Beet Hummus, Red Velvet Chocolate Muffins, Strawberry Vinaigrette and More with Chef Cherie Amour

From Cheri: My path to SOS started with my Seventh-day Adventist family which had a dairy farm in Tillamook, Oregon. My grandparents had 100 dairy cows and at 10 years old I stayed with them one summer and the following school year. I learned all of the cows names and numbers and helped with all of the chores including feeding the baby calves. It was very hard work. I feel fortunate that I had that experience and at the time eating dairy was accepted in the SDA community. As I grew, I was very interested in health matters and as valedictorian of my 8th grade class, my whole address centered around health. Sometime in high school, I heard a lecture about the hazards of sugar and refused to eat anything containing sugar. That lasted until the cultural influences at college made me stray into Pleasure Trap eating. My mother has always been an adventurous cook, and I slowly followed in her footsteps. Our culture is obsessed with food, and I am no exception. I have been Vegan and evan Raw Vegan in the last 30 years. As the various ‘experts’ have made their proclamations about food, I accepted the contradictory notion that clean animal products were healthy. As I embraced more meat, butter and eggs, my cholesterol climbed to 314. I started to cut back on the cheese, but only got into the 200’s. My very active grandfather died suddenly of a massive heart attack at age 66, so I became concerned. Additionally, my A1C was creeping up, and my father had had Diabetes, so these factors weighed heavily on my mind. Sometime in the summer of 2022, I saw Chef AJ on the Rich Roll podcast, and the notion of food addiction really resonated with me. SOS-free was a foreign concept and it took a few months for me to wean myself away from eggs and cheese, but I was able to go SOS-free on October 31, 2022. Within six weeks my labs were all within normal limits! I just want to share a few of the recipes that helped keep me on the WFPB path without feeling deprived BEET HUMMUS 2 Cans No Salt Garbonzo beans or 3 ½ cups cooked in the Instant Pot 16 to 20 oz steamed beets with skins slipped off 2 Lemons, zested & juiced 1 clove garlic ¼ cup White wine vinegar ½ teaspoon ground Cayenne Pepper 2 Tablespoons Tahini, optional Blend in Vita Mix DIVINE PICKLED BEETS 1 to 2 pounds steamed beets with the skins slipped off, slice with wavy slicer or as desired. Pour over Huckleberry or Ruby Red Onion California Balsamic Vinegar, use enough to coat to beets. Make a day ahead and store in the fridge. Turn the beets gently to distribute to vinegar. CITRUSY 1 - 2 - 3 DRESSING 1 Cup Organic Balsamic Vinegar ⅔ cup Mustard, (yellow or Dijon) ⅓ cup date paste* 1 orange, zested and juiced Blend with Immersion Blender *DATE PASTE 2 Pound box of Medjool dates (remove all pits) Boiling water to cover. Soak overnight. Blend in VitaMix. Freeze or fridge STRAWBERRY VINAIGRETTE 2 cups fresh or frozen strawberries ¼ cup red wine vinegar 2 T Dijon mustard 2 T Maple syrup OR date paste Blend in VitaMix. Serve on chopped salad. Refrigerate. RED VELVET CHOCOLATE MUFFINS BY DR WROBLEWSKI 1.1 Pounds cooked beets 10 oz fresh banana 10 pitted Medjool dates 2 teaspoons vanilla 1 Tablespoon Balsamic vinegar Blend in Cuisinart, then add: ½ cup cacao powder 1 teaspoon reduced sodium baking powder 1 ½ cup old fashioned organic oats Blend again. Divide into 24 silicone cupcakes. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 to 55 minutes. Store in the fridge. Serve with Dazzle Berry Sauce. DAZZLE-BERRY SAUCE BY TIMAREE HAGENBURGER 12 ounces Blackberries ⅓ to ½ cup date paste 1 T Cashews OR 1 T chia seeds ½ teaspoon Cinnamon ½ teaspoon vanilla ½ to 1 teaspoon Lemon zest Blend in VitaMix. Add water to achieve desired consistency. Refrigerate. Follow Cherie On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100093706254780&mibextid=ZbWKwL On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chefcheriamore/