Cucumbers, radishes, kale, lettuce waiting to be pressed
Why press a salad? According to macrobiotics, a pressed salad makes the vegetables easier to digest. It is a way of preparing the vegetables without any cooking.
At first I thought I would need to buy a salad presser to press a salad, but then after an email from Klara convincing me to try putting a heavy bowl on top of the salad I came up with this homemade version of pressing:
My method of pressing: plate, vegetables, bowl and heavy jug of water on top
How to Press a Salad
Gather up some vegetables. Here are a few suggestions:
kale, chopped or torn into pieces
cucumber, sliced (my understanding is peel if it is not organic, you can leave peel on if organic)
radishes, sliced (they will be less sharp after pressing)
lettuce, torn in pieces
sweet onion, chopped
parsley, basil or another fresh herb
Put your vegetables on a plate. Sprinkle with sea salt (or whatever salt you have). You can put on some apple cider or rice vinegar, too, according to some recipes (I just use salt). Put whatever heavy objects you need on top of the vegetables for an hour or two or three. The vegetables should soften and release some water, too. You can rinse off the salt and drain any excess water.
Lemon juice might be tasty as an addition, too. Enjoy.
The definition of a pressed salad, from Changing Seasons Macrobiotic Cookbook, by Aveline Kushi and Wendy Esko:
“Very thinly sliced or shredded fresh vegetables, combined with a pickling agent such as sea salt, umeboshi, grain vinegar, or shoyu, and placed in a special pickle press. In the pickling process, many of the enzymes and vitamins are retained while the vegetables become easier to digest.”
Parsley tops green mugwort noodles and beet sweet potato sauce
Beet Sweet Potato Sauce
Ever want an alternative to tomato sauce for your spaghetti? Here’s an easy recipe if like me you often have a leftover cooked beet and a leftover sweet potato or yam.
Ingredients:
1 cooked beet
1/2 cooked sweet potato or yam
Put the sweet potato or yam in a bowl with the beet. Mash with a fork. If you don’t mind cleaning your food processor and prefer a creamier sauce, throw both in the food processor.
Mash until you get a lovely orange and pink sauce.
Meanwhile, cook your noodles. I used Eden mugwort soba noodles, which are a lovely shade of green, nutritious and delicious. When ready, mix immediately with your beet and yam sauce so the sauce warms up.
I topped mine with grated parmesan cheese and fresh chopped parsley. Get creative. Basil would be a great topper, too. You could also mix in a few drips of cold-pressed olive oil or some organic butter.
Serves 1-2.
Inspiration: Klara has a beet – carrot – onion sauce that she used to make as a tomato sauce alternative. See her comment on this post for the recipe. Since I often have a leftover beet and some leftover sweet potato, this recipe was a natural for me.
What could be more delicious than sourdough bread topped with homemade hummus? To learn how to make sourdough starter, visit Mother in Israel’s post. And to find out more about hummus and what makes an authentic chickpea dip (as opposed to some wannabes), visit the Occidental Israeli’s post.
Why sourdough starter?
Taste
Health: More in this article on fermented bread. Easier to digest seems to be a top feature. Also, some people have reactions to commercial yeast (my father may have this) and find they don’t have the same reaction with the sourdough.
I’m thinking of doing this in July, as Mother in Israel says it works better in the hot humidity. See also read Mimi’s Oatmeal Sourdough Bread.
Why hummus?
Why not?
Here’s the Occidental Israeli’s comments on common hummus errors:
Another mistake I saw on TV that day, was the host opening a can of chickpeas and simply pouring them into the food processor. When making hummus, you must, MUST, wash the chickpeas numerous times, to make the “hummus” even edible. Moreover, if you want your hummus to be good, even if you use canned chickpeas, you have to boil them and remove most the skins, from most of the individual beans.
The biggest mistake, however, was the lack of tehina (sometimes called tahini). For hummus to be really good it must include tehina. Apparently there are other authentic versions that replace tehina with ful or with labaneh, but simply mashing chickpeas (with other vegetables, no less) does not result in hummus.
This post is less of a recipe and more of a discussion on what to eat on Shabbat that is warm. Klara, who lives near Jerusalem, came to visit me a few weeks ago. I like to learn about macrobiotics from her, even if I only eat a few of the recipes (but I learn from the discussions). We were discussing warm food on Shabbat.
It is customary for observant Jews to eat something warm on Shabbat; this is because even though we have the prohibition not to cook or to light a fire, we should still show don’t need to eat cold food. Or sit in the dark. The traditional warm Shabbat food that Ashkenazi Jews eat is chulent (see Ilana-Davita‘s and Lion of Zion‘s posts); Sephardim (Jews that were originally in Spain) eat dafina or chamin.
I prefer not to eat chulent, as I find it too heavy a food. So I have a tendency to make lots of salads, and I greatly enjoy those. However, in the middle of this winter I noticed that the food that we had warm on Shabbat was mostly chulent and potato kugel, neither of which are my favorite food. I do sometimes eat a bit of chicken warm. So I started warming up beans cooked with turmeric and other curried flavors. But I really wasn’t in the mood for the beans.
Back to my discussion with Klara: Klara felt that in keeping with macrobiotic teaching, food on Shabbat should be warm. I think there is a conflict here, as macrobiotics seem to suggest food should be eaten warm AND right away (not left on a blech or warming tray for 4 hours). And I wonder how many nutrients a salad-like food such as kale has after 4 hours of re-warming.
My conversation with Klara did spur me on to find this one dish that I liked re-warmed on Shabbat. It is simply mushrooms, onions and something green sauteed in a bit of olive oil.
Ingredients:
1 tsp. olive oil
1 onion
2 boxes of mushrooms, preferably baby bella because they are “meaty”
a green: parsley, basil, kale, collards, thyme, sage – I used a bit of broccoli rabe
Warm a bit of olive oil. Chop the onion, mushrooms (into slices) and greens (into bits). Saute the onion until translucent. Add the mushrooms. When the mushrooms begin to soften, add your chopped greens. If you don’t add the chopped greens, the recipe will be fine without it. Put it in a small casserole dish (covered) so it can be reheated on Shabbat.
Alternative: use Ilana-Davita’s mushroom recipe. She suggests serving it cold, but if you are in the mood for a warm mushroom dish for your Shabbat meal, this one might work.
I usually make tabouli with lemon. The way I learned to make tabouli was from Mollie Katzen, author of the first Moosewood Cookbook. But last week it was Friday afternoon, and I discovered I had no lemon. But I did have an orange! And a beautiful bunch of curly parsley. I was also in the mood for ginger instead of garlic. Thus a new recipe is born.
Ingredients:
1 cup bulghur wheat
1 cup boiling water
1/2 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. olive oil (or enough to coat)
fresh parsley and/or fresh mint
1 orange
1 tsp. chopped ginger root
optional but highly recommended: chopped fresh tomato, chopped fresh cucumber
optional if you like: chopped radish, chopped sweet onion, chopped carrot
Put the bulghur wheat in a bowl. Add a pinch of salt (not too much). Boil water in a kettle. When the water boils, pour 1 cup over the bulghur wheat. Cover the bowl with a pot lid. Leave it for about twenty minutes. Then add the olive oil, enough to coat the grains but not too much. Add the chopped ginger root. Squeeze the orange juice into the bowl. Stir. I tried adding the orange rind, too, but that was too bitter. Not a good part of this experiment. You can add the chopped parsley now, or wait until serving time. Add all the other vegetables before serving time. I didn’t have a fresh tomato, so I didn’t add other vegetables, but tabouli is so delicious when you do have the fresh vegetables, too. If not yet tomato season, add lots of parsley or mint. Refrigerate before serving. One usually has to wait a day for the bulghur wheat to soften. Enjoy! Serve at room temperature.
Radishes cooked with umeboshi paste
Klara gave me this simple recipe two months ago. Since then, I have made it at least 5 times. There are only two ingredients: red radishes and umeboshi paste. Since many of you are going to say, What’s umeboshi paste? Where can I get it? I did a little research. In Highland Park, Anna’s Health Food Store sells this delicious condiment. Others in the U.S. can buy it at your local health food store. Eden makes umeboshi paste with an O-K kosher supervision. Here are some store locations in France that may sell umeboshi paste. Klara tells me there is a health food store in Ma’aleh Adumim (Israel), and the owner delivers in Jerusalem once a week. Feel free to add other locations in the comments.
Why use umeboshi paste? Not only does it taste good, it is also healing. Here’s one site on umeboshi: “Modern day diets tend to create acid conditions within the blood which is more likely to cause illnesses. The strong alkalising effect of umeboshi can help to counteract modern day excesses, including alcohol. ” More here.
Ingredients
a bunch of radishes, nice red round ones
1-2 cups of water (depends on how many radishes)
3 Tbsp. umeboshi paste
Slice all the radishes. Bring water to boil with ume paste. Turn down flame, add radishes, simmer covered for 20 minutes or until radishes are tender.
Another version: After boiling the ume paste in water for ten minutes, pour over radishes and let sit for about an hour. (Note: this is the more “proper” version, which is the pickling method. My cooking version is OK, but not as healthful as leaving the radishes in the ume paste broth. I’ll try pickling method tomorrow).
All the radishes get nice and pink and have a lovely flavor, lose sharpness.
You may drain when pickles ready(optional). When they are room temperature, put them in the refrigerator.
Bake the squash in the oven for at least an hour or until tender. Cut it in half. Take out the seeds. Scoop pieces of the squash to mix with the stuffing (I didn’t do this, but I wish I did). Saute the onion until translucent. Add chopped mushroom and celery; continue cooking until soft. Mix in matza, thyme and bits of squash. Stuff it in the squash. At this point, you can bake it in the oven. However, what I did was put it on the warming tray for 3 hours. Serves two.
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In other news, please enjoy this week’s edition of Haveil Havalim, brought to you by the Real Shaliach. Mother in Israel will be hosting the Kosher Cooking Carnival on her blog this coming Wednesday, April 22. That is why I am taking out the time late on Sunday night to type all this up instead of relaxing downstairs with my husband. When I hit Publish, that’s where I am headed. Have a good night!
Jew Wishes: Potato Pancakes
(you can probably leave out the baking powder on Pesach, or you can buy special for Pesach baking powder)
Mrs. S: Potato Kugel
Mother in Israel: Potato Kugel Secrets
Do you know that you can make blintzes/crepes on Pesach? Mix potato starch, eggs and water (or milk, but I can’t tolerate milk, so I don’t use it). I can’t tell you the exact amounts, so you will have to experiment. You can fill with potatoes, cheese, potatoes and cheese, sauteed vegetables, fruit, whatever you would ordinarily put in a blintz. My kids love these.
For this sauteed mushroom salad, I used two kinds of mushrooms: baby bella and shiitake. You can choose any two types that are available to you. Shiitake mushrooms in particular have healing properties.
Ingredients:
2 boxes of mushrooms, 2 different types (shiitake and baby bella, for example)
1 tsp. olive oil
lemon juice to taste
salt and pepper to taste
1 head of bok choy, chopped (optional – you can substitute other greens)
Sauté the mushrooms in the olive oil for about 15 minutes and until the juices of the mushrooms begin to flow. Add bok choy or other greens (chopped kale, chopped collards, parsley or cabbage are all possibilities to try). Add lemon juice, salt and pepper. Cook until the bok choy softens. Serve warm or at room temperature.
I rewrote the recipe for tekka such that the only required ingredient is ginger root. For every other ingredient, a possible substitute is given (or you can just opt out of that ingredient). However, if you do not include cabbage, you probably can’t call it a “slaw.”
1 orange: use juice and grated rind (or substitute another citrus fruit, but if you use a lemon, you may want to add something to sweeten the recipe)
1 tablespoon barley miso diluted in a little water (optional, but it does add a lot to the flavor)
Preparation:
Heat the oil in a pan and sauté the vegetables in the following order: onion, carrot and/or parsnip, cabbages.
Squeeze juice from the orange over the vegetables. Add the ginger.
Cover with a lid and simmer on a low flame for about 15 minutes.
Add the diluted miso and cook for 3 minutes.
Add the orange rind and stir gently.
This is nice warm, but I can easily gobble it up at room temperature, too. Great flavor.
. But last week it was Friday afternoon, and I discovered I had no lemon. But I did have an orange! And a beautiful bunch of curly parsley. I was also in the mood for ginger instead of garlic. Thus a new recipe is born.
