Lemon And Ginger Spiced Adzuki Beans

1/2 Cup dried adzuki beans, sorted and rinsed well

2 Cups Spring or filtered water

1-Inch piece kombu or bay leaf

About 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 to 2 Cloves fresh garlic, finely minced

2 Shallots, finely minced

Sea salt

5 to 6 Slices fresh ginger, finely minced

Grated zest of 1 lemon

Mirin

1 to 2 Sprigs fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely minced

Juice of 1/2 lemon

Place the beans and water in a heavy saucepan. Add the kombu. Bring to a boil, uncovered, over medium heat. Boil for about 5 minutes, cover and reduce heat to low. Cook the beans until just tender, about 45 minutes. Drain away the remaining liquid from the beans, discard the kombu and set the beans aside.

Place the oil, garlic and shallots in a skillet over medium heat. When the shallots begin to sizzle, add a pinch of salt and saute until they are translucent, about 2 minutes. Stir in the ginger, lemon zest and a generous sprinkling of mirin. Season to taste with salt and saute for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring constantly. Stir in the beans, adjust the seasonings to your taste and remove from the heat. Stir in the parsley and lemon juice and serve hot.

-Again I soaked and cooked the beans a lot longer, more like soaked overnight and cooked for 2 hours. This dish was very good and the cooking liquid that was poured off I put it into a mug and drank it.

This recipe is printed with permission from Christina Pirello

Kombu chips-by Aveline Kushi

4-5 medium sized kombu strips

Light sesame oil

If very salty dust off the kombu with a wet sponge. Break the kombu into 1 inch pieces. Heat at least 1 inch of oil to 375 degrees in a pot. When the oil is hot, but not smoking, add several of the kombu pieces to the hot oil. Deep-fry for 1-2 minutes or until crispy. Remove, and drain the seaweed of excess oil on a paper towel. Serve in a basket or bowl lined with a napkin to absorb oil.

Variations: Other vegetables can be deep fried this way. Carrots make especially good chips.

-Goes great with a beer!

-A little too salty and strong for kids, give sparingly .

Yudofu-by Aveline kushi

2 Cups spring or filtered water

1 Strip kombu

2 Shiitake mushrooms

1 Pound fresh firm tofu, sliced into 1-inch thick slices

1 Bunch watercress, washed

Tamari soy sauce

Sliced lemon

Gingeroot juice

Finely chopped scallions for garnish

Place water, kombu and mushrooms in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for several minutes. Remove shiitake and kombu and set aside for use in another recipe. Return water to a boil and add the sliced tofu. When tofu becomes hot, add the water cress and let sit for a few seconds. make a sauce in a small pan: For each person combine 1 tablespoon of tamari soy sauce, i tablespoon of hot shiitake stock, a drop of squeezed lemon, and 1-2 drops of gingeroot juice. At the table serve sauce individually to each person, garnished with scallions. the tofu is then picked up,dipped in the sauce and eaten.

-This was so delicious! But with a smack to my forehead, I forgot the watercress. It’s still sitting on my counter.

Week 4 recipes:

22- Tempeh shish kabab

23-Arame with corn

24-Dulse with carrots and celery

25-Gomashio

26-Baked trout

27-Kanten

29-Kombu chips

Kidney Beans-by Aveline Kushi

1 Cup kidney beans

Spring or filtered water

1 Strip kombu, 6-8 inches long

11/2 Tsp miso per cup of beans, preferably barley miso

Wash and soak the beans for 6-8 hours. Put the kombu in the bottom of a heavy pot. Set the beans on top of the kombu and add water to just cover the beans. Bring to a boil. reduce the heat to medium-low and cover. Simmer until the beans are about 80 percent done, or about 1 hour. Add cold water following the basic shocking method as needed. When the beans are 80 percent done, add the pureed miso. (Barley miso is best with this dish.) Just add the miso on top of the beans and do not mix in. the miso will filter down into the beans as they continue to cook. Continue to cook until the beans are soft and creamy, another 20-30 minutes. Transfer to a serving bowl and serve.

Variation” Pressure cook the beans for 45 minutes. then add the pureed miso and cook, not under pressure, about 20-30 minutes longer.

-I used brown rice miso for a less salty flavour.

Clear soup -by Aveline Kushi

1 Quart kombu or other soup stock

1 Carrot cut into flower shapes

1 Cup tofu cut into 1/2 inch squares

1 bunch watercress, thinly sliced

Slice and boil the vegetables

1/2 sheet nori, cut into small squares for garnish

Grated fresh ginger or ginger juice to taste for garnish

Slice and boil the vegetables separately for a few minutes, or until tender. Boil the tofu in the kombu stock for 1-2 minutes, or until it comes to the top.(cooked in this way , the tofu is quite tender. If cooked too long, tofu becomes rubbery.) Put 1-2 pieces of boiled carrot and a spoonful of sliced water cress into each individual serving bowl. Pour the hot kombu stock into each cup over the vegetab;les and add 1-2 tofu squares. The colour of the vegetables should be bright. The colour will fade if they are cooked together. Garnish with nori and grated fresh ginger or ginger juice and serve.

Variations: Instead of carrots, other vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, celery, parsnips, Chinese cabbage, mushrooms, pumpkin, or winter squash may be used. Bread crumbs, dried or deep-fried, make an excellent garnish for all of these clear soups.

- We had to do without tofu in our soup because when I opened the package a horrible smell creeped out and I had to throw it away. Here is a picture of what clear soup looks like with tofu(tofu, corn and lettuce)

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.

Step 1

Sort chickpeas and remove any debris.

Step 2

Rinse Chickpeas.

Step 3

Cover chickpeas with water and soak overnight.

Next day: Cooking

Step 4

Soak a 3-4 inch pice of Kombu for about 10 min.

Step 5

Put kombu in a large pot and place the soaked chickpeas and soaking water on top.

Step 6

Cover with water and bring to a boil.

Step 7

Scoop out the foam.

Step 8

Cover pot with a lid and turn the heat down to low. Simmer for 3 hours checking to make sure there is enough water along the way.

Step 9

When beans are about 85% done add a pinch of sea salt. Cook for another 15-20 minutes.

Step 10

The end result.