Cooking inspiration with Yondu Culinary Studio

 We have used Yondu in our cooking classes, and it is an amazing tastemaker in the kitchen.

The company is doing some online cooking classes, and they are worth attending, you will get ideas. You can register for the classes through Eventbrite here.

Having said that, like most food businesses, they are trying to leverage the "plant-based' trend only in the general sense, and they stick to a traditional nutritional model, which can be confusing, particularly when it comes to the usual misunderstanding that it is hard to get sufficient protein on a plant-based diet. With high school nutrition, people worry always about "but where do you get your protein?" which is not warranted, and seems to be a problem only because they do not know the actual protein content of foods (like even rice or potatoes at 10-11% of calories from protein are a perfectly balanced food). The corollary to that problem is also the overconsumption of protein in the standard diet, which turns out to be unhealthy in the first place. So, as long as you get your staples of rice, or potatoes, etc., you can build a meal around that. In short, if the general conversion from a "normal" recipe to a #WFPB recipe involves seeing to your staples, which need to be complex carbs (brown rice, potatoes, or whole grain pasta, etc.) and not refined foods. Aside from that, you typically make more veggies than "ordinary food." That can include both cooked and raw.  

Accordingly, if I use a Yondu recipe here, I may post some comments or variations from time to time to illustrate how you can easily make proper Whole Foods, Plant-Based meals with Yondu. Used properly, Yondu allows you to create a lot of flavor without adding a lot of salt and that is really the crux of the whole thing. Their classes have given me some great ideas.

In my own cooking the easiest taste makers ("umami" is the word of the day for aromatic and flavorful taste) are:

1. Yondu
2. Braggs Liquid Aminos
3. Panch Puran

Caramelizing onions

These days, caramelizing onions for me often involves Yondu, though sometimes, depending on what I am cooking, I may start with roasting some Panch Puran in my pan (the seeds, not the powder).

Here is my routine:

1. [optional] Roast Panch Puran for 5 mins at 350F
2. Dry roast the chopped onions at 350F for 5 mins (optionally chopped chili or peppers can also be added at this stage.
3. Continue another 5 mins at 350F, and gradually stir in a cup of water with 1 Tsp Yondu.
4. Add in chopped garlic

That's a great start for many wonderful vegetable dishes. You can make spinach, Malabar spinach (in my Bangla neighborhood "Poi leaf"), Amaranth leaves (" shaag"), chard, any green leafies can be started this way.  On the other hand, we also know that our taste buds do change on a plant-based diet, and I am often amazed how good something simple like steamed spinach can be.  

The Low Down on Veggie Broth in the Hood

OK, it's time to take stock of (veggie) stock in the hood. I am not sure what the difference is between veggie stock and veggie broth. Wikipedia quotes James Beard as saying:

...that stock, broth, and bouillon "are all the same thing"

and it goes on to say that the distinction, if any, tends to be fluid. Swanson does seem to know the difference, but they don't explain it either: Organic Vegetable Broth, v.s. 100% natural vegetable cooking stock, and Vegetable Broth. I use them interchangeably.

One of the insidious features of any packaged foods is that you really need to read the label, for too often too much salt, sugar, or oil sneaks in, not to mention some other nefarious chemicals you may not like. However, if you do get into the habit, you will be rewarded and soon you will find your way to better solutions.

Remember always to check for what they say about serving size, for those can often be wildly unrealistic. A bag of potato chips may contain many "servings" but I don't know anybody who would not eat the whole bag. With veggie broth it seems to be easier - a serving is an 8 Oz cup. That much is straigtforward. The % of RDA means nothing for the RDA is completely different in plant-based nutrition. You want 10% of calories from fat (no added fat), 10% from protein, and 80% from Complex Carbohydrates. For sodium, the recommended level in the plant-based community tends to be 1,500 mg daily, whereas generally, anything below 2,000 mg daily is regarded as low sodium.

This time I want to research Vegetable Broth/Stock in our area. I am listing ingredients and prices and a recommendation. I will keep adding to the list. Besides Chiang-Li and Key Food, I will also visit ShopRite on the Bruckner.
I make note of the color because for some situations the dark color might be too much, e.g. if you want to create a light-colored sauce.

As to the salt content, clearly, there are several reasonable ones and a couple of very good ones. If the goal is not to exceed 1,500 mg a day, you can see how it adds up. Again, in general, anything below 2,000 mg/day is looked at as low salt.

Broth Alternatives

In our cooking classes, we have discussed both Bragg's Liquid Aminos and Yondu as easy alternatives to veggie broth.

For example, when caramelizing onions, you really only need a little bit of water to keep them good and liquid and prevent them from sticking to the pan or getting burned.
I typically use about 1/2 cup of water with a teaspoon of Yondu or Braggs if I do not have veggie broth handy.

Both are alternatives that are reasonably low in sodium.

At the other extreme, I periodically am brave enough to make my own veggie broth from roast veggies. Sometimes, when I do this, I also freeze a couple of trays of ice-cubes of veggie broth. 2-3 icecubes of broth may be all you need to liquify stir-fried onions.

Chiang-Li Supermarket

•  College Inn, 32 Oz 100% Natural Garden Vegetable Broth - $3.39
• 20 Calories
• 0 g of Fat (0% of RDA)
• 0 mg Cholesterol
• 700 mg Sodium (30% of RDA)
• 4 g Total Carbohydrates (1% RDA)
• 3g added sugars
• 0g protein
• NB.: High in Sodium! This is a light colored broth.
• College Inn, 32 Oz, 100% Natural Garden Vegetable Broth (40% less sodium) - $3.39
• 0g Fat
• 0 mg Cholesterol
• 420 mg Sodium (sic!)
• 4 g Carbohydrates
• 3g added sugar
• 0g protein
• NB: This is a light colored broth.
• Recommended!
•  Swanson, 32 Oz, Organic Vegetable Broth - $3.79
• 10 Calories
• 0g Fat
• 0 mg Cholesterol
• 530 mg Sodium
• 2 g Total Carbohydrates
• 1 g added sugars
• 0 g Protein
• Recommended!
•  Kitchen Basics, 32 Oz, Unsalted Vegetable Stock.
• 0 g Fat
• 0 mg Cholesterol
• 210 mg Sodium
• 100 mg Potassium
• 6g Total Carbohydrates
• sugars 4g
• 0 g Protein
• Recommended! 
• N.B. Color dark. 

 Key Foods, Metropolitan

•  Swanson, 32 Oz. Vegetable Broth,  on sale 2 for $6.
• 10 Calories
• 0 g Fat
• 0 mg Cholesterol
• 800 mg Sodium
• 2 g Carbohydrates
• 2 g sugars
• 0 g Protein
• NB: High Sodium - avoid, color light.
• Swanson, 32 Oz. Vegetable Cooking Stock, on sale 2 for $6
• 15 Caloreies
• 0.5 g fat
• 0 g Cholesterol
• 550 mg Sodium
• 2 g Total Carbohydrates
•  2 g Sugars
• 0 g Protein
• N.B. Light color
• Recommended!
• Pacific Foods, 32 Oz. Organic Vegetable Broth - $3.99 (on sale)
• 15 Calories
• 0 g Fat
• 0 g Cholesterol
• 500 mg Sodium
• 3 g Carbohydrates
• 1 g Sugars
• 1 g Dietary Fiber
• 1 g Protein
• N. B. Light color
• Recommended! 

Options galore. I will keep adding to this as I take inventory at Shoprite.

ShopRite Bruckner Commons

Ok, I finally made my veggie broth run to ShopRite. Here's the harvest (I am reporting list prices, though some were on sale):

•  Wholesome Pantry, 32 Oz Vegetable Cooking Stock, $2.21
• 10 Calories
• 0 g Fat
• 0 g Cholesterol
• 570 mg Sodium
• 3g carbohydrates
• includes 2g added sugars
• 0 g Protein
• N.B. Light color
•  Swanson, 32 Oz Vegetable Broth, $2.79
•  Otherwise as above
• Swanson, 32 Oz Organic Vegetable Broth, $3.49
• Otherwise as above
•  College Inn, 32 Oz, 100% Natural Garden Vegetable Broth, $2.99
• Otherwise as above
• Progresso, 32 Oz, Vegetable Broth, $2.19
• 5 Cal
• 0 g Fat
• 0 g Cholesterol
• 400 mg Sodium
• 0g carbohydrates
• 0 g Protein
• N.B. relatively low sodium
• Emeril's 32 Oz Organic Vegetable Stock, $2.19
• 10 Calories
• 0 g fat
• 0 mg Cholesterol
• 570 mg Sodium
• 2 g Carbohydrates
• 2g sugars
• 0 g Protein
• N.B. dark color. Sodium in mid range.
• Rachael Rae, 32 Oz All Natural Veggie Stock $2.60
• 10 Calories
• 0 g Fat
• 0 mg Cholesterol
• 480 mg Sodium
• 2 g Carbohydrates
• less than 1g sugar
•  0 g Protein
• N.B. Sodium about average. Darker color.
• Recommended

In all almost all the broths were on-sale, so I did considerably better than the list prices indicate.

Another Bengali Meal Prep in September

Bengal cuisine offers such rich possibilities for cooking with spices more than salt.

Today's cooking class was another lesson in a @WFPB version of traditional recipes.

We start with Brown Basmati Rice, which was cooked in advance with a Zojirushi NP-NVX18 Rice cooker on the GABA Brown Rice setting, meaning it is germinated brown rice, that germinated for 2 hours at 105F and then cooked under pressure with an Induction Heat system.

Our new friend from Queens, Katerina from Queens was there once again. Somehow we lost count, because two people could not make it in the last minute, and we ended up inviting other people in the church to share our meal with us, and a good time was had by all. Not to mention many of us ended up taking more home with us.

Ingredients:

• Onion
• Garlic
• Peppers
• Tomato
• Cilantro
• green chilis
• turmeric
• Panch Puran
• Bay Leaves
• Yondu or Bragg's liquid aminos
• Water

• Water squash
• Cauliflower
• Egg plant
• Eddo
• Green Papaya

Instructions:

The first steps are actually the same for both dishes, so we made a large batch of onions, and then split them in two and put on the vegetable medley first, since it needs a longer cooking time.

• Caramelize the onions 
• add in the chilis, turmeric, panch puran, minced garlic, cut up peppers and add some water with Yondu or Braggs to continue - we used 1 tsp Yondu for a cup of water.
• add in the lentils and more water
• add in the harder veggies first, for they need longer to soften
• add in the softer veggies later (e.g, tomato), also cilantro.
• add water as needed.
• add some bay leaves

Three Greens Medley Dal

No, dal is not an airline. It is the typical sauce made from lentils, and you can consider it a soup or a sauce, depending on the occasion. Any three green leafy veggies will do... according to the season today we picked this:

Ingredients:

• onions,
• garlic
• pepper
• cilantro
• turmeric
• panch puran
• green chilis
• Yondu or Bragg's Liquid Aminos to taste.

• lentils
• poi leaf (aka Malabar spinach)
• spinach
• callaloo

Preparation:

For the first step, see above about caramelizing the onions, again we did the onions once for the two dishes and then split them up.

We added water to the caramelized onions

We had young baby spinach, so we did not need to cut it. The callaloo and Poi Leaf we cut in about 1" lengths.

There were grapes for desert. Unfortunately, our friend Khokon unexpectedly could not make it so we will have to do it again and learn to do it even better, but it was a good lesson in a basic dish that you can vary almost endlessly according to the season.

If the group had been bigger, we would have made a salad. The plan was for spaghetti salad from green papaya, carrots, daikon, and zucchini, with a 1/2/3 ddressing (1 measure maple syrup, 2 measures dijon mustard, 3 measures maple syrup) with lemon and lime, dill, parsley, pepper. That 's an invention of Shamim, who is Khokon's cousin and sometime chef.

Practicing plant-based on a budget:

We always donate the overage to St. Helenas, and this week it was almost half of the money we collected. We spent about $8 per person, so our donation to St. Helena's is $7 per person this week. If we had made the vegetable spaghetti salad, our spend per person would have been $10 or so.
On top of that several of us took leftovers home and we actually fed 10 people not the five people who signed up in the class, for some of the other staff and one of the priests joined in. Or rather they were not given the chance to leave without eating for we had more than we could handle.

These numbers can swing from one month to the next, depending on when we buy certain staples, nevertheless, this is always a good lesson in how economical plant-based food can be. Meat is expensive, even while it is heavily subsidized. 

Our #WFPB Meal Prep for August

This time, I decided to focus on some small snack or appetizer type dishes, specifically a salad (there's always a salad to make sure we get our leafy greens), and Brown Rice Spring Rolls, as well as Black Bean Salsa. We had fun with a small group, and still made more food than we could eat. We had 4
people.

 We started out with a bit of nutritional theory and some knife skills. Cutting an onion the right way... and with a sharp knife, so you almost never cry.
With a dull knife you will crush the onion. With a sharp knife, you'll slide through it like butter.

Credit for the pics goes to Kateřina Justová, who came and visited us from Astoria

 

 

 

 

August salad                             

Salad and Salsa

1 head of green lettuce
1 bunch of watercress
3 peppers green, yellow and red
3 tomatoes
1 red onion
2 cups of cooked quinoa
4-5 mushrooms
4 tbsp hemp seeds
4 tbsp milled flax seeds

1/2/3 dressing: 2 tbps maple syrup, 4 tbsp Dijon Mustard, 6 tbsp balsamic vinegar.

We discussed that the point of Omega 3 is (via the flax seeds and the hemp seeds), the proportion relative to the Omega-6. When in doubt the doctor can figure it out at your next physical. In my case I went up from 1-2 tsp of these things (or chia seeds) a day to 2-3 tbsp a day on advice of my doctor. Typically, I take hempseeds on my breakfast and the milled flax seeds and/or chia seeds in my salads.

Black Bean Salsa

Quick Salsa with Black Beans Caldwell Esselstyn - see site for other variations, version here is spicier

View on forksoverknives.com

Ingredients

2 cans of black beans, drained
Optional one 15 Oz can of Corn
A bunch of fresh Cilantro
Juice of 2-3 limes (depending on how juicy the lime)
16 Oz jar of medium green salsa
Whatever peppers you choose - cut up fine - jalapenos, chilis, serrano, poblano - it all depends on your taste for more hot or aromatic. You can put in a stalk of celery, sliced really thin.

Preparation

Drain and rinse the beans and corn
Wash and chop up the cilantro
Add lime juice, mix in the black beans and the salsa
Mix well.

This is one of these dishes that gets better if it marinates in the fridge.

Serve on rice cakes.

 

 

 

Vegan Spring Rolls

 View on youtube.com                                 

Ingredients

1/2 Cabbage
1 carrot
1 Red Bell Pepper
1/2 onion
4 mushrooms
100 gm rice vermicelli
1 tsp black pepper
3 tbsp Braggs Liquid Aminos or Yondu

1 cup of water

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The crumbles you can make from ground up
rice cakes with sesame seeds, or you could use
plain corn flakes, or some puffed grain. You just grind it fine in a blender, and you roll the spring rolls in that, so they won't stick to the baking tray, and get nice and crunchy on the outside.  

Preparation

Cut up the veggies fine  
cook till soft,  with the water and yondu 
add more water if neccessary, but not too much, add the vermicelli and cook for 3 mins. 

Note: vermicelli will absorb most of the cooking water, so your stuffing should be suitablly 

dry - too wet would ruin your rice paper rolls.  
fill the moist rice papers (dipping them in lukewarm water) and roll them up... 

dip in the crumbles and put on your cookie sheet  (we used silicone sheets to prevent sticking.) 
30 mins at 350F will do you just fine.   

Serve with your favorite hot sauce.

Nutritional notes

I adjusted the above somewhat, but not enough for some of the ingredients. As a general rule Bragg's Liquid Aminos or Yondu are a good alternative to soy sauce or Tamari.
The BLA and Yondu come in at ca 300 mg sodium per teaspoon (Tsp), while the typical soy sauce or tamari clock in at 900-1000 mg of sodium per Tsp. However this recipe makes about 30 spring rolls. And it uses 3 Tbsp of BLA or Yondu, or 3 x 3 x 300 mg = 2,700 mg sodium.
To simplify the math, that amounts to almost 100 mg sodium per roll. So if you were to eat three as an appetizer, that might be alright if the rest of the meal does not overuse sodium, but if you make a meal out of this, you are getting a ton of sodium.
One obvious alternative might be to use a low sodium veggie stock in lieu of the glass of water, and then to cut the use of even BLA or Yondu down to ca. 1 Tbsp instead of three, and you can use some other spices, or things like scallions or shallots to create more aroma.

Brown Rice Spring Rolls

It started with a YouTube on making spring rolls:

Then, ChangLi has brown rice vermicelli

The rice paper is still from white rice... you can get it from brown rice, but it's expensive and not around here, so for now this is good enough.

Ingredients

1/2 Cabbage
1 carrot
1 Red Bell Pepper
1/2 onion
4 mushrooms
100 gm rice vermicelli
1 tsp black pepper
1 cup of water
3 tbsp Braggs Liquid Aminos or Yondu


dip of crumbled corn flakes or some other ground-up puffed whole grain (without sugar) and sesame seeds. 

Preparation

• Cut up the veggies fine
  
• cook till soft, 
• then add the water and the vermicelli and cook for 3 mins. Note: vermicelli will absorb most of the cooking water, so you will have your stuffing suitablly dry - too wet would ruin your rice paper rolls.
• fill the moist rice papers and roll them up... dip in the crumbles and put on your cookie sheet 
• 30 mins at 350F will do you just fine.

Serve with your favorite hot sauce.

Nutritional notes

I adjusted the above somewhat, but not enough for some of the ingredients. As a general rule Bragg's Liquid Aminos or Yondu are a good alternative to soy sauce or Tamari.
The BLA and Yondu come in at ca 300 mg sodium per teaspoon (Tsp), while the typical soy sauce or tamari clock in at 900-1000 mg of sodium per Tsp. However this recipe makes about 30 spring rolls. And it uses 3 Tbsp of BLA or Yondu, or 3 x 3 x 300 mg = 2,700 mg sodium.
To simplify the math, that amounts to almost 100 mg sodium per roll. So if you were to eat three as an appetizer, that might be alright if the rest of the meal does not over use sodium, but if you make a meal out of this, you are getting a ton of sodium.
One obvious alternative might be to use a low sodium veggie stock in lieu of the glass of water, and then to cut the use of even BLA or Yondu down to ca. 1 Tbsp instead of three, and you can use some other spices, or things like scallions or shallots to create more aroma. 

#WFPB Cooking Demo at ShopRite

OK, today was a collaborative event with Community Board #9 and ShopRite, hosted by Ms. Angela Vita, retail dietitian at ShopRite at Bruckner Commons, and held in the upstairs community room at the ShopRite.

Obviously, the nutritional theory is important, but food shopping, food preparation and cooking is where the rubber meets the road, and it is truly a privilege to have this new ShopRite in our community with the services of a "retail dietitian." Already we have a budding, informal network which includes the plant-based doctors in the area.

Recipes

The purpose today was just a food "demo," just to give people some idea of what can be done.

ShopRite offers a remarkably rich palette of foods and ingredients that are great for the plant-based cuisine and Angela has developed a shopping guide on a flyer that is available at the reception.

Angela Vita did the cooking

Salad Dressing

The Esselstyns call this 3/2/1 dressing, but I call it 1/2/3 dressing for practical reasons which I explain below.
For household use, you would commonly use a tablespoon as a measure, but depending on how many people you cook for, it could be 1/4 cup or whatever.

• 1 tbsp Maple Syrup
• 2 tbsp Dijon Mustard
• 3 tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
• optional: make it thinner with lemon/lime juice
• optional: you can add any spices you like, chopped garlic, chopped parsley, cilantro, chilis, micro-planed ginger or turmeric, on and on. 

The bottom line is, starting from this basic mix, you can improvise a thousand different dressings, and it keeps fairly well to, for the vinegar is a good preservative, so you can make it for a few days in a row and keep it in your fridge.

Angela Vita at Work at ShopRite Bruckner

Sweet Potato Noodles

Personal note: Just this week I was given a package of sweet potato noodles, and was deliberating what I was going to make with them. Today's recipe is certainly one delicious possibility. Today we used fresh noodles from the store.

• 1 lb raw sweet potato noodles
• 3 cloves of garlic, smashed and cut-up
• 1/2 cup broccoly florets
• 1/4 cup shiitake mushrooms
• 2 tbsp Braggs Liquid Aminos
• 1 tsp. date sugar
• 1/4 cup cut-up green onions in 1/8" slices
• 1 cup of water
• 1 tsp sesame seeds

 Whisk the Liquid Aminos with the date sugar in a cup and set it aside. Heat the pan on medium and add the noodles, broccoli and one cup of water. Cover and let steam for 3-5 minutes. Add mushrooms and liquid amino mixture. Stir together for 3-5 minutes. Add green onions and sesame seeds before serving.

Enjoy!

Well enjoy we did!

This was the whole room, we had about 15 people.

Ingredients 

Some of the ingredients merit comments.

• Braggs Liquid Aminos has a lot less salt than even low sodium soy sauce, so it is a great solution, if you are trying to use less salt, which is generally the principle of the Whole Foods, Plant-Based diet. 
• Date sugar is a good sweetener, because it is purely pulverized whole dates, so the sugar is still complete with the fibers from the fruit. The same would not apply to date syrup or even to maple syrup. All in all date sugar, or even cut-up whole dates is a great solution for a sweetener, which is sometimes needed, such as in tomato sauces, to cut the acidity.
• As mentioned above, the 1/2/3 dressing can be the basis of a thousand different dressings. I refer to it as 1/2/3 because the balsamic comes last that way and can be used to clean the last bit of mustard from your spoon. I personally extend it usually with the juice of a lemon and a lime, and I could use anything for spices, cut-up parsley, garlic, cut-up red onions, cut-up tomatoes and/or cut-up sundried tomatoes, etc. The sky is the limit.

Update on Whole Foods Plant-Based shopping in the Starling Avenue Triangle

This is just a very practical list with some recent items from local stores that are worthwhile:

Chang-Li Supermarket:

Braggs Liquid Aminos on the shelf in aisle 3 at Chang-Li

 

• 4lb Himalayas Blessing Brown Basmati Rice for $8.99. That is a good value.
• Braggs Liquid Aminos. Right now, Chang-Li carries Braggs Liquid Aminos again, albeit only in the 16 Oz bottle for now. I have asked them to stock the 32 Oz bottle again also. I have also asked them for the nutritional yeast.
• Their selection of whole wheat pasta is growing and recently, they also have whole wheat lasagna.
• The fruit and vegetable selection remains great.
• They have some Hodgson Mill Milled Flaxseed, which is a great option if you're in a hurry. Ideally you should mill your flax seed in a Magic Bullet or some such, as flaxseed does lose some nutritional value when it's milled, but sometimes convenience wins out...
• They have quite a selection of Dunya Harvest Organic grains and pulses - including rice, quinoa, lentils, peas, and various beans. And there's another brand, Heartland, which provides some good staples as well.
• Lately they also have raspberries occasionally, which is a great addition to your morning steel cut oats. Sometimes they have steelcut oats from Dunya Harvest.

On of these days, I will do a more extensive survey.

KeyFood on Unionport:

There is a lot to like in this KeyFood, including:

• Steel cut oats: they sometimes carry Bob's Red Mill, and sometimes Quaker Oats. Stock up for it is not always in stock and steelcut oats are sooo much better!
• A great selection of balsamic vinegars, and some good deals!
• A regular supply of great products from Bob's Red Mill, grains and legumes. This section is always worth a stop.
• A great selection of whole grain pasta.
• Often a good selection of berries in the produce section.

Pioneer on Castle Hill:

Supplies at this store can be erratic. One day they have a great selection of whole wheat pasta, and then they are sold out for quite a while before they get restocked. It is a bit of hit or miss.

• Produce dept. is usually worth checking out.
• A small section of organics is worthwhile.
• Whole wheat pasta. In spite of the irregularities noted above, they still have a decent selection most of the time.

  That's it for now. I will periodically do an update on the changing selection. For many of the staples, the Good 'n Natural healthfood store on 2173 White Plains Road by Pelham Parkway is a good option, and there is a great green market across Pelham Parkway also, as well as a well supplied C-Town at 640 Pelham Parkway, and the green market is across Pelham Parkway on Boston Road. Be sure to hit all three when you have to go that far.

Inspiration from Ecuador

Courtesy of Fatima, the cook for the school at St. Helena's, we experienced some Ecuadorian foods, while Audelle created an interesting green salad to go along with it, so we all get our regular requirement for leafy greens.

In this post I will report on the recipes, and I will elaborate on the preparation only after re-creating them and making some changes based on some things we tried.

Meanwhile, some notes on the ingredients:
In general, we use herbs & spices rather than salt, or if need be we add some Braggs Liquid Aminos which has 1/3rd the sodium of even low sodium soy sauce.
We included the green salad because a healthy #WFPB diet should see us eating 4-6 "fistsized" portions of leafy greens per day, because the leafy greens help the body produce nitric oxide that is good for endothelial health. And keeps your blood vessels flexible.
Added oils are always avoided, because they practically paralyze the endothelium for 3-6 hours after a meal. Small amounts of oily fruits (avocado, coconut, nuts) are allowable, but you definitely don't want to overdo it either.

Evidently, the cassava, lentils, potatoes, and veggies provide plenty of carbohydrates, so that this meal is probably close to the ideal balance of 80% (complex) carbohydrates, 10% fats, and 10% protein.

 

Locro de Lentejas (Lentils locro) - a thick soup 

lentils

potatoes

cabbage

red onions

garlic

cilantro

Bragg's Liquid Amino's (instead of Salt)

We initially made it as above, with just water. Some people were adding a green habanero sauce at the table, or more Liquid Aminos. So next time I prepared this soup, here's what I did, to make about 1.5 gallon of it:

• 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
• one small green cabbage, quartered and sliced in 1/4"stips
• a large red onion and two white onions (just because I was out of red onions),sliced thin
• 4 green chilis, sliced thin, with seeds
• 2 jalapeño peppers, sliced thin (without seeds)
• 6 cloves of garlic, crushed and chopped fine.
• a teaspoon of savory
• a teaspoon of tarragon
• 5 bay leaves
• two pints of low sodium vegetable stock
• three pints of water
• a tablespoon of "Better than bouillon" vegetable bouillon
• a half a cup of cilantro, chopped (leaves only)
• Some Braggs Liquid Aminos to taste

Initially, I fried the onions (dry) with the chilis and jalapenos, over a low flame for about 5 minutes until they got soft, then I added the vegetable stock and the herbs, the lentils and the potatoes (with about a 15-20 minute delay).  Finally I added the shredded cabbage and let it cook for another 15-20 minutes.

(Note: some people would peel the potatoes, but if you buy thin-skinned potatoes, you can easily cook them in the skin, even cut-up: you lose less nutrition that way.)

My personal practice is always to cook a large pan of soup, and to have enough to freeze about 3, 4, or 5 quart-size freezer bags, which is about one large bowl of soup each. This way, you can have some the day you make it, and maybe keep some for the next few days, and have the rest in reserve for days when you don't have time to cook.

Mixed Beans and Vegetable Salad 

2 lb beets, boiled, cut in small chunks

2 lb carrots, boiled, quartered and cut in 1.5" chunks

2 bunches of scallions, sliced thin

4 lb fresh beans from Ecuador (Mama Tere, Frihol Mixto, Frozen)
1 bunch cilantro leaves only, chopped fine

Braggs Liquid Aminos to taste

This is the kind of recipe that is delicious as is, and people can individually choose to spice it up more with Tabasco, or Sriracha Sauce, sambal, or as I tried this morning a splash of Habañero infused balsamic vinegar.

Cassava Side Dish

Cassava (yuca) with a onion sauce (parboiled red onions, lemon, cilantro, liquid aminos)

• Cut off the top of the cassava and peel it
• Cut into 1.5" slices
• Boil for about 30 mins until soft
• peel some red onions, and slice thin
• parboil the onion slices in boiling water for a few moments, so they are limp.
• pluck the cilantro leaves and cut them up.
• use the juice of one or more lemons to make the dressing
• add in liquid aminos to taste.

Creamy Avocado Dressing

2 avocados, peeled and pitted

Juice of 1 lemon

Juice of 1 lime

1 tsp. lime zest

1 cucumber

~1/2 c. water

1/4 c. chopped cilantro

1/2 to 1 tsp. chili powder

Dash of sea salt or Braggs Liquid Aminos

Blend all ingredients together until smooth, adjusting water to get desired consistency. Refrigerate unused portions.

Makes 3+ cups

This dressing is brilliant. When I made it a second time, at home after our event, I made a complete kitchen sink salad, with red leaf lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, peppers, thinly sliced red onion, capers, olives, milled flax seed, chia seed and quinoa, and it was out of this world. Obviously, you can adjust the heat to your liking, but the cucumber makes it milder.

In any case, since I prepared all these things at home in the week before Christmas, I had some chance to share them with a neighbor, and I got very positive response to all of them. Notably, this was from someone who has no idea about the plant-based diet. And that to me is the real test, if you simply make good food, except that it just happens to be very healthy.

Yet Another #WFPB Supper at Packsun

This week we had another lovely #WFPB Supper at Packsun...

Simple and sumptuous.

Three veggie dishes and GABA Brown Basmati rice

The dishes were simple:

A lentil stew with poi leaf (Malabar Spinach) with onions, garlic, turmeric, cardamom, bay leaf and chilis, be sure to add some black pepper because it potentiates turmeric, and you can use some Braggs Liquid Aminos in lieu of salt to finish it to taste.

A side of cauliflower with onions, garlic and turmeric.

Khokon and father David before digging in, I was taking the picture

And another side dish with broccoli, onions, garlic, turmeric and cardamom.

Khokon is also starting to eat more plant-based food and has lost weight that way. Father David estimated his weight loss in the first 6 months was about 80 lbs and 8" on his belt size, and the whole parish is noticing that he looks so much better. I keep joking with him that he will run the marathon yet.

The most important ingredient in any successful meal according to Khokon: put your heart into it.

On Friday of this same week my cardiologist (Dr. Robert Ostfeld of the Montefiore Cardiac Wellness Program) fired me: "I wish all my patients did so well!"

Our first #WFPB/Suppers meeting at St. Helena

Today was our first #WFPB Suppers meeting at St Helena's

The idea of The Suppers Program is a communal meal preparation and meal, usually at someone's home, in which there is room for people's personal dietary needs, whatever they are. Our meeting in particular was focused mostly on learning more about the Whole Foods Plant-Based lifestyle. But some of us were selective because of their specific needs and none of that is a problem.

We had a group of 8 people, from eleven to seventy years of age and lots of fun was had by all.

The feedback was generally good and several people want to do it again, and the date will be announced soon on our Meetup site for this program.

The program was rich, for we wanted to emulate a whole day of living with a Whole Foods Plant-Based diet. Lots of people learned new things and folks were excited to discover different ways of preparing food they thought they knew and did not like but suddenly they liked it.

Note: Berries with breakfast are particularly emphasized, and 4-6 "fist sized" portions of green leafy vegetables during the day. It can be cooked kale, collard greens, swiss chard, spinach etc. or salads, but leafy greens are particularly beneficial for epithelial health. Dr. Robert Ostfeld tends to recommend "at least four" portions per day, but Dr. Esselstyn would recommend six.

Recipes: A Day of #WFPB food

For reference the recipes are provided here in order.

Breakfast:

Note: We had Bob's Red Mill Steel Cut Oats.
We cooked some steel-cut oats, and added some finely shredded apple (with a mandolin), some blueberries, some cinnamon, and some raisins. Let it simmer a few more minutes till the apple gets soft and the raisins absorb some of the cooking liquid as well.
We served it topped with extra cinnamon and balsamic vinegar.

A side of cooked kale, dressed with balsamic vinegar.

Notice that the cooking water from kale or any vegetable can be used as is for e.g. cooking grains, or to create a more elaborate vegetable bouillon.

Lunch:

• Red leaf lettuce
• Green leaf lettuce
• Some spinach leaves
• Tomatoes
• Peppers in three colors (red, yellow, green)
• some Chia seeds, some ground flax seed (good for those Omega-3's)
• some cooked Quinoa (cooked in some home made vegetable bouillon, made of cooking water from kale with some Marmite or some Braggs Liquid Aminos
• Jane Esselstyn's 3/2/1 dressing: 3 measures of balsamic vinegar, 2 measures of dijon mustard, and 1 measure of maple syrup.
• some olives, some capers, some artichoke hearts in water.

Take Out: Collard Green Roti's

Take a boiled leaf of Collard Green and put a bit of hummus along the stem, add in some rice, add some vegetables, which can be boiled, or sometimes raw.
Today we used some grated carrots, some chopped scallions, some cilantro and parsley, a bit of kimchi. For our rice we used Lundberg's Sprouted Brown Basmati. Roll it up, and I prefer to roll it in a half sheet of paper towel and put it in a sandwhich bag, so I come prepared to every meal.
We also used some nutritional yeast for seasoning.

Oil-free hummus is easy to make. Leave out the tahini, use a little liquid from the can of chick peas, the juice of one lemon, 2 garlic cloves minced, and add a splash of Braggs liquid aminos. Obviously, you can make hummus with various spices, parsley, cilantro, jalapeno, pimento... as you wish the number of variations is endless. A Nutribullet or similar food processor makes it all easy as pie.

Dinner: 

Note: We fudged it a little bit, but the meal plan for the dinner was Rice (Lundberg Sprouted Brown Basmati), with Lentil Stew, and Side dishes of cooked spinach, and Citrus Berry Salsa. In this case, we did not quite make the spinach.

Suppers Breakfast Challenge Lentil Stew
See the full recipe on the link above.

Suppers Citrus Berry Salsa
Again, see the full recipe at that link.

We forgot to make the spinach with the dinner, but it should be noted that generally the #WFPB recommendation is to have green leafy vegetables 4-6 times a day, so normally you would always have a salad with every meal or some green leafy vegetable as a side dish.

In all, with the massive amount of food we had, the bill was only $11.50 per person, good for an $3.50 refund and there were plenty of leftovers.

Interestingly, two of us go to Dr. Robert Ostfeld, the cardiologist at Montefiore who teaches this diet, but one other person had already heard about the diet from a friend in New Jersey, who in turn got it from their cardiologist.

WE had a visit from a journalism student from NYU, and we eagerly await her report as well.

Summary of #WFPB Principles:

The Whole Foods, Plant-Based lifestyle is a new nutritional paradigm, as defined by T. Colin Campbell in his book Whole, and based on the research that was published in The China Study. The principles are simplicity itself:

• Eat only plant-based, whole foods (cooked or raw is fine)
• Do not worry about proteins (protein deficiency does not exist if you follow this program). You need only 5-10% of calories from protein, and even plant-based many get closer to 15%. Overall, circa 10% of calories should come from protein and 10% from fat.
• Do not use added oils or sugar, go light on salt or even oily fruit (avocado, nuts, coconut). Serious heart patient may have to avoid all oily fruits. 
• The only supplement you ever need is B12, which nobody gets in sufficient quantity, usually one every other day is all you will need. All other supplements are good only for expensive urine, unless specifically medically indicated. The #WFPB lifestyle provides an abundance of nutrients, anti-oxidants, vitamins, and aside from B12, supplementation is moot.
• Dieting does not exist in #WFPB. Dieting means tinkering within a dysfunctional nutritional paradigm. #WFPB provides whole nutrition automatically, so eat to your heart's content and you will revert to your optimal weight by default. Start eating garbage and the weight will come back. Of course there are exceptions like food allergies, or simply preferences, but within the paradigm there is no dieting, such as portion control, etc.
• It is recommended you get some berries every day (blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries) preferably with breakfast, work some chia seeds and or fresh-milled flax seed into salads, etc. for Omega-3s and 4-6 fist-sized portions of green leafy vegetables, such as kale, spinach, swiss chard, etc. for epithelial health.

Bonus: here is the account of an FDNY firefighter on a plant-based diet: https://www.forksoverknives.com/rethinking-my-health-after-september-11-exposure/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_content=vegan&utm_term=plant-based#gs.4aqcY_g