A Vegan Trifecta

Last week a cookbook was recommended to me by a friend, Scott, who is a far better cook than me. In fact, he's really a chef, only he's a lawyer who cooks just for fun. He is also a self-proclaimed meat addict. But he really put himself outside of his comfort zone and signed on to do the Whole Foods 28 Day Engine 2 Challenge. I'd like to think that I had something to do with inspiring him to try out this plant strong way of eating, after seeing my transformation. We'll never know.

I think Scott considers himself officially "plant strong" now, if not completely vegan. He's gone through quite a transformation himself, both physically and psychologically. Not only has he dropped more than 30 pounds since dropping the meat, he's dropped the emotional ups and downs that he used to experience. His testimony is actually quite moving.

So when Scott told me about a cookbook that he was getting a lot of inspiration from, I ordered it that day from Amazon. It's called Clean Food and the author is Terry Walters. If you are looking for an incredible variety of easy, fast vegan recipes full of unique, healthy ingredients, this cookbook is a must. There are four sections, one for each season, so you can even stick to eating what is in season if you'd like. The only thing that could make this cookbook better is photographs, but I guess I'll have to supply those for us!

In one day, Ms. Walters has already inspired me to cook my own aduki beans (instead of using canned), purchase a pomegranate, use up the millet that was in my pantry and much, much more. I just picked three things from the book that seemed appealing to me and figured I would serve them all up at once for dinner. The results? Beautiful, tasty, filling and ultimately nutritious.

Millet, Aduki Beans and Corn with Lemon Dressing

Warm Greens with Citrus Dressing and Pomegranate

Curried Parsnips

I do want to mention that Ms. Walter's recipes often include olive oil or grapeseed oil. I chose to eliminate it altogether and opted to saute in broth instead for the Curried Parsnips. In the case of the other two recipes, I reduced the amount of oil called for the in the recipe by 50%. None of the recipes that I tested seemed affected at all by these changes, which is generally what I find with all recipes!



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Work Pot Luck Strategies and Engine 2 Orange Hummus Dressing

It's been way too long since I've blogged and I'm truly not happy about it, but sometimes life gets in the way!  Today at work we are having a company wide pot luck, and in order to feel good about myself afterwards, I've got a few strategies.

Strategy No. 1: Bring a huge green salad with a light dressing. When it's time to eat, fill my plate up with said salad and go to town on it, FIRST. That way, whatever else I choose to eat, I won't be nearly as tempted to overeat on.

So for today's Luscious Verde Pot Luck, which happens to be in conjunction with Jersey Shore Dress Up Day (yes, we are really having a Jersey Shore Dress Up Day), I chose to go with more of a Mexican inspired salad rather than an Italian inspired on. For those of you from New Jersey, you know exactly what I am talking about.

I mixed together a ton of romaine lettuce, spring salad mix, black beans, corn, raw pepitas, craisins, and chopped tomatoes. When it's time to eat, I'll add the diced avocado and Orange Hummus Dressing.

Engine 2 Inspired Orange Hummus Dressing

It's not the exact recipe out of The Engine 2 Diet Book, but I think it's better!

3 Tbsp plain Hummus

2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

3 Tbsp orange juice

1 tsp mustard

1/2 tsp fresh ginger, grated on a microplane

1 tsp agave syrup

Whisk the ingredients together in a bowl.

Just a reminder, you can keep fresh ginger (in a ziploc baggie) and orange juice concentrate (just spoon out what you need and reseal the container) in your freezer at all times, which I do. And hummus, agave syrup, balsamic vinegar and mustard are all staples in any Healthy Girl's kitchen. That makes this dressing a snap to throw together without having to stress about making a trip to the grocery store.

Strategy No. 2: Whatever else I eat at the potluck, it's gonna be vegan and it's gonna be in reasonable portions. Luckily, there are a few other "almost" vegans like me at work, so I won't be at all deprived.

Strategy No. 3: Remember, it's about the fun, not the food. This can be a really hard thing to do for a food addict, but it's so important to be present to enjoying the company of the people around you.  Food should be secondary, at best.

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