“What does your doctor have to say about your cigar smoking?” someone once asked George Burns when he was well into his 90s. “Nothing—he’s dead,” George quipped in reply.
Jokes aside, after years of seeing trans-fat laden, artery-clogging, and diabetes-inducing recipes permeating today’s culture, with the nutritionist in me cringing at every word I read, I felt it was about time for The Sentinel to start offering some healthier culinary choices for our dear readers. But please indulge me as I first provide you with some context, so this isn’t blown off as yet another eye-rolling, health nut’s opinion.
“You are what you eat” is no joke. Each of us grows a new body at least once every seven years, with our bone cells taking the longest time to regenerate. (While neurons are the longest-lived human cells and have been found to even outlive the rest of the human body, we’re focusing on cells that replenish here.) Many other regenerating cells die and are replaced with new ones much faster than years, sometimes within days or even hours. In addition to bone cells, we’re constantly replacing cells of the blood, skin, immune system, digestive track, liver, intestines, heart, lungs, and many more.
What is the source of the raw materials that create these new cells? Hands down, it’s the foods we consume. Modern science has discovered that very few diseases—less than 1%--are genetically caused. The vast majority of ailments that sicken us are a result of poor lifestyle choices—specifically for our purposes here, poor dietary choices that may have gone on for years, if not decades. This doesn’t dismiss the environmental toxins, molds, chemicals, and poisons and accompanying illnesses that have alarmingly increased since the ’70s. But for now, let’s focus on the power you have to get and keep yourself well with healthy food choices. Because even without the added load of environmental culprits, the poor selections eventually catch up with us in many different ways. A few of these include metabolic syndrome, obesity, Type II diabetes, COPD, heart disease, osteoporosis, irritable bowel syndrome, colitis, stroke, cancer, asthma, Alzheimer’s (also called “diabetes of the brain”), dementia, Parkinson’s, the vast array of auto-immune disorders, and many more.
You may have heard people say, “’Such and such’ runs in the family.” Without intending to do so, they’re misleading not only you, but themselves with this statement. Invariably, “such and such” does not run in families; it runs in lifestyles—typically learned in families—as does every one of the ailments listed above. These lifestyles include, but are not restricted to, too much sugar (with the worst sweetener being high fructose corn syrup;) too much white flour and many other highly processed grains; smoking; too much alcohol; too much meat; too many unhealthy, saturated fats (especially hydrogenated or trans fats); too much cheese and dairy; too little fruit, veggies, and fiber, etc.
I could go on, but let’s stop here for the moment, and get on to our first recipe.
For 14 years I lived in Saudi Arabia where I discovered a delicious recipe called Mujadara. This is a red lentil and brown rice soup. “Soup” is a misnomer because this savory concoction is so thick, a spoon could stand up in it. I’ve modified it over the years and tried many different variations, including split peas in place of the lentils. However, for this edition, I’ll stick to what’s proven to be the most popular – Turkey Mujadara. You’ll need a large slow cooker (crock pot) for this.
2 large turkey drumsticks or small whole chicken (preferably organic and free-range)
2.5 cups dry red lentils (preferably organic)
2.5 cups dry brown rice (preferably organic and sprouted)
1 16 oz. bag of organic baby carrots
1 organic celery heart (or half an organic celery head), diced
1 tablespoon (or to taste) Pink Himalayan Salt
1 tsp organic pepper flakes (optional, if you like a bit of bite)
1. Place turkey drumsticks or chicken (frozen or thawed) in slow cooker with salt.
2. Add enough filtered water to fill 2/3 of the pot.
3. Slow cook overnight on low until meat falls off the bone, filling your home with delicious aromas.
4. Transfer drumsticks or chicken to a large bowl, remove/discard skin and bones, and shred meat and return 2-3 cups shredded meat to slow cooker. Freeze any leftover poultry or use in a recipe of your choice.
5. Add red lentils and sprouted brown rice to slow cooker.
6. Slow cook for approximately 4 hours, adding hot water when needed to prevent sticking through step 8, then add the carrots.
7. Slow cook for another 2 hours, then add the diced celery.
8. Continue to slow cook until rice and carrots are soft and red lentils have a mashed potatoes consistency, maybe another hour or two.
(Note: While the Mujadara is still piping hot, I recommend transferring it to clean, large-mouthed mason or other glass jars that form vacuums with popping sounds as they cool. Once cooled, place these in your fridge. As canners know, the jar vacuums prevent the growth of mold or harmful microbes for weeks, especially if you keep the temperature at no more than 33 degrees F.)
