The Plan: Week 1
Transitioning to a Whole Food, Plant-Based Diet
Week 1, Goal 1
Go Cruciferous!
Try to get in some green leafies and cruciferous vegetables most days. Every day is the brass ring, but we do what we can. These vegetables can actually REDUCE the amount of plaque inside your coronary arteries. No surgery, bypass, stent, or medication can do that. These veggies include:
Spinach
Turnip greens
Swiss chard
Kale
Mustard greens
Arugula
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Cabbage
Asparagus
Brussels sprouts
Here are some ways to get these super-foods into your meals besides a big giant salad:
Wash and finely chop the leafy greens and put them into your soups, stews, chilis, pasta sauce, and goulash. You won’t even notice they are in there once they cook down.
Make the leafies the first layer of your tacos, burritos, sandwiches, and wraps.
The broccoli and cauliflower are fantastic chopped up in stir fries with peppers, onions, garlic, snap peas, mushrooms, diced pineapple, and some Tamari.
Toss raw florets of broccoli and/or cauliflower in some veggie broth, then coat in nutritional yeast and garlic powder and then roast them in the oven.
Take raw asparagus with the bottom part of the stem trimmed off, where it’s pale and tough, so you really have the upper half with the tip. Dip this in veggie broth, then roll it nutritional yeast and bread crumbs mixed 1 to 1. Lay on a silicone mat or parchment paper on a baking sheet, and bake at 425 until tender. If you leave them longer they’ll get a little crispy. I haven’t timed these, I just bake until they’re done and starting to crisp on the outside.
Serving Size
A serving of green leafies and cruciferous vegetables is about 1/2 cup cooked or 1 cup raw. I’d like you to shoot for 2 servings a day, but think that as your minimum. You sold really be having 4 and if you’re a heart patient looking to reverse coronary artery disease, 5 to 6.
That’s not as much as it sounds like. 1/2 cup of cooked veggies is a very small amount.
Tips
Do not put butter or margarine on these veggies. It goes straight into your arteries.
Massage your kale with a splash of balsamic vinegar before using. Massage until it’s shiny and its texture has softened. You’ll know when it’s ready.
Stretch your imagination and try lots of seasonings to see what tastes best to you. Lemon pepper, smoked pepper, Mrs. Dash, smoked paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, a splash of tamari, vinegar, and more.