Category Archives: Recipes

Hand holding Pistachio Oat Square

Pistachio Oat Cookie Bar Squares

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Pistachio Oat Squares on counter

Chocolate and Coconut + 6 = Easy~Quick~Yummy

These delicious Pistachio Oat Cookie Bar Squares can easily be made vegan and gluten-free and are so pretty!  Plus super quick and easy to make with only 8 ingredients including chocolate and coconut.  They’re quite different from your typical holiday cookie, and yes they do stand out in a cookie crowd!  Extra bonus they’re much healthier than your typical holiday cookie, but believe me no one will taste them and be disappointed.  Let’s talk about that…

Pistachios are among the highest protein and lowest-calorie nut

Pistachios for Pistachio Oat Squares Recipe

These squares are adapted from a recipe in Jessica Murname’s wonderful book titled “One Part Plant”.  Raw pistachios and oats are the main ingredients.  Did you know pistachios are one of the most Vitamin B-6 rich foods around?  Vitamin B-6 is helpful for blood sugar regulation and formation of hemoglobin.  They’re also a good source of potassium and antioxidants, are among the highest protein and lowest-calorie nut, and their essential amino acid content is higher than any other nut–one of them being L-arginine which converts to nitric oxide in our body.  Nitric oxide helps our vessels dilate improving blood flow.

Continue reading Pistachio Oat Cookie Bar Squares →

Chocolate Pumpkin Bread~Vegan and Gluten-Free

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Oh Yum, this delicious bread is so moist and chocolaty!  Pumpkin puree gives it a nice richness, and cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger add a mild but lovely spiciness.  This is my first time baking with chickpea based gluten-free flour and I’m really happy with the texture and flavor.

Chocolate Pumpkin Bread in Red Loaf Pan

Continue reading Chocolate Pumpkin Bread~Vegan and Gluten-Free →

Chicken … er, I mean CHICKPEA Salad!

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Heart healthy Chickpea Salad on Toast

This delicious plant-based salad is much like traditional chicken salad.   In fact, after I mashed the chickpeas I got this lovely aroma that was remarkably like chicken!  Bill didn’t believe me until I made him stick his nose in the bowl too and he was equally surprised and agreed.  Of course it doesn’t have the texture of chicken salad but it does have a similar flavor and a lovely texture with a lot of crunchy veggies.

It lends itself to all kinds of possible variations I think using different spices such as tarragon or curry, sweet pickle instead of dill (or even jalapeno!), grapes instead of red pepper, etc. Continue reading Chicken … er, I mean CHICKPEA Salad! →

Berry Pie with Pecan-Sunflower Crust

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plant-based and heart-healthy berry pie with pecan-sunflower crust topped with blueberries and blackberries

My “How Not to Die” Pie

I LOVE cookbooks and was excited when my brand new copy of Dr. Greger’s “The How Not to Die Cookbook” arrived the other day!  It’s really a beautiful book.  The The How Not To Die Cookbookpages are thick and the pictures are gorgeous, but most importantly the recipes look both amazing and heart-healthy.

Like a short story, a good recipe can put us in a delightful trance. ~ Bee Wilson, The New Yorker

As I thumbed through the book, this pie just jumped right out at me as something I had to make right away.  What to do??  Invite the neighbors for a healthy plant-based dinner!  Julie Soup and home baked cornbread, and finished with this lovely pie–it was a definite winner.  The crust is so delicious, the first bite immediately inspired ideas for other pies or bars.  And the filling … yum!  It has a wonderful texture with a hint of lemon which pairs so well with the berries. Continue reading Berry Pie with Pecan-Sunflower Crust →

Chana Masala

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“Quick & Easy Chana Masala”
from Oh She Glows

heart healthy chana masala over rice

I just made Chana Masala for the first time, and I’m so happy to have discovered this recipe because it’s exceedingly heart healthy and delicious!   A dish popular in India and around the world, made with chickpeas, onions and spices, it’s flavorful and satisfying.  Chickpeas are loaded with protein and cholesterol-lowering fiber, and are a great source of folate, manganese, iron and magnesium.

“What you eat can fuel or cool inflammation.” 

~Harvard Health Publications

Plus this dish contains garlic, ginger and turmeric–some of the top anti-inflammatory foods and spices!  We know inflammation plays a role in heart disease, heart attack and Continue reading Chana Masala →