Fresh Strawberries Topped with Sweetened Tofu Sour Cream

This is more of concept than a recipe. For dessert tonight I topped fresh sliced strawberries with tofu sour cream that I sweetened with agave to taste.

This is the perfect desert, tasty and ready in less than 5 minutes. Can you say heaven on a spoon? I am going to finish my dessert now.

Avocado and Edamame Appetizer

Our appetizer this evening is another variation of guacamole similar to the one I made earlier this week only more casual. Tonight I added edamame in place of the cucumber I used earlier this week. Edamame adds protein to the dish. Hot crushed peppers were added for heat and to reduce the need for added sodium. Lemon zest adds d-limonene for additional cancer protection. Dulse granules were used tonight to cut down on sodium. Here is what I did.

Avocado and Edamame Appetizer
Serves 2

Ingredients:

½ cup edamame, measured out of the pods
1 haas avocado, peeled, pitted and diced
1 lemon zested
½ lemon juiced
1 tablespoon hot crushed peppers
2 tablespoons cilantro, minced
2 tablespoons parsley, minced
1 pinch black pepper
1 pinch dulse granules
1 clove garlic, peeled and finely minced or grated
1 tomato, seeded and finely diced

Directions:

Crush the edamame with a fork or potato masher. I find the potato masher works faster. Add the remaining ingredients and stir to combine. Taste for seasoning and correct to suit your taste.

I served this with tortilla chips but warm pita chips would also be good.

Nutritional information (for dip only does not included tortilla chips):

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 216.08
Calories From Fat (60%) - 130.54

Total Fat - 15.57g
Saturated Fat - 2.11g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 20.37mg
Potassium - 863.67mg
Total Carbohydrates - 17.27g
Fiber - 9.56g
Sugar - 3.52g
Protein -7g

Comments:

Of course I needed to use my presentation molds again tonight. They seem to be required when making something with avocado as a key ingredient. I used the square presentation mold to go with the square plates and angular chips.

Having tortilla chips was a bit of splurge tonight for us. We don’t have things like this very often so I wanted to run with scissors tonight. The strangest thing happened tonight when I had the first chip straight. They tasted incredibly salty to me and these are the low sodium version, which only have a little over 200mg of sodium per serving. I find it amazing how sensitive I have become to the taste of salt in such a short period of time.

The nutrition on this appetizer is more than reasonable. One serving contains 1300IU of vitamin A, 210mcg of folate, and 90mcg of vitamin K. Not bad for a quick appetizer.

How to Decrease Your Probability of Getting Sick this Winter

Since this is the beginning of flu season I was thinking this morning about measures we can take to help to boost immunity so that hopefully we can avoid the flu this year. When we were at the internist last week we got into a discussion about flu and the flu vaccine. According to our internist the reason the swine flu (H1N1) is a bigger problem in the younger population is that we old farts were likely to have been exposed to a variant of the swine flu in the 70’s thus building up some level of immunity for this round of the swine flu.

Hand Washing

When flu season starts I find myself becoming an almost obsessive hand washer. One thing I learned from working in hospitals is that the most effective thing all of us can do to avoid germs is to wash our hands often and well. Washing your hands for 20 seconds with warm water and soap will remove most germs. At least that is what we were taught each year in the infectious control in-service. Why were financial and administrative people in infectious control classes? All I know is JCAHO required it and we were all there once a year. The most important thing I learned in these in-services ... good hand washing skills. This is a skill that has served me well.

Vitamin C

Having adequate vitamin C is associated with a reduction in the duration of colds and flu and the intensity of the disease. One red bell pepper contains more vitamin C than an orange. Other peppers also contain vitamin C. Kiwi, strawberries and brussels sprouts are also good sources of vitamin C. I also add powdered vitamin C, in the form of ascorbic acid, to our green tea a few times each day.

Vitamin D

Current wisdom seems to link an increase in flu in the winter to a reduction in exposure to sunlight and therefore resulting in a reduction in vitamin D. I for one take 2,400IU’s of vitamin D a day from three sources. Our multivitamin contains 400IU’s, we also take a D3 supplement with another 1,00IU’s and our green drink contains another 1,000IU’s. According to our internist 2,400IU’s is a safe level. He went on to say he had never read of anyone with vitamin D toxicity so we thought that was good to know.

Green Tea

Green tea has also been shown to boost immunity in addition to its cancer fighting abilities. In this abstract at pub med green tea and ascorbic acid is shown to boost immunity. I wonder if this is why the same combination is thought to fight cancer. Looks like I have something else to research more thoroughly.

Probiotics

Studies suggest that probiotics help to reduce the duration and severity of colds and flu. There are probiotics supplements you can buy, or you can eat probiotics rich foods. For vegans there are a few options including: soy yogurt with active cultures, kim chi, kombucha, miso, and fresh sauerkraut. Our green drink “Green Vibrance” also contains 12 million probiotics per dose.

Quercetin

Quercetin rich food has been shown to increase immunity in lab studies. Foods that are rich in quercitin include: apples, broccoli, onions and tomatoes. We eat most of these foods everyday.

Summation

At our house we cover all of these bases every day. The things that boost immunity are also associated with good nutrition for cancer patients and survivors. This is another example of how following sound nutrition results in positive results all around.

I hope you all have a happy and health day. I will be back later with another recipe or two.

UPDATE:

Something I forgot to mention earlier that I wanted to add is getting plenty of rest. The body repairs itself while at rest. I feel as though a body that is able to rest and rejuvenate is better able to fight off disease be it acute (a cold or flu) or chronic (cancer).

Indian Inspired Broccoli and Potato Stir Fry

Once again I didn’t have enough leftovers in the refrigerator for my husband’s lunch today. I made this quick Indian flavored stir fry this morning while I prepared breakfast. I waited longer for the allicin to develop in the garlic then it took to make the rest of the dish.

This is something that I tossed together from what I had on hand. The seasonings are Indian inspired because I wanted to use turmeric today. Those of you that read regularly know that turmeric is a powerful antioxidant that inhibits the growth of many cancer cell lines in the laboratory. As usual I sautéed the turmeric in a little oil with a generous amount of black pepper to make it more absorbable. I combined broccoli and tomato in this dish since they have a synergistic effect and are both more effective when consumed together. Ginger is frequently used in Indian food as well as being a powerful antioxidant so it went into the dish. I also like knowing that ginger helps to reduce the formation of new blood vessels to cancerous tumors. Garlic was included for flavor and because it promotes cancer cell death in a number of different cancer cell lines.

As my husband will tell you he feels like a nutrition experiment much of the time. I think you can see why that may be. He is happy that I am sharing this information with all of you so he doesn’t “have to” hear about it at each meal. Don’t misunderstand he does appreciate that I do all of this for him; he just likes to fuss about it more. I think it must be a guy thing. Here is what I made this morning for Dan’s lunch today.

Indian Inspired Broccoli and Potato Stir Fry
Serves 1

Ingredients:

6 ounce organic Yukon gold potato, scrubbed and pierced with the tip of a paring knife
2 cups frozen broccoli florets
1 teaspoon canola or olive oil
½ teaspoon black mustard seed
½ teaspoon turmeric
½ teaspoon cumin seed
½ teaspoon coriander seed
¼ teaspoon onion flakes
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 pinch red pepper flakes
¼ inch ginger root, finely minced
1 clove garlic, peeled and finely minced (allow to stand 10 minutes so allicin with develop)
1 tomato, diced
1 tablespoon cashews

Directions:

Microwave the potato and broccoli florets and cook until done. While cooking the broccoli remember that cruciferous vegetables are more nutritious when lightly cooked. I stopped the broccoli as soon as it was no longer frozen. When the potato is cool cut it into bite sized pieces. Cut cooled broccoli into bite size pieces.

While potato and broccoli are cooking start the spice mix. Heat the oil and add the spices, ginger and garlic and sauté until fragrant and heated through. Add the cut potato and broccoli and stir to cover the vegetables with the spice mix. Turn off the heat and add the fresh diced tomato. You want the tomato to heat through so the lycopene is more bioavailable. The tomato will also help the dish to cool more quickly so it can be packed for lunch sooner.

The dish is now ready to eat or pack for lunch. Sprinkle the cashews on top the stir-fry.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 355.48
Calories From Fat (26%) - 92.99

Total Fat - 10.87g
Saturated Fat - 1.44g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 97.34mg
Potassium - 1863.82mg
Total Carbohydrates - 57.64g
Fiber - 16.29g
Sugar - 9.98g
Protein - 15.89g

Comments:

You may notice that this dish contains no added salt. The omission was intentional. You may want to add salt to this dish. I am trying to reduce our sodium intake so I left it out. This dish is packed with flavor even without the salt. In fact if you don’t like strong flavors this dish may have too much flavor for you. You can start with half of the spices if you aren’t certain about the flavors or add twice the amount of veggies. Both options would work well to reduce the spice flavor of the dish.

If you have more time to make this dish than I did you can use finely minced onion in place of the onion flakes. I might also take the sautéed spices, garlic and ginger and add that to the blender with a little reduced fat coconut milk and pour that over the potatoes, onion and tomato for a different creamy version of this dish. Fresh cilantro would also be nice in this but I didn’t think of it this morning when I was rushing to get this ready for Dan’s lunch. There are many options for changing this healthy dish.

Most important for me this dish is full of nutrition. This one serving recipe contains over 1800mg of potassium, 4300IU of vitamin A, 220mg of vitamin C, 240mg of calcium, 260mcg of folate, 270mcg of vitamin K, 360mg of phosphorus, 150mg of magnesium and 13mcg of selenium. I love it when quick, tasty dishes like this provide so much nutrition.

In his lunch today my husband has this Indian stir fry, cold spinach and edamame soup with tofu sour cream, an apple and walnut butter, and kale chips. I like knowing that he has healthy food to eat when he is at work. This lunch combined with green tea with ginger and vitamin C and I feel like he has all he needs to keep his body functioning at peak fighting capacity. Is this all a little over the top? Maybe, but it certainly doesn't do any harm. I imagine this is more than most cancer survivors/patients do but I always strive for the best and my husband’s nutrition is no exception. If food has any benefit to keeping him healthy we should be home free.

Cold Spinach and Edamame Soup Topped with Tofu Sour Cream

Fall weather is very unpredictable in the Mid-Atlantic region. A few days ago we reached a whopping high of 45 degrees and today it is 75. This is the time of year when you never know if you will need sandals or boots. Food is just as difficult to plan with the variable temperatures. Because the weather was warm enough to have the windows open all day I decided to make cold soup as an appetizer tonight.

For those of you that read regularly you know that I am a bit obsessed with nutrition. I am always looking for ways to get more produce into our diet, and when it is raw produce that is even better. I have been trying to follow the principles in "Eat for Health" and "Life Over Cancer" for the last few months. We always seem to fall short on our raw food consumption. I love salads in the summer but when it is cold I am not interested in cold salad in the slightest. Taking advantage of the warmer weather tonight we had cold spinach and edamame soup.

I used almond milk in place of soymilk because that is what I have in the house. Raw cashews were added for richness and body to the soup. Garlic was added for a little sharpness in the background to round out the flavor. Lemon juice was added for acidity and to reduce the need for added sodium.

Cold Spinach and Edamame Soup Topped with Tofu Sour Cream
Serves 4

Ingredients:

10 cups baby spinach, well washed and drained
2 cups almond milk, unsweetened
½ cup raw cashews
½ clove garlic, peeled and smashed
½ cup edamame, out of the pod
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice, or to taste
1 pinch dulse granules (or kosher salt)
1 pinch freshly ground white pepper
8 tablespoons tofu sour cream - reduced fat and salt
a few parsley sprigs for garnish - optional

Directions:

Combine everything but the tofu sour cream and parsley in the blender and process until completely smooth. Taste for salt and pepper and correct to your tastes. I am trying to reduce our sodium so I added dulse granules and a little white pepper. Chill in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

I served this is chilled bowls with a healthy dollop of tofu sour cream and a little parsley for garnish.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 147.59
Calories From Fat (54%) - 79.02

Total Fat - 9.22g
Saturated Fat - 1.19g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 226.53mg
Potassium - 707.3mg
Total Carbohydrates - 10.34g
Fiber - 3.69g
Sugar - 1.7g
Protein - 8.56g

Comments:

I liked this soup for its lightness. This is not a heavy “cream” soup. I intentionally held the level of cashews down to the minimum I thought necessary for proper mouth feel. My husband thought it was “good considering we are trying to hold the fat down”. The tofu sour cream is really necessary with this soup.

Nutritionally this soup is a winner. Each serving contains over 700mg of potassium, 7,000IU of vitamin A, 100mg of calcium, 200mcg of folate, 370mcg of vitamin K, and 160mg of phosphorus.

We had this soup for an appetizer with steamed broccoli and a veggie burger for dinner. All the items combined were more than enough food. In fact I was planning on dessert but we ran out of room. I will need to save room for dessert tomorrow instead.

Tofu Sour Cream - revised to reduce fat and salt

This is one of my “foundation” recipes. These are the recipes that are parts of other recipes that I use over and over again.

Since we have been eating less fat I found that my original tofu sour cream was beginning to taste too fatty. The same thing happened with the salt level. My revised recipe cuts both the oil and salt in half. If you have been successful in reducing your fat and salt levels you may want to give this revised recipe a try. Otherwise I would suggest that you continue to use the original recipe for tofu sour cream.

Tofu Sour Cream - revised to reduce fat and salt
Makes 28 tablespoons

Ingredients:

12.3 ounces of low fat silken tofu
1 tablespoon of canola oil
2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon amber agave
¼ teapoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon peel

Directions:

Combine everything in a blender or food processor and process until completely combined. Remove to a covered container and refrigerate until needed. The sour cream will thicken as it chills. I find this lasts in for a week if stored in the coldest part of your refrigerator.

Nutritional information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 9.41
Calories From Fat (57%) - 5.32

Total Fat - 0.6g
Saturated Fat - 0.05g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 27.43mg
Potassium - 9.05mg
Total Carbohydrates - 0.23g
Fiber - 0.03g
Sugar - 0.08g
Protein - 0.79g

Comments:

It is odd to me how my tastes have changed in a matter of a few months. The last time I made the original recipe of tofu sour cream it seemed both too fatty and too salty. Isn’t it amazing how our bodies adapt and change with the fuel we give them?

Purslane

I was so happy today when I found this little weed in the organic spinach that I picked up from the farmers market this weekend. If you are unfamiliar with purslane it is a garden weed that is apparently very common, although not in my yard for some reason. I found these three tiny sprigs in my spinach and immediately put them in a little espresso mug with some water on my kitchen windowsill. Hopefully it will survive the winter in my house in a pot so that I can plant one of my large containers with it in the spring.

This is a note for my friend Sue. I know you are thinking I am crazy but this stuff is $5 for a half pound and I buy pounds of it each week when it is available. I assume since it is a weed maybe it will survive my black thumb of death. If not please save me a few sprigs next year when you are weeding your garden in the spring. Thanks!

Early in the summer I buy bags of purslane from one of the farmers that specializes in unusual greens. Purslane contains omega 3 fatty acids, which is why I buy it. I understand that purslane I commonly consumed in Europe. I like to use it in salads. It is particularly good in salsa fresca. The leaves are fleshy, but in an interesting way. It tastes very mild like romaine.

If you find something with a fleshy pinkish stem and a fleshy dark green leaf don’t throw it away. You may have found a plant source of omega 3 fatty acids. I will post an update in a week or so and let you know how easy it is to grow.

Eating the Rainbow

There was an interesting article this morning about the consumption patterns of Americans in terms of color that made me think of my theory of eating the rainbow everyday. It is my understanding that the color of fruits and vegetables is directly related to the antioxidants and phytonutrients the produce contains. This concept has been popular for a long time and instead of trying to remember what each color family provides I try to feed us food from each color everyday. I have summarized the food by color category below and included an abbreviated list of the health benefits of each color category, as I understand it.

White Food

The allium portion of the white food family (garlic, onion, and shallots) is high in allicin. Allicin is thought to reduce cholesterol and blood pressure. I always peel and smash or mince my garlic 10 minutes before I need to use it. A few years ago I read that in order for the allicin in garlic to develop the cloves need to be cut or smashed and they need to stand for 10 minutes to give the allicin time to develop. If you apply heat to the garlic sooner than 10 minutes you aren’t getting the full nutritional benefit of the garlic. The consumption of both garlic and onions is associated with a reduction in cancer so I use them liberally in my cooking. I have also found that by using more aromatics in general I am able to reduce our salt consumption. I will cover the problems with sodium in another post.

Banana
Cauliflower
Coconut
Fennel
Garlic
Onion
Parsnip
Potato
Shallots

Yellow and Orange Food

These foods are rich in carotenoids both beta-carotene and alpha-carotene. Consuming a diet rich in carotenoids has been associated with a reduction in cardiovascular disease, cancer, and arthritis. It has been speculated that carotenoids boost the immune system to produce more natural killer (nk) cells and inhibit the growth of cancer. Citrus fruit contains d-limonene, which is associated with a reduction in skin cancer. Since the d-limonene is located in the skin of the citrus I use that liberally in my cooking. I buy organic citrus and scrub the skin well before zesting the fruit.

Apricots
Cantaloupe
Carrots
Corn
Grapefruit (white)
Lemons
Mangoes
Nectarines
Oranges
Peaches
Pears
Pineapple
Pumpkin
Squash
Sweet Potatoes
Tangerines
Yellow Peppers

Red Food

Foods in this category seem to have either lycopene or anthocyanins. Lycopene is the found in tomatoes, watermelon and pink grapefruit. Consuming lycopene is associated with a reduction in cancer particularly prostate cancer. The lycopene in tomatoes is most bioavailable if the tomatoes are cooked and they are consumed with fat. Additionally there is evidence that lycopene may reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. If you watched “The Truth About Food”, there have been British studies that link the consumption of tomato paste with a reduction in skin cancer. Anthocyanins may protect cells from DNA damage thereby reducing the probability of cancer. There are animal studies that link the consumption of red berries with a slowing of the rate of growth of existing cancer. The skin of red apples is packed with antioxidants. I have read multiple studies with indicate the skin is anywhere from 5 to 12 times more nutritious than the apple flesh. Apples are typically a highly sprayed crop so I try to buy organic apples when I can find them. Otherwise I have a veggies scrubber that looks like a nylon pot scrubber that I used to thoroughly clean the apple under warm water. If you still feel anything on the apple skin you can add a little baking soda and scrub again. Be careful to rinse thoroughly so the apple isn’t gritty or salty.

Beets
Cherries
Cranberries
Pomegranates
Pink Grapefruit
Radishes
Raspberries
Red Apples
Red Cabbage
Red Grapes
Red Peppers
Red Potatoes
Rhubarb
Strawberries
Tomatoes
Watermelon

Green Food

Green leafy vegetables are rich in folate, which is associated with a reduction in birth defects. I read recently about a recent Chinese study that linked the consumption of green leafy vegetables with a lower risk of breast cancer. Cruciferous vegetables are also in this category and contain sulforaphane and indole 3. These compounds are thought to reduce most cancer cell lines by causing cancer cells to commit suicide and blocking blood vessel growth. Some scientists are recommending a daily serving of cruciferous vegetables to reduce overall cancer risk. It is important to remember that cruciferous vegetables need to be lightly cooked to maintain nutrition. Additionally I have read that combining broccoli and tomatoes together seems to have a synergistic effect and both are more powerful in animal studies when consuming together in a meal. This is why I will frequently add broccoli to my red sauce or have it as a side dish with my southern Italian meals.

Artichokes
Asparagus
Avocado
Broccoli
Brussels sprouts
Celery
Collards
Cucumber
Green Apples
Green Beans
Green Cabbage
Green Grapes
Green Onions
Honeydew melon
Kale
Kiwi
Lettuce
Limes
Peas
Spinach
Zucchini

Blue and Purple Food

The only color family of produce I used to have difficulty consuming was this one. I love eggplant but sometimes I get tired of it. I solved this problem at our house by having a purple smoothie most mornings. This category of produce is full on anthocyanins. We have all read about the health benefits of wild blueberries, which are credited to the anthocyanins. These phytonutrients are thought to have cardiovascular benefits, in addition to fighting cancer by inhibiting the growth of new blood vessels the cancer tumor needs to continue to grow.

Blackberries
Blueberries
Eggplant
Figs
Plums
Prunes
Purple grapes
Purple potatoes
Raisins (Thompson)

If you ask me if I can recite all of this from memory the answer is no. Much of it is now stuck in my head, but not all of it. To make the process easy for myself I try to make certain we consume at least 2 servings of each color category every day. Putting the wild blueberries in our morning smoothies really made it much easier to get our purple food everyday which was our neglected category.

I hope everyone has a great day today. I will be back later with a recipe or two.

Fast Meal from the Freezer

As you can probably tell by my lack of posts I wasn’t home much today. I finally got in a little after 10pm from cooking class and there were no leftovers in the refrigerator for my husband’s lunch tomorrow. I hate the idea of my husband ordering food from downtown because you have no control over whether it is organic not to mention the fat and sodium content. Since my being out of the house all day happens with more regularity than I would like I keep things in the freezer for times like these.

When I got home from class I immediately grabbed a 2-cup container of seitan bolognese from the freezer and tossed it into the microwave to begin defrosting. I also started ½ cup of millet to go under the bolognese because my husband loves millet. (Who is this man and what did he do with my husband? Sorry for the diversion.) To round out his lunch tomorrow I am also including a spinach and tomato salad with shelled hempseeds, an apple with walnut butter, and the last few remaining kale chips for a snack. As my hubby would say, he gets tired of chewing before he gets full. While he is right that my food does require more chewing at least I know he is getting more than adequate nutrition.

Sorry for the lack of recipes today, I was swamped and spent far too much time in my car today. I will be back in the kitchen tomorrow and have many ideas to play with from cooking class tonight. I had the best warm cabbage slaw I have ever had in my life. Cooking class was fabulous tonight.

On a somewhat unrelated note I took the dulse granules to cooking class tonight for everyone to taste since almost all of us are watching some aspect of our respective diets. Everyone that tried the dulse liked it. So for those of you that are worried how it tastes it has been very popular here. The taste is very salty but a teaspoon contains 34mg of sodium versus 2300mg for regular iodized salt, or 1880mg for kosher salt. Additionally the dulse contains trace minerals that most of us can use.

That is all I have for tonight. Have a great evening everyone.

Brussels Sprouts, Apples and Walnuts over Wild Rice

My husband adores brussels sprouts. My poor husband is married to a woman that used to hate the brussels sprouts as much as he loved them. I never made the man brussels sprouts and he had to resort to getting them when we were out until I learned the secret. About 5 years ago I realized that I hated brussels sprouts because I grew up eating the ones my mom made which were overcooked and had that unpleasant sulfur thing happening. Now I know the secret to good brussels sprouts is to cook them lightly so that they are still crunchy. Coincidentally cruciferous vegetables also retain more nutrition when they are lightly cooked. By cooking them properly you are getting more nutrition as well as a better tasting vegetable.

Tonight’s brussels sprouts were combined with sweet red onion, and apples. I added the walnuts for texture and omega 3 fatty acids. We haven’t had wild rice in a while so I decided that would make a nice bed for the vegetables. Here is what I did.

Brussels Sprouts, Apples and Walnuts over Wild Rice
Serves 4

Ingredients:

4 ounces wild rice
2 cups water
1 pinch of salt
½ red onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced (allow to stand 10 minutes so the allicin will develop)
¼ - ½ cup water to sauté the aromatics
2 apples, cored and cut into bite sized chunks
1 teaspoon canola or olive oil
1 pound Brussels sprouts, sliced in half
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, removed from the stems
¼ cup walnuts, roughly chopped

Directions:

Combine the wild rice, water and salt in a pot with a lid. Bring the water to a boil and then reduce to a simmer and cook for 35 minutes. After than time check to see if there is water left in the pan. If there is water left cook a few more minutes until the water has all been absorbed. Then turn off the heat and allow the rice to stand in the covered pot for 10 minutes.

While the rice is resting begin cooking the vegetables. Combine the onion, garlic and water in a heavy bottomed pan (I used cast iron) and cook until the onions are tender. Add the apples and cook for a few minutes more, until they just begin to soften. Now remove the mixture from the pan to a plate.

Wipe the pan clean with a paper towel and add the oil so that it lightly coats the bottom of the pan. Add the brussels sprouts in as close to a single layer as possible. You want to down side of the brussels to caramelize. This will happen in 3 of 4 minutes. During that time don’t touch the brussels sprouts. When you shake the pan and sprouts move easily it is time to turn the brussels sprouts and cook a few minutes on the other side.

Next add back the apples and onions and top the brussels with the walnuts. Cook a minute to heat everything through and serve hot on top of the wild rice.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 244.1
Calories From Fat (24%) - 58.64

Total Fat - 6.94g
Saturated Fat - 0.72g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 371.34mg
Potassium - 596.67mg
Total Carbohydrates - 41.72g
Fiber - 7.26g
Sugar - 10.06g
Protein - 8.65g

Comments:

I asked my husband how he liked the dish and he said, “It is brussels sprouts how can it be bad”. See what I mean about he loves brussels sprouts. When I probed for more information he said he thought it was a good flavor combination but one that he wouldn’t have thought of on his own. I inquired if he would have liked a little agave or Dijon with this and he said no. If you like clean dishes this was a tasty recipe. I thought it would have been better with a little bit more flavor, maybe lemon juice or Dijon mustard or both.

Nutritionally this dish is not the powerhouse of some of my other dishes based on the information in the cookbook program. However, the program doesn’t take into account the indole 3 and sulphorane that is present in cruciferous vegetables. According to the program one serving of this recipe contains over 935IU of vitamin A, 74mg of vitamin C, 73mg of calcium, 105mcg of folate, 168mcg of vitamin K, 222 mg of phosphorus and 3mcg of selenium.

Tonight's meal was very filling. We ate dinner about 2 hours ago and I am still full.

I hope everyone has a great evening.

Avocado and Cucumber Tower Topped with a Parsley Salad

Tonight I wanted to make a special appetizer. I don’t use my presentation molds as often as I would like. When it is just the two of us for dinner it seems rather silly to make fancy looking dishes. However today I decided I am going to concentrate more on presentation, especially when it is just the two of us. No one is more important to me than my precious husband so why shouldn't I spoil him every day. Here is the healthy appetizer I made for us tonight.

Avocado and Cucumber Tower Topped with a Parsley Salad
Serves 2

Ingredients:

1 large red tomato, sliced thinly into 8 pieces
½ lemon, zested and juiced
1 avocado, finely diced
1 cup seedless cucumber, finely diced
2 tablespoons red onion, finely diced
1 teaspoon dulse granules
1 clove garlic, minced
black pepper to taste
2 tablespoons parsley leaves with a little stem
1 teaspoon lemon juice
pickled red onion, for garnish - optional

Directions:

Slice the tomato as thinly as you can and make a little bed of tomato on two plates.

Combine the lemon juice, lemon zest, avocado, cucumber, red onion, dulse granules, garlic, and black pepper and stir to thoroughly combine. Taste for seasoning and correct as necessary.

Place a presentation mold on top each plate with tomato slices. Put ½ of the avocado cucumber mixture into each mold. Press the mixture into the mold. Slowly remove the presentation mold.

Coat the parsley with lemon juice and divide it into two bundles with all the stems down. Take the stems and stick them into the top of the avocado and cucumber tower.

Sprinkle the sliced tomatoes with pickled onions, if using, and a salt and pepper. Serve immediately before the avocado begins to oxidize.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 198.08
Calories From Fat (60%) - 118.02

Total Fat - 14.08g
Saturated Fat - 1.95g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 48.23mg
Potassium - 1062.58mg
Total Carbohydrates - 18.77g
Fiber - 9.72g
Sugar - 4.03g
Protein - 4.78g

Comments:

If you like guacamole this is basically a fancy presentation of a basic version with cucumber. I substituted lemon for lime, because that is what I had. If I had jalapeno in the house I would have added that to avocado and cucumber mixture.

This dish has over 5700IU of vitamin A, 110mg vitamin C, 119mg calcium, 190mcg folate, 1012mcg of vitamin K, and 115mg of phosphorus. It amazes me to see the nutrition information on meals that are all vegetables and/or fruit. Seeing the nutrients every meal makes it easier for me to make the healthiest choices going forward.

Fall is finally here!

The weather in Baltimore is cool and crisp with the unmistakable snap of fall in the air. When the weather changes I am always a little sad because I know the bounty of summer produce is behind us. However, now we all can enjoy pumpkin, squash, Brussels sprouts and all the other fantastic fall vegetables.

This photo is one I took a few years ago at Biltmore in Asheville, North Carolina. I loved the one little white pumpkin with all its big orange brothers and sisters. I think of this as a photo of the red headed stepchild and his vegetable family. Isn’t it interesting how the little white pumpkin is leaned over like he is hiding and most of the larger orange pumpkins are standing tall. Am I reading into this photo, of course I am. But it amuses me to give inanimate objects human emotions.

As you may have guessed dinner tonight will be something with a fall focus. No hints for now you will need to come back later and see what I make.

What do you see when you look at this picture? Am I the only one that projects human emotions onto this picture?

Kale Chips - Plain

Kale is something that I always cook. I have tried to add kale to my green smoothies, and lets just say even I have my limits. Raw kale is not something that I enjoy. This is why I was curious to taste kale chips. I see kale chips on blogs everywhere and decided that I had to give them a try.

I put these together last night before bed. In the morning I got up and tried one and thought “I don’t know about these they taste green”. However each time I went by the dehydrator I grabbed another “chip”. The next thing I knew I had eaten an entire tray of kale chips. That was when I knew these were actually good. I am going to say they are an acquired taste, but it didn’t take long for me to come around. Here is what I did.

Kale Chips - Plain
Serves 6

Ingredients:

1 bunch kale, destemmed and leaves torn into large pieces (about 8 cups)
olive or canola oil in a mister
1 pinch of dulse granules

Directions:

Place the kale on a half sheet pan in a single layer. Spray the kale with oil and sprinkle with dulse granules. Toss the kale and return it to a single layer and spray it a second time and sprinkle it again with dulse granules.

Put the kale pieces in your dehydrator and let it dry overnight. In the morning you will have crunchy kale chips.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 48.11
Calories From Fat (18%) - 8.59

Total Fat - 1g
Saturated Fat - 0.11g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 39.12mg
Potassium - 402.05mg
Total Carbohydrates - 8.98g
Fiber - 1.79g
Sugar - 0g
Protein - 2.95g

I assumed that I used ½ teaspoon of oil when spraying the chips. That is probably overstating the fat content but the recovering accountant in me needs to be conservative.

Comments:

Given that I don’t like raw kale these are much better than I expected them to be. In fact they are sort of addictive. I love the texture and crunch. They are light, airy and crispy. I used dulse granules on these chips to keep the sodium level down but you can use salt if you prefer.

Nutritionally this snack is a powerhouse. Each small serving has over 13,000IU of vitamin A, 100mg of vitamin C, 120mg of calcium, and 700mcg of vitamin K. Needless to say kale has now gone on my permanent grocery list as something to buy each week. Expect to see flavor variations on this recipe in the coming months.

If you are looking for a crunchy snack but don’t want kale I posted a interesting recipe for sweet potato chips with lime and chipotle chili powder that you might was to try instead.

Green Tea with Hibiscus, Ginger and Vitamin C

As those of you that read my blog regularly know I am crazy about green tea. I drink it all day long in different forms. Green tea has many health benefits, which I covered in this post. Today I decided to add a teaspoon of hibiscus powder to my usual green tea with ginger and vitamin C to see how it changed the flavor. Surprisingly the flavor remained the same but the tea had a very pleasant floral note from the teaspoon of hibiscus powder.

I decided to do a quick search to see if hibiscus had any nutritional value. Apparently hibiscus can help cholesterol from building up in your arteries. If you have high LDL cholesterol adding hibiscus to your tea could potentially have a positive benefit.

Additionally hibiscus is high in antioxidants and vitamin C (ascorbic acid) according to what I read here. According to this article the flowers “are rich in riboflavin, ascorbic acid, niacin, carotene, calcium, and iron”.

I had no idea that hibiscus was so good for me. The rich red color was what made me think it might be in high in anthocyanins (which it apparently is), but I was pleasantly surprised at the nutrition of this little flower. I will be buying more of the flowers when I get back to the Indian grocery store. I see no reason not to include them in our green tea when I want a different variation.

Quick Vegetable Brown Rice

Normally I make an extra serving of dinner and pack that for my husband to take to work for lunch. We ate all the vegetable wraps last night for dinner so I needed to whip together a little something for lunch. At 10 pm last night I was not feeling very creative and made something similar to dinner, but just different enough that it wasn't the same. Here is what I made.

Quick Vegetable Brown Rice
Makes 3 small servings (or 1 large husband serving and 1 small wife serving)

Ingredients:

2/3 cup long grain brown rice
1 1/3 cups water
1 pinch salt
½ red onion, finely diced
1 red bell pepper, finely diced
1 cup crimini mushrooms, finely diced
1 clove garlic, peeled and sliced
1 tablespoon liquid aminos
2 tablespoons mirin
1 cup mung bean sprouts
4 tablespoons cilantro

Directions:

Cook the rice, water and salt according to the package directions and allow to cool.

Combine the onion, bell pepper, mushrooms, garlic, liquid aminos and mirin in a large skillet. Cook over medium heat until the vegetables are mostly soft. Combine the cooked rice with the vegetables. If you are serving right away add the bean sprouts and cilantro now. If you are packing this for lunch, as I was, add the bean sprouts and cilantro once the rice has cooled so the cilantro and sprouts don't immediately wilt.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 194.68
Calories From Fat (6%) - 11.61

Total Fat - 1.49g
Saturated Fat - 0.28g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 431.57mg
Potassium - 445.8mg
Total Carbohydrates - 44g
Fiber - 3.66g
Sugar - 4.24g
Protein - 5.74g

Comments:

I make variations of this dish that change depending on the vegetables that I have on hand. It is a quick dish (especially if you have leftover rice, which I do often). I used the mirin in the dish to add flavor without additional sodium. The vegetables are lightly cooked to maintain more of their nutrition. Cilantro is added for fresh flavor. Bean sprouts add a little crunch. If you like nuts this dish would be good with a few peanuts as a garnish.

This dish is not a nutritional powerhouse compared to my vegetable intense recipes. However, it does contain 1700IU of vitamin A, 68mg of vitamin C, 57mcg of folate, 200mg of phosphorus, and 16mcg of selenium. This is another example of how reducing the total amount of vegetables and increasing the grains reduced the overall nutrition of the dish. Comparing these numbers to the vegetable wraps from yesterday shows me how eating more vegetables and fruit, and fewer grains, could contribute to a reduction in breast cancer.

In addition to this vegetable brown rice we are also having hummus with raw vegetables and an apple with walnut butter today for lunch. Hummus adds protein while the vegetables and apple add additional antioxidants. Walnut butter provides healthy fat. A mug of green tea with ginger and vitamin C and we have a filling and healthy lunch.

Olive Oil May Reduce the Risk of Alzheimer’s

If Alzheimer’s disease runs in your family you should read this abstract of an article from Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology. Preliminary studies suggest that oleocanthal (a compound found in olive oil) interferes with the process that initiates Alzheimer’s disease. This second article explains the same study in more depth and indicates the oleocanthal is in extra virgin olive oil, not regular olive oil.

Fortunately neither my or my husband’s family have been touched by Alzheimer’s. However a few of our friend’s have had parents with the disease. Alzheimer’s is a horrible disease that can devastate a family. If something as simple as switching to olive as you fat of choice may reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s why not consider it? Since the oleocanthal is found in extra virgin olive oil it is reasonable to assume that heating the olive oil may alter the oleocanthal. If I were concerned about Alzheimer’s I would do what the Italians do and use extra virgin olive oil as a condiment, like salt and pepper, and drizzle a little over my food at the table.

There have been prior studies that suggest that turmeric also seems to inhibit Alzheimer’s. I find it fascinating that naturally occurring compounds in whole foods seem to routinely result in positive health benefits.

I hope you all have a happy and healthy day.

Raw Eggplant, Mushroom, and Bell Pepper in Lettuce Wraps

Last week Debra at Vegan Family Style posted a recipe for raw stuffed mushrooms, which intrigued me. I bought a cheap dehydrator many years ago (pre veg days) to make salmon jerky. I used it a few times and then put it away to gather dust for a number of years. Fortunately I didn’t throw it away so I could play around with it today.

When I reread “Eat for Health” by Dr. Fuhrman a little while ago I was reminded that the doctor advocates consuming at least a pound of raw fruits and veggies a day in addition to a pound of cooked fruit and veggies. We never have any problem eating the cooked produce but the raw vegetable portion is a little more difficult. Most days we eat a salad with lunch and dinner but that gets boring after a while. There are only so many raw vegetables I can toss into the Vitamix and make into fresh juice. Since the mushrooms Debra posted looked good I thought I would try something in the dehydrator today. Both myhusband and I like lettuce wraps so I decided to make a warm version of them today. Here is what I did.

Raw Eggplant, Mushroom, and Bell Pepper in Lettuce Wraps
Serves 2

Ingredients:

4 cups eggplant, cut into ½ inch dice
2 cups crimini mushrooms, cut into ½ inch dice
1 red bell pepper, seeded and cut into ½ inch dice
1 tablespoon liquid aminos
4 tablespoons mirin
1 clove garlic, peeled and grated
1 cup mung bean sprouts
1 head leaf lettuce

Directions:

Combine the eggplant, mushrooms, bell pepper, liquid aminos, mirin and garlic and stir to combine. Allow the vegetables to marinate for at least 2 hours. Stir the mixture periodically to make certain all the vegetables get coated with the marinade.

Drain the excess marinade from the vegetables and dehydrate until you like the texture of the vegetables. Mine were in the dehydrator for 8 hours, but longer would have been fine too they were still tender and a little moist.

Place a little of the eggplant mixture and sprouts on each lettuce leaf. Serve these immediately since the slight warmth of the vegetables from the dehydrator seem to intensify the flavor.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 124.01
Calories From Fat (6%) - 7.52

Total Fat - 1.21g
Saturated Fat - 0.13g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 533.86mg
Potassium - 1339.6mg
Total Carbohydrates - 35.74g
Fiber - 10.16g
Sugar - 10.96g
Protein - 8.27g

Comments:

This dish is a little sweet from the mirin, and slightly salty from the liquid aminos. If I were going to make this again I would add a few peanuts for more crunch. A little lime zest would also be good in this dish. We had a few of the wraps without the sprouts and those had more flavor since it wasn’t “diluted” by the sprouts. From a taste perspective we preferred the wraps without the sprouts, but the sprout version won out on nutrition. Overall I thought this was a good first attempt.

I have been trying to feed us more raw food for about a month. Now that it is cold in Baltimore I don’t really feel like eating cold raw food. This is why I pulled out the dehydrator.

I will be the first to admit the temperature of the food made a big difference to me. I made the wraps straight from the dehydrator so they were a little warm which made the flavor much more intense than it would have been cold. These wraps were better than I expected. I am going to continue to play around with the dehydrator. Who knows I may spring for an Excalibur soon if my experiments continue to improve. In general I would say that having raw food be a little warm makes it a lot more palatable when the weather is cold.

The nutrition on this recipe is also particularly high when you compare it to the total calories. One serving of this contains almost 13,000IU of vitamin A, 110mg of vitamin C, 165mcg of folate, 240mcg of vitamin K, 190mg of phosphorus and almost 10mcg of selenium.

Hummus - Italian Flavored

Last night I made Indian food for dinner and found that I had too many chickpeas. My husband immediately requested that I make hummus. I have mentioned before that we eat hummus all the time and I wasn’t exaggerating.

I wanted to make a different flavor and stood in the kitchen staring at the chickpeas trying to decide how I could make another variation of hummus. Being part Italian I decided to make an Italian flavored hummus. I substituted pine nuts for the tahini. Also I used standard Italian seasonings like oregano, thyme, and garlic. The hot crushed peppers were added so that I could keep the salt level down in the hummus. Here is what I did.

Hummus - Italian Flavored
Makes 4 servings

Ingredients:

1 ½ cup cooked garbanzo beans, preferably warm
½ cup bean cooking liquid, this is approximate
¼ cup pine nuts
¼ teaspoon sea salt
¼ teaspoon oregano, dried
¼ teaspoon thyme, dried
2 teaspoons hot crushed peppers
1 clove garlic, peeled and minced

Directions:

Add the warm chickpeas to the food processor and puree until smooth. You will probably need to add some water. I add a little of the bean cooking liquid a few tablespoons at a time until I like the consistency of the humus. Now add the seasonings and puree to combine.

Refrigerate in a closed container until needed.

Nutritional Information (for ¼ of the hummus only):

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 159.82
Calories From Fat (39%) - 61.89

Total Fat - 7.39g
Saturated Fat - 0.58g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 91mg
Potassium - 236.93mg
Total Carbohydrates - 18.42g
Fiber - 5.11g
Sugar - 3.3g
Protein - 6.69g

I had my hummus today with one red bell pepper cut into strips and 2 large carrots cut into spears. After reading the abstract about the impact of food on breast cancer risk I decided to have more vegetables with my hummus than I would normally consume. I have also included the nutrition information with vegetables so that you can see the impact.

Nutritional Information (for ¼ of the hummus with 1 bell pepper and 2 carrots):

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 271.13
Calories From Fat (25%) - 69.05

Total Fat - 8.22g
Saturated Fat - 0.68g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 208.41mg
Potassium - 1060.75mg
Total Carbohydrates - 42.67g
Fiber - 12.68g
Sugar - 17.06g
Protein - 9.63g

Comments:

I recommend warm chickpeas since I find they seem to be easier to puree resulting in a creamier hummus. This is something that I discovered by accident but it seems to work so please give it a try.

Using pine nuts in place of tahini makes a significant difference in the final flavor of the hummus. If you are one of those people that don’t like tahini (yes DT this was a test for you) then I think this version is something you may prefer.

Next time I will probably add a few sun-dried tomatoes and olives to this for more Italian flavor. A few capers or fresh Italian parsley would also be a nice touch. In the end this recipe tastes more Italian and less like hummus than I expected.

When I had my hummus today with one bell pepper and two carrots cut into strips. I input that into the cookbook program and recalculated the numbers. The vitamin A is so high it doesn’t seem correct at over 30,000IU. Folate was also almost double once I added veggies. By including the red bell pepper my hummus snack now has over 195mg of vitamin C. I found it fascinating how adding a big serving of veggies increased the nutrition exponentially. This helps me to begin to understand how eating mostly fruit and vegetables could be linked to a reduction in breast cancer.

Potentially Lower the Risk of Breast Cancer

I read this abstract this morning of an article published in American Journal of Epidemiology and thought everyone should read it.

The article implicates meat products, fries, appetizers, rice/pasta, potatoes, pulses, pizza/pies, canned fish, eggs, alcoholic beverages, cakes, mayonnaise, and butter/cream as increasing the risk of breast cancer. Obviously it would be next to impossible to eliminate some of these things from your diet, but knowing that they could increase the risk of breast cancer may make them easier for all of us to reduce. Since prostate cancer is also an estrogen dependent cancer I wonder if the same foods are associated with an increase in prostate cancer. The prostate cancer connection is only conjecture but worth considering.

It appears there is even more reason to increase your consumption of fruits and vegetables. Reading this abstract makes me glad we had a nice mixed berry smoothie for breakfast this morning.

I hope everyone has a happy and healthy day today. I am off to try to plan my menu for the remainder of the week, concentrating on veggie dishes of course.

Sprouts - Grow Your Own

If you haven’t tried to grown your own sprouts at home you should consider giving it a try. I started sprouting last winter and did it all winter and spring until the local produce started coming in. Now that the weather is growing cold I started sprouting again late last week.

All you need to make sprouts at home is a few mason jars, cheesecloth, rubber bands, filtered water and seeds or legumes to sprout. The process is the same no matter what you are sprouting.

Start with a very clean quart jar and either 2 tablespoons of small seeds (radish, clover, alfalfa, broccoli) or ¼ cup of beans or lentils (garbanzo beans, lentils, mung beans) and cover them with plenty of filtered water. Allow the seeds, legumes, or beans to soak for between 8 to 12 hours.

After the time has elapsed completely drain the water from the jars and sit the jars on the counter (out of direct sunlight). Rinse the seeds/beans/legumes at least twice a day and drain the water completely. Continue rinsing and draining at least twice a day until the sprouts have leaves that are beginning to green. At this point you need to put the sprouts in light so the leaves will develop chlorophyll.

Now refrigerate the sprouts until you are ready to eat them.

If you are wondering why you should grow your own sprouts I can think of a number of reasons. Growing your own sprouts is ridiculously cheap. A mere two tablespoons of alfalfa seeds will fill a quart jar in about 5 days. Those seeds might cost 25 cents. You will pay $2 for the sprouts at the grocery story. Additionally growing your own sprouts ensures that the sprouts are fresh and that means they probably have more nutrition. When you grow your own sprouts you can decide with variety you want (not what is in the store) and can ensure the seeds are organic. I found that we ate many more sprouts when I started growing them last year. Last, growing your own sprouts is fun.

If you like sprouting and decided to do it regularly they sell plastic lids that fit on a wide mouth quart jar and allow the water to drain easily. The lids come with varying drainage sizes. I have also read that some people use fiberglass screen (like for windows) to cover the top of the jars. I find cheesecloth works just as well as the plastic lids.

If you like to have sprouts on your sandwiches, salads or in Asian food why not try to grow them yourself at home. I purchase my seeds at our local health food store from the bulk area.

Soba, Spinach and Sea Vegetable Salad

Sea vegetables are so packed with nutrition that I really want to learn to like them. Okay, I really want to learn to accept them enough to eat them every week in a form other than sushi.

This salad is something I made up to get a little seaweed into us at lunch today. Surprisingly the seaweed blended into the background and except for one bite, which had more seaweed than the other bites, I couldn’t taste it in the dish. Even my husband said this was good, and he doesn’t like any seaweed but nori and sea asparagus. I was quite pleased with the end result.

If you are wondering why I want to cultivate a taste for seaweed that is easy. As usual the reason is all about nutrition. Sea vegetables are said to contain more minerals than any other food. They are an excellent source of iodine and vitamin K. Additionally they also contain iron, calcium and a few B vitamins. Sea vegetables also contain lignans, which has been shown to inhibit angiogenesis. Cancer needs a rich blood supply to grow and when you inhibit the growth of blood vessels (angiogenesis) you are shutting down the food supply for the tumors. The fucans in sea vegetables is also thought to reduce inflammation, also a good thing. Consumption of sea vegetables is also associated with a reduction in menopausal symptoms.

I am hoping that we grow accustomed to the taste and texture of seaweed like we did the green drink. As I find new ways to use seaweed I will continue to post the recipes. Here is what we had for lunch today.

Soba, Spinach and Sea Vegetable Salad
Serves 2

Ingredients:

120 grams (1 bundle) Soba Noodles (Yamaimo Soba)
10 grams mixed dried seaweed (mixture of brown, green and clear sea vegetables)
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon mirin
1 tablespoon liquid aminos
½ tablespoon toasted sesame oil
1 teaspoon sesame seeds
1 clove garlic, peeled and grated (or finely minced)
3 cups baby spinach, julienned

Directions:

Fill a medium sized pan with plenty of water (at least 1 ½ quarts) and bring to a boil.

Begin by soaking the seaweed in plenty of water for at least 15 minutes. I changed the water once during the soak. Now drain the sea vegetables and move to a large bowl.

Add the soba noodles to the boiling water and cook according to the package directions. My package indicated to cook for 4 – 5 minutes (much less than regular pasta) and to drain and rinse. Use cold water to rinse the noodles so that won’t wilt the fresh spinach.

Place the noodles in the bowl with the seaweed. Add the remaining ingredients to the bowl and toss to combine.

Serve cold.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 265.48
Calories From Fat (19%) - 51.24

Total Fat - 6.36g
Saturated Fat - 0.63g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 1548.72mg
Potassium - 375.73mg
Total Carbohydrates - 48.28g
Fiber - 1.26g
Sugar - 0.24g
Protein - 11.73g

Comments:

This salad was surprisingly in its lack of “seaweediness”. If I hadn’t made the dish I am not certain I would have known it contained seaweed. I would suggest that you do what I did and start with a small amount of seaweed and make certain it is evenly distributed and flavored with an intense sauce. That seemed to work well for me.

The nutritional information was also impressive for this dish. The dish contains over 4200IU of vitamin A, and 220 mcg of vitamin K, and almost a 100mcg of folate. I think that is quite a lot of nutrition for a little bowl of salad.

Next time I will be more careful when I buy soba noodles. I didn’t realize until today that the package I bought had over 1000mg of sodium per serving just for the noodles. There must be a few brands with less sodium than that. Overall this was a nice flavorful salad and one that I will be making variations of in the future.

Green Beans with Walnuts and Onions

This particular vegetable side dish is based on a recipe that my friend Louis brought to my attention.

My variation eliminated the butter and olive oil, substituted walnuts for almonds and added red pepper flakes. By now you know I used walnuts because they contain omega 3 fatty acids. My husband and I like to add a little spice with red pepper flakes but you can omit them if you are feeding children or elderly relatives. If you are interested in the medicinal properties of peppers check out this link to an article on WebMD.

Walnut oil is not necessary but a little fat is required to carry the flavor. I have used Earth Balance, olive oil, canola oil or grapeseed oil in place of the walnut oil. All the variations work well, but I think the walnut oil provides the right flavor for the dish.

Green Beans with Walnuts and Onions
Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 red onion, thinly sliced
¼ cup water or white wine to water sauté the vegetables
4 cups green beans, stems removed
2 tablespoons walnuts, roughly chopped
1 teaspoon walnut oil
1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes - optional
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Cook the onion in water or wine until soft (about 5 minutes). Then add green beans and cover the pan and cook until beans begin to soften (another 5 minutes).

To serve, top each serving with walnuts, walnut oil, red pepper flakes and salt and pepper to taste.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 79.01
Calories From Fat (40%) - 31.92

Total Fat - 3.75g
Saturated Fat - 0.37g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 7.49mg
Potassium - 246.44mg
Total Carbohydrates - 10.73g
Fiber - 4.48g
Sugar - 1.64g
Protein - 2.89g

Comments:

This makes a nice green bean side dish for Thanksgiving if you are looking for something that is flavorful but not a variation on the standard green bean casserole. It is also a great weekday dish because it is so fast. Sometimes I serve it over brown rice and make it a meal.

Tomato Fennel Soup

When we went to Great Sage a couple of weeks ago one of the soup specials that day was tomato fennel. No one at the table ordered it but it sounds like something that would be good when I wanted a light soup. With the cold and rainy weather today I decided a nice hot soup would be good.

I wanted to make a soup with a clean flavor so I didn’t muddy the flavor with a lot of herbs and spices. This soup is easy to put together and tastes good too.

Fennel contains an interesting phytonutrient called anethole. It is theorized that anethole is what shuts down the intercellular signaling system called tumor necrosis factor mediated signaling. This prevents activation of NF-kappaB and keeps the immune system operating effectively. A properly functioning immune system is a good thing for everyone. I for one am happy that both my husband and I enjoy fennel.

This soup recipe is light and clean. If you wanted a soup with a more fatty mouth feel you could add a ¼ to ½ cup of raw cashews and puree that with a little of soup and stir it in to the pot. You could also do the same thing with silken tofu. Sometimes I like to make tofu sour cream and serve that on top of clean soups like this one.

Tomato Fennel Soup
Makes 4 hearty servings

Ingredients:

1 large fennel bulb, finely diced (about 4 cups)- save a few fronds for garnish
1 large red onion, peeled and finely diced (about 2 cups)
½ cup water to sauté vegetables
4 cloves garlic, peeled and finely diced (allow to stand 10 minutes so the allicin can develop)
1 teaspoon canola oil
45 ounces tomato sauce, no salt added
2 teaspoon fennel seeds
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar, for garnish - optional

Directions:

Water sauté the fennel and onion until soft. Now add the garlic and canola oil and cook for another couple of minutes. Add the tomato sauce and fennel seeds and simmer on low for a minimum of 30 minutes so the flavors have time to blend.

You can now chill the soup for tomorrow (the flavor will be better). Or you can serve it today.

To serve, garnish with a bit of the reserved fennel frond and drizzle with the balsamic vinegar if using. This soup is best served hot.

Nutritional Information (assumes 4 bowls and doesn't include optional ingredients):

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 196.18
Calories From Fat (5%) - 9.68

Total Fat - 1.1g
Saturated Fat - 0.11g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 86.08mg
Potassium - 1573.15mg
Total Carbohydrates - 41.84g
Fiber - 9.22g
Sugar - 13.55g
Protein - 6.4g

Comments:

This was my favorite item at dinner tonight. All four bowls disappeared so it must have been pretty good. One bowl of this soup contains over 1480 IU of Vitamin A, another 3 grams of selenium and over 50mcg of folate.

I am always surprised that my elderly parents eat my vegan food and don’t complain. Other than weekends and national holidays when I always make dinner they eat the SAD diet. I started having them over for dinner on weekends so that they could see that healthy food tasted good and expected them to begin to modify their behavior. As you may expect this quickly turned to I was making dinner on the weekend and they were continuing to eat unhealthy food for all the other meals in the week. After two years of this I have finally given up trying to show them that modifying their behavior can be healthy and tasty. Now I am happy to know that they are at least eating two healthy meals a week.

Lentil and Veggie Burgers

Earlier this week Rose over at Dandelion made a nut roast. Oddly enough I have never either made or had a nut roast and I thought I should try to make one. My husband was not as certain this was a good idea. As we like to say here “it is all about my husband”, so I decided to let the nut roast wait until he is out of town for work.

The problem was I still wanted something similar to a nut roast so I made lentil burgers with sautéed veggies, wheat germ, sunflower seeds and oatmeal. In the interest of science I made half the batch with a little vital wheat gluten for added texture and half without the gluten.

I frequently add vital wheat gluten to my burgers for texture. Gluten doesn’t make the burgers like seitan it just makes them more firm so they hold together better and are easier to flip and stay on a sandwich or a fork. As I expected my husband preferred the version with gluten. The gluten free burgers had the same great flavor but were much more tender so that I had to be very careful when flipping them in the pan.

You may notice in this recipe I didn’t add any salt to the burger. This omission was intentional. The hot crushed peppers (also known as wet hots or hot pickled peppers) were added for acid and tang. I have found that when I add the hot crushed peppers to a dish I don’t need much if any salt in the dish.

Both the wheat germ and sunflower seeds were added for their phytosterol content. Phytosterols are thought to help prevent cancer and cardiovascular disease. As an added bonus sunflower seeds contain a nice amount of selenium also thought to stimulate the immune system, stimulate the bodies natural killer cells and therefore slow the spread of cancer.

With all this health talk you may be wondering what these burgers taste like. Well, they are quite tasty in addition to being good for you. If you don't tell your family they are healthy I don't think they will know.

Lentil and Veggie Burgers
Makes 8 burgers

Ingredients:

1 cup green lentils, picked through and rinsed
4+ cups of water to cook lentils
½ red onion finely diced
1 red bell pepper, seeded, and finely diced
4 stalks celery, finely diced
¼ cup of water to water sauté the aromatics
3 cloves garlic, peeled and finely minced (allow to stand 10 minutes so the allicin can develop)
½ tablespoon canola oil
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons hot crushed peppers (wet hots)
¼ cup wheat germ
¼ cup sunflower seeds, raw
1 cup oatmeal, dry
4 tablespoons vital wheat gluten, optional – but helps the patties stay together and are firmer under the tooth

Directions:

Cook the lentils in the water until they are very soft and mushy. You want the lentils to be extremely soft to help hold the burger together.

Make certain all the veggies are finely diced, about 1/8th of an inch. Water sauté the onions, pepper and celery until soft. Add the canola oil and garlic and cook a few minutes more. The oil is added with the garlic in an attempt to make the allicin in the garlic more bioavailable. After a couple of minutes add the tomato paste and cook another few minutes. Try to evenly distribute the tomato paste through out the vegetable mixture. Add the hot crushed peppers, wheat germ, sunflower seeds and oatmeal. Stir to evenly distribute all the ingredients.

If you are using the vital wheat gluten add it now and knead to evenly distribute the gluten. The burger mixture will still be soft but will hold together easily once the gluten has been added. If you choose not to add the gluten put the burger mixture into the refrigerator to chill. The cold mixture will hold together better than if it warm or room temperature. However if you use the gluten the temperature doesn’t matter.

Use a half-cup measure to portion the burger mix. This will result in 8 patties. Form the patties with your hands and set aside on a baking sheet lined with foil or wax paper.

Heat a cast iron pan with a light coating of canola oil and cook the burgers until brown on each side (about 3 minutes per side depending on how hot your stove is).

Nutritional Information per burger – without gluten:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 125.57
Calories From Fat (27%) - 33.59

Total Fat - 3.96g
Saturated Fat - 0.41g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 56.93mg
Potassium - 340.83mg
Total Carbohydrates - 18.67g
Fiber - 5.1g
Sugar - 2.36g
Protein - 5.79g

Nutritional Information per burger – with gluten:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 140.01
Calories From Fat (24%) - 34.24

Total Fat - 4.03g
Saturated Fat - 0.42g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 58.06mg
Potassium - 344.73mg
Total Carbohydrates - 19.21g
Fiber - 5.12g
Sugar - 2.36g
Protein - 8.72g

Comments:

Both my husband and I preferred the burgers with the vital wheat gluten. However the plain version of the burger is also good, just much more tender. The burgers were good with the Catalina French dressing I made yesterday.

Each one of these burgers has over 12mcg of selenium, which I also like. Anytime I can make something that is packed with nutrition that also tastes good I am a very happy camper.

Banana, Chocolate and Walnut Butter Oatmeal

Once again we awoke to cold, dreary, gray and rainy weather. It seems like we will need to build an ark if the weather doesn’t break soon. Needless to say my sweet husband didn’t want a cold fruit smoothie again today, and I can’t say I blame him. Since he wanted oatmeal with chocolate I couldn’t say no.

As usual I used my unsweetened almond milk because that is what I have on hand. And yes, I need to make more almond milk again today, but I digress. Walnut butter and shelled hempseeds were included for their omega 3 fatty acids. Chocolate does provide flavonoids, but honestly it was included for the gooey chocolate goodness. Bananas provide potassium, which is said to help keep blood pressure in check. If you want to make this recipe healthier you can substitute oat bran for the oatmeal. Also, if you are replacing the walnut butter with peanut butter add a little cinnamon and ginger. I didn’t add those spices because it is in my walnut butter.

Banana, Chocolate and Walnut Butter Oatmeal
Serves 2

Oatmeal Ingredients:

1 cup oatmeal, dry
2 cups almond milk, unsweetened
2 tablespoons walnut butter

Oatmeal Topping Ingredients:

2 bananas, peeled and sliced
2 tablespoons chocolate chips
1 teaspoon shelled hempseeds

Directions:

Combine half of the oats, almond milk and walnut butter in each container and microwave until the oatmeal is cooked. The cooking took 2 minutes and 15 seconds in my microwave but the exact time will depend on the wattage of your microwave.

Remove the oatmeal and add the toppings and serve hot.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 423.44
Calories From Fat (34%) - 142.3

Total Fat - 16.8g
Saturated Fat - 3.06g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 169.51mg
Potassium - 834.66mg
Total Carbohydrates - 66.94g
Fiber - 10.44g
Sugar - 15.02g
Protein - 9.84g

Comments:

Even though this oatmeal contains bananas, chocolate and walnut butter it isn’t as sweet and candy bar like as you may imagine. In fact my hubby thought it needed more chocolate chips (no surprise to anyone that knows him) but I thought it had enough.

This recipe has a reasonable amount of potassium and a nice amount of selenium (over 19mcg). Consuming adequate selenium is associated with a reduction in the incidence of cancer. In the early 80’s selenium supplements were all the rage even though you don’t hear about them much any more. Recently when I was rereading the book “Anticancer” I noted that the doctor discussed the fact that selenium increases the immune system and stimulates the bodies NK (natural killer) cells. The more active your natural killer cells are the less likely cancer is to grow and spread.

For breakfast this morning we had this oatmeal, a half serving of our green drink of choice, Green Vibrance and our vitamins. We followed this with our first mug of green tea with fresh sliced ginger, goji berries and a splash of pomegranate juice. Since this meal is a little light on fresh fruit and vegetables we will have a snack of fresh strawberries mid morning.

I hope you are all having a happy and healthy day. I will be back later with more recipes from tonight's dinner, if not sooner.

Catalina French Dressing

It is another one of those cold, dreary and rainy days on the east coast. The weather today is nothing short of miserable. Having a morning full of doctor appointments and a trip to Costco certainly didn’t start my day off on a good note. However, I did pick up the "Pasta cookbook from the Silver Spoon" so you can expect more homemade pasta soon. One recipe for oat flour pasta has already caught my eye and may be on the menu tomorrow.

Happily all my errands are now finished for the day and I am home to relax and kick my feet up. At our house relaxing for me means I am going into the kitchen to work on a new recipe.

I have been trying to explore different salad dressing because we eat so many salads every week. Today I returned to the “The Professional Chef” for another salad dressing to veganize. Catalina French dressing was the one that leaped off the page to me today. I haven’t had this since I was teenager but I wanted to make a grown up version.

The original dressing is emulsified by use of egg and Dijon. In place of the egg I decided to use raw cashews. In place of brown sugar I decided to use agave. Finally I reduced the fat level significantly. If you are wondering if this tastes like the bottled dressing we had as kids the answer is not exactly. I intentionally made this dressing less sweet and used more allspice. However, I liked the end result and thought you might too. Here is what I did.

Catalina French Dressing
Makes 7/8 cup or 14 tablespoons

Ingredients:

½ cup raw cashews
½ cup water
1 1/2 T agave
1 T cider vinegar
½ T paprika
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 pinch garlic powder
1 pinch onion powder
¼ teaspoon allspice
salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

Place everything in the blender and process until completely smooth. Taste for seasoning and adjust before decanting to a covered container to refrigerate until needed.

Nutritional Information (per tablespoon):

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 21.75
Calories From Fat (59%) - 12.89

Total Fat - 1.54g
Saturated Fat - 0.27g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 5.62mg
Potassium - 33.17mg
Total Carbohydrates - 1.62g
Fiber - 0.37g
Sugar - 0.31g
Protein - 0.69g

Comments:

This is definitely an adult version of the Catalina French Dressing I grew up with. The dressing is less sweet and has a nice background of allspice. I don’t think this would be a big hit with children, but adults may be another story.