YAY MISO MAY! 

My kids are really excited about this! Their favorite time of day to have miso is when they get home for school.

Let’s start of with the classic. This recipe is by one of my favorite cooks xo

Basic Miso Soup- by Aveline Kushi

1 3-inch piece dried wakame

1 Cup thinly sliced onions

1 Quart spring or filtered water

11/4-11/2 Tbsp miso

Chopped scallions, parsley,ginger or watercress for garnish

Rinse the wakame in cold water for 3-5 minutes and slice it into 1/2 inch pieces. Put wakame and onions in a pot and add water. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer for 10-20 minutes, or until tender. Reduce the heat to very low but not boiling or bubbling. Put the miso in a bowl or suribachi. Add 1/4 cup of the broth from the pot and puree until miso is completely dissolved  in the liquid. Add the pureed miso to the soup. Simmer for 3-5 minutes and serve. Garnish with scallions, parsley, ginger or watercress.

Tomorrow I will be starting the FOURTH annual spring challenge.  The last  three years went great! I used Aveline Kushi’s book(The Complete Guide To macrobiotic Cooking), then Christina Cooks-Everything You Always Wanted to Know about WholeFoods but were afraid to ask. Last year I  choseThe Hip Chick’s guide to Macrobiotics by Jessica Porter.  This year I will be doing something new. This May’s spring challenge will be all about miso soup! Some of my recipes and some from the many cookbooks in my pantry! Soon you will be having a great time and will feel wonderful eating a new delicious miso soup everyday . Don’t worry if you don’t own a miso cookbook. I will be posting the recipes everyday with photos.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Today is Day 1- Finding your cookbook and collecting your groceries.

(General Miso soup Ingredients- Kombu, wakame, onions, tofu, scallions, daikon, barley/rice/white/red miso )

Day 2- Basic miso soup

Day 3- Miso soup with daikon and onions

Day 4- Miso soup with tahini

Day 5- Miso soup with carrots and parsley

Day 6- Miso soup with white miso and tofu

Day 7- Miso soup with edamame and corn

Please post comments and photo’s of what you are cooking!

Please join me starting May 1st and enjoy a fresh new (or old favourite) recipe every day for a month..  Bring on the spring.

“Mama I want to take something good to my friends sleepover party”

“Sure Ingrid, what do you think they would like?”

“Ham and cheese bisquits ”

“Really? Hmmmm”

Ingrid’s “Ham” and “cheese” Bisquits

4 Cups Unbleached whole white flour

2 Cups shredded vegan cheddar

2 Tbsp baking powder

1 Small onion, diced

1 Pkg tofu dogs

1 Garlic clove , minced

1/2 Cup olive oil

2 Cups plain rice milk

1 Tsp dried thyme

Makes 2 dozen.

Pre-heat oven to 400′

Whisk together dry ingredients then stir in the rest. Oil 2 muffin pans and spoon batter in. Bake for 15-20 minutes.

Scrambled Tofu

2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 Medium red onion, diced

1/2 Teaspoon umeboshi vinegar

1 3-inch peice burdock, sliced into matchsticks

1 Medium carrot, sliced into matchsticks

6-8 fresh buttom mushrooms, sliced

1 Pound firm or extra-firm tofu

1-2 Tablespoons of shoyu

Kernels from 1 ear corn

1 Teaspoon curry or chile powder (optional)

1/4 -1/2 Cup spring water

1/4 Cup chopped scallions, cilantro or parsley for garnish

Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add onion and saute for about 1 minute. Sprinkle the umeboshi vinegar on the onion, which helps it to keep its reddish color. Saute until the onion is soft. Add burdock and saute a few minutes, then add the carrot and saute for a few more minutes. Add mushrooms and saute until they are soft. With your hands, crunble the tofu into the skillet. Add the shoyu, corn, spices, and enough of the spring water to wet the bottom of the pan. Cover, allowing the whole mixture to steam for about 3-5 minutes over low heat. Remove from heat, toss with garnish and serve.

- I always make scrambled tofu for company or for a special brunch. I like to add dijon mustard and turmeric. 

All recipes are printed with permission from Jessica Porter

Good Morning Oat Porridge

1 Cup whole oats

4 Cups spring water

Pinch of sea salt

Before bed, bring oats and water to a boil. Let simmer, uncovered for 5 minutes. Turn off heat, cover and go to bed. In the morning, bring the mixture back to a boil. Add a pinch of salt and more  water if necessary. Reduce heat and let simmer over medium flame deflector for 45 minutes. Serve.

All recipes are printed with permission from Jessica Porter

Tomorrow I will be starting the THIRD annual spring challenge.  The last  two years went great! I used Aveline Kushi’s book(The Complete Guide To macrobiotic Cooking), then Christina Cooks-Everything You Always Wanted to Know about WholeFoods but were afraid to ask. This year I have chosen The Hip Chick’s guide to Macrobiotics by Jessica Porter. She is a great chef with  a kooky sense of humor and her book is full of fun recipes . Soon you will be having a great laugh and will feel wonderful eating her delicious recipes . Don’t worry if you don’t own this book. I will be posting the recipes everyday with photos. Or, pick your favorite cookbook  or chef to follow. The point is adding new recipes to our daily repertoire.

Today is Day 1- Finding your cookbook and collecting your groceries.

This first week all  recipes will be  on Grains!

1- Perfect Brown Rice

2-Mediterranean Barley Salad

3- Rice, Avacado And Corn Salad

4-Good Morning Oat Porridge

5- Quinoa Salad

6-Millet Mashed “Potatoes” With Mushroom Gravy

7- Kasha And Cabbage

Please post comments and photo’s of what you are cooking!

All recipes are printed with permission from Jessica Porter.

Please join me starting May 1st and enjoy a fresh new (or old favourite) recipe every day for a month..  Bring on the spring.

AN INTERACTIVE COOKING CLASS SERIES

WINTER, SPRING, SUMMER, FALL

This month it’s all about GRAINS!

Thursday March 15th at 6:30 p.m

Tasty whole foods supper club. Fun, interactive cooking classes.

After all the washing,sorting, chopping, slicing, sauteing, flipping and frying you get to sit down and enjoy our creations.

With humor and guidance we will collectively make the meal together.

We’ll make a party out of it!

THE THIRD THURSDAY EVENING  OF EVERY MONTH AT THE ST PAUL’S CHURCH COMMUNITY KITCHEN ON THE CORNER OF PRINCE AND RICHMOND ST CHARLOTTETOWN 6:30 P.M  $25.00 PER PERSON CALL 902-367-9491 FOR MORE INFO or e-mail me here.. 

Whole foods cooking class CBC interview

Click here to view the embedded video.

Here’s to a happy healthy 2012! 

This was the first year that all 3 kids stayed awake until midnight. We played cards and munched on chestnuts, drank apple cider and when the clock struck we all stood outside on the porch and banged pots and pans.

Chestnuts

- Prick chestnuts with a fork and roast in a 400 degree oven for about 20-30 min. The skin should be splitting and the inside a golden brown colour . Do not roast  them for too long. They can EXPLODE!

- Boil chestnuts with fennel seed in a small amount of water for 15-20 min till you can pierce easily with a fork.

-After chestnuts are cooked, peel while still warm and blend until smooth with water and a pinch of sea salt to make a puree. You can add sweetener if you like, but I find chestnuts are nice and sweet on their own.

Homemade Holiday Granola!  

This is what I made and gave out as Christmas presents this year.

Remember to try to get organic ingredients

1 to 2 tsp Cinnamon

1 tsp Ground ginger

1/2 tsp  Nutmeg

3 cups  Large-flake oats

1 cup  Oat bran or wheat germ

1 cup   Almonds, pumpkin seeds or walnuts

1 cup  Unsweetened coconut

3/4 tsp Sea salt

2/3 cup  maple syrup , rice syrup or honey

1/3 cup Sunflower oil or Olive oil

2 tsp  almond extract or Vanilla

1 cup Dried cranberries

1/2 cup Golden raisins

Preheat oven to 350F . Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or foil. In a small bowl, stir cinnamon with ginger and nutmeg. In a large bowl, mix oats with oat bran, almonds, coconut and salt. In a small saucepan over low heat, stir syrup with oil until warm, 2 to 3 min. Remove from heat. Stir in almond extract and spice mix. Pour over oat mixture. Stir to coat. Turn onto baking sheet, spreading out as evenly as you can. Bake until golden for 25-35 minutes , stirring every 15 min. Remove from oven and stir in cranberries and raisins.