Susan´s snack bread

This simple recipe is taken from Susan Marque´s Clearing candida cookbook, which is a great macro cookbook useful in cases of candida overgrowth or in general any case of intestinal imbalance, immune deficiency, infection etc. Of course, it´s bread, so you don´t want to eat a ton of it to feed the bacteria too much, but there is no yeast, so in moderation it is fine. You can make it using any grain and flour combination as long as you stick to the ratios, I believe. Making bread by adding a substantial amount of cooked grain to the flour makes it all much easier on your digestion.

Here I used 2 cups of cooked buckwheat and 2 cups of a brown rice flour+ buckwheat flour mixture (about half and half of each). I added half a teaspoon of sea salt, 1/4 cup (60 ml) of olive oil and about a  1/4 cup (60 ml) of water. I mixed all thoroughly to create a not too sticky firm dough which you can form into a ball. Now you can roll out the dough on a tray. You can either make several small bread “cookies” or pizzas or you can make one large one like I did…I also sprinkled some caraway seeds on top for extra flavour. I imagine this dough would work great as a base for pizza, but here I just wanted to make a bread for snacks. I baked the bread on 200°C for about 25 minutes until the top was nicely golden brown. So quick!!

Thai flavoured deep-fried sushi rolls

What a twist on the classical Japanese-styled sushi roll! For me sushi is travel food. I actually never make it for any other occasion, because we usually have enough of sushi eating when we go somewhere for a trip and need to pack a portable lunch 😀 But this brings it all to a whole new level! Deep-fried crunchy rolls, and even with a spicy Thai flavour, mmmm!!

You can really play with this – use fillings to your liking and don´t be afraid to experiment! I made my usual sushi maki rolls of brown rice and nori sheets and filled them with raw carrot and leek strips. The raw vegetables give a nice contrast (and balance) to the rich oily taste, but you could of course use some lightly blanched or steamed veggies as well. I also smeared the rolls with a thin layer of Thai curry paste (the one that comes in plastic tubs in several varieties :-D). But next time I might try my usual umeboshi paste instead to get a more sushi-like taste, the curry paste was very tasty, but maybe a bit overpowering.

After rolling up the sushis, I dipped them in a glutenfree tempura batter of rice flour, a pinch of salt, water and  a small pinch of baking powder (added for extra crispiness). The batter must not be too runny, otherwise it will slide off the rolls. Of course, you can also use regular or whole-wheat flour, if gluten is not an issue. Deep-fry in hot oil until crunchy and slightly golden. Serve with some raw grated daikon and lightly blanched vegetables to digest better 🙂

Homemade falafel

Falafel is one of my most favourite foods, something so deeply satisfying and reminding you of your sweet junkfood past, yet it´s very macrobiotic at the same time! 😀 Ok, not if you eat it three times a week, as it´s still deep-fried food, but once in a while…after a long walk in freezing weather like today….

It´s also really simple, as long as you don´t forget to soak your chickpeas overnight (or at least for a couple of hours, I think 12 hours is a good bet though). I soaked 100 g of chickpeas in a double amount of water, drained them and then added the rest of the ingredients: a bunch of parsley leaves, 1/4 tsp of salt (next time I will use 1/2 tsp probably), 1/2 tsp paprika powder, 1/2 tsp cumin powder, a tiny pinch of chilli powder, one (or two) garlic cloves and one small roughly chopped red onion. Usually there are also fresh coriander leaves in the recipe for falafel, sadly those are not available here at this time of the year, if you want good quality and not supermarket vegetables…Put all in a big bowl or pot. And now comes the tricky part: making a rather smooth paste out of this bunch of ingredients, using an immersion blender. It actually works, but you have to have a bit of patience, move with the blender up and down and let it rest every now and then so it doesn´t overheat. It definitely worked better than in my big blender which would need water to run, but the immersion blender strangely enough doesn´t :-p Then let the mixture rest for a few hours (I´m not sure why, but more people told me this, so I guess something magical happens!). Later on, heat up your deep-frying oil and create about 3-5 cm in diameter large balls, adding breadcrumbs to the mixture if needed. My mixture was too thin so I added some glutenfree crumbs. Fry until dark brown, otherwise the inside will not be done enough (remember – it´s just soaked and not cooked chickpeas).

I served the falafel with bulghur with raw pink radish and green daikon cubes mixed in (to help digest the fats) and a dip made of tahini, mustard, salt and ume plum vinegar 🙂

“Guacammus”

Ever tried creating a cross breed between hummus and guacamole?? Well I did and the result was pretty delicious!!

All you need to do is blend cooked chickpeas (I even used the kombu they were cooking with) with avocado. Season with black pepper, garlic and ume plum vinegar to your liking 🙂 Great as a dip for crackers.

 

Polenta oven fries

The crispy deliciousness of polenta fries will make you quickly forget about your potato French fries of the past, seriously!! And they´re so easy to make, no deep-frying necessary either!

Just cook up about one and a half cup of polenta flour in three times the amount of water (for 2-3 people), adding a generous pinch of salt or more. There are different ways to make polenta – you can first bring water to boil and then slowly add the cornmeal while constantly stirring OR – what I do – leave the cornmeal soaking overnight in the designated amount of water, next day add salt, cover and bring to boil on a medium flame, then cook for at least half an hour on the lowest flame and on a flame tamer. I don´t even stir my polenta and it comes out quite perfect (I think). Anyway…when your polenta is cooked and it has the right (quite thick yet still creamy!) consistency, stir in fresh or dried rosemary and fresh or dried sage, both finely chopped. Also stir in 2 or 3 tbsp of oil of your choice. Spread in an even layer about 1,5-2 cm thick onto a baking tray or similar pan. Allow to cool down and leave it for a few hours either in the fridge or in a cool spot so it can become more stiff. Then you can cut the mass into “fries”, using a sharp knife. Transfer the fries into a baking tray (I found it unnecessary to be oiling the tray, the polenta was oily enough) and bake them for 45 minutes on 220°C, flipping them halfway so they get crispy and golden brown on both sides. Enjoy with a fresh salad!

 

Spring rolls with a spicy yuba and veggie filling

 

This incredibly hot weather is perfect for a meal such as spring rolls, don´t you think? It doesn´t involve a whole lot of cooking, just prepare the filling and then roll away. The rolls are eaten at room temperature or even chilled if you wish.  I used rice paper wrappers which you can purchase at an Asian shop.

For the filling I soaked some  dried yuba (tofu skin) sticks in water for a couple of hours and cut them into about 3 cm long pieces. I sauteed half of a medium sized onion (cut into half moons) in about 2 tbsp of oil, until softened, then added the yuba and fried until the yuba became a bit crispy. I stirred in a sauce prepared by mixing 1 tbsp of organic coarse mustard with 1/2 tbsp of tamari, 1 tbsp of lemon juice and a pinch of chilli powder. I added about half of a carrot cut into matchsticks, sauteed some more, and towards the end mixed in shredded young cabbage and chinese cabbage and let it heat through. Spoon a bit of the mixture into the centre of the wrapper (you need to first soak them in warm water for a minute or two, but be careful that they don´t stick to each other and don´t let them soak very long) and fold into an envelope shape. They will become less wet on the air and will seal nicely. But it certainly is a thing where you need some practice 😀

Oil-free onion butter

I´ve been enviously watching my boyfriend making (already twice) a lovely onion butter, using recipes from Jessica Porter and Aveline Kushi, which both contain some amount of oil. Luckily, I found out that you don´t actually need any oil to make this yummy spread for your bread or rice cakes!! It´s soooo simple…it does take some time though so be sure you make the butter on a day when you are able to keep an eye on the stove for a couple of hours…

All you need to do is peel a couple of onions (I used nearly 4 larger onions, mostly red ones which are sweeter) and slice them thinly into half moons (you can still chop them up smaller, but I think it´s not important). Sautee them in a heavy stainless steel pot for a few minutes on a medium flame, on water covering them up until about one half of the layer. Add a generous pinch of salt, cover with a tight fitting lid, place pot on a flame tamer, lower the flame to the minimum and then just simmer….and simmer…and once in a while check they´re not burning (but avoid lifting the lid often or too much water will evaporate! the best is to have a glass lid). You can of course add water if needed but the onion comes out better if it´s as dry as possible – mine got all thick and gooey and caramel-y at the end 😀 I cooked mine for 4 hours, but 3 might do the trick…You can basically cook them really really long but it depends on your flame, flame tamer, water level, salt, onions etc. Anyway, you should end up with something fragrant and spreadable 😀

Let cool and store in a glass jar in the fridge.

Boiled salad with pumpkinseed dressing

This time I tried a recipe out of my most favourite macro book – Jessica Porter´s Hip Chick´s Guide to Macrobiotics. This boiled salad uses a slightly different method than the other boiled salad I posted about – you don´t really blanche the veggies, you just dip them into boiling water and immediately turn off the gas, leaving them in the water until they get a bit more bright, about one or two minutes. They stay very crunchy and taste almost like raw (well, except for the leafy greens perhaps, which get wilted very fast). This is a positive feature of this salad, and at the same time it can be a disadvantage if you have more troubled digestion, as I do – I think I prefer a “real” boiled salad, where the veggies actually boil for a couple of minutes. But I´m sure this will be great once the weather is hot and once my digestion improves so that I can process more raw food 😀

I “boiled” red radishes, curly cabbage, pointed cabbage, spring onion, parsnips, parsley root, green and yellow kohlrabi, green beans, and also (very briefly) some rucola, dandelion greens and corn salad greens. I topped the salad with a dressing coming from the same book. It doesn´t look too pretty, but it tastes very nice! Just roast half a cup of pumpkin seeds (which you washed and drained beforehand) until they start popping and turning more brown, then either process them in a blender, or (as I did) grind them in a suribachi until they are mostly crushed (depends what consistency you are aiming for). Then add half a tablespoon of umepaste and a bit of water, to your liking, mine came out quite chunky.

Carrot butter

This recipe comes from Kristina Turner´s “The self-healing cookbook”, which contains quite many awesome recipes, unfortunately not so many oil-free ones for my current diet 😀 This one has a bit of tahini, so it´s not completely oil-free, but it´s just one spoon 😉 And you can also definitely pass on the tahini!

My boyfriend recently succeeded in his sourdough project and created a wonderful homemade sourdough bread which was calling for some sort of spread. The carrot butter is very easy to make and more sweet than savoury.

Steam 3 or 4 cups of carrots cut into thick rounds of smaller chunks, for about 20-30 minutes until very tender. Then blend in a blender with about half a cup of water (I used water from the steaming, which had a bit of a carrot aroma) and a pinch of salt. Transfer to a pot, heat up, add 1 tablespoon of kuzu (diluted in two tablespoons of cold water), whisk vigorously to avoid lumps, and bring to boil. Simmer for a few minutes while stirring. For a more creamy consistency add one (or two) tablespoons of tahini. Store in a jar in the fridge.

Parsnip tahini fries

I really love collecting and reading recipes – I don´t so often cook from recipes though. This is a bit of an exception. I was inspired by the parsnip fries recipe on Oh She Glows (which is a great vegan food blog, though it´s not macro food), but I made an adjustment and used tahini instead of a nut butter.

It´s so easy and nice!

Just cut one big parsnip into thick matchsticks, place into a bowl, add half a tablespoon of oil (I used sesame oil) and a heaping tablespoon of tahini paste, mix thoroughly, season with salt. Transfer to a baking tray with parchment paper (or a non-stick tray) and bake on 200°C for about 45 minutes until the fries get crispy.