Looking to get healthier, lose weight and feel better, but you don't know where to start?
As New York Times bestselling author Kathy Freston demonstrated on Oprah this week, it need not be a daunting task! Kathy helped Oprah and 378 Harpo staffers "go vegan" for a week, and it was a success story for many at the studio. I love Kathy's approach to trying a vegan diet: She suggests leaning into trying to make positive changes. Try a Meatless Monday or commit to a couple of vegetarian/vegan meals per week, for starters.
You can start this weekend with my delicious vegan version of a Super Bowl favorite: "Meg's Best Vegan Chili." If you have diehard meat-eaters in the family, it's not a problem -- add cooked beef to their portions! I agree that leaning in is what it's all about:
Meg's Best Vegan Chili
2 cups kidney beans, soaked overnight, then drained

Optional: 1-inch piece kombu (a sea vegetable that aids in digestion of beans and adds minerals)

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1 onion, diced

1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 of 10-ounce package organic frozen corn (or fresh!)

1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon paprika

1 cup salsa

Optional: 1 cup chopped seitan (a yummy wheat-gluten product)

1 tablespoon tamari soy sauce

1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley for garnish

Put beans in a soup pot with enough fresh spring or filtered water to cover. Add kombu (no kombu, no problem!). Bring to a boil on high heat, cover, reduce heat to low and simmer for 1 hour.
After an hour, check beans for tenderness. If not, cook another 15 minutes or more as needed. If tender, add sea salt and cook for 10 more minutes.
While the beans are cooking, sauté the onion in oil in a skillet over medium-high heat until translucent. Add the corn and stir until heated. Add spices if desired and cook for 3-4 minutes while stirring.
When the beans are done, add the onion mixture to the beans, along with salsa, chopped seitan, and soy sauce. Cook 5-10 more minutes. Add parsley to garnish.
Serve warm over cornbread, polenta or brown rice with a leafy green or side of other fresh vegetables. Serves 6.
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Want an even easier chili for Super Bowl Sunday? Here's my plan B version. Like most people, I'm always looking for a plan B! On vacation this week, I cooked a packaged chili bean mix in our small efficiency kitchen. I found Lysander's Soup Mix: Bean Bag Chili at a health food store. It's SO easy because the beans - pinto, kidney and navy - (approximately 2 cups total) come in a plastic bag with a seasoning pack and directions.
For people just starting with cooking or just starting to lean in to eating healthier, it couldn't get much easier. I've found that for many people, too much thinking/figuring can lead to inaction!
Beans are usually soaked overnight, but this package gives directions that tell how you can bring them to a boil, turn off heat and then just let them sit in the hot water before cooking for an hour. The cook time is longer than what most Americans are used to, but can be easily done while you're doing other things around the house. Extra veggies can be add if desired. We added already-peeled garlic and sliced cherry tomatoes.
You could serve this with a steamed green and a super-quick whole grain. Try packaged quinoa (keen-wah), which cooks in just 15 minutes.
Do you have an easy healthy plant-based favorite? Share it here in my comments section. Would you consider leaning in to this way of eating?
I'm convinced that healthy vegan or plant-based diets need not be difficult! For a spectacular Super Bowl Super Dip, sign up for my newsletter and see my new cookbook.
Follow Meg Wolff on Twitter: www.twitter.com/MegWolff
Two meatless suppers is awesome, Freesia. Remember what Kathy Freston says, "Practice, not perfection." You are doing it!
Great to hear from you and thanks in advance for recommending my recipes! Not sure if I understood correctly, but besides kale and salads, you ONLY eat chili? :-)
(last post I make about this)
I use Olive Ouil Pam on the kale but the choice is yours.
Enjoy!
Thanks for this awesome recipe and that you took the time to write it all out. It would be a great addition to the Super Bowl Chili. Do you use the Olive Oil Pam for any specific reason?
I used the Pam cause I forgot to buy olive oil when I picked up the kale.
I plan to try it using olive oil.
I am sure a regular oven works well. I have a toaster/convection oven that I used.
If I have company and make a large batch I will use my regular oven.
There are other recipes online for these crispy kale chips. Just Goggle in the words and you will find them.
I'll be making chili tomorrow. Thanks for the recipe.
I always add a bit of turmenic to mine since I found out how good is is for us.
I add turmenic to almost everything!
I add some cooked red quinoa too.
On another olive Oil thread, someone suggested to use cocoanut oil instead ???
I think I will stick with Bertolli extra vergin olive oil ..... ;) Gypsy
I would love to try to make something like this but my husband, when it comes to kale, well I just can't think of an adjective strong enough to express how much he insists he hates it. (I have a theory that he doesn't, because he likes most other greens, but I indulge his inner 5 year old on this.)
Is there other green that this would work with successfully?
I have a few thoughts on this. One is that baby bok choy or Napa cabbage are two of the milder leafy greens he could start with.
You could try juicing the vegetables with kale as one of them.
You could try my "Kale Challenge:" http://www.huffingtonpost.com/meg-wolff/the-kale-challenge-youll-_b_701100.html
Will you husband eat beans?
4 giant handfuls of kale, torn into bite-sized pieces and tough stems removed (about 1/3 pound)
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
sea salt or kosher salt
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Place the kale leaves into a salad spinner and spin all of the water out of the kale. Dump the water and repeat one or two times more just to make sure that the kale is extra dizzy and dry. Use a towel to blot any extra water on the leaves. Place the kale on the baking sheet.
3. Drizzle olive oil over the kale leaves and use your hands to toss and coat the leaves. Bake in the oven for 12-20 minutes until leaves are crisp. Take a peek at the 12 minute mark – the timing all depends on how much olive oil you use. Just use a spatula or tongs to touch the leaves, if they are paper-thin crackly, the kale is done. If the leaves are still a bit soft, leave them in for another 2 minutes. Do not let the leaves turn brown (they’ll be burnt and bitter) Remove from oven, sprinkle with salt and serve.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/huffington-post-aol_b_819373.html
Crispy Kale Recipe
The secret to getting the kale super-crisp is to dry them in a salad spinner. If there is moisture on the leaves, the kale will steam, not crisp. Do not salt the kale until after they have come out of the oven. If you salt beforehand, the salt will just cause the kale to release moisture…thus steaming instead of crisping. I’ve also found that the convection setting on my oven works really well too – I set the convection on 325F and bake for about 10-15 minutes. I sometimes mix the salt with Cajun seasoning.
Continued below
Interesting to know it's important to use a salad spinner first so that it doesn't steam instead of crisp! Can this be done in a conventional oven? Mine is gas. Canjun spices, mmmmm!
I agree with these wise women of wellness: leaning in is the way to go... I liked how Oprah put it for those who are not ready to dive into a full time plant based diet: Be veganish! Every healthy choice you make is one that benefits your health, and our world. If its good enough for Oprah, you know its good. LOVED the show on Tuesday.. what an exciting moment for the health food movement!
I appreciate your thoughtful comment! Glad that you've tried both recipes - wow. Loved the vegan-ish idea, too.
Yes, great suggestion! Love cilantro!
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/vegetarian-chili-recipe/index.html
I have some seitan lovers in my family and others like you who would rather leave it out. No problem. Thanks for Emeril's link, I'll check it out. Chipolte would be an amazing addition as well. Thank for your comments!
In my vegetarian chili, I add white or yellow hominy in place of corn. When serving, I add avacado slices. From time-to-time, I may add Boca crumbles.
Hominy is a super easy addition and easy to have on hand. How much would you add to this? And, would you add addtional water, if so, how much?
Avocado slices added when serving sound heavenly. I'd probably omit the oil in favor of the avocado!
Boca crumbles I haven't had ... what do they consist of?
Great suggestions!
I usually add one 12oz can of hominy and there's no need to add additional water.
Here's a link to Boca crumbles: http://www.bocaburger.com/products/crumbles.aspx
They are a soy based product. Basically Boca burgers in crumble form. I'm not vegan, so I'm not sure if this product qualifies as vegan.
I love chillis and sometimes even add a grain in there for a little more texture and also to satisfy my hearty Irish appetite.
Hope all's great.
Gavan
Great to see you, too. Yes, I'm going to add the serrano chillies next time (are these the chillies you use?). And yes, a grain is a great addition. I did mention that I usually cook one separately (quinoa being the quickest). Or, recently I found this truToots Germinated Brown Rice that cooks in 25 minutes. This was a good one to add right to the pot with a little more water and it didn't take over the dish. So great to hear from you.
Forgot to ask how many chillies do you use for a 6 serving pot of chili? Do you use the spices as well?
I like cumin in my chilli which I would add as I'm sauteing the onion to maximize the flavor. You could also add a little fresh chipotle pepper in adobo sauce to add a little smokiness and an extra layer of flavor to the dish.
This should keep you busy ;-)
Cheers.
As you know I am so far behind, only last weekend I prepared Quinoa for lunch, the picture you had was so inviting, and you are right, it was great. I couldn`t find the recipe you had but the picture was good enough for me to add similar ingredients.
It sounds like you winged it and it worked just fine! Great that the photo helped. How are you?
I like to use serranos, because they skin easily after roasting, but I think any fresh chile adds a lot. "Chili powder" is basically just dried chiles and cumin, so I don't use it.
That is a perfect plant-based suggestion, the whole food! Next time, serranos it is!
I don't watch the super bowl but am doing Meg's Vegan Chili for Mystery Group Monday night sans seitan which I still can't manage. And then I'll do your pan cornbread without the vanilla and syrup. This is a perfect combo for these cold winter nights though our sunny days are gorgeous.
Hope your team wins Meg.
Wow, 40 years is great and 20 years plant-based! I really love the idea of "leaning in."
Your Mystery Group Monday sounds like fun.
The Mystery Group does love food!
Just keep at it, even small changes make a difference. Kathy Freston talks about "leaning in" in her new book "The Veganist: Lose Weight, Get Healthy and Change The World."
Yes, and it's so loaded with minerals. Why not, huh?