My MM: Chloe’s Meatless Monday Menu
Meet today’s vegan chef, Chloe: She loves carrots (sometimes pickled), and her vegan diet skews largely Japanese-Korean. I don’t know about you, but after reading this, I’m definitely inspired to eat something super-healthy with chopsticks today. Like many asian-leaning and vegan diets, Chloe’s seems to feature a fair amount of soy though. Which soy camp do you fit into?
Name: Chloe
Hometown: San Francisco
My Dietary Leanings: Vegan, very fruity, and Japanese and Korean oriented. Eat like a queen in the morning, a princess midday, and a pauper in the evening. Oh, and I love all things and anything green tea♥
My Favourite Vegetable: Carrots
This morning I ate…
Because breakfast is so important, I have three parts of a meal of which I rotate two at a time each day. A large cup of matcha green tea always begins it, of course! Today I had two slices of sprouted wheat toast, one topped with half of an avocado and the other topped with Rawtella and a sliced banana (berries taste lovely as well with the cacao). There is also something I do where I fill a bowl with chopped strawberries alone or with other fruit (today it was blueberries) and then pour organic unsweetened soymilk on top of it, so that it’s a sort of cereal without the cereal because I don’t like cereal. It’s lovely! Sometimes I substitute it with plain or vanilla soy or coconut yogurt with raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, and kiwis instead. Another cup of green tea and then I am off to go on the day’s ventures (school)!
Then for lunch it was…
A bowl of miso soup made with kombu seaweed stock and tofu. I also made inarizushi, which is rice stuffed in tofu pockets, as well as futomaki, which had yellow picked radish, cucumber, avocado, carrots, a thin layer of tofu, portobello mushrooms, and spinach, with pickled ginger, daikon, and Japanese greens on the side. Croquettes with tofu, bellpepper, and potatoes are also yummy with it. Instead of eggs to dip, you can use soy milk or rice milk or silken tofu, the panko still sticks very well. I snack on blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries or pop chips sometimes.
Finally I had…
A small tofu scramble with minced onion, garlic, bellpepper, potatoes, kale, carrots, tomatoes, pretty much every vegetable I could find in the fridge over rice, you can eat it with quinoa too. I only use extra virgin olive oil for cooking. I usually don’t eat dinner because I never eat after five p.m. unless I go out with friends or family. Breakfast and lunch keep me full all day…
Last but not least, dessert…
That doesn’t stop me from eating sweets instead, so bad! After seeing a recipe for vegan matcha green tea banana ice cream I am in love. With another cup of matcha green tea to end the day as well.
Yum! Chloe, would you mind posting the recipe for the ice cream in the comments? Thanks! Reminder to all: Don’t forget to send in your MM menus!
What a great menu. When you make your tofu scramble what style tofu do you prefer? I want to try that. Thanks so much- Sarah PS the ice cream sounds awesome too.
Nice menu!
Re: soy…I believe it’s like so many other things. When we eat the whole food it is good for us. The more processed the food, particularly if we try to take it apart and just eat some particular component of it, the benefits go away and the potential bad stuff starts. I ditched foods containing things like “soy protein isolates” long ago, but I eat whole soy foods occasionally. Not so much, because I’m a big believer in eating raw and this is one thing that doesn’t work raw. There probably are some people who don’t do well with soy, just like I don’t do well eating gluten.
By the way, if you love miso but don’t want soy, there is such a thing as chickpea miso, which I’ve bought at various grocery stores.
I make banana matcha green tea, also! For a while I was buying green tea ice cream at a local Asian market (and feeling sick from all that dairy) but then I realized that I could just add matcha green tea into the frozen banana “ice cream” I had already been making. This is my favorite MM so far. Thanks, Chloe!
For me it’s all things in moderation. We eat soy but I try to keep it to three times a week or less. We don’t drink soy milk we drink almond milk (I wish it was home made but the organic almonds are so expensive up here in the Yukon that isn’t worth it) and I only use edemame, tempeh, tofu and miso in my cooking. I have two small boys and there is some concern that excessive soy consumption could have a negative impact on children. I also came across a study a while ago that found that women who consumed excessive soy had shorter menstrual cycles. I know studies can be flawed so I usually go with my gut after reading all the data and I love tofu so…
Love the menu but was wondering if the caffeine in the green tea ever keeps Chloe up, I have a problem with that if I drink green tea too soon before bed. Also I am a big fan of minimally processed soy, my body runs well on and it and feels good after consuming it, and my Chinese grandmother and a trip to China makes me think that there’s no problem with it, especially because Okinawa, Japan is a huge soy consumer and also a cold spot for breast and prostate cancer.
Hi! Hehe, it’s a little embarrassing after seeing this posted >///< Thank you so much for all your comments! Here is the link to the recipe, the chef is named Ochi; she is very sweet and lovely and very healthy for omnis as well! (http://createeathappy.blogspot.com/2011/09/vegan-matcha-green-tea-banana-ice-cream.html)
To Sarah, firm tofu is nice! For an omelette, silken tofu is lovely ^ ^
To Rebecca, I'm sorry this menu doesn't work for you, I tried to write this so that people who cannot eat soy could easily substitute for their needs, but I'm aware it probably doesn't help much ): However if you would like some Asian style raw food ideas, here is a nice source! (http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.218829394872037.55287.218334241588219&type=3) I really love following her meals as well (:
To Elizabeth, thank you so much! You are too sweet!
To Beth, yes the controversy around soy is pretty enigmatic, please continue doing what works best for you! I love soy, but I love other alternatives too (:
To Juliana, I am not sure if it's because I drink it too often, but the caffeine doesn't effect my sleeping habits, and then I must confess my sleeping schedule is terrible, so if tea prevents you from falling asleep then I would refrain from drinking it late at night ^ ^ I do well on soy as well. Perhaps it's the Asian descendant biology, haha
Looks great, just wish I could eat the soy. =(
As someone with Thyroid problems soy’s not really a good protein source for me. I’ll occasionally have miso soup (it’s sooo good). But that only happens a few times a year.
Regarding soy…I am currently reading a book called ‘The Clear Skin Diet’. It is for folks like me who are prone to acne and gives dietary solutions that can help with it. Thus far it has made a pretty big difference for me. They actually recommend eating soy products. I am rather confused over the whole soy issue as it seems it can have both positive and negative effects on hormones. Anyone have deep insight into this?
@ Moksha, The Clear Skin Diet is a good book with sound nutritional advice however I had to eliminate wheat and goat dairy before my skin cleared up completely.
As for soy, there are strong opinions on both sides of the argument. Rain forests are being cut down for soy bean fields, most conventionally grown soy beans are genetically modified and soy is a common allergen with many people who have sensitivities to it. As mentioned above if you have a thyroid problem you should avoid it. It is also estrogenic so if you have any health problems related to hormonal issues (endometriosis, a family history of estrogen sensitive breast cancer) well… some of my reading suggests caution. Soy (and many grains) also contain something called phytates or phytic acid which bind to iron, calcium, magnesium, and zinc (if I am remembering it correctly) making them more difficult to absorb. Another point that is also often made is that while Asian populations are often healthy and while they do consume soy products it is only in moderation and as a part of a healthy big picture diet. There is also some question as to weather or not the hormonal side of things could have a negative impact on children especially boys.
That being said cows milk is full of hormones even if it is raw and organic. Even lavender and tea tree oil have been implicated as being estrogenic. There are all kinds of foods that are very good for us in moderation like honey which has been shown to increase the levels of antioxidants in our blood but you wouldn’t eat a whole bowl full. I am not giving up oats just because they contain phytates though admittedly less than soy. I used to take care of a little boy for whom a typical days menu was soy containing cereal for breakfast with soy milk on top, a sandwhich containing Yves vege peperoni, Tofu for dinner and tofutti ice cream for desert. To me this is not moderation. It is also very processed.
I am a vegetarian and I have allergies as well as a gallbladder condition meaning I have trouble with fats. I eat soy products. Tofu, miso, tempeh, and edemame are my favorites however as I mentioned in my comment above I am very moderate and I avoid hidden soy ingredients. I think that you have to weigh the risks and the benefits. Fermented soy products are the healthiest and there is support for positive health benefits from the isoflavones in soy. Some research also suggested that it may lower the risk of breast cancer despite the hormonal thing. In terms of getting protein to a busy family it is perhaps one of my favourite convenience foods. The Power of Ancient Foods by Dr. Gene Spiller and Prescription for Dietary Wellness by Phyllis A. Balch CNC both have a lot to say In support of soy foods. At the end of the day you really just have to decide if it is right for you but whatever you choose you still have to look at your overall diet and find a healthy balance. For both ethical and health reasons I would definitely stick with organic soy products. And for the record I’m not a doctor. I don’t even have a degree I just read LOTS. Sorry for the extra long comment.