Eggplant “Non-Parmesan”

My friend Beth gave me an assignment – create a vegan (non-dairy), gluten-free, fat-free (or close too it), additive-free Eggplant Parmesan to use in Sandwiches.

You know how I am, can’t resist a challenge. So I started experimenting. Many of the recipe components can be found on the Basic Recipes Page: Tapioca Eggs, Cashew Cheese and Quick Italian Red Sauce. Please refer to that page for the specific recipe otherwise this post is going to be way to long.

Eating Out–Subway Offering Vegan Sandwiches

Plant based eating is becoming almost mainstream! Subway is offering vegan sandwiches in the South (Virginia and Maryland).

The news made me remember a trip to the Southern US thirty years ago.  My most vivid memory of the trip is that I almost starved to death!

We were traveling and eating in restaurants. Every day, feeding myself was a challenge! The first hurdle was finding anything vaguely vegetarian on the menu.  If I found something besides salad I still had to be very careful.  Lots of added bacon (salad dressing, baked potatoes, even mac and cheese) and foods cooked in lard. Asking the server about the ingredients was a whole other problem. Mostly the people who served me and the people I ate with couldn’t get over the fact that I didn’t eat any meat.

The last time I went South, there was plenty to eat!  The winner was a fabulous Lebanese feast in Louisiana! There the server did not look at me like I had two heads when I told them how happy the menu made me: Lebanese food is heaven for a vegetarian.  The waitress lit up.  In fact, and trust me that this is a sign of progress, she  told me that she was vegetarian too – she only ate chicken and fish.  Progress not perfection!

Plant-Based Diet Myth: It’s Expensive

One of the most baffling  things people say to me is “I would love to eat a plant based diet, but that is just too expensive!” I am always a little blown away but this assertion. I go to the grocery store and I watch food prices closely. . .

It was nice to find a discussion about this in The Starch Solution. Here, John McDougall states that a plant-based diet averages $4,000 savings per person per year. Or savings of  $333 per month.  You can read his discussion on pages 203-206 or search for “Food Costs” on your digital device.

For our household (just the two of us) that means saving about $650 per month. That, by the way is about what we currently spend each month.  In other words if we started eating animal based products we would double our monthly food costs.  Just in case I need another reason to stay on a plant-based diet that would work!

Giving Up Sugar

Admittedly, my memory about actually giving up sugar is a little fuzzy – thirty years is a long time.  I do remember, viscerally, how hard it was and how badly I craved it.

The first nutrition book I ever voluntarily read was Sugar Blues by William Duffy.  I was in a lot of joint pain. I had been diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis and was feeling quite sorry for myself.

The chiropractor I was seeing at the time told me that if I alleviated my depression I would reduce my pain.  He added that the simplest way to ease my depression was to give up sugar.  He went on to say that he was convinced that cutting sugar out of my diet would have one other great benefit.  I would reduce joint inflammation and lessen the pain in my body.

The Big Six– The Necessary and The Absolutely NOT Necessary (but wonderful) Kitchen Gadgets

For me there are three absolutely can’t live with out kitchen appliances:

• Heavy duty food processor – I wrote a piece not long ago about choppers of all kind
• Toaster oven – a multipurpose device for warming up food, toasting bread and quick heating instead of a microwave.  It is great in the summer for baking something small and not having to turn on the hot old oven!
• Crockpot– Year round convenience. It is wonderful for soups, sauces and casseroles. Start a meal and walk way.  I use it instead of the oven or stove top in the summer.

And then there are the ones that are absolutely not necessary, but sure make life a whole lot easier appliances:

Do You Know about Excitotoxins?

Four years ago David developed a gluten allergy. That began a series of radical changes in our diet. But there were more to come!

Two years ago he started having a series of “weird” problems.  He was not diabetic or even pre-diabetic but he clearly had a blood sugar problem!  On any given day his blood sugar spiked and dropped for no apparent reason.  He was alternatively shaky and moody. And eating seemed to make the problem worse.

We were at our wits end!  So in an effort to figure out what was going on we started tracking the symptoms and what he ate. The place to start was in the grocery store; reading labels.

Lasagna

David found a package of rice lasagna noodles the other day and said, “you know, I am really hungry for lasagna.  Think you can make a vegan version that tastes good?”

Nothing like a challenge!  Especially since lasagna is one of those quick meals that is perfect for a crowd. The trick, of course is to bake it on low heat with lots of liquid so you never have to precook the noodles!  I really have not made this dish since we gave up dairy last year so I figured I just wing it and see what happened.

The place to start was with my more or less standard combination of vegetables (carrots, zucchini, green pepper, onions, garlic and spinach). That was all easy!  The part that took a little thinking was what to use in place of ricotta cheese.

There are hundreds of cheese replacement recipes out on the net. Most of them are cashew based. I don’t know, there is something about the idea of cashew cheese/sour cream that just didn’t seem right. But a challenge is a challenge, so what the hell. . .

I have to say I was impressed!  This is something I would be happy to serve to anyone!  I am also willing to bet they would never know that it wasn’t a traditional lasagna with ricotta.

Pasta And Veggies

There must be some Italian buried in my genes!  It would at least explain why I love pasta so much!  When David found out he was gluten intolerant I was pretty sure my life was over.  No more pasta??

Fortunately there are a lot of great gluten-free pastas on the market.  After trying brown and wild rice, corn and quinoa, we decided we like brown rice best.  But if you haven’t experiment with the kinds, you owe it to yourself to try.

This is my own version of veggie pasta based very loosely on a similar dish I once at at California Pizza Kitchen.

Rice and Veggies

Brown rice is probably our most flexible staple. We use it as breakfast cereal, for specialty rice dishes (like Spanish Rice),  salads or a quick add to bean based meals for an extra protein boost. 

At the end of every week we gather up any veggies we can find laying around, nuts and even beans. We throw them in a pan and add rice for a quick, thrifty meal. The trick is adding a good mix of herbs and mirepoix to give it great flavor without resorting to too much salt or soy sauce.

Here is what I found to use this week:

BASIC RICE AND VEGGIES 

1. In Dutch oven or big frying pan heat a liberal amount of oil and when hot add
• 1 chopped onion
• Garlic to taste
• 1/2 cup mirepoix
2. When onions are clear lower the heat
3. Add herbs; this will vary with the veggies you use, but in this one I added
• Basil
• Marjoram
• Dill
4. Add 1/2 cup chopped nuts (I like cashews and peanuts best).  Mix thoroughly with veggies and herbs
5. Chop the veggies (either by hand or with a food processor); this week I had and added:
• celery
• green pepper
• beet greens (from our garden)
• asparagus
• corn (left from corn on the cob)
6. When veggies start to soften add 1/2 to 1 cup water; cover tightly and cook about 5 minutes
7. Turn the heat up and add the final ingredients:
• 1 cup brown rice
• 1 big handful of spinach
• Salt (to taste)
• Small squeeze of lemon
8. Cook on high stirring constantly until spinach is totally wilted and cooked; serve hot

You can use just about any combination of vegetables. I try to balance the green and colored veggies. An alternative veggie mix would use green beans, zucchini, red chard, asparagus and cauliflower and fresh diced 2 tomatoes

Almost any nut will work – pine nuts, peanuts, almonds (especially slivered almonds) or pecans. If you are not vegan adding scrambled eggs is a nice touch.

If you don’t have brown rice you can use white rice, pasta or quinoa instead.

Your imagination is the only limit!

Bean Veggie Burgers

I grew up eating veggie patties.  Mom would serve them smothered in gravy and accompanied by potatoes and a veggies. Leftovers would be recycled as “hamburgers” for lunches or snacks.  We usually have some sort of veggie burger or veggie loaf in the fridge for exactly the same reason.

I probably have 25 versions of this recipe, but this happens to be the one I used today.

BEAN VEGGIE PATTIES/BURGERS

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees
2. Lightly oil a cookie sheet
3. In a large frying pan sauté 2 cups of grated veggies in olive oil.  The important thing is two cups of veggies not the kinds, but for the record here is what we used today was
• 1 medium onion
• Garlic to taste
• Mixed peppers (I use a mix of Jalapeno and Anaheim)
• 1 carrot
4. When onions are clear add herbs and spices and continue to cook 5 minutes longer (you may need to add a little extra oil):
• 1Tablespoons fresh thyme or 1Teaspoons dried
• 1 Teaspoons dried mustard or 1Tablespoon prepared mustard
• Optional:  1 teaspoon salt
• Optional:  1  teaspoon of cumin
5. While the veggies are sautéing, get out the food processor
• Grind 1/2 c of dried bread into crumbs
6. When the veggies are done throw them into the food processor with the dried bread crumbs and add
• 1 1/2 cup of black beans (or 1 15 oz can of drained black beans
• 1/4 cup applesauce or for those who are not vegan add 1 egg
• 1/4 cup chia seeds
• 1 Teaspoon olive oil
7. Pulse the entire mixture in the food processor about 20 times or until it is well mixed and then empty it into a large bowl
8. Take a handful of the mixture and make it into a 3 inch ball; you should have  between 6 and 8 patties
9. Place on cookie sheet and bake for 1/2 hour
10. Pull patties out of the oven and turn over; once they are turned use the spatula to gently flatten each one out
11. Return to the oven and bake for 1/2 hour

If you are in a hurry or you don’t want to heat the kitchen up with the oven you can always fry them in a shallow pan.  In any case the extras make wonderful sandwiches.

Got any veggie burger recipes you want to share?  Send them to me! I will try them out and then publish them giving you full credit and a link to your email, blog or website.

Quick White Bean Soup

The advantage of cooking a big batch of beans on Sunday is that even after making the Baked Beans, I still have some extra.  There a probably a thousand ways to use extra beans.

One of my favorites is to make a quick soup to heat and eat for lunches or to add to dinner when you want a little something more.  Lots of nutrition and great low calorie treat.

This is a family favorite


Quick White Bean Soup
In a large frying pan or Dutch oven sauté in olive oil:

• Garlic to taste
• 1 medium onion
• 1/2 cup mirepoix
1. When onions are clear add herbs and spices and veggies. .Continue to cook 5 minutes longer (you may need to add a little extra oil):
• 2 Tablespoons fresh rosemary or 2 Teaspoons dried
• 2 Tablespoons fresh oregeno or 2 Teaspoons dried
• Optional herbs will depend on the greens you choose like dill, mustard, basil
• 1 cup of greens (whatever you have or can scrounge up like chard, spinach, kale, beet greens, turnip greens)
• 1t salt
2. Sauté until greens are completely wilted
3. Add
1. 2 cups (or 1 15oz can) cooked white beans
2. 1 15 oz cans of diced tomatoes or 2 cups chopped fresh tomatoes
3. 2 c water  You may want to add more or less
4. Bring to a boil; turn down to simmer for 10-20 minutes

I often make this soup with more garlic, onions and herbs and leave out the tomatoes. It still is yummy

Southwestern Baked Beans

Beans are one of those wonderfully healthy foods.  High in fiber, protein and minerals and very low in calories. So when it comes to baked beans, I always been ambivalent about eating them. I like fact that they burst with flavor but all the brown sugar and molasses give me great pause.

Beans, especially white beans, are pretty much flavorless. So we decided to try something different.   Over the winter (when having the oven on felt great) we did a bunch of baked navy bean experiments and came up with our favorite. It is flavorful, filling and tastes as good with honey in it as without.


Southwest Baked Beans.

1. Soak 3 cups navy or any other white beans overnight and then pressure cook for 10 minutes (Or you can used precooked/canned white beans )
2. In a large frying pan or Dutch oven sauté in olive oil:
• Garlic to taste
• 1 medium onion
• 1 cup mixed peppers (I use a mix of Bell, Jalapeno and Anaheim)
• 1 cup mirepoix
3. When onions are clear add herbs and spices and continue to cook 5 minutes longer (you may need to add a little extra oil):
• 2 Tablespoons fresh basil or 2 Teaspoons dried
• 2 Tablespoons fresh oregeno or 2 Teaspoons dried
• 2 Tablespoons dried and ground mustard or 3 Teaspoons prepared mustard
• 1t salt
• Optional spices include cumin, dill, ginger and cilantro
4. Mix  together
• Cooked Beans from above
• Veges and herbs from above
• 1 15 oz cans of diced tomatoes or 2 cups chopped fresh tomatoes
• 1 cup favorite salsa
• 2T honey; this is optional and mainly cuts the acid from the tomatoes
• Salt, Pepper and mustard to taste
5. Bake at 350 for 1 hour covered; uncover and continue to bake for 1-2 hours in a conventional oven. 

There are a couple of notable variations on this basic recipe. For example:

• If you do not want to heat up the kitchen cut the liquids by 25% and put the entire mixture into a crockpot or slow cook and let bake for 3-4 hours stirring occasionally
• Do not precook the beans add 25% more liquid and bake in the oven for 6-7 hours.  Be sure to stir about every hour and
• Do not precook the beans and cook them in the crockpot or slow cook cooker for 8-10 hours.  Stir occasionally and add liquid as needed

These beans work well with corn on the cob, potato salad, cole slaw, on toast and even as an accompaniment to veggie burgers.

What to Eat -- Sample weekly menu

Since we are constantly asked what we eat, I have decided to post our dinner menu plan for this coming week.  Over the next few days I will add the cooking tips and the recipes we use.
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There are several things to note – we almost always have certain basics in our fridge.  These include cooked brown rice and prepared beans of some type; this week it is navy beans.  In our cupboards we keep a supply of things like olive oil, nuts, herbs, spices, canned and frozen veggies and salsa. As a practical matter we buy bulk and stock items like rice, beans, nuts, flours, oils, herbs and spices once a month on a “big shop” day.

Every weekend David and I spend part of a day procuring and preparing the food for the week. We have a lot of fun and use it as quality time together spent shopping, cooking, talking and singing to the tunes on Pandora.

Yesterday was the day.

First to the market for seasonal veggies.  One of the big things I hear all the time about healthy eating is that it is expensive.  It really isn’t! Because we eat a primarily plant based diet, we are spared the expense of meat, eggs, milk and other dairy products. But I digress. . .

Back to shopping, sure we prefer local, but it is not cheating to shop at Costco or Sam’s Club or even WalMart for things like containers of organic spinach, onions, carrots and celery.  It also pays to look for your local supermarket specials!

For the regular weekly fresh things we try to shop local.  It can get pricey so that idea is to buy only what you will used.  A handy trick for keeping the cost down is to decide exactly what you can afford to spend and then get that amount of cash from the ATM and go shopping (cash in hand). The game is to find fresh foods that are reasonably priced,look good and are fresh and still stay on budget. 

This week there were lots of great spring choices at good prices.  We spent under $40 which included a huge splurge on fresh organic tomatoes at $3.50 a pound. Here is what we came home with:

• yellow onions
• celery
• carrots
• corn on the cob
• a bunch of red leaf lettuce
• cucumbers
• tomatoes
• green onions
• baby spinach
• asparagus

Back home we spent spent some time in the kitchen cooking:

• mirepoix
• cups of brown rice in the rice cooker. 
• a couple of bags of navy beans in the pressure cooker
• Made 1/2 the beans into  Southwestern Baked Beans in my crock pot
• Roasted the asparagus in the oven (more about roasting later)

Here’s the menu plan based on what is in the fridge and cupboards and what we got at the store:

Monday	Greek Salad (uses lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, green onions) and Quick White Bean Soup
Tuesday	Southwestern Baked Beans (uses mirepoix), Corn on the Cob and cucumber salad
Wednesday	Pasta and veggies (uses asparagus and spinach) with tossed salad of lettuce, radishes and green onion (all fresh from our garden)
Thursday	Bean Patties (another recipe to look for), rice with sauteed spinach and chopped carrot/celery salad
Friday	Rice and Veggies (uses left over veggies, mirepoix and cashews)

I just made myself hungry!

Why Start This Down to Earth Fare Blog? Part 2

Yes, this experiment is an adventure in eating and changing our lives, but in the end it is more than that! Over the last year we have transformed our bodies – inside and out. 

Remember, a year ago, we are basically really healthy people*.  Sure, we had the typical complaints of aging boomers – aches and pains, digestive disruptions,allergies and lagging energy: all relatively minor particularly given where we had been even 10 years ago.

By any measure we were poster kids for good eating when we decided to explore the final frontier and eliminate, gluten, chemical food additives and animal products. I mean in the last 20+ years we had avoided sugar, eaten organically (mostly) and taken our vitamins. As a result we both had low to normal blood pressure, great cholesterol numbers and no blood sugar problems. David takes no medications and my only prescriptions are to alleviate the nastier side effects of menopause. 

So, when David starting talking about making these changes, I wasn’t even sure that it would make much difference in our health and well-being.

Well, I was wrong! 

Over the last year, David lost 50 pounds and I lost 30, despite never dieting. We just ate normal meals. David is wearing jeans that are 6 inches smaller in the waist.  I am down to size 4 jeans.  Did I mention, that we haven’t dieted at all?

The fire in my belly and my unruly digestive tract are cooled off and moving smoothly.  Our only aches and pains come from overdoing in the garden.  David’s blood pressure is down 20 points which matches mine at an average of 100/70. Our cholesterol numbers are a joke – in the low 130s (HDL is high and LDL is low) and triglycerides below 50. Allergies are less bothersome and we have tons of energy.

I feel so good it almost makes me sick!

We have been asked so many times what diet we went on, what foods we eat and don’t eat and how in the world we did it.  This blog will help answer some of those questions.

David and I  are both writing the story of what happened before this which we will post it later. We were both quite ill in our younger years. Over time we have educated ourselves and gone through a long process of change.  At the time we started this latest adventure we were both more healthy than anyone (including us) could have ever expected.

Why Start This Down to Earth Fare Blog?

I LOVE good food! For a lot of my life, you could have taken one look at me and figured that out. As an adult I have weighed 110 pounds and 190 pounds and everything in between. I have been on hundreds of diets, can count calories, carbs and points with the best of them. I can tell you from hard experience that vegetarianism does not equal skinny or healthy!

Let’s be clear – I am a lifelong vegetarian because my parents were vegetarians. I like to tell people that I am a vegetarian because I lack imagination. But truthfully, it is because the three or four times I actually ate meat, I got really sick! There isn’t much virtue in foregoing something that makes you sick.

Thirty years ago, I discovered that sugar made my joints hurt.  I eventually quit eating sugar. Besides there was the whole weight thing and sugar which was an added incentive.

Twenty five years ago, I figured out that MSG gave me killer headaches.  That was actually pretty easy to give up! Keeping it out of our diet has been a whole other story. . .

Twenty years ago I figured out that diet drinks, contrary to the name, made me fat and cranky.  In fact, any sugar substitute seemed to have the same effect.  I gave them up. 

Fifteen years ago, I could no longer deny that I had big digestive problems with dairy products.  That was just too damn bad, I wasn’t giving that up, too! Seemed like drinking gallons of aloe a month was a small price to pay as long as you didn’t really bother to do the math.

For the last 20 years,I have been a champion label reader who tried to minimized food additives, buy organic and eat whole foods.  I considered myself one of the most nutritionally conscious people I knew.

Then David (my other half), the carnivore in the family, finally developed his very own dietary restriction; a gluten allergy. So, guess what we eliminated from our diet. . .

The final straw was seeing Forks Over Knives. David was so intrigued that he ordered a copy of The China Study. He actually read every page. Twice. He was a believer.

That was it!  We decided to give the whole vegan thing a try. I figured if he was willing to make that drastic of a change in his eating patterns, the least I could do was give up eggs and dairy!

The result has been, and continues to be, a series of experiments and adventures in shopping, cooking, gardening and eating.

This is the story of our journey.