Authors: Rip Esselstyn
B00AG0VMTC EBOK (24 page)
By Ann Esselstyn
LOL suits this perfectly. Serve it up as the main dish with a big salad, or “fry” up leftovers the next day in an LOL sandwich. I especially dig the taste of the barbecue sauce on the top and bottom.
Prep time: 25 minutes • Cook time: 45 to 55 minutes • Makes 2 loaves; 8 servings
1½ cups red lentils
2½ cups water
1 large onion, chopped
One 8-ounce package mushrooms, chopped
4 garlic cloves, chopped
4 cups packed fresh spinach, chopped
One 15-ounce can diced tomatoes, with juices
1 teaspoon dried sage
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon Mrs. Dash Garlic & Herb seasoning blend, or similar spice blend
¼ teaspoon dried marjoram
½ cup chopped fresh cilantro or parsley, or as desired
2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 to 1½ cups barbecue sauce or ketchup, your favorite
Preheat the oven to 375°F.
In a saucepan, bring the lentils to a boil in the water. Decrease the heat to low, cover, and simmer until the lentils are tender and most of the water is absorbed, 8 to 10 minutes. In the same saucepan, mash the lentils with the back of a spoon or a potato masher; don’t worry, red lentils cook quickly and mash easily.
In a nonstick pan, cook the onions over medium heat, stirring constantly to avoid burning, until soft and translucent. Add the mushrooms and garlic and continue to cook over medium heat until soft. Add water or vegetable broth, if necessary, to keep the vegetables from sticking. Add the spinach, cover, and continue to cook over medium heat until the spinach wilts, 4 or 5 minutes.
Add the lentils to the onion-mushroom-spinach mixture and stir to combine. Add the diced tomatoes, sage, garlic powder, Mrs. Dash seasoning, marjoram, and cilantro and stir. Add the oats and stir it all again.
In the bottom of two 9 × 5-inch loaf pans, spread half of the barbecue sauce or ketchup. Add the lentil-oat mixture to the loaf pans, then spread the remaining barbecue sauce or ketchup in a generous layer on the tops.
Bake for 45 to 55 minutes until the barbecue glaze turns crispy on the edges. Let set for 10 to 15 minutes before cutting and serving—ideally until the next day!
Tip:
The loaf is much easier to cut the next day.
By Ann Esselstyn
I first experienced restuffed potatoes at T.G.I. Friday’s as a teenager with my whole family. Back in the day, they were stuffed with cheese and bacon bits and came with a heaping mound of sour cream on top. Boy, have things changed over the years. These are righteous on any day of the week, especially Fridays! Serve with steamed broccoli and a big salad.
Prep time/cook time: 90 minutes • Serves 6
6 medium Yukon Gold potatoes
1 large, sweet onion, peeled and chopped
5 garlic cloves, peeled
6 tablespoons nutritional yeast
½ cup unsalted vegetable broth
Freshly ground black pepper
Pinch of cayenne pepper
1 cup corn kernels, frozen or fresh
½ cup scallions, chopped
Paprika
Preheat the oven to 450°F.
Scrub the potatoes, prick with a fork, and bake for 1 hour. Spread the onion and garlic cloves out in a parchment paper–lined pan. Bake the onion and garlic for 20 minutes, or until browned but not burned.
Remove the onion and garlic from the oven and transfer to the bowl of a food processor. Process until smooth. After 1 hour, remove potatoes from the oven. Decrease the oven temperature to 350°F. Cut the potatoes in half. Scoop out the potato pulp, leaving enough to give the potato skin structure, and place the pulp into a large mixing bowl.
Arrange the empty skins in a handsome baking dish. Using an electric mixer, whip the hot potatoes, adding the onion mixture, nutritional yeast, and broth. Add a bit of extra broth if the potatoes seem dry—the desired texture is that of traditional mashed potatoes. Add the black pepper, cayenne, corn, and scallions, reserving some scallions for garnish, and fold into the mashed potatoes.
Spoon the mashed potatoes into the skins, sprinkle with paprika, and bake for 30 minutes. Sprinkle with the reserved scallions, and serve.
By Ann Esselstyn
Oats and Kale! You’ll never guess you are eating oats for dinner in this dish. If you’ve never made steel-cut oatmeal before, hold on to your hat, because this is one delicious dish. Seriously. Try this one on for size!
Prep time: 10 minutes • Cook time: 35 to 40 minutes • Serves 4
1 medium onion, chopped
2 to 3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
4 cups (about 1 bunch) Kale, leaves stripped from stems and chopped
1 cup steel-cut oats
3 cups low-sodium or unsalted vegetable broth
3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
Hot sauce, your favorite
Freshly ground black pepper
In a nonstick pan over high heat, stir-fry the chopped onion until softened and beginning to brown, about 5 minutes.
Add a splash of water or vegetable broth if the pan is too dry. Add the garlic and bell pepper and cook for 1 or 2 minutes, adding a dash of liquid, if necessary. Add the Kale to the pan and cook about 3 minutes, until the Kale leaves reduce to about half their original size. Add the oats, broth, and nutritional yeast. Bring to a boil, cover, lower to a simmer, and cook for 25 minutes, or until all of the liquid is absorbed. Season with hot sauce and black pepper to taste.
By a small village of plant-strong chefs
There are many cooks behind this recipe. The original is adapted from Emma Christensen’s food blog,
The Kitchn
, where she credits
Orangette
’s Chana Masala for the filling. And I credit Sarah Willis (Jane’s sister-in-law) and Jane for making it an E2, plant-strong dish. It takes a village! You can change this recipe up a bit by using sweet potatoes instead of potatoes and Kale instead of spinach. Create your own version of a Village Pocket.
Prep time/cook time: 55 minutes • Makes 10 to 12 pockets
Follow the recipe for J.R.’s Pizza and Flatbread Dough (
here
), but
double the recipe
to make 12 instead of 6 pockets.
1 onion, diced small
3 garlic cloves, minced
3 to 4 red potatoes, diced
1 teaspoon peeled and minced fresh ginger
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons garam masala
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
One 28-ounce can diced tomatoes, with their juices
1 cup peas, fresh or frozen
One 15-ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 cups baby spinach leaves
To make the filling: In a deep pan over high heat, cook the diced onion and garlic until lightly browned. Decrease the heat to medium, add the potatoes, cover, and continue cooking until the potatoes soften on the outside. Keep an eye on the mixture, and add a tablespoon of water if needed.
Add the ginger, cumin, garam masala, and cayenne, if using, to the middle of the pan and heat until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the garlic, onions, and potatoes. Add the tomatoes and their juices and bring to a simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are completely soft and the sauce has reduced and thickened. Stir in the peas, chickpeas, and fresh spinach. Continue to cook over low heat, stirring, until the spinach wilts.
To make the pockets: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper or use an aerated pizza pan (this is a cool pan to own if you do not have one).
On a floured work surface, working with one piece of dough at a time, roll out the dough into a round roughly ¼ inch thick. Place about ½ cup of filling onto the lower half of the flattened dough, leaving a ½-inch border around the edge. Fold the top of the dough over and pinch the edges closed as though you were making a calzone.
Transfer the filled pockets to the lined sheet pan. Repeat making pockets until all of the dough has been used; you should have 10 to 12 pockets. Arrange the pockets a few inches apart on the sheet pan. Bake for 12 minutes. Remove from the oven and serve warm.
Tip:
I like dipping these pockets in a favorite dressing such as Jane’s Dancing Dressing (
here
), Polly’s Vinaigrette (
here
), or Ginger-Lime Dressing (
here
).
By Jane Esselstyn
When the
Forks Over Knives
production crew came by Fire Station 2 and filmed us sitting around the dinner table, our lieutenant, Scott Hembre, made this comment: “Barbecuing is a sport in Texas, and that’s what guys do on weekends, they compete on barbecue teams to win contests.”
Texans and firehouses across the country: Get ready to fire up your grills and let the barbecuing games begin!
Prep time/cook time: 40 minutes • Makes 6 to 8 shish kabobs
¾ cup vegetable broth
1 tablespoon low-sodium tamari sauce
1 teaspoon minced fresh garlic
1 cup wheat gluten
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
2 teaspoons onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1 onion, chopped into large chunks
½ pineapple, sliced into large 1 by 2-inch square sections
1 red bell pepper, sliced into large 2-inch square sections
1 yellow bell pepper, sliced into large 2-inch square sections
One 8-ounce package white mushrooms
One 8-ounce container cherry tomatoes
Any other vegetables or fruits you want to spear on your kabob
1 cup barbecue or teriyaki sauce, tamari sauce, or your grilling flavor of choice
Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line a roasting pan with a layer of parchment paper.
In a small bowl, whisk together the broth, tamari, and garlic. In a separate bowl, mix together the wheat gluten, smoked paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, and nutritional yeast.
Combine the wet and dry ingredients. Hand mix and/or knead ingredients until there is an elastic texture to the dough, about 3 minutes. Flatten out the dough to a thickness of about ½ inch in the lined baking pan—this takes a bit of wrestling. Using a serrated knife, score the dough into a shish kabob–size (1 inch x 1 inch) grid, about 20 pieces. Bake for 15 minutes, remove from the oven, flip, and bake for 15 minutes more.
While the seitan is baking, slice the vegetables for the shish kabobs. Remove the seitan from the oven, coat with the barbecue sauce, return to the oven and bake for 15 minutes more. Remove the seitan from the oven and cut into cubes. Build the shish kabobs on skewers with the seitan cubes and sliced vegetables and fruit. Coat the shish kabobs with the barbecue sauce and grill until the veggies and fruits are bright and the sauce is browned. Serve warm.
By Jill Kolasinski
My wife, Jill, made these potato pancakes for the family one night out of the blue and we all loved them. I was enamored with their simplicity and asked her what in the world they were made of. She said they are derived from a peasant dish called Bubbles and Squeak, a traditional English dish made with leftover vegetables from a roast dinner. Similar dishes are made in Ireland and the Netherlands with Kale. We make it with onions, peas, corn, and Kale or spinach. You can make yours with whatever you’ve got!
Prep time: 45 minutes or 10 minutes if mashed potatoes are prepared • Makes 8 to 10 potato pancakes
8 to 10 boiled potatoes
1 teaspoon ground pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon salt (optional)
3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1 onion, diced
½ teaspoon red chili flakes
¼ cup frozen corn
¼ cup frozen peas
1 handful of chopped-up Kale or spinach
In a big bowl, smash the boiled potatoes into mashed potatoes, aka “mash.” To the mash add the pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, salt (optional), and nutritional yeast and stir.
In a hot frying pan—so hot that a drop of water beads across the surface—cook the diced onion with the red chili flakes until brown and fragrant.
To the potato mash–filled bowl, add the cooked onion, corn, peas, and Kale or spinach and stir. Create palm-sized pancakes out of the mix.
In a nonstick frying pan on medium-low heat, place a hand-formed pancake of mash and veggie mix. Press the pancake down in the pan until it is about ¾ inch thick. Cook the patty until it is brown and crisp, then flip it. When you flip the patty, it may not stay together. If so, just push it back together again and continue browning the other side.
Serve with salsa or ketchup, or place in a bowl and ladle soup on top.
Tip:
Using frozen veggies makes it fast and easy! Try frozen vegetable medleys, frozen corn, frozen chopped spinach, or frozen chopped Kale.
Hunter-Gatherer Rainbow Quinoa
Grilled Mango, Cilantro, and Black Beans over Rice
By Jane Esselstyn
Time and time again, this elegant, delicious recipe is a hit at our Engine 2 Immersion programs when Jane leads everyone in making his or her own Dr. Seuss Stacked Polenta!
Whenever Jane’s kids stack all the ingredients in place and drizzle the star on the top, she is reminded of Dr. Seuss’s Yertle the Turtle and Star-Bellied Sneetches.
Prep time/cook time: 50 minutes • Makes 12 to 15 stacks
1 to 2 large sweet potatoes, roughly the same girth as the polenta rounds
1 tube store-bought polenta
3 to 4 tomatoes, roughly the same girth as the polenta rounds
1 cup OMG Walnut Sauce (
here
)
1 bunch fresh cilantro or basil, your preference, stems removed
Juice of 1 lime or lemon, your preference
Balsamic glaze, preferably Isola Classic Cream of Balsamic, or similar brand
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two sheet pans with parchment paper or nonstick silicone mats.
Peel and slice the sweet potato into
-inch-thick rounds; you will need 12 to 15. Place on the first lined sheet pan and bake for 30 to 40 minutes until cooked through.
Meanwhile, slice the polenta into-inch-thick rounds; you will need 12 to 15. Place on the second lined sheet pan and bake for 20 minutes.
Slice the tomatoes in thick, round slices. Make the walnut sauce.
In a small food processor make the cilantro-lime or basil-lemon topping. Combine the cilantro with the lime juice (or basil with the lemon juice) and pulse until coarsely chopped.
Place the baked polenta rounds on a handsome platter. Spread a thin layer of the walnut sauce over the top of each one. Stack a round of sweet potato on top of each coated polenta round. Spread a thin layer of walnut sauce on top of the sweet potato rounds. Place the tomato slices on top of the coated sweet potatoes. Dollop with the cilantro-lime topping (or basil-lemon topping). Drizzle the top, sides, and the plate with the balsamic glaze in a star pattern. Eat with a sharp knife and fork so the layers hold together!