Awesome Asian Kale Salad

Recipe (vegan, sugar-free & gluten-free).

I have made this salad several times, doubling the recipe, and taken it to parties. Amazingly, even though most people would say they don’t like kale, (especially raw kale), this salad is completely devoured within an hour of setting it out.  And many people demand to know the recipe.  So, here it is…

SALAD:

1 bunch kale, ribs removed, thinly sliced 2 small carrots, peeled and shredded 1 red, yellow or orange bell pepper, diced 1/4 cup toasted pumpkin seeds 2 Tbsp sesame seeds

DRESSING:

3 cloves garlic, minced 1 tsp grated fresh ginger 1.5 Tbsp sesame or canola oil 2 Tbsp water 2 Tbsp Bragg’s Aminos (you can use Tamari or Soy Sauce instead, if you prefer). 1.75 Tbsp apple cider vinegar (or brown rice vinegar)

1. Combine kale, carrots, and bell pepper in large bowl. 2. Prepare the dressing.  In  a small bowl, combine all the dressing ingredients and mix well. 3. Pour the dressing over the kale mixture and marinate for at least 1 hour.  The longer the salad marinates, the stronger the dressing flavors will be, and the softer the kale leaves will become. 4.  Toss with pumpkin seeds and sesame seeds before serving.

(Note:  if you really want the kale leaves to be soft, you can get your hands into the mix, and massage each leaf with the dressing, being sure each surface is well coated, before leaving it to marinate).

Enjoy!

Dawn Potter, AP, Dipl.OM

#salad #vegetables #vitamins #greens #kale #detoxify #fiber #phytonutrients #leaf #wholefood #plantbased #nutrition

Plant-Based Meal Ideas

As I teach my patients the benefits of a more whole-food, plant-based diet, many are at a loss for how to create plant-based meals. Below are some meal suggestions that may make this easier.

For health, we need to increase vegetables, fruits, nuts, fiber and water, and to decrease processed foods, refined grains, gluten, sugars, animal products, dairy, hydrogenated oils (ie. trans fats), excess salt, artificial sweeteners and chemical additives/preservatives. So, be sure to read labels to avoid these unnecessary ingredients.

See how many different colors of vegetables/fruits you can get into one meal. Eat a rainbow variety of whole foods daily, with at least one green veggie during at least 2 meals per day. And have fun creating new, tasty dishes!

BREAKFAST OPTIONS:

High-fiber, low-sugar cereal with milk alternative (like rice milk, almond milk, hemp seed milk or coconut milk) and fresh or dried fruit (like grapes, peaches, berries, raisins, prunes, figs) and/or nuts.

Whole-grain cooked cereal (like slow-cooked [not instant] oatmeal, brown rice, oat bran, buckwheat or rice bran cereal) with fresh or dried fruit and/or nuts. With or without milk alternative.

Congee. (see Easy to Digest Foods post). This is a thin porridge used in China as a breakfast. You can make it from 1 part any whole grain, cooked overnight in a crock pot with 5 parts water. You can add fruits, vegetables, herbs or spices to give it interest.

100% whole-grain (gluten-free is best) bread/toast with natural nut butter and/or low-sugar jam, unsweetened applesauce, fruit puree, or raw, local honey. (No artificial sweeteners).

100% whole-grain pancakes (again, gluten-free is best) with unsweetened applesauce topping, or raw local honey, and fresh fruit.

Fruit smoothie from the blender. Example: 1 cup fresh or frozen berries, 2 large handfuls spinach, 1 cup water or coconut water, and 1 banana or 1/2 avocado (for creaminess!) You will only taste the fruit, but will also get the benefits of the greens! (There are hundreds of smoothie recipes online. The best choices are “green smoothies” which contain green veggies, but taste like fruit. If you’d like less carbs, replace the banana with 1/2 avocado or 2 Tbsp of hemp hearts for creaminess. You can also add a scoop of soy-free, plant-based protein powder such as Plant Fusion, Sunwarrior, Life Basics, or hemp protein powder.

Green Puddings – similar to green smoothies, but use less liquid, and pour it over fresh fruits and nuts.

Leftovers from dinner.

LUNCH  & DINNER OPTIONS:

Salad with lots of fresh vegetables, and perhaps fresh or dried fruits, seeds or nuts. Choose a non-dairy based salad dressing like a vinaigrette, a ginger dressing, a tahini-based dressing, hummus, salsa, guacamole or just squeeze of lemon.

100% whole-grain bread, pita, flatbread or tortilla, gluten-free wrap, or organic soft corn tortilla (to avoid GMO corn) with any combo of vegetables, beans, guacamole, hummus, salsa, or veggie burger patty.

Make pizza from 100% whole-grain bread, pita, or flatbread, (preferably gluten-free) with marinara sauce and chopped vegetables, dried Italian herb seasoning and optional cheese alternative (soy, rice or almond).

Soup with a vegetable broth, tomato base, or bean base, such as minestrone, vegetable, black bean soup, vegetable barley, lentil soup, squash soup, vegetarian chili, etc.

Baked potato, sweet potato, yam or baked winter squash with non-dairy toppings (like guacamole and/or salsa, or cinnamon on the sweet potato or squash.)  Believe it or not, just putting a bit of coconut oil and pink sea salt is amazing on potatoes and sweet potatoes.

Steamed or sauteed vegetables with garlic and spices, by themselves, or served over fresh greens, brown rice, millet, or quinoa, or wrapped inside of a whole grain tortilla, pita or soft corn tortilla.

Brown rice, millet, or quinoa with any combo of beans or vegetables, and any variety of non-dairy sauce such as salsa, tomato marinara sauce, curry sauce or Oriental style tamari, teriaki sauce, or Bragg’s Aminos.

Pasta made from whole grain, corn, quinoa or brown rice with marinara sauce, steamed or roasted vegetables, or chopped fresh vegetables. Wilted spinach is an nice addition to warm pasta dishes as well.

SNACK OPTIONS:

Fresh whole fruit  – apples, bananas, oranges, grapes, berries, plums, prunes, figs, etc.  Dip fresh cut fruit in peanut or almond butter.

Nuts: like walnuts, almonds, cashews, pistachios, peanuts, etc.  (Avoid those with excess salt or flavorings.)

Fresh cut cucumbers, celery, bell peppers or carrots dipped in hummus, guacamole, natural peanut butter or almond butter.  Apples with peanut/almond butter and cinnamon.

Natural tortilla chips (baked are healthiest), with salsa, hummus, beans or guacamole.

100% whole grain bread/toast (gluten-free is best) or brown rice cake with natural nut butter and low-sugar jam or unsweetened applesauce, fruit puree, or raw, local honey (no artificial sweeteners).

Baked potato or sweet potato, or baked winter squash with non-dairy toppings (like guacamole and/or salsa, or cinnamon & honey on the sweet potato or squash.)

Smoothie or pudding from the blender (See Breakfast options).

Chia Seed pudding. (See great recipe here).

BEVERAGE OPTIONS:

Purified water (drink 2 to 3 quarts daily, depending on your size and activity level).

Non-Caffeinated Herbal Tea or Red Tea (this counts as part of your purified water intake).

Green or White Tea (home brewed, not pre-made).

Black Tea (home brewed, unsweetened, or sweeten it yourself with stevia, xylitol or honey. Limit to 2 cups daily).

Organic coffee (limit to 8 oz daily). Organic decaf coffee (limit to 12 oz daily).  (Use almond milk or coconut milk creamers).

Fresh squeezed fruit and/or veggie juices (no sugar added). Dilute juices with water to 50%-25% strength, to reduce the blood sugar spike reaction. (It is better to eat the whole fruit or veggie!)

If you drink alcohol, limit to 2 or 3 drinks per week. (The best choice for most people is red wine.)

FOR WEIGHT LOSS: 

(in addition to the suggestions above…)

Eat more fibrous vegetables, greens, whole beans and fruits than grains, starchy vegetables, or potatoes.

Avoid all processed foods, such as breads, crackers, tortillas, nut butters, jams, cold cereals, veggie burgers, cheese alternatives and milk alternatives, etc. Aim to eat foods only in their whole, natural state.

Avoid all sugars, sweeteners, alcohol and white flour products.

Avoid fats and oils in cooking, sauces and dressings. Limit nuts to 1 oz. daily. Limit avocados to 1/4 daily.

FOR MORE RESOURCES:

One Green Planet has amazing plant-based, gluten-free recipes that will truly inspire you. The Engine 2 website offers some great ways to convert your favorite stand-by’s into healthy, tasty, plant-based versions. And Talia Fuhrman (daughter of Dr. Joel Fuhrman), has a great blog & book full of scrumptious looking vegan temptations, as does the Minimalist Baker.

Happy Eating!

Dawn Potter, AP, Dipl.OM

#vegetables #greens #fruits #fiber #weightloss #greensmoothie #wholefoods #mealideas #phytonutrients #greenpudding #plantbased #nutrition #congee

Nutrition, Part 1: Nutrition as Medicine

“He who seeks medicine and neglects his diet wastes the skill of his doctors.”  – Chinese Proverb

A very common topic of discussion in my clinic is nutrition:  Part of my health history intake is asking about the patient’s diet, and I very frequently make nutritional recommendations to assist their health goals.

In addition, I am often asked about what is the healthiest way to eat.  It used to be mainly a weight-loss related question, but now it seems to also be people who are struggling with severe health problems such as cancer, auto-immune diseases and chronic degenerative diseases.  I find it encouraging that people are starting to acknowledge the quality of their nutrition as a fundamental source of their health or disease.

Nutrition as Medicine

The quality of what we consume directly affects our state of health. Depending on what we choose to eat, our diets can be medicinal or harmful. Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine, knew this. He is famous for saying “Let food be thy medicine, and thy medicine be food.”

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has also known this for centuries (actually millennia, to be more accurate).

In fact, of the Eight Branches of Traditional Chinese Medicine, nutrition is one of the most powerful, and certainly is the one that each of us has the most control over on a daily basis, since we all need to eat multiple times daily. Perhaps you’ve not thought of nutrition as medicine before now, but it is an important concept in TCM.

Healthy nutrition provides the foundational energy and substance which nourishes, heals and sustains our bodies in a state of vibrancy and health; poor diet depletes, harms and toxifies our bodies, causing myriad symptoms and diseases.

Just as the roots of a tree need to be healthy and strong so that they can provide optimal nutrition to the rest of the tree, we need to provide our organs and systems with optimal nutrition to heal and maintain our own strength and vitality. And, just as a house must be seated upon a strong foundation in order to have integrity, we need ensure our own foundation with sound nutrition.

Whole Foods

Before delving into the deeper principles of health-promoting nutrition, we must first eliminate the fast food, junk food, preservatives, chemicals, and excess fats and sugars in our diets. We cannot help our bodies become and stay healthy if we are regularly eating these types of foods. It is essential to learn to read food labels, and stay away from products that contain ingredients that are not recognizable food names, and chemical-sounding names.  Like Michael Pollan says, “If a 3rd grader can’t pronounce the ingredient, don’t eat it!”

The first, simplest and most profound piece of advice for building health through nutrition is to eat whole, unprocessed foods. Whole foods are those that are recognizable in their natural state: whole vegetables and fruits, such as apples, carrots, cucumbers and spinach; whole, unprocessed grains, such as brown rice, quinoa, corn and oats; whole cooked beans, whole nuts and seeds without oils or flavorings added.

Whole foods contain all types of vitamins, fiber, minerals, and health benefiting phytochemicals that number in the hundreds, or even thousands, that work synergistically to nourish us.  Many of these compounds have been found by modern science to protect us from cancer, heart disease, and other degenerative diseases.  Many others of these phytochemicals modern nutritional science hasn’t yet even identified! No one yet knows what other kinds of beneficial and vital properties they carry, or how they all work together synergistically to benefit our bodies.

It makes the most sense to give ourselves every advantage in the quest for excellent long-term health by consuming as much of the beneficial elements as we can in the foods we know are health-promoting. The best way to do this is by eating them in their whole-food form.

In addition to the vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals, the fiber in whole foods slows the absorption of glucose, which helps keep the blood sugar steady, preventing diabetes. It also provides volume to food, to satisfy the appetite without adding calories.

Fiber helps to prevent heart disease by binding cholesterol for excretion. It also absorbs toxins in the digestive tract, provides a mechanical means by which to sweep wastes out of the intestines (which decreases risk of colon cancer), provides bulk to the stool, and exercises the smooth muscle tissue in the intestinal walls to keep them toned and well functioning, preventing diverticulosis.

With all of the vital functions that dietary fiber has, it makes no sense to eat foods that are refined, which means the fiber (and most of the vitamins and minerals) has been removed.

Processed foods made with refined ingredients such as white flour, sugar, white rice, and oil, which include most breads, pretzels, chips, crackers, cakes, muffins, and pastries are not whole foods. Their base ingredients have been stripped of any nutritional value they once had, they have little or no fiber, and they add a lot of sugar, fat and chemicals that wreak havoc with our physical health and negatively impact our mental and emotional outlook (not to mention our waist lines.)

Moderation

The ancient Chinese said that moderation is the key to good health. They were not referring to a moderation of junk foods, chemically-laden foods or processed foods, because these did not exist then. For the vast majority of our existence here on earth, humans only had access to whole foods, (which were organic, by the way) and yet the ancient Chinese still preached moderation. This is interesting to consider, since many Americans think a diet of whole foods (especially organic) is extreme.

So what were the ancient Chinese referring to by “moderation”?  This will be discussed in Nutrition, Part 2 where we will focus on Nutritional Therapy in Oriental Medicine, based on the physiology of digestion from a Chinese Medicine point of view.

Dawn Potter, AP, Dipl.OM

excerpts published in Tampa Bay Wellness, April 2011

#vegetables #vitamins #greens #fruits #fiber #weightloss #phytonutrients #nutrition #orientalmedicine