Almost the end of winter cooking class.

We had a great cooking class and it seemed a wonderful time was had by all.

And... the same evening an old dish that was developed in the cooking class appeared in the Iftar dinner at Izzy's family's house. 

The story of the soup, based on Locro de Lentejas from Ecuador:
The original recipe was from Ecuador, I added Bangladeshi spices (panch puran), Chinese condiment (Tianjin vegetables), and some hot peppers, and this new version resulted. Which is now too hot for Ecuadorians (they like it mild), but up to par for Bengali palates.

For an appetizer we had a salad of Belgian andives, with grated apple, walnut pieces, and pomegranate, with a 1/2/3 dressing.

And for a side dish we had some flat valor beans, cooked simply with some garlic, but you could cook it with a lot of spices, Indian style, see below:

We just cleaned these beans and broke them by hand, just in case there were any strings. Then we just braised them in water with garlic, and served as a side dish. You could easily also add a lot of spices or follow a recipe for an Indian dish, like Valor Papdi Bhaji. Or again you can do what we did and simply add some more of these Indian spices when you braise them as a side dish.
They are supposed to be very healthy 

 

Lentil Soup #WFPB Fusion

Recipes always evolve, it seems.

I was looking around for ideas for a different lentil soup than what I normally make, which is always some variation on Locro de Lentejas from Ecuador, which I learned from Fatima Cabrera, who manages the kitchen at St. Helena's school.

I wanted some more Hungarian flavor, and what came out worked for me, in fact it was one of the best yet.

Here is an earlier post for Locro de Lentejas. 

So what changed? I only added to this recipe, partially replacing some items that were already there.

The new recipe looks as follows:

Ingredients:

2 tsp panchpuran

one small green or savoy cabbage, quartered and sliced in 1/4" strips

1 white onion cut up in small pieces,

2-3 large red onions, sliced thin

1-3 serrrano peppers - to taste

2-3 jalapeño peppers, sliced thin (with seeds)

2 bell peppers ( I used yellow and orange).

1 cup water with 1 tsp Yondu

6 cloves of garlic, crushed and chopped fine.

1-2 king mushroom cut in strips, or other mushrooms

2 celery stalks

1 shredded carrot

1 tbsp tienjin vegetables (optional)

1 teaspoon of savory

1 teaspoon of tarragon

1 tsp rosemary

1 tsp thyme

2 tbsp strong paprika powder

5 bay leaves

2 pints of low sodium vegetable stock

1 lb whole lentils

1 lb young potatoes (the kind with the thin skin, either yukon gold or redskin), quartered or smaller, depending on the size and personal preference

1 cup of barley (I consider this optional, if you want more "substance," than soup)

2-3 pints of water

1 bunch of cilantro, chopped
1 lime juiced

Braggs Liquid Aminos, to taste, alternatively gochujang, or better than bouillon veggie bouillon

If using miso instead dissolve one heaping tablespoon of miso paste in water and add at the end and use less liquid aminos - never cook the miso.

I made 2.5 gallons of soup this way, so I have frozen lentilsoup for whenever I do not have time to cook...

Neerob #WFPB006 - Tropical Bean Salad

This salad was developed by Shamim Ahmed at Neerob Restaurant. It is not very specifically Bangladeshi, more a mediterranean fusion-style recipe.

They have this salad usually, but they tend to make it with oil, but below is the oil-free alternative, which they make for the #WFPB crowd.

The Whole is bigger than the sum of the parts!

Ingredients:

• 1 15 Oz can of Red kidney beans,  
• 1 green pepper, 
• 1 red pepper, 
• black pepper
• white pepper, 
• 2 jalapeños, sliced thin, 
• 2-3 cloves of garlic, minced 
• 1/2 tsp oregano, 
• 1/2 tsp rosemary, 
• 1/2 thyme, 
• some julienned ripe mango, or green papaya.
• 2-3 tbsp sliced Kalamata olives. 
• 4/5 pepperoncini, sliced.

While it is commonly made with some oil, for the plant-based crowd it is done with 1/2/3 dressing, as follows:

1. 1 TBSP Maple syrup
2. 2 TBSP Dijon Mustard
3. 3 TBSP Balsamic Vinegar
4. juice of 1/2 lemon
5. juice of 1/2 lime

For other garnish, you can add in ground flax seeds, or chia seeds, or hemp seeds.

Enjoy.

Neerob_#WFPB002 - Oil-Free Roti 1 - Flour based

 We recently had a food sampling at Neerob and Khokon introduced us to "Green Roti," a particular variety of roti that is geared to the 3WFPB lifestyle.

Here is the most basic version:
https://shahzadidevje.com/indian-roti-recipe/

I will be experimenting with making it from Einkorn flour:
https://www.einkorn.com

to minimize the salt, you could use Green Salt, and/or you could put some Yondu in your water.

What follows is a version how Neerob makes it:

• 2.5 Cups of whole wheat roti flour, or oat flour, or most any flour that catches your fancy, with some extra for dusting your work surface.
• puree one cup of spinach leaves with water and garlic,
• some salt; to reduce sodium use green salt, or you can also use Yondu, or Bragg's Liquid Aminos in your water.
• Warmer water is better.
• knead it till the right consistency
• roll into balls - 2.5 cups should make about 8 balls
• 
  roll them out into 6" roti's and cook them on a tawa, or you can use a griddle if you have that on your stove.

And here is an excellent instruction video.

Neerob_#WFPB001- Introducing Izzy & The Neerob project

 

Meet Israt "Izzy" Rito.

Izzy is a wonderful young lady who works with the PEP Agency in our neighborhood (Parkchester Enhancement Program for Seniors), a social services agency. She and I have begun to collaborate with outreach in the Bangladeshi community, specifically in connection with the Lifestyle Medicine Dinners at Neerob, and my cooking classes at St. Helena's church. 

I was very impressed when she told me her story about researching ways to help her mother with diabetes, and on her own she helped her mother switch to brown rice instead of white, and they already noticed a significant improvement. Now, she is learning about the whole range of Whole Foods Plant-Based nutrition, and I am sure that will help her even more.

In the context of my involvement in these things, we are now beginning to work on a collection of Bangladeshi-style recipes, some that will come from Neerob restaurant, and some that came from home cooking. Inevitably some will be more Bangla - #WFPB - Fusion. We will clarify that in each article.

What is inspiring to me from living in this Bangladeshi community, which grew up around me, is all the new fruits and vegetables I learned to eat, and I am still learning. Learning also how Type Ii Diabetes (T2D) and Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) run at levels of 30-40% above the average population, because of a genetic handicap of simply smaller diameter blood vessels, it is particularly inspiring to be working on a way to help with health improvements through better nutrition and better kitchen techniques. There is so much healthy food in the Bangladeshi kitchen, but, besides leaving out animal protein, it is also the style of preparation that makes all the difference in the world. We look forward to a healthy collaboration involving Izzy, Neerob Restaurant and its owner, Mohammed "Khokon" Rahman, and myself, along with Plant Powered Metro New York and the T. Colin Campbell Institute of Nutrition Studies.

Ever since we met Dr. Zafar Mirza from Pakistan a few months ago, who is now the President of the Pakistan Association for Lifestyle Medicine, we have become aware of how Lifestyle Medicine has caught on in Pakistan, and we hope that the Bangladeshi community will follow suit.  

Pasta Fazool just before the first snow...

For our St. Helena's Cooking class on 12/13/2025, we made a great salad and Pasta e Fagiole. It felt like the right day to do so, and lo and behold, as soon as the class was over, it started to snow.

My point of departure was this recipe:

https://plantbasedcookingshow.com/2025/12/08/plant-based-pasta-fagioli/

and here is the video:

The only thing I really changed, was the quantity, for we made it for five people, and I just about doubled everything.

One addition we made was we added a block of baked Seitan, cut in cubes, which adds some chewy texture. Sometimes recovering carnivores appreciate that. 

Along with it, we made a nice mixed Salad, ingredients:

1. A head of red leaf lettuce (we used CalOrganics, from ShopRite, Bruckner Plaza)
2. 2 tomatoes, cut up
3. 2 shredded carrots.
4. 1 stalk thinly sliced celery
5. 2 cups of quinoa
6. 3 tbsp of capers
7. some sliced cooked beets
8. 1 red onion, cut up fine

The dressing was my usual 1/2/3, adapted from Esselstyn's 3/2/1, for symple reasons of physics:

If you are measuring it with a spoon, the mustard washes out the maple syrup, and the balsamic washes out the mustard, plus then I added the juice of 1/2 lemon and 1/2 lime:

1. 1 tbsp maple syrup
2. 2 tbsp dijon mustard
3. 3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
4. juice of 1/2 lemon
5. juice of 2/2 lime

If that dressing becomes too acidic, you can sprinkle in some date sugar, or you can also make it thicker and milder by adding in some chia seeds, but that works best if you can marinade it in the fridge overnight.

We had too much food, because two people did not show up, but we fed Melissa in the rectory, and some of the crew for an event that was being held in the gym later.

We finished off the meal with a red dragon fruit, quartered and sliced, with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar.

Fancy Snake Gourd Soup with Celery...

This is getting fun, here is the next step int he evolution, still simple to make, but it takes a little more time...

 The evolution was simple. In the first round, I added some more aroma courtesy of some panch puran and some Tijanjin vegetables, but then I wanted more substance.

1) roast 1 tbsp of panchpuran lightly, to release the flavor.

2) add a chopped onion and stir slowly 

3) gradually add a cup of veggie broth, or just water with liquid aminos, or Yondu, or some such.

4) if desired add some Tianjin veggies, or a 1/4 TSP of green salt, and, if you like it hot, some chopped Thai chilis.

5) On medium heat cook till onions are caramelized

6) add 1 cup of split yellow peas (or lentils) and enough broth, so they can swim. 

7) let it simmer for an hour or two, so the peas get soft. Or, if you want to save time, you can precook the split peas in an Instant Pot.

8) Add in 3 or 4 sliced celery stalks. 

9) Let it simmer for another 20 mins or so, and blend smooth with a stick blender.

10) add in the coursely julienned snake gourd, and let it simmer for another 15 minutes.

11) turn off the heat and serve.

Finger-licking good, I assure you.

N.B.: About Panchpuran - the name means five spices. It is an excellent way of adding flavor to veggie dishes, without salt. Buy the seeds not the powdered version.