Whether you want a quick meal, a nutritious dinner, or a heart-healthy dessert, The Heart Healthy Plant-Based Cookbook by acclaimed chefs and health advocates, Jenneffer Pulapaka and Hari Pulapaka offers over 100 meticulously crafted recipes designed to lower blood pressure, reverse heart disease, and support cardiac recovery. Enjoy one of the recipes featured in the book, below.
Brown Rice & Red Lentil Khichadi Recipe
Serves: 4
This is a humble one-pot meal enjoyed all over the Indian subcontinent. It is extremely nutritious and keeps well. In fact, it is common to feed babies Khichadi for their first solid food.
Ingredients
1 small onion, diced
½ cup carrots, diced
2 cups assorted mushrooms, coarse chopped
1-inch piece ginger, minced
1 bay leaf
2 green chilies or 1 jalapeño, minced
1 cup red lentils, washed and drained
1 cup brown rice
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
¼ cup edamame or green peas
1 cup apple cider vinegar
4 cups vegetable stock or water
Directions
- In a shallow pot with a proper lid, roast the onions, carrots, ginger, bay leaf, mushrooms, and chilies on medium heat for about 5 minutes.
- Next, add the lentils, brown rice, and turmeric powder. Cook for about 15 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Now add the edamame or peas, stir well, and add the vinegar and water. Stir well and taste the broth to make sure its acidity is to your liking.
- Cover the pot, reduce the heat to low-medium and cook for 20 minutes.
- Serve with your favorite fresh herbs and perhaps, some non-dairy, fat free yogurt.
Heart Health Note: Mushrooms produce a compound called ergothioneine which decreases pro-inflammatory adhesion molecules during atherogenesis. They also work as prebiotics in our intestinal microflora’s fermentation, inhibiting HMG-CoA reductase and thereby slowing cholesterol production.
Jenneffer Pulapaka, DPM, is a Board-Certified podiatric surgeon and a certified sommelier. Hari Pulapaka, PhD, is a four-time James Beard Award semifinalist and a certified executive chef. Together, they bring a unique blend of culinary expertise and medical knowledge to create recipes that are not only delicious but also scientifically designed to promote heart health.
