2021 Best Esselstyn Recipes

Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn recommends an oil-free, vegan diet in his book Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease . In addition to the great recipes in his accompanying cookbook, The Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease Cookbook: Over 125 Delicious, Life-Changing, Plant-Based Recipes, here are a few recipes that meet Dr. Esselstyn’s guidelines that we make almost every week,…

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Mini Pizza Bites

My Aunt Cathy sent me a version of this recipe a few weeks ago and said she has added things to it but it just doesn’t seem right… it needs something to make it “just right”. CHALLENGE ACCEPTED. I LOVE messing with recipes. I love trying to figure out what’s missing, and knowing my Aunt…

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Lentil Vegetable Soup

My dear friend gave me this Le Cruset dutch oven a week ago, and I’ve been dreaming of all the things I can make it in every night since. It looks gorgeous on my stove. It cooks beautifully. I may have fantasized about hugging it while I sleep. Ahem. Anyway. I used it for this…

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Perfect Pumpkin Pie

Time for an embarrassing secret: the first time I made this, I forgot the sugar, and it was TERRIBLE. You should have seen the look on my daughters’ faces when they tried a bite 😂 I am all about cutting out sugar when it’s possible, but this is too perfect to mess with. I’ve included…

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Hearty Split Pea Soup

I never thought I would hoard soup. I mean, who does that? Apparently, me. This is my FAVORITE SOUP OF ALL TIME. In fact, I will make dinner for everyone else the next day just to have the leftovers for this all to myself. Clearly, I have issues. Of all the soups I make (and that’s…

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Quinoa Pinto Bean Burgers – Gluten Free, Vegan

These burgers are my go-to recipe for vegan patties, and they smell as good as they taste. Feel free to substitute another type of bean for the pinto beans- I’ll often use black beans instead. The quinoa adds extra protein to the meal, which I often prefer versus just rice- though I’ve used rice when…

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Fudgy Black Bean Brownies- Gluten Free, Oil Free, Vegan

Oh. My. Gosh. When I need a chocolate fix, these are my absolute favorite. No flour. No oil. Just pure delicious. Want to know a secret? Sometimes I use pinto beans instead, if that’s what I have in my fridge. They work just as well, because the cocoa powder permeates everything to make it deliciously…

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Perfect Pumpkin Bread – Oil-free, Vegan, Delicious

Here’s a little secret- every muffin recipe can easily be a sweetbread recipe, and vice versa. So if you want to turn this recipe into twelve mouth-watering muffins instead of eight slices of heavenly pumpkin bread goodness, no one will ever know the difference. You can also use my Best Pumpkin Muffin recipe for pumpkin bread… but…

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Basic Blueberry Muffins

These are my blank canvas muffins… I will use blueberries or raspberries, or instead add raisins… or even separate the dough and do half and half (our family is a bit divided- my husband and youngest daughter don’t care for baked fruit, my oldest and I think it’s the best thing ever). These are #wholefood…

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Perfect Hummus

This perfect hummus is your salad’s best friend. Great for wraps, dips, salads and sides. This is a no oil, completely clean recipe that I make every week. We often have it as a dip for celery and baby carrots, but my absolute favorite way to eat this is layered on a salad with salsa…

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