Fall Vegetarian Comfort: Provence Style Zesty Stew

Here comes fall with preparations for the holidays ahead! At a loss for what vegetarian/vegan do for holiday meals when they dine with the omnivores if they aren't in charge of the hosting/menu? They might not admit it to a host or others bringing the food for fear of inconvenience but the making do with the meat-free dishes such as mashed potatoes, salad and picking bacon bits off the green beans does not make for satisfaction.

They'll likely fend for themselves to bring something they can enjoy, but asking others to bring a few more veggie-friendly dishes to munch on would be appreciated for certain (also giving everyone at the table extra vitamins, minerals and fiber woo hoo!) Instead of reaching for the meat-analogue Tofurkey, why not offer another filling dish with less sodium! The recipe that follows is also gluten-free (we folk who get glum being unable to have most pies and crispy-onion-topping green beans).

Province Style Tofu Stew

Adapted from Williams and Sonoma Soup cook book to be veggie friendly

For people who eat fish the original calls for 1 lb of firm white fish. A similar recipe I was given by a former mentor also added a soft cheese to her fish stew and there was no orange zest. See what's in your fridge/pantry, and play around and make this recipe your own! I added beet greens because I didn't have tomato pieces and wanted more texture/substance. Veggies rock as they tend to be very interchangable in most recipes.


Equipment: optional blender or food processor to make a less chunky soup
Prep-work: rinse and chopping and zesting, 5-10 minutes worth; optional homemade stock made fresh 2 hrs (or grab from your freezer)

3 servings

 

1 tbsp olive oil
1 yellow onion, finely chopped
1 carrot, peeled and finely chopped
1 small fennel bulb, thinly sliced (substitute celery if you cannot find)
1 large garlic clove, minced
2-3 tbsp of tomato paste OR 14 oz chopped tomato (fresh or canned, saving juice to use in this recipe)
2 cups of vegetable stock (may make 1 cup of red wine if on hand, I didn't have)
zest of 1-2 small oranges
12-16oz package of firm tofu, cut into 1/2" cubes
1/4 cup dill (or another herb, original recipe calls for parsley)
2 cups thoroughly rinsed beet greens (or other greens), chopped

1. In a medium soup pot over med-high heat, warm the oil. Add the onions, stirring occasionally until lightly brown. Less than 5 minutes. Add carrots and fennel. Cook until slightly softened about 4-5 minutes. Add garlic cooking 1 more minute.

2. Add tomatoes and their juice, wine and/or vegetable stock and orange zest. Reduce the heat to medium and bring to simmer. Add the beet greens. Cover with the lid cracked open slightly for about 10 minutes, veggies should be well softened and your kitchen smelling great.

3. Blend about 1/3 of the soup to puree in the blender/processor and then return it to the pot (careful about the lid coming off due to the steam build up-let the soup cool a bit first OR if you have a stick blender go for that instead)

4. Add the tofu and heat until warmed through.

5. Put soup into bowls and top with the chopped herb.

Tastes great served alone or with some bread (yes, there's gluten free ones out there) or add 1/4 to 1/2 cup cooked grains, beans or quinoa per serving for extra belly-filling goodness. 


I attended a cardio kick-box class this week and the instructor reminded us to eat mindfully (chewing slowly to notice the tastes, the smells, the colors, the conversation being had with loved ones) and go ahead and indulge having a bit o' the "bad" stuff.

What sensations describe your Thanksgivings?

Detox Days 1-3: Fruits, Veggies, Grains & Oils

Have you tried a juicing detox/cleanse/fast before? Maybe you're feeling sluggy or the stomach is off. Maybe the beautiful weather is just reminding you that you want to work towards showing off some skin. There can be weight loss, but for long term-health I would count on the detox just being a diving off point to help make eating cleaner a habit. I've seen detoxes range from 3 days (even saw a business based on this at the La Jolla Farmer's market this past weekend and on Groupon) to 30 days (online paleo challenges, juicing). From my experience, consistency in a mostly healthy (occasional treats ok!), varied diet and exercise is really the best, most sustainable way to be the best you.

In the past I have tried 14 day detoxes, the Master Cleanse (cayenne-lemon-maple syrup) and a juicing/Master Cleanse (juice for breakfast, dinner and lemonade the rest of the time), both times using senna tea for...ahem... moving the junk out. After it was all said and done, I did come out feeling like I was more alert, a light/happy feeling and my hip joints seemed to loosen up a bit when practicing yoga. Yes, usually the first 3-4 days blow as far as feeling crabby and deprived...after that the body/mind adapt mostly. Have to say drinking the exact same sweet and cold for that many days was boooooring.

I wanted to try something a little different this year. Not following a particular plan-just making something that fits my calendar (promised to go out for a graduation dinner Saturday). Start off just eating very light and clean for three days, then go three days of juicing only and two days to come off with juice, veg soup and raw salads. I was a bit hesitant to start a detox this year given I wasn't hitting the gym when I did detoxes before, but a friend sent me an article from Bodybuilding.com about benefits for weight lifters.

I would just caution if you have health conditions, you want to check with a doctor or registered dietician before you try.

After setting my mind to it (probably the hardest part) and making sure my perishable food was eaten already, I was ready to go buy my food supplies (already had a Jack Lalanne Juicer and have some plastic cariffs for storing juice, ideally you make it and drink it fresh but we can't always carry a juicer with us or take 3 days off work to be at home...also cleaning the juicer that many times a day would be a drag).

So here's my progress so far on cleaning up my solid foods in phase 1. Those with recipes**

Day 1: 
 Breakfast: Oatmeal = 1/3 cup coach's oats + 4 chopped dates + 2 tbsp unsweetened coconut flakes toasted (250F for 3 minutes in my toaster oven...otherwise unpleasant blackening!) + 1 cup water + 1 scoop brown rice protein powder + cinnamon
Snack: 1/4 cup toasted walnuts and 1 apple
Lunch:  No-name #1 = 2 cups cabbage steamed in veggie broth with shichimi togarashi (Japanese chili-spice mix for udon), 4 dried shiitake mushrooms (soaked overnight, save the broth for a soup or okonomiyaki) sliced, 3/4 cup cooked brown rice , eaten with Korean seaweed.
Snack : **Curry-spiced shredded carrot patties & popcorn made with coconut oil and salt
Dinner: Salad. Topped with 1/2 cup roasted carrots,3/4 cup home-sprouted mung beans (really easy and cheap to do yourself, but you need 3 days prep time! I followed Padhu's Kitchen with great success.) with a grapefruit-garlic-vinegar dressing. Similar to previous post but no Sriracha, mustard or honey. Note to self: do not eat if going out to any social events or if having meetings at work. Keeps the vampires away though.

Day 2:
Breakfast : Oatmeal again
Snack: Walnuts, Grapefruit
Lunch: Vietnamese Spring rolls with leftover roast carrots, leftover curry-spiced carrot patties, shiitake mushrooms, lettuce, mung bean and leftover salad dressing.
Snack: dried dates, baked sweet potato fries
Dinner: 3/4 cup brown rice, carrot top/pea sprout saag with 2 hard boiled egg whites (bring eggs to boil in water, turn off heat and let sit 18 minutes with lid on)

Day 3:
Breakfast: same as last night's dinner
Snack: 1 scoop brown rice protein with water, 1/2 cup frozen strawberries and 2 pitted dates shake.
Lunch: Same dinner as Day 1
Snack: 1/2 cup fresh strawberries;** Toasted celery leaf-Navy bean soup with togarashi, shiitake mushrooms; baked sweet potato fries
Dinner: mung bean and brown rice "okonomiyaki" with shredded zucchini and minced garlic filling eaten with lettuce. Ate 1/4 cup brown rice with the small amount of saag while waiting, cuz okonomiyaki is not a quick dish to cook.And I was impatient so it came out quite ugly and not set in the middle.
 
I feel ok, but only felt happily full after noshing on the sweet potato fries and the saag. (At least for working out/yoga I don't have to worry about feeling too weighed down.) The other times I was just made to feel no longer on empty. Having the mint tea after meals helps. The next phase (three days) will be tough with just juicing, two of the days I need to make enough to take with me to work. I stocked up at farmer's market today...will see if it's enough to make it through (plenty o' grocery stores in my hood if I need to re-supply).  I got 2 bunches of kale, 1 heart (?) celery, 6 cucumbers, 5 lb bag of valencia oranges, 1 small cantalope, 1 bundle swiss chard and a bundle of carrots. Have good variety of herbal tea: jasmine and mint! and of course senna leaf (those don't taste so good to me but I'd rather do this than the salt water flush-that made me want to hurl).

CURRY-SPICED GRATED CARROT PATTIES-makes 5 small (golf ball) patties (light lunch/two snacks)

Ingredients
3 tsp sesame seeds
3.6 oz grated carrot
1 tbsp flax seed ground and mixed with 3 tbsp hot water (allow to sit 10 minutes)
1 tsp curry powder
1 tsp thinly sliced ginger
4 tsp chickpea flour

Heat pan on medium-high with a tsp of sesame oil (or other oil of choice)

Mix all ingredients in a small bowl. Form patties.

Fry about 4 minutes on each side until crispy and warmed through.

TOASTED CELERY LEAF-NAVY BEAN SOUP (1 serving)

Ingredients
1/3 of celery heart's leaves-rinsed and dried, and baked ~350F about 5-10 minutes until crispy
1.5 cups veg stock
3/4 cup cooked Navy bean
3 soaked overnight and sliced shiitake mushrooms (also tastes good using nutritional yeast, probably a couple tablespoons is enough for one bowl)

Stick all ingredients except the mushrooms in a blender if you like a smoother texture.

Heat it up in the microwave or on the stove.

*Stay tuned for progress/recipes on the 3 days of juicing. On day 2 of 3 today!

Juicing means less dishes and time spent cooking, what's the first thing you would do with your spare time?