By Meg Wolff author of “Becoming Whole”

The secret formula to robust health and a healthy heart is right under
your nose – literally! The secret is in the food you eat.

MY HOLIDAY RECIPES

With the holiday season coming up people start asking me what recipes I do for my holiday dinners. Here is what we do as a family for the special family gatherings. My husband Tom’s family usually all try to meet on Cape Cod where his parents live. (Yes, I do leave Maine.) All eight of his brothers and sisters come with their families from all over the country and MA (no, we don’t all stay at the same house) to spend the holidays together. Sometimes all 42 of us have been together at the same time, 20 adults and 22 children ranging in age from 22 years down to 1 year.

We all help with the meal preparation. Since my family and I eat a macrobiotic diet, it becomes a very eclectic mix of foods to say the least, but it now works great! My family and I don’t eat any animal products as a norm but most other members of Tom’s family do, so his mother prepares a traditional turkey. Tom and I bring our variety of macrobiotic/vegan entrees and desserts. I will share some of our favorites. They have changed over the years. I used to make a tofu-turkey, but Jessica Porter (author of Hip Chick’s Guide to Macrobiotics) and Lisa Silverman’s Corn Pona Lisa, a black bean and cornbread combination, has replaced this as a family favorite. A lot of the family, the carnivores included, will partake in this entrée.

I usually also make some type of a brown rice stuffed winter squash, vegetables, a multiple variety of long steamed vegetables, and always a steamed green.

Desserts vary and my choice is Grandma’s pie. This usually wins my family over, but I don’t make choices for them… and for the healthy, a treat is a treat. These are great recipes to bring and share with friends and loved ones at this holiday season. Chew, enjoy immensely, with gratitude and thanks!

These are some of our favorite “holiday” choices:

CORN PONA LISA (BLACK BEAN AND CORN BREAD CASSEROLE)

Another excellent recipe by Lisa Silverman. Come to Maine and take her classes!

2 cups dried black turtle beans, soaked overnight with 2-inch piece kombu
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Kernels from 4 ears corn
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon ginger juice
2 tablespoons shoyu
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Corn or olive oil

Corn Bread

2 1/2 cups cornmeal
1 1/2 cups whole-wheat pastry flour
1 1/3 cups unbleached white flour
3 tablespoons baking powder
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 1/4 cups water
1 1/3 cups soy milk
2/3 cup light olive oil
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. After beans and kombu have soaked, discard the soaking water. Slice kombu into thin strips. Place beans and kombu in a 4- or 5-liter pressure cooker and cover with fresh water so that the water comes up about 1 inch over the beans. Close the pressure cooker and bring the beans to pressure. Place flame deflector under pressure cooker; reduce heat to medium-low, and cook 30 minutes (if you don’t have a pressure cooker, cook beans in a saucepan with kombu over medium-low heat for 1 ½ hours).

While beans are cooking, heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Sauté onions, garlic, sea salt and corn until onions are translucent, about 5 minutes. Grate a 2-inch piece of ginger into a pulp and then squeeze out 1 tablespoon of juice. Add cumin, ginger juice, and shoyu, and cook for another 5 minutes. When beans are cooked, add to onion mixture. Mix in cilantro.  Pour mixture into a lightly oiled 9-by-13-inch casserole dish – use corn or olive oil.

For corn bread topping: sift together dry ingredients and then blend together wet ingredients. Mix them together until just blended.

Pour batter over black-bean mixture and bake for 40-45 minutes. Let cool at least 15 minutes before serving. SERVES 6.

STUFFED SQUASH

1 medium-sized Hubbard squash or other hard winter squash of similar size
1 tablespoon corn or sesame oil
1 cup onions, diced
1 cup celery, diced
pinch of sea salt
8 cups whole wheat or whole-wheat sourdough bread cubes (slightly dried out or toasted in a dry skillet until golden brown)
2 cups cooked seitan, cubed shoyu
1 1/2-2 cups seitan gravy (omit if gluten intolerant)

Carefully cut out a round section of the top of the squash just as would be done for a jack-o-lantern, and set it aside. Clean out all the seeds and set aside.

Heat oil in a skillet and sauté the onions for 1-2 minutes. Add the celery and a pinch of salt. Sauté for 1-2 minutes more.

Place this mixture in a large mixing bowl and add the dried or toasted bread cubes and seitan and mix well. Add a small amount of shoyu and mix again.

Stuff the hollowed squash completely full. Pour the seitan gravy over the stuffing and let it seep down.

Place the top back on the squash.  Oil the outside skin of the squash with a small amount of sesame oil.

Place the stuffed squash on a baking tray or oven roaster and bake at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for about 2 hours.

Remove the top and continue baking for another 25-35 minutes. To test for doneness, use a shish kebob stick or chopstick to push into the hard skin. When it goes through easily, it is done.

Serve with seitan gravy after scooping out the stuffing and squash for each person.

Variation. Use sautéed vegetables together with cooked brown rice and wild rice; squash and vegetables; millet and vegetables. Add sliced mushrooms, almonds or pine nuts to stuffing.

NISHIME-STYLE (LONG, SLOW STEAMING) VEGETABLES

1 cup carrot cut into large chunks
1 cup burdock root (If root is slender, slice into 1-inch pieces; if thicker, slice into ½-inch coin pieces.)
1 cup brussel sprouts (or chucks of cabbage)
1 cup rutabaga, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 cup parsnips, cut into large chunks
2- to 3-inch strip kombu soaked and sliced into small strips

Place kombu and its soaking water in the bottom of a pot. If you picture a pie shape when looking down into 1½ quart pan, place each group of cut up vegetables into their own pile (see photo). This keeps the separate taste of each individual vegetable while cooking.

Cover pot and bring to a boil over a medium-high flame until there is steam from the pot. Lower flame and cook without disturbing the pot for 15-20 minutes or longer. If water evaporates during cooking add more water to the bottom of the pot.

When vegetables have become tender, add a few drops of soy sauce and mix. Replace cover and simmer five more minutes. Remove from the flame, let sit, and serve after a couple of minutes.

Vary the combinations of vegetables each time you prepare the dish.

Try these combinations:

• turnip, onion, carrot, shiitake
• carrot, leek, cauliflower, corn, daikon, shiitake, daikon greens
• burdock, carrot, onion, squash

OVEN ROASTED SWEET POTATOES WITH PECANS

3 jewel yams (or sweet potatoes) sliced into ½-inch rounds
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
3 tablespoons brown rice syrup
1/4 cup toasted pecans, whole
2 tablespoons olive oil (to cover bottom of cookie sheet)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Arrange sweet potatoes on bottom of cookie sheet so that they all fit on one sheet (slightly overlap each other). Place a toasted pecan on each slice. Take spoonfuls of brown rice syrup and drizzle small amounts over each piece. Repeat with the olive oil. Sprinkle with sea salt. Roast for 40 minutes.

“MACRO” WALDORF SALAD

1/4 cup toasted walnuts
1/4 cup raisins
2 cups apples, diced
2 ribs of celery, diced  
1 grated carrot
2 tablespoons of dulse flakes, or soaked pieces of dulse sliced and cut up (smoked dulse is especially nice)
1/2 cup Vegannaise (without cane sugar) or use *tofu mayonnaise recipe (listed below)
1 teaspoon umeboshi vinegar

Put everything together in bowl and mix in a small amount Vegannaise and splash in some umeboshi vinegar. Taste and season to your liking.

NOTE: If using the Tofu Mayonnaise recipe (below) in place of Vegannaise (listed above), use ½ cup in your “Macro” Waldorf Salad.)

*Tofu Mayonnaise

8 ounce tofu
1/2 cup water
2 teaspoons sesame or olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon brown rice vinegar
1 tablespoon mellow white miso (or ¼ teaspoon sea salt)
sprinkle of dill (optional)

Slice tofu; steam 3 minutes. Blend ingredients until smooth and creamy.

Note: This keeps refrigerated for 2-3 days. If it separates, just reblend.

APPLE PIE CRUST WITH FILLING AND
TOFU WHIPPED CREAM

Apple Pie Crust
3 cups whole-wheat pastry flour
1/2 to 2/3 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
spring water

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Sift the flour and sea salt into a large bowl. Add the oil and mix through the flour to resemble bread crumbs.

Add enough flour to form dough. Handle the dough as little as possible to keep it light and flaky. Place the dough in the freezer for about 5 minutes.

Roll out the pastry and place in a pie dish that has been lightly oiled. Place in the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Remove and turn the oven heat down to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Let the pie shell cool before adding the apples. Any leftover pastry can be rolled out and cut into shapes with a pastry cutter. Use to decorate the top of the pie.

Filling
10 medium apples washed, peeled and sliced
2-3 cups apple juice
pinch sea salt
1 tablespoon rice syrup
2 tablespoons kuzu diluted in ½ cup cold spring water

Place the apples, apple juice and sea salt in a pot. Bring to a boil on a medium flame. Simmer for about 10 minutes or until soft.

Remove the apples and place in the pie shell. Add the diluted kuzu and rice malt to the apple juice. Stir gently until thick. Pour over the top of the apples.

Arrange the pastry shapes over the apples. Bake the pie at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 35 minutes. Remove and allow to cool before serving.

Tofu Whipped Cream
1 cake tofu, firm
2 tablespoons tahini
1 tablespoon vanilla
6 tablespoons rice syrup

Chill for 1/2 to 1 hour before using.

Meg Wolff is a breast cancer survivor. Her memoir, Becoming Whole: The Story of my Complete Recovery from Breast Cancer, includes recipes and menu plans. It is available at local bookstores and on her website at www.megwolff.com. Meg currently working on a soon to be released photography book, Breast Cancer: Exposed, The Connection Between Food and Survival.