How To Eat A Portabella Like A Hedonist

We have been eating with a vengeance, of late. I promise after this post I won't mention it again, but I've been gone for more than three weeks, eating rice and beans on friends' couches. So when we were driving to the beach last night and saw a sign for Fresh Sweet Corn, we couldn't resist stopping.

Kerstin had a great idea for a cilantro corn dish, which sent us to the market for fresh ingredients. While I was there I saw some big, fat portabella mushrooms that I couldn't stop my hands from fondling. When we brought them home I didn't have the willpower to cut my babies up, so I pan seared them whole, stuffing them with a bit of garlic. I sautéed some farmer's market zucchini in lemon juice and topped with avocado mousse.

Lemme tell ya, it was p-a-r-a-d-i-s-e.

After cooking the mushrooms in olive oil for about five minutes I covered the pan and let all the juicy goodness stew in there until they were tender and rife with flavor.

The mousse was half an avocado, two cloves of garlic, a pinch of sea salt, olive oil and lemon juice and a half teaspoon of umeboshi vinegar food processed together.

I served the portabellas on some wild rice from yesterday's dinner, leaned the zucchini spears on them, dolloped with mousse and served the cilantro corn on the side. Not only was it a decadent and gorgeous plate, it was one of the most delicious macro meals I've ever had. I may never slice up my portabellas again. They retain so much flavor and have such a satisfying texture to them when cooked whole.

We Don't Dine, We Sup.

Last night we supped.

I've been away in Minnesota for nigh on four weeks, and yesterday's evening meal marked the complete return. Eating alone or on the run has been one of the most difficult parts of being away from Kerstin, both from a macrobiotic standpoint, and an emotional one.

I brought back some hand-harvested wild rice that my father and I had reaped from Lake Minnewawa two years ago. We glided through the rice stalks, knocking off the heavy seeds into our canoe, loaded them into burlap sacks and had them roasted by a local Native American-operated roasting barn.

I added crushed walnuts, craisins, a touch of honey and brown rice vinegar to the rice and topped it with grilled portabello mushrooms, sautéed zucchini, onions and garlic—seasoned with oregano and thyme...and there's a wee little bit of farmer's market tomato in there.

Kerstin had made some lentils, which I added a light vinegar & oil dressing to. We ate it on the side.

Hubba hubba ding ding! Two happy little macros eating a simple gourmet evening meal once again.

Wild Rice

Anyone who knows me knows how much I love Minnesota. The lakes, the rivers, the trees, the hiking, the canoeing, the Twin Cities. The list goes on.

I also love trivia: state tree, norway pine; state pickle, dill; state flower, ladyslipper. I could go on all day. But one of Minnesota's best is also a macrobiotic treasure, and Minnesota is one of the only places you can get it in its natural form.

I'm talking about Wild Rice, Minnesota's state grain. Boo ya ka shaw.

Wild rice was the staple in the diet of the Chippewa and Sioux Indians, native to the north central area of America. Like brown rice, the grain is actually the seed of an aquatic grass plant. Since wild rice grows in cold water and cold climate areas, its seeds (wild rice) need to store enormous amounts of energy to germinate in the spring. Because of this need, wild rice is high in protein, the amino acid lysine and dietary fiber, and low in fat.

Lucky me, growing up and living in Minnesota for most of my life, I have had the opportunity to harvest and roast my own rice on several occasions. I feel a all of the harvesting work behind every bite I take, I remember the clear days in the canoe, the click of the harvesting sticks, the itch of the seed husks on my skin and the splash of the guide pole in the water. If only all the food I ate had as much positive energy behind each bite...

While some commercial wild rice is grown, its best and tastiest form is still hand harvested, mostly in Minnesota's lakes and rivers in the traditional method.

The Amazing Qualities of Quinoa

This morning as I was surveying our ever-growing stash of bulk whole grains, I noticed that there were a couple of bags of Quinoa dispersed amongst the dried beans, millet, oats, rice, and almonds. I pulled them out, filled the glass canister on the counter that holds this delicious grain, and proudly announced to Jacob that "Quinoa is my favorite whole grain!" To which he replied, "really? brown rice is mine...." (not a surprise) "but quinoa is a close second." This brief interaction led me to do a bit of research on this fabulous whole grain, and to try to discover why it is that we share such a fondness for it.

Even before we were macrobiotic or knew much about this lifestyle, Quinoa was one of my favorite bases for cold salads, or as an accompaniment to seafood... It is light, has a delicious nutty flavor, and it is not sticky and doesn't get mushy like some other kinds of whole grains (rice, or millet, for example... or buckwheat). I prefer this lighter, less-sticky grain, because it simply feels good to eat it.

Now for the educational portion of the post... Quinoa is originally from the Andes in South America. It was a sacred grain to the Incas, as it is in our little attic kingdom. And it's no wonder - this is one nutritionally-sound grain! Quinoa has a very high protein content, for a grain, and it has a "balanced set of amino acids" according to Wikipedia - which means that it contains all eight amino acids that are necessary for human tissue development. It is high in mineral content such as iron, calcium, folate, manganese, vitamin E, and magnesium. It is gluten free, and therefore easier to digest than other grains.

To make it, we usually take a cup of the grain or so in a pot, put double the water in the pot with it, and bring it to a boil - much like the preparation of rice. Instead of covering it and letting it soak up all of the water, though, we let it boil without the cover & drain it using a wire strainer. It cooks pretty quickly - so it is nice to have when you don't have any rice or other longer-cooking grains prepared for a meal. I think it would make an excellent breakfast, come to think of it - and I may try that one of these days. Typically, we have it for dinner under steamed vegetables, or a lentil sauce with spices, or with seafood such as Tilapia. In my research I also discovered that there is quinoa flour - perhaps I will use that in some baked goods sometime soon.... so do yourself a favor and go get some quinoa at the co-op - leave your reviews as comments to this post if you'd like! We'd love to hear what you think.

Thai It, You'll Like It!

Biking through town today, I zoomed past one of the Thai restaurants that we used to eat at...and I had a pang of sadness. The sweet peanut sauce, the zesty lemon, the spicy zippy noodles! Oh!

So, I went home, busted out Lorna Sass's "Complete Vegetarian Kitchen" cookbook (which, by the way, you must get if you care the slightest bit about eating delicious vegetarian food) and started mixin' me up a mess o' Thai food—macro style, of course.

This woman isn't messing around. She knows her stuff. She is the author of 8 health-focused cookbooks that are loaded with oodles and oodles of delicious recipes—and I'm talkin' DEE-licious.

Point made. Lorna Sass kicks major macro booty. Moving on.

I thought this Thai business was going to be a complicated, messy, mysterious undertaking. And while it was a little messy, it wasn't complicated or mysterious at all. I started by making the Peanut Sauce on page 302:

Peanut Sauce (from Lorna Sass's Complete Vegetarian Cookbook)
.5 cup unsalted peanut butter
2.5 tablespoons freshly grated ginger
2 cloves of raw garlic, peeled and minced
.5 cup water
2 tablespoons tamari soy sauce (I used shoyu)
1 teaspoon brown rice vinegar
1 teaspoon maple syrup
Dash of cayenne pepper or red pepper flakes (I used both! hachi hachi!)

Blend or food process all of the ingredients together and season to taste. Brilliant.

The rest was just some thai rice noodles from the store, some steamed broccoli and carrots, sauteed onion, garlic and zucchini. When everything was cooked I threw it all in a pot and tossed it around like crazy for a minute, and garnished with scallions and lemon slice.

I served the peanut sauce on the side, and we had ourselves a tasty, healthy Thai dish without the greasy gut ache that usually follows.

I seriously can't get enough of the peanut sauce. I might drink it as a protein shake.