food blog
Raw Food Wednesday: Tomato Lasagne
Published 6/28/2006 by Jo.
This is my first attempt at a raw food dinner entree that is relatively complicated. I made the Tomato Lasagna from Raw Food Real World which is a little complicated but not difficult. Very delicious. Turned out much better than I expected, I think because I'm a little skeptical about copycat dishes, they inevitably invite comparison to the original. For me, this is still not a lasagna, per se, but it was yummy just the same.
Technorati tags: raw food wednesday
IMBB 27: Edamame Salad in Lettuce Cups
Published 6/25/2006 by Jo.
I've wanted to participate in Is My Blog Burning for a while now and with this month's event The Joy of Soy hosted by Ono Kine Grindz, I couldn't pass. I love soy.
With my latest healthy eating kick I decided to prepare a dish with edamame. The only way I've eaten edamame is steamed and right out of the pod as a snack. I wanted to incorporate this edamame, keep it fresh. In chinese cuisine, lettuce cups are usually fill with a hot dish, many times tofu or seafood. I thought it would work well here to counter the texture of the edamame, konnyaku, and pine nuts.
Edamame Salad in Lettuce Cups
1 cup edamame soy beans, cooked and shelled
7 oz. konnyaku cake
1/2 red bell pepper
1/2 cucumber
3 shiitake mushrooms
2 handfuls pine nuts
1 handful cilantro leaves
Whole romaine leaves (or other crisp lettuce)
Dressing
1/2 cup soy sauce ( I use low sodium)
1 tablespoon mirin
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
3 tablespoons honey
3-4 drops sesame oil
2-3 drops hot chili oil
Whisk together all dressing ingredients and set aside.
Rinse konnyaku cake well until all smell is gone. Chop in 1/2 inch dice. Blanch the konnyaku in boiling water briefly, the konnyaku will float to the top of the water when ready. Drain and add to dressing.
If you are using packaged edamame, blanch shelled soy beans briefly in boiling water to remove any sliminess. Drain and add to dressing.
Clean shiitake mushrooms and chop in 1/2 inch dice. Blanch mushrooms briefly in boiling water until cooked. Drain and add to dressing.
Peel, seed and chop cucumber and pepper into 1/2 inch dice. Add to dressing.
Roughly chop cilantro leaves and add to dressing.
Add pine nuts to the salad and mix all well. Cover and allow to marinate for 30 minutes.
Clean lettuce carefully keeping leaves whole. Fill each leaf with 2-3 tablespoons salad. Enjoy.
Thanks Reid for hosting both events.
Technorati tags: IMBB27 edamame konnyaku
Yam Noodles with Oyster Sauce
Published 6/21/2006 by Jo.
I've been eliminating white foods in an effort to eat healthy, that means no pasta, white rice, etc. One of the things I really miss is chinese shrimp noodles with oyster sauce. A delicious convenient food, shrimp noodles are basically dried chinese egg noodles made with shrimp. You can simply boil for 2-3 minutes and top with oyster sauce and veggies for a quick meal.I decided to substitute yam noodles for that quick fix of pasta. It's not the same but yummy all the same.
Yam Noodles with Oyster Sauce
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1/2 lb. of snow pea shoots
1 clove garlic, peeled and slivered
2 7-oz packs of yam noodles, rinsed well
2 tablespoons of soy sauce
1 tablespoon mirin
2 tablespoons premium oyster sauce
2-3 drops sesame oil
Heat one teaspoon vegetable oil in pan. Add garlic and saute until fragrant. Add pea shoots and stir fry until slightly wilted. Add a little water as necessary. Remove from pan.
In the same pan add the remaining teaspoon oil. When hot, add the yam noodles, soy sauce, mirin. Stir fry until the noodles are slightly translucent and most of the water/sauce is reduced. Turn off heat. Add oyster sauce and sesame oil and toss until well coated. Add pea shoots and toss until combined. Serve.
Technorati tags: yam noodles shiritaki konnyaku
Yam Noodles Soup
Published by Jo.
I love, love, love yam noodles. I've eaten yam noodles for years, most often in sukiyaki, a delicious braised japanese dish. Yam noodles are a rubbery chewy noodle made from the konjac root. They are also known as shirataki, glucomannan noodles, konnyaku, konjac noodles. Yam noodles are very low in carbs and fat, a soluble fiber, they are now recognized as effective in weight control.Whenever I order sukiyaki at a japanese restaurant, I always enjoy it, but there is never enough yam noodles. So I decided to make a yam noodle soup.
Yam Noodle Soup
6 cups dashi
1 cup soy sauce (low-sodium)
1/2 cup mirin
2 7-oz packages yam noodles
1/2 head chinese celery cabbage (or nappa cabbage)
3 oz. silken soft tofu
3-4 sliced shitaki mushrooms or enoki mushrooms
3-4 drops sesame oil
Combine dashi, soy sauce and mirin in a pot and bring to a gentle boil.
Meanwhile, clean cabbage and chop into 1 x 2 inch pieces. Clean and slice mushrooms. Rinse tofu and cut into 1 inch cubes. Rinse yam noodles well.
When broth is boiling, add cabbage and mushrooms. Cover and simmer until cabbage is tender and stems are translucent, about 10 minutes. Add yam noodles and bring to a simmer. Add tofu, cover and reduce heat for a couple of minutes. Add sesame oil and serve.
Technorati tags: yam noodles konnyaku shirataki
Buns of Wheat
Published 6/15/2006 by Jo.
I've tried buying and baking wheat bread but the crust is usually very hard and so I always peel it off. One day when I was forming the loaves, I made a couple of small flat buns. They turned out great because the crust was soft and chewy and I would eat the whole thing so there's no cut side or heel to harden. This time I made the whole recipe in buns. The flatness makes for a great sandwich or burger too. The recipe is from Beth Hensperger's Baking Bread Old and New Traditions for Old-Fashioned 100 Percent Whole-Wheat Bread. I use real buttermilk instead of dried and get my flour from a local bakery that grinds their own.Whole-Wheat Buns
Yield: 10 buns
Sponge
2 cups buttermilk (at room temperature)
1 tablespoon (1 package) active dry yeast
3/8 cup mild honey
1 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour
Dough
1/4 cup vegetable oil (not olive or peanut)
2 teaspoons salt
2 1/2 to 2 3/4 cups whole-wheat flour
Sponge, above
1. To prepare the sponge: In a large bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, yeast, honey, and the 1 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour until smooth. Scrape down the sides and cover with plastic wrap. Set in a warm place for about an hour. The sponge will double in bulk and be bubbly. Gently stir it down with a wooden spoon.
2. Sprinkle the oil, salt, and 1 cup of the flour over the sponge and beat hard with a whisk for a minute or until smooth. Add the remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time with a wooden spoon until a soft dough is formed that just clears the sides of the bowl. This bread may also be made in the workbowl of a heavy duty mixer fitted with a paddle attachment.
3. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead until smooth and springy, yet slightly sticky, about 3 minutes, adding flour 1 tablespoon at a time as necessary to keep the dough from sticking to the work surface. Place in a greased deep container, turn once to coat the top, and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
4. Turn the dough onto the work surface and divide it into 10 equal portions. Shape into 10 round balls, press each ball with the heel of your hand until it is very flat, approximately 1/2 inch thick. Place buns at least 2 inches apart on greased or parchment lined baking sheets. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise until not quite doubled in bulk, about 45 minutes. Twenty minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
5. Bake in the center of the preheated oven for about ten minutes, cover the tops loosely with foil to control browning. Bake for an additional 6-10 minutes. The tops will be very slightly browned and soft and slightly hollow when tapped. Cool on racks.
Technorati tags: whole wheat buns
Banana Coco-Coffee Smoothie
Published 6/11/2006 by Jo.
Summer's coming and on a lazy Sunday afternoon sometimes all I want is a cold frothy coffee drink. Here's my homemade healthy version of a tropical coffee drink. Hammock not included.Banana Coco-Coffee Smoothie
Meat from one young coconut
1/2 cup water from young coconut
1 frozen banana
2 medjool dates, pitted
1/2 cup cold brew coffee (or strong coffee, chilled)
1/2 cup crushed ice (+more to taste)
Blend until smooth and creamy.
Note: this is not raw food (coffee) but it uses many of the benefits of raw food.
Technorati Tags: raw food, coffee smoothie, smoothie
Raw Chocolate Pudding and Shake
Published 6/06/2006 by Jo.
Well, I'm still reading and experimenting with raw and live foods. Many recipes call for young coconut, both the water and flesh, which are creatively turned into noodles and ice cream and what not. I was a bit daunted about hacking one open for a little meat but I found some fresh looking ones at a nearby asian market.
I carefully hacked open the coconuts, with one hand behind my back. My two young coconuts yielded about 3 cups of coconut water and 2 cups of white meat. With bounty in hand, I used the Chocolate Pudding recipe from Raw Food Real World by Matthew Kenney and Sarma Melngailis with a few minor substitutions.
Chocolate Pudding (raw)
2 cups young coconut meat
3/4 cup coconut water, at room temperature (or more, if needed to thin)
1/4 cup maple syrup
3 dried medjool dates (seeded)
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup sea salt
In a Vita-Mix or high-speed blender, puree all the ingredients until completely smooth, scraping sides as necessary. Pour into bowls and serve or chill for a firmer pudding. This pudding is very rich and clean, surprisingly good! No egg yolks, no cream, the whole batch has 6g of fat for 4 servings. Hits the spot for a low fat comforting dessert.
After the pudding was done, there was still quite a bit stuck around the blades and I didn't want to waste any of the yummy goodness, so I added some almond milk and crushed ice and gave it a good whirl. I gulped this down so fast. I couldn't believe it was even better than the pudding!
Chocolate Shake (raw)2-3 tablespoons of raw chocolate pudding
1 cup of almond milk
1/2 cup of ice (or more if needed)
Blend all ingredients until smooth and creamy. Add a frozen banana for extra yum.
Technorati tags: raw food chocolate pudding chocolate shake
Vita-Mix Almond Milk
Published 6/01/2006 by Jo.
I've been eyeing the Vita-Mix blender for a few years now and last week-end they were demo-ing at Costco again so I finally got one. I've been through three Cuisinart blenders and have always been frustrated at the lack of power with my blenders but have a hard time paying $350 to make smoothies. I ultimately justified it by likening it to my Kitchen Aid mixer, I thought that was a splurge at the time but after 15+ years, it runs great, so I'm hoping the same will be true for the Vita-Mix. Plus, I can make soymilk.Well, it turns out that many Vita-Mix consumers are into raw food, I got this from the recipes and brochures, and then I started googling "raw foods" and got a couple of books and have been liquifying like crazy. After my smoothies, I made juices using more fresh whole fruits, oranges, apples, lemons (rind and all), carrots, ginger, lettuce and on and on. Zip, zip and it's juice.
Then I read the raw foodies go on about nut milks so I decided to try almond milk since I had some raw almonds on hand, and let me tell you, this is my favorite new food discovery. I was drinking soymilk and I am now totally converted. This week while I've been drinking all this almond milk, I haven't been as hungry and haven't had the up and down cravings for sweets and protein. It's been strange, I haven't had the cravings for a burger or chips and my energy level is better.
The thing is, I had all these ideas for different food posts that I'd been cooking like Barbeque Berkshire Pork Roast but this last week I've been hardly cooking. So my original plans for this food blog are evolving.
Almond Milk1 cup raw almonds
3+ cups water (preferably filtered)
2 tablespoons honey (optional)
Soak almonds in water for 4-8 hours. Drain and rinse almonds clean. Put nuts and 3 cups water in Vita-Mix. Liquify. Add honey and blend well. Strain milk through fine mesh or cheesecloth (optional).
Technorati tags: raw food almond milk
Last posts
About me
- I'm Jo
- About this site Little Project is a site about crafts, mostly crochet and other yarn stuff, and some food too. There are patterns and recipes. You may want to take the grand tour, read about Little Projects, or contact the site owner, Jo.
