Eating right as a vegan has its own challenges! You can be vegan and overweight with the wrong food choices. Excessive oils including olive oil can elevate your cholesterol and add weight to your body. Eating refined carbs like white sugar, white rice, and white flour is a big no no if you're looking to lose weight. Before the month of July I was guilty of all counts with eating refined carbs. They way I was eating I would probably be given life imprisonment! I finally realized after so many years that switching to a plant based diet, avoiding refined carbs, and with moderate exercise, losing weight is really not that difficult. Btw, I stepped on the scale this morning after a 3 mile run - down another 2 lbs. to 144lbs. This is a 16 lb. loss since I first started this new lifestyle on July 1st.
Hummus
Many of you enjoy eating hummus. I'm not a big fan of chickpeas but hummus I enjoy eating. It's vegan and refreshing with all the yummy flavors of garlic, lemon, and sesame! Many of may not realize (including myself until recently) that hummus is not exactly diet food. A cup of hummus that you buy at the store is approximately 430 calories where 200 calories is from Fat. Some of you may argue that is it good fat but it is still fat! I decided to make my version of low fat hummus. Here is the recipe for 4-6 as a side dish:
• 1 can of organic garbanzo beans
• 1 tbs. tahini
• 3 cloves of garlic crushed
• 1/2 half of lemon squeezed
• 1 Paprika for seasoning (optional)
• Liquid from can of garbanzo beans
Take a blender and placed the garlic in first. Add 1 tablespoon of tahini and then the drained garbanzo beans. Take the liquid from the drained garbanzo beans and pour it into the blender until the liquid reaches 1 inch from the top. Squeeze the lemon in the mixture. Note: I'm not using any olive oil and reduce the amount of tahini by more than 50% from the traditional recipe. Some recipes call for 1/3 cup of tahini! Tahini is about 100 calories per tablespoon and 83 calories from fat. Turn on the blender and blend it until it is smooth. You can always add hot sauce and paprika for taste. It is actually quite tasty and a lot more healthier! You can also use it as a spread to replace mayo. The extra garlic clove gives it a nice kick! The perfect bread for this hummus is a whole wheat flat bread that is sold at Trader Joe's. Even my kids enjoyed eating them and they hate everything that resembles wheat :)
The Ultimate Vegan Rice Bowl
I can't take any credit for this next recipe. The original recipe came the engine2diet.com. Before the beginning of July, there were two things on the grain list that I avoided: brown rice and black beans. Being Asian I was raised on white rice all my life and any type of beans had no appeal to me at all. I remember my wife telling me last year to give brown rice a try and I told her no way -- it's chewy and took forever to cook. My wonderful sister suggested a couple of months ago to visit Trader Joe's and try their Jasmine brown rice. I love Jasmine white rice so I bought 3lbs. of the brown version to give it a try. It wasn't that bad! I also found a TJ Cuban style black beans to compliment this dish. Here is the recipe for 2 hearty servings:
• 1 cup of uncooked Jasmine brown rice
• 1 can of Cuban style black beans (TJ)
• 1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 1 heirloom tomato chopped
• 1/3 cup of cilantro chopped
• 1/4 chopped yellow onions
• 1 heirloom tomato
• 1/2 avocado sliced
• 1 tsp of good quality salt
Cook brown rice in a rice cooker. It's up to you whether to rinse the rice beforehand. Unlike white rice there is no starchy coating on the outside. Keep in mind that brown rice requires more liquid to cook. I generally add anywhere from 1/4 to 1/2 cup more water than white rice. While the rice is cooking make a salsa. Combine the tomato, cilantro, yellow onions, and salt together and refrigerate for 15 minutes. Heat up the black beans in a small pot on warm. When the rice is done scoop a serving on a plate, top it with half of the black beans, add the salsa on top and add about 2-3 slices of avocado. I've made variations of this dish with corn, roasted bell peppers, and other fresh vegetables to garnish.
You will be quite surprise how wonderful this dish tastes and how filling you'll feel after eating this. I promise you won't go to sleep hungry. This is a good low fat vegan alternative to your typical rice bowl at the store or restaurant. If you like to reduce the fat even more, skip the avocado and add roasted bell peppers or corn instead! This is one vegan dish that my wife and her daughter enjoy eating.
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