With Dr. Fuhrman, the Salad Really is the Main Course

Greens and Strawberry Salad with Cashew Currant Dressing

recipe adapted from a recipe courtesy of  http://www.drfuhrman.com/
Serves: 2-4

Printable Recipe

CASHEW DRESSING

1/4 cup raw cashews or 2 tablespoons raw cashew butter
1/3 cup unsweetened soy, hemp or almond milk
1 peeled apple, sliced
2 tablespoons dried currants or raisins

SALAD

1 head (about 6 cups) romaine lettuce
5 ounces (about 5 cups) organic baby spinach
8 med-large strawberries, washed, destemmed and sliced 

To make dressing, blend cashews or cashew butter with soy milk and sliced apples in a high powered blender until smooth. Add the currants and blend well.

Place the lettuce, spinach and strawberries in a large salad bowl. Drizzle dressing over the greens and berries and toss to coat.

How often is salad the main course of your lunch or dinner?

Do you consciously try to eat salad with every meal? As the meal?

Has salad as the meal helped you to lose weight or maintain your weight? 

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Salad & Son

I'm not gonna lie, I think my 3 year old and 6 year old are pretty terrible eaters. But one thing that I have found to hold true is that if you engage children in the preparation of healthy food, they are FAR more likely to taste something new. Like lettuce. Max is not a salad eater, yet, but get him engaged in the preparation of a salad and he's a pretty sure bet for eating some romaine.

I think he likes it!

As for the adults in this household, we prefer our salads with some dressing on it, so when a friend of mine mentioned yesterday that she had made a delicious "goddess" dressing from Mama Pea at the Peas and Thank You blog, I thought I would search out the recipe. I was excited to find that I had all of the ingredients on hand, including the avocado, lemon, tahini and xanthan gum (yes, xanthan gum--I keep it in the freezer). Get the full recipe here. It's garlicy and full of flavor and oh-so-yummy. And no guilt involved! Just how I like my food.

What's your favorite salad dressing these days? Do you stick with the same one(s) or do you try new one(s) regularly?

Is it from a bottle or do you make it yourself?

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Chinese No Chicken Salad

First I want to thank everyone who commented on my green smoothie post in the last two days. As any blogger will tell ya, it's the comments that make it all worthwhile! That, and getting shout outs on other people's blogs, which is why I was so excited when I woke up today to find out that Roni over at http://www.ronisweigh.com/ and http://www.greenlitebites.com/ had given Healthy Girl's Kitchen a major shout out! CHECK IT OUT HERE. Thanks Roni!

Roni's been blogging about weight loss and Weight Watchers for a long, long time, but she had never tried a green smoothie, not once. It's my major concern about Weight Watchers, that they are not impressing upon their members the importance of nutritional excellence when striving to attain a healthy weight. So I was really jazzed up that Roni, a very popular and public Weight Watcher, decided to try her first green smoothie, and blog about it to a very large audience, as a result of my encouragement. Go Roni!

I leave you with something near and dear to my heart. The Asian No Chicken Salad. As a longtime fan of Chinese Chicken Salads (having lived in Los Angeles for 9 years), I long for the yumminess (for lack of a better word) of them. So I frequently make a no chicken version and I don't miss the chicken at all!

Healthy Girl's Asian No Chicken Salad
serves a crowd

1 package of 3 hearts of romaine, sliced thin and washed and dried
3 cups shredded cabbage
1 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded and chopped
1 5 oz. can water chestnuts, chopped
1 15 ounce can mandarin oranges, drained
1 15 ounce can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1/3 cup raw sliced almonds
1/8 cup raw sesame seeds
2-3 peeled and shredded carrots
2 scallions, thinly sliced

Place all ingredients in large bowl and toss with dressing.
Healthy Girl's Asian Low Oil Dressing
adapted from a recipe from http://www.drfuhrman.com/

1 teaspoon Bragg Liquid Aminos
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, finely chopped
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
3 tablespoons orange juice
1 teaspoon sesame oil, toasted
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard



Lastly, here's a fun article about how veganism is becoming mainstream. How awesome is that?

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Finding More Inspiration, a Healthy Vegan Dinner Party and a Contest!

Sometimes it's easy for me to lose sight of the things that made my weight loss possible. Hard to believe given the fact that I write this blog and all, but it's really true. Even sticking to a "high vegan" diet with almost no added fat or processed food, the opportunities to "fall off the wagon" come fast and furious. And the result of this loss of focus is, for me, weight gain. And that, my friends, has started to reverse itself (phew!).

How did I reverse myself? First, I signed up for and am participating in The Point of No Return program from http://www.peertrainer.com/. What I quickly realized when I started listening to the program was that I was losing site of just how low calorie and nutrient dense I need to eat to be at my ideal weight. I woke up to the fact that I was losing site of what brought me so much weight loss success and energy to begin with: Dr. Fuhrman's Eat to Live principles. I also began logging my food again every day using the free Peer Trainer log--what an eye opening experience! It's easy to think you are eating really well until you see it on "paper."

Catching myself at this point inspired me to reread Eat to Live and Eat for Health by Dr. Fuhrman. Dr. Fuhrman has actually published a revised addition of Eat to Live and it's even better than the original. The only way to get the revised addition right now is by ordering it here. I've been browsing it as a vook, but I'm old school and I really just prefer the real thing, so I ordered myself a copy.

I also decided to join the Dr. Fuhrman Member Center online and to give up my Weight Watchers online membership. For me, the $44.95 for the first 6 weeks and $14.95 for every month after that is worth it. The site is far more useful and personal than the Weight Watchers site and ALL of the recipes are friendly to me (instead of a small fraction on WW). I also happen to love listening to the podcasts on whatever topic I have questions about. For example, I listened to the podcast on "Is it Possible to Overeat Healthy Food?" and found out that, yes, it is possible. The information contained in that podcast was vital to me and I made some immediate changes in my diet from that moment forward (can anyone say avocado? duh!). There's a lot more to the member portion of the website that I haven't even had time to explore, but from what I have already seen, it's probably incredible.

And what have I discovered so far? That I am simply just not eating enough of the right foods. The foods that are really low in calories and dense in nutrients--raw vegetables--ideally one pound per day. Cooked vegetables--also one pound per day. And that I am eating too many whole grains and starchy vegetables. In my zealousness to try all sorts of fun, no-added-fat vegan recipes, I forgot how vital it is to just fill up on the basics--salads, low calorie soups, low calorie smoothies and water sauteed greens. Even otherwise healthy foods can have a lot of calories, enough for me to gain weight fairly rapidly. So I've got to really get myself in check, and I'm pretty sure that these two resources are just the right way to do it.

A nice visual of Dr. Fuhrman's Nutritarian food pyramid.

Bluevado Pie. Just one of the almost 900 recipes available on the Dr. Fuhrman Member Center. What I love about finding recipes there is that each one is rated by the members (one to five stars) and comments are left with suggestions about changes or variations, so I don't have to waste money and time on recipes that just aren't that great. And of course, you know I love to add my two cents in after I have prepared each recipe!

So, to sum it up, I'm totally re inspired. Thanks for being on this journey with me!

Preping for the vegan feast.

Dijon Pistachio Dressing /Dip
A no-oil salad dressing from http://www.drfuhrman.com/ Thank you to the kind people over at Dr. Fuhrman for letting me publish this recipe!

1 1/3 cups water
1 cup raw pistachio nuts, unsalted
4 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons ground flax seeds
4 teaspoons Dr. Fuhrman's VegiZest or Mrs. Dash seasoning
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon Bragg Liquid Aminos or low sodium soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
4 deglet noor dates or 2 or 3 medjool dates

Blend all ingredients in a high powered blender or food processor until smooth and creamy.

Roasted Acorn Squash

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Crispy Kale Casserole from http://www.drfuhrman.com/

This is what the Crispy Kale Casserole looks like under the topping. It was very yummy and the leftovers were even better than the first time we ate it!

Ahhhhh, happiness . . .  a healthy vegan dinner.

THE FIRST EVER HEALTHY GIRL'S KITCHEN CONTEST

What program or programs are you working that are working for you? Have you lost weight or gained energy? Leave a comment describing your recent experiences and get entered in a random drawing to win a free copy of the revised edition of Eat to Live. Winner will be announced on January 1, 2011.

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