vegan

Recipe – Alfredo Sauce and Cilantro Pesto

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Alfredo Sauce

2 cups water

2 Tbsp. cornstarch or arrowroot powder

½ can of navy or great northern beans

2 Tbsp olive oil

½ cup cashews (optional)

4 Tbsp. lemon juice

1-2 tsp. salt

¼ of a medium onion

¼ cup nutritional yeast flakes

2 cloves of garlic

Put part of the water in a blender and add remaining ingredients. Blend until smooth and then add the rest of the water and blend again. Pour into a saucepan and cook until thick, stirring so it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan. Pour sauce over fettuccini pasta and top with a tablespoon of cilantro pesto. It may also be spread over pica crust and topped with pesto.

Cilantro Pesto

1-2 bunches cilantro; washed, ends removed

1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice

1 Tbsp. fresh lime juice

1 Tbsp. olive oil

¼ cup walnut or pine nuts, lightly toasted

¼ tsp. salt

Place liquids in the blender adding cilantro, stem down. Pulse until somewhat smooth. Add nuts and salt. Pulse until desired consistency or up to 1-2 minutes for smooth pesto. Refrigerate up to 5 days or freeze. This will turn dark when frozen, but still good. For variety, you may substitute basil, sage or oregano for cilantro. Add jalapeno for spicy pesto and parmesan cheese substitute can be added if desired.

Food – The Optimal Diet

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In order to know what are the best foods, we must study God’s original plan for man’s diet. He who created man and who understands his needs appointed Adam his food. ‘Behold,’ He said, ‘I have given you every herb yielding seed, … and every tree, in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for food.’ Genesis 1:29, A.R.V. Upon leaving Eden to gain his livelihood by tilling the earth under the curse of sin, man received permission to eat also ‘the herb of the field.’ Genesis 3:18.

“Grains, fruits, nuts, and vegetables constitute the diet chosen for us by our Creator. These foods, prepared in as simple and natural a manner as possible, are the most healthful and nourishing. They impart a strength, a power of endurance, and a vigor of intellect that are not afforded by a more complex and stimulating diet.

“In order to maintain health, a sufficient supply of good, nourishing food is needed.

“If we plan wisely, that which is most conducive to health can be secured in almost every land. The various preparations of rice, wheat, corn, and oats are sent abroad everywhere, also beans, peas, and lentils. These, with native or imported fruits, and the variety of vegetables that grow in each locality, give an opportunity to select a dietary that is complete without the use of flesh meats.” Counsels for the Church, 221, 222.

When eating healthy is mentioned, many ideas come to mind. Some people think eating healthy involves foods that resemble twigs and taste like sawdust. Others think it is limited to just vegetables and fruits. You may be surprised to discover that the optimal diet is full of foods that taste good and are good for you.

The optimal diet has many reasonable benefits, including a longer life span and greater quality of health. The key to optimal diet is optimal nutrition. Consider the following slogans to help you know how to improve your nutrition.

Welcome whole grains—They are a good source of insoluble fiber, B vitamins, and complex carbohydrates.

Vote for vegetables—Deep-green and other deeply colored vegetables offer an array of disease-fighting nutrients and water-soluble vitamins.

Focus on fruit—Color-dense fruits contain impressive amounts of plant chemicals, vitamins, and minerals.

Load up on legumes—Legumes provide soluble fiber, protein, and B vitamins.

Power up with nuts and seeds—Nuts and seeds contain fat-soluble health fats such as omega-3, omega-6, vitamin E, and protein.

Eliminate meat and dairy—Simply put, meat-based diets are not as healthy as plant-based. In addition to soy milk, a variety of plant equivalents, from almond milk to rice cheese, are available.

For your optimal diet, each day choose a variety of foods from these food groups. For example, each week eat something from each food group: dark green, orange, legumes, starchy vegetables, and cruciferous vegetables. Also, instead of white rice, breads, and cereals that rob nutrients from the diet, choose from several of the whole grains, including whole-wheat, oatmeal, yellow cornmeal, brown or red rice, barley, whole rye, millet, quinoa, or teff.

Food – Vegan Recipe Substitutes

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Bring your fruit upon the table. As for preserves, they are not best for us. Some simple pies that are not injurious may be used.” Sermons and Talks, vol. 1, 10. “It would be better not to tax the stomach with unhealthful desserts, and not to demand that the cook expend time and strength and ingenuity in preparing them. It would be much better to discard the sweet puddings, jams, and marmalade, which cause fermentation in the stomach. When these are banished from our tables, when we have sweeter stomachs, we shall have sweeter tempers, and be better enabled to live a Christian life.” The Signs of the Times, September 30, 1897.

Just as most people associate vegetarians with “no meat,” vegans extend the association to “and no eggs, dairy, or other animal products.” Everyone loves desserts, but having to ask or be asked the question, “Is it vegan?” can be a source of frustration. Learning to make your own baked goods is the best defense in the wide world of breads, cakes, and cookies, and other tasty treats where eggs and dairy have long held reign.

In traditional baking, most types of baked goods can easily be made vegan by replacing the dairy and eggs with plant-based ingredients. Some of the obvious substitutions are: soy milk or rice milk to replace dairy milk and non-hydrogenated vegan margarine or oil instead of butter.

There are also a number of ways to replace eggs in baking. Use any of these most common techniques to replace 1 egg in a baking recipe:

  • In a blender, grind 1 tablespoon flax seeds to a powder, add 2–1/2 tablespoons water, and blend until thick.
  • Combine 1–1/2 teaspoons Ener-G Egg Replacer with 2 tablespoons water.
  • Blend together 3 tablespoons applesauce, mashed banana, or soft tofu, and 1/2 teaspoon baking powder (aluminum free).

A recipe is like a road map because it helps you find your way to a destination; in this case, great-tasting food. After you familiarize yourself with a recipe, you can truly make it your own by personalizing it. Whether you take the direct route (following the recipe exactly) or try some side roads (by substituting ingredients or changing the recipe in some way to suit your taste) matters little, as long as the results are pleasing to you and your family.

You’ll enjoy cooking more if you can learn to be flexible, creative, and relaxed. The exception to this, of course, is in baking, which requires precise measurements to succeed. However, even in baking, you can modify certain ingredients, such as swapping out walnuts for pecans in a brownie recipe, or leaving them out entirely.

Recipe – Brownies

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¼ cup canola oil (or soy butter)

1/3 cup honey

1/3 cup raw sugar or date sugar

1 egg (or substitute)

3 Tbsp. milk (soy or nut)

½ tsp. sea salt

1 ½ tsp. pure vanilla

1 tsp. ground coriander, optional

½ cup carob powder

1 ½ tsp. Rumford baking powder (or 1 Tbsp. EnerG®)

2/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Cream first three ingredients until smooth. Add next six ingredients. Beat well. Sift baking powder and flour; stir flour and nuts into mixture. Spread batter in 9″ x 9″ pan coated with non-stick spray. Bake 35-40 minutes at 350 degrees F.

Adapted from: A Good Cook … by Rosalie Hurd, B.S. and Frank J. Hurd, D.C., M.D., College Press, Collegedale, Tennessee, 2008, 624.

Food – Veganized Desserts

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Like any other diet, a vegan diet can be complete and balanced or incomplete and unbalanced. Unfortunately, vegan eating is not a guarantee of good health. We still need to pay attention to our choices, watch our portion sizes, limit junk and processed foods, and ensure adequate intake of a few nutrients not easily available from vegan foods. How might desserts fit in a complete and balanced vegan diet?

It wasn’t so long ago that vegan desserts were viewed at best as an amusing oxymoron and at worst as some sort of gastronomic punishment. Perhaps you have not felt well after eating sweet, sugary desserts and even suffered from stomachaches or became moody and exhausted. It makes so much sense that food and your health would be related. Without dairy, eggs, and processed sugar in your diet, you can feel really good. By giving all the desserts you have loved a plant-based makeover, you can veganize desserts!

Perhaps you remember the dark days, when vegan sweets were dry and brown and tasteless. A few years ago, I would have recoiled at the thought of a vegan dessert—no butter, milk, or eggs? But sometime in the last few years, that began to change. The reasons include everything from a growing awareness of organic, healthy eating to the rising number of people diagnosed with food allergies every year (the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network estimates that some 12 million Americans have food allergies) to advances in vegan baking techniques and aesthetics.

Now everyone with a real sweet tooth, including those who are lactose or gluten intolerant, reducing cholesterol, or simply prefer healthy, natural ingredients without sacrificing taste, truly can have their cake and eat it, too. One thing remains constant—if you want to sell someone on vegan dessert, it has to be delicious.

Not only do vegan desserts taste good and, yes, sometimes even better than their dairy-filled counterparts, but you probably won’t even know that what you’re eating is vegan unless someone tells you. You simply need to create the vegan desserts by translating conventional, non-vegan recipes and shun popular dairy-free substitutes like egg replacers in favor of ingredients like bananas and sweet potatoes (both of which replicate the thick moisture of eggs).

Baking Without Eggs

Applesauce: Add 1/4 cup in place of one egg. Holds things together and adds moisture. But to help things rise, might need to add more baking powder (about 1/2 teaspoon).

Banana: Use 1/2 banana, mashed, for one egg in sweet baked goods. Also add about 1/2 teaspoon extra baking soda.

Tofu: Use about 1/4 cup mashed silken tofu for one egg. Also add 1/4–1/2 teaspoon extra baking powder.

Prune Puree: Puree your own, purchase pureed prunes, or even use baby food prunes. Use 1/4 cup prunes plus 1/2 teaspoon extra baking powder for one egg.

Baking Powder: Add an extra 1/2 teaspoon baking powder and 2 Tablespoons extra liquid to replace one egg.

Flaxseed: Grind 3 Tablespoons flaxseed to a very fine powder. Add 1/2 cup water and blend until mixture becomes thick. Use to replace two or three eggs.

Powdered Egg Replacer: A boxed powder mix available in natural foods stores. Just blend with water to replace eggs in a recipe.

Recipe – Banana Recipes: Green Goddess & Banana-Honey Tofu Ice Cream

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Green Goddess

3 large ripe kiwifruit

2 ripe bananas

½ cup plain soft tofu, drained

1 ½ cups water, chilled

1 cup seedless green grapes

½ cup vanilla soy milk

3 Tbsp. honey

In blender, combine all ingredients and process until smooth. Pour mixture into glasses and serve.

Banana-Honey Tofu Ice Cream

½ lb. firm tofu, drained

1 cup plain soy milk

¼ cup honey

3 ripe bananas

1 ½ Tbsp. vanilla extract

Pinch of salt

In blender, puree all ingredients in 2 equal batches until very smooth. Pour mixture into ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer’s directions. Serve right away or transfer to airtight container and freeze up to 3 days.

Food for Life – Vegetarianism

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This quotation caught my eye the other day: “Until God changes what a person is, don’t try to change what he does!” Until we have a heart change, we cannot expect to change a lifestyle of wrong eating habits. Once we determine to follow the Lord Jesus Christ, we will not have any regrets in accepting the health reform message He has given to His people in the “end time,” to prepare them for His second coming.

The Lord is not arbitrary. There are reasons for each of His health principles. For example, in these last days vegetarianism is important because of the many diseases found in animals today, that were not present in the time of Christ.

The Spirit of Prophecy states very explicitly that we cannot make “gods of our bellies” and enter the Kingdom of Heaven. So we do have a work to do for ourselves. But not without help! That was why Christ endured the wilderness experience, to show us that He will be very near to each one of us in our most trying experiences.

“Our Savior fasted nearly six weeks that He might gain for man the victory upon the point of appetite. How can professed Christians with enlightened consciences, and with Christ before them as their pattern, yield to the indulgence of those appetites which have an enervating influence upon the mind and body? . . . Many who profess godliness do not inquire into the reason of Christ’s long period of fasting and suffering in the wilderness. His anguish was not so much from the pangs of hunger as from His sense of the fearful result of the indulgence of appetite and passion upon the race. He knew that appetite would be man’s idol and would lead him to forget God and would stand directly in the way of salvation.” Confrontation, 50, 51.

“Those who make determined efforts in the name of the Conqueror to overcome every unnatural craving of appetite will not die in the conflict. In their efforts to control appetite they are placing themselves in right relation to life, so that they may enjoy health and the favor of God and have a right hold on the immortal life.” Ibid., 79.

“Let him who is struggling against the power of appetite look to the Savior in the wilderness of temptation. See Him in His agony upon the cross as He exclaimed, ‘I thirst.’ He has endured all that it is possible for us to bear. His victory is ours.” Desire of Ages, 97.

February Recipe:

Pasta Salad

1 8 oz. package of Vegetable Pasta

Cook according to your package directions

1 4 oz. Can sliced Olives

1 Large Cucumber (or non-vinegar pickle) diced small

½ cup Tofu Mayonnaise

1 ¾ tsp. Sea Salt

Tofu Mayonnaise

16 oz. pkg. tofu

1/3 cup of lemon juice

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 Tablespoon onion powder

1 Tablespoon ground dill (optional)

1/4 cup pineapple concentrate

1 teaspoon sea salt

1/4 cup Fruit Source (granulated)

1/2 cup cashew pieces

4 oz. can chopped olives

Place first eight ingredients in blender on high speed and blend until smooth.Then add cashews and continue blending until very smooth. Pour into container and add the chopped olives and stir well. For use as sour cream on baked potatoes, omit olives and use chives. This also makes a delicious dip for chips (the baked variety with no oil, or Frito-Lay makes delicious Tostitos with nothing but corn and salt.)

The End

Recipe – Veg Jambalaya

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1 Tbsp. canola oil

1 medium green pepper, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

1 celery rib, chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 cups water

1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce

½ tsp. Italian seasoning

¼ tsp. salt

¼ tsp. crushed red pepper flakes

1/8 tsp. fennel seed, crushed

1 cup uncooked long grain rice

1 can (14 ½ ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained

1 can (17 ounces) butter beans, rinsed and drained

1 can (16 ounces) red beans, rinsed and drained

In a Dutch oven, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add the green pepper, onion and celery; cook and stir until tender. Add garlic, cook 1 minute longer. Add the water, tomatoes, tomato sauce and seasonings. Bring to a boil; stir in rice. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 15-18 minutes or until liquid is absorbed and rice is tender. Stir in beans; heat through. Yield: 6 servings; 1 1/3 cups equals 281 calories, 3 g fat (trace saturated fat), 0 cholesterol, 796 mg sodium, 56 g carbohydrate, 9 g fiber, 11 g protein. Taste of home, February/March 2013.

Food – Think Differently

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Gone are the days when a vegetarian had to visit a strange smelling, brightly lit health food store to buy provisions. Now, any decent size market stocks soymilk, quinoa, veggie burgers and even seitan. Certainly there are more vegetarians than ever, but there are also a lot of people who want the benefits of a vegetarian diet but don’t want to commit to it 100 percent. As they discover how delicious vegetarian cuisine can be, they want to have their tofu and eat chicken, too. Some people simply give up beef and pork (these folks are sometimes labeled “pollotarians”). Others are vegetarian most of the time but break the rules for special occasions or when a serious craving hits.

For some time now, American meals have consisted of a main course—meat—accompanied by sides. The newly minted vegetarian may, at first, simply replace the center-of-the-plate meat with a veggie lasagna or tofu dog. …

Vegetarian meals work well as a series of individual dishes that complement each other without a single item stealing the show. Soup, salad and a crusty loaf of bread can be a filling and delightful dinner. A vegetable gratin or a colorful stir-fry could be the centerpiece for an elegant dinner. The possibilities are endless. …

There are more colorful options to choose with veggies, fruits and grains than you would ever find with meat. Variety is an important ingredient in any meal, especially a vegetarian one. Choosing a colorful array of foods doesn’t just look pretty; it provides a good range of vitamins, minerals and micronutrients. The colors can come in a series of smaller dishes—a green salad, cornbread, black beans and rice—or you can mix colorful vegetables in an Asian-style stir-fry or other main course.

Think out of the box when it comes to traditional dishes. A salad doesn’t have to be the standard lettuce with dressing. It can also be an exotic salad, sliced tomatoes with avocado or just an assortment of crisp raw veggies. Turn a favorite vegetable into a casserole or gratin to make it more filling. Resize an appetizer recipe and call it a main course (or vice versa). If you’ve got a taste for a popular meat-containing dish like lasagna or fajitas, indulge in it vegetarian style.

The Vegetarian Bible, Publications International, Ltd., Lincolnwood, Illinois, 2011, 5, 6.

Food – No meat, no dairy, no problem: is 2014 the year vegans become mainstream?

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As New Year dietary fads go, giving up meat, dairy and fish altogether might seem extreme for the average person looking to shed a few pounds. Yet there are growing signs that 2014 could be the year that veganism – often viewed as the preserve of hippies, animal activists and health obsessives – stops being a niche dietary choice and gains new followers, and not just because of soon-forgotten resolutions.

This year will see the German supermarket chain ‘Veganz – We Love Life’ opening its first branch in the United Kingdom (UK), offering over 6,000 vegan products. The store is hoping to take advantage of increasing interest in non-meat, non-dairy food.

Most UK supermarkets already stock vegan products, but Veganz is the first dedicated chain store of its kind in Europe. Set up in 2011, the company hopes to open a total of 21 stores across the continent by 2015 to meet growing demand.

The choice of not consuming any animal products at all is currently being promoted by Mark Bittman’s book VB6, which takes a “flexitarian” approach – advocating eating a vegan diet before 6 p.m.

Veganism has long been plagued by stereotypes of it proponents. But what will dedicated full-time proponents of the lifestyle choice – its title officially coined in 1944 by founder of the British Vegan Society Donald Watson – make of the part-timers and the potential for it to become the latest fad diet?

www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/features/no-meat-no-dairy-no-problem-is-2014-the-year-vegans-become-mainstream-9032064.html