You're in the driveway.

Panic sets in.

Inside, a hungry family awaits.

Can you get a delicious, healthy meal on the table quickly?

Yeah, it just takes a little planning.

It's time to get back to the cutting board today on Christina Cooks.

(cheerful music) ♪ (announcer) Underwriting for Christina Cooks is provided by Suzanne's Specialties, offering a full line of alternative vegan and organic sweeteners and toppings.

Suzanne's Specialties, sweetness the way Mother Nature intended.

Additional funding is also provided by Old Yankee Cutting Boards, designed for durability and custom crafted by hand with Yankee pride and craftsmanship.

Jonathan's Spoons, individually handcrafted from cherry wood, each designed with your hand and purpose in mind.

♪ Additional funding is also provided by: ♪ Hi, I'm Christina Pirello, and this is Christina Cooks, where each week we take fresh, seasonal ingredients and whip them into amazing dishes.

Is it all plant-based?

Yeah.

Is it all delicious?

Absolutely.

So, let's talk.

I know how busy we all are.

We have jobs, and overscheduled kids, and overscheduled lives, and social media, and TV to watch, and we don't want to cook, right?

It's famously been said that we spend more time watching people cook on TV than we spend actually cooking.

In 1973, people spent two and a half hours on food prep for the day.

Before you faint, in 2018, people spent 17 minutes on food prep for the day.

I don't even know what I'm making for dinner in 17 minutes.

So, I'm gonna show you how easy it is to put together a three-course meal, including dessert, and have all the nutrients you need.

It's so easy.

You do have to be able to chop, but you'll get there.

All right, first thing we're gonna do is make a chickpea farro soup.

It's a whole grain and a bean together.

This is like your main course and everything else we do is on the side.

So, we're gonna take extra virgin olive oil.

Our pan is not hot.

Right, extra virgin olive oil is a high-heat oil, but you don't want to heat it without ingredients in there because, otherwise, you lose the flavor and you want to keep the flavor, right?

The job of soup is to be sweet and to relax the body so the rest of your food digests well, so you want to keep your oil as flavorful as possible.

So, the next thing to go in, or the first thing, actually, is finely minced garlic... ...and finely diced red onions.

The more finely you can dice your ingredients, the sweeter your soup, right?

There's more surface area to bleed and you get more of the sugars of the veggie in there.

Then, you start on, like, a medium heat.

Tiny pinch of salt so that the vegetables start to bleed their juices into the oil.

See, it was a tiny pinch, right?

We just kind of move them around until the sizzle builds, and while that happens, we're gonna come over here and cut celery into tiny dice, and you do that by splitting the celery into three or four spears, leaving the top attached.

It doesn't go flying all over the board.

It's so easy.

Could you use a food processor to do this?

Yes.

It will take you longer to clean the food processor than it'll take you to dice the celery.

So, learn how to use your knife, get really good at this and you'll be so grateful.

You'll whip up dinner in no time.

Goes in with the carrots-- I mean, onion and the garlic.

Getting ahead of myself 'cause I have to dice carrots next.

Move it around.

And now we're gonna make the soup a little spicy.

While this is designed to be easy for you to make, you also want the soup to serve the purpose of your life.

Everything you cook should serve the purpose of your life.

Yes, it should be sexy, but it also has to serve the purpose of your life.

So, we're gonna stimulate circulation with a little bit of hot spice.

You can use red chili flakes.

You can use hot sauce.

Red chili flakes give you a nice, smooth heat.

We're just gonna sauté that in.

The longer it cooks, the hotter it gets.

So, if you're not really sure about hot spice, you might want to start light and work your way up.

The next thing we're gonna add to this is going to be some crushed tomatoes.

These are out of a can.

If you can yourself, which I hope you do, just use those.

(sizzling) I'm gonna lower the heat a little bit and go back here and dice the carrot.

Now, a carrot is a long vegetable, so it's really challenging to cut it into spears and not, you know, damage yourself.

So, I cut the carrot in half first, cut it in half again, and then-- so the bottom half of the carrot is in quarters.

Then, you just run your knife along it into a small dice If you cut smaller spears, you get even a smaller dice, but there's no need to chop as though you're putting confetti in the soup, you know what I mean?

Just a nice dice.

So, we're doing the same thing with the top half.

If the carrot top half was much bigger than the bottom, I would cut that into three spears.

No problem.

And, then, this is gonna go right on top of our tomatoes.

The tomatoes are starting to simmer.

You're getting that nice onion and garlic smell in the house, which is really nice and sends people running for dinner.

That goes in.

And the next thing-- and this is optional.

You don't have to add these, but I love them.

You want to add some small fingerling potatoes, and the reason I say the small ones are is they are lower in sugar and not as acidic in the system.

So, if you want to add potatoes for the texture in the soup and that mouth feel, you want to try to use the little ones or the new potatoes that have the red skin on them.

The smaller, the better because that will help you to digest them and not have such acid indigestion after you eat potatoes.

All right, so even roasted in the oven, these are the potatoes I use, these little fingerlings.

They go in.

And now come the two stars of the soup.

The first one is farro.

Farro, you have to learn how to roll your Rs if you're gonna eat farro.

It's got two Rs.

In Italian, that's rolled.

So, farro is a grain that's 7,000 years old.

It's high in fiber, high in vitamins, high in minerals, loaded with iron.

It's even high in protein.

We're gonna put about a half cup to a cup into the soup.

And, then, the next thing to go in is chickpeas.

Chickpeas seem like Clark Kent, but they are loaded with nutrients, fiber, and minerals that prevent digestive diseases.

I'm using canned chickpeas.

I won't lie to ya.

They're not on the stove simmering for hours.

Opened a can, drained 'em off, rinsed 'em so you don't become, uh, musical when you eat them, and they're going right in.

This soup will cook in 25 minutes because I used canned chickpeas.

We're gonna add water.

You want to have about four times the amount of farro, water as farro so the soup gets nice and creamy.

And this will cook for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, it's gonna look pretty much the same.

Except the tomatoes look a little more finished.

And you see the soup took on a nice sort of brothy quality.

So, now, all we'll do is season it with salt.

This is to your taste.

But if there's four cups of water, let's say, in your soup, you want to use about a half a teaspoon of salt.

Don't get too carried away or your soup stops serving the purpose of your life and makes you want to have a beer.

That's not the goal.

So, now, let it simmer for a couple minutes while you prepare the garnish.

You want to garnish the soup when you're done making it, especially if it's cooked for a half hour or more, because if you don't garnish it, it makes you feel heavy.

This will make you feel fresh.

If your basil, however, looks like this at the end of the summer, we use parsley.

So, we're just gonna take the parsley and coarsely chop it.

I take the stems off.

Some people save the stems and use them.

I usually compost them.

You just want to take those tough stems off 'cause they can be a little bitter and, then, just coarsely chop.

I like a lot of parsley in a soup.

And when I've made a big pot like this, I may not garnish each bowl.

I might just take the garnish, pop it in... ...and then serve the soup.

So, now, we'll take a ladle... Stir the garnish in really quickly.

And when you serve a soup like this, which is sort of a feast in its own right, what's really being expected after that is a salad or a simple side dish and dessert because this is really the star of the show, our chickpea farro soup.

♪ -A fruit can be a vegetable.

-What?

It can be both?

(unintelligible) -I don't get it.

-I am so confused.

♪ (Christina) Everybody is so confused about what it means to be plant-based.

We have plant-based, vegan, vegetarian.

We have all of these different names out there for what it is that we do.

So, I thought I would bring my friend and expert vegan chef Rich Landau in to talk about that with us.

He's the owner of Vedge Restaurant in Philadelphia along with V Street and Fancy Radish in Washington, D.C.

Okay, so here's the big question: Now that we've got people eating kale, we wear kale power T-shirts, how do you see, as a restaurant owner, how do you see the organic versus non-organic issue moving, or how do you use it?

Like... (Rich) Well, I mean, personally, I believe wholeheartedly in organic.

I really do, in principle.

Now, that's assuming that all organic farmers know what they're doing and it's also assuming they're gonna give us quality.

Now, here's the big question: Do you want to apologize to a customer that there's a bug in their salad, or do you want to give them, you know, the greens that have been sprayed where you never have to deal with that question?

So, it gets a little tricky.

I also--I'm not thrilled with the organic standards.

You know, what you can consider organic is not really what we wanted, it's like saying, you know, you can take a vegan dish, but we will allow a little bit of chicken stock in it.

It's not really what we-- it's not where we wanted to be, right?

So, I'm a firm believer in quality.

I don't ever want to apologize to my guests when, you know, if the organic farmer sends me a really terrible-looking case of red peppers, I'm gonna go conventional so I can put the best vegetables on the plate.

As long as you know how to cook 'em, and you know what to do with 'em, and you're not using cheap, really cheap, like, massly produced produce, I think it all comes down to quality.

But organic, in principle, I think, is the way to go.

(Christina) But I also think that if people have the option of not eating vegetables or eating only organic that we have to say, "Eat veggies no matter where you can find them."

Eat them wherever you can find them, but I also find that, you know, eat quality vegetables.

People will go into supermarkets and buy subpar vegetables.

You would never buy old fish.

(Christina) Right, right.

Exactly, exactly.

(Rich) "Hey, reduced for quick sale," on, like, a package of meat or fish, but they will do that with vegetables.

We have to stop that mindset.

Buy quality all the time.

Whatever looks best, buy that.

Perfect.

Thanks, my friend.

-You got it.

-See ya.

♪ So, you see this?

This is a cauliflower.

Now, before you turn off your TV and go, "Ew, cauliflower," let me tell you something about cauliflower.

It looks like just white, mild-mannered, maybe gives you a little gas, cauliflower.

But it's loaded with a compound called glucosinolates.

Say that with me.

(everyone) Glucosinolates.

Well done, crew.

What that does is when you chew cauliflower, as you must with all food, it helps control blood sugar, lower cholesterol, and fight cancer.

Think the same about it now?

I didn't think so.

All right, this is a quick side dish.

So, we're gonna take some avocado oil into a skillet.

Take some leek, remember to clean the leek under water so you wash all the sand out of these many, many layers.

Cut the root off.

And we're gonna cut this into sort of wide, oblong pieces.

Remember, use the whole leek.

You want the chlorophyll and the vitamin C and the fiber.

Don't be throwing it back into the compost bin.

Just the ends.

Put it into the oil, turn the heat on.

Let them start to sweat a little bit.

Leeks become very sweet and very quick.

Add some garlic 'cause why not?

And we're gonna add a tiny touch of soy sauce.

So, I used avocado oil because I'm using soy sauce, and when I use soy sauce, I don't really like to use extra virgin olive oil.

I don't like those flavors together.

If you like 'em, have a ball.

If you don't, don't.

So, we're gonna let this start to sweat while we break apart the cauliflower.

Now, cauliflower doesn't need to be cut.

You break all the little florets off the stem.

Now some people say, "Keep the stem, throw it in your soup."

Some people keep the greens, throw them in their soups.

If the greens look lovely like this, go ahead.

But if they look a little brown or the stem seems a little tough, compost bin.

Then, you take your cauliflower and you split the stem to open up the floret.

You don't really cut all the way through.

Just down into the stem like that.

You want to make nice, chunky pieces for this.

You don't want the cauliflower to be mushy.

Remember, you need to chew it, okay?

But you don't want it raw either.

If it's raw, those compounds aren't released.

So... Now that the leeks and the garlic are ready, yum, in goes the cauliflower.

Now, while the cauliflower sort of simmers and braises in the oil with a little soy sauce, we're gonna make a dressing and then come back and finish the dish.

So, in our dressing is sesame tahini.

Make sure when you buy tahini, spend a little extra money and get the one that pours like a liquid.

This will give you a much nicer finish on your sauces, otherwise, it's like peanut butter.

It's thick and you got to stir it.

Don't get crazy with that.

Next, we'll add some apple cider vinegar.

You can also use rice vinegar.

You can use whatever you like, but don't use something really sweet like balsamic because we're adding a little bit of brown rice syrup to get that sweet taste.

And I like it because it's a complex sweetener and it's gonna give us a sweet flavor without an insulin trigger.

A little soy sauce to season it.

And, then, we're gonna take the zest of a lemon... ...right into the dressing.

This is gonna give you a really lovely, fresh lemon flavor that's gonna create more depth than if you just use the juice.

That's why I like to use both.

Oh, but you are gonna use organic lemons, right?

You don't want to grate pesticides into your dressings.

Make sure you use organic when you can find them.

And cut the lemon in half after it's zested.

Make sure you zest it first, 'cause if you juice it and then try to zest it...

Doesn't work so well.

Add that in.

(sizzling) Then, you're gonna take and just stir this until it's creamy and all the ingredients combine.

You can whisk it, you can just stir it.

Whatever you prefer.

Now this is gonna go into the--into the dish before the greens.

So that goes in.

Give it a quick stir.

Lower your heat as low as you can 'cause now there's lemon juice in here.

You don't want to cook it for very long or the lemon juice will get bitter.

Now we're gonna take some broccoli rabe, which I love.

It's like a total Italian thing.

Most people don't love it.

They boil it before they cook it because it's too bitter.

It's supposed to be bitter.

It's supposed to.

That's it's job.

It opens up the liver, it makes you feel happier.

But when you buy broccoli rabe, if you see little splits in the stems, cut the whole stem off, 'cause bitter is one thing and bitter is another.

So, this goes in.

Bite-size pieces.

We're just gonna stir it in with a tiny bit more soy sauce just until it wilts.

This is not a dish that you want to cook the greens until they're limp.

You want to cook 'em just until they wilt a tiny, tiny bit.

The cauliflower still is a little bit crispy, a little crunchy.

This isn't like an overdone dish.

This is gonna be served on the side of your chickpea farro soup to create an amazing dinner.

And we're gonna make dessert too, so settle down.

So, now we take a dish... (sizzling) Just spoon the dish right out onto that.

And you have a brilliant side dish that helps to control blood sugar, make your liver happy, was easy to make, your family will love it.

It has a rich dressing.

Pff, I don't know what else I can do to help you make a simple supper, but this is a good part.

♪ So, here we are.

No simple supper is complete without a dessert.

And in my world, that's gonna be cookies.

You have your main course soup, your lovely side dish.

All healthy.

Supports the purpose of your life.

But so do cookies.

All right, in this bowl, I have a vegan butter substitute that's been softened.

There's really a reason that you bring butter or coconut oil or whatever you're using to room temperature and it's so it's easier to mix, okay?

So, that's kind of smooshed around in the bottom of the bowl.

We're going to add a quarter cup of brown rice syrup, roughly.

You can measure it if you choose to.

You know, there's this myth out there that baking is this amazing science and you have to have a rocket science degree to be able to bake.

You don't.

About a teaspoon of vanilla.

Especially cookies.

Cookies are so forgiving.

So, if you want to, like, think about baking but you're nervous, start with cookies.

About six tablespoons of coconut sugar more or less.

Now, the reason I use the two sweeteners, both are low glycemic index, both of them give you great flavor.

The rice syrup helps the cookies to set.

The coconut sugar gives them cookie texture.

It's brilliant.

So, you mix those together.

Then, we're gonna add some coconut... ...a pinch of salt to make the cookies sweet.

Trust me on this one.

And, then, we'll add about two tablespoons of peanut butter.

Please use organic peanut butter.

You can use creamy or crunchy, I don't care.

About two tablespoons.

Again, you know what I mean?

Carefully measured.

Not at all.

So, in this goes.

But to do--if you are gonna measure the way I measure, such as it is, you do want to make sure you have a little extra flour on hand so that you can make your cookie batter dry enough.

Okay, so now you've got this nice, creamy mixture.

Right, beautiful.

Now we'll add to it a teaspoon each-- half teaspoon each, sorry, baking powder, baking soda.

A teaspoon total.

They're gonna help the cookies to rise.

And, then, we'll add a cup and a half of flour, more or less... ...and about a half cup of rolled oats.

These cookies have great texture.

And they have rolled oats, so they have fiber.

It's whole wheat pastry flour, so it's better for you.

Everything in here is low glycemic index.

You've got great fat and protein from the peanut butter.

But the best news is yet to come.

The next thing we're gonna add into this is dark Stevia-sweetened chocolate chips that are really delicious.

But did you know that dark chocolate is a rich source of magnesium, zinc, and iron?

It can help improve brain function, protect your skin from the sun, and lower cholesterol.

I know, finally.

Something that we love that's good for us.

In goes about a cup.

You're gonna fold this in.

You want to mix just until your batter is just combined.

Don't get so happy with mixing because the gluten in the flour will make your cookies tough.

If you're using gluten-free flour, mix away.

But if you're using a regular flour, you just want to mix until your cookies make a nice, soft batter like this.

Then, you're gonna take a parchment-lined baking sheet, and I like to use parchment because it keeps the cookie sheet clean and it doesn't let the cookies burn or stick.

And, then, you're gonna use a tablespoon scoop.

You don't have to do this, but I like it because it helps to keep my cookies all the same size.

And if that doesn't matter to you...

I know what you're thinking.

"She doesn't measure, but she's OCD when it comes to the size of the cookies."

The answer would be yes.

So, we're gonna do three across and four down.

Get about a dozen on a half sheet like this.

And, then, because they're peanut butter cookies, we're gonna make a fork pattern in the shape of a cross.

And do you know why you do that?

I just found out actually.

You do it because it helps the cookie to bake more evenly since you've got both vegan butter and the added fat of peanut butter.

It's kind of a brilliant thing.

So now that the cookies are on the sheet, I usually like to go in and shape them a little before I hit them with a fork and make the little cross shapes.

So, now, you take and you just make a criss-cross on each cookie.

And, then, these are gonna go in the oven, I'm gonna say for a minimum of 12 minutes, but you got to check your oven.

You know, if you're calibrated perfectly, they're gonna bake for 13 minutes, not a second more or less.

If you're oven is not calibrated well, you might bake longer or less.

What you're looking for is the cookie to come out of the oven soft, sit on the sheet for a minute and firm up.

So, that's what we're gonna do.

So, I'm gonna go put these in the oven and I'll be right back.

♪ (clock ticking) ♪ So, here they are after 13 minutes in the oven.

You want to let them sit for a minute or two, unless you can't wait, and then you're just gonna lay them on a lovely dish to cool.

You could go to a cooling rack, but I tend to go right to the serving platter because I think it looks really nice to do that.

And I like to have an uneven number on my dish, so oops.

Anyway, what are you waiting for?

Let's get back to the cutting board and cook.

And I'll see you next time on Christina Cooks.

♪ ♪ ♪ (announcer) Underwriting for Christina Cooks is provided by Suzanne's Specialties, offering a full line of alternative vegan and organic sweeteners and toppings.

Suzanne's Specialties, sweetness the way Mother Nature intended.

Additional funding is also provided by Old Yankee Cutting Boards, designed for durability and custom crafted by hand with Yankee pride and craftsmanship.

Jonathan's Spoons, individually handcrafted from cherry wood, each designed with your hand and purpose in mind.

Additional funding is also provided by: ♪ You can find today's recipes and learn more by visiting our website at: And by following Christina on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

The companion cookbook, "Back to the Cutting Board," takes you on a journey to re-engage with the soul of cooking.

With more than 100 plant-based recipes, finding the joy in cooking has never been simpler.

To order your copy for $20 plus handling, call: Add Christina's iconic book, "Cooking the Whole Foods Way," with 500 delicious plant-based recipes.

To order both books for $39.95 plus handling, call: ♪ (bright music)