yummy walnuts and kale pesto

Hi everyone,

I have to share this with you.

This pesto is so healthy and sooo yum, yum, yummy that I just have to tell you how to prepare... :)

So here goes -

Ingredients:

• A bucket of kale קופסא של קייל
• One Cup of walnuts כוס אגוזי מלך
• 1/4 cup lemon juice רבע כוס מיץ לימון
• 1 tsp Mustard כפית חרדל
• 1/2 cup Brewers Yeast flakes כוס פתיתי שמרי בירה
• 1 tsp salt כפית מלח
• 1 tsp black pepper כפית פלפל
• 4 cloves garlic  ארבע שיני שום
• 2 tbsp coconut oil שתי כפות שמן קוקוס
• 2 tbsp hemp oil (use olive oil if you are not rich or you are rich and thrifty) שתי כפות שמן המפ 

ואם אין שמן המפ אז אפשר שמן זית

Method:

warm a bit (few minutes) the walnuts and set a side

 Take one package bucket of kale

Warm coconut oil in a wok and add the chopped Kale (no need to get rid of the stems - they are OK)

Cook for maybe 3-4 minutes (cover)

Put in a food processor

Add the walnets, the lemon, the garlic, the salt & pepper, the mustard, the hemp oil and the yeast.

Blend for a minute or two...

And Voilla... - It is delicious, a bit on the sour side

You can add it to the bread that you are eating - but I recommend you don't eat bread... so maybe just munch on it - it's gooood.

Kale is ranked #1 in the ANDI score invented by Dr. Fuhrman - which means it has the highest nutrition value per calorie. 

Coconut oil is easily absorbed into the blood, is satiating, fills you with energy and helping you lose weight!

Hemp oil is rich in polyunsaturated fats, it is actually the ideal source for the two essential fatty acids: Linoleic acid (Omega-6) and Alpha Linoleic Acid (Omega-3) having just the right ratio between the two for human consumption.

And Walnuts... - they too have the above polyunsaturated fats, they are good for your cognition & memory, they make your hair thick and prevent dryness of your skin.

So with all this packed health - what are you waiting for? go spend 5 minutes in the kitchen and enjoy!

Aviel.

super healthy and extremely yummy fudge recipe

Hello everyone,

Today I am going to give you a recipe that is not only delicious and super yummy but also very very nutritious. It contains no sugar and no oil at all !!! This recipe was invented by Talia Fuhrman and she gave me her permission to publish it here. Talia Fuhrman has a degree in nutritional sciences from Cornell University. She's vegan and in her blog as well as in her facebook page she demonstrates again and again how nutritious and disease preventing food can also be very delicious. She's the daughter of Joel Fuhrman whose nutritarial diet helped me get rid of almost 40 Kilograms in the last 5 months. but while her father is more focused on the science behind the nutritarial diet, Talia provides a wider view that includes the emotional and psychological aspects of being healthy, for example stress management and positive thinking - and in my humble opinion at least in my case this is exactly what triggered by diabetes and metabolic syndrome. 

Here's my twist to the recipe (you can see the original one here)

• 1/2 cup almond butter (חצי כוס חמאת שקדים)
• 1 cup black beans (כוס שעועית שחורה)
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder (חצי כוס אבקת קקאו)
• 1/2 cup microwaved sweet potato (חצי כוס תפוח אדמה מתוק רך במיקרו)
• 12 pitted dates (תמרים מגולענים - 12)
• 1/2 cup soy milk (חצי כוס חלב סויה)
• 1 cup goji berries (כוס גוג'י ברי)

As for the beans - you have to either buy them canned or soak them in water for at least 24 hours and then cook them in a pressure cooker for ~20 minutes.

Put all of the above except for the berries in a food processor or a blender and blend till completely smooth.

Pour into a large bowl, add the berries and mix.

Add few drops of oil to a 20 cm x 20 cm baking dish and form with your fingers the tiniest layer.

Pour the mix into the baking dish and spread evenly.

Cover with something and put in the freezer.

After 3-4 hours in the fridge - you can cut 18-20 rectangular pieces using a knife

After that you can place the pieces in a bowl and store in the freezer

What's so good about Cocoa powder? 

It's good for the heart and there are many papers to back up this assertion. For example there's a research showing that triglycerides levels were reduced in healthy women eating Chocolate. Increasing evidence from experimental and clinical studies using cocoa-derived products and chocolate suggest an important role for these high-flavanol-containing foods in heart and vascular protection. Another research is indicating that Cocoa can reduce your blood pressure and also increase your Nitric Oxicde (remember my article aboutnutrition for better sex?).It was demonstrated that intake of low habitual amounts of dark chocolate caused progressive reductions of systolic and diastolic blood pressure in older subjects with prehypertension or stage 1 hypertension without inducing weight gain or other adverse effects. Cocoa powder gives us the benefit of Chocolate, i.e. low blood pressure, low bad cholesterol and high good cholesterol, but without the sugar and without the milk. 

And what's so good about Beans?

Beans are a very important part of the nutritarial vegan diet. They are a quality source of protein, carbs and fiber. The refined carbs that most people eat in bagels, cakes and all sorts of 'good' stuff are consumed immediately by the body and are injected into the blood stream, shocking the body with tons of glucose molecules and raise insulin. This is not the case with beans - it contains slowly digestible starch so you get a constant supply of carbs that feed your body long after you are done with your dinner so it delays the onset of your hunger. But this is not the end of the story - beans contain high quality fiber which moves your bowls and all the yucky poisoning stuff out of your body, and yes - you do want to get rid of this garbage if only to reduce the risk of having colon cancer. Beans also have resistant starch - these are carbs that are resisting digestion until they get to the big intestine where they undergo fermentation by the microbes there and create substances that help us absorbing beneficial minerals like calcium and magnesium.

And what's so good about Goji Berries?

I found my Goji berries in a health store called Eden Teva Market. It was place on one special shelf carrying the title 'super foods' !! It made its way from the himalayan mountains right to my preferred health store. Goji berries are famous for their nutrient values. For example they contain all essential amino acids - which is rare for a fruit. They are very strong antioxidants, they contains vitamin C as well as many minerals such as iron, calcium, zince & selenium. It was discovered by the west only in the last couple of years and there's certainly lots of hype around this super food.


I will write some other time about sweet potatoes and dates but rest assured that these too are healthy foods.

While writing this blog I was running out of this amazing fudge so I had to prepare yet another round but this time I used a silicon dish that I bought in 4Chef located at 11 Karlibach Tel-Aviv.

Sorry for the mess - but this is how a vegan kitchen looks like (you can see the vitamix blender)

Meanwhile do promise yourself that you are really going to prepare this fudge - I think it's a genius invention - it certainly demonstrates how to prepare something both delicious and nutritious.

Cheers,

Aviel.

Best Mushrooms Soup that I have eaten in my life

Hiya folks,

This saturday I had the pleasure of preparing and also eating the best vegan mushroom soup - very very yummy!

And I even took pictures... 

So without further ado - let's see how to prepare such a yummy soup - promise me, promise me that you will give it a try :)

2 cups of water

2 כוסות מים

1 cup of white beans

כף שעועית לבנה

1.5 cups soya milk

1.5 כוסות חלב סויה

1.5 cups of carrot juice

1.5 כוסות מיץ גזר

150 grams frozen corn

150 גרם תירס קפוא

1/2 cup cut celery

1/2 כוס סלרי

2 chopped leaks

2 כרשה חתוכות (פרסה)

Half a kilogram mushrooms (doesn't matter which mushrooms)

חצי קילו פיטריות (לא משנה איזה סוג)

1 coarsely chopped carrot

1 גזר חתוך גס

1 garlic clove

1 שן שום

1 chopped onion

1 בצל חתוך

2 tbsp salt less soup seasoning

2 כפות תבלין מרק חסר תבלין

simmer for one hour

לבשל על אש קטנה במשך כשעה

put 70 grams cashew nuts with 4 tbsp soy milk in the blender together with half of the soup content, blend till smooth and then add back into the soup. Top with 100 grams spinach.

לשים 70 גרם אגוזי קשיו עם 4 כפות חלב סויה בבלנדר יחד עם מחצית מתוכן המרק. לערבב עד שיוצא חלק ולשפוך בחזרה אל המרק. להוסיף 100 גרם תרד.

Let the spinach faint for additional 10 minutes and that's it - voilla!!

לתת לתרד להתעלף בתוך המרק עוד כ 10 דקות - וזהו - המרק מוכן.

So here you can see me smiling, happily - do you know what took the picture?

You guessed it right! it was Donna my vegetarian, vegan wannabe daughter- and she helped me prepare so many other things that Saturday morning

She's a vegan in heart - but of course for the wrong reasons... - she just can't harm animals.

So you can see we made some Veggie Buritos and you can see her adding some tomatoes into the tortilla.

See? BTW, isn't she gorgeous? Why am I asking... cause not all daughters are beautiful. For example take for example a famous chef in Israel and since it's about time his daughter gets married and no body wants her then her father brought her as a guest cook to his show, but still, no body, absolutely no body wants to marry her - and her father is quite rich.

And these are ice creams made of mango with coconuts powder...

And these are some beans patties (black beans, red beans, oats, sunflower seeds)

And here Donna is eating her peach sorbet - that's at the end of a huge lunch with salad and beans and soup - 

And of course as result of all of this - she fell asleep on the sofa... - she rarely does such things cause for her sleeping is a waste of time.

OK that's all for today, hope you enjoyed, don't forget to subscribe or add me in google+ for more posts and more healthy, yummy food :)

Aviel.

The best blender in the world - Vitamix 5200S

My diet regime requires a good blender. It has to be good because I require that it shall turn almonds into milk! It should work hard and serve me for years.

The Vitamix 5200S is one such excellent blender. a 1380 Watts machine.

Here's how you make peaches sorbet using this blender - 

you throw in half a kilogram peaches, 1/4 cup almonds (or soya) milk and 4 pitted dates.

After maybe 10 seconds it's all over -

And you can eat it... yum-yum - 

It is sooo sweeeeet and yummy - wow!

Aviel.

My redcurrant berries morning treat

Hi everyone,

Such a delicious breakfast treat - wooohoooo mmmmm.... yumyum!!

just take a look at this beauty - 

Yes, that's what I call a delicious and nutritious breakfast.

• Half cup frozen redcurrant berries
• 1 tsp chia seeds.
• 1 green apple
• 1 orange
• 15 grams walnuts.

Redcurrants berries are members of the berries family. As you know I am focusing my diet on the G-BOMBS... - Greens, Beans, Onions, Mushrooms, Berries & Seeds/Nuts. So yea berries are full of pytochemicals, life lengthening, and brain enhancing nutrients and so are redcurrants. Redcurrants are a very good source of Potassium and Vitamin C.

Chia is great for diabetes because it slows down the absorption of sugar into your blood. It contains lots of fiber and is full of omega-3. As for daily recommended intake this one teaspoon provides 9% of required calcium, 15% of required manganese and 14% of required phosphoros. One such box contains 300 g of chia seeds and costs 55 IS (~15$).

Aviel.

My nutritarian breakfast

Hi everyone,

Just a quick shot of my extremely healthy and nutritious breakfast today...

DELICIOUS, NUTRITIOUS AND FULFILLING!!

• 2 tbsp soy or almond milk
• 1/2 cup oats (old-fashioned rolled oats)
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup frozen blueberries
• 1 chopped green apple
• 1 full tsp ground flaxseeds

Soak the oats in the water for the night together with the oats and the water.

In the morning add the blueberries, the flaxseeds and the apple.

I couldn't find fresh blueberries yet so I am using frozen yogurts. One package of 300 g costs ~30 IS (~9 $) and it can serve roughly two breakfasts. Expensive!

Aviel.

beans and sweet potatoes rolled in a Tortilla

Hi,

Beans are a very good deal for whoever wants to pursue a healthy life style. One cup of cooked beans provides 12 grams of fiber - which is half of your daily intake. Beans are low in sugar, their glycemic value is low so you don't get insolin spikes that make you hungry. You eat it and the fibers make sure you won't digest it so fast - it shall feed your blood for hours and you won't feel hungry.

Now regarding the sweet potatoes. Do you know that they are a better food source than the 'normal' potatoes? Their glycemic value is lower and they are paradise food for those that suffer from diabetes. They are a good source for potassium and potassium deficiency leads to muscles cramp, weakenss and fatique.

OK enough with lecturing - let's get to work

I prepared this sathurday a delicious and and a healthy dish containing both beans and sweet potatoes wrapped in a whole wheat tortilla - what can I say? yum, yum, delllicious.

There are two stages here:

1. Preparing the beans mash.
2. Adding the sweet potatoe and other goodies into a tortilla.

Stage 1 - 

We take 3 cups of beans and rinse, fill with water, bring to a boil and the simmer for 2 hours.

After two hours they should look like this

We then add 3 tsp salt + 2 tsp chopped garlic. We then consider whether to add a 4'th tsp of salt based on the taste.

Then we add 1/4 cup of oil and we continue simmering (don't forget to add boiled water when needed)

After 1-1.5 hours we stop when the beans start to stick together, and we make a mesh by pressing them down.

stage 2 - 

This stage is a twisted version of a recipe of Chef Nelly (the Cheff of GuteFood restaurant that I described here).

We take 3 sweet potatoes and cook them in the microwave for 10 minutes

We then mash them using a fork

And we add 

• 1 tsp coriander seeds.
• 1 tsp oregano.
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper.
• 1 chopped garlic clove.

In addition we roast one pepper  (make sure to clean the blacks... afterward!)

now all of this together with the beans should be split among 4 tortillas. Of course I bought whole wheat tortillas 

We warm each tortilla on a pan for 2 minutes and then we pour the ingredients inside. Don't forget to add some leaves. We call it here "baby leaves". 

And then roast the tortillas for 2-3 minutes - careful it could burn.

And there you go - the tortillas are ready - Bon Appetit.

This is a very yummy stuff however we need to now to sit down and calculate how much it costs... 

For the beans mash: 40 Points Plus

• 3 cups of dry beans: 24 Points Plus
• 1/4 cup of oil: 16 Points Plus

For the tortilla: 13 Points Plus

• 1/6 of the above (~1-2 full tbsp beans mash): 7 Points Plus
• 1 Tortilla: 3 Points Plus
• 3/4 sweet potato: 3 Points Plus

Now 13 Points Plus is more or less what I eat for lunch so eating one such tortilla is instead of lunch. Half of that I eat for dinner.

Mistakes:

• Beans are wonderful but when you cook anything for so long it produces something called AGE (Advanced Glycation Endproducts) and this stuff accumulates in your body and disturbs its functioning. I shall write about it in detail in future blogs.
• Adding the oil in the middle and then continuing cooking - is a wrong thing to do.
• Using a microwave to expedite (like in the case of the sweet potatoe) is a wrong thing to do from the same reason above.
• It was too salty.

Conclusions

• I don't like the fact that I had to use so much oil. It costs me 7 Points Plus per tortilla and it doesn't give me anything in return. I do need fats but I want great fats and not canola or corn oil. I prefer to get my fats from nuts, tachini, olive oil, etc.
• So next time I am going to halve the amount of oil.
• I am not going to cook the stuff for so long - instead I am going to put in water for 24-48 hours before such that I won't need that much cooking.
• And I shall add one more roasted pepper - cause 
• And I shall use less salt.

That's it for now.

Aviel.