Whole Foods 101 is scheduled for a week from Sunday at All That Matters. We run this program three times a year. It is a power packed few hours. Tracey offers a overview of the basics of a whole foods diet, walks you through the co-op so you feel comfortable purchasing new foods, answer all your questions (even the dumb ones) and serves a tasty lunch. If you are new to this way of eating it will get you started, if you simply need some inspiration it will do that as well.
Here are some ideas on what can be for dinner tonight.
Think Rueben! Smoked tofu or pan fried tempeh with some Russian dressing and sauerkraut -grilled with a touch of cheese often hits the spot!
Quesadillas take all of 5 minutes to broil on each side and the possibility for stuffing's are unlimited.
Pasta Pasta everywhere! Remember to use good quality pastas to create a hearty pasta salads- add beans, seafood, or chicken for protein, some tasty hearty greens and a simple dressing.
Pasta Primavera is a great way to clean out the fridge- start with lots of garlic and saute all your veggies throw in some fresh or whole canned tomatoes- salt -basil and maybe capers if your feeling brave-wa la!
Oriental Pasta cook up some udon or soba noodles while making a simple broth with a piece of kombu and some soy sauce or miso- throw in some cubed tofu and watercress or scallions an serve over noodles- a staple in Japan!
Burritos- you can make them and freeze them- there are the traditional ones- beans and cheese or branch out to the world of Wraps!
Wraps can handle it all- grains, beans, cooked or raw veggies -top with dressing or salsa.
Fajita Night- this is a favorite at my house- bowls of refried beans, chicken, sauteed onions, avocado , roasted veggies , salsas and cheese and warm burrito wrappers are put out for everyone to create their own.
Enjoy more whole grains! We all need to eat more whole grains- so cook a batch of brown rice, barley, millet….. on Sunday and use it over the next few days in salads, soups, burgers, wraps, you can even add a generous amount of water, reheat, blend and add raisins and walnuts for a breakfast cereal. Grain Salads can include an endless array of veggies and protein. Rice, roasted red peppers, currants, scallions, and roasted chopped almonds with a orange/olive oil dressing (add touch of chili powder!) yum. Have you made your own tabboulah? It is a middle eastern salad with bulgar, parsley, scallions, tomatoes, mint and lots of lemon- (use the finest bulgar you can find)…be brave- be creative- there is no missing with grain salads and they travel well for lunch on the go.
Grain Burgers - all you have to do is go down to Crazy Burgers in Narragansett to be inspired to create your own burger- (but I do have some of his recipes for the not so brave. A simple one I make with left over grain is to add roasted sunflower seeds, sautéed minced onion and celery ( if I am in a hurry I don’t even sauté) some soy sauce and make patties- dip them in cornmeal and pan fry. Once you cook the grain burgers you can freeze them and pop them in the toaster oven anytime.
Soup’s On! Soup is the way to go-they are power packed easily digestible. They are a great way to use grains- substitute barley or millet for pasta in any soup. Here is a quickie- put a bag of split peas, cut 2 carrots, 2 stalks of cut celery, 2 cloves of garlic, water and a piece of kombu- simmer for 35 minutes and flavor with salt or soy sauce or miso- my kids prefer this blended (an immersion blender works well).
I think the trick is to keep inspired- so read through the cookbooks and magazines- especially from other countries- they have this ‘quick and good for you’ thing down. Google new veggies recipes. Whole Foods has a great recipe app.
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