Lotus Root in Buddha’s Feast

Maybe you have tried the so-called “Buddha’s Feast” or “Buddha’s Delight” vegetarian, soy-sauce based stir fry dish at your local Chinese restaurant. I’d been craving veggies all week and decided to take that healthy dish for a spin tonight – my spin on the dish: adding lotus root.

Slices of lotus root

What is lotus root? It is a starchy root vegetable that has a chewy-crunchy texture and is good for your respiratory system. When sliced, it looks like a rotary telephone’s dial pad. (This is why, as a kid, I used to call my grandma’s meat and lotus root broth “Telephone Soup”). Lotus root is an inexpensive veggie that can be found in Asian supermarkets: 2 pretty substantial roots cost a total of $2. More info on the veggie here.

Onto the “Buddha’s Feast” dish! Aside from the vegetable ingredients listed below, all you’ll need is a pinch of salt and a couple of splashes of light soy sauce (If you want to adapt this to paleo, just cut out the soy sauce and cook the lotus root with a pinch of salt and a couple of splashes of water instead).

Ingredients and instructions:

• Baby Bok Choy: Saute leaves of baby bok choy on low heat until they soften a bit (try to make sure they’re still crispy in texture); cook with a small pinch of salt.
• Mushrooms: Saute an assortment of mushrooms of your choice; don’t need to add seasoning – just enjoy the mushroomy taste on its own.
• Lotus Root: Slice lotus root into thin pieces (keep the rotary telephone dial pad look! See image below) and saute – add a couple of splashes of light soy sauce. If you accidentally add too much soy sauce, add drinking water to the pot. The goal is to soften the lotus root as it cooks, without burning it.
• Arrange on a plate and enjoy!

Buddha’s Feast with lotus root

7-Minute Breakfast: Egg, Kale, and Tea

Egg and kale cooked for breakfast

Autumn is in the air! This is the time of year that I look forward to a warm, cozy breakfast to start the day off right. In about 7 minutes, using only one small pot, you can whip up some lightly scrambled eggs (in this case, 2 of them) and sauteed kale for a hearty breakfast. Add a steaming mug of fragrant green tea for an extra toasty morning.

Creamy Paleo African Blue Basil Pesto

I know I already did a pesto post, but this pesto deserves its own. This pesto is so good I can almost eat it by the spoonful.

Ingredients

• large handful African blue basil (you can also use sweet basil)
• handful of arugula
• handful of roasted pine nuts (you can roast yourself on the stove top)
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp water
• 1-2 cloves garlic (I like more garlic)
• half an avocado

Preparation

1. Place all ingredients in blender and mix till smooth
2. Put on chicken, salad, fish, etc.

paleo creamy African blue basil pesto

My Favorite Tofu Recipe…and is tofu even good for you?

Soy Sauce Tofu with mushrooms and celery

There has been plenty of controversy over whether tofu is “good for you” or not. As an East Asian woman who was raised with an abundance of Chinese cooking, tofu is a natural and beloved part of my diet – as a cultural food, it was never debated as good or bad at my family’s table. It was just part of the cuisine. As the linked blog post above argues, tofu’s pros and cons are what they are; as long as this protein is eaten in moderation (like all proteins should be), the eater should be just fine.

The simple (under 10-minute) meal below is my favorite comfort food. Not only is it easy to make, it smells / tastes savory and leftovers microwaved the next day are always just as good.

Ingredients

• 1 cup brown rice
• 1 package of soft tofu (make sure you choose the “soft” kind; “firm” just doesn’t work as well here)
• 1/2 container of mushrooms of your choice, sliced (my favorite: a mixture of shiitake and oyster mushrooms, though regular button shrooms work just fine)
• Soy sauce
• Garlic powder
• Makes it taste uber good / highly recommended additions: 1 small spoonful of brown cane sugar, 1 small dollop of oyster sauce, 1 small drip of sesame oil

Preparation

1. Cook brown rice separately.
2. Begin heating a small pot; eyeball and add a small layer of soy sauce (and sesame oil and/or oyster sauce if you would like).
   1. Don’t overdo the soy sauce; oversaturation will make it too salty. If there isn’t enough flavor, you can always add more later.
3. Once the mixture is simmering, add sliced mushrooms.
4. When the mushrooms look like they’re growing tender (after a couple of minutes), slice the tofu block into 16 rectangular chunks and add to pot.
5. Dust the mixture with a sprinkling of garlic powder (and sugar if you would like). Fold the ingredients and sauce together in the pot and let simmer.
   1. Serve with brown rice and enjoy!

A trip to the…Food Museum

A spur-of-the-moment trip to NYC’s American Museum of Natural History’s “Our Global Kitchen” exhibition last weekend both refreshed and revved my passion for food culture. Targeting older children and adults, the exhibition featured a comprehensive overview of FOOD from six angles: its growth, trade / transport, cooking, taste, eating, celebrations / the future of food.

Many delicious (and not-so-delicious) facts covered the walls and other surfaces. An example of an eye-opening but not-delicious fact: Chickens long ago laid an average of 12 eggs per year; farmed chickens now lay between 200-300 a year. One particularly productive gal laid 364 in one year. Other highlights included a fun replica of an ancient Aztec market filled with indigenous produce I had never seen or tasted before, a small section on the chemistry of taste, and a video covering different food-filled cultural celebrations. One of my favorite parts of the hall was the room filled with cooking utensils and technologies from around the globe and throughout time.

If you are in NYC before the exhibition ends on August 11, 2013, do try to see it for yourself! The whole exhibition is a good reminder to be mindful of what and how we eat.

Ancient Aztec market display

Clear Skin is in what you eat

The body’s internal pH level should be mildly alkaline, as opposed to acidic. Too much acid bombarding your innards is taxing on the body and can lead to skin sagging, acne, and gauntness, according to the article linked above (from Women’s Health Magazine). Unfortunately, most people eat a diet consisting of 80 percent acid-forming foods and just 20 percent alkaline. Improve your skin by eating fresh foods – and by eating healthier in a holistic way. To (pH) balance your diet, read on.

Balancing Foods:

• Dark-green leafy veggies like kale and spinach: Nothing neutralizes acid like minerals. The darker the veggie, the better.
• Citrus fruit: Tasting acidic is very different from being acid-forming. Lemons and limes are good alkaline producers (as opposed to acid-forming).
• Low glycemic fruit: Nutrient-rich berries and apples top the list.
• Nuts and seeds: Load up on almonds, walnuts, pecans, pumpkin seeds, and sunflower seeds. Just make sure they’re raw, since roasting depletes the healthy omega-3 fatty oils. Also: Lentils and beans.
• Fish: My family’s wisdom is that eating seafood and drinking homemade broth herbal broth soup is good for the skin. This comes from great grandmother, who lived till her late 90s and had beautiful glowing skin all the way.
• Drink lots of water! Drinking lots of water hydrates the skin, organs, and everything in between. Drink a glass before tucking into a meal (this will also keep you from overeating). Drink it when you crave snacks and watch those cravings decrease!

Decrease or modify these foods and additives if possible:

• Soda (especially dark sodas): I’ve cut out all soda; replace with water! You can too!
• Sugar: These sweet granules feed harmful gut organisms (especially yeast) while crowding out good bacteria. They can even alter proteins in our cells, causing a loss of elasticity.
• Meat: Don’t necessarily skip altogether, but aim to decrease. Aim to get no more than 15 to 20 percent of your daily calories from animal proteins. A good rule of thumb: aim to eat around 0.5 lb of meat per week. Fill the rest of your diet with plant-based foods and proteins.
• Processed grains: “Seventy percent of the acidic foods in our diet are wheat,” says JJ Virgin, nutritionist and author of The Virgin Diet. Switch to alkalinizing wheat-free whole grains like quinoa and wild rice.
• Coffee: Though caffeine is pH neutral, coffee can quickly become acidic if it’s not fresh.

These are all rules of thumb; try a holistic mixture of these tips and see your health improve overall. Get ready to feel young and spry!

Mango & Avocado Arugula Salad

A sweet and tangy salad for arugula fans.

Ingredients

• couple handfuls of Arugula
• 1/2 Mango
• 1/2 Avocado
• a handful of almonds
• grilled chicken (optional)
• olive oil, red wine vinegar, & cayenne pepper (for dressing)

Preparation

1. Wash and dry your arugula; use a salad spinner if you have one
2. Cut mango into small cubes; toss into salad
3. Cut avocado into small cubes; toss into salad
4. Heat pan on stove to toast almonds
5. Chop almonds and add to pan–be sure to watch diligently because almonds go from toasted to burned quickly
6. When you can smell the “toasted-ness” of the almonds, they are done
7. Add in the toasted almonds (and chicken if you choose)
8. For the dressing, add 2 parts olive oil to 1 part red wine vinegar and cayenne pepper to taste. I like the dressing with a bite, but not spicy

Note: It is really important to wash your greens because they have a large amount of surface area and, therefore, a large area to which chemicals and pesticides can adhere. Salad greens are one of those vegetables you really want to buy organic for this same reason.

Another note: If I’m bringing this salad for lunch at work. I will combine all the ingredients except the dressing and the avocado. I will bring an avocado with me and add it right before I eat so it doesn’t have time to oxidize and get brown. I also use a BlenderBottle to transport my dressing so I can give it a good shake before serving.

Mango Avocado Arugula Salad

Mark Bittman’s analysis of the market for “Good Fast Food”

Mark Bittman writes in his prescient NYTimes article that there’s definitely a niche for fast food that is perceived as (and is) healthy. Which business will emerge as the “Whole Foods of fast food,” that is, a profitable “healthy” behemoth, market mover and shaker, national chain, and cultural trendsetter? There is room for a “Good Fast Food” business model focusing on whole foods and health; of course, as Bittman points out, a big issue in its development is cost control – how can this model reach low-income Americans who may live in “food deserts” lacking in healthy foods and produce?

Bittman suggests a preliminary answer to my question above:

“Veggie Grill, Lyfe Kitchen, Tender Greens and others have solved the challenge of bringing formerly upscale, plant-based foods to more of a mass audience. But the industry seems to be focused on a niche group that you might call the health-aware sector of the population. (If you’re reading this article, you’re probably in it.) Whole Foods has proved that you can build a publicly traded business, with $16 billion in market capitalization, by appealing to this niche. But fast food is, at its core, a class issue. Many people rely on that Tendercrisp because they need to, and our country’s fast-food problem won’t be solved — no matter how much innovation in vegan options or high-tech ovens — until the prices come down and this niche sector is no longer niche.”

The best takeaway paragraph of the article, in my humble opinion, is the following statement about eating real / whole foods, and lifestyle in general (echoing Michael Pollan’s famous line “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants”):

“Good Fast Food doesn’t need to be vegan or even vegetarian; it just ought to be real, whole food. The best word to describe a wise contemporary diet is flexitarian, which is nothing more than intelligent omnivorism. There are probably millions of people who now eat this way, including me. My own style, which has worked for me for six years, is to eat a vegan diet before 6 p.m. and then allow myself pretty much whatever I want for dinner. This flexibility avoids junk and emphasizes plants.”

Thanks Mark Bittman @bittman !

For more information, here are two book suggestions (good reads, informative, and important):

What to Eat by Marion Nestle “has become the definitive guide to making healthy and informed choices about food” (her research on supermarket marketing and politics is insightful – you will never look at your groceries the same way again).

Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual by Michael Pollan “brings welcome simplicity to our daily decisions about food” and gives us simple guidelines on eating wisely, healthily, and well.

Paleo Stuffed Peppers

Ingredients

• a dab of coconut oil
• 1 medium yellow onion
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1/2 head of cauliflower made into cauliflower rice
• 4-6 bell peppers (red, orange, yellow or green)
• spinach (1 bag or ~5oz)
• 1 jar of tomato sauce of your choice (I prefer a brand with no added salt or sugar)
• for spices, use fresh or dried basil, oregano, and thyme

Stuffing Preparation

1. Melt coconut oil in pan over medium heat
2. Chop onions and add to pan, sauté until translucent
3. Turn up heat to medium-high and add garlic
4. When garlic is fragrant, add in the beef
5. Cook beef until no longer pink (while beef is cooking, you can make cauliflower rice)
6. Turn heat back down to medium and add in spinach
7. Spinach should cook down in a couple of minutes
8. Finally, add cauliflower rice and spices

Stuffed Pepper Preparation

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
2. Hollow out your bell peppers
3. Stuff your bell peppers
4. Place peppers in glass baking dish UPSIDE-DOWN (if you flip them quickly, none of the stuffing should fall out)
5. Cook in the oven for ~45 minutes

paleo stuffed bell peppers

Green Challenge: Have one sugar-free day

Something Green Challenge – give it a try and see how it goes!

Have one day where you go “sugar-free.” Only eat from the 5 food groups (fruit, vegetables, good carbs, fat-free dairy, and protein), and definitely avoid things with sugar in them. Stay away from refined sugar / processed foods.

And see how you feel! If you’re like me, you probably feel that your insides are cleaner, your skin feels lighter / tauter / less greasy, you have more energy, and you feel a bit proud of yourself for having kept this Green Challenge. Because it’s hard! Sugar is hidden in SO many foods. You really have to be conscious about what you put in your mouth. But I think you can do it!

And if you find yourself feeling better through this one day, try to do this once a week. Gradually ease into a lifestyle with less sugar (don’t necessarily have to get rid of it altogether, just be conscious about having less). We don’t need it – our caveman/woman ancestors didn’t evolve with refined sugars. We can do without it and be better off!

^ Great TED Talk by chef Jamie Oliver. Note his point about how much sugar most of us consume whether we know it or not. Also, note his point that many kids can’t identify vegetables – we’ve got to educate ourselves and our loved ones about healthy eating.