Tonight (Thursday, November 17) at 9:00pm EST, Forks Over Knives is sponsoring a LIVE plant-based Thanksgiving cooking segment. This live demonstration will be hosted by the plant-based dietitian, Julieanna Hever, RD. During the show, she will make an entire whole foods plant-based meal while answering questions from the audience. Click on the following link to view the livestream this evening! http://www.livestream.com/forksoverknives
Image: Ambro / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Cooking with maple syrup
Calling all chocolate lovers! Try this super simple yet irresistible recipe for Chocolate Ganache Pie. It is so delicious you won’t be able to stop at just one piece. This mousse-like treat is great for holiday entertaining. The recipe comes from the cookbook, The 30-Minute Vegan, by Mark Reinfeld and Jennifer Murray (put it on your holiday gift list).
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups vegan dark chocolate chips (I used 2 cups- 1 cup organic dark chocolate chips, and 1 cup organic semi-sweet chocolate chips)
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1 package firm silken tofu (I used an organic firm tofu)
1 TBSP pure vanilla extract
1/8 TSP sea salt
1 pre-made pie shell (of course you you could make your own, but if you are in a hurry, check your local store for an organic all-natural frozen pie crust)
Directions:
1. Melt the chocolate chips by heating them in a double boiler over medium heat until the consistency is smooth, lump free, and creamy (I heated some water in a small pan and placed a glass bowl filled with the chocolate on top of the pan).
2. Puree the maple syrup, tofu, vanilla, and sea salt in a food processor until smooth.
3. When the chocolate is melted, add it to the food processor and mix.
4. Spread the mixture into a cooked (and cooled) pie shell and chill for at least 1 hour.
Add your own creative touch to the recipe by sprinkling powered sugar on top, adding pure peppermint extract to the batter for a mint chocolate chip flavor, or using the filling as a mousse and layering it in a glass with fresh berries and mint.
Recently, the creators behind the plant-based diet documentary, Forks Over Knives produced a Q & A segment with the doctors (Matthew Lederman, MD, and Alona Pulde, MD) featured in the film. This video, along with their book, Keep It Simple, Keep It Whole: Your Guide for Optimum Health, are both great resources about plant-based eating.
November is a fitting month to make a hearty vegetable stew. It’s a great way to warm-up the body as the weather starts to turn, plus it doesn’t require a huge time commitment in the kitchen. Lately, I’ve been trying to cook more recipes from the plant-based cookbooks on my kitchen shelf so that I can recommend them to MITK readers. Today’s featured recipe is Homey Vegetable Stew with Dumplings from the 30-Minute Vegan by Mark Reinfeld and Jennifer Murray. This recipe uses spelt flour, which can be found in the bulk bins at Whole Foods. Spelt flour has grown in popularity and is often used as an alternative to its distant cousin, wheat. Spelt flour tastes similar to whole wheat flour, but it has fewer calories and is easier to digest.
Stew Ingredients:
2 TBSP olive oil
3 garlic cloves, pressed or minced
1 yellow onion, chopped
2 medium potatoes (I used large red skinned)
3 carrots (chopped)
1 1/2 cups chopped celery
3 cups water
1 bay leaf
1 1/2 TSP dried thyme
1/4 TSP celery seed
3 TBSP soy sauce
3/4 TSP black pepper
1/2 TSP sea salt (I used pink salt)
1/4 cup + 2 TBSP spelt flour
Dumplings:
3/4 cup spelt flour
1 TSP baking powder, sifted
1/3 TSP sea salt
1/3 cup plain organic soy milk
1 TBSP melted coconut oil
6 collard greens leaves (I added this to the recipe for some green goodness)
Directions:
1. Saute the olive oil, garlic and onion in the pot
2. Chop the veggies in the order they are listed and add as you go. Add water to prevent potatoes from sticking to pan if needed
3. When all of the veggies are in, add 2 1/2 cups water and cover
4. Add in the bay leaf, thyme, celery seed, soy sauce, pepper and salt and cover again, simmer over medium heat.
5. In a bowl, mix the spelt flour, baking powder, salt, soy milk, and coconut oil and stir
6. Divide the batter into six dumplings and plop them on top of the stew
7. Cover the stew and simmer for 10-15 minutes
Last night for dinner, I made a tofu and kale vegan lasagna. This recipe is quick and easy to make, and is a healthier version of a standard lasagna dish. It’s 100% dairy free yet maintains the same texture and taste of using actual ricotta cheese as an ingredient. This meal is delicious – Just ask my husband!
Ingredients:
Lasagna Noodles (I used DeBoles Oven Ready Gluten Free Rice Lasagna)
1 jar of tomato sauce (make your own, or if you are in a hurry use a quality store bought one. I used Trader Giotto’s Organic Spaghetti Sauce with Mushrooms)
1 bunch of dinosaur kale leaves
1 package of tofu (I used Trader Joe’s Organic Sprouted Extra Firm Tofu)
handful of basil leaves
2 cloves of garlic
1 TBSP nutritional yeast flakes
1 TBSP olive oil
Directions:
1. Combine tofu, basil, garlic, and olive oil in a food processor (If you don’t have a processor you can use your hands to crumble the tofu, then add in finely chopped basil and garlic, stir in the olive oil, and throughly mix)
2. Lightly grease a rectangular baking dish with a small bit of olive oil
3. Spread a light layer of pasta sauce on the bottom of the dish
4. Place a layer of noodles on top of the sauce (trim to fit)
5. Spread half of the tofu mixture on top of the noodles
6. Layer in the kale leaves on top of the tofu
7. Spread pasta sauce on top of kale
7. Repeat the process (noodles, tofu, kale, sauce)
8. Put a final noodle layer on top
9. Spread the remaining pasta sauce on the top to cover the noodles
10. Generously sprinkle nutritional yeast flakes over the top
Bake for 45-60 minutes depending on the oven. Serves 4.
Image: David Castillo Dominici / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
The month of November is National Blog Posting Month otherwise known as NaBloPoMo over at BlogHer. The goal is to publish a post everyday of the month. While I’m getting into the game a few days late, I decided to join in the posting fun. Recently, I’ve found it hard to have time to blog due to directing a musical, studying with the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, developing my new business venture, starting my third trimester of pregnancy, and all the other countless tasks involved in routine daily life. I’m number #2137 of the blogging participants! I’ve always liked a good challenge, so be sure to look for new MITK plant-based posts everyday for the rest of the month.
Here are three books about plant-based nutrition that I recently added to my ever-growing collection of wellness resources. All three titles were published in 2011 and offer excellent information and guidance. They are ideal for people looking to incorporate more plant-based ingredients or meals into their daily lives.
Unprocessed: How to achieve vibrant health and your ideal weight
by Chef AJ and Glen Merzer
The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Plant-Based Nutrition
by Julieanna Hever, M.S., R.D., C.P.T.
Healthy Eating, Healthy World: Unleashing the Power of Plant-Based Nutrition
By J. Morris Hicks with a forward by T. Colin Campbell, Ph.D
My husband and I recently took a trip to Walt Disney World in Orlando. We headed down to Florida to spend a few days together and to celebrate our biggest collaboration yet, having a baby! Disney is a special place for us because it’s where we met when we were both working for the mouse way back in the summer of 1999.
Trying to eat plant-based when traveling can be a bit of a challenge. But, it can also be a lot of fun when you turn it into an adventurous quest. You’ll end up making more healthful food choices by not consuming meat and dairy, and avoid taking home those extra vacation pounds. Walt Disney World has come a long way in providing vegan food options. Almost every restaurant, or quickservice location on property has at least one offering. Sometimes, there are additional food choices that aren’t listed on the menu so ask many questions and don’t hesitate to communicate with the Disney cast members.
There are quite a few blogs and websites about veggie options that are helpful to check-out before you plan your trip.
http://allears.net/din/dining.htm
http://veganindisney.wordpress.com
http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining/listing
Once you do some initial research, call 407-WDW-DINE to make an advanced dining booking. The Disney representatives will place a special dietary note on your reservation, and when you arrive at your table, the chef will personally come speak with you about your meal needs!
On our trip, we ended up heading to Whole Foods Market as soon as we arrived in Orlando. We picked up a few snacks (organic fruits, veggies, whole grain bread, fruit preserves, kid’s cliff bars, and a small salad) to use for breakfast meals and on-the go nourishment. This really helped us avoid the preservative-laden hotel food and kept our dining costs down.
While on Disney property, we found a few places that really ended up being quite good. Boma- Flavors of Africa, a “family-friendly buffet-style restaurant”, in Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge was full of tasty vegan choices to fill-up on like fresh pineapple and other fruit, salads, couscous, peanut rice, stewed tomatoes, and a refreshing dessert of sorbet with fresh berries.
At Disney’s Hollywood Studios, we headed to the the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater restaurant which Disney bills as “a night at an old drive-in where servers bring food to vintage 50′s convertible car tables and ’50′s and ’60′s sci-fi and monster flicks play on a big screen.” The menu is standard American fare, which isn’t the healthiest, but it actually was really good! Order up a veggie burger loaded with toppings, a side of sweet potato fries, and ask the server to have the chef whip up chocolate or vanilla Tofutti milkshake.
For a quickservice option at the Magic Kingdom, Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe is a decent choice. They offer both a veggie burger and a roasted veggie sandwich. We opted for the veggie sandwich. While the bread wasn’t the freshest, the grilled onions, and sautéed mushrooms on the toppings bar was the star attraction. Load up your plate with a side of mushies and onions, and it’s a decent lunchtime meal.
Make sure to end your trip with a stop at Downtown Disney to visit the WDW location of the well-known vegan cupcakery, BabyCakes. Park in lot 2 and head to the Fresh-A-Peel building. While it’s just a small-counter service location, their blondie and brownie cupcakes are worth the stop-in.
Sweet Apple Chamomile Tea from Celestial Seasonings
