In just 5 weeks we will be moving back up to Canada. Trying to juggle 3 kids and 9 years worth of stuff is hectic to say the least. I seem to manage a good breakfast, and a healthy lunch but come suppertime it seems I keep running out of time and having to whip something up in a hurry. A quick soup, a quick veg and a very quick pasta!  Here is a full proof recipe that has become our staple a couple of nights a week. Enjoy!

Quick Pasta

1/4 Cup olive oil

1 Small onion, diced

2 Cloves garlic, minced

Big pinch of dried rosemary

1 medium head of cabbage, diced

1/2 Cup spring or filtered water

1/2 Cup mirin

1 lb Spaghetti

Sea salt to taste

In a large cast iron pan, heat the oil and saute the onion and garlic until golden. Add the rosemary and cabbage and sea salt. Mix well and saute for 5 minutes. Add the water and mirin , cover, and let simmer for 15 minutes or until cabbage is tender.

Cook the spaghetti according to directions. Drain and place in a large serving bowl. Pour the cabbage mixture over the pasta. Mix well and serve.

Tons of variations!!

Add soy sausage!

Make with a mixture of onions instead of cabbage!

Switch Olive oil with sesame oil! Rosemary with parsley or sage!Spaghetti with penne or udon noodles!

Thirty days hath September,

April, June, and November;

All the rest have thirty-one,

Save February, with twenty-eight days clear,

And twenty-nine each leap year.

It’s been 30 days. Thank you Aveline Kushi for helping to feed my family and teaching me the art of healthy macrobiotic cooking. I hope that everyone’s recipe repertoire has increased and you have enjoyed the challenge of cooking new and interesting ,(and yes,sometimes hard to find )foods with me.

I am going to end the challenge with one of Aveline’s Special menus. Feel free to make your favorite dishes tonight or start on a new journey with a new cookbook. Thank you for joining me and congratulations on becoming a better cook.

-Pressure-Cooked Brown Rice

-Tamari Broth

-Tofu with Arame

-Boiled Carrots and Onions

-Steamed Kale

-Quick Lemon-Miso Pickles

-Oatmeal Cookies

-Bancha Tea

Baked Trout- by Aveline Kushi

(We were so into the fish I forgot to take a picture when it was beautiful)

3 Tbsp barley miso or white miso

2 Tbsp mirin

3 Tbsp kombu stock or spring water

1 Medium-sized trout, about 10 oz

Grated daikon

Mix the miso, mirin, and kombu stock or spring water together in a suribachi. Put the trout, either whole or cut in half, in a baking dish and make shallow diagonal slices along the top like this://///. Bake in a preheated 475-degree oven for 7-10 minutes. When the fish is 70 percent done, open oven and spread miso sauce on top of the fish between the head and tail. Bake for another 5 minutes. Serve with grated daikon.

-I used brown rice miso and it was lovely

Yahoo! How do you feel now? Feel like you can cook anything? Week 4 Well done!

Tempeh Shish Kebab-by Aveline Kushi

This is a favorite for parties or summer barbecues. Quantity of ingredients will vary with number of people served and how items are arranged on skewers.

Carrots

Burdock

Red radishes

Umeboshi plums

Broccoli flowerets

Cauliflower flowerets

Tempeh

Tamari soy sauce

Cut the carrots and burdock into chunks and lightly boil until soft but not falling apart. Boil the small red radishes with 1-2 umeboshi plums for 15 minutes, or until water has boiled away. Boil the broccoli so that it is still bright green and crunchy. Boil the cauliflower similarly.

Pan-fry or boil tempeh with a little tamari soy sauce until soft but still crispy. Arrange the ingredients attractively on skewers and serve hot

-I added tofu and onions and celery too and served the skewers with watercress/green bean /corn fried rice.

The kids came home singing that annoying McDonald’s commercial ,and after the 100th time I said “That’s it let’s make it” !

-Sourdough buns

-1 lb Halibut

-1 lb  extra firm tofu

-Earths best soy butter (optional)

-Soy cheese slices

-Tarter sauce

-Olive oil

-Bread crumbs

Halibut/Tofu

Coat both sides of the halibut/tofu in bread crumbs and set aside. Heat 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil in a cast iron frying pan.When the oil is hot place the fish/tofu in the pan and cook for 3-4 minutes until there is a nice golden crust. Flip over the fish/tofu and sprinkle with a little salt/pepper or ume vinegar. cook for another 2-3 min. Place a lid on top of the pan and cook for another 1-2 min then place on bun.

Tarter sauce

Mix together a little soy mayonnaise and a diced dill pickle.Or  blanch a 1/4 lb of tofu and blend till smooth add a couple of drops of lemon juice or ume vinegar and a diced dill pickle.

Tofu Croquettes -by Aveline Kushi

16 oz hard tofu

1/4 Cup carrots cut into matchsticks

1/4 Cup arame

Spring or filtered water

4-5 Almonds

Kuzu or arrowroot flour, if needed

Dark sesame oil

Sliced scallions for garnish

Squeeze out the water from the tofu and mash the tofu in a suribachi. Boil sliced carrots and arame separately in a little water until tender. Mix  with the tofu and form into 4-5 croquettes. Insert an almond into the center of each croquette. Add a little kuzu or arrowroot flour to the mixture if the ingredients don’t stick together. If still wet, roll in flour. Then deep-fry for a few minutes until golden brown and crispy.

Tofu croquettes may be served with a sauce made from onions and carrots cooked in a dashi soup stock with a little kuzu to thicken the sauce, a mild tamari soy sauce to taste, and a little grated fresh ginger and daikon radish. the croquettes may be simmered in the sauce for 1-2 minutes and then served with the  sauce on top. garnish with sliced scallions.

-I did end up using some arrowroot flour to hold them together.

- I served them with tahini soba noodles and a ginger/tamari sauce.

-I  crumbled the tofu with my hands instead of using a suribachi.

Week 3 Recipes:

15-Wakame cucumber salad

16-Fruit Salad

17-Mixed pressed salad

18-Miso tahini dressing

19-Mustard green pickles

20-Kidney beans

21-Yudofu

Dandelion greens and Tempeh-by Aveline Kushi

8 oz tempeh

1-2 Tsp dark sesame oil

1-2 Tsp miso

Spring or filtered water

2 Handfuls fresh dandelion greens

Cut the tempeh into 1-2 inch long by 1/4 inch thick rectangular shapes. Oil a frying pan and saute the tempeh for 3-4 minutes over low heat. Puree the miso in a little water and pour it over the tempeh. Next add about 1 cup of water to the pan, cover and cook for about 15 minutes. meanwhile, wash the dandelion greens and slice them into 1-2 inch sections. Put the dandelion greens on top of the tempeh and miso. Steam the dandelion greens for a few minutes. Mix the dandelions and tempeh together and cook until all liquid has evaporated.

Variation: tamari soy sauce may be used instead of miso.

-I left the greens whole and I used shoyu instead of miso.

- I made it for my brother and his girlfriend. (we had no leftovers!)

We LOVE seitan! Especially in stew. I am lucky because we can buy ready made seitan here in the store. For those of you who can’t find it in a store near you I’ve included Aveline’s recipe on how to make it from scratch.(Again I’m feeling very Lucky because this took me ages to type out with my two-fingered typing , not sure if I could knead seitan dough right now .:)  )

Seitan Kimpira- By Aveline kushi

2 Tbsp dark sesame oil

1/2 Cup celery sliced diagonally

1/2 Cup burdock cut into matchsticks 11/2 Cups carrots cut into matchsticks

1 Cup seitan, cooked and diced

Heat the oil in a frying pan. Add the celery, burdock, and carrots and place the cooked seitan on top. Simmer, covered, over low heat , for about 5-10 minutes. uncover and mix well. if the seitan is not done, add 1-2 tablespoons of water, cover, and cook for another 5-10 minutes.

-I added collard greens at the end of cooking and served the Kimpira with rice and sauerkraut.

Homemade Seitan -By Aveline Kushi

31/2 Lbs organic whole wheat flour

8-9 Cups warm spring or filtered water

1/4-1/3 Cup tamari soy sauce

1 Tsp grated fresh ginger (optional)

Put the flour in a large bowl and gently add the warm water. Stir with your hand until the consistency resembles oatmeal or cookie batter. Knead for 3-5 minutes, or until flour is mixed thoroughly with water. Ideally, the mixture should now sit for 2-3 hours or overnight.

The longer it sits, the less stiff it becomes and the easier to separate the starch and protein. however, a faster method is to cover the dough with warm water after the initial kneading and let sit for a minimum of 5-10 minutes. knead again in the soaking water for 1 minute. pour off the cloudy water and save. Put the glutinous mixture in a large strainer inside a large bowl or pot. Pour over cold water to cover and knead the gluten in the strainer. the starch and bran (reddish outer coating) of the wheat will wash out while you are kneading. (It is customary to save the first rinse water containing the starch and bran. See below.) Repeat the rinsing and kneading process in the strainer and pot until all the starch and bran are washed off. Alternate between cold and hot water when rinsing and kneading the gluten. Always stat and finish with cold water to contract the gluten. the gluten should form a sticky mass after two or three cycles.

Separate the gluten into 5-6 pieces and form them into balls. Drop the balls into 6 cups of boiling water and boil for 5 minutes, or until the balls float to the surface. Use chopsticks to loosed the balls if they get stuck to the bottom of the pot. Remove the balls from the pot and let them cool for a few minutes. Add a 3-inch piece of kombu to the boiling water, return gluten balls to the pot, add the tamari soy sauce and if desired, 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger. bring to a boil , lower the heat and cook for 45-60 minutes. Serve hot, or use in other recipes. Leftover seitan may be stored in a closed container with a little liquid from the pot. Save the rest of the kombu tamari broth for soup or noodles.

The water containing the washed off starch and bran can be saved to use as a thickener for soups, stews, gravies, puddings, and sauces or used as a starter for sourdough bread.

The sediment in the water can also be used by itself. Allow it to stand in a jar. the starch and bran will settle to the bottom and the clear water at the top can be poured off.  Put the sediment on a baking sheet and let dry. After the moisture has evaporated, the starchy mixture will harden and can be used like kuzu. Store in a jar and brake off small pieces for diluting in water to use as a thickener.

Instead of boiling seitan, it may be deep-fried. This makes for a much softer dish, but because of the large amount of oil used it should be prepared only occasionally. After alternating between cold and hot water as explained above, squeeze out all water remaining in the sticky gluten.

In a deep-fryer or saucepan, add dark sesame oil to a depth of about 11/2-2 inches. Divide the gluten into 12 pieces and again squeeze out any remaining liquid. If the dough is too moist, coat with extra flour or arrowroot flour. After oil is heated to proper temperature, stretch and flatten pieces of dough by hand and deep-fry in hot oil for 2-3 minutes until nicely brown. Deep-fry 2 pieces at a time, remove and add another couple of pieces. After all pieces have been cooked, blot out excess oil from seitan by patting with a dry paper towel or rinse with hot water.

In another sauce pan, cover the deep-fried seitan with spring water and add 1/3 cup tamari soy sauce, and cook for 5-10 minutes.

the recipe above makes about 11/2 pounds of seitan and will serve from 6-8 people.

Fried Noodles – By Aveline Kushi

4 Cups spring or filtered water

1 8oz package soba or udon noodles

1 Tbsp dark sesame oil

2 Cups shredded cabbage

1-2 Tbsp tamari soy sauce

1/2 Cup sliced scallions

Boil the noodles as in the previous recipe, rinse them under cold water, and drain. Oil the frying pan and add cabbage. Put the cooked noodles on top of the cabbage, cover the pan, and cook over low heat for 5-7 minutes, or until the noodles are warm. Add the tamari soy sauce and mix the noodles and vegetables well. Do not stir the ingredients together until this time; they should be left to cook peacefully until the very end. Cook for several minutes longer and add the scallions at the very end. Serve hot or cold.

Variations: many combinations of vegetables may be used, including carrots and onions, scallions and mushrooms, and cabbage and tofu. Hard root vegetables take longer to cook and they should be sauteed in the oiled frying pan before the noodles are added. Add the soft vegetables just before sprinkling on the tamari soy sauce.

- I added carrots and made it in my wok.

Noodles and Broth – By Aveline Kushi

Noodles

6-8 Cups Spring or filtered water

1 8oz package soba or udon noodles

Broth

1 Piece kombu, 2-3 inches long

4 Cups Spring or filtered water

2 Dried shiitake  mushrooms

2-3 Tbsp tamari soy sauce

Chopped scallions, chives or toasted nori for garnish

Bring the cooking water to a boil. Add the noodles and return to a boil. After about 10 minutes check to see if they are done by breaking the end of one noodle. Buckwheat cooks faster than than whole wheat and thinner noodles faster than than thicker. For buckwheat, you can use the shocking method. If the inside and outside are the same colour, the noodles are ready. If even a tiny bit of the inside is a different shade, the noodles need to cook longer. When done, remove the  noodles from pot, drain, and rinse thoroughly with cold water to stop them from cooking and prevent clumping. the noodle cooking water can be saved for soup stock and for adding to flour to make bread.

To make the broth, put the kombu in a pot and add fresh water. Soak the shiitake mushrooms, cut off and discard their stem,s, and slice the mushrooms. Add them to the pot. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer for 3-5 minutes. Remove the kombu and shiitake and save them for other dishes. Add tamari soy sauce to taste to the pot and cook for 3-5 minutes. Put the cooked noodles into the broth to warm them, but do not let them boil. When hot, remove the noodles and serve immediately with a little broth. Garnish with scallions, chives or toasted nori.

Variations: A little grated fresh ginger may be added to the broth. the kombu and shiitake may be left in the broth and served with the noodles if desired. Dried daikon, carrots and onions, or bonito fish flakes also make good additions. The noodles are also customarily enjoyed with cooked seitan, fu, tofu, natto or tempeh.

- I kept the shiitake and kombu in the broth and I added green onion, carrot, grated daikon and tempeh.