Turmeric Spiced Chickpeas & Veggies

So big news over in the Herdy house… after a ton of research, thought, support of my amazing husband, and encouragement from my fantastic dietician, (shoutout to Alison at Wholesome, follow her on Insta too! @wholesomellc). I’ve decided to move to a mostly vegetarian diet after I’m back on my feet. My plan at first is to keep eating seafood occasionally, and see what happens. End goals include: cutting out dairy as much as possible (because my bowels do not like it – any more information is not something you need to know about.) Cutting out other animal products such as eggs, cheese (the horror), and lots and lots of processed foods. I’m going slowly and being kind to myself during this transition because I do love meat BUT I love my life more so, we’re going for it! I promise to blog a lot more about this process with our family going forward, as I know it will be just that… a process. 🙂

Note: if you are reading this and are a part of our meal train and just said SHIT, my meal is meat based. It’s totes okay, I’m not completely reformed yet and will accept any and all of your generosity! Again, this train is moving slowly.

Over the past few weeks I’ve been doing some recipe testing to get my feet wet. Today’s lunch was an immediate winner so I thought I’d jump on and share right way. I am LOVING all of the farm stands around town and easy access to fresh, local produce.

What You Need:

• 2 carrots peeled and chopped
• 1 cup trimmed green beans
• 1/2 cup heirloom tomatoes – picked these up at our local farm stand
• 1/2 cup chick peas
• 1/4 cup of baby portobello mushrooms chopped
• 1 tbsp coconut oil
• Juice from half a lemon
• 2 large garlic gloves minced
• 1/4 teaspoon turmeric
• 1/4 teaspoon dried basil (fresh would be amazing too)
• salt and pepper to taste

Start by melting the coconut oil in a sauté pan and add the garlic, cooking until fragrant. The rest is easy! Just add your veggies, chick peas and spices and cook until the carrots are fork tender. Squeeze lemon juice over the top and you’re good to go!

I served mine over quinoa that I spiced up with a little more dried basil. Super satisfying, and easy! Oh, and I definitely have leftovers for another full meal. Yeah!

Another thing I thought would be cool to do is share WHY I choose each ingredient as it relates to cancer. So check that out below.

For those who don’t know, Phytochemicals are chemical compounds produced by plants, generally to help them thrive or thwart competitors, predators, or pathogens (AKA CANCER)

Carrots: About one carrot provides 200% of the Daily Value of vitamin A, some fiber and is a good source of vitamin K. Carrots contain phytochemicals that can act as antioxidants, anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer effects.

Green Beans: Good dietary sources of fiber and folate. The beta-carotene and lutein in green beans have been found to be associated with lower risk of breast cancer.

Tomatoes:  A cancer-fighting superfood. Not only do tomatoes contain lycopene, the antioxidant phytochemical that also helps prevent heart disease, but they’re a good source of vitamins A, C, and E – all enemies of cancer-friendly free radicals.

Chick Peas: Saponins, which are phytochemicals in chickpeas, prevent cancer cells from multiplying and spreading throughout the body. Hellooooo yes!!! Gimme all the hummus.

Portobello Mushrooms: Known to be one of the biggest cancer fighting foods, Portobellos contain anti-inflammatory properties, antioxidants and the phytochemicals within mushrooms have positive effects on cell death of abnormal or cancer cells.

Lemon Juice: Lemons have been shown to stop the growth of cancer cells and even kill them outright.

Garlic: Nutrient dense, good for the immune system, Garlic “ramps up” your body’s ability to fight free radicals, which can lead to inflammation.

Turmeric – A number of laboratory studies on cancer cells have shown that curcumin does have anticancer effects. It seems to be able to kill cancer cells and prevent more from growing. It has the best effects on breast cancer, bowel cancer, stomach cancer and skin cancer cells. It KILLS CANCER CELLS. Everyone should take turmeric every day.

Basil – Basil extract has been shown to induce apoptosis (programmed cell death) in both hormone receptor positive and triple negative breast cancer cells. (THAT’S ME)