becoming whole

Barley Recipes

When I eat barley, I usually add it to my rice, or have it in a soup. These are two of the recipes I use. Read about the health benefits of barley.

BROWN RICE with BARLEY (Pressure Cooked)
2 cups organic brown rice (washed and soaked overnight in water)
1 cup whole barley (washed and soaked overnight in water)
4½ cups water fresh water
small pinch sea salt or piece of kombu, soaked and diced

Put brown rice, barley and water in pressure cooker over low flame. Bring to boil, add salt, cover, turn flame to high and bring to pressure. Reduce flame to medium low, place on flame deflector and cook 45-50 minutes. Remove from flame, allow pressure to come down naturally, and serve.

Note: If you want to pot boil the rice and barley instead of using the pressure cooker, use 6 cups of water. Put rice, barley and water into a pot. Bring to a boil over high flame, add salt, cover, turn flame to low, simmer for 1 1/4 hours.

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MUSHROOM BARLEY SOUP
1 cup whole barley (soaked overnight covered with water)
1 teaspoon light sesame oil
1 onion, sliced thin into half moons
5-6 cups water
4-5 dried shitake mushrooms, soaked until tender, thinly sliced
1 cup button mushrooms, thinly sliced
soy sauce
2 ribs celery, thinly sliced
fresh scallions, thinly sliced for garnish

Rinse barley by placing in a bowl and covering with water. Wash by rubbing it gently between the palms of your hands and drain. After soaking the barley overnight, drain and discard soaking water.

In a soup pot, heat oil and saute onions and celery for 5 minutes. Add water and barley and bring to a boil over high heat. Stir in mushrooms. Reduce heat and cook, covered, for about 40 minutes until barley becomes soft and creamy.

Season lightly with soy sauce and simmer for 10-15 minutes more.

Garnish with fresh scallions.

Serves 4.

Note: You may use pearled barley, a cracked form of the whole grain.

Creamy Flageolet Beans & Vegetable Soup

According to the Gourmet Sleuth, flageolet beans are " small immature kidney beans with a history that dates back to the 1800s in France. The are very hard to find in the US but are sometimes available fresh, dried, or canned. The bean is available in a variety of colors including white (flagolet blanc), black (noir), yellow (jaune), red (rouge) or green (vert)."

I found the greenish-white dried beans at Whole Foods in the bins.

Creamy Flageolet Beans & Vegetable Soup

3 cups dried flageolet beans, soaked overnight
1 onion, cut into half-moon slices
1 large carrot, diced
3 ribs celery to leaves, diced
1 piece burdock root, diced
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1-inch piece of kombu spring or filtered tap water
3/8 teaspoon of sea salt
1-2 teaspoons olive or other oil to sauté vegetables
½ bunch flat-leaf parsley, chopped (for garnish)
A few sprigs fresh rosemary, chopped (optional)

Note: This recipe is wheat-, gluten- & soy-free.

To cook beans: Pour off soaking water from the beans and cover with new water an inch above the beans. Bring to a boil on high flame, cover, turn to low and simmer for 1 hour with the piece of kombu. After 1 hour, test beans for tenderness. If still slightly hard, cook ½ hour longer. Check water level during cooking. Add more water if needed. Add salt at the last 10 minutes before the end of cooking time (don’t salt the beans until they’re tender).

While the beans are cooking: Chop carrot, celery and burdock. Cut onion into half-moon slices. Sauté onion and add a pinch of salt, sauté for 2 minutes in olive oil on a medium-high flame. Add burdock, carrot, rosemary and sauté 3-4 more minutes. Add celery and sauté 3-4 more minutes.

Next: Add half of the cooked beans to the vegetable mixture. The other half of the beans can be pureed with a potato masher on the stovetop in another pan, and then added back into the whole beans and vegetable mixture. Add enough spring or filtered tap water to make a brothy consistency. Bring soup to a gentle boil on high flame, turn to low, cover and simmer for 10 more minutes. While simmering, add sea salt.

Stir in half the parsley. Garnish each portion of soup with the rest while serving. Serves 6-8.

Enjoy with a delicious whole grain and green leafy vegetable.

Parsnips With Sea Palm

I love the sea vegetable called sea palm. This dish combines the sweetness of parsnips with the mild taste of the sea palm.

This can be served as a side dish, or what I did today after I took this photo was to make a "salad" of it. I placed a bed of salad greens, then layered it with a little cooked brown rice, then I placed the parsnip and sea palm on top. I garnished it with a few nuts and voila, a complete meal and a tasty lunch. I also had a side of delicious leafy green (cooked) kale and a pickle to top it off.

PARSNIPS with SEA PALM
1 small onion
2 parsnips
½ cup sea palm
½ teaspoon sesame oil
½ cup water
½ teaspoon tamari wheat-free soy sauce

Cut onion in half and slice into in slender half moons.

Cut parsnip in half lengthwise, then slice in long diagonals. Sauté both onion and parsnip together in oil, stirring a few minutes until onion is translucent and parsnip tender.

Add sea palm, cut in small pieces, and pour in water. Cover, and simmer 20 minutes. Water should be mostly evaporated at the end of cooking.

Season with tamari wheat-free soy sauce or 1 teaspoon of miso can also be used.

* This recipe is wheat- and gluten-free. It can also be made soy-free by substituting 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt for the soy sauce or miso.

Enjoy!

Have you ever eaten sea vegetables? Would you consider trying them?

John's Easy Vegan Meal & ... Take Action For Animals

Today, I'd like to feature a favorite meal from John Kozinski, one of my Kushi Institute macrobiotic teachers. When I think of John, I think about his lecture on “Burning the Candle at Both Ends.” I think this stuck with me as it was one of the things my mother used to say as well. It basically means that we all need equal amounts of work, play, rest and good food to live a long life. Some of us work, play and forget about the rest and maybe even the good food. We can do this for only so long and then at some point it catches up with us. We either burn out or get ill or both. Many times this can shorten our life span or compromise our good health.

The other thing I remember about John is his love of Tai Chi and Chi Gong. A very tall and slender man, I remember him being very graceful in executing these poses, which flowed from one into another as though in a beautifully choreographed dance.

This is a favorite of John and his wife, Jeanette. I decided to make it for dinner last evening as it was easy. John says, "It is a great introductory meal for meat-eating friends!"

JOHN'S EASY VEGAN MEAL
1 block of firm organic tofu sliced (8 slices - 2 each)
1/2 cup organic shoyu
2 - 3 tablespoons organic cold pressed sesame oil
1 head of organic broccoli, steamed
4 medium sized organic carrots, steamed
3 cups cooked organic brown rice (3/4 cup each)

Optional choices: organic mustard, 2 thinly sliced organic scallions, grated organic ginger
Optional condiments for rice and vegetables: tekka, shiso, gomashio and ume vinegar, organic pickled sauerkraut — 2 tablespoons each

1. Marinate tofu in shoyu for two minutes or to taste.

2. Heat oil in frying pan and add tofu. Fry until golden brown, about 5 minutes.

3. Steam vegetables in steamer basket or bring 3/4 inch of water to boil in pan and steam separately (steam time 2-3 minutes)

4. Place 2 tablespoons organic sauerkraut on each plate (to aid in digestion).

5. **Rice garnish: choice of tekka, shiso, or gomashio condiment

6. Vegetable dressing: use a few drops of ume vinegar on the broccoli

7. Tofu garnish:  choice of mustard, grated ginger or scallions

** Preparation time: 1/2 hour if rice is precooked. One hour if rice is cooked with meal. Rice preparation: 2 cups of water per cup of washed rice (optional/preferable presoak rice 8 hours), pinch of sea salt and boil or pressure cook 50 minutes to 1 hour.

By the way, John will be in the Chicago area Friday through Sunday for a lecture and counseling sessions. For more information please visit his Web site or call 413-623-5925.

Lecture: Food and Behavior
Date: Friday, Oct. 31
Time: 6-7 p.m.
Location: Nature's Cupboard Natural Foods Store
1488 Waukegan Road (Carillon Square)
Glenview, IL 60025
847-729-3220

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SIGN OUR PETITION	DONATE	TELL A FRIEND
TAKE ACTION FOR ANIMALS BY NOVEMBER 4! With the presidential election almost here, PCRM needs your help! We need to be poised to take action as soon as the election takes place and the next administration is put together. Please, sign the petition to the next president, demanding that he appoint a new Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner who will take a stand for animals and require companies use alternatives to animal testing! The FDA’s current animal testing policy results in thousands of animals being    forced into drug tests every day. They are injected with harmful, painful substances. They are burned, cut, and killed. Sign the petition today. Help put a stop to this cruel practice. And forward please forward this message to a friend. Tell the next president that you oppose animal testing! Sign the petition!

Simply Squash & Dr. Neal Barnard on Ellen Today

 

It's squash time again and there's plenty of it at the local Farmer's Market. Delicata (above), acorn and butternut are three of my favorite varieties. This delicata squash was washed and cut in half from top to bottom. Then I scooped out the seeds from each half with a spoon, and sliced into half-inch pieces. This squash is delicious simply steamed in a little water.

Sometimes for my kids or husband, I'll spread the thinly sliced squash on a lightly-greased baking sheet (I use olive oil), and drizzle a couple of tablespoons of brown rice syrup over the pieces. I then sprinkle with another tablespoon of olive oil, 1 tablespoon of tamari wheat-free soy sauce, and then with sea salt. I then top with chopped walnuts or pecans and bake for about 30 minutes at 350 degrees. My family loves squash cooked this way and I bet yours will, too.

Another of my favorites is squash and carrot ginger soup.

Enjoy! 'Tis the season.

Steamed Squash
Delicata or butternut squash, cut into thin slices
water
sea salt

Baked Squash
1 squash, thinly sliced
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
2 tablespoons brown rice syrup
1/4 cup walnuts or pecans
1 tablespoon tamari wheat-free soy sauce
1 tablespoon olive oil

These are wheat and gluten-free recipes. Soy can be omitted by leaving out the tamari (soy sauce) if needed.

PLEASE WATCH THIS TODAY!! How people get hooked on unhealthy food— and how to get unhooked.

Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine President Neal Barnard, M.D., will appear on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on Monday, September 29, to discuss his three week “kick-start” program and other tips to help eliminate unhealthy food cravings and get you on the road to better health.  In his groundbreaking book, Breaking the Food Seduction: The Hidden Reasons Behind Food Cravings—and Seven Steps to End Them Naturally, Dr. Barnard discusses how our biochemistry, not our willpower may be sabotaging our efforts to get healthy. Based on extensive research, Breaking the Food Seduction outlines seven easy steps to stop the cycle of food cravings.

Miso-Adzuki Stew

I saw this recipe in this month's Vegetarian Times Magazine under the 5 Ingredients column by Mary Margaret Chappell. The article was titled Bean Basics. I like this recipe because it's simple and macrobiotic except for the potatoes (these I listed as optional). I like that she wrote about the satisfaction of soaking and cooking your own dried beans and the financial factor of dried beans being a fraction of the cost of canned beans (1/2 cup of dried beans yielding as much as a 15-ounce can ... 1 1/2 cups, drained). I think there's so much more satisfaction, life energy and taste in dried, soaked, then cooked beans (vs. canned).

Chappell also mentioned the added benefit of avoiding excess sodium found in many canned beans.

Miso-Adzuki Stew

1 cup dried adzuki beans, rinsed and drained
2 bunches of green onions, white and green parts chopped separately, divided (I used a regular onion to sautee and for the garnish I used chopped parsley because it was what I had on hand)
1/2 cup dried shitake mushrooms, crumbled
3/4 pound small red potatoes, quartered 2 cups (I put as optional)
1 1/2 - 2 tablespoons miso paste

Soak adzuki beans in 4 cups of cold water5 hours, or overnight. Drain, and reserve soaking liquid.

Coat large saucepan or Dutch oven with cooking spray (I omitted the cooking spray), and heat over medium-low heat. Add white parts of green onion, sprinkle with salt, and cover. Cook 5 -7 minutes, or until onions are soft. Add shitake onions and aduki beans. Add enough water to soaking liquid to make 4 cups, and stir into bean mixture. Cover, and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat to medium-low heat, and simmer 45 minutes, or until beans are beginning to be tender, adding a little water if necessary. Fold in potatoes, cover, and cook 15 minutes more, or until potatoes are tender and beans are soft, but not mushy.

Ladle 1 cup of broth from bean mixture into measuring cup. Stir in miso paste with fork until dissolved. Stir miso mixture into bean mixture, and simmer 2 to 3 minutes more, or until heated through. Sprinkle with chopped gren parts of green onions before serving.

I did put potatoes in my stew, though they are on the avoid list as they are nightshades. I do have them on occasion. This doesn't mean that I eat them on a regular basis or even weekly. When I followed a strict healing diet, I didn't eat them for many years. But, I eat a very large variety of vegetables and this is an occasional choice (maybe once every few months) that I've made to enjoy.

Why don't we eat potatoes every day or several times a week on a macrobiotic diet, you ask? When I studied macrobiotics, I learned that potatoes are part of the nightshade family. If one is sensitive to nightshades, they can cause joint pains and swelling in the joints.

Waldorf Salad

It's Memorial Day, and that means parades, remembrances and (food-wise) ... picnics! Here's my version of the classic Waldorf Salad. Have a great day off today.

WALDORF SALAD
1/4 cup toasted walnuts
1/4 cup raisins
2 cups apples, diced
2 ribs of celery, diced
1 grated carrot
2 tablespoons of dulse flakes, or soaked pieces of dulse sliced and cut up (smoked dulse if especially nice)
1/2 cup Veganaise (without cane sugar) or Tofu Mayonnaise (below)
1 teaspoon umeboshi vinegar

Put everything in a bowl and mix in small amount of Veganaise or tofu mayonnaise. Splash in some umeboshi vinegar. Taste and season to your liking.

TOFU MAYONNAISE
8 ounces tofu
1/2 cup water
2 teaspoons sesame or olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon brown rice vinegar
1 tablespoon mellow white miso (or 1/4 teaspoon sea salt)
sprinkle of dill (optional)

Slice tofu. Steam 3 minutes. Blend ingredients until smooth and creamy.

Note: This keeps refrigerated for 2-3 days. If it separates, just re-blend.

Amaranth, Breakfast Of Champions!

A great, satisfying breakfast: amaranth & dried apricots, kale and carrots.

When I first started on a macrobiotic nine-plus years ago, amaranth with apricots was one of the first breakfast grains I tried. Trying to cut down on sugar, I remember cutting one apricot into tiny pieces! I found this grain delicious.

According to George Mateljan of The World's Healthiest Foods Foundation: "When it comes to a good number of nutrients, including numerous vitamins, minerals, and amino acids, amaranth is very similar to other grains (like wheat), as well as to other green leafy vegetables (like chard). However, we'd point to four nutrients as being significantly different when it comes to amaranth. First is the amino acid lysine. Most cereal grains, like wheat, are relatively low in this amino acid. Amaranth is not, and contains approximately twice as much lysine as wheat on an ounce-for-ounce basis. Next are the minerals calcium, iron, and magnesium. In this mineral area, amaranth is much more like chard than wheat. It contains about four times as much calcium as wheat and twice as much iron and magnesium."

AMARANTH WITH APRICOTS
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup amaranth
sea salt
1 to 2 apricots, chopped

Combine water, amaranth, and a pinch of salt in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer. Cover and cook over low heat for 25 minutes or until the water is absorbed, about 15 minutes.             
Makes about 1 1/2 cups.            

Readers: Grains and vegetables for breakfast is just a normal part of my routine and has been for close to a decade. Are any of you warming to this idea, yet?!

Sea Palm Salad

When I first started practicing macrobiotics, I discovered a sea vegetable called sea palm. It was my favorite as I liked the taste and the texture. Then all of a sudden it disappeared from the health-food store shelves. Well, recently I found it at Lois' Natural Marketplace (Scarborough, Maine) and it comes from Maine Coast Sea Vegetables, so it can also be purchased online as well if you are from away.

There is a recipe on the back of the package for a raw salad, but I decided to cook mine. This is what I used:

SEA PALM SALAD
1 package of sea palm, reconstituted
1 carrot, grated
1/2 cup frozen organic corn or fresh from the cob in season (optional)
1 teaspoon gomasio (partially ground up sesame seeds & salt)
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon of tamari (wheat-free) or a pinch of sea salt
2 teaspoons of mirin (optional)

Soak the dried sea palm for 5-10 minutes in a bowl of water. Drain and save soaking water. Heat sesame oil a cast-iron skill on high heat, turn down before oil smokes. Add sea palm and stir occasionally for 5 minutes. Add carrot (and/or corn), 1/4 cup of soaking water and simmer, covered, for 5 more minutes. During this time, soy sauce or salt and mirin can be added. Garnish with gomasio.

Serves 6-8.

Readers: Have you ever tried sea palm? Any good recipes for using it?

Barley & Mushroom Soup

Tom stirs the Barley & Mushroom soup as I quickly snap photo before we eat.

My husband Tom and I are are trying to vary our grains so I've been making this soup a lot lately. Tom REALLY likes it and just announced that I can make this one any day. That's great because it's a really easy one!

I bought the hulled barley at Lois' Natural Marketplace in Scarborough, Maine. I love her grains and beans as many are grown in Maine and they're a cut above any others I've EVER had. My family and I are definitely noticing the difference.

BARLEY &  MUSHROOM SOUP

1 cup whole barley, or brown rice could be used (soaked overnight and covered with water)
1 teaspoon light sesame oil
1 onion, sliced thin into half moons
5-6 cups mushroom stock (I usually use only water, but another optional is 1 cube of Rapunzel brand Vegan Bouillon with Sea Salt & Herbs, if this is used omit the soy sauce).
4-5 dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked until tender, thinly sliced
1 cup button mushrooms, brushed free of dirt, thinly sliced
soy sauce (1/2 teaspoon sea salt can be substituted if soy allergy)
2 ribs celery, thinly sliced
fresh scallions, thinly sliced for garnish

Rinse barley by placing it in a bowl and covering with water. Swirl gently and drain. After soaking the barley, drain and discard soaking water.

In a soup pot, heat oil and sauté onions until translucent. Add stock and barley and bring to a boil over high heat. Stir in mushrooms. Reduce heat and cook, covered, for about 40 minutes until barley becomes soft and creamy.

Season lightly with soy sauce and simmer for 10-15 minutes more. Stir in raw celery for some crunch and serve garnished with fresh scallions. Serves 4.

Note: You also may use pearled barley, a cracked form of the whole grain.