Last night while doing my weekly grocery run I noticed a Last Chance tag on the Earth Balance section at Whole Foods. I have known this tag to mean two things. Either there is a package redesign coming or the item is being phased out and will no longer be stocked. I asked a guy stocking nearby and he said that he thought it was being discontinued. The tag has DIS in the bottom corner which may mean discontinued. If this is true and you rely on Earth Balance for your baking, stocking up might be a good idea.
By now everyone has heard of the Engine 2 Diet and its Plant-Strong plan focusing on meals of fruits, veggies, legumes, nuts and whole grains. The bestselling book, The Engine 2 Diet, by Rip Esselstyn has been in the news and is seen in every Whole Foods which has developed a healthy eating guide based off the diet plan called Health Starts Here.
Health Starts Here is a program developed by Whole Foods and is an offshoot of the very popular Engine 2 Diet which has been proliferated lately by the movie Forks Over Knives. Helath Starts Here follows what is called a four-pillar approach to food:
Whole Food
Eat whole, unprocessed foods.
We believe that food in its purest state — unadulterated by artificial additives, sweeteners, colorings, and preservatives — is the best tasting and most nutritious food available.
Plant-Strong
Eat a colorful variety of plants.
No matter what type of diet you follow — including those with dairy, meat or seafood — reconfigure your plate so the majority of each meal is created from an abundance of raw and cooked vegetables, fruits, legumes and beans, nuts, seeds and whole grains.
Healthy Fats
Eat healthy fats.
Get healthy fats from whole plant sources, such as nuts, seeds and avocados. These foods are rich in micronutrients as well. Work to eliminate (or minimize) extracted oils and processed fats.
Nutrient Dense
Eat nutrient dense foods
Choose foods that are rich in micronutrients when compared to their total caloric content. Micronutrients include vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and phytochemicals.
The diet emphasizes the use of fresh fruits and vegetables and whole grains. It also makes a strong case against the use of added oils encouraging all fats come from those already found in foods such as nuts and cooking using vegetable broth as a replacement where oil is typically used such as sauteing.
Chef Chad Sarno gives a Health Starts Here cooking demo for Salud! at Whole Foods Green Hills
We were invited to a Health Starts Here event by Whole Foods Green Hills culinary demonstration that was instructed by Chad Sarno. Sarno is a classically-trained chef and a co-founder of the Health Starts Here program. He has owned vegetarian restaurants in London, Turkey and the US.
The demonstration class focused on dishes that could be made quickly and preparing ingredients in bulk to make the prep quicker. Cooking enough beans for a week’s worth of meals. Making sauces in portions to be used for many dishes as well as full dishes that could be kept in the refrigerator for easy lunches.
All of the meals prepared used no oil and no salt. In place of salt Sarno had created as seasoning mixture he calls Wicked Good Spice and Seed Blend, a mixture of sesame, sunflower seeds, flax and nutritional yeast. Instruction was given in making your own almond milk as well as a basic white sauce. The quick and simple Kale Avocado Salad was one of the most surprising dishes created. Kale, tomato, avocado, onion and the juice of a lemon made a very flavorful and satisfying salad without need for any extra seasonings. Quick and simple it can be kept in the refrigerator for a grab whenever the craving came.
I could easily go on about the dishes but it’s best to just give you some recipes. Give these a go and don’t worry about the omission of salt or oil where you may be accustomed to adding them. They’re unnecessary. The flavors pop in these.
Wicked Good Spice and Seed Blend
1/2 C Sesame Seeds, dry toasted 1/2 C Sunflower Seeds, dry toasted 1/2 C Golden Flax Meal 1/2 C Nutritional Yeast 2 TBS Onion Powder 1/2 TBS Chipotle Spice 1 TBS Garlic Powder Black Pepper
Toss all together and store in shaker or air tight container. Great all purpose seasoning.
Kale Avocado Salad
Kale Avocado Salad
This is a very simple, quick and delicious dish. Completely raw.
1 head of kale, any variety, shredded 1 large tomato 1 1/2 avocado, chopped 2 TBS red onion, green onion or leek, finely diced Juice of 1 lemon Pinch of cayenne
In mixing bowl, toss all ingredients squeezing as you mix to wilt the kale and creaming the avocado. Serve immediately.
Basic White Sauce
1 C raw cashews, soaked (or tofu) 1 1/2 onion diced & steam fried in veggie stock 2 garlic cloves 1 cup unsweetened non-dairy milk 1 1/2 Cup low salt vegetable stock 3 TBS Nutritional Yeast Pepper to taste
Saute onions and garlic with stock and steam fry until onions are translucent. Add to blender with soaked cashews, soy/nut milk and rest of ingredients and blend adjusting thickness to desired consistency. Add fresh herbs to finish. Sauce will reduce and continue to thicken on its own with time. Use as a base for any other sauces.
Chad Sarno has a return visit planned for Salud at Whole Foods Green Hills with a class on vegan cooking. The class is set for sometime in April/May. I’ll post dates and more on it when information becomes available.
I’m a lover of sauces. I cook with it and pour it on my food. I even make my own barbecue sauce. One of my favorites is Worcestershire and one of my favorite uses is putting it on a baked potato. I know that may seem odd to some but until you try it don’t sneer at it. Up to now the only vegan Worcestershire sauces I’ve found have been Amy’s and The Wizard’s. While good, both of those are a little to thick for me and don’t quite hit the flavor. I just discovered Robbie’s Worcestershire, a vegan Worcesterchire that is the most perfect vegan Worcestershire I’ve found. What makes Worcestershire not vegan, you may ask. Anchovies. It is the ingredient in most conventional Worcestershire sauces though I never remembered tasting it in sauces from Lea & Perrins or French’s.
Robbie’s Worcestershire is thin, just as every conventional sauce I’ve used and has the absolute perfect flavor. As a plus, it is the same price as Amy’s and The Wizard’s for twice the amount.
Robbie’s Worcestershire is available at Whole Foods in Franklin.
Time for some potatoes on the grill!
BBQ Tempeh Sandwich and Baked Potato topped with Robbie's Worcestershire & nutritional yeast
Over time I gather thoughts. Some I tell myself I’ll write about and some I think why bother. Most of these thoughts never have enough behind them to warrant a lengthy post for the site so I toss them aside and forget it. What I’ve decided to do is throw those all into one post. There won’t be much to go on but jump in the comments and complete my thoughts. I’m counting on you.
I’ve been on the fake meat bandwagon once in my vegan/vegetarian life. It was early on, of course, as most people who do get into that habit of eating with convenience in mind. I’ve not so recently put that aside. Fake meats are, to me, for transitioning vegetarians. They lend the familiarity of what once once the edible mainstay but as a vegan I have moved on to fresher foods. That’s not to say I don’t eat some here and there and you’ll likely see reviews for them pop up on this site. They are what they are, a transition food and that’s fine.
While on the subject of fake meats Just a mention that one of my biggest dining-out peeves is a vegan or vegetarian restaurant that relies on fake meats to fill their menu. How about the veggies, guys? I don’t want to pretend to chew pork or chicken/chick’n/chic’n, no matter how many letters you remove form the word, when I’m paying $15 to eat at your restaurant. If you can’t prepare fresh vegetables, and I don’t mean prepared in some gourmet-style, just simple fresh vegetables, then you have no place running a vegetarian dining establishment.
I have been noticing Earth Balance soy milks at Whole Foods for a few months. I’ve even bought the milks regularly but it wasn’t until recently that I noticed the absence of Silk products in the refrigerated section at Whole Foods. I asked about the disappearance and was told that Whole Foods had decided to stop carrying Silk due to the changes Dean Foods had made to the product line. Specifically, the dropped “Organic” from the standard packaging and came out with a new package design and marketed the Organic line again though with a higher price tag. There was no marking on the original package to signify it was no longer organic less the absence of the organic seal. Shady? Greedy? Shysters? No big deal?
For the past few months I’ve been doing P90X. I completed the first 90 days and immediately started a second 90 days which, at this point, I’m at day 60. I’ve had tremendous results losing some weight and finding muscles I never though I had. I have discovered that Tony Horton, creator of the series, is vegetarian and is now working on a vegan diet plan for his next workout series. Vegan P90X works!
“Flexitarian” is just omnivore disguised in a fancy catch phrase that makes advertising pop and sounds trendy. You know how people love trendy.
As the father of a vegan 5 year old I ‘ve often wanted to hear from other parents of vegan children. If you fall into that description drop something in the comments about your experiences. I would love to hear from you.
If you are a raw foodie or aspiring to be a raw foodie there is an event coming up that might draw your interest. Laura Button of Journey to Bliss Raw Foods will be presenting a workshop at Whole Foods Market in Green Hills. Here’s your chance to shred the carrots, chop the kale and pulverize some beets as well as many other fresh raw veggies with one of the foremost authorities on raw foods. If you have tried any of the Journey To Bliss items before you know how delicious they are.
FREE Raw Foods Workshop
Sunday February 28th
2-3 pm Salud! Cooking School
Whole Foods Market Green Hills
4021 Hillsboro Pike
Nashville, TN 37215
615-440-5100
To register, email: brittany.conner@wholefoods.com
Making Food the Center of Your Life:
In this experiential workshop, we will learn a simple process for making
delicious food from fresh, raw, organic and ethically obtained
ingredients. This course will allow you to enjoy the bounty of each
season without the stress of following recipes. Just a few easy
techniques and you will be able to enjoy really nourishing, fast food.
We will learn why our food choices matter – for our individual health,
our communities, and our planet. Come hungry, and feast on the best food
on Earth.
