Vegetarian Star

If there was one resolution cookbook author Christina Pirello wanted to keep, it was to refrain from getting angry.

Unfortunately, an article she read in a magazine which touted “heart-healthy” meals containing meat was enough to make her renege before the end of January.

“I get to the article–there’s about 7 dishes. Not one dish is based in veggies. Oh, they might have some zucchini thrown in or a little broccoli stirred in, but that’s it…If it didn’t have processed grain, it had animal food. Very likely both. Not one was vegetable-based.”

Not to worry, though. Pirello has picked up where the article left off and unveiled her “Healthy Cookbooks To Start The New Year.”

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Are holier than thou vegans not practicing what they preach?

Christina Pirello, vegan chef and author, recently discussed how some of the most compassionate people in the world–vegans–are not so compassionate when it comes sharing their lifestyle on others.

Drawing on the most radical example of a Sex and the City scene where an activist throws paint on someone to the seemingly harmless trash talk like that found in the Skinny Bitch books, Pirello thinks it’s time everyone lighten up and work harder to include others, versus applying strict labels and making them feel bad.

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Vegan chef Christina Pirello took to the Huffington Post to discuss how fast food companies like McDonald’s have lured children into their restaurants through the use of clever, cheerful marketing and a few plastic toys here and there.

“Since the Happy Meal hit the menu under the Golden Arches, childhood obesity has ballooned from 4.2% to 17%, according to the Centers for Disease Control. This hugely successful public relations brainstorm, linking cheap food with cheap toys (which actually dates as far back as free junk toys in Cracker Jacks and cereal boxes and on top of Ovaltine jars) led corporation after corporation to see the opportunity to make money off your kids’ desires. Before long, all that disposable plastic junk found its way into almost every bag of high-fat, high-sugar meal while hawking the movies your kids are dying to see.”

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Alicia Silverstone recently discussed the idea of whether consuming yeast is healthy on her website, The Kind Life.

Yeast is full of B vitamins, something vegetarians may be missing if not supplemented, but are the tiny microorganisms a good way of getting them?

Silverstone called upon her good buddy, vegetarian chef and cookbook author, Christina Pirello, for some advice.

“Nutritional yeast is super yum and has a cheesy taste,” Silverstone wrote. “Lots of vegans get excited about it because they feel it is a good source of b-12, but superheroes and the macro community feel like it’s a bad guy, so I avoid it.?”

Pirello said that some might want to avoid yeast if they experience digestive issues, because it’s believed to inhibit digestion when it expands in the digestive tract.

Think of rising bread rising in your stomach, making a big, bloated ball out of you.

“That said, there is nothing wrong with yeast if you are healthy and strong and well… no reason not to use it,” Pirello says. “I use it in small amounts in some of the breads I bake to create lightness… usually in combination with a sourdough starter so I get the best of both worlds… the fermented benefit of sourdough but the lightness of yeast, plus sourdough allows me to use less yeast. But in truth, there is no problem with yeast if your health and digestion is strong.?”

Yeast and yeast containing foods should also be avoided if trying to overcome a systemic yeast (Candida) infection.

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Christina Pirello was one of the featured celebrity chefs at the 2010 Sun Wine Fest in Connecticut.

The whole foods vegan chef’s presence help offset the less veggie dishes by other chefs like Todd English, Michael Ginor and Ben Ford.

Ten years ago when Pirello wrote her first cookbook 10 years ago, Cooking the Whole Foods Way, there may not have been room at the chef’s exhibit for an organic, vegan chef like herself.

“Now everyone’s cooking with whole grains — I feel extremely vindicated,” she said told the Herald News. “It’s kind of cool to open a food and wine demonstration cooking with miso and tofu.”

“I’m taking vegan cuisine up a notch; paired with a lovely wine it allows us to be a part of the party.”

When pairing a wine with vegan food at home, don’t forget to check it against the vegan alcohol list.

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Looking for a crash course on what foods to load up on during your next grocery visit?

Then look no further than to Christina Pirello‘s Top 10 Ingredients for a Healthy Life at the Huffington Post.

Healthy oils, soy foods and lean proteins such as beans are included with Christina’s advice on why you should grab these while they’re hot (or cold, frozen, canned, bulk…)

Take a canned tomato, for instance. It’s may actually be better for you than served fresh.

“Unlike a lot of canned foods, canned tomatoes contain most of their nutrients. That means that you still benefit from most of the antioxidants like beta-carotene, vitamins C and E and the ever popular lycopene, essential to reproductive health, which is actually more efficiently absorbed by the body when the tomatoes are canned or cooked. All this adds up to a fruit that can help prevent heart disease and some cancers. Plus, the luscious tomato is high in potassium, but low in sodium, so it can be helpful in fighting high blood pressure and fluid retention.”

“Just be sure to buy canned tomatoes without salt. You can season them yourself. And skip the brands that add sugar. It’s not needed; tomatoes have an inherent sweetness that needs no enhancement. Do I need to tell you that organic tomatoes are best?”

Not really, but Christina definitely needs to tell you what the other top healthy ingredients are. Find out at the Huffington Post.

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If you need to brush up on your veggie cooking skills, chef Christina Pirello is offering several classes that give veg love in the city of brotherly love.

The same chef who brought you better sex tips offers three different culinary programs in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the United States: demonstration classes, a three-day Intensive Study Program and a six-month Cooking and Integrative Health Studies Program.

The classes cover topics such as kitchen utensils and menu planning to complete lifestyle assessments to help students make healthy decisions away from the dinner table.

Pirello’s book, Cooking The Whole Foods Way, was recently chosen as one of the top 5 cookbooks of the decade by the Physicians Committee For Responsible Medicine.

For more information on the cooking classes, visit Pirello’s website.

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Skinny Bitch In the Kitch

The Physicians Committee For Responsible Medicine has named Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin‘s Skinny Bitch In The Kitch one of five best cookbooks of the decade.

From a press release:

“Skinny Bitch in the Kitch provides healthy vegan recipes that actually taste good, from Bitchtastic Brownies to dairy-less Fettuccini Alfredo.”

It’s those Bitchtastic Brownies that made Bitch in the Kitch a New York Times Bestseller.

As expected Alicia Silverstone‘s The Kind Diet made the cut, as well as The Conscious Cook by Tal Ronnen, The Engine 2 Diet by Rip Esselstyn and Cooking the Whole Foods Way by Christina Pirello.

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