Call me bun

yo bun, nate told me about your plans on cooking circadas. i'm right there with you. got a few recipes lined up and just waiting for my protein to hatch. BUT there is literature on how circadas are bioaccumulative in mercury. my friend and i are setting up a lab experiment to test just how much heavy metals the ones in new haven have accumulated. if you help us catch a diverse sample, we can share results with you for miya's. what do you say?

Sat, 25 May 2013 13:09:42 -0400

I didn’t even think of the bioaccumulation of mercury! Let’s do it! It’s a sad fact that most of the wild animals that we eat will have some accumulation of mercury and/or PCB’s. It tells a story of how everything that we do, ultimately, comes back to us in one way or another. Send me a text or message me on Facebook so we can discuss this further.

Hi my name is nivia, I read that you ate or will be teaching how to cook healthy. If possible I would love to learn. I'm a diabetic, my 16 yr old daughter also is diabetic. Thanks for taking time to read.

Sat, 25 May 2013 13:03:53 -0400

Hi Nivia.

I’m not a doctor but I can tell you what I try to do, far from perfectly, in my life. I eat mostly plant based and I also try to stay away from foods that have been processed. I try to eat less food made from flours like pasta and bread and when I do eat grains, I try to eat whole ones. I, also, try not to eat anything with added sweeteners, artificial or otherwise. I rarely drink store bought juice because eating the fruit is healthier for you and fruit juice contains too much sugar. I try to avoid eating meat. Cheap, factory raised meat is quite unhealthy . In the end, it’s important to your body as you make dietary changes. Do what feels makes you feel healthy. One thing I don’t do enough of is exercise. It is as important to find time to be physically active as it is to eat well. I’m going out for a brisk walk today. Every little good choice that we make will add up to, eventually, make a big difference. That’s what I will be teaching in our classes, in a nutshell. Thanks Nivia!

There’s nothing I love to eat more than our house salad with...

Sat, 25 May 2013 11:07:00 -0400

There’s nothing I love to eat more than our house salad with greens grown at the Yale farm. The chive blossom, by the way, is from my garden, along with yummy invasive garlic mustard. This salad was composed by our amazing young food artist Logan. It was so good that I ended up ordering two more! Pea shoots and tendrils! Home-made organic tofu marinated with beets, jalapenos and onions. Kale tossed in miso tahini. Our salad is a journey of wonderful botanical surprises!

Here’s another compelling reason not to eat meat. Research...

Thu, 23 May 2013 05:29:00 -0400

Here’s another compelling reason not to eat meat. Research done by Nobel Laureate Elizabeth Blackburn and Cardiologist Dean Ornish have found that a vegan diet prevents heart disease, prostate cancer, breast cancer and other diseases by effecting more than 500 genes to change in a matter of only three months.

The above sushi recipe, that I created last summer, features avocado (not recommended as a food source on Dean Ornish’s super low fat diet), whole grains and wild invasive mustard greens. I eat a plant centered diet because it makes me feel good. What constitutes a healthy diet is not an exact science. And, in the end, it’s up to the individual to be tuned into how his food choices make him feel. I, personally, feel a little queasy when I eat most types of meat and processed foods. But that’s just me. What about you?

Living on Earth: Chef Buns Sustainable Sushi

Mon, 20 May 2013 14:11:52 -0400

Living on Earth: Chef Buns Sustainable Sushi:

Blue fin tuna, wild freshwater eel, and other sushi ingredients are in steep decline due to the popularity as people around the world demand this Japanese cuisine. Restaurant owner and sushi chef Bun Lai says the ancient tradition of sushi must evolve and become sustainable. Living on Earth’s Annie Sneed reports.

Ray says he'll eat bugs.

Mon, 20 May 2013 09:29:27 -0400

Your wish is my command! Bugs, coming right up!

I watch SNL every week, and didn't know you were planning on cooking with cicadas, but as soon as I saw weekend update, I googled to see if they were talking about you! My favorite restaurant just got even cooler :)

Mon, 20 May 2013 09:28:49 -0400

Thanks so much for making us your favorite restaurant! We are grateful for that! Being ribbed by SNL was cool, for sure! :)

Last night, Saturday Night Live poked fun at me for planning to...

Sun, 19 May 2013 20:17:00 -0400

Last night, Saturday Night Live poked fun at me for planning to cook with cicadas. In response to SNL’s reference to me, my friend Wendy Chan said “Everything you’re doing is super cool, which is what drives trends - and brings about changes!” I don’t think we will be starting a bug eating craze in America but I do think we can help people think about eating differently.

That said, for full disclosure, I ate nachos drenched in cheesy stuff at Denny’s the other day. And, I certainly know better. Eating bugs is exponentially healthier than anything on most fast food restaurant menus.

While digging for cicada nymphs (to test her theory that they...

Fri, 17 May 2013 14:27:45 -0400

While digging for cicada nymphs (to test her theory that they taste better than adult ones), Vasi found a meal worm. It’s a tasty bug but its not very nutritious.

Here’s Vasi, the uber talented artist who designed the menu and...

Fri, 17 May 2013 13:26:13 -0400

Here’s Vasi, the uber talented artist who designed the menu and logo for Miya’s. I was both surprised and thrilled to learn that she had her own ideas on eating #cicadas.

A recent report by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization says that harvesting more insects for consumption could help improve nutrition worldwide

Thu, 16 May 2013 09:34:38 -0400

A recent report by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization says that harvesting more insects for consumption could help improve nutrition worldwide:

A recent report by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization says that harvesting more insects for consumption could help improve nutrition worldwide and reduce the environmental impact of farming other types of animals. According to the report, “Insects are everywhere and they reproduce quickly, and they have high growth and feed conversion rates and a low environmental footprint.”

Cicada invasion: If you can't beat them, eat them

Wed, 15 May 2013 08:37:00 -0400

Cicada invasion: If you can't beat them, eat them:

Two and a half acres of land can produce about 250 pounds of beef that is full of heart attack inducing saturated fats and pumped full of antibiotics and growth hormone. Beef production, also, releases more heat trapping green house gases than any other food. Also, factory farms are hideously inhumane. If we are going to mass produce animals for food then perhaps we should be mass producing animals that are lower on the food chain, not mammals that feel joy and suffer very much in the same way humans do.

Two and a half acres of land can produce about 2000 pounds of insects. Insects contain about the same amount of protein as a steak and much less saturated fats. And, unlike mammals and many types of our most popular farmed fish, they are ideal for factory farming because they are resilient and can thrive piled one upon the other. If we all ate insects instead of mammals, there would be a measurable impact on Climate Change. Climate Change will result in more floods, droughts, wars, terrorism and starvation than we have ever experienced in human history. It has become clear that our life choices are effecting everything and everyone on the planet.

Eating insects is, to me, mostly about changing the way we look things. Individual changes in perception can lead to individual changes in behavior which, in turn, can lead to vast cultural transformations. If you, as an individual, can change the way you look at things, you can have a huge impact on the world. We certainly don’t have to start eating insects, to make the world a better place, but we can make an effort to eat in a way that is much more open and aware.

That said, you really gotta try my cicadas. I promise you, they will be scrumptious.

Happy Mother’s Day Mom! Our mom doesn’t allow...

Sun, 12 May 2013 11:29:51 -0400

Happy Mother’s Day Mom! Our mom doesn’t allow herself to be photographed so here’s a pic of Will’s mom, Suzanne. Will’s dad, Jock, adoringly refers to her as the most wonderful mom in the world, which makes me feel really happy, every time I hear him say that. I wish all the moms of the world were appreciated like the way Jock does Suzanne. That said, it’s not Suzanne’s fault that Will turned out to be a very naughty boy, but she has no idea. More about Will later. When I was growing up, my mom had a book on the shelf called, Why Good Parents Have Bad Kids. I always thought she bought it to deal with my brother, Ted, but it was probably me because I always got caught when I was being mischievous. My mom used to say to me, “God loves you because every time you are bad, you get caught.” I guess I never had the opportunity to go down the wrong path. My brother was, easily, twice as naughty as me and he never got caught. He would later go onto a stellar career in derivatives banking.

The other day, I was in the dollar store and I bumped into two...

Thu, 09 May 2013 09:50:04 -0400

The other day, I was in the dollar store and I bumped into two obese women loading up on foods that were marketed as low calorie. I tried to explain to them that eating an apple or any whole, unprocessed foods is the best way to lose weight. Their situation reminded me of how difficult it is, for the average American, to learn how to eat well because they are constantly being mislead and misinformed by food companies. Here’s a brand called Nature’s Promise (Stop and Shop) hawking a product that is in every way not natural. It should be illegal to have margarine labeled natural or organic because it leads people into believing that its healthy and environmentally friendly, when it’s anything but. Margarine is made from a variety of monocrop derived vegetable oils that are high in omega 6 fatty acids that are implicated for heart disease. This oil is extracted using free radical releasing pressure and heat. Then, the oil is treated with sodium hydroxide to stabilize it. Finally, it is hydrogenated to give it that buttery texture; which converts the oil to a trans fat, which in turn increases your cholesterol, more than any other type of fat. The food companies have literally altered the culture of eating in America. They are, largely, responsible for the epidemic of obesity and heart disease. What can each of us do to restore, revitalize, and reinvent ourselves and our communities to a culture of heathy eating?

Back at the farm, Marcell and I picked baby dandelion leaves and...

Wed, 08 May 2013 20:59:47 -0400

Back at the farm, Marcell and I picked baby dandelion leaves and left the flowers for later sake making. Then, it rained like crazy!

Horseradish!

Wed, 08 May 2013 20:57:49 -0400

Horseradish!

Bedstraw, out of focus, but still yummy!

Wed, 08 May 2013 20:57:03 -0400

Bedstraw, out of focus, but still yummy!

Chickweed!

Wed, 08 May 2013 20:56:01 -0400

Chickweed!

Jewel weed is a succulent that is great in salads and its juice...

Wed, 08 May 2013 20:55:06 -0400

Jewel weed is a succulent that is great in salads and its juice can be used to clean poison ivy off of your skin. Amazingly, jewel weed, often, grows side by side to poison ivy.

Water cress!

Wed, 08 May 2013 20:52:40 -0400

Water cress!