October 2012
Volume 11 Issue 10

October 2012 Recipes

We recently completed an 8 day live-in immersion program for 66 Whole Foods Market Team Members.  It was an exciting and motivating program for all the attendees, and I think I can confidently say that they all returned home with new-found knowledge on how to regain their health and to stay healthy and trim in the future.  They learned from our usual inspiring speakers, cooking instructors and exercise trainers, but this time they also had the added experience of two cooking demonstrations from Chad Sarno, the Health Starts Here Senior Culinary Educator from Whole Foods Market.  I attended both of his classes and was so impressed with his ability to inspire, multi-task and teach the participants the basics of healthy cooking. He made some delicious recipes and taught us many different ways to incorporate wonderful flavors into food without the addition of oil.  He was kind enough to let me share some of the recipes from his classes with all of you this month.  Many more delicious recipes can be found on the Whole Foods website; navigate the site carefully to find the healthy recipes that meet our standards.  There are many to choose from as well as instructions on cooking without oil and other nutritious tips. Enjoy!

The following recipes are some of the ones that Chad Sarno shared with the group in October of 2012.

Kale Avocado Salad
1 head kale, any variety is great, shredded
1 large tomato diced, or red bell pepper, diced
1 ½ avocado chopped
2 tablespoons red onion, green onion, or leek, fine diced
1 lemon, juiced
pinch of cayenne

In mixing bowl toss all ingredients together (using your hands), squeezing as you mix to ‘wilt’ the kale and cream the avocado. Serve immediately. This dish is also great with chard or spinach as a substitute for the kale.
Mary’s note:  Heather, my daughter, has made this twice already since enjoying it in the class last week. She used diced red pepper, left out the onions, and sprinkled Gomasio (sesame salt with seaweed) over the top before serving.  Parma (a vegan parmesan cheese substitute) would also be delicious sprinkled over the top of this salad.


Red Lentil Dahl
1 1/2 tablespoons cumin seeds
1 tablespoon coriander seeds
1 small white onion, diced
1 red Serrano or cayenne pepper, depending on how much heat you can take (optional)
2 cups red lentils
4 cups vegetable stock (or water)
1 cup almond milk
1 1/2 tablespoons ginger, minced, or zested with microplane zester
½ teaspoon black pepper, or to taste
2 tablespoons lemon zest (about 1 lemon, using microplane zester)
2 lemons, juiced
½ bunch cilantro chopped (save some leaves for garnish)
3 tablespoons garlic and shallot buttah (see recipe below) optional

Put a large soup pot on medium heat and toast the cumin and coriander seeds in dry pot for 2 minutes until you get the spice aromas (this process releases all the flavor of the spices).
Add the red chili pepper and onions, stirring consistently until the onions are golden and translucent. Once onions begin to stick and brown, add 3 tablespoons of vegetable stock to caramelize.
Add the remaining ingredients except the lemon zest, lemon juice and cilantro. (And optional garlic buttah.)
Put on low heat, and cover. Allow to cook for about 20-25 minutes, until the lentils have ‘melted’. Stir occasionally. You may need to add more water to get the desired thickness of the soup you wish.
When soup is done, remove from heat and add the lemon zest, lemon juice and chopped cilantro, and optional buttah, if desired.

 

Roasted Garlic and Shallot
1 cup of garlic cloves-peeled
3 cups shallots, peeled and quartered
2 cups of water, or half low sodium vegetable stock / half water (make sure the liquid just covers the garlic)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In small shallow pan, place in garlic and shallots and make sure there is enough liquid to just cover the garlic and shallots. Allow to roast for 20-25 minutes. Make sure you are watching these closely, and when most liquid is dissolved and garlic and onions are a nice golden color they are done. Remove from oven and use for future recipes.
*Note –Make sure that you do not over roast the onions and garlic and they are removed when liquid is evaporated to avoid crispy bitter pieces. 

 

Garlic and Shallot Buttah
3 cups shallots and garlic roasted (see instructions above)
1 cup cashews, soaked
½-3/4 cup soy or almond milk
¼ teaspoon course black pepper

Use the roasted garlic and onions from the recipe above, and add to a high-speed blender with remaining ingredients and blend until smooth. This is a great condiment to have on hand to flavor any soup or sauce at the last minute, or spread on bread. It will keep in the refrigerator for at least a week.

Mary's Note: Chad added a couple of scoops of this (maybe a quarter of a cup) to some potatoes that he cooked and mashed with a small amount of unsweetened soymilk and served up creamy "buttery" garlic mashed potatoes. Delicious!

Almond Chile Sauce with Pasta
½ cup almond butter
1 ½ tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons chopped pitted dates
1 tablespoon chopped fresh ginger
2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1/2 small Serrano pepper, finely chopped (optional)
1/3 cup coconut water
Steamed broccoli
Freshly chopped cilantro
3-4 cups cooked soba noodles (or any cooked pasta)

In a blender or food processor, purée almond butter, lemon juice, dates, ginger, garlic, pepper and water until smooth. Transfer dressing to a large bowl, add steamed broccoli and cilantro and toss well. Serve over soba noodles or other cooked pasta.

Basic White Sauce
1 cup raw cashews, soaked (this is the most calorie dense option)
OR use 1 ½ c cooked white beans or 1 block of soft tofu (for a lower calorie dense sauce)
1 ½ onion, diced & steam fried in vegetable stock
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups unsweetened non-dairy milk
2 cups vegetable stock (low sodium) keep more on hand to change thickness/consistency (use to thin to desired consistency)
3 tablespoons nutritional yeast

Sauté onions and garlic with stock and steam fry until onions are translucent.  Add to blender with soaked cashews (or white beans or tofu), soy/nut milk and rest of ingredients and blend, adjusting thickness to desired consistency with vegetable stock. Add fresh herbs of your choice to finish.  This sauce will reduce and will continue to thicken on its own with time.

White Sauce Variations:
Creamed Greens: Steam fry onions and handfuls of chard or choice of greens, add white sauce and reduce. Serve with brown rice or other whole grains.
Gratins: In casserole dish, layer thinly sliced potatoes or other roots, with thin layer of sauce, continue to assemble in this format, seal with foil and bake for 35 minutes at 375 degrees for a creamy gratin.
‘Cheese Sauce’: Add roasted red bell pepper, onion powder and more nutritional yeast and blend.
Toss with broccoli, and bake in casserole dish for broccoli with cheese sauce.
Toss with al dente whole wheat penne or shells with corn, and peas, place in casserole dish and bake for mac and cheese.
Alfredo: Steam fry onions, mushrooms and broccoli, add al dente linguini, pour in sauce, toss, and reduce for 1 minute and serve with sprinkling of nutritional yeast for ‘parm’ substitute.
Carbonara Linguini: Steam fry some red onions, fresh peas and diced smoked tofu. Add al dente pasta to the pan, toss with a bit of sauce, add freshly chopped parsley and a touch of nutmeg, and reduce until thickened.

Basic Red Sauce
½ cup white onion, diced
4 cloves of garlic, fine minced
½ cup vegetable stock
6 cups Roma tomatoes diced (they can be blanched and peeled first as option) or 4 cans San Marzano crushed, no salt added tomatoes
1 tablespoon date paste / or ¼ cup shredded carrots (cooked when onions are caramelizing)
Cracked black pepper

In large sauté pan, steam fry the onion, garlic, in vegetable stock for 4 minutes or until onions are translucent. Add tomatoes and cook on low-medium heat for 8-10 minutes, tossing to be sure it does not stick. Add pepper. Remove from heat and serve.

Red Sauce Variations:
Classic Marinara: With onions, add in diced celery and carrots, add in basil, oregano, parsley, a pinch of chili flakes to finish.
Arabiatta Sauce: Add in thinly sliced yellow pickled banana peppers, chili flakes and lots of parsley.
Enchilada Sauce: Add 3 T vinegar, 2 T date paste, cumin, chili blend powder, and lots of cilantro.
Primavera Sauce: Add diced mixed vegetables of your choice, and lots of Italian herbs.
Rosé Sauce: Mix 50/50 basic white sauce and basic red. Add more nutritional yeast and Italian herbs of choice.
So many more options when adding in roasted veggies, beans, choice of herbs, etc…enjoy!

 

 

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Dr. McDougall's Health and Medical Center
P.O. Box 14039, Santa Rosa, CA 95402

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