Crazy Sexy Diet

It's time to embark on my newest food adventure-- I'm starting Kris Karr's "Crazy Sexy Diet" 21 day cleanse.

Crazy Sexy Diet by Kris Karr

I'm taking the weekend to prepare (i.e. grocery shop and get rid of yucky foods) and then start on Monday! For some reason I have always had this weird superstition about starting new things on Mondays. I think my grandpa (my Zeidi) always used to say it was bad luck to start something new on a Monday, that you had bad luck and wouldn't succeed. But I like to think of this "new" food adventure as more of a natural progression from my current diet. And it's really more of a lifestyle change than what you traditionally think of as a "diet."

But I digress. When I first became vegetarian, I went all out with Alicia Silverstone's Kind Diet--I went completely vegan. Crazy Sexy Diet ("CSD" for short) is pretty similar. The main components of both diets are cutting out all animal products, including dairy, and cutting out processed foods like white bread and sugar.

The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone

The Kind Diet was really what inspired me to become vegan. I always loved animals and felt some sadness about eating them, but I never really made the connection. Alicia not only provided a million reasons to go vegetarian/vegan--my love for animals, living greener/more environmentally friendly, and health--she also provided some really great recipes to jump start my new vegan life. She is also very aware that different people have different lifestyles, and take things at different paces... for this reason, her book has 3 stages called flirting, vegan, and superhero, to get you to the ultimate healthy vegan diet over time. When I told my family about my new eating habits, my parents were especially skeptical that I could get all the proper vitamins and protein, but I knew that with a good balanced diet of plant-based foods, I would be just fine. 

I stayed vegan for about 6 months, until I studied abroad in France. Well, it wasn't so easy there. The overabundance of delicious cheese made it super hard to stay dairy-free! I occasionally also ate fish, which is extremely healthy but still against my vegan principles. But my daily routine definitely included stopping by the local wine and cheese shops. Nom nom nom. Once I returned to the U.S. and my awesome local co-op, I returned to a strict vegetarian diet but just couldn't say no to cheese. I still stayed away from milk, ice cream, and eggs, but cheese became a regular part of my diet. Pretty soon I started incorporating lowfat Greek yogurt, organic free-range eggs, and lowfat cottage cheese. I have been trying to eat these in moderation for the past year or so. I don't eat much in terms of bad carbs, but I definitely fall prey to pasta cravings once in a while. However, once I started reading about the CSD, I started to think about all the reasons I cut out dairy in the first place. So, I've decided to get back on the vegan train, but this time also cutting out gluten!!!

Today I talked to my parents and told them I'm going back to vegan, plus going gluten-free too. My mom said "well what does that leave to eat??" But honestly, I don't think I'm going to have much trouble with it. I've already been trying to make the move to rice or quinoa pasta and I eat tons of healthy veggies and beans. So, with a few tweaks and daily reminders that I'm doing this for ME, I know I can do it! 

Ancient Harvest Quinoa Pasta "Veggie Curls"... this stuff is the best!

I would say that my health is pretty good, besides some abnormal cells on my cervix that I had removed in the fall, which totally freaked me out. My mom made me start taking vitamins, including lots of D and E. I think that helps, but I also think a super-healthy diet can't hurt. My health may be OK, but why not be the absolute healthiest I can possibly be? Kris Karr has been living healthy after being diagnosed with cancer, thanks to this diet. I know that this diet can also be preventative, which is why I'm all for it. I'm going to try to convince Cole to jump on this health craze with me, too. 

So there you go. I'm ready for some awesome smoothies, salads, and soups. Bring on the healthiness!!! 

Leek Potato Soup

INGREDIENTS

1 lb leeks (about 4-5 medium), cleaned and thinly sliced

3 tablespoons butter

Salt

Pepper

14 ounces (approx. 3 small Yukon gold) potatoes, peeled and diced

1 quart vegetable stock

1 cup milk (you can also use heavy cream, but lowfat milk is MUCH healthier!)

1 cup buttermilk-- you can make your own by adding 1 tablespoon lemon juice to 1 cup milk and letting it sit for a few minutes until it curdles

Sliced chives, for topping 

DIRECTIONS
In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the leeks and a pinch of salt and sweat for 5 minutes. Decrease the heat to medium-low and cook until the leeks are tender, about 25 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

Add the potatoes and vegetable broth, increase the heat to medium-high, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer until the potatoes are soft, approximately 30-45 minutes. 

Turn off the heat and puree the mixture with an immersion blender until smooth. Stir in the milk, buttermilk, and more salt and pepper. Taste and adjust seasoning. Sprinkle with chives and serve. 

You can also chill and serve this soup cold!

Seitan Parmesan

I didn't have time to make my own seitan, so I bought the WestSoy brand. It comes in cubes, so its not exactly like traditional chicken Parmesan, but still tastes great!

This recipe makes 2-4 servings (4 lunch or 2 dinner-sized portions)

INGREDIENTS
1 box WestSoy brand seitan
Canola oil
1/4 cup flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Parmesan cheese
1/2 lb pasta (I used spinach pasta for extra nutrients)
Olive oil
1 yellow onion, finely chopped
1/4 cup sliced mushrooms
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cans petite diced tomatoes
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1/2 lb linguine (we used spinach linguine for extra vitamins and nutrients)

DIRECTIONS
Heat oven to 450.

For the seitan: 
In a small bowl, mix flour, salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning. In another small bowl, beat an egg. Dip seitan in the egg, then the flour.
In a pan, heat a thin layer of canola oil. Once the oil is hot, carefully place the seitan pieces in the pan. Fry on each side until golden brown.
Line a plate with paper towels; place the cooked seitan on the paper towels to drain excess oil.
Line a small baking dish with the seitan, cover with half the sauce (recipe below) and top with mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses. Bake in the oven at 450 until cheese is bubbly, about 10-15 minutes.

Dipping seitan in the egg and flour

Frying in the oil

Draining excess oil

Seitan baked with sauce and cheese

For the sauce: 
While the seitan bakes, in another pan, heat olive oil on medium-high heat. Cook onions and garlic until soft. Add mushrooms, salt and pepper to taste.
Once the mushrooms are soft, add the 2 cans of diced tomatoes (at this stage, you could also throw in a little wine). Stir in the tomato paste. Allow the mixture to simmer on medium heat for about 10 minutes.

Cooking onions, garlic, salt and pepper

Finished sauce

While the sauce simmers, cook pasta according to directions.

To plate, start with pasta, spoon sauce, and top with the seitan. Add a little extra grated Parmesan if desired.

Delish!

Pesto Macaroni Bake

This is a great spin on the traditional baked ziti. We used macaroni pasta, but you could substitute any small pasta shape like ziti or rotini.

INGREDIENTS
1 lb whole-wheat macaroni
Olive oil
1/2 yellow onion, finely chopped
1/2 red pepper, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/4 cup pesto
1 can diced tomatoes
2 1/2 cups (1 package) shredded mozzarella or Italian blend cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Boil water and cook pasta according to instructions.

While the pasta is cooking, heat olive oil in a pan. Add chopped onion, pepper and garlic. Cook until the onions are translucent.

Drain the pasta. Add pesto, onion mixture, and diced tomatoes. Add 1/2 of the shredded cheese. Pour the pasta into a 9x13 dish and top with the rest of the cheese.

Cover with aluminum foil an bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 5 minutes.

Macaroni pasta with pesto and veggies

Pasta with cheese mixed in

We broke our 9x13 dish, so we used 2 smaller dishes. 

Avocado, tomato and feta salad

This salad is delicious. Tangy from the feta and balsamic, but also creamy from the avocados. You could even make this as a salsa, but I like to eat it by itself.


INGREDIENTS
1/2 medium hass avocado, cut into small cubes
2 roma tomatoes, diced
2 tablespoons finely diced red onion
1 oz cubed feta cheese, or crumbles
Balsamic vinegar
Olive oil
Salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS
Combine avocado, tomatoes, onion, and feta. Drizzle balsamic vinegar and olive oil, about 1 tsp each (or more if desired). Mix together, salt and pepper to taste.

Delicious snack. 

BTW this salad has about 300 calories and its very filling!

Baking frenzy

I had to make some baked goods for school (for a journal recruitment event) so I opted to try out a new recipe from my Martha Stewart cupcake book!

First of all, Cole got me a new KitchenAid stand mixer. Best boyfriend ever!

Showing off my brand new mixer

Naturally, I couldn't wait to use it. So, I whipped up some mini raspberry cheesecakes and some vanilla cupcakes too. I love mixing both graham crackers and vanilla wafers for cheesecake-- the crust is delicious. 

MINI RASPBERRY CHEESECAKES (adapted from Martha Stewart)

3/4 cups finely ground graham crackers

3/4 cups finely ground vanilla wafers

3 tablespoons melted butter

1 1/2 cups plus 5 tablespoons sugar

1 container (6 oz) fresh raspberries

2 lbs cream cheese (4 8 oz containers)

1 tsp vanilla extract

Pinch of salt

4 large eggs

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees and line muffins tins with paper liners. 

2. Stir together ground graham crackers, vanilla wafers, butter and 3 tablespoons sugar. Press 1 tablespoon crust mixture into the bottom of each cup. Bake until set, about 5 minutes. 

3. Process raspberries in a food processor until smooth. Pass puree through a fine sieve or strainer into a small bowl. Press with a small spatula to remove as much liquid as possible. Throw away the seeds. Whisk 2 tablespoons sugar into the raspberry liquid. 

4. With an electric mixer, beat cream cheese until fluffy on medium-high speed. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. On low speed, add 1 1/2 cups sugar, vanilla and salt. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing until combined after each. 

5. Spoon 3 tablespoons filling over crust in each cup. Drip 1/2 teaspoon raspberry puree in a few dots over each. Swirl using a toothpick or fork, being careful not to break the crust. 

6. Place each tin in a roasting pan. Pour hot water half way up the sides of the cups. Be careful not to spill water into the cheesecakes!

7. Bake for 22 minutes. CAREFULLY remove the the cheesecakes from the roasting pan. Put them back in the oven and bake for another 5 minutes. 

8. Allow the cheesecakes to cool completely. Refrigerate in muffin tins at least 4 hours. 

Yummy!

And pretty too 

(OK, probably not as pretty as Martha's)

As for the vanilla cupcakes, I cheated and used a mix. I was way more excited about the decorations.

Blue, green, and pink icing plus sprinkles!

Decorated cupcakes

Spaghetti with veggie marinara

This is my veggie version of spaghetti with meat sauce. The mushrooms take the place of meat. I also add a little goat cheese, which makes it extra creamy and tangy.

INGREDIENTS
Olive oil
1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 box mushrooms, chopped (I used sliced portabellas)
2 cans diced tomatoes
1/4 cup wine (any kind... whatever you are drinking!)
1 tsp Italian seasoning
Salt and pepper
2 oz goat cheese
1/2 lb spaghettti
Parmesan cheese (optional)

DIRECTIONS
Heat oil in a large skillet on medium heat. Add onion, shallot, and garlic. Cook until onions are translucent.
Add mushrooms and cook until soft.
In another large pot, boil water and cook spaghetti as directed.
Add diced tomatoes (including liquid) and wine to the onion mixture. Reduce on medium heat for 5-10 minutes, until most of the wine cooks off.
Add Italian seasoning, salt and pepper to taste.
Add goat cheese and stir until completely combined.
Drain pasta and add a drizzle of olive oil to prevent it from sticking.
Combine sauce and pasta and toss.
Plate spaghetti and top with grated Parmesan cheese.

Luckily, I happened to have a shallot lying around!

Cooked onions, shallots, and garlic

Pasta cooking

Cooking the mushrooms in the onion mixture

Added the goat cheese

Stirring in the goat cheese

Completely mixed-- the sauce is done!

Adding the sauce to the drained pasta

Mixing the pasta and sauce

Sprinkled with a little Parmesan of course!

And a glass of Coppola Chardonay :)

I made this tonight for a lovely Saturday night at home, with some wine and a movie. It was the perfect meal! Of course, you could add a little less garlic for a date night!

Stuffed tomatoes

I adapted this recipe from Alton Brown on the Food Network. One of my favorites! You can make it using any kind of cheese, even vegan cheese if you'd like!


STUFFED TOMATOES (makes 6 servings)


INGREDIENTS
6 medium sized tomatoes
2 cups mushrooms, chopped (about 1 box-- I use portabellas)
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
1 shallot, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 cup marsala wine (any kind of wine works)
1/2 cup canned diced tomatoes (about 1/2 can)
1/2 cup breadcrumbs (any kind, italian or panko both work)
Olive oil
4 oz goat cheese, room temperature
Handful chopped parsley


DIRECTIONS
1. Prepare the tomatoes: cut a hole in the top, scoop out the center, sprinkle some salt in them and set them upside down on paper towels to drain while you cook the filling
2. Heat olive oil in skillet
3. Chop onion, garlic, and shallots and cook them in the oil until onions are translucent
4. Add chopped mushrooms and cook until soft
5. Add diced tomatoes and marsala wine
6. Reduce mixture for about 20 mins, until there is only a little
liquid leftover
7. Remove from heat and add the breadcrumbs
8. Mix the room temperature goat cheese with parsley in a small bowl
9. Add half the goat cheese to the veggie/breadcrumb mixture
10. Stuff tomatoes with the mixture
11. Top each tomato with a bit of the remaining goat cheese
13. Cook in the oven at 350 for 15 minutes (the goat cheese should melt a little bit and the tomatoes will look soft)


While I love this particular recipe, you could stuff the tomatoes with just about anything. I would suggest making these with whatever you have around. Peppers, leeks, artichokes, sundried tomatoes, and any kind of veggies would work in the filling. Tofu or seitan would make great additions as well. If you decide to whip up your own recipe, make sure you keep roughly the same ratio of veggies to breadcrumbs for texture. 


I also like to use stale bread to make the breadcrumbs-- just mix the bread, olive oil, salt and pepper in a food processor, and you have homemade breadcrumbs! 

Mexican Lasagna

My boyfriend Cole actually whipped this one up for me. He adapted it from a recipe by Rachel Ray, but used Soyrizo instead of chicken. Yummy, and even better as leftovers!

INGREDIENTS
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
1/2 red pepper, finely chopped
1/2 green pepper, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 container Soyrizo (vegetarian "chorizo" sausage-- if you can't find it, tofu works)

2 tablespoons chili powder

2 teaspoons ground cumin

2 teaspoons paprika

1 can black beans

1 can corn
1 can petite diced tomatoes
Salt and Pepper
8 (8 inch) flour tortillas
2 1/2 cups shredded cheddar, pepper jack, or Daiya vegan cheddar cheese
2 scallions, finely chopped
Regular or Tofu sour cream, if desired
Salsa, if desired

DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Preheat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add 2 tablespoons olive oil. Add chopped onion, garlic, and peppers and season with the chili powder, cumin, and paprika. Cook 5 minutes, until the onions are translucent. Add diced tomatoes, black beans and corn. Heat the mixture for 2-3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Coat a shallow baking dish with remaining olive oil, about 1 tablespoon. Cut the tortillas in half or quarters. Build lasagna in layers-- start with Soyrizo/bean mixture, then cheese, then tortillas. Repeat, finishing with cheese on top. Bake lasagna 12-15 minutes until cheese is bubbly. Top with scallions, sour cream and salsa if desired, and serve.

You could even top this with guacamole for extra deliciousness!