Caulifredo Sauce

Chef Del Sroufe is a chef in Columbus, OH.  He has written several cookbooks, including The Forks Over Knives Cookbook and Better Than Vegan.  It was in the later that I learned about Cauliflower Puree.  Now it seems to be popping up everywhere, including in a recent issue of Wegman's Menu. It's a great way to make creamy foods in a healthier way.  Cauliflower is an incredible source of Vitamin C and a great source of fiber, folate, choline, B6, and Vitamin K.  It's low in calories and has a low glycemic load.  One of my favorite dishes used to be fettuccine alfredo, but it is so loaded with fat from cream and butter that I no longer believe eating it is worth the sacrifices to my health.  After seeing Chef Sroufe's Cauliflower Puree and several recipes using it to make alfredo sauce, I tried it for myself.  Most recipes I found didn't look like the traditional alfredo sauce that I was used to, so I adapted this recipe from The Joy of Cooking.  Here it is...

Caulifredo Sauce

1/4 cup raw cashews
3 garlic cloves
8 cups steamed cauliflower (steam until very soft)
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
1/2 tsp nutmeg
Salt and pepper, to taste

Place cashews and garlic into food processor and process until crumbly.  Add remaining ingredients and process until smooth.  Add water (from steaming cauliflower, if you have it) as needed.  Serve over pasta.  Mix with equal amounts of your favorite marinara sauce for a yummy pink sauce.

Lentil Spinach Soup

I love simple recipes, especially simple soups.  Some days are so busy, that I truly appreciate a meal where I can just dump a few ingredients into my crockpot and walk away, knowing that dinner will be ready when it's time to eat.  Lentil Spinach Soup is one of those recipes.  It's also warm and happy on a cold, dreary day.  These are all ingredients that are fairly easy to keep on hand for when you need to just throw a meal together.  This recipe is also great for potlucks/lunch meetings.  Last year I took this to church for a meeting after worship.  I took all the ingredients with me and put them in the crockpot first thing.  It was ready by lunch.

Lentil Spinach Soup

1 lb. green lentils
12 oz mirepoix (soup starter: onions, celery, & carrots)
12 oz spinach
1 Tbsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 bay leaf
6-8 cups water

Sort and rinse dry lentils and place in crockpot.  Add the rest of the ingredients.  Cook on low all day or on high for half the day.  Serve with whole wheat bread, if desired.

Nearly Wordless Wednesday

Letchworth State Park, Upper Falls

Many thanks to our Veteran's on this Veteran's Day and every day!

Chocolate-Raspberry Crepes

Enjoyed chocolate-raspberry crepes for breakfast this weekend!

The crepe recipe is from The China Study Cookbook by LeAnne Campbell.  They were so quick and easy to make.  I'm looking forward to trying some other fillings, although I have a traditionalist in the house who wants me to make them with just some fresh lemon juice and a dusting of sugar.

The chocolate is Chocolate Hummus from Jenny Sugar, of POPSUGAR Fitness.  This is one of my favorite recipes.  It makes a great filling, dip, and frosting for cakes/cupcakes.  It can also be made with black beans instead of chick peas.  If you don't have almonds, but have almond butter, just use 2 tbsp almond butter instead.

Chili

This chili is great on a cool night, on a camp out, or for feeding a crowd.  The black lentils are a great substitute for ground meat. I made it for a soup pot-luck at church once and no one realized that it was meat-free, until I told them. 


Ingredients:
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2/3 cup dry or 1 (15 oz) can black lentils*
1 (15 oz) can black beans
1 (15 oz) can kidney beans
10 oz frozen corn
1 (6 oz) can tomato paste
1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes
3 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp dried basil
2 1/2 cups water*

*Reduce water to 1 1/4 cup if using canned lentils.

If using dry lentils, rinse lentils and remove any tag-alongs from the field (small rocks, etc).  Combine all ingredients in a crockpot and cook on high (I set it for 300) for about 4 hours.  It can also be cooked on a stove, camp stove or over the fire.  Bring to a boil and let simmer for about an hour for dry lentils or 1/2 hour for canned lentils.  Serve with rice and/or corn bread, guacamole, Bean Queso, etc.

In The News

Vitamins don’t prevent heart disease or cancer, experts find

Bill Clinton - Vegan

Did you know that Bill Clinton follows a whole foods/plant-based diet?

Bill Clinton: Fan of Caldwell Esselstyn Jr MD

Bill Clinton Explains Why He Became a Vegan

I particularly like the last two paragraphs (emphasis mine):

"If you don't have the willpower to do it for yourself, he adds, do it for your loved ones. "A lot of people who are busy and stressed feel that eating and being comfortable is their reward," he says. But particularly for those who, like him, have children, he says "you have a responsibility to try to be as healthy as possible."

Sounding the themes that still drive him every day, Clinton wraps up our meeting with a message, reminding me that "the way we consume food and what we consume" are driving the unsustainable level of health care spending in America. To truly change the conditions that lead to bad habits and poor health, he warns, "we have to demand it by changing the way we live. You have to make a conscious decision to change for your own well-being, and that of your family and your country.""