"Vegan" is more a sociological term, designating people who don't eat (or use) animal products, and that could be for environmental, ethical, animal welfare or health reasons. But, "no meat"is not nutrition. Potato chips and coke might be vegan, it is not nutritious. The Whole Foods Plant-Based diet, without added Sugar, Oil or Salt (SOS), is the nutritionally sound basis for a healthy vegan lifestyle. The focus is on #WFPB without SOS, based on the work of T. Colin Campbell in The China Study.
This is a delicious simple recipe. You can routinely get Purslane (Verdolaga) at the Mexican store Frutas Y Vegetales La Reyna at 1300-1302 Beach Avenue/corner Westchester Ave (opposite The South of France Restaurant.
Look at this nutrition information:
https://www.specialtyproduce.com/produce/Verdolagas_Mexican_Parsley_9494.php
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Nutritional Value
Verdolagas is rich in potassium and magnesium and contains as much beta carotene as spinach. It also contains the omega three fatty acid known as alpha linolenic acid, which studies have shown can be helpful in lowering blood pressure and regulating cholesterol levels. Recent studies have also shown that Verdolagas contains a significant amount of melatonin as well.
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Ingredients
1 lb fingerling potatoes, or young potatoes. 1 cup purslane leaves
3/2/1 dressing with one lemon or lime (3tbsp balsamic, 2 tbsp dijon mustard, 1 tbsp maple syrup)
red onion cut up fine
either 1/2 teaspoon of piment d'espelette (alternatively, 1 heaping teaspoon of paprika powder and 1/4 tsp of cayenne pepper)
1-2 tsp of dill
salt and pepper to taste
Preparation
boil the potatoes cut in small chunks
pluck the leaves off the purslane and reserve the stems for another use ( like making your own veggie broth or soup)
This is the report from the April 13th St. Helena's Communal #WFPB/Suppers Meal Prep event. We had five people.
We had a small group, and the program was a bit too much given the limited number of hands, but we had fun.
I had decided the theme for this time was collard greens, just to explore some different ideas. The salad was just an ordinary salad, but we split some ingredients with the stuffed collard greens later-on.
Salad:
Red leaf lettuce, baby spinach, beets and the works.
3 beets boiled, peeled, grated (with the mandolin)
1 head of red leaf lettuce
1 box of baby spinach
a chopped white onion
1/2 buch of enoki mushrooms
2-3 cloves of minced garlic
a yellow, orange, and red pepper cut-up in small chunks
5 tomatoes cut up fine
1/2 bunch of parsley - leaves cut up fine.
several serving spoons of boiled quinoa
chia seeds
1/2/3 dressing with lemon: 1 tbsp maple syrup, 2 tbsp dijon mustard, 3 tbsp balsamic, plus the juice of one lemon and two limes. (It all depends on how much juice you get).
That was one mean salad!
Soup:
Based on the recipe for Loaded Miso Noodle Soup from NutritionStudies, but with some additions - for 5 people, but we cooked way too much and people took quite a bit home, even after having seconds - we could have served 8-10 people:
5 servings of soba or brown rice noodles, uncooked
3 cups
vegetable broth
10 cups
water 1
sheet roasted nori
seaweed, broken into pieces, or in our case we soaked about a table
spoon of wakame to start the broth.
1 cup
thinly sliced shiitake mushrooms
5 leaves of collard greens, cut out the stems, roll them up and slice them thin so you end up with thin collard greens strips, similar to the julienned veggies.
1 cup
julienned carrot
1 cup
julienned zucchini
1 cup
broccoli florets
1 cup of daikon, cut katsuramuki style, first in sheets and then rolled up and sliced into thin strips, again, like the spiralized veggies. Alternatively, you could simply julienne them on the mandolin.
8 Tbsp
miso paste
1
(14-ounce) package firm tofu, cut into 1-inch cubes
1/2 cup
chopped green onions
Preparation:
Start the water, and add in the soaked wakame, or the nori, or both. (I have gone away from using hijiki because of its reputation for containing arsenic) this forms the foundation broth
Noodles: you can cook them separately, as the original recipe suggests, but I like to cook them with the soup for the last 5-7 minutes, for if they sit around too long cooked, they will stick together.
Prepare all your veggies, making sure you add-in the collard greens first, since they are the toughest. Keep the scallions (green onions) for last.
Add in the veggies, except for the scallions and let boil on a slow rolling boil for 5 mins,
add in the 3 cup of veggie broth
Scoop out some broth and use to dissolve the miso
Add the miso, scallions, and tofu and let simmer for another 1 minute. Serve.
If you cooked the pasta separately, you add it in at the last moment, but I see nothing wrong with cooking the pasta in the soup for the last 5-7 minutes.
Oil-free hummus
1 15-Oz can of chickpeas, drained 1/4 cup of the aquafaba from the beans 2-3 garlic cloves, minced zest of one lemon (thoroughly washed) juice of one lemon 1 tsp of liquid aminos if more liquid is needed, add some veggie stock or water. optional 1 tsp paprika powder optional some fresh parsley, or scallions
In the blender...
Stuffed Collard Greens and Collard Green Burritos
My idea here was that this is great food for picnics in the summer. You can make a stuffed collard green pocket or a burrito, and wrap it in a sheet of paper towel and wrap it in saran wrap and then use a sandwich bag. You can take that anywhere. I take it even to restaurants when I don't trust the food. "I'm on a diet." Eventually the restaurants will catch on. ;-)
I prepared the Collard green leaves two ways:
Steamed and then flatten the stems with a rolling pin - for the burritos
Fresh, but with the stems cut out and interleaving the two half-leaves, for the wraps.
For stuffings we had:
a pilaf of brown and black rice
quinoa with parsley and a splash of liquid aminos
hummus was pre-made at home with garlic and paprika powder and some parsley
steamed green beans
scallions, sliced thin
enoki mushrooms
Upton's Jackfruit Chili Lime Carnitas
Kimchi
sauteed onions, green peppers and white mushrooms
OK, you can see now we had too much for just five people. Some other time, I'd like to do this again with a bigger group, and have people assemble the burritos and stuffed leaves at the table, so everyone can pick their own favorites.
Preparation/Assembly
You lay out the leaves, add a smear of hummus in the center, lay on some quinoa or rice stuffing and then pile on your favorite mix of stuffings and roll it up.
It is easiest with the steamed leaves - burrito style. For the fresh leaves, you might need a toothpick to keep them together, or just hold them and eat them right away.
OK, all in all this was an orgy of fresh leafy greens, but with lots of color as well.
Besides the general lesson, one of our members, Sylvia, taught us all a lesson by taking the parsley stems home for her own veggie broth. If you have the time, it is worth cooking your own veggie broth. I do it once every few months, when I feel brave, and I fill some ice cube trays with my own veggie broth.
The usual, some fruit, some steel cut oats with more fruit and some kale and sweet potato. Lately I've been making it a bit spicier with some garlic.
Lunch:
Cucumber salad, Pea soup, some multi grain toast, kale with sweet potato.
Dinner:
Neighbor came over.
Large salad of red leaf lettuce, with red onion, peppers, tomato, some salad olives, 1/2/3 dressing with the juice of one lemon and one lime and some scoops of quinoa. Some chia seeds and flaxseed.
Dinner was the last of the roast cauliflower from earlier in the week served over a bed of black and short grain brown rice pilaf, reheated in the oven on steam reheat. My neighbor loved it.
Presently, I am switching gears. I will have an irregular schedule for the next two weeks, so I'll be doing a bit more improv. This Saturday is my cooking class at St. Helena's - see my separate report - the good news for me is that I have a freezer full of nice soups to fall back on, and when in a hurry, a soup and salad will do just fine.
Some fruit to wake up to, the usual steel cut oats, and a portion of kale with sweet potato.
Lunch:
A salad and a bowl of my Umpteen Bean Soup from the weekend
Dinner:
I was at a reception, where I found a few things to nibble on, and when I came back I had a good size salad with some broccoli and quinoa, red leaf lettuce, beets, and the works.
Salad with quinoa and beets.
Heat up a frozen pea soup.
Dinner:
OK, today I was time constrained, as I was back late from an appointment, and that's when you're happy for cooking ahead... a leftover day is a great help... and it proves why it pays to establish cooking cycles.
I had a beet for an appetizer, and my dinner was a plate of roast cauliflower.
Snacks in between of fruits and kale salad with sweet potato - always the go-to snack.
In a medium-sized pot, whisk together all of the gravy ingredients EXCEPT for the cornstarch & water.
Bring to a boil and then turn down to a simmer on medium-low heat for 5
minutes. (This will allow all the flavors to marry.) Remove from the
heat.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the cornstarch and water to make a cornstarch slurry.
Once the pot is no longer simmering, slowly whisk the cornstarch slurry
into the gravy a little at a time. Going slow will ensure that no clumps
form.
The gravy will begin to thicken as soon as the cornstarch is whisked in.
Put the pot back on the stove and return to a simmer for an additional 3
minutes.
The Roast
Pre-heat oven to 450F degrees.
Arrange the potatoes and carrots in a roasting dish with the cauliflower in the center. Be careful not to overcrowd the dish.
Place the cauliflower upside-down and pour 1/3 cup of the gravy into it. Give it a good shake to distribute the gravy.
Place cauliflower right-side up and brush more gravy on the top to cover it (about 1/3 to 1/2 cup)
Add 1/2 cup of vegetable stock to the bottom of the dish (this will help steam the veggies.)
Pour about a 1/3 cup of gravy over top of the potatoes and carrots.
Cover the dish tightly with a lid or aluminum foil and bake for 40
minutes, brushing the cauliflower with more gravy halfway through.
Uncover the cauliflower roast and brush more gravy on. Bake for another
30 minutes (uncovered), brushing with more gravy halfway again (that's the final 1/3rd of the gravy.
Remove from the oven and serve while hot.
I served it over a bed of my pilar of black and short grain brown rice.
*Many brands of Worcestershire sauce contain anchovies. Vegan
Worcestershire sauce does exist (Annie's brand and Kroger brand are
vegan for sure), but if you can't find it, you can omit it and
substitute apple cider vinegar for a little zing.
If you dig onions, you can slice up an onion and add it right in with
the carrots and potatoes. Mushrooms would be great, too! Making sure
your pan is not too crowded will help everything cook through properly.
If you find the potatoes are drying out, add a little more veggie stock
to the pan.
Apart from taking a longish time, this dish is actually not a lot of work.
Cucumber salad and a huge bowl of my Umpteen Bean Soup, with some parsley garnish.
Dinner
I was out today, and ended up just taking some kale salad, followed by a big salad with red leaf lettuce, beets, tomato, red onion, peppers, quinoa, flax seed and 1/2/3 dressing with lemon, lime, some minced garlic, and parsley.
