Forks Over Knives Fall 2022

Fall is almost here, and I’m so ready for it! I love how the cool-but-not-too-cool weather lures me outside for long walks, which stir up my appetite and coax me back home to the kitchen. For me, there’s no better season for cooking and entertaining. For Thanksgiving and other autumn get-togethers, this issue is full of delicious recipe inspiration. You’ll find “Incredible Thanksgiving Mains” on page 54, a collection of showstopping holiday entrées from some of our favorite plant-based chefs. “Simple 5-Ingredient Sides” on page 62 proves that you don’t need a complicated recipe to achieve big flavor, and the goodies in “Sweet Potato Desserts” on page 68 demonstrate why the sweet spud is one of our all-time favorite ingredients. For leisurely weekend mornings when you want to serve up something special,…

Forks Over Knives advocates a whole-food, plant-based (WFPB) diet, which centers on whole, unrefined (or minimally refined) plant foods instead of animal products and highly processed foods. WHAT TO EAT ON A WFPB DIET LOAD UP ON THESE Fruits (bananas, blueberries, oranges, strawberries) Vegetables (broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, kale, lettuce) Tubers and starchy vegetables (corn, green peas, potatoes, winter squash) Whole grains (barley, brown rice, millet, oats, quinoa, wheat berries) Legumes (black beans, chickpeas, lentils, pinto beans) ENJOY IN MODERATION Plant-based milks (almond, cashew, hemp, oat, rice, soy) Tofu and tempeh Whole grain flours and breads Whole nuts and seeds, nut/seed butters (almond butter, pumpkin seeds, tahini, walnuts) AVOID OR MINIMIZE Bleached flours, white bread, and white pasta Dairy products Eggs Meat, poultry, and seafood Oils Refined sweeteners White rice LASTING CHANGE: 5 KEYS TO SUCCESS 1 PUT STARCHES AND FRUITS AT THE CENTER OF YOUR PLATE. Enjoy nonstarchy and leafy veggies in…

DARSHANA THACKER WENDEL Thacker Wendel is a vegan chef specializing in whole-food, plant-based cuisine. A graduate of the Natural Gourmet Institute, she is the author of the Forks Over Knives: Flavor! cookbook, recipe author for the book Forks Over Knives Family, and recipe contributor to The New York Times best-selling book The Forks Over Knives Plan. SHIREEN KASSAM, MBBS, DIPIBLM, PH D, AND ZAHRA KASSAM, MBBS, FRCPC, MSC, DIPABLM Shireen Kassam is a consultant haematologist and founder of Plant-Based Health Professionals UK. Her sister, Zahra Kassam, is a radiation oncologist and founder of Plant-Based Canada. They co-authored the book Eating Plant-Based: Scientific Answers to Your Nutrition Questions. MICAH YU, MD Yu is an integrative rheumatologist who incorporates complementary medicine with traditional rheumatology. He is triple board-certified in rheumatology, internal medicine, and lifestyle medicine. Yu is…

QUALITY COUNTS Decades of research has linked plant-based diets with a reduced risk of Type 2 diabetes, but a new scientific review out of Harvard University shows that quality is key. For the review, published in April in the journal Diabetologia, researchers assessed blood samples and food-frequency questionnaires collected from 8,827 healthy participants across three studies from the 1980s and 1990s. They scored each participant’s diet according to quantity of plant-based foods eaten while also distinguishing between healthy plant-based foods (including fruits, veggies, legumes, and whole grains) and unhealthy plant-based foods (including refined grains, sugar-sweetened beverages, and desserts). To better understand any correlations between diet patterns and diabetes risk, the researchers looked at participants’ blood metabolite profiles. They found that plant-heavy diets were associated with unique multi-metabolite profiles that differed significantly between the healthy…

ROOTY BEAUTIES Available year-round, beets reach peak sweetness during the cooler months of fall and spring. Cooking the root vegetables is as easy as cooking potatoes: They can be roasted, boiled, steamed in a multicooker, or microwaved until fork-tender. Beets can also be used raw, like carrots, to add crunch and color to salads, as pickles, and in stunning dishes like beet carpaccio or beet tartare. CHOOSE WELL Look for firm, medium-size beets with no blemishes or wrinkling. Larger specimens can taste fibrous or bitter. Fresh, leafy tops are an edible bonus and a sign of recent harvest, but they aren’t a reliable indicator of how beets themselves will taste. STORAGE TIPS Like other root vegetables, beets can be kept in a root cellar for months without losing freshness or flavor. In…

CHARCUTERIE ESSENTIALS Here are the major components of an epic vegan charcuterie board. The recipes shown here cover your Creamy and Hearty needs. Round it out with your favorite nibbles from the other categories. CREAMY sliceable or spreadable vegan cheese HEARTY plant-based pâté or a thick dip like hummus or pesto SMOKY roasted or grilled vegetables CRUNCHY sliced raw veggies and cherry tomatoes NUTTY raw or roasted nuts and seeds SWEET fresh and/or dried fruit TANGY pickled veggies, grainy mustard, and olives BREADY tender whole grain bread or crispy crackers (Mary’s Gone Crackers, Wasa, and toasted pita wedges) Butternut Cheddar with Chives 10 minutes + chill time | Makes one 16-oz. block Butternut squash purée gives this cheese a creamy texture and a cheddar-y orange color. 1½ cups unsweetened, unflavored hemp, cashew, or almond milk¾ cup butternut squash puree4 tsp. agar flakes1 Tbsp.…