Seed’s chef and owner Eric Lechasseur has been nominated for  “Favorite Chef in 2010” by VegNews Magazine (@VegNews)!
He is the only macrobiotic vegan chef to be nominated.

Please vote for him (tell your friends to vote, too) and to win fabulous prize packages, including a VegNews Vacation, an annual supply of Daiya Cheese, a huge gift box of vegan marshmallows, signed vegetarian cookbooks, and more.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/veggieawards2010

Dead line is Aug. 31 so we encourage you to get out the vote early, as the time will go by very quickly!

Thank you for your support!!

Seed’s wish

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Eric’s award winning Faux Foie Gras is served at seed for a limited time.

This dish is marinated for 36 hours. A genuine labor of love.

It comes with side order of seed chop chop salad.

Come and try it!

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Chef Eric Lechasseur of seed restaurant won 2nd place in PETA’s Fine Faux Foie Gras contest! He created a delectable vegan pan fried version of the real deal, which is better for people and animals. This new award winning dish will be served at seed restaurant starting today. Customers can order it separately, or as a meal, with a half size salad. To read an article and PETA press release about it, check out the links below:

http://losangeles.grubstreet.com/2010/07/seeds_faux_gras_scores_with_pe.html

http://www.peta.org/mc/NewsItem.asp?id=14883

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Check out the Summer 2010 issue of LA Confidential magazine and find seed listed TWICE in the food section. seed was voted as the “Most Environmentally Friendly” restaurant in LA because of the biodegradable packaging and water filtration system we use. We were also voted at the hot Brunch Spot for Westside Surfer types.

We at seed are committed to corporate responsibility and environmental sustainability. We work to do as much as we can to lower our impact on our environment. Some of the things that we do include using a high quality water filtration system to make our food healthier and tastier, and serving our food using biodegradable plastics and cutlery, and serving soups in recycled cardboard food containers. We also use compact fluorescent light bulbs, recycle as much as we can, and use reclaimed tables and chairs for our customer seating.

We continue to find practical and innovative ways to be eco-smart while maintaining our standard of high quality food and service.

To read about seed on LA Confidential’s website, check out:

http://www.la-confidential-magazine.com/dining_0610_article5.html

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Entrance way to studio mugen

First of all, thank you to everyone that came to the first potluck of the Summer! We really enjoyed sharing good healthy food with you!

Last Wednesday we had a first vegan macrobiotic community potluck. It was a great success and we had so much fun with our friends! The food I must say was the biggest highlight, next to the wonderful people. Everyone made beautiful dishes including a stunning arame saute from Sanae, couscous salad from Jessica Porter’s book Hip Chick’s Guide to Macrobiotics, pinto bean soup that I made that was a huge hit, quinoa salad w/ dried cherries, cucumber salad, green beans w/ garlic, baked mochi, lentil loaf with shiitake ginger gravy (from Zara at Macro Muse, which was SO tasty), healthy cookies from Armaiti the Vegan Vet, I made margarita cookies (no alcohol of course) and many more that I can’t remember. I was stuffed silly.

I was so busy organizing and getting things ready for the potluck that I didn’t take photos of all this wonderful food. I snapped a few shots of the mostly devoured dishes, which you can see on our Facebook page.

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Sanae's Arame Saute

The next highlight was the great group of people that joined us. It was made up of my friends, people that have taken cooking classes from both me and Eric/Sanae, fans of ours, and close friends of Eric/Sanae’s. Many people got to meet Eric and Sanae for the first time even though they had eaten at seed before. It was really great for them to see all the younger people in the community interested in eating healthy. This makes me very happy too!

By the end of the night one thing was on everyone’s mind: When is the next one!?! Mark your calendars, it’s set for July 13th, 6-9pm. We really hope you can join us next time at studio mugen!

Sign for studio mugen

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Summer begins on the Summer Solstice June 21. To get you prepared for the upcoming warming weather here are some great tips for cooking and what foods will keep you nice and chill. In the warmer months it makes sense to eat more cooling foods. Intuitively our bodies want water dense foods in the heat of the summer to cool us off and give us more hydration. But that doesn’t mean you should eat raw or only cooling foods all Summer. You want to have a balance of the 5 seasons and tastes in your diet each season.

1. Eat Organic, Local, Seasonal Foods
For the health of the planet and to keep your body in balance with your surrounding environment, it’s best to eat as much local, organic, seasonally grown produce as possible. In the Summer this should be easy because no matter where you live you should have access to local (within a 300 mile radius) food via your local natural food store, farmer’s market or CSA.

Foods that Support You in Summer:
Grains: Corn, maize, amaranth, quinoa, millet, soba noodles
Vegetables: Asparagus, Brussels sprouts, Bitter greens like Kale, Collards, Arugula, Mustard, Yellow Squash & Zucchini, Sprouts, Fresh Herbs, Beets, Mushrooms, Cauliflower
Beans and Pulses: red lentils, chickpeas, mung beans
Fruits: apricot, guava, strawberry and other berries, persimmon, avocado, melons

2. Use Cooling Cooking Methods for Spring/Summer
Use lighter cooking methods in warmer months like steaming, blanching, water saute, raw or chilled soups, raw salads, and even lightly grilled is good for summer. Make quick-cooking grains and legumes like the ones listed above. Having noodles or cracked-grains like couscous, polenta, and bulgur can be great for summer too. Intuitively, your body doesn’t crave baked foods, oil saute, or longer cooked meals in the Summer because those aren’t balanced for the season. Your body wants water-dense foods like cucumber, summer squash, fruits, lettuce, and greens.

3. Stay Hydrated
I know you’ve heard this before, but in the warmer months it’s even more important that you are drinking plenty of water and staying away from sugary and caffeinated beverages. Keep in mind that you can get a lot of hydration from your food, so eating high-water content food helps your cells stay hydrated as well.

4. Keep It Simple
Summer is a great time to simplify your diet. There is nothing wrong with having a simple meal of quinoa, steamed greens, and beans, eating a huge raw salad by itself. The less energy you expend making gourmet meals the more energy you will have to keep you going in the heat. Also, you won’t be working up a sweat in the kitchen!

5. Lay Off the Animal Foods
If you aren’t already totally plant-based (vegan) Summer is the best time to make the plunge! Or if you are vegetarian, now is a good time to dump the dairy. Animal foods are known for their warming effects on the body. One thing I noticed after going vegan is I don’t sweat as much and I don’t get so aggravated by the heat of the summer. Animal foods are so much work for our bodies and digestive systems to process, they literally steal your energy away.

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Last week our Gmail account was compromised and spam emails were sent out to many of our mailing list. We sincerely apologize for this and we have taken every action we can to make sure this doesn’t happen again. From what we have heard this has been happening to many people and it’s very unfortunate.

We never thought this could happen to us! If you receive an email from us that seems weird or unusual it is best that you don’t open it.

Turns out we aren’t the only ones getting hack from China: The Guardian UK

If you have Gmail, make sure that you account will be protected from spammers. Check your settings and change your password often.

Account Security:
Settings -> Accounts and Import -> Google Account Settings -> Change Password [pick a new secure password]
Settings -> Accounts and Import -> Google Account Settings -> Change Password Recovery Options [verify secret question, SMS and secondary e-mail address]

Potential Spam:
Settings -> General -> Signature [make sure nothing as been added]
Settings -> General -> Vacation Responder [make sure it's disabled and empty]

E-mail Theft
Settings -> Accounts and Import -> Send Mail As [make sure it is using your correct e-mail address]
Settings -> Filters [no filters that forward or delete e-mail]
Settings -> Forwarding and POP/IMAP -> Forwarding [disabled or correct address]
Settings -> Forwarding and POP/IMAP -> POP Download [disabled]
Settings -> Forwarding and POP/IMAP -> IMAP Access [disabled]

Additional Information
Keeping account secure:  https://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=46526
Protecting your account:  https://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=29407
If your account is compromised:  http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=50270

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Now that warmer weather is on the way, our Cold Soba Noodle Salad Special is back! This dish is a light and nutritious meal to have throughout Spring and Summer. Includes soba noodles, wakame, bean sprouts, carrots, shiitake mushrooms, cucumbers with a soy yuzu dressing. Come on by!

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I think Spring is officially here! Better late than never The weather has been beautiful here in Southern California. Shiny, warm and sunny all day, with a light breeze at night. This is one of my favorite times of the year. Everything is in bloom and as you walk down the street you can smell all the jasmine, gardenia, and other flowers.

Today we’d like to share a Spring recipe with you from love, eric and sanae.

Linzer Cookie with Apricot Jam

1 cup pastry flour
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup slivered almonds
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 pinch sea salt
1/4 cup safflower oil
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 oz natural unsweetened apricot jam
coconut powder (as needed)

to make the linzer:

1. Heat the oven to 350˚F.
2. In a food processor, mix the almond to powder. Add the oats and mix again until lightly coarse.
3. Add the pastry flour, baking powder and sea salt. Mix for a few seconds and transfer to a bowl.
4. In a large cup, whip the oil, maple syrup and vanilla.
5. Add to the flour mix and kneed well.
6. Divide the dough in 2 halves and roll the dough between parchment paper to 1/4’’ thick.
7. Shape dough with cookie cutter, use smaller cutter for the inside and remove the trimming.
8. Slide the parchment to a sheet pan and bake.
9. Repeat the rolling process for the other dough half.
10. Cool off the cookies, spread the jam, top each with another cookie and sprinkle with coconut powder.

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We want to introduce seed’s associate location “Studio mugen” (mugen means infinity in Japanese)  in Santa Monica.

Studio mugen is a place for eco-green events and vegan macrobiotic cooking classes taught by Eric, Sanae, and Hideki. If you would like to see the schedule of classes being held please visit here for Eric & Sanae’s classes.

Studio mugen is a tranquil setting surrounded by bamboo with many places to sit and relax by the trickling fountain. We have many fruit trees like avocado, loquat, plum, and persimmons, and a roof top garden with herbs like lavender, mint, sage, bay leaves, chives, parsley, oregano, and basil. It’s a beautiful place and feels like you are away from the city while you are here.

Studio mugen is available for rental for events, lectures, cooking classes, and meetings. Send us an email with all the details for your event and we’ll see if we can accommodate your group.

Studio mugen is also a environmental eco-green lodging that is available for short stays for anyone visiting Los Angeles/Santa Monica who wants a clean, quiet, peaceful, eco place to lay their head. Rates are depending on dates and length of stay.

Studio mugen is located 2 miles from the Santa Monica Co-op natural food store, 3 miles from the popular shopping destinations like the 3rd Street Promenade and Main Street where there are Farmer’s Markets on the weekends, and 2 miles from the Santa Monica Pier and beach. We are 2-4 miles away from some of the best vegan and macrobiotic restaurants in town like Seed (of course). The bus stop is right outside that can take you wherever you need to go in the city. Laundry facilities available and access to kitchen if needed.

Check out the beautiful Studio mugen!

We are holding potlucks, movie nights, and other community events, so we hope you will join us! First macrobiotic vegan potluck will be Wednesday June 2nd, 6-9pm. RSVP to loveericcookbook@yahoo.com.

Check some of events at Studio mugen http://www.meetup.com/Vegan-Macrobiotic-Community-Meetup-Group/

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