For those of you who can give up cheese, this recipe is for you. But fair warning, it does not taste exactly like cheese. It does have a creamy texture and tastes pretty darn good, especially with some fresh tomatoes, basil, a sprinkle of salt, and just a drizzle of balsamic vinegar. This type of “cheese” melts pretty well too making it great for pizzas, lasagnas, and sandwiches.

So gather up the last of your tomatoes and basil from the garden and give this recipe a try for one last taste of summer!

Happy eating and best health,

Dr. G

I recently decided that I wanted to try to make dumplings on my own and came up with the version that I am going to share with you today. The first time I made these, I took them with me tailgating at a Patriot’s game. Before you judge me, they were a huge hit. And yes, I cooked them on a grill. You may have seen them on my Instagram stories if you follow me. When I decided to make them again for New Year’s Eve I figured it was time to share the recipe. Let’s take a look at these little bites of happiness:

Don’t even ask me what kind of dumplings these are…because I don’t know. I think that they are somewhat similar to Korean mandoo because the tofu, scallions, and mushrooms, but I used Chinese wonton wrappers, and cook them like Japanese gyoza. So whatever, they are my version of a dumpling, they are delicious, just make them.

BTW these freeze well so make a whole bunch of them.

Here is the recipe!

Happy eating (and New Year) and best health,

Dr. G

As a primary care doctor fall is also the time of year when people start coming into my office for fatigue.  I work a lot of people up for thyroid disease in the fall, but very rarely find anyone who actually has it.  I find myself reminding people that we are animals and to watch what the other animals in our environment are doing.  Squirrels, chipmunks, and rabbits are gathering supplies for the winter while the sun is out and then are tucked away to rest when the sun goes down.  As humans we have adapted our environment with artificial lighting, but that doesn’t mean that our brains (or bodies) are on board with this.

Fall is a time for slowing down, preparing, and reflecting.

The first person to point this out to me a family medicine doctor with whom I was spending time with as a resident.  The more I observed the changes of the fall, the more I realized that he was right.  People who are in tune to this change of pace seem to adapt to the transition into fall better.  Even the teacher of my regular yoga class changes the flow of our class from the faster, energizing pace of the summer to slower, more reflective class in the fall.  So sleep in a little later in the morning, and wind down earlier in the evening.  Try to get your workouts in before the sun goes down (or at least start them).  When you are in for the night, gather with your loved ones and share a bowl of this soup.

Happy eating and best health,

Dr. G

These meals are usually made out of leftovers and maybe one component that I have to quickly prepare, which makes them super fast to put together.

If I am cooking anything that takes more than 20 minutes to make (think grains, beans, roasted veggies, potatoes, etc), I always make extra.  The leftovers end up in a bowl of some kind for lunch or dinner the next day.  So, I can typically pull one of these bowls together in 5 minutes or less!!

I don’t often write up recipes for bowls, because…well…they don’t really have recipes.  The ingredients don’t necessarily have to go together well, the sauce will pull it together into a cohesive dish.  I decided to write up this bowl recipe because it proves this point.  It has leftovers from taco Tuesday (black beans and avocado), leftover brown rice, random vegetables I had in the fridge, sauteed mushrooms, and kimchi (BTW, my mom’s friend makes me kimchi every few months so I have a never ending supply.  If you don’t have a kimchi friend you can pick some up at the grocery store).  This bowl was topped with some cilantro, Everything But The Bagel Seasoning, and teriyaki sauce.

Here is my random kimchi bowl, looks yummy right?

One of the other reasons that I wanted to write up this post is because I wanted to talk for a quick second about condiments.  As you guys know I make a lot of my own condiments, but I am also a busy person with a full time job (being a real doctor, not just writing this blog) so I don’t always have the time to make everything from scratch.  The teriyaki sauce that I used in this dish was store bought.  I do make an effort to cook my owns beans and grains, and I try to limit my processed foods and sugars, but I am not perfect.  The door of my fridge is lined with condiments and dressings, some homemade, some from local farm stands, and some that are just store bought.  When I purchase condiments I make an effort to find those with simple ingredients.  I spend a little extra buying organic products because manufacture’s of organic products are often more thoughtful about amounts of sugar, salts, preservatives, and food additives.  Always check the ingredients list and purchase carefully.  Remember that you can always add ingredients from your pantry to adjust the flavor of a condiment if it is not perfect right out of the bottle.

I hope you enjoy this “recipe” and that it inspires you to mix together bowls of your own.

Happy eating and best health,

Dr. G

This recipe is for a winter salad that will chase away your “sad salad season” blues.  It has some warm elements and beautiful colors, it’s sweet and savory, and it’s filling (finally).  My favorite part of this salad is the delicata squash, which is probably my favorite winter squash.  Yes, I have a favorite squash, so what?  It has nutty flavor and you can even eat the peel after you roast it!  Check out how lovely this dish is:

Festive, right?  As with any of my recipes you can make substitutions for any of the ingredients.  If you hate pears, try an apple.   Almonds not your thing?  Walnuts or pecans would be great in this recipe.  Can’t find farro in your local supermarket? Quinoa, rice, or barley would work.  If you don’t like squash or pomegranates, I would move on and pick another recipe haha, seriously though, they are the stars here.  If you are going to be packing this salad up for lunch, keep the cooked farro and squash separate so that you can reheat them before tossing them in the salad.  Trust me, warm salad components are awesome!

Ok, let’s do this.

Happy eating and best health,

Dr. G

People try to makeover comfort food classics into healthier versions all of the time.  In meatloaf people often try to replace the beef with ground turkey or chicken, thinking that they are making a better choice.  Here is why that may not be as beneficial as one might think: Dropping knowledge.   Swapping out the beef for lentils and tofu however, well that my friends doesn’t just make meat(less)loaf healthier…it makes it down right healthy.

Are you ready to try this one for yourself?

Happy eating and best health,

Dr. G

]]> https://www.cookingwithdrg.com/2017/12/04/ma-the-meatless-loaf/feed/ 0 580 https://www.cookingwithdrg.com/2017/10/18/nothing-goes-to-waste-vegetable-broth/ https://www.cookingwithdrg.com/2017/10/18/nothing-goes-to-waste-vegetable-broth/#comments Thu, 19 Oct 2017 01:58:58 +0000 http://www.cookingwithdrg.com/?p=563 Making your own vegetable broth, in my opinion (and it is my blog, so my opinion counts) is on the list of things that all adults “should know how to do”.  Other things on that list include: how to open a bottle of wine without a corkscrew (you know, for emergencies), change a tire, operate a grill (might have burned my eyebrows off once), how to do your taxes, parallel park, drive a stick (nope, can’t do that one), swim…etc.   Since we are entering soup and stew season this the perfect time to learn how to make a delicious vegetable broth.

Making your own vegetable broth is on that “should know” list for me because I eat a ton of vegetables, probably a  literal ton, and I can’t bring myself to let all of those little vegetable ends and scraps go to waste.

The ingredients here are simple: water, salt, vegetable scraps, and maybe a bay leaf if you are feeling fancy.  If you have been cooking plant based foods at home, I know that you have vegetable scraps!  Here is what you do:  keep a large ziplock bag or some other covered container in your freezer and every day throw your carrot ends, tomato tops, mushroom stems, wilted scallions and herbs, celery leaves and ends, etc into the bag, and then put it in back in the freezer.  When you have collected about 8 cups or so of vegetable scraps make some broth with it, and then start your collection over.  The broth will freeze well; I make mine into ice cubes and defrost them as needed. My favorite part is that the flavors and colors of this broth are always a little bit different since there is no set amounts of which kinds of vegetables go into the broth.

That said there are some vegetables that I try to collect more of then others.  These include:  tomatoes, onions/scallions, mushrooms, carrots, celery, and garlic.

There are also some that I usually avoid: starchy vegetables, hot peppers, and beets (turns the broth red).

And a few that I use in smaller amounts: purple onions (turns the broth purple if you use too much),  Brussels sprouts/cabbage (in large amounts make the broth bitter), herbs, and ginger.

Now that you can make your own broth you are going to have the best soup and stew season ever!!!

Happy eating and best health,

Dr. G

This recipe has a special place in the overwhelming masses of pumpkin spice recipes; this one is actually healthy.

I was at Trader Joe’s recently (Love that store! Not sponsored, wish I was…) and was browsing the pumpkin spice products throughout the store.  I found a ton of pumpkin spice flavored things including coffee, granola bark covered in dark chocolate, cookies, tortilla chips, pastries, breads, cinnamon rolls, cereals, ice cream, and even salsa.  It all looked delicious, but most of it, not exactly healthy.  One thing that I did get (ok, one of the things that I got) was pumpkin spiced pumpkin seeds, AMAZING.  I actually wish that I had them when I made this recipe the first time, and will definitely be adding them in the future, like tomorrow morning.  Anyway, here is a healthy pumpkin spice way to start your day:

BTW our classic pumpkin pie spices cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves have a ton of antioxidant power.  I happen to find this video entertaining because Dr. Greger basically is telling you to eat this recipe, click here to learn more.  I hope you all are having a lovely fall so far.  Check out some of my other pumpkin recipes to celebrate the season even more (currently in my featured posts)!  And, you might want this pumpkin spiced latte to go with your oats.

Happy eating and best health,

Dr. G

By the way, I have one rule about making a salad as a meal; it must have something warm in it.  If everything is cold, it just doesn’t feel like a meal to me.  I can’t explain it, but something about a cooked element in a salad makes it more hearty, or satisfying, or something.  So for this salad, I like to use piping hot quinoa right off the stove.  The good news is that you can get the rest of the dish together in about the time it takes to make the quinoa.  Nailed it!

The colors are deep and the antioxidants are rich.  I need more of this kind of food in my life!

Take a peek:

I am a huge fan of the idea of “eating the rainbow”.  This refers to eating a wide variety of foods of all different colors, textures, shapes, and sizes.  Of course, I prefer for these foods to be plant based ones, and honestly there aren’t any green or purple animal based foods for example, but you do you.  The idea behind eating a wide variety of different colored foods is to increase your overall intake of nutrients, minerals, and these plant based compounds called phytochemicals.  All plant based foods different have kinds of phytochemicals.  Phytochemicals have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects on human cells (and probably many other effects through different processes that we are still learning about).

So what’s the big deal with these purple/blue foods?   In particular purple/blue colored foods have a phytochemical called anthocyanidin, which produces the natural purple/blue color.  This particular phytochemical is a polyphenol that can cross the blood brain barrier, so can act as an antioxidant in the brain…cool right?  It happens to be unique in its ability to do this, at least as far as we know right now.  Antioxidants help to slow the rate of aging of cells, which means that they will function better for longer.  In the case of the brain, foods high in anthocyanidins help to preserve memory and decrease rates of dementia.  Check out this video to learn more.

I hope this recipe is one that helps you get more of these anthocyanidins in your diet!

Happy eating and best health,

Dr. G

While on a trip with my family earlier this summer, we ate at an Italian restaurant that happened to have a mushroom risotto on the menu.  I asked for the chef to make it without cheese (though it did still have chicken broth…compromise people), and it turned out to be a hit.  Even without the cheese it was creamy and so satisfying.  My family members were all asking for a taste.  When I got home, I decided that I had to recreate this recipe.

The ingredients seemed simple enough, arborrio rice, mushrooms, broth…and truffles.  Fresh truffles cost an arm and a leg, and I knew that I would never be able to use the whole thing.  I have some truffle salt that I picked up on a trip to Chelsea Market in NYC, but I wanted a strong truffle flavor without adding a ton of salt.  So the hunt for truffle oil began…

Luckily, a few days after I got back from my trip, I went on a mini-vacation for the 4th of July.  I was visiting Portsmouth, NH for the long weekend and found a specialty food shop that happened to have some black truffle infused olive oil.  Score!  I also found lots of fun plant based treats, all kinds of teas, and a local market that sells my favorite deodorant (Schmidt’s) while I was strolling around Portsmouth.  Anyway, the truffle oil worked perfectly for this dish, so that is what I am going to use in the recipe below.  If you can’t find truffle oil in your local store, check out Amazon.com.  They sell everything there.  If you are looking for an oil free option, try to find a truffle salt (since you will have to add some salt to this dish anyway), minced jarred black truffles, or fresh truffles if you can get your hands on them.

Behold this glorious dish:

While you are on the hunt for truffle oil, try to find some brown Arborrio rice as well (they have that on Amazon.com too, I checked).  Brown rice is better than white rice for our waistlines, blood sugar, and cardiovascular health.  Check out this video for more details.

Happy eating and best health,

Dr. G

This recipe makes a pretty large yield, which you will be thanking me for because you will definitely want leftovers. Leftovers heat up well, are also great cold, or as a topper for salad.