Home made oat bars

If you are just as fed up as I am with most energy bars out there due to their extremely high sugar contents, I urge you to try these simple oat bars. No added sugar whatsoever and only a fraction of the sweetness. Trust me, you can train your taste buds to tolerate less sugar by consuming less. Eventually you will desire less, without the need to call upon your willpower.

Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl:

• 4 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
• 2 Tbs ground flax seed
• 1 1 /2 cups of raisins and pumpkin seed mix OR slivered almonds and raw cacao nibs (try mixing in chocolate chips if you want to lure your kids into eating them)

In a blender or food processor, mix 1/2 cup of almond milk with 4 large, ripe bananas.

Combine the dry ingredients with the banana mix. Press into an oiled 12x9 baking dish and bake at 350 degrees F for about 30 minutes.

When cool, slice them into bars. Although they are crunchier straight out of the oven, I store them in the fridge as a go-to snack for the whole family for as long as they last.

Coconut Water Kefir Experiment

Kefir is a probiotic beverage made with either kefir grains or a powdered kefir starter culture. Most likely originated from the Caucasus Mountains,  "kefir" is said to stem from the Turkish word "keif" or "good feeling".

There are two types of grains, milk kefir grains and water kefir grains. They both contain beneficial bacteria and yeast existing in a symbiotic relationship. Kefir grains are not actual "grains" like wheat and rye, they are a gelatinous mass and are called grains because they are small and numerous, like grains of sand.

I was given a bunch of water kefir grains by my fermentation teacher Cheryl a couple of weeks ago. I left them in the fridge and sort of got busy and had totally forgotten about their existence, and the fact that they are actually living organisms and need food to survive. I was so sure that I killed them all until Cheryl reassured me that all I needed to do was to feed them lots of sugar. So I put the grains in a covered jar of water with 3-4 tsp of melted sugar and let the them feast in it for two days.

At the end of the two days, I rinsed them out and strained them. They came back alive and looked pretty healthy to me again!

Time to crack open a young coconut!

I put the juice from two young Thai coconuts in a quart-sized mason jar, added in the kefir grains, covered the jar with a cloth and let it sit for two days.

Once the culturing process was complete, I removed the kefir grains and fed them back in a jar of sugar water so they could replenish in between batches. (And I promised not to starve them again!)

I pour myself a glass of my experimental ferment - honestly I still don't quite know what it is supposed to taste like - mine is a little sour like yogurt, slightly thick but it's good enough for now!

To learn how to make coconut water kefir the proper way, visit Cultures for Health website.

Tempeh Crash Course

Most of us have heard that tempeh is a healthy fermented food, probably one of the best plant-based protein sources. But what exactly is it? Where did it come from?

Originating in Indonesia, tempeh is a fermented food made from cooked whole soybeans that have been treated with cultures (rhizopus oligosporus) and formed into a dense, chewy cake-like patty. It has a firm, meaty texture and distinct nutty flavor.

Can you still eat tempeh if you don't want to eat soy?

Soy is a rather controversial food these days because soy bean is one of the top GMO crops in the US. Though traditional tempeh contains only soybeans, many brands on the market these days are soy-free made from all kinds of  (gluten-free) grains, legumes and seeds like azuki beans, white beans, flax seeds, brown rice and buckwheat.

What are the nutritional benefits of tempeh? What is healthier, tempeh or tofu?

Tofu is made from soy milk that has been coagulated. Tempeh is made from the whole bean. That's why tempeh is considered more of a whole food, with a higher nutritional profile. A 4-ounce serving of tempeh provides about 18 grams of vegetarian protein, along with an impressive 8 to 10 grams of fiber from the soybeans. (Tofu has about 1/2 the protein content and no fiber). The fermentation process also makes the bean more digestible, adds pro-biotics and healthy enzymes to the food.

What is my favorite brand of tempeh?

I am very fortunate to be in Brooklyn where I found a tempeh artist who makes his products from non-GMO grains and beans from scratch, freeze-packing them without any pasteurization. The result is a fresh, living food that tastes way better than the vacuum sealed products you see in most markets. (But any tempeh is better than no tempeh at all!) You can find Barry's tempeh here.

How do I cook tempeh?

Tempeh is a dense, unyielding food with a distinct flavor, but it also absorbs whatever marinade or sauce you give it. For me, browning them in a cast iron pan gives it the best crunchy texture. A glaze or a rich curry sauce also works amazingly well. Here are my two favorite recipes:

Tempeh in Red Pepper Sauce

Sweet and Sour Glazed Tempeh

Sweet and sour glazed tempeh

This dish completely satisfies my hankering for the Cantonese blend of the sweet and sour taste. It reminds me of my Dad's sweet and sour pork!

Ingredients:

1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (no pulp)
1 tbs freshly grated ginger
2 tsp tamari
1 1/2 tbs mirin
2 tsp maple syrup
1/2 tsp ground coriander
2 small garlic cloves, crushed
10-12  ounces of tempeh
2 tbs olive oil
1/2 lime
a handful of cilantro

Combine orange juice, grated ginger, tamari, mirin, maple syrup, ground coriander, and garlic. Mix together and set aside.

Cut the tempeh into bite-sized squares. Oil a large frying pan over medium heat.  When the pan is hot, add the tempeh and let it brown on both sides. I really love my cast iron pan for this. It browns the tempeh nicely and gives it a "deep frying" firmness without calling for much oil.

When the tempeh is golden brown on both sides, pour half the orange juice mixture into the pan and let it simmer until the sauce has reduced to a  thick glaze. Turn the tempeh again, pour in the rest of the mixture, let the sauce reduce and caramelize.

Serve the tempeh drizzled with any remaining sauce and a squeeze of lime. Garnish with cilantro.

Sauerkraut making - introduction to lacto-fermentation

Contrary to what most people think of what sauerkraut and pickles are, lacto-fermentation does not involve vinegar. In fact, vinegar kills the good bacteria that we are trying to grow and eat here! So in this fermentation process, the acid comes from the naturally occurring lactobacilli on the vegetables that have the ability to convert the sugars in the foods into lactic acid.  Lactic acid is a natural preservative that inhibits the growth of harmful and putrefying bacteria and promotes the growth of healthy bacteria. It also increases the vitamin and enzyme levels of the foods.

In this sauerkraut recipe, only 2 ingredients are required - cabbage and salt.

It was April 2nd, my friends Liane and Emma came over for a sauerkraut making party.

We had 5 heads of cabbage. We patiently chopped them into thin shreds and put them in the biggest bowls I had in the kitchen.

We added sea salt to it (about 1-2 tsp for each head of cabbage) and gave the leaves a good massage. The salt draws the water out of the vegetables and creates a natural brine.

The fun part began - we started packing the cabbage down into a 1.5 liter ball jar with our fists to create an anaerobic environment by getting all air bubbles out. You can see that the cabbage was already softening and the moisture was coming out.

 We were pushing and pushing until the brine started to rise to the top of the cabbage. Can you believe that we pushed almost 2 heads of cabbage into this 1.5 liter jar?

Finally after much muscle building exercise, we created these 3 little musketeers, 2 big and 1 small. To keep the cabbage under the brine so that no molds could form, we put a jar filled with water to weigh the content down.

Done! We covered each jar with a cloth secured by a rubber band so no bugs could get inside. The best temperature to ferment sauerkraut is 55-65 degrees and the ideal fermentation time is 2-4 weeks.

For the first couple of days, the cabbage was bubbling nicely - a good indication that the bacteria was feasting on the veggies, producing lactic acid to preserve the food. Now we'll just have to wait!

Summer Bock, a fermentation guru once said, "If I had to pick one thing, one assignment for everybody to go out and do, it would be to learn how to make your own sauerkraut."

Salad Jars

If you want to move away from processed food and gain control over what you put in your mouth, packing lunch to work is the way to go. But who wants to wash and chop veggies in the morning when you are half awake and barely have time to even eat breakfast?

Here is the solution - PLANNING, if you want to win in the kitchen. Make 3 or 5 of these on Sunday night and you'll have lunch the rest of the week. How about too tired to make dinner at night when you come back from work? Pop open one of these and you get something way better than a mediocre take-out.

Will the salad get gross after a few days? Honestly.... I've tried up to 3 days, even the avocados stay fresh in these air-tight jars!

But there is a technique in layering. I am giving you more of a formula than a  recipe. Be creative with your combinations!

Use a quart size mason jar, layer in this order from bottom to top - dressing, hard veggies, protein, grains, soft veggies or fruit, nuts, seeds and greens.  When you are ready to eat the salad, shake and toss and empty content in a bowl. 

Jar Recipe 1:

• Creamy basil dressing*
• Radish
• Carrots
• Celery
• Red Bell peppers
• Cucumbers
• White beans / chickpeas
• Avocado
• Arugula mix / spinach mix
• Pumpkin seeds / walnuts

*Blend 1/2 cup of olive oil, 1/2 cup of tahini, 3 cups of fresh basil leaves, 2 tsp of ground ginger, 2 tsp of garlic powder, juice form 2-3 lemons, 1 1/2 tsp of salt.

Jar Recipe 2:

• Thai peanut dressing*
• Cucumbers
• Radish
• Carrots
• Tomatoes
• Cooked cabbage
• Cooked quinoa
• Tofu
• Spinach leaves
• Sesame seeds

*Combine 6 Tbsp of almond or peanut butter, juice of 1 lime, 2 Tbsp of tamari, 3 Tbsp of sesame oil, 3 Tbsp of water.

Jar Recipe 3:

• Ranch dressing* (Dairy Free)
• Beets
• Carrots
• Radish
• Celery
• Cucumbers
• Steamed broccoli
• Avocado
• Cooked lentils
• Baby kale leaves
• Walnuts

*Blend 1 cup of raw cashews, 1/4 cup of olive oil, 1/2 cup of water, 1/2 cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice, 1 Tbsp of dried parsley, 1 1/2 Tbsp of dried dill, 2 tsp of onion powder, 1 1/2 tsp of salt.

Noodle-less Pad Thai

If you love noodles but fear carb , here is a perfectly satisfying "noodle-less" noodle-like dish for you.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground pork (or other ground meat) marinated with salt, tamari, white pepper and sesame oil.
• 1 small head of cabbage, sliced into flat noodle like thickness.

Cooking method:

• In a large pan, add pork, break it up with a spatula and let it brown a little.
• Add cabbage. Cover and cook for about 15-20 minutes, depending on how "al dente" you like your cabbage to be. Add salt to taste. If there is excess water, cook uncovered for a few extra minutes.

Pad Thai sauce:

• Combine 6 Tbsp of almond or peanut butter, juice of 1 lime, 2 Tbsp of tamari, 3 Tbsp of sesame oil, 3 Tbsp of water.
• Pour sauce over cabbage mix, serve with sesame seeds, ground peanuts, scallions, cilantro, lime wedges and favorite hot sauce.

Why you should make your own nut milk

If you don't know what those ingredients are, you shouldn't drink them.

Learn how to make your own almond milk here

Simple quinoa tabouli

This is so....simply delicious and light! Think lemon and parsley....

Ingredients:

• cooked quinoa
• tomatoes
• red bell peppers
• cucumbers ( which I ran out of that day, but it was still delicious)
• parsley

Dressing:

• olive oil
• squeeze of lemon juice
• salt to taste

Mix and serve. You can't go wrong with this recipe.

Quinoa fiesta with mango curry dressing

This recipe reminds me of the "sweet curry" U.K. style I used to love when I was a university student in London. It is slightly fruity and not at all spicy. I had something like that at a Whole Foods salad bar and had been trying to replicate it ever since.

Ingredients:

• cooked quinoa
• quartered grapes
• chopped mangoes
• chopped red bell peppers
• chopped cashews
• cilantro
• scallion (or coriander as they call it in the UK)

Dressing:

• 2 tsp of olive oil
• 1/3 inch cube of fresh ginger
• 1 garlic clove
• 1/2 tsp of curry powder
• pinch of cumin
• pinch of paprika
• juice from 1/2 a lemon
• salt to taste

Mix everything together. Go easy with the dressing, you might not need all of it. If grapes and mangoes are not ripe or sweet enough, add dried cranberries for extra sweetness.