QUICK DINNERS RED LENTIL SOUP. This soup is so nutritious and so simple to prepare, you ll want to make it often. Its flavor is exquisite.

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1 RED LENTIL SOUP Makes 6 servings Prep time: 30 minutes This soup is so nutritious and so simple to prepare, you ll want to make it often. Its flavor is exquisite. 7 cups water 2 1/2 cups dry red lentils 1 large onion, minced 1 teaspoon turmeric large pinch cayenne pepper 2 4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 1 teaspoon ground cumin sea salt black pepper Combine water, lentils, onion, turmeric, and cayenne in a large soup pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, partially cover, and simmer until lentils have disintegrated, about 30 to 60 minutes. Stir in lemon juice, cumin, salt, and black pepper to taste. Per 1-cup serving: 269 calories; 1 g fat; 0.2 g saturated fat; 3.4% calories from fat; 0 mg cholesterol; 20.3 g protein; 47.4 g carbohydrate; 2 g sugar; 13.4 g fiber; 154 mg sodium; 52 mg calcium; 7.8 mg iron; 5.9 mg vitamin C; 30 mcg beta-carotene; 0.3 mg vitamin E Recipe from Breaking the Food Seduction by Neal Barnard, M.D.; recipe by Jo Stepaniak; Jo Stepaniak 2005.

2 SPICY THAI BRAISED KALE AND TOFU Makes 4 servings Prep time: 30 minutes 16 ounces extra-firm tofu, drained well, cut into 1-inch cubes 1 cup finely chopped onion 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger 1 small jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced 1 teaspoon chili powder 2 cups no-salt-added or low-sodium vegetable broth ½ cup unsalted, natural peanut butter 2 tablespoons tomato paste No-salt seasoning blend, adjusted to taste, or 2 tablespoons of Dr. Fuhrman s MatoZest 1 bunch kale, tough stems and center ribs removed and leaves chopped 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice 4 scallions, thinly sliced Preheat the oven to 350 F. Place tofu cubes on a lightly oiled baking dish and bake for 30 minutes, turning after 15 minutes. Heat a large sauté pan and add onion, ginger, and jalapeño pepper. Cook until onion has softened, adding 1-2 teaspoons of water as needed to prevent sticking. Add chili powder and cook 1 more minute. Whisk in vegetable broth, peanut butter, tomato paste, and MatoZest or other no-salt seasoning blend, and bring to a boil. Gradually add kale, a few handfuls at a time, stirring to let it wilt down. Add baked tofu, cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 15 minutes or until kale is tender. Stir in lime juice and top with sliced scallions. Per Serving: Calories 397; Protein 18g; Carbohydrates 41g; Total fat 19g; Saturated fat 2.9g; Sodium 158mg; Fiber 6g; Beta-carotene 11,341ug; Vitamin C 149mg; Calcium 273mg; Iron 4.8mg; Folate 83ug; Magnesium 82mg; Zinc 1.3mg; Selenium 13.8ug. Recipe from Eat to Live Cookbook by Joel Fuhrman, M.D.

3 LEMON CAULIFLOWER RISOTTO Makes 4 servings Prep time: minutes ½ onion, diced 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped ½ cup low-sodium or no-salt-added vegetable broth 6 cups finely chopped cauliflower florets (tops of florets only, no stems)* ½ organic lemon, juiced and zested** 1 cup roasted red bell peppers, sliced 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast 2 cups spinach, finely sliced 4 tablespoons raw almond butter 2 tablespoons raw almonds, chopped 2 tablespoons sliced chives, divided Sauté the onion and garlic in a stainless pot without water, stirring often until golden brown, about 7 minutes. Add the vegetable broth and cauliflower and sauté for 3 minutes. Add all other ingredients, except the almonds and 1 tablespoon chives, and cook for 3 more minutes or until the cauliflower is al dente. Sprinkle the almonds and remaining chives over the risotto. Per Serving: Calories 209; Protein 9g; Carbohydrates 21g; Total fat 12.5g; Saturated fat 1.3g; Cholesterol 2.1mg; Sodium 73mg; Fiber 6.4g; Beta-carotene 1,861ug; Vitamin C 132mg; Calcium 114mg; Iron 2.2mg; Folate 155ug; Magnesium 103mcg; Zinc 1.5mg; Selenium 3.1ug. * You can shred the cauliflower by pulsing it in your blender. Another quicker option is to purchase pre-made riced-cauliflower. **The zest of a lemon or other citrus fruit is the outermost, colored skin that contains the flavorful oils. Use a grater to take off just the colored part, not the white pith. Thoroughly washed organic oranges, lemons, or limes should be used for zesting. Dried, grated orange or lemon zest is also available in the spice section of most stores.

4 TIME SAVING TIPS FOR DINNER PLAN AHEAD Plan your meals ahead of time for the entire week. Don t get to the end of the day when you will be hungry and tired without a plan. Being hungry without a plan is a recipe for disaster! Consider using some time on the weekend to plan dinners for the week and create a shopping list for those meals. This saves extra trips to the store for missing ingredients and saves precious time and energy at the end of the day. Instead of thinking about what to make and hoping you have the ingredients, you can relax and just cook! Check out the template we ve included in this packet. When your meals are planned, you can also prep ahead of time. Start by making time the night before to chop veggies for a stir-fry during a break from housework. If you have kids, you can enroll them in dinner prep a win-win less work for you and your kids are invested in the meal they are about to eat! ORGANIZE When prepping a recipe, first chop, cut, and measure out the ingredients and place them into small bowls or in piles on a cutting board. Being organized at the start makes cooking the meal quick, efficient, and free of chaos and confusion. Pre-prepped the ingredients also allows you to be mindful while cooking, leading to fewer mistakes, better tasting dishes, and a stress-free experience. STAGING Staging refers to the order in which you perform the different steps in the cooking process. It offers a way to effectively multi-task without the chaos, confusion, and mistakes that often accompany doing too many things at once. Take a few minutes at the start to plan out the steps in the cooking process to make your experience more efficient. It is well worth the effort. For example, a time-consuming step like baking tofu (30 minutes) or roasting seeds (15 minutes) should be staged first because while the tofu is baking or the seeds are roasting, you can be chopping ingredients, blending the sauce, or working on some other part of the meal. This will allow for the tofu or seeds to finish by the time you need to toss them into the finished meal, instead of the meal getting cold while you wait. The concept of staging can be applied to making several meals at once on the weekend. For example, if you are making a pot dish (like a soup or stew) that will need to cook for several hours, get it going first, and while it is cooking, work on the other meals you are preparing for the week.

5 TIME SAVING TIPS FOR DINNER BATCH COOKING & STORAGE Make several main dishes during one prolonged cooking session over the weekend and store the meals in containers in the refrigerator or freezer. You now have several of your meals for the week and all you will have to do is re-heat. How s that for a quick dinner?! If you are going to take the time to cook a dish during the week, make more than you can eat in one sitting and store the extra food for another meal. If you are going to eat the extra food within 3-4 days, store it in the refrigerator. If you will be storing it for longer periods, store it in the freezer. Extra-large cooking pots and an over-sized slow cooker are must-haves for making large quantities at a time. Having pre-cooked meals in the freezer is nothing short of fabulous. When life gets busy or you don t feel well or have the where-with-all to cook, what s better than knowing you can pull a delicious, healthy meal out of the freezer? Simply thaw and re-heat! Frozen meals will keep up to 6 months. If the meals will be for one person, store in single serving containers. If for a family, store in larger, multiserving containers. Glass, Pyrex, or CorningWare containers are best as they do not leach the toxic chemicals associated with plastics. Slow cookers are super-convenient time-savers. Once you chop and measure out all the ingredients, simply place in the slow cooker and turn-on. When you return hours later you ll have a warm, delicious meal waiting for you! Chili, bean dishes, soups, and stews are perfect for the slow cooker. If you re already cutting and chopping vegetables for a salad, make several salads for the week and store. It takes a lot less time to chop extra vegetables once you have all the ingredients out and are engaged in the process than it does to repeat the whole process every time you want a salad. If you re chopping and washing greens, prepare enough for several days and store in a micro-perforated re-sealable bag in the crisper drawer of your refrigerator. Make enough homemade salad dressing to last all week, or at least several days and store in a canning jar in the refrigerator. If you get bored with the same flavor over and over again, make 2 dressings to store while you already have the blender and ingredients out. STOCK INGREDIENTS Stock your pantry with ingredients that you use frequently and have a long-shelf life so you are not constantly shopping for these items. Ingredients that store well for long periods include: Dried fruits, Raw nuts and seeds, Frozen fruits (also great for frozen smoothies and healthy desserts.) Frozen vegetables - Good to have on-hand in a pinch when you run low on fresh vegetables and don t have time to get back to the grocery store or for vegetables that are out of season Dried, canned (BPA-free), or boxed beans & lentils