131: Jalapeno Poppers with Michelle Tree of Plant Based Living Winnipeg | Cook With Maya

Michelle Tree  00:00

This is a recipe I've made for my own complex and they disappear right away. They you know there's never any leftovers so I know that other people like them. Oh my spicy. Yeah, well it depends on the jalapeno right because how it can be mild and it can be spicy or depends on how they're growing. 

Narrator  00:21

Welcome to the Plant Based DFW Podcast weekly show with Dr. Riz and Maya, a show broadcasted from the Dallas Fort Worth area that focuses on lifestyle medicine. This show is for you, the person who is seeking to improve your overall wellness and quality of life. So whether you are driving, walking, or relaxing at home, we hope this show will provide you one more tool for your wellness toolbox. Let's meet today's podcast guest. 

Maya Acosta  00:49

Friends Welcome back to another episode of the Plant Based DFW Podcast show this is Maya. Okay, so I have sort of a new segment for you. I did a live stream last week with Michelle Tree and this is what you'll hear in this episode. So I'm thinking about calling the segments something like Cook With Maya and you'll be able to listen as you're driving or while you're in the kitchen. You can also cook with the audio version. Today Michelle and I will be cooking cheesy jalapeno poppers. For this you will need 12 to 14 jalapeno peppers that are half, seeded and the ribs will be removed. One and a half cups of chickpeas, drained and rinsed. One 15 ounce package of the extra firm tofu, three tablespoons of apple cider vinegar, three garlic cloves, two tablespoons of white miso paste, one and a half teaspoon of smoked paprika, two teaspoons of onion powder and a half cup of nutritional yeast flakes for garnishing, you'll have a quarter of a cup of the panko bread crumbs or you can make your own and half a teaspoon of smoked paprika. 

Maya Acosta  01:59

So Michelle Tree is a pod leader of Plant Based Living Winnipeg in Canada. She is a passionate food educator and animal advocate who believes in the power of whole foods to transform communities since founding the group in 2016, Michelle has grown her group to over 1400 members has hosted over 40 potlucks and meetups, held rallies and campaigned for and spoken publicly about the benefits of a plant based diet. Taking advantage of the opportunities for education. Michelle has completed the certificate in Plant Based Nutrition from eCornell and the Moving Medicine Forward Masterclass in Plant Based Clinical Nutrition. Michelle is also a member of PAC that is the Pod Advisory Committee that's put together by PlantPure Communities to help reignite pod leaders throughout the world. And so finally, because of that I had the opportunity to interview her as well in that interview will be released in the near future. The Show Notes for this episode can be found on our website Plant Based DFW Podcast Com. This is Episode 131. And also if you'd like to view the actual video of us cooking together, go to Episode 131 or go to our YouTube channel. That's Plant Based DFW Podcast. I hope you enjoy.

Michelle Tree  03:21

Okay, well I have made this recipe probably three or four times I think I've made it for potlucks. And why I chose this one is I wanted to choose something from the Platte pure chef website that's online that we can share. But I'm also because I'm like I'm a big fan of Kim Campbell, who's Nelson Campbell's wife. And she has two cookbooks. So you can see them here. They're my favorite. This is plant pure kitchen and plant pure nation. So I was not much of a cook, I really didn't know what I was going to be making. I took out every book that they had on whole food plant based eating. This is the area this one was the only one that was out at the time. But it's her first book and I got this and then I decided that the books that I use the most in the library, then I would buy them. And so this was the first book I bought, and it's probably the most used book in my house. My mom loves this book. And we've we loved the recipes in it. And so I think what I love about them is that they're pretty simple. Um, you know, they're obviously delicious. And I think they're great for beginners, so I'm always recommending them. So I wanted to pick something off her website that we can share. And this is a recipe I've made for my own potlucks and they disappear right away. They You know, there's never any leftovers so I know that other people like them. 

Maya Acosta  04:43

I actually jumped ahead and did my mix last night. Basically because I have a puppy in my home. I don't have a dog sitter, which is why I'm a little behind on this whole production thing. But I didn't he's sleeping right now and I didn't want to get him barking and going so I did a taste test of it all last night I ran it through because I had never prepared this recipe. And since Michelle said that she has done it a few times, I thought, well, it's got to be a good recipe. And so my husband tasted them last night, and I'm gonna actually be preparing some two right now. And he was like, delicious and spicy. 

Michelle Tree  05:20

I made these for a potluck. To me, jalapenos are not that spicy, I we eat a lot of hot sauce in themselves. And we like spicy food. But when I brought them to the potluck, I realized not everyone finds that some people to jalapeno is even though it's one of the more mild peppers, I think it's like, you know, 2500 scovilles, or whatever the measurement is. But a lot of people did find them spicy. So the next time I made them for the potluck, and I've got one here, I just used some red peppers, regular red peppers, and I cut them into strips that are about the size of half a jalapeno. And I filled those, my thinking was, oh, there'll be for the kids. But there's a lot of adults who don't like spice too. And so it's helpful if you're making them for a group of people. If you use a variety of peppers, you can get little red sweet peppers as well and probably got if you're from Texas, there's a lot more probably a lot more variety of peppers down there. Because you know, peppers really are grown mostly in Mexico. And if they're in the States, it's mostly Texas. So I looked that up last night to find out. And then I wore my Mexican dress because I feel like it's a theme kind of thing happening. I feel like this is like a Mexican recipe with the jalapenos. Although we've It feels like we're in Mexico right now because it's been so hot here in Winnipeg, which is unusual. And people who are we're at the end of our growing season here, and I'm in a lot of gardening groups, and there's a manager of a vegetable gardeners group and I hear the best crops that have done well this year have been the pepper so a lot of people helping, those are a great thing to grow. They they you get lots on a plant. And with this hot weather we've been happening, it's it's good in even in Winnipeg, you can grow a lot of hot peppers. But yeah, so that's what I that's what I do with the the heat level and making sure everybody can enjoy them and not, you know, not burn their mouth if they're not into it. And the other thing that's important is as like what I'm doing right now is I'm cutting them in half, and I'm taking out all the seeds in the inside. So that's really that's a lot of the heat right there. And I'll discard that, but I very careful to not get it too much on my fingers. My mom has these little spoons there for grapefruit. Nonetheless, you can see it's got little edges in it. So it's meant for grapefruit. So it's you can scoop out the grapefruit but they're really good for scooping up the seeds out of the jalapenos. So that's a handy little tool if you happen to have one in your house or you can buy them. But yeah, so that's, that's just what I'm doing right now I'm almost done cutting up my jalapenos and I'll put them on the pan. 

Maya Acosta  07:55

You just mentioned the jalapenos coming from Texas and the season and everything. So I forgot to bring my measuring tape. But I look at the size of these jalapenos opinions. Oh my god. I'm used to seeing them a lot smaller, I guess when they're not in oh my god. So the recipe calls for having about 12 of them and I got about 10 because they're so big and I thought when are we going to eat so many of these. And I just cut about four of them for right now because I'm going to use my toaster oven. So I I'm interested in seeing how Michelle cooks because her family's a little bit bigger than mine. I it's just myself and my husband. So a lot of times I don't use our oven, I use our toaster oven. And so I'll be cooking using this little tray and you're at the recipe also calls for having like a silicone pad. Instead of doing that because it is stainless steel. I went ahead last night when I tested these out and put the jalapenos directly on here and then it kind of cooked the outside skin a little bit better than when I tried it with the silicone pad. So you know it could be my toaster oven as well. And so that's what I'm doing right now. Also, if you're the kind of person that just doesn't read instructions right correctly, I put the paprika in the entire mix so it's even spicier. I'm about to remove the seeds just like Michelle is doing. So I'm going to switch back over and to Michelle while I put on my gloves because I do wear contacts I touch my eyes often and I will be peeling the jalapenos. And if you want to share anything else with us, Michelle while I do that real quick.

Michelle Tree  09:37

I do have a couple things to share about this recipe. Now Maya mentioned that pride has been thought that the mixture tasted like hummus and that's because it's made with chickpeas. So it is very similar to hummus we're putting garlic in and you know some people might even put a little miso paste in their habits, who knows. But um, you can also make this recipe like with what you have on hand white beans like any kind of white bean also works, it will a slightly different flavor, but it actually works fine. I get it recently with kind of white Navy being so if that's what you have on hand. And the other thing I'll mention about the beans is that when I started off cooking whole food plant based diet, we were using beans, I mean, I wasn't a person who use beans previously, I just bought the canned beans. And I did that probably for the first four years that you're cooking like this. But as we got, you know, we started using them a lot more. And one thing that you will hear about a lot in the whole food plant based world is the instant pot, I think you can kind of see it over there on the corner, I've got an instant pot, and I buy my beans dried. Now I usually I do have some campaigns in the cupboard if I want to make something and I haven't previously prepared the beans. But I have prepared my chickpeas, I made a bunch of them in the instant pot, I actually had two containers like this and o ne container is already gone, because my husband likes them. And the and the other thing, speaking of him is the what you can, you know, this recipe does make quite a bit of filling. And if you don't want that many jalapenos, or you even if you have 12 or 14 jalapenos, and they're not that big, and you feel them and you still have leftovers, it's a it's an awesome recipe, it's really versatile. And what we do within our house, it'll keep for three or four days in the fridge, we actually use it as a sandwich billing. So my husband yesterday I made I made some for him and I added some dill weed to it some salt and pepper. And I just put it on some bread. So with a tomato and some lettuce, and it was a beautiful sandwich. So you can, you can make a lot a lot out of this recipe. If you make it to take somewhere and then you have that extra then you might have lunch the next day with some sandwich filling. So that's another great use of this recipe. And another reason why it's so good. It's an easy recipe to make. So I'm so I'm just cutting my garlic. Now, I've already so now I've got I've got my peppers. So I'll just show you this is the amount of peppers that I've made. I'm just going to put these over here on the oven, my oven is on set for 25. So that's what you have to have the oven at. And I've got three cloves of garlic. Now if you're a garlic lover like we are, we might put an extra clover too in it or depending on how big your clothes are as well. But I'm just going to pop those into my food processor.  And there we go. And now and now we'll start getting the other ingredients together. So one of the main ingredients is tofu. Now I thought I wanted to show you, those people who are now in trouble. I don't know what brands are down in Texas. But this I bought this brand quite often and this particular one, because it's it's crest. So it means that the waters already squeezed out of it. And when I'm making like tofu bacon and things like that, I find it really handy because I don't have to pre press it, it just I can just slice it up or put it into cubes and it makes it good. It's already got a good texture to it. But if you buy the the regular set of blocks, also, which we also do, you can press the water out. It's not super necessary for this recipe because the extra moisture is just going to go into the you know, the filling. But I did pre press this and I only just put it into the press. Not that long before we started and it's already you can see how much water is in there. And so if I mean these presses aren't aren't easy to find, they're not in all the stores not here anyways, we ordered ours online, they are a little pricey. You can also press your tofu you can use a couple plates in a couple of books. And you can just press your tofu that's what a lot of people do. They make their own between two cutting boards or whatever. But it is helpful to just squeeze the water out so though I've already done that, I'll pour the water out and then I'll put it all into my food processor. How are you doing Maya? 

Maya Acosta  14:02

I'm doing great. I'm liking all the tips that you're sharing. I like your press and actually I have a bamboo press that I have in storage because I've been moving things around and decluttering my home. 

Michelle Tree  14:13

So I've thrown my three garlic photos in my food processor already. And I'm going to get my other stuff ready. So we are using you know we need some onion powder, some miso paste and this is this is the brand again I'll show you brands because you would have people who are watching them I find that helpful. This is the brand that I prefer to get there used to be able to find a chickpea miso, a white chickpea miso that was excellent. It was organic, and I bought it at a store called Vital Health. And they're not carrying it anymore. So I bought this one there. And this is like 650 for this container but it doesn't last a long time. But the grocery stores often you'll find these in the international aisle and so this is also usable. But why I prefer this one, obviously, it's organic. But it also has less salt. So this is this is a little higher in sodium, which if you're trying to avoid a lot of sodium in your diet, then maybe not as good, but not, it's fine, it's fine to you. So this is just probably a little bit, probably this is like about half the amount of sodium in this brand. So that's why I prefer it. And we also are going to be using nutritional use. So if anyone who doesn't know what nutritionally used is, it's a staple. So get used to it, it goes and everything, that's what's going to give us the cheesy flavor in our dish today. And we're going to use I think it's half a cup of nutritional yeast to get it to that cheesy flavor. And we'll also need apple cider vinegar, so that we're going to put that in into the recipe and some smoked paprika and like and how Maya said that it went into the rest of you actually think it does go on the recipe, and you can also use it on top for garnish, so you can put it in and then you can just sprinkle it on top because it looks pretty, but again, that if you don't like a lot of hot, not that it's really hot, but everyone's different. So I've got my chickpeas, so I'm kind of ready to go. So I'm going to start measuring stuff out and putting it all into the food processor, the garlic closer in. Now I'm doing one and a half cups of chickpeas. So I'm just gonna eyeball the half cup instead of using another half another tool here. So there's my one and a half cups of chickpeas. And now I want three tablespoons of apple cider vinegar. So I'm going to shake it up because this is the kind This is a really good coin. It's organic, and it's got the mother in it. I think that's what they how they refer to it. And so just to get that in, and I want three tablespoons of that. So I'm going to measure my three tablespoons as it goes in. One, two, three, the vicar gives it a little zing, two tablespoons of the miso paste, so, so again, can you use that and I'll just lump in the miso paste here. That's what two tablespoons. I like the taste of me. So pay so I might even go a bit heavy on that. But you can play around these things. I mean, every recipe you make once you've made it once, then you can adjust your quantities to your own taste level. Okay, and then and then we're gonna use half a cup of the nutritional yeast. So again, I'm just gonna eyeball that here. Got half a cup. Okay, so there's my half a cup of nutritional yeast, I buy my nutritional yeast at Bulk Barn. So those people who aren't kind of, you know, into the into these ingredients, but I also went and got a bag last night when I first started using it, I would get it at Vital Health, you can get it at superstore too. And there's like a Bob's Red Mill brand, but it's really expensive, and there's no reason to pay more for your product. So, so that that's a couple of my gradients there. And now, give me one second, I'm just going to drain this and then we are using smoked paprika and onion powder. And I think that's it. So one second. So here's my finished product with my in my tofu pressing down to get it open. So the tofu presses, you can see it's got that spring, so when you put it in, it just kind of keeps constant pressure on it. And it doesn't take long to squeeze the water out of it. And like I said, it's helpful when you're making things like like a tofu bacon or you're cutting into the cubes and you want to have that more of a meat like texture, then then that's really helpful for tofu you can see that it's it's got a good strong texture now looks really good. I'm just going to put that into the blender. And then the next ingredient, all I need is the smoked paprika, and my onion powder and garlic powder. Also, if you don't have garlic cloves, you can always use garlic powder if you don't have them on hand. So the smoked paprika only needed half a teaspoon with a smoked paprika. So we'll just put that in. There we go. And two teaspoons of the onion powder is all we need. And then we're good to go. So that that is kind of it. Like really, this recipe is fast. It's easy. It's impressive, I think, you know, when you get when you're going to these kind of things like potlucks and backyard barbecues. Like I said that you can just say they're jalapeno poppers, you don't have to say that they're vegan or plant based or anything, just put them up on the table and people will eat them. And they're delicious. So I think that that's a good thing about this recipe with what I think is important when you're trying to stay on track is to have some things that are fun to eat in your repertoire. So when when you know we're heading out of summer, and then it will be you know won't be long before Thanksgiving. And those kinds of things come around and Christmas. And if we are having parties and seeing other people this is a great thing to bring along and and and impress everyone and also have something that you can eat so that you don't get off track because that's what happens when you go to these kinds of things. And if there's nothing for you to eat, you might kind of slipped and start eating some things that you don't want to eat and then it kind of it sometimes can trigger you to eat more of that stuff later on in the week. And even for us on the weekend, sometimes I'll make these on a Friday night just for because we feel like we want to watch a movie and we want something fun to eat. So I think it's a great recipe. I'm ready for the blender Maya be want to take over for a minute and mute me?

Maya Acosta  20:21

Sure Isn't she doing a great job I love you just like a natural at doing these demos, feel free to blend and I will pop my poppers into the toaster when you do yours as well. She's been given a lot of great tips. And I wanted to share where or what products I used. So she mentioned that her apple cider vinegar has the mother in it. Well, many of you probably have know of Braggs. I've been using this product for so many years, and just the basic garlic. So Michelle was talking about her her products, I'll tell you where I find some of mine. And then here's the panko that I use. And I do put them in different containers for storage. This is the miso that I use, and I pick it up anywhere almost, I think Sprouts, Whole Foods has it. And I also sometimes use the red one. So she said that you can use different ones as well. And here's the spice that I'm using in terms of paprika. Okay, so here's my panko. And I'm just going to top these. And I don't know, if you kind of push them down, I should probably watch to see how Michelle does it. 

Michelle Tree  21:29

Yeah I just kind of felt I mean, push them push them down a little bit to come down a little bit. 

Maya Acosta  21:36

And so one of the things that I love about this way of eating now that we we focus on being oil free is that you really don't need oil to even roast vegetables. So like this will brown nicely at the bottom and you see that the pan doesn't have any oil. Michelle is using a matte white silicone mat. Yeah, on hers. But that also prevents I guess burning as well on the show, I guess I don't know, I find that the silica I either use the silicone mat or I use parchment paper. And for me, it's mostly the pan clean. Yeah. And then it's just easier, easier to wash the map than it is to, you know, you know how the pan can get that burn on it. And it's difficult to get them clean. So I that's what I mostly use it for parchment paper is good. I wanted to say about the bread crumb. So what I also did was I made my own so I just toasted bread, my favorite bread is and this is what I would use for the sandwiches too. So this is my favorite bread that I buy all the time I keep it in the freezer. It's kind of pricey, but I'm I it's my favorite. I like all the clutter toast on it. I like challenges with it, it's got lots of seeds, it's lots of high fiber. And I already I just toasted two pieces of bread and put it in the food processor and blended it till I got the bread crumb mixture. So I'm going to use homemade bread crumbs instead of using the panco. But you can use the panco especially if you're feeding them to people at a potluck they might enjoy it's a little more crunch. You know, these this is obviously got you know, not as crunchy. So it whatever you whatever you want. And it's such a small amount, it's just a garnish. So not a big deal. When I first started out, one of the things that really helped me was having a list and a repertoire of comfort foods. So I learned how to make a sweet potato chocolate cake that I really enjoyed. So when I had those sweet cravings that I just couldn't get past I could make something and I didn't go completely off the diet I just made a cake at home with whole food ingredients. And then you know, they jalapeno poppers like a good mac and cheese recipe like that. All these these comfort foods, the things that we're used to eating, can when especially when you're starting out that can really help because if you're if you if you're just kind of doing rice and beans and salads and and things like that is great, you'll get great results. But you you may find it restrictive or are you and then and then you might go off the diet. So that's why I wanted to show these jalapeno poppers off today because it's a good thing to have in your repertoire to keep you on track and especially when we get into holiday gatherings and things like that. 

Maya Acosta  24:12

For individuals who may not know about your group. So here we are. I just added your Facebook group as facebook.com/plantbased.WPG Nice. Yeah. So yeah, this is fun. I went ahead and popped my poppers into my toaster oven because when I tested this recipe out yesterday I realized that might need a little more time. I don't know if it's the size of the pepper. Again, I don't know if it's actually because the toaster oven by yesterday I ran them for 15 minutes. So let's see how long how they do right now. And so I always find Michelle that with recipes. I always end up tweaking the recipe, but it's always to your liking. However you like something if you'd like more garlic like me Michelle said I too love garlic. I actually would not change anything of this recipe. I really enjoyed it. And like you mentioned, we can use this as a spread for sandwiches. Yes. Yes. 

Michelle Tree  25:12

Great spread for sandwiches. 

Maya Acosta  25:14

Yep. So the nutritional use. I'm a big fan of the chickpeas so I wouldn't change anything. I love this. Now, before I went on base I really wasn't a big fan of the poppers Not that I wasn't a fan. I just didn't did not eat them regularly. But the cheap cheese filled ones you mean? Yeah, in general, any kind of jalapeno popper. But anyway, what do you pair them with? is it just an appetizer before a dinner? I feel like you said it's kind of a summary kind of recipe. 

Michelle Tree  25:43

Yeah, I feel like To me, it feels like it feels like an appetizer. Or it's that kind of food that you meet like when there's a football game on and you want to make some those kinds of things. You know, like instead of, you know, cauliflower buffalo wings and jalapeno poppers, I would I would pair it with all that kind of stuff. To me. It's it's pot lucky. It's it's like a it's like a treat. It's like something that you know, you previously you're eating the chips and the chicken wings and those kinds of things. So to me, that's what that's what I use this stuff for is like, this is my recipe for like a fun event. And something kind of like more party food, show us your peppers, I see that we're holding them up. Yes, beautiful. I don't have it. I didn't care about the mess so much. So you're talking about You're right. If you had done, if you had done the crumbs on a separate plate and then added them to your pan, then you wouldn't have the extra crumbs around. And they might get a little crispy on the pan, but they don't really burn. So I'm not really worried about it. And I just kind of shipped the paprika all over it too. So it's fine. I'm a little more bassy It's okay. 

Maya Acosta  26:49

Yeah, that's okay. 

Michelle Tree  26:50

I also encourage people to go to the plant here, communities website and take note of all the communities around the world. And if you're traveling, and you happen to be down in Dallas, then you might want to message Maya and she might have some recommendations for you know, maybe they have a meetup at the time. I'm probably not now but you know, in the future, if they're sure as pod leaders should visit each other. 

Maya Acosta  27:14

I think so too. I think that's a great idea. And I just took my poppers out and nice, you know, sharing with you guys. So I might do a little post today on Instagram talking about how we did this together. Alison made another comment. She said, Michelle, do you have any suggestions for changing up the pop or filling for a variety? 

Michelle Tree  27:36

Yeah, I think you could flavor it differently. Like I said earlier, I don't know if you caught me. You don't have to use chickpeas, you could use any kind of a white bean, I would think. But if you wanted to give it some different flavor, like I said, the leftover mixture, I add dill to it, and I and I make that with sandwiches. So really different spices depending on what you're you know what your flavor what kind of things you're into. And this I was like I mentioned, we go to Jamaica and my husband loves jerk seasoning. So you know, I could probably do cheesy jerk poppers or something for him. And he'd really be into that. So I think you could, I think you could mix up the spice if I wanted to do something like crumbles, but not really meat. Maybe like lentils or Yeah, or cauliflower or walnuts like well, you can do a walnut mixture like won't crumble up walnuts and cauliflower together that makes really good beef kind of filling. And you can add like you know, a beef mixture to it. If you wanted to get that flavor and have it really savory, that could totally work. 

Maya Acosta  28:37

So I don't want to turn this around. But you can see that it's nicely roasted on the other side of the skin cooked. And I like that. And so I'm going to take a bite. Oh, I love your plate. 

Michelle Tree  28:50

I know. These are this one of my mom's place. She likes different kind of neat place. So this is what I got for her. But this is it looks they look kind of cool on here. So it's my finished result. I'm going to take a bite as well. I think that that'll be very good. They're a little hot. Very good. You'r using a fork, I just used my hands. very informal. 

Maya Acosta  29:09

Oh my spicy. 

Michelle Tree  29:12

Yeah, well, it depends on the jalapeno, right? Because how it can be mild and it can be spicy or depending on how they're grown the soil that they're in how how long they've been on the plant, like conditions can make the plant that it varies and spiciness. Like I said when I I did them for a potluck, not thinking that anyone would find them hot but people did. 

Maya Acosta  29:34

Is there anything else we want to share before we say goodbye? 

Michelle Tree  29:37

I want to plug your podcast. Okay. He's on here from Winnipeg, and you aren't familiar with  Maya's podcast is excellent. And she you know her husband, Dr. Rizwan has you know, he has lectures on there that are very interesting. He's a whole food plant based doctor but Maya is an excellent interviewer and has some really interesting guests on there. So please go to her Plant Based DFW channel on YouTube and subscribe.

Maya Acosta  30:01

I'm going to share your interview soon coming up the conversation that we had, and we did a video as well, where you include photographs of the group and other activities that you've done. So I'm looking forward to share as part of the whole series of interviewing the PAC members. Thank you so much for watching. Michelle, you are awesome. Well, friends, I hope that you enjoy this episode. What do you think about this new approach of providing recipes via the audio podcast? Go to podinbox.com/Plant Based DFW Podcast? Tell us what you think about Michelle and her recipe. Let us know what you think. You can make suggestions about other recipes that we can make and also what are some things that we can improve on in terms of providing recipes by audio and again, if you leave a comment, you have the opportunity to be featured in a future podcast. Have a good one. Thanks for listening.