Forks Over Knives (30 page)

SERVES 4

¼ cup mirin

2 teaspoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons water

5 teaspoons agave

¼ cup red miso

2 pounds eggplant, cut ½-inch thick

Sliced scallions, for garnish (optional)

1.
In a saucepot, combine the mirin, soy sauce, and agave. Bring to a boil and then lower the heat. Add the agave and miso. Stir over very low heat, whisking often, until it is smooth.

2.
Preheat the broiler and place a rack about 6 inches from the heat. Spray a large-rimmed baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray. Arrange the eggplant slices in a single layer and spray lightly with cooking spray. Broil for about 6 minutes; the tops should be browned and the eggplant should be cooked but still a bit firm. Remove from the oven.

3.
Use a tablespoon to divide the miso sauce among all the eggplant slices, then use the back of the spoon to spread it on each entire slice. Place back in the broiler and broil for 2 more minutes. The miso should be a little bubbly. Serve as soon as you can.

CHEF DEL SROUFE | WELLNESS FORUM FOODS

STIR-FRYING IS AN
Asian technique for cooking meat and vegetables quickly so that they retain their texture and flavor. In this recipe you can be creative and substitute other vegetables, such as snow peas and fresh, thinly sliced carrots, for the asparagus.

SERVES 3 TO 4

1 pound fresh asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces

1 red bell pepper, cut into ¼-inch-thick slivers

8 ounces cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tablespoon Bragg Liquid Aminos

Heat a large skillet over high heat and add the asparagus, bell pepper, and mushrooms. Stir-fry for 4 to 5 minutes, adding water 1 to 2 tablespoons at a time to keep the vegetables from sticking. Add the garlic and cook another minute. Add the Liquid Aminos and toss well. Serve immediately.

YOANNAH BROWN | SOUL VEGETARIAN EAST RESTAURANT, CHICAGO

AN EASY WAY
to make greens taste delicious, this dish is a favorite of Dr. Terry Mason. The flavor is savory and goes with any meal theme.

SERVES 4

¼ cup water

12 cups kale, washed and coarsely chopped

1 cup chopped onion

1 tablespoon garlic powder

¼ cup nutritional yeast

¼ cup of Bragg Liquid Aminos

Heat the water in a large pot until it comes to a boil. Add the kale, onion, garlic powder, and nutritional yeast. Cover and let cook until the kale is soft and tender, about 15 minutes. Add Liquid Aminos to taste and mix thoroughly.

ANN CRILE ESSELSTYN |
PREVENT AND REVERSE HEART DISEASE

WHEN WE VISIT
our son, Rip, in Austin, Texas, we always eat at Casa de Luz, a macrobiotic restaurant, because we love the food and especially the walnut sauce on kale. In the past, kale had been one of our last-choice greens. We asked the cook for the walnut sauce recipe they put on kale and we learned two things: first, boil kale in lots of water (and now we love kale even without the sauce). And second, the three ingredients for the sauce: walnuts, garlic, and tamari. The result, something shockingly delicious and totally different from the individual ingredients! People need to learn to make kale and put walnut sauce on it. This sauce is not for those with heart disease unless used very sparingly. Although it is best to make this according to your own taste, here is a possible recipe:

SERVES 3 TO 4

1 bunch kale, prepared (see next page)

1 to 2 tablespoons low-sodium tamari

½ cup water, or more depending on preference for thick or thin

½ cup walnuts

1 garlic clove

1.
Put in a blender or food processor a handful of walnuts, a clove or more of garlic depending on garlic tolerance, and a big sprinkle of low-sodium tamari.

2.
Blend and add as much water as necessary (about ½ cup) to make it the right consistency to pour over the kale. It can be quite thin to be good and it goes a long way. It is good on absolutely everything.

How to Prepare Kale

1.
Remove the stems from the kale, keeping the leaves whole. The most fun way to do this is as follows (this works well for collards too):

Hold the spine of the kale firmly in your right hand.

Loosely hold the lower part of the spine, just below the leafy greens, in your left hand. You may need to tear back the lower leaves to expose some of the stem.

Holding firmly with your right hand and lightly with your left, move your hands apart. The greens will end up in your left hand and the bare stem in your right. (collard spines do not always come away as far up the leaf, but that doesn’t matter.)

2.
Now chop the pile of greens into bite-size pieces. (Don’t waste the spines; assemble them all in a row, chop them into tiny pieces, optionally boil them, and add them to soup!)

3.
Boil about 1½ inches of water in a large frying pan and spread out the kale greens in the pan. Cover and cook for 5 minutes, then test to see if it is cooked to your liking. Like spinach, kale is best if it is a little more cooked—but don’t overcook it.

4.
Remove from the heat, drain, and serve, or proceed to use the kale in another recipe.

ANASTASIA ST. JOHN | COMPASSIONATE DIET AND LIFESTYLE ADVOCATE

KALE IS A
delicious and nutritious way to dress up roasted root veggies!

SERVES 6

1 large potato, cut into large cubes

1 carrot, cut into large slices

1 turnip, peeled and cut into cubes

1 medium onion, cut into large wedges

4 garlic cloves, cut in half

¼ teaspoon black pepper

¼ teaspoon chile powder

1 tablespoon rosemary

¾ teaspoon sea salt

2 cups water

2 cups chopped kale

1.
Preheat oven to 375
^°
F.

2.
Put the potato, carrot, turnip, onion, garlic, black pepper, chile powder, rosemary, and ½ teaspoon of the salt into a large bowl and toss well. Dump the vegetable mixture onto a shallow baking pan, add 1 cup of the water, and bake until the vegetables are soft and their edges are browned, about 45 minutes to 1 hour. While they are cooking, turn the vegetables over once or twice with a spatula. Add more water to the baking pan if needed.

3.
Add the remaining 1 cup water to a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Add the kale and the remaining ¼ teaspoon salt and cover. Reduce heat and steam the kale until soft, about 3 to 5 minutes. Drain the kale, toss with the roasted vegetables, and serve.

CHEF AJ |
UNPROCESSED

THE FIRST TIME
Rip Esselstyn ate at my house he ate twelve of these all by himself! They also got rave reviews from Ann Crile Esselstyn, who had eight.

MAKES 12 STUFFED MUSHROOMS

12 cremini mushrooms

1 cup pine nuts

2 garlic cloves (or more to taste)

1 tablespoon low-sodium yellow miso paste

1 cup fresh basil (about 2 ounces)

Juice of 1 lemon

Remove the stems from the mushrooms and set aside. Put the pine nuts, garlic, miso, basil, and lemon juice into a food processor fitted with the “S” blade and puree until smooth. Fill the mushroom cups with the pine nut mixture and put in a dehydrator. Dehydrate for 2 to 4 hours until warm.

Tip
Removing some of the center of the mushrooms will help you fit more stuffing inside.

Tip
If you don’t have a dehydrator, bake the mushrooms at 350ºF for an hour, or until soft.

VARIATION:

I like to add about 3 ounces of baby spinach to the mixture for extra nutrition. If you do, be careful: spinach will add water when it heats up, so don’t add much and maybe omit the basil.