Kale and Mushroom Pita
Kale and Mushroom Pita is a super easy way to get that all important dose of greens and fiber in your diet. Whenever I don’t feel like spending a lot of time cooking, a Kale and Mushroom Pita is on the menu.
With just 4 ingredients: dark green lacinto kale, mushrooms, nutritional yeast, and whole grain pita bread, the Kale and Mushroom Pita takes about 10 minutes to make. The biggest time sap is cleaning and cutting the mushrooms and kale which can be done ahead of time (or buy pre-washed baby kale), covered and refrigerated until later in the day. Read more 
Powerballs
Powerballs are moist, nutty delicious bites made from eight ingredients: dates, walnuts, dried apricots, sprouted sunflower seeds, goji berries, hemp hearts, flaxseed meal and cinnamon. Sweet and scrumptious, Powerballs are the ideal snack or dessert that satisfies those sweet cravings we all get from time to time.
Inspired by the recipe for Superfood Breakfast Bites in the How Not To Die Cookbook, Powerballs are heavy on the dates, apricots, and walnuts but its the seeds, berries, hemp, and flaxseed along with the cinnamon that make these treats so special. Read more
The Best Ever Corn Muffins (Vegan)
Making a moist and flavorful corn muffin without butter, oil, milk, refined sugar, or eggs used to be a challenge until I was inspired by a recipe for Double Corn Muffins in the Forks Over Knives Flavor cookbook by Darshana Thacker. Her recipe is excellent but I want a lighter muffin so I use whole grain spelt flour or Hayden Flour Mills all purpose flour (instead of whole wheat flour which is a heavier flour), medium grain cornmeal (instead of coarse) and add a teaspoon of baking soda and a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar to help leaven the muffins more than by using baking powder alone.
Whereas most corn muffins taste like corn but are often dry, these corn muffins are moist and delicious because fresh off-the-cob kernels are used along with medium coarse cornmeal and almond flour that provides just the right amount of granular texture. The result is best described as “the best ever corn muffins, period.” Read more
Roasted Sweet Potatoes, Beans and Veggies
Roasted Sweet Potatoes, Beans, and Veggies is a catch-all name for an entree that has it all: potatoes, beans, greens, carrots, and mushrooms. Although the star of the show is the sweet potato (three different kinds), the other vegetables and beans add a lot of flavor (and nutrients) to the dish.
Two helpful hints: don’t skimp on the seasoning. Although the vegetables are delicious together, a few teaspoons of dried spices can really add a lot of zip to this dish. Read more
Is There Anything More Beautiful Than A Dragon Fruit?
To me, a Pitaya – also known as a Dragon Fruit – looks like a fruit worthy of the fanciest fruit salad. With a fluorescent magenta and green outer skin covering a slightly sweet juicy interior that tastes like a melon, the Dragon Fruit is both beautiful to look at and scrumptious to eat.
In fact, it’s so beautiful to look at, that I often use a few as a center piece on the table until ripe (note: as the fruit ripens, the pink color gets brighter and brighter). Then, I place the fruit in the refrigerator to chill for a few hours or overnight because the flavor is best when chilled. Read more
The Double A BCD Salad
The Double A BCD Salad is a crunchy, colorful, nutritious and delicious salad that takes about 10 minutes to make. Made with 5 primary ingredients: apple, avocado, beans, celery, and dill, the Double A BCD Salad is full of nutrients, fiber, and flavor. So on those days when you don’t have a lot of time for food prep, consider making this amazing salad for lunch or supper. For an added boost of nutrition, serve the salad on a bed of greens. Read more
Proteinaholic
It’s been said that we don’t change when we see the light, but when we feel the heat.
Those are the words of Dr. Garth Davis, MD – a board-certified surgeon – who specializes in bariatric surgery in Asheville, NC. Prior to moving to Asheville in 2018, Dr. Davis was the medical director of the Davis Clinic at the Methodist Hospital in Houston, Texas. A graduate of University of Texas in Austin, and the Baylor School of Medicine, Dr. Davis completed his surgical residency at the University of Michigan. Read more
Caesar Salad Revisited
The classic Caesar Salad was one of my favorite salads for decades but after adopting a plant-based diet, this Mexican (yes, the Caesar Salad originated in Mexico) salad was no longer an option.
I would be less than honest if I didn’t admit I missed this classic side dish. But, not for long because I figured out how to make a tangy and creamy Caesar Salad without the eggs, anchovies, Worcestershire sauce, and parmesan cheese. At first, I relied on store-bought vegan salad dressings but most had a lot of oil, which I try to minimize and then, I realized two things: one, I could make my own creamy dressing using raw cashews; and two, Follow Your Heart® Dairy Free Parmesan makes the salad taste more authentic. Read more
Shepherd’s Pie (Vegan)
Shepherd’s Pie – that quintessential British favorite made with lamb, vegetables, and spices in a gravy sauce topped with mashed potatoes – is one of Britain’s most well-known comfort foods. Tradition dictates that a Shepherd’s Pie cannot be a Shepherd’s Pie without lamb (if beef is used, then the dish is called Cottage Pie) but I beg to differ.
A Shepherd’s Pie made with a variety of vegetables, beans, and spices in a vegetable broth sauce topped with mashed potatoes is one of the all-time great variations of this traditional favorite. And, the plant-based option is more nutritious (no meat, oil, or dairy) than the original version, easy to make, and totally delicious. Read more
Le Botaniste: Not to Miss!
Le Botaniste in Soho (and also on the Upper East Side) looks like an old-fashioned European apothecary with a black and white checkered floor manned by staff wearing white pharmaceutical jackets. But, instead of rows and rows of “drugs” lined up alphabetically on shelves, the “drugs of choice” – plant food in a rainbow of colored Le Creuset round oven pots and perfectly appointed built in bowls – are front and center behind crystal clear glass.
A plant-based food and wine bar that operates under the mantra attributed to Hippocrates “let food be thy medicine…,” Le Botaniste is an exquisite looking cafe that bills itself as 100% botanical, 99% organic, and gluten-free. It’s also 100% delicious. Read more
