Blue Zone Worthy
Family meals to birthday celebrations
I have an Irishman in my life. I won’t name him. Let’s call him, “my father” and he was brought up on meat and potatoes. When he married my mother very young they committed to having breakfast and dinner around the kitchen table every weekday. Sometimes on a Friday or Sunday night we would get a Caserta pizza from Federal Hill in Providence and eat while watching TV. Fun. The “veggies" we ate for dinner were potatoes, cooked many different ways, and on occasion, corn. I didn’t realize daily meals around the table with your family and friends in the 70’s and 80’s would be something social scientists would study today. It's one of the key tenets that make up a healthy lifestyle and fortunately my husband and I passed that on to our children as did my sister and my brother-in-law. I am sure many of you who grew up at the same time have similar family dining experiences. Thank you mom and dad for instilling the importance of breaking bread with family, listening to one another’s stories of the day and laughing often while enjoying our meal. As I am watching the Netflix series Blue Zones I can’t help but think of our family and friends when they show the families/friends eating together. From monthly book club meals, to long table dinners, to evening meals, that IS the plan for the evening. With every year that passes my gratitude for my many friendships and close relationships grows.
My sister and I went off to college, we ate at friends houses and we were introduced to and enjoyed many foods. I can thank the beautiful Emily Carr and her gorgeous garden filled with fresh vegetables for whetting my appetite and for the introduction to foods and flavors that I did not grow up with but knew I wanted to experience. She opened my eyes to food straight out of the garden and how important it is to support those growers closest to your home.
When our children were little on Friday evenings without fail my sister and I would call, she had a bruised red pepper, I had half a head of lettuce. Between the two of us we cobbled together the Friday dinner and brought the two families together to eat. The kids could play and we were able to enjoy a meal with wine having had a week of work under our belt. Does this sound familiar? I know it does because all of my friends had a version of this. I know how fortunate I was and still am to have my sister live close by.
My mother has passed and my sister and I still enjoy cooking for my father. He is very independent but enjoys socializing so we see him a couple of times a week, more in the summertime. When we are meal planning, we try and he tries to meet in the middle regarding veggies. He has been a good sport. He knowingly allows peppers and butternut squash into his life and some ways of making tomatoes. For example, he makes a lovely bruschetta with roma tomatoes, fresh basil, garlic, olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Yet, he does not like tomatoes or salads and does not usually opt for vinegary things. Funny, right? When I cook, he also knows there will always be beans incorporated into the meal. I do this by creating (oftentimes) something with which he is familiar and adding beans. For example, taco night we may have black beans and mushrooms or pinto beans and mushrooms as the base. If he has leftover chicken, fish, or steak in his fridge I am happy to make a seasoning and whip that up in another pan. When I don’t, he still enjoys the plant-based tacos without complaint and even compliments the taste.
Food 52 has a wonderful shepherd's pie recipe that is made with lamb and mushrooms. I use lentils instead of the lamb, among other things but this is the inspiration for my vegetarian shepherd’s pie. I get many requests when I make it. I will share my version in an upcoming Newsletter and you have the link above for the original. For those of us who love beans, veggies, whatever it is that may be outside of the norm with which we grew up, we have to go slowly and be aware that those who do not eat the same things are trying. They appreciate (one hopes) that we are cooking for them. One last hint, I usually make a delicious cast iron cornbread with the lentil dishes and you would be surprised how it eases the pain.
If your family and friends haven’t gotten together in a while this is the perfect time to get back on track. We are entering the season of Sunday dinners; hopefully you never stopped. Everyone has to eat you might as well enjoy friends and loved ones around the table. Mix it up and go to different homes, you know what to do. If you also have someone in your life that you think, or you know, will not want to eat a little differently you can share why you like it; and maybe, they will surprise you and want a taste or they will want to support you and eat your way for the night. Not every night but maybe start with one meal. I have the recipe you can start with, below.
Recommended Recipes:
Leftover Lentils with mushroom gravy
(Pour over rice, millet, pasta or mashed potatoes)
Last week we made lentils and maybe you were overly ambitious and thought you would eat it all up. But you went out to dinner one night, had ingredients for other meals and one thing led to another and you have some lentils to use up. Great. If you ate them all up, you learned lentils only take about 20-25 minutes to cook, why not have a new pot cooking on the stove as you prep the rest. I usually have up to 2 cups of left over cooked lentils when I make this mushroom gravy.
As a reminder lentils are high in plant-based protein, dietary fiber, iron and B6 in each delicious bite.
I love this gravy so much I make a batch even if I won’t use it all. It freezes well but I really never get to that point.
Mushroom Gravy ingredients
16 oz mushrooms. I use a mix of crimini, shiitake and maitake. Sliced thin.
1-2 Tbsp olive oil or veggie stock
1 medium onion diced
3 garlic cloves minced
1.5 Tbsp coconut aminos or tamari or vegan worcestershire–something for the umami taste
3.5 C veggie stock (Do you have veggies in the freezer to make your own? Recipe here)
1.5 Tbsp fresh Rosemary minced (may use dried)
1.5 Tbsp fresh Thyme minced (may use dried)
(If you like sage you can replace one of the above with fresh sage only, not dried)
4 Tbsp white whole wheat flour or all purpose flour
Directions
Place a large skillet or dutch oven on the stove and heat up for about 2 minutes. Add the 2 tablespoons of veggie stock or olive oil. Add the onion. Cook until translucent and soft ~ 5 minutes.
Add the garlic and stir for 30 seconds to get the aroma and then add the mushrooms and let them cook for about 10-12 minutes, stirring intermittently
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Stir in the herbs and the coconut aminos (or tamari)
In a small bowl whisk the flour with the veggie stock and then pour over into the skillet. Conversely, if you are a one skillet gal like me add the the flour to the skillet and stir until all of the mushrooms are coated;
Next, slowly add the stock stirring the whole time. Hopefully you have a silicone whisk and you can whisk the gravy until it thickens to your consistency. It will take ~15-20 minutes.
You can heat your lentils up in a small saucepan with a little bit of veggie stock or water.
If you plan on having potatoes, rice or other starch scoop that in your bowl or on your plate, pour the gravy over and add in the lentils. Salt and pepper to taste.
I ate this with mashed potatoes and lentils last week, and then made a new batch of Bayo Gordo Beans yesterday and had it again last night celebrating my brother-in-law and sister-in-law’s birthdays. Happy Birthday Paul and Adriana
Yes, I consider beans birthday worthy. You should, too. Enjoy your week and remember, start with beans.
Contact
If you have any additional questions on incorporating beans into your social dinner circle, lentils and/or mushroom gravy please email me at Denisemancieri1@gmail.com. Feel free to comment below if there are topics you would like to see.
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Note: I am not a doctor. I am a teacher and an educator with an earned doctorate in educational leadership. I enjoy research and I can take large amounts of information and parse it out into easily understood and digestible steps so people understand what is happening to their body and possible steps to reverse it with food as medicine. I have healed my own GI issues through choices with food. I followed Karen Hurd’s bean protocol diet, I meditated and still do and I healed. I feel compelled to be in service and educate others as the more people eating beans, alongside a healthy diet and sharing their stories the more people will live a healthier existence. Joy, peace and freedom abound. Please see your doctor and discuss nutritional options before you change any course of action with your health.