Question
Dan Marek
What is your favorite Esselstien recipe?
Answer
So, there are a lot of them, and Anne Esselstyn and I share a lot of recipe and recipe ideas together. But if I had to pick one thing, it would be, there are two. In the original Engine 2 book published in 2009 by Rip Esselstyn, the mighty muffin recipe, I find to be a gateway to learning how to bake without using oil. And I have taken that recipe and made chocolate muffins, chocolate baked donuts, chocolate cake, and all kinds of things. So I credit the mighty muffin. For me, the mighty muffin was the transitional recipe that let me know that I could do that. And the other one is, I would say Raise the Roof lasagna. Over the years, I've modified it a little bit. But it's quick and easy and cost-effective and delicious. And the Esselstyns, for those of you who may not be familiar with their work, recipes are based on Dr. Esselstyn's New York Times bestselling book, "Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease," where his wife Anne created, I think, 120 recipes that were all whole foods, plant-based, no oil. He was a surgeon at the Cleveland Clinic, and he runs a cardiac prevention program. He is 93 years old and spry as a fiddle, and Anne just celebrated her 91st birthday, and they are still busy selecting and making new recipes. So that's an interesting question.
