#93: SNACKABLES with Rip and Jess - Summer Snacks & PlantStrong Treats

 

Welcome to Episode Two of our new PLANTSTRONG Snackables podcast series, a bite-sized podcast where host, Rip Esselstyn, and co-host, Jess Hegarty, dish on all things plants! Plus, they give you the scoop on all of the upcoming PlantStrong food items.

Jessica leads product innovation for the PlantStrong foodline and, together with Rip, will provide a peek behind the curtain on market research, ingredients, and inspiration behind the new PlantStrong foods headed your way. Plus, you'll always walk away with a recipe or two to share with your friends and family.

Tasty Bites from Today's Episode:

00:15 Welcome from Rip and Jess

00:34-02:45 Jess got married at Casa de Luz in Austin

02:49-08:45 Eleven Madison Park in NY goes 100% plant-based! Rip reads the letter from Chef Daniel.

08:50-09:40 Incogmeato commercial in the Olympic Trials

09:50-16:30 Summer Yum! Rip and Jess share their summer activities and fueling favorite fruits! Their favorites include: peaches, plums, dark cherries, and strawberries. Plus, you get a little VIP taste of not-so-common favorites: sugarcube melons and champagne mangoes

16:35-18:25 Campfires and S’mores - How should you toast your marshmallows?

18:27-39:40 All things POPCORN, including creative ways to pop up the popcorn flavor! Popcorn is a plantstrong treat that can be enjoyed instead of those unhealthy chips. Inspired by this article at TheKitchn.com

Jess and Rip’s Popcorn Recipes

Salt and Vinegar Popcorn
1 part vinegar - can be red wine vinegar, apple cider vinegar, white vinegar, or Ume plum vinegar
1 part salt - can be soy sauce, tamari, Bragg’s Liquid Aminos
Mix together in a spray bottle and mist your popcorn to taste

Dill Pickle Popcorn
With the mixture from above, you can add dill seasoning on top of the “salt and vinegar” flavor.

Doritos-Flavored Popcorn
1 part each of garlic salt, onion salt, cumin, paprika, chili powder, and salt
1/8 teaspoon of cayenne or more to taste
1/4 cup of nutritional yeast
Mix with 8 cups of plain popcorn

Cheddar and Onion Popcorn
2 parts tamari, soy sauce, or Ume plum vinegar and 1 part lemon juice in spray bottle - mist on the popcorn
sprinkle nutritional yeast for cheese flavor
Add dashes of onion powder, smoked paprika, and/or garlic powder to taste

Caramel Popcorn - with fiber-filled dates
Blend 7 dates in a highspeed blender mixed with water and add that mixture to your spray bottle
Mist over the popcorn
Add your favorite spice such as cinnamon or cocoa powder to enhance the taste

Additional Episode Resources

For all PLANTSTRONG Resources, visit plantstrongpodcast.com 

Shop PlantStrong Foods Now 

Casa de Luz 

Eleven Madison Park - Letter from Chef Daniel Humm

The Kitchn.com article on Popcorn Recipes


Full Transcript

Rip Esselstyn:

Okay. Hello, everyone. I'm Rip Esselstyn. This is...

Jessica Hegarty:

Jessica Hegarty. Now it's changed since the last time.

Rip Esselstyn:

Okay. We're going to have to talk about that.

Jessica Hegarty:

Okay.

Rip Esselstyn:

Welcome to another episode of PlantStrong Snackables where we dish on all things food, the bite-sized podcast. Let's just dive in. Last episode, Jess, you were getting ready to get married.

Jessica Hegarty:

I was. Yeah.

Rip Esselstyn:

Your last name has changed. You've obviously taken on this wonderful gentleman's last name.

Jessica Hegarty:

Yes. He is wonderful.

Rip Esselstyn:

Can you tell us what is your full name now?

Jessica Hegarty:

It's not officially changed, but it's going to be Jessica Pastore-Hegarty. I'm scrapping my two middle names and keeping both my last names.

Rip Esselstyn:

I like it. Where exactly did you get married?

Jessica Hegarty:

Yes. Here in Austin, Texas, there is a very special restaurant, but it's really more of a community space. It's a sanctuary. It's a oil-free vegan restaurant. They only serve one meal a day. You either take it or leave it. It's a place called Casa de Luz.

Rip Esselstyn:

It's, well, one meal for dinner. They also have lunch and they also have breakfast. I've been going there since 1991. It is fantastic; highly recommend it. If anyone of you happen to come to Austin, Texas, Casa de Luz stands for house of light. What did you do for a meal after your wedding?

Jessica Hegarty:

During the ceremony?

Rip Esselstyn:

Yeah.

Jessica Hegarty:

At the ceremony? Every guest there got to enjoy... We did a soup that was a Japanese sweet potato soup with a little bit of ginger. We asked them for the Sunday meal to do their vegan tacos, which have green beans and mushrooms, and avocado with black beans, steamed kale. I was excitedly telling a lot of my relatives about the meal that they were going to have. My mom, I kid you not, actually asked, "Okay. I'm going to pick up some chick filet on the way over and bring that there." It's like, "No, mom! You can't do that. You got to try it." She actually really enjoyed it.

Rip Esselstyn:

Sacrilege.

Jessica Hegarty:

Yeah. I know.

Rip Esselstyn:

Well, I was there. I got to enjoy the meal, and it was outstanding.

Jessica Hegarty:

Yeah.

Rip Esselstyn:

We so appreciate when we can go out and eat healthy PlantStrong foods, and not have to think about it, which brings me to the next topic I'd love to talk about with you-

Jessica Hegarty:

Sure.

Rip Esselstyn:

... which is, I'm sure you've heard about it, but Eleven Madison Park-

Jessica Hegarty:

Oh, yeah.

Rip Esselstyn:

... one of the most prestigious well-known upscale restaurants really in the world, has decided to go all plant-based. This is big news that a restaurant like Eleven Madison Park can be this bold, this creative, this innovative. I actually was so inspired by Chef Daniel and his decision to do this that I actually want to share with you some of his letter. This is a letter that he wrote to his community. He talks about how the pandemic has basically brought his industry to their knees. He had to do everything possible just to keep the lights on, to keep a couple employees. One of the things he decided to do was to collaborate with this non-profit organization called Rethink Food. In doing so, they started preparing close to a million meals for New Yorkers that were experiencing food insecurity. I can't imagine how many there were during this crisis. He said it basically just changed him to his soul and what was important, and what wasn't important. He wants to take some of these learnings and apply them going forward.

Rip Esselstyn:

They officially opened on June 10th, 2021. He says, and I'm going to quote, "When we reopened Eleven Madison Park on June 10th, every dinner you purchase will allow us to provide five meals to food-insecure New Yorkers. This food is being delivered by Eleven Madison trucks, which is operated by our staff in partnership with Rethink Food." He says, "We've created a circular ecosystem where our guests, our team and our suppliers all participate." That is so cool.

Jessica Hegarty:

That's an incredible story. It seems like people are really responding to that. I read that their wait list is 15,000-people long. If you're interested, good luck getting into that place. I don't know when people will be able to actually go there. You better get on the wait list now. Are you going to New York anytime soon?

Rip Esselstyn:

I am.

Jessica Hegarty:

Yeah?

Rip Esselstyn:

I am in the summertime. I'll see if I can pull some strings.

Jessica Hegarty:

Yeah. Good luck. Good luck. That would be exciting.

Rip Esselstyn:

I'll see if I can pull some kale. What he also says here is that, "We have always operated with sensitivity to the impact we have on our surroundings, but it was becoming ever clearer that the current food system is simply not sustainable in so many ways." Then he goes on to say, "It was clear that after everything we all experienced this past year, we couldn't open the same restaurant. With all this in mind, he, Chef Daniel, is excited to share that we've made the decision to serve a plant-based menu in which we do not use any animal products. Every dish is made from vegetables, both from the earth and the sea, as well as fruits, legumes, fungi, grains, and so much more." Then, "This decision was inspired by the challenge to get to know our ingredients more deeply and to push ourselves creatively. It wasn't clear from the onset where we would end up. We promised ourselves that we would only change direction if the experience would be as memorable as before." It reminds me of all the things that we're doing with PlantStrong Foods.

Jessica Hegarty:

Yeah. Absolutely. Thank you, Chef Daniel. I just think about the exposure and the awareness that they're creating in the area. Sea vegetables. I would love to try a Michelin-star restaurant's version of a sea vegetable dish. That sounds amazing.

Rip Esselstyn:

Yeah. Let me just finish here-

Jessica Hegarty:

Sure.

Rip Esselstyn:

... because I've just got a couple more things I want to say here. He says, "We asked ourselves: What are the most delicious aspects of our dishes and how could we achieve the same level of flavor and texture without the meat? What at first felt limiting began to feel freeing, and we are only scratching the surface." It is so true. When you think about it, 99% of the food on planet Earth comes from plants, and 1% comes from animals and animal byproducts. We're so honed in on this 1% as a culture and a society that we just can't take off our blinders. What I love is that Chef Daniel has the bravery and the courage to take off the blinders. Now he's realizing what we have known for a long time is that this is a very vast and abundant world that's out there.

Rip Esselstyn:

He says, "All this has given us the confidence to reinvent what fine dining can be. It makes us believe that this is a risk worth taking." Then, I'll just finish with this: "It is time to redefine luxury as an experience that serves a higher purpose and maintains a genuine connection to the community. A restaurant experience is about more than what's on the plate. We are thrilled to share the incredible possibilities of plant-based cuisine while deepening our connection to our homes, both our city and our planet. I believe that the most exciting time in restaurants is yet to come. With love and gratitude, Chef Daniel." I am so inspired by Chef Daniel and what he's doing at Eleven Madison Park that we will be putting this whole letter of his in the show notes.

Jessica Hegarty:

Oh, wonderful. Wonderful. If you're out there, thank you, Chef Daniel. That is truly inspiring. Thanks for sharing that, Rip.

Rip Esselstyn:

Yeah. Another thing that's inspiring me right now and my whole family, and you've heard me talk about it with some of the other members of the team, we have the Olympic trials going on right now in swimming, track and field. It's going to be starting soon, the Paralympics. I love this time of the year, every four years. The swimming is going on right now. I see these commercials. This is on NBC, mind you. On NBC, I saw a commercial for Incogmeato, right? It's another plant-based meat that's out there, that's trying to break in to this industry.

Jessica Hegarty:

That's a great name. First impressions, great name. I love that. Yes.

Rip Esselstyn:

It's very, very creative of them.

Jessica Hegarty:

Very creative. Yeah. I wonder who's the parent company behind that. I wonder. I don't know. We'll have to look that up. I wonder if it's like Hormel or Tyson, or somebody branching into plant-based foods because that could be really exciting if it's one of those major industry players.

Rip Esselstyn:

Yeah.

Jessica Hegarty:

We'll have to look that up.

Rip Esselstyn:

Yeah. Yeah. We are in the midst of summer right now, aren't we?

Jessica Hegarty:

We are. Oh, my gosh! It's 100 degrees outside; it's so warm.

Rip Esselstyn:

What I'd love to talk about right now, you and I are both pretty active. What are you doing these days to be active? I know that you've got a little bun in the oven.

Jessica Hegarty:

I do. I've got an oil-free, plant-based, whole-food, date-sweetened bun in the oven. That's right. I've been taking it a little bit easier, but what I love to do is dance. I've been doing a lot of Zumba classes where I'm modifying, not doing jumping jacks, but dance is such a huge part of my life. I've been keeping up with that. You, of course, have been doing...

Rip Esselstyn:

Swimming?

Jessica Hegarty:

Yup. No surprise.

Rip Esselstyn:

Yeah. A lot of swimming, mountain biking. Yeah. That's about it. But so what are you doing? I'm sure that your cravings, your appetite has increased. What are you doing to fuel yourself besides breakfast, lunch, and dinner?

Jessica Hegarty:

Well, I would say fruit is definitely something that I'm always interested in. Being summertime, I've been really into the stone fruits. It's stone fruit season, right? Nectarines. I've been doing a lot of black plums, and then cherries, of course. Not just the dark cherries, but the Rainier cherries. Have you tried those?

Rip Esselstyn:

Oh. I love them.

Jessica Hegarty:

They're incredible.

Rip Esselstyn:

Yeah.

Jessica Hegarty:

They're incredible. Don't do the calculation. I think a bag of cherries is 10 bucks. I'm afraid to count how many are actually in there because I think they're 35 cents each. Let me talk about luxury. When you enjoy them, don't do the math. Don't do the math.

Rip Esselstyn:

I wonder if Chef Daniel has a Rainier cherry dish on his menu.

Jessica Hegarty:

Ooh. Ooh. He should. I bet he does. I bet he does. This time of year, I bet he does.

Rip Esselstyn:

Yeah. No. I agree. When I think of summer and fruit, I think of peaches. I think of nectarines. I think of plums, definitely cherries right there. Go ahead.

Jessica Hegarty:

I was going to say, have you heard... We've also been doing a lot of melons like watermelon, Honeydew, of course. Then, literally this week I learned of something called the Sugar Cube melon. It's the most delicious cantaloupe you've ever tasted your entire life times five. It tastes to me like a tropical Skittle. I don't know if you ever ate those in your entire life. But for those of you who have tried tropical Skittles, that's what this melon tastes like. It's amazing. If you find one, buy it.

Rip Esselstyn:

Do you have one to show us what it looks like?

Jessica Hegarty:

I'm so sorry. No. They don't last long in our house, but it looks like a cantaloupe. It looks like a cantaloupe; that's what it's like.

Rip Esselstyn:

The thing about Skittles is I've tried Skittles, growing up and stuff. I always felt like I was getting cavities when I was eating them. I don't like candy that sticks to my teeth. I've never liked hard candies or soft candies like that. Never been a fan of the Skittles, but I'll try this melon.

Jessica Hegarty:

Okay. You should. Yeah. Be on the lookout. Go home with them.

Rip Esselstyn:

Yeah. Then, one of the things that we've been gabbling up this summer are the... I think these are called Champagne mangoes, right?

Jessica Hegarty:

Ooh. Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Rip Esselstyn:

I find these just are consistently... They don't have brown spots. You can press them to know when they're just about the perfect ripeness to eat. I had these guys over. They stayed with me for two days recently, Robby Barbaro and Cyrus Khambatta. I'm sorry. I'm butchering his last name. These guys, they are the Mastering Diabetes gurus. They're also type I diabetics. They're also practically fruitarians. We had a bunch of these in the house. I was able to show them a way to eat these that they were like, "Wow! We're never going to eat these kind of mangoes any other way." I'm going to share this with you, Jess, right now.

Jessica Hegarty:

Great.

Rip Esselstyn:

Then, all of you. We're just going to cut along that seed. Right? Two of these slices like so, and then I want you to take that. We're going to get our hands a little dirty, and that's why I've given you a little... Okay.

Jessica Hegarty:

Thank you.

Rip Esselstyn:

Okay. Now what we do is we put our thumbs up near the top and just get it started. Then, you literally just peel it back.

Jessica Hegarty:

Oh, nice! Yeah.

Rip Esselstyn:

Okay?

Jessica Hegarty:

That's coming right off.

Rip Esselstyn:

See that right there?

Jessica Hegarty:

Yeah.

Rip Esselstyn:

Then, peel it back.

Jessica Hegarty:

Nice. Okay.

Rip Esselstyn:

Now, you got-

Jessica Hegarty:

Oh, wow! Awesome.

Rip Esselstyn:

Yup. Yup. Yeah. You're not quite as nuanced with this as I am.

Jessica Hegarty:

Yeah. It takes a finesse. There's a finesse.

Rip Esselstyn:

It does, but what I love about-

Jessica Hegarty:

Here we go.

Rip Esselstyn:

... this is now you eat it. So substantial. It's not like when you cube it the way Martha Stewart does. When I'm eating fruit, I don't mind getting messy. I don't mind my hands getting dirty. I don't mind it dribbling down my chin.

Jessica Hegarty:

It's like a mango popsicle almost. I'd put it in the fridge and have it cold.

Rip Esselstyn:

That's a great idea. I didn't realize how hungry I was.

Jessica Hegarty:

Yeah! This is great right now. Thank you, Rip.

Rip Esselstyn:

I also didn't realize you can really polish that off.

Jessica Hegarty:

No. No. I beat him.

Rip Esselstyn:

You're pretty good.

Jessica Hegarty:

I finished it. I finished it first.

Rip Esselstyn:

All right.

Jessica Hegarty:

Delicious.

Rip Esselstyn:

That's one of my favorite things right now. Also, you mentioned cherries. I love getting frozen cherries and putting the dark cherries, and then putting those in my cereal or my oatmeal.

Jessica Hegarty:

You put them in your cereal? With those frozen dark cherries, I actually... If I don't have ice cubes, I'll use it to cool some sparkling water. Maybe put a splash of juice like a splash of 100% pomegranate juice. Have a nice little spritzer with those black cherries, and then you get to eat them at the end.

Rip Esselstyn:

That's nice.

Jessica Hegarty:

Right? Those are so good. Thanks for reminding me.

Rip Esselstyn:

I'm glad you reminded me of that. Now that it's summertime and it's hot out, we want something that's very refreshing, there's nothing to me as refreshing as putting in strawberry slices or maybe a peach, or something. As you're drinking your ice-cubed cold water, you can also then bite into a little piece of strawberry or cherry, or something like that.

Jessica Hegarty:

Yes. Yum! That sounds so good right now.

Rip Esselstyn:

Yeah. Yeah. Summer yum.

Jessica Hegarty:

Summer yum. Love it.

Rip Esselstyn:

Summer yummy. Okay. Let's also talk about when I think of summer, especially growing up in Cleveland, Ohio, I also think of campfires, right? Going to camp and s'mores. Just so you know-

Jessica Hegarty:

Oh, geez.

Rip Esselstyn:

... I love s'mores so much that the first words out of my mouth as a little human being were more s'more.

Jessica Hegarty:

No way! True story?

Rip Esselstyn:

True story.

Jessica Hegarty:

Wow!

Rip Esselstyn:

True story. Yeah. Yeah.

Jessica Hegarty:

Cute.

Rip Esselstyn:

You should call my mom or dad now.

Jessica Hegarty:

That is so cute.

Rip Esselstyn:

More s'more. Obviously, we don't do the non-vegan s'mores anymore, but my kids love the s'more. As a treat, we do the vegan marshmallows. We'll do the dark chocolate. We'll do the vegan clean, as clean as possible, Graham crackers. To me it's so important that I get that marshmallow perfectly brown, bronzed because I don't want to burn it. Then, you get these acrylamides that aren't just... You read about the acrylamides and how those can be carcinogenic. I see my kids and then when we have neighborhood kids over, they just burn them, right? They're black.

Jessica Hegarty:

Oh, no.

Rip Esselstyn:

Then, they're just downing them. I'm like, "No! Don't do that."

Jessica Hegarty:

Yeah. That's a great point. I try to be cognizant of how much charred food I'm eating, even if it's vegetables, right? You don't want to get those carcinogens into your body. That's a great point. I think I've eaten a lot of burnt marshmallows in my days, though. I'm not as good at it as you are. Leave it to a former professional firefighter to have a really good technique.

Rip Esselstyn:

There are certain things that I'm extremely patient with. One of them is creating and building my Rip's Big Bowl in the morning, and the other is making perfectly bronzed marshmallows.

Jessica Hegarty:

Rip's a pro. You heard it here. That's awesome.

Rip Esselstyn:

Yeah. Yeah. Should we talk about another snack that we love, which is popcorn?

Jessica Hegarty:

Yes. I would absolutely love to. Last week on the podcast, we talked about our granolas, which launched this week and seemed to be very exciting. We also launched our PlantStrong popcorn. The beauty of these popcorns is actually in what they don't have, right? They're free from oil. They're free from salt. The beauty here is that they're a perfect canvas. We want to encourage the community. There are some people who just put a little salt, a little bit of nutritional yeast. But what we want to talk about today are some really creative ways to use this blank canvas and encourage our community to embrace their inner Picasso or maybe Jackson Pollock is a better example, and come up with some really creative ways to doctor up this popcorn.

Rip Esselstyn:

Well, I'm all ears.

Jessica Hegarty:

Okay.

Rip Esselstyn:

My mouth is starting to water.

Jessica Hegarty:

Yeah. I have a whole bag of tricks over here that I'd love to get into. But first, let me start by asking you: How do you guys do popcorn in the Esselstyn household? What does your family like to do?

Rip Esselstyn:

Obviously, we throw it in the microwave. Then, we will either do nutritional yeast or we'll do a spritz of low sodium tamari. Those are pretty much the two most popular methods we have right now. We need more ideas.

Jessica Hegarty:

Okay. Great.

Rip Esselstyn:

You got something for me?

Jessica Hegarty:

Yes. Yes. Hopefully this will inspire you. You guys have never done like a movie night trail mix where you're adding in nuts and dried fruit? No?

Rip Esselstyn:

No. No. Never even thought about it until just this second.

Jessica Hegarty:

Okay. What about popcorn on a salad? No?

Rip Esselstyn:

No.

Jessica Hegarty:

It's the thing. There's our whole grains, right? It gives it that little bit of crunch. I can appreciate that. Well, Rip, last night I found an article on thekitchen.com with some really creative uses for popcorn. I've listed five unconventional options here. I want you to tell me which ones you'd be willing to try and which ones are a bit of a stretch. Okay? Yes, I'd be willing to try it, or no, that's too much of a stretch.

Rip Esselstyn:

First, let me say I'll try anything, right? But I'll let you know I don't want to try it. It doesn't sound that great, but I will try it.

Jessica Hegarty:

Okay. All right. Sounds like a plan. All right. Number 1: popcorn granola bars. These are granola bars made with popcorn, oats, almonds, raisins, dates are up and sea salt.

Rip Esselstyn:

I'm in.

Jessica Hegarty:

Sounds good, right? I want to try that. I want to try that. The recipe's online, just FYI. Okay. Popcorn as croutons in soup. In this version, they did a cashew cauliflower soup with herbed popcorn topping. How does that sound?

Rip Esselstyn:

I'm in.

Jessica Hegarty:

Great. Me, too. All of these sound delicious so far. Okay. Number 3: popcorn cookies. You've heard of cornflake cookies where you get a little extra crunch by adding in the cereal. Same concept. What do you think?

Rip Esselstyn:

I'm in.

Jessica Hegarty:

I know. I really want to try those, too. Do we have a good PlantStrong recipe for cookies? I need to look that up-

Rip Esselstyn:

Oh, yeah. No.

Jessica Hegarty:

... and see if we can incorporate popcorn.

Rip Esselstyn:

I'd say off the top of my head, we got about five.

Jessica Hegarty:

Okay. I'm going to try that. I'm going to try that this weekend. I'll let you know how it goes. Okay. Number 4: oatmeal topper.

Rip Esselstyn:

Oatmeal topper?

Jessica Hegarty:

Yup. Yup.

Rip Esselstyn:

I'll tell you right now. I'm not super excited about it because there's so many other things I love doing on top of my oatmeal, but I'll give it a try.

Jessica Hegarty:

Okay. I'm with you on that one. I agree there. All right. Here's where things get a little bit weird. Last one. Number 5: popcorn salad. This is like a cold picnic salad. The example that I found, they used edamame. They used some diced red pepper. They used thin-sliced scallions, roasted peanuts, and then it's tossed in a light sauce. How does that sound?

Rip Esselstyn:

I will say I am in.

Jessica Hegarty:

Yeah?

Rip Esselstyn:

Much more in than out on that one.

Jessica Hegarty:

Okay. Great. Great. All right. Well, I thought those were all really creative. What I really want to talk about today are some creative ways that we actually doctor up the popcorn. I've never actually done a popcorn salad; I think that's a little bit too weird. But there's a tip that I want to give anybody who's buying these popcorns online. Needs to come home with one of these things right here. It's a spray bottle.

Rip Esselstyn:

Yeah.

Jessica Hegarty:

I got this one; it's blue glass. You can hear me tapping on it. I got this from the Aromatherapy Department at Whole Foods. We've been using it for hand sanitizer for the past year. I hope I grabbed the right one for demo purposes. But what I like about using a spray bottle is you can customize your seasoning. It gives it a really nice, even-

Rip Esselstyn:

Even.

Jessica Hegarty:

... coating, right? A thin amount goes a long way. If you're using a soy sauce or something with higher levels of sodium, it gives this nice, dispersed mist. Then, also makes it a little bit wet so that it picks up any of the seasoning that you add onto it later. Please folks, invest in one of these spray bottles. Get yourself a good one and you can really do something with these.

Rip Esselstyn:

I feel like I've got a bunch of Bragg Liquid Aminos in spray bottles. You can just reuse that, can't you?

Jessica Hegarty:

Perfect. Yeah. Totally repurpose that. I think it's hard to find those Bragg's with the spray bottles. If you find them, stock up because that's a great find.

Rip Esselstyn:

Yeah. This looks like something that came from an apothecary.

Jessica Hegarty:

Yup. Yup. Yup. I think that's what they were going for. I think that's what they were going for. What I'd like to share with everyone today is... Yes, as we talked about, I am expecting. When I say I've been craving chips, it's an understatement. These are crazy, I'm-climbing-the-walls craving some potato chips. I kid you not. I actually woke up, after having a dream that I was eating potato chips, grinding my teeth. I was dreaming that I was having these potato chips. Of course, I don't want to put a bunch of fried, oily stuff into my body. I want to nourish my body. I have been on the lookout-

Rip Esselstyn:

And your baby.

Jessica Hegarty:

And my baby. That's right. I don't want her to have all that oil either. I've been looking for chip alternatives. Some copycat recipes that still give that crunch for anybody who's craving chips, but is made with whole grain popcorn, right? Three cups of popcorn count as a day's serving of-

Rip Esselstyn:

Whole grains. Yeah.

Jessica Hegarty:

... whole grains, right? We want to get that extra fiber. We want to get those whole grains. The first one I'm going to talk about my favorite chip growing up was Lay's salt and vinegar chips. What I've got here today in my spray bottle is one part vinegar, one part salt. In this bottle is apple cider vinegar. You could, of course, use white vinegar; that's typically what's used in the Lay's flavoring. You could use rice vinegar. You could use red wine vinegar. Any combination of vinegars that you'd like. Then for the salt, you could use soy sauce. You could use tamari, which is the gluten-free option. In this bottle, do you know what I'm using? Do you know what my favorite salt alternative is? Have you heard me talk about it? No?

Rip Esselstyn:

No.

Jessica Hegarty:

It's Ume Plum Vinegar.

Rip Esselstyn:

That's what I was going to guess.

Jessica Hegarty:

Oh. Oh. Good. Good.

Rip Esselstyn:

Only because I saw the bottle over there.

Jessica Hegarty:

Oh. I learned about this from Casa de Luz, that amazing restaurant. They use Ume Plum Vinegar in all of their salad dressings; it's actually what gives it the sodium. Since learning their tricks, I've incorporated it. Everything in my house is salted with Ume Plum Vinegar. It's not sour; so don't think vinegar. It's called that, but it's like a mild tamari that has an umami flavor to it. It's incredible. Use it for stir fries. Use it for soups. Use it for sauces.

Rip Esselstyn:

Do you have any idea how many milligrams of sodium there are per tablespoon?

Jessica Hegarty:

Let's check. Let's check. One teaspoon has 420 milligrams of sodium; so it's the same as your soy sauces.

Rip Esselstyn:

Yup.

Jessica Hegarty:

It's the same, but a little bit goes a long way in terms of flavor.

Rip Esselstyn:

That's what I love about the spray bottle.

Jessica Hegarty:

Exactly.

Rip Esselstyn:

Right?

Jessica Hegarty:

Exactly.

Rip Esselstyn:

Yup.

Jessica Hegarty:

So...

Rip Esselstyn:

Are we going to try this?

Jessica Hegarty:

Let's try it. Yeah. I want to hear what you think. I'm going to turn away from the microphone; so I don't get any mist there. I'm just going to spray it. All right. We'll give that a shot. I don't know how you feel about...

Rip Esselstyn:

It's got a nice-

Jessica Hegarty:

It's pink.

Rip Esselstyn:

... little pink rosy hue to it.

Jessica Hegarty:

Oh, yeah! That's right. No. I forgot. You can't see it here in the bottle, but Ume Plum Vinegar is this beautiful pinkish purple color.

Rip Esselstyn:

Am I supposed to wait? Or do we just-

Jessica Hegarty:

No. Go for it. Yeah. Let's try it.

Rip Esselstyn:

My gosh.

Jessica Hegarty:

I know. That's my favorite.

Rip Esselstyn:

That so jazz this up, this naked popcorn.

Jessica Hegarty:

Yeah. The apple cider vinegar, I love it. One to one ratio. It's not too salty. It's not too vinegary.

Rip Esselstyn:

It's okay. It's only on the floor for five seconds.

Jessica Hegarty:

Oh, geez. I also brought some dried dill. I don't know if you're interested in a dill pickle popcorn, but...

Rip Esselstyn:

I'll try it.

Jessica Hegarty:

Yeah.

Rip Esselstyn:

I'm in.

Jessica Hegarty:

Great. Great. I want to add herbs and spices to anything that I can. Dill pickle popcorn sounds good to me these days.

Rip Esselstyn:

Oh, yeah.

Jessica Hegarty:

What do you think?

Rip Esselstyn:

Yeah. That was just a nice, another layer of flavor that's in there now.

Jessica Hegarty:

Let's pause the podcast because I just want to just snack on this for a second.

Rip Esselstyn:

Okay.

Jessica Hegarty:

I'm just kidding. All right. Next chip alternative. Hopefully those of us that-

Rip Esselstyn:

Should I move this out of the way?

Jessica Hegarty:

Yeah. You might want to. I'm going to keep eating it if we don't move it.

Rip Esselstyn:

Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay.

Jessica Hegarty:

Hopefully our listeners have abandoned Doritos long ago. Have you ever tried Doritos, Rip? You've tried them, right?

Rip Esselstyn:

I never liked Doritos.

Jessica Hegarty:

Really?

Rip Esselstyn:

Mm-mm (negative).

Jessica Hegarty:

No?

Rip Esselstyn:

No. I think it's because there was a time I ate a whole bag of Doritos. I got sick. Ever since then, I've never liked them.

Jessica Hegarty:

It's probably your body trying to tell you something.

Rip Esselstyn:

Yeah.

Jessica Hegarty:

I don't know if it's still the case. But I know that for a long time, Doritos was adding Flex to make their chips look more appetizing. Red and green coloring that served no purpose, did not contribute to flavor, but just served to give the look and appearance of spices. I think they've since replaced it, but nobody wants to be putting that in their body, right? For those of you who have moved on from Doritos, but still feel that nostalgic tug, I've got a great popcorn recipe that mimics the Doritos flavor. It uses nutritional yeast, garlic, onion, cumin, paprika, chili powder, cayenne pepper, and salt. Of course, we will post all of these in the show notes, so people can look it up.

Rip Esselstyn:

Do we get to try that right now?

Jessica Hegarty:

No. I didn't make it up. I'm so sorry.

Rip Esselstyn:

Oh.

Jessica Hegarty:

It sounds so good, right? We didn't have any chili powder.

Rip Esselstyn:

I want to revisit my old Dorito cravings that were stymied for 30 years.

Jessica Hegarty:

Yeah. Yeah. Bring that back on to the menu. One thing that I wanted to say about Doritos, I think the Doritos Locos Taco is one of the most ingenious marketing things of all time. Right?

Rip Esselstyn:

Why? What do you find ingenious about it?

Jessica Hegarty:

For those of you who don't know what it is, Doritos top partnered with Taco Bell to create a taco that was made out of a Dorito; so the shell of the taco is just one giant Dorito. Isn't that a great idea? It's genius! They sold more than a million a day when they launched. This thing was just on fire. We got to appreciate that as much as we might not like Doritos. Got to appreciate the creativity there. Maybe what would PLANTSTRONG's version of a Doritos?

Rip Esselstyn:

Should we do a Dorito-flavored granola?

Jessica Hegarty:

Oh, my gosh! That'll be our April Fool's. That'll be our April Fool's prank.

Rip Esselstyn:

I know. On the team. We'll say we have got the best idea for another granola skew.

Jessica Hegarty:

I don't know if it's the pregnancy, but that actually sounds good right now. All right. The last copycat chip flavor that I'd like to talk about: I'd love to do a cheddar and onion popcorn. Doesn't that sound great? Of course, we're not going to be using cheddar. We would use...

Rip Esselstyn:

Nutritional yeast?

Jessica Hegarty:

That's right! One of the things about nutritional yeast that's important, and I'm sure many people know this, is the most... Let's see. The Bragg's version, which is the most popular brand, is actually fortified with B12. Of course, if you're eating a plant-based diet, you want to make sure that you're getting B12 supplements. This is a great way to do it. Just put it on some popcorn, right?

Rip Esselstyn:

For those that are interested, one serving size is one tablespoon.

Jessica Hegarty:

Mm-hmm (affirmative). Yup.

Rip Esselstyn:

That tablespoon gives you 11 micrograms of B12.

Jessica Hegarty:

Great. I would also let folks know that if you're buying your nutritional yeast in bulk from the bulk section where you scoop it, make sure that it's fortified with B12. Actually, a lot of the ones that are sold in bulk sections are not; so just be sure to check.

Rip Esselstyn:

Yeah. Yeah. Our daily requirement for people that want to know, it's very low. It's 2 to 3 micrograms per day.

Jessica Hegarty:

Great.

Rip Esselstyn:

Yeah.

Jessica Hegarty:

Wonderful. For this cheddar and onion popcorn, you're going to fill your spray bottle with two parts Ume or tamari, or soy sauce, one part lemon juice to give that sour flavor that we're looking for. Then, you're going to spritz the popcorn and add a sprinkle of onion powder. You could, of course, use garlic powder as well. Maybe some paprika to give it some color. If you want to go for a smoked cheddar and onion, you could use smoked paprika. I think that would be a really great combination. Again, we're going to be posting these recipes, but I really want the community to feel empowered to create their own masterpiece, have the confidence to explore. The possibilities are endless. You could do wasabi. You could do kelp granules. You could do curry powder. It's hard to think of something that wouldn't work for the popcorn. Any ideas, Rip?

Rip Esselstyn:

Not off of the top of my head. I just want to say that it's a testament. Also to what Chef Daniel said with Eleven Madison Park, how we're just scratching the surface.

Jessica Hegarty:

Oh, yeah!

Rip Esselstyn:

The possibilities are absolutely endless. The only limitations are your mind, right? The creativity that is boundless in each and every one of us. Do you have another thing we're going to do?

Jessica Hegarty:

Well said. Okay. Last one. Last one. Of course, it's not just the salty cravings that are hitting these days. I'm also looking for something sweet and salty and crunchy, and buttery. I can't think of anything better than caramel corn. Doesn't that sound good right now? What I've got for you today, Rip-

Rip Esselstyn:

Now that you mentioned it, I probably would like a peanut butter popcorn.

Jessica Hegarty:

Ooh. Interesting. That's a really creative one.

Rip Esselstyn:

Made out of PB2.

Jessica Hegarty:

Yes!

Rip Esselstyn:

Right?

Jessica Hegarty:

That's a great idea!

Rip Esselstyn:

Next time, let's try it and we'll see what we think.

Jessica Hegarty:

Rip, I love it. I love it. What would we spray it with to really adhere? We'll have to think of something-

Rip Esselstyn:

I don't think we'll be spraying.

Jessica Hegarty:

... to spray it with. You don't need to spray it?

Rip Esselstyn:

I'll be pouring.

Jessica Hegarty:

The PB2?

Rip Esselstyn:

Yes. Yes.

Jessica Hegarty:

For those of you who don't know, there's this dehydrated peanut butter. Man, you could add some dried fruits to it; it'd be a PB&J.

Rip Esselstyn:

Yeah.

Jessica Hegarty:

Oh. That's awesome.

Rip Esselstyn:

Yeah. Yeah. Yup. Yup.

Jessica Hegarty:

I love it. I love it. Oh! I got it. I know what you could do to help the peanut butter stick better. You could use date syrup, which is exactly what we're using in this last example. What I've got for you today... No, this isn't Yellowbird. It's just in a Yellowbird Hot Sauce squeeze tube. It's seven dates blended in a high speed blender with one cup of water. That's it. But I like putting it in the squeeze tube, of course, because you can get a nice drizzle.

Rip Esselstyn:

Are those Medjool dates?

Jessica Hegarty:

Of course, they're Medjool dates. Of course, they're Medjool dates.

Rip Esselstyn:

I don't know why I even asked. From Bautista farms?

Jessica Hegarty:

Oh. No.

Rip Esselstyn:

No? Okay.

Jessica Hegarty:

No, no. I like to eat those plain. Those are too special. They're out for the season. They're not coming back until September.

Rip Esselstyn:

Yeah.

Jessica Hegarty:

What are we going to do?

Rip Esselstyn:

Oh, the pain. The pain.

Jessica Hegarty:

Oh, the pain. What I've got here today, I'm going to drizzle some of this date syrup onto the popcorn; do this in a sweep direction. Doesn't it look amazing?

Rip Esselstyn:

Yes.

Jessica Hegarty:

Doesn't it look absolutely delicious? Oh, my gosh!

Rip Esselstyn:

Yes, it does. It looks nice.

Jessica Hegarty:

With this date syrup, you could also add a little bit of cinnamon. You could add some cocoa powder. You could add a little cayenne pepper if you want to and do a Mayan chocolate-

Rip Esselstyn:

Wow!

Jessica Hegarty:

... or a spice nut, right?

Rip Esselstyn:

Yeah! Let the creativity juices flow.

Jessica Hegarty:

Let it flow. Yeah. But again, we talked about dates just briefly on the last podcast.

Rip Esselstyn:

Ah!

Jessica Hegarty:

Oh, no. Dates sweetened popcorn down. We talked about dates on the last podcast. We forgot to touch on my favorite facts about dates. They're incredibly nutritious. Gram for gram, they have more fiber than broccoli, blueberries, some varieties of beans. We talk about the importance of fiber all the time, right? We're friends with Dr. B, the author of Fiber Fueled.

Rip Esselstyn:

Yup.

Jessica Hegarty:

Right? Fiber is so important. Dates are a really good source for fiber. They are also mineral-rich. They contain...

Rip Esselstyn:

Bunch of potassium.

Jessica Hegarty:

Bunch of potassium more than bananas even.

Rip Esselstyn:

Yup.

Jessica Hegarty:

They also have magnesium and copper. Then most exciting for me, studies show that pregnant women who consume six dates a day in their last month of pregnancy significantly reduce the risk of postpartum hemorrhaging. But most incredibly, they shorten their labor time by an average of six to seven hours. You don't have to twist my arm. I will be eating six dates a day, probably even longer.

Rip Esselstyn:

Do you know where this study came from? Is it reliable?

Jessica Hegarty:

Yes. It is. I actually, of course, looked this up on nutritionfacts.org. They linked me to the study that came out in 2011. It's called the Effect of Late Pregnancy Consumption of Date Fruit on Labor and Delivery.

Rip Esselstyn:

Wow.

Jessica Hegarty:

Yeah.

Rip Esselstyn:

So those that are expecting, go grab yourself some dates.

Jessica Hegarty:

Oh, my gosh! PlantStrong community, do you know a pregnant lady? Send her some Medjool dates and instruct her to eat some in the days leading up to her delivery. I don't know how it's not a thing for baby showers like a fancy box of dates. We could call it Due dates.

Rip Esselstyn:

Due dates.

Jessica Hegarty:

This is PlantStrong's next product.

Rip Esselstyn:

That's awesome. Yeah. Get a subscription to Bautista Farm's Medjool dates.

Jessica Hegarty:

Yes. That's what every pregnant lady wants.

Rip Esselstyn:

Oh, my.

Jessica Hegarty:

She doesn't know it yet, but that's what she wants.

Rip Esselstyn:

The power of plants knows no boundaries. Truly.

Jessica Hegarty:

Truly.

Rip Esselstyn:

Before we close out our bite-sized podcast, sorry we went a little over today. You've taken on Evan's last name.

Jessica Hegarty:

Mm-hmm (affirmative). I have.

Rip Esselstyn:

Yeah. Why did you decide to do that?

Jessica Hegarty:

It just felt right. Yeah. There's no real rhyme or reason. His family's amazing. I get to be a Hegarty now. That's really special to me.

Rip Esselstyn:

That's awesome.

Jessica Hegarty:

Yeah. Thank you, Rip.

Rip Esselstyn:

Yeah. Yeah. Jess, thank you. We love all the great ideas and it's been a great episode.

Jessica Hegarty:

It was awesome. Thanks, Rip. Talk to you soon.

Rip Esselstyn:

PlantStrong.


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