How to Stay Healthy During the Holidays

Ever wonder how to enjoy the holidays and keep your health goals?  Here are a few of tips that I have learned along the way to make it a little bit easier to stay healthy during the holidays.

Hearty Roasted Butternut Squash Soup with Chickpeas

Butternut squash is one of my favorite fall vegetables. It is sweet and flavorful when roasted, and it blends beautifully into soups and sauces, creating a creamy texture without the need for cream or milk. 

Winter squash is also extremely affordable.  I pay between $1 and $2 per pound for organic squash at the Dupont Farmer's Market in DC, but I saw huge butternut squashes at a Michigan farmer's market a couple weeks ago for only $1 a piece.  I would probably make gallons of this soup at a time if I could buy squash at those prices.

And while I love the smooth, creamy Roasted Butternut Squash Soup recipe I created last year, I wanted to create a soup that was creamy, slightly sweet, and hearty enough to serve as an entire meal.

Soupy Sundays: Vegan Split Pea Soup

Since I finished my 21-day Cleanse a couple weeks ago, I've found myself still cooking generally Cleanse-friendly food.  I've reintroduced tomatoes and eggs and will eat those occasionally, but I really enjoy eating the foods that make up the base of the Elimination Diet.

This Sunday I decided to make Split Pea soup using the Daily Soup Cookbook's recipe. I had never made split pea soup before (or even tried it, dare I admit?!), but I bow to the writers of the Daily Soup Cookbook and dove in just the same.  I added an extra serving or two of vegetables to the soup, threw in some Herbes de Provence, and only puréed a portion of the finished soup to retain some of the chunky texture, but otherwise I was fairly obedient in following instructions.

This soup has been enjoyed for lunch all week, and I really think that making my own vegetable stock first really added a lot of flavor to the soup.  I'd imagine that the soup would still be delicious using water, store-bought stock, or a combination of the two, but if you have some extra carrots, onions, and celery sitting in your vegetable drawer, you really owe it to yourself to cook up a quick stock.  

Vegan Split Pea Soup (Makes 10 cups)
1 Tablespoon olive oil 
1 large yellow onion, , chopped 
3 celery stalks, chopped
3 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
1 teaspoon Herbes de Provence (if you don't have this blend, just add another tsp of thyme instead) 
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 pound green split peas, rinsed and picked over to remove any debris
8 cups of basic vegetable stock 
1/2 cup dry white wine (can substitute with more vegetable stock to be Cleanse-friendly)
1 clove garlic
Chopped parsley and/or Parmesan cheese (not vegan, but a delicious topping nonetheless)


1.  Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large Dutch oven or soup pot.  Add the onion, celery, and carrots and cook for about 4 minutes, until tender.

2.  Add the thyme, Herbes de Provence, salt, and pepper and stir to coat the vegetables.  

3. Add the split peas, stock, and white wine.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat so that the soup simmers, partially cover the pot, and let the soup simmer for about 45 minutes, until the peas are tender.  

4. Remove the bay leaves and purée 1/2 to 3/4 of the soup in a blender with the clove of garlic (no need to peel), or by using an immersion blender and reserving a portion of the soup in a separate container.  You can also blend the whole thing if you prefer a smooth soup.  

 

5. Return the puréed soup to the pot and simmer for 2 minutes to heat through.  Serve with chopped fresh parsley and/or shredded Parmesan.  

  Nutrition facts for 1 cup of soup, assuming you get about 10 total cups. 

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 290 g

Amount Per Serving

Calories  203 Calories from Fat  18

% Daily Value*

Total Fat  2.0g 3%

Trans Fat  0.0g

Cholesterol  0mg 0%

Sodium  313mg 13%

Total Carbohydrates  31.9g 11%

Dietary Fiber  12.4g 50%

Sugars  5.3g

Protein  13.1g

Vitamin A 63% • Vitamin C 5% Calcium 4% • Iron 14%

Day 11 Goop Soupy Sunday - Mollie's Vegan Red Lentil Soup with Dried Apricots

Day 11 on the Goop Cleanse Elimination Diet - No dairy, eggs, tomatoes, bananas, corn, red meat, pork, gluten, soy, sugar, coffee, or alcohol (among other foods).

I am officially more than halfway through the 21-Day Goop Cleanse process.  I'm still feeling great eating this food and even noticed that my jeans feel a bit loose.  It's not a big change, but after wearing the same pair of jeans for over 2 years, I can tell when there's a change.

I have gradually shifted to follow the Cleanse schedule of having a larger meal in the middle of the day and having a smoothie for breakfast and either a smoothie or soup for dinner.  I've always been hungrier in the afternoon, and it feels good to eat the majority of my food in the middle of the day when I'm the most active.

As far as cooking goes, I've turned to my favorite vegetarian recipe writers for inspiration, Mollie Katzen and Heidi Swanson.  Even though I can eat chicken, turkey, and some fish on the Cleanse, my focus has mainly been on the vegetables and gluten-free whole grains, and Mollie Katzen and Heidi Swanson have such creative ways to prepare vegetables and grains that I haven't found myself bored with the Elimination Diet yet.  

Yesterday I decided to try Mollie Katzen's "Lentil Soup with a Hint of Fruit" recipe because the mixture of lentils, dried apricots, and balsamic vinegar intrigued me.  I loved this soup - it's an unexpectedly exquisite combination of flavors.  Since I'm always tinkering with things, I changed the cooking method a bit and added in some shredded carrots for texture.  I also puréed a couple cups of the soup at the end to give the broth a thicker, creamier texture.  To make the soup a heartier (vegan and gluten-free) lunch, add some cooked quinoa or millet to the soup.  

Clean Cooking: Day 1 of the Goop Cleanse Challenge and Curried Lentil Soup

We must learn to reawaken and keep ourselves awake, not by mechanical aids, but by an infinite expectation of the dawn, which does not forsake us even in our soundest sleep. I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by a conscious endeavour. It is something to be able to paint a particular picture, or to carve a statue, and so to make a few objects beautiful; but it is far more glorious to carve and paint the very atmosphere and medium through which we look, which morally we can do. To affect the quality of the day, that is the highest of arts.

- Henry David Thoreau

I am generally not one for making New Year's resolutions.  I tend to classify them in the same category with Lenten Promises - intentions made in the presence of others (usually under the influence of peer pressure), which are often abandoned and forgotten within a matter of weeks.  Perhaps that characterization sounds cynical, but I always found the exercise of making New Year's resolutions to be a tad pointless.  Shouldn't we try to do the right thing everyday?  And shouldn't there be a larger goal guiding the decisions we make about the foods we eat, the amount we exercise, and the energy we devote to the people around us, besides the fact that one more year has passed?

Be that as it may, New Year's Day came and went, and I was without a holiday resolution. I was dedicated to continuing the blog, but I was looking for new inspiration to guide my cooking and writing in the new year.  And then yesterday, just as I was getting ready to start my day and test a new granola recipe, I received a new Goop newsletter.  The email described a Cleanse that Gwyneth recommended, and I was immediately intrigued.  I was a fan of Gwyneth's cookbook, My Father's Daughter, and generally liked to read any advice that she had to give related to healthy cooking.

I scrolled down the email to see some interesting healthy recipe suggestions, including one by Jamie Oliver, and I was feeling pretty good about the idea of a "Cleanse."  I was thinking to myself, "I like to try new healthy foods, maybe I should give this a shot." I clicked on the link to the Goop Cleanse Manual to take a look at the program details and was quickly confronted with a feeling that surprised me - betrayal.  I'm not talking about betrayal in the dramatic sense, but the sort of betrayal one might feel after thinking they had mastered a particular video game, only to find out there was another level waiting for them that no one had told them about.

To participate in the Cleanse, I would be giving up dairy, eggs, wheat, oats, bananas (!), tomatoes, and a bunch of other foods that frequently made appearances in my kitchen.  Many of these foods were part of my routine, which I had become pretty content with, and participating in the Cleanse was going to throw off my habits.  But maybe that was a good thing.  When we stop challenging ourselves, we risk becoming complacent and set in our ways, whether those habits are really beneficial or not.

While I couldn't afford to purchase the Goop Cleanse supplements and follow the 21-day program with the shakes, I decided that I was going to at least follow the Elimination Diet for 21 days and see how I felt.  I liked the idea of slowly reintroducing foods at the end of the Cleanse and being able to really zero in on which foods might have negative effects on your physical and mental well-being.  It reminded me of a science experiment, which is always a good thing for me.

I decided to approach The Elimination Diet as a challenge - one that held additional possibilities that could never be explored without a firm intention to follow the list for a set period of time.  21 days is an arbitrary period of time, but I felt it would be a long enough period to really challenge me and truly explore what it means to focus on "clean" foods.  While this is a personal challenge for me and my body, I am mainly focused on challenging my cooking and recipe-writing skills.  I plan on posting only "clean" recipes for the next three weeks.

C likes to say that cooking healthy food involves a higher degree of difficulty and should therefore be graded on a curve.  Most foods taste pretty good with a stick of butter in or on them.  But working with healthy, whole ingredients presents additional challenges to the cook, which can be tackled by embracing the natural flavors of fresh ingredients and learning how to season food well.  I'm not asking for extra credit to cooking foods that are both healthy and delicious, I just think that people need to adjust their expectations away from the over-the-top creations that they see on TV and embrace simple, whole, fresh foods.


I should also note that I am not trying to lose weight on the Cleanse but rather increase my energy level and learn whether I have a sensitivity to any of the foods that I eliminate.  So while I'm pretty sure that I'm not allergic to peanut butter and bananas, I am going without both of these foods for the next 21 days and will eventually reincorporate them into my diet after the Cleanse is over (on a great peanut butter and banana sandwich with whole wheat bread if possible!).  So I bid farewell to some of my favorite foods for now in search of a new way of eating, cooking, and (hopefully) thinking.


Last night I decided to make my first official "clean" meal to start the Cleanse off right - Curried Lentil Soup.  I love this soup and have made it many times before, and I was excited to think that many of the foods that I enjoy cooking actually fit right in with The Elimination Diet. This is a very inexpensive soup to make, and you should be able to find French green lentils at most grocery or bulk food stores.  It's really filling and makes a great lunch to bring to work.

Soupy Sundays: Three Bean Chili Con Carne with Quinoa

Before we get to the chili, I want to announce that Modern Vintage Cooking passed its 10,000th hit this weekend!  6 months ago, this blog didn't even exist, and I was jotting down recipes on little pieces of paper all over my apartment.  Today I am happy to be writing recipes regularly and bringing you new blog posts every week.  Thanks for all your support, and here's to another 10,000. :)

Nothing feels more comforting to me on a crisp fall day than a big steaming pot of chili.  I have loved chili since I was a little kid, and if you ever mention it to my mom, she'll be happy to recount the story of how I once thought kidney beans were meatballs and kept asking for "more meatballs, please."

I love vegetarian chili, but yesterday I was in the mood to try a good hearty beef version.  I turned to Jamie Oliver again for inspiration, using his Chili Con Carne recipe from Jamie's Food Revolution as a base.  I added a third bean to the recipe and threw in some extra vegetables and spices.  I also chose to serve the chili over some cooked quinoa instead of rice to get an extra boost of protein.  The meal really hit the spot, and we have tons of leftovers that will make for some wonderful lunches this week.

Soupy Sundays: Jamie's Lamb Stew

Now I understand that a stew isn't the same thing as a soup, but for this week it was close enough.  Since I was working last weekend and didn't have much time for cooking, I wanted to make a low-maintenance comfort food dinner to enjoy on Sunday night.  Jamie Oliver's Lamb Stew Recipe in his Food Revolution cookbook sounded perfect, so I had to give it a try.

I realize that I tend to post mostly vegetarian recipes, but I do eat meat on occasion, and I'm a big fan of lamb. One of my favorite dishes growing up was the lamb and rice dish with tomato sauce (Arnaki Pilafi) at Pegasus in Detroit's Greektown.  The meat was always really tender and flavorful, and I've had a good impression of lamb ever since.

I'm also a huge fan of Jamie Oliver and have been slowly but surely working my way through the cookbook.  This recipe is pretty simple, and Jamie provides three other options besides the lamb to make a similar stew using chicken, beef, or pork.  I love that he doesn't tell you to brown the meat first, because that is always my least favorite part about making a stew or roast.  The only change that I made was doubling the amounts of carrots and celery, just because I like to have lots of vegetables in my stew.

I served each portion of stew with a nice piece of bread, though I think that mashed potatoes would have been delicious.

Soupy Sundays: Cauliflower Soup



So I actually made this soup on Saturday rather than Sunday last week, after a long, drawn-out battle with our dying oven.  The old oven was finally replaced with a new one on Saturday morning, and after working a 55-hour week, I came home to our apartment excited to cook something new.  I preheated the oven to test it out, which ultimately resulted in a visit from the DC fire department.  Apparently when our landlord installed the oven, he lodged the owner's manual behind the broiler drawer, which caught on fire when we turned the oven on. 

Eventually the firefighters left and the smoke cleared, and I decided to avoid the oven for the rest of the day and use my new stovetop instead.  I wanted to try a recipe from my new Heidi Swanson cookbook, Super Natural Everyday.  Since I had a big head of cauliflower in the fridge, I went with the Cauliflower Soup recipe.   

I changed the recipe a bit, adding some carrot and celery for extra flavor and substituting Gruyère for Cheddar cheese.  I loved the soup - it was creamy before I even added the cheese and had a nice subtle blend of flavors.  Plus, it was quick enough to make on a Saturday afternoon while C was watching football.  I used a Vitamix to blend the soup at the end, which produced a really silky result, but you can use a standard blender, immersion blender, or food processor instead. 

Soupy Sundays: Roasted Butternut Squash Soup and Toasted Squash Seeds

Maybe it's because I love the Fall weather and flavors, or maybe it's because I got to use my new Vitamix blender to its fullest potential last night, but this is by far my favorite Soupy Sundays recipe.

The soup is thick, creamy, and quite honestly, pretty heavenly.  It tastes like a big bowl of Fall, or at least how I imagine Fall to taste in soup form.

I started with Giada's recipe for Butternut Squash Soup in her book "Giada at Home."  Her recipe uses onion, carrot, garlic and fresh sage to flavor the soup, which really works well with the butternut squash flavor.

However, instead of boiling the squash in chicken stock with the other vegetables, I decided to roast it in the oven to really bring out the flavor of the squash, a trick employed by Ina Garten in her Roasted Butternut Squash Soup.

Soupy Sundays: Hearty Vegan Corn Chowder

I can't seem to stop posting soup recipes with corn in them.  My excuse is that it's the summer and fresh corn is just so affordable and wonderful right now.  Although, to be honest, I used half fresh corn and half frozen corn in this recipe.

This corn chowder is heartier than the Summer Corn Chowder recipe I posted based on Gwyneth Paltrow's Corn Chowder from My Father's Daughter.

I wanted to give one of Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution Recipes a try, and his corn chowder just called out to me.  I love the recipes because they're incredibly familiar and simple and really leave room for you to add your own flair.

This chowder is very hearty on its own, and you could also add some shrimp (cooked for a few minutes in the soup until it turns pink) or cooked chicken at the end.  I made the soup vegan by using olive oil instead of butter and one cup of vegetable stock and 2 cups of almond milk instead of regular milk.  The result still tastes rich and creamy, but the saturated fat and cholesterol that usually accompany corn chowder are happily absent.

Soupy Sundays: Gazpacho

I've been making Gazpacho for years now following Ina Garten's recipe, which is really outstanding.  Until I came up with this recipe, I never thought that Gazpacho could be better than her recipe.  I've tried Gazpacho at Le Pain Quotidien and Kruse & Muir's in Michigan, and Ina's was always better.  However, after turning to The Daily Soup Cookbook, which has never steered me wrong before, I combined Ina's recipe with the Daily Soup's (with a little help from Gwyneth Paltrow's recipe, which inspired me to roast the peppers) and came up with a perfectly balanced Gazpacho.

I think the only issue I ever had with Ina's recipe was that it was a little too acidic.  This recipe has less tomatoes, more red peppers, and even makes use of the insides of the peppers!  I've never used the seeds and white parts of red peppers before, but that idea came from The Daily Soup, and it's really a genius way to cut down on waste and create a really rich and creamy broth in the blender.

Make some of Ina's Parmesan Croutons to go with your Gazpacho (they keep really well and are a delicious snack), and you'll really enjoy this summer soup all week long.

Soupy Sundays: Vegetarian Chili with Fresh Corn

Chili is one of those meals that carries a lot of memories for me.  My mom used to make a big pot of chili when the weather got cold, and so the taste of steaming-hot bowl of chili always brings back good memories for me.

I decided to make a vegetarian version of the chili because the beans were always my favorite part, and the soup is really hearty without adding any ground beef or turkey.  I also wanted to make the soup as easy as possible to make.  This is the kind of soup where you chop everything, toss it in the pot, and then leave it alone for an hour or so until you're ready to eat.  Perfect casual Sunday dinner option.

To make the dish taste summery, I decided to add some fresh corn.  The corn cuts some of the acidity of the tomato-based soup and adds freshness to the dish.  You could even add the corn in the winter using frozen corn, but there's something about fresh corn on the cob that really tastes like summer to me.  

This recipe makes a nice big pot of soup for the week, and you can make the chili last even longer by cooking up a pot of brown rice while the chili is simmering.  When you're ready to serve it, just add a large spoonful of rice to the bottom of the bowl and pour the chili on top.  Without cheese and sour cream on top, this is a vegan and gluten-free meal high in protein and fiber.  Did I mention that the chili is also really delicious and will make your house smell amazing when it's simmering on the stove?

Vegetarian Chili (Makes about 6 hearty portions of soup, more if served over rice)

1-2 teaspoons olive oil

1 medium Vidalia onion

2 carrots, peeled and diced into ¼- to ½-inch pieces

3 cloves garlic

2 teaspoons chili powder

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon coriander

1 bay leaf

1 teaspoon salt

1 28-oz. can crushed tomatoes

2 cups vegetable stock or water*

1 can organic red kidney beans, rinsed and drained

1 can organic black beans, rinsed and drained

½ cup dried French lentils**

2 ears of fresh corn on the cob, kernels cut from the cob

Optional Toppings: chopped green onions, sour cream or Greek yogurt, grated cheddar cheese

*If you use water rather than vegetable stock, you might want to add a few tablespoons of tomato paste to the soup when you stir in the beans to add some extra flavor and richness to the soup.

**I think lentils are a really great addition to the vegetarian chili, and they’re also quite affordable.  I pick them up in the bulk section of Whole Foods, but you could always substitute another can of beans for the lentils if you don’t have any.

1. Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large soup pot.  Add the onions and carrots and sauté for about 4-5 minutes.  

2. Add the garlic, chili powder, cumin, oregano, coriander, bay leaf, and salt and stir so that the spices coat the vegetables.  Cook for a few minutes until the spices become fragrant. 

3. Add the tomatoes, vegetable stock or water, kidney beans, black beans, and lentils and bring the soup to a boil.  Lower the heat and simmer for 40 minutes to 1 hour, until the lentils are tender.  

4.  Add the corn and simmer for a few more minutes before serving.  Taste to make sure the soup is seasoned to your liking, and feel free to add a bit of cayenne pepper or hot sauce at the end if you like your chili spicy.  Remove the bay leaf.  

5. If serving with rice, add rice to the bottom of the soup bowls or mugs and pour a ladle or two of chili on top.  

Add any toppings and serve immediately.  

Here are the nutrition facts for one serving of chili made with water and served without rice, assuming you get 6 servings total. 

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 389 g

Amount Per Serving

Calories  312 Calories from Fat  14

% Daily Value*

Total Fat  1.5g 2%

Trans Fat  0.0g

Cholesterol  0mg 0%

Sodium  866mg 36%

Total Carbohydrates  58.0g 19%

Dietary Fiber  17.1g 68%

Sugars  11.9g

Protein  18.1g

Vitamin A 80% • Vitamin C 29% Calcium 5% • Iron 25%

  

Soupy Sundays: Sweet Potato and Corn Chowder

Soup is one of my favorite genres of food. Yes, soup recipes generally involve a good amount of chopping and sometimes require a bit of a time commitment, but sitting down to a really good bowl of soup is always worth it to me. 

Therefore, I’ve decided to designate Sunday as Soup Day and make a new soup recipe every week.  We go to the farmer’s market on Sundays, so I figure it’s the perfect time to pick out any fresh produce that I might need for the recipe.  I find that soup is a great meal to make before the week gets going because the leftovers make ideal lunches to bring to work - filling, healthy, and easy to pack. 

When we were living in Detroit last summer, I picked up a great book at the public library called “The Daily Soup.”  I tried their Cucumber with Yogurt Soup recipe first and was immediately hooked.  Those people really know their soup.  I ended up just buying the book (after completely dog-earing the library’s copy) and have made many of their recipes since then. 

I even made my own vegetable stock using The Daily Soup recipe a couple times and then used it in their vegetarian soup recipes.  Ina Garten always talks about the superiority of homemade stock on her show, and so after ranting a bit about why it would ever be necessary to make your own stock, I finally broke down and made my own to see what all the fuss is about.  


It's delicious.  It just is.  The stock makes your house smell amazing and adds a wealth of flavor to every soup you make.  Yes, you have to wait around for an hour while it simmers and throw out all the cooked vegetables at the end, but I promise that when you take your first bite of homemade soup with your homemade stock, you’ll know what I’m talking about.   Ina was right - it’s just better.  Not necessary, but better. 

So after making my own homemade vegetable stock yesterday, I moved on to the Sweet Potato and Corn Chowder.  It’s based on the Daily Soup’s “New Zealand Sweet Potato Chowder,” and is absolutely delicious.  I made it according to the recipe back in Detroit and thought it was one of the easiest and most delicious soup recipes I had tried.  It was really rich, thanks to heavy cream that it calls for in the original recipe (though I’m sure I used half & half instead), and so I decided to lighten it up a bit by cutting a bit of the butter (you can usually cut about half and not miss it, any more and you're pushing it) and using almond milk instead of heavy cream. 

Spoiler alert: it’s still rich and delicious, and now it's also low in fat (and potentially vegan).