Salads

I read Joel Fuhrman's Eat To Live book. He makes some great points about the American Diet, disease, weight, etc. The book is really detailed, but the bottom line of it is he recommends people eat 90% of their diet from unrefined plants. This includes veggies, fruit, and beans. Only 1 serving of complex carbs daily. 10% of your diet (calories) can be from animal protein. And most importantly, you should eat 1 pound of raw leafy greens a day. ONE POUND!!! And work up to also eating 1 pound of cooked green veg a day. Wow.

Well, I've been doing it for 3 weeks now. And you know what? I feel better than I have felt in a long time. I never thought that 1 pound of lettuce/spinach/kale would keep me so full. I know, all of this sounds crazy, but just read the book if you want to understand the madness.

The point of all of this is that I am coming up with some creative (but simple) salads these days. Ol' Dr Furhman is against oil--even olive oil--for 6 weeks, so this is requiring some thought. I've had some good salad, and some really bad salad. As I eat a delicious salad I will post the components, mostly so I can remember them for later.

Kale/Carrot/Raisin:
Blanch 1 bunch of kale. I use the red kind for color. Disgard tough stems, and chop the leaves into 1/2 inch strips. Grate 1-2 carrots, and throw 1 box of raisins on the kale. Squeeze the juice of 1/2 to 1 lemon on the whole thing and toss. It's better if you keep it in the fridge overnight before eating. I think the lemon juice breaks down the kale, and the sugars from the raisins sweetens everything. Drizzle with tahini before serving. And yep, I eat the whole thing in a day. BTW--I HATED kale before discovering this recipe, which is an adaptation from a recipe a girl at work gave me.

Romaine/Pea/Tofu:
Chop 1 head/heart romaine (I use the heart only, because I can buy a 6 pack for $4 at the store), and toss in 1/2 lb. of frozen (thawed) green peas. Pour 1 T. apple cider vinegar over, and toss. Quickly sautee 1/3 lb firm tofu, cubed. I press the tofu while it's cooking to get some of the water out of it. Nope, no oil, just straight tofu in a frying pan. After about 4 minutes, splash some Bragg's Liquid Amino's on the tofu, stir 1 minute, then turn off heat. The Bragg's taste just like soy sauce, but without the sodium. Throw the tofu on top of the lettuce/peas. Drizzle with tahini (yes, I do alot of tahini drizzling) and serve. Fantastic.

Red Lentils:
I love red lentils, especially when they are mixed with a tomato broth. The 2 were just made for each other! Red lentils are great because they cook much faster than most beans, and do not require a pre-soak. So here we go:
Take 1 cup dried red lentils and put into a pot. Add 2 cups low sodium veggie broth, 1 cup Imagine creamy (vegan) tomato soup, and 1 cup water. Turn on high heat till boil. When it boils, turn down the heat to a low simmer, and cover. Cook for 45 minutes, then turn off heat and let sit for 15 minutes. If you want this more "soupy" increase liquid by 1 cup. This is great served next to steamed brocolli drizzled with (you guessed it) tahini and hot sauce.