Cardio Curry - 2 Ways

Cardio Curry Patty 

Whether you enjoy it in a patty or as a warm bowl, this dish is divine either way! Every bite is savory, tangy, with a hint of sweet.  The hubs said it was his favorite thing I've ever made and he requests it almost every other day!  This is excellent news for me me because it takes all of seven minutes to prepare.  

The patties are super easy to make.  But let's say you're running low on time.  You have someone coming over to eat and you've only got 10 minutes to have hot food on the table.  Rather than bake these in a patty, there's a second version (detailed below) to cook them stove top.  Its not a patty, but it takes less than 1/2 the time and its equally as delicious.   Lately, that's my preferred method.  But I'll leave the cooking method up to you!

Cardio Curry Patties

 The Low Down:

This dish gets its name from the cooking of cauliflower.  Studies indicate that cooked cauliflower acts to bind bile in your body.  Binding bile is a great way to lower cholesterol.  In fact, pharmaceutical drugs like Questran, Prevalite, Colestid, and Welchol are medications that bind bile together for the purpose of lowering LDL cholesterol.  They are called bile acid sequestrants.  

The way it works: When the bile is bound by consuming cooked cauliflower or one of the above pharmaceutical drug, it then gets excreted by the body.  The liver in turn, takes cholesterol from the blood and uses it to produce the bile it just lost. Therefore, reducing blood cholesterol levels. Pretty cool, huh?  

This is not to say that if you have high cholesterol cooked cauliflower alone or a bile acid sequestrant drug alone will do the trick.  But if you ask me, cauliflower is a pretty easy, tasty, and side-effect free way to start.  These 2 Cardio Curry dishes contain cooked cauliflower.  So take 10 minutes and eat your self healthy.

Cholesterol Lowering Curry Patties

 Ingredients

• 2 cans chickpeas (organic, bpa-free can --always).  Reserve liquid from one of the cans. 
• half bag of frozen cauliflower 
• 3 tablespoons curry powder (or more if you like it spicy)
• salt to taste
• 2 tsp acv
• 1/3 cup chopped parsley or basil 
• 1 or 2 handfuls of currants

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. 
2. In a food processor or blender, blend everything but the greens and the currants. The consistency is up to you.  Some like it chunky and some prefer it smooth.  

3. Mix in the chopped parsley or basil and the currants. Taste and adjust batter to your liking. 

   (FastTip: Depending on your blender or food processor you can pulse the greens into the batter, rather than chopping the greens by hand. Just be sure that they don't completely puree).
4. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking sheet and a light layer coconut oil. 
5. With two tablespoons form patties on the baking sheet. 
6. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for roughly 20 minutes.  When your toothpick comes out clean it's ready. 

This is great served with more avocado or cashew cream.  Enjoy it with a knife and fork or inside a sandwich. WARNING: These patties don't have the usual fillers in veggie burgers like starch or egg to hold them together.  So while they are delicious, they are also super delicate. Handle with care.  

The Even Faster Method

Follow steps 2-3 above. 

4. Heat a saute pan to medium heat and add a tablespoon of coconut oil.  Add the prepared batter from step 3 to the sauce pan and stir for about 5 minutes or until the batter is fully cooked. 

5.  This is great wrapped inside a collard green leaf, whole wheat tortilla, on your favorite slice of bread or as is in a bowl with a dollop of avocado. 

Enjoy!

xx, SS

Zero Effort Italian: Eggplant & Mushrooms

I came home in complete starvation mode the other day.  You know the feeling when you're so hungry you can't even bare the wait time at a restaurant? This was me.

I was looking for a comforting Italian dish.  But unlike most Italian dishes, I wanted it to be healthy, low calorie, and yet also satisfying and filling. Kind of an impossible dish, but I like impossible.  Of course, for it to be FastBeets Approved it would also have to be super simple and fast.  So enter this dish: My Zero Effort Italian. 

What I love about this dish is that I use zero oil in cooking the eggplant.  The eggplant cooks softly in the tomato sauce. We only add the oil after it's cooked.  By doing it this way you won't damage the fragile Omega 6 in the olive oil.  

FastTip: if serving cold, feel free to swap the olive oil for flax seed oil. You'll get a good serving of healthy, Omega3!

Its so simple and easy and literally takes no effort.  Because when you're in starvation mode, every second counts. 

Ingredients:

• One Italian Eggplant, cut into pieces
• Mushrooms of choice, washed and chopped (or ripped up with fingers)
• One (organic, bpa-free) can of tomato sauce
• Organic garlic granules (can sub garlic powder)
• Organic dried basil
• Organic dried oregano
• Himalayan Salt
• Good quality Olive oil
• Bean pasta of choice (I used Tolerant brand)
• 1/2 cup of filtered water
• (Optional - Nutritional yeast)

Method:

1. In a small pot, boil your pasta.  The amount is entirely up to you.  Make   as much as you're hungry for.  The less you use the faster it boils.  Cook for as long as directed for the specific pasta you're using.  

2. While the pasta is boiling, cut the eggplant and the mushrooms into pieces. 

FastTip: I find that ripping the mushrooms with my hands is a great deal faster than using a knife and making exact cuts, but that's just me! You do you. 

3. In a large pan, heat the tomato sauce on medium high heat.  When the veggies are chopped thrown them into the pan and add in the garlic, oregano, and basil.  I tend to go very heavy handed with the garlic. Feel free to use as much as you'd like. You really can't use too much or too little seasonings. 

“Save your leftovers: This tastes even better the day after on top of toast. ”

4. Add the 1/2 cup of filtered water to the pan and let cook until the veggies are tender and fully cooked.  Should take 10 minutes.  

5. Remove from heat, mix with pasta and top with olive oil and himalayan salt. If using nutritional yeast, feel free to sprinkle some on top. 

Best Ever Detox Soup

Actual Labor Time: 5 Minutes
Heat Time: 10 minutes

This quick, easy soup, is the perfect detox.  It's chock full of cilantro, which happens to be the world's Best Natural Detoxifier.  Cilantro is a known anti-microbial, lowers blood sugar, and lowers bad cholesterol (LDL) levels.  

Cilantro is also a potent anti-bacterial.  Did you know it can actually kill salmonella (according to the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry)? So it's pretty powerful stuff. 

When you're looking to detox, cilantro is your numero uno BFF.  It is a powerful natural cleansing agent thats got properties for effectively clearing toxic metals out of your body.  Ya see, the properties in cilantro go up to the toxic metals and literally remove them from the tissues in your body they like to hide in.  How cool is that?  

Mercury is probably the most problematic of all the toxic metals, so if you've had your fair share of spicy tuna rolls this spring, grab your blender and make this detox soup.  

Literally, it takes five minutes and its so hassle free, you can make this in the tiniest of kitchens.  So ready, set, blend, detox!

xx, SS

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup cilantro
• 4 zuchinni
• 4 cloves of garlic or 4 teaspoons chopped garlic
• 1 yellow pepper
• 1 yellow onion
• 2 cups water or plant milk
• Himalayan salt or sea salt to taste
• Pepper of choice to taste
• Toppings: Sesame seeds. 

Method

Put all ingredients into a high speed blender.  (Depending on strength of blender you may need to blend a few ingredients at a time.)  Blend until you reach a desired smooth consistency.  Place contents of blender into a bot on your stove and heat until warm. Garnish with sesame seeds. 

Mighty Mexican Beans

 Time: 10 minutes                

Who's excited about Cinco de Mayo? It probably one of my all time favorite holidays.  Like Taco Tuesday, but on steroids.  What's not to love when you've got margaritas, sombreros, piñatas, and guacamole?  

When done right, Mexican food can be one of the most #FASTBEETSAPPROVED meals around. 

Whether you're going all out like I will or you just want a Mexican dish that is EASY, TASTY, & SUPER HEALTHY, make these Mighty Mexican Beans. 

I made this dish for friends last week and have since got a few phone calls asking for the recipe.  I'm laying it all out on here for you and your Cinco do Mayo festivities or just your next Tuesday night... 

If Mexican independence isn't your thing, just know that the United Nations made beans (pulses) the food of the year.  So drop your quinoa spoon and dig in. The fiber in beans supports your good gut bacteria, it's a great source of plant based protein, and has a plethora of antioxidants. Kinda like your own personal fountain of youth. 

Pair it with guac, sauteed peppers and lettuce leaf for an awesome wrap. Enjoy it with the rest of your taco festivities, or just eat it as is.  Its really that good. 

FAST TIPS: 

Since the beans are canned it takes literally no time to put this dish together.  When buying canned beans, always purchase ORGANIC & BPA-FREE, and make sure your beans have no additives in them.  You can find varieties that are just beans and maybe sea salt.  Stay away from the variety with any kind of added fat or oils.  You wont need that. 

Ingredients:

• 1 can of Organic and BPA-free can of refried black beans
• 1 can of Organic and BPA-free can of refried pinto beans
• 1 can of Organic and BPA-free can of pinto beans (do not drain)
• 1 onion
• 1 can of tomato paste
• 2 tablespoons of coconut oil
• 2 teaspoon of turmeric
• 3 teaspoons of cumin powder
• 3 teaspoons of paprika
• 3 teaspoons chopped garlic
• (optional) 1-2 teaspoons (or to taste) of chipotle chile powder 
• 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar
• 1 cup of filtered water
• Himalayan salt to taste

Method:

1. Add oil to a medium hot pot. 
2. Add all seasoning to the oil. 
3. Add onions to pot and saute until soft but not cooked all the way through. (FastTip: You retain more vitamins when the onions are not completely sautéed and will retain some crunch.)
4.  All the rest of the ingredients to the pot and still until it reaches desired consistency. Add more water or seasoning if it needs it. 
5. Eat!

Thanks for making this! I would love it see how it turns out. Snap a pic and tag me on Instagram @fastbeets so I can see your #fastbeetsapproved healthy creation! Any questions on it? Message me on Snapchat.  

Xx, SS