Eat Your Greens!

I know, I know…today we’re going to discuss a very important but not much loved topic…eating greens! I’m sure your mom has told you to do this over and over again despite the well of tears forming in your sweet innocent face… “Eat your greens child!…WHY? Because they’re good for you!”  Well, there is more to the story than just that.

Here are a few good reasons to eat greens everyday according to Dr. Weil:
A great source of vitamins (including folate, one of the B vitamins) green vegetables also provide minerals and fiber. Some - including spinach, collards, kale and broccoli - contain antioxidants such as lutein and zeaxanthin, carotenoids that can protect aging eyes from developing cataracts and macular degeneration. They may also protect against clogging of the carotid arteries in the neck. Cruciferous vegetables such as cabbage, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, kale and turnips contain antioxidants and other phytonutrients that reduce cancer risk.

I went from someone who hated eating greens, to learning to cook and prepare them in a way in which even I can enjoy. I’ll be blogging about different types of greens from time to time because I think we all need to start adding more of these super foods into our diets.

Of all the greens, Kale is king! It is one of the most nutrient-dense foods on the planet!  So this is why I like to come up with a variety of ways of using it. I like to lightly steam kale for 5 minutes and add it to everything! I’ll add it to any kind of soup, chopped very fine in salads, or added with tofu in stir-fry…pretty much anything! The great thing about it is that it has a very mellow flavor so it won’t overpower your meal. Instead it will add a welcome variety of nutrients and antioxidants .

I’ll often stir-fry kale with a simple combination I really love:

1 bunch Kale, chopped
1 Tbsp. Mirin (seasoned rice wine)
1 Tbsp Brown Rice Vinegar
1 Tbsp Tamari (or any kind of soy sauce)
1 Tbsp Agave Nectar (optional)
1 Tbsp Roasted Sesame Seeds (optional)

Because I’m a lazy cook, I'll just throw all these ingredients (except the sesame seeds) into a non-stick pan all at the same time with about 2 Tbsp of water and let it lightly steam. At the very end, I'll add toasted sesame seeds and a little salt if needed.

I hope you grow to love greens as I have!

Grilled Pork and Vegetables without the Pig!

I've decided that we'll have a "Meatless Mondays" menu item which will contain alternatives to traditional meats. I hope it'll help those of you who are transitioning from a meat-based diet to a plant-based one.

My husband and I came across this AMAZING product called Match Meats.  I love their tagline: Better for You, Better for Everyone. This stuff looks like meat and even feels like it too! We've only made one item from them so far, but were very impressed by it's ease of use.

So the first thing we tried was their "pork" product. If you want to know what it looks like and how to cook it, this company has it's act together and offers videos on how to use all their products! This video shows you how to work with their pork product and here is where you can order this delicious goodness.

Here is how we made this dish:

Recipe:
1 package of Match Meats pork product
1 head of broccoli, steamed
fresh thyme leaves
barbecue sauce (optional)

So, this a very simple preparation technique.  Since the veg meat is very pliable, I wet my hand (to prevent it from sticking to them) and molded the patties into a burger shape.  We then very lightly sprayed canola oil onto our George Foreman grill and cooked them until we got those nice grill marks. Derek, decided he wanted the patties to be slightly browned, so we put them on a non-stick pan to brown.  You can see the images of how we did this below.

Once the patties are browned, I sprinkled some fresh thyme  and lightly salted the patties. You can add barbecue sauce to the side if  you'd like, but we thought the patties were flavorful enough as is.  I then served the dish with some simple steamed broccoli which was lightly salted.

What a simple and satisfying meal...and the best thing about it was that there is a happy happy ending!
...and this little piggy was never eaten!

The ChooseVeg Blog Has Officially Launched!

I just wanted to say a friendly hello to any new blog readers. We've officially moved from The Veg Lounge to ChooseVegBlog.com

Here I hope to provide you with exciting and simple recipes to make a healthy living easy...I welcome any comments, questions or ideas for blog topics. Happy reading and eating! :)

 

Bringin' Home the Fakin' Bacon

This week's recipe requires little ingenuity and a lot of condiments. If you've never tried tempeh bacon before, it's great!  Now, don't expect the same texture of let's say... a piggie's carcass, nor the drippy cholesterol laden fat...but you'll get a similar smoked flavor that's both satisfying to humans and pigs! (shout out to Wilbur!) :)

1 package Fakin' Bacon
4 slices of bread
1/2 avocado
dijon mustard
veganaise (egg-free version of mayonnaise)
1 tomato, sliced
3 lettuce leaves

All you got to do is fry the bacon for a few minutes on each side until it's ever so lightly browned. Then all you have to do is assemble this deliciousness with the ingredients above and you got yourself a wonderful meal!

A Salad that Keeps You Coming Back for More!

Could this be true? A salad that makes you want to come back for more and more and more? Yes, it is! :) I know, this isn’t the “Most Awesome Salad in the World” which I blogged about last week, but it’s still pretty awesome if you ask me.

Before I tell you more, I just want to say sorry for being away for a several days! I know, it’s not like me…but I have good reason. I’ve been swamped creating my new site and juggling a whole bunch  of projects!  I’ll have some exciting news for this blog in the coming weeks...let’s just say we’ll be growing leaps and bounds soon…more to come!

Back to the topic at hand…who doesn’t love Cesar salad? And it’s even better made vegan! (Isn’t everything better vegan?) I whipped up this recipe and as usual I didn’t measure anything, so I’m giving you approximate amounts…but either way, trust your intuition and it’ll turn out great!

Cesar Salad Dressing
1/2 package of silken tofu (6oz) http://www.morinu.com/product/tofu.html
1 Tbsp Braggs Liquid Aminos (or Shoyu/Tamari Sauce)
1 Tbsp Nutritional Yeast
1 strip of Nori (2 inches by 2 inches)
1 lemon, juiced
1/4-1/2 tsp garlic powder (if you are a garlic “freak” be my guest--go crazy on it!)
3-4 Tbsp water
1/4-1/2 tsp white pepper
salt to taste

Salad:
1 head Romaine Lettuce, chopped
1 avocado, chopped
2 handful of croutons (I buy read-made ones to save time, but you can make your own)
1 red pepper, diced

Blend the dressing ingredient until smooth. If you want to make your dressing thinner, then just add more water until you achieve your desired consistency. Then toss the dressing into the salad until it is nicely coated. We tossed about half the dressing amount and saved the rest for the next day.

A Protein Powerhouse Meal

This dish was made whimsically with whatever grocery was left in our fridge. I know it’s annoying when you are hungry and all you see are a few things in the refrigerator, but you know, sometimes your most creative meals can be made this way. I kind of like the challenge of it all, and I hope you enjoy what I’ve come up with.

But first, a word on tempeh…This meal is made of an Indonesian product called tempeh. It’s very high in protein as it’s made of soybeans. It’s gross how they make it, (it’s basically fermented beans) but I try not to think about that because it’s good for you and it makes a hearty meal.

Like tofu, tempeh is very versatile and can be put into a variety of dishes. However, most brands of tempeh have a bitter aftertaste that I don’t like. So, I’d suggest boiling the tempeh in water for about 10-15 min to get rid of the bitterness. Now, if you buy the White Wave brand of tempeh, you won’t get much of a bitter flavor and that’s the brand that I’d recommend.

Orange Tempeh Marinade
1 package of tempeh
1 orange, juiced
1 tsp orange rind (or to taste)
1 Tbsp almond butter
3 tsp agave nectar
1 Tbsp shoyu sauce
1/4 tsp ginger powder (optional)

Tempeh Stirfry
1/2 small red onion, diced
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 head of broccoli, chopped

Miso Sauce (optional)
1 Tbsp Brown Rice Miso
4 Tbsp Water (or more if you want a thinner sauce)

Mix all the ingredients for the marinade until it’s smooth. Then marinade the tempeh for about 1 hour. If you don’t want to wait that long (I didn’t) you can get away with marinating for about 30 min. Then heat a few sprays of canola oil in a non-stick pan and add the onions and garlic until soft. (because I don’t like to use too much oil, I add a little water after about a minute of stir-frying.) Then add the tempeh and fry for about 5 minutes after which you can add the broccoli. You can put a lid over my pan for another 5 minutes or until the broccoli is soft.

If you want this dish to have a fuller flavor, you can add some miso sauce at the very end. I mixed about 1 Tbsp of brown rice miso and 4 Tbsp water  and poured a little over my tempeh dish…delicious!

A Quick and Simple Snack for Summer

My first blog entry ever was about my favorite food…smoothies. I want to continue to share with you my favorite smoothie recipes. Just like you, I’m always on the go and am constantly juggling projects. When I get hungry, I want to snack fast. I want something fresh, easy to make and easy to clean. (I'm not much of a dish washer!) I can’t tell you how often I make smoothies because they are delicious, healthy and the magic word…soooo easy to make. I make them for breakfast, dessert and sometimes when I'm really really busy, I even have them for dinner!

This week I’ve been making a lot of strawberry pineapple smoothies, so I decided to share my recipe with you.

1 banana
1/4 cup of frozen strawberries
1/4 pineapples
1/4 cup almonds
1 cup water
1 Tbsp flax seeds

Combine all the ingredients in a blender until smooth and enjoy! If you have a Vitamix blender, this will blend very easily. If you have $20 blender (I had one all through college) then it’ll take several attempts at getting this smoothie to be smooth. Most likely, it’ll be a bit chunky due to the almonds, but I like that way.

If you want to lose weight, get healthier, or just eat something delicious, please give smoothies a try. I can't emphasize enough how yummy and easy they are to make.

Labels: almonds, flax seeds, high energy food, pineapples, quick meal, smoothies, strawberries

The Most Awesome Salad in the World!

This is my absolute favorite salad! This recipe was inspired by a wonderful restaurant here in Columbus called North Star Cafe. I used to order this salad all the time at the restaurant and just couldn’t get enough…then I tried to mimic the recipe at home and I think I’ve got it pretty close. I knew it was a winner when my HUGE Indian family came over for dinner and had this salad and kept coming back for more! Now, fancy salads is not the Indian “thang”…but when my non-venturesome food loving family inhaled this dish, I knew I was onto something great. I can guarantee that your friends and family will love this too!

So there are a few “magic” ingredients in order to make this happen…it just won’t be the same without Orange Muscat Champagne Vinegar (I get it from Trader Joe’s) and Candied Pecans (also from Trader Joe’s). I’ve never measured these ingredients, but this is close to how I do it.

Dressing:
3-4 Tbsp Orange Muscat Champagne Vinegar
1 Tbsp Agave Nectar
2 tsp Shoyu Sauce (this has a softer flavor than Tamari)
1/2 lemon, juiced (I just squeezed about 1 Tbsp worth of juice)

Salad:
5 steamed Baby Beets (I buy them pre-steamed from Trader Joe’s)
1 handful Candied Pecans, chopped
1 handful of Roasted Almonds, chopped
1 avocado (optional)
1 container of pre-washed Baby Lettuce

Assemble the salad ingredients in a large salad bowl. Mix the dressing ingredients together and toss into the salad bowl. You can also add baked tofu and croûtons to this salad.

My mouth is watering just writing this…I hope you love this as much as we do!

Berry Bonanza!

Spring is here! Oh my favorite time of year…Now is the time that I get out of hibernation and actually get to go out for a bit. I’m sorry, I’ve been slacking on the blogging end, but I’ve been out and about all week enjoying the little bit of warmth in the air and a few rays of sunshine.

So in keeping with my simplistic fruit dessert theme, I want to encourage you to make nice desserts out of fruit. It may not seem like a dessert to you, but put it in a nice bowl and spruce it up with some cinnamon, powdered sugar, agave, nutmeg and anything else your imagination will allow and there you have it. In minutes, you'll have a delicious simple meal which is not only good for you, but beautiful to look at.

I love berries! How can you go wrong with berries? I think we forget how lucky we are in being able to go to the grocery store and pick out as many containers of berries as we want. Have you ever gone berry-picking? It's super fun, but very labor intensive. Once you've gone berry picking, you'll never forget how lucky we are to have so much good food at our fingertips. In our go-go-go culture, sometimes it's nice just to slow down and enjoy the simple things in life. So go ahead, slow down and enjoy. . . .

If you feel a little more venturesome, try this wonderful recipe from my friend at the Fat Free Vegan Blog called Fruit Medley Cobbler. I love cobblers as they are so easy to make and you really can’t go wrong. I’ll share my cobbler recipes as soon as I stop frolicking outdoors and set myself down at the computer. :)

Tropical, Sensational and Oohhh so Easy!

It’s Sunday night and you just gotta have something sweet...but you can’t add extra pounds to that fab body of yours! Oh what to do, what to do? Well, I’m in the same boat and I can’t binge as I have a wedding dress to fit into, so I came up with an easy dessert recipe anyone can follow.

While shopping at Whole Foods I was looking for something yummy that I could snack on. Now, I’ve been really good with my work-out “regime” and I just wanted something yummy that won’t make me take two steps backwards for every step I’ve taken forward.  And then I saw them, glistening in the grocery aisle and calling my name, 2 cans of organic papaya and mango just wanted to come home with me.

It worked! When I was wanting something sweet that night, I remembered the tropical fruit I picked up. Here are 2 versions you can try…one is no fat, and the other has a little but certainly not as much a slice of chocolate cake.

Tropical Fruit Salad
1 can mango
1 can papaya
1 banana
2-4 tsp agave nectar
1/2 tsp of blossoming orange extract

Chop the fruit and mix it in a bowl. Then in a separate mixing bowl stir the orange blossom extract with some agave nectar. Pour this nectar over the fruit and enjoy!

“Whipped” Cream 
6 oz silken tofu (or if you can’t eat soy, then you can add about 3/4 cups of cashews)
1/4 cup agave nectar (I guessed at this amount)
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp blossoming orange extract

Blend all the ingredients in a blender until the cream is smooth. If you noticed in the picture, I layered the whipped cream with fruit in a martini glass. Once it’s all pretty, put it in the refrigerator to cool for about 30min.

There it is…a guiltless dessert. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Labels: agave nectar, dessert, mangos, papayas, quick meal, tofu