Dr. McDougall's Online Discussion Board

JamieR wrote:Recipe Finds for February 23...

Recipes for Health in the New York Times had a couple of great sounding recipes this week.

Black-Eyed with Vegetables and Small Pasta
This recipe uses a lot of oil! The bulk of it is just dumped in with vegetables that are simmered...just leave it out and simmer the vegetables!

Greek Baked Beans with Honey and Dill
This recipe again, uses a lot of oil, first for sauteeing onions, and rest for "flavoring," I would guess. You could omit the "flavoring" oil completely with no ill effect and water-saute the onions...no oil at all now!

Made these two recipes and posted a blog about them. Left the oil completely out and they both tasted great!

Thanks again for the posts, I'm enjoying going through them!

I made the pasta and lentil recipe tonight for dinner. It was wonderful. Using the pressure cooker made it so easy. Highly recommended.

Hi Jamie,
I love your recipe redemptions--great catch-phrase!
Hope your hand is feeling better.
What kind of homemade salad dressing do you bottle?
I never thought of doing that. It's a great idea.

Thanks!

Kat

slimkat wrote:Hope your hand is feeling better.
What kind of homemade salad dressing do you bottle?
I never thought of doing that. It's a great idea.
Kat

Luckily, my hand only hurt for the night...I put aloe on it right away and that really seems to help.

I don't really bottle my homemade salad dressings, in the canning/preserving sense. Rather, I was sterilizing lids from re-purposed jars (old salsa jars) so that they wouldn't have any bacteria in 'em from the old stuff.

I've made two basic dressings that I got from this website, Honey Mustard Dressing II from the McDougall newsletter, and Letha's 3-2-1 Dressing. I love them both. I use pureed cannellini beans to make the dressing more creamy (I've always preferred creamy dressings to vinaigrettes). And I use a substantial amount of beans, perhaps one part pureed beans to one part dressing, and shake it really well. It makes a nice, healthy "creamy" dressing!

airfigaro wrote:Made these two recipes and posted a blog about them. Left the oil completely out and they both tasted great!

Thanks again for the posts, I'm enjoying going through them!

How fun! Thanks for checking out the thread and making the recipes! I thought they sounded good, too, without all that oil!

Recipe finds for March 17th (Happy St. Patty's Day!)...

Broccoli and Barley Soup in the Beaufort Gazette
This could be made on-plan with a few simple changes. Just water-saute the onion and garlic, swap out veggie broth for the chicken broth, and omit the salt. Sounds tasty...and a great way to get your whole grains AND cruciferous veggies!

Beans and Greens in the Palm Beach Post
Roast the tomatoes without salt, and water-saute the garlic and celery...and this is on-plan.

Vegetarian Couscous Paella in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin
Water-saute the onion and garlic, and make the couscous whole wheat...and this would be on-plan. BTW, Chinese parsley is another name for cilantro.

Lentil and Chile Soup in the Lincoln Journal-Star
I love this kind of soup...just dump everything in the pot! Just use veggie stock and omit the garnishing kefir (it's dairy).

Recipe Finds for March 28...

Carrots and Asparagus in Spicy Onion Dressing in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Just water-saute the onion, and this is on plan!

Barley, Mushroom, and Onion Soup in the Medford (OR) Mail-Tribune
Water-saute the onion and omit the garnishing Parmesan, and this recipe is on plan.

Lentil Soup in the Medford (OR) Mail-Tribune
Water-saute the onion, carrot and garlic...and leave out the optional chorizo and garnishes (oil and cheese). Sounds pretty tasty!

Quinoa with Lemon, Greens, and Spring Herbs in the Lexington (KY) Herald-Leader
Just water-saute the garlic and pepper flakes with the greens, and this is on plan

Recipe Finds for March 29, 2010...

Balsalmic Glazed Vegetables with Pasta in the Honolulu Advertiser
Water-saute instead of oil saute...and use a whole grain pasta...and this recipe is on plan.

Wild Rice Primavera at Culinary.net
This "article", provided by Uncle Ben's, has a great sounding recipe...and a good sounding idea! The Wild Rice Primavera is on plan if you use vegetable stock. The second recipe might have been great and on-plan, if they'd only put that recipe there (instead of repeating the ingredients and directions of the Primavera recipe!) I like the idea of the third recipe, using a rice dish to stuff a portobello. The recipe itself is nowhere close to on-plan. But the idea--of making a great rice dish and serving it over portobello--is great! Perhaps even the Primavera one above. Would make an elegant holiday dish, to be sure. And while this "article" is really an ad for Uncle Ben's products, there is no reason why you couldn't make the Primavera recipe with your favorite wild rice blend.

Hey, McDougallers!

I am still here, but April is a very busy month for me! My DH and I run our own business, and the month before taxes is non-stop preparation of a variety of official forms for city, county, state and federal agencies!

I haven't had much time for fun stuff, like looking for recipes.

I'm off to visit my parents out-of-state for a few weeks, for a much needed rest (and celebration of my older sister's 50th birthday!). But I'll be back posting recipe links in May some time.

Best of health to all,
JamieR

Jamie, how do you puree your cannelini beans - just dump the whole can, juice and all, in the food processor? Or do you rinse and drain, then puree?
I love this idea. Thanks for it and your help with the specifics!

Jamie,

I am always on the lookout for recipes that I can feed my family since we are a family of 4 vegans and 2 meat eaters. I only cook vegan food and try hard to make it as close to McDougall that I can (we do cheat with higher fat foods sometimes) and your right finding places to get good recipes can be hard sometimes. I'm excited to see this post here and hope to post some of the successful recipes on my blog.

Thanks and look forward to reading your new finds!

Kim

JamieR wrote:
I've made two basic dressings that I got from this website, Honey Mustard Dressing II from the McDougall newsletter, and Letha's 3-2-1 Dressing. I love them both.

the real 3-2-1 dressing is opposite from the way Letha makes it...it's 3 T balsamic, 2 T mustard and 1 T maple syrup! It's from the Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease Book from Esselstyn for the record.

vrob wrote:Jamie, how do you puree your cannelini beans - just dump the whole can, juice and all, in the food processor? Or do you rinse and drain, then puree?
I love this idea. Thanks for it and your help with the specifics!

Hi, Vicki!

I always rinse and drain any canned beans that I use; just don't like that murky liquid! (Even if the recipe uses the bean liquid, I usually substitute fresh water.)

So...for the cannellini beans that I use to thicken my dressings, I drain and rinse the beans right off. Then I dump the beans and a couple of tablespoons water into a mini food processor and whirl until smooth. The amount of water is really variable; some beans seem "thirstier" than others. I just add water and "buzz" until the consistency looks right, like a thick pancake batter.

HTH!
Jamie

Hi!

Well, taxes are done and I am back from my visit to my parents out of state.

I am writing to say that, while I am very committed to following this plan and to this thread, I am sorry to say that my posting will be spotty for the foreseeable future.

My marriage is breaking up after an affair that my husband had. At this point, I am having to sort and pack up a 17-year relationship (physically and mentally). As I transition out of my current life and into a new one, things are going to be rough. Fun stuff like recipes...seems a world away.

I hope you'll see me here and other threads, but life is very complicated at the moment.

Jamie....I feel for you. Take care and post when you can! Good luck and hugs!