This vegan risotto is perfect for spring. It’s warm and filling, and served with a salad of crisp greens and crusty bread, it makes a fabulous light supper or perfect lunch. (We’ve even eaten leftovers for breakfast.)

Making risotto is not difficult, but it does require that you stand at the stove, stirring for most of the 20-30 minutes it takes to cook the rice. (Not hard, right?) Keep the broth hot in it’s own pot, and add the broth a little at a time to the rice. Make sure the liquid is fully absorbed before adding more. Stirring the rice releases its starch which is what gives risotto its creaminess, so don’t put the spoon down. (Seriously – it’s not hard, it just requires your attention.)

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Sweet Pea Risotto
Green * Serves 4-6

1 (9 ounce) box frozen peas, cooked and roughly mashed
2 cups vegetable broth
4 cups water
1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
5 Tablespoons Earth Balance, divided
1/2 sweet onion, chopped
2 cups arborio rice
1/2 cup dry vermouth or dry white wine
3 Tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
1/2 cup vegan parmesan (optional)
salt and pepper to taste

Cook the peas and drain if necessary. Mash with hand held masher. The peas should be roughly mashed–not pureed.

In small saucepan combine veggie stock and water. Bring to low boil and lower heat to warm, keeping warm throughout the cooking.

In larger saucepan heat olive oil and 1 Tablespoon margarine. Sauté onion until soft and translucent. Add rice and stir to coat the rice. Add vermouth and stir over medium heat until liquid is absorbed.

Add broth, a ladle at a time, and stir after each addition until liquid is absorbed. This will take AT LEAST 15 minutes and patience is the key.

When rice is fully cooked and the last ladle is nearly absorbed stir in the peas until they are distributed evenly throughout the rice. Remove from heat and add remaining margarine (and vegan parmesan if using). Season with salt and pepper.

Pour risotto onto serving platter or individual plates and garnish with parsley.

Serve with fresh greens and crusty bread.

Marilu is looking good on the red carpet at the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine’s 25th Anniversary, “The Art of Compassion Gala,” held at The Lot on April 10, 2010 in West Hollywood, California. Marilu received the Voice of Compassion award.

The black-tie event included a silent and live auction and awards presentation. Founded in 1985, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) is a nonprofit organization that promotes preventive medicine, conducts clinical research, and encourages higher standards for ethics and effectiveness in research.

Photo credit: Keadrick D. Washington / PR Photos

Sometimes we get so caught up in our own drama we forget that we’re part of a whole community, a whole world, of people. We’re all connected, in so many ways.

Take a walk or bike ride today, and notice the people around you. Does someone need help with a door? Could someone use a smile or a friendly “hello?” Introduce yourself to a new neighbor. Offer assistance to an older neighbor.

Make a connection.
Build a relationship.
Grow your community.

(P.S. This song is good for your warm-up, cool-down, and stretching. Get moving!)

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Here’s a list provided by the Environmental Working Group of the most to least contaminated of 47 popular fruits and vegetables. The “scores” are calibrated off of the worst offender, peaches. If money is an object, use that money to buy organic versions of the worst offenders and buy conventional produce for the rest. Just remember to wash carefully, and/or peel produce as needed.

The scores given are a composite of numbers and amounts of pesticides found in the studies. The “worst”, peaches, was given a score of 100, and the others were calibrated from that. The fruits and vegetables were washed or peeled as most people use the produce – for example, apples were washed, bananas and oranges peeled. More information about this work is available at from the Environmental Working Group.

Pesticides on Popular Produce

1. (worst) Peaches – 100
2. Apples – 93
3. Sweet Bell Peppers – 83
4. Celery – 82
5. Nectarines – 81
6. Strawberries – 80
7. Cherries – 73
8. Kale – 69
9. Lettuce – 67
10. Grapes – Imported from outside U.S. – 66
11. Carrots – 63
12. Pears – 63
13. Collard Greens – 60
14. Spinach – 58
15. Potatoes – 56
16. Green Beans – 53
17. Summer Squash – 53
18. Hot Peppers – 51
19. Cucumbers – 50
20. Raspberries – 46
21. Grapes – U.S. grown – 44
22. Plums – 44
23. Oranges – 44
24. Cauliflower – 39
25. Tangerines – 37
26. Mushrooms – 36
27. Bananas – 34
28. Winter Squash – 34
29. Cantaloupe – 33
30. Cranberries – 33
31. Honeydew Melon – 30
32. Grapefruit – 29
33. Sweet Potato – 29
34. Tomatoes – 29
35. Broccoli – 28
36. Watermelon – 26
37. Papaya – 20
38. Eggplant – 20
39. Cabbage – 17
40. Kiwi – 13
41. Sweet Peas (frozen) – 10
42. Asparagus – 10
43. Mango – 9
44. Pineapple – 7
45. Sweet Corn (frozen) – 2
46. Avocado – 1
47. Onions – 1

Download the guide here as an iPhone app, or a PDF file.

We talk a lot about walking for exercise. It’s good for every fitness level. Almost everyone can do it. And you can do it almost anywhere.

This weekend, we challenge you to combine your fitness goals with a little green living.

Walk your errands.

Either skip the car or bus altogether, or park/ride once, and then walk all your errands until you get back to your car/bus stop. If you’re in a small town or a big city, you can easily make this a habit. If you’re in the suburbs, drive to the mall or shopping area, and park out in the “snowpile section” (you know, where they pile the snow in the winter – way out yonder), then walk everywhere until you’re done.

(By the way, you’ll also save on gas or bus fare! Budget tip!)

Can you get to the library, post office, grocery store, dry cleaner, card shop, drug store, farmer’s market – all at once? Bring your reusable bags, maybe a wagon or cart, and see how far you can go. Let us know what you can do.

We’re still getting smart about our money in April’s first online class. You can still join the class here.

At the same time, we’re getting smart about fitness. That means budgeting some time each day for exercise. Unless you’re working out 30-60 minutes a day, 6 days a week right now, you have room for improvement.

You work hard for your money, right?
So work hard for your body, too.

Get up and move. And no dissing the disco. It’s got a good beat, and you can dance to it.

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Marilu is doing her part with PCRM to help improve school lunches. She’s testifying about the need for low-fat vegetarian options for children of all ages, in all schools. She will be awarded the Voice of Compassion award on Saturday at PCRM’s 25th Anniversary Art of Compassion gala, along with several other honorees. Congratulations, Marilu!

Marilu Henner’s entire life testifies to the power of her plant-based diet. The knowledge and discipline this actor, author, and full-time mom has gathered to maintain her demanding schedule is discussed in her books, including Marilu Henner’s Total Health Makeover. She is working with PCRM to persuade Congress to reform the Child Nutrition Act to offer more healthful school lunches.

~ PCRM

We’ve mentioned Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution before. While we don’t agree with Jamie’s menus all the time, we do support his initiative to improve school lunches. We believe that his approach of serving whole foods and meals made from scratch, and giving kids whole grains, fruits and vegetables dovetails with PCRM’s goal of adding low-fat vegetarian options to the school lunch menus.

Go ahead and sign Jamie’s petition here. What are you signing? Here’s the complete text: I support Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution. America’s kids need better food at school and better health prospects. We need to keep cooking skills alive.

Do your part to improve school lunches. And cooking everywhere (just imagine more kids who cook!).

Serve this vegan sandwich filling open-faced on toasted whole grain bread. (Food for Life’s Ezekial 4:9 bread would work great.) Top it with a slice of tomato and maybe some avocado too!

Mashed garbanzos also make a great substitute for canned tuna in tuna salad. It’s an easy way to make an old favorite into a new vegan favorite. Try it on a bowl of salad greens, too!

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Pan Bagna
Green * Serves 4

1/4 cup lemon juice
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
1 diced tomato
1 diced bell pepper
2 green onions, chopped
2 Tablespoons chopped black olives
1 Tablespoon drained capers
1 teaspoon fresh thyme
1 can ce-ce beans (chick peas, garbanzo beans)

Mash beans with a mini prep processor or hand held potato masher. Stir in remaining ingredients and spread on a scooped out baguette, toast points, in a pita or other bread of your choice.

April 22nd is the 40th anniversary of Earth Day. Originally it was about awareness and appreciation of the Earth – but we like to think it’s a good time to change a habit or two. After all, our health is tied intrinsically to the health of the Earth.

So here’s one idea to get you started * Don’t just turn off – unplug.

It’s called vampire electricity (or, more boringly, standby power), and it’s the electric power consumed by electronic appliances while they are switched off or in a standby mode. For example, your laptop has a power cord with an adaptor built into it (the boxy thing that makes the cord hard to wrap up, lol). Even if the laptop is off, if the cord is plugged in, the adaptor is drawing a small amount of electricity.

So what can you do? Don’t just turn off your small appliances – unplug them.

• Do you really need a clock on your coffee pot? No, so go ahead and unplug it. (What are you doing with caffeine anyway? Make a pot of tea or blend up a smoothie instead!)
• Plug your computers, televisions, stereos, and media systems into power strips, and turn them off at night (unless you’re recording the shopping channel, and then you need to get to the THM® on a Budget class right away!).
• Are your chargers always plugged in? We’ve become an e-society, and that means a lot of chargers – for your phone, PDA, reader, camera, music player … we could go on. Set up a charging station, maybe with a power strip, and use it each night to charge your toys. Then unplug everything in the morning.

All this vampire electricity adds up. The amount of standby power wasted varies among electronic equipment, but overall, the cost to consumers and businesses for all the electricity lost to vampire power in the US is estimated to be $4 billion annually. Sure, some of that is necessary. But if we all get a little smarter about what we really need and what we’re just lazy about, we could make a measurable impact on the amount of electricity used. And since electricity taxes our non-renewable natural resources, that’s a good thing.

So don’t just turn it off – unplug it.

Here’s a great review of Marilu’s show at the Gardenia last month in West Hollywood.

Whatever health books you come across by Marilu Henner, be sure to buy them. Whatever advice she’s giving in them, it sure works, as she, herself, demonstrates in her cabaret debut. She was a bundle of energy that never seemed to let down. Her opening number, “Zip,” featured special additional lyrics by her brother, Lorin Henner, loaded with contemporary cultural references from David Sedaris to Anna Faris.

Her appearance at the Gardenia was particularly appropriate for her, as she described how she used to drive past the club on her way to Paramount to film the TV series Taxi, and thinking about wanting to play there. The show followed a biographical path and the fact that a large flat screen television was in position behind her could have meant an ego-driven journey through her career highlights. Instead, it served to offer up an opportunity for her to deliver some self-deprecating humor, as she showed a selection of early career moments as well as a hilarious mix of suggestive talk show appearances.

Always in command of her voice, she shined on both belt and pop numbers. Her early career as a body part model served to provide a forum for a body part medley, including “Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair,” “Cheek to Cheek,” and “Redneck Woman.”

If you see this Taxi driver in your neighborhood, be sure to flag her down, as she will give you a helluva ride.

~ Les Traub, Cabaret Scenes, March 4, 2010