Scott's Dish

So every once and a while I'll get an email from a friend or client telling me about their meal they made, or some fantastic recipe they found out about. I sense the enthusiasm from them as much as I feel it when I get emails like that. It satiates my Whole Foodies self, and inspires me to keep doing what it is I do! I just got one from Scott Galloway tonight, a fellow musician and friend, and this was the only text in his message:

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Short grain brown rice
Onion
Black beans
Coconut milk
Cumin
Allspice
Avocado
Grape tomatoes

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I laughed, because the recipe is exactly as I would write it, and I could tell he cooked with foods he happened to have in his fridge, using his intuition to guide him through the cooking process. Combinations become easier to put together with a little cooking experience and experimentation, and I believe Scott has matured this aspect of his cooking self. It's a way of expressing yourself. Where I would cook things one way, another person would use the same ingredients differently, or add an ingredient that I would have never thought of, or bought in the first place. This is the beauty of cooking from intuition. You express yourself, and your food resonates that energy. Recipes are a great place to work from, and learn from, but really, when it comes time to making a recipe, the final product will always have the personal touch of the cook in it! Don't be afraid to improvise - do things your way, or take an idea from a recipe and experiment with it for your own gain. At the end of the day, it's your food to eat - so cook what makes you happy! ... and then send your photos and recipes to Whole Foodies! :)

Food for yer yin-yang

Aduki beans and well cooked rice. Need I say more?

Sourdough, Recycled Brown Rice bread!

Throughout the retreat, we started to get a little burdened with leftovers. We weren't sure how to use 2 servings of rice, or a tiny bit of left over vegetables, so we started finding creative ways to use them in our cooking. Here's an application for left over grains, especially non-glutinous! Since we had a celiac person in our retreat, I felt a little bothered that all of our bread had gluten in it (kamut) and so began making brown rice sourdough bread. However, as grains ferment in the process, it doesn't really matter what grain it is, and if it's cooked or not. So I began putting grain leftovers in a large bowl to ferment, and would make them into bread. The first morning I made it, I didn't think it was really anything special, as was kinda weird... however, that same morning I happened to drop an entire scalding hot crock pot full of cooked brown rice congee on the ground while carrying it to the dining hall, and it smashed all over the place (including my bare feet, which gave coincidentally gave me a lovely little liver moxibustion treatment), anyways - I felt so bad that I thought I'd better serve this strange congee bread, and low and behold, they ate all of it - 2 full loaves. They loved it, and I continued making it throughout the retreat from then on.

As it really is a tactile thing to make, and working with leftovers really offers no quantifiable, measurable methodology to making it, I just simply add brown rice sourdough starter to the leftover grains (about 1 cup) and then add fluids to bring it to a batter like consistency, maybe a little wetter. For fluids, I would use leftover, starting to ferment homemade brown rice milk, or some left over vegetable cooking water - as it was a little starchier to help the bacteria nosh on the soon-to-be dough. After a day of sitting, or when I see it rise, I add fresh ground brown rice to bring it to batter consistency, and again, add a little fluid if need be. I think some dry ground grain is necessary to make it tough enough to bake, as the cooked grains were too wet and soft to make a loaf unto themselves. As a batter consistency (maybe slightly firmer than batter) pour into loaf pans and let them rise (you can rise as many times as you like, but it MUST rise in the bread pan before baking), and then when risen (usually in the morning) bake it at 450F for at least an hour. It will be extremely wet and doughy when you take it out, so it MUST cool and set IN the pan for at least 1/2 hour or so, and even still, it might pull apart a little, so be sure to grease your pans and get them out carefully. You can check to see if their done without taking them out of the pan simply by inserting a chop stick and checking to see if any doughy residues remain on the stick. You'll know, and it does take practice to get it right. It took me a whole year to get this down, but then again I didn't know what I was doing when I started! Good luck, and email Whole Foodies for questions if you have them!

Stuffed Acorn Squash

This was served on our Whole Foods Cooking Retreat, and it was a complete hit! Cooked with love for all the guests by Whole Foodies Sharla and Anna.. what a treat!

Stuffed Acorn Squash

Bake squash face down in halves for 1/2 hr. at
350F. Cook rice in stock or water. Heat oil in a
skillet, and sautee onions and garlic, then add
remaining ingredients, as well as cooked rice.
Stir all ingredients like a stir fry, add to cooked
squash and top with feta.

1 acorn squash, split in 2
2 cups vegetable stock or water
1 cup black rice
1 onion
1 clove garlic
sun dried tomatoes
capers
parsley
herbs
bell peppers
feta

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

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!

Anna's Layered Veggie-Rice Bake

Layer in a casserole:

1. Sliced carrots

2. Tomato sauce

3. Thinly sliced potatoes

4. White sauce consisting of sauteed leeks, with butter, whole flour, milk and seasonings

5. Cooked Brown rice mixed with tomato sauce and pepper and sea salt

Bake for 45-60 minutes at 375.  It was heavenly! Hearty, gooey and centering.

Quick Korma and Turmeric Rice

Quick Korma

6 Tbsp. oil

3 bay leaves
2” stick cinnamon
8 cardamom pods
4 whole cloves
1/4 tsp. cumin seeds
1 Tbsp. ground coriander
1 Tbsp. ground cumin
1/4 tsp. cayenne
3/4 tsp. sea salt

1-1/2” piece fresh ginger
5-6 cloves garlic
1 smalll onion

Chopped potatoes or other veggies
1 cup beans or chicken (optional)
3 Tbsp. tomato sauce or paste
3 Tbsp. yogurt or cream

Heat frying pan with oil. Add spices and wait until aromatic. Add chopped/blended garlic, onion and ginger into the pan and stir. Sautee for about 3 minutes or until onion turns brownish. Add veggies, beans or meat and cook until soft (may need a little water). Add tomato sauce and yogurt and simmer until sauce has thickened. Add dill or wilt some spinach in it to finish with some greens if you like!


Indian Rice

3 Tbsp. oil

3 whole cloves
1 bay leaf
4 cardamom pods
1” stick cinnamon
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 tsp. turmeric

2 cups basmati rice
4 cups water
2 Tbsp. raisins
1 tsp. sea salt

Put oil in a pot and heat to med-high. When oil is hot, add spices and wait until aromatic. Add rice and quickly pan toast. Add water, raisins and salt, bring to a boil and simmer covered until fully cooked, about 45 minutes. Serve with Quick Korma recipe.