Some of the most wonderful aspects of eating a plant-based diet is choosing from the huge variety of foods at your disposal and experiencing a change in your palate. My favorite foods today were definitely not my favorite foods 25 years ago (my father owned ice cream stores), or 10 years ago, or even 5 years ago. It’s so exciting to continually eat better, learn more, and feel healthier all the time. It just keeps getting better. Though there was certainly a time when I wouldn’t have thought I would have gotten really excited at the prospect of a meal centered around kale, tempeh, and quinoa, it is most definitely the case these days. Here are my Top 5 Favorite Foods, which just so happen to be nutrition powerhouses.

QUINOA
Quinoa is a Peruvian grain; it grows in the mountains of South America, including Bolivia and a little in Ecuador and may go by other names in South America. In the United States, you can find it in any natural foods store, and it’s fabulous. (It’s also available at Compassionate Cooks store if you can’t find it). The most common variety is white quinoa, but it’s also available in red and black, and it’s gorgeous in any of those colors. The Incas considered it sacred and referred to it as "chisaya mama" or "mother of all grains.”

And I have to agree with the Incas. It’s a really beautiful grain. It’s very small – though not as small as amaranth - and is a tight little ball when it’s uncooked. Once it’s cooked, it changes in appearance and transforms into this beautiful, translucent little grain. The ratio of grain to water is 1 cup (of grain) to 2 or 3 cups of water. And I always throw a little vegetable bouillon cube in the water whenever I cook any grain to add flavor. You can just put the quinoa right in the pot along with the water and bring to a boil. Simmer for about 15 minutes until the quinoa has absorbed all the water and is fluffy and translucent in appearance.

One thing to keep in mind before you cook it is that it contains a substance called saponin, which is the plant’s own defense against birds, and it can have a bit of a bitter edge to it. So, always rinse it in a fine strainer under running water for a minute or two before cooking it. Once it’s cooked, you can enjoy it in many ways. Personally, I love eating it plain or with any vegetable. If I need a quick lunch, I just stir in some corn kernels (canned or frozen – but thaw the corn first), or I top it with some steamed kale (see below). You can use it as a base for a stir-fry, but it’s a delicate grain, so consider that when using it for this purpose. It doesn’t have the heartiness of rice and won’t go with every sauce or dish. You can make Tabouli with it instead of using bulgur wheat. Quinoa is gluten-free, so it’s a boon for those who can’t digest gluten. Quinoa flour is also available. You can also prepare quinoa as a breakfast food, just as you would oatmeal or cornmeal. Just cook it – without the bouillon cube, and when it’s cooked, stir in walnuts, almonds, berries, dates, cinnamon, and/or brown sugar.

It’s just delicious anyway you prepare it. And it happens to be one of the richest plant proteins as well. Though many people obsess think it’s hard to obtain the proper amount of protein on a plant-based diet, it’s simply not true. In fact, people get way more protein in an animal-based diet than what’s healthful. Protein is made up of amino acids, and all foods have amino acids. Some foods have higher amounts of certain amino acids than others; hence, the myth that we have to combine our foods in one meal – which we don’t. In the case of quinoa, it happens to be a "complete protein" in that it contains ALL of the amino acids. Now onto my second favorite food: kale.

KALE
You’ve probably heard it a million times – but have ignored it: dark green leafy vegetables are truly the most nutrient dense foods on the planet, and they should be part of everyone’s daily diet. Daily. That means every day we should be eating kale or collard greens or chard or chicory or spinach or mustard greens or beet greens or escarole. That’s a lot to choose from – surely you can find time for one serving a day.

So, what’s so great about these veggies? Well, they’re typically low in calories, low in fat, high in protein per calorie, high in dietary fiber, high in iron and calcium, and very high in phytochemicals such as vitamin C, vitamin A, lutein and folic acid. Some people are utterly baffled by how to incorporate leafy greens into their diet, so here are some ideas:

*Make a salad: Leafy greens like spinach and arugula – even raw kale - taste great when mixed in a salad with different kinds of veggies, such as tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, and lettuce. And though green leafy veggies have a lot of iron, our bodies absorb it better when eaten with Vitamin C, so that gives you a good reason to have a green salad with tomatoes – or with a citrus vinaigrette or steamed greens with lemon juice.

*Wrap it up: Make a wrap with tempeh, tofu, or grains, and add spinach, arugula, and other veggies for some extra flavor.

*Add to soup: Try mixing some leafy greens with your favorite soup. I have the most amazing Garlic and Greens Soup in the soups section of my online cookbook. I can’t say enough about it – it’s my favorite thing in the whole world, and I make it with kale, but you could use other greens if you want.

*Stir-fry. Add chopped leafy greens to your stir-fry. Tempeh or tofu stir-fried with olive or canola oil and your favorite leafy greens is delicious!

*Steam it: Besides my Garlic and Greens soup, this is one of my favorite ways to eat kale. It’s sooooo easy to do, and it’s delicious. Simply use your handy-dandy steamer basket, and pile in your kale. Don’t forget to put water in your pot up to the bottom of the steamer basket. Steam the greens for about 10 minutes, depending on the texture you like. One of my favorite dishes is reeeeally easy, and it can be eaten warm or room temperature. In a bowl, toss together the kale you just steamed with some apple cider vinegar, some lemon juice, and some agave nectar. (Agave nectar is a wonderful liquid sweetener that you can find at any natural food stores. It has the consistency and flavor of honey – and no bees were harmed in its production!) Toss all of this together and find the right ratio between the sweetness of the agave and the vinegar and lemon juice. Sooooo fantastic. I eat this several times a week and haven’t gotten sick of it yet!

BLUEBERRIES
Though I do love blueberries to snack on, my FAVORITE way of eating blueberries is in my breakfast smoothie, which is how I start EVERY DAY, and the few times I’ve missed out for some crazy silly reason, I’m messed up all day. So, it’s just my favorite way to start my day, and blueberries are part of the reason!

I just purchase frozen blueberries, but you can certainly use fresh blueberries, too. You can buy a ton of blueberries when they ARE in season and freeze them yourself. My freezer contains pretty much only frozen fruit and some ice cubes. And some blocks of tofu and ground flax seeds, but that’s it. My freezer pretty much exists so that I can have smoothies every morning.

You can use any type of fruit you like, but my preference is blueberries with a few strawberries thrown in for good measure. A few frozen pineapple chunks also add a little citrus, which is a great complement to the blueberries. Don’t ask me how much – ½ cup to a cup of blueberries, a few strawberries, a banana, some non-dairy milk (almond’s my favorite), a little orange juice if you want, a tablespoon of ground flax seeds, and if you want – about a tablespoon of almond butter. It’s too yummy for words. Blend it up, and grab a straw.

A quick tip about bananas: Buy several bunches (fair trade, if possible!) when they’re reeeeeally ripe, which you’ll often pay less for since most groceries (well, the small, good ones at least) mark down the price once the bananas start getting really ripe. When you get home, spend 5 minutes peeling all the bananas, breaking them into chunks, and putting them into a freezer bag, and stick them in the freezer. Use a few chunks – the equivalent of one banana or so – for your smoothie. It makes it nice and thick. It might take a little longer to puree in the blender, but it’s worth it.

Most people know about the health benefits of blueberries, but most people aren’t eating one cup a day, which is what is recommended. Blueberries, especially the wild species, contain antioxidants which have been found to reduce the risks of some cancers. At the 2004 International Conference on Longevity, a group of researchers released details of a study that suggests certain compounds found in blueberries (and some similar fruits, including cranberries) have a significant impact in reducing the degradation of brain function, as in Alzheimer’s Disease and other conditions.

Though I encourage people to buy organic as much as possible, sometimes it’s not always possible, so it’s helpful to know that blueberries are a crop that are not very highly sprayed, certainly not like strawberries are, which is why I recommend getting organic strawberries 100% of the time. But you can get away with non-organic blueberries when you’re not able to get organic.

Finally, in terms of helpful appliances to have in the kitchen to encourage healthful eating, I do recommend investing in a food processor, particularly a Kitchen Aid, because it enables you to have a large bowl/blade and small bowl/blade all in one machine. It speeds everything up in the kitchen, and I use mine every day. But my blender is also indispensable because I couldn’t make my smoothies without it.

TEMPEH
In an interview once, someone asked me to choose between tofu and tempeh, and though in some respects that’s really impossible because I love both so much, if I reeeally had to choose, I just might pick tempeh. It’s a fabulous food. Whenever I demonstrate recipes with tempeh (and I make a point to), about 50% of the group have never heard of tempeh, eaten it, or cooked with it. And I love it – because it’s such a pleasure to introduce this food to people.

Tempeh is a staple in Indonesian cuisine, and it’s simply whole soy beans that have been fermented with some kind of grain. That grain is usually rice. This mixture is then formed into thin, usually square blocks/cakes. Being a fermented food, it tends to contain B vitamins, including B12; it’s also higher in protein and fiber and lower in fat than tofu.

There are many things you can do with tempeh: sauté it, grill it, bake it, but I also have a trick that I think makes it foolproof every time: I steam it. Before I do anything with it, I steam it first. It just takes a bit of the "edge" off and makes it really tender. Steam it for 10 minutes tops, at which point you’ll smell the really nice nutty aroma. Once it’s steamed, you can eat it just like that (mix it with some eggless mayonnaise and finely chopped raw veggies for what I call a Better Than Chicken Salad), or you can continue working with it.

Crumble it in chili, or add it to stir frys, soups, salads, sandwiches, and stews. Tempeh has a wonderful flavor and a great texture and mouth-feel - really satisfying. It freezes well and performs well in a cheese grater, after which it may be used in the place of ground beef (as in tacos).

One of my favorite things to do to tempeh is to slice it, and steam it, then add it to a saute pan where I heat a small amount of canola, sesame, or olive oil. I fry it on both sides until it gets golden brown, then I sprinkle on a little tamari soy sauce and maple syrup. The result is wonderful, as the maple syrup kind of caramelizes the tempeh. It’s a wonderful "main dish," served with vegetables. More recipes for tempeh (and tofu) are in my online cookbook under Demystifying Tofu & Tempeh.

GREEN TEA
Last but not least is my favorite thing in the world is green tea. I’ve never had a cup of coffee in my life. I drink green tea every day, and admittedly, I’ve turned into a bit of a tea snob. I can’t help it. It’s too darn good. There is a lot of evidence that green tea is healthful for a number of reasons, but mainly I drink it because I just love it. It doesn’t give you the extreme highs and lows that coffee does – well, I don’t know what that’s like since I’ve never had it, but from what I’ve seen coffee do to people, I know tea does not do the same thing.

My favorites are the Japanese teas, such as Kukicha, Genmaicha, Gyokuro, and Hojicha, but I do love Chinese teas as well, such as Dragonwell and Jasmine Pearls. A recent 2006 study published in the September issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association shows that adults who consumed three or more cups of green tea per day had a lower risk of death due to cardiovascular disease. I’m not a big proponent of making health claims for every type of food, but green tea is indeed high in antioxidants and other healthful properties. For me, a lot of my love of tea comes from the ritual itself – smelling the tea leaves, steeping them, sipping it, and finding a nice quiet place in which to drink it.

So there you have it. Can’t wait to see what my Top 5 Favorite Foods are next year.