Stuffed Yams with White Beans and Kale - The New Breakfast

We are making some changes in what we eat.  We attended a seminar by Dr. Linda Carney this weekend.  We learned some important things that seemed timely in our health journey.  My husband is searching for ways to reverse atherosclerosis.  We learned that leafy greens dilate blood vessels, and heal endothelial cells.  Endothelial cells are the lining for the blood vessels.  That is where the plaque builds up.  Oil and most other fats damage endothelial cells, yes, even olive oil.  But walnuts and flax seed don't harm the lining of the blood vessels.  They contain the essential fatty acids, Omega 3's that are important all through the body. 

Dr. Carney recommends that everyone eat greens, beans and squash or yams for breakfast.  Yes, I know that is a big switch in ideas about what makes a healthy breakfast, but for us, it was worth a try.  "Breakfast like a king," you know.  We are setting out on a month long journey to see what happens to our health if we eat this way.

For lunch eat more beans, and greens, and other veggies.  You can end with fruit if you would like a little sweetness to make the pleasure center of your brain happy.

For supper eat whole grains and fruit.  Oatmeal or oat groats are a good choice.  Brown rice is also a good choice for those who can't eat oats. 

Yesterday we started by eating yams, salad greens and freshly cooked garbonzo beans.  I found out that the garbonzo beans balanced out the super sweet taste of the yams.  I haven't like yams that much before, because they are so sweet, but it may be that I haven't eaten them with beans before.  I was surprised that I liked them plain, and they didn't even need salt. 

Yesterday I searched out some new recipes and found a couple that we are going to try this week.  I think that all the recipes will need tweaked, to get rid of oil or vinegar or other unnecessary, or even harmful ingredients.  As I adapt recipes I will be posting them here.  I hope they will be helpful in your search for good health also.

I cooked some Great Northern Beans in the crock pot overnight, so they were ready when I got up this morning around 6:30.   I rinsed the yams I bought yesterday, placed then a baking sheet, at 400 degrees.  While they were baking I had some quite time for Bible study and prayer.  About 7:40 my daughter got the asparagus ready, and I fixed the kale.  Breakfast was on the table at 8 am.  It wasn't as hard as thought it would be to do this.  It just takes a little thought and advance preparation.

After breakfast I heard these comments.

"This tasted much better then I thought it would."

"I didn't think I would like yams this way, but I now like it better then any other way I've eaten yams."

"This was really filling."

"I feel satisfied." 

"We are going to have to make this again."

And so we will. 

Stuffed Yams with White Beans and Kale
www.awildflowermorning.blogspot.com

4 medium sized yams
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1-2 bunches of kale, washed and chopped
1/4 - 1/2 tsp dried Italian herbs
1/4 tsp dried mild pepper flakes
3 cups of cooked Great Northern Beans, or other white beans
1/2 tsp salt

Wash the yams, and place on a baking sheet in a 400 degree oven.  Bake 45 minutes to 1 hour.

When the yams are about finished, placed the onions and garlic in a dry skillet on medium heat.  Stir often so they do not stick.  If they start to stick, you can sprinkle water on them.  When they are beginning to soften add the damp kale.  If it is dry, sprinkle some more water on them.  Stir.  Then put on a lid to help them steam.  When they start to change the color of green add the Italian herbs, pepper flakes and salt.  Stir.  Add the beans, and gently stir, just enough to mix them in the green.  Heat until they are warm.  Be careful not to mash the beans. 

Place a yam on a plate.  Cut it almost in half, lengthwise, like it was a baked potato.  Squish it open just a little, and spoon in some of the kale and bean mixture.  Place some spears of asparagus on the side.  Do the same to the remaining 3 yams.  Serve with a happy heart. 

Chilli Lemon Tofu, Collard Greens and Brown Rice

-->
 1.  Get the brown rice cooking.

2.  Make the marinade.  Get it mixed up and soaking on the tofu.  Soak for 20 minutes or so.

3.  Cut up the collards, by cutting off the rib.  Then stacking the leaf part of 2 - 3 collards at a time, rolling them up like a sleeping bag, and then start slicing thin rounds off the end.  Cut up the onions too.

4.  Place the tofu and marinade in a skillet, and start cooking on medium temperature.  Stir very gently, but often enough to keep no part of the pan drying out before another part of the pan.  Cook until there is no moisture left and it is just starting to stick.  Turn off the heat and remove the pan from the burner.  Set aside.

5.  While the tofu is cooking, get the collards into a large kettle.  They will cook down quite a bit.  You need 4 - 5 times as much volume of fresh greens as you will need cooked greens in the end.  Add the onion, lime juice and salt.  Cover with a lid, and cook until the greens are cooked down in size and the onions are transparent.

6.  Spoon out a layer of cooked brown rice onto a platter.  Spread the collard greens around on top of the rice.  Lay out the tofu as the top layer.

Serve.

My recipe: Lemon Chili Marinade 
1/3 cup Bragg's liquid aminos or Tamari
Juice of one lemon
2 tsp SiRacha sauce
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
black pepper, optional



Greens
Kettle full of collard greens, ribs removed, rolled and cut thinly
One onion diced
Juice of one lime
1/2 tsp salt
water to cover the bottom of you kettle 1/2 centemeter deep

Garlic Collards and Carrots, Vegan and Gluten-free

I've been out of blogging mode for quite a few months.  I think I've been out of cooking mode too.  But the school year is over, and it is time to think about something else, like good food.  I made something like this yesterday, and it was so good, I had to make it again today, and even got out my camera to celebrate.  So all my faithful followers, you get a blog post to read.  Thanks for sticking around even when I haven't been so faithful.

So, I discovered that the collards are growing like crazy in my garden, so I went searching around on the web some collard recipe inspiration.  I made an awesome recipe with collards and spicy tofu on top, but I didn't get any photos of it.  I will have to try that one again soon.  It got good ratings here from my husband.

And I made this delicious Garlic Collards and Carrots Recipe.  The amounts are flexible, but I put the general idea down in recipe form for those of you who need a concrete starting place, or you can't cook.

Garlic Collards and Carrots
www.wildflowermorningrecipes.blogspot.com

1 large bunch (or two) of Collards
1 large onion, chopped
4 - 6 garlic cloves, mashed with a big knife and sliced, or pressed
2 stalks of celery, sliced
3 - 4 carrots, grated
1 - 2 Tablespoons (or to taste) Braggs Liquid Aminos or salt to taste

Wash your collards, and cut out the ribs and discard.  Stack the leaves in piles.  Roll up the leaves from 2 - 3 collards like a burrito, and then make 1/4 inch slices.  Roll and slice until you have cut up the whole pile.  Unroll the green strips.

Sauté the onions and garlic on medium heat.  You likely won't need any oil, or even water if you pay attention and stir them often.  When the onions are half done, add the celery and carrots and collards.  Sprinkle in the Bragg's Liquid Aminos to your taste and stir around.  If your pan dries out too much or starts sticking, put in a couple tablespoons of water, just enough to keep things free and movable in the pan.  Put a lid on and cook until the greens are wilted.  Stir, and cook a bit more until the vegetables are at your favorite level of tenderness.

Serve on a bed of cooked quinoa (my favorite) or brown rice.

I also served a quick raw veggie salad made of red pepper, green pepper, cucumber, sweet onion, and tomato.  I squeezed on some fresh lemon juice and sprinkled on salt.

My son, the boy who said he was starving, said he didn't want any greens tonight, they didn't look good, and he wasn't very hungery.   Hmm.... I said he needed at least have a "complementary sample," a 1 - 2 tablespoon serving.  He reluctantly tried it, then finished it.  He was about to leave the table when he said, "Actually mom, that wasn't too bad.  I think I could eat some more."  And he did.  It is actually possible to train kids to eat their greens.  Be patient, and make that the only food available to eat.

Blueberry Smile Smoothie

It is time to post some of our favorite smoothie recipes. We eat them several times a week for breakfast.

We pick many pounds of blueberries every year, so blueberries are a common smoothie ingredient. This recipe will fill a Vita-mix Blender Jar. If you have a smaller jar or a smaller family to make smoothies for, adjust the amounts accordingly.

Blueberry Smile Smoothie

Serves 4 people a large 2 cup serving of breakfast

2 oranges, peeled
A handful of pitted dates
1 quart of frozen or fresh blueberries.
Several leaves of romaine lettuce or spinach
2 cups of water.

The amounts of each ingredient is not scientific. Use what you have. Add more dates if you need it more sweet, and less if you don't. Put in more greens when you are ready. It is good without greens, but not as good for you. Some people even like to up the minerals with a little kelp powder, maybe a teaspoon full, and you might not even taste it there, unless you are sensitive to the taste of kelp (like me). If you need it to be more fatty, or creamy, throw in some raw nuts, such as cashews or almonds or pecans. Put in just enough to make you smile. Drink enough to fill you up. It's pure nutrition.

Layer it in the blender, in the order I listed it above, and then blend until very smooth. If you don't have a strong blender, you might have to stop it frequently and push the ingredients down. Another thing you could do is wait until the berries are thawed, and then it will work easier. A Vitamix or something similar will work best, but if you don't have one, don't let that stop you from eating smoothies. Figure out what yours can do, and then put on a Blueberry Smile.

Gingered Napa Cabbage Salad

I think I've been in a cooking slump caused by spring vacation and a lot of busy-ness. But now I'm getting back on track.

I recently saw a report on some research about cruciferous vegetables and cancer rates. It said that when people increased their amount of unrefined fruits and vegetables that they ate by 20% that their cancer rate went down by 20%. But if for people who increased their intake of cruciferous vegetables by 20% the rate of cancer went down by 40%! Wow!

What are cruciferous vegetables? They are the ones from the cabbage family, including the cabbages of course, broccoli, califlower, turnips, brusselsprouts, radishes, kale, arugula, bok choy, collards, mustard greens, rutabaga, watercress, diakon and more. The next time I went to the store I looked around at all these powerful veggies and realized that I didn't put many of them in my cart. So, now I am trying to make sure we have one every day, and that it isn't the same one. We are branching out and trying new ones and new recipes for the more familiar ones.

What did we eat today? Gingered Napa Cabbage Salad. It was one I made up as I made it, but my daughter said it was really, really good. I know, she doesn't have average taste buds, but this was a new vegetable for her as for my son. What did he say? He was eagerly ate the remains in the salad bowl and asked for more.

Here is how to make it:

Gingered Napa Cabbage Salad
By Barbara Frohne
wildflowermorningrecipes.blogspot.com

1 small to medium head of Napa Cabbage
1 inch knob of fresh ginger, peeled
juice of one fresh lime
1/3 cup water
1/4 cup old fashioned peanut butter
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 TBSP honey

With a large knife, finely slice the napa cabbage into slivers. Place the cabbage into a large salad bowl.

Place the remaining ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. Pour over the cabbage and mix.

Divide into serving bowls. Serves 3 to 10 people. My two kids and I ate it all ourselves today.

Lemon Drop Smoothie

If I don't make a definite effort to keep getting greens into my body every day, it is easy to forget. There are lots of good foods which are fine to eat, but they don't have as many important nutrients as greens. I can really feel it in my body when I eat more greens. And if I start forgetting, I start to suffer. Before I started eating them all the time, I really didn't know how much they could help a person. But now I know they are the most important thing a person could eat.

So, to help us all start eating greens more, I'm going to post a favorite green recipe. It may look green, but it is a fresh vibrant green. And it doesn't taste green at all. My husband has named it "Lemon Drop Smoothie". Because that is what it tastes like.

Lemon Drop Smoothie

2 - 3 large Fuji apples or other sweet apples, washed, cored, cut in large chunks
1 - 2 cups of cold water
1 large handful of washed fresh parsley
3 - 8 leaves of romaine or kale or other dark greens
1/4 of a washed lemon, flesh and skin, minus the seeds (The skin is important. It is what makes it taste like a lemon drop. It is full of nutrients.)

Place it all in your blender jar and whiz it until it is smooth. A Vita Mix can get away with less water. A regular blender will need more water, and it will help if the apples and lemon is cut in smaller pieces. Pour into elegant glasses and enjoy the best breakfast/lunch/dinner/snack you could ever drink. Serves 4