Econo #WFPB #4 Dal with stems from various leafy greens.

 

Here is a huge bunch of Purslane (Verdolaga), and note below my potato salad with the leaves. 

Next to it, you will see the stems. I cut them up in 1 inch pieces (Verdolaga is fairly soft, and freeze them, and I will have stems from Kale and Collard greens, or Malabar Spinach, and I cut those in 1/4" pieces when I use the leaves, and save them in a ziploc bag until I am ready to make dal again. Or, alternatively I can use various odds and ends to even cook my own vegetable broth one day.

And the last image is a plate of dal, along the lines of the recipe, but including stems of purslane, kale, collard greens and even malabar spinach, but it could be any stems of leafy greens. The stems can be tougher, but when you make the dal, I cook thos stems, cut in small chunks, right along with the onions and peppers to form the base. Then when you add teh lentils and simmer it some more, those stems are pretty soft and they add a lot of depth to the flavor.

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp of panch puran
• 1 cup water with Yondu for the sauté
• 1 medium/small Onion, chopped
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 1-2 carrots, shredded or sliced thin
• 1 large red bell pepper
• 2-3 Thai chilis
• 1 Jalapeño
• 1 cup red lentils
• 4 cups water
• 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 tbsp parsley flakes or fresh chopped parsley
• 1 tbsp oregano
• 1 tbsp salt-free chili powder
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp chipotle powder (or more)
• 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes to taste
• 1 tsp cumin, milled
• 1 tsp caraway, milled
• 1 tsp fennel, milled
• 1 piece of turmeric minced, or a tsp of turmeric powder
• 1 14.5 Oz can of diced tomato (fire roasted)
• 1 6 Oz can of salt-free tomato paste

Directions

• Set aside the tomatoes, red bell pepper.
• In a large soup pot, first roast the tablespoon of panch puran, then water sauté or dry sauté the onion, garlic, peppers until translucent, about 8-10 minutes.
• Add remaining ingredients but not the tomatoes, and bring to a boil.
• Reduce heat to medium and cook until lentils are creamy, about 20 minutes.
• Blend the tomatoes, bell pepper and garlic in blender and blend until smooth. Skip this step if you like it chunky.
• a) Place all ingredients in an electric pressure cooker and cook on high for 10 minutes,
  or
  b) place all ingredients in a slow cooker and cook on low for 8 hours.
• Garnish with finely chopped scallions and a sprinkling of Faux Parmesan (or nutritional yeast).

Notes

Optionally, you can make this with more veggies, liek beet greens, chard, and other such. In that case, I left out the tomato puree.

I also made it more spicy and aromatic than the original from chef AJ, but by including veggies, it becomes more of a dal.

Our June #WFPB Meal Preparation

We made a lot of different things this time, some to demonstrate take-out solutions.

Notes:
The Upton's Naturals barbecued jackfruit is not available locally, you can get it on-line at Thrive or at Amazon.
Savory (sabroso in Spanish) it a spice that is great in dishes with legumes (lentils, beans, etc.) it adds flavor and aids digestion (reduces gas).
Tarragon (Estragon in Spanish) is another spice that works well in our Locro de Lentejas.

Steamed, or boiled kale with sweet potatoes and balsamic 

This is easy to make and the balsamic acts as a preservative, so you can put it in a plastic bag and take it anywhere, all you need is a plastic fork.

strip the kale, and boil in boiling water for 6-7 minutes until soft, or steam for 12-15 minutes.

Separately boil the sweet potatoes and cut in cubes to mix with the kale.

We added in some roasted pepper today. (Unfortunately, our kale was a bit under-cooked.)

Drizzle with balsamic.

Stuffed Collard Greens (Burrito style) is another easy take out dish. You could call it collard green burritos.

Ingredients

collard greens
hummus
boiled basmati rice
green beans
(option) barbecued jackfruit
(option) mushrooms, can be fresh or roasted
kimchi

Preparation

put hummus in the center section of the leaf
add a thin layer of rice
some green beans
some pieces of barbecued jackfruit
dress with kimchi
roll it up, and serve.

If you are going to a picknick, or anywhere where you want to make sure you have your own food, you can package these rolls in a sheet of paper towel towel and saran wrap.

Locro de Lentejas (Lentil soup from Ecuador)

Lentil soup with Cabbage

Ingredients

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" strips

1 white onion cut up in small pieces,
2-3 large red onions, sliced thin
4 green chilis, sliced thin, with seeds
2 jalapeño peppers, sliced thin (without seeds)
10 cloves of garlic, crushed and chopped fine.
1 or 2 king mushroom cut in strips

1 teaspoon of savory
1 teaspoon of tarragon
5 bay leaves

2 pints of low sodium vegetable stock
3 pints of water
1 Green Cabbage

1/2 cup of cilantro, chopped (leaves only)

Braggs Liquid Aminos, to taste.

Alternatively, dissolve one heaping tablespoon of miso paste in water and add at the end.

Preparation

Dry fry the onions with the chilis and jalapenos and the king mushroom over a medium flame for about 4/5 minutes, stirring constantly, until they got soft and start to brown. Add a splash of veggie broth as needed, so it does not stick to the pan.

Add garlic, the vegetable stock and the water and herbs, the lentils and, after 15-20 minutes, the potatoes. Let cook for another 10-15 minutes, and add the cabbage, cut in strips. Let it cook for another 5-10 mins.

At the end, add some miso, dissolved in water and some chopped cilantro and/ or Braggs Liquid Amino's to taste.
(Notes:

1. 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.)
2. Never boil the miso!

Green Salad

We kept it simple with the salad:

A head of green lettuce,
a red pepper
three tomatoes
some chopped onion
some milled flax seed and some chia seeds
3/2/1 dressing: 3 measures of balsamic, 2 measures of Dijon Mustard, and 1 measure of maple syrup
1 can of black-eyed peas
parsley

Steel cut Oats at Chang Li Supermarket

Finally, Chang-Li Supermarket has started to carry Steel Cut Oats:

Quaker Steel Cut Oats

Note that they also have 3-minute Steel Cut Oats, but as long has you have a good rice cooker, you should not have any problem.

From a standpoint of nutritional value, note that the following sequence would apply:

1. Steel Cut Oats
2. 3-minute "Quick" Steel Cut Oats
3. Old-Fashioned Oats
4. Quick Old-Fashioned Oats

For diabetics what is important to know is that the pure Steel Cut Oats would also have the lowest Glycemic Index.

Oatmeal with berries (blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries), is super health, and I like it with a shredded green apple and lots of cinnamon and topped with a tablespoon (or two) of balsamic vinegar.

Steamed Kale, Sweet potato, with balsamic vinegar

After that, I have a "desert" of steamed kale with boiled sweet potato and again dressed with some balsamic vinegar.

P.S. In general, everyone who is on any medicine should discuss their diet with their doctor, for once you go on a whole foods, plant-based diet, your doses can often be reduced. This is especially true for diabetics. Recommended literature is:

• for heart patients: Dr. Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease.
• for diabetics: Dr. Neal Barnard, Dr. Neal Barnard's Program for Preventing and Reversing Diabetes.

Of Oatmeal, Balsamic Vinegar, and Birdsbeak Paring knives

Today it was a day for oatmeal. Now, in this household, every day is a day for oatmeal... but today was a special day, for strawberries were $1 per box in our neighborhood, and it was time to stock up, so here were the results for breakfast.

This was steelcut oats, made with almond milk, some raisins, an shredded apple, loads of cinnamon (mixture of ceylon  and cassia cinnamon), topped with strawberries and some balsamic glazé.

Somehow that makes it seem like spring has sprung, but actually today it was colder outside. Still, no reason not to celebrate an early spring inside...

Meanwhile, also a good opportunity to research more on the health benefits of balsamic vinegar, here from articles on Healthline and New Health Guide:

• Lowers cholesterol
• Supports weightloss
• Improves circulation
• Anti-glycemic, diabetes-friendly
• Reduces hypertension
• Improves skin 
• Anti-oxidant
• Helps fight cancer
• Lowers Heart-attack risk
• Pain reliever
• Helps digestion
• Good for bone-health

The bottom line is balsamic vinegar is healthy as all get-out and in the case of oatmeal it is a great way to add some rich flavor, and avoiding sugar. One of the core tenets of #WFPB is no ADDED Sugar, Oil, or Salt.

In short, besides the great taste of balsamic to top off your oatmeal, you can use it in salad dressings, I spice up my kale snacks, (sometimes I combine them with some sweet potato, which is fantastic with balsamic). Lastly, it is a great preservative, which is one reason I like to take a reverse doggie-bag of kale with sweet potato with balsamic when I have to eat at restaurants I don't trust.

Some good videos:

and more:

and even more:

And, for good measure, yet one more:

And again:

In short, oatmeal is the breakfast of champions.

Use Case for a Bird's Beak Paring Knife

Cutting the crowns out of strawberries and slicing them in this case in 1/8th wedges is perfect work for a bird's beak paring knife. Along the way, if there are any bruises, you can cut them out precisely with the fine tip of a bird's beak paring knife.

MAC Knife Chef Series 2-1/2" Bird's Beak Paring Knife (PK-25)

As usual, MAC knives are superbly sharp and retain their edges for a long time. Some stubbornly call the bird's beak paring knife a "turning knife," based on the tourné-cut in French cuisine. I never do any tourné cuts, but I have plenty of little jobs where a bird's beak paring knife is just what the doctor ordered, and prepping these strawberries was just one of the many.

On Oatmeal

Key Foods on Unionport recently has offered steel cut oats from Quaker Oats, on occasion they may also have Bob's Red Mill.