Fiber Recipe

Black Bean & Vegetable Burritos
http://www.wishtv.com/dpp/living/recipes/Chef_Wendell_Black_Bean_and_Vegetable_Burritos

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - Recipe developed by Chef Wendell Fowler Eat Right, Now!

Sneaking in Fiber: Colon Pow!


This holiday keep those uninvited pounds at bay by increasing your dietary fiber.
Stave off the annual 10 pound weight gain by incorporating more fiber into your dishes. Fibrous complex carbs, the indigestible parts of plant foods, are a vital part of a healthy, lean, long-term diet. Look at fiber as the Roto Rooter of your digestive system; Got to keep those pipes clean. The less time food spends in your colon, the more time it has to do harm and begin to decay. Ugly but true. The average person carries around at least 10-15 memorable meals in their gut. The reason is not enough fiber to urge the food forward towards its escape route. The average American gets just 12-15 grams of fiber a day--far below the recommended 25-30 grams "Good carbs" are complex carbohydrates like whole grains, nuts, beans, and seeds that are composed of complex sugar molecules that require more time and energy to digest into the simple sugars your body needs for fuel. Bad carbs are white rice, Quaker Instant Oatmeal, and refined grains.


Fiber protects you from:
Heart disease
Cancer
Digestive problems
High LDL cholesterol
Helps with weight control
Regulates blood sugar


How to sneak extra fiber into your diet:
Try Kashi Brand whole grain, unsweetened cereal every day for breakfast.
Sprinkle ground flax seed or wheat germ on all your food
Eat two apples with peanut butter every day. Apples are a good source of pectin and soluble fiber which keeps us feeling full and they digest slowly.
Make a yogurt mix with 1 tbs. ground flax seeds and 5 large, chopped strawberries for 12.2 grams of fiber--almost half your daily allowance!
Cut up carrots, cauliflower and broccoli florets and dip into low-fat ranch dressing.
Keep a bag of fibrous nuts in your car and office for the munchies.
Switch to whole grain crackers or Black Bean Chips.
Add a quarter cup of kidney beans or chickpeas to your next salad or soup.
Make sure that the first ingredient in whole grain products has the word "whole" on the ingredient list.
Try grains like amaranth, quinoa, bulgur, millet or wheat berries. Nothing refined.


Black Bean & Vegetable Burritos
Yields: 6 servings Ingredients:
1 tsp. olive oil
1 sweet onion
3 cloves chopped garlic
1 red bell pepper
2 cups sliced mushrooms
½ tsp. cumin powder
1 tsp. chili powder
dash of sea salt
1 15-ounce can Organic black beans or 1½ cups
4 large wheat flour tortillas
½ cup chopped cilantro
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Heat the oil in a high-sided skillet.
Sauté the onions until soft and just slightly golden, 5 minutes.
Add the garlic, bell pepper, and mushrooms, and cook until the vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes.
Stir in the black beans with a little of their liquid and heat through.
Heat the tortillas in a paper bag in the microwave about 1 minute. Lay the warm tortillas on the counter and divide the filling among them and scatter cilantro on top.
Roll, turning in the sides, into a neat package.
Lay in a baking dish covered lightly with aluminum foil and warm through in the oven, 10 minutes (20 to 30 minutes if they have been made earlier and chilled).
Top with warm enchiladas sauce for a tasty treat.


Per serving:
Calories: 231, Total Fat: 5 g, Fiber: 9 g



Chef Wendell

Cranberry Salsa

Chef Wendell: Cranberry Salsa
www.wishtv.com/dpp/living/recipes/Chef_Wendell_Cranberry_Salsa

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) -
If you are in good health, be thankful. To maintain your good health, this season please toss out the canned, cooked and sliced jellied cranberry presentation and make room for a real nutritional Diva! Ain't nothin' like the real thing baby. Cranberries rock with health enhancing virtues.. Why? The deep red orb has been discovered to keep urinary tract infections at bay, speed-bump the aging process, prevent Alzheimer's and peptic ulcers, put off tooth decay, and foil atherosclerosis. Most impressive, however, human breast cancer cells showed significantly lower incidence of tumor development when the experimental group's diet was supplemented with cranberries. Although these results are very preliminary, compounds in cranberries may prove to be a potent cancer fighter. (University of Western Ontario) Bear in mind, Thanksgiving is not an "all-you-can-eat- buffet." Thanksgiving is about being grateful for the family, friends and love we all share.

While the day is centered on a banquet, it's the togetherness that counts most. Healthy eating is about making intelligent choices. Holiday eating is no exception. By simply weighing your options when it comes to holiday foods, you will be able to keep your waistlines after weeks of festivity. A meal including turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce, green bean casserole, a roll with butter, pumpkin pie and wine can easily add up to nearly 3,000 gut busting calories!

Don't go to the Thanksgiving dinner hungry. We often eat quicker and more when we are hungry - so eat a wholesome breakfast and lunch on the day to avoid gorging at dinner time. Eat more under-cooked vegetables with the meal. Do not overcook them, please. Fill your plate half with yellow and dark green vegetables, one quarter with a lean meat and the rest with a starch of your choice. Ditch the skin and gravy. Eat slowly and stop when you are full. Burp!

Ingredients:
1 (12 ounce) bag cranberries, fresh or frozen
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
1 bunch green onions, cut into 3 inch lengths
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
2 limes, juiced
3/4 cup Sucanat* or Stevia powder (Sweet Leaf Brand @ Kroger's and Health Food stores)
1 pinch salt

Directions:
Wash the cranberries, green onions, pepper and lime to remove field contaminants.
Combine cranberries, cilantro, green onions, jalapeno pepper, lime juice, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Chop or pulse to medium consistency. Don't turn it into soup. Cover and refrigerate if not using immediately.
Serve at room temperature as you would regular salsa or spread it on that dried out fruit cake.
*Sucanat is evaporated cane juice found at all health food stores. It is unprocessed, raw sugar.

Chef Wendell

Gravy-The State beverage

Groovy Mushroom Gravy
wendellfowler.com

This Holiday Season, let's lighten up a bit and try not to do ourselves in.

As a result of its animal-based components, our beloved gravy is an artery-clogging grease festival. This mouth-watering gravy recipe, however, has the ?good? fat and tastes on just about anything, especially smashed potatoes. Forget, however, about using a processed flour and fattening butter roux. Tradition can kill.

The versatile mushroom soy sauce is the same as Gravy Master; that brown liquid everyone has used for years to darken sauces. It has, however, a deeper flavor. If you wish to use turkey stock, then make the stock the day in advance; leave it all night in a cool area. In the morning, skim off the fat and you?ll remove about 75% of the heart attack-provoking gravy. Simply boil the bones, skin, One portion of everything at the typical Thanksgiving meal totals a whopping 2000 calories. Burp!

Could that be the beginning of the dreaded Holiday 15 pound gain? You bet your arteries it is!

Ingredients:
6 cups of vegetable or turkey stock
4 tbs. olive oil
2 cups washed and thinly sliced mushrooms. Use the stems too.
1 finely chopped onion
1 carrot, grated
1 stalk of celery, minced
1 bay leaf
¼ cup mushroom soy sauce (found in all Asian groceries.)
1 cup dry, not sweet red wine
1-can tomato concentrate
Cornstarch

Directions:
In a non-corrosive stockpot add the oil and turn the fire to medium high. Add the onion, carrot, celery, bay leaf and mushrooms. Sauté for three minutes.
Add the vegetable stock, tomato concentrate, mushroom soy, and red wine. Let the liquid boil for five minutes.
During that time prepare cornstarch slurry: equal parts water to cornstarch mixed well. Put the water and cornstarch in a lidded jar and shake to mix if you don?t want to get messy fingers.
Bring the mixture to a boil then slowly pour in the slurry at little at a time to stock to thicken.
Whisk constantly at first then use a wooden spoon to reach the corners of the pot.
Cool, cover, and refrigerate.

Special Note:
Ground up flax seeds make an excellent thickening agent for soups, sauces, breading, and coatings.
Use your coffee grinder to pulverize the omega three rich flax seeds.
Arrowroot makes a lousy gravy-thickening agent. Some people find the texture offensive.

Try cornstarch instead of flour.

Pumpkin Stir Fry

http://www.wishtv.com/dpp/living/recipes/Chef_Wendell_Asian_Pumpkin_Stir_Fry#

Other than a Jack-o-lantern, what's so good about pumpkins, anyway?

Lots, but don't let them spook you! Pumpkin usually appears once a year and for all the wrong reasons; sugar catchers. There are many reasons pumpkin should be eaten, just like squash, year around, or at least in season. Pumpkin flesh is exceptionally high in carotenoids that give pumpkins their orange colors. Carotenoids are really good at neutralizing naughty free radicals, malicious molecules that can attack cell membranes and leave the cells susceptible to damage. Pumpkins are also brimming with lutein and zeaxanthin, which scavenge free radicals in the lens of the eye. They may help prevent the formation of cataracts and reduce the risk of macular degeneration, a serious eye problem than usually results in blindness.

Great news! What can lutein and zeaxanthin do for you?
Defend your cells from the damaging effects of free radicals and protect the eyes from developing age-related macular degeneration and cataracts.

What lifestyle factors can indicate a need for more foods rich in lutein and zeaxanthin? -Smoking and regular alcohol consumption -Low intake of fruits and vegetables.

Besides the valuable carotenoids, lutein, and zeaxanthin, which are all antioxidants, pumpkins, has a lot of nutritional oomph, like iron, zinc, and fiber. Iron builds red blood cells. Zinc deficiency may be related to osteoporosis of the hip and spine in older men. And fiber, as you already know, is vital for bowel and heart health.

Serve this healthy dish with a side of brown rice or quinoa and a salad of dark leafy greens with olive oil and Rice Wine Vinegar as a dressing.

Chef Wendell: Asian Pumpkin Stir Fry

Edited by Hyacinth Williams, WISH TV

http://www.chefwendellfowler.blogspot.com/


Ingredients:
1 pound of fresh pumpkin, diced (a small Pie Pumpkin)
2 eggs
2 stalks of celery, chopped
4 stalks of green onions, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped coarse
1 tbs. Chopped cilantro
½ onions, sliced
1 Stevia package (1 tbs.)
Water
3 garlic cloves, chopped
2 tbs. soy sauce
2 tbs. oyster sauce
1 tbs. fish sauce
¼ tsp. Pepper
3 tbs. peanut or safflower oil

• Directions:

Peel and cut the pumpkin into 1 inch pieces.(canned pumpkin will turn to mush)
Over medium-high heat, add the garlic and oil to a non-corrosive saute pan to release the flavors.
Add the egg and stir-fry till half cooked.
Add the pumpkin, spring onion, pepper, celery, onions, water, fish sauce, oyster sauce, Stevia, soy sauce and pepper. Everything but the cilantro.
Stir fry for 1 minute.
Plate and garnish with cilantro leaves.

Peace and Understanding,
Chef Wendell

Beans; a Dieters Best Buddy

Beans and Cabbage, Creole Style
Brimming with fiber; "Colon Pow"


Ingredients:
1 head organic cabbage
1 pkg. soy based 'ground beef'
1 chopped bell pepper
½ chopped onion
1 large can organic stewed tomatoes
12 ounces soy cheddar cheese crumbles
1 cup fresh or frozen corn
1 can organic kidney beans, drained
A pinch of Cayenne powder
2 tbs. ground Flax Seed (use a coffee grinder and freeze the remainder)
Directions:
Brown onion and bell pepper.
Cut up cabbage.
Add all ingredients except the Flax and saute for five minutes. Stir frequently.


Tips:
Only grind just the amount of Flax seed needed. In this case, 1-2 tablespoons
Please do not overcook the cabbage. Your Holy Temple loves those tasty nutrients.
Heat kills.
Add the ground flax seed at the end of the cooking process.

Don't Be a Has-'Bean'
Beans are a dieter's best buddy. Don't let their "explosive" nature scare you away from some of the best lean protein around. Beans are a filler-upper loaded with B vitamins and minerals.

Were you aware that one serving of beans (legumes) has the same amount of protein as a serving of meat? Their calorie contents are identical; however the fat content of beans is insignificant. Fat from animals causes heart disease and weight problems. Fat is fat, but there are good fats and bad fats, as you already know.

The fiber content of beans is exceptionally high. Greasy meat is the exact opposite. Most importantly beans will fill you up even more than a greasy hamburger. A ¼ pound of beans is much bigger in your stomach than ¼ pound of dead-cow burgers. Try it, you'll like it. I added the Flax for its Omega 3 Essential fatty Acid content and additional fiber. Good heart food.

Chef Wendell

www.wendellfowler.com

Souped up Soups

Chef Wendell: Souped Up Soups 'live' Video

http://www.wishtv.com/Global/category.asp?C=77447&nav=menu35_4

Here are a few ways to 'kick up' your favorite canned or boxed soups:

Thicken watery soups with pumpkin puree (unsweetened); Great heart food
Add a pureed sweet potato to vegetable soup for added antioxidant protection
Add fiber and protein with Vegetarian Refried pinto or black beans.
Add flax seeds or bran to pump up colon cleansing fiber.
Add sauteed' soy burger crumbles to add texture and protein.
Frozen bagged vegetables can be added to any sort of soup. Peas are my favorite.
Sauteed spinach / greens provide vitamin K and calcium for bone health.
Take last night's skinless chicken and add it.
Add a dollop of low-fat plain yogurt moments before serving.
Garnish with chopped parsley, basil, oregano, or thyme. All herbs have medicinal virtues.
Add whole grains to tomato soup; brown rice, quinoa, barley.
Buckwheat soba noodles add fiber and energy. Who doesn't like noodles?

Canned Soups - A Nutritional Conundrum

Is it healthy to eat soup in the can? Actually, the kitchen table is more civilized.

Canned soups can taste rather boring, don't you agree? Actually, they all often taste the same. This is a trade off for convenience. Historically canned foods were a Godsend to many war torn countries and busy American families on the fly. Once food is cooked, however, it gradually begins to lose its nutritional equity and becomes empty calories. If you recall, most of the vegetables are cooked to nutritional oblivion. Call a paramedic, please. For decades we've added cans of soup to casseroles and entrees.

Eat Right, Now! suggests that you add exciting new ingredients to your cans of store bought soup. Learn how to rev up soups with more fresh ingredients. For decades, we've depended upon canned foods when we are in a hurry. Many mainstream soups and baby foods on the grocer's shelves also contain harmful amounts of salt, high fructose corn syrup, MSG, and other ghastly preservatives that deteriorate our good health. Read the labels and avoid soups with high sodium content. Also, many soups are prepared with the insidious High Fructose Corn Syrup. Don't let any advertising tell you otherwise. HFCS is unnatural to our physiology and raises triglycerides, and causes obesity. Check it out. (http://www.westonaprice.org/modernfood/highfructose)

According to Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 17% of the typical American diet consists of canned foods. Does canned soup offer any nutritional benefits? Does the can lining leach into the soup if it has been on the shelf for a while? If so, does the canned soup lining leach any controversial chemical BPA into the soup? After food sits in a tin can for a period of time, it loses its nutritional oomph and absorbs the leaching BPA from the lining.

(www.naturalnews.com/021761.html)

Pacific Foods Brand Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato is exceptional. I even like to spike it with sherry and low-fat sour cream occasionally. Probiotic yogurt does the same with less fat.Select canned foods from makers who don't use BPA, such as Eden Foods (http://www.edenfoods.com/), Muir Glen Brand which both sell certified organic canned beans and other foods. (http://www.muirglen.com/) Pacific Foods Brand.

Peace,

Chef Wendell

www.wendellfowler.com

Chefs are the Doctors of the Future

Chefs are the Doctors of the Future
Published September 25th, 2008

The South Side Times

www.ss-times.com/

By Wendell Fowler

Hippocrates, the father of medicine, was right-on when in 400 BC he declared: “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.”

After my loyal 15-year-old yellow lab died, I deeply grieved and became emotionally intoxicated on an unfamiliar level. We spent nearly every day of her life together; even vacations centered on the beloved family member. Just recently, however, I discovered that I was being overly medicated by my family physician. Psycho therapeutic drugs, like antidepressants and sedatives, have nearly doubled from 671 deaths to 1,300. Adios to drugs that took me out of the game and hello to food as medicine.

Americans have innocently entrusted their health to the family physician. Like healing a sucking chest wound with a bandage, drugs are their first line of defense. As we’ve learned, man-made drugs are not the answer, just a temporary fix. In high school, we read Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley, which predicted that the final battle Americans will fight will occur between the pharmacopeia and ourselves.

Current statistics support the fact that prescription drugs are 16,400 percent more deadly than terrorists. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report researchers found that deaths from prescription drugs rose from 4.4 per 100,000 people in 1999 to 7.1 per 100,000 in 2004. Poisoning from prescription drugs has risen to become the second-largest cause of unintentional deaths in the United States, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Will someone please call Homeland Security?

It’s quite confusing when doctors eagerly scribble your family members a prescription for a drug that is addictive or might destroy you. You’ve certainly observed the appalling TV commercials for drugs? Holy pill, Batman! My physician was numb to the long term effects of taking such medicine. Without my knowledge, I had lost my mojo; my skin was constantly in a rash, and my mind struggled to reach its potential. Ironically, upon graduation from medical school, future doctors are required to take the Hippocratic Oath; …to first, do no harm.
After working in kitchens for 35 years and playing lots of sports, my knees are shot — bone-on-bone pain. I became cozy with mild pain killers. They temporarily did the job, but experts discourage their long term use. I don’t know about you, but they made me feel creepy, cranky and jumpy. Then I read about the anti-inflammatory virtues of the spice turmeric and fresh ginger. Gradually I introduced them to my family’s diet. Shortly thereafter, I was able to dose down off the caustic anti-inflammatory chemicals by employing God’s salubrious apothecary, the produce aisle.

When we open our minds and mouths to eating more fresh spinach, for example, we discover it contains hundreds of natural medicines that help prevent eye diseases, nervous system disorders and much more. Broccoli, a cruciferous vegetable, prevents cancer, bitter beet greens cleanse the liver, cilantro removes heavy metals, fresh berries thwart heart disease and dark leafy greens help avert dozens of grim health conditions while revitalizing your immune system.

Every earthly, colorful plant food is a source of universal healing energy and disease-fighting phytonutrients. Your Holy Temple reacts to food as sensitively as a synthetic drug. Where do you suppose drugs come from? Unprocessed, whole plant foods, were created to work most effectively. Remember, the whole is equal to the sum of its parts.

Embrace Nature’s generous apothecary.

Chef Wendell