Plant-Friendly Holiday Eats & Treats

Since we are in the middle of some pretty foodie holidays, it seems appropriate to share information on cooking for the holidays! Holidays do not have to throw health goals to the wind, or sacrifice taste or tradition. You can leave animals off your plate and experience a different sense of gratitude with a no harm, “no fowl” holiday season.

Following are some ideas for books that make it easy to please even a meat-loving crowd and easy vegan substitutions. To this day, I have never missed the turkey or ham "centerpiece," or favorite holiday treat thanks to awesome resources such as these. The holidays are about so much more than the food, but you can still make magical culinary memories. 

The Superfun Times Vegan Holiday Cookbook by Isa Chandra Moskowitz (vegan)

The Superfun Times Vegan Holiday Cookbook by Isa Chandra Moskowitz sings an awesome plant-based tune for holidays throughout the year. This is my main go-to holiday cookbook and it veganizes dozens of holiday favorites. Aside from helping me create healthier versions of my faves, that everyone can enjoy, this may just be one of my most favorite cookbooks of all time. The book totally lives up to its title. There are cool takes on old classics and rich, creamy options, and insanely good desserts that will carry you through Thanksgiving, Hanukkah and Christmas, straight through New Years (and beyond!).

The most seemingly daunting part of planning a vegan (or any) holiday meal can be the centerpiece dish. Many sides are generally plant-centric to start so those transitions feel a little less far off when you're a newbie (in my experience) and Isa Chandra has sooooo many delicious options to take your favorites vegan. So what do you do for a main course? Check out some of these gems from Superfun Times!

• Stuffing - There is no shame in making one of the most beloved staples of holiday tables the main course. Isa Chandra has two delicious options - Cornbread Stuffing with Goji Berries & Fennel and the Super Traditional Stuffing. She even has a recipe to turn your stuffing into a holiday burger!

• Winter Squash Cups with Wild Rice, Hazelnuts & Cherries

• Double Batch Chickpea Cutlets

• Roast Stuffed with Leeks & Shiitakes

• Lattkes! Isa Chandra has an assortment of Hanukkah Lattkes in a variety of flavors from Classic to Samosa Spiced.

• Green Falafels

• Cholent with Porcinis & Kidney Beans

• Lentil Tamales with Mole Rojo

• Bean Bourguignon

• Sorta Classic Pot Pie

• Epic Eggplant Lasagna

• Spinach & Pinenut Cheesy Roast

• Blood Orange Glazed Tofu

Many of Isa Chandra’s recipes use oil in cooking - I tend to cook without oil and I definitely found ways to adjust recipes to be oil-free. It really depends on the recipe how you adjust it. Here are some ideas:

• When sautéing, replace oil with a couple splashes of water or vegetable broth in a nonstick pan (and keep a bit close for quick replenishing!).

• When baking or roasting in the oven, you can omit the oil all together.

• An air fryer (no oil) is another great way to get more of a deep fried texture with no oil, when appropriate.

• In cooking (versus baking), when oil is called for within the recipe, you can often omit it without missing it or replace it with water or vegetable broth, or bit of nut butter for a creamier substitution (like cashew or almond), to keep up the moisture.

• In baking there are soooo many great options – applesauce, mushed bananas, canned pumpkin or squash, nut butters, or you can increase a bit of non-dairy milk and liquid sweetener (like maple syrup).

(Why would I cook without oil? We'll explore this more in future posts, but I prefer to get healthy fats from whole food sources like nuts, seeds, beans, avocados and olives directly, where you get the benefit of the whole food, not just a concentrated, isolated portion. Oils may come from plant foods, but it doesn't quite mean they are an everyday health food.) 

The more you work with new ingredients, the easier it will be to eye which tastes replace well and how much to use. You may not want to experiment for the first time on your holiday meals, so consider doing some testing in advance. Last holiday season I made a number of these recipes no oil and they were still crazy delicious. Following the recipe to a T will also surely satisfy your holiday taste buds or check out the next book that is entirely whole food plant-based (no oil and all). 

(One more quick note - if you're interested, be sure to check the Apple iBooks and Amazon Kindle prices to get it quicker and at the time of posting both had great prices!)

Happy Herbivore Holidays & Gatherings by Lindsay S. Nixon (whole food, plant-based)

Happy Herbivore Lindsay Nixon is the queen of simple, delicious, wholesome, affordable whole food, plant-based recipes. I was ecstatic when this holiday cookbook came out as Lindsay makes any dish easy to prepare without worrying about the animal products or oil, and she's great about making it easy to follow with super common ingredients and early preparation tips for a smooth holiday. HH Holidays & Gatherings has a quick icon key to help you recognize which recipes will take less than 30 minutes, which are or can be gluten or soy free, those you can prep for or make ahead, and which travel well. Awesomeness. This book will help you cover the winter holidays in a simple, delicious, budget-friendly way and keep on reading to check out ideas for other special occasions throughout the year such as casual parties, brunch, romantic and kid-approved occasions, Easter and Passover.

Happy Herbivore also has you covered for holiday main course magic. Dishes to check out -

• Thanksgiving Loaf

• Stuffed Acorn Squash

• Portabello Pot Roast

• Swedish "Meatballs"

• West African Peanut Stew

• Lasagna

These first two books aren't all main courses - make sure to check out their ideas for sides and desserts! MMM! :) 

Vegan Chocolate: Unapologetically Luscious and Decadent Dairy-Free Desserts
by Fran Costigan (vegan)

If you want to go whole next level with your vegan (holiday and any day) desserts, Fran Costigan can take you there. Vegan Chocolate has a huge assortment of recipes for chocolate cakes, truffles, cookies, frozen desserts, pies, tarts, puddings and beyond. Vegan dreams are made of these desserts;). Fran's recipes generally take more ingredients and perhaps more effort than generally needed for the earlier two books but if you're more of a dessert foodie and like a challenge with a big reward, Vegan Chocolate can bring you some serious holiday joy.

Ok, now that we have dessert out of our system, back to the centerpiece. One of my favorite plant-based chefs, Dreena Burton of Plant-Powered Kitchen, posted some mouth-watering recipes for the holiday season main courses this year. If you're not ready to purchase a book, here's a quick click to check out Dreena and a few plant-centered holiday recipes - Instead of Turkey by Plant-Powered Kitchen. [Also if you're looking for an oil free pie crust, this was my go to for all pies last year (regardless of the filling author!) - Dreena's The Great Pumpkin Pie! I've never made anything from Dreena's recipe file that I haven't loved!]

While I always have preferred some of the heartier bean/veggie/nut/grain based main courses for the holidays, there are still some great options that more closely resemble a traditional turkey or ham if that's your preference. Almost any local major grocery or health food store will have options, including Trader Joe's and, of course, Whole Foods is a great one to shop for many of the vegan meat products on the market. Keep an eye out for products from Field Roast and Tofurky for particularly holiday centered offerings like faux turkey, ham, or sausages. Although if you're gluten-free or soy-free or have any allergy or sensitivity, be sure to check ingredients before you purchase. Many of these types of products are made with wheat or soy.

One more note! If you aren't quite ready to make a full plant-based meal yourself, Whole Foods has started making entire vegan feasts that you can order. They sold out early for Thanksgiving, so be sure to visit their website or call soon if you're interested in the whole holiday package! The meal includes: Mustard-Glazed Cauliflower, Lentil-Mushroom Stuffing, "Cheesy" Rutabaga and Potato Mash, Sauerkraut-Roasted Rainbow Carrots, Chocolate Toffee Mini Cake. The following link will take you to the online order form, you may need to make sure your page is set to your local Santa Barbara Whole Foods, however, before you order.

• Whole Foods Vegan Holiday Vegan Meal for 2 ($39.99)

Wishing you a hearty, healthy, yummy, veggie-filled end to 2017! Enjoy!

Top 10 Reasons to Eat More Plants - #1 Plants Have Your Back

No one can guarantee us perfect health, and let’s face it, the nutrition news out there makes it increasingly confusing to guide our own habits towards our best intentioned health goals. But if there’s one thing we can be sure of, plants have our back.

Fiber. Antioxidants. Energy. Protein (YES PROTEIN!:)). Vital Nutrients. Healthy Fats. Plant foods tilt the balance away from chronic disease and conditions and towards optimal health. It seems like nearly every chronic and debilitating disease becomes more and more common with each passing year – including heart disease, diabetes, cancer, Alzheimer's, and autoimmune diseases. And at the same time, the American diet has become more and more centered around animal products, as both the main course and the cherry on top (cheese, right?).

The two documentaries shared in the BASICS page – Forks Over Knives and What the Health – are must sees, in my humble opinion. Both of these movies introduce how research shows plants have our backs. “Food as medicine” is still not the medical mainstream (*see the end of the post for more on this) but the evidence and energy behind focusing on dietary shifts towards plant-based foods is growing and these documentaries will start to show you why. Yes, you can go online and find all sorts of opinions to dispute the message of these movies (but it’s important to understand where these disputing arguments resources come from – just as it is important to understand the sources behind information presented in each movie - What the Health actually lists theirs out in detail on their website). So before you dig in to the internet, it’s worth taking some time to listen to these pointed messages about how complicated our health and food systems have become and they both offer a healthy dose of optimism on how to fix it.

Forks Over Knives was one of my own early resources in getting to understand plant-based eating and What the Health felt like the bookend on much of what I’ve learned and experienced these past several years. Check them out if you like and see what you think. Free on Netflix (yay!) but they can also be rented through the links below for each film.

Forks Over Knives - The Trailer

The feature film Forks Over Knives examines the profound claim that most, if not all, of the degenerative diseases that afflict us can be controlled, or even reversed, by rejecting animal-based and processed foods. http://www.forksoverknives.com/

Here's a link to the full description - Forks Over Knives - following is a great intro from the Forks Over Knives peeps on the basis of the movie:

 "Two out of every three of us are overweight. Cases of diabetes are exploding, especially amongst our younger population. About half of us are taking at least one prescription drug. Major medical operations have become routine, helping to drive health care costs to astronomical levels. Heart disease, cancer and stroke are the country’s three leading causes of death, even though billions are spent each year to 'battle' these very conditions. Millions suffer from a host of other degenerative diseases.

Could it be there’s a single solution to all of these problems? A solution so comprehensive, but so straightforward, that it’s mind-boggling that more of us haven’t taken it seriously?

Forks Over Knives examines the profound claim that most, if not all, of the degenerative diseases that afflict us can be controlled, or even reversed, by rejecting our present menu of animal-based and processed foods. The major storyline in the film traces the personal journeys of a pair of pioneering yet under-appreciated researchers, Dr. T. Colin Campbell and Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn...."

As you'll see, both Dr. Campbell and Dr. Esselstyn give detailed accounts of how they became convinced and passionate about plant-based nutrition by sharing each of their personal and professional journeys. Dr. Campbell's work began in the research realm, in the field and in the lab, as he saw convincing associations between animal-based proteins and increasing (and carcinogenic) activity in promoting disease, while Dr. Esselstyn's interest started in practice, which then led to research when, as a surgeon, he wanted to move past treatment and help the next person avoid unhealthy fates by focusing on prevention. Both the Esselstyns and the Campbells have many members of their families who are now advocating at all corners of the U.S. for plant-based nutrition, and it's inspiring to see how these families walk the walk and work to take concepts around plant-based eating and health more mainstream. 

What the Health - The Trailer

The health film health organizations don't want you to see. What the Health is the groundbreaking follow-up film from the creators of the award-winning documentary Cowspiracy. The film exposes the collusion and corruption in government and big business that is costing us trillions of healthcare dollars, and keeping us sick. www.whatthehealthfilm.com

Here is a link that will take you to the full background page - What the Health - and following I'll once again let the film pros tell you best about the premise to the film. Here's the synopsis from the What the Health team from their website: 

"What the Health is the groundbreaking follow-up film from the creators of the award winning documentary Cowspiracy. The film follows intrepid filmmaker Kip Andersen as he uncovers the secret to preventing and even reversing chronic diseases – and investigates why the nation’s leading health organizations don’t want us to know about it. With heart disease and cancer the leading causes of death in America, and diabetes at an all-time high, the film reveals possibly the largest health cover-up of our time. With the help of medical doctors, researchers, and consumer advocates, What the Health exposes the collusion and corruption in government and big business that is costing us trillions of healthcare dollars, and keeping us sick.

Join Kip as he tracks down the leading and most trusted American health nonprofits to find out why these groups are staying silent, despite a growing body of evidence. Audiences will be shocked to learn the insidious roles played by pharmaceutical companies, agribusiness, and processed animal food companies in the nation’s health, especially in the most vulnerable communities, and will cheer at the transformation and recovery of those who took their lives into their own hands.

What The Health is a surprising, and at times hilarious, investigative documentary that will be an eye-opener for everyone concerned about our nation’s health and how big business influences it."

It's complicated, right? What the Health explores many complex issues around nutrition and healthcare. These films have big messages that aren't always easy to digest right away. But their messages can add interesting perspectives to your own exploration and are detailed intros to concepts around plant-based nutrition. If you're hungry for more information, check out the resources on the BASICS page of this site as well as the books linked in the TOOLKIT – and of course we’ll keep exploring here on THE VINE! 

*Before we sign off on this post, one more note on something that may be on your mind as you read and explore these films. If plant-based nutrition is all that and a bag of (baked, oil-free) chips, really, why haven't you heard about the benefits of plant-based eating from your doctor? Well, that's a good question - we hope you are! And maybe you have! But if you haven't, these films discuss this topic and here are a couple of resources that explore this inquiry further, should you be interested.

• How Much Nutrition Education Do Doctors Get? by Michael Greger M.D./Nutritionfacts.org
• Why Don't More Doctors Practice Prevention? by Michael Greger M.D./Nutritionfacts.org

Just because your doctor isn't discussing plant-based nutrition with you, doesn't mean you shouldn't or couldn't discuss this with your doctor. And by no means am I sharing these to challenge trusting the nutrition guidance of your doctor - quite the opposite! They may not have experience with plant-based eating or it may not be on their radar, so if you're curious about working with your doctor to try nutritional interventions, doing your own research and bringing it with you is a great first step to see how it can compliment your current lifestyle or treatment plans. Getting more doctors talking about plant-based nutrition with their patients is super important, in my book. 

Now that you have some resources to help you learn more about how plants have you're back, ready for Reason #2? Comin' to you soon. But first we'll have a few tips and cooking resources for plant-based and vegan feasting for the holidays in my next post.

Start Anywhere

Welcome to Plant Based Santa Barbara! I’ve created this site to be a community-based resource for loving and living plant-based foods. As you will see, if you visit my ABOUT page, plant-based living has been a super personal and powerful transition for me, and one that did not happen overnight.

Since being on this new plant-based journey, there is a lot that’s surprised me. I’ve learned that plant-based nutrition is about taking your very best shot at a long-healthy life. There are no guarantees in life, but plant-based living is about controlling what you can control - what you eat - and allowing food to guide your health, rather than relying on a "safety net" that your genes have already entirely pre-determined your future and medicine will fix anything that ails you.

Eating more fruits and veggies isn't extreme. Reducing or eliminating animal-based foods isn't extreme. Chronic disease is extreme. Being at the mercy of medicine is extreme. Getting to the point of surgical interventions would be extreme. Right? Shifting (however big or small) to plant-based eating is about prevention and nourishment. Not dieting. And actually, in general on Plant Based Santa Barbara, I’m going to do my best to pull the word "diet" out of "plant-based diet," just so what we’re talking about is not confused with a fad diet. Because plant-based nutrition should not be confused with a fad diet.

The scientific and anecdotal evidence for the benefits of plant-based eating is rapidly growing as are the risks of eating high animal protein diets. If you're at all interested in exploring vegan or whole food plant-based eating, from a health perspective, there is a lot that will likely surprise you too.  I encourage you to review and reflect on the resources I’m sharing on this site as a reference point to spark your own research and discussions with your healthcare provider and family, or to add to your own personal exploration. Before making dietary changes, especially if you have a health concern or condition, it is important to consult with your doctor first. But you can bring your own research and questions when working with your health care team and you are your own best health advocate.

It’s equally important to plan your approach to get a range of nutrients. Not every plant-based food is a healthy one (think potato chips and French fries, for example – but baked, steamed, or air-fried potatoes, yes please!). Our bodies thrive best when we eat the rainbow of plant-based foods (not just a few favorites). Start anywhere! One entirely plant-based meal a day or a week, Meatless Mondays, or start by cycling out certain animal-based foods one at a time and replacing them colorful plant-foods. Take steps that work best for you. 

To help you think about where you might choose to start, I thought I’d take this opportunity to highlight some of the resources I’ve shared on THE BASICS page under THE ROOTS and tell you a bit about their authors. Scouring the endless sea of nutrition articles and resources (and product marketing) can make understanding what’s truly a healthy lifestyle a daunting and confusing endeavor…. Locally, particularly early on in my journey, I didn’t find a lot in the way of plant-based resources so my guides have been primarily been from outside of our community. The tides, however, are turning my friends! More resources are popping up locally and I can’t wait to highlight and share these with you too. But a great first step of action in getting to know plant-based nutrition theory is getting to know the basics and building your resource library from there, so here we go :)... Following are some really great quick, go-to resources now online that can give you a well-rounded introduction if you want to know the basics but aren’t quite ready to pick up a book yet.

• The Power Plate by the Physician’s Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) & PCRM’s Vegetarian Starter Kit

The Physician’s Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) is like the north star of plant-based nutrition. PCRM’s community includes some of the most knowledgeable and committed promoting preventative, nutrition-based medicine and they fiercely advocate for new, better models in research that eliminate the exploitation of animals. I’ve seen PCRM President Dr. Neal Barnard speak on their mission, and he presents this powerful cyclical connection between how the animal-based foods we eat can make us sick… which makes us more dependent on medical intervention and research… increasing our “reliance” on animal-based studies to solve these pressing and complex health issues (and why these types of studies aren’t always likely the most applicable to human health)… and how the more we objectify animals for our benefit, the more this continues to feed into the mentality that eating animals is ok and necessary, which coutninues to build our likelihood for developing a host of chronic diseases. So, you get the idea, it's sort of this cyclical trap. By changing the way we eat, we could potentially save ourselves and save the animals unnecessary harm. The two articles posted above and in THE BASICS are really comprehensive ways to help you frame how to approach a whole food, plant-based diet.

• T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies' Whole Food Plant-Based Diet Guide

The China Study by T. Colin Campbell PhD and Thomas Campbell MD was the first book I referenced for understanding chronic disease and nutrition, and once I saw how important this lifestyle change would be, I signed up for a three-part course through T. Colin Campbell’s Center for Nutrition Studies and eCornell to make sure I understood this perspective inside and out. I think I spent the entire three months with my eyes stretched in shock. And what I learned underscored what I was experiencing. The Center for Nutrition Studies website gives the full story on T. Colin Campbell’s research on nutrition from his background growing up on a dairy farm, to his early research that spurred him to dig deeper into connections he saw between animal-based protein and the stimulation of cancer growth, and his full realm of research that demonstrates the very strong association between what we eat and many chronic diseases (click here and here for background on the study and Dr. Campbell, respectively). The China Study itself is a really important read, but these resources on the Center’s website will give you a quick-read guide to get you going on how to get started eating more plant-based.

• Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About a Whole Food Plant-Based Diet & Your Daily Whole Food Plant Based Guide by Dr. Rosane Oliveira/UC Davis Integrative Medicine

UC Davis’s Integrative Medicine department is committed to promoting a whole-person approach to medicine and specifically focusing on plant-based nutrition which they “believe is the number one way to successfully prevent, halt or reverse serious health conditions such as obesity, hypertension, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.” Dr. Rosane Olivera, the founder of the department, has a great public-centered blog with easy-peasy recipes to enjoy plant-based foods.

• Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics - "Position of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics: Vegetarian Diets"

The “world’s largest organization of food and nutrition professionals,” the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, recently published a position paper on the benefits of vegetarian, including vegan, diets. (Happy dance!!) Following is their position statement, but check out the full article in the link above for their full position.

“It is the position of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics that appropriately planned vegetarian, including vegan, diets are healthful, nutritionally adequate, and may provide health benefits in the prevention and treatment of certain diseases. These diets are appropriate for all stages of the life cycle, including pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood, adolescence, older adulthood, and for athletes. Plant-based diets are more environmentally sustainable than diets rich in animal products because they use fewer natural resources and are associated with much less environmental damage.”

• VIDEO: Preventing & Treating the Most Dreaded Diseases with Diet by Michael Greger M.D. FACLM, NutritionFacts.org

And last, but most very certainly not least, is NutritionFacts.org under the leadership of Michael Greger MD FACLM. NutritionFacts.org has an endless supply of nutrition based videos where Dr. Greger and his team dig through the lastest in research to find WHAT DOES THE RESEARCH SAY! His site is nothing short of awesome and his video, “Preventing & Treating the Most Dreaded Diseases with Diet” demonstrates how research shows that many of the most common chronic, deadly diseases could be prevented and treated with diet. Amazing. It’s a great intro to the science behind plant-based nutrition and Dr. Greger’s got his own style (and book! “How not to Die”) that helps you easily guide through some complicated topics. (And if you appreciated this video, here’s one of Dr. Greger's earlier videos along similar lines that you may find interesting too, Uprooting the Leading Causes of Death)

Interested in a place to start but need more of a roadmap? Try a 21-day challenge! PCRM and UC Davis both have 21-Day programs that can help get you rolling.

• PCRM's 21 Day Vegan Kickstart

• UC Davis Integrative Medicine 21-Day Challenge

I can’t thank you enough for your interest in Plant-Based Santa Barbara and for starting here, on our first VINE post! To keep it up, come back anytime or sign up for our VINE e-newsletter. If you want to dig deeper into reading, please check out TOOLKIT for a compilation of books of various perspectives on plant-based nutrition and eating. The first books I read in transitioning to a plant-based diet were The China Study by T. Colin Campbell PhD and Thomas Campbell MD, The Veganist by Kathy Freston, and a host of resources from the PCRM. Each of these were eye popping and heart hugging information trips on why and how eating plant-based can be an intensely important decision for the future of your health, your family’s health, and the planet. But the library of options is huge now, and TOOLKIT can help you explore these and other books that may be of interest to you.

To further kick off the blog, I’ll be starting a series of “Top 10 Reasons to Eat More Plants” interwoven with posts on local eats and treats, local shopping, cooking ideas, local plant-based resources, eating with your Little Earthlings, health topics, impact topics, and more. Want to know more about the documentaries shared in THE BASICS? More to come on Forks Over Knives and What the Health in my next post kicking off “Top 10 Reasons to Eat More Plants - #1 Because Plants Have Your Back!”

With gratitude,

Beth