I have always loved miso soup. The richness of the broth lead me to believe, in my early uninformed years, that there was a meat base to the broth.

I was so happy to learn that this is not the case.

Dashi is the base of many Japanese soups and sauces and can be made from dried sardines, mushrooms, and in my case sea weed.

I used 2 “leaves” of Kombu Sea Vegetable to 12 cups of water. ( I made a big batch; we’ll discuss this later).

The sea vegetable expands greatly in the water so I would suggest breaking it into small peices before boiling.

This saves time cutting it up later.

You can also purchase the kind which is cut or shredded.

Boil until soft.

You can buy Dashi but it is not always easy to find and making it yourself is so easy…why not?!

Now, making this soup in large quantities is not the best idea and I now know why.

You should not boil the miso.

And if you have to warm leftover soup you won’t be able to avoid over cooking.

Also, the scallions which add such a nice delicate flavor would not taste great or retain their texture if submitted to too much heat.

I wish that I would have known this befor I started.

I now know why cooking suggestions were given for one and two cup servings.

I would highly suggest making this soup in small portions for optimum flavor and quality.

Ingredients

�3 cups dashi soup stock
�1 block tofu
�3-4 tbsps miso paste
�1/4 cup chopped green onion

Method

Put dashi soup stock in a pan and bring to a boil.

Cut tofu into small cubes and add them to the soup.

Simmer the tofu for a few minutes on low heat.

Scoop out some soup stock from the pan and dissolve miso in it.

Gradually return the miso mixture in the soup.

Stir the soup gently.

Stop the heat and add chopped green onion.

Remember not to boil the soup after you put miso in.

*Makes 4 servings

Making the Dashi.

Measuring the Miso.

Mixing the Dashi with the Miso.

Disolving the Miso in the Dashi before adding to the Dashi Broth.

Mixing everything together in the soup pot.

I always need to add alittle heat!.

Another link from Alejandro Junger M.D.
Our food choices are more limited than we might like to believe.

After a long Saturday spent writing; cooped up in the house on a snowy afternoon I just needed something fresh, spicy and satisfying.

Brown rice with tofu and black bean sauce was the ticket.

Ginger and scallions added the fresh crunchy spicy thing.

Make sure to sautee the ginger or add it while the rice is boiling.

Too raw and it can be intense!

I added alot of crushed red pepper.

I love the heat!

It is hard to find a better breakfast than oatmeal.

For the money it is a big nutritious bang for the buck.

It is also tasty, filling and healthy!

I lightly toasted 2 cups of steel cut oats in 2 Tbspns of unsalted butter.

Then add 1 cup raisins and 1 cup walnuts.

Let everything toast until it smells like popcorn and has a deep golden brown color.

I then added 6 cups of water and 2 cups of light coconut milk.

Add a pinch of sea salt; nutmeg and cinnamon to taste!

Allow to cook on medium to low heat for about 1/2 hour or until all the liquid is absorbed.

I added some shredded coconut.

This breakfast will get you through your day with energy to spare!

I will even have a bowl for dinner or a snack.
It’s that delicious and satisfying!

I hate to waste food. So after a recent party instead of just tossing the leftovers, I made an effort to to come up with a meal that utilized the crudites that were left.

I didn’t want another raw food meal or a stir fry rice thingy.

This reminds me a little of pot roast; vegetarian style , of course.

It kind of looks like that, don’t you think?

I just sauteed the vegetables as they were, added them to some linguine added feta cheese, balsamic vinegar and Ghee. You could also use butter.

This was a complete meal and quite different from the ingredients original incarnation.

My secret ingredient ? Live music in my kitchen!

Check out this video performance of “Summertime” by Dolinar Spahija!

I came across this recipe on The Huffington Post.

The photos, the raisins, the nuts! I just had to try it.

I am also convinced that I desperately need a Le Creuset baking dish!

I used 2 cups of whole wheat flour in this easy and delicious no-knead bread recipe.

Walnut-Raisin
Recipe Courtesy of
Big Girls, Small Kitchen

Makes 1 loaf

Ingredients

3 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
2/3 cup walnuts, chopped
1/2 cup Thompson raisins
1 2/3 cups water
Cornmeal or more flour as needed

Combine the flour, yeast, and salt in a large bowl. Add the walnuts and raisins and stir to distribute. Pour the water over the flour mixture, then use a rubber spatula to mix them together and form a soft, ugly dough. Cover with plastic wrap and leave to rise for about 12 hours, until there are bubbles across the top.

Dump the dough out onto a floured, non-terrycloth dishtowel. Let it rest for 15 minutes. Then, using as little flour as possible, shape the dough into a ball by folding the ends in. Turn onto a cornmeal-dusted non-terrycloth dishtowel, seam side down. Dust with more cornmeal, then cover with another towel. Leave for two hours. (That’s Santa’s rise.)

When there’s a half hour left to go of this rise, preheat the oven to 450�F and put a covered, heavy pot in the oven.( I use my 5.5 quart LeCreuset to achieve a well-proportioned loaf.) When the dough is ready, carefully take the pot out of the oven. Dump the dough, seam side up, into the pot and shake it to spread evenly. Cover and bake for 20-30 minutes. Uncover and bake for another 15-30 minutes, until deeply brown and crusty. Let the bread rest as long as you can before slicing into it.

I store my bread in an airtight baggie, even though this makes the crust soft. To “re-crust” a whole loaf, you can dab it all over with water and bake for about 10 minutes in a 450�F oven. If you’re going slice by slice, just toast to rectify the crust.

This bread was hearty and delicious on a long ski week in Steamboat Springs Colorado and travelled well in ski jackets for mountain top noshing!

It toasted up so nicely.

Warm bread and cold butter on a snowy mountain morning!

This kale soup is so simple, so delicious, so nutritious and so inexpensive that it would be just wrong not to share it!

This recipe comes from the Aunt of this guy; my “Cooking Buddy”.

The family comes from Albania and learning about a new cuisine has broadened my own cooking repetoire, especially when it comes to vegetables.

I have gained a new perspective on preparing and serving food and learned how to create complete meals from very simple ingredients.

The ingredients for this soup are: Kale, potato, onion, garlic and celery, olive oil and yogurt . With salt and pepper to taste.

We garnished with sheep milk feta cheese and fresh green onion.

A hearty wheat bread truly rounds out this meal.

I will make this a part of my regular rotation of dishes around here, to be sure.

And I would like to experiment with vegetable stock, which we didn’t use.

I had my doubts about the lack of broth but I was pleasantly surprised by how flavorful the soup was without the added boullion.

And considering that most boullions contain MSG, sugar, sodium and other unnatural and unneccesary processed ingredients, it is nice to know that I don’t need to have homemade stock handy or run out to pick up something at the store when I want to make this soup.

The other thing that I like about this soup is that the olive oil and yogurt are added at the end of cooking.

From a nutrition perspective this helps to maintain the health benefits and maximum flavor of the yogurt and the olive oil.

Method

The process begins by boiling 1 large yellow onion and about 5-6 cloves of garlic.

We’re garlic lovers around here so I tend to use twice what I recommend at times!

I had 2 large baking potatoes which I chopped and added to the boil.

I then cleaned and chopped 2 large heads of kale and added them to the boil. Curly Kale worked well but I would have preferred Lacinto Kale.

I then chopped 4-5 large celery stalks and added these to the boil, as well.

I cooked this mixture until everything became soft and wilted.

Now, I was supposed to drain the water and pour the veggies into the food processor but I didn’t know that, so I just pureed everything together.

The cooking water was included and amounted to about 2-3 cups.

I put the pureed mixture into a large pot and continued to cook at medium heat for about 15 minutes.

We then added about 1 cup of olive oil and about 1 to 2 cups of yogurt.

We served this with some crumbled sheep milk feta and freshly cut green onion.

Salt and pepper to taste.

This is so simple.

But don’t don’t be fooled.

This makes for an elegant, filling, nutritious, tasty, side dish or meal!

You can add nuts, dried fruits, mushrooms, wild rice, cheese, maple syrup, cinnamon, nutmeg; go sweet or savory for an outstanding, economical dish!

I like to mix cinnamon and garlic and even butter.

Simply cut into halves, pour on about 2 tablespoons of olive oil, crush 3-4 cloves of garlic and bake in a 400 degree oven for about an hour and a half or until tender.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

I wrap these completely in foil.
Serve this chopped in chunks or “smashed potato” style.

Don’t hate me!

We should all eat more cabbage.

It’s inexpensive and one of the healthiest foods on the planet.

I like to make a big pot of this and have as my go to dish all week long!

I also add stuff to it like cheese and other veggies. I eat it with whole wheat bread or brown rice.

This dish is so simple yet so delicious you may just find yourself addicted…as I am!

For those of us avoiding simple carbs, these tender cooked cabbage “noodles” make a nice substitute for the real thing.

The shape and texture satisfies noodle lust!

Simply chop a head of cabbage; I always use 2 and 2-4 tomatoes and sautee in a large deep pan with olive oil.

When the cabbage is tender add the tomatoes.

When everything in soft add the balsamic; enough to add color.

You can also use canned tomato sauce or diced tomatoes. Make sure that they are unseasoned.

Unseasoned tomato paste would work as well.

Cover the pot and allow to cook for 2-4 hours on medium to low heat.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

I add flakes of crushed red pepper at the end and garnish with sheep feta and hot sauce!

This is so tasty! So healthy! and soooo addictive you won’t believe me until you try it!

Although I am not a fan of “fake meat”; TVP, or any other ersatz animal products I must admit that Texurized Vegetable Protein works really well in this chili.

The secret to this amazing chili is the copious use of fresh cilantro! Added at the end of cooking to ensure fresh and intense flavor.

I also soaked the TVP in vegetable broth for and hour or so before adding it to the chili. This adds flavor to something which basically tastes like cardboard. The good thing is that it soaks up the flavors of everything around!

Ingredients:

1/4 cup olive oil
2 green peppers
1 red pepper
1 yellow pepper
1 sweet onion
5 cloves garlic
4-5 Tbspns chili powder
2 cups TVP soaked in broth or water then drained
1-1/2 cups fresh cilantro chopped
2 cans diced tomatoes
4 cans dark red kidney beans
Salt and pepper to taste

This recipe provided chili for a crowd. You can always adjust the amounts and vary the beans to include your favorites.

I also missed an opportunity to add fresh corn!

Method:

Soak the TVP in 2-4 cups of broth or water
Sautee the veggies in 1/4 of olive oil until soft
Add the tomatoes, beans, and TVP
Allow to cook for about an hour on medium heat and add the fresh cilantro
Allow to cook for about another hour then serve with cornbread or rice or anything you like!

Sauteeing the TVP with the veggies adds more flavor.