Monday, February 16, 2009

'AMERICAN HEART MONTH' ~ 'HEART SMART' PERFECT PROTEIN SALAD

"We are indeed much more than what we eat, but what we eat can nevertheless help us to be much more than what we are. "
(1904 - 1974)
~ Dicentra 'Gold Heart' *
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PERFECT PROTEIN SALAD
~ Favorite retro-health food salad (and ideal Lenten dish) adapted through the years from 1977 MOOSEWOOD COOKBOOK
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3/4 cup dry soybeans (soaked for at least 4 hours or overnight)
3/4 cup dry wheat or rye berries (soaked at least 30 minutes)
1/4 cup cider vinegar
juice and zest of 1 lemon
coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/4 cup minced fresh dill (2 tsp. dried)
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1 tsp. dry mustard
2 minced cloves garlic
1/2 cup minced fresh parsley
1 cup cottage cheese (drain if too much liquid)
4 minced scallions
1 minced large carrot
1 seeded and minced English cucumber
1 minced red, yellow or orange pepper
1/2 cup minced celery
sliced radishes
chopped black olives
alfalfa sprouts (opt)
sliced tomato
(add or subtract veggies of choice)
  • Place soaked soybeans and wheat/rye berries in large pan and cover with water. Bring to boil, partially cover, and simmer until tender (1-1/4 hours). When soybeans are crunchy-tender and grains chewy-tender, rinse in a colander and drain well. Transfer to large bowl.
  • Combine everything else and mix well with cooked soybeans and wheat/rye berries.
  • Serve garnished with ripe tomato slices ... also yummy stuffed in pita bread and topped with sprouts. (6-8 servings)
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* Gardener's Note: This brilliant 'old-fashioned' bleeding heart POPS in a shade garden . Surprisingly hearty with long lasting blooms, its sunny leaves will glow throughout spring and summer.

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

Those pink hearts are just perfect for the month! That salad is MY kind of salad. Sounds wonderful!

Kerri said...

Joey, the Moosewood restaurant is in Ithaca, NY, where we used to live when my hubby was attending Cornell.
The salad sounds different and interesting, but the white chocolate pie with rasberries is making my mouth water. No calories in that, right? ;)
I know I left a comment on your Valentines' post. Guess it got lost in cyberspace. Hope you had a lovely V Day. Love those vintage postcards!

joey said...

Hi Nancy ... hope you give the salad a try (good stuffed in pita halves topped with sprouts). Though I also have old fashioned and 'Luxuriant' bleeding heart, 'Gold Heart' dicentra is the favorite in my shade garden ... the foilage shocking!

My old cookbook has many great soup/salad recipes, Kerri. Did you ever eat at Moosewood? I know it was quite THEE hip place back in the 70s. And indeed you are correct ... no calories in the white chocolate pie, especially if you only 'read' the recipe :)

garden girl said...

love those bleeding hearts Joey! They are one of my favorite flowers.

A female friend of mine (in her late 50's) just had quintuple bypass surgery, shocking everyone who knows her. She seemed the picture of health, and ignored her symtoms for months. Thankfully she went to the doctor before it was too late, and he sent her directly to the hospital where she had the bypass surgery to deal with 95% blockage. Women should not kid themselves that heart disease happens only to men -it's the number one killer of women of all ages as well.

The salad sounds delicious and very healthy.

Gail said...

Delicious food and perfect flowers...Joey, you are an artist!

joey said...

Dicentra hold my heart also, Linda, and how true regarding heart disease ... believe me, I know, having touched many in my family.

How sweet, Gail ~ thank you. A lovely compliment coming from your gifted eye.

beckie said...

Joey, the blleding heart is just gorgeous. I had one for years, but it finally died. Must replace it now after seeing how pretty they are again.

This salad sounds yummy. One of my grands is a vegetarian and would love this. I am printing it out to give to her. She is always looking for ways to get more protein in her diet.

joey said...

Hi Beckie! Truly a favorite, especially this 'Gold Heart' with glowing foliage, a great contrast in my shade garden. The high protein salad, loaded with soybeans and wheat/rye berries, is very satisfying and can be veggie tweaked according to likes & dislikes.

Unknown said...

Whooo, the salad sounds lovely but I'm not quite up to the soybeans and wheat berries yet. A few more weeks of internal healing are needed before I try that much fibre...
And the bleeding heart is gorgeous! They're one of my favourite perennials and grow magnificently here.

Jan said...

oohhh, Dicentra pink heart is a beauty!!!

Monica the Garden Faerie said...

Love the photo of the bleeding heart (something I've not had much luck with--every gardener has something like that!). And, ah yes, the Moosewood Cookbook... good times! :) I realized that while I like fruit and veg, I seem to be blind to it in the store and my fridge... but yesterday I ate two apples, a big carrot, and a tossed salad (not all at once). :)

Ewa said...

Joey, that picture of bleeding heart made me remember, that I was planning to post it at Valentines Day - ha ha ha. Little bit late.
I love it in the garden - that's a lovely, lil old fashioned and maybe forgotten - but worth to give a try.
Greetings from fairytale land :)

joey said...

Thanks jodi. Hopefully by spring, you can satisfy both your craving for the garden and more fiber :)

Glad you like, Jan ... a favorite here!

Wow, lots of good fiber, Monica! Like Elaine in Seinfeld ... I love 'big salads'!

Dicentra tug at my heart, Ewa ... I covet them as I do any fern-like foliage plant.

Iowa Gardening Woman said...

Nothing is prettier than a bleeding heart! Beautiful! Always reminds me of my grandmother and my aunts gardens.

My Mother's Garden said...

Hi Joey~

Oh, the bleeding heart flower is so sweet and gentle looking. I have a clerodendrom bleeding heart in my zone 10 garden that is really pretty, but not anywhere near as pretty as your species.

That protein salad recipe looks interesting, I think I'll copy it, it would be perfect for when my vegetarian friend comes to visit.

Thank you for visiting the 'Artists in the garden' interview today! It has been really interesting for me to learn about and share the creative side of these people. I plan to post them once a week (if I can find more garden artists).

I like your blog!

Karrita

joey said...

I agree, Iowa ~ though we never grew them in our garden, I fell in love the first we met ...

Welcome Karrita! So enjoyed your delightful interview with Karen. Intrigued by your clerodendrum, I searched your desirable vine, a beauty! I hope your vegetarian friend enjoys this recipe as much as I did the first time I tasted it ... sitting cross-legged and pregnant (he's now 26) in my vegetarian friend's tepee!

Marysol said...

Oh, I think I may swoon.

Love the bleeding hearts, and how appropriate to feature such beauty alongside a heart-healthy salad, or rather, feast.

Joey, do you really have a 26 yr. old son?
Get out of here! No, really. Get out of here, you impostor!
How can you look that good with a 26 yr. old son?!

Apparently, there must be more to this so-called 'Perfect' Protein Salad than meets the eye.

I must try it.

joey said...

Oh Marysol, lets swoon together :0)
You hold my heart dearly knowing I'm as 'Old as Dirt' and this was my 'baby', 10 years younger than his brother and 11 years younger than his sister ... indeed, a 'Perfect Protein Salad' :)