Keen on Kale--It Really IS Good, I Promise!

So, I’ve been hiding. I admit it.  I sit down and try to write something meaningful, but nothing comes.  We all have those days, and I’ve had one of those…years.  It’s been tough adjusting to city life, and I’m still peering shyly out from behind my little rock.  Usually I just crawl back under it, but lately I’ve been venturing out.  I’m slowly getting things done: one major college application is now floating around the interweb, waiting for the lucky admissions staff member who gets to comb through it.  Hopefully he/she enjoys the personal statement, because it took me two months to write.  Perfectionist, me?  Naw. 

Lately, we’ve been enjoying a life of almost completely unprocessed food.  It’s not intentional, either; we’re just that broke.  Let’s hear it for being $100 above the federal poverty level!  I truly believe that our financial and personal hardship of the past year has been balanced by the valuable lessons we’ve learned—and the fact that my husband now enjoys “hippie food.”  He doesn’t squirm around seaweed or ume vinegar anymore either.  I can announce a Jessica-Porter-inspired “Chew-a-thon” and he just laughs and says, “I just got this funny image of a hundred Chewbaccas running a 5k.” So, if any readers out there are interested in sponsoring Seattle’s first 5k Chewie-thon, let me know.  Let’s keep it to a 5k though; I don’t think anyone could manage to run much farther in a Chewbacca suit.

Seriously, though, the food is fantastic.  I’ve been spending the past few months falling in love with veggies—as if I could fall any more in love!  I have decided that beets are the sexiest of all the vegetables, and have turned some heads in the supermarket with my enthusiasm over kale.  It’s my #1 favorite right now, and for good reasons: besides being DELISH, it’s rich in vitamins and antioxidants.  Vitamin C, Vitamin K, beta carotene, oh my!  It’s considered one of the best cancer-fighting veggies out there.  Plus, it’s a Brassica, and that makes it cool. 

Despite my unusual excitement over this leafy green, many people turn up their noses at it.  I was one of the skeptics.  I mean, what the hell do you do with something that crinkly?  It looks almost waxy when you rinse it, and it tastes really...intense.  Definitely a far cry from Iceberg lettuce, or even Romaine.  How did I become so enamored?  Well, I’ll tell you.

Weeping Kale Salad

Besides munching on kale chips (tear it up into bite sized pieces, sprinkle on some salt and lemon, and bake at 350 for about 10 minutes), I didn’t know if I’d be able to tolerate the stuff until I made this salad. It’s kind of related to a macrobiotic pressed salad, but it doesn’t release a lot of moisture so the pressing isn’t necessary. 

You’ll need:

½ bunch kale leaves, washed & torn into bite-sized pieces
Sea salt
Drizzle of olive oil
1-2 tablespoons vinegar (I enjoy Apple Cider or Balsamic)
½ apple, cored and diced
⅓ c. raisins or currants
A handful of pecans, walnuts, or cashews
Crumbled tofu (optional)
Toasted bread croutons (optional)
Cracked black pepper

Place the kale leaves in a medium sized bowl and sprinkle a little bit of salt over them.  Begin massaging the leaves until they become wilted—about 3 to 5 minutes.  This is my favorite part!  Make sure you don’t wipe your hands on anything.  Chlorophyll is awesome, but not on your shirt.  Unless you have a green shirt.

Now that your kale bits are weeping, it’s time to cheer them up by drizzling on some oil and vinegar!  I find that the right amount of vinegar really transforms this dish, so be sure to taste test.  Toss the leaves to coat.  Add the apple, dried fruit, and nuts, and toss again.  Portion out onto serving plates; this usually makes 4 small side salads or two medium-to-large salads.  Top with the tofu (if having) and finish off with some fresh cracked pepper.

YUM!
Makes 4 small servings or 2 larger servings

Radicals and a Thanksgiving Menu

Sometimes I have a hard time not giving up.  Life sucks right now, for everyone.  I'm not hinting at the recent victory of the same party that got us into this mess, either.  Life sucked before then.  It's difficult to get through the week, making sure you and your loved ones have what you need.  What's a person to do in times like these?

Radicals.

I mean it.  Dig out your algebra book and have a go.  Radicals are annoying as hell, but my favorite part about them is that I can solve them.  When my efforts seem fruitless in everyday life, I am reminded that I can see progress when I apply myself.  

My coping strategy

If you really need to cheer yourself up, it's time for a quadratic equation.  Or functions.  Something easy, attainable, just good exercise.  My brain leaps at the opportunity to make them right.  To seek the answer.  To make things okay.

.............

The rest of the time, though, is spent figuring out a menu for the upcoming holiday.

My primary concern is recreating old favorites in a way that is...well, better than the original.  I still haven't decided on a main protein dish.  Tofurky seems too stereotypically vegan-freaky.  Our current menu is as follows:

*Undecided orgasmic bird-carcass-alternative*

Vegan stuffing

Organic cranberry sauce

Rolls

Mashed potatoes & gravy
Pumpkin pie 

If I'm feeling particularly ambitious, there will be a praline topping on the pie and an additional side of yams with cranberries & apples.  Or perhaps a simple side of green beans, or salad!  Since my amazing and cooking-inclined husband is taking on the mashed potatoes & gravy, anything is possible!  There will be a lot of culinary adventures in the next several weeks...

Niles, right after enjoying a carrot in our chaotic living room

Until then, we're filling our little home with comfort food.  Ceddie is currently making a homemade pizza (with beer in the dough!).   Other favorites include Snobby Joes, Karina's Veggie Loaf, and Jess's Nourishing Noodle Soup.  The latter just finished cooking on the stove.

Nourishing Noodle Soup (from The Domestic Vegan)

 Sooo amazingly good. I'm freezing a batch for later in the week, when we're sure to be exhausted.  Between this stuff and math problems, things are sure to be okay!

A Way With Oats

The scene: breakfast.  You’re getting ready for work (or school) and it’s “oh-dark-thirty,” as my mother would say.  You need something quick, something easy.  Something that won’t require you to think before you’ve had your cup of joe.  You hold the refrigerator door open and scan the shelves with bleary eyes.  With a yawn, you feel around in the cupboards.  

At last!  Your eyes settle on the box of cereal.  You start the coffee, glance at the clock, and grab a bowl.  Mmm.  Sugar-laced and fresh from the box, you watch your meal swim in the pool of milk you just doused it with.  Your pancreas shudders in apprehension.  

This is breakfast?  You deserve so much more!  Really!

You’re busy. I totally get it.  In fact, pour me a bowl of Life® and I’ll get downright nostalgic—a pleasant feeling, until the sugar makes me crash an hour or two later.  It used to be a default in our home.  Wake up, convince my husband that it’s his turn to make coffee, and feel my heart beat excitedly in anticipation of the coming jolt. We were being healthy!  After all, our cereal boxes boasted whole grains and were “all natural!”  

I have since reached for a timeless classic, known to many a child as one of the boring-est breakfasts ever: oatmeal.   Only this time, instead of overcooked mush with a trembling glob of butter and fake maple syrup on top, I take great pride in my oats.  Never again will I have vomit-inducing oatmeal [yes, I've had it before].  And I promise, oats are not only delicious and healthy...they're quick!  You can use the simmering time to comb out that unruly bed hair.   

Crazy Fruity Steel Cut Oats

I started out as a strictly-rolled-oats sort of gal.  I remember being slightly confused when other forms were mentioned.  Steel cut?  Groats?  And yet, they are amazing.  Here is a recipe I eat at least three or four days a week:

1/2 c. steel cut oats
1 1/2 c. water or nondairy milk
1/4 c. raisins
Sliced banana, apple, pear, nectarine, peach, grapes, plums, berries (be creative!)
1 tbsp nut butter or diced nuts
Lots of cinnamon, if you dig it like I do!
A pinch of nutmeg
A drizzle of pure maple syrup

Put the steel cut oats and water/"milk" in a little pot and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and let simmer for 20-30 minutes, until the oats are soft and have absorbed the water.  If they aren't done and start sticking, add a little more liquid.

Combine with all the fruit you want and top with nut butter/nuts, cinnamon, nutmeg, and maple syrup. Easy, delicious, and healthy! 
Serves 2

 

 

The Deliciousness of Daikon

Cold is hanging in the air, trembling through leaves that dance their way down to sidewalks and lawns.  It mingles with the black crows while they huddle on power lines, eye-level with our cat as he perches contentedly on the living room windowsill.  Boxes of odd-shaped gourds are crowding the entrances to produce departments and barrels of locally grown apples are suggestively hanging out with cartons of caramels.  People are anticipating the spooky holiday by adorning their porches with skeletons and demons.  Yet, for this humble vegan, there is another holiday that begs for attention and careful preparation.  It’s time to test Thanksgiving recipes!

It’s not that I don’t dig Halloween.  In fact, I think it can be fun—and a great opportunity for your neighborhood dentist to rake in the cash before Christmas season.  However, this Thanksgiving is going to be a big deal.  Not only is it the first one that my husband and I will share since we got married, but it’s going to be the first one we’ll be cooking by ourselves.  

No pressure. 

I've been testing out recipes since August because I'm so excited.  Desserts, sides, main dishes.  There are are so many things to choose from!  Experimentation has deepened my love of vegetables and their ability to heal everything from my body to my attitude.  They shine brightly even in simplicity.  A great example: daikon root.

Braised Daikon

I've had a few experiences with daikon and never really liked it.  However, I decided to give it one last chance...and I'm glad I did!  This recipe is based on Alicia Silverstone's fantastic book The Kind Diet.  Haven't read it?  You should!

1 large daikon root
1 tbsp shoyu 

3 tbsp mirin 

Slice the daikon into 3/4-1/2 inch rounds and place them in a medium sized pan.  Fill the pan with water until it nearly covers the daikon, and add the shoyu and mirin.

 Bring the liquid to a boil, then cover and let simmer until all of it is absorbed.  This took about 40 minutes.

Serves 2