Macro Mom » spring

Spring Challenge Day 15-Stuffed Portobellos With Green Beans

macromom — Sun, 15 May 2011 13:27:07 +0000

Stuffed Portobellos With Green Beans

4 Large portobello mushrooms, brushed free of dirt

Spring or filtered water

Sea salt

About 2 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil

2 to 3 Cloves fresh garlic, finely minced

2 Jalapeno chilies, seeded and diced

1 Red onion, diced

1 Red bell pepper, roasted over an open flame, peeled, seeded and diced

3 to 4 Sprigs fresh flat leaf parsley, finely minced

3 to 4 Sprigs fresh basil, leaves removed and finely minced

1 Cup dried apricots

Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon

1 Cup whole wheat bread crumbs

3 Cups whole green beans, tips trimmed, left whole

2 to 3 Tablespoons sun-dried tomato paste

Preheat the oven to 400′F

Remove the stems from the mushrooms, dice the stems and set aside. Scoop the gills from the mushrooms and discard. Arrange the mushroom caps in a shallow baking dish, add enough water to cover the bottom and sprinkle with salt. Bake, uncovered, for 10to 15 minutes, just until tender. Leave oven on.

Place about 1 tablespoon of the oil, the garlic, chilies and onion in a deep skillet over medium heat. When the onions begin to sizzle, add a pinch of salt and saute for 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in the mushroom stems, bell pepper, basil and parsley. Season lightly with salt and saute for 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the apricots, zest and juice and bread crumbs. Mix well and divide stuffing among the mushroom caps. Return to the oven for 5 to 7 minutes to brown.

Bring a small pot of water to a boil and cook the beans for 3 to 4 minutes. Drain well. Place the remaining 1 tablespoon of the oil in a skillet and stir in the sun-dried tomato paste and a generous pinch of salt. Cook stirring, for 2 minutes. Stir in the beans until coated with tomato paste and just tender, 2 to 3 minutes.

To serve, divide the beans among four individual plates, spooning any tomato juices over the beans. Place a mushroom cap on each plate and serve immediately.

- I only used 1 jalapeno. I was worried about it being to spicy for my kids. Also I used 3 to 4 whole sun-dried tomatoes, minced instead of paste. This dish turned out great. Very filling.

NEXT WEEK – PASTA!

Day 16-Roasted Vegetable Pasta

Day 17-Soba With Endive And Radicchio

Day 18-Broccoli Rabe Pasta With Tempeh Sausage

Day 19-Gemelli With Cauliflower And Walnuts

Day 20-Penne With Beer Stewed Artichoke Hearts

Day 21-Fusilli Carbonara With Spring Vegetables

All recipes are printed with permission from Christina Pirello

Coming Soon…2nd Annual Spring Challenge!

macromom — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 14:18:48 +0000

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

SpringChallenge day 30- Special Menu

macromom — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 14:06:01 +0000

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

Spring Challenge Day8-Basic Miso soup

macromom — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 13:28:13 +0000

Wow our second week! I would love for you to post pictures and recipes that you have been making in my comments section. I hope that You are having fun adding a new recipe a day and if you are following Aveline’s recipes with me you are enjoying them as much as my family.

Week 2 recipes:

8-Basic miso soup

9-Clear soup

10-Red radishes with kuzu sauce

11-Boiled cabbage with sesame and ume sauce

12-Collard greens with tamari vinegar sauce

13- Dandelion greens and tempeh

14- Tofu croquettes

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.

Spring Challenge!

macromom — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 00:50:49 +0000

Tomorrow I will be starting my spring cooking challenge. If you don’t own Aveline Kushi’s book(The Complete Guide To macrobiotic Cooking) don’t fret, I will be posting all the recipes as well as photos and you can follow along. Or, pick your favorite cookbook or Chef to follow. The point is adding new recipes to our daily repertoire.

As I look at my bookshelf I realize that I have many favorite cookbooks and admire many Chefs. For instance Wendy Esko, Christina Pirello, Jessica Porter, Jack Bishop, Warren Wepman, Lima Ohsawa and Meredith McCarty to name a few. For some reason when I travel I always end up finding room for “The Complete Guide To Macrobiotic Cooking ” by Aveline Kushi. I know that macrobiotic cooking has changed over the years, There’s a little less salt a lot more variety, but my Father was healed from cancer by using the cookbooks of amazing women and their families like Cornellia Aihara ,Lima Ohsawa, Aveline Kushi and Wendy Esko. Those are my roots . My comfort foods. So let’s begin!

This first week all recipes will be using Grains.

1-Summer style fried Rice

2-Maki sushi

3-Arepas

4-Noodles and broth

5-Fried noodles

6-Seitan Kinpira

7-Buckwheat pancakes with strawberry kuzu sauce

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

Coming soon…Spring Challenge !

macromom — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 03:06:49 +0000

I watched the movie “Julia and Julia” the other night and was inspired! What a great way to learn how to cook. I would like to propose the same kind of challenge. But I have a few twists. For starters my “Julia” is Aveline Kushi and I’m thinking 30 recipes not 500 and over the course of the month of April. I have chosen my cooking “bible”. ” The Complete Guide to Macrobiotic Cooking ” by Aveline Kushi. Please join me and enjoy a fresh new (or old favourite) recipe every day for a month.. Bring on the spring.

Salad Dressings

macromom — Mon, 04 May 2009 18:43:30 +0000

Raspberry Mustard Dressing

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

2 tbsp Unsweetened raspberry jam

11/2 tbsp dijon mustard

1 tbsp sesame seeds or 1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil

(a little splash of maple syrup can be added)

Blend all ingredients until smooth and creamy

keep in the fridge

Miso dressing

11/2 tbsp barley miso

2 tbsp rice vinegar

2 scallions, finely chopped

1/2 cup boiling water

Dilute miso in boiling water. Let sit until mixture has cooled. add rice vinegar and onions.

Umeboshi green onion dressing

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup sesame oil

1/4 cup umeboshi vinegar

1 tbsp lemon juice

2 whole bunches of green onions

1/2 water

Blend all ingredients until smooth

Put a Spring in your step!

macromom — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 17:04:07 +0000

When I think of spring I think of how new and fresh everything smells – new grass, wet leaves, colourful flowers and yummy vegetables right from the garden. Right now in the Northeast spring is just arriving, so we are still in the mode of finishing off what is left in the root cellar . Until it becomes a proper spring where everything is green and growing and the snow has all melted we will start by cooking lighter, using shorter cooking times and adding more raw ingredients to our daily meals.

First I go and buy our 50 lb bag of long grain organic brown rice for summer, and I start mixing short grain and long grain 50/50 as well as adding quinoa and cous cous to the meal plan. Next I start growing counter top sprouts – alfalfa, radish, lentil and sunflower. I like to add these to salads, sandwiches or serve them on their own.

The first spring vegetables that we get really excited about are fiddle heads, a local wild fern that can be collected in the woods. They’re only around for a short time, so we only get to eat them once or twice. They are delicious, with a delicate flavor that needs no seasoning, just a quick blanche or stir fry.

We have a patch of watercress in a spring on our property. Watercress has so many uses and we love the spicy crispness. When fresh herbs like mint, chives or oregano start growing they liven up a meal. Parsley too – there is a large Lebanese community where I grew up and I had the pleasure of learning how to make tabbouleh (a parsley salad, with bulgar and lemon juice) while working in a Lebanese restaurant.

Here are a few recipes to put a spring in your step:

Endive salad

1lg Belgian endive, sliced into bite size rounds

4 red radishes, sliced into thin circles

1 tsp toasted sesame seeds

1 ripe pear, de-seeded and sliced into quarters

1 stalk of celery, diced

1/2 Tbsp of lemon juice

several drops of toasted sesame oil

1/2-1 tsp umeboshi vinegar

Toss all ingredients together and serve as a light side to any meal.

Tofu wontons in watercress soup

wontons:

1pkg wonton wrappers

1lb of fresh firm tofu, crumbled

1 tbsp ginger, grated

2 cloves garlic,minced (optional)

2 tbsp shoyu

1/2 red onion or red pepper, diced

1 cup napa cabbage, shredded

1 tbsp sesame oil

Broth:

4 cups water

2 cups vegetable stock

1 lg bunch watercress, chopped into large pieces

2 onions, diced

2 tbsp shoyu

In a wok, heat oil and add garlic, ginger and onion. Saute for 1-2 min then add cabbage and tofu. Stir fry until lightly browned. Add shoyu, cook for 1 more minute and set aside until cool.

Place 1 tsp of tofu mixture on each wonton and fold. Set aside wontons in such a way that they do not touch each other and stick.

To make broth, bring water to a boil. Add onions, stock and soy sauce. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Add watercress and simmer for 2 more minutes.

In a separate pot bring 5-6 cups water to a boil and add a splash of oil and about 10 wontons at a time (depending on the size of the pot). Cook wontons until they float to the top. Scoop out the cooked wontons and set aside. Serve bowls individually with a couple of wontons and steaming hot broth poured over them.