Derek's Simple Recipes

Derek, from the YouTube channel Well Your World, recently did a video entitled What I Eat In A Day. Being a successful McDougaller, you know whatever he makes is within the good doctor's guidelines.



In it he does 3 different starch-based meals that are quick and easy to make.

The Breakfast Potatoes used russets that he cooked overnight in the Instant Pot (but you can use them straight from the refrigerator, too), a bell pepper, and a diced onion. That's it!

Lunch was something he called Starch Blaster, made with 2 different types of lentils and a slew of other starches, like rice, even pasta. He also used those dehydrated mixed veggies. I usually keep those on hand during the winter to make soups and stews (Jeff Novick does, too, year round) and I'm always looking for more uses for them, they're so cheap and convenient. This stew concoction looks like it'll fill the bill nicely.

The last recipe is still starch based but is a bit heavier on veggies. He did this purposely because he was so starch heavy for the other 2 meals. He sautes up a bunch of various non-starchy veggies (onion, cauliflower, zucchini, celery, zucchini, and what looks like enoki mushrooms and tiny eggplants he got at the Asian grocery store). Make a batch of rice, a big batch of a nutritional yeast cheese sauce, mixes them all together and tosses them in a casserole dish and bakes it.

Looks like I have a few new simple recipes to try in the near future!

Jeff Nelson Video - Do Nutrients Matter?

Webinar Already Available

With most on-line interviews done live, it takes a few days to have the replay available. Today's webinar with Dr. McDougall was available live on YouTube and then immediately available for replay:

Quarterly Review of Biology Article

During today's webinar Dr. McDougall mentioned a "birthday gift" he got - an article entitled "The Importance of Dietary Carbohydrate in Human Evolution" that was printed in the July 2015 issue of the Quarterly Review of Biology Just click on the title of the article to go to the Journal's web page where you can get the article for free.

Dr. Doug Lisle and Chef AJ (revised)

Remember this blog post, where Dr. McDougall and Jeff Novick both chime in on why eating a mostly-vegetable diet isn't such a good idea? Well, last week Chef AJ had a teleconference with Dr. Doug Lisle, and besides repeating things he mentioned in his other videos, such as The Willpower Paradox, Losing Weight Without Losing Your Mind, The Continuum of Evil, and even Forks Over Knives: The Extended Interviews, he mentioned how important it is to your brain function to get some carbs/starches in early in the day, preferably first thing in the morning. 

Hear for yourself:



I do have to agree with Dr Doug, and have even argued with others who are following UWL program who were eating only veggies until dinner time. Even Chef AJ has mentioned that you can eat starches at breakfast , just make sure to get your veggies in first. She says, that yeah, if you're not satisfied with those 100+ calories (or 200+, if you get all the required 2 pounds in at this time) of green veggies then go ahead and eat some starch, unlike what Dr Lisle (And Dr McDougall) say, which is that the starch is more important and you should make sure to have that before anything else, like veggies.

Let's all don our Starchivore t-shirts and hats and proudly eat those spuds! LOL

VeganMoFo Day 4 - Ana's Amazing Vegetable Combination

Another Esselstyn recipe today. Don't worry - a McDougall recipe is coming tomorrow. :)

A simple stir-fry, with a twist:

Ana’s Amazing Vegetable Combination
Makes 6 servings

Ana, who grew up in Lithuania,on a plant-based diet, shared this unusual recipe which, as she says, "just works!" We agree. - The Esselstyns

1 large onion, chopped (1 cup)
vegetable broth, water or wine
4 ribs celery, chopped (1 cup)
4 carrots, chopped
15-ounce can chickpeas (1 1/2 cups), drained and rinsed
16 ounce package frozen peas, thawed under running water

1) In a non-stick saucepan, stir-fry onion in broth, water or wine until softened, then add celery and carrots.

2) Blend peas in a food processor until smooth.

3) Add chickpeas and plended pea mixture to onions. Stir, heat, and serve over brown rice or eat plain.

Note: If almost any recipe needs thickening, blended frozen peas will do the trick. They are a magic ingredient!

Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease
page 232
Caldwell Esselstyn, MD and Ann Crile Esselstyn

*~*~*

All the chopped veggies in the pan

Chopping, chopping and more chopping. This time I got my husband into the act and had him peel the carrots. Sure, it took him longer to do one carrot than it took me to wash, peel and chop everything else, but it gave him something to do. Now that he's starting to feel human again he's bored and still depressed because there's not much he's allowed or capable of doing yet, but at least he can peel carrots. If I make this again, I'd probably just chunk the veggies and toss them into a food processor and pulse into little bits.

The onions cooked up fast enough, but the carrots a while to soften. One of the hazards of using non-stick pans - you can't go above medium-high heat so things take longer to cook.

I couldn't resist tossing in a handful of torn baby spinach when I added the garbanzos.

Grain mix in the rice cooker

Photo from Vitacost page

I bought a bag of Nature's Earthly Choice Three Continent Blend grains (quinoa, amaranth, brown rice and wild rice) and made up a batch. Nice taste and cooks up quick in my rice cooker. The sauced veggies were served over this.


Now came time to whirl up the peas and toss them in. Directions said "until smooth," but even with adding a bit of water, this is as smooth as my food processor got them, about the consistency of ice cream. They did liquify a bit when mixed with the water in the skillet.

And here's what it all looked like fully cooked, at serving:

Ann's recipe says it makes six servings, but even with my husband's poor appetite right now, the most it made was 4 - my husband and I each had a serving, our son took only a few forkfuls before deciding he didn't like it, and I put away around 2 cups of the veggie combo for lunch leftovers. All I can say is thank heaven for the grain mix adding the bulk because otherwise this would be just one serving each for the two of us. Dr. McDougall is right - starches make the meal. Without them, we would have been very hungry the rest of the night.

But how did it taste? If it wasn't for the peas it would have no taste at all. There was a hint of celery, a veg we're not too fond of to begin with, and although my organic carrots were delicious raw they lost their flavor in the cooking. The grain mix was alright, but I've had Lundburg mixes that were heavier and more flavorful - and cheaper - than this stuff.

But the final opinion on them - My husband asked I not make this ever again, and said the leftovers are mine, he'll find something else to eat for lunch. Oh, well. I have another Esselstyn stir-fry planned for Thursday's dinner. I hope that one goes over better.