On Nutrition, part 1: Omegas and Sound Eating

Most of you, I am sure, are well aware of the benefits of a vegan diet. However, it seems like there tends to be more emphasis on the amazing wonders of vegan junk food, and not so much on the basic elements. Now I am absolutely in no way what-so-ever saying that your food has to be bland and boring and tasteless, or that you should be cooking out of a vegetarian or vegan book from the 1970's (or even 15 years ago). What I am saying is that that more emphasis should be placed on the nutritional sound-ness of a meal. Incorporate some form of green into your main dish. Try to eat from as much freshly prepared food as possible (I know this may be hard for some of us- believe me, it gets hard on my end too at times!) Enjoy dessert or baked items on the weekends rather than every nite.

This morning while I was drinking my daily cup of coffee at work, I stumbled upon an article proclaiming the health benefits of Omega 3's. However, it also decried the abundance of Omega 6's in the SAD, due to the change in animals' diets. The author called Omega 3's spring fats, because they are abundant in green vegetables, and Omega 6's fall fats because they are abundant in seeds, nuts, all things we use to fill ourselves up with. While the article is written from an omnivorous point of view, I feel that it is important to know what you are putting into you body and how your body processes it, and leafy greens of all sorts are highly emphasised. Vegans certainly do not eat fat-fed animals, but almost all of us eat greens and seeds/nuts. This is simply telling you which is better for you, what you can eat more of, and why. Frank and I eat some form of green with our dinner every nite. Whether it be incorporated into the dish, sauteed with garlic or chili and liquid smoke on the side (especially brilliant with collards), or as a huge bowl of salad, the green element is always there. And! Would you believe that Broccoli Rabe is better for you than Kale? Yes, you heard me right. For a break down of leafy green nutrition, check out the following information, courtesy of Nutritiondata.com:
Broccoli Rabe
Kale
Collard Greens
Spinach
Broccoli
Swiss Chard
Cabbage

Whole grains, and a variety of them, are also usually a part of our meal. These too, are very high in Omega's and other fantastic minerals, most notably, calcium. I used to eat far less grains back when I was single, but even then it was the miraculous quinoa (which is actually a seed) for it's health benefits. Over the last year, I have added to my brown rice and quinoa regime the likes of black rice, millet and wheat berries, and also brought back bulgur and barley. Most of these are incredibly inexpensive in bulk, especially millet (which is very high in Omega 3's) and wheat berries. At Whole Foods in Union Square of all places, organic millet is $1.19 / pound and wheat berries are 0.89 cents /pound! Soak them when you leave the house in the morning, cook them as you are preparing the rest of your dish, and you have yourself a grain that cooks in the same amount of time as rice. Once again, the break-down:
Barley
Brown Rice
Millet
Bulgur
Quinoa

I know that this may seem like a lot to take in all at once, and I hope that this has helped to put a new twist on some things for everyone reading. I really like to get to the nitty gritty behind my passions, and this is definitely one of them. Being a healthy vegan while still enjoying my veganism is very important to me and should be to you as well. Now I say to you, be creative with these items and more! I have only focused on what I consider to be the basis and staples of most meals, so they are yours for embellishing as you wish. As I noted above, collards are delicious cooked with a bit of chili powder and liquid smoke. Stick them on the side of a black eyed pea Texas caviar, or stuff them into tofu omelets. Brussels sprouts taste amazing when cooked with a bit of sesame oil, Chinese 5 spice powder and roasted peppers. Broccoli rabe is wonderful with lots of garlic and cherry tomatoes mixed in. And so on and so forth... the kitchen is yours to take on!

Not Meat and Not Potatoes

'What?' You may be asking. 'Not meat AND not potatoes? And to that, I reply, 'Oh yes'.

Meat substitutions are fairly common in the vegan/vegetarian diet, but so are potatoes in all of their potato goodness. So what stands in their place when you decide you would like a break from them? Turnips. Ah, the almighty turnip. They were a part of our CSA share last week, and basically inspired the whole meal.

'Why not make mashed turnips and gravy, with brussels sprouts and a 'meaty' side?', I questioned out loud to Frank. The reply was very much in favor of such an idea, so that's what I did. Now I must say that I relied on old cookbook friends to help me along with parts of this meal, simply because I'm not a vegan meat and potatoes type of eater, and neither is Frank. In fact, as we were eating, I realized that I only eat these types of meals at holiday tables.

The turnips from the CSA were so fresh and delicious that all I did to them was boil and puree with a bit of almond milk. No peeling, no oil, no butter, no seasonings... and very very good. You may have to alter this based on the freshness of your turnips, but I highly recommend that you go out RIGHT NOW and get yourself some. You will like them. If they are good enough for Peter Cottontail, they are certainly good enough for you.

The meat and gravy were culled from Veganomicon and Vegan With a Vengeance. The ever-popular chickpea cutlets were used as our meat analogue of choice, and, because Frank and I are cooking for my family at Thanksgiving, we gave the Punk Rock Chickpea Gravy a spin. It's amazing! On its own, on turnips, and on chickpea cutlets, it is quite the gravy.

Be prepared to spend some time putting this meal together; I recommend a cold damp day with records like Rockpile's Seconds of Pleasure on the turntable. Simple, yet catchy and brilliant. Just like the meal itself.

Exotic Foods # 2: Kohlrabi

This week in our CSA haul we received kohlrabi. Now once again, one has to ask, 'what do I do with kohlrabi aside from putting it in a salad?' Well the answer my friends is... not too much, but enough. Whether you are creative and decide upon your own treatment or simply let Epicurious be your guide, you can find a smattering of kohlrabi recipes that will prove to be vegan and/or vegan-izeable. But first, a fine nutritional word on our humble kohlrabi. According to learninginfo.org, kohlrabi,

'... is a good source of thiamin, folate, magnesium and phosphorus, and a very good source of dietary fiber, vitamin B6, potassium, copper, manganese and especially vitamin C. One cup of raw kohlrabi contains 140% of the RDA of vitamin C'.

Not too shabby, right? For those of you who are still skeptics, a detailed breakdown that is pretty impressive looking can be found here.

Feeling a bit un-inspired with this vegetable, we took on the task of making Sauteed Kale and Kohlrabi the finished product from the September issue of Gourmet Magazine. The recipe calls for a traditional garlic and olive-oil treatment of the kale, but brings in a splash of lime juice, zest, and pistachios for brightness. The kohlrabi, while left raw, is warmed when the hot kale is mixed in the bowl. We have greens with our meal just about every nite, and are always looking for new ways of working with them. Unfortunately at times, it is hard for both vegans and omnivores alike to come up with new dishes that hit home. Greens, no matter how mild or strong, are difficult to season properly without either over-seasoning with something like garlic or under-seasoning and making everything bland. While the dish was okay in our eyes, we were not terribly struck by it. When I was able to taste it, the kale-lime combination was great, and the kohlrabi really picked up the flavor of the citrus as well. However, I felt that more lime would have been the key to really make everything pop. This means that you have to try the dish with MORE lime and let me know how it is! Frank and I paired this dish with quinoa, to make it into a complete 'k' sounding meal. Say it with me: Kale, Kohlrabi, and Quinoa. The complete recipe, ripe for modifications, may be found on the Epicurious website: Sauteed Kale and Kohlrabi.

Our finished product looked a bit like this: