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

5 Min Bowl of Anti-Inflammation

It's faster than fast food and will make a nutritional superhero out of you!

Think of this as the new fast food.  If you're like me, when you get hungry you want to eat and don't really want to spend time thinking about what and how.  What if you could make something in less than the time it takes to tie your shoelaces and it gave your body superhero power? Its not very far-fetched.  

Read The Nutritional Low Down below for all the ways this Fast Lunch will give you a superhero edge!

 

Ingredients:

The amounts of each of these ingredients are up to you.  Its all good for you, so use as much as your hungry for.  Its a foolproof recipe after all, so there are no rules!

*If you're questioning the use of canned beans, fear not! Canned beans are a nutritious way to provide cheap and fast beans. If you buy organic and BPA-free cans, which are becoming more prevalent, then you're fine.  

What about rinsing the beans? You actually don't need to. The liquid contains so many good for you minerals, you don't even need to drain and rinse it.  

Beans cause you digestive issues like flatulence? Not to worry. Canned beans make it easier for you to digest.  So no more flatulence and no more sitting around waiting for the beans to cook!

• Organic and BPA-free can* of lentils
• Organic spinach
• Optional: Any desired herbs 
• Organic flax seed oil 
• Himalayan salt 

Method:

1. Open a can of Bpa-free organic lentils (i know, very challenging) and put desired amount in a bowl.
2. Water sauté organic spinach or leave them raw and washed, then add to lentils. If you're feeling spunky you can add garlic or whatever herbs you have on hand. 
3. Since your lentils are cold, you can add flax seed oil.  Flax seed oil will get denatured if exposed to any sort of heat or light. Which makes it great for this recipe as your lentils are cold. 
4. OPTIONAL: You can lightly heat your lentils with your spinach, it will still only take you 5 minutes, but then skip the flax seed oil.  Try olive oil instead or no oil at all. 
5. Top with a bit of himalayan salt. 
6. CHOW DOWN

---

The Nutritional Low Down

Lentils are a nutritional beast of a legume. Lentils come stocked with loads of fiber and protein for a very low amount of calories. 

The soluble fiber in lentils helps to keep you regular, detoxifies your body, lowers cholesterol, reduces the risk of heart disease, stabilizes blood sugar, and can keep you lean! 

Spinach is a leader in the leafy green category.  It's of the most nutrient-dense foods you can eat.  Meaning per bite of spinach you're getting more nutrients than almost any other food on the planet!

Spinach has phytonutrients and antioxidants that provide anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer benefits. Check this out: These spinach extracts have been shown to slow down cell division in human stomach cancer cells (gastric adenocarcinomas), and in studies on laboratory animals, to reduce skin cancers (skin papillomas). A study on adult women living in New England in the late 1980s also showed intake of spinach to be inversely related to incidence of breast cancer.

Lentils & Spinach are a great plant based source of iron and folate.  Of the many things that your body needs iron for, did you know that iron deficiency could be what's causing your dark under eye circles?  Iron deficiency also causes a lack of energy.  So eat up!

Flaxseed oil is an amazing source of Omega-3 fatty acid which your body is in dire need of.  Omega-3 goes into your body and helps repair inflammation.  This anti-inflammatory property helps prevent chronic diseases like heart disease and arthritis. 

Flaxseed oil also has a 4:1 ratio of Omega 3 to Omega 6 fatty acids.  Your body needs to be consuming more Omega 3 than Omega 6 for a good balance. The typical American diet tends to contain 14 to 25 times more omega-6 fatty acids than omega-3 fatty acids. Many researchers believe this is a significant factor in the rising rate of inflammatory disorders in the United States.

Additionally, Flaxseed oil helps prevents depression and supports good brain health. Who here doesn't want to be happier and smarter?

xx, 

Your Resident Beetmaker, Shaina Simhaee

Pinto Bean Crackers

This is so simple and so filling, it'd be crazy not to make it. 

Ingredients

• 1 can pinto beans
• 2 tablespoons marinara sauce
• Two tablespoons of seeds of any kind - I used 1 Tbl pumpkin and 1Tbl chia
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 2 Tablespoons chopped onion

Method

1. Blend
2. Use a spoon to place on parchment paper. Spread it out so its thin. 
3. Bake at 400 degrees until crispy for about 40 minutes. (Every oven is different so take a peek after 30 minutes. You'll want it to be crispy, but not burn)

The Low Down

Although it has the consistency of a cracker, it has the satisfying effect of pinto beans.  Full of fiber, protein, and vitamins and minerals.  This low-glycemic "cracker" will sustain your energy and leave you full for hours! 

These are super great topped with White Bean Balsamic Hummus and work great as appetizers for a dinner party, a mid-day snack, or part of a wholesome meal. 

White Bean Balsamic Hummus

Here's a fun twist on a yummy dip.  Throw these ingredients in the blender and bam!

Ingredients

• One can of organic white beans 
• Two tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• One clove of garlic
• Juice of one lemon
• Three Tablespoons hemp seeds
• Three Tablespoons Poppy seeds
• Two Tablespoons tomato salsa
• Salt to taste

Method

1. Open can. Throw entire contents with the liquid into blender. 
2. Throw all other ingredients into blender or food processor. 
3. Blend. 
4. Eat. 

The Low Down

This nutritional beast of a hummus contains zero added oil.

By using hemp seeds in the mix, you'll get really good for you Omega 3s plus added protein. 

While most recipes ask you to drain and rinse the beans, you don't need to for this recipe, saving you an extra minute or two. The reason being, beans are so nutritious, that even the liquid from inside the can contains really good for you minerals. Since you are using a BPA-free can of organic beans, it'll all good. So keep the liquid and ditch the oil!