Canadian Root Veggies

Sorry for the gruesome photography in this post, but I am excited to share this recipe!!

Sautee some root veggies (I used parsnips and carrots, but beets work too) in a whack of butter, then when soft add some walnuts and this sauce:

1/3 part soya sauce

1/3 part maple syrup

1/3 part whiskey (or rye, as they call it in Canada)

Be generous with the quantities and really let them cook and caramelize. 

This can also be done in the oven, or on a BBQ wrapped in foil.

Yummy! You can also be a real Canadian and try this recipe with salmon!

The picture shows the veggies as a side to Sharla's exquisite red cabbage and tempeh sensation.

How Do You Like Your Potatoes?... Crrrrisp!

Why would you eat potato chips when you can just eat these instead?

Finely slice your potatoes using your articulate knife skills, or using a mandolin (not the instrument, but the kitchen gadget) and lay the slices out on an oiled pan (use olive or sesame as it holds up better to heat) and coat the slices with oil as well. Sprinkle ample savoury seasonings onto the slices, such as oregano, thyme, sage, black pepper, and use a little sea salt too. 

Slide 'em into the oven at 350F and cook them until your desired crispiness! Don't cook them too long otherwise the oil with burn and turn bitter and bad for you!

Tip: Try cutting the thickness of the potatoes uniformly so that they cook evenly, otherwise some will burn, and some will be undercooked!

Lung Boosting with White Foods

White foods influence the Lungs and Large Intestine according to Chinese Medicine. Why? Because they moderate and balance moisture in these elimination organs. Some white foods are drying, some moistening, but they do aid these organ systems. In this dish, I've used drying white root vegetables; parsnips, onion and white carrot. Using warming ginger and garlic just gives it that extra drying capability, and the tofu doesn't dry us right off the planet as it gently moistens the lungs so we can breathe deep and exchange more air.

This was a simple side, and served on a bed of grains, probably quinoa, I've been eating this grain a little more often than usual - I don't know why... it feels good.

This whole thing was sauteed in a bit of sesame oil, shoyu, spices and a touch of rice vinegar. Yum yum!

The Whole Root n' Capoodle

Feeling lazy? Do this: wash some roots, toss em in a dish, rub em down with oil, sprinkle them with herbs and spices, and bake them until soft, I'd say 350F for an hour. If pieces are larger then others, cut them so they are similarly sized, otherwise just put them in whole, unpeeled and unchopped.

They reheat nicely too - just keep cooking them and they just keep getting softer!!

You might have to add a little water to the bottom of the pan if they get beyond dry.

Sweet Milly Bake

Toast some millet in a dry oven proof pot. I added some spices like cinnamon, cardamom as well as some raisins and other fun things (seeds maybe?)

Once sufficiently toasted, add some water to it and bring it to a boil. You can use apple juice as well too, to make it sweeter and more desserty. Once boiling, put on the lid and pop it into a preheated oven!

Once cooked, after 30 - 60 minutes, you can reduce the heat and just keep it warm in the oven. With more liquid, you can cook it for longer and get it softer and sweeter. Less water will take less time to cook, but it will be more granular, dry and tough (but still good!)

This reheats nicely in the oven as well, and you can add to it later too, turning it into a quasi apple crisp or something fun.

Quinoa Ragout

A variation on a ragout pasta, but with quinoa instead!

Cook grains in a pot:

1 cup quinoa
2 cups water

Start the sauce in a large pan:
1 Tbsp oil
1/2 tsp ea. thyme, oregano, fennel
1 cup cabbage, chopped
1 zucchini, chopped
2 carrots, chopped

1-1/2 cup tomato sauce
2 fistfulls of greens

Start by adding quinoa and water in a small sauce pan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes covered, and then let sit until ready.

In a large pan, heat oil, then seed spices, then onion until onion is clear or golden coloured. Add the chopped vegetables and remaining spices, and cook covered until desired texture, adding water occasionally if necessary. Once the veggies are cooked, add the sauce, greens and quinoa together in the pot or serving dish and enjoy!

Quinoa Greens Salad

Instead of pasta salad, why not have grains salad! Whole grains are less refined, more nutritious and awesome. 

1-1/2 cups quinoa

3 cups water

bit of salt

1/4 to 1/3 cup oil, to taste

3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 fist of herbs

1 fist of greens

1 chopped red onion

1 chopped tomato

Salt and pepper to taste

1/3 cup feta (or more)

Cook up the quinoa while making a "salad" made up of the veggies and dressing. Mix together the salad with the grains and cheese, et voila! 

Put sides of sauerkraut, greens, beans, whatever, to go with it!

(In this posting, I made my own goat cheese - as shown - please see our videos to learn how to make your own cheese!)

Yaki soba (grilled buckwheat noodles)

Start by sauteeing onions, garlic, leeks, whatever your fancy with some warm spices, such as mustard seed, black pepper, cayenne, or togarashi, which is Japanese 7 pepper spice.

Add cabbage, you can add lots because it really reduces as it cooks and then set aside (or if you don't make a lot, you can do the next step right in the same pot). Add some tamari/shoyu and a dash of orange juice to give it some body.

Put some strained boiled buckwheat noodles (which take about 4 minutes from start to finish) into the pan (with oil.. unrefined please) and stir, with more spices if you like.

Crack some eggs right into the noodles and give 'em a stir-stir. They'll sorta scramble right in as you mix the noodles, you can add a little more heat with some cayenne, or coolness with shoyu in this step too if your dish is a little weak. The yang of the spices and yin of the tamari really bring out the subtle flavour of the veggies and soba noodles.

Once cooked, add (if not already added) it all together and eat!! Use chopsticks, it's more fun that way.

This is a very popular Japanese dish, except in Japan they use ramen type noodles (but still called soba), TONS of salt, pork and less cabbage - and far more soya and spice. It's good too, and very cultural, but I prefer the healthier option of which I am presenting to you!

Pizza delish

Once you have your sourdough crust recipe mastered, you can start making world famous fantasy pizzas!!.. or you can just buy a premade crust, which is ok too.. I guess.  :)

Making a pizza is simple. Add ingredients that are fun, and bake.

This one had spinach, garlic, leek, goat mozzarella (quick tip, actually pronounced "monzerella".. my aunts in-laws are Italian) zucchini, tomatoes, dill, and of course sauce. There may have been cumin and fennel seeds and parsley, but I don't remember. Maybe basil, again, don't remember here -- making pizzas are so exciting I barely remember a thing afterwards.

Pop 'em in the oven until they look done, and.. you're done!! Easily as that... (crust is a different story, see previous blog!)

Enjoy!

The Patient Pizza (sourdough crust)

Above: sponge after rising

Above: sponge before rising

Above: starter when bubbly

The sour flavor enters the Liver - according to Chinese health philosophies, but so does patience, which this recipe calls for quite a bit of - making it very healing for those with swollen stagnant Livers (easily angered, irritable or impatient). Patience is the key to this delicious, important component to any fantasy pizza, as well as a healthy flowing Liver.

The beauty with souring your own food in your house is that you draw on the natural bacteria in your own home, creating a culture that you naturally live with. As healthy bacteria are key to a healthy gut and immune system, this recipe, in essence turns the bacteria in your living environment into your immune system! Making your every breath in your home strengthening for your gut and immunity, rather than fighting the natural bacteria in your house - you turn it into you!! Be one with your home!!

Start by adding 1/4 cup of whole grain flour (I used spelt) in a CLEAN jar (remember, you will spawn whatever bacteria are growing in there) with 1/4 cup water and dropped in a raisin. Choose organic, cause harsh chemicals on the surface of the raisin (sprays) can potentially kill your bacteria - and the naturally occurring bacteria on the surface will be healthier (the bacteria are the white film normally seen on grapes, raisins, cabbage, etc). I also stirred in one capsule of a digestive enzyme to start the fermenting - but you can spit in it to get it started too. Haha.. just kidding... but really it works. I haven't tried it. Gross.

Put a lid on the jar LOOSELY so you can draw bacteria from the air. Sealing it tight will do nothing.. maybe it will mold before it bubbles up and sours. Stir the starter daily and check on it. After a day or two, or three - depending on the warmth of the jar, it will begin to be bubbly, fragrant and sour! Fermentation!!

Quick! Feed it by doubling it, add another 1/4 cup flour and 1/4 cup water and stir.

Let it bubble away again, this time it will be faster. Again, once soured, double the batch by adding 1/2 cup flour and 1/2 cup water. Once that is bubbled up, you are ready for some crust action.

Dump the total of 1 cup flour starter into a large mixing bowl and add 3 cups of water and 4 cups of flour (the same as the starter, but others can work - actually, you can put anything in there, leftover rice, oatmeal, etc - it will get "eaten" up by the fermentation and look uniform once soured.) This sticky mush is called a "sponge" and acts as an in between for your final dough and the starter. Let this rise, covered (preferably with a damp cloth... and don't have it open because if a fly falls in there, you will be culturing more than bacteria!) for 2 hours and up to a day or so.. just let is rise and get sour too.

Stir in another 3 - 4 cups of flour just until it's soft and doughy and able to be kneaded. If it's too sticky and sticks to your hands, add more flour. You'll also want to flour your wooden board/surface you're kneading on so that doesn't stick too. Knead for about 5 minutes to work the gluten and get the air out.

Roll it out into crusts (or at this stage, roll it into loaves if you're making bread) with a floured rolling pin, and set it on a floured baking sheet/stone.

Put it into a cold oven and let it rise again for about an hour, or more. You speed it up you can add a shallow pan of hot water in the oven to make it warm and moist for the lovely bacteria to spawn even faster. Bacteria seem to reproduce when the conditions are hot and sweaty.

After about an hour, but up to a day!!.. (although this can make the crust/bread tougher) turn on the oven to 350F without disrupting the crust (so it stays risen) and bake it for about 30 - 45 minutes (a loaf would be 375F for 60 minutes). Once it looks cooked through, take it out - dress it up and make a pizza, cooking for another 15 minutes or until your cheese is cooked or however you like it.

It's alot of work, and I'm sure you'd be a little 'crusty' if your pizza is a flop after all that effort, but chances are it will turn out great (souring is pretty fool proof) and will taste like no other crust you've ever tried!! Delish!!

*As a note, after you've dumped your starter into the mixing bowl, leave just a little bit in the bottom of the jar, and you can add 1/4 cup of flour and water each to remake the starter, which will be quick.. you only have to start your starter once. Once it's going, it just keeps on going and going and going and.....

Huevos Rancheros

Another dish from our ceremonial breakfast out to commemorate the painting of our kitchen. Huevos Rancheros with a whole wheat wrap, roasted vegetables, poached eggs, and a hollandaise sauce. It just couldn't be finished... it was too good to overeat.

California Benedict

Ooo!! Two poached eggs, grilled tomato & avocado on a marinated portobello mushroom with a hollandaise sauce!

This a special breakfast that I went out to eat with my parents-in-law to celebrate the painting of our kitchen, ...and to avoid making a mess in our ready to paint, primed kitchen!

It was a treat!

Sprouted Loaf of Love

Feeling down? Try hugging a sprouted loaf!...or making one.  Making sprouted bread couldn't be easier, it just needs a bit of loving attention, it is kind of like having a pet, except that it won't shred your favorite chair or knock all of your plants off the window.  Place 1 cup of whole millet and 1 cup of whole kamut in separate bowls.  Add enough water to cover by 1 inch, and soak over night or if you prefer early morning and soak all day.  Drain after 10-12 hours.  Place a kitchen towel over each bowl and set them in a cool dark area, rinse every 6-8 hours, or if you notice the grains are becoming too dry.  You do not want your grains totally wet all the time, but you want enough moisture to keep them alive.  After a few days of rinsing and draining, you will see the grains growing tails or sprouts, after they have grown to about the same size or a bit longer than the grain, it is ready for loaf action!  Place both the millet and kamut in a blender, put on low speed to start, and use a tamper to help incorporate the grains.  Pulse the mixture so the blender doesn't overheat.  You can also do this step in a juicer with a blank screen.  If your blender is having a hard time, add a tiny bit of water.  Take out your dough and work it into a loaf shape of your choice, a ball, a disc, a discoball, then place in an oven preheated to 250 degrees F.  Bake for 1 1/2 hours or until slightly golden.  Take out of the oven, hug it, slice it, and eat it!

Buckwild Sesame Soba Noodles

I am on a buckwheat soba noodle kick right now!  Buckwheat is a wonderful way to obtain your Bs; B1 and B2.  Some of the nutrients go into the water when cooking soba, so add some of the cooking liquid to your sauce.  This noodle dish is made with black sesame paste (tahini), if you can find it, it is wonderful and more nutritious than its paler counterpart.  I like the darkness of this dish, almost black in color, I want to put it on my head and wear it like hair!  Well, it is probably better to eat it than wear it.

Cook the buckwheat soba noodles in boiling water until al dente (tender firm), strain, run under cold water until noodles are hot but still warm.  Set aside.

For the sauce:

3 Tbsp black sesame tahini or light tahini

1 Tbsp almond or cashew butter

1 tsp agave nectar or honey

2 Tbsp brown rice vinegar

2 Tbsp shoyu soy sauce or tamari

1 tsp unrefined toasted sesame oil

1 1/2 tsp ground coriander

1 Tbsp water (cooking liquid)

Combine all ingredients for sauce until it is a smooth paste, adjust flavors to your liking.

Stir sauce into the noodles, top with shredded carrots, scallions, sesame seeds and shredded nori.

Spicy for your noodle!

This soup is so yummy and has a bit of a kick, so adjust this to your heat level.  I went to a Thai restaurant recently to have some soup and there was a note at the bottom of the menu that said, 'all dishes spiced to your testes'.  Okay, I am assuming that is a typo, but then I looked around and found that there were only men eating in the restaurant... coincidence? hmm, strange.   

for the broth:

put 2 cups of vegetable broth, 1 dried shiitake mushroom, 1 piece of kombu seaweed, 2 slices of fresh ginger and a splash of tamari in a soup pot.  Simmer while you prepare the other ingredients.

cook soba noodles until al dente in rapid boiling water, about 5 minutes, check often.  Drain and rinse under cold water until noodles feel like they are room temperature

for omelette:

dissolve 1 tsp mello miso with a little broth to form a paste, stir in one egg and one egg white and chopped scallions.  

heat 2 tsp of ghee or butter in a skillet and pour egg mix, tilt pan to cover bottom of pan and cook until just done, fold eggs over until it looks like a roll.  Remove from heat and cut into thin slices on a cutting board

Just before broth is done simmering, place 1 tsp of gojuchang (korean hot pepper paste) in the pot and dissolve, stir in chopped greens; such as spinach, watercress, bok choy, sliced snow peas or snow pea shoots until just wilted.

Spoon broth into bowls add cooked buckwheat soba noodles, top with sliced omelet, chopped cilantro and a few drops of unrefined toasted sesame oil!

This soup can stand a lot of improv, you can go without the spicy paste and just have a nice gingery broth, substitute any green of your choice, put in some shredded daikon (japanese radish), try some mushrooms like enoki or shiitake, use diced tofu, or any meat of your choice.  It is really limitless, guide your soup with your taste buds!

Sweat and enjoy!

Beany bean and miso dip!

Yummy!! Here's how these were blended:

The green one: flax oil, miso paste, honey, apple cider vinegar, shoyu, cumin, black pepper, garlic, cayenne, parsley, ... and ground sesame seeds.

The red one: aduki beans, miso paste, chili powder, cumin, lemon, cilantro, black pepper, cayenne, ginger, and a bit of cilantro. The aduki beans I used were leftovers and had some orange juice in them... but it was kind of weird, I don't think I'd do that again.

Oven baked french fries!

Potatoes are the best food ever. Cut into pieces, rub 'em down with some unrefined monounsaturated oils, sprinkle with spices, or not... and a little salt, or not, bake them on a baking sheet at 350F for 45-60 minutes until they are your desired softness/crispiness and devour! Make a yogurt based dip/sauce for them, because ketchup is terrible for you and not food at all... especially the no-name stuff - it's just liquid sugar. There it is!! Make them tonight and think of the Whole Foodies!! (PS. leave the skins on, unless they're green, then peel 'em)

How to Feel Amazing

I really don't feel any better than when I eat grains, beans and vegetables with a sauce. To me... this it. This is why we feel good.. this is what makes your day good no matter what. What keeps us centred, motivated, in love, on top, on the ground.. all the good things you want in life you can access from within - when you eat this!!!! Am I right? huh?.. huh?.. remarks?

So what is it? If it looks disgusting to you, then your salty sweet taste buds have not yet acclimatized to whole foods and that's fine. There comes a point when you no longer desire the super yang foods like sugar and flour, nor the ultra yin foods found in heavily salted foods. What's left is that oh so harmonizing centre where the present moment comes to life, your senses heighten, and that once bland food suddenly has incredible taste - and leaves you feeling ON the centre. This is a feeling not familiar to most eaters these days, I know so because a standard American (Canadian in my case) diet just makes me feel off centre, up and then down, and nowhere - and you want more - because you are never quite satiated and fulfilled. And you want more of not only food, but things in life, because what you ate and have is seemingly not enough.. but it is!! You just have to come to the centre to appreciate, see and be gracious for it. This is where this meal comes in... man, totally centering, which like I said, makes life sparkle.

Am I crazy? Possibly... but it all makes sense to me, and if it resonates with you too, leave a comment or tell someone you love to eat grains and veggies for dinner... with love.

How to make:

-Steam grains

-Cook beans

-Sautee/steam greens (see 'greens' for ideas on this)

-Make sauce (see previous post)

Drizzle with flax oil, sesame seeds, whatever makes you happy.

How to eat:

-Sit upright, cross legged on a soft surface, which is nice because you can cradle the warm bowl in your other hand to feel its warmth.... OR eat with feet flat on the floor in a chair at a table

-Smell your food, 'what are you eating?'

-Take a bite sized amount on your fork or other eating utensil

-Chew it until its disappeared in your mouth (usually takes 30+ chews)

-Take a breath before going for more,... set your eating utensil down now and then

-Remain seated after eating and wait for the "Qi puff" to ascend into your body, which is quite energizing AND relaxing.

Food divides into two parts from our digestion, the "clear" ascends and energizes us, and the "turbid" descends and exits along our waste portals.  

If the food sat like a rock and is "stuck" in your centre, you ate too quickly or weren't focused, and the two parts didn't quite separate, making your liver and centre sticky and stuck.. and usually tired. This doesn't allow for the full nutrition to be assimilated... it's like a poor burning fire that produces a lot of toxic black smoke, as oppose to a clean burning fire which produces two parts similar to our digestion - clear smoke, and turbid ash - with no incomplete burnt wood or charring toxic smoke.

Strive to feel the Qi puff with everything you eat, and you'll start to realize how much of your food burns dirty and incomplete.. which again, is toxic and tiring for the body.

Start by eating slow... and try eating vegetal foods such as grains and veggies!

Chakra Bars!!!

The recipe hasn't been finalized yet - and we are still in the testing stage, but I thought I'd share about these delicious treats!

Warm some brown rice syrup with almond butter and add:

-Chlorella/spirulina

-Puffed millet

-Oat flakes

-Pumpkin seeds

-Flax seeds

-Raisins

Mix it up like rice crispy squares, cool it (well, dry it actually), and form it into pieces!

Yummy!!

Mochi: the pounded rice cake you can cook!

What do you get when you overcook rice, slam it with a hammer, form it, mold it and let it dry. Mochi!! Yummy.. warming, building, harmonizing - and a festive food for those celebrating the New Year in Japan. Served with a little butter (goat's), black pepper, shoyu and wrapped in nori  paper. Comfort food that came home with us from Japan.

Orangy beets and red hot yolks

Oooo... doesn't this look like a lovely breakfast!? Sauteed beets with some orange juice and yacon and stirred greens, accompanied by an egg dusted with cayenne and ginger.

Egg Scramble Wrap!

Not entirely whole (the wrap), foodie Anna whipped these up for our guests one morning which contained spicy scrambled eggs, goat cheese and veggies. Fun and easy! What more to say?!

quinoa tempeh bowl

This is one of my comfort meals, something to satisfy me in every way and it's quick too!

Cook 1 cup of quinoa, with enough water to cover it by 1/2 an inch.

Marinade for tempeh:

fresh squeezed orange juice

dulse flakes

nama shoyu soy sauce

few drops of unrefined toasted sesame oil

Soak tempeh in the marinade for 15 minutes, then sear on all sides in a skillet set to medium.

Dressing for greens:

hemp or flax oil

apple cider vinegar

agave or honey to taste

Steam the greens (kale, bokchoy, chard, spinach,etc), add dressing to the wilted greens, toss to coat.  

Add cooked quinoa in a bowl and place greens and tempeh on top, drizzle left over marinade and dressing.  Top with toasted pumpkin and sesame seeds!  MMM hearty!