B00AG0VMTC EBOK (21 page)

By Rip and Jane Esselstyn

The Justice League, from the comic book world, includes a lineup of superheroes. Our Justice League from the plant world includes kale, collards, bok choy, napa cabbage, spinach, mustard greens, beet greens, Swiss chard, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and any other green leafy vegetable! This is a staple
for any meal, even breakfast. Become a stripper of green leafy vegetables (see below for the proper Engine 2 technique) and watch your energy rise as your weight falls!

1 to 2 bunches kale, or greens of choice (about 4 cups)

1 cup OMG Walnut Sauce (
here
) or a balsamic glaze

Strip spines off of kale leaves and rinse them well.

Place the kale leaves in a pot with an inch or two of water and cook/steam until tender, about 3 to 5 minutes.

In a food processor, make the walnut sauce.

Serve the kale warm or cold topped with the OMG Walnut Sauce or a balsamic glaze such as Isola Classic Cream of Balsamic (see below).

Tip 1:
The walnut sauce can be drizzled, poured, or spread on the greens, depending on how much water is added.

Tip 2:
The balsamic glaze refers to Isola Classic Cream of Balsamic, or a similar product; it’s a deceptive name, as there is no cream in it!

Note:
To remove those thick spines magically from collard greens and kale: Hold the spine firmly in your dominant hand. Loosely hold the lower part of the spine just below the leafy greens in the other hand. (With some kale, you may need to tear back the lower leaves to expose some of the stem.) Holding firmly with the dominant hand, slide your other hand up the spine. You are left with all the greens in your opposite hand and the bare stem in dominant hand.

By Ann Esselstyn

My mom has taken one of the most wonderfully simple comfort-food side dishes and made it plant-a-licious without using butter or milk. No moo here!

6 medium Yukon Gold potatoes (for maximum nutrients, do not peel!)

1 to 2 cups non-dairy milk

2 to 4 tablespoons nutritional yeast, or as needed

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon garlic powder or garlic granules

Cut the unpeeled potatoes into small chunks, put into a large pot, and cover with water. Boil until tender, about 10 minutes. Drain the potatoes and transfer to a bowl.

Using an electric beater, beat the potatoes while adding non-dairy milk until you reach the desired smooth consistency; the potatoes may need more liquid than you might expect. Mix in nutritional yeast, salt and pepper to taste, and garlic powder. Serve warm.

Tip:
For variety: Cook some Swiss chard, kale, or leafy green of choice in an inch of water until soft. Drain and stir into the potatoes. Nice GREEN potatoes! Or sprinkle in chopped scallions.

By Jane Esselstyn

There is no
butter
-milk, just
better
-milk, in these biscuits: oat, almond, soy, or hazelnut milk! They are much better than the cow-based thing.

2 cups white whole wheat flour, plus ½ cup for dusting the board

¼ teaspoon baking soda

1 tablespoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

cup raw, unsalted cashews or walnuts

2 tablespoons water

1 cup oat milk (or almond, soy, or hazelnut milk)

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, or use an aerated pan.

Combine the 2 cups flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. In a food processor, blend the cashews and water until they form a dry clump of cashew butter. Remove the cashew butter from the food processor (no need to clean it yet!), and place in a small bowl.

Add the dry ingredients to the food processor. Crumble the cashew butter uniformly on top of the dry ingredients. Pulse the food processor a few times until the mixture has a mealy consistency; start with about 8 quick pulses. Add the oat milk and mix until just combined, no more.

Turn the dough out onto a floured board. Gently pat the dough out with your hands—not a rolling pin—until it’s a thickness of about ½ inch. Gently and lightly fold the dough about 5 times over itself. Gently, press down on the dough until it is 1 inch thick. Using a round cutter, about 2 to 2½ inches in diameter—a drinking glass will also do—cut the dough into rounds. Knead scraps together to make more rounds and use up all the dough. If you prefer soft sides on your biscuits, place the biscuits on a cookie sheet touching each other; if you prefer crusty sides, place them about 1 inch apart.

Bake for 11 minutes. Serve warm plain, with fruit spreads, or with any soup from the soup section (
here
).

Tip:
The key to really good biscuits is not in the ingredients, but in handling the dough as little as possible. Try baking these on an aerated cookie sheet for biscuits that are crispy on both the top and bottom. Try using other flours, as well. Or smother these with Mommy’s Mushroom Gravy (
here
).

Adapted from Clean Start by Terry Walters

The last Thursday of every month, Jill and I host a plant-strong potluck to introduce people to the E2 lifestyle as well as to show support for the growing E2 community in Austin, Texas. I recommend you do something similar. The delicious dishes people bring will blow you away and keep people coming back time and time again.

One 12-ounce package firm or extra-firm tofu (not silken!)

3 tablespoons fresh lime juice

2 tablespoons low-sodium tamari sauce

2 tablespoons pure maple syrup

1 tablespoon, plus 1 teaspoon peeled and minced fresh ginger

Slice the tofu into 1½-inch by ½-inch cubes. In a small bowl, combine the lime juice, tamari, and maple syrup.

In a nonstick pan over medium heat, cook the ginger for about 2 minutes until it browns slightly. Add the tofu cubes and tamari-lime-maple syrup mixture to the pan. Increase the heat to medium-high and cook for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring the cubes the entire time. Serve warm or cold.

By Jane Esselstyn

Sweet potatoes prepared this way look remarkably like Texas armadillos. Serve a burnt-orange armada of armadillos to the kids (or adults) and watch them get gobbled up!

1 sweet potato

1 fresh garlic clove, sliced as thinly as possible (optional)

Crushed fresh herbs of your choice: oregano, rosemary, thyme, etc.

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Slice the sweet potato in deep, horizontal, parallel slices—the pattern will resemble an armadillo’s armor. Do not let the knife cut all the way to the base of the potato, just three-quarters of the way down. If you wish, squeeze in a sliver of garlic and the herbs of your choice in between the slices.

Cover with aluminum foil. Bake for 45 minutes. Serve on its own, or with Cilantro-Lime Pesto (
here
) or OMG Walnut Sauce (
here
) drizzled within the chinks of the Armadillo armor.

By Brian Hart

My brother-in-law, Brian, makes this stuffing, which will make your palate swoon and your tummy sing. Here’s a fun twist to make your guests swoon as well: Cook, then serve this inside a pumpkin. Seriously! Find a cooking pumpkin that will fit inside your oven, clean out the insides, stuff the open space with stuffing, place the lid back on, and cook as described below.

15 pieces of bread: 5 rye, 5 pumpernickel, and 5 whole wheat, cut into small cubes

1 large onion, diced

3 cups chopped celery

2 cups slivered carrots

Two 16-ounce packages mushrooms, sliced

4 to 6 cups vegetable broth

1 Granny Smith apple, diced

1 red apple, diced

1 cup dried cranberries (about 5 ounces)

7 ounces almonds, slivered

2 to 3 tablespoons dried sage

2 teaspoons dried thyme

1 tablespoon dried oregano

½ teaspoon salt (optional)

1 teaspoon garlic powder

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

½ to 1 cup tawny port

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Place the cubed bread on a baking sheet and bake for about 15 minutes to dry it out, checking frequently to make sure it is not browning too much. Set aside.

In a sauté pan over medium-high heat, sauté the onion, celery, carrots, and mushrooms in ½ cup of the vegetable broth until softened. In a large bowl, combine the toasted bread cubes, cooked vegetables, apples, cranberries, almonds, sage, thyme, oregano, salt, if using, garlic powder, and pepper. Add broth and port to bowl as needed. Blend and toss until uniformly mixed and soggy.

Transfer the moist stuffing to lasagna pan (or a carved-out pumpkin). Cover with aluminum foil (or the pumpkin lid). Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Serve warm with Down Under Cranberry Salsa (
here
).

By Adrienne and Eric Hart

Brussels sprouts have little “game.” Their naturally bitter flavor turns many people off from these leafy green, nutrient-power-packed balls of goodness. This dish has big-time game and will help the most die-hard Brussels sprouts haters get onboard the bandwagon. Game on!

2½ to 3 cups Brussels sprouts, stemmed and halved lengthwise

cup pure maple syrup

Freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a baking dish with parchment paper.

Toss all three ingredients in a bowl until Brussels sprouts are well coated. Spread the Brussels sprouts out evenly in the lined baking dish. For softer Brussels sprouts, cover with aluminum foil and bake for 20 minutes. For firmer Brussels sprouts, bake, uncovered, for 25 to 30 minutes. Serve warm.

By Brian Hart

Jane’s husband, Brian, is brilliant when it comes to food and recipes. He makes this polenta pizza and has every Esselstyn running for the kitchen like one of Pavlov’s dogs when it comes out of the oven. Woof! Woof!

3 to 4 cups water (depending on your brand of polenta)

1 cup polenta

2 cups Easy 2 Make Pizza Sauce (
here
), Kale Pesto (
here
), or any E2-acceptable pizza sauce

2 cups fresh spinach

3 large tomatoes, sliced

1 cup cubed pineapple

½ cup roasted red peppers

2 garlic cloves, crushed

Other favorite pizza toppings: mushrooms, arugula, asparagus, or olives

cup nutritional yeast

Preheat the oven to 400°F. If using a pizza stone, sprinkle it with cornmeal; if using a pan, line it with parchment paper.

Bring the water to a boil. Add the polenta and whisk constantly until the mixture thickens and there are no lumps. (Instructions for preparing polenta vary from brand to brand—check the specific preparation instructions for yours.)

Pour the polenta onto the pizza stone or pan and flatten out into desired crust shape: round, square, mini, elephant, or fire-hydrant pizza. Prebake the polenta crust for 10 minutes.

Remove from the oven, add sauce and toppings, and sprinkle with the nutritional yeast. Return to oven and bake for 10 minutes. Slice into generous portions and serve warm.

Tip:
To avoid a soggy pizza, precook the vegetables before placing them on the pizza.