Asian Salad 1-2-3

Salad can be as simple as grab a bag full of greens and have some fun.  Try this. A friend of mine, Chef Dan Kelly and I put this together in minutes for a group one afternoon.  Our 'rice mice' were the hit of the party! 

Asian Style Very Veggie Salad with Niguri ‘rice mice’ Chips, Wasabi Dressing

Using Dole Very Veggie Salad Kit
Prep   Time:  25 minutes
Serve Time:  15 minutes

Ingredients
½ cup rice wine vinegar
2  teas wasabi powder
2  teas fresh ginger
1  teas sugar
¾  cup  canola oil
2   teas sesame oil
Salt and freshly ground white pepper

1   cup  cooked and flavored sushi rice

2   tbl    white sesame seeds
2   tbl    dark sesame seeds
1   pak   Dole, Very Veggie Mix
½  cup   red pepper strips, 3 X ¼ inch
1            Gala apple, sliced thinly

Method

Place the first four ingredients in a large 10 inch bowl.  Slowly stream in the canola oil.  Finish the dressing with stirring in the sesame oil.  Season with salt and fresh pepper to taste.

Form the cooked and flavored sushi rice into small 2 oz oval balls.  Mix the sesame seeds  together in a small bowl and individually roll the sushi ovals on all sides with the sesame seeds.

Heat a ten inch skillet to medium.  Add 3 tbl of olive or vegetable oil and carefully brown the ovals on all sides.  Set aside to drain on a paper towel.  

Add a ½ cup of the wasabi dressing to a bowl.  Toss in the Dole Very Veggie Salad Mix and gently turn into the dressing.  Plate to small bowls or a large serving platter.  Add the crispy sushi ovals to the bowls and even distribute the red pepper strips and apple slices. 

Body Smart, Center of Plate

Refining overcooked and smelly vegetables to aromatic and slightly crisp we get a new center of plate.  My vote on the cheese might be a switch to feta or even goat's cheese but YUM is in the taste for the beholders.  Bring out the Vegetable Alchemist in you!

Quick braise of Broccoli and Cauliflower
Prep Time:  10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Serves:         4
Ingredients:
1   small bunch of broccoli, seperated into 3 inch lengths
1   small head of cauliflower, cored, broken into fleurettes
2   tbl        olive oil
2   teas      butter
1   lemon, cut in half, seeded and juiced
8   (1 oz)   parmesan,  thin slices
2   tbl fresh chopped herb like flat leaf parsley (optional)
pinch crushed red chile flakes
sea salt, freshly ground black pepper
Method
Cut the broccoli stalk into 3 X 1/2 inch pieces.
Heat a 10 inch stirfry or saute pan to medium.  Add the olive oil and butter.  Heat until the butter stops foaming.  Add the broccoli and cauliflower and toss.  Season lightly with salt and fresh pepper. Cook about 3 minutes. Turn heat to medium high.  Add 1/4 cup of water, cover partially and braise for about 4 minutes until vegetables are cook but crisp.

Remove from heat, uncover and plate vegetables neatly.  Place the pan back on the heat and turn to medium. Add the lemon juice and simmer gently for two minutes.  Sprinklein the red pepper and spoon pan juices over and around. Top with the cheese and possibly a little fresh grated carrot.  A little Italian white wine called Vermentino goes well.

Body Smart the New Fashion Way

There we all were, involved in business with this mad discussion on recipes, and, while listening, I kept thinking and thinking......' Really???'  There is nothing new here in this conversation.  I want something modern..... and they are all talking about 'enlightening ' readers but with 'old news',  for surely nothing being said is any where near evolutionary or revolutionary.  I want a simple clear link to body smart thoughts on vegetables, herbs, fruits and spice.....?

As the meeting turned to lunch, it was clear to me that my foodie boasting compatriots were not enamored with the clean taste of their salads and veggie sides, as all drowned them in massive amounts of dressing, soy, condiment and other various goops.  " Whaaat?" they asked when they saw me watching the sacrifice?   

And then that link came to me! Make it a road map to my goal! ......and voila!  The new Body Navigator for The Vegetable Alchemist, well thought out flavors that link to a reason.  And a
food and body connection par none was born!

Iceberg claims a Stake

With all the grills in America seemingly primed for the upcoming week of July 4th, a true celebration is certainly center of plate!  Freedom Rocks. Freedom is King.  Freedom is something never to take for granted.  I worked for The United States Government for 10 years with a team that traveled to many countries explaining the foods we had available for export. It is a demanding job. It was exciting to bridge the gap of language and culture with food. Meeting people around the globe on their own soil, from Asia to Africa, South America to India and the Middle East brought to mind how ' food brings people together '.  This was the theme I used in addressing the Fourth of July, United States Embassy party in Osaka Japan.  Our team prepared regional dishes for over 600 people visiting from twenty countries.

This year, my idea of seeing Heads of State has turned for a moment on this day to tasting Heads of Lettuce!  My smokey tasty celebration involves none other than Iceberg and some smokey salt!  It will be my center of plate.  Wildly popular decades ago iceberg has a solid place in the wide and colorful field of garden greens. Crunchy, crispy, full of pairing opportunities aside bbq, meat, poultry, fish, vegetables or just on its own with a delicious umami dressing, Head Lettuce takes its own center Stake for this Day.  

Happy upcoming Fourth of July.  And thank you, American Armed Services, a part in my family included, who continue to keep us free.  Respect Freedom.  It's not free. Happy Birthday, America.
The Vegetable Alchemist.

Iceberg dressed with Smoke Sea Salt
Ingredients
1    Head Iceberg lettuce, cut into four wedges
1    teas  + 1/2 teas smoked sea salt
1    tablespoon white balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1    clove of garlic, minced
1/4 cup fresh parsley leaves
freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
1    lemon, cut into 4 wedges (optional)

Method
Using a fork or whisk rapidly stir the white balsamic vinegar into the olive oil.  Add the garlic and one teas smoked sea salt.  Mix thoroughly. Stir in the parsley leaves.Crack in black pepper to taste and serve over wedges of cold, crisp iceberg sprinkling evenly with the remaining 1/2 teas of smoked sea salt.  A wedge of lemon is a great garnish, especially if you are serving the Wedge with a protein.

Salad is the Real Cool

Energy. Energy. Lots of easily usable, renewable forms of energy. Energy that powers the Universe. Energy that powers you. Think fresh energy.  Think fresh, tasty energy. Think way past protein, carbohydrate, and fat. Energy wants you thinking PHYTOCHEMICALS.  And so I include the meaning of the word.  You might even try snackin' on it for that short umami energy hit.  Phytoliscious sunny spectacular fun. I know you can appreciate that.

Phytochemicals, chemical compounds that occur naturally in plants (phyto means "plant" in Greek), are responsible for color and organoleptic properties, such as the deep purple of blueberries and smell of garlic. The term is generally used to refer to those chemicals that may have biological significance but are not established as essential nutrients.[1] Scientists estimate that there may be as many as 10,000 different phytochemicals having the potential to affect diseases such as cancer, stroke or metabolic syndrome. Although certain phytochemicals are available as dietary supplements, some scientists speculate that potential health benefits of phytochemicals may best derive from consumption of whole foods.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phytochemicals

Your Universe needs more than a mound of carbs, much more than a shake of protein and far more than a dish of fat. Leave the obesity behind.  Phytochemicals will soon have their own GNOME week!  Luv what you body luvs. Snack on phytolife!  Be the Cool.  Authentic Rethought!  The Vegetable Alchemist.

Thoughts on Modern Eating

I'm walking the aisle of a major bookstore, searching for answers on my new modern cuisine. With what must be hundreds of thousands of books, my eye seems to beeline.! " Be What You Are", the book title says. Be What You Are,! I say to myself. I did not know I was in the self help section, but why not? I need help. I need answers.

I skim the book and speed through the tests. What am I? Right now what I am is developing a modern way to eat, to enjoy cooking and understand how the right food for each of us makes a huge difference biologically without calling out food and medicine or reactive food. Sure, this may not be for mainstream guy on the street at this time. But who knows, maybe it is, maybe it will be. It combines my interest in science, my background as a chef, my love for fitness, the body and a lifestyle of low impact, plant based food with a modern approach.

I see the kitchen design magazines on shelves. Close by are groupings of food as entertainment, food as health and wellness. food as living, food as social, food as cultural, food as travel, food for growing and food for showing. Weight watchers, weight losers, weight gainers, Food, Food, Food. Food is everywhere and oddly enough, right around the corner are more magazines that are reactions on food: food for diabetes, gluten free food, cancer and heart disease food, homeopathic food and EAT Right Food, I guess to responding to so many eating wrong food. The list of those magazines wraps itself nicely into magazines on pharmaceuticals and cosmetics using isolated food nutrients in suppliment and cosmetic ways. It is all about food and food extensions. Food as Entertaining runs that full monty extending reversal reality from wrongful eating to Food as Medicine. But still, I cannot find my food magazine nitche yet. What am I? What is my cuisine?

I am looking for a way to recipe ideas that start with ingredients paired to the body, true biology based eating matching me and food. I want to have fun and food and science every day. I want cell matching, digitally presented reasoning behind what I eat and enjoy with fresh forward thinking thoughts. I want a personal teaching cuisine. So, What am I? Suddenly I am a developer of a new modern food style: plant based, low impact, body smart, Vegetable Alchemy, cell smart. I want you to be interested. Start building your link to recipes of a purposeful modern cuisine, fresh flavorful, fun blended with a nod to your biology whenever we eat. This mole below is great for your insides! What does that mean? More on that when I figure out how to tell you in a way that is upbeat without the medicinal flavor of Food as Medicine. Give me feedback or just be patient. We will get there. We cannot do this overnight. Use with pastas, vegetables. seared tofu, seitan, pork and chicken. This is Who I am, my human biology driven teaching cuisine.

The Purpose of Pumpkin Seed Green Mole

Ingredients

1 cup pumpkin seeds, hulled, lightly toasted

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon oregano leaf, crushed

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

6 red chiles, seeded

1 cup chopped onions

2 cloves garlic

2 romaine lettuce leaves

1/2 cup cilantro, fresh, stems and leaves

2 cups vegetable stock or chicken

sea salt

Method

Place first four ingredients into a spice grinder. Crush and place into a food processor. Add all ingredients, blend. Store refrigerated. Use hot as a sauce or cold as a spread.

Please Sir, Can I Have Some More?

A weekend full of sports and workout. Super Sunday approaches. Winters in Chi-town get exciting on the tube as channels compete for viewing tennis, basketball, snowboarding, soccer and golf. I watch and think more and more about ideas on how to grow out Vegetable Alchemy changing the world for low impact living. As sports commercials tout burgers, pork and chicken, I settle into examining my stash of home-styled new misos and start chopping away. Quick Winter Vegetable Soup takes shape. What miso will it be? barley, chickpea, brown rice, white bean or red? Miso, miso on the wall.....barley gets the call.

A friend sends a note on f/b....' Check it out.... from a diary of sayings from Albert Einstein! ' " I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious." Well, so am I right now, about Miso and how great it is in a low impact world. Planet Minded, Body Smart. I find it 'curious' that with decades of food and beverage experiences, cooking in all types of cuisine, all over the world, now after all that background, I just feel more comfortable moving my lifestyle to plant based and low impact, sports to food and living. As for those of you reading, grab a beer and check it out. Call a friend over as this easily makes two hefty bowls. Knife practice makes perfect. Vary the veggies as you like. It's fun filled cheap!

Miso and Vegetable Soup, spoons of savory satifaction.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup onion, chopped 1/2 dice

1 cup celery, chopped into 1/2 inch dice

1 cup Idaho potato, peeled, cut into 1/2 dice

1/2 cup green pepper, seeded, cut into 1/2 inch dice

1 cup kale, stems intact, washed and cut into thin strips

2 cloves, garlic, chopped fine

2 tablespoons barley miso

1 cup firm tofu, cut into 1/2 inch dice

2 quarts vegetable stock, divided

1/2 cup cilantro, coarsely chopped

1 teaspoon oregano leaf

1/2 teas red pepper flakes

sea salt and fresh pepper to taste

Method

Heat a three quart wok or stock pot. Add the olive oil. Stir in the vegetables up to and including the garlic. Cook over medium heat until the kale starts to wilt. Stir 1/4 cup of the vegetable stock with the miso. Add the remaining stock to the vegetables and bring to light boil. Cook about 3-4 minutes until the potatoes are soft. Stir in the tofu, cilantro, oregano, red pepper flakes and season lightly. Simmer one minute. Stir in the barley miso mixture. Simmer one minute and enjoy!