The Chef and The Dietitian-Episode 27-Oil-Free Balsamic Vinaigrette

Love salads? Chef AJ and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE salads. Dressing makes the salad. Here is an easy, delicious oil-free dressing you can use to help you gobble up a shock-n-awe-sized salad!!!

Bringing "Plant-Based" to the Masses

It is now edging towards the later side of 2011. We still have a worldwide epidemic of obesity and chronic disease. Medical costs are literally bankrupting our nation...even though nobody is getting better by using the medications and procedures that absorb all of that money. Cancer is no longer the "C word" due to its overshadowing prevalence. Type 2 diabetes now occurs in eight percent of the population! A third of the U.S. population is overweight. 34% of the population is obese, 6% of which are "extremely obese."

But...despite the concern of hopelessness...

We indeed have a solution...

And the world is starting to listen...

Miracles occurred when we at EarthSave, Int. took 20+ participants, clients of the Sacramento Food Bank, through a Dr. McDougall-style plant-based program for 30 days...

The results? Multiple year-long medication prescriptions were halted, energy skyrocketed, weight and cholesterol levels plummeted, blood pressure normalized, morale was lifted, etc., etc.

A documentary about plant-based nutrition soared at nationwide box-offices...Forks Over Knives was the first full-length feature film on the topic to make it to dinner table talk. And the companion book officially made the New York Times Bestseller List.







Look where we have come! Vegan and veg-friendly restaurants continued to grow and thrive. Vegan cookbooks were hitting the shelves with a gusto...People like President Bill Clinton, Steve Wynn, and Twitter creator, Biz Stone, went plant-based.

To sum up the success and take people to the next level, I made an infotainment documentary with award-winning  filmmaker extraordinaire, Jesse Pomeroy, which has just released to DVD. To Your Health is best summed up as a fun and fast-paced "journey into the Plant-Based World."

To Your Health is an in-depth study of whole food, plant-based nutrition, debunking the most common myths associated with modern nutrition. Exploring your need for protein, calcium, supplements, metabolism, and other issues, To Your Health provides answers to your biggest questions.







Follow me as I travel the country to interview the biggest names in the Plant-Based World including Dr. T. Colin Campbell (The China Study), Dr. Joel Fuhrman (Eat to Live), Dr. John McDougall (The McDougall Program), Dr. Neal Barnard (Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine), and Dr. Pam Popper (the Wellness Forum), and many more including Brendan Brazier, Chef AJ, and Mike Anderson. My travels take me from Cornell University and the countryside of New Jersey to the San Francisco Bay and the far reaches of Central California. I visit the benevolent haven that is Farm Sanctuary along with incredible restaurants like Millennium and The Veggie Grill. This fun and entertaining journey is full of life-changing information and hope for a future of better health for all. 


Here is the trailer:

In addition, I wrote my first book...The Complete Idiot's Guide to Plant-Based Nutrition. It is the perfect resource for anyone curious or forehead-deep in plant-based nutrition. The book covers the entire lifespan-from pregnancy and infancy to seniors; all health and fitness levels (including those diagnosed with any of multiple chronic diseases to elite athletes); and varying degrees of experience with plant-based nutrition. There are also 40+ recipes, a chapter on stocking your kitchen and even one on exercise.



My second book is a cookbook which I co-authored with an incredibly talented chef, Beverly Lynn Bennett. Titled The Complete Idiot's Guide to Gluten-Free Vegan Cooking, you will find recipes for extraordinary items like gluten-free vegan sausages, biscuits, cakes, and more. Look for it on shelves on December 6th.

Let's continue to bring plant-based to the forefront of the masses. The timing is perfect and many curious people are finally piquing an interest. We are at the tip of the tipping point...let us take a stand and stop the destruction of our population and everything in its way...

*To Your Health* DVDs are Now Available

Be among the first to see this informative, entertaining film as I, the Plant-Based Dietitian, take you on a journey into the Plant-Based World. Order your copy at www.GoingVeg.net. Sale price is $19.99 (Shipping and Sales Tax included).

Enjoy the film that “Skinny Bitch” co-author Rory Freedman says is ”Fun, fast-moving, and informative, (it) gets right to the point with the leading experts of the plant-based world…” and “Earthlings” producer Shaun Monson proclaims “is so compelling. Every interview is pure truth, not commercially motivated. The film truly lives up to its name…it’s to YOUR health!”

Get healthy, get informed, get To Your Health on DVD!!!

The Chef and The Dietitian-Episode 26-Quinoa Salad

Fresh, fragrant herbs and sweet currants mixed with crunchy pistachios and hearty quinoa...voila...the perfect salad! Join Chef AJ and I as we show you how to make her Quinoa Salad with Currants and Pistachios, found in her delicious book Unprocessed. Quinoa is considered a super-grain, with its abundance of essential amino acids, fiber, folate, manganese, magnesium, and iron. Also gluten-free, its versatility qualifies it as a pantry staple!

The Chef and The Dietitian-Episode 25-Pear Creme Anglais

A follow-up to Episode 24 "Balsamic Strawberries," Chef AJ takes it to the next level when she turns pears into a light, sweet, whole food whipped cream! This elegant dessert will fancify any meal and impress your guests...

The Chef and The Dietitian-Episode 24-Balsamic Strawberries

For the first time, Chef AJ introduced me to a semi-popular dessert dish I had never been interested in trying...Balsamic Strawberries. Actually, I was surprisingly pleased! Learn a bit about organic produce a la the Environmental Working Group's Clean 15 and Dirty Dozen and how to add an easy twist to fresh fruit for dessert...

The Joy of Eating

My dear friend, Ciddy Fonteboa, is a passionate animal rights activist. She is driven by compassion and has a pure, energetic soul that is utterly contagious! I met Ciddy when she asked me to speak in the Healthy Hut at Worldfest 2011 in Los Angeles, CA, which she gallantly produced. Clips of the event are intertwined in this fun and fabulous video she has created. Get ready for a mouth-watering, awe-inspiring few moments where you can see how and why to go deliciously veg! You can learn more about Ciddy on her Facebook page and You-Tube page while her blog, Lady Uproar, is being developed. I dare you to watch this without getting hungry and inspired...

Evolving Backwards

And with seeing and being reminded comes…inspiration…each image of animals being treated with apathy in the most horrific manners…manners in which are impossible to imagine how a human could conceive of them-let alone implement and perpetuate them. And yet, they do…and these events continue to the tune of billions of animals per year in the United States alone.

And with hearing an expert in ecology comes…terror…the stab of shocking inescapable doom we are instigating by the shear consumption of massive quantities of animal-based products. We are literally eating ourselves into the next extinction.

As “evolved” thinking primates, one of the defining features we ought to boast is the ability to learn from our mistakes and ameliorate the choices that led to the ultimate poor results. And yet…have we? Is history not repeating itself? How many mass extinctions have occurred in history? Have you ever considered that we-in our evolved, learned culture-could repeat a catastrophic end of humanity as we know it?

And yet...here we are…right smack in the midst of a cataclysmic downward spiral. The more animal products we consume, the more inane senseless torture of sentient, innocent creatures, the more destruction of our air, soil, land, waters, loss of biodiversity, and then some. Oh yes…how can I forget? As a healthcare professional, I directly witness the impact of animal food consumption in my daily practice. I also happen to experience utter miraculous transformations regularly when people cease their consumption of animal products…as my sick clients get healthy, medications get put back in the medicine cabinet permanently, athletes beat their personal bests, and everyone in between thrives. 

Our fork determines our future like nothing else. Politics, powerful medications, advances in medical procedures, are laughable when you consider and witness the impact of the food that you eat. It is time we all recognize the blatantly obvious…we know too much now…there is no way out. As our 6.5 billion global population ensues, we are literally eating our planet…and we will soon be left with nothing…tick tock. What will you do? Knowledge is command…we are officially at the tipping point. Will we survive? We have the solution…but will we learn from our mistakes? Or will we remain safely protected in our blissful bubble…tick tock…choose wisely…

4th of July Chili

If you like fireworks, this chili will fire up your taste buds and give you a great kick to celebrate America's birthday! Enjoy the spice, color, texture, and festivities with this nutrient-dense delicious dish. 

Yield: 5 cups

1 medium onion, diced

2 cups red bell pepper, diced

1 cup carrots, chopped

1 jalapeno pepper, ribs and seeds removed, and finely diced

1-2 cloves garlic, minced

2 cups vegetable broth (or water)

1 (15-oz.) can kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 (15-oz.) can garbanzo beans

1 (15-oz.) can black beans

1 cup corn kernals

1 (14-oz.) can crushed tomatoes

2 TB. maple syrup

1 TB. chili powder

1 tsp. dried oregano

1 tsp. dried basil

1 tsp. ground cumin

1/2 tsp. ground black pepper

1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper

Zest and juice of 1 lime

[1/3] cup chopped fresh cilantro (optional)

1.     In a medium pot, combine onion, bell pepper, carrots, jalapeno pepper, garlic, and 1/2 cup vegetable broth, and sauté over medium heat, stirring often, for 10 minutes.

2.     Add remaining broth, kidney, garbanzo, and black beans,  corn, crushed tomatoes, maple syrup, chili powder, oregano, basil, cumin, pepper, cayenne, and lime juice/zest. Stir continuously to combine. Increase heat to high, and bring to a boil.

3.     Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Remove from heat. Stir in cilantro. Serve hot with cornbread or brown rice.