| Last Thursday, 8/29, Rebecca's theme had to do with picnics as the Labor day
Holiday was coming up. The menu consisted of:
borscht
"Chicken" Salad
Quinoa Tabooli
Pressed Cabbage Salad
Classic Oatmeal Cookie
Recipes:
Borscht
1 Strip Kombu (a seaweed)
2 Large Beets with Selected Greens
1 Carrot
1 large turnip with selected greens (or a Daikon Radish)
1 large onion, diced
(tomato and/or potato optional)
bay leaf
garlic
lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste
small apple, diced
(soy) yogurt for garnish
Place everything but yogurt and lemon juice in soup pot. Add water
(or vegetable broth) to cover. Simmer for 30 minutes or until
vegetables are tender. Remove kombu and bay. Add lemon juice to
taste and adjust seasonings. Ladle into bowls and top with yogurt.
"Chicken" Salad (Serves 3)
1 pkg (8 oz) tempeh, steamed for 15 minutes, cooled to room-temp
1 stalk celery, chopped fine
5 tablespoons tofu mayonnaise*
2 tablespoons chopped dill pickles or pickle relish
2 tablespoons minced parsley
2 teaspoons prepared mustard
1 teaspoon dried tarragon
1 clove garlic, pressed
salt and pepper to taste
Finely dice tempeh, blend with other ingredients. Allow to stand
15 minutes. Place on lettuce bed or use as a sandwich filling.
*Tofu Mayo
6 ounces tofu, drained or pressed
2 tablespoons lemon juice or vinegar
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon mustard powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
dash of pepper
Blend all ingredients. Allow to stand for 15 minutes before
serving. For variation season with your choice of spices
or fresh herbs.
Quinia Tabooli (4 small servings)
2 cups cooked, cooled quinoa
1 cup chopped parsley
1/2 cup shopped scallions
2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint (or 1 teaspoon dried)
1 garlic clove, minced or pressed
1 tablespoon minced fresh basil (1/2 teaspoon dried)
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (or pickle juice)
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper
red lettuce leaves
fresh mint, garnish
6 oil-cured olives, garnish
Toss together all salad ingredients except the lettuce and
garnishes. Allow to stand for 1 hour to allow flavors to
blend. Line a salad bowl with lettuce leaves. Add tabooli
and garnish with olives and mint.
Pressed Cabbage Salad
1/2 head cabbage, finely shredded
1.5 rounded teaspoon sea salt
1 clove garlic, pressed (or dill if you don't want garlic)
Work and squeeze salt into cabbage shreds and pressed garlic
with your hands. Cabbage will become shiny with moisture.
Place cabbage in a glass bowl. Cover top of cabbage with a
plate that will not touch the sides of the bowl as it is
pressed down. Add a weight (rock or jar filled with water).
Cover the bowl with a clean dish towel. Allow to stand for a
minimum of 1 hour. Overnight is better. The salt draws the
water out of the cabbage to create a pickling brine. If the
taste is too salty, rinse excess salt.
Classic Oatmeal Cookie
1/2 cup butter or corn margarine or corn oil
3/4 cup sucanat or 1/3 cup honey
(sucanat is a sugar cane sweetener)
1 lightly beaten egg
1.5 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup rolled oats
3/4 cup currants or raisins
3/4 cup chopped walnuts or toasted sunflower seeds
Cream fat and sweetener. Stir in egg and vanilla. Combine
dry ingredients and blend with wet. Stir in currants and
nuts. Bake 10 to 12 minutes at 350.
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| September 5, Class
Miso Tofu Soup
Barley Risotto
Boiled Greens
Sauerkraut
fruit Kanten
Kikicha tea and/or Caffix
MISO TOFU SOUP
Serves 6
1 3" strip Wakame
1.5 quarts stock
1 cup daikon or turnip, cubed
1 cup daikon tops
.5 cup Tofu, cubed (Rebecca prefers soft but firm will work)
2 heaping tablespoons Miso
Chives or scallions for garnish
( Rebecca also added 1 Burdock Root)
Crumble Wakame into stock. Add daikon and greens and
bring to a boil. Cover, reduce to a simmer and cook
until vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes. In the meantime,
puree the Miso with some of the soup stock, stir Miso into
the soup, add Tofu and allow to simmer for 1 minute. Garnish
and serve.
Barley Mushroom Risotto
Serves 6
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 stalk celery
.25 lb mushrooms (Rebecca used Shittake and something else)
1.5 cups barley (Whole preferred but pearl will work)
5 cups hot stock
Salt and pepper to taste
minced parsley, garnish
In a large, heavy skillet heat the oil. Lightly saute
the onion and garlic, celery and mushrooms. Stir in the
barley and saute for 3 minutes. Add salt and pepper.
Add stock, 1.25 cups at a time. Cook, stirring frequently,
for about 15 minutes. If the liquid absorbs too quickly,
reduce the heat. Ideally, the stock will be absorbed/
evaporated every 15 minutes. Continue adding stock in
three or more 15-minute intervals and stirring frequently.
After an hour, raise the heat slightly if the mixture
is too wet. Adjust seasoning. Garnish with parsley.
Serve hot.
Boiled Greens
In tonight's meal, the risotto is a long cooked and rather
elaborate dish. A simple boiled green makes a good
compliment--energetically, and as a color and texture
contrast. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
Submerge several leaves of kale, collards, bok choy,
napa cabbage, cabbage or other leafy brassica vegetable.
Cook for 2 minutes or just until al-dente. Remove and
slice fine. Season with ume vinegar and a drizzle of olive
oil. Reserve water for stock.
Dieter's Sauerkraut (Named after a person - not someone losing weight)
Yield: 2-3 cups depending on cabbage size.
1 Head of cabbage (white, purple or savoy)
2-4 teaspoons salt
(optional use one or two of the following seasonings
such as: dill, chili, garlic, or the seeds of fennel,
caraway, or mustard. Figure 1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon
of seasoning per head of cabbage).
1. Tear off outer cabbage leaves which tend to be
dehydrated and tough. Reserve for stock or another
use. Wash and shred cabbage into small shreds. Place
in a large bowl, mix in salt and, if desired, seasonings.
Position a plate on top of the cabbage mixture so that
it rests only on the cabbage (does not hit the sides of
the bowl). Place a weight (stone or jar of water) on
the plate so that the cabbage is pressed. Cover with
a clean cloth and set aside for 24 hours.
2. The salt will draw out the water from the cabbage but
leave its nutrients intact. A brine will form. Drain
off the salty brine and pack the pressed cabbage into
clean jars. Use your thumbs to pack it in very tightly.
Fill to the rim. Secure with a lid. Set the jars on
a plate (to catch seepage) on the counter, out of direct
sunlight, for three to five days or until the brine
no longer seeps from the jars.
Fermentation will continue in the jar and will use all
the remaining oxygen. This produces carbon dioxide
which presses any remaining brine upward. The lid
permits the brine and carbon dioxide to escape but does
not permit oxygen to enter. The absence of oxygen,
plus the naturally occurring lactic acid, preserves
the kraut.
3. Once the jars stop seeping, wipe their surfaces clean
and store in a pantry. When all the cabbage strands
are uniformly translucent, the kraut is ready to eat.
Finely shredded sauerkraut will be ready to eat in two
weeks, coarsely shredded requires a month or more of
fermentation.
Unlike home canned foods processed in jars, these lids
do not "seal". In a pantry this kraut will store for
months; but once the jar is opened (and the contents
exposed to oxygen) refrigerate and use within a month.
Fruit Kanten
Agar
Fruit or Fruit Juice
Follow directions on Agar package (they vary with different
versions of the product. Add your choice of fresh
fruit chunks or juice (Rebecca just used apple juice last
night. Allow 2 hours to set. For a creamier--and more
medicinal--Kanten, stir in 1 tablespoon diluted kudzu
toward the end of the Kanten cooking time.
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