I post on the Main Street Vegan blog only once a month, and it’s rare that I devote a post to a book. I’m doing that this time, though, because the book is question is so valuable. It’s Nutrition CHAMPS, by the Veggie Queen, Jill Nussinow, MS, RD. Those letters mean that Jill is a nutrition professional, a registered dietitian at the Masters level. I love our vegan dietitians, people so dedicated to getting it right that they showed up for years of academic rigor, learning a lot and unlearning some of that on purpose, so when they recommend foods and diets to patients, clients, and readers, we can trust them.
There are many wonderful plant-based dietitians – Jack Norris, Marty Davey, Brenda Davis, Ginny Messina, Vesanto Melina, Mark Rifkin, and more – and a whole subgroup of within the American Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (formerly the American Dietetic Association), the Vegetarian Nutrition Dietetic Practice Group. Jill Nussinow is among this select community. She’s smart and knows her stuff. She’s also open-minded and respects other people’s input. And she’s put together an extraordinary book/cookbook, including recipes from her colleagues and friends.
CHAMPS is an acronym for six antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-cancer food groups: crucifers (cabbage-family vegetables), herbs and spices, alliums (vegetables of the onion family), mushrooms, pulses (legumes), and seeds/nuts. The recipes in the book feature foods from these groups, meeting a need nearly everyone encounters when wanting to eat healthier: I know the foods I’m supposed to be eating, but I don’t know what to do with them.
Recipe contributors include Robin Asbell, Dreena Burton, Fran Costigan, JL Fields, Ellen Jaffe Jones, Chef AJ, Ellen Kanner, Linda Long, Mary McDougall, Karen Ranzi, Robin Robertson, Miyoko Schinner, Laura Theodore, Jason Wyrick, and me, with two recipes that first appeared in Main Street Vegan, “Shangri-La Soup” (a raw green soup for the crucifers chapter – King Kale is a cruciferous leafy green), and “Chickpea Curry” for the pulses section, reprinted here. May you be a vitality CHAMP-ion.
Chickpea Curry
Serves 4 – 6
I’ve been lucky enough to visit India on two occasions. Every time I make a curry, it takes me back.
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil, coconut oil, vegetable broth or cooking wine
1 tsp. coriander
1 tsp. cumin
1 ¼ tsp. turmeric
¼ tsp. ground cloves
¼ tsp. cinnamon
2 large cloves garlic, minced
1/8 tsp. cayenne
1 lb. green beans cut into 1” pieces
1 lb. potatoes (Yellow Finn are lovely), peeled and cubed
2 med. carrots, thinly sliced
2 c. water
1 tsp. salt
1 20-oz. can chickpeas (garbanzos), drained
Directions:
Heat oil on medium flame until hot (but not smoking). Add all seasonings except salt and cook for 2 minutes. Add the beans, potatoes, and carrots, and mix well. Add water and salt and heat to the boiling point. Reduce to low, and cook, covered, for 15 minutes. Add chickpeas and simmer until the liquid reduces by half. Serve over rice and accompany with a lovely chutney, in the Indian section of your supermarket.
Basmati is fragrant, long-grained rice that’s perfect with Indian cuisine; you can purchase either white or brown basmati rice.
Victoria Moran is the author of Main Street Vegan and, coming in May 2015, The Good Karma Diet: Eat Gently, Feel Amazing, Age in Slow Motion. Preorder the book on Amazon.com or BN.com, and receive an invitation to a private teleseminar with Victoria (recorded if you aren’t available for the live call on May 17) and be entered for a chance to win one of three $100 gifts to your favorite charity. To be enrolled in the teleseminar and entered in the drawing, send your name and contact info, along with a copy of your receipt and the name of your favorite charity, to Danielle Legg: [email protected]. The charitable contribution drawing will take place during the interactive teleseminar; you do not need to be on the call to win.