Good Food!

Vegetarian Sushi - easy to make!

I always wanted to make sushi – for years – but I never tried because I just assumed it would be hard.  Then I saw a Sushi making video  by foodie heros – Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero – from Post Punk Kitchen and I realized it was a trick – it was easy and it looked like fun too.  Long story short – I made the sushi from Isa and Terry’s book Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook and now sushi is a regular household meal here at our house.  I get cravings for it and make it on a regular basis without thinking too hard about it.

Nori Sheet on a Sushi Roller

You do need a sushi roller to make these – so before you get all gung-ho make sure you have a roller – it’s going to be worth it – I promise!

Sushi rollers are cheap and they are sold at most Food Coops, at Whole Foods, at International Markets and if worse comes to worse you could get one online.

The first simple step is to make some rice.  I mix 1 cup of sushi rice ( I use Lundberg Akitakomachi ) with 1 1/4 cup water, bring to a boil, lower heat to low, cover and cook for 2o minutes…then using Isa and Terry’s directions I add 2 tablespoons rice vinegar and 1 t. sugar and mix.  Then you need to let the rice cool to keep from overheating your fingers when you spread the rice on the seaweed sheet.

From this point on – I find I like just adding some simple whole foods I enjoy – rather than following a recipe for the spicy tempeh mix or other variations found in the Veganomicon.  You might really like those though so check it – if you want something more exotic.

Sushi fillings

I always use avocado and cucumber in my rolls and usually some strips of Seitan.  Sometimes I add strips of carrot or other raw vegees.  If you cut all the inside ingredients in thin strips – the rest of the sushi making experience should be surprisingly easy and also very fun and satisfying.

Spreading the rice on

Lay your bamboo mat down – if there’s rounded side – place that side down.  Lay your Nori sheet on the bamboo mat.  Usually the seaweed sheets have little perforations for cutting the sushi so place the sheet with the perforation running in the logical direction – vertically.  (See top image)  I make 2 or 3 rolls from 1 cup of rice.  It depends on if you want fewer (2) fat rolls or more  (3) small rolls.  Divide the rice roughly by the number of rolls you want and then plop the rice on the lower regions of the Nori.  Press it on evenly over the bottom 2/3rds of the sheet.

Next – lay out your offerings on the bed of rice, then grab the end of the mat and start rolling it up and over the seaweed the way you see me doing it in the video below:  When you have the sushi almost all the way rolled up – wet your fingers and seal that baby with some water.  Do it a couple of times to make sure it sticks.  Finish rolling and you’re very close to done!

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The last step is to cut the roll.  Follow the perforations on your wrap or whateever.  Just cut them and get down to the ultimate task of eating them!

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Dipping sauce - soy sauce, toasted sesame oil and hot chile oil - and Wasabi

Oh- there is one other thing – the sauces.  My partner does this part – he mixes a little sesame oil and a little chile oil with some soy sauce for dipping and he mixes the Wasabi powder with some warm water to make a paste.  Before dipping the Sushi in your dipping sauce add some Wasabi paste.  I’m a lightweight. My partner is crazy for the stuff.  It will clear your sinuses and then some so watch out.  Start slow…. and add more until you reach maximum dosage.  Some organic Sushi Ginger strips on the side make it all the better.   Enjoy!

Anna Thomas can take partial credit for my becoming a vegetarian.  As a teen growing up in San Jose, I didn’t know a single vegetarian and the option to not eat meat hadn’t really occurred to me but the truth is …  meat really grossed me out.  I slathered huge amounts of ketchup on what I was required to eat and avoided eating it when I could.  I’m pretty sure I’m one of those people that just IS vegetarian.  There was never a big decision to become a vegetarian or a struggle to withdraw from eating meat.  Dropping meat was like finally coming home.  It seems to be a trend for vegan, vegetarians and raw foodists to judge other people’s diets, but for me personally what’s important is that people make their food decisions as consciously as possible.  There are no right answers that apply to everyone when it comes to diet.  Study ancient nutrition systems like Ayurveda or Chinese Nutrition and it’s noted – every constitution has different needs and appropriate desires.  Find out what yours are!

When I came across Anna Thomas’s “Vegetarian Epicure” at a big drug store’s closeout sale as a teenager, I bought it along with earrings, shampoos and other things that caught my eye.  I still have that book although the binding’s now broken and, truth to be told, many of the recipes have so much butter, cream and other artery clogging ingredients I wouldn’t dream of making them anymore.

Vegetarianism has come along way since the hippy days – and lots of the original cookbook authors like Anna Thomas and Mollie Katzen have continued to put out wonderful, albeit healthier cookbooks.

Love Soup has 160 soup recipes.  I’ve tried two and they’ve both been exceptional.  Tonight we had “kale and sweet potato soup with cumin  and lemon” and “roasted golden beet soup”.  The book’s essentially vegan with almost nary a dairy item to be found.

Love Soup: 160 All-New Vegetarian Recipes from the Author of The Vegetarian Epicure

On the busiest, most stressful days, when I most need good nutrition, I’m more likely to eat something quick – like a pre-made Trader Joe’s Indian dinner or some other pre-packaged meal.  This Christmas brought me a Slow Cooker which allows me to eat whole, unprocessed food with very little prep time even on a busy day.  I add ingredients to the Slow Cooker in the morning while my tea water is boiling, hit “Go” and 8-10 hours later I have something delicious to eat that is completely made out of fresh ingredients.

Whole foods, by the way, is my favorite subject and I am very, very into it for good reasons.  I feel dramatically better when I eat unprocessed organic food and since I switched to this diet my health has improved radically.  In fact, I first started with the diet when I was very sick – and what the doctors could not do with their prednisone and other wacky chemical cures – my diet did for me.  I have been very healthy and mostly happy since I started migrating towards this diet years ago.

My friend and hair cutter, Liz Gingerich, calls this food “real food” and describes it as “Nothing from a jar, box, or wrapper!”   That means eating food left in the same state that it arrived on the Earth from the diety or scientific power of your choice (however you explain the miracle that is food!).  Foods that have been flash frozen, pre-cooked or have additives, preservatives, stabilizers etc. are not eaten.  Those processing methods and additives may make the food last longer or speed up preparation but they also take away alot from the inherent wisdom of untouched foods nutritional patterns.  I can’t recommend this diet highly enough whether you are vegetarian or not, especially if you don’t feel that great – tired, sick, depressed etc.

Back to Slow Cookers: slow cooking can help those most likely to eat fast junk food – the busy and stressed – to eat healthy, good tasting food without having to spend time they don’t have preparing it.  As an added benefit the slow, low heat cooking of a Slow Cooker helps food retain it’s naturally healthful profile which can be damaged by high heat.   I’m happy with my Hamilton Beach Slow Cooker.

The only thing that I wasn’t crazy about – was all the recipes provided were for meat – not interesting for me being a vegetarian.  This is not a terribly big deal since any recipe that has a somewhat liquid base should work.  I’ve made Cuban Black Beans, Corn Chowder and other soups using my standard recipes.

I also just got the cookbook “Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker” by Robin Robertson.  I’m trying my first recipe right now and some very tantalizing smells are coming from the kitchen so it looks promising.

This is a super low calorie dessert – and while it might not be Tiramisu – it is a lovely sweet treat you can eat while remaining faithfully on your diet!

Summary: Low Calorie but delicious dessert

Most people think of salt as simply salt but the table salt you buy at the store is heavily refined.  Refined table salt is of chemical, inorganic origin and has gunk in it -  the base is chemical sodium chloride and added to it are anti-caking chemicals, inorganic potassium iodide, and sugar (dextrose).

“Modern salt reminds one of the state of such other highly processed substances as refined white sugar and the white breads, pastas and pastries.  Unfortunately relatively few people are informed about the denaturing of real salt.”

Paul Pitchford – Healings with Whole Foods

So what’s real salt?  Whole natural sea salt, also called solar salt, is just evaporated sea water….brine of the sea that has been dried by the sun.  Nothing’s been added and nothing’s been taken out.

Often it is lightly colored due to the geology of the area where the salt is farmed.  Hence, Celtic Salt is slightly grey from the clay in the area where it is collected on the coast of France.  Himalayan Pink Salt is harvested from ancient beds with sea salt deposits in the foothills of the Himalayan Mountains.  The slight pink color is due to the presence of iron.

Paul Pitchford, a respected teacher of Chinese medicine, believes people often crave salt and take in excessive amounts of it because they want the trace minerals found in real salt.  Refined, processed table salt doesn’t contain those minerals so the craving goes unsatisfied leading the person to take more and more salt.

I switched to Celtic Salt several years ago and I find myself using far less salt and enjoying food more than I did with regular table salt.  Every geographical area creates a salt that tastes a bit different than the others so it’s good to buy small amounts in bulk if you can and find out which sea salt you like.  Even Celtic Grey Salts vary from one brand to another.

There are intriguing salts I have yet to try:  Portuguese “Salt Cream” Sea Salt and Hawaiian Black Lava Red Alea Clay Sea Salts…I’m sure there are many others.

I just bought some Pink Himalayan Salt at Trader Joes for just $1.99 and it is very nice!  I also recently bought some black salt or Kala Namak at the local international grocers.  If you’re  like me, once you start tasting these salts and adding them to your diet, this once boring condiment will become very interesting.   Even simple foods come alive by adding a dash of real sea salt containing naturally occurring minerals.  Salt craving also diminishes significantly with use of real salt. Most Westerners are said to take in far too much salt – six times more than the current guidelines for daily salt consumption, which can lead to a series of health ailments.

Naturally mineralized salts are a great way to add zest to all kinds of food and to cut down on salt intake.

We decided to make an Indian Feast for our Christmas dinner this year.  This could very well turn out to be a tradition…  It was both delicious and enticing and warming like Christmas dinner should be – but it was also, dare I say, healthy.  It’s funny how “healthy” in our culture has come to suggest something mediocre to unappealing in the taste department – something you virtuously eat because it’s good for you.  Indian food, prepared using whole foods, flies in the face of that myth because it’s a treat to the palate and it’s kind to your body.

Indian spices sauteeing are poetry.  It’s easy to cook intuitively with these spices.  I don’t like Coriander so I don’t add as much.  I like Cumin Seeds so I add more.  We’re light on Cinnamon Bark around here.  So I roughly follow a recipe but I also make it up as I go along…yet it always comes out just right!  I used organic, unrefined peanut oil instead of ghee.

The spread for our feast include Sag Paneer (with homemade paneer), Dal Tarka, Khumbi (Mushrooms with Coriander and Cumin), Raita, and Mango Chutney.

You can catch a buzz while drinking one of the healthiest drinks on earth.  Raw Green Juice is amazing!  You’ll feel something happening on your first sip and from there….it gets even better.  First of all – it staves off hunger with very few calories and a super dose of health enhancing nutrition.

Mega-doses of Chlorophyll that are abundant in raw green vegetables increase the flow of oxygen to every part of your body – you can actually feel it happening when you drink this juice!

Loads of enzymes flood your system, detoxifying and balancing your body… I’m not just saying this out of a book – drink Green Juice – it’s a direct experience of health and radiance.

Alas, you really need a good juicer.  I think the best is the Green Star but there are others that do a good job.  It’s a great investment in your health and well being.

My recipe, which I inherited from my friend and raw food counselor Christian Bates, follows:

One bunch celery
1 head Chard
1 head Kale
Parsley
Lemon (peel first)

My partner who doesn’t like celery or parsley loves this juice so even if those vegees aren’t your favorite – give it a try.  I sip mine like a glass of wine but it’s a thousand times better than even the best bottle of wine.  Your liver will heal instead of cry and your brain will wake up, be extra aware and most likely, if you pick up the juice habit, you will feel better and better in a way that’s hard to believe.

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I recently had Dal Tarka for the first time at my favorite restaurant and I was blown away by how delicious and satisfying this simple dish can be. I came home determined to make my own.

Dal, made from any of a variety of pulses (dried beans or lentils), is a mainstay in South Asian vegetarian cooking. Dal Tarka is made by pouring Tarka over the Dal after it’s been cooked. I made my Dal from yellow split peas.

Tarka is more a method than a list of ingredients. Also called chaunk, bagar, popu and a several other names – Tarka is essentially whole spices fried briefly in oil or ghee to release the essential oils from the spices. The Tarka is then poured into the dal and voila! – Dal Tarka!

I used the Tarka spices from a recipe in my “Hare Krishna Book of Vegetarian Cooking” by Adiraja dasa. I also used unprocessed, organic peanut oil instead of ghee – so that the end result would be vegan. The peanut oil worked perfectly as a replacement providing the rich flavor that ghee gives – without the butter. The whole spices included:

• a couple of bay leaves
• a cinnamon stick broken in 1/2
• 1 1/2 t. turmeric
• 1 1/2 t. cumin seed
• 1 dried chile, crushed
• 1/4 t. asafetidda
• 2 t. crushed ginger

I squeezed half a lemon into the Tarka before pouring on the dal. Served with Basmati rice, coconut yogurt, cilantro and chutney, it was a meal in itself.