Tag: plant based eating

Why Eat Apples Daily? Discover Their Surprising Benefits

by stephsimply, posted in Recipes

“A diet rich in plant protein, fiber, and nuts lowers cholesterol and improves blood pressure.”–Chiavaroli, L, Nishi, SK, Khan, TA, et al. 

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Fall FAvorite 🍎

September brings the official start to fall, and this seasonal shift means apples are coming into season. Even though apples tend to be available year-round, the advent of fall means local apples are available, and the prices of apples at supermarkets will be their best.  Therefore, it’s a great time to take advantage of apples’ versatility and nutritional benefits.

Personally, apples are one of my favorite fruits.  I embrace the many varieties of apples for their various flavor profiles and textures, although I do tend to prefer the crisp varieties. What I especially appreciate about apples is that they can be a tasty part of any meal–breakfast, lunch, dinner–or simply as a snack.   

Fall is the perfect time to visit local market, such as The Wild Ramp, to pick up deals on locally grown, fresh apples.

Researched backed foods 🥦 🍓 🫑 🥕

Over the past couple of months, I have been preparing more recipes/meals based upon the latest research found in Alzheimer’s Research and Therapy. This study demonstrated that eating a plant-based diet can prevent and/or slow the progression of dementia due to Alzheimer’s Disease. Plus, eating this way can lower cholesterol and improve blood pressure. Since apples are definitely a plant, they fit right into this way of eating.

Now, for those of you who love your meat, I am not here to preach that it shouldn’t be eaten.  Personal diet preferences are not for me to decide, but I think we can all agree that fruits and vegetables benefit our health.  Therefore, why not lean into adding more plants into meals?  It doesn’t have to be an either/or thing!

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Apple Benefits 🍏

Plus, who can argue against the humble apple? After all, there is a reason the old adage, “An apple a day keeps the doctor away,” is still around today. The Cleveland Clinic, in a post from August 2023, calls apples a “nutritional powerhouse.” The article’s author wrote that regularly consuming apples offers numerous health benefits because they are high in antioxidants–specifically quercetin–as well as fiber and water. In fact, a recent piece on Yahoo!Life stated that “Eating two apples a day may lower cholesterol.”  

Apples offer the following benefits:

  • Help meet daily fiber needs, which will stabilize blood sugar and creating a sense of fullness longer
  • Antioxidants that fight inflammation, which can lower risk for heart disease and dementia caused by Alzheimer’s
  • Help lower cholesterol and reduce blood pressure
  • Benefits the microbiome as they are full of pectin as well as both soluble and insoluble fiber
  • Promotes longevity by reducing risk for heart disease
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A-peel-ing benefits 🍏🍎

Keep in mind that the skin of the apple is the most nutritionally dense part. A 2023 article on Healthline, states that the peel is the part of the apple with the most fiber.  Additionally, an apple with its skin intact has more vitamin K, vitamin, A, vitamin C, more calcium, and potassium than a peeled apple. 

So why not eat an apple or two per day?  It’s an easy and tasty way to get more plants into your diet. With all the varieties and flavor profiles, you’re sure to find one you like!  Head to your local farmer’s market or grocery store, stock up on your favorite varieties, and take advantage of their best pricing. The versatility of apples lend it to a wide range of recipes, such as the one I am sharing with you today. Then again, there’s no shame in eating at them as they are, which is my favorite way of enjoying an apple.

From my home to yours, I wish you a healthy and happy fall season!

This recipe was inspired by the following sites: Gimme Some Oven, Cait’s Plate, and Engine 2 Cookbook. Feel free to “doctor it up,” as my Grandmother Helen used to call it by adding and/or deleting ingredients that fit your tastes preferences!

Quinoa Broccoli Apple Bowl with Sweet and Spicy Dressing

Gluten-free, dairy-free

Serves 2, but recipe can be doubled or tripled

Salad ingredients:

½ cup dry quinoa

1 cup vegetable broth

1 small head of broccoli, chopped into bite-size pieces

¼  teaspoon garlic powder

¼ teaspoon onion powder

Salt and pepper to taste

1 can (15 ounce) chickpeas, rinsed & drained

4 cups favorite salad greens, i.e. spinach, arugula, spring mix, etc

½ small red onion, chopped

1 apple, diced (favorite type)

¼ cup slivered almonds, chopped walnuts, or other favorite nut/seeds

Dressing ingredients:

½ cup unflavored, plant based milk

¼ cup Dijon mustard

¼ cup pure maple syrup

¼-½ ground red pepper (depending on level of desired heat)

⅛ teaspoon smoked paprika

⅛ teaspoon xanthan gum (a gluten-free thickener), optional

Directions:

Preheat oven 425 degrees

Coat baking dish (cookie sheet) with nonstick cooking spray or line a baking sheet with parchment paper

Clean and cut broccoli

Lightly spritz with olive oil and sprinkle seasonings (garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper)

Bake for 30+ minutes, stirring halfway through

Meanwhile, prepare quinoa according to package directions, using broth as the cooking liquid

While quinoa is cooking, prepare salad dressing by placing all ingredients in a glass jar and shaking well.  

Store dressing in refrigerator until ready to serve

To serve, divide salad greens and diced apple between 2 serving bowls

Divide and top salad with quinoa, broccoli, chickpeas, and onion

Drizzle with desired amount of dressing and top with nuts

Store unused dressing in sealed container in refrigerator for 2-3 weeks

Springtime Celebration Salad with Walnut Vinaigrette

Featured by stephsimply, posted in Recipes

Featuring asparagus, strawberries, spring mix, and spinach

“Mother Nature’s powers cannot be stuffed into a pill.”–Dr. Micheal Gregor

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pill popping 💊

My husband, John, and I can’t help but giggle every time we see commercials touting the benefits of taking a certain brand of daily vitamins.  This company claims their product provides vitamins and minerals found in fruits and vegetables that we, the lowly consumer, don’t have time to eat.  It especially targets those of us who are older, espousing that by taking these pills, as many as six per day, we will infuse our frail, feeble frames with the vigor and vitality of our former, younger self. 

While there is nothing inherently wrong with taking a multivitamin and/or other key supplements, they should never replace our need for daily consumption of fruits and vegetables.  According to multiple sources, such as,  The Better Health Channel, National Institutes of Health, and Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health, regularly consuming fruits and vegetables provides the body with important vitamins, minerals, plant chemicals, and a significant source of fiber.  Furthermore, a diet rich in fruits and vegetables have been linked to “lowered blood pressure, reduced risk of heart disease and stroke, prevention of some types of cancers, lowered risk of eye and digestive problems, and have a positive effect on blood sugar . . . .”   These are benefits that can’t be bottled into a pill.

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Planted in Health 🌱

Of course, I am preaching to the choir, my dear readers.  If you are reading this, you are keenly aware of the benefits fruits and veggies offer.  And, yet, due to clever and slick marketing tactics, Americans have been spending billions in recent years on vitamins and other supplements according to Northwestern Now and Harvard Medical School.  While there are those who do need a few key supplements due to specific health issues, such as those with Crohn’s disease, celiac disease, and ulcerative colitis to name a few, the average healthy adult can get all the vitamins and minerals they need through a well-balanced diet.  Besides, there are numerous tasty and simple ways to incorporate fruit and veggies into your diet.

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Spring produce 🥬

Spring is the perfect time to take advantage of the fruits and vegetables that come into season early, such as greens, asparagus, and strawberries.  Many of these items are often available at local produce stands and markets.  Plus, they can also be found, usually at discounted prices when in-season, at local grocery stores.  Either way, from now until early June, is the perfect time to grab up these produce deals.

Springtime celebration salad

The salad recipe I am sharing with you is one delicious way to incorporate a variety of spring vegetables and at least one fruit into your day.  It is a bright and colorful salad, bursting with complimentary flavors and textures, and it can be made as a light main dish or a bright start to a meal.  Feel free to play with this recipe by using your favorite dressing, replacing the strawberries with another fruit, changing up the greens and vegetables, or by adding in a favorite protein, bean, or even a grain, such as quinoa.

Make it ahead of time 🥗

I made this salad recipe ahead of time without the fruit and dressing, divided it among Tupperware-type bowls, placed the fruit and poured the dressing into separate, small containers to add to the salad just before eating.  This allowed grab-and-go convenience for lunch.  In the morning, I popped open my lunch bag, filled it with salad, dressing, sliced fruit, and tossed in a handful of whole grain, gluten-free crackers. As I head out the door,  I can rest assured I have packed a nutritionally balanced lunch to fill my afternoon with energy, and I won’t need to worry about spending extra money on overpriced and over-advertised pills.

Celebrate Early Spring produce 🎉

Consider adding this salad into your weekly rotation of spring meals.  Serve it as a meal or as a side.  Toss it up ahead of time if you like– simply add in the fruit and pour on the dressing just before serving.  However and whenever you decide to make it, you are sure to reap the nutritional benefits of delicious spring produce without a pill!

Springtime Celebration Salad with Walnut Vinaigrette, 

Featuring: asparagus, strawberries, spring mix, and spinach

Make 2 large meal sized salads or 4 small dinner salads.

Ingredients for dressing:

½ cup water

½ cup balsamic vinegar

¼ cup chopped walnuts

¼ cup raisins or chopped dates

1 clove garlic or 1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon dijon mustard

¼ teaspoon dried oregano (optional)

Salt and pepper to taste

Ingredients for salad:

10 asparagus spears, roughly cut

10 strawberries, sliced (can substitute chopped apple, blueberries, red grapes, or mandarin orange slices if preferred)

4 tablespoons chopped red onion

6 cups spring greens (I used 50/50 blend of spring mix and spinach)

½ cup (or more, depending on preference) shelled edamame beans, called mukimame or thawed frozen peas

½ cup shredded carrots (optional)

½ cup sliced celery (optional)

2-4 tablespoons raw sunflower seeds (or other favorite nut/seed)

½-1 cup feta or goat cheese (omit if vegan)

Directions for salad dressing:

Combine all ingredients in a high powered blender and blend approximately one minute or until smooth.

Store in a container until needed.  Will keep in the refrigerator for two or more weeks.

Directions for salad:

Set out shelled edamame (mukimame) beans or peas to thaw

Cut ends of asparagus, rinse, and then rough cut remaining. Lightly steam asparagus on a covered microwave dish, approximately 30-50 seconds.  (You want them bright green and crisp.)

Rinse and slice strawberries, set aside.

Chop red onion, set aside.

Arrange greens in a large salad bowl, adding in carrots and celery if using.

Top with asparagus, strawberries, and edamame or peas.

Sprinkle with chopped red onion, sunflower seeds (or nuts), and cheese, if using.

Drizzle with desired amount of dressing and serve.

Serve with whole grain baguette slices or whole grain crackers, if desired.

Made From Scratch Black Beans–The Magical Food

by stephsimply, posted in Recipes

“Three of the most beneficial, longevity promoting, anticancer foods are green vegetables, beans, and onions.”–Joel Fuhrman  

Let’s face it, many people, myself included, lead hectic lives. Balancing the demands of our time and energy with the desires of a little bit of comfort and/or down time, while also knowing we need to set aside time for good nutrition, can feel like an impossible task, especially when it comes to our budgets.  With the costs of food, fuel, housing, and other living expenses rising, who doesn’t want to save a little money and shave a little time whenever possible?  Saving time and money, while maintaining one’s health and sanity, can seem elusive. 

Black beans pack a cost-effective nutritional punch.

Enter the humble bag of dried beans–budget friendly, healthy, and honestly, not labor intensive! With a wide variety of beans from which to choose, dried beans are quite versatile. Even if you choose canned, beans are affordable on just about any budget and can be cooked into numerous recipes.  However, with a little bit of know-how, and especially with a pressure cooker–either electric or stove top–dried beans can be super easy to fix and much more economical than their canned counterparts.

Adding salt to the soaking water, in order to create a brine-soak, is optional. Some cooks debate whether or not you should, but most experts seem to agree that salt does allow the beans to soften even more.

“Black beans and soybeans are the cornerstones of longevity diets around the world.”–Dan Buettner

 Beans are often one of the most overlooked, and even undervalued, sources of protein.  Chock full of iron, antioxidants, fiber and other nutrients, beans are a nutritional powerhouse that can be eaten daily.  In fact, regular consumption of beans is often considered an important dietary consideration in many longevity studies, including the popular, “Blue Zones,” coined by author, Dan Buettner, in his National Geographic article, “The Secrets of a Long Life,” and expanded upon in his book, The Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer from the People Who’ve Lived the Longest.  In fact, regular consumption of beans offers multiple benefits for the body.

Beans can soak up to 24 hours. The longer the soak, the softer they cook up, and the easier they are to digest.

A diet filled with regular consumption of beans and legumes can reduce LDL cholesterol by up to 5 percent!  In particular, black beans, with a whopping 15 grams of protein and 15 grams of fiber per one cup serving, have a low glycemic effect.  Therefore, eating black beans may reduce spikes in blood sugar, which may also lead to a reduction of risk for diabetes.  Additionally, the high fiber and high protein count of all beans, but in particular black beans, also keeps you feeling satiated longer which could lead to weight loss, or at the very least, maintenance of a healthy weight without feeling deprived. Black beans are also an excellent source of folate, manganese, magnesium, thiamine, and iron.  Talk about a nutritional dynamo!

Rinse well after soaking beans for desired length.

“Beans are such a nice, neutral canvas, you can make a big basic pot of them and then play around with them differently every day.”–Crescent Dragonwagon 

Black beans are versatile too. They are wonderful with almost any rice variation.  Stuff beans in tortillas or taco shells, sprinkle them on salads, add them to soup or chili, spoon them over potatoes, chips, or even fries. Black beans can also be made into brownies or added to a pan with a touch of oil and/or broth, heated up, and mashed into refrieds. They can also be blended into fun dips, such as black bean hummus. The choices are nearly limitless, as black beans–also known as turtle beans– have a mild, almost sweet flavor that lends itself well to a variety of spices and condiments as well as other additions, such as avocado, oranges, peppers, onions, tomatoes, spinach, kale, chili powder, cumin, salsa, garlic cilantro, chiles, to name a few.

Draining the cooking broth from the beans after cooking is a personal choice. I typically save most of the cooking broth, and use a slotted spoon for serving.

Come on, don’t be afraid.  Cooking beans from scratch isn’t hard, time consuming, or expensive.  If you don’t have a pressure cooker, you can always use a crock pot or cook low and slow on a stove for several hours–freeing your time up to do other tasks while keeping your budget in check.  

Open an inexpensive bag of beans, pour ’em into a bowl, add salt and water, then let them soak for up to 24 hours while you go about your life. When you’re ready, cook them up, and let the magic begin!

I encourage you to give this recipe a try.  If I can do it, anyone can do it!  Let me know how it goes!  I’d love to hear from you!

Leftovers can be stored in the fridge or up to a week or frozen for up to 3 months!

Ninja Foodie or Instant Pot Black Beans

Presoaking (Quick or Overnight)

1 cup dried black beans

3 cups water 

1 teaspoon kosher salt or ½ teaspoon table salt

Ninja Foodie or Instant Pot Black Beans

Adjust, eliminate, or add in spices to taste preferences.

1-2 teaspoon olive oil (optional) for those who prefer a little fat added to their beans

1-2 teaspoons minced garlic

½ cup chopped onion

1 cup soaked or dried black beans

1 dried ancho pepper or ½ teaspoon ground ancho chili powder 

½ teaspoon garlic powder

½ teaspoon onion powder

½ sea salt

½ teaspoon black pepper

2 teaspoons reduced sodium taco seasoning

2 cups of water

1 cup vegetable broth

Juice of 1 fresh lime (optional) 

Directions for soaking if preferred:

If using a traditional soaking method of  8-10 hours (although beans can be soaked longer–up to 24 hours–if preferred), place beans, water, and salt in a glass bowl. 

(Feel free to cover for the sake of cleanliness.)

Allow beans to soak either overnight or during the day while away at work. 

When ready to cook, drain in a colander or mesh basket and rinse well.

If using a quick soak method, place dried beans, salt, and water into a pan.

Cover and bring to a boil over medium-heat, and allow to simmer for 5 minutes.

Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature for approximately 30 minutes.

When ready to cook, drain in a colander or mesh basket and rinse well.

OR skip all of the presoak methods and simply measure out dried black beans and rinse well before using. 

Ninja Foodie or Instant pot cooking directions:

Swirl oil in the bottom of the pot if using.

Add in minced garlic and onions.

Next add in black beans.

If using a dried ancho pepper, place it on top of beans.

Sprinkle on desired spices–either following my list of ingredients, or go rogue by adding, eliminating, or adjusting the listed spices–they’re your beans after all!

Pour on water.

Fasten the pressure cooker lid and set the nozzle to seal.

Click high pressure, and set time for cooking.

IF beans have soaked, set cooking time for 5 minutes; IF beans have NOT soaked, set cooking time for 25 minutes.

Once the cooking cycle stops, allow the recipe to sit for at least 10 minutes (Do nothing with lid or seal.)

Carefully release the pressure seal, avoiding skin contact with the steam. (Trust me, it can burn!)

Once steam has fully released, carefully remove the lid, stir, and serve.

If you prefer, drain beans; however, I find that the beans store/taste/texture remains best when stored in a bit of their own broth, but it’s really personal preference.  We simply use a slotted spoon to ladle beans.

Can be stored up to one week in the refrigerator or in the freezer for up to 6 months.

Makes approximately 3 cups of cooked beans.

Recipe can be doubled! 

Add your favorite vegetables, starch, and condiment(s) to your made-from-scratch beans, and you’ve got one healthy meal!