First Big Health Post (Part 2)

For the second part of today's health post, I wanted to spend a little bit of time discussing some varying views and opinions of both vegan and paleo lifestyles. An article this week was published by WebMD from a feature in Marie Claire magazine titled "The Vegan Myth". I'll let you read the article yourself, but it essentially calls into question the use of a vegan diet (bear in mind it only looks at the food aspect of veganism, not other lifestyle choices) as a healthy means of weight-reduction and improved health. It describes the stories of a few individuals who initially experienced success with a vegan diet, but who eventually began to languish physically and mentally. In the same email, they also included a link to a slideshow about the benefits of adopting a vegetarian lifestyle, so they are definitely making an effort to show both sides of the issue.

Another article found on WebMD (I'm using them as sources because I happen to receive daily emails from them, but I encourage you to go out and do your own research) gives a Diet Review of the paleo lifestyle. It describes the diet in the strictest of terms, which as you know, I'm not following exactly. While the review does praise some of the benefits that can be gained from this lifestyle, it also states that it is not a very sustainable plan for one of the primary reasons that the other article states that veganism is not sustainable for most:

Lack of variety

This can certainly be a stumbling block for those individuals out there who hate grocery shopping, hate cooking, and see sitting down to a meal as a chore rather than something to enjoy. And yes, cutting out certain food groups can be a challenge, especially when it comes to making sure we receive all of our vital nutrients, and even more so when those ugly cravings pop up for things that we're not supposed to eat. This all just means that you have to be creative in the kitchen, put a little thought into what you're eating, and try to have some fun with it! Nothing will stop a diet short quicker than becoming bored with it.

That's what I did over this past week.

I LOVE Asian foods. One of the hardest things about this experiment has been not going down to my favorite Chinese restaurant and stuffing my face full of rice, tofu, and soup. Another of my favorite Asian-inspired restaurants to eat at is P.F. Chang's. They have a well-known appetizer on their menu that a number of you may have tried; the lettuce wraps. They can be ordered with either a meat or vegetarian filling, and essentially consist of a heap of the filling along with a stack of lettuce leaves for you to build your own wraps with at the table. I decided to try to recreate this setup while mimicking those flavors that I love. I took some diced onion, orange bell pepper, and celery along with some grated carrots and sauteed them in olive oil with some garlic and a healthy handful of red chili flakes. To season, I used a little bit of salt and pepper, a pinch of curry powder, a little dried basil, some sriracha (of course), and a heaping tablespoon of almond butter to replicate that awesome peanut flavor found so often in Thai cooking. Since I couldn't really use soy sauce, I added a few splashes of balsamic vinegar, not only to brighten the flavor profile a bit with some acidity, but also to develop that rich savory flavor that soy would normally provide. Instead of lettuce leaves I used cabbage because I love the natural sweetness of cabbage, plus the thicker leaf isn't as prone to tear when making your wrap. For a side dish, I just made a super quick and refreshing tomato, cucumber, and onion salad that I dressed with some red wine vinegar, salt, and pepper.

Cabbage wrap ecstasy with a bright, fresh salad (click for larger photos)

Next, I took an earlier experiment (remember my eggplant sliders?) and redid it, only this time with a bit more success. I used bigger slices of eggplant, and I tossed them with salt, pepper, and garlic powder in a bowl with a bit of olive oil, then put them into a dry, preheated pan. The eggplant absorbed enough of the oil from tossing them so I didn't need to add any more. I then did a repeat of my sweet potato fries, only this time I spaced them out more evenly, put them in a hotter oven (450 instead of 375), and also used the tossing with oil technique (along with salt and pepper) instead of drizzling them, which leaves pools of oil on the baking sheet. This resulted in MUCH crispier and tastier fries. I even made my own spicy dipping sauce with some sweet and hot mustard, a little bit of ketchup (a very small amount so as to avoid too much added sugar), and some sriracha (once again). I enjoyed all of this with some sliced kiwi and a salad that I made with chunks of cantaloupe, cucumber, and some diced red onion and jalapeño, all drizzled with some fresh lime juice and a tiny bit of agave nectar. I can't even begin to describe how delicious all of it was!

My improved 2nd attempt at my eggplant slider meal. Even the eggplant was happy!

I then had an inspiration for another meal. On my last grocery shopping trip, the cashier, after ringing up all of my produce, made a joking comment to the effect of "did you clean out all of our green racks back there?". My response was something like "Hopefully it'll last me about a week or so". But then I got to thinking, could I make a dinner that was entirely green? This past Sunday night, I decided to give it a try. I had been wanting to make a "pasta" dish for a while now, but since my favorite go-to spaghetti squash is out of season, I had to go with another option. I had heard of people shredding zucchini to make noodles before, so I figured I'd give it a shot. I also had some other green veggies like celery, broccoli, green onions, jalapeños, and asparagus to throw into the mix. I still needed to come up with some sort of sauce though. Then the obvious hit me: pesto! Traditional pestos are made with fresh herbs (usually basil), garlic, olive oil, some type of grated hard cheese like parmesan or romano, and pine nuts, all processed together into a tasty green pesto. Well, I didn't have any fresh herbs or pine nuts, and I can't have cheese, so I had to put my improvisation skills to the test again. I still needed something leafy to give the pest some body, so I tossed in a handful of spinach leaves that I had roughly chopped, and supplemented this with some dried parsley to impart the herbaceous flavor. I proceeded with the garlic and olive oil along with some salt and red chili flakes. I even threw in some diced jalapeños and some green and red onions (my secret hidden non-green food item). Instead of pine nuts, I then added some shelled, roasted pistachios. They gave it a great flavor, and they're even green! I tossed the pesto in with my green veggies and added a few white mushrooms (they picked up the green from the pesto, so they still count), and tossed it all together with my shredded zucchini noodles that I just warmed in the microwave.

For sides, I made some super simple kale chips by slicing the kale leaves away from the thick stem then cutting them into bite-sized pieces. I placed them on a baking sheet with a light drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkling of salt, then put them in a 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes or so. For something sweet, I sliced up another juicy green kiwi. I was pleased with myself at how great everything looked, and I was ecstatic with how it tasted!

Apparently it IS easy being green...and delicious!

Speaking of sweet things, I've been having WAY more cravings of the sweet toothed variety than I'd ever had before, so when I found this idea online for vegan and paleo friendly two-ingredient ICE CREAM, I felt as though I'd stumbled upon some holy artifact. Here's the recipe in it's entirety....are you ready? Take 4 bananas, slice them, put in the freezer for about 2 hours, taken them out, put them in a blender or food processor, puree until smooth, add 2 tablespoons of almond butter and mix until combined....THAT'S IT!! It created the smoothest, creamiest texture you could ever hope to have in an ice cream, and the perfect balance of sweetness and nuttiness was just what I needed to satisfy that craving.

I'm not actually holding it above Manhattan, but its praises should be sung from rooftops!

In summation, yes it is CRUCIAL to add in a variety of foods, especially when embarking on a plan that involves the elimination of certain food groups like paleo and vegan diets, or both in my case. Just listen to your body and stay healthy. Until next time...



Much love to you all,

Jon