May 6, 2015

"the good karma diet" + giveaway

What goes around, comes around. We've all heard the old motto, but many of us have yet to apply it to something as daily as eating. Too many people only consider this old adage on massive scales or only human-to-human contact, but the truth runs much deeper and affects many more beings than the homo sapien kind.



Victoria Moran addresses this correlation between who/what we eat with how we feel and what we reap. In her yet-to-be released book, The Good Karma Diet: Eat Gently, Feel Amazing, Age in Slow Motion, (Amazon, B&N, Penguin Publishers), Victoria breaches and approaches this topic with her typical good sense and good sense of humor. The book is a complete guide to eating karmically that benefits you, the world you live in and the animals that inhabit it with you.

She shows us how we can choice food that sustains energy, extends youthfulness, reduces weight and how enlightenment can affect our outlook. The book is divided into 25 chapters, full of advice, inspiration, tips and stories of experiences from folks on the karmic path. As Victoria puts it, the book is a living book and alnough not necessarily a cookbook, it does include a section of recipes.

Victoria Moran has been writing books for more than 20 years, is the author of Main Street Vegan (Amazon, B&N) and is the founder of the Main Street Vegan Academy.

If you have ever read any of Victoria's books, you will know that she is charming and very down to earth. I thoroughly loved the book, evidenced that I received the book, sat down and read it overnight. It was as addictive as the topic. Not only is the book informative, but it is fun to read!

If you purchase a book before the publish date of May 19, you get a few perks: an exclusive telecast with Victoria and you will be entered in a contest to win $$ for your favorite charity. Victoria makes sure that the karma keeps moving fluidly: you get the book, the telecast, charity gets donations and the animals are spared. Win, win all around.

Victoria shares one of the recipes in the book and below she is giving away a copy of The Good Karma Diet, open to both US and Canadian residents. Make sure to enter the Rafflecopter giveaway below. Contest ends Monday, May 18.






Creamy Golden Squash Soup

Ingredients:
6 cups boiling water

1 medium white onion whole and unpeeled

1 medium butternut or walnut squash, cubed

1 small zucchini, cubed

1 medium carrot, peeled and chopped

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium red onion, sliced

1 medium stalk celery, chopped

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

2 teaspoons cumin

1-2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 tablespoon salt (or to taste)

1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup walnuts, chopped and lightly toasted (If toasting your own chopped raw walnuts, toast in a dry skillet at medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring constantly, until lightly toasted. Remove from heat immediately.)

Loving Preparation:
1. In a medium pot, add the water, whole white onion, and squash. Bring to a boil again; then simmer for 10 minutes.
2. Add the zucchini and carrots and simmer for 10 minutes more.
3. Meanwhile, sauté the sliced red onions in oil on medium heat until golden brown. Set aside.
4. Drain the soup into a large bowl and set the liquid aside.
5. Discard the onion peel and add peeled white onion, along with the drained soup ingredients, to a heatproof food processor or blender. Add celery, salt, and all seasonings, and puree until smooth and creamy. (Be very careful when blending hot liquids as the sudden release of steam has a tendency to blow the lid off of blenders. Be sure the lid is firmly in place and cover the lid with a towel for extra safety. Start the blender at its lowest speed, increasing it slowly.)
6. Pour the blender contents back into the pot and add the drained stock and sautéed onions.
7. Adjust the flavor if needed, with more salt, pepper, or any of the spices.
8. Serve hot or chilled, in bowls or mugs. Sprinkle with toasted walnuts and decorate with a sprig of parsley or cilantro.
9. Soup will keep refrigerated up to 3 days. Or freeze in a plastic container or sealed BPA- free zipper bag.
Serves 4 to 6

"Meaty" Variation:
If you love mushrooms and want a bit of a meaty texture, sauté 1 cup of fresh or 10 soaked and sliced shiitake mushrooms with the sliced red onion.


Excerpted from THE GOOD KARMA DIET: Eat Gently, Feel Amazing, Age in Slow Motion by Victoria Moran, with the permission of Tarcher/Penguin, a division of Penguin Random House. Copyright © 2015.
Photo and recipe by Doris Fin, CCHP, AADP.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Apr 12, 2015

dump dinner: pasta puttanesca

After a bit of research into what dump dinners actually are, I've discovered that there are basically four kinds of "dumps:"

1. Slow cooker meals
2. Pressure cooker meals
3. Oven meals
4. Stove-top meals

In each instance, the ingredients ideally go straight into the cooking vessel and after heat and time, out comes a meal ready for the table.

The distinct omission in these kinds of recipes is the lack of flavor development that comes with something like sauteing, for instance. You just cannot get the same flavor from an onion that you merely boil instead of cook in a bit of fat. 

Since I am not cooking with oil for the time being (trying out the Forks Over Knives, Engine 2 Diet and McDougall plan) I figured this is the best time to try my hand at real, true Dump Dinners. That means no sauteeing and everything goes in at once.




Making a dump pasta dinner was my next challenge. Instead of cooking everything separately, I made this meal entirely in the oven. If any pasta dish is great as a dump meal, it would be Pasta Puttanesca. This dish is a tomato and olive based pasta meal.

I used white pasta here because I just wasn't sure how the meal would cook up, but since this went really well, I will make subsequent pasta dishes with whole grain pasta instead.

In my recipe I used extra firm tofu, but I am recommending baked tofu instead, although you could omit the tofu completely; the recipe is flexible.

Without further chatter from me, below is my take on the pasta dish in true dump style.






Pasta Puttanesca
Serves 4
Prep Time: 10 minutes for assembly and pre-heat, 5 minutes of sit time
Cook Time: 50 minutes

1 (15 to 18-ounce) can whole tomatoes, undrained
2 ½ cups vegetable broth
1 (4 to 5-ounce) jar kalamata olives, drained
2 tablespoons drained capers
2 tablespoons tomato paste or ¼ cup tomato concentrate
1 teaspoon dried oregano
¾ teaspoon sea salt
Black pepper, to taste
10 ounces pasta (increase broth to 3 cups if using whole wheat pasta)
1 (10-ounce) package baked tofu, cut into ¼-inch dice
4 garlic cloves, sliced
1 tablespoon olive oil, optional
2 tablespoons minced parsley, optional

1. Preheat the oven to 400-degrees F. Transfer the tomatoes to a large oven-safe pot, breaking up the tomatoes as you add them. Add the broth, olives, capers, paste. oregano, salt and black pepper. Stir well to incorporate the tomato paste into the water. Add the pasta, tofu and garlic. Make sure all the pasta is submerged in the liquid. Cover the pot tightly with foil and bake for 30 minutes.
2. Uncover the pot carefully, stir the pasta and continue to bake until the pasta is tender, about 20 more minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to sit for 5 minutes before serving. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with parsley, if using.

Quick Tip: Preheat oven while you chop and assemble the dish.

© 2015 Copyright Zsu Dever. All rights reserved.



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