Featured Recipes

Timaree Hagenburger, MPH, RD, EP-c, The Nutrition Professor, is all about creating simple meals that taste great, save time and make you feel fantastic, because life is better when you "love the food that loves you back." Her first book, The Foodie Bar™ Way, is an approach to meals and snacks that will keep everyone happy, and the refrigerator packed with vibrant whole foods and delicious plant-based options.

Say goodbye to eating the same meals day after day or arguing about what to cook that everyone will like, only to give up, go out, and be disappointed by how much you spent and how crummy the food made you feel afterwards. No more sacrificing our health in the name of convenience or to avoid confrontation with our families over what they "should" eat and what they "want" to eat. Instead of being divided when it comes to nourishing our bodies, The Foodie Bar™ Way is about bringing friends and family together around the table to enjoy one meal, with lots of options, so that everyone's happy!

What is the secret? Setting up Foodie Bars™ and giving everyone an opportunity to "build-their-own!" Timaree has done the heavy lifting for you by putting together an array of ideas to customize familiar meals with ingredients that "love you back!" You just set out the options and everyone can assemble the combination that's just right for them. You'll see how foods that are the very best for us fill the table and the disease-promoting choices are crowded out!

With great information like how to set yourself up for success in the kitchen and keeping produce lasting longer, and featuring 32 Foodie Bars™ and 94 recipes, including a Loaded Potato Bar, Mediterranean Fajita Bar, 'Dilla Bar, Pasta Bar and even a Dessert Nacho Bar, this book will meet everyone where they are. Whether you are a first time cook or professional chef, the simplicity and diversity of The Foodie Bar™ Way will draw you in and you'll never run out of options to make food delicious, fun, flavorful and personalized! Not only is there a color picture for each recipe, but all are OIL FREE, and do not use any refined flour or sweeteners!

Think Forks Over Knives meets Chipotle with a sprinkle of The Flavor Bible… all McDougall-style!

Special note for parents and grandparents - The Foodie Bar™ Way is also excellent for simultaneously encouraging autonomy and fostering teamwork in the kitchen and around the table, while providing a "safe" way to branch out to trying new ingredients and flavors, while starting in a comfortable place with familiar favorites.

Recipes:

Scrambled Tacos (featured combination from the Scramble Foodie Bar™)

Not only are these super tasty, they are also extremely economical and once made, will last in the fridge for several days and be enough to fill 20 tacos! Then, a satisfying meal can be ready in less than 5 minutes, any time of day! If you are a more traditional breakfast eater, make a batch of the filling and enjoy these at lunch or dinner.

Ingredients
¾ c red onion, thinly sliced or finely diced
1 T garlic, minced or pressed
1 large carrot, finely grated
10 ounces kale*, fresh or frozen, finely chopped
15 ounces organic tofu, extra firm – water packed – not silken*
½ t turmeric powder
½ teaspoon black pepper, ground
½ t sea salt, optional
2 T nutritional yeast flakes, optional
12 ounce jar of salsa
1 ½ c black beans, cooked (or 15 ounce can of black beans, rinsed)
Optional, but wonderful toppings: avocado, cilantro, purple cabbage (finely sliced), hot sauce, salsa, pico de gallo, squeeze of fresh lime juice

Directions

• Drain tofu from package, wrap in a clean dish towel or paper towels, and press out extra water. Transfer to a medium sized bowl, mash with a fork until crumbly, mix in turmeric, salt, pepper and nutritional yeast.
• Heat pan over medium high and add the red onion, cooking until softened and lightly brown, 3-5 minutes. Add garlic and carrot, cook for 1-2 minutes, add chopped kale and cook for another 3-5 minutes.
• Add tofu mixture, salsa, and black beans to veggies and cook for a few minutes until heated through and any extra liquid in pan has evaporated.

The Nutrition Professor's Shop Smart, Cook Smart, Eat Smart Tips

• Buy refrigerated tofu either packed in water in a plastic tub or vacuum sealed. Do not use tofu labeled "silken" for this recipe, which is most often sold in a shelf stable aseptic carton/box, (think juice box).
• Use a variety of chopped leafy greens: kale, collard greens, spinach, mustard greens or chard. Frozen chopped greens (unthawed) can be pulsed in the food processor without turning into a liquid.
• Serve on crisp romaine lettuce leaves for an alternative to tortillas.

Southwestern Stuffed Sweet Potatoes (featured combination from the Loaded Potato Foodie Bar™)

This meal is very easy to prepare and super satisfying! Once I explain to my students how to make it, they try it once, and then it becomes a "go-to meal" for busy nights. Tracy and Scott (our cameraman extraordinaire) loved it so much, that they stopped on the way home from shooting the California Bountiful TV segment to pick up the ingredients!

Ingredients
Sweet potatoes, light colored flesh, rinsed, but NOT peeled

Toppings (amount for one potato)
½ c (or more) of chopped fresh greens*
½ c (or more) cooked beans- my favorites for this dish are chili beans or black beans
¼- ½ c red/purple cabbage, thinly slice/shaved
2 T (or more) salsa
Avocado, several slices diced
2 T fresh cilantro, chopped
2 T scallions, chopped small
Lime (for squeezing)

Directions

• Place rinsed sweet potatoes* directly on oven rack (do not wrap in foil) and place a large piece of foil on the rack below to catch any drips. Roast at 350-375F until tender, approx. 30-40 mins.
• Slice steaming hot sweet potato open and fill with chopped greens, then beans (warm up if cold), cabbage, salsa, cilantro, scallions, avocado and a squeeze of lime juice. 

The Nutrition Professor's Shop Smart, Cook Smart, Eat Smart Tips

• When choosing sweet potatoes, be sure that they are heavy for their size, firm (no soft spots or wrinkled ends), and of similar size, so that they will roast in about the same time.
• Be sure to roast enough sweet potatoes to use for the rest of the week, so they will be at your fingertips when you come home hungry!
• Any fresh greens will work, including baby spinach, kale or chard.

Thin-crust Kale Pizza (featured combination from the Pizza Foodie Bar™)

This delicious recipe is super quick to put together, so it works well for a weeknight dinner or if you are feeding more than just a few, it can be a fun way to get everyone involved in the preparation! You might hesitate when you see kale on the ingredient list, but go ahead and MAKE IT! You will love it and be amazed that you are eating kale! The amounts are approximates, as everyone likes their pizza a little different when it comes to how much of each topping. You may also want to add other toppings, like finely chopped steamed broccoli, very thinly sliced zucchini, garlicky mushrooms, or bell peppers.

Ingredients
3 c raw kale (any variety)*, cleaned and finely chopped (confetti-sized pieces)*
2-4 T sun-dried tomatoes, chopped into strips
4 T artichoke hearts, diced small
2 T olives, diced small
2-4 T red onion, sliced thin or Pickled Red Onions (FBW pg238)
⅓ c Quick Tomato Sauce (FBW pg256) or your favorite recipe or brand
Whole wheat Lavash Bread, large piece ~12 in x 8 in

Directions

• Clean and dry the kale (see tips), then chop it finely, to about the size of confetti.
• Cut the Lavash Bread in half to make 2 "pizzas" and toast in 400°F oven for a few minutes on a pizza screen, until crisp.
• Spread a layer of sauce on the toasted Lavash bread (must toast without toppings first), then sprinkle on some sun-dried tomatoes, then add a GENEROUS layer of kale (don't be scared!), followed by the chopped olives, artichoke hearts and onions.
• Put the pizzas back in the oven for 5-8 minutes, just to heat the toppings and begin to wilt the kale.
• Slice each pizza into six pieces with a chef's knife to make it a bit easier to eat, and start munching as soon as it is cool enough to pick up!

The Nutrition Professor's Shop Smart, Cook Smart, Eat Smart Tips

• Any variety of kale can be used for this recipe (green curly kale, lacinato or dinosaur kale and red/ purple kale). Rinse the kale under cool running water, rip bite sized pieces of the leaves off of the stems and let them soak in a large bowl of ice water for 5-10 minutes (or up to several hours if you are busy with other tasks). Reserve the stems for later use.
• Dry the kale with a salad spinner or by wrapping in paper towel.
• I finely chop the kale stems and add them to our weekly salad mix or mirepoix (carrot, celery and onion) when making soup or I throw them into stir-fries.

T's Dreamy Chocolate Sauce (featured in the Dessert Nacho, Breakwich and Fruit Skewers Foodie Bars™)

Developing this recipe was so exciting, as it was "love at first bite" for my kids! Their smiles grew bigger as they considered all of the possibilities! This chocolate sauce is truly "dreamy" for many reasons! Not only is it crazy delicious, but it is a cinch to whip up with just a handful of ingredients that you probably already have on hand, but never realized worked so well together and were energy boosters! While this stellar sauce would last the in fridge for a few days, my guess is that it will vanish pretty quickly! Try it as a topping for homemade pancakes or waffles, drizzle it into a whole grain tortilla or crepe filled with fresh fruit, add it to oatmeal with sliced banana and walnuts or make Dessert Nachos (FBW pg200).

Ingredients
5 Medjool dates (pits* removed, soaked in ¾ c water)
1 T cashews (can soak with dates)
2 T unsweetened cocoa/cacao powder
½ c cooked black beans*
¼ t cinnamon
½ t vanilla
Extra water on hand to add to during blending

Directions

• In a high-powered blender, combine all of the ingredients, including the soaking water for the dates, and blend until silky smooth.
• Add extra water, a tablespoon or so at a time, (up to ~5 T total), to achieve the right consistency, (a semi-thick sauce rather than a stiff dip).
• Store in a squeeze bottle, in the back of the fridge.

The Nutrition Professor's Shop Smart, Cook Smart, Eat Smart Tips

• Be sure to double check that you have removed the pit from each of the dates. If you miss one, it will definitely ruin your sauce, and maybe even your blender!
• While any cooked bean will work, black beans are best due to their color.

About Timaree:
As a major foodie, college nutrition professor, registered dietitian, and former omnivore, I transitioned ~5 years ago and have been raising my family (husband & 2 children: 9 & 12) on a nutrient-dense, whole food, plant-based diet ever since, while educating my college students, clients, colleagues and friends about the benefits and practicality of this amazing shift. I took my father through Dr. McDougall's 10 Day Program in August of 2012 and loved every minute of it!  I have also inspired my parents, my sister, her husband and 4 kids, my dean and many other friends and colleagues, along with many, many students to adopt a whole food, plant-based, oil-free way to be!

In addition to my full-time teaching position, I do corporate wellness work, am on a worldwide wellness team for Apple, write a monthly column for my local newspaper, recently shot my 30th segment for California Bountiful TV, manage www.thenutritionprofessor.com, have spoken at several VegFests and have made some big progress in the plant-based direction at Cosumnes River College. In Oct 2013, I was proud and honored to bring Dr. McDougall to speak on campus to a packed recital hall and overflow room! I have since created a chartered student club called Thrive On Plants (TOP). TOP's mission: To support greater wellness through whole food plant-based choices, joyful movement, lifelong learning and mindful practices, and to fulfill our potential while celebrating life. We are thrilled to launch our Plant-Based Nutrition and Sustainable Agriculture Certificate Program starting fall 2017. This program brings the whole food, plant-based approach full circle, with courses in the science of plant-based nutrition, plant-based cooking and hands-on sustainable agriculture (taught by our horticulture faculty). 

Self-publishing my first cookbookhas been a dream come true! Staring up at hundreds of different cookbooks lining high shelves in my kitchen, I have to pinch myself when I look over and see mine on the cookbook stand! My nine year old made me smile the other day when she said, "I can't believe that we are actually cooking from your book! I know that you have been working so hard on it, but it just hit me that it is actually done and here!"  I feel the same way and get goosebumps each time someone tells me about how much fun they are having with the book! Ebook and print copies of The Foodie Bar™ Way: One meal. Lots of Options. Everyone's happy. currently available at www.FoodieBars.com and Amazon.com.