tomato basil soup and grilled portobello grinders

there is a great reason why there are no prep photos from this post.

so there i was, feeling like a total g with my jazz on the grill,

my soup in the blender, my onions caramelizing...

...

...

...when i looked over at my blender and saw my soup leaking into 

a beautiful orange puddle on the floor that homer the dog was 

quietly ingesting.

i was debating whether or not to use real tomatoes in this recipe.  they're

a nightshade and completely absent from traditional macrobiotic cooking.

for good reason.  nightshades can do wicked damage to your joints, your

blood (i bruise like... well... a tomato when i eat them), and a lot of people

thought they were poisonous for a few hundred years.

that being said, they were growing on a vine in my front yard and i just

couldn't help myself.

if i were making this totally macro, i would substitute tomatoes for carrots

and onions, slow-cooked and run through the food processor.

portobello mushroom grinders

4 portobello mushroom caps

olive oil

organic steak marinade, or tamari with spices

italian dressing

sweet vidalia onion

bun of choice

preheat barbecue grill to 400 f.  marinade mushroom caps in liquids

(i did 1/4 c. olive oil, 1/4 c. steak marinade and 1/2 c. italian dressing)

at least 30 minutes.  brush grill with olive oil and grill for 15 minutes.

slice vidalias into disks and caramelize with a pinch of salt at least 20

minutes.  i did this in a large cast-iron skillet and left it greasy for the soup.

once the mushrooms are done, roast your bun of choice 3-5 minutes on

hot grill, stack, and enjoy!

tomato basil soup

6-7 fresh tomatoes, diced

2 c. veggie stock

2 shallots

3 cloves garlic

1 head cauliflower

olive oil

2 cups fresh basil plus more for garnish

salt

ume vinegar

preheat oven to 375.  drizzle cauliflower florets with olive oil. roast

for 15-20 minutes until soft.

brown diced shallots and garlic in skillet and set aside.

run cauli florets with some veggie stock through your food processor

until pureed and smooth.

at this point, take everything out of your cuisinart.  unless you really like

mopping the floor.  transfer it to a high-powered blender.

blend all ingredients until smooth in consistency.  transfer to a large pot,

season with salt and ume vinegar to taste, and heat.

dip your grinder and enjoy!

onigiri!

i love onigiri!

おにぎり好き！

onigiri : noun, japanese

(pronounced "oh-nee-gee-ree")

1.  delicious use of leftovers
2.  quick to-go lunch
3.  steamed rice balls filled with delicious goodies and covered in nori seaweed.

onigiri is the ULTIMATE to-go food in japan.  a lot of japanese people find it strange that westerners have never heard of onigiri, because it is the japanese equivalent of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  every child gets it in their lunch box (some of which are triangle-shaped to fit onigiri).

why is it so great?
for one thing, the salty goodies on the inside actually speed-ferment the rice so that you don't need to refrigerate it.  it stays fresh all day!
also, the nori seaweed "diaper" on the outside of the onigiri keeps the sticky grains of rice from getting stuck to your hands, making for a truly mess-free experience.

what can you put in it?
you can put anything in onigiri.  traditionally, umeboshi plums, pickled daikon (called takuwan), and salty fish are the most common fillings.  it's a great way to recycle fridge leftovers, like last night's salmon teriyaki.  you can see that i put a small dollop of each filling on top of the onigiri in the picture.  this is so that i can identify what's inside!

recipe please?
here we go.  the only thing i pre-made here was 2 cups of short grain brown rice.  friends, this is the time to use up your leftovers.  do not use any other kind of rice besides short-grain.  it won't hold together.

this looks wicked gross, but i swear it's not.  

it's a pickled umeboshi plum (available at whole foods), 

pit removed, cut into strips.

put about 1/3 cup cooked rice in your wet hands, shape into

a bird's nest, and put a small dollop of fillings in the center of

the nest.

shape into tiny triangles, placing a teeny piece of the topping

on top so that you know which flavor is which :)

line them up like a tiny, tiny army.

all the little soldiers in a row :)  so cute!!

cut 2"x6" strips of nori, and wrap the bottoms like a diaper.

onigiri is the cutest snack.

::ingredients::

2 cups cooked short-grain brown or white rice

pickled ume plums

natto version - 1/2 cup natto, 2 tbsp minced scallions, 1 tsp dijon mustard, splash tamari

fish version - 1/4 cup shredded bonito fish flakes (whole foods), 1 tsp. tamari, 2 tsp. water

daikon version - 1/3 cup pickled daikon radish, rinced and diced

some of the above combinations require a little mixing and adjusting to taste.  i had a little bowl of natto mixture, a bowl of fish flakes, etc.  and fyi, the fish version was the winner :)

Open-Face Salmon Sandwiches

I have been an abysmally bad blogger lately, apologies.

I just moved, and it's been a real struggle adjusting.

I don't know a lot of people here, and between beginning

a new job and getting things settled, it's been hard to find 

the energy to write.  Cooking takes emotional legwork!

I am working on scaling back my energy bubble and trying

to center.  My mood is so dependent on the moods of other

people that being in a new setting is totally wearing me out.

I'm moving again in July to my own house for a little

while, and I'm really excited for the time to center and

focus on my macrobiotic practice.  Also, a few people

from Boston are hopefully coming to visit, which would

be enormously awesome.

+  +  +

Now, on to the sandwich.

This is a Martha Stewart recipe that fits in PERFECTLY

to the macrobiotic diet.  Just steam some greens, and you've

got dinner in fifteen minutes!  The other thing I love is that

there's practically zero prep.  Who doesn't love that?

Juice 1/4 cup plus 1 tsp. lemon juice.

Set aside 1 whole celery stalk (no cutting necessary)

Set aside 2 springs fresh flat parsley.

I used 1 lb. wild Alaskan Salmon.

Fill a large pot with 2 inches of cold water.  Add

1/4 cup lemon juice, 2 tsp. salt, celery, and parsley.

Bring to a boil.

In the mean time, peel and remove pit from 1 avocado.

Combine 1 tbsp. wasabi powder with 1 tbsp. lukewarm water.

Add remaining tsp. lemon juice, avocado, and wasabi paste

to your handy Vitamix blender or food processor.  Run

until it looks like this bad boy:

Cover in saran wrap that touches the surface so no air

is allowed in.  This keeps the paste from turning brown.

Toast 4 slices whole grain rye bread or your trusty

frozen gluten-free bread.  My kingdom for delicious GF

bread that doesn't come in a plastic bag.

Add your salmon to the boiling water and poach for

10-12 minutes, until cooked through.

Assemble your sandwich and enjoy!

What's Good for the Goose...

How do you raise a family macro?  It's an issue I've thought a lot about.  It's often a colossal challenge getting both parents on board, let alone grandparents, extended family, and other parents.

It's one thing when you explain to your family and friends that your child has a sensitivity or a serious allergy to peanuts/dairy/gluten/etc.  It's a whole lot harder to say, "Well, our family believes that really nobody should be eating much of that, so we don't keep cheese in the house."

Funny enough, I actually grew up next door to a macrobiotic family.  Our family was very NON-macro, and there were always Oreo and Chips Ahoy cookies in the kitchen.  We ate spaghetti with meat sauce for dinner, Lunchables for lunch... normal American stuff.  You'd think the macro neighbor kids would have had no interest in these sinful, processed American snacks.

Wrong.

Between the two of them, the kids could polish off a full box of Oreos in about twenty seconds.  There wouldn't even be crumbs.  Their systems were so unused to sugar that it was almost like drugs...  They had wild sugar cravings and were probably manic afterwards once the sugar binge kicked in.

I tell this story because as much as we'd like our kids to stick to the plan when they're at a friend's house, the fact is that only your child can control what he or she eats.  And if there's non-macro food to be had, they'll probably eat it.  And if they eat it, they probably won't feel very good afterwards.

So what can we say to our kids that will stick with them?

First I tried to explain that it was about sugar.  Then I realized that it was bigger than sugar.
Then I tried to explain that it was about food.  But it's bigger than food.
Macrobiotics is about the way we see our health.  Our community.  Our environment.  Our planet.  The universe, and the energy that makes us function.

If I had to explain it to my child, I guess I would say that we eat a plant and grain-based diet because meat and dairy and sweets make our body and our thoughts loud and crazy, and we want to be calm and happy.  There are some times when it's okay to be a little loud and a little crazy, but not every day.  I would tell them how the Earth has so many plants and vegetables and herbs that each have a special purpose.  Sometimes the smallest or ugliest or weirdest plants are the strongest, most important plants of all.

When we understand how important the plants are, we understand how important it is to take care of our planet.  If we get sick, we might need those herbs and vegetables, so we need a planet to grow them on!  And when we care about the planet, we learn to be considerate of others.

The hardest thing is explaining why not every family is like ours.  If meat and sugar is no good for me, why do my friends eat it every day?

I don't actually have a good answer for that.  I guess my answer is, "When you're 18 you can eat meat and dairy and sugar every day and see how it goes for you," but that doesn't exactly feel right.  I guess there are things that set every family apart.  Every family has things that matter and things that make it special.  Some people disagree with me, but I tend to have a live-and-let-live policy for other families.  As long as you respect my family and agree to disagree, we're good.  You don't politically or religiously indoctrinate my eight-year-old, and I won't feed yours burdock and take away her bacon.

I'd like to close this by saying that parenting "theory" is a lot easier than parenting "practice."  The reality of parenting is so much messier and more complicated than anything I could describe without experiencing it, so I write this with the hopes that perhaps it resonates with some of you who are going through this issue in your own lives.  This is something I've thought about in the context of my own life when debating whether or not to have kids, so I approach it not from a perspective of judging other peoples' parenting skills, but rather examining and weighing my own.

Good luck!

New Goodies!

As you can see, we now have a section highlighting food and articles just for kids!

A lot of my readers are parents, and I feel very strongly that kids deserve better than the processed, food-dyed junk that society pushes on them.  I see kids having meltdowns because of all the sugar coursing through their systems, and I feel for them.  If somebody gave me the equivalent of six cups of coffee, I'd probably cry and pee my pants too.

I've also thought a lot about raising kids macro.  How do play dates work?  What if your child is out with a friend and their family decides to take the kids to fast food?  How do you explain your lifestyle choice in a way that doesn't offend other parents?

These are all issues I'm hoping to tackle in this new section.  I hope you enjoy it!

Ketchup Recipe and Pretty Red Things

I made homemade ketchup today.  We didn't have any, so I made it.

I still can't believe I'm the kind of person who makes their own ketchup.  I feel like Bear Grylls.  Or Rambo.  If there was a nuclear accident at the old Heinz place and all the ketchup in America was contaminated...  I could make some.

But seriously... how many people do YOU know who know how to make ketchup?  For most people, it's hard just to wiggle the butter knife around that skinny glass bottle to get the ketchup out.

Forget that.  I'm ten light-years ahead you.  I made ketchup.  Hell, while I'm at it, I could probably make the ketchup bottle too.

I need to stop.  I need to take a few steps back.  This is how hipsters in Brooklyn end up with their own old-fashioned letterpress factories run out of lofts.  If I don't stop now, I'll end up with my own small home pickling business.  Oh, wait.  Too late.  Did I mention I'll be selling homemade tofu cheese and amazake starting next week?

- 2 carrots

- 1 onion

- 2 to 3 tsp. ume plum vinegar

- 1 tbsp. maple syrup

Place two separate pots of water on the stove to boil.  While the water is heating, chop carrots and onions into fingernail-sized pieces.  They can be messy since they're headed for the blender.

Boil carrots and onions separately for 15-20 minutes, until onions are translucent and carrots are soft.  Save some of your boiling water, approximately 1/4 to 1/3 cup.

In a large bowl, add carrots, onion, 1/4 to 1/3 cup boiling water, ume vinegar, and maple syrup.  Blend well with either a hand-mixer or a food processor until smooth.  

If you're feeding this to kids, I'd add 1/2 a steamed beet for red color.  I love this ketchup because unlike conventional ketchup, it has no sugar, no artificial colors or flavors, and is a great way to sneak in veggies.

pretty things ::  essie nail color $8 //  brian atwood carla watersnake triangle clutch $1385  // 

//  kate spade twirl karolina shoes $350 //

Rosemary Root Vegetable Fries

fry wanna rock and roll all night
(and party every day)

get your roots.  i used rutabaga, parsnips, and sweet potatoes.

like a farmer, i then picked rosemary from the bush.

preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

cut your roots into fry-shapes, saving the delicious scraps for your

soup stock.  i cut my roots in half to get a safe, flat surface.

i then sliced them into 1/4" long slices, then cut 1/4" fries.

i then rocked and rolled.

and by rocked and rolled, i mean i added a quarter cup

of olive oil and made sure the fries were thoroughly coated.

place fries on a baking sheet, preferably with a metal rack to allow

even browning on all sides.  it's okay if you don't have one.

bake for 60 minutes, tossing fries every 20 minutes to ensure even browning.

delicious.  i dipped them in 4 tbsp. vegenaise mixed with 2 tsp. fresh horseradish.

now please do me a huge favor and put on the hair rock pandora station. rock and roll all night.

because you have just made macro french fries.

that's worth a party.

every day.

Three Ways To Sneak Your Kids Vegetables

Two out of my three first swear-words were said about vegetables.

I remember them clearly because of the heavy silence that followed.  The space between crime and punishment.  Those seconds seem to last forever as your eyes dart between the horrified faces of your parents and grandparents.

The first one was used at the age of six to describe the unpleasant tactile experience of consuming a lima bean.  The second one was dropped about two years later.  I wanted to add emphasis to my unwillingness to consume a slice of meatloaf with bell peppers in it.  It worked.

Parents, hopefully your kids aren't as bad as I was.  I'd like to provide a list of kid-friendly veggie recipes in the hopes that it alleviate the tug-of-war that so often accompanies the phrase...

eat your vegetables or no dessert

hide them in the spaghetti
Tomatoes are nightshades, so in macrobiotics we try to limit our consumption because they're very acidic.  Some studies have even suggested that they increase arthritis-related pain.

That being said, most kids are used to their spaghetti with tomato sauce, and they won't eat it if the red stuff is missing.  Lucky for us, tomatoes have such a strong flavor, they cover up everything.  Water-saute carrots, onions, zucchini, and even turnips until very soft.  Run the veggies through the food processor and do fifty percent spaghetti sauce, fifty percent veggie mix.

tuck them in sushi
Sushi is everywhere these days.  Kids like it because the white rice is sweet, and sushi restaurants and grocery stores often load the vinegar the rice is soaked in with sugar.  If you can make your own sushi at home, it's quick, fun for the kids, and a great way to sneak in veggies.  Instead of seaweed, try wrapping your sushi with three steamed collard green leaves, overlapping.  I'll do a photo demonstration of this soon.  The sushi won't stick together quite as well as seaweed, but it's a delicious and sneaky way to get kids to eat steamed greens.

stick them in the dessert
Steam a butternut squash and puree with a few tablespoons of brown rice syrup, some cinnamon, nutmeg, and a little pinch of salt for a delicious pudding.  I also love this Avocado Chocolate Pudding/Ice Cream.

Barbecue Tempeh Sandwich!

bbq tempeh sandwich

- 1 block tempeh

- 1/4 c. olive oil

- 2 tbsp. tamari

- 2 tbsp. apple cider vinegar

- 2 tbsp. brown rice syrup

- 4 tbsp paprika

- 1 tsp chipotle powder

- 1 tsp onion powder

- 1 tsp kuzu, dissolved in cold water

- pinch salt

- black pepper / chili powder if you can handle it

- red onion slices

preheat oven to 400.  combine liquid and spice ingredients in a large bowl.  whisk well.  

take your bun (i used an udi's gluten-free bun, but i'm not in love with them), brush it with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and place face-down on a baking sheet.  bake until golden brown.

soak tempeh in spice sauce.  wrap in tin foil and bake 30 minutes.

sprinkle with onion slices, place on your bun, and enjoy :)

Millet Burgermeister

A lot of my readers ask me how I keep from getting bored on the macrobiotic diet.  Grain, bean, greens.  Grain, bean, greens.  When you're using the same ingredients and you have a hard time finding food at restaurants, it's really easy to grow bored with this diet.

What I would stress to you guys is that making some of the "harder" recipes... the ones that take a little more time or a little more skill... is worth it.  It is a commitment.  You're taking an hour and a half, in this case, and dedicating it to food preparation.  But the reason we do it is to force growth.  When you make something beautiful and new, like these millet burgers, your brain and tastebuds light up and get excited.

And at the end, you have something fun, tasty, and new to look forward to :)

- - millet burgers - -

Combine 1 cup of millet with 3 cups of water.  Bring to a boil, lower heat, and simmer for 20-30 minutes until soft but moist.  Set aside for later.

Tiny-dice all your ingredients.  I cut my carrots in half.  Then I cut them into thin strips.  Then I line up the thin strips, and chop tiny dice down the line.

This is how tiny your dice should be.  This makes the carrots cook faster.

Here are my tiny dice.  I've tiny-diced carrots and red onions.  Then I chopped my scallions into thin strips. Then I minced fresh curly parsley.

Look at all the goodies I'm going to throw in the freezer to use as soup stock later!

I took a bag of frozen corn and poured 1/2 cup into a bowl.

I then heated a saucepan of water to a rolling boil and quick-blanched my carrots and frozen corn, 30 seconds each.

Lay out your seasonings.  Above you can see my umeboshi vinegar, black pepper, sea salt, olive oil, and fresh chopped parsley.  Follow your own dietary restrictions for this part.  If black pepper is too much for you, don't do it.

Combine your chopped veggies with your millet.  The reason I didn't specify a specific amount of vegetables is that you should play it by ear.  You can see the little blue bowl, which is where I put the leftover chopped vegetables that I didn't want to use.  There's a little bit of everything in there.

For 3 cups of prepared millet, I used about 1/2 to 1/4 cup of each vegetable so that there was a 60-40 millet-vegetable ratio.  The millet is keeping these burgers together, so there always needs to be more millet than vegetable.

Add approximately 2 tbsp. olive oil, a pinch of sea salt, a dash of pepper, and a dash of ume vinegar.  I added about 1/4 cup minced fresh parsley.

Take a lump of millet burger dough roughly the size of a golf ball, and pat it into shape.

Gently roll the ball in corn flour and place on a baking pan to await frying.

Millet, awaiting the skillet.

Fry your burgers in oil over medium-high or high heat until golden brown on each side, approximately 3-5 minutes.  Monitor them closely so they don't burn!

TA-DA!

I served my millet burgers with homemade kale chips, sweet parsnips, homemade daikon pickles, and placed a big dollop of whole-grain dijon mustard on each one!

Healthy Desserts 101: Not Your Mom's Rice Crispy Treats

School bake sales, church potlucks, summer afternoon...  Who can forget the sweet and salty lighter-than-air crunch of these delectable snacks?


Wedding season is nearly upon us, and I don't know about y'all, but I've been wiggling and squeezing and praying my way into party dresses that I bought in lighter times.  I've kissed my Starbucks indulgence goodbye.  Farewell, Grande Soy Mocha Latte.  Perhaps we'll meet again someday.


I'd be going crazy right now, BUT I've got an arsenal of healthy desserts that have way more taste than guilt!


Rice Crispy Treats are well-suited for wherever you're at in the healthy eating spectrum, because they can be as sweet or as natural as you'd like.  Low on calories and a great source of protein, mono- and polyunsaturated fats, these treats can be tailored to meet your dietary goals.


A great Rice Crispy Treat has three things:

base  --  binders  --  ingredients

Your base is always rice crispies.  This is the foundation of the treat.  My favorite brand of rice crispies is Erewhon Crispy Brown Rice Cereal (Gluten-Free), because it has no cane sugar or corn syrup.  Arrowhead Mills has a Puffed Rice cereal that comes in a bag, but this brand doesn't have a very good crunch.


Your binders are the liquids.  They're the "marshmallow" and "butter."  They make your treat stick together!  You'll need something sweet, and something with fat, like a nut or seed butter.  This is also the place you add your salt.  You can handle this one of three ways:
-pinch of salt
-teaspoon of sweet or mellow white miso
-salted nut/seed butters


Your ingredients are the jazz that make the treat uniquely yours.  They're the fun part that takes this treat from after-school snack to grown-up dessert!

--sweet--

brown rice syrup

maple syrup (just a little, mixed with BRS or it's too sweet)

carob chips (make sure these are vegan and/or gluten-free, they often have add-ins)

note  These chips are from tropical climates and are considered quite yin.  Make sure you find a brand that doesn't use cane sugar, evaporated milk, or malted barley sweetener if you're sensitive to gluten.  If you're serious about trimming up, skip this guy in favor of the brown rice syrup.

--buttery--

almond butter

cashew butter

sunflower seed butter

tahini

dried apricots

raisins

dried apples

dried cherries

note  I chop all dried-fruit finely so it's easier to chew!

roasted sesame seeds

roasted almonds

roasted chopped pecans

note  If you want the flavor of chocolate with less of a calorie boost, melt a handful of unsweetened vegan carob chips and drizzle it on top of the treats when they're done!  You'll use 1/8th the carob but still get the flavor!

Measure 4 cups crispy brown rice cereal and set aside.  Roast any nuts or seeds that need to be roasted.  I add about 1/2 cup of roasted nuts/seeds, total.  Combine nuts/dried fruit with brown rice cereal and set aside.


Measure approximately 1 c. sweet ingredient.  If using carob chips, use a little closer to  1 1/2 cups and be ready to cut smaller portion sizes, about 1" x 1".  This will make a dense treat.  If you're using brown rice syrup, add another 1/2 cup brown rice cereal.  This will make a light treat.


Measure 1/2 c. buttery ingredient.  Use 1 pinch salt if buttery ingredient is unsalted, or 1 tsp miso.


Combine sweet, butter, and salty ingredients in a saucepan and warm over low heat.  If heating carob chips, use a double-boiler to prevent burning.  Liquid ingredients should be steaming and easy to stir.


Grease a casserole pan and spread your brown rice cereal and nuts/dried fruit evenly across the pan.


Pour your liquid ingredients over the brown rice cereal, mixing vigorously with a spoon until pan is evenly coated.


Freeze for at least 2 hours.


Enjoy in moderation!

Introducing Korean Gimbap!

Look like sushi, but seeing as we used Korean ingredients, I thought I'd give gimbap it's dues.  Gimbap is Korean sushi, using egg, fish, pickles, and veggies as fillings.  Korean food is unheard of in a lot of American cities.  If I had to describe it, I'd say it has bolder, brighter flavors next to Japanese food's woodier, salty flavors.

This was May's birthday gimbap.  We went to see Jiro Dreams of Sushi.  If I had to pick a movie that sums up macrobiotic cheffing and philosophy in a nutshell, it'd be that one.  Amazing.

gimbap 

two // ways

/kimchi gimbap

//////////////////////////////////////

- 1 cup korean kimchi

- brown rice vinegar

- 3 cups brown rice/sushi rice, uncooked

- 5 to 7 sheets nori seaweed

- 1 cucumber

//////////////////////////////////////

Cook rice with 3 1/4 c. water.  When rice is sticky and soft, mix 1 tbsp. brown rice vinegar with rice, fluffing amply.

Prepare a small bowl of cold water.

Lay nori on sushi mat, shiny-side down.  Layer rice on nori, leaving a half-inch border on each side.  To flatten rice (oreo-thickness is idea), use the bowl of cold water to keep wetting your hands so the rice doesn't stick to them.

Slice cucumber in half long-ways, scooping out all seeds with a spoon.  Make long, pencil-thick slices down the stem so that you have strips that are about 1/2" by 6".  Lay two strips on your rice and seaweed, keeping the strips the same direction as the bamboo on the mat.  Lay about 6-7 pieces of kimchi veggies along the cucumber, squeeze, and roll your gimbap.

To slice, dip the edge of your knife in your bowl of cold water.  Move your knife quickly across the center of the sushi.  The key to nice, round, non-squashed sushi is moving quickly and lightly, applying as little pressure as possible.

\sweet shiitake gimbap

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

- brown rice vinegar

- 3 cups brown rice/sushi rice, uncooked

- 5 to 7 sheets nori seaweed

- 1 1/2 tbsp. gluten-free Tamari

- 3 tbsp. brown rice syrup

- 1 tsp. kuzu dissolved in cold water

- 6-7 shiitake mushrooms, dried or fresh

- 5 whole scallions

- 2 raw carrots

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

Cook rice with 3 1/4 c. water.  When rice is sticky and soft, mix 1 tbsp. brown rice vinegar with rice, fluffing amply.

Prepare a small bowl of cold water.

Lay nori on sushi mat, shiny-side down.  Layer rice on nori, leaving a half-inch border on each side.  To flatten rice (oreo-thickness is idea), use the bowl of cold water to keep wetting your hands so the rice doesn't stick to them.

Prepare mushrooms.  Slice into THIN strips, as thin as you can get, removing the stem from the get-go and composting it/using it for stock.  Pan-fry in sesame oil for 1-2 minutes, until some water is released.  Whisk kuzu, syrup, and tamari in a separate bowl, and pour over mushrooms, simmering until sauce thickens and glistens like melting ice.

Remove bottoms and top inch from scallions and separate extra leaves.  You should end up with the long stem (about 6-7 inches) and if you're lucky, a couple extra scallion leaves about 4-5 inches each.  Cut carrots into 6-7 inch strips, about the length and width of a pencil.  Place 1-2 scallions, 1-2 carrot strips, and a healthy couple spoonfuls of shiitake on the gimbap and roll!

Roasted Seed and Apple Salad

I loved the way this salad came out so much that I made it three times in three days!  The best part is, it only takes 15 minutes to make!

- roasted seed and apple salad -

- 4 apples, assorted variety (I used Fuji and Granny Smith)
- 1/2 cup whole raw almonds
- 1/4 cup raw tan sesame seeds
- 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
- 2 tsp. maple syrup

Chop apples.  My favorite technique is to slice them into quarters, seeds, stem and all.  Just a big + right over the top.  I then slide a paring knife down the middle of each quarter to remove the seeds.  After that, I cut those quarters in half.  We now have eighth wedges.  Cut those in 3-4 pieces, resulting in the bite-sized chunks you see above.

To keep your apples from turning brown, place cut pieces in a bowl of cold water until the final step in the recipe.

Roast almonds at 400 for approximately 5-10 minutes, keeping a wary eye on them.  They should smell sweet, not burned.

Dry-roast your sesame seeds in a hot skillet.  Stir constantly with a spoon until they release a sweet aroma and begin popping.  Remove promptly from skillet to prevent further cooking.

When almonds and seeds have cooled, crush seeds in a suribachi or blender, and rough-chop almonds until they're about the size of pencil erasers.

Drain apples and combine with seeds, nuts, and all remaining ingredients.  Serve immediately!

Tofu Cheese!

Greetings, snackers!

Well, little brother will be arriving at the Kushi Institute this weekend for his kitchen residency, and I couldn't be more surprised. If you had asked me two months ago the likelihood of my brother coming to KI, I would have said that it was DEFINITELY possible. In fact, I think he's volunteering with Dick Cheney, Paula Deen, and all four of the Beatles!

I'm really excited that he's willing to give macrobiotics a try and abandon the Standard American Diet, and I'll be excited to see what happens as his tastebuds adjust and he begins to detox.

On the topic of delicious foods that omnivores don't eat, TOFU CHEESE!

Tofu cheese is not soy cheese. Soy cheese comes in a little vacuum-sealed brick, contains appetizing effusions like "Now with non-dairy lactic acid!" and doesn't melt at any temperature lower than Chernobyl.

Tofu cheese is made from real, whole foods, so unlike soy cheese, it will actually go south pretty fast. This isn't going to be a problem, because (also unlike soy cheese), you'll probably eat it really quickly.

It's minimally processed, relying instead on natural fermentation to get that cheesy flavor. I have it filed under pickles because the fermentation method it undergoes is nearly identical to the pickling process. It isn't stringy. It has a consistency more like ricotta. Observe:

Step 1: The cold, cold smushing of the tofu.

Step 2: The tofu warms up, and what used to feel like a punishment actually feels kind of cool.

Tofu cheese is incredibly delicious, and the bacteria that form from the fermentation process have all kinds of goodies to offer a deficient digestive tract. I hear it's also really high in B12. This would be a fun one to make with the kids, because there's no cutting and no cooking involved, plus it's GREAT on pizza with a little basil, some onions, and some olives!

Tofu Cheese

2 blocks firm tofu, pressed and squeezed until most of the water has drained.

1-2 tbsp. umeboshi plum paste

3 tbsp. light miso (we used South River Miso's Chickpea)

3 tbsp. dark miso (we used South River Miso's Dandelion Leek)

Kneed ingredients together until they form a soft, squishy paste. I kneeded my tofu mixture for about ten minutes. I'm trying to work on infusing positive energy into my food, so I played some Usher/Ludacris collaboration for the benefit of my cheese. I'm anticipating a block of cheese with some serious mojo. That's not just any energy. Those are some pretty serious jams.

Press the tofu cheese in a glass/pyrex container, and allow to ferment (sealed) 6-12 days. On the far end of 12 days, I would definitely only keep for another day or two, and days 12-14, I would definitely cook it.

Enjoy, and I'll post pictures of our finished product!!