Red lentil, Bulgur and Kale Patties

Later today I’m delivering a new talk called, The Facts and Fallacies of Fats at the New York Vegetarian Festival. 

So today’s post is short and sweet. 

This is a great new recipe I developed recently. Not only is it packed with nutrients and bursting with flavor, but it’s also great to pack and take along for a long day. I know I’ll have a few on me today at the Veg Fest!

This recipe calls for Bulgur wheat, but if you are following a gluten-free diet, it can easily be substituted with either quinoa or amaranth.

Red Lentil, Bulgur Wheat and Kale Patties

Makes 7-9 patties

1.5 cups of red lentils

1/2 cup of bulgur wheat (or quinoa or amaranth for gluten free)

1/3 cup of oats (either quick cooking or old fashioned)*

1 cup of kale, swiss chard or spinach - chopped

4 tbsps of canned diced tomato or tomato paste

1 clove garlic - minced

1 tbsp garlic powder

1 tbsp onion powder

Small handful of fresh or 1 tsp of dried basil

1 tsp of dried tarragon or oregano

Lemon juice, ginger powder and black pepper to taste

5 cups of water or veggie broth

* get gluten-free oats if needed.

Start by boiling the red lentils in the water or broth for about 10 to 15 minutes. As the lentils begin to soften and break down, add the bulgur wheat, garlic, and spices and cook for another 10 minutes (if you are using fresh basil, save it until the end). The water in the pan should be almost completely absorbed.

Turn the heat to low and add the oats, diced tomatoes, and chopped greens. Stir until well combined. Add the lemon juice and fresh basil if you’re using it.

Cook for another 1 to 2 minutes or until the greens have softened and turned bright green.

Now pre-heat the oven to 375. Let the mixture sit while the oven pre-heats. This is important because you want to give the oats a chance to absorb any remaining liquid in the mixture. This will make the mixture start to stick together.

I recommend letting the mixture sit for at least 10 minutes.

Now line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Using a tablespoon scoop out two tablespoons of the mixture and form into patties on the pan. If the mixture is too watery, they will not stick together, try adding more oats if this is an issue.

Once the patties are formed place in the oven and let cook for 15-18 minutes or until the patties start to brown on top. If you’d like you can flip the patties over at 12 minutes, but this isn’t necessary and increases the chance of the patties breaking apart.

I like to toss these on top of a large salad with lots of veggies, or just stick a few in a bag and take them with me for an easy on-the-go meal. They also make great burger replacements. Also try putting a tahini sauce on top.

As always the information presented in this blog is for educational purposes only. It should not be considered as specific medical, nutritional, lifestyle, or other health-related advice.

Oil-free Baked Falafel

In my last post, I shared a hummus recipe that got some really kind feedback, well today I’ve got another chickpea-based Middle Eastern inspired recipe: oil-free baked falafel.

As I mentioned in my post about mung beans, legumes are one of the healthiest foods available worldwide, and some recent research suggests that bean intake is the most important factor associated with longer lifespans! Not only this, but beans are some of the cheapest foods making their nutrition value a huge bang for the buck!

This falafel recipe is super easy, essentially fool-proof, and tastes phenomenal.

I’m also including a very basic tahini dressing recipe. This is one of those once-in-a-while foods. Tahini is a thick paste made from pulverized sesame seeds, which sounds healthy on its face. However, it is very high in calories with most of those calories coming from fat. Unfortunately, most of that fat comes from Omega-6, an essential fatty acid, but one that most westerners get too much of in relation to their Omega-3 consumption. It is also possible for tahini to oxidize as it ages, which can cause the release of free radicals in your body.

That said few things are so cut and dry. Tahini is rich in phosphorus, lecithin, magnesium, potassium and iron. It’s also a good source of methionine and very high in calcium. It also boasts vitamin E and many of the B vitamins (B1, B2, B3, B5 and B15). Most tahini’s are around 20% protein as well. So feel free to weight the costs for yourself. If you’re healthy and fit, including tahini in your diet won’t have a negative impact on your health when consumed sparingly.

Oil-free Falafel:

1 ½ cups dried chickpeas

2-3 cloves fresh garlic

1 small sweet onion

1 cup fresh parsley (it’s important to use fresh for this recipe)

Juice from ½ of a lemon

1 flax egg (1 tablespoon ground flax in 1 tablespoon of water)

Pinch of baking soda

1 tablespoon cumin

Black pepper and salt to taste

Soak the chickpeas overnight or for several hours. Try adding some citrus (like apple cider vinegar) to speed up the process and help with digestibility. Once the beans can be crushed by pinching them between your fingers they are ready. (Note: if you don’t have time to soak them, boil the chickpeas until they are about half cooked. Roughly 30 minutes).

Now, put all of the above ingredients into a food processor or hand held blender. Process until well combined and relatively processed, but not completely smooth. Stop the food processor and push the ingredients down towards the blends when needed. The entire mixture should turn into a light green from the parsley and have a pleasant cumin smell.

Now pre-heat the oven to 350 and line a large baking pan with parchment paper. Using a tablespoon, scoop out the mixture into small 2 inch balls and put onto the pan. Bake for 10 – 12 minutes and check. The falafel balls should begin to brown. Flip them over and return to the oven for another 8 – 10 minutes. Take out and let cool.

While the falafels are cooking making the tahini sauce.

Tahini sauce:

2 tablespoons tahini

Juice of 1 lemon

Onion powder

¾ cup water

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

Salt and pepper to taste

Place all ingredients in a bowl and whisk until well combined and smooth.

As always the information presented in this blog is for educational purposes only. It should not be considered as specific medical, nutritional, lifestyle, or other health-related advice.

African Sweet Potato Stew

Even though it is 80 degrees in New York, it’s officially fall. While I’m in no rush for the winter weather to arrive, I am excited that root veggies are officially back on the menu! This dish has it all: nutrient dense, easy to make (one pan only), a great taste, and it’s incredibly filling. Making it perfect for any fall evening -even warm ones!

Between the brown rice, the beans, and the sweet potato this dish is heavily starched-based. But don’t worry, contrary to what the Aitken’s type diets claim, neither starches nor carbohydrates make you fat. This is due to the way our bodies process carbohydrates. While many argue that starches are converted into simple sugars and then stored as fat by the body; that is not how it actually works.

First it is important to note, that unlike fats which has 9 calories per gram, carbohydrates contain only 4 calories per gram. This means you will feel physically full with less calories. Basically this means starches have a low calorie density but a high satiety value per calorie.

After eating complex carbohydrates like potatoes or beans, our bodies break these carbs down into simple sugars. These sugars are absorbed into the blood stream, where they are transported to our cells and used for energy. When you consume more carbohydrate than your body needs to furnish it with energy, the body stores around 2 lbs of it, in the form of glycogen, invisibly in the muscles and liver as a reserve.  Any remaining carbohydrates are typically burned off as body heat rather than stored as fat. This is because humans are very inefficient at turning sugars into fat, a process known as de novo lipogenesis. Even simple sugars are rarely turned into fat. For example, a study found that both trim and obese women fed 50 percent more calories than they usually ate in a day, along with an extra 3 ½ ounces of refined sugar, produced  less than 4 grams of fat daily. That means it would take nearly 4 months of this overeating for a person to gain 1 pound of fat. In comparison, the average passenger on a cruise ship, dinning on high fat and protein animal foods, gain an average of 8 lbs on a 7-day trip.

Fun facts about Sweet Potatoes:

•  Sweet potato and potatoes are two of the only foods that can fulfill all of our nutrient needs meaning they have all the protein, fats, and carbohydrates our bodies need to thrive (with the exception of some micronutrients).
• George Washington grew sweet potatoes on his farm at Mount Vernon.
•  George Washington Carver developed over 118 products from sweet potatoes including a glue and starch for laundry.
• They are loaded with vitamins A, C and E as well as other antioxidants that can help prevent heart disease and cancer, bolster the immune system, and even slow aging by promoting good vision and healthy skin.  They have been recently reclassified as an "antidiabetic" food and they are anti-inflammatory.

African Sweet Potato Stew:

Serves 3-4

4-5 medium sized sweet potatoes

2 carrots diced

1½  cups brown rice

1½  cups of corn

1 red onion-chopped

1 can garbanzo beans

1 can pinto beans

1 large can chopped tomatoes

½ cup almond, peanut, or sunflower butter (I used almond)

¾ bunch of collard greens, de-stemmed and chopped

4 cups veggie broth

1 tablespoon ground ginger

1 tablespoon ground garlic

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground coriander

In a large pot, sauté the chopped red onion in 2 tablespoons of water until the onions are translucent.

Add the sweet potatoes, veggie broth and spices and cover for 10 minutes to get the veggie broth hot. As the broth begins to boil, add the remaining ingredients with the exception of the almond/peanut/sunflower butter, the corn, and the collard greens.

Cook for 15 minutes at a simmer. As the sweet potatoes start to soften, add the remaining ingredients and cook for an additional 10 minutes until the greens are soft.

Further reading:

McDevitt, R.M. et all., “De novo lipogenesis during controlled over-feeding with sucrose or glucose in lean and obese women.” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2001.

McDougall, John A. and Mary McDougall, The Starch Solution: Eat the Foods You Loce, Regain Your Health, and Lose the Weight for Good. New York: Rodal, 2012.

As always the information presented in this blog is for educational purposes only. It should not be considered as specific medical, nutritional, lifestyle, or other health-related advice.

Green Mac 'N "Cheese"

As a way of building a little excitement for the final week of the “Keep it Simple” giveaway, here is just one of the delicious recipes from the book!

This simple meal takes less than 20 minutes to throw together and I promise after you taste this nutritious dish, it’ll become one of your regulars. Don’t believe me? Even my persnickety sister, who is something of a connoisseur of mac and cheese loved the dish… Just more evidence that home-style comfort food doesn’t have to destroy your health!

To create that cheese-y goodness, this dish calls on an old school vegan staple, nutritional yeast. While many promote the yeast for being a good source of B-12, most studies show that it is not an active source, and hence should not be depended on for this essential vitamin. However, the yeast is still worlds healthier than any of the heavily processed faux-cheeses that have recently saturated the market. For some, this may be a new ingredient but it is relatively inexpensive and available at most health food stores and many local grocers as well. Make sure what you get is actually nutritional yeast and not brewers yeast, and if possible look for a non-fortified version, as fortified vitamins and minerals are really just isolates added to foods.

Makes 2-3 servings

1 box of quinoa, rice, or whole-wheat pasta (elbows are traditionally used)

1 cup raw cashews

1 small-medium red onion

¼ cup Nutritional Yeast

2-3 cups spinach

1 tsp onion powder

water or veggie broth as needed

Cook the pasta or grain of your choice according to the package.

While the pasta is cooking, add the cashews into a blender or food processor.

Process until the cashews are like a flour. Then add 1 cup water, nutritional yeast, and onion powder and blend again until creamy.

Now roughly chop the onion and place on a skillet with just a little bit of water to sauté the onions.

Once the onions start to caramelize, add the spinach and cook for another minute or until the spinach is wilted and begins to cook down.

Add the onion and spinach to the blended mixture and blend/process again until bright green and creamy. Add more water if the sauce becomes too thick.

Once the pasta is al dente, pour the Green “Cheese” over the hot noodles and serve.

This is just one of the great recipes. Trust me, you don't want to miss out on this book, so make sure you go sign up for the giveaway!


As always the information presented in this blog is for educational purposes only. It should not be considered as specific medical, nutritional, lifestyle, or other health-related advice. 

Birthday Celebration: Amaranth Pancakes!

Birthday Celebration Amaranth Pancakes!

Yesterday was my birthday. I don’t really make a big deal out of the day, but I did honor the day by doing a long (and hilly) bike ride followed by a five mile run. Some friends and I also went to watch Blackfish, a new documentary about the horrors of captivity inflicted on orca whales at Sea World.

However before all that, the day started with a new BYOL recipe that I have been working on for a while, and I’m happy to report, that I think I finally nailed it! These pancakes were perfect to fuel my 5-hour workout and also have the privilege of being the first pseudograin recipe since my post about them back in June.

Light and fluffy, low fat, and protein packed, these pancakes are a powerful and filling start to any day!

(makes 2-3 servings)

2/3 cup spelt OR whole wheat pastry flour OR Gluten Free all purpose flour mix

½ cup cooked amaranth

1 ripe banana
2 tbsp flax seed

1 tbsp baking powder

1-2 tbsp maple syrup 

1-2 tbsp water  

3/4 cup nut milk
1/4 cup berries, cacao nibs, or walnuts (optional)

While you are gathering the ingredients together, start cooking the amaranth as described in the post linked above.

In a large bowl, mash the rip banana. Then add the flour, flax, water, and syrup and mix well. Now add the nut milk and amaranth and any special ingredients such as blueberries or chopped walnuts and mix again. 

Now heat up a pan until water sizzles on it. Then pour the batter onto the pan. Let the batter sit for a few minutes until it starts bubbling. Then flip the pancakes and let cook for a few more minutes.

Seriously, these guys cook fast, so pay attention.

Now stack these pancakes towards the sky and top with your favorite fruits and drizzle with maple syrup.

Preview of My Beef with Meat by Rip Esselstyn

A few months back, the folks over at the Engine 2 Diet posted on their facebook that they wanted bloggers help in spreading the word about Rip’s new book, My Beef with Meat. Originally, they were allowing bloggers to submit five questions for Rip to answer and also mentioned the possibility of giving away some E2 products- they now have everything from E2 shirts (I have one from when I volunteered at their plant-strong immersion last summer) to E2 crackers, cereal, and almond milks! 

However, things change, and I suspect they were overwhelmed with requests and after nearly two months I reached back out to see if the blog tour was still happening and if any of my carefully crafted questions would be answered. They replied with a template for bloggers to follow, including some recipes, a short peak into the new book, and a Frequently Asked Questions section with answers from Rip. So while I was a bit disappointed I decided to use parts of the template, what follows is far less personal than I was hoping for, but still worth sharing (and do note, I resisted the urge to cut and paste Rip's answer to make him say silly things, like in the film, Good Morning Vietnam). I’m excited for his new book to arrive and highly suggest either of his books if you are veg curious, at a cross-roads with your own health, or if you are already plant-based and looking for some new healthy recipes, need a reminder about why oil is dangerous, or if you just need some advice on how to respond to the paleo people at your Cross Fit gym, My Beef with Meat should be on your radar.

 

For those of you who don’t know, (and I really should do a full review of his first book, The Engine 2 Diet, sorry I read it before I was blogging…) Rip Esselstyn is one of the stars of the documentary, Forks Over Knives and the son of the legendary Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, the cardiovascular doctor who has been saving thousands of lives (including President Bill Clinton’s) with the simple prescription of a strict plant-based diet. When Rip was younger, he was a three-time All-American swimmer at the University of Texas at Austin and then competed as a professional triathlete, winning the classic Escape from Alcatraz triathlon six-times and the Capital of Texas Tri a stunning eight times.

After retiring from his career as a triathlete, Rip joined a firehouse where, besides being the most popular model on the Austin Firefighter Yearly Calendar, he helped transform the health of his firefighting brothers with his trademarked Plant Strong™ diet (I was serious, it's trademarked). His success was stunning and it inspired him to write his first book. With the book published, Rip left the firehouse and teamed up with Whole Foods Market as one of their Healthy Eating Partners where he works with employees, customers, and Whole Food’s local communities. If all this sounds slightly familuar it might be because he has appeared on hundreds of radio shows as well as national television programs, including the Today show, CBS Sunday Morning Show, Good Morning America, and The Dr. Oz Show.

The Engine 2 Diet, which advocates a strict whole food, plant-based diet is proven by both science (including researchers such as his dad as well as his friend Dr. T. Colin Campbell) but also through his own anecdotal evidence as he has witnessed thousands transform their health simply by following his diet.

Following is a brief glimpse of what Rip’s newest book is all about, as well as one of the new recipes.

(Just to be clear, these are not my questions, but I thought they were worth sharing)

Why did you write this book?

I’ve discovered that there is a HUGE disconnect between what people think is healthy and what medical science knows to be healthy; for example, people have been bamboozled into believing that olive oil, Greek yogurt, chicken, and fish are healthy. Many people think the diet of the day is salmon, low fat dairy, and olive oil, washed down with a glass of red wine and a Lipitor pill for good measure. This is how confused, distracted, and off-course we have gotten--because this is NOT a good diet!

This book explains to plant eaters and meat eaters alike why a whole food, plant-strong diet rocks on a jillion different levels, hence the subtitle: The Healthiest Argument for Eating a Plant-Strong Diet. The primary driving force behind the book was to delve deeper into the major myths that keep surfacing about eating plants, such as: “You won’t get enough protein”, “You won’t get enough calcium”, “Eating plants is too expensive”, “Real men (and women) eat meat”, “Olive oil is heart-healthy”, and “Moderation in everything.”

The book shows how wrong each of these myths is. It gives the reader real science, not fad-diet talk. One of the titles we thought about was “How to Win an Argument with a Meat-eater” and believe me, after reading this book, you will never lose another argument with a carnivore again.

By the way, once you’ve won the argument, you can start cooking up any one of the 140 lip- smacking, rib-sticking outrageously good recipes to prove your point with food as well as with words.

There are some controversial things you tackle in this book, like the Paleo Diet. Why did you decide to address that specific diet?

The two big dueling diets right now are paleo and planteo. I believe that the paleo diet is just a good gimmick. The paleo people have taken the South Beach/Atkins diets and put a little spin on it.  There are some positives with paleo, such as no refined or processed foods, and no dairy products. But any diet that promotes animal products with saturated fats, and animal protein isn’t promoting health. The consensus among the researchers who have studied the diets of humans in paleo times have said that at least 80 percent of their food was plant-based. Yes, they ate some animals, but we've evolved since then, we're smarter; we do not need, want, or get healthy from animal products. Back in the day, you would do anything you could to get calories into your body--it was a matter of survival. But in this day and age, you can go down the street to any grocery store and get all that you need without resorting to animal flesh.

An interesting article in US News & World Report in 2011 reviewed many different popular diets and decided that the one people should avoid is the paleo diet.

What about the people who say that they get results from a paleo diet? That’s because the Standard American Diet (SAD) is such an abomination you will get good results when switching to any diet that is even remotely healthier. If you want to get to the next step, cut out the meat!

Do your kids like eating this way?

My kids, Kole and Sophie, do not like eating this way--they LOVE eating this way! They have no interest in eating anything from animals. If they find out that cake and ice-cream offered to them has things like eggs, butter or milk they politely decline. Kole and Sophie love mangoes, grapefruit, brown rice, baked tofu, peanut butter on whole grain bread, whole grain pasta, cheese-less whole grain pizza and banana ice-cream.  Kole was hungry, and I told him I'd give him anything he wanted. Guess what he asked for.... he asked for broccoli!

Here is a photo of a seriously good looking guy and Rip Esselstyn too! I got to meet Rip at the Farms2Forks Immersion during the summer of 2012. He is an incredibly nice guy and even let me tease him about being afraid of the word "vegan."

What about athletes--can they be plant-strong?

Yes they can and should be plant-strong. It is the absolute dope when it comes to taking your athletic performance to the next level. When I was a full time triathlete, I was guilty of taking performance enhancing…… foods. They are nature’s legal performance enhancing drugs!  Plants give you an abundance of protein, water, phytonutrients, vitamins, and minerals that support your body after training. Plants are loaded with clean, unprocessed carbs that will replace depleted glycogen stores in your muscle and liver--allowing you to train harder, adapt faster, and improve quicker.

Plants give you a dose of alkaline, and anti-inflammatory substances that protect you from the stresses of long training days.  Plants give you a clear head that will allow you to focus like a laser beam. Plants give you youthful arteries that will improve blood flow to all of your working muscles for maximin oxygen uptake. Plants strengthen your immune system and keep you healthy and free from illness.  Plants give you a lean and muscular body that doesn't carry excessive weight.

When you are eating plant-strong, you are getting unprocessed carbs, healthy fats, plant-proteins, fiber and anti oxidants -- all of the things that your body relishes and craves and takes your performance to the next level.

Thanks Rip!

And just to show that the Engine 2 recipes are more than just salads, here is a recipe for healthy, low-fat, and oil-free Banana Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cookies from the new book!

I made these last week, and have to say they are frickin' delicious! In fact, I could have eaten the entire tray, but instead I decided to bring them into work so all the T-Rex's (omnivores) I work with can get a taste of what healthy eating is all about! These guys are similar to my holiday special Peanut Butter and Oat Cookies, so you know they're good, but are still distinct enough to be a warmed and much welcomed addition to your next cookie tray!

E2 Banana Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cookies:

Ingredients:

3 ripe bananas, mashed

1 tablespoon vanilla

¾ cup natural chunky peanut butter

3 tablespoons maple syrup

2 cups old fashioned oats

½ cup whole wheat flour*

1 teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt ((optional) I omitted the salt.)

½ cup non-dairy chocolate chips or raisins** 

Makes 30- 32 cookies

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. Prepare a cookie sheet with parchment paper

3. Mix bananas, vanilla, peanut butter and maple syrup into a creamy consistency in a large bowl

4. In another bowl, combine oats, flour, baking powder and salt

5. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until they are well combined -the batter

should be slightly sticky

6. Fold in the chocolate chips or raisins

7. Place rounded, heaping tablespoon-sized balls of the batter onto an ungreased baking sheet

8. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until lightly browned

9. Gobble these up while they are still warm

©Engine2Diet

*For wheat-free version, sub whole wheat flour with spelt flour.  

** For a less processed chocolate chip, try cacao nibs. (is it a cookie if it doesn't have some type of chocolate?) 

As a side note,  I ran the numbers on these cookies and while nutrition calculators are not perfect, each cookie has roughly 55 calories which is less than half the calories in Chips' Ahoy Chocolate Chip Cookies. Also, for those of you who are obsessed with protein, eating an entire tray of these would cover most peoples protein needs for an entire day! Yup seriously people, protein is that easy to get on a plant-based diet!

Well, a big BYOL thank you to Rip and the E2 team for everything they do and for sharing their work with us.