My vegan entry

Get it? I am on day 4 of the “cleanse.” Oprah’s doing it, and recently featured the author of a new book called Quantum Wellness on her show. This author’s approach, Kathy Freston, is to take a holistic approach to healing, and not ignore one area of your life despite impovements in others.  So for her it’s not only about living beyond our fears and ego (ala Mr. Tolle), it’s about exercize, service to others, meditation, fun and eating such that you do not cause harm to any living thing on the planet.  The cleanse, which she advocates doing at least once a year, is essentially going vegan for 21 days. No alcohol, no dairy, no smoking, no meats, no white flour, and no white sugar. Oh, and no caffeine. You ask what’s left?  A lot.  Especially now that the summer’s bounty is upon us.  Here’s a recipe that I came up with that begs for experimentation.  Add as many fresh herbs as you like for maximum flavor!

                               Basmatic Rice Pilaf with Cannelini beans

1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil and more for drizzling later

1 Medium onion, chopped finely

4 cloves of garlic, smashed and chopped

1 bay leaf

1 1/2 cups basmati rice

1 16 ounce can cannelini beans, rinsed

3 cups of water or vegetarian broth

Salt and pepper

1/4 cup toasted pine nuts

1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

Saute the onion and garlic in the olive oil until tender, about 3-4 minutes.  Add  the rice. and sautee over medium low heat until the basmati rice begins to toast, about 2 more minutes.  Add the cannellini beans, the bay leaf and the water (or broth), season with salt and pepper and bring to boil. Stir once. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook for 20 minutes until water is evaporated.  Take off heat and let sit for an additional 15 minutes to steam and complete cooking.  Taste for seasoning. Adjust if necessary (remembering that rice and water both absorb a trememdous amount of salt so you will need to adjust).  Remove bay leaf. Add pine nuts, and chopped basil and toss with a fork. Drizzle a little fresh extra virgin olive oil on top before serving.  Serve warm.

NOTE: To turn this into a faux “risotto,” follow the recipe until you add the pine nuts and basil.  Do that and then add 1/2 stick of softened butter and 1/2 cup light cream. Stir thoroughly and then stir in about 1/2 cup of freshly grated parmesan cheese and some more freshly ground black pepper.  Finish with 1/4 cup of finely chopped parsley. (This addition of dairy takes it out of vegan however and makes it vegetarian–but it is so good!). Serve immediately.