New Post for a New Path.

Ethiopian Cabbage, Carrots, and Potatoes (Atakilt Wat) and Basmati Rice

Recipe modified from Vegan Richa's Original Recipe here: 

https://www.veganricha.com/atakilt-wat-ethiopian-cabbage-potato/

It's time to heal from all the chaos of the last few years. In an effort to do something for myself and motivate myself to eat better, I signed up for and just completed the Plant-Based Nutrition Certificate at the T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies. Woo! 

Well, it worked. Better than I anticipated. 

The importance of no added oil was mostly unknown to me before taking this course! I took it to motivate myself to eat better ... which, for me, means to eat vegan. I also didn't anticipate being so motivated to cut out processed foods. So, a mostly Whole Foods Plant-Based (WFPB) diet it is! I'm not one to do most things rigidly and I usually have most success when I make gradual change. These things I know about myself. Progress over perfection. 

So, no added oil cooking was a bit of a mystery to me. I've never cooked this way. Every salad dressing I made had oil in it. First step was to find some yummy things to make! I'll record some of my endeavors here. 

First up ... I made this recipe from Vegan Richa using no added oil. Ingredient list and method of preparation via the link above. I revised it to make it no oil by steaming the carrots and potatoes. I also sautéed the onion, ginger, garlic, and hot pepper in a non stick pan in some water. I added the spices and then added the shredded cabbage. It actually worked! 

I thought it would be best served with some vegan raita. So, maybe some plain vegan yogurt made into raita on top would be super yummy. 

 

I also made my standard basmati rice recipe sans oil as well. It worked! 

Oil-Free BASMATI RICE  

1 cup of rice to 1 1/2 cups of water

Heat dry pan and add dry rice. Toast the rice for a few seconds. 

Add water, stir, bring to a boil. 
As soon as the water is boiling, lower heat to low, cover the saucepan, and do not disturb for exactly 15 minutes. Turn heat off and boom! Rice. 

**Sometimes I add a cinnamon stick and a few whole cloves to enhance the flavor.

Attempts at Healthier Eating and New Cookbooks! Whoo hoo!

I made the granola and açaí bowl from Julie Montagu's Superfoods cookbook. I am never buying granola again! This was so, so good and made of only healthy things - no sugar. I LOVE this cookbook so far. The recipes are super healthy and all vegan. You might know Julie Montagu from Ladies of London on Bravo. Not only is she a healthy guru, she is also a Viscountess! She married the heir to the Earl of Sandwich. Neat!

I also made the Creamy Carrot Soup and Whole Food Proteins bowl from the Rawsome Vegan Cookbook this week. OMG! This was also so, so good and packed with healthy things. I found a purple sweet potato at Whole Foods this week and it was out of this world good. I didn't know potatoes could taste that good. Damn. Anyway, every recipe in this book looks like something I want to make. It's gonna get a lot of use.

Chewie was being so precious today that I had a hard time leaving for work - more than usual when I look at his cuteness. He got a haircut and a new bed. Both seem to be agreeing with him.

Healthy Apple Crisp and other yummy things ...

Easy Healthy Apple Crisp

Ingredients:
5 medium red apples
ground cinnamon to taste
1 cup almond flour (or just pulse some raw almonds in your food processor until you get flour like consistency)
3 tablespoons coconut oil
1/2 cup crushed walnuts
pinch of ground nutmeg

Method:
Layer thinly sliced apples in a baking dish and generously sprinkle them with cinnamon. (I use a mandolin to slice them really thin.)

In a small bowl, combine the almond flour, coconut oil, walnuts, and nutmeg. Then, sprinkle the mixture over the apples. Bake the crisp at 350F for about 20 mins or until the apples are soft. Serve warm.

If you have leftovers, you can put them in a bowl with some almond mylk for breakfast! Yum!

Recipe from: Clean Eats by Alejandro Junger

My local veggie stand had avocados for $1! So, I also made some guacamole and avocado ranch dressing for tonight's salad.



Guacamole

Salad with Organic Lettuce and Beets from our Local CSA, cucumbers, kalamata olives, and green onions

Pesto with Rice Noodles and BEYOND Vegan Chik Strips

Avocado Ranch Dressing

Avocado Ranch dressing and "Bestest Pesto" recipes are in Isa Does It by Isa Chandra Moskowitz

Chewie got a haircut today too. XOXO

September Cleanse!

So, September is when I like to celebrate the new year ... It feels like a new start. So, this year I'm cleaning out my closets and my insides!

I read CLEAN by Alejandro Junger and his thoughts about healthy eating seem to, for the most part, gel with mine. Part of the cleanse is to do a shake for breakfast, whole foods for lunch, and a shake for dinner. I'm eating whole foods for lunch and dinner, but I'm following the cleanse otherwise; that is, no caffeine, no diary, no processed foods, no alcohol, no soy, no sugar, no corn, no nightshade veggies (potatoes, peppers, tomatoes, etc.), no wheat ... did I forget anything? LOL And, I'm drinking 2 litres of purified water a day.

The withdrawal symptoms following giving up caffeine were rough! I had my last coffee on Thursday, August 27th, and I had a dull headache from that Friday until Wednesday 9/2! I was achy and lethargic ... ugh. I'd been wanting to give up caffeine for a while, so this was a welcome detox in any event.

Now that the caffeine detox is over, I feel great! I've been doing lots of cooking and cleaning. I filled 4 giant bags with clothes to donate to the thrift store and my closets and drawers are still stuffed. haha! Fashionista issues ... I also bought the CLEAN EATS cookbook. It's got some great recipes for super healthy smoothies, salad and dressings, and dips - just ignore the non-vegan recipes.

Here are my favorite things I made this week:

Raw Berry Cream Brownies! These are really, really good and super easy to make! The hardest part is shopping for all the ingredients. The recipe is from Kris Carr's website and you can click HERE to find it. :) My advice is to double the recipe as the original recipe seems to make a teensie tiny bit.

 

Thanks to this week's CSA bounty, I cooked up some delicata squash and beet and collard greens with some pesto noodles for dinner last night. 

And ... OMG! These brown rice wakame noodles are SO FRIGGIN' GOOD! Gluten free, vegan, and delicious. I used Isa Chandra's Bestest Pesto recipe from p.140 of Isa Does It and mixed it with the noodles and some cannellini beans. Delightful.