Real Men Can Cook: An Amazing Plant-Based/Vegan Nutritional Powerhouse of a Soup That Could Feed an Army & Easy-As-Pie Blueberry Muffins. Recipes by Ann Esselstyn

Ann Esselstyn's Awesome Almost All-Orange Vegetable Soup

Ann Essestyn's Very Easy Blueberry Muffins

 

Click here to go to the web version of this post, if you've received this via email.  Better for photos.

My apologies for writing another recipe/food post.  I promise I will move on to other topics, soon. But, I just had to share last night's dinner!

For almost 39 years I was the chief cook in my family.  My husband was the chief bottle washer.  He claimed he just didn't like to cook.  And I understood.  I wanted no part of mowing the lawn or changing the oil in the cars. 

Whenever it was his turn to cook, it ended up as an offer to pick up pizza or Chinese food.  Since that's no longer an option with our plant-based diet, he had to come up with a better offer.  Like actually cooking.  Turns out, the more he cooked, the more he liked it--and the better he got.  Lucky me!

But, for a long time he still relied on me to supply him with recipes and set out all the ingredients. I really don't mean to sound snarky, but we all know how good men are at finding things in cupboards & refrigerators.  But I do admit, my fridge & cupboards are pretty jam-packed.  A physician friend once told me he heard a lecture at the Ohio State Med School that explained how this seemingly "can't find anything in the refrigerator trait" evolved.  It was all about survival--necessitated by the need for the caveman to spend hours gazing at just one spot while he tracked his prey for dinner.  Really.

But now that's all changed!  He (my husband--not the cavemen) is finding his own recipes and they are winners.  I'd say he has now officially entered that growing club of the men I know who are fantastic cooks: Like Andy, Robert, Les, Craig, Howie, Dave, and Dick.

Revisiting the Recipes in "Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease"

Why hadn't I looked more carefully at the 150 recipes in the back of "Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease--the Revolutionary, Scientifically Proven, Nutition-Based Cure"?   Probably because I've had the book for 2 years,  before I decided to go whole hog into plant-based no-added-oil cooking.   I thought of it as mostly a medical book, and besides, there aren't any gorgeous full-color pictures in it to seduce me.  My advice:  If you have the book, definitely try the recipes. 

On Sunday, my husband picked up the book for the first time--he didn't need to read it--he had me!  He flipped to the back, and said, "Did you know there are some great-sounding recipes in this book?  The soup recipes look fabulous.  I think I'm going to make one tomorrow."  And he did!

And oh baby, did we feast!  Ann's Awesome Almost All-Orange Vegetable Soup is out-of-this-world delicious!  It has it all:  taste, texture, loaded with protein, fiber, vitamins, and minerals--enough to feast on for a week!  Who came up with such a powerhouse of a soup?  Red lentils, orange squash, sweet potatoes, greens, carrots, and the list just goes on and on!

Turns out my husband had to use our largest pot--the one my mom bought me years ago, so I could make 3 dozen fluffy matzoh balls at one time.  And after we filled ourselves to the brim with this delicious soup, we still packed away 18.8 cups of left-overs!  Think of the time that saves!

 

Ann Esselstyn's Awesome Almost All-Orange Vegetable Soup

"This soup is wonderfully filling and works as lunch or dinner or even an excellent breakfast, if any is left by then.  Serve with whole-wheat bread, and you have a feast!"

-Ann Esselstyn, in Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease-

 

Click here to view the recipe on one page, suitable for printing.

Servings:  8-10 generous man-sized bowls

Ingredients

1 large acorn squash, baked, seeded, and cut in chunks  (short-cut: buy precut butternut squash.  Find at Trader Joe's in 18 ounce packages)

2 sweet potatoes or yams, baked, peeled, and cut in chunks

1 large onion, chopped (1 cup)

3 carrots, chopped

3 ribs celery, chopped (3/4 cup)

6 garlic cloves, chopped

2 cups red lentils

8 cups water

1 tsp. dried rosemary

1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper

Update 10/2010:  Turns out my husband forgot to tell me about a key spice he added to this recipe-- about 1 tsp. Garam Masala (add more or less to taste)  This is must-have multi-textured Indian spice that isn't anything like curry--and use it often, from butternut squash bisques, to lentil soups.  Find at any grocery store.  I use Spice Islands.

3 or 4 handfuls fresh spinach (more if you wish--go for it!) or chopped kale with the spine removed

3 zucchinis, chopped

1 large red bell pepper, chopped (1 cup)

1 bunch cilantro, chopped

3 green onions, chopped

Preparation

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2.  Bake acorn squash and sweet potatoes for up to 1 hour, until soft.  If using the precut squash, check for doneness after 15-20 minutes.

3.  In a large (really large) soup pot, over medium high heat, stir-fry onion, carrots, celery, and garlic until onion is soft and carrots are beginning to soften.  Add 1/4 cup of veggie broth or water to keep the veggies from sticking.  (Ann says: To save time, you can skip this step and go straight to Step 4)

4.  Add red lentils, 8 cups of water, rosemary, and crushed red pepper.  Increase heat to high and bring to a simmer.  Reduce heat to low and simmer 20 minutes, until lentils have almost dissolved.

5.  Add acorn squash and sweet potatoes to the pot and mash into the soup.  (A potato masher works well.)  Cook 10 minutes more.

6.  Add spinach (or kale) and stir into the soup until it wilts.  If you use kale, it needs to cook a lttle longer than spinach.

7.  Stir-fry zucchini in a nonstick pan over high heat until just beginning to brown.  Use a little bit of broth or water if needed, to prevent sticking.  Add red pepper and stir-fry 1-2 minutes more.  (If you are in a hurry, you may omit this step; add uncooked zucchini and red pepper in Step 6.)  A few minutes before serving, add stir-fried zucchini and red pepper to the soup mixture.

8.  Add cilantro and green onion just before serving.

Cook's Note:  Ann uses no added salt or black pepper.  My husband thought it needed some--so he added only just salt & pepper.  Season to your own tastes.

Ann Esselstyn's Suggetion re adding salt:  "Instead of salt I would add vinegar!  Hot sauce is great, too." 

Nutritional Info based on 1/10 of a serving.

Nutrition Facts Ann Esselstyn's Awesome Almost All-Orange Vegetable Soup
Serving Size: 1 serving
Amount Per Serving
Calories	210
Total Fat	1.2g
Saturated Fat	0g
Trans Fat	0g
Cholesterol	0mg
Sodium	67mg
Carbohydrate	43.2g
Dietary Fiber	14.8g
Sugars	7.8g
Protein	10.3g
Vitamin A 293% Vitamin C 117% Calcium    8% Iron 21%

  My Giant Matzoh-Ball Soup Pot

 

The Man-sized Bowl of Soup versus "Normal-sized" Bowl of Soup

Almost 19 Cups of Left-Over Soup for the Fridge & Freezer--Gotta Love It!

 

 Ann Esselstyn's Easy Blueberry Muffins

 

Click here to view this recipe on one page, suitable for printing.

I rarely eat or make baked goods anymore.  Don't want the sugar or the fat.  And I assumed no-fat baking wasn't worth the time and effort.  Wrong!  These muffins definitely rock!  And I'm so glad my husband decided to make them. 

Servings:  8-10 muffins

Ingredients

1 cup whole-wheat flour

1 cup oat flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg

1/3 cup (or less) maple syrup, sugar, agave, or honey

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 cup oat milk  (Pacific brand--available at health food & grocery stores.  It's really good!)

1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen (wild blueberries are wonderful)

Preparation

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees

2.  Mix first six ingredients in a large bowl.

3.  Place remaining ingredients in the center.  Carefully fold from center to outside until all ingredients are blended.  Do not overstir.

4.  Spoon batter into a nonstick muffin pan or individual silicone muffin cups (Optional: spray an ordinary muffin pan with nonstick canola spray)

5.  Bake for 25 minutes, or until tops are brown.

Nutritional Info based on a 10 muffin batch

Nutrition Facts Ann Esselstyn's East Blueberry Muffins
Serving Size: 1 serving
Amount Per Serving
Calories	145
Total Fat	1.4g
Saturated Fat	0.2g
Trans Fat	0g
Cholesterol	0mg
Sodium	14mg
Carbohydrate	30.3g
Dietary Fiber	3.4g
Sugars	11.4g
Protein	4.3g
Vitamin A 1% Vitamin C 7% Calcium    5% Iron 5%

 

I Had to Work on Saturday.  Here's What My Husband Whipped Up for Dinner

My Favorite Caramelized Onion Pumpkin Penne Pasta with Sage Crumbs & "Fried" Green Tomatoes From the Garden

 

Update on Trader Joe's Powdered Peanut Butter vs PB2 Peanut Butter Challenge

The peanut butter maven says, "It's just fine.  Tastes just as good as PB2."   Since, TJ's has no added salt or sugar I did add just a teeny bit to get just the right taste.

TJ's Powdered Peanut Butter with All-Fruit Blueberry Spread on Ezekiel Sprouted Grain & Raisin English Muffins, Sprinkled with Chia

 

Heard at breakfast this morning:  "You know, with PB2/TJ's powdered peanut butter & chia--backpacking is going to be a real breeze.  Oh yeah.

For all the nutritional info on TJ's peanut "butter", check here on Front Burner.

 

Comments

[EV]

That Penne looks amazing. Where can I get a hold of the recipe?

[Healthy Librarian]

I'll post it tonight. I keep meaning to--but never get around to it! I love it and it lasts all week long. 9 X 13 pan of deliciousness.

[MG]

Keep the recipe/food-based posts coming! I love them and can't wait to start making some of them when I have just a bit more time on my Radiology rotation next month!

[Hank]

Agreed, the recipes -- from YOU -- are very helpful.
You're taking care they address the basic issue -- dietary omega-6 intake.

More recipes would be good.

Super-simple "backpacker" recipes would be great.
Curry powder recipes would be welcome.

Any idea how much omega-6 remains in the powdered peanut butter?
Any other "nut flour" varieties known or coming?
How to they remove the oils, and how completely.

[Healthy Librarian]

Hank,

According to Dr. Lands, each food product has to be laboratory tested to figure out the omega-3 & omega-6 content.

I did find info on the Nutrition Data site, however, for defatted peanut flour. This link may just revert to 1 cup--so switch it to 1 ounce. http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/legumes-and-legume-products/4367/2

This applies to 1 ounce of defatted peanut flour: omega-3 content is unknown, and the omega-6 for 1 ounce is 40 mg. Not so bad compared to the real thing.
There seems to be a strong relationship between fat & omega-6 content.

Re how the flour is defatted--I'm sure you are referring to the chemical that's been written about lately--can't recall the name. I have no idea how the TJ or PB2 powdered peanut flour is defatted, but I do know that if a product has "Organic" on its label, it can't be defatted with a chemical. I'm personally not worried about how the flour was defatted--I think the articles you are referring to were sensational journalism. IMHO.

[Susan Cascone]

Dear Debby. Thank you for reminding me about the recipes in Dr. Esselstyn's book. I, also became more interested in the written word than the recipes. But how do you find the nutritional breakdown of recipes?

I consider that important information which this book and Veganomicon (borrowed from the local library) doesn't offer.

Again thank you for all the information you so generously give us. Susan

[Healthy Librarian]

Rest assured, all of the Esselstyn recipes will be super low in fat, and super high in fiber & vitamins. Most will also be low in calories.

I plug all the ingredients I use for my recipes into a website called: http://www.myfooddiary.com It lets me add specific new products, when they aren't in their database--which is pretty extensive. I can also save my recipes & their nutritional info. It does have a monthly fee.

I agree with you--I want to see the nutritional info.

[Sandi]

I am sure I would love Ann's recipes but they are for a crowd....not just a couple servings. Do you know where I can plug them in and reduce the size? Love your blog. I am a new wannabe vegan. I do well for a week, then have a off the wagon day. Rip's recipes are the same way....cooking for a crowd. Thanks

[The Healthy Librarian]

I'm cooking a 1/2 recipe of the Orange Soup now in my crockpot. I'll let you know how it turns out. You can easily scale recipes for 8 down to 4 by cutting everything in half. The soup freezes well. We cook for just two & it worked for us.