Wednesday, October 15, 2008

VeganMoFo day #16 - Cooking class #5 Autumn Equinox Detox --- African Groundnut Stew

The African Groundnut Stew in The Voluptuous Vegan is the best squash type soup ever. I roast the yams and the squash because it makes it easier and no chopping needed. It also has ginger, yucca (or turnip), peanut butter, celery, roasted cauliflower, among other things. The peanut butter combined w/ the root vegetables almost makes it taste like there is a really delicious mystery bean in the stew. YUM! I guess I could freeze some of this, but I usually can't control myself and eat it all in a few days.


Class #5
I took my 5th cooking class (out of 10 for this fall session) at PCC this week. It was a detox class for the Autumn Equinox. If you live in the Seattle area, you should take this class. I learned a lot of things. Some things weren't new, but were organized in such a way that I thought about them differently. I'm definitely taking more classes taught by these instructors, Birgitte Antonsen and Karen Lamphere.

This detox was about cleaning out toxins by maximizing on foods that help the liver and GI tract. The two instructors alternated between lecture and a recipe demos. They made the best lentil soup that I have ever had.

One interesting bit of info was that if planning for and doing the detox was stressful to you, don't do it. Never do a detox if you're stressed. Also, if you incorporate more of these foods or recipes in your normal diet, a detox won't be necessary because you're already doing it. Makes sense.

Kale came up a lot because it's great at helping out the liver. Just one more reason to eat Kale ;-).

9 comments:

beastmomma said...

That soup looks fantastic and thanks for the class recommendation. Also, I am hosting a giveway on my blog which may be of interest to you:
http://beastmomma.squarespace.com/from-shelf-to-hand/2008/10/16/giveaway.html

Jen Treehugger said...

That soup just bowls me over (hahahaha - yeah I know...I'm a riot!!)

It loooks seriously YUM!

Jes said...

That soup looks radtastic!

Anonymous said...

Your stew looks way better than the one we made. OUrs was way less liquid-y...

Bethany said...

I always add in more water because it does get thick. Especially the next day. Plus I am bad at following non baking recipes exactly -- so who knows how much extra ginger got in there ;-).

For the Love of Guava said...

that looks totally decadent... I want a co-op with cooking classes!

Anonymous said...

I'm curious-- what other types of food are good for detoxing?

Also, were you able to snag a copy of their lentil soup recipe? Lately I've been wanting to make some.

Bethany said...

Wei-k,

They didn't list a huge amount of detox foods because that wasn't the whole focus of the class. They just gave some basics. Like anything from the cruciferous family (kale, broc, etc). Also spices like turmeric, ginger, cinnamon. They each have different properties. Grains like Quinoa and rice vs. wheat. wheat and other common allergens like corn were to be avoided.

I didn't ask her if I could post her recipes.

Here is Birgitte's site. She doesn't have any recipes listed right now.

She said she has some recipes on the PPC site, but I didn't find any. There is a lentil soup recipe there.

Anonymous said...

Love me some kale! Those classes sound neat; wish they offered something like that here.