The Joy of Cooking?

So, yesterday I only had 30 minutes to go to the gym which amounted to only 20 minutes of cardio. Not great at all, but it's movement, and even though it was not a full work-out, I went anyway to at least sweat a little. Better than nothing. The vegetarian powerhouse salad from Chop't followed. But really, the lines are ridiculous! With both Chop't and Moaz Falafel, the only healthy choices in the area of The Bowtie and the Deuce, I have never seen such consistently enormous queues! But then again Times Square is the vortex of horrendous food offerings between Ruby Tuesday's, Chevy's, Bubba Gump's, Red Lobster, and a bevy of faux pizza joints. Nothing says "authentic New York," not to mention "healthy eating," than those aforementioned chain restaurants!

Yesterday evening I wanted to make Dr. Fuhrman's famous "Anti-Cancer Soup." I went to the grocery store and picked up the ingredients. Now, there is no super markets on the way home, I have to walk over to 2nd Avenue. After a long day at work, walking home on a hot summer evening dodging clueless, meandering tourists who all suffer the same peripheral vision deficiency, the last thing I want to do is grocery shop! But I grab the miniscule shopping cart and set off down aisles the width of your sunglasses. Grocery store shopping in the City is torturous at most of the places.

I had to pick up two items (recipe below) that I never shopped for, and to be honest, had no idea what they looked like. I had to get either collard greens or kale. All I knew is that they are green. I figured "collared greens" sounded more appetizing than something that sounds more like an ailment than a vegetable. "Yes, I'm sorry, he suffers from kale." Also, the South seems to enthusiastically support collard greens so it was the safe bet. Of course the Food Emporium only stocked kale -- the things were huge!

I really was not excited about this shopping, and my mind wandered to the 67 steps I would have to climb with plastic bags cutting into my fingers. As I shuffled around looking in vain for dried split peas I noticed everyone else's baskets: ground beef patties, burritos, microwave ready pizza rolls, etc. It is so easy to be lured by the quick meal --- the quick unhealthy meal. Walking home I looked at every restaurant and thought, "In 10 minutes I can have a meal!" So, cooking does take time!

Well, I got home, had a bowl of cherries, talked on the phone, and realized I would have to wait until tomorrow to cook my famous Dr. Fuhrman's anti-cancer soup!

* update* - here is the recipe that is the same below but includes the collard greens or kale, plus a video of Dr. Fuhrman cooking:   http://www.chooseveg.com/anti-cancer-soup.asp

From Dr. Fuhrman's book Eat to Live:

Making this soup involves more time and effort than the other recipes, so you might want to make a huge amount and save it in the refrigerator for the whole week. It tastes so good that a patient of mine who owns a fine restaurant offers in on his menu.

1 cup dried split peas and/or beans

4 medium onions

6-10 zucchini

3 stalks leek

5 lbs. carrots

2 bunches celery

1 cup raw cashews

2 tbsp. VegiZest

1 package mushrooms, any type (optional)

6 oz. textured vegetable protein (optional)

Place the beans and 4 cups of water in a very large pot and start cooking them, covered, on the lowest flame possible. Take the outer skins off the onions and place them in the covered pot. Do not cut them up, put them in whole. Add the zucchini, uncut. Cut the bottom roots off the leeks and slice them up the side so each leaf can be thoroughly washed, because leeks have lots of dirt hidden inside. Throw away the last inch at the green top. Then place the entire leek (leaves uncut) into the pot. Juice the carrots and celery in a juice extractor. Add the juice to the pot. While the soup is simmering, chop up the mushrooms (if desired). By the time you get to this stage, the zucchini, leeks, onions should be soft.

This next step only works if you have a Vita-Mix, a powerful blender, or a food processor. Ladle some of the liquid from the pot into the machine. Use tongs to remove the soft onions, zucchini, and leeks. Be careful to leave the beans in the bottom of the pot. In a few separate batches, completely blend together the onions, zucchini, and leeks. Add more soup liquid and cashews to the mixture, and blend in. Return the blended, creamy mix back to the pot. Add the textured vegetable protein and the mushrooms, if desired. Simmer another 20 minutes, and you have my soup that is famous the world over. I know a doctor who makes and freezes my soup and sells it to his patients to cure everything from sinusitis to cancer. It's not really a cure, but it sure does taste great.