Curly Protein Pasta #WFPBnoSOS

Brami Curly Mac Protein Pasta

The pasta is from Costco. It is made from Italian Wheat and Lupini Beans. Each serving contains 21 grams of protein and 9 grams of fiber with 4 grams of fat from the beans. 350 calories per serving. 

If you do the math, 10.2% of the total calories come from fat. The goal is between 10% and 15% of calories per day from fat. This is a WINNER, WINNER, PASTA DINNER!!!

RECIPE

One serving is 3.5 oz = 1 cup of dried pasta.  Boil for 15 minutes and strain, keeping a cup of the pasta water. Do not rinse the cooked pasta.

1 clove of garlic, chopped.

1 green pepper, chopped.

1 red pepper, chopped.

2 handfuls of kale, chopped.

1 handful of cilantro, chopped.

1 medium sweet onion, chopped.

1 TBSP nutritional yeast (optional).

2 TBSPs lemon juice.

Put the boiled pasta in the fridge to cool and form resistant starch. Your body will break it down slower, form butyrate, a short chain fatty acid, which feeds the cells lining your large intestine.

Put the pasta water, lemon juice and all the chopped veggies in a pot or skillet that you can cover and cook them over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for about 20 minutes or until most of the water cooks off.

Add the pasta to the cooked veggies an stir until the pasta is heated up and the water has completely cooked off. Put the lid on tight, take it off the heat and give it 5 minutes for the pan to deglaze. Plate it and sprinkle on the nutritional yeast.

Enjoy!!!

Chocolate Nicecream!

Chocolate Nicecream

Long, hot day. Short, frozen nicecream!

Chocolate, frozen and fudgy. No milk products. No nuts. Just delicious and refreshing...

Four ingredients:

4 over ripe bananas - Slice up and freeze 

2 Tablespoons plant milk of choice ( this was soy)

4 Tablespoons cocoa powder

8 Pitted Dates .

Blend it all together.  Transfer it to a container and freeze for at least 4 hours. If it is the next day and brick hard,  microwave it for 20 seconds, let it sit for 2 minutes then scoop!

Brown Rice with Cilantro and Lime, Twice Baked Potato and Sweet Corn #WFPBnoSOS #PlantBasedMeal

Brown Rice with Cilantro and Lime, Twice Baked Potato, Sweet Corn

You are looking at my whole food, plant based, no added salt, oil and sugar free dinner last night. 

The brown rice came out perfectly fluffy, which was a first for me. 

The twiced baked potato was also a bit of a triumph, because I didn't really, truly bake it even once.

The sweet corn was perfect without boiling or baking it either!!!

Recipes

BROWN RICE

1 Cup of dry brown rice.

2.5 cups of homemade no added sodium veggie broth (or water).

1/4 Cup of chopped cilantro.

Juice 1/2 of a lime. 

Put it all together in a small pot that has a lid. Bring it to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer. Put the lid on and leave it alone for 40 minutes. Take it off the heat and leave it alone for 10 more minutes. Fluff it up with a fork and serve.

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TWICE BAKED POTATO

1 large Russet potato.

2 TBSPs of Nutritional Yeast.

1/2 tsp of smoked paprika.

1/4 cup of soy milk (any plant based milk)

Wash a large Russet potato. Wrap it in paper towel. Microwave it for 6 minutes, flip it over and microwave for 2 more minutes. Let it sit for 10 minutes; it's still cooking. When it's cool enough to handle, cut enough of the skin off the top to hollow it out with a spoon. 

Mix it all together with the nooch, plant based milk and smoked paprika until smooth and spoon it back into the potato skin. Use a fork to make lines on the top. Put it into the toaster oven or oven and broil it to darken the top. I used a small torch.

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CORN ON THE COB

Shuck the corn, wash it and wrap it in paper towel. Microwave it for 2 minutes per ear. Leave it alone for 10 minutes (it's still cooking) until it's cool enough to handle. DONE!!!😋

One Pan Pasta Revisited

I like to tweak my recipes once in a while. Here is a pasta tweak. Costco now has an Italian pasta made from wheat and Lupini beans. It is high in fiber and protein while very low in fat. This recipe works with any type of pasta, but rotini or fusilli gives it body and texture. You can make any pasta into a resistant starch by simply refrigerating it over night and warming it up again. Resistant starches are heat stable. Once formed, your body will absorb the carbohydrates at a slower rate. In addition, the Lupini beans break down in your intestines to form butyrate, a short chain fatty acid that nourishes the cells of your intestine and help you avoid colon cancer. 

Recipe

2 cups of dry Pasta made from wheat and Lupini beans. The rest is veggies...onion, purple cabbage, red, green and jalapeno peppers, celery, basil, fresh pineapple, 3 tablespoons of nutritional yeast (nooch),  an orange with orange zest. 4 cups of water. 

Put everything but the nooch in one covered pan. Simmer on low heat until most of the water is gone (30 to 40 min), then uncover and stir in 3 TBSPs of nooch. It's done when the rest of the water cooks away. Turn off the heat and cover it for 10 minutes to deglaze the pan. Salt to taste. (I use way less salt when I add a pinch at the end)

Chickpea Pasta With Marinara #WFPBnoSOS

Rotini Chickpea Pasta with Marinara

     Hello again from the center of the kitchen, where I love to spend my time. This is a very simple recipe. This makes 2 servings of pasta, with a lot of extra sauce for batch cooking.  I just chop up the onions and garlic, add tomato paste and tomato sauce with a chopped carrot and spices. Simmer it covered on low heat with an occasional stir to keep the bottom from burning. Boil 2 dry cups of the noodles for about 20 minutes, which is much longer than the box recommends. Strain the  noodles, but keep about a cup of water in the pot. Add as much of the sauce to the noodles as you like (usually 2 or 3 cups) and boil off the water over low heat for about 10 to 15 minutes, folding the sauce and noodles together. Garnish with Nutritional Yeast and a little parsley. Salt to taste if desired.

(This is a big pot of Marinara sauce.  I use about 2 to 3 cups for this dish and put the rest away for another day.)
29 oz. Tomato sauce

12 oz. Tomato paste

 28 oz. Diced tomatoes

 4 cloves garlic

 1 onion

1 dash Black Pepper

1 finely chopped Carrot

4 TBS oregano 

4 TBS basil

Simmer covered over low heat for at least 40 minutes, stirring occassionally.  Save the extra in a tightly covered jar or freeze it for another day.

WFPBnoSOS RISOTTO and Brocollini #UnsaltedLikeLakeMichigan

BROWN RICE AND FARRO VEGETABLE RISOTTO WITH BROCCOLONI AND A SPRINLE OF NOOCH

     Risotto is a naturally creamy dish that is completely dairy free with no butter, no cream and no oil. I made it with a different, white rice earlier because I was duplicating restaurant Risotto. 

      Now here's the recipe for a very similar version using brown rice and Farro instead of white rice.  Farro is an ancient grain in the wheat family. It is Whole Food Plant Based with no processed sugar, oil or salt.  I like the fuller texture and overall flavor over brown rice alone. If you have Celiac disease, or just want to be gluten free, you can leave out the Farro and double the brown rice. 

VEGETABLE BROWN RICE AND FARRO RISOTTO WITH STEAMED BROCCOLINI:

1 cup of dry brown rice.

1 cup of dry farro.

12oz of frozen mixed vegetables.

3 stalks of celery, finely chopped.

2 TBSP dried onion flakes.

1 tsp dried ginger.

7 cups of water.

10 stalks of broccolini with the stems trimmed.

1 TBSP Nonna Pia's Balsamic Glaze from Costco.

DIRECTIONS:

In a large sauce pain with a lid, add 1 cup of water and the frozen vegetables, celery, onion, and ginger. Bring the water to a boil. Place a steamer tray over the boiling veggies and place the broccolini on the steamer tray. Reduce the heat to a simmering boil and close the lid.  Allow it to cook for about 20 minutes. Place the broccolini on a plate to the side. Strain the mixed veggies saving the stock. 

Add more water to the stock for a total of 6.5 cups.

Use 4 cups of stock to cook the farro for about 30 minutes over low heat, covered until tender then drain the excess stock.

At the same time, use 2.5 cups of stock to cook the brown rice for 45 minutes. 

Let the rice sit in the covered pot for 10 minutes until most of the water gets absorbed. Mix the rice and farro together.  Fold in the mixed veggies over low heat until all the water is absorbed. Cover and take it off the heat for about 5 min to de-glaze the pot.

If you want to add a special flavor, toss the broccolini with 1 TBSP of Nonno Pia's Balsamic Glaze.

 Plate the risotto and add the broccolini. Season to taste. I used Tabasco Sauce. Other options include, but are not limited to Nutritional Yeast, Costco No Salt Seasoning or whatever you choose....!

CARROT DOG, ARTISAN WHEAT BUN, ROASTED POTATO WEDGES, ALL SMOTHERED IN VEGGIE CHILI CON QUESO, CARAMELIZED ONIONS WITH JALAPENO PEPPER, MUSTARD ON THE DOG AND KETCHUP ON THE POTATO WEDGES!!!

Getting ready for the 4th of July holiday!!!

The carrot dog was delicious and the roasted potato wedges were crunchy without using any oil. Even smothering them under chili con queso with water-caramelized onion with jalapeno mixed in; still crunchy!!

What's on YOUR July 4th menu this year???