Featured Recipes

This month's newsletter recipes come from Lindsay Nixon, author of four Happy Herbivore Cookbooks.  All of her recipes are easy to make, delicious, and follow the McDougall guidelines.  The following recipes come from her latest cookbook, Happy Herbivore Light and Lean.  All of these recipes take 30 minutes or less to prepare and all are delicious. The November issue of The McDougall Newsletter also featured a few recipes from this newest cookbook from Lindsay.  If you haven't tried any of her recipes yet, I highly recommend that you start cooking!!

Caribbean Bowl
Single serving
Soy-free, Gluten-free, Quick, Budget, Single Serving

I love the pairing of black beans and pineapple! Inspired by the Caribbean Chili (in full cookbook), now you have a Caribbean Bowl too! Avocado and guacamole also make a nice addition.

Line a pot with a thin layer of water, bring to a boil, add kale, and cover for about a minute (the kale will turn bright green). Give it a stir so all of the kale is bright green and softer, then drain. Mix in quinoa and/or beans to warm it up a bit, if desired. (I like to serve this with everything warm except the salsa, pineapple, and green onion, which are chilled.) Transfer to a bowl and toss with salsa, pineapple, and green onions, leaving a few onion pieces for garnish. You can also drizzle hot sauce on top if desired.

Variation
Make it a Wrap: Divide ingredients (skipping quinoa and using spinach instead of kale) into two wraps, for approximately 196 calories each.

Thai Tacos
Soy-free, Gluten-free, Quick, Budget
Under 200 calories

My beloved chickpea tacos get reinvented with a little Thai flavoring and cool coleslaw. These tacos come together in a snap but present beautifully and are perfect in the summer when it's too hot to cook. The slaw is also great on its own as a side!

Makes 6
1 15-oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
chili powder
4 c shredded cabbage (green, red, or a combination)
1 tbsp Vegan Mayo (below) or plain vegan yogurt
2–3 tbsp sweet red chili sauce, divided
lime zest
juice of 1 small lime
sea salt (optional)
1–2 green onions, sliced Asian hot sauce (e.g.,Sriracha; optional)
6 corn tortillas
cilantro (optional)

Mash chickpeas with a fork in a small bowl until they crumble. Sprinkle with chili powder as desired, stir, and sprinkle again to taste, then set aside. In another bowl, combine cabbage with mayo, 2 tbsp chili sauce, 1 tsp lime zest (about 1⁄2 of the small lime), and juice from 1 lime slice, and stir to combine. Taste, adding more chili sauce, lime juice, or zest as desired. I also like to add a pinch of sea salt. Stir in green onion, reserving some for garnish. (For a spicier dish, you can also add an Asian hot sauce like Sriracha to taste.) Spoon chickpea mixture into tortillas. Top with slaw. Garnish with a few green onions and cilantro leaves if using. Drizzle with extra hot sauce if desired (a little goes a long way; it's explosive!).

Per Taco
Calories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
Fat. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.4g
Carbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28.4g
Fiber. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5.8g
Sugars. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.7g
Protein. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.1g
WW Points. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Pumpkin Pancakes
Makes 6 pancakes

Come fall, I love anything that has pumpkin in it. I'm a sucker for the pumpkin flavoring, but I also feel good about slipping squash into my food. This means that any recipe of mine that can get a little pumpkin love does—including my pancakes!

1 c white whole-wheat flour
1 tbsp baking powder
½ tsp pumpkin pie spice
pinch salt
4 tbsp pure pumpkin (canned)
1 c nondairy milk (any flavor)
1 tbsp brown sugar (optional)
pure maple syrup (for dipping)

In a mixing bowl, whisk flour with baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, and salt until well combined. Stir in pure pumpkin, nondairy milk, and sugar if using. Let batter rest for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, heat a nonstick skillet. When a drop of water fizzles on the skillet, It's ready. Turn heat down to low and pour pancake batter into skillet, ¼ cup at a time. Cook on one side until bubbles form, about 2 minutes, then gently flip it over and cook another 2–3 minutes. Repeat until you are out of batter. Dip in maple syrup, if desired.

Per Pancake (without Toppings):
Calories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Fat. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .0.8g
Carbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18.3g
Sugars. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1g
Fiber. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.1g
Protein. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2.4g
WW Points. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Vegan Mayo
Gluten-free, Fat-free, Quick, Budget
Under 50 calories

Here is my easy and inexpensive recipe for making your own low-fat vegan mayo at home.

Makes 1 cup

1 12.3-oz pkg Mori-Nu tofu
2–3 tbsp Dijon mustard
2 tsp distilled white vinegar
lemon juice
agave nectar

Blend tofu with Dijon and vinegar until creamy. Add a few drops of lemon juice and agave nectar, and blend again. Taste and add more lemon, agave nectar, or Dijon as needed. Serve chilled.

Chocolate Chip Cookies
Makes 16
Soy-free, Fat-free, Quick, Budget, Pantry

These are the best low-fat chocolate chip cookies you'll ever eat! They're ridiculously addictive fresh out of the oven. You've been warned.

1⁄3 c unsweetened applesauce
½ c light brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
¼ c nondairy milk
1 c whole-wheat pastry flour
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp fine salt
1 tbsp cornstarch
few dashes of ground cinnamon
½ c vegan chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350˚F. Grease cookie sheet or line with parchment paper. In a large bowl, combine applesauce, sugar, vanilla extract, and nondairy milk. In a small bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, salt, cornstarch, and ground cinnamon together. Transfer the dry mixture into the wet mixture in three batches. Stir until almost combined. Fold in chips. Drop spoonfuls on cookie sheet and bake for 7–10 minutes for a soft and light cookie or a few minutes more for a firmer cookie, being careful not to burn.

Variation:
Double Chocolate Chip Cookies: Replace 2 tbsp of flour with 2 tbsp of unsweetened cocoa.

Chef's Note:
For a firmer cookie, work a fresh banana into the flour (crumble it in until you have clumps). If your
banana is ripe, reduce sugar.

Carrot Loaf
By Mary McDougall

This was a favorite during the McDougall Adventure trip to Hawaii in January of 2014.  The recipe is from the New McDougall Cookbook and the chef at the Mauna Lani Resort served it with barbeque sauce.  We all went back for seconds!!

Preparation Time:  45 minutes (need cooked rice and beans)
Cooking Time:  1 hour
Servings:  6-8

3 cups grated carrot
2 cups cooked brown rice
2 cups mashed cooked garbanzo beans
1 cup whole wheat bread crumbs
1/3 cup tahini
1 cup finely chopped onion
1 cup finely chopped celery
½ cup finely chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon soy sauce
¼ cup vegetable broth
2 cloves garlic
4 teaspoons Egg Replacer, well beaten with 8 tablespoons water
¼ cup soy milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, mix the carrot, rice, garbanzo beans, bread crumbs, and tahini.

In a saucepan, sauté the onion, celery, parsley and soy sauce in the ¼ cup of vegetable broth for 5 minutes.

In a blender, puree the garlic cloves with the Egg Replacer/water mixture.

Add all of the ingredients, including the soy milk, to the carrot mixture and mix well.

Press the mixture into a nonstick loaf pan and bake, uncovered, for 1 hour, or until it is firm to the touch.  Remove the loaf from the pan by loosening with a spatula and then inverting over a plate to allow the loaf to drop out of the pan.

Serve with sauce or gravy of your choice.