Lentil salad - Healthy alternative to rabbit food

I have been trying (with limited success) to eat healthier this summer. However, I find that when I do try to do this, I end up eating a lot of green salad. It is easy to bring to work, you don't need to heat anything up, it is cheap and easy to make. However, I get bored of it and sometimes just want something a bit more filling. I have been meaning to try a lentil salad for quite sometime and today was the day!

Photo credit:http://www.chiropractic-help.com/lentil-protein.html

Lentils are amazingly healthy and filling. They can be eaten warm or cold and added to stews and soups to get some extra protein in your diet. One cup of lentils has about 230 calories, more than 17 g (35% of your daily requirement) of protein and 15 g (62% daily requirement) fibre and are an excellent source of folate, molybdenum, B1, Iron and much, much more! They are also free of saturated fat (as is pretty much everything vegan). They help lower cholesterol and help moderate  blood sugar levels.

Lentils have been a valuable food source dating back into prehistoric times. They are found in hundreds of cultures, so while they may not be considered mainstream in North American diets, they are found just about everywhere else. There are many types of lentils as well, black, green, red are the most common. Black and green will hold their shape well in salads and soups and red will get really soft and I usually use them in stews.

Colleen Patrick-Goudreau has a great podcast on lentils and she makes them sound so delicious I figured if I was to try to recipe, I should start there.

Warm Lentil Salad
Adapted from Colour me Vegan
Serves 4-6

Time: 1 hour from scratch, 15 minutes if you have cooked lentils

• 1 cup black lentils
• 2 1/2 cups vegetable broth (or water, but broth is better)
• 3 green onions, chopped
• 1/2 cup almonds, chopped coarsely
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 1 small tomato, chopped
• 1 Tbsp cilantro, chopped
• 1 Tbsp fresh oregano, chopped (or other fresh herb, basil would be a good one)
• 1 Tbsp oil
• 1/4 cup yellow pepper, chopped
• 1/4 red onion, chopped
• 1 tsp garlic salt
• pepper to taste
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice

Note: Use whatever vegetables you have. The original recipe did not have the pepper, red onion, tomato. I added these after testing the recipe.

First, cook your lentils, combine the lentils and broth in a pot and bring to a boil, stir, reduce the heat and simmer for 30 - 40 minutes or until the water is absorbed. While it is cooking, chop up all the veggies. In a frying pan heat 1 Tbsp of the oil and add the onions and the peppers. Cook for 5-7 minutes or until the onions are translucent. Set aside.

Prep, prep, prep - makes cooking a million times easier!

Once the lentils are cooked let them cool for a bit (you could also cook in advance and serve cold). Combine all the ingredients now in a large bowl and stir well. Serve in a bowl or on romaine lettuce and enjoy warm or cold!

When I put the salad on lettuce, I made some lettuce wraps with it and it was really good. I nice way to serve them, though a little messy.

Lentil salad, served with purple and yellow potatoes

What an easy way to add some nutrition to lunch! :)

Review: Color Me Vegan

I cannot believe how long it has been since my last post! I have no excuse, but I am back now. I thought I would get back into this with finishing what I had started with the review of Colour Me Vegan, Colleen Patrick Goudreau's latest cook book (available here).

I have been using this book now for a while and I have a tried a number of dishes. Overall, I think this book is a great buy; vegan or just flirting or even just looking to add new recipes to your arsenal this book is a good addition to your shelf.

The way this book is organized is by colour rather than by meal. I have to say that there are upsides and downsides to this. First, the upside:

Organizing the book by colour first I felt took me away from restricting dishes to specific times of day. Not that I have ever followed the rules.. I have eaten pancakes for dinner, leftovers for breakfast, and pasta I feel is an any time of day snack... but I think this book forces you to rethink what should be breakfast, lunch and dinner. Colleen addresses this in her introduction and notes that the purpose of the book is to focus on the different phytochemicals found in the plant-based foods out there and the benefits found in the different colours. So instead of searching in the entree, or dessert sections for recipes, I found myself trying to make combinations of colours. In the end I had colourful and nutrient dense meals that I may not have thought of before.

Another upside to this book, is that it teaches you about the colours in food and provides tips on how to get more into your diet. As someone who is still learning about the nutritional benefits found in food, I can honestly say I learned a lot from this book.

Lastly, there is nutritional information. I have been finding that many vegan cookbooks do not have the nutritional information with their recipes and I always sit and wonder... How healthy is what I am eating? Just because a dish is vegan, does not guarantee that it is low fat (well, I suppose there is the guarantee that it is saturated fat free), low calorie. Regardless of whether you are on a diet, some people want this information and it was nice to see it there.

Now, what I did not like about this book.. Some recipes call for reserving ingredients and do not note how much. If you are like me and never fully read instructions and impulsively jump into a recipe, you will likely have mess-ups along the way... I did (See the post on the Raspberry-lemon muffin loaf!) I found a few recipes that this happened. So my advice, read all instructions before starting!

Another down-side is that it can be difficult to find things in this book. I kept flipping through and seeing things I liked, but then when I would go back, I couldn't find them. This was not the end of the world, there is an index. A lot of the recipes will be under one colour, but likely have more than that colour in them. Colleen acknowledges this and admits she had to make executive decisions on some items.

In the end I tried eight recipes out of this book. I loved all of them. Anything that did not come out right was my own fault. The book is well-balanced and has a number of recipes I had not seen before. Total score in my opinion and I highly recommend that you give it a go!

Recipes that are must-tries (and I may post on soon):

• Farro and fresh vegetable medley
• Sweet and spicy almonds
• Blueberry Buckle
• Lemon Basil Vinaigrette
• Garlicky Greens Pasta
• Lemony Pan-fried chickpeas with chard
• Raspberry Lemon Loaf
• Eggplant with sweet miso sauce

OK, that is it for tonight! Stay tuned for some new recipes another book review and new travels. I am heading east and will have full reports on my travels in Montreal, Atlanta and Savannah. Anyone reading from these areas, please send any restaurant recommendations my way!

Night all!

Raspberry Lemon Loaf

Seems like suddenly it is spring. I cannot be more relieved. Since it is Alberta, I will remain pessimistic until I see leaves on trees and green grass, but I think there is a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel.

This inspired me to try out a brighter, sunny recipe and since It was midnight at the time, I figured why not get an early start on breakfast.

In Colour me Vegan there is a great recipe for raspberry lemon muffins that I just had to try. Unfortunately, I broke a very important cooking rule.. I skipped pre-prep. I made my batter, had my oven heated and ready to go and turn to grab my muffin pan and to my surprise; it is nowhere to be seen! I searched everywhere and I am sure my neighbors were wondering what the hell I was doing smashing pots and pans in the middle of the nigh. Gone, gremlins got it.

So, with my batter ready, I had to improvise and made a loaf. I should have went with my instinct on the timing and temperature, but I didn't and the the end result was classic 'oven too hot syndrome' Little dry on the outside and a little too moist on the inside. Ah well, I am the only one eating it, so it is not the end of the world. The important this is that this recipe is seriously good.

Raspberry-Lemon Loaf

• 1 small container of vanilla yogurt
• 1/2 cup of milk (I used sunflower)
• 3 Tbsp canola oil
• Juice from 1 lemon
• 1/2 tsp lemon extract
• 1 1/2 cup of whole wheat pastry flour
• 3/4 cup of sugar (I used white granulated)
• 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp lemon zest
• 1 cup fresh raspberries

Preheat the over to 400F (375F if you make a loaf) Mix together the wet ingredients and set aside. Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Pour the wet into the dry ingredients and stir until it is just combined (Lumpy batter is fine. Over mixing muffin batter is bad, don't do it!).

Fold in the raspberries (Note: While making this in the middle of the night, I was sure it said two cups, so I used about a cup and a half of raspberries and then a handful of mixed berries. This may be another reason why my end result was a little too moist in the middle! Lesson learned? Only to read recipes twice. I will cook in the middle of the night forever)

Pour into a greased muffin / loaf pan. If cooking muffins, bake for 20 - 25 minutes. If cooking a loaf, this will be trickier. Start with 30 minutes, then you will have to watch it. Mine ended up taking about 50 minutes in total, but that included taking it out of the oven at 30 minutes thinking it was done, then remembering to check with the toothpick 15 minutes later, realizing a mistake was made and throwing it back in the oven.

I am amazed something edible came out of this, but obvious it was not the recipe's fault. Totally my fault this time.

I love to put brown sugar mixed with a bit of cinnamon on top of muffins, so if you are OK with extra sugar, go for it!

Makes 12 muffins or 1 loaf.

The book includes the nutritional info, so make sure to grab the book, or send me an email and I can get it to you. Red foods are rich in anthocyanins and lycopene (and plenty of other nutrients) and they have been linked to lowering the risk of cancer, aging and neurological diseases, inflammation,  diabetes and bacterial infections. If that isn't enough for your to try... how about this - it tastes awesome! Nuff said.

Other red foods:
Red pepper, Berries, Beets, Red miso, Red quinoa, chard, tomatoes, water melon, red lentils, Apples and many more.

Ways to increase red foods in your diet:

• Add apples, red pepper, tomato to salads
• Eat tomato salads
• add red lentils or tomato paste to soups and stews
• Add red berries to cereal or smoothies
• Drink red berry juices or tomato juice
• Keep apples at your desk

This is a fabulous red recipe, but could be considered a yellow one too. Really brightened up my Monday morning. The only thing to make this morning complete was to have a little pig time.

Prince Henry, chilling like a villain and looking a little pissed that I am not sharing!

Garlicky Greens Pasta

This is my first recipe attempt from Colour me Vegan, Colleen Patrick-Goudreau's latest cookbook. Now, this not only was a pretty safe start, but it was so good that I decided I needed post. I can't believe I never thought of making this before. Colleen also has a garlicky greens soup that is fantastic, so i knew this would be good.

I, of course, did not follow the recipe exactly, so I am going to post how I made this one.

Garlicky Greens Pasta a la Caity

• 1 bunch of kale
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 cups of whole wheat pasta
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 tsp basil
• 2 Tbsp sunflower seeds, toasted
• salt and pepper

Check Collen's book for her original recipe.



First get a big pot that you would use for your pasta, fill with water and bring to a boil. Add the kale and boil for about 5 minutes or until well cooked. Remove the kale with a slotted spoon and add it to a bowl of cold water to stop the cooking process. Do not drain the water.

Next add the pasta (Wait a minute or two if the water isn't boiling) to the water from the kale and cook according to the package instructions. While the pasta is cooking, heat the oil over medium heat in a large frying pan. Add the garlic and cook for a couple minutes, stirring constantly so it doesn't burn. Next, add the red pepper flakes and cook another minute or so. Squeeze all the water out of the greens and then add it to pan with the remaining ingredients and saute for 2-3 minutes.

When the past is done, strain it and add it to the greens and toss. Cook for a few more minutes so the flavours are incorporated.

 Serves two.

I am planning to try a few recipes out of Colour me Vegan this week and will let you know how it goes. I have a feeling it is going to be a yummy week! Colleen's book is available online at Amazon, or through her website: http://www.compassionatecooks.com/

Compassionate Cooks is a resource that I go a lot. I find if I have a non-vegan slip, or feel that I might, the Compassionate Cooks podcast gets me back on track every time. There is also a lot of resources and FAQs available that are handy when people ask those common how do you get your...? type questions. Highly recommend.