a medical librarian's adventures in evidence-based living
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Every so often we try a new recipe that absolutely knocks our socks off!
Last night's stew/soup falls into that category. It's a bit of a riff off of Robin Robertson's "Vegan on the Cheap", Peanutty Pumpkin Stew . This easy spicy hearty comfort soup is loaded with nutrition. Just check out the nutrition facts. Wild, huh?
It will definitely go on our "short list" of favorite stews/soups.
It's a spicy one--but, in a good way! Got my nose running. The Lab Rat's, too. Not into spicy? Just add the chiles & the curry slowly.
And on day two--it was even better--dense deliciousness. It had magically turned into stew.
This soup/stew is definitely a nutrient/taste powerhouse, superbly combining all my favorites. Pumpkin, potatoes, peas, peanut butter, tomatoes, & black beans.
I hope you enjoy this as much as we did. Please let me know.
1 (14.5 ounce) can of crushed tomatoes (I used Muir Glen Fire-Roasted)
1 (16 ounce) can of solid-pack pumpkin
1/3 cup of 100% natural peanut butter (or a combo of PB2 or Better'n Peanut Butter)
2 tablespoons of low-sodium soy sauce
2 teaspoons of sweet or regular curry powder
2 cups of low-sodium vegetable broth
1 (15.5 ounce) can of no-salt black beans, drained & rinsed (or 1 1/2 cups homemade)
1 (4 ounce) can of chopped green chiles, drained (can use fresh)
1 1/2 cups of frozen peas, thawed
1/4 cup of dry roasted, unsalted peanuts, chopped (optional garnish)
2 tablespoons of fresh parsley, chopped (optional garnish)
Directions:
1. Preheat a large soup pot on medium, before adding the onions, carrots, potatoes & garlic. "Dry" saute by covering the pot, & cooking until softened, about 7 minutes, allowing the onions to "sweat". Take a peek every 2 minutes or so, stir, & add a few tablespoons of vegetable broth if the vegetables start to stick--to deglaze the pot.
2. Once the vegetable are nicely softened, stir in tomatoes, pumpkin, peanut butter, soy sauce, curry powder & vegetable broth, stirring after each addition until well blended.
3. Add the beans, chiles, & any salt or pepper you might prefer--to taste. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the soup is hot and the flavors are nicely blended together--about 20 minutes.
4. Add the peas right before serving--mixing into the soup.
5. Garnish with a sprinkle of chopped peanuts & parsely.
"I'm hardly a Pollyanna about family life.
I know about the stress of the sandwich generation, trying to be all
things to all bosses, parents, children, spouses.
I know that every family has troubles. At
some time or other, in some light or other, we all look dysfunctional.
But the fact is that most of us are functioning. And loving."
-Ellen Goodman, "The Functional American Family", The Boston Globe, November 24, 1994-
Originally posted November 24, 2009.
Oh, how much things have changed, since then. Two grandchildren on the scene. No turkey this Thanksgving--and the Lab Rat really knows his way around the grocery store(s). He's also become a fantastic cook!
This year, the kids are hosting Thanksgiving!
I have no business taking time off to write a Thanksgiving post--but right now I need a break from shopping, cooking, and scrubbing down a hand-me-down highchair--ick!
OK, I cannot tell a lie--my husband handled the highchair clean-up duties--thank goodness! And, he took care of the crib assembly--which now looks like it needs to be disassembled in light of massive of crib recalls. Oh well!
But my real reason for posting--I just love this cartoon & I want an excuse to use it.
Actually, I'm basically chilling this Thanksgiving--even though the gang is coming in from New York City, St. Louis, Cincinnati, and Pittsburgh. The first guests arrive on Tuesday night. Very late. Midnight late.
Everyone is pitching in this year. My husband did the bulk of the grocery shopping. Poor guy had never experienced the Thanksgiving rush, and was clueless where to find "meatless" meatballs, Wheat-a-Bix, toasted pecan pieces, Lemonaise, currants, Larabars, red pepper spread, and more.
His first call to me at work with "grocery location questions" was all jokes & laughter. By the fourth call--this time I was away from my desk--he'd about had it.
Here's the voicemail message he left me: "I don't know where anything is. There's no one to ask and if I don't hear back in 5 minutes, you're on your own with the shopping!"
In the end, he found almost everything--without my help. On my way home from work, I picked up what he had missed.
Cleaning a Farm Fresh Turkey is a Great Reason to Eat Vegan
This year I got a pastured organic Kosher turkey from a nearby farm, about 7 miles from where I live. Who knew what a project cleaning a "farm fresh" turkey would be?
There's the rinsing, the pin feather-plucking--with my husband's tweezers--then ruining my knife trying to cut off the neck--the awkward seasoning maneuvers trying to turn a wet slippery 20 pound turkey. Not my idea of fun.
Washing my hands about 20 times--every time I needed to open a drawer, a cabinet, sprinkle salt, pepper, paprika, rosemary, turn on the faucet, get a pot holder, open the oven--there has to be an easier way!
And the clean-up: the grease, the raw turkey juices, the sanitizing of the sink, the counters, the cutting board. Who knew that easy grease-free clean-up turns out to be a good reason to eat plant-based?
Glad it's done. All cooked, quartered, and in the freezer.
Except for the Turkey--the Gracious Guests are All Cooking Vegan
Nephew Josh--a professional chef--is bringing Red Pepper Bisque, and instead of cream he's using Tal Ronnen's cashew cream. Click here for the cashew cream recipe.
My sister--an expert baker--is baking a Vegan Chocolate Cheesecake, out of the November, 2009 Gourmet Magazine.Click here for the recipe. She's also cooking up a vegan version of an Oatmeal Crust Apple Tarte Tatin.
My husband is making Tal Ronnen's Whipped Chipotle Sweet Potatoes and Martha Rose Shulman's fresh Cranberry Orange Relish. Click here for the sweet potato recipe. Click here for the cranberry recipe.
Niece Anna is making vegan Mashed Potatoes.
Niece Jamie is making a vegan vegetable tart.
My kids are making maple-roasted Brussels sprouts with shallots, traditional stuffing, and setting the table. They just don't know it yet.
Is this going to be a low-fat healthy Thanksgiving? Probably not. But it's a special day!
As for me--I'm sure I'll find something to do--like playing with my grandbaby.
Ellen Goodman's Wisdom. "The Functional American Family", The Boston Globe, November 24, 1994
As it always happens, last week I randomly came across this ever-so-wise fifteen-year-old Thanksgiving column written by Boston Globe writer, Ellen Goodman. I'd give you the link to it, but none exists.
For everyone who is busy getting ready for Thanksgiving company, take a minute to savor this memory of preparing for a family homecoming. Listening to the news, you'd think we're all in dysfunctional families. Ellen disagrees with that assessment:
"I am up to my elbows in Thanksgiving prep when the phone rings. There are macadamia nuts to the right of me, pecans to the left. Flour and eggs are wrestling in my mixing bowl.
I reach for the phone, cradling it between my ear and my shoulder and hear the voice of a television producer. She wants to know whether I might be available to comment on the decline and fall of the American family. A story for the season.
As I stand there, covered in batter, she rattles off the horrific list of stories that make her case. The South Carolina mother who drowned her children. The 19 toddlers found in a squalid Chicago apartment without food or clothes. The Pittsburgh couple who took off for two weeks without warning, abandoning three kids to teen-age babysitters.
I listen to this familiar litany with an equally familiar sense of gloom, and then I decline. I'm sorry, but this afternoon, I promised to visit my mother. Tomorrow, the cousins are coming from California. The next day is our wedding anniversary. Tuesday, the young adults we call "the kids" are arriving. And there is a crisis in the care of an aged aunt.
I hang up the phone, wiping pastry dough from my hair and savoring the irony that flavored this exchange. The irony of being too busy with family to comment on its breakdown.
Folding in the last ingredients of my much-too-elaborate recipe, the annual proof of Stewart's (as in Martha) Disease, I wonder how many of us live with this duality. We are convinced that the great amorphous, generic American family is falling apart. At the same time we are occupied with family maintenance.
All year, I have heard a steady drumbeat of despair about "family values." The overwhelming majority of Americans agree - 98 percent in one recent poll - that other people are not living up to their commitments. Yet in the same poll only 18 percent believe they're irresponsible themselves.
Everywhere I go, when people talk about what they value, the topic is their family. The coin of the conversational exchange between friends and even strangers is the state of their parents, their children, their spouses.
In our daily lives, we work at and for family. At 4 o'clock in the morning, when we worry, it's about our family.
Today, we have higher demands on ourselves as the parents of growing children and longer demands as the children of aging parents. But every morsel of evidence of success - did you read that 8 out of 10 high school juniors and seniors list parents as the people they trust? - comes lost in a survey of family woes.
What do we make of this duality? I wish the producer had asked me that. Some of it comes perversely from the very struggle to do a good job. The harder most of us try, the angrier we are at those who don't and at the price society pays.
But we are also reeling from something akin to negative advertising about the American family. The horror stories that make the front page, because they are so extraordinary, have slowly begun to be accepted as ordinary.
The radio talk shows, the Limbaughs and Liddys, provide an endless stream of antigovernment messages. But the Jenny Joneses and Montel Williamses, and the Sally Jessy Raphaels present an unbroken stream of pathological families.
On any day, we can channel surf across this electronic byway from murderous mothers to husband-stealing sisters to proud mothers of teen-ager strippers. If Norman Rockwell's Thanksgiving family were on the air, grandpa would be a child molester, grandma a recovering drug abuser and the kids would bear sexually transmitted diseases. The abnormal is the norm.
I'm hardly a Pollyanna about family life. I know about the stress of the sandwich generation, trying to be all things to all bosses, parents, children, spouses.
I know that every family has troubles. At some time or other, in some light or other, we all look dysfunctional. But the fact is that most of us are functioning. And loving.
Somewhere along the way Americans have lost a sense of proportion. We've come to believe that I'm OK, but you're not, and that thing called The American Family is most certainly not.
This Thanksgiving Day has always been been more about family than food. It's the time when Americans travel through airports, highways, ZIP codes, in order to squeeze around the family table and discover how many adults can sit on a piano bench.
Standing in my kitchen, covered in homebaked proof of my holiday excess, I wonder if those of us who are connected by bonds of DNA, marriage, affection and above all else, commitment, can forget for a while that we're supposed to be falling apart."
If you received this post via email, please click here to get to the web version with all the links, a video, & to write a comment.
My kids are hosting Thanksgiving this year! Woo Hoo! I'm off the "menu planning" hook.
They're not stressing the least bit about it. They didn't get that trait from me--that's for sure. Haven't even planned the menu yet, except for making some vodka infused with chili peppers & sun-dried tomatoes for Bloody Mary's & a batch of homemade fermenting "Fiery Slaw".
They're much more creative cooks than I am, so I can't wait to see what will ultimately show up on the menu.
It will surely be a joint family cooking effort. It always is.
I'm thinking about bringing along some El Burgers, Chipotle Topping, Carrot Cake Muffins, Pumpkin Pie Squares (with chocolate chips & walnuts), & a Chocolate Chip Zucchini Walnut Bread for us to munch on over the long weekend. It's a holiday--time for chocolate chips, right?
Maybe a Sicilian Walnut Pesto Lasagna, too. I've made that one 3 times & it's a huge hit.
We'll see how much cooking time I have before the holiday.
Repost of Thanksgiving 2011 Recipes
You Asked - I'm Delivering
Wait! Wait! Don't plan your holiday menu until you read this post!
You just might find something that looks yummy to you.
I promised myself I'd write up my post-Thanksgiving Hit List today (uh, that was Friday--and now it's Saturday morning) no matter what! I changed up so many of the recipes that I posted pre-Thanksgiving--and I know that so many of these will work perfectly for the Christmas holiday for anyone who is having a houseful of company over the long weekend.
So here are my family's favorites--with links to the revised recipes.
The Top-Ten Thanksgiving Week-End Family Favorites List
1. Rockin' Roasted Rosemary Potatoes - my family couldn't get enough of these & I've made them three times since Thanksgiving. No-oil & amazing! A crazy crunchy coating made with a little vodka, vermouth, grainy Dijon mustard, garlic, horseradish, caraway seed, smoked paprika, & hot pepper. OMG you're going to LOVE these!
8. Barbecue Brisket Seitan Reuben's--this sandwich was a huge hit--even with the carnivores in the family. You'll need to make your own seitan, but it's really easy & makes 4 pounds that you can freeze. Use real old-fashioned Jewish rye bread with caraway seeds--or T.J. Sprouted Rye with caraway seeds, cole slaw, dill pickles--the works. LOVED!
10. Pumpkin-Spiced Steel-Cut Oats for Eight! Make it in the crockpot overnight--and wake-up to the most delicious fragrance. I'm now making this just for myself--so I can have pre-made oatmeal every morning for a week. Warm it in the microwave along with frozen berries, and then top it with a sprinkle of toasted walnuts & a tablespoon of chia. What a way to start the day!
11. Fat-Free Vegan's Thanksgiving "Meat-Less" Loaf - Delicious, giant "meat-less" loaf that everyone enjoyed for Thanksgiving & post-T-Day Dinner. Definitely find quinoa flakes for this--makes a difference, because quinoa flakes make a firmer loaf. I found these in the gluten-free section of my grocery store & at Whole Foods. Some reserved, & reduced Roasted Triple Mushroom Soup doubled for the gravy, use Susan's. It's good, too. Use your favorite glaze--included Bone Suckin' Barbecue Sauce (Thicker Recipe).
My Amateur Thankgiving Photo Collection
Thanksgiving Morning Spiced Apple Pumpkin Steel-Cut Oats for Eight
A Sophisticated Roasted Triple Mushroom Bisque
Kale Waldorf Salad with Toasted Walnuts, Honey Crisp Apples, Cranberries/Raisins in a Creamy Dressing (photo by Whole Foods--mine was out-of-focus)
Kale Waldorf Salad - Undressed - Check Out Costco's Organic Baby Kale
Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Shallots & Toasted Hazelnuts
If You're Ready to Ditch the Latke's for a New Chanukah Tradition Try This
Reposted from December 04, 2010:
A New Oil-Free Chanukah Tradition: "Enlightened" Veganomicon Potato and Kale Enchiladas with Roasted Chile Sauce - And a New Dreidel Spin on the Miracle of Oil on Chanukah - Make One Day's Worth of Oil Last for Eight Days!
The Healthy Librarian's (Husband's) "Enlightened" Veganomicon Potato and Kale Enchiladas with Roasted Chile Sauce
Who doesn't love latkes?
Crispy on the outside, moist and tender on the inside--potato pancakes made with grated potatoes, onion, eggs, plenty of salt, and fried up in peanut oil. And topped with sour cream. When I was a kid, our traditional Chanukah dinner was always potato latkes, corned beef sandwiches, and Kentucky Fried Chicken. Always! A deadly trifecta, but who knew?
As good as they taste, I wasn't about to fry up a batch this year. I've half-heartedly looked for a fat-free version, but honestly, I don't think it's worth the effort. It couldn't possibly compare to the real thing.
Frying latkes in oil is what it's all about. Last year in the New York Times Karen Barrow shared opinions from both cookbook authors and amateur cooks about whether it's possible to make a "healthy tasty latke". If you must try, here's one possibility, from Steven Raichlen.
“I’m not going to ruin my latke joy to save a few calories once a year,” Elizabeth, one NYT reader, wrote.
“Spare me,” chided another. “I’ll take my latkes fried in lots of oil. It works for my 91-year-old grandparents.”
Joan Nathan, a well respected cookbook author and expert in Jewish foods, said she’s not surprised at the widespread resistance to making a traditional treat more healthful. When once asked to come up with baked latkes that tasted as good as fried, she tried. “But I ended up throwing all the recipes in the garbage,” she said.
Another reason for the fried latke’s persistence: oil isn’t just a cooking ingredient, it’s central to the eight-day celebration of Hanukkah.
“It’s all about the oil,” said Susie Fishbein, author of “Kosher by Design Lightens Up.” You can spray your latkes with oil and bake them, she said, but “most people are not going to cheer when that comes to the table. It has to be fried.”
Wednesday night was the first night of Chanukah. As I drove home from work in the dark, cold, and snow--the perfect setting for the first night of Chanukah--I knew my husband was going to have something delicious for dinner. No last minute scrambling in the kitchen for me on this Wednesday night. And what perfect timing that he decided to try his hand out on a healthy potato dish for the first night of Chanukah: Veganomicon's Potato and Kale Enchiladas with Roasted Chile Sauce. We both agreed--it was a great substitute for traditional Chanukah latkes.
The Chanukah Miracle Story--When One Day's Worth of Oil Lasts for Eight Days
Oil is "central to the eight-day celebration of Hanukkah. After winning back their land in battle, the Jews needed to light a menorah as part of a rededication of their Temple. Although they only had enough oil for one day, the oil, miraculously, lasted for eight." (Joan Nathan in the NYT) Tada! That's where the connection to eating foods fried in oil on Chanukah comes from.
Bet You Can't Eat Just One? So Why Even Start?
So, here's my cheesy take on celebrating Chanukah--if you're not ready to cut out all the oil in your diet right now--try making one day's worth of oil (say about 1/4 cup) last for eight days. That's 1.5 tsp of oil a day if my math is right! It's doable. Experience your own miracle of good health by making one day's worth of oil last for eight days! Call it a Chanukah challenge.
Thanks to Cheri for sharing the video! If you aren't seeing the video, click here
Happy Chanukah! Candlelight by the Maccabeats
The Healthy Librarian's Husband's "Enlightened" Veganomicon Potato and Kale Enchiladas with Roasted Chile Sauce
To get a copy of the recipe on one page, click here.
This beats the lowly latke hands-down for taste and nutrition. You could probably live on these: with 0 cholesterol, 9.2 grams of fiber, 12 grams of protein, 187% of vitamin A, 261% of vitamin C, 16% calcium, and 27% iron--not to mention the health benefits of kale and tomatoes.
Serves 4-6
Cooking & Prep Time: 1 1/2 hours
Enchilada Chile Sauce:
1 onion, cut into small dice
3 large green chiles (such as Anaheim or even Italian-style long green peppers), roasted, seeded, peeled, and chopped coarsely. The best way to roast peppers is over high heat right on top of the gas burner--don't do this if you have an electric stove. Use tongs to turn them, and rotate as they blacken & blister. When 75% done roasting, drop the pepper in a bowl or a paper bag, and allow it sit for 10-15 minutes, until it's cool enough to handle. Peel away the skin, and then dice. No worries about remaining charred parts. If you don't have a gas stove, roast them on a grill or in a very hot oven. Use canned green chilis in a pinch.
2-3 teaspoons of chile powder, preferably ancho chili (note: I just purchased this at Penzey's & it's amazing--not hot, just rich & mellow tasting)
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon marjoram or Mexican oregano (epazote)
1 (28 oz.) can of crushed tomatoes (fire-roasted preferred--like Muir Glen. I prefer crushed to diced.)
1 tsp. sugar (opt. or use agave)
salt to taste (optional)
Potato and Kale Filling:
1 pound waxy potatoes like Yukon Gold or Red
1/2 pound kale, washed, trimmed, and chopped finely
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/4 cup vegetable broth or water (plus more for sauteeing onions & kale)
3 tablespoons lime juice
1/4 toasted pepitas (pumpkin seeds) coarsely chopped, plus additional for garnish
Salt to taste (optional)
6 large sprouted grain tortillas, like Ezekiel or French Meadow, or Ezekiel Gluten-free. (alternatively, you can also use 12-14 corn tortillas) Either one works well--I've made them both ways.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees and have ready a shallow casserole dish, at least 11 1/2 X 7 1/2.
Prepare the enchilada sauce first:
1. In a large, heavy bottomed non-stick saucepan over medium heat, saute the onions. Let them start to brown & give off their own liquid before adding any broth or water to the pan. When they start to get a little dry, and start to stick a bit, add a little vegetable broth or water--just enough to deglaze the pan. Add more liquid as needed, but not too much. Saute for 4-7 minutes, until the onions are softened.
2. Add the remaining ingredients, bring to a simmer, and remove from the heat. When the mixture has cooled enough, taste and adjust the salt if necessary.
3. Puree the mixture with an immersion or regular blender until smooth and even.
Prepare the filling:
1. Peel and dice the potatoes, then boil them until tender, about 20 minutes. Drain and set aside.
2. Saute the garlic in about 2 tablespoons of vegetable broth in a large saucepan or frying pan (that has a lid) over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally until the garlic is sizzling and slightly browned (be careful not to let it burn!!)
3. Add more broth if necessary, and then add the kale, sprinkle with a little salt, and raise the heat to medium, stirring constantly to cover the kale with the garlic. Partially cover the pot to steam the kale until it has wilted, 4-6 minutes.
4. Remove the lid and mix in the potatoes, the 1/4 cup of vegetable stock, lime juice, pumpkin seeds, and salt, if you're using it. Use the back of a wooden spoon, or the bottom of a flat drinking glass to mash some of the potatoes. Cook another 3-4 minutes, until the stock is absorbed. Add more lime juice or seasoning to taste.
Create an enchilada assembly line:
1. Have ready a pie plate or something similar filled with about 3/4 cup of enchilada sauce, a 9 X 13 casserole dish, your stack of tortillas, a heated griddle or a pan large enough to heat your tortillas--because that's how you'll soften them up, and the potato and kale filling. You can also soften the tortillas one at a time in the microwave if you prefer--follow the directions on the package.
2. Ladle a little bit of the enchilada sauce onto the bottom of a 9 X 13 inch casserole dish and spread it around.
3. Take a tortilla, place it on the heated griddle or pan for 30 seconds, then flip it over and heat until the tortilla has become soft & pliable. Or soften them in the microwave. Drop the softened tortilla onto pie plate filled with sauce; allow it to get completely covered in sauce, flip it over, and coat the other side.
4. Now, place the tortillas either in the casserole dish (the easiest way) or on an additional plate. Place 1/6 of the potato filling down the middle of the tortilla and roll it up. Continue with rest of tortillas, tightly packing enchildas next to each other.
5. Pour about a cup of sauce over the top (reserving some for later when you serve the enchiladas), cover tightly with aluminum foil, and bake for 25 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 10-15 minutes, until edges of the tortillas poking out of sauce look just a little browned. Allow to cool slightly before serving. Top individual servings with any remaining enchilada sauce, warmed slightly.
Enjoy! Happy Chanukah! Sure it's a bit of a pitchky-patchky, as my mom would say, but not half as hard as making potato pancakes. Bonus: No grease splatters on your walls, or that fried potato onion smell that hangs in your house for days. These enchiladas smell divine!
Nutrition Facts
Enlightened Veganomicon Potato and kale enchiladas with Roasted Chile Sauce
Serving Size: 1 serving
Amount Per Serving
Calories
292
Total Fat
6.1g
Saturated Fat
1g
Trans Fat
0g
Cholesterol
0mg
Sodium
500mg
Carbohydrate
51.3g
Dietary Fiber
9.2g
Sugars
7.4g
Protein
12g
Vitamin A 187%
Vitamin C 261%
Calcium 16%
Iron 27%
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"Although heart disease, diabetes, cancer and obesity have felled relatives, I'm well at [85], thanks to my plate of plants. I look forward to more years of the same."
If you received this post via email, please click here to get the web-version with photos, links, & to leave a comment.
You don't have to live on the Greek island of Ikaria to live a Happy Healthy Long Life. If you missed this favorite article of mine, "The Island Where People Forget to Die", you can enjoy it now.
Take heart! Margaret Bennet-Alder is doing it, and she was even a bit a late-bloomer.
When I grow up, I want to be just like her.
This energetic dynamo is 85 years old, publishes the"Gardener's Journal", maintains the Toronto Garden Book website, has an iPad, follows me on FaceBook, exercises daily, has been plant-based for over three years, & her latest accomplishment is poetry! Stay tuned--you'll find her brilliant whimsical "Veggie Verses" below.
We first met about a year and half ago, and I've been an admirer of hers ever since.
Margaret is truly living the Blue Zone life--even though she's miles away from Ikaria, Sardinia, Loma Linda, or Okinawa. It's something we can all do--no matter where we call home!
Margaret's checked off all the Blue Zone boxes--and so can you.
She's an avid gardener
She's a strong woman
She's got strong family relationships
She's active in her community
She execises, walks, and leads a busy life doing work she's passionate about
She eats plant-based--including plenty of legumes
She doesn't smoke
Sun---well, not so much!
She's a hip lady--who keeps up with times!
It's the Food Dude
Over a month ago, Margaret sent me a "keeper" kind of email, along with a clever "Ode to Plant-Based Living", she called "The Veggie Verses". She wrote it for the benefit of her friends, to condense everything she had learned that was enabling her to stay happy, healthy, and to lead a long active life without disabilities.
As Margaret once told me: "I realized that in their mid-to-late eighties many of the elderly go into nursing homes. I'm trying very hard to stave that off."
Me: "Your email, & Veggie Verses are just a
delight--and of course I'm immensely flattered to have made the cut--and
to get a very nice mention. Don't know how you did it--but you didn't
miss a beat--& covered it all. Love your mantra, "It's the food,
dude!" Especially, coming from you.
Please, please, please may I share it via the HHLL
blog? It's too good to hide under a hat. But, I totally understand if
you don't want to share it."
Margaret: "Thank you, Debby, and of course you may use it however you want to."
Margaret's Back Story
I hope you find this as inspiring as I do.
"You are one who continues to inspire me to follow a whole foods
plant-based diet. Tonight my son and I are going to have pizza based on
your recent recipe. Primarily because of you, I joined Facebook. Thank
you, thank you.
In attempting to share with my friends and relatives the information
I've found, I have composed the following doggerel, Veggie Verses.
Several resources are briefly mentioned including the Healthy Librarian,
which may be of interest to you. Even a crumb-sized comment will be
welcome.
But first a bit of my nutrition history.
I’ve
been eating plants for the past three years. At age 85 I’m in good
health, and my weight has come down to what it was in my teens.
This all began after my brother urged me, albeit gently, for 18
months to read The China Study, but what does a brother know? I found
out.
Finally three years ago this past June when I was about to turn 82,
he said, “Have you got the book yet?” I told him I was waiting for a
copy on reserve at the library.
He said, “You want your own copy.” As we
spoke on the phone, a Tuesday, I ordered it from Amazon, and it came on
Thursday. I dipped into it and by Saturday I was eating vegan.
What
convinced me was that generally speaking excess calories from animal
foods turn into fat whereas excess calories from plants are burned up in
activity or heat.
My brother also recommended books by John McDougall, MD. Following
The McDougall Program I began this new way of eating by using the
recipes and menus for his 12-day diet. Within a month I lost the 10
pounds I’d been trying to lose for 35 years.
As I studied further and cut out all added oil, I lost another 15.
My BMI in total went from 26 to 19: my clothes from size 14 to 8 or 10.
Friends tell me how great I look, and I feel good. My knees used to
hurt on the stairs, but no longer.
Diet trumps exercise and when people
comment on my good health, I say, “It’s the food, Dude.”
My background in nutrition helped me to accept what I was reading. I
graduated with a BA in home economics from the University of Western Ontario in 1949, and then taught
high school students home ec which included much nutrition advice I
would never teach today.
Other factors motivating me in this whole foods plant-based way of
eating is the ill health in my and my parents’ generation.
My parents,
neither of whom smoked, each died of a heart attack. Aunts suffered from
obesity, cancer and diabetes. My brother almost died of a heart attack
12 years ago. He and his wife were in a Honolulu hotel waiting to go on a
cruise the next day. He woke up in the morning with an elephant on his
chest and by 11 am had a stent in one of the arteries to his heart.
He also studied nutrition at the Ontario Agriculture College-University of Guelph. In The China Study, by T.
Colin Campbell, PhD, my brother found the information he was looking
for to avoid another heart attack and stent. We both also read How to
Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease, by Caldwell B. Esselstyn Jr., MD.
And so I continued to read and study, and wanting to share with more
than "It's the food, Dude," especially to neighbours and friends to
whom in conversation I can't
get across all the information that I would like to, I give them
the Veggie Verses with the preamble."
What Margaret didn't mention in this email is that she also walks 45 minutes a day, six days a week.
She lifts weights six days out of seven--with an increasing number of repetitions.
She also balances on a BOSU every morning for two minutes as her oatmeal cooks in the microwave.
She's read Dr. Norman Doige's book, The Brain That Changes Itself, where she learned about Michael Merzenich's Posit Science Brain Training, and completed the "auditory training". Judging by everything this woman is accomplishing at age 85--I think she's on to something!
This is fascinating stuff and I've written about it here. Don't miss it! Read about Dr. Merzenich's ground-breaking work in the New York Times, here and here.
The Veggie Verses - An Ode to Living the Plant-Based Life
Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot,
nothing is going to get better. It’s not! —Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax
You’ll find attached what my brain has hatched.
It’s my device for giving advice, free and unasked for, which may close the door on our seeing each other, which is not what I’d rather.
Make no mistake,
no need to partake. But being a taker perhaps may delay the sight of your maker. And if in the end, my way to wend is not your intend, I’ll still be your friend.
Veggie Verses
Many a diet I’ve tried,
to have less fat and more pride, but all to no avail, save for this holy grail.
At age 85, I should be dead,
like too many cousins and friends. Instead, I’m alive and don’t ail, thanks to this holy grail.
It’s the food, Dude!
Just eat the food: beans, greens, oats, groats, roots and fruits,
potatoes, tomatoes, berries and curries, onions and melons, beets and wheat.
Eat no meat, athlete, nor milk and its ilk, especially cheese, to prevent disease.
For the uninitiated,
avoid the fractionated. To achieve your goal, eat it whole.
T. Colin Campbell, of U. of Cornell, is retired as a doc of nutrition. He’s written, for our erudition, about his life’s work in a book.
So have a good look at The China Study: the plants are your buddy.
To improve your health, thus add to your wealth, Google McDougall, Dr. John. Free lectures, free letters—right on! As are his programs live-in and live-out.
He talks straight; does not mess about. His “The Perils of Dairy” on YouTube is awfully scary. Many books he has written. His newest on starch-strong nutrition, is The Starch Solution. It’s a true revolution
based on human evolution. To all and sundry, you’ll never go hungry. His programs residential are highly influential. You’ll be curtailed, but not food-failed. Have all you can eat, not forgetting a sweet.
The Esselstyn clan, Doctor Caldwell and Ann, have written a clicker to heal your ticker, and how “healthy” oil just increases hearts’ toil. Bill Clinton went seekin’ his advice on the vegan. Rip, their son, also is hip.
His Engine 2 Diet for 28 days will you amaze. His week-ends away, Farms2Forks, in the U.S. of A., do so much much more than make only hay.
A man of nutrition and a dietitian, Jeff Novick’s quick tricks
with meals made simple will show your dimple ‘cause his style makes you smile. He’ll save you time as well as your dime. He’s also a joker, and not mediocre.
The dot-com vegsource is a tour de force,
with many a link to help us shrink. There’s so much knowledge, it could fill a college. They’ve DVDs and CDs galore. If it’s names you’ld like to look for, here are a few to pursue: Barnard and Lisle,
Pulde and Lederman, Chef AJ and Heidrich, Robbins, both Ocean and John. Dapper Doc Klaper, and for your soul, the amazing Rich Roll.
The medical Healthy Librarian, a plant-based true vegetarian,
informs with voluminous vigor
the evidence-based and de rigeur on Facebook, email, and blog. Her web site, so topical, you’ll be agog. And her recipes, too, are nutritious and super delicious.
From peer-reviewed journals, good Doctor Mike Greger
makes videos short and of rigor which he posts every day on NutritionFacts dot org. He’ll delay your trip to the morgue.
Powered-up athletes who’ve given up meats ascribe their condition to starch-based nutrition.
And older men, too, don’t feel so blue. No more Viagra, they feel like Niagara.
A name with a hook is Forks Over Knives, a movie, a site and a book, all made to better our lives.
It’s worth repeating,
that this way of eating is catching on from city to farm. So let’s whoop it up for a healthy head’s up.
Choose this way to dine and do go online, where our brains are imploding with the info exploding.
May my little review make all easy to do. Thus you’ll not fail with this holy grail.
Margaret's My Role Model
I Hope She's an Inspiration to You, Too!
In Spite of Genes, Our Family History--or Even Our Age--It's Never Too Late to Change!
Thank you, Margaret, for your willingness to share your story & your Veggie Verses with all of us.
Why Not Give Margaret a Thumbs Up on FB or in the comments, right here?
If you received this via email, click here to get to the web version, with all the photos & links.
I've been talking about my sister-in-law's El Burger recipe for months now. It wasn't quite ready for prime time until I could make it myself at least four times--and tweak it a bit.
Let me tell you--I love having a supply of these in the fridge. No need to freeze them--because they don't last that long. You'll just gobble them up for dinner & lunch.
They're absolutely delicious on a multi-grain sprouted bun with lettuce, sliced tomato, pickles, maybe a schmear of avocado--and topped with a tablespoon of creamy chiptle dressing. IMHO!
As a salad topping---OMG! Delicious. Here's what I do. But, you can come up with your own salad combos.
Wash a mess of greens. Add red & yellow pepper rings, halved cherry tomatoes, chunks of oven-roasted Cajun red-skinned potatoes, TJ's roasted corn, & even some black beans for a protein booster.
Use the chipotle topping as the salad dressing & prepare yourself for best salad--ever! IMHO
Tote the dressing in a separate tiny plastic container if you bring this salad to work. Keep the greens & veggies in a separate container. Same for the burger & potatoes. Assemble when you're ready for lunch. Nothing will get soggy.
If this doesn't fill you up--I don't know what would!
Goodness, I certainly hope I'm not "over-selling" this one. I wouldn't want to disappoint anyone...
The El Burger as a Salad #1
The El Burger as a Salad #2
My Sister-in-Law: Creator of the Famous El Burger
My SIL is an amazing cook. Same goes for my sister. They're both always trying out new recipes & sharing their successes with me. Thank you, ladies.
But, there's a little back story that goes along with SIL. She went plant-based over a year ago (August 2011 to be exact) to lower her cholesterol & avoid statins--and then got the side benefit of a painless nice-sized weight loss. If you missed her story last year, you can read it here. Don't miss it! She's going to kill for this, I just know it. Sorry, favorite SIL. You've inspired many!
A Pictorial Guide to the Making of the El Burger
Pulse Processed Garbanzo Beans & Cilantro (Parsley for Cilantro-Haters)
Chopped Canned Tomatoes with Green Chilis Draining in the Colander
Everything Mixed Up & Ready to Make into Patties & Brown in the Oven
Ten El Burgers Nicely Baked & Browned in the Oven - Ready for Buns or Salads
Nutritonal Info for the El-Burger Based on Making Nine Burgers from the Recipe
This is a bit of a "pitchkey-patchkey", as my mom would say, but worth the effort. Prepare for some calorie-burning dish washing after this one. Perfect time to enjoy the NPR, podcasts or your favorite music.
The recipe makes a lot & these crisp burgers are wonderful crumbled on top of a big salad or stuffed into a bun along with lettuce, tomato, maybe some avocado--and topped with creamy chipotle dressing--recipe follows. The dressing absolutely turns these into something heavenly.
Ingredients:
2 cups of canned or fresh chickpeas (garbanzos) rinsed & drained (this is about 1 & 1/3 cans)
1 14.5 ounce can of diced tomatoes with green chilis (drained) Note: you can add 3 ounces of chopped green chilis is you can't find them mixed together. I prefer Muir Glen's Fired-Roasted Diced Tomatoes with Green Chilis (at Whole Foods)
1/2 cup chopped sweet onion (this can be rough chopped, & cut-up smaller in the food processor--chopped to small dice if you don't have a processor)
1 cup grated carrots (I used the food processor to grate 1 huge carrot)
1 cup of cilantro or parsley (will be chopped up in the food processor--hand chop fine if you don't have a processor)
1 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats (not quick or instant) Use a high power blender to turn into flour--or process in your food processor. Use oat flour in a pinch--haven't tried it myself.
1/2 cup spelt flour (can use any, but spelt flour crisps up the burgers)
1 tablespoon of Penzey's freeze-dried shallots or fresh---TOTALLY optional (I just have them around)
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees & line a baking sheet with parchment paper--carefully trimming to fit the pan. This prevents undo browning of the paper
2. Hand grate or use your food processor grater to grate the equivalent of one cup's worth of carrots. One giant carrot worked for me. Place in a big bowl.
3. Use your food processor or high-speed blender to coarsely or finely grind up the oatmeal. Add the the bowl with the carrots. Mix well.
4. Pulse process (with your food processor) the garbanzo/chickpeas along with parsley/cilantro & onion. If you don't have a processor--chop up well.
5. Add the drained chopped tomatoes with chilis to the processor & all the spices (chipotle powder, Arizona Dreaming, cayenne, & salt) & pulse process to combine well with garbanzo/onion/cilantro or parsely mixture. You still want this in small pieces--not mush.
6. Add the garbanzo/chickpea tomato, onion, parsley/cilantro mixture to the big bowl.
7. Add the spelt flour & mix everything up well.
8. Form into 8-10 patties, placing them on the parchment covered baking sheet.
9. Bake for 15 minutes, flip the burgers, & continue baking for 15 more minutes.
10. The 30 minute of total baking time produced a crisp brown burger--but, check on them, & cook only to your desired "doneness". You may like a moister, softer burger than I do. And ovens vary.
Hope you enjoy them as much as I do!
The Healthy Librarian's "Knock Your Socks Off" Creamy Chipotle Topping - Two Ways - Creamy Cashew or Creamy "Nut-Free" Chia
To get to the post where this one originates, click here.
We set up a fabulous taco bar one night during our family beach vacation in July.
Son #1 put me in charge of whipping up a creamy chipotle dressing. I followed his directions & used his made-up-in-his-head-off-the-cuff recipe. He makes this a lot in his own home.
Trust me, this topping can make a mediocre dish into a spectacular one.
Use it as a topping for tacos, enchiladas, burgers, or salads.
I brought it into work for a taste test, & everyone went wild over it. More like, swooned. Wanted the recipe. It's so yummy.
Here's Son #1's very simple recipe:
Creamy Chipotle Cashew Topping
Serves 8 - 2 tablespoon servings
Ingredients:
1/2 cup of raw cashews soaked in 1/2 cup of water for at least an hour. Longer is fine.
3-4 tablespoons of freshly squeezed lime juice (lemon juice works just fine, too!)
2 coarsely chopped garlic cloves, less to taste
1/2 (preferred) to 1 SINGLE chipotle pepper in adobo sauce. Sizes vary on these peppers, so go slowly--you can always add more (these come in about 8-10 in a can)
a few grains of coarse sea salt to taste
Preparation:
1. Soak the raw cashews for at least one hour in 1/2 cup of water
2. Into a power blender (VitaMix works best) add the cashews AND the soaking water, the garlic, the lime or lemon juice, & the chipotle.
3. Blend well until the cashews are a creamy, silky consistency. Check for taste. Add more chipotle, if needed.
4. Add a few grains of salt to taste.
Creamy Chipotle Chia (no-nut) Topping
OK. I know a lot of you don't eat nuts, especially not cashews.
I figured I could come up with a close substitute for the cashew dressing with soymilk & chia.
It's quite good, and very close to the taste of the cashew topping. But, I've got to be honest.
If I had to pick, the cashew dressing would take the gold medal in this contest.
BTW, the secret ingredient to the chia topping is a teaspoon of agave. Turns out, cashews have a natural sweetness that is missing in the chia version. Agave came to the rescue.
Serves 8 - 2 tablespoon servings
Ingredients:
1/2 cup of Eden Extra Plain Soymilk (richer than other non-dairy milks)
3 tablespoons of freshly squeezed lime juice (lemon juice works just fine, too!)
2 coarsely chopped garlic cloves, less to taste
1/2 (preferred) to 1 SINGLE chipotle pepper in adobo sauce. Sizes vary on these peppers, so go slowly--you can always add more (these come in about 8-10 in a can)
3 tablespoons of white chia (I like the Salba brand)
1 teaspoon of agave (more to taste, if needed)
a few grains of coarse sea salt
Preparation:
1. Add all the ingredients into a power blender (I use a VitaMix), adding the chia seed just before you're ready to turn the blender on.
2. Blend well, until the consistency is smooth & silky.
3. Taste, & add extra chipotle, salt, or agave to your own taste.
