Almond Flaxseed Burger from Thrive

I've been struggling to find a diet that is perfect for me, living quite a stressful life with a family with three kids and being a business owner for a +110 award-winning, high-prestige, video-games developer (Avalanche Studios). I've read many books and I shouldn't say my transition to a plant-based diet has been easy. I travel +100 days a year and it's very tempting, not going back to meat (never been a big fish or chicken guy anyways) necessary, but to eat vegan junk-food which is super-tasty but not very healthy. Also, I'm not getting younger and I need to get my lazy ass down in my basement gym and hit the weights and start riding my bike to work.

Anyways, long intro... I've read Brendan Braziers awesome book Thrive for the third time and the 1st of May will be the start of an attempt not only to get back into shape, but also to follow Brendan's 12-week meal plan - strictly.

Tonight we did this awesome raw Almond Flaxseed Burger with Sweet Pepper Hemp Pesto as I was trying out some recipes for next week. It's super tasty and by far one of the best raw food burgers I've tasted to date.

Ingredients - Burgers

2 Garlic Cloves

2.5 dl Almonds (I use Saltå Qvarn's as they are organic and great)

1.25 dl ground Flaxseeds (grind the seeds in a coffee grinder)

2 tbsp Balsamic Vinegar

2 tbsp Hemp Oil

Sea salt

Mix everything in a food processor and make two patties. Done!

Ingredients - Pesto

1 Garlic Clove

1 Red Bell Pepper (cored and seeded)

1.25 dl Fresh Basil

3 tbsp Nutritional Yeast and Sesame Seeds

2 tbsp Hemp Seeds (I use Renee Voltaires)

2 tbsp Hemp Oil

Sea salt

Mix everything in a food processor.

Serve with mixed greens.

Forks Over Knives - Warning! This movie could save your life

Documentaries like Forks Over Knives are rarely shown in the movie theatres in Sweden unfortunately, but this one should not be missed and it will come out on DVD shortly. Forks Over Knives examines the topic about diseases being controlled and reversed by changing our diets. The movie follows two researchers; Dr. T. Colin Campbell and Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn as they present facts how a bad diet and how animal-based foods affect our health. I find it quite funny that some non-believers just dismiss the documentary as "vegan propaganda" and I don't think you'll see a single pair of Birkenstocks in this movie, just a lot of facts that speak for themselves.



For most of you, there's no secret that fast-food and a all-out bad diet affect our health. In the US, this generation is the first to be stand a chance of being outlived by its parents. Scary, right? Obviously for the "sickness industry" this is great as "good health makes a lot of sense, but not a lot of $$$".

Yes, there are as always two sides of the story but as my plant-based diet completely changed my health, stress tolerance level, temper (I had a very short fuse before changing diets) and made me an even happier person I let the results of change speak for itself.

I can't wait for this movie to get available on DVD as I am confident it will knock most people of their feets. At least those with an open mind to change their lives to the better.

Flaxseed - Awesome source of Omega 3 and Omega 6

My mother is by far no healthy person, even though she many times think she is, but she's been a huge fan of Flaxseeds (Linfrön in Swedish) since I was a kid. She's never explained the great effects of Flaxseeds any deeper, more than "it's good for you", but she was right. Flaxseeds is the one of the greatest sources of Omega 3 (fatty acid), Omega 6 and are also great source of Potassium (regulates the body's fluid balance).

Ground Flaxseeds are easily and quicker absorbed in the body, so always chose ground Flaxseeds. The seeds have a hard shell and are small so they usually goes straight through the body if not grounded.

Another great effect of just a small dose as one or two tablespoons per day of Flaxseeds will help you burn fat. I make raw crackers out of Flaxseeds and they gives me a sense of fullness and keep me energized. I also use Flaxseeds to make raw pizza crusts and much more. They are also cheap, so no excuse not to buy a big bag today.

Maca - Stress enemy #1

I've been on vacation on Tenerife for a week and got back home last night. This sounds super-nerdy but I've actually missed my Maca powder and the local juice-joint hadn't even heard of Maca, which is strange considering that the Conquistadors discovered this awesome superfood 500 years ago as their livestock had problems adapting to their new environment in Peru.

For those of you who already consume superfoods or have started this post will be nothing new to you. However, this awesome root is something I consume every day and it's one of the best superfoods for someone that lives a stressful life with a career, kids etc. The Maca powder helps preventing stress and helps restoring hormone balance. By consuming a daily dose of Maca you will help your body in it's battle with stress and eliminate sugar-cravings, which I have been struggling with for years.

Fennel Whole Wheat Penne with Tomatoes and Swiss Chard

I really need to start to come up with better names than just what's in the actual dish. My Italian themed Fridays continues with this awesome Penne with Fennel and fresh tomatoes.

Ingredients

• 2 Fennel Bulbs in half and sliced
• 2 Fresh tomatoes in 2 cm pieces (scald and peeled)
• 1 onion (in small pieces but not minced)
• 5 dl of Swiss Chard (Mangold in Swedish - chopped in larger pieces)
• 4 Garlic Cloves (minced)
• 1,5 dl Vegetable Stock (I use Renee Voltaires vegetable stock)
• 1,5 dl White Wine
• 1 dl fresh Lemon juice
• 2 tbsp Chopped Olives
• 1 tbsp fresh Thyme
• 1 tbsp fresh Parsley
• Whole Wheat Pasta

This recipe makes 4 servings

This is how it's done

1. Prepare the pasta
2. Heat up salt and oil in a large sauté pan
3. Cook the Fennel and Onion for about three minutes while stirring frequently.
4. Add the Tomatoes, Garlic, Chard, Wine and Vegetable Stock. Heat up and simmer for 5 minutes.
5. Add the lemon juice and olives and simmer for 3 minutes.
6. Add the Thyme and Parsley.
7. Serve over hot pasta and garnish with Thyme.

Tropical Superfood Smoothie

Some mornings I don't just feel like anything for breakfast than a smoothie - a Superfood smoothie. This Tropical Superfood Smoothie is loaded with four different superfoods and kicks some serious punch - energy wise. This includes Bee Pollen as I wrote about earlier and it gives this smoothie a sweet flavor.

Ingredients:

1. 1 Mango (peeled, in pieces)


2. 1 Banana (in pieces)


3. 3 Oranges (juiced)


4. 1 Carrot (juiced)


5. 2 cm piece fresh Ginger


6. 2 tbsp Vegan Protein Powder (I used Sun Warrior Raw Vegan Protein this morning)


7. 1 tsp Maca


8. 1 tsp Lucuma


9. 1 tsp Mesquite


10. 1 tbsp Bee Pollen


11. 1 dl Water or more depending on how thick you like it

Mix everything and drink SLOWLY on an EMPTY stomach.

Bee Pollen - Don't let it vanish

Vanishing Of The Bees is the title of a 2010 documentary by George Langworthy and Maryam Henain. Until I saw the movie, I was unaware how big importance the Bees have to us all, regardless if you are on a plant-based diet or not. The DVD can be purchased through the website and is worth every penny.

Bee Pollen is an absolutely amazing Superfood and is a great source of vitamin B12. "Wait a minute! Did you say vitamin B12? Isn't that only available in meat?" No, it's not. It's available in Bee Pollen, Spirulina and other great superfoods. In fact, Bee Pollen has five to seven times more protein than beef. It is also a natural antidote for fighting allergies such as hayfever which is very common in Sweden during the spring and also sinusitus, which I get quite often. On top of that, it also works anti-aging and increases mental and physical capabilities.

By protecting our Bees, which are in great danger of being extinct, we can grow and get this awesome superfood. I order mine through Raw Food Shop in Sweden.

Portobello Steaks

Portobello Mushrooms are awesome. You can do almost anything with them and they have a great texture that allows for both marinating and for some great rubs. I've made two kinds for tonights' dinner.

Pepper "Steak" Portobellos

• 2.5 dl water
• 1 dl Dry White Wine
• 2 Shallots
• 2 Garlic cloves (minced)

1. Fry the Shallots and Garlic in Olive Oil on medium heat for three minutes
2. Add the water and wine and simmer for 15 minutes.
3. Remove the stems and the gills from the Portobellos.
4. Pour the marinade over the Portobellos in a plastic bag for at least one hour.
5. Grill the Portobellos over Medium Indirect heat for two minutes on each side.
6. Serve with Garlic Mashed Potatoes.

Garlic Portobellos

This one is marinated in 50 degrees C heat in the oven. The process is super simple. Remove the stem and the gils and drizzle in about 1 dl of Olive Oil and cover inside with two minced Garlic cloves. Put in the oven on 50 degrees for about two hours. Grill on Medium heat for about three minutes per side. Cut into 2.5cm slices and serve hot.

Bourbon Glazed Seitan with Cajun Rub

This used to be one of my absolute favorite dishes from back in the days, but then I did it with a Tenderloin. As I love BBQ'ing and I'm the first to brag about my superior skills, I wanted to transfer some of these awesome tastes to the plant-based world. This is not a very healthy choice, but it's sure a dinner for champions.

This requires a little planning and if you don't like to use a homemade Seitan, buy a pre-made as the dish itself takes some time to make and it's made in three steps.

This recipe is based on four Seitan steaks.

Vegan Worcestershire Sauce

This is a must, so you can't do this without Worcestershire Sauce and regular one contains Anchovies so that's a no-go. If you find pre-made that's fine too.

Ingredients

• 5 dl Apple Cider Vinegar
• 0,5 dl Tamari or Shoyu
• 0,5 dl Brown Sugar
• 1 tsp Onion Powder
• 1 tsp Dry Mustard
• 0,5 tsp Cinnamon
• 0,5 tsp of Black Pepper
• 1 tsp Ground Ginger
• 2 Garlic cloves (crushed)

Bring everything to a boil and simmer on low heat until reduced by half (about 20 minutes). Pour through a fine-mesh sleve into a glass bottle. You can store this sauce in the fridge for two months.

Marinade

Ingredients

• 1 dl Worcestershire Sauce
• 0,5 dl Dijon Mustard
• 2 tbsp Molasses

Let the Seitan Steaks marinate overnight or for at least twelve hours in the fridge.

Dry Rub

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp Cracked Black Pepper
• 1 tbsp Garlic Powder
• 1 tbsp Paprika
• 1/2 tsp Cayenne
• 2 tsp Salt

Glaze

You can use this Glaze for burgers as well. Both Jack Daniels and Jim Beam contains no animal products according to Barnivore.

• 0,5 dl Bourbon
• 0,5 Dijon Mustard
• 0,5 Light Brown Sugar (firmly packed)

Now, let's get down to business and grill these bad-boys.

1. Remove the Seitan from the marinade and discard the marinade.
2. Wipe off the excess marinade.
3. Press the rub into the Seitan steaks and place in room temperature for about 20 minutes.
4. Lightly brush or spray the Seitan with olive oil.
5. Sear over Indirect Medium heat for three minutes on each side while basting the Seitan with the glaze.

Serve with roasted vegetables, Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Grilled Garlic (cut the top part of a Garlic, put it in a aluminum foil package (leave a little hole in the top) and drizzle oil over it) and Corn on the Cob. A perfect BBQ!

Spicy Curry with Vegetables and Sunchoke Noodles

This curry came as a request from my oldest daughter, but turned out to be my youngest daughter's new favorite dish. It is a little spicy, but not too much and if you like it more spicy you can always add more curry paste.

Sunchoke or Jerusalem Artichoke is such an awesome vegetable and very fiber-rich. One of the most common questions on the internet about this weird root is; "What the hell do I make out of this thing?" The answer is easy. Noodles! Get a vegetable spiralizer/cutter and make noodles out of it.

Here's my recipe for a curry with coconut milk, curry (duh!) and a bunch of vegetables, so you can experiment with this a lot.

Ingredients

• 1 tsp of fresh Ginger (minced)
• 2 Garlic cloves (minced)
• 4 dl of Organic Coconut Milk
• 3.5 dl of Water
• 2 tsp of Red Curry Paste
• 1 tsp of Curry powder
• 2 table spoons of white Miso Paste (Gryningen in Stockholm has a great selection)
• 1,5 dl of Shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and in small pieces of your choice
• 1,5 dl of Zuccini in small pieces of your choice
• 1,5 dl of Eggplant in small pieces of your choice
• 0,5 dl of Celery in 0,3cm slices

For the noodles (in case you want to serve it with Sunchoke noodles):

All you need is about four Sunchokes and a vegetable spiralizer/cutter. Cut 'em, wok 'em (in Tamari) and you're done.

But first, here's how you make the curry.

1. Heat up some salt in a saucepan for about 1 minute and then add the oil. Heat is up but don't let it smoke.
2. Add the Garlic and Ginger and sauté for about a minute (before the Garlic get's brown and bitter so stir frequently).
3. Add the coconut milk, water, red curry and miso.
4. Simmer four about 15 - 20 minutes depending on how thick you want it.
5. Add the vegetables and mushrooms and simmer for another 10 minutes.
6. While the vegetables and mushrooms simmers, make your noodles.
7. Serve hot!

My kids don't like Sunchoke noodles, so I served it to them with Soba noodles instead and they loved it (my daughters at least, not my son, who is generally sceptic).

Vegetable BBQ on the Weber

I love BBQ'ing and those who've been to my infamous big BBQ's knows I'm the regent of BBQ'ing even though when I received the title I cooked large steaks. I even got into something called Extreme Grilling which involved cooking vegetables. My background has helped me come up with dishes, marinades and smoking techniques usually used for meat, but nowadays I use them to make awesome Seitan "steaks", veggie burgers and marinated vegetables. Tonight we kept it simple... Just throw lots and lots of fresh vegetables on the grill and enjoy them with Hummus, sauces and different salads.

To me grilling is not something you just do during the summer, it's a cooking technique and if it wasn't for the meters of snow covering my Weber Summit grill I would have used it all winter.

This is really simple and I don't even need to put a recipe on here, so just throw plenty of vegetables such as mushrooms, zucchini, Bell peppers, asparagus, eggplant and make loads of dairy free sauces and bean salads to go with them and have great conversations while cooking.

I had an awesome "Chicken" burger from Redwood Wholefood Company for lunch today and they are simply awesome. I cook most of my meals outdoors from now on as the Weber Summit also comes with a side-burner you can also steam vegetables on the side. Simply put - PMA all day!

Asparagus Citrus Risotto with Braised Kale

I love Risotto. I make an awesome Risotto with Truffles and Parmesan, but that's not an option here, so again, like the US Marines say; "Improvise, Overcome, Adapt".

I use Cashew Cream in this dish to make it creamy, so you have to prepare the cream at least eight hours before you make the Risotto.

Ingredients (for four people):

2 Shallots (minced)

1 Garlic Clove (minced)

2.5 dl of Arborio Rice

2,5 dl of Dry White Wine

7,5 dl of Vegetable Broth (I use Renee Voltaire's Vegetable Broth)

250 g Asparagus (cut in 1.5 cm pieces)

Zest from 1 lemon and 1 Clementine

Juice from 1/2 lemon and 1 Clementine

0,75 dl Cashew Cream

Extra Virgine Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper

Here's how it's done and calculate with about an hour to make this dish.

1. Heat up Salt and Olive Oil but don't let it smoke.
2. Add the Shallots and sauté for 2 minutes on medium heat.
3. Add the Garlic and sauté for 1 minute on medium heat.
4. Add the Arborio Rice and heat for about 1-2 minutes.
5. Add the wine and heat until absorbed completely.
6. Add half of the Vegetable Broth and heat until absorbed completely on medium heat (about 15-20 minutes).
7. Add the rest of the Vegetable Broth and heat until the Risotto is creamy.
8. Add the Asparagus, Cashew Cream and Lemon/Clementine zests.
9. Serve immediately with Braised Kale (and a Tomato salad)

Here's how you make Braised Kale.

Ingredients

6-8 leafs of Organic Kale

2.5 dl Vegetable Broth (I use Renee Voltaire's Vegetable Broth)

2 tsp of Vegetable Butter

And here's how it's done.

1. Heat up Olive oil and Salt.
2. Sauté the Kale for about 2 minutes
3. Add the broth and heat up for 3 minutes
4. Drain and add the Vegetable Butter.

Enjoy!

Bredan Brazier's Blood Builder Smoothie

Brendan Brazier is a Canadian professional Ironman triathlete and creator of Vega which I wrote about some time ago. Again, while I'm not (like in NOT) an athlete his book "Thrive" has been a huge inspiration to me with recipes that are both free from Soy and Gluten.

This smoothie can be made with or without the addition of Vega Whole Foods Optimizer. I did this one with.

Ingredients

1 Banana

1 Orange

2 tablespoons Pumpkin Seeds

1 tablespoon ground Flaxseeds (you can replace this with Whole Foods Optimizer)

1 tablespoon of Hemp Protein (you can replace this with Whole Foods Optimizer)

1 tablespoon Hemp Oil

Water (if needed)

Blend everything and enjoy!

Pasta Pesto!

I got home late from work this evening and also had an argument with a close friend right before that, so I knew I would need a nice meal which should go well to a rich Italian wine and Pesto is super-quick and a gourmet meal made in minutes.

I don't like my Pesto too oily and this Pesto is based on Arugula rather than Basil. Can this be any good you ask? Hell yes, I say. For Pasta I obviously use egg-free pasta and so shall you, right?

Here's what you need to make the pesto.

5 dl of Organic Arugula (Ruccola in Swedish)

1 dl of chopped Organic fresh Basil

2 minced Garlic cloves

0,5 dl of Pine nuts (I always buy Saltå Kvarn in Sweden)

2 tbs of Yeast Flakes

0,75 dl of Extra Virgine Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper to taste

Mix everything except the olive oil and once you have a nice mix you slowly add the oil. Add as much as you like to get it as you want.

I always mix my Pesto with the pasta along with some Pine nuts and some Basil leaves on top.

Superfood Banana - Cashew Yoghurt

If you're on a low carb diet this one will destroy it, but it's damn tasty and for me a great breakfast.

As the base for this is Cashew Cream you need to soak the Cashews at least eight hours before your breakfast. You find the recipe here.

Ingredients:

1/2 - 1 dl of Cashew Cream (Quite thick)

2 bananas

1 tsp of Agave Nectar

2 tsp of Tropical Fruit Mix Superfood Powder (available through Raw Food Shop in Sweden)

So, this is how it's done.

Mix everything into a yoghurt and enjoy!