Easy Dinner

Last night's dinner was born out of a desire to use up some left-over edamame and red wine. I would have much rather put the red wine in a glass and drink it, but I am still nursing the baby, so I'll wait for that. Someone brought the wine to a dinner party and it was not finished. So, I sauteed some red onion, mushrooms and zucchini in a little oil, added a can of diced tomatoes and about a cup each of edamame and wine, and reduced it while the pasta was cooking. Other than chopping the onion and zucchini, this can be made with one hand. That's what I look for these days:)

Vegan Cheese and Marshmallows

What did I do to deserve Kevin taking me to lunch two days in a row? I'll assume it is a sign of his love, and not that he could not get a better date:) Well, we have not been cooking vegan dinners for the last couple days (we also eat cheese and eggs), so here is a picture of my lunch yesterday. It is an avocado and soy cheese sandwich with lettuce, tomatoes, sprouts and dill spread from Tierra Cafe, a little vegetarian place within walking distance from our offices. The key to a good sandwich is the bread, and this is yummy bread. I am not a huge advocate of soy cheese, but this is good. Maybe the difference is that it is not melted. Anyone out there have a favorite soy cheese? I think VeganDoc likes FollowYourHeart. We have FollowYourHeart market and restaurant out here. I like the restaurant, but I think the market is overpriced (though they used to be the only place to get vegan marshmallows here). By the way, does anyone know where to get good vegan marshmallows? We have been ordering them from PETA, but they aren't the best.

Lunch Out

Yesterday for lunch, Kevin and I went to Skew's. We try to only go to vegetarian restaurants, but we needed something quick and in walking distance. Skew's is nice because you can get any of their burritos, bowls, etc. with tofu instead of meat. Pictured is the Aloha Bowl with rice, tofu, salad and pineapple. Kevin had the BBQ burrito, which has BBQ tofu, mashed potatoes, corn, black beans and veggies. I made something similar last week, but in a shepherd's pie. I used Gardenburger BBQ Riblets, corn, zucchini, mushrooms and tomatoes topped with garlic mashed potatoes in the oven for 30 minutes.

On an unrelated topic, does anyone have any good ideas for Mother's Day?

Thanks VeganDoc

Thanks for the warm introduction, VeganDoc. Hope you are having a great trip! If you are checking in, let us know how its going.

I think I am in a different time zone than most of your readers, so I thought I would post last night's dinner first. But I forgot to take a picture. So, here is a picture of the baby waiting for breakfast. Anyway, last night we had "meatball" subs: Whole Foods vegan meatballs, sauteed mushrooms, zucchini and tomatoes with a little Newman's italian dressing on a french roll in the oven for 12 minutes. It's fast, and I can make it with one hand if the baby does not want to play by herself.

Did anyone participate in the immigration rallies yesterday? I did not, because work was crazy. But, I have friends and family who did. I have never seen as many people as were marching through downtown L.A. yesterday. I am on the 47th floor, so I could see the crowds and hear the chanting. I love it! I think it is a worthy issue, and regardless of your views, it is great to see so many people voicing their opinions (and having an opinion, for once).

Introducing.... Mary Ruth!!!

I'm going to be unable to blog for a little while. Mary Ruth will be posting some amazing food and stuff in the meantime.

Mary Ruth is my brother's girlfriend, and mommy to their adorable 8 1/2 month-old Samantha. She's also a heck of a cook, an attorney, a yoga buff, and a tax guru. All in all, she's a renaissance woman, and I'm honored that she's agreed to blog here.

Curried Lentils

A month or so ago when I was raving about Starport Foods' Garlic Sesame Glaze, I e-mailed the company to tell them how much I love the stuff. I expected maybe some corporate form letter response, but instead I got a personal e-mail from Cheryl Tsang, the Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Starport Foods!

She tells me that not only is she a vegan, but all Starport Foods products are vegan as well! In addition, she sent me a recipe for Curried Lentils, and I *finally* got around to making it tonight. This lentil curry, which uses their Coconut Curry Sauce, turned out awesome! I followed the recipe below, with the exception of the Thai chili pepper (because I'm a big wuss when it comes to hot stuff) and I didn't blend the liquid at the end (because I'm too lazy to wash my blender):

1 sweet potato, cubed,
2 russet potatoes, cubed
2 stalks celery, sliced
1 Tbl minced fresh ginger
2 cloves garlic, chiopped
1/2 c. red lentils, rinsed
1 red Thai Chile pepper
1/2 c. Starport Coconut Curry Sauce
2-1/2 c. water, boiling

Cheryl says: "Saute all of the items (except the sauce and water) in a pan that has a lid for 3 min. Add Coconut Curry Sauce and water, bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat to low and cook for 20 min. After cooking time, I removed 1 cup of mixture and blended it, then returned it to the pot as a thickener. My lunch guest ate her curried lentils over rice. I had mine in a bowl, like soup."

Awesome. Thanks Cheryl!

At Work Munchies

This is what I'm bringing with me to work today. I have organic celery and peanut butter, pineapple, and edamame (soy beans in pods). Also, I have half of an Alternative Baking Company cookie -- I ate half yesterday, and saved the rest for today, since each half of a cookie has 240 calories. And, finally I have an easy-to-prepare lunch entree, just in case there is no vegan option at our noon teaching conference.

Running!!!!!!

I ran my first 5K of the season this morning and scored a personal record for me, 28:15, which was second place for women ages 30-34. Ok it's not great, but it's 25 seconds faster than my best time before that. I'm very excited about it because I've been working on my speed this winter.

I was hoping to break 28 minutes. And, if it weren't 50 degrees this morning and my Indian food from last night wasn't giving me serious gastrointestinal problems, I'll bet I would have been faster.

This picture is from a year ago, a different 5K. If you weren't wiser, you'd think with my goofy grin that I had won the thing, but I was just muggin' it up for the camera.

My Gardenburger

I made mine on whole wheat bread with sweet potato, ketchup, and Vegenaise.

Stop Darfur Genocide

I volunteered at a rally this evening in Rochester to call awareness to the genocide in Darfur. In the Darfur region of Sudan, 400,000 civillians have been murdered, 2.5 million have been displaced from their homes, and 3.5 million are living in starvation. 10,000 more are murdered each week.

You have the power to stop this genocide. Go to Save Darfur.org and sign a postcard to President Bush to take action. These postcards will be delivered to President Bush on April 30 during the Rally to Stop Genocide in Washington D.C.

As a Jewish American, this especially hits home, as many of my ancestors were murdered in the Holocaust. We all have the responsibility to take action. We cannot sit by idly while genocide occurs.

A Rewarding Patient Encounter

Some days, I feel like I might as well have a conversation with the wall than tell my patients what they need to do to be healthy -- exercise, lose weight, watch what you eat, and take your pills. Because, when I tell them to do those things, I see them again in 3 months, they're 10 pounds heavier, their cholesterol numbers stink, and they haven't "had time" to start exercising.

Then, every so often, I do find a patient who follows my advice. I saw one such patient today in my clinic. I met him 2 years ago when he had his heart attack. He was overweight, smoking, sedentary, and ate horribly. I gave him my usual advice that I give to most patients. Since then, he lost about 30 pounds and is a normal healthy weight. He quit smoking. He changed his diet dramatically, cutting out a lot of meat and dairy.

To this day, his heart health is terrific. He probably has no idea how thrilled I am to see him do so well, but it absolutely brightens my day.

Scrambled Tofu and Pancakes

These are Bisquick Light pancakes. I made them as instructed on the box, but instead of egg used Ener-G Egg Replacer and soy milk instead of cow milk.

The tofu scramble is made from extra-firm tofu that is crumbled, with some onion, spinach, and tomato, and a drop of canola oil. I cooked this up on the same griddle as the pancakes. The spices definitely made this creation delicious -- my choices are turmeric, paprika, cumin, coriander, sea salt, and a little pepper.

Mock Tuna Sandwich

Okay, so I gave up fish at age 11 when I grew attached to my fishtank friends, so I truly have no concept of what tuna should taste like. This is a recipe out of this month's Vegetarian Journal. It makes for a terrific, filling sandwich.

Mock 'Tuna' Salad
(Serves 3)
1 cup canned chickpeas
1 stalk celery, chopped
1/2 small onion, firmly chopped
3 Tablespoons vegan mayonnaise (I used 2)
Salt and pepper to taste.
Mash chickpeas in a small bowl. Ad remaining ingredients and mix well.

Wegmans Cruelty

Wegmans is our big local grocery chain. They're progressive in that they carry a variety of vegetarian and vegan staple foods, sell organic produce, and stock many cruelty-free cosmetics and toiletries. However, they are in the dark ages when it comes to egg production. Learn more at wegmanscruelty.com, and do your part by either not buying eggs or buying only cage-free eggs.

Stuff to Make out of Basmati Rice

I'm moving in 2 months, so it's getting to be time to use up some bulk ingredients that are taking up space in the cabinets.

Tonight was Basmati Rice. I steamed some baby bok choy, mushrooms, and peppers to go with the rice. And, with the leftover rice, I made rice pudding with soy milk, maple syrup, vanilla, cinnamon, and raisins. The picture of the rice pudding came out terrible, so no picture, sorry.

Why is it....

..... that non-veg people can get so weird when you ask about their recipes?

One friend was talking about a matzah lasagna recipe. I was curious, because I'm always looking for cool things to cook. So I asked, "What vegetables are in it?"

She replied, "It had portobello mushrooms, and sauce, and spinach, and.... oh you won't like this.... it had meat in it too."

I know that she, like most people in this country, eats meat. And I find it gross, but I accept it. But, I ask about the recipe because it sounds like something that I could make, and with a few minor adjustments it could be vegan, not to judge people.

Matza Pasta

So, I've got some mushrooms and eggplant sauteed in olive oil, then added some marginally-acceptable kosher for passover tomato pasta sauce and matza farfel.

I could really go for a bagel right now. But, I'll wait 3 more days.

Amazing Chocolate Spread!

My mom found this kosher for Passover chocolate spread in her quest for what to feed me, her vegan daughter. This is from the kosher grocery store in the Detroit area, One Stop Kosher. Not that I need the extra calories as I'm trying to shape up before my upcoming trip to Israel, but this stuff is incredible on matzah!

Eggplant and Matzo Meal Pancakes

I made these eggplant pancakes from a recipe in Nancy Berkoff's Vegan Passover Recipes. Boil small cubes of eggplant in water, then put in food processor with matzo meal (mushrooms were part of the recipe, but I didn't have them), a little bit of vegetable broth, and some spices. Then, form into pancakes and either fry in a pan for three minutes on each side or place in the oven for 15-20 minutes for less oily pancakes. Either way, they taste great with a little tomato sauce on them

Sweet Potato Kugel

I love this stuff -- sweet potatoes, apples, raisins, matzah meal, and a little grape juice and walnuts.

Passover Seder

This is my veggie loaf.

It's Passover Time!

I know there are a few Jewish folks who read this blog.

My immediate family (Mom, Dad, Kevin, Mary Ruth, and little Samantha) are all lacto-ovo vegetarians. So, our seder dinners, where we eat lots of food and retell the story of the Jews leaving slavery in Egypt, are vegetarian.

Last Passover was my first as a vegan, and occurred only a month after I became a vegan. As the eight day Passover diet restricts grains, rice, corn, and legumes, it's always been a challenge to me, since I eat a lot of soy. However, with excluding eggs and dairy from my diet, I was concerned that I wouldn't be able to get through all eight days without absolutely losing it.

I prepared. I made a vegetable nut loaf and a sweet potato and apple dish for seder, and they were delicious. I tried a recipe for matzah balls without eggs and they were a complete disaster. But, most importantly, unlike any previous Passover when in frustration I'd unhealthily gorge myself on eggs and dairy, I was prepared.

And, it was my easiest Passover ever.

I highly recommend Chef Nancy Berkoff's Vegan Passover Recipes and Roberta Kalechofsky's The Vegetarian Pesach Cookbook. Also, the Vegetarian Resource Group has some great recipes, including a Sweet Potato Kugel, which I convinced Hadassah to send the recipe to all of its new members, but that's another odd story.

So, to those of you who celebrate Passover, have a wonderful holiday.

Pasta..... lazy

This weekend, I moonlighted at a small hospital about 45 minutes away. Moonlighting means taking additional shifts to make extra money, and since physician-in-training salaries are low, working the extra hours is very tempting.

I definitely worked hard for my money this weekend, a full 12 hours on both Saturday and Sunday, without much break, and even got called in in the middle of the night on Saturday night. So, tonight I wasn't in the mood to cook much. Hence this very lazy pasta dish that has some nutritional value: whole wheat penne pasta with Prego and a fresh hydroponic orange pepper sauteed in canola oil, salt, and pepper.

I wolfed down my dinner so fast that I didn't take the picture until after dinner. This picture is of my leftovers in tupperware for lunch tomorrow.

Melissa the Dog -- May, 1992 - April 7, 2006

My family's dear dog Melissa crossed the rainbow bridge today.

Back in high school, my brother really wanted a dog. I didn't -- I thought dogs were too much effort. Kevin picked out Melissa from our local Humane Society shelter. She was a hyper little girl at first, and we all grew to love her. Her birthdays were celebrated at Taco Bell and Dairy Queen. Ok, they weren't celebrated in those restaurants, but we'd all get in the car and go for a drive to get dinner for us and her.

She mellowed out as she got older. Then, at age 9, she was found to have a mass in her spleen. We were told it was probably cancer and that she would die soon. Her spleen was removed urgently, the mass was no more than a bruise, and she recovered. A year later, she was diagnosed with kidney failure and her body nearly shut down. With medications, lots of loving care, and occasional fluid injections, she was nursed back to health, and lived a happy three more years.

As the years passed, her hearing and vision deteriorated. Her joints became sore. She still wagged her tail for us, but she slowed down quite a bit. Today, my parents came home to find that she had passed away.

Dogs are wonderful creatures, full of personality, and give us unconditional love. Melissa was a part of our family, and she will be forever missed.

Steamed Veggies

One of the many reasons that I love shopping at Wegmans is their cooking demonstrations. Very often they have something vegan, or something that can be made vegan easily. I love to chat up the chef and learn how he prepares different foods. This past weekend, the chef was steaming vegetables, and the final product was delicious! So, I bought a steaming basket set.

Tonight, I steamed red and yellow peppers, baby bok choy, and sweet peas in pods with some salt and pepper. On top of the veggies, I layered some Morningstar Farms Steak Strips, and drizzled the dish with my favorite sesame garlic sauce.

Pita Sandwich

I decided to take advantage of the delicious whole wheat pita that I bought yesterday. As I was daydreaming in the cath lab today, this is the sandwich I came up with: hummus, avocado, sweet potato, and seitan. Yum!

Midweek Munchies!

Midweek Munchies: What Vegan Doc is contributing for the week I took a trip to Lori's Natural Foods today with the intention of picking up just a few things, but as expected, brought home more than I had planned. Earlier in the week I bought fruits and veggies, and today I picked up some less honest items: Gardenburger Chicken Wings -- spicy, with weird texture. I don't recommend them. Soy Dream Organic French Vanilla -- less fat and fewer calories than their Decadent line, but still delicious Edamame Whole wheat pita bread A pre-made pinto bean, basmati rice, and avocado wrap -- for dinner for a vegan girl on the go! A few Amy's Indian Meal dinners -- these make for great lunches at work Check out Harmonia's blog for other Midweek Munchies sites!

Click here for the Midweek Munchies code
Click here for Vegan Doc's blog

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Technorati Tag: Midweek Munchies

A special thanks to Running2Ks and Rift for all of their help with coding, graphics, and encouragement for this project.

PURPOSE of Midweek Munchies: Put together by a small group of Veg Women, we hope to spread the word about healthy vegetarianism while obtaining idea starters for meals, recipes, learn about new products, and meet other female veg*n bloggers. Visiting and commenting on other participants lists are encouraged but not required. Have fun and Go Veg!

Sloppy Joes

I made a sloppy joe sandwich on a whole wheat bun. I sauteed one cooking onion, along with chopped red and yellow peppers (hydroponic peppers, no less!), then added some Annie's barbecue sauce and Boca Burger Crumbles.

Good Karma Vegan House in San Jose

Whenever I travel, I go out of my way to dine at at least one vegan or vegetarian restaurant.

I just got back from a trip for work to San Jose. I ditched my group during the lunch session, as they're not really into veg cuisine, to "go find my peeps" at a local vegan restaurant. The Good Karma Vegan House was absolutely amazing! For $7.75, I got a heaping plate with brown rice, indian tofu, "lemon chicken", stir-fried vegetables, and a drumstick, and for dessert some tapioca pudding. If I ever get back to San Jose, I'm definitely going back to Good Karma!

Johnny Rockets

Tonight I ended up at Johnny Rockets, not by my choice, but at least they have a vegan Boca Burger. Unfortunately, when you order it if you want it vegan you have to request that there be no butter on the roll. In my case, our waiter brought one out with butter anyway, and it's a good thing I checked.

Passive aggressive waitstaff..... grrrrrr.....

Anyway, I won't be cooking for a few days.

My Favorite Garlic Sesame Sauce

This marinade from Starport Foods is what I use for all my recipes with a sesame sauce. It's the best stir-fry marinade around.

Sorry it took so long, Starla!

Cooking Eggplant

To answer Lisa's question, I have two ways that I cook eggplant:

1) Oven -- Pierce the eggplant several times with a fork, coat in olive oil and place in the oven at 450 degrees for 45 minutes. Let the eggplant cool. Then, slice it in half and use a fork to comb the eggplant out. It will be soft and stringy.

2) Stovetop -- Keeping in mind that eggplant takes longer to cook than other vegetables, I add it first. I cut it into small pieces and sautee in oil, wine, marinade, or pasta sauce for about 15-20 minutes.

Pasta with Eggplant

I know it looks funky, but remember, I'm just a vegan girl with a full-time job....

Last night, I decided I felt like making baba ganoush. Unfortunately, though, after roasting the eggplant, I realized that I have no tahini and was feeling way too lazy to drive to the grocery store. So, I saved the roasted eggplant in the fridge to do something with it today.

I sauteed the eggplant in canola oil with some frozen spinach, garlic, pepper, and cumin, then added some Prego traditional spaghetti sauce.

The final product tasted good, but I'll freely admit that the sauce looks kinda nasty.

Vegan Firefighters

Today's New York Times includes an article about a team of five vegan firefighters in Austin, Texas. One found out at age 37 that he had high cholesterol, and through a vegan diet he's been able to bring it down to normal levels.

I think it's a great piece. It is a terrific reminder that being hearth-healthy isn't all about pills and angioplasties, and that our lifestyle and habits are crucial.

In case you can't pull up the article, here's a link to the Engine 2 Fire Company's home page.

Meat 'n Potatoes

For dinner, I had Gardenburger Riblets, broccoli stir-fried in garlic sesame sauce, and a twice-baked potato. The potato is something my grandmother liked to make us -- you bake the potato (or, in this case, pierce it with a fork and microwave on high for 6 minutes), slice it in half, mash the insides with a little butter, and then put it in the oven.

Note the ratios of food groups on the plate -- one quarter lean protein (riblet), one quarter starch (potato), and one half vegetable.

Vegan in a Brazilian Steakhouse

I did not cook today. Instead I went to the local young Jews' happy hour. However, I'll share my most recent uncomfortable vegan story.

In Atlanta last week, I ended up at a place called Fogo de Chao, a Brazilian steakhouse. It's a place where men dressed as butchers move through the restaurant at a frenzied pace slicing meat off of a skewer for diners. And, they have a salad bar. But, unfortunately, there was constantly one of these butchers/waiters dropping a slab of meat in front of me, because the 100-pound girl next to me could definitely pound down meat.

Fortunately for me, our waiter was very accomodating. He told me the few items off the salad bar that were vegan: lettuce (but no dressings), chick peas, mushrooms, asparagus, and tomatoes. And he brought me polenta faster than I could eat it. So, I ate well and enjoyed my food, though I was clearly grossed out by the carcass-like skewers of meat around me.

Veggie Stew

I made a veggie stew from a recipe that I adapted from Linda Haynes's The Vegetarian Lunchbasket. What I love about this book is that the recipes are easy to make and don't include exotic ingredients.

I sauteed organic cabbage, peas, corn, cannelini beans, and baby bella mushrooms in canola oil for 5 minutes, then added 1 cup of vegetable broth and simmered for 20 minutes. Then I added 1/8 cup of whole wheat flour, two packets of soy sauce, salt and pepper, and simmered for 5 more minutes.

I enjoyed this stew with a toasted whole grain english muffin coated with Earth Balance Buttery Spread (vegan margarine).

Groovy "Chicken" and Noodle Stir-Fry

My most recent creation was adapted from a Wegman's recipe that included chicken. I boiled 8 oz of vermicelli and set aside. Then, to three tablespoons of hot vegetable oil, I added one chopped onion and two cloves of minced garlic. I added a 16-oz bag of frozen vegetables -- any veggies will do, but I chose a mixture with cauliflower, lima beans, carrots, and zucchini. I let this mixture heat, then added 2/3 of a cup of water, 1/4 cup plus two tablespoons of soy sauce, and four teaspoons of corn starch, allowed this to thicken while stirring frequently for ten minutes. Toward the end of this time I added a bag of Morningstar Farms Chik'n Strips. Finally, I added the cooked vermicelli.

Greens n Beans

I blanched the escarole in boiling water for one minute, drained it, and squeezed out much of the water. I heated one garlic clove and one tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet, then added the escarole, one can of cannelini beans (undrained), and a bit of veg soup powder mix, and sauteed it covered for about 5 minutes.

This was a side dish, not my entire dinner. It went well with some vegetable sushi from Wegman's and tofu in sesame sauce. And four Fig Newmans for dessert.

Reversing Heart Disease

I just returned from a trip to Atlanta for the American College of Cardiology annual conference. It was a great experience, and my favorite part was learning about the late-breaking clinical trials.

One such trial is the ASTEROID trial, presented by Dr. Steve Nissen from the Cleveland Clinic. The study found that rosuvastatin (Crestor), a cholesterol-lowering medication, when given at a high dose, can safely lower the LDL (bad) cholesterol to an average of 60 and reverse heart disease. As Dr. Nissen pointed out with a loud round of applause in response, this is the first cholesterol-lowering medication trial that showed a reversal of heart disease. It was a well-done study and emphasizes that lower is better when it comes to LDL cholesterol.

That's terrific, but I kept thinking, there is one way of reversing heart disease: The Ornish Lifestyle Program. The Ornish Program includes a very low-fat vegetarian diet, exercise, meditation, and group support, and though it was a small study, it led to improvement in symptoms of angina and mild regression of coronary artery disease.

I think that the medical community focuses too much on pills to solve our problems. We assume people are too stupid and lazy to be responsible and live a healthier lifestyle. But, living healthfully is the key to longevity. I think that as health care providers that we need to focus more on empowering our patients to take better care of their bodies and not just give them pills.

Meeting the Garbanzo Bean... and enjoying some great Vegan dining!

Garbanzo Bean and I first met online about 13 years ago when we were both planning on attending USC for college. We were even going to be roommates! At the last minute, I changed my mind and attended another school. However, we somehow managed to keep in touch, and met for the first time yesterday while I was in Atlanta! It felt like we were old friends, and we had an awesome dinner at Cafe Sunflower, a vegetarian restaurant. I had "meatloaf" with mashed potatoes, gravy, and asparagus, and for dessert a slice of chocolate raspberry cream pie (and some of the Bean's peanut butter cream pie). Mmmm was I stuffed!

Lentil Controversy

After all the posts suggesting that I don't need to soak or cook lentils that long, I checked the package. Indeed, that's what it suggested, and my recipe came out ok. They're brownish green lentils, and they are labeled "Lentils". I'm not sure why. When I've done yellow lentils, a soak for 4 hours and cooking for 20 minutes was ok, but these required so much longer.

I'll be on a blogging hiatus for a few days, so have a terrific weekend everyone!

Lentils

Ok, I've never cooked lentils from scratch before. I had no idea that even if you soak them overnight that they still take an hour and a half to cook! But, they came out good. A little olive oil, one cooking onion, one roma tomato, then the lentils, with a little water on top.

In the meantime, though, I was hungry! So, I had some Whitewave Wheat Meat and leftover chole. The lentils will be dinner tomorrow.

Chole

Chole (pronounced "cho-LAY") is a traditional north Indian dish with chick peas and spices. As I leared from Lisa's friend Vani, all good Indian food starts with mustard seeds. Perhaps this is an over-simplification on my part, but her advice works, and when I move to Boston in July, I plan on tracking her down for more lessons in Indian cooking.

Anyway, start with about a tablespoon of olive oil and some mustard seeds on medium heat. When the mustard seeds start popping, I turned the heat down to low and added one chopped cooking onion, and shortly thereafter a can of drained and rinsed chick peas and two chopped roma tomatoes. On top of that, I added some sea salt, ground pepper, and spices: turmeric, coriander, cumin, paprika, and garlic. I heated the mixture on my stove for about 15 minutes, then ate it with a couple slices of whole wheat pita bread.

One Year as a Vegan!

This week, I'm celebrating one year as a vegan!

I became a lacto-ovo vegetarian at age 16, about 14 1/2 years ago, probably most motivated by my younger brother's committment to the cause. The literature from PETA that he received helped too. One day, it just hit me, that I couldn't eat a poor animal who lived in suffering only to become my chicken sandwich.

Then, I read more about how egg-laying hens suffer, crammed into crates without room to stretch their wings or roam, and how poor dairy cows have their babies taken away from them only to be confined for their miserable brief lives. And "cow pus" from the multitude of infections that dairy cows' nipples suffer from due to the machinery that milks them, that grossed me out.

But it took me a year and a half from that point to become a vegan. I had no idea how to live without dairy or eggs -- how do you dine out at restaurants? What about birthday cake? My (now ex) husband loves making me French Toast -- wouldn't he be disappointed?

I realized that going vegan was the right thing to do. For the animals, for my health, and for the environment. There are more dining out options than I ever thought; a birthday cake can be made vegan, and so can French Toast.

I've never regretted becoming a vegan. I only wish I'd done it sooner.

"Natural" Chicken?

Arby's has a new ad campaign for their "All Natural Chicken sandwiches". What I don't get is, All Natural as compared to what???

Another reason I'm glad I'm a vegetarian.

Bean Dip

Lisa gave me this recipe that she used recently for a bean dip. It came out good, and I used about half of the suggested amount of olive oil (in other words, 1/4 cup instead of 1/2).

2-15 oz cans black beans, rinsed
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 cloves garlic
Salt
½ cup olive oil
¾ cup (to taste) fresh cilantro leaves

Eggplant and Tofu on Couscous

In my wok, I sauteed eggplant in olive oil, balsalmic vinaigrette and tamari sauce, then added some extra-firm tofu.

Not Much Cooking Goin' On

My house is going up on the market tomorrow. So, after working so hard to clean off my beautiful ceramic cooktop stove, I don't want to mess it up.

Tonight's dinner was a Bravissimo frozen pizza with veggies and Amy's split pea soup. Dessert was a Natural Choice frozen fruit bar, a few strawberries, and a few too many Newman-O's.

This picture shows my leftovers, which will be lunch tomorrow.

In the midst of not cooking so much, I am looking forward to trying out a local pizza place that just added a vegan menu! It's not terribly healthy stuff, including fries, vegan mac salad with vegenaise, and vegan mozzarella, but if it's vegan and in town I want to help keep them in business.

Portobello Stir Fry

My stir fry this evening has portobello mushrooms, broccoli, yellow pepper, and onion with some sesame sauce. Note the absence of tofu or "fake meat" product. I have already OD'ed on soy today -- soy milk with my cereal, tofu in my lunch, edamame (soy beans in pods) as a frequent nosh.

Also, I've realized that my diet is full of sodium. I advise my patients to avoid salt, usually because they have high blood pressure. While it's not endangering my health to eat too much salt, as my blood pressure is normal and I do not have heart disease, I notice that my weight fluctuates quite a bit and I've been getting very bloated. This stir fry is fairly low in sodium too, with probably 250 milligrams of sodium per serving.

Yellow Lentil Dal

First off, I've found my mojo, thanks to all of you who may have been concerned. Today was a much better day in the lab, for the most part. My needle found arteries when it was supposed to find arteries and veins when it was supposed to find veins.

For dinner, I made yellow lentil dal, my own take on an Indian dish. I soaked some yellow lentils overnight. In my frying pan I poured a little Canola oil (like a tablespoon or so) and added mustard seeds, cumin, coriander, turmeric, salt, pepper, and garlic. When the mustard seeds were popping, I added the drained lentils with some cold water and 2 chopped roma tomatoes, simmered for about 25 minutes.

I've Lost My Mojo

Some days you're on fire. Some days you're not.

Today in the cath lab, I prepared to do a right heart catheterization, in other words go through a vein in the neck with a catheter to take pressure measurements of the right side of the heart and the lungs. The patient's veins were tiny because he was so dehydrated, and I tried and tried and tried.... and then stuck my needle into his carotid artery!!!!

Then, I was so frustrated, that when I tried to get the vein in his leg, I missed. My attending, impatient with my handiwork, took the needle and in two seconds had his needle in the femoral vein.

Fortunately, there were no immediate complications of me sticking this patient's carotid artery. But, I'm still disappointed in myself.

Tomorrow will be a better day.

Low(er) Fat Spinach Dip

I've made a spinach dip that goes over really well with non-vegetarians at parties, who doubt that something so yummy could really be vegan. However, it's loaded with fat, so I don't make it at home for myself... until now.

This evening I was playing around in my kitchen, and I have a revised recipe for a more healthy, less fattening spinach dip:

One pound frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
One can of chopped water chestnuts
Two tablespoons Vegenaise (vegan mayonaise)
Two tablespoons Tofutti Better-Than-Sour Cream (vegan sour cream)
One and a half teaspoons of soup mix (I use Croyden House kosher imitation chicken soup powder)

Mix it all up in a bowl, put it in the fridge for a couple hours, and serve. The big difference is that the original recipe calls for a half of a cup each of Vegenaise and Tofutti sour cream.

Hummus Pizza

I was inspired by a recipe from Dreena's website. This is a piece of pita bread topped with a layer of hummus, chopped roma tomatoes, and spinach, toasted in the oven for 10 minutes.

Farting Vegans?

I found a great answer to the question of flatulence and vegan diets from VegWeb. It's far better than anything I can come up with.

I'll add to that, though, if you have a dietary allergy to something that you consume in large quantities, such as soy, it can cause gas. I have a bit of an allergy to soy, and if I eat too much of it, or if I have a lot of chocolate (this I don't understand, but it happens) then the gas is flying out of me in a big and potentially embarrassing way. I'm allergic to dairy too, and it used to do this to me even more so, but that is completely eliminated from my diet since becoming vegan.

So, figure out what in your diet is making you gassy, cut back on it, or eat your culprit food and try to avoid society for a few hours.

Eggplant and Tomato Sub

I made this Indian-style, because I loooove Indian food!

Poured a little canola oil in a frying pan with some mustard seeds. Once the seeds were popping, I added eggplant, onion, and some mushrooms. Then I topped with some spices -- turmeric, cumin, coriander, paprika, pepper, and salt. Finally I added a chopped tomato.

I poured the mixture into the sub roll and heated in the oven for 10 minutes at 425 degrees.

I need to post more.... coming soon will be a response to "Anonymous" aka Fart Man. Just kidding buddy :) we'll talk.

Speaking about Veganism and Heart Disease

Last night, I gave a talk to our local Ornish group, Heartbeats For Life. They're a bunch of folks who have heart disease or an interest in heart disease and prevention through following Dean Ornish's Lifestyle Program, which includes a lowfat vegetarian diet.

My topic was the importance of diet and exercise in women's heart health. I spoke to about 45 people, and as this was my first speaking engagement of this type, I was quite nervous. However, I got a lot of great questions and comments from the audience, and I've even been asked to give the same talk to a different group, which is a terrific complement.

A lot of my talk was devoted to explaining the benefits and misconceptions of a vegetarian/vegan diet. I talked about the deceptions of the dairy industry, which I think surprised people. My take-home message for the audience was, as I've said on this blog, that heart disease isn't all pre-determined, that WE have the power to change our destiny through diet and exercise.

I'm looking forward to doing it again.

Chocolate Chip Pancakes and Scrambled Tofu

My vegan take on pancakes and eggs absolutely hit the spot!

Did you know that Bisquick is vegan? I followed the directions on a box of low-fat Bisquick, substituting Ener-G Egg Replacer for the egg, soy milk for the milk, and adding a whole bunch of chocolate chips. The scrambled tofu is mashed firm tofu with some frozen spinach, salt, pepper, paprika, and garlic.

Caravan of Dreams

I had the pleasure of being in New York City during its biggest snowfall ever!! The benefit of this was that my friend and I didn't have to wait to be seated for brunch at Caravan of Dreams in the East Village.

The restaurant is vegan, organic, kosher, and much of the menu is raw food. The music was great, kind of a middle eastern beat, and also a guy playing piano live. There were so many great choices. We each had the Country Breakfast Platter with spelt-berry pancakes and fried tempeh, along with sangria, coffee or tea and a salad, all for $14. What a filling and delicious brunch!

I swear, I'm like a wide-eyed kid in a candy store whenever I go to a vegan restaurant, because near where I live we have three vegetarian restaurants, but no vegan restaurants. I love having choices on the menu, though I must admit that it feels a bit overwhelming because I'm not accustomed to being able to choose from multiple options.

And I don't have to bombard them with the usual vegan littany of questions that I always begin with, "I'm sorry, I'm going to be difficult. I'm a vegan. That means I don't eat dairy, egg, meat or fish, or anything that comes from an animal.... ok so what kind of broth does the soup have? And what is that fried in? Is there cheese in that? Can you make it without the sour cream? No, I don't want cheese on top. No really, no butter either..."

Baked Ziti

I had a craving for pasta. I prepared some whole-wheat spirals. While they were boiling, I put a block of firm silken tofu in a blender with lemon juice, basil, garlic, salt, and a little frozen spinach. After the pasta was done, I poured it in this little casserole dish and added the tofu blender mix and some Prego Traditional, stirred, and put in the oven at 375 for about 15 minutes.

Seitan Stir-Fry

After my unsuccessful attempt at tempeh, tonight I decided to stick with what I know -- seitan, broccoli, mushrooms, and red peppers in garlic sauce. Delicious as always with leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

Clif Builders

I didn't cook anything today, as I had some frozen Ling dumplings for lunch and went out to dinner with the ladies for Italian food, where I got some mediocre greens and beans dish.

Recently, I tried Clif Builders. I'm on a rotation where I'm at the hospital in the afternoon and often into the early evening, so I don't have the chance to go home and have dinner before going to the gym. A Clif Builder about 2 hours before a trip to the gym gives me all the energy I need for a 40-minute run and an hourlong weight training session. They taste like a candy bar, but they have 275 calories and 20 grams of protein. And, of course, they're vegan. What more can you ask for?

Maybe I'll cook something tomorrow...

My First Attempt at Cooking with Tempeh

This didn't come out so good.

I added the tempeh last. It tasted bland, like it didn't absorb the stir-fry sauce that I added, and it was awfully chewy.

Next time I cook with tempeh, I'll try smaller pieces and add it earlier.

Salad with Tahini Dressing

I have some organic greens, apple slices, avocado, sunflower seeds, and tahini dressing. This salad accompanied leftover whole wheat pasta. I had fruit and a few Fig Newmans for dessert. Fig Newmans are addictive.

Does anyone know of a good tahini salad dressing, either a recipe or a commercially prepared dressing? I had an amazing tahini dressing at a Govinda's in Denver, and one of the Hare Krishnas was kind enough to write down a recipe off the top of his head, but it just didn't come out right.

What I cannot do

Lonna and Melissa's comments definitely hit home for me.

I've saved the lives of heart attack victims. I've diagnosed and treated patients and improved their lives through modern medical technology. I've convinced patients to change their lifestyles, to give up meat, to quit smoking, to drink less, to take their medicines, to exercise, and so on.

But, what I cannot do is get my 51 year-old father to go to a doctor. He prides himself that he hasn't had a full physical exam since 1974, the year he and my mother married, the year before I was born. He's been to a doctor a handful of times, but only for things like ear infections or a required "work physical".

He's overweight, out of shape, and who knows what his blood pressure and cholesterol are. I've tried insisting. I've tried begging. But that gets me nowhere. I love him, but he's the most stubborn person I know.

Honestly, there's only so much we can do. When I'm talking to a patient, I'm "the doctor". When I'm talking to Dad, I'm his little girl, and my advice simply doesn't hold weight.

So all I can do is be patient. One day, something will happen that will bring him to a doctor. I just hope it won't be too late.

The Problem with Heart Disease...

...is that we're so good at treating it. People feel so well after their heart attack or stent that they go back to their old bad habits.

I went to visit my patient who is recovering from bypass surgery. He has an inherited lipid disorder, so his cholesterol and triglycerides are much higher than normal people. On top of that, he smokes a pack and a half of cigarettes each day.

At age 35, he had a heart attack. We put a stent in, and he felt better. We told him to quit smoking. He didn't. At 38, he came back with more chest pain. His first stent was clogged and he had a new narrowing of a different coronary artery. So we put a new stent in and opened up the old stent. He continued to smoke. Now at age 40, he had more pain, and last Friday he had bypass surgery.

I told him that now he has to quit smoking. Absolutely has to quit. If he doesn't quit, his bypasses will become blocked or he'll die. NOW he's more motivated and has found some help from nicotine patches.

Remember this: We may inherit bad things that put us at higher risk of heart disease. However, we control our own destiny. Through exercise, not smoking, and eating well, including a well-balanced vegan diet, we can stay healthy for a long time.

Whole Wheat Pasta with Yellow Squash and Spinach

The yellow squash was sauteed with some sea salt and pepper in olive oil for about 5 minutes. I added some frozen spinach, and then some traditional Prego.

After my 2500 meter swim, this meal hit the spot.