As Newbies to this new form of eating, we are finding it fun to try new foods, and yes, I'm a little ashamed to admit that some of these I haven't tried already. Especially in the vegetable department. But, we are moving forward!!
This weekend, we tried two new legumes. Adzuki beans, which I have read are considered the "mercedes" of beans in Asia. They are often sweetened and I think used in the middle of those sweet peach buns that you can get as a dim sum at the Yuet Bistro in Redding. They are known for being a sweeter, kind of nutty-flavored bean. They did indeed have a pleasant taste, so I used them not only with rice for a dinner, but also made bean paste with them to make cookies with (yes, there is a new cookie recipe up on the sweet-treats page).
Our second legume to try was lentils. They were cooked up in order to make a meatless patty from the E2 cookbook - the one with rice and lentils. Those, by the way, were good, although I used too much mustard when building my sandwich, so am not sure if the seasoning in the patties themselves need any adjusting. I am most impressed with the fact that it only takes 15 minutes to cook lentils. They tasted fine - I think I could use them a lot as a quick-fix filling for tacos, burritos, etc etc. Definitely a new fan of the lentil.
It's been a busy week, but this weekend we loaded up on greens, and did some pre-chopping, so lunches ought to be easy to fix. Breakfast too, since we're trying to eat some greens at breakfast. Kale goes surprisingly well with potatoes. So does broccoli, actually. Just goes to show - potatoes are awesome.
One of my favorite meals of late is a macro bowl, with brown rice or quinoa, aduki beans, steamed veggies like bok choy, cauliflower/broccoli, butternut squash, bean sprouts, with garlic, ginger, miso dressing. I discovered adzukis last spring.
ReplyDeleteLentils are an Adventist tradition of sorts. I was never fond of lentil casserole growing up, but now I love lentil soup, lentil burgers, or just lentils and brown rice. I have a yummy lentil salad recipe too! Isn't it fun to try new things?
Why is that called a macro bowl??
ReplyDeleteTell me how you use miso - I bought some, but haven't gone there yet. The lentil and rice patties (we are not using the term 'burgers') from the Engine 2 diet book were pretty good.
Not sure but I just googled macro bowl and it stems from macrobiotic which means "big life". I got a recipe fro a book called Clean which has a 21 day detox diet of clean eating, not totally plant based but could be if you want, just don't use the meat recipes. Basically tho i thnk the macro bowl is usually rice or noodles, beans, veggies and some kind of kelp. I've cooked my own adzuki beans and added kombu seaweed to the pot as cooking. Lots of nutrients. I've also used canned adzuki which also has some kind of seaweed in the ingredients list. I think Eden brand at orchard.
ReplyDeleteThe miso dressing:
1-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled
1 clove garlic
1/4 cup white sweet miso
Juice of 1 lemon
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tsp agave if desired
I usually do less oil and add some water to thin it down a little. It's delish!
I'm gonna check out those patties!
Oh, I puree the ingredients in my Vitamix. Which if you don't have one yet, I strongly suggest investing. I use it all the time!
ReplyDelete