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How to Make Sauerkraut

July 10, 2010 //
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Sauerkraut Finished

Why From Scratch?

Sauerkraut falls into the family of living foods – cultured and fermented products that are incredibly beneficial for their good bacteria, keeping gut health in balance and aiding digestion.  But most brands found in shops have been pasteurized – that is, heated to kill bacteria.  I get the reasoning behind this – we don’t want our foods becoming contaminated when they sit on shelves.  But doesn’t that defeat the purpose of eating cultured vegetables?  I mean, it still tastes nice, but it takes away all the health benefits by killing the good bacteria along with the bad.

So the obvious solution is to make your own.  Yes, it’s a little bit messy, but it doesn’t take too long and you get a lot of bang for your buck.  One head of cabbage, which costs under $5, produces 5-6 1 litre jars of kraut – which would cost about $8-$10 each in a shop – and which will last for months in sealed containers in your fridge.  And you can flavor each batch to your liking.

Step By Step

  1. Get your jars ready.  You’ll need 5-6 1 litre jars for a whole head of cabbage.  Give them a good wash, then submerge in boiling water to sanitize.  We don’t want any bad bacteria getting in there!  Leave them to dry while you make the sauerkraut.
  2. You need to get your cabbage really small.  The easiest way to do this is to chop it into chunks and feed it through your food processor using the slicing blade.  Alternatively, if you’ve got good knife skills, you can cut it up by hand.
  3. Put all that shredded cabbage in a big bowl.  For each head of cabbage, add 2 Tbsp of the best quality salt you’ve got – I like Himalayan or sea salt.
  4. Time to get messy!  Roll up your sleeves, give your hands a good wash, and start massaging your cabbage.  Imagine you’re kneading bread or giving your girlfriend a nice backrub (hint, hint).  Keep going for 3-5 minutes, until your cabbage has released a lot of liquid and reduced in volume by about 1/3.Sauerkraut Steps 1-4
  5. Add your seasoning.  The traditional seasoning is caraway seeds – you’ll need about 1 tsp for each head of cabbage.  I am also fond of a simple seasoning of minced garlic and chillies.  You can get inventive here!  Whatever you choose, mix it through thoroughly, and remember that you don’t need much because the flavour will intensify.
  6. Stuff your sauerkraut into the jars, pressing down as you go.  Make sure to add some of that liquid that the cabbage released as you massaged it.  Leave a little bit of space at the top before tightly securing the lid – things will get bubbly as fermentation occurs.
  7. Leave your jars in a dark, out-of-the-way place for 3-5 days.  It takes less time in warm weather, more time in the cold.  Check on them periodically to see the magical transformation in action!
  8. When your sauerkraut is ready, it will be significantly lighter in color and taste like, well, sauerkraut.  Stored in the refrigerator,  it will keep for many months.
    Making Sauerkraut, steps 5-8

    Steps 5-8: seasoning, jarring, bubbling, ready to eat

     

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Almond Milk Recipe

July 8, 2010 //
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Almonds by Rune T on Flickr

Nut milks are a creamy, delicious drink for those who prefer to stay away from their processed dairy and soy counterparts.  Nuts are full of the good fats that our bodies need to build strong tissue and glowing skin, but eating lots of them can be tough on the belly!  This simple drink makes the health benefits of nuts easier to access, as well as providing a great alternative to other types of milks.

Health food stores sell packaged almond and other nut milks.  But why spend lots of money on the packaged and pasteurized version when you can make your own quick, living version?  You can use almonds, cashews, walnuts, pecans, hemp seeds, or my favorite, brazil nuts – or any other nut or seed that you have on hand.  Each has its own subtle flavor, which you can enhance by adding honey, agave or dates to sweeten if you like.

Homemade nut milk is healthier, tastier and easier than instant.

Almond Milk

Materials & Ingredients

  • A food processor
  • A good blender
  • 1 cup nuts or seeds
  • 3 cups water
  • a mesh strainer or piece of muslin/cheesecloth (optional)
  • A mixing bowl (optional)
  • A couple of large glass jars

Step By Step

  1. Soak nuts in a bowl with plenty of water to cover overnight or for at least 8 hours.  Drain and rinse thoroughly (this releases enzyme inhibitors that make the nuts harder for your body to break down, so they are now more digestible and nutrients more accessible).
  2. Place nuts in the food processor and whir for 30 seconds, or until the nuts are well ground.  Some fattier nuts will almost become nut butter in this time – that’s okay!  If you have a powerful blender, you can skip this step, and just chuck the whole nuts into the blender with water.
  3. Remove the ground nuts and place in the blender with water.  Blend for 30 seconds, or until the milk is white and well combined.
  4. Optional: Strain the milk through a strainer, cheesecloth or muslin into the mixing bowl.  Press down on the solids with a large spoon to get out all the liquid.  Note: This step is optional – I often drink my milk unstrained, especially when I’m using fattier nuts that dissolve better like cashew or brazil nuts.
  5. Pour the milk into jars.  Will keep for 3-4 days in the refrigerator.  Use just like you’d use dairy or soy milk – on cereal, in coffee, in smoothies, in baking, or just for a refreshing drink.
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Easy Vinaigrette Recipe

July 4, 2010 //
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salad and vinaigrette by reya. on flickr

The Culprit: Salad Dressing

Stop what you’re doing right now, and go check that inner door of your fridge.  Have you got anything that looks like this hanging out there?  Now listen carefully.  Grasp it carefully between your thumb and index finger, and toss it in the rubbish bin.

A fresh green salad is a beautiful thing, and there’s no reason to douse it in a concoction of water, cane sugar, white vinegar, food acids (citric and #332), salt, fresh garlic, vegetable gums (#407, 410, 415 and 440), parsley and natural flavour. (Ingredients from Praise Fat Free French Dressing.)

A simple vinaigrette takes less than 2 minutes to make, and can pop with any flavors that you fancy.  The basic recipe is below, but please go ahead and experiment with different types of vinegars, oils, herbs and spices.  The possibilities are endless, the labor is minimal, and the taste is leagues above that of bottled dressing.  Vinaigrette is easier than instant.

Ingredients & Equipment:

  • 1 Tbsp mustard (dijon, seeded, honey mustard, etc.)
  • 2-3 Tbsp vinegar (white wine, red wine, balsamic, champagne, etc.)
  • 1/4 cup oil (olive, flax, sesame, avocado, walnut, etc.)
  • any herbs, spices or flavorings that you fancy
  • a medium sized mixing bowl
  • a whisk
Making vinaigrette steps 1-3
Making vinaigrette: Start with mustard, add vinegar, whisk in oil

Step by Step:

  1. Plop the mustard into a medium sized bowl.
  2. Add vinegar and whisk together with the mustard.
  3. Slowly drizzle in oil while whisking constantly with the other hand.  Stop periodically and whisk until well combined and thick, then add more oil.
  4. Mix in any other flavors you like – dried or fresh herbs, minced shallots or garlic, a bit of honey, a little tamari, etc.  The possibilities are endless!
  5. Toss with your green salad and enjoy!  This is not a hard and fast recipe, so adjust the quantities to suit your taste and the volume of salad you’re making.

Here’s a great use for those salad dressing bottles once you’re rinsed the contents down the drain:

 

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Tomato-Chipotle Kale Chips

May 1, 2010 //
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What happens when my favorite spice meets my favorite green vegetable meets my favorite snack food?  Major munchy madness in the form of Tomato-Chipotle Kale Chips.  Mmmmmmm.

Chipotle is simply a smoked jalepeño.  But to leave it at that is to deny the layers of complexity that this seasoning imparts to a dish.  It’s got heat, yes, and of course it’s got smokiness.  But it’s also got this earthy depth of flavor that elevates everything it touches to sublime savoriness.

In America you can often find it canned it adobo.  If you’re using this version, trust me: a little goes a long way.  Here in Australia I have only managed to locate the dried variety, which I grind in a coffee grinder and keep on hand in a little jar to add to, well, everything.  (If you’re looking for chipotle in Melbourne, try Casa Iberica on Johnston St. in Fitzroy – it’s a virtual treasure trove of all things Spanish and Mexican, and I come out laden with exotic goodies every time I visit.  In true Melbourne style, it’s also covered with some groovy graffiti.)  I’ve been obsessed with the kale-chipotle combo ever since I came across it Raw Chef Russell James’ excellent salad, but it was only recently that it occurred to me to use it to season kale chips.  Brilliant thinking.

If you’ve never had kale chips, you’re in a for a treat.  A high-fiber treat, to boot!  Kale is such an amazing, nutrient dense food, so how fantastic is it that the wonder green can be seasoned and dehydrated to make a fantastically satisfying snack?  Bet you thought you had to give up chips to be healthy.  The sensation of these is actually somewhere between a chip (or crisp to you anglophiles) and popcorn – light, crunchy, salty, and otherwise fantastic.  If you don’t have a dehydrator, just cook these chips in your oven on the lowest possible heat, and keep an eye on them so you don’t burn them – I’m guessing maybe 30 minutes will be enough?

Kale chips can be seasoned pretty much any way you can imagine.  Share your favorite flavors and recipes below!

Tomato-Chipotle Kale Chips

  • 1 dried chipotle chili, ground to a powder (or 1 tsp chipotle powder)
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1 1/2 tsp sea or himalayan salt
  • 3 tomatoes, cut into rough chunks
  • 2 Tbsp olive oil
  • 2 bunches of kale

First remove the kale from the stalks by gripping the top of the greens and tearing the leaves away from the stalks in a downward motion.  Tear the kale leaves into small pieces.  Rinse and pat dry.

In a food processor, combine the ground chipotle, garlic, salt, tomatoes and olive oil and whir until smooth.  Combine the kale and sauce in a large bowl and toss to coat thoroughly – I like to use my hands for this.

Arrange the kale on dehydrator screens and dehydrate at 115 F (45 C) for 20 to 24 hours – until totally dry and crispy.  *Don’t be put off if you haven’t got a dehydrator – these will still be super yummy and healthy if you bake them at your oven’s lowest temperature – but obviously it will take much less time, so keep an eye on them.*  Try not to eat the entire batch right away! (But if you do don’t worry – you just ate a whole bunch of kale, you’re going to live forever!)

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Unbaked

December 9, 2008 //
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Before going raw, I always found a lot of joy in bread. I love picking out an artisanal loaf, or baking a special recipe myself. Most of all, I loved the simple pleasure of a sandwich, slathered with mustard and stuffed with salad.

Good new for raw foodies – bread is back! I guess it was never really gone, but my dehydrator was out of commission for a while, so I’ve been sadly sandwichless. Now that my dehydrator is sitting happily on my kitchen bench, plugged in and humming softly (a constant background noise that I’ve grown to love), I’m unbaking up a storm.

The first recipe I tried was the Sweet Onion & Thyme Bread from the RawforLife Blog. Wow, was this delicious, and easy to boot! I didn’t have thyme on hand so I simply left it out. As soon as it was done, I made a little open-faced sandwich for lunch (see the photo at the top of the page). It was so satisfying that I’ll admit I went back for seconds.

With my first unbaking success under my belt, I decided it was time to get a little more creative. I borrowed Debbie’s base concept – sunflower seeds, flax seeds, olive oil, and water – and experimented with some other flavors. Recalling the lovely marriage of flavors that was 101Cookbook’s Roasted Pumpkin and Onion Salad, which I made for my Vegan Thanksgiving feast, I opted to combine similar ingredients into a bread. Pumpkin, red onion, and coriander all manage to balance sweet and savory elements so perfectly. This bread took a lot longer in the dehydrator, as the pumpkin was quite moist, but the result was a really soft-textured bread that was amazing spread with some ripe avocado and topped with a few sprouts. Or divine j ust on its own.

And what fun would baking be without a little sweet treat thrown in there? Since I had the dehydrator going anyway, I whipped up some oatmeal cookies with ingredients that I had on hand and popped them in. A couple of these make a lovely, satisfying afternoon snack, jam-packed with energy.

All of these goodies, and not a drop of flour on my clothing! I think this is just the beginning of my adventures in unbaking.

Sweet & Savory Pumpkin, Onion and Coriander Bread
1 1/2 cups pumpkin, chopped
1/2 cup flaxseed, ground in coffee/spice grinder
1/2 cups sunflower seeds, ground in coffee/spice grinder
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup fresh coriander
1 small red onion
juice of 1/2 large lemon
1 1/4 tsp salt

Whir pumpkin in food processor until it is very finely chopped (2-3 minutes). Add ground flaxseed, sunflower seeds, olive oil, water, lemon juice and salt, and blend until smooth and uniform. Add coriander and blend for another 20-30 seconds until well mixed. Remove to a large bowl.

Cut the onion in half. Leaving the stem-end in tact, cut it in half again (so quarters, but still connected at the stem end for easy chopping). Slice the onion as thinly as you possibly can. Mix the onion into the pumpkin mixture by hand. You will have a very wet dough.

Spread your aromatic dough thickly over one dehydrator sheet. Dehydrate at 41-45 degrees C for about 12 hours. Invert your bread onto another tray and, if possible, peel off the sheet (I found that I had to leave the sheet on for another few hours). Dehydrate on the other side another 12 hours. If still too soft, flip and dehydrate a few more hours. At 41 degrees, the whole process took about 25 hours for me, and the bread was still quite soft but held together fine.

Enjoy plain or topped with some ripe avocado, tomato, and sprouts.

Jess’s Oatmeal Cookies
1/2 cup dates, soaked in water for 1/2 hour and drained
1/2 cup almonds, soaked overnight if you like*
1/2 cup walnuts, soaked overnight if you like*
1/4 cup flaxseed, ground in coffee/spice grinder to powder
2 Tbsp raw honey
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup raw rolled oats
3/4 cup water

In food processor, combine dates, almonds, walnuts, flaxseed meal, honey, cinnamon and vanilla, adding water as necessary. Remove to a bowl and stir in oats.

With wet hands so the dough doesn’t stick, form dough into cookie shape (I use a soup spoon to get a uniform size). Place on lined dehydrator tray and dehydrate at 41 degrees C for 8 hours, or until the cookies are relatively firm (but still yield slightly to the touch). Eat them warm from the dehydrator, or store in a sealed container at room temperature.

*I don’t always soak my nuts becomes sometimes I forget to do it in advance, but if you have time it is best to do this because soaking deactivates the enzyme inhibitors in nuts and makes their nutrients more readily available. Soaked nuts = greater nutrition.

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