Conscious Eating Part 51

Pesto Kraut

Balances K, neutral for V, slightly unbalances P All Seasons 4 cups purple cabbage, chopped 1 bunch fresh basil, chopped 3 cloves garlic, chopped, or 1 tsp sun-dried garlic

Daikon-Ginger Kraut

Balances K and V, unbalances P Fall, Winter, and Spring 4 cups purple cabbage, chopped 2 cups daikon, chopped 2 tsp fresh ginger juice

Kim Chee

Balances K, neutral for V if not in excess, balances P All Seasons 1 head red cabbage, juiced 1 head red cabbage 5 carrots 3 beets 1 stalk celery 1 head cauliflower 2 tsp miso In a food processor, use the S-blade to puree the vegetables or run them through the Champion Juicer, producing a pulp. Place pulp into a wide-mouthed jar, covering it with a blended mixture of cabbage juice and miso. Cover the jar's opening with cabbage leaves, placing a weight on top of them. Allow mixture to ferment 2-3 days.

Hot-N-Spicy Kim Chee

Balances K, aggravates P, slightly unbalances V All Seasons, best Winter 1 head green or red cabbage, juiced 1 head green or red cabbage, chopped 5 carrots, juiced 5 carrots, chopped cup fresh ginger, grated 1 Tbs c.u.min seed 1 tsp dried red pepper, ground 1 tsp mellow miso tsp cayenne 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped Blend the carrot juice, c.u.min, cayenne, red pepper, and miso. Mix all ingredients together by hand and place in jar. Be sure that the vegetables are well covered by the juice. Cover the jar by placing several cabbage leaves on top. Place a weight on top of the cabbage leaves and allow to ferment 3-4 days.

Pickled Vegetables

Balances V, neutral for P, unbalances K All Seasons 4 carrots, chopped 2 zucchini, chopped 2 cuc.u.mbers, chopped 2 red or green peppers, chopped head cauliflower florets head broccoli florets 5 garlic cloves 2 Tbs whole coriander 2 Tbs c.u.min tsp cayenne tsp ginger Raw apple cider vinegar Chop vegetables into bite-sized pieces and place in a 1-gallon jar.

Add mixture of 60% apple cider vinegar and 40% water to the jar, so that all ingredients are covered by liquid. Add c.u.min, coriander, garlic, cayenne, and ginger. Cover the jar with a towel and leave at room temperature for 3-4 days to ferment. Mixture may be stored in refrigerator for 2 weeks.

Tree of Life Kabobs

Balances V, slightly unbalances P and K All Seasons 6 zucchini, thickly sliced 6 carrots, thickly sliced 6 cuc.u.mbers, thickly sliced 3 heads of broccoli florets 3 heads of cauliflower florets Marinade: 2 quarts apple cider vinegar 5 quarts water (ratio of vinegar to water is approximately 1:3) cup virgin olive oil 2 cloves garlic 2 Tbs thyme 2 Tbs marjoram 2 Tbs savory Celtic salt to taste Marinate vegetables for 6 days in the refrigerator. Place on skewers and serve over a bed of sprouted quinoa. The vegetables can be stored in the marinade in the refrigerator for up to 4 weeks.

Veggie Kabobs

Balances V, neutral for P, unbalances K All Seasons 10 cherry tomatoes 10 olives, pitted 10 mushrooms 1 avocado, cubed 10 skewers Marinade: 2 cups water 2 tsp olive oil 1 clove garlic, pressed Juice of flemon Dash of paprika Dash of chili powder Dash of dried cilantro Celtic salt to taste Marinate vegetables for 6 days in the refrigerator. Place on skewers and serve over a bed of sprouted quinoa. The vegetables can be stored in the marinade in the refrigerator for up to 4 weeks.

DEHYDRATED FOODS.

Dehydration is the best way to store food in terms of minimizing energy loss and preserving enzymes. It maintains the food in its essentially live state. However, although dehydration is the most enzyme-conserving and least disruptive of the life energy of the food, as compared to other methods of food preparation and storage, according to Kirlian photography data, the dehydration process reduces the overall energy of food by about 25%. There is also an inevitable, natural loss of vital energy over time with storage. Because of this energy loss with dehydration and storage, I primarily recommend dehydrated foods for traveling, camping, and situations in which one has to store the food to save it. We also use dehydrated food at the Tree of Life Cafe to create variety, texture, and to balance K.

The dehydration process is a basic one that has been used for thousands of years in the form of sun-drying of foods. In addition to sun dehydrators that one can build or buy, there are also electrically heated, warm-air-blown dryers that work quite well. The most primitive, and by far the least expensive, drying system besides the sun is a 250-watt sun lamp (normally used for suntanning). It is a thrifty idea created by Joanna Brick, which we modified together. Place the sun lamp about 18" above the food to be dried. Although the food can be left on a flat cookie pan, one can also elevate the food on a screen so there is air circulation underneath.

Dehydrated food is the best way to go for storage, camping, and travel. Dehydration can also make some foods quite tasty, and makes some tasty non-sugar cookies as well. I do not, however, recommend it as a subst.i.tute for fresh live foods. Dehydrated foods, because of their dryness, are more balancing to kapha and may unbalance vata if taken in excess. They may also unbalance pitta if they are dry and heating and not dry and cooling. They are generally more warming, particularly if a heating masala is used with them. They are good for rainy seasons and less useful in the hot, dry season.

In addition to dehydrating fruits and vegetables for storage, leftover seed sauces and grain blends can make tasty crackers when they are dried. The general process is to put some plastic film wrap or stable plastic sheets over a screen and pour on the sauces. Dehydrate until sauce is dry enough to turn over on the screen and pull off the cellophane or plastic. This allows air circulation to speed up the drying process. When the seed sauce becomes hard like a cracker, then it is ready to eat. These can be broken into smaller crackers for traveling. They will keep for several weeks. Contrary to the usual procedure for eating dried fruits and vegetables, which are better after they have been rehydrated by soaking in water, the crackers are best eaten in their dried form.

Veggie b.a.l.l.s

Roll any vegetable pate (see: Nut and Seed Recipes: Pates) into b.a.l.l.s and dehydrate 10-12 hours. These dehydrated pates do not necessarily create a vata imbalance because the inside is still damp. This is also true for the cheese b.a.l.l.s.

Cheese b.a.l.l.s

Roll any seed cheese (see Fermented Foods: Seed Cheese and Yogurt) into b.a.l.l.s and dehydrate 10-12 hours.

Tamale

Balances K, slightly unbalances V and P All Seasons 2 cups fresh corn cup dried cilantro Celtic salt to taste Blend; pour onto dehydrator sheets and dehydrate 8-12 hours.

Top with Mexican Wild Rice (see Grain Recipes: Grain Salads), Tomato Salsa, and Guacamole (see Sauces, Spreads, and Dips).

Tomato-Nori Bites

Balances K, unbalances V and P Winter 1 sheet raw nori 1 tomato, sliced and cut into pieces Tamari to taste Cut nori into 1" squares and top with slice of tomato that has been dipped in tamari. Dehydrate 10-12 hours.

CRACKERS, CHIPS, AND CRUNCHES.

Buckwheat Crunch

Balances K, slightly unbalances P, unbalances V All Seasons 3 cups buckwheat, soaked and sprouted Dehydrate 8-10 hours. Serve this delicious buckwheat crunch with fruit or seed sauce.

Remarks: Buckwheat crunch will unbalance V if eaten by itself, but not if seed sauce is added.

Seed Spice Crunch

Balances K, unbalances V and P Winter Seeds or nuts, soaked or sprouted Masala to taste (see Masala Recipes) Cayenne to taste Spices of choice to taste Place nuts or seeds in a covered container or jar. Sprinkle spices, masala, and cayenne over nuts or seeds. Shake well and dehydrate in the sun or dehydrator 6-8 hours, or until dry and crunchy Remarks: The dried seeds and nuts with herbs make an excellent subst.i.tute for the chip habit. The dryness and heat unbalance V and P and are better for K. Depending on how the seed or nut affects the doshas, it will be s.h.i.+fted by the dryness. For example, dried sesame seeds will unbalance V and balance K.

Potato Chips

Balances K, slightly unbalances V and P Winter 2 large yellow Finn potatoes, sliced Marinade: 2 tsp chili powder 1 tsp red miso Celtic salt to taste 2 cups water Marinate for 8 hours. Remove potatoes from liquid and dehydrate for 12 hours or until crispy.

Yam Chips