Cooking Through “The Prevent & Reverse Heart Disease Cookbook” – Eat Loaf

Eat Loaf from page 184

A few weeks ago, some McDougall friends and I were getting together for a pot luck. Our second one, as a matter of fact. The first time we met, we met at a local vegan Chinese restaurant, Veggie Heaven. We all had a wonderful, wonderful time. For our next meeting, we met at one friend’s home for a pot luck. For this second pot luck, another friend was hosting.  This is definitely the way to have a get together. Great company, great food that everyone could enjoy without worry, and great conversation.

I tell you this because I made this Eat Loaf for our pot luck. Unfortunately, the East Coast is not having a pleasant winter and we needed to cancel. So, while I had expected to be able to blog about their opinions about the Eat Loaf, you will again have to just trust the opinions of me and Chris.

Ok, let’s get at it.

From the picture in the cookbook, I did not have high hopes for this loaf. It was very bland looking and not very appetizing. I was really hoping that I was wrong since this recipe made 2 loaves and I really hate to waste food.

Well, lucky for us, the picture did not do this loaf justice and it was just wonderful!

I followed the recipe other than for a few notes below.

This recipe took nearly 2 hours from start to finish.  1/2 hour to prep veggies, 15-20 minutes to sauté, and 1 hour to bake.

I baked the loaves in silicone loaf pans. They cooked up beautifully and popped right out of the pans. We sliced the loaf carefully and it held together well. I was a little softer in texture than, say, a lentil loaf, but that was not an issue. We have had this a couple of times already. The frozen loaf actually sliced up a little nicer than the one right out of the oven.

We found this loaf seasoned pretty well. The recipe did not call for any salt, and I didn’t add any when I made it. We did, however, add a pinch of Pink Himalayan Salt and some fresh ground black pepper at the table. With a baked potato and some steamed broccoli, this was a perfect dinner.

Let’s call this one a winner, guys. I will definitely be making this again for a Sunday dinner or for the holidays. I look forward to our next McDougall get together so I can share this wonderful loaf with my friends.

NOTES:

• I made half this recipe in mini loaf pans and baked about 10 minutes less than the recipe called for. This was perfect for just the two of us. This is how I will make this going forward so we can eat one and freeze the rest. Don’t you just love cooking once and eating multiple times?
• This would be great made with kale instead of the spinach.
• I used shredded zucchini instead of diced since I had that in the freezer.
• I did not have no salt added beans, so I rinsed the extra well.
• For the salt free seasoning, I used Mrs. Dash Garlic and Herb.
• I added parsley since neither Chris nor I cares for cilantro.

Cooking Through “The Prevent & Reverse Heart Disease Cookbook” – Sandra’s Chili

Sandra’s Chili from page 194

Since it is around 0 degrees here in New Jersey lately, it has been perfect weather for chili. Warming, spicy, nourishing chili.

This chili is loaded to the brim with veggies and beans. Carrots, celery, bell pepper, zucchini, onions…oh my…my mouth is watering just thinking about it. And then there were three types of beans. Wowzer! You just can’t beat a chili with tons of veggies and 3 types of beans. 

I did make a few adjustments simply based on what I had on hand.

• The recipe has steps to add the various veggies. After sautéing the onions, I just dumped the rest of the veggies in.
• The recipe calls for a chopped zucchini. I had some shredded zucchini in the freezer, so that is what I used.
• The recipe calls for a can of whole tomatoes. I had crushed tomatoes, so that is what I used.
• For the diced tomatoes, I used fire roasted diced tomatoes with green chili from Muir Glenn (we love these tomatoes).
• The recipe does call for mushrooms, but since I have been diagnosed with Candida, I left them out. I bet they would be awesome in the chili, though.
• I forgot to add the balsamic vinegar at the end. Oh well….still tasted awesome. Maybe I’ll add some to the leftovers.

This was one recipe that I did not have to adjust the seasoning. It was perfect just as it was written.  The only spice I would probably add is some chipotle powder for some smokiness. That would make it perfect. Well, even more perfect.

This recipe states that it serves 8-10. We probably won’t get that many since we are not having it over rice or barley as suggested. I am guessing that we will get closer to 6 large servings.

NOTES:

• This recipe took about 1.5 hours to make start to finish. 15 minutes chopping, 10 minutes sautéing, and 1 hour simmering.
• The heat was layered…jalapeno, chili powder, and the diced tomatoes with green chili. Wow, wow, wow. Not too hot, but perfectly spicy.
• Even though I did a medium dice, the carrots were still a bit crunchy at the end of the cooking time. Which is fine by me, as I prefer them like that. I
• I used shredded zucchini.
• I used crushed tomatoes.
• I used Muir Glen fire roasted diced tomatoes with green chili.
• I would never think to add sweet potato to chili, but it just worked. The sweetness of the potato was a winner with the spices.
• I did not add salt to this recipe and didn’t miss it. It was flavorful enough on its own.
• Next time, I will add a little chipotle powder.  Gotta love that smokiness.
• This was even better the second day. It gave the flavors a chance to meld and mingle. We just kept saying “Wow! This is sooooo good!” We had it with Happy Herbivore cornbread the second time and it was a wonderful match. By the way…I never did add the balsamic to the leftovers. Oops!

Product Reviews – HIC Essentials Silicone Square Cake Pan, 9 by 9-Inch

I was lucky enough to receive silicone cooking and bakeware from Chris for Christmas. One of the items was this square cake pan.

Here are the specs according to Amazon:

• Square cake pan; 9 by 9-Inch
• Made of 100-percent pure silicone, with no fillers
• Heat resistant up to 500-degrees Fahrenheit
• High quality construction; long lasting performance; meets European and FDA standards for silicone bake ware
• Part of the Essentials line by HIC – Quality, Function and Value; portion of proceeds supports C-CAP

Since receiving this, I have made baked oatmeal and tofu frittata.

I did have to put the cake pan on a cookie sheet, but I expected that. There is no carrier or anything solid around the cake pan to keep it from collapsing, which would make it difficult to move into the oven.

I love, love, love this pan. Nonstick and sturdy. Perfect. Both dishes that I made in this cake pan released beautifully. Whatever you cook does need to cool completely prior to taking it out of the pan, but that’s no problem. Once it was out of the over for a few minutes, I transferred it to a cooling rack to cool completely. The baked oatmeal and the tofu frittata were cut first and then removed with a spatula. I don’t want to ruin this cake pan, so in the future, I will just turn the baked creation out onto a cutting board.

I used to make things like this in an 8 x 8 square baking dish, but I needed to oil the dish. No more oil! I don’t need to use it with this pan. Since it is a tiny bit larger than what I usually use, and the uncooked product was thinner, I needed to reduce my cooking time by a couple of minutes.

I look forward to using this cake pan for other delicious, vegan treats. Hmmmm? What shall I make next?