Chef Corinne and the Raw Food Demonstration

Tucked away in the community center of Schnuck’s Grocery at the Metro Centre here in Peoria was a gathering of young and old, bodybuilders, vegetarians and the “diet-curious”. Chef Corinne DiLorenzo Brekke (a native New Yorker) and Brian Duda (a vegan bodybuilder) put on a raw food demonstration on behalf of the Peoria Light Tribe group entitled: The Benefits of a Raw and Gluten-free Diet. It’s a fairly simple idea: eat nothing but raw foods and stay away from the various processed, gluten-based foods on the market. Of course, Corinne and Brian make it look easy and are more than willing to share their knowledge and experience with anyone who is interested.

Chef Corrine DiLorenzo and Chef Brian Duda pulled out all the stops. DiLorenzo with her energetic demeanor, and Duda with his obviously painstakingly cultivated physique concocted beautifully colored, and most importantly, mouth-watering dishes. Raw tacos, “rice” pilaf and raw pudding were on the menu for the evening and the chefs entertained the crowd during preparation. After some initial introductions and some quick group testimonials DiLorenzo began chopping… and chopping… and chopping. Needless to say, as a professional chef Corinne is a chopping machine and shows mastery with her knives. However, raw food recipes are all about getting the ingredients into a workable, utilitarian state which could be a bit daunting for the average over-worked American because the prep work can be a bit time-consuming..

The tacos consisted of chopped walnuts (for texture) and baby portabello mushrooms along with colorful chopped peppers, various other vegetables and a homemade taco seasoning all perched upon a romaine lettuce wrap. The “rice” pilaf was in fact a pilaf made of shredded zucchini, fresh corn, sundried tomatoes and other delectable vegetables. There was no rice in the pilaf; cooked rice goes against a raw diet (who wants to eat raw rice?). Duda (of Canary Confectionery near Chicago) made an almost comically large batch of extravagant dark chocolate raw pudding consisting of the simplest ingredients: avocado, cacao powder and amber agave. All of the food was delicious, colorful and filling. I, for one, didn’t realize a raw food diet could be so creative and full of flavor. I figured if I went raw I’d be gnawing on carrots and grass like the bunnies who frolic carelessly in my backyard. I was way wrong.

The demonstration was fun and educational, but what’s really important here is that Chef Corinne and Chef Brian are collaborating on Peoria’s first all vegan, fair trade, organic (and as locally produced food as possible) restaurant, bakery and coffee bar in Peoria Heights’ Heritage Square area entitled Morning Sky Café. The opening date has yet to be determined, but you can follow them on Facebook and show your support. Also, Corinne notified us that she does catering in the meantime until her restaurant opens. All we can say, here at Real Food Peoria, is you GO GIRL! (and please open your restaurant sooner than later…)

Vegan Tofu Scramble - Looks Can Be Deceiving

I know what you’re saying, “Tofu? Why on earth would I eat tofu on purpose?” The thing about tofu is there’s really nothing wrong with it. One half cup of tofu contains about 10g of protein and other assorted vitamins and minerals. If you can get past the texture of tofu, the taste is really up to you since tofu is essentially tasteless until you season it. Here at RFP we’ve done countless things with tofu and have been pleased with just about every recipe we use with it. We’ve marinated tofu for grilling and stir fry, we’ve breaded and fried tofu for an appetizer and now we’ve added another recipe to our tofu arsenal. Basically, tofu scramble is supposed to take the place of scrambled eggs.

I’ve made tofu scramble a few times now and I’ve been trying to tweak the spices from a basic scramble recipe I found on the Post PunkKitchen blog. The beauty of tofu scramble is that it is very simple, quick, easy, and filling. If you have some leftovers sitting around, toss them in! Just get creative and the scramble could have endless possibilities.

For my most recent tofu scramble I used some leftover red peppers, green peppers, and mushrooms that didn’t quite make it on to the grill. Also, at the very end I threw in some chopped tomatoes.

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Here’s the original basic tofu scramble recipe:

Basic Scrambled Tofu
Serves 2

2 tablespoons olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced (or more, to taste)
1 pound extra-firm tofu, drained
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
Fresh black pepper to taste

Spice blend:
2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons water

First stir the spice blend together in a small cup. Add water and mix. Set aside.

Preheat a large, heavy bottomed pan over medium high heat. Saute the garlic in olive oil for about a minute.

Break the tofu apart into bite sized pieces and saute for about 10 minutes, using a spatula to stir often. The tofu should get browned on at least one side.

Add the spice blend and mix to incorporate. Add the nutritional yeast and fresh black pepper. Cook for about 5 more minutes. Serve warm.

Stay Warm! Seasonal: Vegetarian Chili

It’s winter in the Midwest and the sub-freezing, skin-burning, “is this really happening” arctic winds can dig straight into your bones. “I’m freee-e-e-ezing” can only mean one thing, it’s time for hot, hearty, nutritious food to thaw you out and get you moving. I’ve been an avid meat and bean chili consumer for as long as I can remember but since turning to a meatless diet, I’ve had to find an alternative.

I stumbled on this recipe by Emeril Lagasse  a couple years ago when I was hunting for a meatless chili to make for Lori (Lori has a fervent distaste for anything with crumbled meat or meat sauce, e.g. meat lasagna, loose meat sandwiches, hamburger helper, meaty chili, etc. even before she became a vegetarian). The recipe is easily customizable and the first time I made it I left out the beans and included more mushrooms. It was delicious, even Lori enjoyed it. I alter the recipe a little every time I make it, mostly due to ingredient availability, and the following is the most recent version. If you're vegan, just leave out the sour cream!

Ingredients


• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cups chopped yellow onions
• 1 cup chopped green bell peppers
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 1 to 3 jalapeno peppers, stemmed, seeded, and minced, depending upon taste
• 1 medium zucchini, stem ends trimmed and cut into small dice
• 1 medium yellow squash, stem ends trimmed and cut into small dice
• 1 can of golden corn
• 2 pounds mini portobello mushrooms, sliced or cubed
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
• 4 large tomatoes, chopped
• 1 can of black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 cup vegetable stock, or water
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
• Sour cream, garnish
• Chopped green onions, garnish


Directions:


-In a large, heavy pot, heat the oil over medium-high heat.
-Add the onions, bell peppers, garlic, and jalapeno peppers; cook, stirring, until soft, about 3 minutes.
-Add the zucchini, squash, corn, and mushrooms; cook, stirring, until soft and the vegetables give off their liquid and start to brown around the edges, about 6 minutes.
-Add the chili powder, cumin, salt and cayenne; cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
-Add the tomatoes and stir well.
-Add the beans, tomato sauce, and vegetable stock, stir well, and bring to a boil.
-Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 20 minutes.
-Remove from the heat and stir in the cilantro. Adjust the seasoning, to taste.
-Top each serving with a dollop of sour cream, sprinkle with green onions and serve.


These are the numbers per serving from the other site, but these number are only estimates. Per Serving: Calories: 311; Fat: 7g (Saturated Fat: 0.5g); Protein: 13g; Carbohydrates: 51g; Sugar: 15g; Fiber 12g; Cholesterol: 0mg; Sodium: 1,040mg

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Take Me Out to The (Meatless) Ballpark

Much to the chagrin of most of our friends, ours is a predominantly St. Louis Cardinals household. Needless to say, we were pretty thrilled when they clinched the wild card and made it to the World Series.

In all the excitement we were reminded of our last trip to Busch Stadium, where we were pleasantly surprised to find some veggie-friendly food options other than the standard popcorn and pretzels. Since then we have done some research and found that many ballparks across the country have had their ears to the ground and are making their concession stands more accessible to vegans and vegetarians. Yankee Stadium offers a garden burger and a roasted eggplant panini among many other meatless dishes, and Target Field (home of the Minnesota Twins) boasts veggie hot dogs, burritos, kabobs, and stir fry.

In honor of this promising trend towards healthier eating, we decided to support our team by making our own versions of ballpark goodies. We were patting ourselves on the back for our "totchos" (baked tater tot nachos) and the veggie dogs were also quite tasty. To seal the deal, we got a Schlafly sampler pack, which is brewed right in St. Louis!

For a closer look at how ballparks are expanding their menus for meat-free folks, have a look here and here.

Dinner and a Movie (Food Matters)

Food Matters touches mostly on vitamins and the smear campaign against our consumption of vitamins. The film links our malnourishment to the lack of crop rotation, our fatty, empty calorie diets and our dependency on prescription medications to fix our ailments.

One reviewer on IMDB.com says “this move is full of lies and cherry picking cases” (actripxl). While the movie does call out doctors on their lack of using vitamins in large doses to cure certain diseases, the main message portrayed is eat healthy, take care of yourself, and you won’t need to see doctors for the dangerous prescriptions they’re giving out. There’s some great information in the film and anything that makes us think about what we eat can’t be all bad. Food Matters pleads for you to take another look at what you’re eating and what your doctors are giving you.

Notably, the film touches on Gerson Therapy, an alternative cancer treatment. “The Gerson Therapy is a state of the art, contemporary, alternative and natural treatment which utilizes the body's own healing mechanism in the treatment and cure of chronic debilitating illness” (gerson.org). Even Charlotte Gerson (Dr. Max Gerson’s daughter and the founder of The Gerson Institute) makes an appearance discussing health with a bit of sarcasm interspersed with real conviction. The great message Gerson gives is to eat healthy and the body will heal itself, this seems to make sense. Unfortunately, the medical community has never taken Dr. Gerson seriously:

In the U.S., Gerson applied his dietary therapy to several cancer patients, claiming good results, but colleagues found his methodology and claims unconvincing. Proponents of the Gerson Therapy assert that a far-ranging conspiracy headed by the medical establishment prevented Gerson from publishing proof that his therapy worked. In 1958, Gerson published a book in which he claimed to have cured 50 terminal cancer patients: A Cancer Therapy: Results of 50 Cases. Gerson's medical license in New York was suspended in 1958. (Wikipedia)

If you’re looking to get a start on the recent trend in food documentaries, this film is a good launching pad. Food Matters touches on many issues that need to be addressed, however, the film tends to flow sporadically. Having a raw food specialist chime in between Charlotte Gerson’s commentary tends to make some moments a bit random. Those moments are few however, and generally the film stays on course and presents some really great datasets.

Obviously, with the amount of heart disease and cancer we have in this country we’re doing something wrong. If you get hit by a car, there’s a resounding YES, we need modern western medicine. But if you want to live a long and healthy life without dependence on pharmaceuticals, you don’t need doctors; just don’t treat your body like a dumpster or a drug depository, simple as that.

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On a lighter note, dinner was fantastic!
Lori dug out the Favorite Brand NameTM Vegetarian Cookbook and made Bulgur Pilaf with Tomato and Zucchini. It was a great meal, and it’s definitely something we’ll be having again!

Taste Test: Silk vs. Almond Breeze

Lori and I had been wrestling with the idea of cutting out cow’s milk from our diet so we finally decided to take a leap and purchase Silk (a soy based milk) and Almond Breeze (as you may have guessed, it’s an almond based milk). We opted to try a blind taste-test between Silk’s Unsweetened Organic variety and Blue Diamond’s Unsweetened Almond Breeze. A prior experience with sweetened Silk made our tomato soup a bit too sweet, and we just couldn't talk ourselves into drinking it straight.

There were two main reasons for this test:

1.    To find a tolerable, plant-based substitute for cow’s milk
2.    To give others some idea as to what these products taste like (we have yet to find a local store offering samples)

We don’t profess to be culinary experts, but we hope we can at least give you an idea as to what to expect from dairy alternatives.

LORI: The last time we tried a Silk product, I was unfortunately a bit underwhelmed. Not because the product itself was bad, but rather because I was naively hoping that it would taste exactly like the cow's milk I have been accustomed to drinking for decades (ugh, did I just say that out loud?). Soy milk was not like anything I had ever tasted before and my palate didn't know what to make of it. I just couldn't get past the sweetness.

During the time since that first tasting however, my priorities shifted a bit and my desire to wean myself off dairy products has outweighed my finicky taste buds. So I took a deep breath, and did my best to go into this taste test with an open mind.

To keep any preconceived notions to a minimum we decided to do the test blindly. I left the room while John poured one serving of Organic Unsweetened Silk and one of Unsweetened Original Almond Breeze into identical unmarked glasses. Immediately I noticed a color difference between the two, but I had no idea which was which.

One was a creamy off-white color with a nondescript flavor, while the other had more of a light tawny hue and a nuttier taste (I'll give you three guesses which one that turned out to be). I can't say I liked one more than the other, but I did get the impression that each would be better in different applications:

Silk: Probably best for recipes where you don't want to impart any extra flavor, or wherever you would normally use cow's milk.

Almond Breeze: Good for *coffee, sipping, and "grown-up" cereals that would hold up well to the nuttiness (a.k.a. any cereal that touts its fiber content and doesn’t have a cartoon character on the box).

*UPDATE: Since the taste test we have made the unsavory discovery that Almond Breeze does not work well with iced coffee. It tastes fine in hot coffee, even gives it a flavor reminiscent of those fancy creamers women seem to love so much in those commercials, but for some reason when you add ice it begins to taste less like almonds and reminds you more of the scent of cat urine (sorry for the distasteful imagery).

JOHN: I don’t drink as much milk as Lori, so my opinions varied slightly. For me, both products were head-to-head with dairy milk in terms of being creamy, and both were creamier than skim milk. You can actually smell and taste the nuts in Blue Diamond’s Almond Breeze. While it’s not overpowering, if you’re not much of an almond fan it would definitely take some getting used to. I used it with my shredded wheat cereal this morning and I couldn’t be happier with the results.

Silk, coming in second place for me, had a unique smell. It reminded me of a cross between a soybean and some Elmer’s school glue. Silk is definitely earthier and has a plant-like taste right off the bat. I don’t dislike Silk, and if it was the only choice I would definitely drink it. Lori made a great point about using Silk to cook with and Almond Breeze for other things, I guess that’s going to take some experimenting. We may even have to make another blog post about when to use Silk and when to use Almond Breeze.

Update: Now that we’ve gone through a half gallon of Almond Breeze and a whole gallon of Silk, I have to change my bid. I always find myself grabbing the Silk for cooking, iced coffee and cereal.

Homemade Hummus Recipe

Lori found a great hummus recipe online not too long ago. She whipped it up and it was fabulous (and much cheaper than store bought). Since then, we've been tweaking it slightly to our own taste. This is a quick and easy recipe, especially if you have a food processor. All you need is a can of chickpeas (garbanzo beans), salt, garlic, lemon juice, tahini (sesame paste) and cumin. The good thing about hummus is you can customize it anyway you want. We've added roasted red peppers to give it a different spin, and we've seen olives and hot sauce added in other recipes. Be creative! Although it's not fat-free, it is cholesterol free and provides a decent source of protein, vitamin C, calcium and iron.

Ingredients:

1 can chickpeas (save some of the juice from the can)

2 cloves minced garlic

3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 tablespoons tahini

1 teaspoon salt

cumin to taste (we use about a 1/4 teaspoon)

1-2 tablespoons of olive oil (garnish)

1/2 teaspoon paprika (garnish)

1. Combine chickpeas (leave some extra juice for later), tahini, lemon juice, salt, garlic, and cumin into blender. Blend all of it together until it's creamy, if the mix is still too thick add a little juice from the chickpea can and blend until it has the consistency of dip.

2. Place mix in serving dish, drizzle olive oil on top and sprinkle with paprika. Voila!

Vegan Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms

These little babies were super tasty.  Stuffed with Daiya Cheddar Cheese, Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese and MorningStar Farms Veggie Bacon Strips, topped off with breadcrumbs and parsley. This dish was not completely vegan, unfortunately, due to the veggie bacon strips containing egg and dairy. Most of MorningStar Farms products are not vegan. 

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Homemade Vegan Queso Sauce Nachos

As we've been slowly replacing eggs and dairy with their vegan counterparts, Lori ran across the delights of nutritional yeast. This queso recipe, made from nutritional yeast, flour, water, and salsa, is healthier than regular cheese sauce. While Lori wasn't thrilled about the taste, I loved it. The recipe is here.

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Baked Kale Chips

A little olive oil, a little seasoning, and voila! An unexpected but delicious crispy snack that serves as a healthier potato chip alternative. And check out the amount of vitamin A! We found the recipe here.

Dinner and a Movie (Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead)

I put Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead on my Netflix instant queue several weeks ago and had skipped over it several times because I really didn’t know what to expect. It was a Saturday night, Lori was making dinner (we’ll get to that later) and I had the chore of choosing our entertainment during dinner. This film has been popping up on forums and blogs more frequently as of late, often mentioned alongside Forks Over Knives, so I took a leap.

An Australian based production, Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead follows Joe Cross, a financial guru, from New York to Arizona as he “reboots” on a 60-day all fruit and veggie juice diet. Joe is overweight, suffering from a chronic auto-immune based illness and swallowing prescription steroids when he finally decides to take the plunge. Joe goes to the extreme (with medical supervision) as he drives across the U.S. with a Breville juicer in the back of his SUV. The standard “reboot” program is a bit different, as the Reboot Holdings website states:

This is our classic program which has worked wonders for people around the world. This program consists of 5 days of eating, blending and juicing only whole fruits and vegetables; followed by 5 days of just juicing; followed by 5 days of eating, blending and juicing whole fruits and vegetables. Think 5-5-5. (jointhereboot.com)

As Joe spreads the word to various cities and people on his tour, he runs into a truck driver named Phil. Phil is overweight and suffers from the same illness Joe has. They share a batch of juice and Joe sends Phil on his way (first exchanging contact information).

Finally, Joe ends his tour and flies back to Australia only to receive a call from Phil, asking for help. Phil has hit rock bottom and wants to change his life and diet for himself and his family. The film takes an interesting turn at this point and follows Phil around as he wrestles his food demons and “reboots” on juice.

While the film doesn’t feel like a Breville juicer commercial, when I visited fatsickandnearlydead.com it felt a bit like an infomercial. The juicer is never shown up close, nor is the brand ever mentioned in the film. The main message is “we are what we eat” and changing your diet to fruits and vegetables exclusively can do amazing wonders for your health. What’s really amazing is Joe and Phil stop experiencing complications with their illness and are eventually taken completely off prescription medications. If you’re looking for a change and are sick and tired of all the latest diet trends, definitely check this film out.

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Now, the lovely little dinner we had was of Lori’s design. A wonderful broth and noodle based veggie and tofu soup of sorts. She marinated tofu, boiled some Asian pasta in vegetable broth and sautéed some broccoli, green peppers, onions and carrots to form a delightful dish.

Forks Over Knives - Peoria Theater

While Peoria is not known for its receptiveness to plant-based diets, there were several people at the theater ready to “fork over” seven bucks to reinforce their veggie-friendly mindsets (me included). The showing of Forks Over Knives is one of many trendy films and events informing the public about the industrialization of our food sources, diets, Western medicine, and the overall embarrassing health statistics in our society. Some other recent mentionable films are Food, Inc, Go Further and Farm to Fridge. While the Peoria Theater does not have the most high tech equipment or the biggest screen in town, their mission is to communicate the message of the film they’re showing, not to wow audiences with giant 3-D stadium seating, IMAX spectacular, or THX approved subwoofers. Forks Over Knives, I believe, has a different demographic from most of the hip vegetarian documentaries currently available.

Forks Over Knives has a different message than most of the recent documentaries pertaining to meat consumption, mistreatment of livestock, the definition of “Grade A” meat, and CAFOs (Confined Animal Feeding Operations). Forks Over Knives addresses the overall health of Americans, their diets, and the pharmaceutical companies directly. Most of the experts and patients involved are middle-aged or older. Instead of using abused animals to tug on your heart strings, they make it more humanistic by discussing obesity, cancer, heart disease and diabetes as examples of the downfalls of animal-based diets. Most documentaries have a bevy of graphics, interviews, and testimonials; this film was no different.

The graphics used in the film were satisfactory, but not revolutionary. The promotional advertising used to spread the word about the film was miles above anything used within the film. The 3D graphics used to portray statistics were clear, consistent, and easily understood. The lower-third graphics used during the interviews and datasets worked, but they weren’t very flashy or as professional as you would see on networks such as CNN or FOX News.

The interview progression throughout the film was well thought out and kept the movie flowing at a decent pace. The framing of interviewees was never fully centered, thus using the rule of thirds effectively. The interviews consisted of quick snippets and were never monotonous. However, there were no dramatic B-rolls or flashy zoom techniques which may have emphasized certain aspects. Like most informational documentaries, this film used interviews of experts to push opinions. Interviews with experts in the appropriate fields (PHDs, MDs, and political figureheads) as well as patient testimonials were used to provide the information and results in layman’s terms.

Unlike most infomercials, documentaries give you an in-depth approach to a consumer’s start and end point; Forks Over Knives was no different. The film used several examples of patients facing dire consequences, which were reversed with extreme diet changes. The beginning of the film showed the first patient, who drove to his destination while drinking two Red Bulls and nearly two Coca-Colas. He met with an expert in nutritional health, switched to an all plant-based diet, and within several weeks began showing vast improvement. The film never touched on whether or not the patient strayed from his diet, but the end result played straight into the film’s message. All of the patients portrayed in the film had similar positive results. However, patients with detrimental reactions to the diet (if any) were never addressed. This film may not have had the highest budget or flashiest graphics but I felt as though there were no loose ends once the film had ended.

In my opinion, Forks Over Knives is most likely the bearer of bad news to the human race. As we all eventually suffer from some kind of ailment, and we see our loved ones pass away from preventable diseases, we must question what we have been taught for generations or suffer the consequences. As they said in the film, we must learn to "eat to live, not live to eat."