Vegetable & Sprout Scrambly Wambly

Really.. sprouting is supposed to maximize the benefits of raw foods, thus it would make sense to eat them raw - as they are wee living organisms full of potential and life, just eager to bust out in the world and make a difference - well they do, definitely,.. on your liver, blood, heart and so on. But what if you feel like eating warm and cooked food, but also feel like the refreshing, energizing effects of sprouts. Cook 'em!!

By now I think I've probably insulted or offended the raw food advocate by cooking precious young greens as sprouts. I feel like I bastardized the food, like teaching a 2 year old swear words or something. Sure cooking destroys some of the benefits of their cleansing, reducing nature, but the sprouts contain so many more benefits than just they're reducing abilities - in fact, I'm not interested in reducing or cleansing right now, my focus is to build myself. Build my immunity, tissues, strength, liver, gusto.. you get it, and so I went with my instinct to cook these wiggly hair like green fellows. It was the first time I've ever done it.

I ended up eating about 3-4 large clamshells of sprouts that week, as greens always shrink when heated, and are much less rough getting down. They make my stomach happy. (Going back to clamshells.. I REALLY don't like those plastic tubs that greens and sprouts come in!! We've got to think of something better to transport those fellows in!... actually, solution: grow them yourself!) I usually don't buy the cramshell lettuces, greens and sprouts through the winter because it's not really what I crave (or need) in the winter, and it's so readily and locally available in the summer that you don't get them in those nasty plastic things, but it's spring now, and these dandy sprouts were hollering at me from across the store for me to put them in my basket, and consequently in my stomach (but first the pan). I digressed...

SO.. what is this beauty of a feast on my plate? Sauteed veg, then scramble eggs, then at the last moment (just after the eggs go in) toss in some sprouts and mix 'em around. In just a moment, when the eggs start solidifying - you're finished! I garnished with a half avocado and some spice. 

Okayu - soup for the sick Japanese soul

North Americans reach for instant, MSG laden, refined and boxed chicken noodle soup when feeling ill - Japanese however reach for okayu. This is such an incredible healing tonic, I recommend it for anyone feeling 'off', or having poor energy or immunity and need to heal. This will do it!

The base, and power of this fantastic "soup" is the really well cooked rice in ample water. You can try grinding the rice first if you wish, to have it cook a little quicker, but otherwise cook 1 part brown rice to 4 parts water or more. The more time, the more water, the more healing magic.

In this thickish rice soup, add seaweed (kombu or wakame), chopped leeks or green onion, black pepper, cayenne, and/or ginger. And then finally, when at a boil, pour in a beaten egg or two, stir, and then reduce to a simmer and let it cook for as long as you can allow. If it gets too thick, just add water. AHH!!!...... healing, and surprisingly delicious despite the appearance from the photo - it really is good and nurturing!

Awesomest Lunch Ever!

Wow. No recipe for this guy - so simple, which is almost the best recipe for whole foods cooking - simple.

Pictured clockwise from bottom to top:

Cooked grains

Gently sauteed veggies

Miso sauce (miso, tahini, shoyu, apple cider vinegar, honey, cumin, etc)

Roasted potato fingers with sesame oil, salt and pepper

Poached egg (we're really into eggs lately... they make our Kidneys happy)

Home-style Brown Rice Bake

Ooh! This tasted better than it looked, simply because it was in the oven for a LONG time, and little veggies and grains tend to get a little extra brown around the outside making it look not so fresh, but the cooking time in the dish made it a yummy ray of digestive qi emanating from that delightful cooking pot (all ceramic, which means stove and oven proof).

Cook some brown rice on the stove top with 2:1 water (so 2 cups water for 1 cup rice)

Sautee in veggies with some oil:

onions

garlic

carrots

mushrooms

Once soft add the cooked rice and stir.

Crack in 2 eggs and stir those in until mixed and scrambly.

Add black pepper, nuts, beans, whatever, and a little tamari to richen it.

Pop it into the oven and let it bake for a while!! If company is coming over in an hour, set the oven low and check on it, but if dinner is waiting, you don't need to bake it, or pop it in the oven for a very short time at moderate heat (375F?)

Garnish with fresh herbs like parsley if you wish!! It might make it look "fresher" looking if it's been in the oven for a while!

Sautee in the pan the veggies. Add

Breakfast of Champions

Breakfast is one of the most important meals of the day.  I see many people in the morning make the mad dash out of their front door to their car with a large mug of coffee and a bagel clenched between their teeth.  Coffee and simplified carbs wont be able to sustain you for very long and eating on the run can give you the runs or stop traffic in your end.  Making yourself a nourishing breakfast is a great way to start your day and to support great digestive fire throughout the whole day.  Here is a breakfast of Champions, filled with protein, vitamins and nutrients.

  

Start by heating a small dollop of ghee in a heavy skillet (you can also use unrefined sesame oi)

saute a handful of thinly sliced onions until just cooked through

add a handful of chopped collard green or swiss chard

add diced shiitake or crimini mushrooms

add 1/4 cup of tomato, either fresh or canned organic diced tomatoes, with a bit of juice

put in some dried oregano, fennel, or thyme to your taste

salt and pepper to taste

add 2 whisked eggs with a pinch of salt to skillet when vegetables are cooked through

mix everything together and stir until eggs are done

Serve with saurkraut, and half of an avocado, with dulse, lemon and hemp oil

put a pinch of cayenne on your eggs or use your favorite hot sauce. Enjoy!

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!

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!

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!

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?!

Morning Eggs

Sautee leeks with optional celery, pumpkin seeds and almonds in some butter with spices, such as black pepper, mustard seed or cumin. Add beaten eggs and a little cayenne to make them less sticky and more digestible.... easy!

Eggs with greens and sauerkraut

Poached eggs, steamed greens, sesame seeds, apple cider vinegar and sauerkraut! Breakfast of champions!... well at least for the Whole Foodies