Starting #WFPB in April, Episode 2

Overnight, I cooked oats again.

Steelcut oats the proper way

The bottom line is there is an endless number of ways to make breakfast, with oats or otherwise, but oats have a lot going for them, and in terms of nutritional quality have it over rolled oats (less processing), though arguably whole oats groats would be even better and, if you cook them with a programmable rice cooker like I do, the fact they take longer to cook is unimportant. Be that as it may, Cutting the oats is minimal as far as processing goes, so whole oats groats and steel cut oats are pretty close in terms of nutrition. Steel cut holds a slight edge, so if it's for breakfast cereal, I would prefer them.

One of the biggest things with steel cut oats is that the glycemic index is lower, so it's better for diabetics. And whole oats groats would be even lower.

Anyway, I cook them overnight, using my trusted Zojirushi Induction Heat 3-cup rice cooker. Before I go to bed I put them on for 6:30 AM, on a brown rice cycle. That seems to give me a satisfactory result.

When they are ready, I keep them on keep warm for a while meanwhile I prepare the additions:

• a grated apple (preferably Granny Smith)
• a half a pint of blueberries
• 1 tbsp goji berries
• 2 tbsp raisins
• cinnamon

I leave that on "keep warm" for a minimum of 5 minutes.  Once it's finished, the toppings are added, typically:

• a sliced banana
• some strawberries or other kinds of berries, or fruit
• one tbsp of milled flaxseed
• one tbsp of chia seeds or hemp heart
• a generous drizzle of balsamic vinegar
• more cinnamon

 mangia, mangia!

Here's an alternative pic with Jack fruit:

Steelcut Oats with strawberries, blackberries and Jackfruit

Lunch kale, and Ramen

My standard steamed kale with sweet potato, mustard seeds and balsamic, plus I added some fresh garlic.
Budget Ramen with Collard Greens (Sorry, no daikon today)

Dinner a Salad and Thai Veggies over Rice

A Salad of redleaf lettuce, with finely cut red onion, red and green peppers, quinoa, flax seed, tomato, some capers and salad olives, and 1/2/3 dressing.

I already had a mixture of black rice and short grain brown rice ready.

Thai veggies:

• Caramelize two/three finely cut-up onions
• add in some garlic
• Mushrooms
• a can of Thai curry paste (watch the labels, avoid the ones with oil or too much sugar, but there are plenty of good ones).
• peppers in all the colors you can find, green, red, yellow - equivalent to a whole pepper.
• simmer the above for a while and then add:
• Napa cabbage sliced in 1/4"strips
• Sprouts
• bind it with some arrow root or corn starch at the end.

Various fruit for snacks in betwean and some more kale. I usually steam a batch that gives me 4-5 portions, and it stays great in the fridge.

Getting Started with #WFPB in April

Here's the beginning:

Cook soup ahead. I usually have 2-3 different soups in the freezer, so that I am never caught short.
Also some form of dal, or curry, or beans can be cooked ahead. Rice can be cooked ahead.

Since my freezer was empty, I made some Split Pea soup this weekend, to get my month started right. I will cook more soups during the month eventually building up to having 2-3 soups to choose from, until I build it down again and start the cycle anew. I do not believe in fossilized soup in the fridge.
For the rest, I have some frozen mixed vegetables, and some frozen spinach in the fridge, for an emergency, and some whole wheat flour and gram flour that just keeps better in the freezer.

I also always have icecube trays with frozen veggie stock for when I caramelize onions.

Split Pea Soup

Great basic recipe for vegan split pea soup, adapted for #WFPB, by leaving out the oil.

View on allrecipes.com

It might be of interest to compare to the basic recipe I started with online... I removed the oil, but used more onions and garlic, among other things.

Ingredients

2-4 onions, cut fine
4-6 chilis, cut fine
1 seeded, jalapeno, cut fine
3 bay leaves
3-6 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups (2 lbs) dried split peas
1/2 cup barley
1-1/2 tbsp liquid aminos
8-10 cups of vegetable or mushroom bouillon (2 pints)
(Alternatively, half vegetable bouillon and half water with a whole king mushroom, cut up)
3 carrots, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
3 potatoes, diced
1/2 cup chopped parsley
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
optionally other vegetables, such as parsnips, or turnips etc.

Preparation

In a large pot over medium high heat, saute the onion, dry for for a total of 10 mins, 5 mins no stir, and 5 mins stirred while adding some 2-3 veggie stock ice cubes, then bay leaf and garlic, cook for 5 minutes on medium.
Add the peas, barley, liquid aminos and water.
Bring to a boil and reduce heat to low.
Simmer for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
Meanwhile, cut up the veggies.
Add more water as needed for the right thickness.
Add the carrots, celery, potatoes, parsley, basil, thyme and ground black pepper.
Simmer for another hour, or until the peas and vegetables are tender.

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Breakfast: Steelcut Oats Plus

Breakfast today... as is typical for this time of year...

What is that?  I always make the oats for 2 days, and today was the 2nd day, so I'll have the oats with apple, blueberry, cinnamon, raisins and goji berries in the fridge, so I just have to heat it up.

• steelcut oats
• grated apple
• cinnamon
• 1 tsp of goji berries
• 1 tsp of raisins
• fresh banana
• fresh strawberry, or whatever other berries or other fruit I might have
• a drizzle of balsamic vinegar
• more cinnamon
• milled flax seed and hemp hearts

Snack: Steamed kale with Sweet Potato

• One bunch steamed kale
• One boiled potato (Japanese is my preference)
• Mustard seeds
• 1 tbsp Balsamic Vinegar.

The balsamic is probiotic and a preservative, this mixture stays good in the fridge, so I can snack from if for a day or more. One bunch makes 4-6 portions. The Mustard seeds are courtesy to Dr. Michael Greger, and his research that cooking kale actually destroys certain beneficial enzymes, but some mustard seeds added in after cooking restores that again.

Lunch

Some of that kale with sweet potato salad,
A Cucumber salad with a 1/2/3 with dill and garlic dressing, with chia seeds.
and some of that soon-to-be-famous Split Pea Soup

Step One for Dinner

Rice Cooker #101

For dinner tonight (and a few more days this week) I am having GABA Brown Rice, this time half and half:

• Lundberg Short Grain Brown Rice,
• Black Rice.

I put it on after breakfast, on the timer for 6:30 at night. The GABA brown rice process is the healthiest way to eat rice, but it takes 3.5 hours - but a good rice cooker handles all that automatically. The cycle is a 2.5 hour soak, allowing the rice to germinate, and then an approx 1 hour cooking cycle, in my trusted rice cooker.

For details on my preferences about kitchen gear, see my main site, in particular this article about My Tools for the Plant-Based Kitchen.

Dinner

Salad with Red Leaf Lettuce

Red leaf lettuce
chopped red onion
peppers in 2-3 colors chopped up
tomato cut up in small pieces
quinoa, milles flax seed, and some chia seeds
1/2/3 dressing with lemon, lime, garlic and parsley
some capers, and some salad olives.

Main course: Curry of Broad Valor Beans and Japanese Eggplant

That main dish was a leftover from the weekend, but I'll make this recipe again as I am trying to perfect it.