mellow mushrooms

this week, i had to go on a macrobiotic fast to take care of the side effects of the

antibiotics i took.  they were gnarly.

the only thing that got me through it was 'the best of jefferson airplane' and my

subscription to martha stewart weddings.  there were a lot of late nights listening

to "white rabbit" examining floral centerpieces.

i went to the grocery store and picked up some exquisite shrooms.

this is a shiitake mushroom.  to pick a good shiitake, it's crucial

that the mushroom hasn't flared yet.  the edges of the  mushroom

should be curled under, like a teacup flipped upside down.

don't cook with the stems of mushrooms.  they're tough and the

sense i get is that they're very constricting and yang.  they're much

tastier when slow-boiled as an ingredient in soup stock.  i have a

giant stack of frozen shiitake stems in my fridge at home.

mushrooms really do make you mellow.  slivered shiitake

mushrooms finely, boil for fifteen minutes and add a pinch

of sea salt to relieve tension and calm a frayed disposition.

this is a portobello mushroom cap.  i usually don't cook with them

because i think they're too flaky and messy, but it added a nice

chewiness to my spaghetti.

those of you with dishes that predate 1980 must have at least one

iconic, all-american chicken bowl.  i've seen these in almost every

apartment i've been in that wasn't an ikea show model.

there's literally an entire subsection on ebay devoted to them.

i thought that using this bowl would inject my food with that

peaceful, easy feelin'.

ok, so it occurs to me that this picture looks like primordial

mitochondria, so i apologize for how unappetizing it is.

psychedelic psquash pspaghetti

with

mellow mushroom sauce

::ingredients::

two spaghetti squashes

5 cloves garlic

2 shallots

2 tbsp olive oil

sea salt

1 large yellow onion, diced

3 cups diced assorted mushrooms

1/2 cup almond slivers

toasted sesame oil

3 tbsp kuzu dissolved in 5 tsbp cold water

tamari to taste

::squash noodles::

preheat oven to 375.  slice squashes in half, and gut seeds and sprouts with a spoon,

leaving about 1/2 to 1 inch fruit on every side, depending on the initial size of your

squash (see above photograph).  mince garlic and shallots, and fill inside cavity of

each squash half.  pour 1/2 tbsp olive oil, and coat squash and fillings thoroughly.

bake at 375 approximately 1 hour.

::sauce::

stir-fry onion in toasted sesame oil over medium heat until translucent, about 3-5

minutes.  add mushrooms, stir-fry an additional 3-5 minutes until soft, then add

3-4 cups water, almond slivers, bring to a boil, and simmer for 15 minutes.

add tamari and stir.  take your dissolved kuzu mix and SLOWLY fold into

the pot, mixing quickly.  if you pour it all in at once, you'll end up with a

solidified block of creamy jello that tastes like nothing.  it's gross.  make sure

your kuzu is fully incorporated.

once your spaghetti squash is out of the oven, allow it to cool until it's safe to

touch.  grasping the squash, rake the tines of your fork down the sides, peeling

the "noodles" from the squash, and deposit them into a large bowl.  if the squash

is cool, this is really fun.  if the squash is still hot, like mine was last night because

i'm a glutton who might as well just eat out of a trough, it's incredibly painful.

let that be a lesson to wait for it to cool.

spoon a large dollop of your mushroom sauce over your garlicky "noodles,"

pour yourself a big bowl of greens (i used dark kale, below), and enjoy!

mmmm.  groovy.

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 :)

the raving (encounters with a vegan cashew loaf)

once upon a midnight dreary, 

while i hungered weak and weary

over quaint and curious hipsters 

at the whole foods grocery store.

i was starving, nearly snapping, 

so opposed was i to snacking,
as of someone near attacking 
strangers at the grocery store.

`'tis a cashew loaf,' i muttered, 

`formed upon my cutting board-
only this, and nothing more.'

eagerly i set it baking; - 

lately i had started making
my roast to surcease my aching - 
hunger from the grocery store -
with some rare and costly cashews 
purchased in bulk at the store -
soaking, still for evermore.

 now my pants are never fitting, 

while i'm sitting, while i'm sitting
with quiv'ring seams about to bust 

and hit my ankles on the floor;

and the roast has all the seeming 

of a gravy that is gleaming,
gobs of oil casting sheen 

while cashew crumbs lie 'cross the floor;

and my butt from out that barstool 

that stands shaking on the floor
shall be lifted - nevermore.

vegan cashew loaf

modified from peta recipe

::roast::

1 cup olive oil

1 cup vegetable stock 

2 large onions, finely chopped 

3 cups raw cashews, soaked in cold water for 30 minutes

1 1/2 cups bread, cut into small cubes (i used food for life gluten-free brown rice bread)

3 large cloves of garlic 

salt

nutmeg 

2 tbsp lemon juice

::stuffing::

3 cups bread cubes 

1 cup olive oil

1 small onion, diced

2 stalks celery, diced

1/2 tsp. each thyme and majoram 

3 tbsp. dried parsley

• Preheat oven to 400°F

Pre-chop all your ingredients.  This will save you a lot of time in the long run, trust me.  I also separate the onions/bread that's used in the roast from the onions/bread used in the stuffing.  Makes life easier once things get started.

• Heat oil in a deep pot, add the onion and sauté over low flame until translucent and soft. Remove from heat.

• Grind the cashews in a food processor with the bread and garlic and add to the onion, together with the stock, salt, nutmeg, and lemon juice, to taste.

Combine stuffing ingredients in a large bowl.

• Put half the cashew mixture into the prepared pan, top with the stuffing, then spoon the rest of the nut mixture on top.

• Stand the pan in another pan to catch drippings and bake for about 30 minutes or until firm and lightly browned (cover the roast with foil if it gets too brown before then).

• Cover in delicious almond-mushroom gravy.  Recipe for that one to follow.

pot-sticking to my story.

can gyoza be gluten-free and vegan?

with more rice flour disasters under my belt than i'd like to

freely admit, i was pretty sure these dumplings were going to

be a total hot mess.

they were hot.

they were not a mess.

i got my filling from yukiko's delicious recipe over on berkshire vegan.

it's shiitake mushrooms, napa cabbage, scallions, and garlic.

i have made these in the past with tofu and leeks on the inside, and

they were totally delicious, so i would recommend doing that too!

to stuff a dumpling, just make sure you have:

a sticky protein (i.e. tofu, crumbly tempeh, mushrooms)

something with some heat (garlic, sesame oil with chili)

something tangy (scallions, leeks, onions)

something green (cabbage, baby bok choi)

gyoza wrappers

white rice flour

arrowroot starch

water

salt

and sesame oil

again, hat-tip to berkshire vegan for an excellent set of instructions.

the gluten-free modification was pretty simple, just a straight flour-to

rice-flour substitution.  i DID have to add more water, though.

following yukiko's excellent instructions, i combined the dry

ingredients, added the sesame oil, and slowly added water,

kneading for approximately ten minutes.  i then pinched little

balls of dough slightly smaller than a ping pong ball, rolled

them in arrowroot, and pressed them flat.

dumplings are a communal activity.  you really need more than

one person, because the fragile dumpling wrappers begin to

crack and dry out quickly, so the faster you can stuff those

wrappers, the better.

place a SMALL amount of filling (no more than one teaspoon)

on a flat, circular wrapper, take a finger dipped in water and wet

a half-circle on the flat wrapper, press edges together, and smooth.

they should look like little crescents.

if your dumplings begin to crack... DO NOT PANIC.

just add a little water and gently smooth.

heat oil to pretty high temperature, and toss in your dumplings,

flipping gently as each side browns, about 2-3 minutes on each side.

i opened a window to avoid setting off the smoke alarms.  this

helped tremendously, as they get a little smoky.

gyoza sauce:

1/3 c. tamari

1 tbsp brown rice vinegar

1 pinch chili powder

diced scallions

1 tsp. grated ginger juice

on the side:

2 tbsp. grated raw fresh daikon

yum!!

Preparing for a Macrobiotic Thanksgiving

Hello friends!  Your favorite macro dilettante Becky signing in!

I'm pleased to report that since the semester is winding down, I now have time to write on my blog (and shower)!

The last three months have been a case-study in yang energy and yin cravings.  It would be more interesting if I were reading about it and not living it, but life is learning.

Macrobiotics is about more than food... it's about the intention that goes into the ingredients that go into the dish!  This year, as soon as you start shopping, start filling your heart with thanks.

This time last year, I had no idea that I would meet all the friends I met at the Kushi Institute, so this year I'm giving thanks for them.  To my new friends who helped me see macrobiotics, balance, and happiness in a new light, you are in my heart, and my meal is dedicated to you.

making macro thanksgiving

pre-meal preparation in three easy steps

1.  i was promised a turkey.

Serving steamed greens and wilted kale for the big meal seems like an excellent way to alienate your family and friends for the coming year.  

A lot of us have folks in our lives who don't share our hippie healthful lifestyle.  Maybe they eat meat three times a day.  Maybe they've never spent time in a collective vegan community.  Maybe it's easier to find a 12-gauge shotgun in their homes than a pencil with an eraser.  That last one is a tip of the hat to my  family ;)

I assumed that nobody would eat my macro food last Thanksgiving, so I made enough for me and my mom and left it at that.  I turned my back for one second and the steamed greens were GONE.  My wild rice evaporated.  My macro apple pie?  Mere crumbs.

The moral of the story is that in the midst of all that butter, people gravitate towards calm, centered foods.  That doesn't mean that I'm serving zen macrobiotic brown rice bowls.  It just means that if you cook flavorful, real food, people will eat it.

2.  pickles don't grow on trees

If you are making grains, beans, nut dishes, or pickles, be sure you give yourself plenty of time.

Pickles take longer in the winter.  Quick pickles that would take 6-10 hours in the warm summer sun will take 2-4 days in the cool winter.  Just keep checking on them, tasting them, and if anything's furry, removing it.

Start your soaking on Wednesday morning or night.  For dishes that need to soak and then ferment, start NO LATER than Tuesday night.  Cashew Goat Cheese, I'm looking at you.

3.  get your groceries

Here are two things you can do at Whole Foods that will save you money and time:

Ask them to de-skin, de-bone, and/or grill your fish.  For free, they'll take the skin and bones.  For $5, they'll toss it on the grill.

Ask them for parts of vegetables only macro people use.  If you need daikon tops for food or for daikon hip-bath, they'll clip the tops and give them to you for a reasonable fee.  I got enough daikon greens for three baths for $2.50.  I'm pickling broccoli stems, and the first place I go is Whole Foods.

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.

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!

It's A British Invasion!

What's so special about spring?  Why, it's the anniversary of the Royal Wedding and the Diamond Jubilee of H.R.H. Queen Elizabeth II!  It puts us in a British Persuasion.

So you went macro.  That means no more pub crawls and goodbye figgy pudding.  But Britain is about more than confusing words and binge drinking.  It's about tea!  It's about tiny teacups!  It's about Fish and Chips!

So here are all three.  With love, from me, to you.

FRIED FISH

for your macrobiotic consideration

-------------------------------------------
1 1/2 c. whole wheat flour (corn flour for GF)
1 tsp. arrowroot flour
1-2 c. water
2-3 c. panko flakes (crushed GF Brown Rice Crispies for GF)
5-6 white fish fillets, I like sole or cod
1/2 gallon safflower or dark sesame oil.  Safflower is cheaper
daikon radish
-------------------------------------------

Before beginning your fish, grate 2-3 tbsp. per person of raw daikon radish.  This will help break down all the sinning you're about to do so your large intestine doesn't go on strike.  It's also extremely flushing, so if you're having trouble with loose bowels, skip the grated daikon.  In fact, it's probably best to skip the fried food entirely.  When you get done grating, stick this in the fridge until serving.

Combine 1 cup flour and arrowroot flour, mixing thoroughly.  Add water until the batter takes on a moist consistency similar to pancake batter.  Set up three dipping stations.
STATION 1:  Flouring.  At this station, you will rub the fish around in the remaining 1/2 c. whole wheat or corn flour until it's thoroughly coated.
STATION 2:  Battering.  Take your floured fillets and dip them in your liquid batter, covering all sides and surfaces.
STATION 3:  Breading.  Finally, you'll drop your floured, battered fillets in the panko bread crumbs or crushed brown rice crispies.  Place finished fillets on baking sheet to await frying.

Heat your oil in a deep cast-iron pot.  I always open the windows, because inevitably my smoke alarm goes off, I panic, and my fish burns while I'm running around trying to ventilate the place.  The oil is hot when a drop of batter quickly floats to the top.  Gently lower your fish fillets.  Allow to fry until fish is golden brown, then remove with a small strainer and rest on either a mesh drying rack or a thick stack of paper towels.

For a dipping sauce, try a light sauce of tamari mixed with kombu or bonito soup stock, some grated fresh ginger, and some chopped fresh scallions.  Or if you really want to go British, dip it in a little brown rice vinegar.

Tea & Cups

kate spade :: gardner street green teacup  $38

harney & sons  ::  cherry blossom tin $7

kate spade ::  market street green teacup + plate  $38

teaforte :: organic lemon lavender tea (citrus set)  $24

teaforte :: sontu teacup + saucer  $15

harney & sons ::  indian nimbu looseleaf tin  $13

whittard of chelsea ::  long may she reign cup & saucer  $25

harney & son's ::  paris tea satchet tin $8

British flag motif inspired by zazzle (dot) com.