Did you know...?

The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics supports a vegetarian/vegan diet.  You can read more about it on their website.

Nearly Wordless Wednesday

Cucumbers on the way!

Chickpeas (Garbanzo Beans)

Chickpeas (Garbanzo Beans)

Chickpeas, or Garbanzo Beans, are one of our favorite beans.  Traditionally, they are the main ingredient in hummus (see tomorrow's post!).  We also use them on tossed salad, in falafel, in bean salads, in grain salads with other fresh veggies, and as a replacement in chicken/tuna salad (just mash them up a bit).  You can sprout them to add sprouts to your salads or roast them for a crunchy snack.

Research shows that chick peas are great for decreasing your cardiovascular risk, increasing digestive health, and regulating blood sugar.  For more information on the health benefits of chickpeas, click here.

Chickpeas are an excellent source of many important nutrients.  In just one cup of cooked chick peas, you get 14.53g protein (that's a whopping 29% of the RDA), 12.46g fiber (50% RDA), 71% RDA folate, 8% RDA calcium (not found in just dairy), 26% RDA iron, 20% RDA magnesium, a high percentage of 11 amino acids, and much more.

Chickpeas are also great for the grocery budget.  Where we live, I can find a pound of dried, organic chickpeas for just under $3.00.  Once hydrated and cooked, there will be 3 pounds of chickpeas.  That's $1.00 per pound!  Talk about a great nutritional value for your dollar (literally)!

Tomorrow I'll be posting our homemade Roasted Red Pepper Hummus.  Until then, check out one of my favorite chickpea recipes:  Teriyaki Chickpeas from Happy Herbivore!

Bavarian Feast

My husband made this delicious Bavarian Feast for us on Sunday.  What a treat it was to turn the kitchen over to my husband, run some errands, and return home to this delicious meal!  I'll post the recipes for the Goulash and Red Cabbage as I receive them and have the okay to do so. They are his adaptations.  :-)

Portabella Goulash
Egg Noodles (haven't found a plant-based version yet)
German Red Cabbage
Pretzel Roll (from Wegman's bakery)
Field Grain Frankfurter
Apothic Red wine

This is one of those meals that just leaves you feeling warm and happy.  Sigh...

Lentil Barbecue

When I was growing up, our church hosted an annual Christmas bazaar.  Many crafts and baked goods were sold to raise money for the women's group.  Lunch was also served and it was always Beef Barbecue.  It was a favorite!  Moving to a more plant-based diet doesn't have to mean depriving yourself of favorite flavors.  Recipes, like this one, that are based on seasonings are easy to convert.  We've actually substituted lentils in many other favorites:  Cincinnati Chili, Sloppy Joes, taco filling, and chili sauce.  The results are just as tasty, healthier, and more economical (1 lb of dry lentils = 3 lbs of cooked lentils)

This is the Beef Barbecue recipe that I grew up on, but with lentils.  It was always made for a crowd, so this makes a lot (the original recipe calls for 6 lbs of beef).  I'm working on testing it to see how it works in smaller batches.  In the mean time, I'm enjoying the large batch that I started with.  I packaged the leftovers in 1.5 cup portions and froze them for future use.  They are wonderful on those evenings when I either don't have a dinner plan or don't have time to cook.  I just thaw/reheat and serve with some baby carrots, sugar snap peas, or some other quick and easy veggie.  I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do.

Lentil Barbecue

2 lbs (4 cups) lentils
8 cups water
1 stalk celery, chopped
3 large onions, chopped
1 tsp Tabasco  sauce
2 Tbsp. chili powder
1 Tbsp salt
1 bottle catsup (14 oz)
3 Tbsp barbecue sauce (CNYers - I used Dinosaur BBQs original sauce)
3 Tbsp vinegar
1 tsp pepper

Place all ingredients in a large crockpot and cook on low for several hours, until lentils are desired consistency (not crunchy, soft but not mushy).  I'll continue to work on this to get a more specific time for you.

A Case for Lentils

Lentils have become one of my favorite go-to foods.  They come in too many varieties to count, are good in many types of food, are packed with great nutritional benefits, and are extremely economical!  They are used world-wide and in many different ways, although I do believe that they are under-utilized here in the US (the fact that I have to go to a specialty grocery to find a variety other than green supports this).  Lentils are great in soups, sauces, dahl (one of my favorite Indian dishes), veggie burgers, and more.

To see a selection of recipes using lentils, just click on "Lentils" on the "Topics" list on the right. 

More and more we are using lentils to replace ground meat in recipes.  We've used green lentils, French lentils and black lentils.  Any will work just fine, although our favorite is black lentils.  If you have a Whole Foods nearby, you should be able to find all three of these varieties, and more.  If you are in the CNY area, Wegman's has green lentils and Natur-Tyme and Green Planet Grocery have green and French lentils.  We have yet to find black lentils locally, but we haven't checked the Asian groceries.

Lentils are extremely economical!  For environmental reasons (as well as health and nutrition), I try to buy organic when I can.  Legumes are one area where I can justify the expense.  At one of our local grocery stores, I can get organic green lentils for $1.89/lb, organic brown lentils for $2.29/lb, and organic french lentils for $2.81/lb.  These prices are for DRY lentils.  Once I cook these, one pound of dry lentils turns into 3 (yes, THREE) pounds of cooked lentils.  I use cooked lentils as a 1 to 1 substitute for ground meat in many of my recipes.  That works out to be $0.63/lb of cooked green lentils, $0.76/lb of cooked brown lentils, and $0.94/lb of cooked French lentils.  When was the last time you saw ANY ground meat for those prices?!  This is one of the ways that I am able to feed our household a healthy diet on what the USDA considers a "trifty" to "low-cost plan".

Lentils are packed with great nutrition!  They are a great source of fiber, iron, calcium, folate, potassium and many other vitamins and minerals. There is only one nutritional concern I've heard from others regarding lentils:  carbs.  Due to the successful marketing of some diet plans, the idea is out there that carbs are bad.  What these diet plans don't always tell you is that not all carbs are created equal.  You should limit your refined carbs (bleached flour, sugary cereals, regular pasta, white rice, etc.).  Complex carbs (such as lentils) are perfectly fine and are actually great for you.  You need the fiber that comes from eating complex carbs to help keep your digestive system flowing.  Plus, there are many vitamins and minerals that your body needs from those complex carbs that you will not find in animal products.   

Following is a list of the nutritional benefits of one serving (1 cup) of cooked lentils compared to one serving (4 oz) of grass-fed beef. 

	lentils	beef
amount	1.00 cup cooked	4 oz
total weight	198.00 g	113.4
calories	229.68	175
calories from fat	6.77	27.45
calories from saturated fat	0.94	10.53
protein	17.86 g	26 g
carbohydrates	39.86 g	-- g
dietary fiber	15.64 g	-- g
soluble fiber	2.57 g	-- g
insoluble fiber	13.07 g	-- g
sugar - total	3.56 g	-- g
monosaccharides	-- g	-- g
disaccharides	-- g	-- g
other carbs	20.65 g	-- g
fat - total	0.75 g	8.1g
saturated fat	0.10 g	1.17g
mono fat	0.13 g	2.8g
poly fat	0.35 g	2.5g
trans fatty acids	0.00 g	0.13g
cholesterol	0.00 mg	74 mg
water	137.89 g	83.26 g
ash	-- g	1.92 g
vitamin A IU	15.84 IU	0.00 IU
vitamin A RAE	0.79 RAE	0.00 RAE
A - carotenoid	1.58 RE	0.00 RE
A - retinol	0.00 RE	0.00 RE
A - beta carotene	9.90 mcg	51.00 mcg
thiamin - B1	0.33 mg	0.06 mg
riboflavin - B2	0.14 mg	0.14 mg
niacin - B3	2.10 mg	7.60 mg
niacin equiv	4.77 mg	7.60 mg
vitamin B6	-- mg	-- mg
vitamin B12	0.00 mcg	1.44 mcg
biotin	-- mcg	-- mcg
vitamin C	2.97 mg	0.00 mg
vitamin D IU	0.00 IU	0.00 IU
vitamin D mcg	0.00 mcg	0.00 mcg
vitamin E alpha equiv	0.22 mg	0.25 mg
vitamin E IU	-- IU	0.37 IU
vitamin E mg	-- mg	0.25 mg
folate	358.38 mcg	14.74 mcg
vitamin K	3.37 mcg	1.02 mcg
calcium	37.62 mg	10.21 mg
copper	0.50 mg	0.08 mg
iron	6.59 mg	2.04 mg
magnesium	71.28 mg	26.08 mg
manganese	0.98 mg	0.01 mg
molybdenum	148.50 mcg	-- mcg
phosphorus	356.40 mg	240.40
potassium	730.62 mg	387.82 mg
selenium	5.54 mcg	23.93 mcg
sodium	3.96 mg	62.37 mg
zinc	2.51 mg	4.09 mg

French Lentil Taco Filling

Over the last few weeks we've been making several of our favorite ground meat recipes (sloppy joes, taco filling, bbq) with a combination of green lentils and quinoa. Then we discovered French Lentils. They are smaller than green lentils and have more of a ground meat look. Perfect! Here's how we used them to make a taco filling this week. In the picture is a soft taco tortilla with brown rice (cooked with Sazon Goya con Azafran), French lentil taco filling, and roasted corn salsa (will post recipe in the summer).  Yum! 

French Lentil Taco Filling
In a large pot, saute until translucent:
1 lg onion
5 garlic cloves (minced)

Add:
1 lb French Lentils
4 cups water
2 Tbsp chili powder
2 Tbsp cumin
3 Tbsp vinegar
1 tsp salt
~20 grinds of black pepper

Simmer 45 min or until water is absorbed.

Cooking Beans

One of my favorite ways to save money and be environmentally friendly is to cook my own beans from dried.  It's really very simple and I know what went into cooking them (did you know that canned beans have a lot of salt and some even have corn syrup?).  One pound of beans costs less than 4 cans of beans, and I usually get at least that much, if not more, once I cook the beans.  When I do cook beans, I usually do 2 pounds at a time and freeze them in 1.5 cup jars (I'll do an entry on the freezing process later).  That's the same size as a can of beans, they're ready when I need them, and I know how they were prepared. 

Here are the steps for cooking your own dried beans:

Sort beans and place in a large bowl.  Dried beans are natural and have been sorted to remove rocks, dirt clumps, etc.  However, most of this is done mechanically and some pieces make it through with the beans.  So, you'll want to go through the beans and check for anything that was missed.  I actually enjoy this step.  It makes me slow down a bit, I feel more connected to the food I'm preparing, and I know we're getting a natural, whole food - not something processed.

Rinse and cover beans with plenty of water (approx 8 cups/lb).  For this step I like to use a colander sitting inside a bowl.  This allows easy rinsing and draining of the beans by just lifting the colander, leaving the water behind in the bowl.  Let beans soak at least 6 hours.  I like to start them soaking either first thing in the morning or the last thing at night, depending on when I need the beans to be done.

Drain and rinse beans - they'll be much larger than when the started soaking.

Place beans in large pot or crockpot (my preferred method) and add water until the water is about an inch above the beans.  Turn on the heat.  The length of cooking time will vary depending on the temperature and the size of the beans.  I'd give you a chart, but there are really too many variables.  On example though is that I will let pintos cook all night and all the next day on low heat.  It's about the same for garbanzo beans.  If you want to cook your beans fast, I believe you can replace 2 hours of cooking on low heat with 1 hour of cooking on high heat, with the crockpot.  If you want to cook your beans on the stovetop, you'll want to allow at least 3 hours.

I usually season my beans with salt, about 1-1/2 tsp per pound - still much less than canned beans.  I also wait to add the salt until the end of the cooking time as salt can slow the cooking time of the beans.

Now you're ready to enjoy your beans however you usually do with canned beans.  My goal in a few weeks is to cook a big pot of one kind of bean and then do a week's worth of recipes with that batch - and then share them with you!  Until then, here are some previously posted recipes for you to try:

Taco Soup

Rice and Beans

Pinto Beans

Kale Chips

Kale chips are my new, favorite snack.  Our meals and snacks are mostly whole food, plant-based, but every now and then I still want to snack on something thin and crispy- like potato chips.  However, I don't like the way I feel afterwards.  Enter kale chips.  These are light, quick and easy to prepare and they satisfy that need to crunch.  Also, kale is a nutritional powerhouse.  Check out these stats:

One cup of raw kale =
33 calories
5% RDA fiber
2g of protein
9% RDA calcium
6% RDA iron
206% RDA vitamin A
134% RDA vitamin C

source:  Self Nutrition Data

Plus, there's an added bonus. The British Journal of Nutrition published a study titled Association of dietary fat, vegetables and antioxidant micronutrients with skin ageing in Japanese women in May of 2010. This study showed that "A higher intake of green and yellow vegetables was significantly associated with a decreased Daniell wrinkling score". Wow! Eating more green and yellow vegetables will decrease those crows feet! I'm sold!

Kale chips are so easy to make that there's no need to buy the pricier pre-made ones.

1.  Take a bunch of kale, cut the leafy part off the ribs, and cut the leaves into relatively uniform shapes (throw the ribs in your garden or compost pile!).

2.  Wash and dry kale leaves (a salad spinner is an excellent tool for this).

3.  Lay leaves out on a cookie sheet (you may want to use parchment paper to prevent sticking) or microwave chip maker.  Season to taste (I like a light sprinkling of sea salt).

4.  Bake in a 350 degree oven or microwave (2-3 minutes) until crisp, but not burnt.

5.  Serve!

This is also an excellent way to preserve an abundance of fresh kale. I've stored kale chips in glass jars or Tupperware containers and then added the kale chips to soups and stews. Yum!

Speaking of not liking how I feel after eating a bunch of potato chips, I came across this quote recently:  "Nothing tastes as good as healthy feels."  As someone who has been following a mostly (we did just go through the holidays) whole foods, plant-based diet since mid-summer, I can say that this is true for me.  I feel better and I have effortlessly reached a healthy weight.  I mentioned the holidays.  I admit that over the holidays I indulged in some of the traditional foods.  Did my taste buds enjoy the rich fare?  Sure.  But it wasn't worth the heaviness that I felt (for days) after.  This year we plan to keep our holidays whole food, plant-based.  However, we will not be sacrificing taste!  There are many delicious plant-based recipes out there.  We're even creating some of our own.  I'll share as I am able, so keep checking back to see what our latest culinary adventures have been!

Salad Bar

We all know that we're supposed to be eating more plants:  preferably fresh (or fresh frozen) fruits and vegetables and whole grains.  Looking at the Harvard Healthy Eating Plate, we see that we should be focusing on a whole foods, plant-based diet and limiting fats (even healthy ones) and animal proteins.  However, sometimes it seems easier said than done.  Our food culture is built around meat and cheese.  Nowhere is this more evident than the American restaurant (even many of the ethnic ones).  When was the last time you saw a menu where most, if not all, of the meals were heavy on the meat and cheese and light on the plants (if there are any at all - french fries don't count).  Then, think about how the plants were prepared.  Were they fried?  Mixed with butter, cream, and/or sugar?  My husband calls sweet potatoes dessert since they are usually covered with butter and brown sugar.  We find it difficult to find a restaurant that prepares meals consistent with the way we eat at home.  So, we usually stay home.  It's healthier and easier on the budget.  Also, with a little bit of prep work, dinner can be quick and easy.

One way our household has increased its intake of plants is to start our meals with salad.  With the end of summer, it's harvest time for zucchini, summer squash (okay these have been with us for a while), cucumbers, tomatoes, and bell peppers.  The cooler temps bring the return of lettuces and spinach.  When I go shopping, I stock up on many wonderful salad foods.  At home, I prep the vegetables for salad use.  I put each vegetable in a storage container and place them in the refrigerator (except the tomatoes).  I even cleaned out and organized my fridge so that the salad ingredients have their own shelf - no searching the fridge or food getting lost.

Now, before we dig into the main course, we set out the containers and create our own salad bar.  This way we start our meal with a serving or two (or 3!) of fresh plants.

I have also prepped some vegetable slices for those inevitable snack attacks or for anyone who has not learned to appreciate a good salad.  A mentor of mine once shared that after school she would put out a vegetable tray for her kids to snack on.  They could snack all they wanted.  It didn't matter if they "spoiled their dinners" because they were eating healthy.

If any of your vegetables are around for a couple of days, before they get too old, transfer them (if necessary) to a freezer-safe container and put them in the freezer.  With winter coming, you'll appreciate having prepped vegetables ready for soup, which can replace the fresh salad as your meal-starter.

I hope this helps you on the path to a more whole foods, plant-based diet.  Enjoy!


Shopping Tip:  Be sure to check out your local farmer's market to see what's available fresh in your area.  Usually fresh produce at the farmer's market is picked that morning (instead of days or more ago, artificially ripened, then shipped).  You can't get any fresher unless you pick it out of your own backyard (another great idea).  Also, it's good to get to know and support your local farmers.  You will know who grew your food, how it was grown (feel free to ask), and you'll be supporting your local economy.

In The News

Gardener feeds family with $100 a month

I love seeing stories like this.  I don't know if my garden will ever be as big as hers is, but I want to feed us as much as possible from the land that we have.  We just moved, but we managed to get a 4'x4' garden started with 3 basil plants, 2 Better Boy tomato plants and 10 Roma tomato plants.  I spent about $15 on the plants and the aged horse manure (which they absolutely love) was free.  I'm hoping to add several more 4'x4' squares next year, as well as raspberries and (maybe) blueberries.  Yum!

In The News

Nutrition Notes: Beans are a healthy source of protein

For bean recipes, just click on Beans/Legumes on the list on the right.  Enjoy!

Fall is Here!

Fall is finally here. It was a long, hot summer and many of us wondered when it would finally end. Now we have highs in the 70's and lows in the 50's. It's actually cold at night. I went out onto the deck, barefoot as usual, to bring our dog in a few nights ago and my feet got so cold! It's much better than highs in the 90's and lows in the 70's! However, with the talk of more extreme summers and winters, I wonder what winter will bring given the record breaking heat of this past summer and the lack of rain to go with it. But that's in the future. Now it's fall and it's wonderful!

We saw the first signs of fall in our Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) box. Suddenly we could select from several varieties of winter squash: acorn, delicata, pumpkin. The neighboring farm set-up at the pick-up lot had cabbage again, beets, and so many varieties of apples that I couldn't keep track. I love going to pick up our CSA box because not only do we pick up our share, but we visit the other farm stands for additional produce that our CSA doesn't grow. Yesterday we canned peach sauce, made with some of the last peaches of the season. I think we have enough peaches leftover for me to prep and freeze for making jam when I have some time. We really didn't want to do this in the heat of the summer. Our kitchen is in the hottest part of the house! Today we took advantage of the many apples we bought this week. We made a crumb-top apple pie for dessert tonight and apple spice muffins for breakfast tomorrow. The house smells rich with apples, cinnamon, and nutmeg! Yum!

Another sign that it's fall: college football! We've been to two local games so far this season and, as always, we're keeping up with our Buckeyes!

In The News

Nutritional Value of Fruits, Veggies is Dwindling

It's worth it to read the comments by other readers, especially those who travel abroad, for their experience with produce in other countries compared to here.

New Food Link

I've added a new link to the right-hand food link list:  Meatless Monday.  It's a non-profit initiative associated with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.  The idea is to go meatless for one day a week for health and environmental reasons.  We generally go meatless at least one day each week just by the way we eat in general, but I like the theme.  I'll work at sharing some additional meatless meals, starting today.
Today's Meatless Monday meal:  Cincinnati Chili with Lentils

Pasta Sauce

This is a sauce I adapted from Rachel Ray's Tomato-Basil Sauce recipe and the Spaghetti Sauce recipe from Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook.  To save time and money, I've started making this using the large cans of tomatoes from the local warehouse club (105 oz, I believe).  I just multiply the following recipe by 7.  This results in 20+ 3-cup containers in my freezer.  It's a basic tomato sauce that I add to depending on what is available, what's on sale, or whatever I feel like adding.

Pasta Sauce
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 can crushed tomatoes (28 oz)
1 can diced tomatoes (15 oz)
1 cup broth
1 can tomato paste (6 oz)
2 teaspoons dried basil (or to taste)
2 teaspoons dried oregano (or to taste)
1 teaspoon dried thyme (or to taste)
2 bay leaves

Saute onion and garlic.  Add remaining ingredients and simmer at least 20 minutes. Serve over pasta.

Cincinnati Chili with Lentils

I know there’s a group of Cincinnatians out there just cringing right now. I am messing with a classic. However, you probably weren’t too thrilled with my use of bison and TVP in my last entry either. This adaptation was inspired by a recipe a friend of mine e-mailed to me. It was another version of Cincinnati Chili with Lentils. It started me thinking about using lentils in the recipe in my previous post. So, I gave it a try and it turned out pretty well. No, it’s not exactly the same. However, if you are looking for a healthier, vegetarian, or a more economical alternative, this will work. It also passed with flying colors with the rest of the household, which is a major plus.

Cincinnati Chili with Lentils

3 cups lentils
9 cups broth
3 cups onion, finely chopped
4 ½ cloves garlic, minced
22.5 oz tomato sauce
3 Tbsp chili powder
3 Tbsp chocolate chips
1 ½ Tbsp vinegar
3 Tbsp honey
1 ½ Tbsp pumpkin pie spice*
1 ½ tsp cumin
¾ tsp cardamom
3/8 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp cinnamon

Place all ingredients in stock pot. Bring to a simmer (you may want to save adding the chocolate chips until now) and let simmer for 45-60 minutes, stirring occasionally. When lentils are cooked, blend mixture. I used my immersion blender, but you can blend a bit at a time in a regular blender. This will give it the same texture as the original recipe.

Serve over spaghetti with the following toppings:
Shredded cheddar cheese (for a 3-way) plus
Red beans OR chopped onions (for a 4-way)
Red beans AND chopped onions (for a 5-way)

*Pumpkin Pie Spice (substitute, 1 tsp)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves


While we all loved this, we are still playing around with the technique of making this recipe.  Why?  Because we think it's fun to experiment with different ways of doing things.  We're going to try running the lentils alone through the grinder to see what that does to the texture and I'm going to try making this in the crockpot.  I will ammend this post with the results of our effort - so be sure to check back!