I’ve got some exciting news to share with you today: doctor Michael Greger and his team at NutritionFacts.org are putting together a recipe directory for healthy plant-based recipes, and four recipes from Vegan Runner Eats have been approved by Dr. Greger himself to become a part of it!
In case you’ve been living under a rock and never heard of Dr. Greger and his site, NutritionFacts.org, here’s what you need to know.
Dr. Greger reviews all of the leading research papers on nutrition published every year so that you and I didn’t have to, and puts them into informative and entertaining videos and articles that are way more palatable for the average human beings like ourselves to comprehend.
When I first went vegan, Dr. Greger’s site and his multiple lectures on YouTube helped me learn so much about how to do this plant-based thing right, and since then I have a huge sense of appreciation and gratitude for Dr. Greger’s work.
So when a few weeks ago I heard that his team was putting together a directory of healthy plant-based recipes that followed everything Dr. Greger was teaching, I knew I had to try my luck with recipes from my blog!
If you’ve ever taken a good look at my recipes, you may have noticed that I try to use only all-natural, plant-based ingredients with little to no oil. Dr. Greger’s ingredient guideline encouraged that along with a few other pointers. After a few emails with Dr. Greger’s assistant we finally settled on these four recipes.
Eggplant Roll Ups with Black Bean-Potato Stuffing
This was one of the first recipes I’ve published that immediately got a lot of attention on Pinterest. The festive look of neat eggplant rolls smothered in marinara sauce makes this dish a good choice for when you need to impress guests or take a casserole to a potluck (which I’ve done more than once).
See the recipe here.
My favorite thing about these roll ups is that they deliver a perfect Italian taste without the involvement of pasta or cheese. And of course roasted eggplant – I just love its delicious, melt-in-your-mouth texture!
Be careful not to drench it in oil during baking as it can absorb more of it than you want. A slight drizzle or spray (if you have an oil spray bottle) will do.
Broccoli-Apple Winter Salad ‘Tacos’
I came up with this recipe for the Virtual Vegan Potluck 2014 last December when I was craving something with traditional rich, winter-y flavors (think creamy dressing) but still wanted the crunch and texture of raw vegetables.
The pumpkin seed-based dressing and simple ‘taco shells’ made from lettuce leaves delivered (literally) just what I was looking for. Don’t be confused by the word ‘winter’ – these tacos go well in the summer too!
See the recipe here.
Another bonus, besides the obvious one of eating tasty raw veggies: this was the first time Rob ever ate raw broccoli and even complimented it! This means a lot coming from a man who never ate broccoli (even cooked and covered in sauce) even a couple years ago.
Southern Slow Cooker Collard Greens
This side dish became an unexpected hit here on the blog during the holiday season. Clearly, the demand for a reliable, no-fuss vegan collard greens recipe is high just before January 1st, a day when the Southern tradition suggests eating collard greens and black-eyed peas to attract good fortune for the year.
This recipe for vegan Southern collard greens is very simple, and the most labor-intensive part is cleaning and chopping the collards.
See the recipe here.
To my chagrin, Rob isn’t a fan of collard greens, so I haven’t been making this dish a lot. However, I’ve received lots of great reviews from the blog readers, so it’s nice to know that this recipe is thoroughly enjoyed 🙂
Hearty Chickpea and Shiitake Mushroom Soup
Out of all soups here on the blog, this is the one I’ve been making the most frequently ever since I came up with this recipe. In fact, I love this soup so much that I have no problem eating it even in the heat of this year’s unusuallywarm and dry Pacific Northwestern summer. It helps that Rob likes it too!
See the recipe here.
The inspiration for this recipe came from a soup I used to love as a child long before I had any thoughts of going vegan.
The original recipe called for strips of beef, which resulted in a much ‘fattier’ broth, not to say that the resulting soup was nowhere near vegan. Thinly sliced shiitake mushrooms do a great job conveying the chewiness of meat while keeping the soup very low on fat – there’s no oil used here at all.
Also, I’ve been using barley instead of rice pretty often because Rob likes its texture here – try that for a different twist on this recipe if you’d like.
Dr. Greger’s team are currently working on getting this healthy recipe directory up and running. Once it’s published, I’ll definitely let you know how to find it on his site, NutritionFacts.org. Can’t wait to see what other recipes they’ve picked!
Question for you: What’s your favorite healthy plant-based dinner recipe? Please share below!
In case you’ve enjoyed this post, please share it with your friends or anyone who could benefit from it! And stick around for more awesomeness– you can follow Vegan Runner Eats by subscribing in the top right corner of this post, or by following the blogon Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Instagram!
Alina Zavatsky - Vegan Runner Eats
Alina first made a switch to a vegan diet in 2013 to optimize her athletic performance as a marathon runner. Eventually she embraced veganism as a way to be kinder to fellow living beings and the environment. Alina hopes that this blog helps its readers on their path to becoming vegan and making this world a better place.
See Full Bio
