mashed organic bananas
• ½ c honey or pitted and finely chopped dates
• 1 c organic Greek yogurt
• 1 tsp vanilla

For the frosting:

• 1 c non-fat organic Greek yogurt
• 1 tsp vanilla
• ½ c powdered sugar
• 1 pint organic strawberries
• 1 pint organic blueberries

Directions

For the cake:

1. Preheat oven to 350˚.
2. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl.
3. Beat eggs well and add remaining wet ingredients. Mix until well combined.
4. Add wet into dry and mix until just combined. Don’t over mix.
5. Line one 11″x7 “or two 8″x8″ baking pans with parchment.
6. Pour batter into pan(s) and bake for about 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Watch carefully near the end to avoid over baking.
7. Cool completely on racks before frosting.

For the frosting:

1. Whisk together the yogurt, vanilla and powdered sugar until it thickens.
2. Place in the fridge for at least an hour to let it set.
3. Frost cake and have fun interpreting our grand ol’ flag with berries!

We would love to see your artistry! Send photos to info@yourdailythread.com.

Image via Flickr user Aunt Owwee.

Related Articles

• Baby, Baby Give Me Some Cake
• Vegalicious Holiday Treats
• Sweet Summer Farewell

Want to taste, feel, smell and see how easy it is to be eco-friendly? Whether you want to green your home, your business or your life, the Go Green Expo is the place to learn about ways to reduce your carbon footprint. Check out hundreds of booths and exhibits showcasing environmentally friendly goods and services, including eco-fashion, hybrid cars, home and building products, baby and pet items, health and organic food and much more!

This year’s eco-friendly event, taking place April 15-17 at the Los Angeles Convention Center, will also feature guest speakers like actor/activist Ed Begley, Jr., actress and author Mariel Hemingway, Paul Watson of the hit TV series Whale Wars, and many other notable environmental figures who will share ideas on how the business owner and everyday consumer alike can lead a greener lifestyle.

Friday, April 15 is the Business-to-Business Expo (10 a.m. to 5 p.m.) with complimentary admission for retail and wholesale buyers, as well as most other business-related attendees and press.

Saturday, April 16 (10 a.m. to 6 p.m.) and Sunday, April 17 (10 a.m. to 5 p.m.), the Go Green Expo is open to the public. Admission is $15 for the entire weekend, or bring your old laptop, cell phone, or LCD screen for on-site recycling and get in FREE. In between discussion panels on “living the green life,” you can enjoy organic treats and yoga classes by LA Yoga.

Location: The Los Angeles Convention Center, 1201 South Figueroa Street, South Hall G, Los Angeles, 90015 (map).

Image via print & pattern.

Related Articles

• Go Green Expo This Weekend
• Go Green Expo
• Go Green Expo Highlights

ECO EATS

Pigs-in-a-Blanket

Instead of traditional pigs-in-a-blanket, which can be loaded with byproducts or fillers, try Applegate Farms Organic Pork Cocktails Franks wrapped in Immaculate Baking Company’s Organic Crescent Rolls.

Vegetarian Option: MorningStar Farms Mini Veggie Corn Dogs.

Chicken Wings

Opt for humanely-raised chicken like that from Healthy Family Farms coated in Annie’s Hot Chipotle BBQ Sauce for a healthier spin on this popular finger food.

Vegetarian Option: MorningStar Farms Buffalo Wing Veggie Wings.

Hot Dogs/Hamburgers

Hamburgers and hot dogs are delicious to meat-eaters; hormones and byproducts are not. Keep your game-day meat organic by choosing Applegate Farms Organic Stadium-Style Hot Dogs and grass-fed beef from McCall’s Meat and Fish Company in Los Feliz or Whole Foods.

For the buns, Alvarado Street Bakery makes organic, delicious alternatives to the usual buns which can contain high fructose syrup and bleached flour.

Vegetarian Option: Boca (Non GMO) Vegan Burgers, Tofurky Franks.

Chili

Knock your guests’ socks off with natural turkey chili to lower the fat but keep the flavor. Top with a little Clover Organic cheese (rBGH/rBST-free and made with vegetable rennet) and some farmers’ market veggies like diced bell peppers and onions for a spicy kick.

Vegetarian Option: Boca Ground Crumbles.

Dips/Chips

While dip is a must-have for a Super Bowl party, skip the preservative-filled ready-made versions. Instead, make your own with fresh, organic ingredients. Serve homemade spinach dip with Oliver’s Organic Sourdough (Whole Foods) and your salsa and guacamole with Casa Sanchez’ Organic Tortilla Chips.

Sweets

If you don’t have time to whip up homemade treats, Immaculate Baking Company makes easy-to-bake cookies or head to Sweet Debbie’s for organic cupcakes in yummy flavors like Mocha Italian Espresso and Crazy for Coconut.

SUSTAINABLE SIPS

Keep your beer local with Angel City Brewing Company (we recommend the “CHE” Pale Lager and Angel City Belgian IPA). Not a beer drinker? GreenBar Collective makes various organic liquors from botanical-infused TRU2 Gin to Crusoe Rum made with fairtrade sugarcane. Stir them up with some fresh-pressed juice and get cheering!

For recipes and other green party (and post-party) tips: Healthy Happy Life: 5 Easy Dips; Healthy Happy Life: Detox Recipes; and Mother Nature Network: Super Bowl Recipes.

Do you have any favorite Super Bowl treats you want to share? Comment below!

Images via amphalon and try-whistling-this.

Related Articles

• Ye Rustic Inn Funday Football
• How To Gobble Green On Thanksgiving
• Party Green

To start a co-op, here are our suggested steps:

• Find 5-6 households to participate (no more than 12 people total so you can easily cook a dish). That way, you walk away with dishes for four subsequent evenings. (Four leaves flexibility to go out to dinner, eat leftovers, etc. on the other days).
• Pick a day and meeting time that works for everyone (Sundays seem to work well). Also, start by making your co-op a once-a-month event so people don’t feel overwhelmed.
• Agree on which containers to use so everyone ends up with the same type. Everyone divides their dish into four containers and trades for four different dishes at the event. We recommend BPA-free, 7-cup glassware as it can be safely used to reheat dishes.
• Cook a dish that can be easily frozen/refrigerated and reheated like a soup or a casserole. Also, always practice safe food handling!
• Make your co-op fun and interesting by trading recipes, serving cocktails or assigning a type of cuisine to each person for a good mix of dishes.

For recipes and more advice, check out:  Dinner At Your Door.

Image via What Katie Ate.

Related Articles

• Just Grow Up: How to Start a Vertical Garden

Among the things for which Los Angeles is known, shopping is at the top of the list. But what am I always on the hunt for? All things edible, of course. We have so many lovely indie grocery markets that it’s worth skipping the familiar and going on an adventure to see what green foodie finds are out there. Who knows? You might find an amazing vegan reuben sandwich, interesting juice concoctions or a delicious gift for that holiday party in one of these top indie market picks.

Happy hunting!

WESTSIDE

• Co-opportunity (Santa Monica) – The only Certified Santa Monica Green Grocer.
• Mrs. Winston’s Green Grocery (Century City, Santa Monica-Ocean Park Blvd, Santa Monica-Colorado Ave) – Part best-salad-bar-in-the-land, part green grocery market, part fresh juice bar.
• One Life Natural Foods (Santa Monica) – Fresh juice bar and bulk herbs galore.
• Pacific Coast Greens (Malibu) – Organic market and deli along the PCH.
• Rainbow Acres (Culver City) – Family-owned market with a full-service deli.

MID-CITY

• Erewhon Natural Foods Market (Fairfax) – Cornucopia of organic, vegan and macrobiotic foods.

EASTSIDE

• Figueroa Produce (Highland Park) – Neighborhood organic grocery specializing in naturally-raised meats.
• Locali Conscious (Los Feliz) – Yummy grocery and takeout items like vegetarian reuben sandwiches.
• Nature Mart (Los Feliz) – Natural groceries, bulk items and supplements.
• Silver Lake Market (Silver Lake) – The newest health food market in town.

VALLEY/PASADENA

• Follow Your Heart Natural Foods Market & Cafe (Canoga Park) – A vegan’s paradise and the original home of Vegenaise®.
• Full O’Life (Burbank) – Fully-stocked go-to for natural foods.
• Grassroots Natural Market and Kitchen (South Pasadena) – Organic prepared foods.

SPECIALTY

• Cookbook (Echo Park) – Carefully curated green goods.
• E. Waldo Ward (Sierra Madre) – Purveyor of local and preservative-free jams, condiments, olives, and fruits.
• McCall’s Fish and Meat Company (Los Feliz) – Butcher specializing in hormone-free meats and wild-caught fish

Images via Flickr and Etsy

Related Articles

• Best of 2010: Your Indie Grocery Guide
• Indie Grocery Guide
• Silver Lake Natural Food Market

The Skinny >>

Here’s one we’ve heard before: “The average American meal travels about 1500 miles to get from farm to plate” (CUESA). For a typical carrot it’s more like 1800 (Sustainable Table). I don’t feel good traveling that kind of distance and neither does our produce, not to mention the greenhouse gas emissions involved in the journey.

According to Steven L. Hopp in his wife Barbara Kingsolver’s book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, if every U.S. citizen ate one meal a week composed of locally, organically raised food, we would reduce American oil use by a million barrels every week.

And it’s not just transportation: “As much as forty percent of the energy used in the food system goes towards the production of chemical fertilizers and pesticides” (Sustainable Table).

By supporting sustainable agriculture you say a big yes to healthy water and soil, biodiversity, pesticide-free food and the important work of small farmers.

Work It >>

• Shop your local farmers’ market where the food is farm-fresh, delicious, healthy and trucked from much less of a distance. Even if a small farmer can’t afford the USDA organic label, a simple conversation will let you know if it’s pesticide-free and grown with the earth and your health in mind. Supporting small farmers usually means supporting biodiversity and good soil and saying no to monocrops and mass production. And if you shop with your own tote, you say goodbye to packaging to top it off.

• Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is a partnership between growers and eaters. You support a farm that’s doing things right, it delivers its bounty to your door (or drop-off location).  Here’s one we have recommended in California .

• Look for the label. When buying from a grocery store, look for the organic label. That means it’s certified not to contain synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, growth hormones, GMOs (genetically-modified organisms), antibiotics or other baddies you don’t want in your food or in the world. Then check the sticker to see if it’s grown close to home. In the ongoing question about which is better—local or organic, go with your gut. But if it’s shipped from New Zealand, it’s probably not a great choice. Grist has a super article weighing in on the debate here.

• Pick your produce carefully. Make sure it’s in season if, for some reason, you can’t get to the local market that week. The NRDC’s database can help you choose what’s fresh in your area today.

• If you’re not in sunny Southern California where we eat pretty much everything all year round, do what you can. Local Harvest is an excellent resource to find sustainably produced food of all kinds in your neck of the woods.

• Buy in bulk. If you have an organic bulk bin near you, you’re in luck. Not only can you get loads of your favorite organic pastas, grains, sweeteners and nuts, you can shop sans packaging by bringing your own sacks and you’ll save cash to boot.

Resources we recommend:

• Food, Inc.

• The Future of Food

• Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

• American Farmland Trust

• Organic Consumers Association

Earn Your Stripes >>

Be a super locavore and try a 100 mile diet on for size.

Volunteer at a sustainable farm once in a lifetime or once a month. Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF) can help you do it. Or maybe there’s a Crop Mob assembling near you.

Related Content >>

• Decoding Green Labels Part One (Market & Makeover)

• On the Menu: Sustainable, Local, Friendly Food

• Tierra Miguel Foundation CSA: Supporting a Local Farm Near You

• Bulking Up Never Felt So Good

• Cheers to Local and Sustainable Beers

Missed a Few Boot Camps? Catch Up Here >>

Enjoyed this article but aren’t a bootcamper yet? Sign up for YDT’s 20-day on-line Going Green Boot Camp to receive free daily tips on how to go green.

Related Articles

• Green Boot Camp Day 11: The Beef with Meat (and Fish)
• Green Boot Camp Day 8: Reduce Your Pawprint
• Boot Camp Day 16: Grow Something

Prepare For The Worst: If you know that you’re going into battle (i.e. drinking like a sailor) prepare your body for the toxins you are about to give it.

..

Step 1: Hydrate all day today. Drink water like it is going out of style. I also highly recommend picking up two liter cases of O.N.E. young coconut water. This natural drink is full of electrolytes and is a perfect drink to hydrate your body. Drink a liter during the day, and then first thing tomorrow when you wake up. It’s way better than Gatorade and doesn’t come in plastic (they sell O.N.E. at Whole Foods).

..

..

Step 3: Know your poison. There are so many delicious organic spirits out there these days, so why settle for Popov? A few of my personal favorites include 4 Copas Organic Tequila, Tru Organic Vodka, and Veev (a Vodka like drink made from Acai Berries). Whole Foods & Trader Joe’s also carry decent selections of organic wines and champagnes that might interest you as well.

Worst comes to worse and you feel terrible the next day. An Organic Bloody Mary, might just do the trick! Good Luck and Happy New Year!

Related Articles

• Green Runners Guide
• Green Camping Guide
• Green Back To School Guide 2009