Diet, Dessert and Dogs

[As I mentioned last time, I'm thrilled beyond words that my cookbook, Sweet Freedom, is one of only three cookbooks recommended on Ellen DeGeneres's new "Going Vegan with Ellen" page!  If you've had success with the recipes or if you have the book and like it, please hop over and leave a comment to let Ellen know as well!]

There’s just enough time to squeeze in one more summer giveaway before we all head back to the city from the cottage, back to school from the parks and beaches, back to work from our holidays, or just back to autumn after the long, lazy, delightful days of summer–so how could I resist?  Besides, with autumn in the air in these parts (the mornings are already feeling a wee bit chilly), I needed something to cheer me up!

These days, the importance for Omega 3s, those essential fatty acids (EFAs) that we can only acquire from foods (our body can’t make them) is being emphasized all over the media and the supermarket aisles.  EFAs are even added to foods in which they’d never appear naturally (such as orange juice), in what seems to me a pseudo-GMO fashion.  And everyone is concerned about how to get their fill.

When I was in nutrition school back in the early 2000s, hardly anyone had even heard of Omega 3s.  In class, we learned that the best sources for EFAs were salmon, walnuts, and flax seeds.  Our teachers advised us to consume at least 1-2 teaspoons (10 ml) of the stuff a day.  And the product they recommended most often to ensure we achieved our daily quota was fish oil.

For couple of years after school ended, I forced myself to take my fish oil daily, despite the fact that I was entirely unhappy with its source; further, the “lemon flavor” never really tasted like lemon to me, and I had a hard time swallowing it (literally).  I tried mixing it in smoothies, but found that the flavor simply overpowered the smoothie.  Finally, I determined to stop taking it when I cut other animal products out completely, and I turned to walnuts, flax and, later on, chia seeds for my Omega 3s.

Well, imagine my surprise when I learned that there’s a totally vegan Omega 3 oil out there, and one that is derived from plant and algae sources! When I was contacted by Kristine from Ascenta Health to see whether I was interested in reviewing their vegan Omega 3 oil, I was most surprised to discover that the company for which she worked was the same one that made NutraSea!  The product she offered me was a vegan counterpart, called NutraVege.

I agreed to try the oil, making no promises.  The bottle arrived a few days later, and I set up my station by the sink:  open bottle in one hand, teaspoon in the other, full glass of water to drown out the taste on the counter.  I poured; I slid the spoon into my mouth; I swallowed and grabbed the glass.

And then–the strangest thing happened!  There was no need to drink.  No need to mask the flavor at all, in fact, because it was actually extremely pleasant!  The oil is smooth and clear with a subtle citrus note that lingers for a few seconds.  In fact, the taste was so pleasant that I felt I could happily incorporate the oil into my recipes, though honestly, you can eat this stuff entirely on its own.

First I added some to a smoothie (this one has kale, cucumber, lettuce, plum, cinnamon, and coconut water):

As I suspected, it was dee-licious!

Next, I made this fantastic salad based on a recipe from Nava Atlas’s VegKitchen, subbing part of the oil with NutraVege.  The addition of a citrus boost worked beautifully with the lime-based dressing.  (You could also simply use olive oil for the dressing if you don’t have the NutraVege at home, of course).

Apart from its lovely flavor, NutraVege is also a powerful source of Omega 3s for vegans (with 20 times more DHA than flax, according to their website).  One of the problems with plant-based sources of Omega-3s is that they don’t readily convert to DHA (those with low thyroid function, for instance, have a hard time with flax-based Omega 3s), but since NutraVege is derived from the Echium plantagineum plant (I had never heard of it before, either!), its source is readily converted and so offers a great alternative to fish-based oils.  And the Algal DHA it contains is identical to that found in fish, since it’s actually the source eaten by the fish to provide their own DHA. (The company also provides a neat little chart comparing their oil to flax oil in terms of both cost and effectiveness. Take a look for more info.).

I was so thrilled with the sample, in fact, that I wrote back to Kristine and I asked her if I could give some away to one of you! She graciously agreed and then offered not one, not two, but three prizes to lucky DDD readers!

So if you’d like to win a bottle of Nutra-Vege of your very own, here’s all you have to do:

1) Live in Canada (so sorry, US friends–this is one giveaway restricted to Canada. I promise the next one will be open to everyone!).

2) Leave a Comment on this post telling me why you’d like to try it.

3) For extra entries, check out the Ascenta website and tell me one interesting fact you found there; follow @Ascenta_Health on twitter; tweet about the giveaway (using @rickiheller so I see it); ”like” Diet, Dessert and Dogs on Facebook and leave a comment on the wall;  follow me on twitter and send me a tweet to @rickiheller; blog about this with a link back to this page; post about it on Facebook and link to Diet, Dessert and Dogs either here or on Facebook.  For each of these, please come back here and leave a separate comment so I know you did so.

I’m really excited to have a healthy, delicious and vegan alternative to fish oils available for a great boost of Omega 3s and 6s.  Now it’s easy to obtain all your essential fatty acids without animal products!

The giveaway will remain open until Friday, August 19th at midnight. I’ll then choose three winners at random and post their names by Monday. Please be sure to come back on Monday and check whether or not you’ve won!  If I don’t hear from the winners within a week of announcing them, I’ll choose new winner(s).

Good luck, everyone!

And if you’d like to try that amazing salad, here ‘s the recipe.

And don’t forget: you can still submit your healthy recipe to this week’s Wellness Weekend, until midnight tomorrow (Monday)!

Last Year at this Time: Fresh Corn Soup with Smoky Garnish (and some very corny jokes) (ACD stage 2 and beyond; gluten free)

Two Years Ago: Nava’s Cool as a Cucumber Soup (ACD stage 2 and beyond; gluten-free)

Three Years Ago: Pre-Blog Entry Blog Entry

© Diet, Dessert and Dogs

Well, it appears that summer has finally arrived in Toronto (gee, only two months late!).  Under normal circumstances, July and August herald brilliantly sunny days with lush green lawns, a profusion of garden flowers and lazy swishing leaves on tree branches overhanging our suburban streets.  The temperatures hover around 30-32C (86-90F), more like 40C (104F) with the Humidex reading (what the temperature actually feels like when you factor in the humidity).  Unlike the very unusual circumstances we’ve endured thus far: frigid temperatures and rain, rain, rain. 

Since the forecast predicts sun for the rest of the week and weekend, there are many happy Torontonians heading to work today (or, more likely, calling in sick to work today).  What does the return to summer mean to me?  First off, the four plants I attempted to grow this year (planted back in May) will finally begin to yield some bounty (I noticed a nascent green pepper yesterday evening–whoo hoo!); also, I’ll need to start bringing bottles of water with me on my walks with the dogs (for The Girls, not for me); in addition, my skin will begin to turn the same understated shade of beige as untreated newsprint, implying that I am, indeed, not as anemic as my usual printer-paper white hue would suggest; and, lastly, the only foods I’ll want to eat are those that don’t require cooking.  Basically, more than anything else, summer means trying to keep cool.

When I think back to my childhood, my friends and I possessed a huge arsenal of methods to stave off the heat in summer.  To wit, running through the sprinkler while wearing our bathing suits.  Or walking in the rain in our bathing suits, then rubbing mud all over ourselves and running through the sprinkler to wash it off.  Having water pistol fights in our bathing suits, collapsing in a giddy heap on the now-wet (and cool) lawn. Heading down to my parents’ basement, then sneaking into the cedar closet to hold a cool “private clubhouse meeting” in our bathing suits. 

These days, I am loathe to do pretty much anything in my bathing suit (who am I kidding? I don’t even own a bathing suit!).  Consequently, I’ve had to find other means of cooling down.  Sure, I can run through the sprinkler wearing my T-shirt and shorts, but that isn’t nearly as much fun.  Instead, I seek out summer foods that will do the job. 

Often, all I want for dinner is a fresh leafy salad or sliced tomato or crisp granny smith apple (now that the latter have finally made their return on my menus) and be done with it.  Not so the HH.  So, the other evening after a later-than-usual walk with The Girls, the HH and I returned home to utter the eternal DDD question:  what should we have for dinner?  (Unlike so many of my bloggy peers, I am not gifted with the ability to plan my week’s menus in advance; besides, my tastes are so capricious that I’d probably change my mind on the designated day and decide I wanted something else entirely). 

Most evenings, we pull open the refrigerator door and stand immobile, peering up and across each shelf as we scan the contents for a sign:  which of the melee of fruits and veggies do we feel like consuming at that moment?  (Sometimes this procedure takes far too long and really is not very eco-friendly, what with that door open the whole time.  So then I feel even more guilty about not pre-planning my menus.  On the other hand, it diminishes the need for air conditioning).

For some reason, lately, I’ve been on a cucumber kick.  I’d never been enamored of cucumbers as a kid (or even a young woman), but recently, I seem to crave cucumbers.  I can’t get enough cucumber. I love me some cucumber! (Okay, I’m exaggerating a tad. While that last sentence is, in fact, true, I’ve also been fixated for a time on the wild, wacky and perverse search terms that people use to find this blog. That last line was just really just my way of provoking the searches.  Being provocative with a cucumber, if you will. Ooops, there I go again.) 

In any case,  we found a lovely, firm, English cucumber (yikes, can’t seem to help myself) in the fridge, and I pondered how I could use it besides on its own as a snack.  Then I remembered all the bookmarked recipes I’d set aside in Nava Atlas’s fabulous Vegan Soups and Hearty Stews for All Seasons, which I wrote about shortly after receiving the book last winter.  At the time, cold cucumber soup was a distant memory–but now it’s finally summer!  I knew the soup would be perfect. 

We whipped up a batch of Cool as a Cucumber Soup in no time, and devoured almost the entire contents in one sitting (the recipe actually serves 4-6 people, but we loved it that much).  I also had the leftovers the next day for lunch and can vouch that it doesn’t suffer from its overnight sojourn in the fridge.  In fact, I’d say the herbs made their presence known just a bit more the second day, and all the flavors had a chance to meld. 

The soup is thick and rich with shreds of bouncy and refreshing cucumber throughout.  The combination of three fresh herbs provides a lovely counterpoint with their aromatic flavors and bit of crunch, offset by the slightly pungent scallion slices scattered here and there.  Every spoonful provided a little oasis of cool. 

I have no doubt that this soup will become a summer staple from now on with its refreshing, cooling effects.   Just don’t expect me to wear my bathing suit when I eat it.  

[Oh--and some cool news re: Sweet Freedomfor those of you in the Toronto area!  I'll be appearing on Toronto's Breakfast Television next Monday, talking about healthy cakes, frostings and toppings, and sampling some of the goodies from the book! Yippee!]

© 2009 Diet, Dessert and Dogs

Last Year at this Time: Sweet Things Times Three (Sweet Potato and Ginger Salad)