Veggie Wrap with Spicy Asian Hummus

Tired of salads and miss sandwiches? Try a wrap! It's an easy and tasty way to get your veggies in.

The combinations are virtually endless but we are finding that one ingredient makes a big difference- hummus. Lately we have been learning that hummus is a staple we need to have in the fridge at all times. It's a great way to eat raw vegetables as a dip. I can down a whole bag of baby carrots if I have hummus around. It's also a good substitute for mayo and cheese in wraps like above or pitas, bread sandwiches….  the list goes on. 

I have been making all kinds of hummus lately trying to find that favorite combo of flavors that will be the regular star of our fridge.

I have to tell you that I never really liked hummus before I tried some raw versions. And I actually hear this a lot. I also hear that people like hummus but hummus doesn't necessarily like them. I think it's the chickpeas. Some people have trouble digesting them. For me they are kind of gritty in texture and not as smooth as some others. I've been experimenting with tahini based as well as white bean hummus/dip lately. The culprit to avoid in store bought hummus and many recipes is OIL! Some can have 1/2 a cup or more!

That's pure fat and don't be fooled; it isn't a good fat either! Tahini on the other hand is just ground sesame seeds and in limited amounts is actually healthy. I've read reviews where people say this or that recipe is "so light and low fat" because it doesn't have 2 tablespoons of tahini but it has over 1/2 a cup of oil! 

That just won't fly. I try to keep my portion of seeds/ tahini to less than 1 ounce per day, which is doable with a good recipe. But I am way off track because this recipe has neither olive oil or tahini in it.

I adapted this recipe from the creative minds over at White on Rice Couple's blog. For their original recipe check here.  I've made some changes to lower the fat content but the main tasting ingredient here is the Spicy Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce. I chose the cannellini white kidney beans due to the creaminess when blended.

Spicy Asian White Bean Hummus/ Dip

Ingredients:

1 15-ounce can of white cannellini beans, drained and rinsed but save the bean water from the can.

1/4 cup of the bean water or water as needed

1-2 tablespoons Sriracha Hot Sauce, per taste

2 teaspoons Bragg's Liquid Aminos or a low salt Tamari/ Soy Sauce

1 large clove of garlic, peeled and pressed, unless using a high speed blender then just peeled

1/2 teaspoon curry powder

1 tablespoons of lime juice

Drain the beans and then rinse well, saving the bean fluid.

Blend all the ingredients starting with 2 tablespoons of the bean water. If you need to thin it to get it going add a little more until desired consistency. Blend until creamy. Hummus is one of those things that gets better with a little time so let sit in the fridge for a bit before serving, if you can wait.

Enjoy this spicy dip with anything you can think of.  Or make…

 A Veggie Wrap

This combination idea came from Dr. Esselstyn and his wife, Ann from the their best selling book, Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease.

Ingredients:

corn

tomatoes, chopped

spinach

green onions, chopped

cilantro, chopped

carrots, shredded

pea sprouts

wraps

I used a gluten free wrap by the Tortilla Factory that uses a whole grain, ivory teff (check it out here.) It was quite good but you do need to heat it a little first to make it pliable. A whole grain wrap such as the Ezekiel brand would be a good choice too if you don't have gluten sensitivities. 

Preheat oven to 450.

Spread the wrap, once pliable with the hummus. The more the better. (I was a little skimpy here.) Then pile up your veggies and roll as tightly as you can. Slice in half and then heat until crispy in the oven, about 10 minutes.

Delicious! 

But don't just take my word for it. Check out the happy face of my taste tester, Rich.

He was just reading over my shoulder as I was posting this and said those were really good! When can we make those again? I guess I know what to make for lunch tomorrow. ;-)

So, do you have a favorite hummus recipe or dip that's light on the oil and salt?

What are your favorite ways to eat hummus? or are you like I was and hummus squeamish still?

I'm telling you, step away from the store bought stuff and even the chickpeas if you don't like them and try something new. You may be surprised.

Until next time…

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Super Soup Sunday Kickoff- Marrakesh Express Red Lentil Soup

Happy Super Soup Sunday!

Around here we have begun a little habit of making a big pot of soup on Sundays that we keep both in the fridge and freezer to make for easy lunch or dinner additions for the upcoming week. It really has taken the pressure off figuring out something for meals when in a time crunch.

We have started calling it Super Soup Sundays.

Now there are some that think soup is only for the cold of winter, but just like ice cream can be enjoyed any time of year, so can soup. It's an easy way to get your veggies and fiber in (and if you make it right, lots of them) without having to chew. That's what your salads are for right? Plus who wouldn't like to know that dinner and some lunches aren't already made ahead of time ready to grab and go?

Our first Super Soup Sunday recipe is adapted from 

Dr. Caldwell B. Esselstyn Jr.'s book, 

Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease. 

This is a great book covering the 20 year study he did effectively stopping the progression of and in some cases reversing heart disease in critically ill patients with a low fat plant based vegan diet. Bill Clinton was so impressed (and in terrible shape), he adopted the lifestyle as well. 

This book also has a great collection of recipes gathered and tried by his wife and patients. This is one of those recipes.

Marrakesh Express Red Lentil Soup

This is so easy and full of healthy goodies, plus the smell is amazing!

Ingredients:

6 cups of low sodium vegetable broth or homemade

4 celery ribs, or 1 cup chopped

4 plum tomatoes, chopped

1 onion, chopped

1 cup red lentils, uncooked

1 15 ounce can of chickpeas (garbonzo beans)

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

water or broth (for stir frying the onion and celery)

1 bay leaf

1-2 tablespoons of fresh ginger, chopped

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon of turmeric

bunch of cilantro (for garnishing bowls)

First in the soup pot, stir fry the onion and celery in a little water or broth until soft.

Add the bay leaf, ginger, cinnamon, turmeric, veggie broth, tomatoes, lentils and chickpeas to the pot.

Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer covered for 45 mins.

To serve, add a slice of lemon for that flavor enhancing substitution of salt and top with chopped cilantro to taste. (Can you tell we picked up parsley by mistake?) A side salad is what we pair it with but if you are still eating bread and/or gluten, a nice crunchy loaf would go perfectly.

By now your house smells delicious too! My dog was going crazy the whole time this was cooking.

Marrakesh Express Red Lentil Soup

Let me know if you start your own Super Soup Sunday. Come back and look for a regular soup post here every Sunday.

Until then,
Enjoy!

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Breakfast of Champions and Firefighters

I have been trying to decide what recipe to be my first post of the blog and so this morning as I was preparing breakfast it became clear... 

Breakfast should be first, of course!

Engine 2 Kitchen Rescue

Recently at the suggestion of my good friend, Marjorie I was watching a film, The Forks over Knives Presents The  Engine 2 Kitchen Rescue with Rip Esselstyn. Highly recommend.

If you are not familiar with any of these names: Forks over Knives, Engine 2, Rip Esselstyn or his dad Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, II, I highly recommend googling them (or keep checking back as I will eventually be sharing more about all of these.) They all are worth learning more about but let me just start with Rip, his dad, and the Engine 2 diet.

Rip is the son of Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, II of the renown Cleveland Clinic, who did a land mark 20 year study with reversing "incurable" advanced stage heart disease in a group of patients. He did this with a strict plant based low fat diet. These patients that were given less than a year to live are still well and thriving 20 years later, (actually all but a couple that slipped back into a Standard American Diet and did indeed die of cardiac complications.)

Rip, who was raised on this diet is not only an accomplished athlete and Iron Man competitor, is now a firefighter in Austin, Texas. After learning than some of his fellow firefighters had some unhealthy cholesterol and blood pressure issues, he decided to do his own study using buddies from the station, Engine 2 along with some local citizens that were willing to take the 6 week challenge. The results were remarkable. Not only did they all lower their lipid numbers and blood pressure in a short amount of time, they lost weight and became much agile.

Rip's book, The Engine 2 Diet

Rip's Book

has become a phenomena proving that real men do indeed eat and thrive on plants and now their firehouse has a steady stream of book fans (and media) knocking on the doors looking to meet these veggie studs.

But let's get back to the film I first mentioned, shall we?

So in this documentary, Rip travels to two households wanting to make the switch to a plant based diet to give some tips on how to do it.  In one, he was working with a family with 4 kids and showed them how to replace the cupboard full of sugary cereal with a high fiber cereal they would all like. It was a hit with all the kids and parents. This looked so good, I knew we would have to try it.

So it all started with these:

Whole Grain Cereals with a variety of textures

I actually purchased all these from Trader Joe's, since we do not yet have a Whole Foods, but you can probably find similar cereals anywhere. What you are looking for is whole grain (must say "whole..." in the list of ingredients and be the first listed) also low sodium, and low fat and as little sugar as possible, better if you can find no sugar added.  And no oils. You want any sugar or oil to be one of the last ingredients if you can't find a cereal box without either.

These grains will be the little brooms that clean out your cholesterol as well as your digestive system. To be honest, I could not imagine eating any of these on their own- plain.

Whole Grain Cereal Mix

I mixed them all in a big bowl and then put it into a giant well sealed jar for storage. This should last a while.

I know what you're thinking: Yeah, okay but how's it taste? And how am I going to get my kids to eat twigs?

Just hold on... here comes the sugar.

Fruit  Cereal Toppings

This is the important part: Flavor.

Chop up an assortment of fruits (or use frozen if you have to) into bite sized pieces. You can get really creative here. The more variety the better. Think of them as fruit loops! They will taste better the more flavors in there and I promise your kids will love this.

I used, apple, blackberries, strawberries, banana, kiwi. I even used raisins and cran-raisins but make sure to look for unsweetened. We are trying to leave the processed sugar out. I also added some heart healthy walnuts. This is brimming full of antioxidants in a tasty way.

Let's talk about milk here for a second. If you do nothing else please give up the cow's milk! Please?
There is so much that is dangerous in cow's milk. I don't want to go into all the ugly things linked to milk in the presence of such pretty pictures and spoil your appetite. Later I promise! But please for your kid's sake give it up. Spare them the health complications associated with it (development of type 1 diabetes is the most shocking! and also lowfat milk implicated in prostate cancer...but I did promise.)

I prefer nut milks. Almond being my favorite. Look for unsweetened in your stores or better yet make your own. It's very easy and tasty.

So here it is! The new Breakfast of Champions and Firefighters. It will give you a great start to your day, keep you satisfied until lunch and do wonderful things to your body.

And your kids, big and small will love it! Promise!

Give it a try and then come back and tell me what you think.

Have a beautiful day!

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