Yoga.Food.Art.

Saturday Night: Chunky Pumpkin Soup for Pre-Partiers

2010-01-30T17:43:00.001+01:00

It's Saturday. It's Saturday. Are you getting this loud and clear? SATURDAY.
The long-awaited herald of the real, live weekend. We all know Friday is for sissies. Saturday is when the Rockstars rule the world, the glow of unforeseen adventure in their glittering, glassy eyes; the cold winds of a Swiss January deter only the faintest of heart, and those of us who know what it means to boogie take to the streets in pursuit of swaying bliss.

But not without some soup first.

Tonight is not just any Saturday either, but specifically the Saturday of the Couchsurfing monthly meeting in Basel, and a huge party in nearby Freiburg, Germany, where many of us are going afterwards. Couchsurfing has come to life for me again in the last few months: The joy of meeting new people and having those laughter-inducing spontaneous conversations moments afterwards. So it is with eager anticipation that I eat this soup, bundle up against the snowy night, and get ready to find what Basel's Saturday has to give.

As with all pre-party meals, this one is simple and fast. I want you to forget mincing, dicing, and julienning, and pick up that butcher knife like a hatchet. Get ready to CHOP. That's right, good ol' coarse, gritty, CHOPPING. I want those veggies chunked, and I want Martha Stewart gasping at the wayside as you whip this soup out so heartily you could make a woodchuck shiver.

Chunky Pumpkin Soup
Consider putting on some Cheb Khaled as you whip this baby up, just to get in the mood.

Ingredients
-1 little round orange pumpkin (squash? they call them all pumpkins here...any small round orange pumpkin-like winter vegetable oughtta do it)
-2 big potatoes, chopped
-2 big carrots, chopped
-1 big leek, chopped

-1 tbsp fresh chopped ginger (+)
-1 tbsp dried rosemary
-1 tsp yellow mustard seeds
-5 cloves garlic, chopped
-Fresh ground pepper to taste
-1 tsp tamari (opt.)

Lotsa water and as much bouillon as you deem fitting. (could be none)

Directions
Heat the ghee in a large pot and add the mustard seeds. Cook, stirring, until they start to pop, and then add the ginger and leeks. Stir to coat with ghee and then add the carrots, potatoes, pumpkin, rosemary, water to cover, and bouillon.

Cover and cook until the potatoes are tender. Add the garlic, then puree just a little bit with an immersion mixer, and check the taste. Add tamari, pepper, and salt to taste.

The Walrus Bread

2010-01-24T19:54:00.001+01:00

Today I had a mad craving for something doughy, so I hunted around for a while for a good minimalist gluten free bread recipe using chickpea flour, which I have right now. I tried out the simplest one I found, one for Walrus Bread from Bob's Red Mill, a flour mill from northern Oregon which I visited last year with my family. Though the title has a mischievous ring, the product is a sumptuous, classic brown bread. I enjoyed mine most with molasses on it, though I didn't complain about the avocado and zatar...or the apricot jam...or the tahini.

My variations were to toss some pumpkin seeds on top before baking, to sue some millet instead of all rice flour, and I used raw sugar.

Z'nuni: Brunch for The LGK

2010-01-18T08:07:00.000+01:00

Swiss German has a wonderful way of turning simple words like "snack" into amazing works of condensed thought. Take, for example, the word "znuni," which basically means midmorning snack. Nuni is a shortened version of neun, for nine. The 'i' is the Swiss diminutive suffix, making it cute and little (instead of the German 'schen'). The 'z' doesn't make that much sense to me, but I guess it is an abbreviation of das, the article for 'nuni,' which is surprisingly a noun.

What's my point? Well tomorrow I have to bring it-not in the cheerleading sense, but in the znuni sense-something for everyone to eat.

It's Switzerland. Did I mention that? Well let me paint you a clearer picture of what that means at znuni-that means bread, butter, cheese, and chocolate. And mandarines because they are the international winter food of western countries. I eat rice cakes and trailmix. That is because in Swiss the word for 'gluten free diet' is probably something like 'nichts' which means 'nothing.' Or 'luft' which means 'air'. Seriously, as far as most of my classmates are concerned, I must live from water, lemons, and salt, because there's nothing else edible that I could possibly eat.

So today I've decided to bring something fantastic for znuni. I thought about it a long time and it even merited a parental skype-call to get some advice. The love child of my fling with znuni is:

The Mandarine Upside-Down Cake

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups flour or 2 cups flour* (or sub a little hazelnut meal)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cups sugar (yikes!)
1 packet vanilla sugar
1/4 cup dried cranberries
4-5 mandarine oranges (plus more for juice, if you want to use fresh juice)
1/2 cup margarine plus 4 tablespoons melted
pinch of salt
1 tsp xanthan gum
3 eggs
1 cup (I used half coconut milk, half mandarine juice)

Directions
Melt the 4 tbsp margarine and pour into a round cake pan. sprinkle with 1/2 cup sugar. peel the mandarines and slice them so that they look like pineapple rings, with cross-sections of the segments showing, and lay the rings out in the pan. fill the spaces between with the dried cranberries.

cream the butter and sugar. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until fluffy. transfer to a big mixing bowl

mix the dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Alternate the dry ingredients in 3 parts with the milk in 2 parts as you add them to the fluffy egg mixture and combine. (flour, milk, flour, milk, flour).

Pour into the pan and bake at 175 C for about 30 minutes, until it starts to come away on the sides. Remove and let cool until you can remove it from the pan. Then flip it and let it cool completely or serve still lightly warm.

Notes
*My mix was: 1 cup millet flour, 1/4 cup potato starch, 3/4 cup rice flour (mix-red, white), 1/4 cup ground hazelnuts, 1/4 cup corn flour

Unexpected Lessons

2009-12-30T00:15:00.001+01:00

Cleaning out my blog, as it were, I found this old, unpublished post. I like the message, so I thought I'd post it now. enjoy!
originally written february 19, 2009

Although we have been made to believe that if we let go we will end up with nothing, life itself reveals again and again the opposite: that letting go is the path to real freedom.
- Excerpt from The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying By Sogyal Rinpoche

That's what I wish I had read last week, mid-afternoon before yoga class. Maybe then I wouldn't be sitting in my house with a leg sticky from Tiger's Balm and a strong longing for nothing more than the ability to bend forward, suddenly very unrealistic. I've read again and again the yogic principle of "ahimsa" or "non-violence", and I claim to understand it. Yet for every time I've read it, I'm pretty sure there's a good example of how I have not applied it when I could have. That's ok, some things you've got to learn by doing (or not doing) but it's getting old to keep pushing myself just beyond my limits when I know deep down I shouldn't. This time it won't matter; I need to work harder, I tell myself, and that was exactly what was going through my head when I pulled a hamstring last week. Again.

The truly annoying part? I kept going to classes and didn't mention it to the teachers. Massochism? Maybe more like Daniela suggested a few weeks ago: victimization. Or at least, the need to feel like a saint for bearing my discomfort in silence. Ouch. Good ol' ego is kicking at that thought. Whatever the reason, I kept pushing myself and yesterday felt a resounding pop in standing split that brought on instant tears. Now, even walking hurts. It's a challenge not to let it piss me off. I would like to be seriously angry at the situation, and last night, walking very slowly to the tram stop with Daniel watching quietly and waiting for the explosion, I was. I felt like every bit of progress I've been making has been an illusion-I've been practicing so much better, so strongly and smoothly, and without feeling challenged horribly all the time. I thought I was really breaking into something new, and that's part of why I decided to go for my teacher's training this May. Suddenly, with a self-inflicted limp, I wondered out loud if I am just running into something I haven't even begun to understand.

I said it out loud, maybe hoping for an easy, verbal response. But there isn't one. There is no simple answer to a problem that goes to the center of who I am. Honestly, I believe that we are all capable of understanding and embracing yogic principles and lifestyles; practicing non-violence while practicing self-discipline and study; finding absolute joy in every moment without the constant buzz of self-gratification and affirmation. We can all just "be" and be fine with that. Admitting that it's something we may never reach is the part that puts me in my place every time. I think, "wow, yeah, I get it, peace and respect and resolve and release, all at the same time, I totally see that, I can do it." And if I meet a challenge, it crumples fairly easily into fear and self-doubt, showing all too clearly that I'm just setting up pretty pictures for myself of what I think I should be doing, not what I am doing. If I was really releasing, I would have no problem with never reaching perfection-or with doing half a standing split when my muscles are stiff.

The beautiful irony of the situation is that what I need is to slow down, and by ignoring that need initially, I have forced myself into a position where I have no other choice. Life teaches us lessons, and the one I thought i needed to learn (discipline; strength; something masculine and difficult) is only something I have imagined. I, and probably you too, live in a society which preaches hard-headed masculine strength as the cure-all for lifes problems. When I see a wall, I want to kick the fucker down, or jump over, or somehow prove I'm powerful enough to dominate it. Maybe next time I'll stop stubbing my toes and scraping my knuckles, and just enjoy the shade and shelter from the wind.

Enlightenment is the "quiet acceptance of what is". I believe the truly enlightened beings are those who refuse to allow themselves to be distressed over things that simply are the way they are.
- Wayne Dyer

One Whiff of Autumn-and the cook is back.

2009-10-20T20:23:00.005+02:00

It started a few weeks ago when I went to see Daniel's parents in the village and they brought out the walnuts. Not the appetizer nut bowl, I mean the 20+ crates from the cellar. It wasn't long before they were loading me up with squashes, little pumpkins, and enough garlic to kill the Vampire race. Daniel shook his head helplessly as we tottered to the train station with our harvest loot, and commented, "looks like autumn is really here." I didn't say it, but you know what I was thinking? BRING IT ON.

Because autumn this year is like Christmas-too many delicious things to eat them all and a lot of random gifts from people who are basically just trying to get rid of the junk. Only it lasts for about 2 months and all your presents are really good. And I musta been a good girl this year, because my metaphorical stocking is fit to bust. And as far as my literal stockings are concerned, they'll probably be busting too as soon as I get done eating all this yumminess. Let the games commence.

Now let's get down to business-I already confessed my unjustified long absence and you know (come on, you KNOW) how sorry I am, but still-here's my first shot at redemption:

The 'Make Every Day Thanksgiving' Bowl
serves 4 as a one-bowl meal, or lotsa people as a side

Ingredients:
2 little pumpkins (canteloupe sized-about a 7-inch diameter
1/4 cup olive oil (plus some for basting)
3 cups cooked millet or 2 1/2 cups millet flakes (or cornbread crumbs, that would be radical)
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup ground nuts of choice
(opt. add in some chunky pieces of nuts too, mmh.)
4 stalks celery, daintily chopped
1 onion, chopped
6 cloves garlic (woah! but it's good...), chopped
juice of 1 lemon
1-2 tsp soy sauce
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp cinnamon (plus a sprinkle)
1/4 tsp nutmeg (plus a sprinkle)
2 tbsp fresh chopped rosemary

1/4 cup+ apple juice
a splash of veggie stock or some boullion (cheaters! ha, that's what i did) and extra apple juice

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Preheat the oven to about 350 F, or 170ish C

Cut off the stem and the little flower bump on the ends of your pumpkins, being careful not to go deeper than you need to. cut them in half, er, height-wise? Well, so that the parts you just cut are now the bases of two bowls you have created. scoop out the seeds and save for roasting if you want. Also save a wee bit of pulp and toss it in the stuffing if you fancy.

Rub the pumpkins down with some olive oil and sprinkle with a dash of cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until almost totally tender when poked.

Meanwhile, heat a tbsp of your oil in a pan over medium and sautee the onions until glassy. Add the celery and cook for about 2 minutes. Then add the millet, and-actually, just toss it all in there. Everything. Keep going til you feel you shouldn't any more. I cooked mine about 10 minutes total just because I kept adjusting the taste.

You wind up with a nicely mingled mush, but not tooooo runny, just comfortably un-solid.

fill your pumpkins and bake for another 15 minutes, or until the stuffing looks lovely and crusty on top and the pumpkins seem good and tender.

voila!

Where's Erin?

2009-09-14T09:00:00.002+02:00

Hey!
Yes, I'm still here. It's been, what, 4 months, almost FIVE?? Unbelievable. I can't believe I just abandoned you all like that. But I'm back, and with a whole arsenal of interesting ideas about food, life, love, personal satisfaction, and dealing with allergies and the 'psychology of food.'

That being said, give me a moment to catch my breath, and I will be back shortly with my findings! Anyway, today I'm starting school (art school in basel, switzerland, woot!), so I have bigger fish to fry at the moment. Vegan fish.

A Collection of my thoughts on Yoga.Food.Art and everything in between

2009-05-29T17:15:00.001+02:00

The Moral Food Conundrum
Unexpected Lessons

Recipes

2009-05-29T17:08:00.006+02:00

All of my Recipes are Gluten free, and most of them are vegan. All of them are made with love :)

Breakfast
Amaranth Apple Porridge
Chai Kuzu with Quinoa
Cornmeal Pancakes with Lemon and Poppy-Seeds
Sourdough Buckwheat Crepes

Bread and Other Doughy Things
Basic Recycled Bread
Bob's Red Mill Chickpea Bread
Carrot-Pulp Bread
Mom's Cornbread
Recycled Bread (Kvass-Potato Paprikash)

Snacks, Starters, and Sides

Beluga Lentil Bites
Canapés Impériale (chickpea crackers and toppings)
Dolmas

Rosemary Roasted Carrot Hash

Savory Granola
Sesame Olive Lentil Bites
Sprouted Seeds and Nuts

Salads, Dips, and Sauces

Creamed Avocado Arugula Salad
Lemon Lentil Salad

Lemon Zatar Yogurt Dressing
Mustard Sprout Salad
Roasted Red Pepper Tahini

Tahini Whip

Slovakian Beetroot Salad

Spicy Chickpea Salad
Sundried Tomato and Black Olive Dip
Vegan Cream
Vegan Mint Raita
White Bean Salad

Soups and Stews
Butternut and Fennel Seed Miso
Calico Kicheri (red and brown lentils, brown rice)
Chunky Pumpkin Soup
Four Bean Country Stew

Kale Kicheri (indian inspired lentil dish)

Vegan Miso Pho
White Bean Stew with Butternut Squash

Bakes, Roasts, and Other Savory Mains
Baked Black Beans
Enchanted Broccoli Forest Fire (quinoa, lentils, and broccoli)
Herb-Strewn Roasted Beets
Roasted Beet Risotto
Stuffed Winter Squash-Thanksgiving Bowl
Vegan Quiche Provencal
Quick Balsamic Tipped Veggies

Sweet Treats
Apple Banana Muffins

African Blackeyed Banana Muffins
Apple Polenta Cake

Banana Cake (with help from fellow bloggers)
Dessert Sushi (Tahini cookies with Red Bean Paste)
Gingerbread Pudding
Mandarine Upside-Down Cake (not vegan)
Red Bean Paste
Rice Milk
Tahini Cookies
Zucchini Muffins with Chocolate Frosting (NOT Gluten-Free!)

Live Culture Foods

Basic Soy Kefir

Basic Soy Yogurt
Kvass: Russia's Champagne
Molasses Water Kefir
Sourdough Buckwheat Starter

Vegan Cream

More Lentil Balls

2009-04-12T14:27:00.000+02:00

Every time I get lost in my kitchen, I cast out in the darkness for a helping hand and who do I find? My good friend Beluga. Beluga Lentil, that is, and he never ceases to amaze me with his solutions to my ponderings, as in today's :'what can an anti-candida, gluten-free vegan eat?

Answer: More lentils. In ball form, they look less like lentils, which is good, because i'm starting to see them even with my eyes closed this week. These, however, could be falafel with a suntan, and I didn't think once about the fact that I was eating lentils. Again.

Simple Double-Lentil Balls

I was out of lemons, but I think a litle lemon juice in here would have been fantastic. For non-ACD eaters, add a splash each of apple cider vinegar and braggs for some kick.

1 cup beluga lentils

1 cup red lentils

1/2 cup amaranth

1 leek or onion, chopped

1 turnip, grated

1 tsp pepper

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp turmeric

2 tbsp fresh chopped rosemary

6 cloves garlic, chopped

2 tbsp sesame oil

1-4 cup pumpkin seeds

Add 3 cups of water to the lentils and amaranth in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, cover, and cook until the water is absorbed and the red lentils have broken down (add more water if necessary). Stir vigorously and cook until the mix is very thick and sticky.

stir in the rest of the ingredients, reserving the oil and pumpkin seeds. Mix together into a thick dough. Roll about 2 tbsp of dough into a ball, brush with oil, and stick 2 pumpkin seeds into the top. Place on a parchment-lined or grased baking sheet and repeat until you used it all. Bake for about 30 minutes, until browned and crispy on the inside.

Serve with Lemon Zatar Yogurt Dressing or Luscious Tahini Whip for a protein-ilicious vegan main dish. Or, toss with rice noodles and tomato sauce and you have spaghetti and meatballs!

Cooking for the Gluten-Tolerant

2009-04-12T10:00:00.000+02:00

With sugar-free april and a lot of foods excluded from my diet, I'm finding that to keep cooking, I have to cook fr other people! I had a bunch of leftovers on April first that had ingredients I am not eating this monht, so I decided to roll them all into one fantastic recycled bread loaf-a mix of beet salad, miso soup, and kicheri is what you see here in this gorgeous, colorful loaf:

To my 2 cups of leftovers (warmed to room temperature), I added about 2 cups of flour (what and spelt, mixed), 1 packet of yeast proofed in about 1 cup warm water, some salt, some pumpkin seeds, and...I think that's about it. Eassssssy. Unfairly easy, if you ask me-gluten free loaves have so many more ingredients!

And when it comes to desserts, I made another batch of things for the studio last weekend, and these were some of the best yet. These were glutinous, sugary, chocolate-covered zuchinni muffins, and I hear they were fantastic. Vegan, but otherwise untouchable, sorry celiacs!

Beautiful frosting drips are courtesy of Mister Dani T, who is the resident artist in the kitchen.

The recipe was something like this:
1 very large zuchinni, grated
2/3 cup soy milk
2 tbsp molasses
1/4 cup canola oil

2 cups flour (wheat and spelt)
1 tbsp baking powder
egg replacer for 2 eggs
1 package vanilla sugar
a bit of cinnamon, nutmeg, and cardamom
2/3 cup sugar
pinch of salt

Mix the dry stuff, mix the wet stuff, add it all up, and spoon into a (12-)muffin tray. Bake for about 25 minutes, until lightly browned. They will be slightly too moist still on the inside, but they firm up as they sit.

for the frosting:
4 tbsp margarine
2 tbsp soymilk
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup cocoa.

cream together and test for consistency and taste.

Enchanted Broccoli Forest-Fire: A toasty stove-top rendition of the classic casserole

2009-04-09T14:15:00.001+02:00

The Enchanted Broccoli Forest, one of Mollie Katzen's many beautiful cookbooks, is one that I treasure. Daniel and I got a copy in the states when we visited last summer and backpacked around for two months with it gingerly wrapped in layers of bags so as to get it safely back to the old continent. Here, we hoard it like miserly jewel-collectors, rarely daring to open its gleaming depths to those who pass through Dani's kitchen, where it sits discreetly behind a Moosewood. After all, cookbooks like that are hard to come by here, and you never know what a Swiss foodie might do if she discovered there was more to the kitchen than cheese and bread, so we like to initiate people here to the land of good veggie cooking step by step...

Anyway, the cover recipe, The Enchanted Broccoli Forest itself, is amazing, delicious, wonderful, and today, I wanted it bad. However, being the anti-candida eater I am right now, I felt a little weird eating a meal mostly consisting of rice. Also, I just didn't want to deal with baking anything. It's so warm, the birds are singing, the windows are blowing open in the breeze...all this scene is missing is the sizzle and pop of some nutty roasted quinoa.

By using quinoa as my grain, I'm eating a lot more protein and a lot fewer carbs than if I had used the usual brown rice, and lentils are even lower in carbs, being in the legume family. Plus, they're downright nutritious and delicious. We have heaps of Birsmattehof spinach (fresh from our local organic farm), and i just bought broccoli, and Hari gave me some of the succulent little sundried tomatoes Niki brought back from Israel, so it seems we have a contestant for today's mind-blowing anti-candida cookoff (a competition taking place solely in my head, but none-the-less a worthwhile pursuit). For those of you who don't have candida problems, feel free to spice it up a bit with with...whatever. I actually don't know why you'd want to improve on this amazing dish, I just keep imagining that everyone who can eat sugar must be enjoying something I'm not. But not today. No sirree, I've got one up on sugar cravings this evening.

Enchanted Broccoli Forest-Fire: a toasty stove-top rendition of the classic casserole (for 4)

1 cup quinoa
1 cup beluga lentils
1 medium head broccoli
a few massive handfuls of fresh spinach
1 stalk celery
1 onion, diced, and/or some chopped leek
10 sundried tomatoes (dry or in oil), chopped into strips
any additional veggies you may be craving/have on hand

juice of 1/4 lemon
1 tbsp fresh, chopped rosemary
odorous amounts of garlic (about 6 cloves), chopped
2 tbsp flax seed or flax seed meal
a tiny bit of sea salt
4 twists of fresh ground black pepper

optional: 10 activated almonds, chopped

Directions
Cook the lentils in water until tender, drain, and set aside.

Meanwhile, heat a medium skillet and add your quinoa. Stir almost continuously until the quinoa is browned and smells roasted, 2-3 minutes. Add 2 cups water to the quinoa, cover, and cook until the water is absorbed.

While that's going on, chop up the broccoli, almonds, rosemary, garlic, and all your other veggies (except the spinach).

When the quinoa is done, push it to the side in the pan and add the broccoli, leek, onions, rosemary, and other veggies that need a bit more cooking to the pan. Add a splash of water, cover, and reduce the heat, steaming the veggies for about 4 minutes, or until shiny and tender. then mix it all up, add all the rest of the stuff, and cook until it looks and tastes good, about 4 minutes.
I'm not telling you how to live your life here, but I highly recommend some Lemon Zatar Yogurt Dressing over a nice hot bowl of this for a zingy mediterranean flavor combo that's out of this world.

Many-a-Dark-Green Later: Sugar-Free Week One

2009-04-08T11:56:00.007+02:00

In case you missed my last posts, I am eating along the guidelines of the Anti-Candida Diet this month in an attempt to balance the yeasts in my body. I am also participating in the Chase Daylight Vegan Challenge with this cleanse, and you should really check out Ryan's awesome blogging on her adventures in the world of veganism. Now, onto the sugar-free frontier...

Funny how when we make dietary commitments, they seem remarkably simple. No refined sugar? Heck, I've done that before. I love the natural flavors of foods, and I don't usually need anything to sweeten my already delicious fruits and veggies. I can easily skip the brown sugar on my breakfast porridge. I felt anything but insecure last Wednesday as I decided once and for all to go anti candida this month.

Blow number one: I didn't just lose the obvious crystallized and syrup sugars. I also cut out all fruits, except for avocado, tomato, and fresh lemon. That hurt a little. No apples or bananas in my breakfast porridge now. Looking stark. I got a definite sad face, but I kept my chin up.

Then came blow number two: low-carb diet. Gotta cut out as many carbs as possible so the yeasty little beasts can't feed on them. So not only are the apples and bananas gone from my breakfast bowl, the porridge is called into question too. While whole grains are allowed, they aren't really the focal point any more. That is a bit strange for most eaters, myself included. Add in the loss and/or reduction of starchy vegetables, like potatoes, carrots, and beets, and you've got one confused cook.

I wracked my brain and those behind many, many anti-candida websites in my quest for simple recipes this week that were vegan, gluten-free, and anti-candida. That's not a lot of wiggle room, my friends. But, a few bland dishes of plain greens later, I emerged with my first good anti-candida recipes, which are here for you to enjoy.

First, because I did Shankhaprakshalana to start my cleanse, an ayurvedic intestinal cleanse from Asana Pranayama Mudra Bandha, I knew I had to start out my eating with lentils and rice. specifically, it's supposed to be a very simple kicheri with ghee and turmeric. I opted for plain red lentils, brown rice, and turmeric with flax oil on top. Delicious.

By day 2 I introduced some veggies to the meal, but kept the thick soupy consistency for ease of digestion. Unlike the juice fast I did for new years, this one recommends cooked veggies to start, again for ease of digestion. To each her own, so whatever feels right is probably it. For me, cooked, soft, and gentle sounded good a mere 48 hours after flushing everything out of my digestive tract.

The meal here is kicheri with the addition of a little carrot, turnip, garlic, onion, parsley, and kale. The flavor is unbelievably good, and the texture is so comforting and easy on the belly. I have no qualms about eating this meal regularly for the rest of my life, candida or no! I didnt use traditional Indian methods for cooking because I didn't want to fry the oil or spices in the beginning. This is more like a one-pot homey stew than your average restaurant kicheri, but it's really, REALLY fantastic, healthy, and easy.

If you're not on the ACD (anti candida diet) feel free to add more carrots and other starchy veggies, or not!

The dish here is shown with less kale than the recipe calls for.
Expect much more delicious greenery, this bowl wasn't quite up to snuff!)

Humble Kale Kicheri (for 3)

1 1/2 cups red lentils
1 cup brown rice
2 tsp flax oil
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 turnip, chopped
tons of kale, chopped
a bunch of parsely, chopped
1 yellow onion, chopped
1/2 tsp turmeric

Rinse the lentils and rice and put in a pan with 3 cups water, the onions, carrot, turnip and the turmeric

Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat, and cook for about 30 minutes. Stir occasionally and check that all the water doesn't evaporate. Add more as needed to keep the consistency a little on the stew side.

When the rice is done, add the kale, parsley, and garlic, stir them into the kicheri, and cover again. Cook for 5 minutes and turn off the heat. Serve with flax oil drizzled on top, and roasted pumpkin or sunflower seeds if desired. mmm....

When I felt like I couldn't eat another bite of kicheri (took about 4 days), I entered the realm of other legumes. I made a very hearty bean soup with I used as a base to add steamed veggies to for a few meals in a row. It was extremely satisfying yummy, especially given the simple ingredients list:

Four Bean Country Stew (makes 4-6 servings)

3/4 cup dried kidney beans
3/4 cup dried black beans
1/2 cups dried chickpeas
1/2 cup red lentils
1 piece kombu seaweed

1 cup large onion chunks
6 cloves of garlic
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
a dash of salt

2 carrots, chunked
1 turnip, chunked
a whole lot of dark green: spinach, kale, chard, etc.
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

Soak the kidney beans, black beans, and chickpeas overnight. Drain, rinse, and set in a pot with the kombu seaweed and about 6 cups water (adjust as needed to keep from drying out). Cook for 1 1/2 hours, or until the beans are tender.

Add the lentils, carrots, turnip, onion, salt, pepper, turmeric, and rosemary. If needed, add a little more water. Cook, covered, until the veggies are soft, about 30 minutes, and add in the greens, parsley, and garlic. Cover again and cook for 3-5 more minutes, until the greens are wilted and the garlic is just cooked. Serve with roasted pumpkin seeds and/or steamed broccoli.

Finally, I couldn't look another bean in the eye, and I turned to salads for lighter fare. It's hard to make a salad that's truly satisfying when you're used to a bowl-full of hot carbs and protein. I came up with a few types that really hit the spot though. I didn't manage many pictures, but here are two with photos at least.

A super simple mix of nüssli-salat (corn salad) and spinach topped with avocado, celery, roasted sunflower, pumpkin, and sesame seeds, and a drizzle of flax oil.

A bombilicious spinach and unidentified dark purple green (use any lettuce you want) with carrot, celery, roasted flax, sunflower and pumpkin seeds, and this incredible, AMAZING Lemon-Zatar Yogurt Dressing.

OMG it's so good. I served my salad with a little more dressing spread over a rice cake and sprinkled with more zatar, because I couldn't resist.

Lemon-Zatar Yogurt Dressing
1 cup plain soy or other yogurt
2 tbsp flax oil
2 tbsp zatar
juice of almost a whole lemon (about 3/4)
1 clove garlic

Grate the garlic clove and mix it all up. For a thinner dressing, add a bit of water. That's it! Try not to eat it ALL off the spoon directly, it's worth the wait to put it on a salad....

Last, but certainly not least, was a Creamed Avocado-Arugula mix. Very simple and good. I served it with fresh spinach alongside Kale Kicheri for a dark-green foodgasm yesterday afternoon.

Creamed Avocado-Arugula Salad (serves 4)
1/2 ripe avocado
juice of 1/2 lemon
a twist of fresh ground black pepper
a dash of salt

water as needed

150 g fresh arugula, washed
50 g spinach, washed

Mash the avocado with the other dressing ingredients until creamy. add water and whip until the mixture is fluffy and barely pourable. Toss the salad arugula and spinach with the avocado blend and top with roasted seeds, cherry tomatoes, chopped celery stalk, or anything else you like.

Tonsa Pho-n: Vegan Miso Pho

2009-04-01T19:44:00.006+02:00

A sea of veggies

With a surprise below

It's a terrible pun, but it's still funny if you know that 'pho', the name of the classic Korean noodle soup, is actually said "fuh". It is. It's also known for its masses of meaty ingredients-from meat stock to chunks of beef, chicken, shrimp, octopus, squid, mussels, egg, pork, and crab. In California restaurants, there is always a vegetarian option too, but I have no idea how they manage to replicate the amazing broth flavor of traditional pho. I looked up some recipes the other day, and it seems complicated. I'm intimidated by complicated asian recipes becaus eI don't know which boundaries to respect. But I happen to know another soup-loving asian country with very easy recipes: Japan. Erin's gone all trigger-happy with the miso again.

This soup is absolutely the most satisfying, umame-loaded bowl of deeeelish I've made. I just ate it for lunch 3 days in a row. It's not exactly like pho yet, I have to perfect the faux-pho taste (somone stop me), but it's so good you won't care. And you know what, if you are a bento fan, this is a great bento meal. You can easily take along a bowl already made with a side container of chopped mint leaves, onions, chives, chilis, sprouts, or any of the other magnificent pho toppings out there. For those of you with access to a kichen at work, just take the ingredients and enjoy the zen-like process of finely slicing your leeks and ginger root next to all the fools with Campbell's soup cups. You won't notice the funny looks, because the tendency when eating perfect food is to, er, pho-get the world around you...

Vegan Miso Pho (for 1 medium-large lunch. I couldn't finish it all!)
I brought the ingredients to work and made mine there: I premixed the spices, brought the portions of whole veggies, garlic, and onion, and stuck the rice noodles in a tupperware with the tiny sack of seaweed and a plastic-wrapped miso ball (i used the corner of an old ripped produce bag). Learn more about miso balls at Just Bento, Maki's wonderful bento blog.

Ingredients
A single serving of rice noodles, whatever you deem appropriate
2 tbsp Arame seaweed
2 dried mushrooms of choice (shitake would be great, I had some Swiss thing)
1 small carrot, sliced into thin rounds
1/2 leek, sliced into thin rounds
6 little chunks of tofu (opt)

1/2 red onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2-inch chunk of ginger root, minced
1 dried red chili, chopped, ground, or use a pinch of hot cayenne, paprika, or chili powder
2 tsp dark miso paste
1 tbsp toasted sesame (or other, less delicious) oil

a twist of black pepper
1 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp fennel seeds
4-5 cumin seeds
1/2 tsp anis seeds, if you have them (i didn't)
a dash of nutmeg
salt if desired

garnishes: chopped mint leaves, cilantro, onions, chives, chilis, or mung bean sprouts.

Directions
Put the seaweed and mushrooms in 2 cups cold water to soak

Boil 2 cups water, pour it over the rice noodles, and let them sit for a few minutes, or until soft (or follow the directions for your noodles). Drain and set into the bottom of you soup bowl.

In a saucepan, heat the oil and add the spices. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring, until nothing pops anymore (a minute or two).
Add the ginger, chili, and onion. Stir and keep cooking until the onions are glossy.
Add the leek and tofu, and if necessary, a dash of water. Keep stirring and scraping off any spices that stick to the bottom, until the leeks are tender.

Pour the water with the seaweed and mushrooms into the pan, stir thoroughly, and cover for 1-2 minutes. Keep the heat low enough that it wants to simmer but can't quite. Add the carrots and garlic, and cook for another few minutes, until the carrots are barely cooked, but nowhere near soft. Remove from the heat and stir in the miso by first dissolving it in a spoonful of hot broth. Serve!

Banana Cakes for the Masses

2009-04-01T18:39:00.000+02:00

My version of Sweet Banana Polenta Cake, From Karina's Kitchen

Migros, a massive supermarket chain in Switzerland, seems to hate ripeness. They like their avocados with the squeezability of hand-grenades, their tomatoes the color of blushing porcelain dolls, and the oranges...well, "blond" is not just the variety name.

I know this because the rack of discount items by the door is always filled with the ripest items-already marked half price because obviously the potential of smelling a ripe fruit is grounds for composting. This is especially true with bananas, one of the touchiest fruits known. The acceptable bananas leer their green little smiles at me every time I go in, and if you're like me, and don't plan your cooking projects, there's no time to buy emerald bananas and wait for them to mature.

Point being, Eve struck gold last week and found a bag of about 15 bananas, perfectly ripe and only one or two with a hints of brown spots on the stems, for just over 3 francs. That's called 'a score,' for those of you uninitiated into my mom's shopping world. Anyway, when life hands you bananas, make banana cake. I made two, and it felt good. Real good.

For all you gluten-boycotters, I am very sad to say that one was NOT gluten-free...probably the first gluten-containing product I have made in 2 years. But I made it for the folks at B. Yoga to enjoy, and it seems needless to deal with gluten-free baking for people who mostly don't care...well, I still felt guilty measuring up wheat flour, like a shadow from the past was lurking around the corners of the mixing bowl, but I stayed strong, and the cake was rumored to be good, so you can make it for someone you love but has unfairly strong digestion, or you can just modify that little puppy and see what's what.

The base recipe was for Tried and True Banana Bread from Savvy Vegetarian. I used half spelt, half wheat flour, powdered egg replacer instead of the cornstarch mixture, and margarine instead of oil (unusual, but I had it). I also hucked in the last of the dried bananas, chopped up into rounds. I didn't bother taking a picture, because who cares, it has gluten anyway. Grin...

The other, the edible one, is essentially Karina's Sweet Banana Polenta Cake, from the always fabulous Karina's Kitchen Blog, with just a smidge of Erinization:

I did egg-free, with egg replacer for somewhere around 2 eggs,
random leftover soy creamer for the milk,
margarine for oil,
vanilla bean instead of extract,
an added grated apple because...I can,
and my sugar was actually a blend of 1 tbsp molasses, 2 tbsp agave, and 2 tbsp sugar beet syrup.

I also chopped up a banana and stirred it in to get nice melted banana chunks in the finished cake, which was so good I think I should triple the amount of chopped banana next time-and you should too.

The Chase Daylight Vegan Challenge: Erin's going sugar-free

2009-04-01T17:49:00.005+02:00

A good yoga teacher: One whose honesty is never curbed by fear of bluntness.

"You're getting stinky again," a little text in my google chat notified me yesterday. "Maybe it's candida."

momentary glower. Everyone loves being reminded that sweating in the 8th breath of warrior 3, they smell bad. Then a few deep breaths and...shanti, shanti, shanti, "yeah, I know." Because honestly, I do. Three months after my 10 day juice fast, I'm starting to feel a little too much like the pre-fast Erin-cranky, tired, and careless about my food choices. And, sigh, i do sweat again in yoga class, which is a sure sign that I've got some toxins to be released. Granted, as my mom pointed out, fasting is an extreme, and you can't stay at that level of purity and vitality while eating a normal diet forever, but...I have a nagging feeling of needing to reset the balance by doing mini-fasts or other cleansing things for myself every once and a while. Thre month gaps seem like good chunks for a re-evaluatin to take place. Here's my score:

All-around apreciation of eating good, healthy, and eco-friendly food: A+. I love my food, my food loves me, and no one is dying in the process (me from allergies or animals becoming steaks :))
Meal Sizes: B-. Pretty darn good, I ate enough to be full but not stuffed, and listened to when my body was hungry, especially for the first 2 months. But the past 3 weeks have been a bit rollercoastish for my tastes-example: there were 3 days of gobbling white rice dishes last week that sent me into a carb coma the size of Switzerland.
Treats: C. Ouch, slipping a little here. Yes, Erin has a sweet tooth, and rears its head most when the sun starts peeping out. "Why not a little chocolate, why not another cookie? Let's enjoy life French-style..." she says...and she's right, except that the french don't ususally clear the plate of cookies, do they ;)
Allergens: C. So many unfortunate mistakes in this category! I seem to have encountered gluten in evrey shadowy corner this year, and always when i least expect it! definitely need to be a little more reluctant to accept food from other cooks, with at least enough hesitation to get a bonified ingredient run-down first.

Today, I did Shankhaprakshalana (intestinal cleansing), a shatkarma (purification practice) from the Bihar School of Yoga's Asana Pranayama Mudra Bandha. Basically, you drink a lot of saltwater early in the morning in between rounds of yoga poses until the laxative effects kick in and, well, you get the idea. after you finish, you rest for 45 minutes and eat kichiri, my favorite indian dish of rice and lentils. Traditionally, the rice and lentils are served with lots of ghee to lubricate the naked intestines, but as a vegan, i opted for a mix of flax and sunflower oils, coldpressed and local. Then you rest for 2 days, eating nothing but kichiri, and for a month after you treat your digestive system like a newborn-non-acidic, mild, comfort foods, like, clearly, kichiri!

Today, in my required relxation hours, I looked around for a nice new vegan blog challenge and I found one just for me: The Chase Daylight Vegan Challenge, where Ryan will be trying a month of vegan food for the frst time. Everyone's invited to join and there are potentially some vegan-licious prizes involved...As I'm already a vegan, I am free to try my own version of the challenge, so I'm going sugar-free for April. I mean really sugar free, not just "granulated sugar free". That's right; no more "dashes of agave" here or "drizzles of maple syrup" there; no water-kefir made from mango syrup (sniffle); and no, no, NO glazed muffins.

But chins up, there is still a lot of room for tasty treats in the sugar-free world. I am allowing SOME fruits, just not acidic fruits. So a few apples and bananas might make it in here and there, and maybe a pear on occasion...you never know. I am also allowing some prunes at some point, because sometimes, folks, a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do. Otherwise, dried fruit is out for me as well.

and because Candida is a suspect here, let's make it official and chuck out yeasts, fermented foods (oh the tragedy...:( ), white rice and other refined grains and starches.

Yikes! wish me luck!

Look forward to a wealth of yummy savory and teasingly sweet recipes for the month of April. And don't forget to stay updated on the challenge by checking out the updates page here.

Breakfast Kuzu with Quinoa-A Cure-All Treat

2009-03-25T14:42:00.005+01:00

Ok. they're not the most beautiful photos we've ever seen,
but porridges are rarely photogenic. Have faith, it's amazing in person.

If you've ever seen an under-slept student with the flu, then you know exactly how Daniel showed up at my door one morning a few weeks ago: a little green, to say the least. He looked like an underfed stray, and he nodded at the comment (couldn't help myself), adding that in fact he hadn't been able to eat much for 3 days. I immediately flashed on an article I had read on the medicinal qualities of kuzu, a Japanese starch used for making custard-like drinks. It is foremost considered a good way to get nutritious herbs into a sick body without disturbing sensitive stomachs. Bingo!

As I'd never tried kuzu, and didn't want to miss the fun, I decided to make something palletable to healthy folk too-sort of a breakfast porridge with protein-rich quinoa, digestion-aiding spices, and lotsa love. Woweeeeee that stuff as good, and I can't believe it was healthy it tasted so sinfully sweet and yummy. You could have it as a breakfast or a light dessert, and no one would be the wiser for it.

Chai Kuzu with Quinoa
serves 2 hungry folk, or three modestly peckish chaps

3 tbsp kuzu powder
1 cup quinoa
1 cup rice milk
2 inches ginger root
5 cardamom pods
3 cloves
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tbsp molasses
1 tsp agave or maple syrup
1/2 tsp vanilla extract (optional)
1 1/2 cups water

garnish of choice (optional)

Directions

Dissolve the kuzu in 1/4 cup milk and set aside.

Bring the water and quinoa to a simmer, reduce heat, cover, and let cook until the quinoa is almost done, about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, grate the ginger root and sqeeze out the juice through a tea strainer or seive, discard the solids.

Add the remaining 3/4 cup milk to the quinoa, stir, and then add the kuzu-milk, stirring well.
Add all the other ingredients except vanilla, bring to a simmer again, and continue to cook 5-10 minutes, or until well-thickened to a pudding-like consistency, stirring occasionally. If necessary, adjust the amount of milk to thin the porridge. I like mine thick :)

Serve with yogurt, kefir, chopped nuts, fruit, or a drizzle of rice milk on top. Scrumptious!

Mustard Sprout Salad and Herb-Strewn Roasted Beets: A Light Late Lunch for Sunkissed Evenings

2009-03-25T14:40:00.000+01:00

Some days require a little love packed in your lunch box. Yesterday, it was the way the sun incubated me through the window, slowing me down to the momentum of a boozy sunbather. I just couldn’t tolerate anything blah in that luxurious light, so I cooked a fantastic meal and served it still warm at work for an extra-special Tuesday treat.

Herb-Strewn Roasted Beets (for 1. It’s pretty easy to up the output, just add more beets!)

Ingredients
1-2 washed, whole beets, greens removed and saved for something tasty later
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp fresh or dried thyme
a dash of Herbamare or other herbed salt
1 tsp oregano, marjoram or thyme, or combination

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 F (175 C)
Rub the oil onto the beets and lay them on a sheet of tinfoil. Sprinkle the thyme and a drizzle of water over them and wrap the tinfoil securely around them.
Bake for 30-40 minutes, until tender.

To serve, slice each into rings, removing the skin if you wish, and arrange overlapped on a plate. If they seem dry at all, brush or rub a drop of olive oil onto the cut surface. Dust with salt and the remaining herbs.

Very Simple Mustard Sprout Salad (for 1. Easily, easily increased, substituted, and supplemented)

Ingredients
2 tbsp mustard seed sprouts
½ small head of chicoree
1 medium carrot, grated

2 tsp wine vinegar
1 tsp sesame oil
a squeeze of lemon juice
a dash of sugar, agave, or maple syrup (optional)
a pinch of salt
a grate of pepper

Directions
Slice the chicoree into rounds and toss them with the sprouts and carrots.
Mix together the dressing ingredients and toss it all up. Fertig!

Go Ahead honey It's Gluten Free! Sweet and Savory Canapes

2009-03-24T23:28:00.000+01:00

chickpea crackers, peppered eggplant,
roasted red pepper tahini, and lemon,
with zatar, paprika and rosemary.
phew!

Part I: Savory Canapés

I was thrilled by this month's theme of Go Ahead Honey It's Gluten Free! which Naomi of Straight into Bed Cakefree and Dried came up with. It seemed so...easy. Yet, if you only knew what I went through to make these. Wait, let me just explain. What are in truth the easiest, simplest, and tastiest crackers in the world, and gluten free and vegan to boot, took me TWO DAYS to prepare just because I planned poorly. Yes, it was after meticulously creating my perfect first batch with the last half cup of chickpea flour that I spaced out for a few moments too long and got a pile of blackened shale in return for all my efforts. I know that the Indian shop at the train station has chickpea flour, but I have to go the other direction to work, so with one hour of free time I felt confident I could find some flour in Klein Basel on my way. Ha. Hahaha. That’s what fate was doing all yesterday, as I scoured about 15 shops for one lonely bag of chickpea flour and found none.

Thankfully, there are heroes in this world, and I happen to know one of them. Daniel stopped at one small shop, 2 blocks from his house, and came over later with a bag of chickpea flour, looking obnoxiously nonchalant. Oh yeah, the one shop he checked had it. Never mind the other 30 turkish and Indian shops in Basel that I checked…I fell asleep dreaming of chickpea cracker canapés, and the next morning we began round 2 of canapé creation from ground zero. I am very pleased to give you the result-an eastern spin on the classic French appetizer, happily allergen-free, beautiful, and tantalizing in every way.

I quote Daniel as he bit into the first: “It’s like tasting a play; each flavor has its own scene and you move through them like a story is unfolding. You start with the tangy lemon, then you get the spicy paprika, the earthy red pepper dip, and the soft eggplant taste, surrounded by the crunch of the chickpea crackers. Behind it all comes the roasted pepper again, soothing the whole experience.” The boy should be a poet, and these canapés should be muses. To give them due credit, we decided to name them after their regal appearance. Voila: Canapés Impériale

Canapés Impériale

1 batch of Gluten Free Chickpea Crackers from Susan at FatFree Vegan Kitchen
1 batch of Roasted Red Pepper Tahini (recipe below)
½ lemon
1 sprig rosemary
2 tbsp zatar
1 tbsp hot paprika
¼ eggplant
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
salt to taste

Directions
Slice the eggplant into very thin slices lengthwise, lay on a plate, and salt generously on both sides. Let sit for about 20 minutes, then rinse well.

Heat the oil in a frying pan and turn the pan to coat the bottom. Add the eggplant and dust with half the pepper. Cook until the bottom is well-browned, then turn and sprinkle the rest of the pepper. Cook over medium heat until tender, then set on a plate covered in paper towels to cool.

Meanwhile, cut the lemon half into 4 slices so that the lemon segments form little triangles. Carefully cut the segments out into a small bowl, preserving the triangular shape as you do so.

When the eggplants are cool, cut them into 1 inch squares and set one piece of eggplant on each cracker, with the corners of the eggplant in the middle of the sides of each cracker so you have a nice “pointy” thing going on.

Moisten your fingers and quickly form about ¼ tsp tahini whip into a ball and set it in the center of the eggplant. Sprinkle a pinch of zatar onto it, then place the lemon segment on top and dust with paprika. Finally, stick a single ‘leaf’ (what do you call individual little green parts on rosemary? Needles??) of rosemary into the tahini so that it arches up over the lemon. Repeat with all of them and serve.

Roasted Red Pepper Tahini

1 red bell pepper
1/3 cup tahini
2 tbsp water
pinch of salt

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 F (175 C) and set your baking rack in the highest slot.

Wash the pepper and bake it for about 10 minutes on a tinfoil-lined baking sheet. It should be pretty charred and black on one side. Turn it and let the other side get puffy, crisp, and dark.
Remove the pepper from the oven and fold the tinfoil over it. Let it sit for 10 minutes and then open it up, remove the seeds and skin (should basically fall off) and discard them.

If you have a food processor, toss all the ingredients in there at this point. If not (Hello, my name is Erin and I am a food prep masochist. I have nothing but a mortar and pestle and I question that choice often.), chop the pepper up and then grind it into a paste in a mortar and pestle. Stir it into the tahini, add the water, and salt to taste, mixing it all until you get a fluffy, thick paste. Should be workable and smooth, but not liquid, since you want it to keep its shape on the cracker.
Although, just add some more water and a little lemon and you have a perfect chip dip, FYI.

Part II: The Sweet Tooth Trembles…

I made some red bean paste last week because we had too many kidney beans lying around. It’s fantastic on rice cakes or bread, or with yogurt or porridge, but as a singularly unique item, it begs creativity, and I felt compelled to oblige when I thought about creating a sweet canapé for this edition of Go Ahead honey. Enter: The dessert sushi. This cookie is so tasty, satisfying, and, (really) healthy that it could be your next homemade Powerbar if you just tossed in some guarana and raisins. And the presentation is, needless to say, really really cool.

Red Bean Paste
2 cups dry kidney beans
4 tbsp maple syrup
A smidge of salt. About one grain. (optional)

Soak the kidney beans overnight, drain, rinse, and cook for about 1 ½ hours, or until very tender.
Let cool, then drain and mash through a large sieve into a bowl (be patient, this takes awhile). Save the skins if you want and toss them into some other baked good, because you can ☺
Stir in the maple syrup and salt, taste, and adjust as desired.
Store in an airtight container and stir every few days in the refrigerator to keep it longer.

Dessert Sushi: AKA Redbean-Tahini Cookies

1 batch red bean paste
1 batch tahini cookie dough
1 apple
2 tbsp simple cream frosting, thinned to drippable
1 tbsp poppyseeds
(the last three are my versions, you can vary as you see fit for fillings and toppings)

Using a well-floured board and rolling pin, roll out about ½ cup cookie dough to about ¼ inch thick. Aim for a square shape (like sushi nori, right?) and trim the edges with a knife to make them straight and square.

Coat the dough with red bean paste and along one edge, lay your fillings, parallel to the edge. Fold that edge in, tucking the fillings inside as you go, and roll the pastry until you have a long cylinder. With a very sharp knife, slice the roll into 1-inch sushi sections, then set on their bottoms on a baking sheet.

Bake 15-20 minutes at about 350 F, until just barely browned and firmed.
Let cool and top as desired!

Tahini Cookies Three Ways

2009-03-24T22:26:00.005+01:00

There are infinite ways to finish off this recipe with your own personal touch. I fully encourage such experiments, and I offer you one of my weird variations here for a little idea of what you could do. The ground recipe is the same.

Tahini Cookie Dough (Ground Recipe)
1/3 cup tahini
¼ cup sugar beet syrup or other syrupy sweetener
¼ cup ground hazelnuts
½ cup rice flour (plus a few tbsp)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp margarine (optional)
1 tbsp water or as needed

Mix the tahini, syrup, and margarine, if using.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients, then add them to the wet and mix. If it is too dry to come together into a ball, add some water and try again. If it is a bit too oily (mine was, after the addition of margarine) add the extra flour.

For simple Diamond Cookies, roll the dough out on a floured board to about 1/4 inch thick and slice into diamond shapes. Then bake for about 15 minutes at 350 F (175 C), or until they are just touched with color on the edges. Careful, these over-cook quickly!

Oatmeal-Style Raisin Tahini Cookies

These involve no oats, but they sure remind me of the delicious oatmeal cookies my mom used to make...chewy, fruity, hearty, and best still warm from the oven.

To the ground recipe, add:
2 large carrots, grated
1/4 cup rice flour
1/2 cup raisins

Adjust the flour-water ratio as needed to get a thick, but workable, cookies dough.
Roll 1 tbsp of the dough into a ball, then flatten it into a cookie shape and repeat for the rest. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until lightly browned and firm enough to hold together. Let cool on a rack (barely) and enjoy :)
Also check out the directions for Dessert Sushi to see another adaptation of this ground recipe.

Calico Kichiri and Rosemary Roasted Carrot Hash with Fresh Sprouts

2009-03-19T17:29:00.006+01:00

I looooove lentils. LOOOOOOOOVE them. All colors, shapes, sizes, and preparations. Which is probably why I can’t really manage to discriminate when it comes to creating Indian lentil dishes. Kichiri is ‘supposed’ to be made with red lentils, which is fantastic, but I wanted black lentils today, so that’s what I made. Continuing the blasphemy, I added nutritional yeast to imitate the consistency of red lentils. Recipe-sticklers beware, it was sinfully good and I don’t regret a moment of it.

The roasted carrot hash was half glorious inspiration and half poor planning-Having seen the roasted carrot dip on Just Bento, I thought it would be a perfect spread for the yummy cornbread my roommate just cooked up. After roasting the carrots, I remembered for the 100th time that we broke the food processor a few months ago. Huh. Carrots are not very mortar and pestle friendly. I used a bread knife to hack them into tiny pieces, and tried anyway, but the slippery little suckers still evaded all mushing attempts and just squirmed around my mortar mischieviously. Confounded, I tossed them into a bowl and drizzled balsamic vinegar and bragg’s over them, tossed, and tasted-WOAH that’s good!

The mustard sprouts and steamed chickpea sprouts really topped off the simple kichiri and tangy carrots. I steamed the chickpea sprouts for about 10 minutes on the lowest heat to get them tender and served them still warm over everything. So-oh-ohhhhh good. I ate two helpings and packed more for dinner, because with this good of a taste, repetition is a blessing!

Note: for the record, this meal was so satisfying I couldn’t manage to eat any more for dinner. The magic of sprouts, veggies, lentils and rice is that it’s absolutely everything you need and want, all in one delectable bowl.

Calico Kichiri

Ingredients
1 leek, sliced into rounds
1 small red onion, roughly chopped
1 cup brown rice, long or short grain
¾ cup beluga lentils
3 cups water

½ tsp cardamom powder, or 4 whole pods
1 tsp turmeric powder
3 cloves garlic, chopped (or some garlic powder-I admit it, I used powder today…)
1 tsp finely chopped ginger root
1 tbsp nutritional yeast
½ tsp cinnamon powder
2 tbsp oil

Directions

Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium-low heat and add the onions and leek. Cook, stirring, until they are tender and shiny.
Add the spices, garlic and ginger, continuing to stir. Scrape the bottom of the pan if it starts to stick, and just keep stirring for about a minute.
Add the lentils and rice, still stirring, for 1 more minute.
Add the water, cover, bring to a boil, and reduce heat. Cook for 30 minutes or until almost all the water is absorbed and everything is fully cooked.
Stir in the nutritional yeast. There should be a little liquid left to create a saucy consistency with the yeast-if needed, add a drop more water, and you will get a wonderfully thick mush as it cools on the plate, stiff enough to stay on the spoon when you turn it sideways.comfort food consistency!

Rosemary Roasted Carrot Hash

Ingredients
4 carrots
1 very large sprig of rosemary
a pinch of salt
2 tsp bragg’s or tamari
2 tsp balsamic vinegar

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 F (175 C).
Wash the carrots and chop them into large chunks. Sprinkle them with a bit of salt, set the rosemary on top, and wrap it all in a piece of foil. Bake for 30 minutes, or until tender.

After they have cooled for a moment, use a large knife to dice the carrots into very small pieces. Minced might be the word. Toss them with the vinegar and bragg's and serve over or beside your main course, warm or cool. In the summer, we’ll have to revisit this with fresh basil leaves chopped up in it…

Spicy Chickpea Salad (makes heaps)

2009-03-18T13:27:00.005+01:00

“How about hummus?”
“I don’t know, it’s such a pain, and we don’t have a food processor.”
“Ok, just a tahini dip.”
“Ok, good.”

Yet later that night, preparing everything for the yoga and brunch workshop, I felt that hummus was necessary. It was obviously a delirium-induced conclusion, because as I finished cooking the chickpeas early the next morning, I knew immediately that we had too much food and not enough time to make 400 grams of chickpeas into hummus with a mortar and pestle.

Hurrah for mistakes, because the resulting salad is a very welcome addition to my recipe collection. I have been enjoying (a lot of) it by itself or tossed with fresh greens. Actually, if you wanted to, you even COULD toss it all in a food processor and make hummus after all!

In fact, I am thinking that later this week some falafel might grown where the salad was planted...I'll keep ya posted.

Spicy Chickpea Salad

Ingredients
4 cups cooked chickpeas
1 large green bell pepper
4 carrots
1 cup mung bean sprouts
½ cup chopped parsley (plus 2 tbsp garnish)

Juice of 1 lemon
2 cloves garlic
½ inch ginger root
2 tbsp miso paste
salt and pepper to taste
2 tbsp bragg’s/tamari
½ cup oil
½ cup white wine vinegar
¼ cup water kefir or some water + another vinegar of choice + a dash of sugar
1 tsp hot paprika
1 tbsp zatar (plus 2 tbsp garnish)

Directions

Chop the bell pepper and carrots into small chunks.
Into a large jar, grate the ginger and garlic. Add the other dressing ingredients, mix, and pour over the salad. Let it sit for an hour or two in the fridge before serving, then garnish with the zatar and parsley.

NorCal Dolmas (and no-waste rice milk!)

2009-03-17T17:44:00.006+01:00

Fresh, sticky dolma filling

Of all the teachers I’ve had in my life, a few of them stand out like gold embossing in my memory. One of these radiant individuals is Jon, the counselor from my high school. He and his wife, my art teacher, are two of the spunkiest folks I’ve ever met, and the things I’ve learned from them go a long way past the classroom. Like, for example, into the kitchen. Before moving into teaching, they ran a little restaurant in California and the cooking bug as never left them as far as I can tell.

Last summer, as Sheri scrambled to finish a huge multimedia piece for her art show (that night-artistic procrastination at its best), Jon entered the kitchen with an armload of groceries and a determined jut to his jaw. “We’ve gotta make a lot of food,” he informed Daniel and I, and, wow, did we ever.

I recalled all this last week as I prepared for the Yoga and brunch workshop at B.Yoga Basel. with a bunch of yogis to feed, Jon’s dolmas sprang to mind immediately as an easy, tasty, and for some reason ‘impressive’ dish that I could bring. Everyone likes dolmas. Not just for soulful combo of tangy lemon and spiced rice, but there’s something about the presentation of it all in a slick green grape leaf that makes you think, “I am dining exactly as Caesar would have dined, and for that, I am magnificent.”
Enjoy the illusion of grandeur; just don’t tell them how easy it was to make them. I didn’t manage to get a picture, but I think that’s a fairly good selling point, don’t you?

NorCal Dolmas (makes about 60)
This recipe is modified to simultaneously cook the rice and make rice milk which is not necessary, but COOL. See the notes section for more information on alternative methods and the who-what-why's...

Ingredients
1 jar grape leaves (preferably without the “acidity regulators” and “E-whatevers”)
5 cups short grain brown rice, soaked overnight in twice as much water
3 lemons
400 grams raisins, finely chopped
lotsa cinnamon
a pinch of salt
a grate or two of nutmeg (if you’re feelin’ lucky)
¼ cup olive oil (hugely flexible amount)

Directions

Without straining or rinsing, add 2 cups of water to the rice and cook, covered, until tender.
Strain the rice and set aside the liquid (add a tiny pinch of salt and some sugar and you have rice milk! Now that was easy!)
To the rice, add the raisins, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg. Stir it all up and be ruthless so the consistency gets good and gooey. You want it to be self-adhesive so it doesn’t crumble when you bite into the dolma.
Add the grated zest and juice of 1 lemon at a time, tasting after each one to make sure it’s not too sour. Adjust the spices to taste. If needed, add a little bit of the rice milk to get the stickiness level up.
Drain the leaves and unfold them on a clean plate. Taste a broken one (there’s always at least one) to make sure it’s not too salty or acidic, and rinse them quickly if it is. If they aren’t flavorful enough, add a dash of apple cider vinegar to the rice mixture.
Pour a tablespoon of oil onto another plate, set a leaf in the oil with the vein-ey side up and the stem facing you, and push the leaf around to coat the plate in oil. Depending on the size of the leaf, fill it with about 2 TBSP filling, fold up the bottom, tuck in the sides, and roll it to the top. Voila!
Repeat until the oil is gone and add another tablespoon of oil. A nice touch is to add some sliced lemon-rounds.

Notes

The directions here say to soak the rice. This increases digestibility whether you choose to do the rice milk thing or not, and I recommend soaking all grains overnight before cooking for this reason. Here, the soaking also induces some milky qualities in the water that let us make rice milk later by adding some extra water. Thus, you have 3 choices here:

You can

1) Follow the above directions for rice milk and rice

2) Soak the rice but skip the additional water and straining process, giving you really stomach-friendly rice, which might be nice with all the dried fruit going on here, OR

3) Cook the rice like most people cook rice-stick it in a pot with some water and just cook it, no soaking, no extra water weirdness, no random milk biproduct. Your choice!

Sundried Tomato and Black Olive Dip

2009-03-15T15:10:00.003+01:00

So easy, so good. We had this at a Yoga and Brunch workshop this weekend and I managed to snap a quick picture just before the bowl was scraped clean. It's fantastic on chips, salads, bread, or even over pasta or rice as a creamy vegan sauce.

Ingredients

1/2 cup finely chopped sun dried tomato halves (not in oil)
juice of 1 lemon
1/4 cup finely chopped black/greek olives
salt to taste (careful, the tomatoes are salty!)
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp hot paprika
1 clove garlic, pressed or grated
2 cups soy yogurt/kefir
3 tbsp chopped parlsey

Directions

Mix the lemon juice and sun dried tomatoes in a bowl, stir, and let them sit for a moment until the tomatoes are softened.
Add the rest of the ingredients, mix, cover, and chill until you're ready to serve.

Notes

For a thicker variation, which could be used as a thick spread, strain the yogurt before adding it by hanging it in a cheesecloth overnight. Check out this recipe for help with instructions.

My Legume Love Affair: Royal Purple Baked Beans

2009-03-09T14:12:00.004+01:00

This is my entry for "My Legume Love Affair," hosted this month by Laurie at Mediterranean Cooking in Alaska. Much thanks to Susan from The Well-Seasoned Cook for creating MLLA, which you can find in more detail here.

I don’t know how to explain properly the desire for beans I feel sometimes, but the word “tempestuous” comes close. And so it was with immediate enthrall that I began creating a recipe for “My Legume Love Affair” this month. In the end, I can’t give you my usual cultural, regional, health, or any other reasons for the things I have included. They just sounded really good. I started with a bag of dried black beans and some onions from the Tschumi farm, which I know from experience are too delicious to chop up when you have the chance to eat them roasted whole. Before I knew it, I had a casserole dish of baked beans gone decidedly sultry. That, my friend, is just how I roll.

Royal Purple Baked Beans

Ingredients:
2 cups dried black beans
8 small yellow onions, peeled
1 medium beet, washed and peeled into strips
1 large leek
10-15 sundried tomatoes, chopped
5 cloves garlic, slivered

½ cup rice milk
1 can tomato puree or stewed tomatoes, or some fresh tomatoes, chopped up
1 tbsp maple syrup
3 tbsp molasses
½ tsp pepper
1 tsp spicy paprika
1 tsp soy sauce, tamari, or bragg’s
2 tbsp chopped rosemary
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp nutmeg
1 tsp mustard seeds
½ tsp sea salt
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp canola oil

either 1/4 cup celeriac juice or ½ head celeriac, grated, plus a few tbsp rice milk

Directions:

Soak the beans overnight, drain, rinse, and cook with a piece of kombu seaweed for 1 to 1 ½ hours, or until tender. Cool and drain.
Chop half the leek into rings and slice the remaining half lengthwise. Set aside the strips for the top, and mix together the leek rings, sundried tomatoes, garlic, beet, and beans.
Combine everything in the second section and pour over the beans. stir together and toss it in the casserole dish.
Place the onions and leek strips on top as desired, cover with foil and bake at 350 F (175 C) for about 40 minutes, until the beets are tender, the onions are soft, and the sauce is thickish.
YUM.

Serving idea: garnish with luscious tahini whip, which is not only tasty and beautiful, but makes this meal all-the-more nutritious cuz o’ the combination of tahini and beans. ok, we didn’t make it all the way without some nutritional information, my apologies. Now back to savoring that bowl of goodness in front of you.

The Son of Franken-Crepe: Erin's Kitchen Disaster

2009-02-28T18:20:00.001+01:00

Can you find 5 things that are different between these pictures?
Hint: the direction of the wood grain and the spatula are not the answers we were looking for

I realized yesterday, reading over squeaky mouse’s blog for dessert ideas, that I should confess something. I often…OFTEN…mess things up in the kitchen. It’s part of the process, and none of the recipes here would exist without the 3 mutilated versions immediately prior. The convenience of blogging is, I can post whichever picture I want. But just for a change of pace, let’s see the other side of Erin’s kitchen today.

I’m in pancake mania, and being home sick isn’t helping anything. Someone, tell me, what do you do when you’ve got 500 recipes to try, most of them involve fermented doughs, you’re bored out of your mind (even though you have many better things to do), and it’s breakfast time? Shhh…you’re not actually supposed to give an answer. I like mine. You make fermented buckwheat crepes.

I made the batter yesterday as an experiment because we’re planning some sourdough pancakes this weekend (the binge has no end in sight). It’s been sitting in the living room doing its yeast-gathering thing, and is definitely not a bubbly sourdough starter today, but it’s got a nice eggy texture that was wholly unexpected. I’ve got some leftover Country Corn and Potato Stew (recipe forthcoming), also unexpected, so we’re kickin’ it Erin style and slapping two completely unrelated food items together for a single-serving breakfast, just because we can.

Basic Recipe
Makes 1 mini crepe and 1 shriveled bat-ear look-alike. A useful quantity for 1 not very hungry child

Put1 tbsp canola oil, a dash of salt, and a grind of pepper into a jar.
Add in about 1/3 cup of your fermenting starter (chickpea and buckwheat flour with water, left to sit overnight), which you weren’t supposed to use for another 2 days.
Add a splash of water to get the consistency right, and if you have water kefir or kefir whey handy, use that instead to get some tang in there.

Heat the pan (mine is nonstick, and I didn’t oil it) for about 1 millisecond and toss 1 spoonful (clearly not enough) batter into the pan. Pause thoughtfully as you realize your mistake, then drizzle more batter around the original plop, and turn the pan to coat the bottom, which won’t work because the center is already firmed and the outside is still to runny. Don’t worry, it’s all part of the plan.

Because it seems better to get this painful thing out of the way as quickly as possible, flip the bat-ear before it’s even lightly browned. It should gum up on the spatula, stick to the bottom, and break in multiple places. Then you can attempt to cleverly fold it in half, because…Jesus, I have NO idea why. It seemed logical at the time, but I can’t justify that at ALL. This will make things worse, because it has now dried out too much to fold, and in a fit of panic, you can heave the thing onto the table “tsk” ing. Whisper: “Curse you, you crepe-bastard…”

Don’t worry, we’re almost done. Then you can turn the heat up to just over medium, mix a little more water into the batter, and dump it all into the pan. Amazingly, miraculously, like wine from water, the puddle of monster goo blooms into a lightly sizzling crepe, which, a few seconds after pouring, is ready to be gracefully flipped onto it’s white belly and cooked to golden perfection.

Serve with warmed leftover stew and a few finely chopped leek greens on top. Mop up the liquid left on your plate with the leathery mutant crepe, because one small crepe is not very much food and it's already too late to make something else. Bonus: you've eliminated the evidence of just how badly you can cook.

(Although, this version was actually really good.)

Check back tomorrow for the perfected recipe of sourdough buckwheat crepes!

Lemon-Poppy-Seed Cornmeal Pancakes (and a Googled education in corn)

2009-02-26T15:30:00.007+01:00

(Dani's, smothered in Quince Jam. That boy knows how to eat a pancake.)

I bet they’re better than your mama made ‘em.
Ok, mine never made cornmeal pancakes, which is shocking given the amount of cornmeal gluten-free cooks use, so go figure. It’s just that, these seem so very homey, simple, and country that I am really surprised I’ve never had them. Right now I’m equally surprised I’ve already had so many of them. Making up for lost time, that’s it…

Yesterday, slicing into a slab of cooled polenta on Daniel’s counter for breakfast, I got to wondering, “If I’ll eat a slimy-ish round of cold polenta with jam on it, why am I not just eating pancakes.” Yeah, it seemed unfair to me too.

The first and best recipe for “cornmeal pancakes” I found was from Natalie at Gluten-Free Mommy. The picture, especially, sold me, because while Natalie’s pancakes are totally gorgeous and glowing with fresh buttery-looking yumminess, mine are always rubbery and flat-nothing like the fluffy, crisp-edged wonders of my mom’s breakfast table. I adapted the recipe to be vegan and satisfied an urge for a bit of zing by adding fresh lemon juice, zest, and poppy seeds.

Everyone was ecstatic about the result, and I have to admit, I was fairly proud to have pulled off praise-worthy gluten-free pancakes. If I had known it was so simple, I could have pretended nonchalance and been wielding my magic creations over all you rubber-caked peons out there…so much for grandeur. I can suck it up and be the newbie for now-I had NO idea this was possible, and they are SO good.

In the process of creating my version of the recipe, I looked up a lot of information on corn. Apparently, that is one flexible little kernel-from white to yellow to blue, it can be starch-ed, stone-ground, meal-ed, flour-ed, mashed, boiled, pounded, or…nixtamalized…? Yeah, I said it, Nixtamalized. I bet you had no idea either. check out the “little blip about corn” at the end of the recipe to find out more...

Lemon-Poppy-Seed Cornmeal Pancakes

Ingredients (I had a hard time restraining myself and used an extra half of everything…apologies for the frequent “one-and-one-half-tablespoons” thing, but it worked out great):

2 cups medium cornmeal (or fine polenta, for europeans)
¼ cup rice or buckwheat flour (I used roasted red rice flour)
1 TBSP baking powder
1½ TBSP poppy seeds
½ tsp salt
1½ TBSP raw sugar
¼ tsp xanthan/guar gum
egg replacer for 1 egg (or 1½ tbsp flax meal soaked in hot water for 10 minutes)
zest of 1 lemon
juice of 1 lemon…well, I used 1½ in the end
1¾ cups dairy-free milk and/or yogurt (I used soy with a little soy yogurt stirred in to make it “buttermilky”)
¼ cup canola oil

Directions:

(Preheat the oven to the lowest setting for keeping your pancakes warm.)
In alarge bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, flour, xanthan/guar, sugar, salt, baking powder, and poppy seeds (and powdered egg replacer if using).
In another bowl, whisk together the oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, and flax seed egg sub, if you’re using it.
Stir in the milk slowly, hoping it doesn’t curdle. Mine didn’t, but the possibility seemed to exist…
Mix everything together and add a splash of water if it’s too thick.
Heat a griddle or pan over medium heat, lightly oiled, and pour out ¼ to 1/3 cups of batter for each cake. My batter was thick, and I tilted the pan a little to spread it out more, which worked great.
Cook until lightly browned on the bottom and firm enough to flip, them brown the other side and let rest in the oven until they’re all done!

A Little Blip About Corn
Corn can be prepared in all sorts of interesting ways which alter its nutritional value, form, taste, and texture. Sure, there’s popcorn, corn meal, corn starch, corn flour, corn oil (that’s a bit strange, if you ask me…where exactly is the oil in a corn plant…?), corn syrup (another conundrum), etc. But then there are some really interesting things that only the mothers of corn-eating could have devised, like chicha, a fermented Incan drink traditionally made by old women sitting around chewing on the corn and then spitting it into warm water.

What got me wondering about corn was the bag of Masa Harina my roommate purchased to make corn tortillas a while ago. The corn flour in it has such a fine, white appearance and a strange, almost play-dough consistency when mixed with water. It’s nothing like fine polenta, or cornmeal, or corn starch, or…anything I’ve ever seen. I looked it up and sure enough it’s something else. It is the dried version of something I read about in Wild Fermentation and then promptly forgot: nixtamalized corn.

To nixtamalize corn, South and Central Americans traditionally cooked dried corn in lime (calcium hydroxide, not the fruit!). North American Indians used wood ash, but both are alkaline solutions, and the process makes niacin, among other nutrients, more available in the corn. This was crucial to the ancient cultures that depended on corn as a staple food. When settlers adopted a diet high in corn, and brought it back to Europe and other colonies, they left out the nixtamalization and got extremely sick because they weren’t getting everything they needed. Imperialism never pays off in the long run.

Masa Harina is, as I said, the dried version of nixtamalized corn, or “Nixtamal”. It’s not only way more nutritious that corn meal, but the special ingredient needed to make tamales, corn tortillas, and a variety of cool porridges and beverages. It’s also probably the reason that my “masa harina corn dumplings” came out more like mochi (sticky sweet rice) balls the other night. It is not a substitute for cornmeal, and corn meal is not a substitute for it, at least, never in entirety. Good to know!

Nixtamalized is also a really weird word, and a good one for impressing people, especially if you’re out drinking together. Just bust out with a, “Whatever dude, it’s all due to the decline of corn nixtamalization in the last 2 to 3 centuries-if corn production had never met western industrialization, we’d all be living off corn and beans; we’d be way healthier and gluten allergies might not even exist in the Americas today!” Ok, I have no basis for that claim, but it’s just a little food for thought.

Expect some masa harina recipes in the next few weeks, I am dying to try out some of the things I’ve been reading about. In the meantime, check out some of these websites, it’s really interesting!

a GREAT nutritional guide to gluten-free grains from About.com
Nutritional information for Masa Harina and cornmeal, to compare.
Info on Nixtamalization

Recycled Bread 2: Kvass-Potato Paprikash

2009-02-25T15:10:00.000+01:00

i
I guess Russia just invaded Hungary. Either that, or I am feeling sentimental about all the potato paprikash I ate there, and I want to recreate the experience with the things I have available. Primarily: leftovers from making kvass, a Russian drink made from stale bread soaked in water, sugar, yeast, mint, and lemon. The leftovers are a ball of mushy bread goo, and I couldn’t think of anything better to do with bread than make, um, bread. Next time you try out kvass-making, you know what to do next. Of course, you can make this bread without the kvass mush too. Substitutes are listed in the notes.

Kvass-Potato Paprikash Bread

As with my other recycled bread, this is a fairly dense loaf. It can stand alone as a hearty breakfast slice, but still makes a great sandwich, or a delicious appetizer sliced, roasted, and served with vegan mint raita.

Ingredients:
2 cups leftover mush from making kvass*
1 cup cornmeal SD starter
½ cup water kefir
2 tbsp molasses
2 tbsp kimchee brine (or water with salt and garlic)
2 potatoes, 1 grated, 1 chopped in thin slices
1/3 cup chopped leek
¾ cup polenta OR ¼ cup polenta and ½ cup recycled grain (leftover rice or something)
2 tbsp nutritional yeast
3 tbsp sweet or medium paprika powder plus some for garnish
¼ cup canola oil
2 tsp baking powder

Directions:

Mix the sourdough starter with the molasses, polenta/polenta+grain, and water kefir. Leave covered in a warm place for 12-24 hours.
Preheat the oven to 375 F(190 C)
Mix in everything but the oil and combine very well.
Heat the oil until bubbly and mix it quickly into the dough.
Scrape the dough into an oiled, floured casserole dish (makes a cornbread shaped loaf) and garnish with paprika.
Put in the oven and reduce heat to 350 F (175 C)
Bake for 30 minutes or until the loaf begins to come away from the sides. Cool before slicing

Notes:
*Subsititute: a leftover cooked grain, blended up into a thick mush (don't add liquid) would work fine, as would mashed potatoes and some flour. Or add another grated potato and enough flour to get a good consistency. Or, combine the above ideas.

Savory Granola Success: Dankness and Beyond

2009-02-24T14:09:00.004+01:00

Dank. It doesn’t mean dark and wet here. In Northern California lingo, it’s the epitome of GOOD. No, I don’t think you heard that right; Goo-OO-ooOOd. The stuttering, multi-syllabic one. There you go. That one.

As I wrote yesterday, I accidentally ate some gluten over the weekend and I have been functioning in a stupor of all the usuals ever since: indigestion, bloating, headache, and cravings. This granola is my answer to feeling nutrient- and fiber-deprived: pumpkin seeds and molasses for iron and calcium, plus more from the tahini; fiber from flax, oats, and “chufas nüssli,” and healthy fats from the flax oil and other seeds and nuts. Nutritional yeast for trace elements that GF-eaters can always use, and a dose of good intentions for healing up my digestive tract. And the olives are healthy, but I did it for the flavuh, because let me tell you...Mm. Mm-hm.

I put everything I had into this granola recipe, and I am pleased to say that somehow, it came out delicious. Of course, you can add the ingredients closest to your heart instead of the ones I chose-I just had a hankering for the taste of seedy-nutty-sesame-braggs-yeasty-goodness, a combination that tastes so much like home I might have woken my mom up from around the world just by listing them in that order. Dank. It’s really all I can say.

Spiced Savory Granola, GF and Vegan, of course!

Ingredients (don’t be intimidated, mix and match as needed, and see notes for help!):
½ cup activated sunflower seeds
1/3 cup activated pumpkin seeds
1/3 cup sesame seeds
½ cup flax seeds
¼ cup activated hazelnuts
½ cup GF oats
½ cup nutritional yeast
½ cup chestnut flakes
½ cup ground "earth almonds"*
1 tbsp rosemary
1 tsp ground cardamom
¼ tsp nutmeg
½ tsp garlic powder
½ tsp cumin
1 tsp fennel seeds
½ tsp black pepper

1 small banana
1 tbsp braggs amino acids or tamari
1 tbsp tahini
1 tbsp molasses
10 kalamata olives
1 tbsp flax oil

You think I’m crazy, don’t you? Bananas and olives? yeast and molasses? What are Earth Almonds anyway??? Just come to the dark side of baking, that shadowy experiment lab, for an afternoon and try to tell me after it wasn’t worth it.

Directions:

Grind the flax and fennel seeds into a coarse meal.
In a mortar and pestle, or food processor, mix to a paste ½ the sunflower seeds, a few spoons of water, the hazelnuts, flax-fennel meal, and all the wet ingredients.
As your seeds/nuts will probably still be wet from soaking, toss them in the wet ingredients and stir together.
In a large bowl, mix the dry ingredients with a fork until combined.
Pour the wet ingredients over the dry and mix together. It should all be moistened and vaguely sticky. If you have dry spots left, add a splash of water and/or oil and mix again.
Preheat the oven to 350 F (175 C). Oil a large baking sheet and spread the mixture out on the sheet, loosely breaking into clumps with a spoon or fork.
Bake for 30 minutes, or until browned and mostly dry, stirring every 15 minutes to prevent burning.
Let cool and enjoy!

Notes:
*sedge tubers. If the word 'tuber' confuses you, see here. Often the spanish word chufas is used on packaging. You can substitute nut meal of any kind or another mealy ingredient, or up the oats and omit them entirely.

A few tips to keep in mind for substitutions:
Savory granola is lacking the usual gooey component of honey, agave, or (blech) corn syrup that most sweet granola’s use. That’s why I used a banana, the tahini, the ground sunflower seeds, and the molasses, all of which moisten and bind. The banana doesn’t give any flavor to the finished granola, but you could substitute something else if you just don’t like the sound of it-applesauce or nut butters work well, but with nut butters, you will need to add something liquid to even out the thickness. Using flax meal also adds to stickiness, and is just fantastically healthy and good.
The point is, granola is simple, and you don’t have to follow any recipe to the t. Just add the things you like and see what happens, I truly don’t think you can go wrong.

(Ready for shelving in a recycled raw sugar bag :))

Goodnight Gluten-Headache.

2009-02-23T20:46:00.005+01:00

It happens to all of us every once and a while-no matter how diligent we are, a little gluten slips in when we least expect it. Maybe it was a new product you tried, and misread the ingredient label on; often it's a loving friend who just wants to offer something yummy and assures you falsely (albeit good-heartedly) that it's gluten-free. One thing's certain: you get a feeling of dread as soon as you realize what has happened.
This time, I was over at a friend's house for brunch. There was an akward moment of realization as I took my second bite of homemade fake meat ("Is it gluten-free?" "Yes, yes, just seeds and nuts and stuff, nothing with gluten...") and the cook listed off the ingredients excitedly:
"...sunflower seeds, and then a little old bread to hold it together-"
"Old BREAD?"
And a thundering silence. What's better is, the "gluten-free cake" of that evening was also laced with wheat flour, and the next day, I felt significantly bogged down with a load of unwanted feelings.
What are your symptoms like? Mine begin with a flushed, hot feeling, bloating, abdominal pain, and some other lovely unmentionables, and end with 1-2 days of headache, fatigue, intense sugar-cravings, and an upset stomach. It's not a process I enjoy and it's one I work really hard to avoid. Duh. Pain just isn't fun. But if I know it's coming, I better be willing to do something more than wait in terror, or I'll be adding placebo to reality and just compounding the damage. Positive thinking makes a difference. That's something I really believe. And no matter how tempting it is to curl up in self-pity, call in sick, and resent all gluten-eaters, I gotta realize it hurts no one but myself.

So, I'm trying to balance the damage by treating myself ridiculously well. First things first: Celiacs who eat gluten damage their intestines. That just sucks. The pain I feel in my abdomen is indigestion and the destruction of a few little villi, the fingers that absorb nutrients as food passes through. That means it's harder for me to get nutrients, and as many of you have probably experienced, iron-deficiency is a leading side-effect of celiac's disease. Women especially, beware, it is just not funny to get anemic. So, munch on lightly steamed dark greens (unless you have good fresh spinach available. Then you should eat it raw) with lots of lemon juice. The vitamin C will make the iron more accessible, and it just tastes great. Other great snacks are soaked pumpkin seeds, or rice cakes and molasses.

Second, because my body cannot digest gluten, it treats it as a toxin. Our bodies are intelligent vessels, and when they sense something bad coming in, they work double-time to get it out. That means taking energy from other functions and using them for back-up on the clean-up crew. The reason I feel so sluggish and crappy is that it's busy fighting gluten and doesn't have time to keep everything else going full-speed. Our instinct when faced with fatigue is often to eat more. Food=energy, right? What this actually does is route your body's attention away from the problem of eradicating toxins to the task of digesting new food. Of course, it's going to have a hard time doing that with a load of glutinous gunk blocking the way, and you are, in fact, just stressing out an already stressed system. So, stop trying to battle the fact that you feel a little crummy and just remember that there is a very specific reason for it, and your body is obviously doing it's job or you wouldn't feel anything.

To avoid putting extra burdens on your digestive system, the best thing you can do is eat very small portions of very soothing, nutritious food. Soup, beans, brown rice and veggies, and nothing heavily spiced, salted, or sugared. If you're going to eat onions or other intense foods, cook them well, because extra gases will only be uncomfortable. And try to eat things high in fiber, to help evacuate your digestive tract. Even if it feels like adding more to the mess in your intestine is going to somehow balance out the bad, more food is not the answer. Be patient, drink lots of water, and everything will sort itself out.

Third, enzymes could help a lot depending on the type of intolerance you have. If you don't have one already, consider getting a good degestive enzyme to keep around, if only for the days post-gluten when you really need something to calm your intestine. More information on enzymes and gluten-intolerance is available here.

Well, speaking of sluggish, I'm ready for bed, and I'm hoping tomorrow things will be coming back to normal. I'm devising some fiber- and iron-rich savory granola for tomorrow to help get back all the things I'm lacking right now, and if it's edible I'll post the recipe! Above all, just keep smiling. Skip the panic and go straight to nurture next time your friend's mom tells you proudly about the gluten-free meal she just served with only "a little flour" in it! Goodnight gluten-headache, and don't bother waking me up when you leave tomorrow...

Basic Soy Kefir

2009-02-22T20:03:00.003+01:00

Basic Soy Kefir

I read on Dom’s website (<-- at this site, scroll to bottom and click the link for seed/nut milk kefir, my link to it is not working at the moment) that kefir grains will not live long and happy lives in soy-only diets. I have no idea. I generally like water kefir more often than I like soymilk kefir, so I alternate my grains between the two. I don’t know if that’s a good idea or not, but I do it. And it seems to work.

Many of the same principles apply to kefir making as to yogurt making. You can look at Basic Soy Yogurt for information on choosing milk, cleanliness, etc. There are also some kefir-specific things you should know.

As kefir ferments, it creates carbonation in the milk, and causes pressure in sealed containers. If you seal the container (and I do, because I like those bubbles ☺), you should fill it only ¾ full to avoid explosions, no matter how cool creating your own explosives might seem.

If you keep making milk kefir, it’s a good idea to rinse the grains in room temperature, filtered water (unchlorinated). Otherwise, they can get a gooey layer on their surface which makes it hard for them to function.

I just feel silly writing more because Dom’s Kefir Making Site has all the information you could ever need and if you want to know more, check it out. Here is my extremely low-key kefir-making process:

Basic Soy Kefir

Ingredients:
1 liter soymilk, at room temperature
1 tbsp kefir grains

Materials:
glass container (at least 1.5 liter sealed, at least 1 liter open)
plastic mesh strainer, cheesecloth, or something else to strain the grains out (loose weave)

Directions:

Clean all the materials before you start with soap and then again with hot water. Finally, rinse with cool water to avoid damaging the kefir grains.
Add the milk to the container and gently add the grains.
Cover if desired and leave in a warm place for 12-24 hours, occasionally swishing around the contents to break up curds. You can also open the lid if it is sealed to release pressure.
When it’s the thickness you like, you can either strain the kefir through a clean cloth or you can just spoon them out, rinse them with unchlorinated water, and plunk them in some new milk or water kefir mix.
Let the kefir age at room temperature for a more sour taste, or refrigerated to keep it mild.

Notes:
If you let the kefir age with the grains inside for an extra 12 hours or so, you will get a very thick kefir which can be strained and made into a thick, quark-like cream. It’s a great ingredient for Vegan Mint Raita or any other recipes that need sour cream or similar dairy products. Check out the easy instructions here.

Basic Soy Yogurt

2009-02-21T23:58:00.001+01:00

Yogurt making is so simple I didn’t really believe I had managed it the first time. All you are doing is creating a good environment for your bacteria (clean, warm, and with something they can eat) and letting them do the rest. So the only things you need to worry about are cleanliness (wash all your materials and don’t lick the spoon) and temperature.

MILK: Soy yogurt is only slightly more tricky, and mainly because quality and ingredients in commercial soymilk can vary. In general, I think it is better to buy organic soymilk with no additives or sweeteners, and to check to see if it was made from whole soybeans or from soy flour. Don’t buy milk that was made from flour, that’s just not how you make grain milks and it creeps me out! If you use a sweetened milk, the safest sweeteners are sugar or cane juice. Others can interfere with the bacterial growth, although I would like to see if molasses works, and I’ll post as soon as I know. You can always add a sweetener later!

TEMPERATURE: It took me some experimenting to find that the temperature is also a more sensitive issue with soy, and if your milk is too hot, it will curdle immediately. In this respect, it is always better to err on the side of cool if you don’t know how warm to make the milk-if it’s too cold to help the bacteria grow a lot, you can usually just wait longer and it will eventually reach the right thickness.

The third thing is that incubation times can vary a LOT and I’m really not sure why. I am guessing it is mostly the temperature it stays at while thickening, and if it stays a nice constant temperature, it works much faster. You are working with little bacteria that in some ways act like people-they slow down if it’s cold or really hot. Lately I have let mine sit for a minimum of 9 hours. Then I check the thickness by jiggling the jar a little, or tilting it lightly, and if I want it thicker, I leave it. If you leave it for too long, like 24 hours or so, you get a lot of separation, but it is still totally edible.

CLEANLINESS: Wash all your materials beforehand with soap and again with just hot water. Never touch things with your hands before the milk or yogurt touches them, and don’t dip your fingers in the yogurt or milk. It’s a good idea to cover the yogurt with something when it is incubating to keep other organisms out.

I have never used a powdered or liquid culture started for my yogurt, I just look for a good live yogurt in the shop and use the last of it. It will work either way though, and you can do what works for you

So, my tips for making good soy yogurt:
Be clean
Use plain, good quality, organic “whole-bean” soymilk
Don’t overheat the milk
Don’t move the jar during incubation
Keep the yogurt as warm as you can while it sits

All that being said, I should add that I have made yogurt in all kinds of places at all kinds of temperatures, and the worst that can happen is you have a jar of milk at the end, which is exactly what you started with. Don’t worry, it’s forgiving ☺

Basic Soy Yogurt
Makes 1 liter

Ingredients:
Slightly less than one liter of soy milk (1 liter minus about 4 tbsp)
4 tbsp plain, live, cultured soy yogurt

Materials:
1 liter glass jar
medium saucepan
a thick kitchen towel, a big cooking pot (or yogurt incubator), an insulated lunchbox, or something else to put the yogurt in to keep it warm.
a long spoon or other stirrer

Directions:
Before beginning, thoroughly wash all tools and containers and rinse in super-hot water.
Put the yogurt in the jar

Over a low flame, heat the milk, stirring. Test the temperature by letting a drop fall from the spoon onto your wrist (and don’t let it fall from your wrist into the pan, you want things clean!). The milk should feel very warm, but not at all uncomfortable; it doesn’t take long, so watch it!

When the milk is ready, put a few spoonfuls of milk into the yogurt and combine. (If it curdles, your milk was too hot and you can continue knowing you will have very lumpy yogurt, or start over with fresh yogurt)

Add the rest of the milk and slowly stir together, combining thoroughly. Set the jar in a warm place where it won’t be moved; a covered pot of water the same temperature as the milk, or inside an insulated lunchbox with a jar of warm water next to it to keep the temperature up. If you have a warm enough spot (like next to where you are cooking, if you will cook a lot that day) you can wrap the yogurt in a towel and leave it there.

Let the yogurt incubate for at least 8 hours, check the thickness and let sit for a few more hours if it’s too thin. When it’s finished, put the yogurt in the fridge to slow bacterial growth.

African Black-Eyed Banana Muffins

2009-02-19T19:42:00.006+01:00

(For lunch with stir-fried chard and carrots and sunflower-pumpkin seed mash)

(Heaven: noun: a place existing in the overlap of molasses and hot muffins)

(Silicone muffin cups, oh how i love thee.
Thine sides are oh so pliable, portable, and never ever stick)

No, I wasn’t beating up on the fruit. I just had a weird burst of inspiration to make something that I’ve never even imagined before. It took a day of serious thought, beginning with never-before-tried item number 1: black-eyed peas. They’ve been sitting in the cupboard for a while now, and I’ve still never even tasted one, not in my whole life.

“Never?” My mom’s voice is audibly incredulous.
“Nope.”
“We ate ‘em every new years when I was growing up, it’s a southern thing I guess…”
Well, that’s what happens when southerners move northwest. Rice milk and nutritional yeast take up more and more of their pantry-space. My mom held strong on a lot of southern items, like cast-iron skillets and some epic chilis, but somehow we missed the black-eyed peas.
“Blech, they’re boring.” She adds. Sabotage! With a fresh-soaked bowl of black-eyed peas peering quietly up from the table, it sounds like sacrilege to me, and I’m ready to make something decidedly not-boring.

Black eyed peas came to the southern US as a result of slave trade. They originate in Africa, and have been cultivated there for thousands of years, often as a partner crop to millet, because of the nitrogen-fixing qualities of legumes. Light-bulb: Millet. Yum. I just so happen to have recently tried a great recipe form Wild Fermentation for African Millet Porridge. It’s extremely simple. You literally just have to soak some coarsely-ground millet in water overnight to get a week of breakfasts. A theme emerges, yet somehow, beans and millet sounds like just another northern Californian hippie Thanksgiving. There’s gotta be a way to make that more African.

With a little research, I learned a lot about African food. Let me tell you, the things I didn’t know could be the topic of a few massive volumes. The dishes I dug up feature so many great flavor combinations my western palette trembles at the mere mention of: onions and coconut, peppers and banana, beans and sugar, oh yes, talk about bringing down the cultural house! My roommate just bought a bunch of bananas, and we’ve got loads of coconut, creamed and shredded. BAM! We’ve got everything we need for some Congo-cookin’!

Except, sigh, an actual meal idea. Porridge is delicious, but I need something more portable right now. With a full schedule of being extra-house this week, I know I won’t be returning to top off a soup bowl in between yoga and work. It was a tense moment, and I was sure I would have to abandon African Cuisine for the day, until…When you need them, answers come, my friend, and it was something like euphoria when my gaze fell upon my lovely new muffin tray. Fast as you can say “Mom, black-eyed peas are not boring, they are underappreciated and any fan of hand crafts ought to understand that fully!” I was wrapping some paper around a muffin for the road-and my mouth around the second. They’re that good.

African Black-Eyed Banana Muffins

Ingredients (12 muffins; start the day before baking for the long method):

2 1/2 cups millet, coarsely ground (I used a mortar and pestle)

1 1/2 cup cooked black-eyed peas*
2 ripe bananas
¼ cup rice milk or coconut milk
3 tbsp canola oil
2 tsp molasses
2 tbsp creamed coconut
4 tbsp grated coconut (plus 2 tbsp opt. garnish)

pinch of salt
½ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp nutmeg
½ tsp cardamom
3 cloves, ground to powder
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 cup buckwheat flour**
1 tbsp baking powder

1 dried banana, in 12 short slices-(opt, garnish)

Directions:

Stir the millet in a large, non-metallic bowl with about 3 cups of water. Let it sit overnight (This aids digestibility and enhances flavor, but you can also cook the millet before using without any soaking)
Cook the soaked millet mixture, stirring occasionally until the water is absorbed but it is still moist (about 10 minutes)
Preheat the oven to 350 F (175 C)
Mash together the millet, beans, and bananas.
Add the wet ingredients, except milk, and combine well.
Add the dry ingredients and check the consistency. It should slowly drop off a spoon, but be thick. Add just enough milk to get the consistency you want, and spoon into your muffin tray
Garnish each with a sprinkle of coconut and a slice of banana.
Bake for about 30 minutes, until browned on top and coming away from the sides. They will still be fairly moist. remove them from the tray after a few minutes of cooling, and let them finish cooling on a rack to prevent soggy bottoms. Enjoy with molasses, curry, or with a savory dish of steamed dark greens. They go sweet, sour, or salty as you please!

Notes:
*If you are cooking dry black-eyed peas, soak them in a separate bowl at the same time you start the millet soaking. Then, cook them for an hour or until tender before you begin the recipe.
**You could definitely up the millet and grind it a little better and not include any buckwheat if you want.

If you share my excitement for new and intriguing foreign flavors, check out this great African food site, Africa Cookbook from UPenn, especially this recipe for Akara, which helped give me the idea for my muffins

By the way, did I mention these are an AMAZING nutrient source? THEY ARE.

The Versatile Vegan "Cream"

2009-02-19T16:38:00.000+01:00

(kefir cream strained for 20 minutes or so)

This is the easiest and healthiest way I know to make a good cream substitute for recipes where I want something rich. It is essentially quark, a thickened yogurt I discovered in Switzerland for the first time. The process is incredibly simple, and just takes a little bit of time. If you have a lot of kefir grains, it's a good idea to just make your extra kefir into an extra stockpile of this cream.

For savory things, I tend to prefer using kefir as a base, as it is usually more sour than yogurt. It can even be used plain as a sour cream on potatoes. For sweet sauces or dips, the yogurt is perfect. In baking and cooking, it really doesn't seem to matter. Remember that if you would like to maintain the live bacteria, add the cream after cooking so it doesn't get too hot. Of course, it's not always possible to do that, and the taste and texture will stay great no matter what.

The Versatile Vegan "Cream"

Ingredients:

4 cups soy yogurt or thick soy kefir
cheesecloth (or a thin, clean towel)
string, and a place to hang it over a
bowl to catch the "whey"

Directions:

Make sure everything's very clean before beginning.
Lay the cloth inside the bowl, draped over the edges
Pour all of your yogurt or kefir into the bowl, making sure it all stays inside the cloth.
Gather and life the edges, then tie a strong knot around them so you have a sack.
Loop the string around a hook and let it hang above the bowl.
As the whey drains out, your cream is thickening*. Just remove when you think it's ready and store in a clean container in the fridge!

Notes:
*For most recipes, a few hours is plenty to get it very thick. Sometimes I even leave it for less than one hour. It's totally up to you. For more ideas about kefir "cream" you can visit Dom's Kefir-Making Site, which has a lot of creative recipes for cheese-making and other cool things.

My favorite use for Kefir-cream right now is Vegan Mint Raita.

Guiltless Quiche Provencal

2009-02-18T22:25:00.001+01:00

As a teasing, warm morning unfolded Saturday, I caught a whiff of fresh oregano in Marktplatz, where the morning market is always held in Basel. I sourced it to a booth with marinated green olives, some stuffed with garlic, others almonds, and all begging to be sampled. The tangy, herbed meat of a large, plump olive reminded me just how long it had been since I had enjoyed one. Winter has apparently converted all my taste buds to conservative root vegetable fundamentalists. Like most people in northern climates who try to eat local in the winter, I’ve mostly eaten potatoes, carrots, and beets for the past few months. Enough is enough. We like our root veggies, but there’s a need at some point to help spring get back up here. But what to do to try to bring some life to a decidedly northern meal plan?

When in doubt, just think Mediterranean. It’s a region that never ceases to dazzle and satisfy our tastes. So many articles have been published on the health benefits of Mediterranean cuisine, and the area’s food culture is rich in delicious, varied local ingredients, artistic creativity, and an appreciation for true enjoyment; the kind that comes from long summer days drinking coffee in the shade of olive trees, absorbing lazily that warm southern repose. Italy, France, Greece…Sure, there’re the ancient civilizations, the scientific breakthroughs, philosophical landmarks, and artistic geniuses; and then there is the tender, delicate pesto, the elegant tapas, and, the mother of all soul-satisfying goodness, the quiche.

Then you discovered a gluten allergy, and turned vegan. And one chirping spring morning found you gazing teary-eyed at the warm glow of the deli case before turning back to the salad bar, sure you would never enjoy another bite of your favorite café courtyard meal.

A few hours after the olive-sampling in the market I am contentedly kicked back with a tea and a warm belly full of the most flavorful, perfectly-textured quiche I’ve ever had. And you know what? Not one animal ingredient or glutinous grain. Just the summer-fresh taste of sundried tomatoes, fresh basil, oregano, and rosemary, and the springy, dense moisture of this crustless quiche’s golden flesh. It’s enough to transport any gluten-free, vegan, landlocked northern cook to vibrant French Provence. Forget about breaking a sweat in every bakery- The divinity that is fresh quiche is all yours.

Guiltless Quiche Provencal
(Thanks to The Happy Herbivore for the inspiration to use turmeric-colored tofu and other great ideas!)

Ingredients:

400 g firm tofu, drained
½-1 tsp turmeric (for color)
½ tsp black pepper
½ tsp salt
1 tsp Braggs (opt.)
¼ cup nutritional yeast
1 tsp oregano
1 heaping tbsp fresh chopped rosemary
2 tbsp fresh chopped basil
juice of 1 lemon
4-5 cloves garlic
100 g green olives, sliced (reserve 5 slices for garnish)
10 sundried tomatoes (reserve 4 for garnish)
½ head celeriac, grated
½ kohlrabi, grated
½ leek, chopped
1 bunch/head of chard, chopped
2 tbsp pumpkin seeds (garnish)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 F (175 C). Set aside 5 slices of olive, 4 tomatoes, and the pumpkin seeds for garnish.
In a large frying pan steam 6 tomatoes, chopped, in a little bit of water until softened and warm. Add the vegetables, cover, and steam until the chard is wilted. Set aside.
Combine all the other ingredients and puree in a food processor or mix by hand until you have a smooth, thick batter. Add a tiny bit of water if needed to blend everything fairly smooth.
Combine everything and scrape into an oiled casserole dish.
Garnish and bake for 20-30 minutes, until the center is firm and the sides are lightly browned and coming away from the sides.
Let cool until sliceable and serve.

Notes:
As a party dish, this can easily become dip for bread, chips, or crackers. Follow directions for steps 1-4, then garnish and bake just until warmed through.

Sweet Apple-Banana Muffins

2009-02-16T11:35:00.010+01:00

(Fresh from the Oven)

(Our muffin brunch on the train to Biel)

Since completing a fast in January to kick off the new year, it's been hard for me to find sweet things that don't completely knock me into a coma for the rest of the day. Sugar is just so STRONG! When I saw the theme for this month's Go Ahead Honey-It's Gluten-Free, I didn't know what to do..."Sweets for Your Sweetheart," huh? Oh great, how can I pull off a sweet fit for Valentine's Day when I'm barely managing to finish an apple on my own lately?

Come Valentine's Day morning I still had no idea. Finally, in the late morning, leaving the yoga studio, a little light-bulb went on somewhere above my head: "Hey Daniel, let's make muffins!" Not too sweet, not too heavy, and yet, when a truly good vegan, gluten-free muffin comes along, nothing to be scoffed at. We were both so excited to try our hand at an allergen-free muffin recipe that the whole day became a workshop in the kitchen, grains and flours flying everywhere, and sticky guar-gum fingerprints attached to every surface, including the keyboard, after we looked up this recipe for inspiration, from Karina at the Gluten Free Goddess.

The hard-won result was a beautiful tray of pink-tinged muffins, boasting apples, bananas, dates, and the sweet toasted flavor of roasted red rice flour. We whipped them out of the oven and ran to the evening satsang class before even getting a chance to test them. And in fact, it wasn't until the next day, on the train to Biel, that we unpacked our late Valentine's picknick and took the first bite. I was terrified, having had many a grainy, chewy GF muffin in the fast few years. It was like a dream. They were delicious. The mix of fruity flavors, the light sweetness, and the delectable moist texture melted in my mouth and left me pleasantly unburdened from the usual sugar-crash. A perfect Valentine's Day sweet, but don't think for a moment you won't want them every day.

Sweet Apple-Banana Muffins

Ingredients:
1/3 cup rice milk (and/or yogurt)
3/4 cup banana puree
1/3 cup apple sauce
2 tbsp agave nectar
1/3 cup vegan butter (and/or oil)
2 tbsp flax meal soaked in 2 tbsp hot water for 5 minutes

150 g dates, pitted and chopped
1 medium apple, chopped

1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp guar gum
1 tbsp baking powder
pinch of salt
2 tsp kuzu powder*
1/2 cup millet flour
1/2 cup amaranth flour
1/2 cup buckwheat flour
1/4 cup chickpea flour
1/4 cup red rice flour

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 F (175 C)

Cream together the wet ingredients in a large mixing bowl.

In a separate bowl, whisk the dry ingredients together. Add to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Stir in the apples and dates. The batter should be thick but thoroughly moist, like a drop biscuit batter almost. It should slide off the spoon, but with a little encouragement. add some rice milk if needed.

Scrape the batter into a greased, 12-muffin tray and bake for 20-30 minutes, until lightly browned on top.

Notes:
*If you don't have kuzu, use tapioca instead of chickpea flour in the recipe, and you should have enough of a starchy element from that

On the flours: We used so many types of flour because we had little bits of each left over! you could easily simplify and use just buckwheat, millet, and rice, or some other combination. Still, if you do have the supplies available to follow this mix, the taste and texture are pretty rewarding!

Vegan Mint Raita

2009-02-16T09:51:00.006+01:00

(Raita over crispy slices of oven-toasted Kvass-Potato Paprikash Bread)

Raita is an Indian dip served with spicy food as a cooling agent. As this one involves its own chilis, it is also a little spicy, but it still maintains the cool sensation of the yogurt/kefir. Since making it to go with an Indian meal cooked by a friend the other day, I have been addicted to its spicy-cold duality. I now have a jar permanently out at meals to add to salad, today’s risotto, or to dip veggies and bread in.

Vegan Mint Raita

Ingredients:

2 cups soy kefir, strained, or soy yogurt
1 cucumber, peeled
1 green chili
½ bunch cilantro
½ bunch mint
1 clove garlic
Grated zest of 1 lemon
Ground, roasted cumin seeds*, to taste
½ tsp salt
½ tsp grated ginger

Directions:

Grate the cucumber and add it to the yogurt or kefir
Finely chop and add the chili, cilantro, and mint.
Grate in the garlic clove and add the lemon zest, cumin, salt, and ginger.
Taste and adjust, then cover and let sit in the fridge for at least an hour before serving. It's even better the next day ☺

Notes:
* Roast about 1 tbsp cumin seeds in a dry skillet over medium-low heat until lightly browned. Grind into a powder and add as much as you like the taste of. It’s strong, so test it as you go.

Roasted Beet Risotto with Sage and Chickpeas

2009-02-11T15:08:00.006+01:00

(Risotto served here with sauteed chard, leek,
and lentil sprouts, and vegan mint raita)

The only beef I have with rice dishes lately is that I crave something, simply, juicier. I love a bowl of brown rice, and with some tamari and nutritional yeast to moisten the grains, it’s certainly enjoyable. I might describe it as satisfying, healthy, nutty, and earthy. Great. But it’s a far cry from mouthwatering, or fingerlickingly creamy, which is what I really want this week. I’m searching for something more like the vegan, gluten-free equivalent to the texture of fresh-grated parmesan melting over basil lasagne.

Enter risotto, the transvestite, showgirl sister of the simple boiled rice bowl. How often have I heard brown rice dishes defined by non-vegans as “why they would never go vegan”? Enough to know that they are not thinking outside of the box. A brown rice risotto is a truly luxurious meal, and one that everyone can enjoy, vegan, omnivore, and devout carnivore. This one is so tenderly soft, melty, and moist I think even my Swiss roommate would forget to ask if it had cheese, and of course, we know the answer.

The creaminess I was hunting came from an unexpectedly perfect source. To start, I knew I didn’t have wine to use in my risotto, and I found myself dreading the lack of such a crisp, dry flavor. I peeked around the fridge and tried to think of something with that special “bite” a steaming white wine gives. Vinegars just weren’t going to cut it, likewise homemade pickle-brine. And then-Aha! The aged soy kefir whey on the windowsill caught my eye.

When you let a kefir whey age outside of the fridge, the beverage takes on a wine-cooler kind of quality, with an alcoholic edge to its original sour flavor. The clear, zingy drink has something strongly reminiscent of white wine, and even provides a bit of a cheesy taste too. From using water kefir for wine, it was just a short jump to using soymilk kefir for cheese, and voila, a creamy, edgy risotto lacking none of the richness a dairy version promises.

The beetroot gives a beautiful color and lovely sweet flavor to the dish, and celeriac and carrots finish off a wonderful trio of seasonal root veggies. Sage, fresh-picked from the front yard, not only looks great with the purple beet, but adds a slightly smoky undertone to the mix. Finally, chickpeas partner up with rice as our vegan serving of complete protein (grass plus legume) and lend a soft nutty texture in the process. Altogether, a multicultural, healthy take on risotto that practically sighs for you as it touches your taste buds.

Roasted Beet Risotto with Sage and Chickpeas

Ingredients:

2 cups short or medium grain brown rice
About 5 cups of veggie stock or water*
½ onion, chopped
3 medium carrots, chopped into half-rounds
½ celeriac, cubed
1 very large or 2 medium beets
1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas
3 tbsp fresh sage, chopped
3 tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped
5 cloves garlic, finely chopped or pressed
¼ cup olive oil
¼ cup soymilk kefir**
½ cup kefir whey (or dry white wine)
½ tsp ground black pepper
salt to taste

Directions:

Wash the beets and remove the greens***, being sure not to chop into the beets (leave a little stem). brush them with olive oil, wrap in aluminum foil and bake at 350 F (175 C) for 30 minutes, or until tender when poked with a fork. Let cool. Grate ¾ of the beets, coarsely chop the rest.
In a large pot, heat the oil and add the onions, stirring. Add the pepper and a dash of salt, and cook until the onions are transparent.
Add the rice, stirring, and cook for a few minutes, until the rice is very lightly browned and shiny.
Add the kefir whey or wine and stir for another minute or two, then add the grated beets and ½ cup stock or water, continuing to stir until all liquid is evaporated. Repeat this until the rice is about half done.
Add the herbs, carrots, celeriac, and 1 cup of liquid. Cover until the veggies are almost done (check that there is still liquid, stir and add more if necessary, then cover again).
Stir in the chickpeas, chopped beets, and milk kefir. Taste and add salt if needed, and more kefir if desired.

Notes:
*I used water and a splash of homemade kimchee brine. **You could probably use soy yogurt too. If you’re not a vegan, obviously some parmesan will do! *** SAVE YOUR GREENS!!! Chop them up and toss them in if you like, or sauté them for a gorgeous side dish to the risotto.

(I'm considering a new name:
"Disappearing Act Risotto." The bowl
never seems to stay full...)

Five Minute Balsamic Tipped Veggies

2009-02-10T21:43:00.006+01:00

I thought it would be impossible to make something this delicious and healthy in less than 10 minutes, but sure enough, it took just 5, even with an electric stove to slow the process. The nice thing about cooking with Swiss regional foods is that it’s incredibly easy to make authentic Italian flavors too, and the oregano, balsamic vinegar, and fennel all lend themselves perfectly to this Swiss-Italian fusion.

Five Minute Balsamic Tipped Veggies

Ingredients (for 1. Multiply by the number of people to be served for a side, or multiply by 2 for each person for a main dish):

¼ large head of fennel, sliced into strips.
1 yellow (or other) carrot, sliced into rounds
½ tsp dried oregano
1-2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 clove garlic, chopped
a few tbsp water
a pinch of black pepper
2 round slices of lemon

Directions:

Heat a skillet over medium flame for just a moment before tossing in the carrots, fennel, vinegar, and some water. Stir to coat and cover quickly.
When the liquid has evaporated, continue stirring with a bit more water, and add the pepper, oregano, and garlic.
Add the lemon and increase the heat for 1 minute, stirring, to give a browned, roasted edge to the veggies.

Finito!

Tender Tummy Breakfast for One: Amaranth Apple Porridge

2009-02-08T10:53:00.002+01:00

Last night was Satsang at the yoga studio. Niki and I both brought little food offerings for the shrine, and both were fantastic. How can you go wrong with dried bananas and date-nut balls? Well, I guess moderation is the key…One date-nut ball is probably enough! Still, it’s just so nice to sit around with everyone after and pass the offerings, trying each one…and in my case, trying each one again ☺ Today, I felt a little heavy from the dried fruit and nut bomb, so I whipped up a simple, satisfying breakfast to sooth my digestive discontent.

This is one of the best hot breakfasts I’ve had lately, so flavorful and calming, and very healthy with no added sugar or heavy fats.

Ginger and Apple Amaranth Porridge

Ingredients:

1/3 cup dry amaranth
2/3 cup water
¼ cup chopped apple (plus 2 slices for garnish)
2 tbsp silken tofu
½ tsp grated ginger
¼ tsp vanilla extract
¼ tsp cinnamon
¼ cup rice milk

Directions:

Cook the amaranth in the water, covered, until almost completely done (10-15 minutes). If there is no water left, add a little more.

Add the chopped apples and ginger and cook until the amaranth forms its characteristic gooeyness, about 5 minutes.

Lightly crumble in the tofu and stir over a medium flame for a few minutes until the mixture is almost thick enough to stick to the spoon when you hold it up.

Serve with the rice milk, cinnamon, and apple slices on top

Notes:
Enjoy with a cup of spearmint tea for extra stomach relaxation.

Kvass: The Champagne of Russia

2009-02-07T08:46:00.002+01:00

Kvass is a traditional Russian (and eastern European) drink made from stale bread. It is light, refreshing, and tantalizingly fizzy. Plus, it’s fun to have something so tasty from a loaf of rock-hard bread, and with the leftover “pulp” I often make a new loaf of bread with my recycled-bread recipe. Talk about recycling. It just goes on…

This recipe I adapted from Wild Fermentation. If you haven’t read this wonderful book, you should. It is so informative and inspiring, with tons of creative ideas for home ferments!

Kvass

Ingredients:

¾ loaf of stale bread
juice of 1 lemon
2 tbsp molasses
4 tbsp crushed dry peppermint
¼ cup sugar/other sweetener
1 packet dry yeast
8 cups boiling water
a few raisins

yummy additions:
ginger, other tea herbs, fruit juices (organic, and no weird corn syrup business), figs

Directions:

Cut the bread into small cubes and roast in the oven around 350 F (175 C) for 20 minutes or until dried.
Place in a large non-metal container and pour the boiling water over the bread.
Stir in lemon and peppermint, mix well, cover with a cloth, and set in a warm place to ferment for 1-2 days stirring occasionally.
Strain out the bread*, squeezing out as much liquid as possible. Add the yeast, sugar, and molasses, combine well, and cover with a cloth again, for 2-3 days, until it smells good and fermented!
Fill bottles ¾ full with the kvass and add a few raisins to each. Seal and leave for 3-4 days on a shelf. Then you can refrigerate or just enjoy the kvass as is. With about 5 more days in the fridge, it has a wealth of super-fine bubbles and tastes wonderful with a slice of fresh lemon.

Notes:
*Save the pulp for Recycled Gluten Free Bread!

If you want to try another creative Kvass recipe, try Okroshka, cold Russian soup made from kvass and vegetables. I made a live version which I replenished for 2 weeks, enjoying the bubbly tang as it developed over the days. I will post a recipe soon!

Recycled Gluten-Free Bread

2009-02-07T08:14:00.004+01:00

If when you think “bread” you think flour, yeast and water, it’s time to spice it up a little. Almost anything can be made into something “breadlike” with a lot more nutritional value, flavor, and variety of texture. The recipe here is one version of a recycled food bread, which I tried to make as general as possible so you can fill in the blanks with you own ingredients. Nothing about it is set in stone; I never measure for this one, and it’s different every time I make it. That’s just the nature of recycling food-always interesting and unique!

In general, this usually creates a dense, small, moist loaf. It has no added yeast and rising is not really the goal, just fermentation of the ingredients for easier digestion. Sometimes I add some baking powder before baking to help it fluff up a little. If I have mostly veggie ingredients, I tend to let the loaf stay completely unleavened and bake on the lowest temperature setting for up to 8 hours. The result is something like vegan meat, which, because it contains live bacteria, keeps for literally months in the fridge. That particular version is great marinated in a little miso and garlic, then sautéed with fresh veggies, or crumbled over spaghetti as ground beef. Yum!

Recycled Gluten-Free Bread

Ingredients:
Sourdough starter:
1-2 cups GF flour,
2 tsp guar gum (opt)
1-2 cups water, water or milk kefir, or yogurt

Grain ingredient can be 2-3 cups of one of the following:
Leftover cooked grains, like rice, quinoa, polenta, etc
Leftover bread mush from making kvass
Stale bread, chopped, roasted to dry, and soaked in the liquid ingredients
Leftover pasta
Sprouts
Up to 1 cup of flour, if desired, for binding

Veggie/Fruit Ingredient can be 1-2 cups of one of the following:
Pulp from juicer
Old grated salads, especially if too dry to enjoy
Leftover mashed potatoes, or other creamed/cooked veggies

Liquid Ingredient can be 1-2 cups of one of the following: Soy yogurt
Soy milk kefir
Water kefir
Tahini and water
Kimchee brine or other pickling brines combined with water (if you use a salted brine, add it at the end to let the yeast do it’s work first, and moisten initially with clean water)

Other Ingredients include the desired amounts of any of these things:
Extra flour
Herbs, spices, sautéed onions, garlic, or other flavorings
Activated seeds, nuts, or nut meal (flax meal soaked in warm water as an egg replacer works wonders)
Water
Baking powder
Yeast

Directions:

Mix sourdough starter ingredients in a clean bowl or jar, adding more or less water to get a sticky, moist, stirrable batter. Leave in a warm place for 1-3 days, until fluffy and bubbly.
When the sourdough is ready, mix up the grain ingredient, veggie/fruit ingredient, and liquid ingredient (leaving out brine for now), adding more or less of the liquid ot get a spongy, very moist dough. Stir in the sourdough starter and leave in a bowl covered with a moist towel for 8-24 hours in a warm place
If it hasn’t risen at all, the sourdough didn’t like something very much in your mixture, could be too much salt in the grains. It’s not important though, other bacteria are there working for your bread!
If desired, sprinkle baking powder over the dough and fold in, or dissolve yeast in warm water and mix in, to have a leavened loaf.
Fold in any seeds, nuts, herbs, spices, etc. that you would like and add the brine if using. Cover with any toppings for decoration that you wish
Bake in a bread-loaf form for 2-8 hours; quicker for more grainy, leavened breads, and longer for mostly veggie or sprout breads, to get a dense “vegan meat”

Butternut and Fennel-seed Miso

2009-02-05T22:10:00.003+01:00

To think that just one month ago I had never even used miso in a recipe is almost beyond me. It has been in everything I make lately, and it seems to provide that magical “oomph” I sometimes crave but can’t quite place (umami...). A friend of mine offered to cook lunch for me a few days before she moved to Germany last week, and she brought me to a realm of miso-induced-ecstasy I never dreamed could exist. Fresh leeks sautéed in sesame oil with turmeric and fennel-seeds, plus flavorful red onions and fresh ginger made one bowl of it enough to tempt me into packing my bags and swimming to Japan, which is where she learned to make it. Along with her suggestion of adding pumpkin or squash and the inspiration of watching her cook this soup to perfection, I have created my own version:

Sauteed Fennel and Butternut Miso

Ingredients:

1 piece dried kombu seawead (optional)*
2 sheets nori (optional)
2 tiny or 1 small-medium red onion
2 tsp finely chopped ginger
1 fresh leek, finely sliced in rings
1 hea dof fresh fennel, thinly sliced
1 cup diced pumpkin
1 cup diced tofu, firm
2 tbsp turmeric powder
2 tbsp fennel seeds, whole
4 tbsp sesame oil
3 tbsp miso (Christina used Mogi, but it’s not GF, so use any that is)
3 cloves garlic, minced
gomashio to taste (a few tsp) (optional)

Directions:

Soak kombu for 5 minutes in about 6 cups of water, then cover and cook for about 20 minutes. Set aside.
Meanwhile, heat 1 tbsp oil in a frying pan and add the tofu, stirring to coat all sides. Add some gomashio and a splash of the kombu stock, cover, and cook until the stock is gone and the tofu is lightly browned.
In your soup pan, heat the rest of the oil and add the turmeric, fennel seeds, onions, garlic, and ginger, stirring as you go. Cook for a few minutes over medium-low heat, then add the fennel, leek, and pumpkin with a splash of kombu stock just to moisten them. Lightly sautee the veggies for a moment, then add the rest of the stock and cook until the leek is lightly tender.
Remove from the heat and let cool a few minutes before adding the miso, to make sure you don’t kill it.
Dip out a ladle-full of soup and dissolve a spoon of miso into the ladle of soup, then empty the contents back into the pot. Repeat for all the miso, taste, and adjust anything you need to. Serve with the tofu on top and gomashio and crushed nori as garnish.

Notes:
*If you don’t have kombu, just use water

My Snow-Day Comfort Food: White Bean Stew with Butternut Filets

2009-02-05T21:46:00.004+01:00

Just…I don’t need to explain. Butternut has a reason for its name, and with a light steaming it melts over this country-style stew like dairy-fresh cream. Heavenly. The soup itself is essentially the stewed version of White Bean Bucket Salad, because I can't get enough of the flavor, all the ingredients are local and seasonal (except gomashio, kombu, and tahini!) and because it's such a satisfying, nutritious meal. I owe much inspiration for this one to my mom, for her insistence on white beans as super-foods, and Farmgirl Susan for her Roasted Garlic Lover’s White Bean Soup. Enjoy a bowl while nestled with a frost-laced view of winter and a slice of recycled bread, my gluten-free specialty.

White Bean Stew with Butternut Filets

Ingredients:

2 cups cooked white beans (if cooked with kombu seaweed, save the water)
4-6 cups kombu stock (or water/veggie stock)
4-5 carrots
1-2 potatoes
2 turnips
½ head of celeriac
10 slices of butternut squash
1 onion
1 head of garlic
1 big sprig of fresh rosemary, chopped
2 tbsp tahini
2 tsp thyme
2 tsp oregano
salt and pepper to taste, and/or gomashio garnish (mmmmm)
¼ medium white cabbage
2 tbsp oil
a splash of rice wine or apple cider vinegar (opt.)
½ cup sprouted chickpeas (opt; garnish)

Directions:

In a soup pot, bring your stock to a boil and add carrots, potatoes, celeriac, onionsand turnips, all coarsely chopped. Cook until potatoes are almost finished.
Meanwhile, separate the garlic cloves and put, unpeeled, in a little oven-safe dish, sprinkled with water and covered with tinfoil. Bake for 30 minutes at around 350 F.
Add the cabbage, finely chopped, the beans, and herbs to the soup and simmer until the cabbage is soft.
Peel the garlic and put it in a medium sized bowl (or food processor, blender, etc) with 1/3 of the soup and the tahini. Blend until fairly well-combined, and add back to the rest of the soup with a splash of vinegar if using. Blend more if desired, or add more stock as needed. But really, thick is gooood!
Heat oil in a frying pan and add the chickpeas and squash slices. Turn a few times to coat with oil, then add a splash of water, quickly cover, and steam until both are just tender.
Add a pinch of gomashio (or salt), turn quickly, and remove from the heat.
Serve the soup with the squash and chickpea mixture on top, and fresh oregano or thyme if available.

Owed to a Bento: Kid-Friendly Lentil Snacks

2009-02-04T16:25:00.007+01:00

“What’re THOSE?” Alessandro asked today, peering over my shoulder as I scanned eagerly through recipes on JustBento.com. He is probably the best friend I've ever had in a 5-year old, but none-the-less, a typically picky eater. We had just settled on a rice-cake with pesto for his snack, and his sauce-smeared finger swooped dangerously close to the screen as he motioned at a picture of Spicy Lentil snacks with Sesame Seeds. For once, his voice held no hint of skepticism, and I silently thanked his reading level, for being just right so that he couldn’t see that the main ingredient was lentils, something he’d never touch in native form.

I have been intrigued by bentos ever since finding them online yesterday, and I have been wanting to make some of these delicious-looking little lunch-box fillers. “Do you…” (could my luck be that good?) “do you want to try making them with me?” I ventured. He beamed an ecstatic “Yeah!” and we darted into the kitchen, digging out ingredients to see what we could come up with.

We had only about ¼ cup of dry red lentils left, so we needed to supplement, which is why the result is something much different than the original. That, and the fact that we were recreating Japanese-inspired vegan cuisine in an omnivorous Italian kitchen. First off, spicy had to go for the little guy to enjoy them, and I was on a mission to get some veggies into him, so they needed to be artfully disguised to avoid disgust. Pulling my tupperware of sliced purple cabbage out, I handed a piece to Alessandro for review. “Do you like this stuff?” He gingerly nibbled the corner and in a moment of total silence I was sure he would spit it out. Instead his eyes widened and he bounced noticeably as he said, “Wow, the purple thing is yummy!’

Bingo! It was so exciting to prepare something healthy for Alessandro that didn’t involve bread, cheese, or meat, his three favorite ingredients. He was relegated to carrot-peeling (under wary over-the-shoulder supervision…”don’t give 5-year-olds blades!” My mom’s voice seemed to echo…) and I cooked the rice. Then he retired for some Lego-building while I whipped up the other ingredients. We formed the balls together, discussing seriously techniques for making perfect ball-shapes and using good sesame-rolling technique.

“It’s all sticky. Is this enough?” he asked, the mixture smeared across his palms and one piddly lump in the middle that he focused intently on. “Well, maybe we could add a little more and then go like this (patting hands together) to make a ball.” Alessandro carefully placed one more pea on top of his mushy lump and smiled. “There, is that enough?” Sure, why not! Sure enough, we had a fantastic array of sizes and shapes when we finished. Though we ate from plates, the bento-spirit was certainly there: we each had just enough food, a healthy array of proteins, carbs, vegetables, and healthy fats, and we still managed to save some for mom and dad. Barely.

Baked Veggie-Lentil Bites with Sesame Seeds and Olives

Ingredients:

½ cup dry brown rice
¼ cup dry red lentils
1 medium potato
2 medium-large carrots
¾ cup sliced purple cabbage
½ cup green peas (frozen, fresh, whatever)
½ cup sesame seeds
1 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary
2 tsp oregano
2 tsp mixed Italian herbs, or any combination of basil, thyme, and marjoram
a few grates of nutmeg
2 cloves of garlic, minced
½ onion, diced
3 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste
10 kalamata olives, pitted and slices into rings

Directions:

Bring brown rice and 1 cup of water to a boil, cover, reduce heat to the lowest temperature, and cook until finished. Set aside.
Meanwhile, put sesame seeds in a bowl with 1 cup of water to soak (activation!)
Chop the cabbage into tiny pieces and grate the carrots as finely as possible
Chop the potato and add to a pan with the lentils and ¾ cup water. Cover and cook until everything is soft. Leave them on the flame and mash them together with a fork, stirring to remove any excess moisture until you have a fairly uniform, sticky mixture. Set aside
Preheat the oven to 180 C (360 F)
In a frying pan, heat the oil and add the onions, garlic, and herbs. Sautee over low-medium heat until the onions are soft.
Stir in the cabbage and cook, stirring, for a minute or two, until shiny.
Add the rice and cook for another few minutes, stirring, until everything is coated with oil and herbs, but not dry.
Mix everything together except for the sesame seeds and olives. Add salt and pepper to taste and mush everything together more, either with a fork or a hand mixer, until it is fairly pasty and most of the rice is crushed.
Drain the water from the sesame seeds.
When cool enough to handle, form golf-ball sized balls with the mush and roll each in the wet sesame seeds very lightly. Place on a baking sheet and stick an olive ring on top.
Bake for about 30 minutes, checking with an occasional poke to test for solidity. They should be browned on the outside and still moist on the inside, with a strong enough outer layer to hold them firmly together. Enjoy!

Gingerbread Pudding (The Rebaked Cake)

2009-02-03T20:08:00.004+01:00

After making something Swiss to fill my cultural craving bracket last week, I forgot to plan for the fact that everyone I know is doing the usual winter hibernation routine still. Hence, no one has been around to help me eat it! Yesterday, noticing that it was looking less moist than I like, a food I haven’t had for years dawned on me: bread pudding.

In fact, I haven’t had it since middle school, when Anne, my most beloved school cook served it up with brunch one day. I was intrigued, but not really excited. How good could mushy bread taste? Mind you, I went to a tiny charter school and the food was all fresh-cooked each day by Anne and the students with as many local, organic products as possible, so this was no ordinary school-bread-pudding affair! Still, I was skeptical, and have been ever since. Since 8th grade, a lot of my opinions about food have changed. One of them is that I now think recycling food is about the coolest thing you can do, for the world, the creative cook in you, and your friends and family. Another is that if you enjoy something in one form, there's always room for innovation.

So, I began surfing for recipes and stumbled on this one by Chris at Eat Air, which I used for the inspiration to make a nice creamy base with silken tofu. Because the original cake I made was the Tender Elstar Apple Cake, I needed something to compliment the cinnamon-apple flavor, yet change and enhance it so no one would know it was the same thing they'd eaten yesterday. I went for darkening and saturating the spicy-sweet nature of my corn-cake by adding molasses, gingerbread spices, more apples, and vanilla. The result was…Well, I can’t put up a picture to show you, because we ate the whole thing in about 24 hours flat and there was never a moment for a picture without reaching hands involved. Great. The word "great" comes to mind.

Forget everything gourmet has ever taught you-this bread-pudding is as luxurious as the finest French mousse.

Gingerbread Pudding (The Rebaked Cake)

Ingredients:

About ¾ of a Tender Elstar Apple Cake (or 1 loaf bread*)
2 juicy apples, washed and chopped into chunks
½ cup raisins
½ cup raw sugar
2 tbsp molasses
2/3 cup silken tofu
2 cups soy kefir (or soy milk, or soy milk and some yogurt)
2 tsp vanilla extract
4 tsp Lebküchengewurze, if available. If not, the following:
1 tsp cinnamon, ½ tsp nutmeg, ¼ tsp ground cloves, ¼ tsp ground coriander, 1 tsp ground anis, ½ tsp ground stern-anis, 1 tsp fresh grated ginger(or some creative combination of the above)
½ finely chopped fresh vanilla bean (optional, but fabulous)

Directions:

Cut the cake or bread into coarse chunks and dump in a large mixing bowl
In a blender or with a hand-mixer, whip the silken tofu until smooth
Add the kefir/milk/yogurt and combine until smooth
Stir in vanilla extract and bean, sugar, molasses, and spices, then pour the mixture over the bread and fold together. You should have a nice, moist batter, but not too runny to set while baking.
Fold in raisins and apples, pour into a greased, floured casserole dish and bake at 175 C (350 F) for about 30-35 minutes**.

Notes:

*If you use bread, chop up some activated almonds, pecans, or walnuts and add them, since the crunchy nut pieces from the cake really add to the texture!

**It is finished when it is still slightly gelled on top, not totally set. When it cools it will be just firm enough to resist your spoon, which is how I prefer it. It’s still sliceable and cake-like, but spongy and springy.

Meditations on the “Moral Food” Conundrum

2009-01-29T22:04:00.004+01:00

Inspired by a bite of:
Tender Elstar Apple Cake

Today, biting into my adaptation of a classic Swiss apple-polenta dish (straight from Betty Bossi!), I paused to think about the culture that had inspired me to make it. The flavor was light and simple, yet satisfying and oh-so-homey. Still, apparently food for thought.

Let’s be honest; Switzerland is a land of agrarian fanatics. It’s not something to scoff at either. I have nothing but respect for anyone who devotes their life to producing good food-and Swiss farmers seem to have gotten that one to a T, even if they have a bit of a "short man complex" about their specialty. Yes, for some strange reason, Swiss people are usually either embarrassed about their country’s history of stubborn agricultural productivity (these would be, obviously, not the farmers), or suspiciously quick to point out how steadfast and impressive the Swiss agricultural system really is (yes, farmers talking here).

I can’t help but smile at anyone who is embarrassed in front of me about their country’s history. I am an American, which means a certain amount of humility when it comes to claiming my nationality, and I would never judge a country based on how it has been in the past. The point is what I am experiencing here right now. Learning about Swiss cultural history is easier here, now, in this small, mountainous country, filled with patchworks of grain fields, cow pastures, and milk production facilities, than any textbook could ever describe it.

One of the most tell-tale signs that farmers are a revered force in the Swiss population is the fairly close attention that even big supermarkets pay to stocking local food products. Well, part farmer-appreciation and part stolid nationalism, to be fair, but the result is still nice! Even massive corporate shopping centers often list the name of the farmer who grewthe vegetable you’re holding and the address where it was grown. Wow! When I stroll around the farmers markets it is an even more lovely spread of local fresh vegetables, and fruits, and fine, handmade vinegars, pickles, and jams; and there you get to look the grower in the eye, essentially, and see for yourself the life of work that went into your carrots.

Of course, Switzerland is most notoriously a cheese- and chocolate-loving nation, which can’t help me a lot as far as vegan-food-adventures go (yes, I tried anyway, with awful results, peer pressure still being a driving force in ‘adult’ life apparently!). Here is where history is again evident in the present: With about 2000 years of cheese-making under their belts, a lot of the Swiss I meet would be happy to live off bread and cheese for the next 15 years, easy. Well, and chocolate, clearly. That confuses me-that a people with the potential to grow amazing produce, who live in an ideal way for spreading it to everyone through the tight-knit networks of villages, small cities, and interspersed plots of land, already well-adapted to agricultural work, still devote most of their agricultural energies to the less resource-efficient dairy and meat industries.

All I can figure out is that tradition has a strangle-hold on the food industry, including that of consumption. Much of Swiss life is rife with traditionalism like no Californian could have imagined. Food is certainly no exception. When I ask people here for their opinions, there are two main answers. First, the need for protein-rich foods. This is a straight-shot to the tradition issue. In tribal Switzerland, meat was probably what people had learned to ‘cultivate,’ and with it milk and methods for preserving it. Now that banking is a close runner-up for Swiss cultural value, something tells me that most people aren’t actually hand-milking cows every morning, and the choice is about where their Swiss francs are going, not which food they have the ability to produce. The second is a simple taste preference for dairy and meat products. I can’t really argue with what tastes better to one person or another, but I have a feeling that there’s more to good flavors in Switzerland than Lindt, Käse Fondue, and Würst. Otherwise I would’ve been outta here a long time ago!

But the simple fact is that when you eat some of one thing, you end up eating less of another (ok, modern standards of over-eating aside…). If your first thought for breakfast is a hunk of Gruyere and a slice of topf (like the challah of swiss bread), you’ve just passed up the ripe, juicy plums, apples, pears, and elderberries dripping with natural appeal. How about a bowl of nüsslisalat (corn lettuce), grated celeriac, and purple carrots, all native, seasonal veggies (yes, even in January!)?

Let’s think further, to the simple, rustic cuisine that everyone dreams of mom bringing to the table at Christmas; The standards include potatoes, meat, salad, cheese (raclette or fondue), bread, and lots of cookies and chocolate. The great part is, it’s all local. The drawback? Well, I can’t eat most of it, for one! But also, the focus on meat, cheese, milk products, and wheat means less focus on the amazing variety of heirloom vegetables and fruits in Switzerland, or the wide spread of grain crops that can easily be grown here but are replaced with wheat. about corn? It is evidently completely possible to grow it here, because in fact, quite a bit is. There’s just one catch-like most American corn, it is a variety to be used for cattle feed. One of the common imported items I see is whole corn on the cob, while the pig sliced into your sandwich could have easily been fattened on locally-grown corn! Funny how the world works…

On the other side, we can’t forget that just because something is local doesn’t mean that it is native, or easier to be grown. In the short-term, buying local is almost always better because you are cutting down on the costs, environmental and economical, of importing. But in the long-run, we are often just supporting the chosen monoculture of a given region. Wheat, spelt, and rye are NOT the only grains that grow in Switzerland. For whatever reason, cost, quantity, versatility, or demand, a few crops were chosen for Switzerland to produce on large scales, and that’s the way we’re taught to buy. It’s completely ludicrous to think that only a few kinds of plants are Switzerland-friendly. With major geographical differences from region to region, it’s a country supporting many vastly different microclimates in its small, mountainous confines. For example: Um, the Alps?

Changing something like the amount of agricultural biodiversity in a society isn’t something I know how to do. Do you? Then help me out. In the meantime I can try to cut down on both imported and local-monoculture foods, and eat…well, heirlooms! Lucky for me there is an almost guerilla-like movement of heirloom activists in Switzerland, who distribute the seeds for personal use and research the ‘lineage’ of plant species all the way back to texts from monastery’s of the Middle Ages.

Now, here I sit with a piece of Tender Elstar Apple Cake in front of me. The ingredients are the usual hodge-podge of what I had and what I wanted, and the result is a multi-cultural take on a Swiss tradition. Inside are little South American Amaranth grains, Italian polenta, and cashews from…it doesn’t actually say, and that’s eerie. Everything inside is organic, and some things were locally produced. Some came straight from the farm, like the apples and the elderberry blossom syrup. But how much better is it to enjoy this newly hyped gluten-free grain, fair trade and more well-traveled than most Americans my age, than to buy the Kellogs Corn Pops, which are also gluten-free, cheaper, and produced on the same continent? Well, I would still say it’s better, but it’s not as much of a perfect action as I would like to imagine.

It’s so easy to fall into the traps of advertising and wind up wreaking havoc on our supposed ‘environmentalist’ morals. Where does our soymilk come from, dairy-free eaters? If you make your own, where are the beans grown? Rice milk? Almond milk? How far have the ingredients for your perfect curry traveled? How much plastic should really be involved in buying organic peppers? I just have to think that if what we need is a change in the way we shop and eat, what we need is less mindless extremism and more conscientious decision-making. “I shop all organic” is not enough to make me living well in relation to the environment, the economy, and other individuals. Neither is “I shop local.” It is a complicated, messy state our food has sprouted into, and the answers are similarly messy.

Don’t underestimate your actions! Think!

There is no codified method for ‘good’ actions-the answer always lies in the moment, and to face this is the most honest expression of humanity. When you enter the grocery store, whether you choose the farmer’s market, the local organic shop, the Tesco, the Walmart, or the garden, what you have to work with is always the next choice. Organic and imported, local and sprayed; fair trade from South America or grown next door by underpaid immigrants; packaged or bulk; paper or plastic; savored or snacked; spoiled or saved…Think about it. Enjoy the process. This is living. It is our gift and our eternal possibility to do it with as much awareness as possible. Two bites into my Elstar Cake, I’ve got a smile on my face as I think about exactly what it means to eat “Swiss”.

Tender Elstar Apple Cake

2009-01-29T21:40:00.007+01:00

This cake inspired quite a rant about Swiss food culture, which you can find here. It's a magnificent example of how thought-provoking a simple, light taste can be.

Every week at the market in Basel, I visit the apple stall and smile contentedly. "phew, there are still Elstars." I dread the day when for some reason, my tangy, crisp friends are done for the season or the supply is exhausted. The Elstar is absolutely my favorite apple, with the most flavor of any I have ever tasted, a slight sour bite, and a rich sweet aftertaste. Oh yes, they're divine. As this recipe was inspired by a traditional Swiss recipe (with lots of butter and eggs, so we've modified a few things), it seems only fitting to use a local apple.

The cake itself is beautifully gluten-free because of the polenta used instead of flour. With the addition of soy yogurt instead of milk, it is so moist and tender, I couldn't resist eating the firs tpiece before I took a picture. It is an excellent dessert or breakfast choice, and has much less sugar than most cakes, so it won't throw you into a coma 30 minutes after eating it. Most important, it is yummy yummy yummy, and it's nice ot think that you're eating something that people here have eaten for hundreds of years. I can almost imagine I am eating the first apple-polenta cake if I close my eyes and savor a bite with the air blowing in the window straight off the Rhine...

Tender Elstar Apple Cake
(Timeframe: 3-4 days. For a quick recipe, see the “Notes” section)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup corn flour
1 1/2 cups polenta
½ cup brown rice flour
1 tsp guar gum (opt.)
2 tbsp fresh flax meal (opt.)
2-3 cups water kefir, milk kefir, or yogurt
¼ cup sunflower oil
6 crisp Elstar apples, or your favorite local variety
½ cup cashews, walnuts, or pecans
1/3 cup elderberry blossom syrup* (or sweetener to taste)
¼ cup raw sugar
½ tsp grated nutmeg
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp baking powder (opt.)
1 lemon

Directions: (always have all ingredients at room temperature to assist yeast development)
Starter:

Mix corn flour, ½ tsp guar gum, and 1 cup of kefir/yogurt in a clean glass container until it is moist and gooooshy. Cover loosely with a cloth and set in a warm place for 1-3 days, until bubbly and fluffy, stirring at least once daily.

Batter:

When the starter is ready, mix together the polenta, rice flour, sugar, and 1-2 cups kefir (at least 1 cup, and the rest can be water), or as much as you need to make a stirrable mix
Add starter, mix well, and cover in a warm place for at least 12 hours.
2-4 hours before baking, activate your nuts by soaking them in water. Drain water when finished and grind the nuts into coarse pieces.
Add 1/3 cup water to the flax meal in a sauce pan, and bring to a simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally. Let simmer for a few minutes, remove from heat, and let cool, continuing to stir occasionally.
Slice the apples into medium-thin slices, squeezing juice of half a lemon on them and tossing to prevent browning as you go.
Preheat oven to 350 F (175 C)
Mix brown rice flour, guar gum, and baking powder together, then add to the batter.
Stir in the nuts, ¼ cup elderberry blossom syrup (save the rest for garnish), the flax meal mixture, cinnamon, nutmeg, oil, and all but 10 or so slices of apple.
Pour batter into an oiled, floured casserole or cake pan, and arrange the leftover apple slices on top.
Dust with cinnamon and nutmeg.
Bake for 10 minutes and turn the heat down to 325 F (162 C).
Bake for 30 minutes, or until firm. Serve with yogurt and drizzle with elderberry blossom syrup mixed with the juice of half a lemon**.

If you find some leftover in a few days, check out Gingerbread Pudding, the cake recycling recipe

Notes:
This is a fermented version of the recipe, which is not necessary, but aids in digestibility of grains and adds a wonderful zing to the flavor. If you would rather make this spur-of-the-moment, cook the polenta in milk or water until done, and treat it as your starter. Begin from step 3 under batter. Leave out the cornflour (it is used in the fermented version as a good sourdough starter flour, but it isn’t necessary to make the cake itself.)

*This is a delicate Swiss specialty which I get from my boyfriend’s mom, and I never saw it in the states or anywhere else. If you can’t find it, use a different sweetener with a light taste, like agave nectar or sugar

**Instead of this mixture, you can do the classic powdered sugar and lemon juice icing and drizzle it on top. Mmmm!

Mom's Skillet-Baked Cornbread

2009-01-26T13:08:00.006+01:00

My mom grew up in America's south and southwest, and her cooking has always maintained a hefty southern tang. From Mexican-inspired dishes like enchiladas, black bean soup, chili, and tostadas, to classic American dishes like baked yams, chicken-fried steak, barbecued ribs, and sour bean salads, guests at her table have never gone unsatisfied with her simple, hearty cooking. And mind you, rarely was there a meal that didn't involve one of her heavy old cast-ion skillets. "Girl's gotta get her iron," she likes to say, "and that's not exactly what comes out of teflon."

She and I both started eating gluten free around the same time, and I slowly moved towards veganism-this meant a lot less of those favorite meals I had always had-fried wheat noodles with yeast and soy sauce, homemade gluten-meat, and beef stew. For a while we nibbled sadly at what was sold to us as gluten-free rice bread, and chased the crumbly mess with warm rice milk hot chocolate, reminiscing about the days of baking muffins together early in the morning, and catching the first whiff of rich molasses buns on rainy evenings Dark times, that's all I can say.

The Renaissance bloomed when we realized that what we needed were not necessarily imitations of gluten-containing products, but naturally gluten-free things that we could enjoy just as they were. Suddenly, cooking was magic again. And one of the most magical things of all was just a skillet flip away: Mom's cornbread.

This particular cornbread is so moist and decadant you could treat it like a cake if you wanted to. In fact, when I first made it for Dani and his roommate, they were amused at the name "cornbread" as what I had clearly just made was a corn cake. Elaborating on this idea, it is easy to create a sweet cornbread (ahem, "cake") by adding a bit of molasses, sugar, lemon and poppyseeds, or apples, ginger, anis, and cinnamon for a rich spice cake. Similarly, the simple flavor of the base recipe can be brought more to the savory side with garlic, onions, peppers, tomatoes, basil, thyme, rosemary, fresh corn, beans, chili powder, curry, or black olives. This is one versatile little loaf, and so easy you may well find yourself with an empty skillet before dinner's finished.

Mom's Skillet-Baked Cornbread
(The original recipe has been adapted to be vegan as well as gluten-free)

Ingredients:

2 cups total flour (at least 1 cup of polenta/coarse corn meal, and the rest in your choice of flour. I like to do 1 1/2 cups polenta and 1/2 cup rice or chickpea flour)
3/4 cup milk (almond is fantastic)
1/3 cup oil
pinch of salt
1 tsp raw sugar
2 tsp baking powder

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 F (190 C)
Mix all dry ingredients together in a bowl
Mix in the milk a little at a time until you have a very thick, not-quite-pancake-batter consistency.
In a medium cast-iron skillet*, heat the oil over a low flame until just bubbling (not smoking!), tilting the pan to coat the sides and bottom.
When bubbling, pour the oil into the batter and combine quickly.
Pour everything back into the same skillet* and put it in the oven
Immediately reduce the heat to 325 F (160-165 C) and bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick in the center comes out mostly clean (extra moist is ok!)

Notes:
* If you don't have a cast-iron skillet, as many people don't, you can heat the oil in a sauce pan and pour the finished batter into a gratin form or bread loaf pan. If you use a loaf pan, keep the heat lower and cook a little longer so it has a chance to cook in the middle.

There are SO many variations possible with this recipe! here are a few:

Eggier Cornbread
Before beginning, grind 2-3 tbsp flax seeds and let sit in a glass with 1/4 cup hot water for 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally. When it is thick and viscous, add it with the milk and continue as before.

Tuscan Cornbread
Puree tomatoes, basil, and garlic and substitute for the milk. Slice up black olives and add to the batter. Garnish the top with salt, pepper, rings of sliced onion and Italian herbs-thyme, basil, marjoram, etc.

Richer, Fluffier, Generally more Fantastic Cornbread
substitute soy yogurt or silken tofu for most or all of the milk. Add a splash more milk if needed to get the right consistency.

Apple-Spice Cornbread
To dry ingredients add 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, 1/4 tsp anis, and a pinch of cardamom. Grate in 1 apple when adding the milk (reduce the amount of milk to make up for the fruit's moisture, and/or use yogurt instead of the milk), and add 1-2 medium apples, chopped in slices. Increase sugar or add 2 tbsp molasses/agave nectar.

Lemon-Poppyseed Cornbread
Substitute soy yogurt or silken tofu for some or all of the milk. Add the juice of 1 whole lemon, and the grated rind if organic. Add 3 tbsp poppyseeds and agave nectar or other sweetener.

See also:
Morning-After Carrot Bread

Fermented Buckwheat Pancake Starter

2009-01-26T10:34:00.003+01:00

After reading Wild Fermentation and various blogs about fermentation, and talking a friend who had just discovered some really great fermented pancakes, I have begun experimenting with my own version. The results have been mixed, to be honest, but the starter is at least an excellent beginning. Not just for pancakes, mind you-letting the mixture mature for 24 hours give a thick, gooey batter unlike any gluten-free creation I've ever seen. So far it has been unbelievably helpful in making moister, springier, crumble-less gluten-free loaves of bread! As for pancakes, well, they worked too, but were so gooey that I had a hard time getting a good consistency. So, help me out! Try the starter out and see what works for you...

Ingredients:

1 cup sprouted buckwheat groats (or 3/4 cup buckwheat flour plus some water)
1/4 cup activated nuts of choice
1 cup soy yogurt

Directions:

Place all ingredients in a food processor, blender, or a bowl with a hand mixer, and blend until well combined.
Cover with a cheesecloth and set in a warm place for 12-24 hours.

That's it! Now use this as the base for your favorite pancake recipe, as you would use sourdough starter in making bread-just add a little flour, milk, water, and baking powder if desired, and fry it up. If you want to try crepes, add a bit of flour and a lot of milk to get a thinner batter. These are good savory or sweet, with hummus or jam, curry or syrup. Possibilities abound!

Notes:
Suggested uses:

Binder in veggie patties
The missing link in gluten free bread
In vegan 'loaves', 'meatballs' or other vegan meat alternatives
In GF dumpling dough, for added 'glutinous' texture
...

Morning-After Carrot Bread

2009-01-20T12:13:00.005+01:00

Last night was my roommate Eve's birthday party. It was a fantastic party with a huge feast of food cooked by Eve, her mom, Dani and I. We were all duly exhausted this morning when we met with Baruk, our couchsurfing friend, for breakfast. Not to mention, still not hungry after all the festivities. Which is why we went for a fresh carrot juice instead of the leftover cakes and mousses.

I'm sure most of you who make your own juices share my dismay at the thought of tossing all the solids of your beautiful, fresh produce. Something just has to be done with the leftovers. As usual, mine evolved into some sort of "bread," containing nothing bread-like really, but ending up a wonderful platform for either sweet or savory toppings, and with a dense, moist texture. This particular loaf was a concoction of all the leftovers from my recent experiments: activated pumpkin seeds and pumpkin seed milk, homemade soy yogurt, leftover fermented buckwheat pancake batter, and about 2 cups of carrot pulp. That makes it a fairly picky recipe, but substitutions abound, and the point is not to have to think about it too much when you're wiped out from last night's chaos. So, breathe easy and use what you have.

Morning-After Carrot Bread

Ingredients:

2 cups of carrot pulp
1/2 cup fermented buckwheat pancake starter*
1/2 cup buckwheat flour
1/2 cup polenta
1 cup yogurt
milk of any type, until you have a good, thick, cornbread-like consistency
1/3 cup oil
1/4 cup activated pumpkin seeds
2 tsp baking powder
dash of cinnamon, cardamom, or other desired spices
Flax, Pumpkin, Sunflower, or other seeds for garnish

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 F (190 C)
Mix flours, baking powder, and spices
in another bowl, combine yogurt and buckwheat starter, then add to the dry ingredients and stir together
Stir in carrot pulp and pumpkin seeds
Add milk until the batter is a very thick glop. Picture cottage cheese
In a large cast-iron skillet, heat the oil until just bubbling (not smoking!).
Pour the oil into the batter and quickly mix together, then pour everything back into the cast-iron skillet.
Smooth out the top, sprinkle with seeds and put in the oven
Immediately reduce the temperature to 350 F (175 C)
Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick in the middle comes out mostly clean-a little moist is ok!

Notes:
*If you would rather skip the fermented starter, just add a little extra polenta and yogurt, and a binder like xanthan or guar gum if desired-the starter is very gooey and helps to make a springier bread, but is not necessary.

Infamous White-Bean Bucket Salad

2009-01-18T23:14:00.000+01:00

This has a long backstory, which is in no way important to the recipe. Feel free to skip to the bold recipe title below if you don't feel like reading it all.

The Balkans seem to hold a special place in most travelers' hearts, and I am not unlike the rest. The last leg of my travels in the Balkan states was a long hitch-hike from Svoge (northern), Bulgaria down through Macedonia, Albania, and back up the coasts of Montenegro and Croatia, to finally land in Ljubljana, Slovenia. In March, the weather was decidedly mixed, and while hitchhiking, accommodations are never secure. After a day of solid hitchhiking, well into the night, and a night of climbing through the windy, orange streets of Ochrid, Macedonia to my final resting point in the castle gardens, I was hard-pressed for some comfort food.

I woke up the next morning to the call of the morning prayer from a Mosque behind me. A strong, male voice sang out the words just as pink first-light tinged the grass beside me and crept up the trunks of the freshly-blossoming cherry trees. I was dewy and chilled, but not uncomfortable, and when I stood up, the vast dark emptiness I had ignored below me in the night was not a flat expanse of valley as I had imagined, but a huge lake surrounding the high knoll I had slept on. I laughed out loud in amazement and stretched my limbs slowly in the morning sun, savoring every billow fresh air that blew towards me from the water below.

Wait, what does this have to do with beans, salad, or buckets? Let me explain. I had left Bulgaria with the following food items: a jar of tahini; a bottle of lemon juice; 1 head of garlic; dried basil, cinnamon, and many bags of hungarian paprika; a jar of honey; a bag of seeds; 2 kilos of fresh dates; carrots; an onion; and a plastic bucket with a snap on lid, which had originally contained Bulgarian strawberry jam, but now held a bunch of friend polenta and veggies, nearly finished. Looking out over Lake Ochrid, with a few more long days (and nights) ahead, I realized that once again my plans of eating a few carrots a day and some seeds was not going to cut it. I was hungry in a deep and needy way, like most travellers seem to get after just a few days on the road. Everything tastes better, and food is always welcome.

So I set out on a mission to find some more hearty, travel-friendly foods. I came out of a weird little shop with 2 cans of white beans (remembering that they contian a lot of iron, more than most other beans even), a horseradish, a green cabbage, and some vinegar of an unidentifiable variety (I challenge you to decipher Macedonian food labels!). I finished my polenta that morning, and by midday I sat over my bucket in Tirana, Albania and carved up the vegetables. I added a can of beans, tahini, lemon, water, vinegar, garlic, basil, and paprika, shook it all up thoroughly, and kicked back to enjoy one of the most satisfying meals of my life. Every day after, I made a new version of the same salad, adding chickpeas one day, sesame seeds the next. When I finally met up with my boyfriend in Ljubljana, I was greeted by immediate laughter,

"Nice to see you found a friend!" he smirked. Confused, I looked to where his gaze fell, and realized he was speaking of the little plastic bucket I clutched in my hand, where I had carried it ever since the first white bean salad to protect it from getting lost or broken on the way. I grinned and chucked it at him.
"You have to try this salad." He took a bite and his eyes widened (I kid you not!). The bucket was finished in minutes, and later that night, as we began to get hungry again, we picked up the bucket and knew immediately what we would make. Why, another white bean salad, of course...

Infamous White-Bean Bucket Salad

Ingredients: (obviously, they can vary widely, and I can't stress that enough. With that in mind, here's one nice combo)

Salad:

1 can (or 1 1/2 cups home-cooked) white beans
1 medium carrot
a few leaves of a dark green, like spinach, beet greens, chard, or kale
5 yummy little radishes, or a few inches of horseradish
1 small green cabbage
1 head fennel
2 tbsp roasted pumpkin and/or sunflower seeds (garnish)

Dressing:

2 tbsp lemon juice
4 tbsp toasted sesame oil
4 tbsp rice wine vinegar
fresh, chopped/dried basil, 2+ tsp
2-3 cloves garlic
1/2-1 tsp sweet Hungarian paprika
salt to taste, pinch of black pepper
dash of cardamom powder
water (opt.)

Directions:

Press garlic and combine with all dressing ingredients. Mix well, and set aside.
Drain beans and place in a bowl.
Add thinly sliced radishes and carrots (longer, narrow strips look very nice)
Finely chop the fennel. Slice very thinly enough cabbage for about 3/4 cup, and the greens.
Add the above to the bowl and combine everything.
Add a little salad dressing at a time, combing as you go to see how much you want. it doesn't have to be drenched, it's also very nice just moist. Or, well, lots of dressing is good too, as you like!
garnish with seeds and fresh basil

Notes:
As always, fantastically delicious with Erin's favorite: Tahini Whip

Luscious Tahini Whip

2009-01-18T13:09:00.000+01:00

There are few plant materials I value as much as tahini when it comes to creating something truly decadent and flavorful. Tahini, crushed sesame seeds, is full of calcium and other nutrients, good fats, and when eaten with legumes helps to create a complete protein source. But that's not what sells me. It's the fact that with a sprinkling of water the thick nutty paste becomes an elegant, fluffy creme, unparalleled in the vegan world (except for maybe whipped cashews, those are fairly magnificent too).

The best testimony I can give on behalf of this dip/condiment/spread is that after tasting it for the first time, I hitchhiked for a good 3 hours and walked through all of Sofia, Bulgaria to reach the Women's Market where I could buy a huge jar for just a few dollars. For the next 3 months of traveling, a jar of tahini was always in my bag, and I ate some with almost every meal, in one form or another. I never felt so well-nourished roughing it on the road.

I had this particular tahini whip one night in Bulgaria, eating with Katz and Ian in their beautiful kitchen. We ate it on sesame oil and white bean salad, another recipe I will post my imitation of soon, and the combination was something like a supernova in my mouth. Really. This is so good. My friend was recently visiting after having been in Israel, and served the same thing to us next to hummus and fried eggs in sauteed tomatoes (I've forgotten the name). Again, I melted straight through the floor. Just one example of how versatile it can be.

Luscious Tahini Whip (Enough for...well, after you're left alone with the bowl for a few minutes, you'll just have to see how much is left)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup tahini (organic and raw is my preference)
juice of 1 whole lemon (+/- to taste)
salt to taste
4 cloves fresh garlic (or more...)
1 tbsp olive oil
water
optional: paprika or zatar (a delicious tangy middle-eastern spice mix)

Directions:

Add a few spoons of water to the tahini and whip iwth a fork to combine. Even if it looks like it might curdle, just keep going, adding a little more water at a time, until it is fluffier than you thought it ever could be. You'll know.
Slowly add the lemon juice, combining a little at a time.
Add the oil, salt, (paprika if using), and garlic (pressed or finely chopped) and mix well.
Garnish with zatar, toasted sesame seeds, or thyme

Slovakian Beetroot Salad

2009-01-18T10:28:00.000+01:00

Another of my favorite travel salads, this one was first shown to me last winter at Sekier, a tiny Slovak alternative living community. I sat in the main room on a little wooden stool with Lucka and prepared a huge bowl of it for dinner one night, slowly washing each beet and carrot by hand in a little metal tub, grating until my arm was sore, and slowly roasting nthe sunflower seeds by the woodstove. Of course, preparing this salad in an average kitchen is not as work-intensive, and you probably have a sharper grater than Sekier did. Fear not, it's actually unbelievably simple. Still, each time I make it, I remember that slow afternoon and I like to take my time and savor the process, knowing this has been a staple for eastern europeans for centuries in winter months, when the last stored vegetables are all root crops from the cellar.

Slovakian Beetroot Salad (this version serves 4)
This is a healthy raw salad with a fresh, robust flavor. The dressing is only there to accentuate the flavors of the vegetables, and is low-fat as well.

Ingredients:

2 large beets (3-4 small), washed and with the greens removed (and saved*!)
2-3 large carrots, washed
juice of 1/2 lemon (plus more to taste if desired)
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
garlic (optional)
1 tbsp your choice of salad oil
3/4 cup (+/-) raw sunflower seeds
any fresh herbs you have around: I reccomend dill for a nice tangy flavor

Directions:

First, heat a skillet on the stove over medium-low flame and add the sunflower seeds. Stir occasionally until golden brown, remove from heat and set aside
With a large-sized grater, grate carrots and beets** into a bowl together.
Add lemon juice, vinegar, salt, pepper, any herbs you have (finely chopped), the garlic if you want (finely chopped or pressed), and a drizzle of oil.
Toss until well-combined, taste, and adjust any of the ingredients as neccesary.
Chill (optional, and very nice. letting it sit for a few hours in the fridge brings the flavors out)
Top with the roasted sunflower seeds and a sprig of any herb you have used in the recipe. Tastes great (and looks wonderful) with a dollop of plain soy yogurt or tahini whip.

Notes:
*Beet greens are so delicious and good for you! you can chop them up and add them to the salad if you wish, or save to add to soup, eat steamed with lemon, etc.
**I have made it with both peeled and unpeeled beets, the choice is yours!

'Activating' Seeds and Nuts-An easy digestion aid

2009-01-18T09:16:00.001+01:00

Like most vegans, and for that matter, gluten-free folks too, I find that seeds and nuts are a huge part of my diet now (I am oh so joyous that I am not allergic to any! phew!). I really crave them, especially almonds, hazelnuts, and pumpkin seeds, all of which are very healthy and a good way for people with alternative diets to get healthy fats and essential nutrients. Plus they just taste so goood, and nothing enhances gluten-free anything like nut-meal or milk. Oh, *muah* "delicioso!"

In cooking, I rarely have a problem digesting nuts, especially when they are ground or made into milks. But lately, when I have gone over to my boyfriend's house, his roommate has a beautiful bowl of mixed nuts from her travels in Syria, and the temptation to eat a handful (every time I walk in the room) is too much to resist. Oh they're good alright. that's what I keep telling myself when i wake up at 5 in the morning with a lance in my abdomen! "Shhhhh, my dear digestive tract, you wouldn't believe the flavors tongue up here is experiencing!" But my lower organs are just not happy with whole, raw nuts, or even roasted whole nuts.

I started looking around for a solution and found one that sounds surprisingly simple. so far I have only tried it with pumpkin seeds, but the result was a seed that was plump, juicy, and even better than the average dried pumpkin seed. And I didn't have a twinge of cramping or any bloating after eating (ahem, possibly too) many. Woah...really? Truly. But don't take my word for it, try it yourself-and try any seed or nut.

The science here is simple. Usually when we eat seeds and nuts they are dormant, perceiving in their little seedy senses that it's winter or some insanely dry spell that's not suitable for growth. So none of the living nutrients we find in plants are released. However, if you soak the seeds in good clean water, you have cleverly tricked them into thinking it's spring-the first rains. They begin to germinate, though it's not visible from the outside at all. The wonder of it is, they taste somehow better, though they retain the same flavor and crunch, look the same, and have gotten rid of most of the digestion-inhibiting factors on their own, because they are now focused on growing-which makes them all the more nutritious too.

Activated Seeds and Nuts

Ingredients:

some raw, whole, organic nuts
some fresh (spring, filtered, etc.) water, room temperature
a clean jar/bowl

Directions:

Just put your nuts in some water and soak for:

almonds/hazelnuts: 12 hours +
cashews/walnuts/pecans: 2-4 hours
brazils/macadamias: 6-12 hours
For seeds, the soak times are usually less, 2 hours or so.

If you want them salted or flavored, drain off the water and add whatever flavor you want while they're still wet. dry them on a tray in the oven at the very lowest temperature (you should only make it hot enough to imitate sunlight, so you don't kill the nutrients you've just accessed) until dry to the touch. Enjoy!

Notes:
There are many websites with helpful tables of detailed soak times. At the moment, I can only find this on in my history. 12-24 hours for most hard nuts seems fine. soft nuts like cashews and walnuts, about 4. For seeds, use your judgement and a little less time.
Vegan and Vegetarian Health guide: Nuts and Seeds

Summery Lemon-Lentil Salad

2009-01-17T21:08:00.000+01:00

Last year I was left flat broke with nothing but a ticket for the Sziget festival when my wallet was stolen in Poland. I decided, 'well, there are worse places to be money-less than an awesome festival,' so I continued on to Hungary and camped out with Couchsurfers. As I had accommodation costs covered with my borrowed tent (thank you Gregoire!), I was left with no worries. Except...what to eat...

Well, to be honest, with all the drunken festival-goers buying food and leaving it literally untouched on the picknick tables around, all I really had to do was sit at one and wait for a steaming plate of food to be stumbled away from. Which I did a few times. But with so many eating peculiarities (just try not eating dairy or meat at a festival in hungary...), and a sturdy craving for something better, I scraped together my change and trekked off Margit-Sziget to the Auchan supermarket in search of a good meal.

I returned, after a thorough perusal of the food aisles, with the cheapest "meal ingredients" in the place (at least, from things that didn't need to be cooked): canned lentils, tomatoes, carrots, a lemon (my luxury item), and garlic. This was to be the beginning of a long series of lentil salads which kept me going happily through even the weirdest circumstances in my travels.

The recipe here is a more domestic adaptation, including things like (gasp!) salt and other luxuries travellers rarely posess. It is extremely flexible, and is a fantastic way to eat a satisfying meal in summer that still keeps your stomach light and unburdened. Fresh herbs and seasonal veggies are always, always better, so if you can manage to get to somewhere other than the bargain section of Auchan, I reccommend varying to fit your environment!

Summery Lemon-Lentil Salad (serves 6 as a side salad.)

Ingredients (like I said, I'm lenient-be creative):

Salad:

4 cups cooked lentils, cooled (the small dark ones, dunno what they're called. just not any that will get mushy! you want them firm; aldente, we'll say)
2 large carrots
2 large ripe tomatoes (firm is best)
1 cucumber
1 small onion
fresh basil, thyme, rosemary, oregano, parsley, marjoram...whatever, it's all good

Dressing:

juice of 1 whole lemon, and a dash of grated zest if it's organic
2 tbps of your favorite salad oil (sesame is delicious)
1/2 tsp Braggs liquid amino acid, if you have it. Otherwise, soy sauce, tamari or salt to taste
2 tbsp apple cider or light wine vinegar
a splash of balsamic vinegar
as much garlic as you like raw
add your own special seasoning-miso, paprika, curry, mustard, cumin, cardamom...

Directions:

Wash carrots and tomatoes, and any other veggies you're using.
Chop tomatoes, carrots, and cucumber into small cubes (creative carrot chopping techniques look nice too)
Finely dice the onion and herbs
Combine all of the above in a bowl
Press the garlic, mix up your dressing and add some water if needed to get a light, thin consistency.
Mix the dressing with the salad and chill. It tastes better after a few hours to combine flavors. Garnish with fresh herbs and lemon slices.

Notes:
Serve with bresh bread, on rice cakes, in wraps, over rice, and/or with the amazingly yummy Tahini Whip (highly reccommended)!

Molasses Water-Kefir (from milk kefir grains)

2009-01-17T19:40:00.000+01:00

I hunted for days to find anyone in Basel with some extra kefir grains to share, and when I found them, I was too relieved to be picky. Which is why I wound up a vegan with milk-kefir. Not knowing what to do with them to get them away from dairy milk, I turned to Dom's kefir page for some inspiration. Not only, as it turns out, is it possible to switch milk kefirs to water kefir, it's actually ridiculously easy. The result is a bubbly, sweet, tangy drink that I think would be great with some ginger added at the beginning...maybe next time...anyway, as always, it fulfils requirement number one: delicious.

The recipe here I adapted from Dom's Kefir d'Acqua recipe to fit the materials I had. It's simpler for me, but as always you can feel free to adjust as desired to what you have available.

Molasses Water-Kefir (from milk-kefir grains):

Ingredients: (I used all organic)

1 liter spring water or filtered water (if treated with chlorine, boil and cool or let sit before using) at room temperature
2 tbsp molasses
1/4 cup raw sugar
1 slice lemon, washed (if not organic, squeeze the juice in and discard peel)
1 dried fig
A few raisins
1 tbsp milk kefir grains, rinsed

Directions:

In a clean glass container, mix molasses, sugar, and water until molasses and sugar dissolve.
Toss in the milk-kefir grains, fig, raisins, and lemon.
Set in a warm place covered with a thin towel or cheese-cloth to keep bugs out.
If you want, strain out the fruit after 1 or 2 days (just to prevent mold from forming)
Let it sit for a few days, smelling/tasting every day to check the progress. It's finished when you like it and it's got a nice bubbly sourness.
When it's to your satisfaction, strain out the grains using as plastic mesh strainer or a cheesecloth and refrigerate your drink. start a new batch with the grains!

Notes:
Because of the switch from milk to sugar, it may take longer the first few times than normal kefir-mine took about 5 days the first time, 3 the second.

Enchanted by Fermentation

2009-01-17T18:52:00.000+01:00

A few days after Christmas this year I decided it was time to clean out last year's junk. No, not from my apartment; I felt like I needed something to get my body back into a good, balanced state. After moving a few months ago, and traveling for most of the year before, it seems like the very idea of taking the time to develop good habits just hasn't had space to manifest. So, with the help of Oscar, a very nice juicer I borrowed from my friend, I began a 10-day juice fast to clear the slate for the new year.

As I neared the end of my fast, I felt like I had better start preparing some healthy things to consume for afterwards, or surely I would just go back to the cupboard exactly where I left off. I spent a lot of time thinking about how I have eaten in the past and reached the conclusion that although I ate pretty healthily by most standards, the way I ate just didn't cut it. I tended to have quick meals that didn't require a lot of foresight or preparation-or leave much room for enjoyment. One solution dawned on me as I found myself gazing wistfully at jars of sauerkraut and pickles-home fermentation is a perfect way to get more involved with your food.

What ensued was a frenzy of research and experimenting, which has resulted in the erection of a "Fermentation Corner" covered in bowls, jars, and bottles in the living room next to the heater and the posting of a 'Mission Log" for recording the starting dates and notes for projects (because wow did I get lost fast without a record!). It was suddenly obvious that having live, fermented foods around is a healthy and delicious part of a good diet. It also makes for a lot more interaction with your food. Processing each item is like throwing a new thread into the weave of your daily life, and as it become habitual to think about fermentation as a part of your life, the pattern becomes more and more interesting.

The health benefits of fermentation are undeniable: mass marketing alreayd tells us how wonderful yogurt is, and this is because of the presence of healthy bacteria, which help both to break down the hard-to-digest parts of foods in the fermentation process, and aid in digestion in our systems. A great example of how fermentation can enhance foods is seen in soy products. Studies have been done (it's worth noting, these are in western countries) to show that soy products are unhealthy. What others have shown (sources coming soon) is that the 'unhealthy' part of soy is actually due to conventional processing methods. In asian countries, where soy has been a crucial part of diet for centuries, the beans are almost always fermented in some way to help break down the parts that are difficult for us to digest.

Another point I think is worth noting is the history of breadmaking. There are so many theories about gluten allergies and how they have arisen so much in recent years. Many point to white flour as the culprit, and I think there's no way to deny that it is truly difficult for any person to digest white flour, much less get nutrients from it, regardless of a gluten allergy. But whole wheat and other gluten-containing grains also give celiacs and gluten-sensitive eaters some belly-rumbles. Why?

Traditionally, all cultures gathered yeast for bread making from the air around them. this is done through a fermentation process; ground grains and water are left to collect yeast and occasionally stirred to help spread yeast and introduce oxygen. Yeast also accumulates on fruit and other foods. The process involves different types of bacteria entering the flour-water mixture and changing it in small ways which make it more hospitable to new bacteria, which finally make it a comfortable home for yeast. During this process, the grains are essentially pre-digested by the bacteria, including the parts which normally impede digestion by humans...like gluten!

Then the 'starter' is added to more flour to make dough, and the fermentation continues. Depending on the type of bread, it can be for days, and the bacteria continue to digest the grains (meanwhile creating that delicious sour flavor). So even though ancient people ate a lot of wheat, it was in a much more easily-digested form than we usually have today. How long do you think commercial bread ferments before it's baked?...yeah...

Sourdough bread and fermented soy-products are some of the better known fermentations. there are many simpler, equally nourishing and delicious dishes, which basically require no extra work on your part. Soaking grains before cooking (for anywhere from 24 hours to weeks) also allows these good bacteria to enter and start munching. It's like sending your teeth in a day early, and the result is less work for your digestive system. Or how about sauerkraut, or sauer-anything? Amazingly easy!

My point? Well, I'm not really interested in telling you what you shouldn't eat; you can figure that out by listening to your own body's responses. But for a lot of us westerners, fermentation just hasn't been a part of our lives, or not in a major way. I'd like to point out that it's really easy, healthy, and yummy (and so satisfying) to make your own live-culture foods. I never made a fermented product growing up; I never even preserved jam! So maybe I am a little over-excited by the prospect of making my own tempeh and sourdough pancakes from wild yeast, but I sure am enjoying the learning experience.

That being said, there are a lot of knots to work out too. Some things seem to work magically well, like yogurt, soured beets, kvass, and seed milks. But others (pumpkin-seed milk kefir, for example) I just haven't managed to perfect...none-the-less, you can expect a lot of fermentation recipes in the near future as I brine my way along!

You can find some great links for home fermentation in my "Fermentation Links" list; check them out, you will amaze yourself with how easy it is.