Golden Beet and Chickpea with Greens (No Added Fat)

I am excited about our next So Many Cooks in the Kitchen program, this one on Heart Healthy Dishes. I wasn't sure what I'd make as whole food plant-based eating is in general very heart healthy, but I decided to feature beets. I experimented today and love what I came up with. Here is what I did.

Ingredients

• Chickpeas
• EITHER 1 cup dry chickpeas, soaked overnight then drained
• OR 3 cups cooked chickpeas, such as approximately two 14 1/2 ounce cans of prepared chickpeas
• 2 medium beets, washed, peeled, and cut into 1/2" cubes
• 4-5 large kale or chard greens OR all leaves from a bunch of beets, rinsed, stems removed, and roughly hand chopped into small fistfuls of perhaps 4" square
• 2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped/minced into pieces smaller than 1/4"
• Just enough water to cover chickpeas (if starting with dry chickpeas)
• 1 14 1/2 ounce can of diced tomatoes (alternately, use 2 medium tomatoes diced to less than 1/2" cubes)
• 1/2 cup onion cut into 1/2" cubes
• 1/2 t lemon pepper
• 1t dried oregano (I use ground mixed dried herbs)
• 1/2 t turmeric
• 1/4 t salt
• 1T lemon or lime juice

Process

1. If using dry chickpeas, put chickpeas and just enough water to cover them in the Instant Pot pressure cooker
2. Put beets, garlic, greens, and diced tomato into pressure cooker and cooked for 10m
3. After the cooking is done, wait a few minutes and gently released pressure
4. If using precooked/canned chickpeas, mix them in
5. Mix in the onion, spices, and lemon juice

Serve with rice or other grain and a salad.

 

Results

My family enjoyed the meal, as did our neighbors for whom I dropped off some of the main course. I was originally going to go with a white bean but decided to use chickpea - and am glad that I did, as the flavors worked very well together. I wasn't originally going to include diced tomatoes, but they too worked out well for a touch of a contrasting flavor.

Ideas for the future

Beet greens (like I described several times in March 2007) are even more nutrient dense than the roots and I had wanted to integrate them but the beets that I had found were roots only. I'd love to make this dish with beet greens.

Chili with Leftover Beans, Seitan, Vegetables, and Roasted Red Bell Pepper (No Added Fat)

I had a fun demonstration (check it out on Facebook or Twitter, or outside of social media) of the PCRM 21-Day Kickstart day 2 menu of 10-Minute Mixed Vegetable Stir-Fry and Ambrosia. After that I wanted to quickly put dinner together and made a simple chili. I had baked beans and other beans as leftovers; I reheated them and cooked with them some seitan crumbles, celery, corn kernels, and roasted bell pepper pieces. It was good with some hot sauce!

Below are some pictures from the demonstration, including a shot that my wife took of me. I love cooking PCRM recipes - they're always healthy, easy, and so tasty!

New Year's Day Black-Eyed Peas with Steamed Collards, PCRM Mixed Vegetable Stir-Fry (No Added Fat)

It's traditional on New Year's Day to make a simple dish with black-eyed peas and collard greens, and I did just that. I soaked black-eyed peas overnight then pressure cooked, mixed with garam masala, turmeric, and a pinch of salt - in my Instant Pot, it was just a 5-minute cook time!

PCRM has an excellent 21-Day Kickstart program to help people try with support twenty-one days of whole food plant-based eating - and it's free, available on the web or as an app for a smart phone. Fellow Food for Life instructor Lisa Karlan has put together a daily #LunchBreakLive January 1-21 to have a different person demonstrate that day's kickstart dishes on the Jane Unchained show, and tomorrow I'm going to be demonstrating a stir-fry and ambrosia salad so experimented with the recipes today; the stir-fry was part of our dinner and the ambrosia was our dessert.

I think that tomorrow's show will be streamed on facebook, YouTube, and twitter. It's a good way to start the new year; next week is our So Many Cooks in the Kitchen soups/stews show and the following weekend the Kids in the Kitchen interview Genesis Butler. Happy New Year!