By Jenny Brown on January 19, 2012
Jenny, Dylan (rescued as a veal calf) and Doug
Hello Crazy Sexy Posse! My name is Jenny Brown and I am the Co-Founder and Director of the Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary—a non-profit organization and shelter that rescues farm animals and works to end the systematic abuse of farm animals everywhere. I am mother to over 150 furred and feathered souls who have, in one way or another, been abused, neglected, discarded or abandoned. I am also a cancer survivor! Yay me!
At the wee age of 10 years old I was diagnosed with Osteogenic Sarcoma or — in other words — BONE CANCER (gasp!). I endured almost 3 long years of chemo and lost my lower right leg. I’m also a veggie-lovin’ vegan who grew up in Louisville, Kentucky and never even heard the word “vegetarian” until, uh, college? Seriously. There was rarely ever a vegetable cooked in my house that didn’t have a ham hock (aka: pig’s knee) in it! Every meal incorporated meat or dairy (usually both) until my first semester of college where not only did I hear the word “vegetarian” but I became one instantly after reading about the plight of farm animals. It was then that I made some life-changing connections between the meat on my plate and the miserable life of the individual it came from.
My guess is that if you’re a part of this online community you’re probably taking steps to get healthy, adopt a greener lifestyle, kick your cancer’s ass, or all of the above. I am sure you are also beginning to understand that adopting a well-balanced vegan diet is a great way to possibly achieve all these goals. And let’s not kid ourselves—old habits are hard to break. Changing your diet can be really challenging—especially since we live in a society where animal products are BEYOND prevalent—they are the mainstay. But if you need more reasons or motivation for moving towards a plant-based diet, how about 100 of them —because that is roughly the number of animals you will save each year by going vegan!
Andy the pig – rescued last summer from slaughter
And chew on these stats: The average meat eater is responsible for the deaths of some 2,400 animals during his or her lifetime. In more personal terms, during a 75-year life span, a typical U.S. resident is responsible for the suffering and death of 10 cows, 34 pigs and other small mammals, 2,535 turkeys, chickens and ducks, and uncounted numbers of aquatic animals. Good Lord! We’re walking graveyards!
Sadly, most people just don’t realize how dramatically meat and dairy production in the US has changed over the past 50 years. Those childhood images of happy animals living on sunny, idyllic farms couldn’t be further from reality. Virtually all animals that are raised for food — or their products — live miserable lives in intensive confinement in dark, overcrowded facilities called “factory farms.” These nasty corporate operations emphasize high volume and profit with little or no regard for the environment or humane treatment of animals.
Animals raised for food endure a life of suffering which is something not evident in the neatly wrapped packages of meat offered for sale at grocery store counters. We are so disconnected from the process of raising and killing animals that if you ask a child where meat comes from she might just say the freezer!
Albie wearing his artificial leg, Photo Credit: Ambers Clark
We pay others to do our dirty work. Bruce Friedrich (one of my heros!) asks, “ how many of us could spend an afternoon cutting animals’ throats, or even watching it? And then ask yourself in what other areas of your life do you pay others to do things you find too repulsive? And how ethical is it to pay someone to do things that are wholly unnecessary and too atrocious to watch?”
So just do it guys – cut out the meat and dairy! It’s so easy and when you really break it down, think of it this way: Is the trivial pleasure of your taste buds worth a life of misery for some poor nameless farm animal that feared death? That wanted to live? That mourns for the calves or the piglets torn from her? That suffered her entire life in a gestation crate or in a battery cage so that people can eat her flesh, her mammary secretions (milk) or her unfertilized embryos (ahem, eggs).
My husband Doug and I started Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary to not only help as many farm animals as possible but to get people thinking about the individuals behind the corpses on their plates. The ones who come through our doors are but a tiny fraction of the billions of animals suffering RIGHT NOW for the meat and dairy industries. But together with these animals our job is to raise a greater sense of ethical awareness—to fill the collective hole in the conscience of society—and hopefully in turn, save more animals by convincing people not to eat them.
Carli the dog acting as surrogate Mom for tiny Clover the goat
Sanctuaries are unique in that we have the opportunity to potentially open the hearts and minds of those of who visit. Seeing is believing, and once visitors are able to see and interact with these animals in a natural, loving environment, there is no denying that they think, feel and simply enjoy life.
So if the temptation of pepperoni pizza or that hamburger is stronger than your health-motivated will power, remember that those slices, that patty and those wings came from someone.
As Albert Schweitzer– the great humanitarian & philosopher—once said—“Think occasionally of the suffering of which you spare yourself the sight.” This is what I ask of people and what I ask of you. And if you need a good dose of ethical motivation, come on down to our sanctuary sometime and let your heart, not your habit, do the guiding!
Originally published February 19, 2009.
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By Guest Blogger on December 15, 2011
Whether you’re shaking it on the dance floor, strolling cool ’hoods on art and architecture walks, doing yoga on the beach or sampling the newly hot bicycle scene, Miami gives you a workout. Good thing this sexy city also gives you hip and healthy places to refuel and rehydrate.
So where can you find sazón (sassy seasoning) – while keeping your pH and budget in balance? My Miamian gour-mates fed me their secrets, so now I’ll dish them out to you.
Vegan Venues
T.H.R.I.V.E. (The Raw Inspired Vegan Experience)
A true insider secret, this new oasis is tucked within a busy South Beach block. Look for the sidewalk sandwich board; pass through the blossom arbor and alley; then behold an Eden of breeze-blown sashes, lush foliage and beachy sofas. The all-vegan raw and organic dishes are phenomenal, attracting daily visits from eco- and physique-conscious foodies. Rich in enzymes, vitamins and flavor, tantalizing choices reflect the globetrotting owner’s wide-ranging tastes: spiralized zucchini with Tuscany-inspired sun-dried tomato marinara or basil pesto, nut meat/cabbage tacos, sprouted seaweed-veg pate nori roll. The new Sunday brunch includes tofu with sweet potato hash browns. Note: Sweet potatoes are culinary bliss to Miamians; the orange superfood pops up in foods from fries to pies … and in beauty and detox diets! 1239 Alton Road, South Beach. *Juice bar
Lifefood Gourmet
Aside from the honey, it’s raw vegan rapture, from the “wild milk” (Brazil nut-based) and goji shakes to the pumpkin nut-meat plus nut-cheese burrito, veggie-flaxseed pizza and lasagna layered with alt-Alfredo macadamia pine nut sauce, spinach and Irish moss-erella. Seeking chlorella, spirulina and blue green algae? Craving mamey or carob? Got it. In the throes of ecstasy, you might miss the mission statement, which outlines goals of cellular nourishment and rejuvenation, tapping self-healing powers and “spreading a sense of well-being, sanity and happiness.” Sounds and tastes great. 1248 SW 22nd Street, Coral Gables.
La Vie En Raw Cafe
Run by a vibrant integrative nutritionist and certified raw chef, this totally vegan, mostly organic cafe starts working its magic with the revitalizing local art gracing the walls. The menu changes with the seasons, but pounce on the Beet “Raw-violi,” ground walnut-and-carrot faux tuna with creamy avocado, any sea vegetable or nut-cheese dish – and the chocolate pie. 3808 Southwest 8th Street, Coral Gables. *Juice bar
Mac’n Food Truck
Miami has a new food truck – and it’s vegan. Feel like having mac ’n cheese with portobello and plant-based mozzarella? Fresh-cut sweet potato fries? Fried green tomatoes? Just-picked watermelon with fresh basil and sea salt? Step right up! Check the website for locations, which change daily.
Vegan-Friendly Restaurants
Catch Grill + Bar
Across the muy bello Venetian Causeway, the recently renovated Miami Marriott Biscayne Bay houses a cool new indoor/outdoor bayfront restaurant committed to sustainably sourced fare. The chef can veganize some dishes or whip up a seasonal veggie platter. But even more fun: plant-based teasers plus mocktails. Go for the zesty hummus, eggplant-abulous baba ganoush, munchy edamame and lightly fried plantain with yummy guac. Then greet the starry night with handcrafted healthy cocktails, such as a most refreshing pineapple juice splashed with agave and pink peppercorns. 1633 North Bayshore Drive, near the Port of Miami.
Metro Organic Bistro
This hip haven in historic MiMo (Miami’s Modern Architecture district) serves several vegan entrees such as a Green Burger and crispy Chickpea Cakes. Or make a meal of fresh-off-the-farm sides such as grilled fennel. 7010 Biscayne Boulevard, MiMo district.
Escopazzo
Long committed to organic, sustainable and divine, this chic Italian bistro introduced a raw-vegan menu late last year. Indulge in such delicacies as a gingery butternut tagliatelle with ginger, lasagnette layered with pesto, pine nut-derived ricotta, eggplant and squash, and spiced vegetables wrapped in Swiss chard. 1311 Washington Avenue, South Beach.
The Cafe at Books & Books
One of the few Lincoln Road sidewalk cafes offering inspired vegan dishes. Helmed by a pioneer of New South Florida cuisine, temptations include a perfectly seasoned Cuban black bean soup, grilled tofu fajita wrap with roasted corn salad, and tropical wild rice with coconut. 927 Lincoln Road, South Beach.
Sweet Tooth
Sweat Records Cafe
At this all-vegan coffee shop, great tunes pair well with Unicorn Love Bomb Espresso, Dirty South Chai and mouth-tingling cupcakes – coconut lemon-iced, anyone? (They even serve vegan empanadas: spinach/sun-dried tomato and curry.) 5505 NE 2nd Avenue, Little Haiti.
Coconut Grove Saturday Organic Market
Eco-conscious, plant-based diners rejoice! In addition to just-picked veggies and raw deli, raw tostadas, raw pizzas, you can indulge in raw tiramisu and raw pies with moist crusts of dates, nuts and spices. 3300 Grand Avenue, Coconut Grove.
Peace A’ Cake
Pure vegan food porn made by a holistic health coach from spelt flour, apple sauce, coconut palm nectar, dark chocolate chips and raw almonds. Sold at local health marts and juice cafes; website lists locations.
Indulge for health’s sake – you’re in Miami! Want to add to our list? Dish and tell!
Robin Soslow is a writer/photographer who pedals and noshes her way through cities and countrysides. Embracing the credo “Be the change you wish to see,” she lives small, volunteers with animal welfare groups and enjoys having omnivores lust after her vegan dishes.
Photo francis ledoux, Lorenia, Zlatko Unger, Ines
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By Kathy Freston on December 2, 2011
Are you addicted to meat? I see it all the time – people who want to break the meat habit, but who just keep eating those nuggets, burgers and hot dogs. In fact, as I travel the country talking about veganism, meat addiction (acknowledged and not) may be the biggest barrier I see to a societal shift toward healthy, sustainable and kind eating patterns. So I decided I should reflect on what meat addiction looks like – and how you can break it. If you don’t have any urge to stop eating meat, this column really isn’t for you. But more and more Americans do want to cut back or cut out meat, and some of them find it difficult. If this is you, please keep reading.
First, let’s consider how we identify a meat addiction. You know you are addicted to something if, despite knowing that it’s bad for you or doesn’t jibe with your ethics, and despite wanting to drop it from your life, you keep consuming it. Addiction entails a craving that has more control over our behavior than our rational mind and desires. Of course, breaking an addiction can be extremely challenging — you don’t just snap your fingers and lose a craving. But in more than a few ways, those who struggle the most to break an addiction are, often, those who benefit the most.
In the case of being addicted to certain foods like meat or cheese, the addiction can manifest as obesity, disease, or loss of sex drive, energy or self-esteem. It can deaden our awareness of the impact of our actions and our capacity for empathy. When we fully understand and own the end results of poor food choices, we can challenge ourselves to break free, in the same way we might stop consuming other addictive substances. Nothing — no habit or food or substance – should ever own us.
Before beginning, it’s important to remember that, like any addiction, an addiction to animal products is both physiological and psychological. The culture and family traditions have held that indulging in meat and dairy and eggs is good and right. And omnipresent marketing and advertising campaigns constantly tell us that we should feel good about eating animals. So while it’s certainly critical that we take responsibility for our current state of health, we should also give ourselves a bit of a break.
Now, on to breaking the habit:
1. Recognize that you are addicted. By simply calling it out for what it is, you will no longer blindly and unconsciously keep indulging. You will be aware, alert to the denial that wants to repress any effort to change. When I first wanted to stop eating meat — for reasons of health and ethics — I did battle with my urges. I wanted to be a vegetarian, but I also wanted that taste of steak in my mouth. Or the tuna sandwich wolfed down with a root beer. I thought, “Wow, I can’t seem to stop myself from eating this stuff, even though I know it’s not right.” So I labeled it. I thought, “I must be addicted.” Which lead to, “I really don’t want to be held hostage by any addiction or attachment. I need to handle this. If I don’t handle this, I will not rise to my best potential.”
2. Be willing to do things differently. There is a magic quality to willingness; when you are willing to be different, you don’t have to know exactly what that looks like, but only remain open to change. When I was moving toward a plant-based diet, I said to myself, “I don’t know how I’m going to find foods that taste as good to me as the steak and tuna fish that I love, but I’m willing to believe there might be some other foods that are just as satisfying that don’t do that kind of harm. I’m willing to just try a few different menu choices when I go out, and I’ll at least pick up a few new items at the grocery store that would fit in to my new world view.”
3. Stay in the moment. Remember everything you’ve learned and seen. Every time you look at meat or cheese on your plate, even if you are still eating it, think about the process that went into making it. On my way to giving up animal products, I would try and see a quick visual of who the animal once was and what she went through before becoming the meal on my plate. That way, I was not in denial; I was aware. I did that enough times until it was just naturally distasteful to me, and the addiction no longer had a hold on me. I just didn’t want it anymore.
4. Replace the old habit. Do not deprive yourself so that you end up going back to your old habits. Find delicious food and enjoy the old traditions you always had with family and friends. Substitute hamburgers with veggie burgers, hot dogs with soy dogs, chicken enchiladas with bean and guacamole enchiladas. Have your familiar looking meals but make (or order) them with better ingredients.
5. Make yourself useful. This is the fun part, because you start feeling so empowered by the change you’ve undergone that you naturally want to give back. Cook some vegetarian meals and invite friends over; volunteer to bring cake or cookies that are made without eggs or milk to your kids’ schools; volunteer at an animal sanctuary so that you can feel even better about what you are not eating. This will make you feel good, even while it opens the eyes of people who might never even considered this way of eating.
6. Re-invigorate your path of healing. As I mentioned earlier, there is a huge sector of the economy that relies on people continuing to eat animal products; this means that there will be a constant onslaught of advertising that attempts to keep the business of animal agriculture and factory farming going strong. So it’s a good idea to stay on top of peer-reviewed nutritional reports, news about the environment and the economy, along with alerts from farm animal protection groups so that you remain informed and bolstered. I like Farm Sanctuary, the Humane Society of the United States, the Physician’s Committee for Responsible Medicine and PETA.
7. Watch out for the little addictions. One thing I’ve found to be true: healthy practices support other healthy practices. And of course, unhealthy ones do the reverse. If you want to be healthy and steer away from animal products, you might also consider how you feel after eating junk food or sugar. When I eat sugar I get depressed, slothful and anxious. Those feelings weaken me — and could weaken my resolve to be healthy. Of course we don’t have to be perfect or give up every little thing we’ve ever indulged in, but it’s a good idea to note what makes us backslide and then curtail it. Getting sugar out of my system, for instance, made me feel so good that I just started considering myself a healthy person. Once I began to perceive myself as healthy, it was easier to remain that way.
One thing about breaking your animal product addiction (that is less true of some other addictions) is that it’s okay to lean into a vegan diet — you don’t have to beat yourself up over small backsliding, and you don’t have to go (ahem) cold turkey right away. Many people have success with Mark Bittman’s “Vegan until 6,” and then they progressively move to “Vegan 24/7.” Some start with Meatless Mondays, and then move to three days per week. Before they know it, they’re vegan all the time. I encourage people who can’t (or don’t want to) adopt a completely vegan diet all at once to “lean into it” in whatever way makes the most sense for you.
Happy Eating!
For more information on how to optimize your health, visit kathyfreston.com
Originally published on HuffingtonPost.com
Photo credit: brew127
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By Gena Hamshaw CCN on November 4, 2011
In June of this year, I left my lifelong home of New York City for the nation’s capital. Having grown up in a mecca of vegan (and raw) dining options, I was spoiled: I had no idea what it meant to live in a place without juice bars in every zip code, vegan bakeries around the corner, and a mix of both fine dining and fast dining options for the herbivorous eater.
It took some time, but as the summer went by, I began to explore and discover DC’s lean, green, and vegan scene. The city may not be able to rival New York or L.A. in terms of creativity or availability, but it does boast a strong and vibrant little collection of vegan-friendly dining options. We’d expect no less of the city that houses offices for PETA, COK, and PCRM; a local farm animal sanctuary, and a passionate community of plant-based eaters with an eye on political activism.
Lunch bites and snack breaks
Java Green
Featuring wraps, sandwiches, salads, and sides, Java Green is a great option for weekday pop-ins or early dinners. It features fresh vegetable and fruit juice, a clearly marked gluten-free menu, hot and cold soups, and even a gluten-free and vegan burger. Try the raw pizza and live “trio” salad (kale, sea veggies, and kimchi) if you’re in the mood for something extra green. The downside? Portion sizes are tiny, so order in bulk.
Sticky Fingers
A winner of the Food Network’s cupcake wars, Sticky Fingers offers the some of the finest cookies, cupcakes, and pastries in town–vegan or not! The sweet and salty cookie is to die for, and the peanut butter-fudge cupcake may just monopolize your birthday celebrations for good. If you’re craving something more savory than sweet, you can enjoy the restaurant’s tempeh BLT, it’s cheesy quesadillas made with Daiya cheese, the chick’n ranch wrap, or some good old-fashioned biscuits and gravy. If you’re a gluten-free eater, help yourself to the gluten-free chocolate cupcake, and float home on a chocolate high.
Sweet Green
Founded by three Georgetown students who were fed up with the area’s limited dining options, Sweet Green has now expanded beyond its flagship location, dotting the entire district with the best and most innovative salads around. Simple, healthy, and fast, Sweet Green sources local and organic ingredients, and offers such innovative salad options as the Chic P (Falafel, pita chips, chickpeas, and a delectably tart hummus-tahini dressing) and the Sabzi (spicy quinoa, raw beets, white beans, basil, sprouts, and dried cranberries). You can make your own salads or wraps with any of the restaurant’s seasonal offerings (I’m partial to the roasted butternut squash), and you can also help yourself to any of the tasty soups, many of which are vegan. If you’re fending off the DC heat, try the incredible watermelon lemonade for a cooling treat!
Comfort food
Everlasting Life Cafe
There’s something for everyone at this casual cafe, which also offers catering services. Raw foodies and health freaks can feast on the garlicky, raw kale salad, the pickled beets, or the parsley with plum vinaigrette. Other options in the restaurant’s extensive (and-100 percent organic) salad bar include Asian noodles and corn-and-black bean salad.
If you’re in the mood for something hot and filling, though, you’re really in luck. Try any of the restaurant’s daily rotation of hot bar options: highlights include veggie steak n’ cheese, a battered basket, spaghetti pie, barbecue tofu, and sheppard’s pie. With fresh smoothies and juices to boot, you can’t go wrong!
Busboys and Poets
Another crowd pleaser, Busboys and Poets serves up comfort classics in both vegan and vegetarian formations: most of the pizzas can be ordered with either vegan cheese or regular cheese, and and paninis range from tempeh to chicken. The restaurant’s hummus is not to be missed, and its ful medames dish is perfectly spicy and rich. Vegans will flip over the vegan nachos.
An inclusive list of desserts and coffee beverages–not to mention a small bookstore in house (in which diners are welcome to sit and explore)–ensure that all diners will be tempted to linger long after a meal is done.
Dinner for two
Elizabeth’s Gone Raw
DC’s only gourmet raw dining establishment, Elizabeth’s offers a five course pre fixe dinner every Friday night featuring a sumptuous and seasonal tasting menu. A weekly selection might feature such entrees as Wild Mushroom and Tarragon Bisque with Fennel Salad & a Sunflower Cracker, or a raw apple cobbler for dessert. Elizabeth Petty, the owner, opened EGR after a diagnosis of breast cancer in 2009, and her passion for the restorative power of raw food shines through these light and brightly flavored dishes. She’ll be glad to greet you as you dine, and share more of her excitement for raw food with you. The price tag at Elizabeth’s Gone Raw is not cheap (it’s a $75 tasting menu), but the experience is truly unique, and there is no finer raw foods mecca in DC.
Cafe Green
Cafe Green is the place to be if you’re seeking out a casual and health-minded dinner bite. The restaurant features extensive raw options, including an impressive raw pizza with sprouted quinoa and buckwheat crust, raw avocado and spicy soup options, a marinated kale and mango salad, and raw crackers. Fresh juices are served up daily, along with fresh coconut water and kombucha. If you’re not into uncooked cuisine, try the gluten-free mung bean pancakes or the incredible mac n’ cheese. Let the buyer beware, however: the restaurant is very often out of options, especially raw ones, so be prepared to be flexible.
Founding Farmers
Though not vegan or even vegetarian, this restaurant, which is situated three blocks from the White House, is famous for sourcing local produce. The restaurant’s architecture is LEED- certified (a fancy way of saying it’s eco-friendly and environmentally conscious) and it’s other green features include front-of-house and back-of-house recycling, high-efficiency water and energy usage, menus printed on recycled paper with soy-based inks, and water served in reusable glass carafes. Veggie dining options aren’t exactly innovative, but they do include some tasty grain salads, entree sized salads, a savory veggie burger, and a roast eggplant tartine.
Restaurant Nora
Restaurant Nora has bragging rights as the nation’s first certified organic restaurant. This means that the restaurant was churning out organic fare in 1999, long before there was consumer pressure to do so. Nora Pouillon, the restaurant’s founder, has stayed true to her original intention of serving the DC population dishes that are freshly sourced from local farms. Though this is not a vegan restaurant, nor even vegetarian, it is focused on produce, and very high quality produce at that. Many of the salads are easily veganized, and your server will be happy to help you create a vegan meal. (When I went, I was lucky enough to enjoy a creamy risotto with morel mushrooms and fresh corn.) Prices are on the higher end of the spectrum, but the restaurant itself delivers a true fine dining experience, and is well worth it for a fancy dinner.
Firefly
This trendy restaurant in DC’s trendy Dupont circle offers up a menu of local and seasonal fare, including numerous vegan options. Though portion sizes tend to be modest, you can count on robust flavor and New American classics served up with creative flair. All vegans are accommodated: I recommend the tofu skewers and the quinoa with roasted fennel. Another notable feature is the restaurant’s extensive gluten-free menu, which features risotto, quinoa and a heaping of sides. A great and inclusive spot to bring friends of all dietary orientations!
Nightcap
Science Club
Science Club operates primarily as a bar and lounge, featuring a solid (and reasonably priced) wine list. What’s most notable about this particular bar is its emphasis on vegan dining options on the bar menu. These include a quinoa salad with balsamic reduction, hummus, and tofu skewers. DJ’s spin at Science Club every night of the week, and the restaurant also hosts private parties. This is your best late night bet for a vegan snack and sip of wine!
As you can see, DC’s vegan scene may be less outspoken than other cities’, but seek and ye shall find many an option. Enjoy plant-based fare while you soak in the spacious parks and green vistas of our nation’s capital!
For more information on how to optimize your health, visit choosingraw.com
Photo credit: Chris Hall, ciao-chow, Michael Banabila, Martin Kalfatovic, James Sullivan
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By Jennifer Reilly RD LD on October 17, 2011
Healthy food fast is easy if you have the right ingredients in your arsenal and don’t let stress or time gum up your nutrition as a top priority. Here are 10 essential ingredients that will maximize your chances of success in today’s busy world. Having the right quick ingredients on hand will help you continue cloud surfing your way through health euphoria even on extra rushed and wild days. Always have on hand:
1. Organic Salad Greens. Salad doesn’t have to take hours of prep or your life savings to enjoy. Get a bunch of tasty, dark, salad greens, and enjoy them daily with nothing but low-fat dressing, or a tad of brown rice vinegar, olive oil, and sea salt. The greens can be pre-washed, but know that they often spoil faster.
2. Low-Fat Salad Dressing, or Olive Oil + Brown Rice Vinegar in a 2:1 ratio. Even the cutest of tushes need salad dressing on their greens. One of my favorite bottled dressings is Trader Joe’s Light Champagne Vinaigrette. But when it’s out of stock in my fridge, the olive oil/brown rice vinegar/sea salt combo or the following tahini dressing are perfect for dolling up the lettuce mountain.
Tahini Dressing for Veggies
Makes 1 cup (16 Tablespoons)
Prep time 3 minutes
1/3 cup tahini?(sesame seed butter)
1/3 cup water
¼ cup lemon juice
2 cloves garlic
3/4 tsp salt
1 Blend ingredients together until smooth. Add additional water, 1 Tbsp at a time, for a thinner dressing.
2 Store dressing in the fridge for up to 5 days. Stir or re-blend if dressing separates.
NUTRITION SNAPSHOT
Per Tbsp: 35 calories, 3 g total fat, 0.5 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 115.5 mg sodium, 1.5 g carbohydrates, 0.5 g fiber, 0 g sugar, 1 g protein, 0% vitamin A, 3% vitamin C, 2.5% calcium, 3% iron
Note: Alternatively, use unsalted almond butter in place of tahini for an equally delicious dressing.
Recipe from: Cooking with Trader Joe’s Cookbook: Skinny Dish! by Jennifer K. Reilly, RD.
3. Dried Beans or Lentils: On a slow Sunday, cook up a heap of dried beans (pinto and black are favorites) or lentils (which only take about 20 minutes) and then freeze them in 1-cup portions for quick access anytime. Just drain and toss them on a salad, into a stir-fry, burrito, or stirred into soup. Or blend cooked beans or lentils with 1 cup salsa for a fast bean dip or sandwich spread. To do a “quick soak” for beans, cover them with water in a large cooking pot and bring to a boil for 2 minutes. Remove from heat, cover, and let sit for an hour. Drain water. Add new water. Bring to a boil again, then reduce heat to simmer and cook, uncovered, for about 1 more hour.
4. Quinoa: (“keen-wah”). When you’re rushed for dinner, brown rice–or even white rice for that matter–takes way too long to cook. Quinoa is not only a great rice substitute rich in fiber and protein (and a gluten-free food), but it only takes 15 minutes to cook. Get pre-rinsed quinoa if you can, or rinse the seeds vigorously in water before cooking to remove the saponins. Quinoa is a seed that’s eaten like a whole grain, and can even be mixed with fruit, nuts, cinnamon, and non-dairy milk for a fast breakfast the next morning.
5. Berries: Fresh or frozen. Raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries are so full of life-extending compounds while also being rich in fiber and low in calories, that you’re better off opting FOR these sweet little miracle makers at meal or snack time. Toss them into breakfast cereals or smoothies, atop salads, or eat them by the handful. Sure feels better than the sugar crash of a vending machine candy bar!
6. Non-Dairy Milk: Fortified almond, coconut, hemp, oat, or soy milk have all the calcium and vitamin D of dairy milk, less sugar, better taste, fewer calories, and don’t cause mucous production, inflammation, and weight gain the way dairy milk does. Enjoy unsweetened almond milk with 45 calories & 0 grams of sugar per cup or original coconut milk beverage–include it in smoothies, pour it onto a bowl of high-fiber breakfast cereal, or add it to tea. Mmm!
7. Broccoli: The florets are so full of antioxidants, cancer-fighters, and hormone regulators, and they’re not a particular threat to pests. So, conventionally grown broccoli isn’t riddled with pesticides, which means it’s OK if you can’t buy organic. Steam, roast, stir-fry, or curry it (cook with curry powder and light coconut milk, see below), or dip the florets in bean dip for a satisfying snack.
8. Canned Coconut Milk: Canned light or full-fat coconut milk (1/2 cup or more) and curry powder (2 tsp) can turn any veggie or veggie combo into a gourmet curry dish. Add beans for protein and serve over quinoa.
9. Kale: Rich in blood pressure busting chlorophyll, immune-boosting antioxidants, and calcium that is absorbed twice as well as dairy calcium, kale is a true powerhouse. Juice it, toss it into smoothies, stir-fries, or bake it at 350 degrees for 30 minutes with a touch of olive oil and salt (stir after 15 minutes and return to the oven) for a crunchy veggie side dish even kids will crave.
10: Dark Chocolate: A few squares will powerfully satisfy your sweet tooth and are loaded with antioxidants. Work from a large bar—a small piece at a time—so you aren’t tempted by other sweet foods in the office or at home.
For more quick and easy plant-powered recipes including a whole host of 8-minute meals, check out Cooking with Trader Joe’s Cookbook: Skinny Dish! by Jennifer K. Reilly, R.D., with foreword by Kris Carr which launches today!
Photo credit: Ula Nice
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