#put those to the side and i have the cabbage brining for 3 or so hours

[geoffrey]

im trying to make kimchi today with some local cabbage my coworker couldnt use all of wish me luck!!! ive never even tasted/smelled kimchi but i believe :D

[myriadismx]

Making Kimchi!

Two years ago, I  binge-watched the K-drama Late Night Restaurant, and after I was done with episode 6, “Steamed Spareribs and Kimchi”, I had a huge craving for some kimchi despite never tasted it before. The closest thing I had to it was some packaged kimchi ramen, which I also greatly enjoyed. 

I was able to find ready-to-eat kimchi at the supermarket, but then I thought “what if I make it myself? Sure it’s cheaper and can get away with more than this ridiculously small jar!”.

An hour later, I gathered the stuff I needed and got to work. Napa cabbage is the one traditionally used for kimchi, and the paste to season it is made with gochugaru (Korean pepper flakes, though I had so little of it that I also used gochujang), garlic, ginger (forgot to picture it!), fish sauce, and unsweetened apple juice. Carrots, daikon radish, and green onions are the veggies that complement kimchi. For my first try, I couldn’t find daikon radish so I used regular radishes, but it’s okay if you skip them or just use one or two as they have a strong taste and I fucking hate them. 

After cutting the nappa cabbage in quarts and washing them thoroughly, put them into a big bowl with the julienned carrots and radishes, and sliced green onions. Rub them with 1/4 cup of salt (preferably kosher) and let them sit for 2 hours, massaging the vegetables every 30 minutes. Then cover them with cold water and brine for another 2-4 hours or until the vegetables are slightly tender. Afterwards, drain the brine and rinse the vegetables until they are not overly salty. 

While the vegetables are soaking, make the paste in a food processor. I used 5 cloves of garlic, a 1-inch piece of ginger, 1/4 cup of gochugaru, 1 peeled shredded apple, or 1/4 cup of unsweetened apple juice (you gotta feed those good bacteria!), a small piece of onion, and 2 tablespoons of fish sauce. 

Once the paste has covered the veggies, cram them in glass jars, leaving an inch of space and pour a bit of brine to cover the vegetables. You can use plastic ones, but I prefer glass as they can be sterilized and don’t retain odors. Trust me, kimchi is odoriferous! (In lieu of jars, Ziploc bags also work!).

Cover the jars with their lids but don’t screw them tight! This thing will ferment and leak, so I recommend putting a plate underneath the jars to collect any juices that might come out. Place the jars in a dark place at room temperature, and let them ferment for 2 to 5 days. Check on them every day, pushing the cabbage down to release the bubbles and keep it submerged in that deliciously spicy juice. I prefer to wait 3 days before refrigerating.

Once you let it ferment, your kimchi is ready to eat! However, if you are going to use it in recipes and not as a side dish, I’d recommend to let yout kimchi ferment in the fridge for at least a month, there the fermentation process goes at a much slower rate. The longer it ferments, the flavors deepen and the spiciness mellows with time! (though I do add a couple of chiles de árbol because I like it very hot).

You can make kimchi with a wide variety of vegetables, though I have yet to try other recipes! Next time I might be making a cucumber or green cabbage one! 

Tagging @andypantsx3 and  @huntersxhunted because they are both fans of this smelly pickle! Also, I dedicate this post to my late niece Fanny because she was as crazy about kimchi with pork ribs as I am (like the two fat girls from the aforementioned episode).

[theauthorstreehouse]

Worldbuilding - Food and Recipes

*The chart above illustrated the dietary resources available to the majority of the nation.

Culture of Food

Food is a huge part of what makes a culture and Verdant is no exception to this. They pride themselves as a nation in which no one goes hungry. In a country where most of the land is desert, this is much more difficult to achieve than one might think. But thought centuries of trial and error they have not only learned to take advantage of the county which the land provided, but to cultivate their own food by utilizing the unique seasons to their advantage.

Verdant food is colorful, packed with flavor, and prepared with passion. The hearth is the center of the household and as such the kitchen and living area are usually inseparable in all but the most wealthy estates. Something is always cooking, and as such it is considered polite to offer an unexpected guest food and drink, and considered very impolite to refuse! If invited over, it is an absolute scandal not to bring something along, even if it's just goat cheese rolled in garlic and chives or a bottle of homemade wine.

Accessibility

When one looks at the scope of what the people of Verdant eat, it is important to remember the wide range of territory in which their nation covers. For instance in the capitol city which straddles the coastline, the bounty of the sea is plentiful. This means that people in the capitol can obtain fresh fish, seaweed and such for next to nothing. However in the further reaches, such as the Speckled Pond Oasis, their ability to serve food like swordfish or lobster is severely limited.

As in all countries, the wealthy always have access to more than those in lower classes. The more processed or refined something is the more likely you have to be wealthy in order to afford it. The more elaborate and time consuming it is to obtain and cook, the more likely you must have thralls or servants available in order to ensure it gets accomplished. Domestic pigs, for instance, do not do well in the Verdant heat and are difficult to keep content. So much so that pigs are considered to be a status symbol and kept like very spoiled pets by the super wealthy and socially elite. Goats and chickens on the other hand are a much more common source of sustenance and can be obtained by all but the most impoverished folk. Even then, foraging and trapping is a common chore given to children. Verdant has only a few laws regarding hunting practices, allowing for easier access to food sources.

Preservation

Food must be properly preserved to last as long as possible. With a flooding season and a sandstorm season to factor into the equation, Verdant folk must ensure their larder will hold for as long as possible. Most meat is cured in salt or smoked to prolong it's shelf life. Jerked meats are fairly common, especially among the working class. Packing in animal fat and storing it in a cool, dry place is an excellent method for ensuring the meat remains tender for months. Herbs are air dried and ground into powders,or drowned in oil or vinegar. Fruits and vegetables are often pickled or soaked in a sweet brine which is often then turned into alcohol. Waste is the enemy, and if anything can be used it will be used. Bone broths are immensely popular as a method for stripping the most nutrition out of an animal.

Household Staples

Some things are just a ubiquitous part of the culture, and Verdant is no exception. There are staples served on every table from rich to poor, though the amount and embellishments may differ. As a part of their initiative to ensure everyone is fed, monthly stipends of grain and rice are provided to the poorer districts, the amount depending upon the size of the family. These come from the silos kept by the Queen's government, which are filled through yearly taxes collected at harvest time. Each meal has rice with herbs, pickled vegetables, and flatbread lightly fried in oil. The most popular dish through out all the nation being a saffron crispy-rice cakes. They keep well and can be stored in cloth and reheated for meals or handed off to a worker to take with them for mid-day meals.

Saffron Crispy-rice Cake

Ingredients 2 cups basmati rice 3 ½ cups water 2 tablespoons kosher salt ¼  teaspoon crushed saffron threads 1 cup plain yogurt 3 eggs 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted ½  cup olive oil 1 cup vegetable oil

Instructions

Put your rice in a bowl with enough water to cover and let soak for about 30 mins. Rinse thoroughly until the water runs clear. Place 3 ½ cups water into a large pot and add a generous sprinkle of kosher salt. Bring to a boil and add the drained basmati rice. Bring to a boil and give it a stir. Reduce heat and let cook till tender. Sprinkle small amount of salt and saffron threads in mortar and crunch until powdered. Add 2 tbsp hot water and stir lightly. Let steep for about ten mins until deep reddish-orange color.

Mix 3 egg yolks, yogurt, ½ cup olive oil, and 2 tbsp salt into large bowl. Add saffron mix when steeping is done.

Pour 1 cup vegetable oil into skillet and heat. Fluff basmati rice mixture and test to see if fully cooked. Slowly integrate it into the saffron mixture until every grain is thoroughly coated. Don't skimp! You want it to be saturated with this mixture.

Once your oil is hot, put in a small bit of rice to test and see if it is ready. If it begins to bubble immediately, you are ready to proceed!  Form the saffron and rice mixture into patties with you hands and carefully place in skillet, frying on each side until golden brown. Remove from skillet and place on rack to drain. Serve with choice of topping.

Note: I have personally made this recipe and let me tell you it packs a LOT of flavor. I've put a fried egg on top, mixed it with sweet coleslaw, tossed it with chicken and even put a thick slice of mozzarella on top and stuck it under a broiler until bubbling! It's addictive and it keeps in the fridge forever! The saffron threads are a little bit pricy, $7.99 for 1 tblsp where I got them. But since it made like five meals it was worth it.

Another staple of the Verdant meal is flatbread with garlic oil drizzled over it. The garlic oil is easy enough to make by chopping and frying large amounts of garlic in copious amounts of oil, then straining. The oil is useful for just about every dish in Verdant and is used liberally. The chips are kept and dried out, then ground as a topping or crusting for meals.

Garlic Flatbread

Ingredients ½ cup warm water 1 teaspoon sugar 1 package dry active yeast (2 1/4th tsp) ¼ cup plain yogurt 2 cups bread flour ¼cup garlic oil 2 tbsp crushed garlic chips 1 teaspoon kosher salt fresh parsley

Instructions

Dissolve sugar in ½ cup of warm water and add yeast to mixture. Leave for 10 mins until the yeast begins to foam.

Mix flour and salt together. Slowly incorporate yogurt until you have a loose, flaky dough.

Add yeast mixture and knead thoroughly until smooth. Place in a bowl and drizzle generously with garlic oil. Cover with a plate for about an hour or until doubled in size.

Lightly dust flat surface and pour dough onto surface. Gently shape into rectangle and cut into 8 pieces. Form each piece into a ball. Arrange on plate and cover for another 15 – 20 mins.

Place skillet on stove top and add 4 tbsp olive oil to pan.

For larger flatbread, roll balls on floured surface until about 1/8 inch thick. For smaller, cut each ball in half and roll till about the length and width of your hand. Add flatbread to hot skillet and fry on both sides. One side will puff up, creating bubbles of air. Once you flip, DO NOT PRESS FLAT! Cook until golden brown around bubble rings and transfer to rack. Once finished, arrange flatbread on plate and give a drizzle with garlic oil. Add sprinkling of salt, garlic chips and parsley and serve.

Note:These are spectacular on their own but tbh I love them with some goat cheese and some of the broken up saffron cakes above. You can also do them sans garlic/salt/parsley and heat one up in the oven before smearing it with blackberry preserves. It's chewy and lightly crispy and just so satisfying to eat.

The pickled vegetables may very day to day depending upon availability. Children are typically sent out as soon as they have eaten to go forage for wild edibles which can be added in to make for a more hearty fare. Knowing how to source edible plants from their environment is a necessity, as it may save their lives during the Trials needed to become a Citizen.

Sweet Pickled Vegetables

Ingredients 1 Eggplant 1 Cucumber 1 Carrots 1 Red Cabbage 1 Leek 1 Squash 1/4th  tsp salt 1/4th tsp ground pepper 1/4th  cup Olive oil 1 Red oranges 2 tbsp Brown sugar Optional: Pine nuts Goat cheese

Instructions

Turn oven on to 400°.

Slice your eggplants,squash, and leeks into widths about the size of your pinkie finger. Toss in drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper and place on baking tray. Place in oven for 20 mins or until cooked through. Chop cucumbers, red cabbage and grate carrots into large bowl. Mix to combine.

Take 1/4th cup olive oil and add 2 tbs brown sugar. Juice one red orange and add juice to mixture. Stir to combine until sugar is dissolved.

Once roasted veggies are thoroughly cooked, turn on broiler and roast till lightly browned. Keep a close eye on them. Broilers work quicker than you think.

Once browned, remove from oven and allow to come to room temp. Mix in with rest of vegetables and drizzle the orange dressing over top. Mix generously.

Top with pine nuts and crumbled goat cheese for an extra burst of flavor.

Note: You can really serve this at room temp like a warm salad but it's just as good second day as like a slaw. I love to add it onto rice and chicken for a lunch bowl.

One of the easiest sources for protein across Verdant is the ocean and all the bounty it provides. Even if one doesn't have a boat, they can search along the rocky beaches for mussels and dig into the sand for cockles. Just about everyone has a trap for crabs or eels and takes advantage of this as they taste wonderful when grilled. Spearfishing and diving for urchins are popular methods for obtaining harder to catch food sources. However under Guild law, anything which requires a boat in order to catch requires a Guild permit.

Mussels with Leeks & Tomatos

Ingrdiants 1 lb mussels 1/4th cup olive oil 1 Leek 6 Garlic cloves 1 cup Multicolored cherry tomatoes ½ Red onion 1 tbsp Ginger 1 Lemon 1/4th tsp salt 1/4th tsp pepper ½ tsp cayenne pepper

Instructions

*Check your mussels thoroughly before use!

-rinse thoroughly

-trash any cracked or opened mussels

-if you find a 'thread' on the mussel, remove it

Take a deep saute pan and add in olive oil.

Thoroughly clean leeks between the leaves. They're noted for being dirty.

Chop leeks, red onion, garlic cloves and tomatoes. Add to hot olive oil and cook till lightly browned.

Add in your mussels and cover with lid. Steam for 10 – 15 min until all the mussels have opened up. Stir gently to combine.

Juice 1 lemon and grate 1 tsbp lemon. Stir together with cayenne, salt and pepper until combined.

Scoop mussels from pan into large bowl. Pour lemon juice onto mussels while stirring. Serve.

Note: Mussels are one of my favorite things to eat! There really is no end to the different things you can combine to them but sometimes the simplest is the best!

[livingcorner]

10 Terrific Ways to Use All Your Summer Tomatoes

When I was a kid, I would not eat tomatoes. I swore I hated them. Sure I would eat ketchup and tomato sauce, but not actual tomatoes. When I became vegan, everything changed. Suddenly, I learned to love lots of foods I wouldn’t eat before, and tomatoes were one of them. Currently, I eat tomatoes every single day in one form or another. They are one of the foods I cannot run out of or I feel lost and deprived. Summer is a great time for tomatoes. This is when they are at their best – deep red, juicy and intense in flavor. There are Beefsteaks, Roma Plums, Vine-Ripened, Grape, Cherry, Heirloom, and so many other types of tomatoes. Each has their own flavor and personality and each can be used in multiple ways.

You're reading: 10 Terrific Ways to Use All Your Summer Tomatoes

If you grow tomatoes, you will probably be swamped with them by the end of summer. Maybe you are the lucky recipient of someone who has too many to use or maybe you are indulging in the bounty of the farmers market. However you come by your tomatoes, now is the perfect time to try new and exciting things with them. Of course, you know you can use fresh tomatoes to make tomato sauce or salsa, and you know they taste great in salads and sandwiches. Well, here are 10 different ways to use all those beautiful summer tomatoes.

1. Make Homemade Bruschetta

Heirloom Tomato and White Bean Bruschetta

Tomatoes can have no better friends than fruity olive oil, savory garlic, and crispy bread. Bruschetta is a favorite appetizer or hors d’ouvres. I make a Garlic Tomato Bruschetta that is so good, that and a glass of white wine is all I need for dinner. Here’s how I make it: Preheat the broiler. Place thin slices of Italian, Ciabatta or French bread onto a baking sheet.

Drizzle extra-virgin olive oil over them and broil for just 3-4 minutes until they are crispy and golden brown. Remove the bread from the oven and set them aside. In a skillet, heat a spoon of extra-virgin olive oil over medium heat. Add 4 minced garlic cloves and a pinch of red pepper flakes and cook for a minute until the garlic starts to soften. Add 1 pint of halved grape tomatoes and toss in the seasoned oil. Cook for 4-5 minutes until the tomatoes soften. Season with salt and pepper and spoon the tomatoes onto the toasted bread. Garnish with fresh parsley or basil and vegan grated parmesan. Make a lot. This is addictive. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Read more: 10 Vegetables to Plant in the Fall and Winter That Will Withstand the Cold

2. Make Soup – Raw or Cooked

Gazpacho is a Spanish soup that is served cold. It’s also easy to make – just blend ripe tomatoes with any other produce you desire onions, cucumber, bell peppers and even watermelon. Chill it and enjoy it. It couldn’t be easier. This Raw Tomato Red Pepper Soup combines meaty tomatoes, sweet bell pepper and spicy chipotle for a refreshing and beautiful soup. If you prefer your tomato soup hot, try this traditional Quick and Rich Tomato Soup or this creamy Tomato Coconut Soup.

3. Make Stuffed Tomatoes

Usually, when we make stuffed dishes, we put tomatoes into the vegetable we are stuffing but how about stuffing the tomatoes themselves? All you have to do is hollow out the tomatoes and replace the pulp with your favorite fillings. Toss cherry tomatoes with olive oil, salt, and red pepper flakes, and then stuff them with your favorite spread or vegan cheese. Broil them until the cheese melts and the tomatoes soften about 2 minutes. Garnish with fresh herbs and impress your guests with this beautiful appetizer.

Larger tomatoes can be stuffed to make a healthy and delicious entr��e or side dish. I hollow out large beefsteak tomatoes and stuff them with a mixture of sauteed mushrooms, spinach, quinoa and the pulp from the tomatoes. Place them in a baking dish, sprinkle a few bread crumbs atop each one and bake for 30 minutes. For a lighter dish, stuff the tomatoes with your favorite summer salads like this Chickpea Waldorf Salad or this Tempeh “Tuna” Salad. It’s refreshing and you get to eat the plate!

4. Make Your Own Dried Tomatoes

I love sun-dried tomatoes. They add a tangy flavor to dishes and make a great snack too. You can buy sun-dried tomatoes in the store but why not make your own? Whether you use a dehydrator, your oven or the sun, it’s easy to dry foods yourself. To make your own oven-dried tomatoes, halve ripe tomatoes lengthwise and scoop out the seeds. Line a baking sheet with foil or parchment paper and toss the tomatoes in olive oil, salt, and pepper. Set your oven on its lowest temperature (150 degrees) and let the tomatoes cook for eight hours or until they have shrunken. Then use your self-dried tomatoes to make Raw Lasagna with Cilantro Pesto, Sundried Tomatoes and Marinated Veggies, Quinoa with Secret Pesto and Sun-Dried Tomatoes and this beautiful Sun-dried Tomato Tart with Zucchini Hummus.

5. Make Fried Green Tomatoes

Red tomatoes shouldn’t have all the fun; green ones deserve love too. Unripe green tomatoes are the star of the southern dish, Fried Green Tomatoes. Because they are unripe, green tomatoes are firmer with less moisture which means they hold up to frying better. You could fry red tomatoes but if they are juicy, it could get messy. Simply slice the tomatoes, bread them and fry them. Try these Fried Green Beer Tomatoes which are coated with cornmeal and dark beer or my Cajun-flavored Fried Green Tomatoes with Red Pepper Aioli.

6. Make Roasted Tomatoes

Tomatoes are sweet but when you roast them, they get this intense, rich flavor that is savory and succulent. Roasted tomatoes are delicious on their own as a side dish or used in other recipes. Just place halved tomatoes on a baking sheet lined with foil or parchment paper and drizzle them with olive oil, salt and your favorite herbs and spices. You can roast them fast in a 425-degree oven for 20 minutes or slowly in a 250-degree oven for a couple of hours until they are collapsed and softened. Then enjoy them in dishes like this bowl of Miso Roasted Tomatoes with Spiralized Carrot Noodles and these Grilled Avocados with Roasted Tomatoes.

7. Make Pickled Tomatoes

Pickled and fermented foods are delicious with their unique tang and saltiness. We eat pickled cabbage as sauerkraut, pickled onions, carrots and other veggies as kimchi and pickled cucumbers as…well, pickles. So why not pickle tomatoes? It’s easy, they can last a long time, and you can eat them on sandwiches or in salads or on their own. To make pickled tomatoes: cook your favorite spices such as garlic, red pepper flakes, ginger, cumin or mustard seeds in some olive oil for just a minute or two to deepen their flavors. Add one cup of your favorite vinegar and ¼ cup sugar to the saucepan and cook over medium heat until the sugar dissolves, about 5 minutes. This is the brine. Add some salt and let the mixture cool. Take a sterilized jar and fill it with peeled, ripe tomatoes cut into wedges or whatever shape you desire. Pour the brine over the tomatoes. Be sure to leave about ½ inch of room at the top. Cover and refrigerate for several hours. The longer you let the tomatoes pickle in the brine, the better they will be.

8. Make Homemade Chile Sauce

Chile sauce is amazing. It’s rich, sweet, spicy and tangy all at the same time. It’s used in lots of recipes, especially Asian ones. You can buy bottles of chile sauce but some have ingredients such as high-fructose corn syrup and others can be expensive. When I ran out of chile sauce in the middle of making a recipe, I couldn’t substitute anything else so I learned to make my own. It was much simpler than I thought it would be and now I always make it myself.

Let me share my recipe with you: Combine 2 cups of fresh, pureed tomatoes (plums have the best flavor), ¼ cup tomato paste, ¼ cup apple cider vinegar, ¼ cup brown sugar, 2 chopped jalapeno peppers, 1 tsp. each garlic powder and chile powder, ½ tsp. each dry mustard powder and onion powder, a pinch of allspice, and 2 Tbs. vegan Worcestershire sauce in a food processor. If you don’t have vegan Worcestershire sauce, you can use 1 Tbs. each tamari and balsamic vinegar. Add a pinch of red pepper flakes if you want extra heat. Process until smooth and taste for any seasoning adjustments. Keep in a jar in the fridge and use it in recipes such as Braised Seitan Short Ribs in Spicy Chile Sauce, Mississippi Comeback Sauce and Sesame Tofu.

Read more: Create a Beautiful Garden Bed with These Edging Ideas

9. Make Tomato Desserts

Yes, desserts. We use spinach, avocado, and zucchini in desserts so why not tomatoes? After all, tomatoes are a fruit and with more recipes mixing sweet and savory tastes, tomatoes are a perfect ingredient for desserts. The next time you go to make your own ice cream or sorbet, consider giving tomatoes a try by either adding one or two to the recipe or going totally tomato-flavored. Add some little tomato wedges to fruit cocktail or these Raw Fruit Tartlets.  Their gentle flavor mingles well with strawberries, watermelon, pineapple, mango, pears, melon and berries. Garnish your tomato dessert with fresh mint or basil leaves.

10. Freeze Your Tomatoes

Even though you can buy tomatoes year round, they are only in season for a short time. Or perhaps, you grew so many tomatoes, you can’t possibly use them all, no matter how many tomato ideas and recipes I give you. Well, the good news is that you can freeze tomatoes so you can enjoy them all year long. Tomatoes can be frozen with their skins or peeled, raw or cooked, whole, chopped, sliced or pureed. If you make tomato soup or sauce, you can also freeze the prepared foods.

To freeze tomatoes, select ones that are ripe and firm. Wash them gently and blot them dry. Prepare the tomatoes by cutting them into the desired shape and place them in a single layer on a cookie sheet that will fit in your freezer. After they are frozen, transfer the tomatoes to freezer bags or sealed storage containers. When you need them, just thaw them out and use them in any cooked recipe (thawed tomatoes will be too mushy to eat like you would a fresh tomato). Frozen tomatoes can last up to 8 months so you can be enjoying summer tomatoes in the middle of a winter snowstorm.

There is no food more versatile than the tomato. Sweet or savory, raw or cooked, alone or as part of a recipe, tomatoes are nature’s candy. I hope you have fun trying these ways of using your summer tomato bounty and if you have any bushels leftover, send them my way.

We also highly recommend downloading our Food Monster App , which is available for iPhone , and can also be found on Instagram and Facebook . The app has more than 15,000 plant-based, allergy-friendly recipes, and subscribers gain access to new recipes every day. Check it out!

For more Vegan Food, Health, Recipe, Animal, and Life content published daily, don’t forget to subscribe to the One Green Planet Newsletter !

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Source: https://livingcorner.com.au Category: Garden

source https://livingcorner.com.au/10-terrific-ways-to-use-all-your-summer-tomatoes/

[clatterbane]

Finally, assembly time!

One decent description of how to pickle just about anything you want:

For this batch, I decided to just mix up a 3% brine, with 15g of salt mixed into 500ml boiled kettle water and leaving it to cool down while I cut up the veggies.

You can find plenty of rough guidelines calling for like 2 tablespoons of salt per quart jar, but going by weight will work no natter what type/texture of salt you're using. (And tbh I usually just salt the veggies to taste for sauerkraut or cabbage-based kimchis, which really really want to ferment "right", erring toward the saltier side if anything. But, I really wouldn't recommend that unless you've got enough experience to judge good salinity levels by taste.)

So far I am not thrilled with these new narrow-mouthed Kilner jars Mr. C picked up, because wide mouths are SO much easier to pack the food down in. Guess I'd better figure out some better tool to tamp stuff down. On the plus side, at least home pickling and other preserving items do seem enough more popular that it's pretty easy to find canning supplies, say, in the grocery store!

At any rate, that jar did not get packed as tight as I would have liked, and I may have stubbornly overfilled it anyway. But, all those cut veggies I had laid out did indeed fit! If just.

There could be more head room in the jar, though that cabbage in particular will hopefully wilt itself down a little more more in the brine. But yeah, you can bet I'm making sure to set the thing in a dish to hopefully catch any overflowing brine! Worst case, I could still pull some of the vegetables out later if it's too ridiculous.

Glad to get something put together, at least! We'll see how it develops, but I'm guessing it'll be time for taste testing sometime next weekend.

Because I am apparently a glutton for punishment who did not get my fill of vegetable prep yesterday, with these wonky joints?

Behold: this evening's plan!

That's the latest rather pitiful haul of hard little end of season tomatoes which needed to just come off the plants. Which should at least be good for pickling! They're all rock hard, and stunted except for the few cherry tomatoes. I don't actually have much experience pickling riper-looking ones, but even those are hard enough that they should hopefully hold up OK.

They may be growing in the balcony room, but the plants are obviously really Not Happy with the dropping sunlight levels and temperatures out there. (It was already marginal enough on light, and I may well set up some LED panels this coming season. Because I am that kind of stubborn nerd.)

There were not as many tomatoes as I thought, and a couple of the bigger ones had just started going off on the plant before they were even completely red. Nowhere near enough harvest to fill up one of our fermentation lock lid jars. I could just cram them in another smaller jar without the handy airlock, but nah.

I'll just bulk it out with some or all of these other storebought veggies! 😎

(Plus some other seasonings, which I haven't quite settled on yet.)

Been meaning to put together some kind of mixed brine pickles anyway, now that I can eat them again. Excellent excuse to get at least one jar going, and honestly it should turn out more appealing than those somewhat questionable tomatoes on their own. I hope.

Going with the seasonal theme, I may also put together a jar or two of old school brine pickled chow-chow with some of that cabbage, once I pick up peppers for it. Not surprisingly, vegetable combos vary a lot for that type of relish. In my family, at least, what gets called chow-chow mostly uses cabbage, peppers (sweet and optionally hot), onion, and maybe some carrot plus spices including turmeric to turn it bright yellow. If you throw other veggies together into a similar type of relish, it is more likely to turn into piccalilli. Or just, "idk, it's some kind of mixed relish". 😁 Which all mostly does get sweet vinegar pickled by now, but I like it the other way too.

[junker-town]

A Thanksgiving sides draft, because we are a sports website

Photo by: Anjelika Gretskaia/REDA&CO/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

2 sides, 1 dessert, 1 drink. Whose Thanksgiving reigns supreme?

Thanksgiving dinner has never been about turkey.

The focal point of the biggest meal of the holiday season can be brined, roasted, or fried, but it will never escape its fate as lean, bland bird meat. On its own, it’s more of a lowkey punishment than the centerpiece of a celebration.

That’s why we have side dishes. The heart of Thanksgiving is the supporting cast that soaks across your plate and imparts a little extra flavor to the day’s starring attraction. Good sides are a meal on their own, reduced to complementary status in the name of an hour-long gorging. They even get their own stewards thanks to the presence of desserts and beverages tasked with cleaning the whole mess up.

Put all that together, and you’ve got one hell of a meal. And, for the dads of the nation, a prelude to the greatest recliner nap they’ll take all year.

In the interest of celebrating the one celebration of America that doesn’t involve hot dogs, we turned the perfect Thanksgiving meal into a competition. Five SB Nation writers joined forced to draft their ideal meals. The ground rules:

everyone starts with turkey and gravy

everyone drafts two sides, one dessert, and one beverage (adult or otherwise)

sides must be fundamentally different from one another to be considered a viable alternative to an already-picked food (i.e. sausage and herb stuffing vs. Stove-Top is good to go, but pumpkin pie vs. pumpkin pie with whipped cream is not).

Our four-round draft was a randomly-assigned snake draft, and our managers could pick sides, dessert, or beverage in any round of their choice. These are the results:

1. Stuffing — Louis Bien

Easily the MVP of every Thanksgiving dinner. Stuffing stands up well on its own, but it pairs with everything else beautifully, too. Stuffing complements everything around it, and everything complements stuffing. It just tastes like Thanksgiving. And it saves amazingly well for next-day sandwiches. Some people like to add sausage to their stuffing, but that’s one job too many for what is essentially the do-it-all point guard of any feast. Let stuffing be the giver that it is.

Christian D’Andrea: Cool man. You took breadcrumbs cooked inside a bird anus No. 1 overall.

Alex McDaniel: If Stove Top is No. 1, let’s give up now.

2. Mashed potatoes — Christian D’Andrea

An easy choice. Mashed potatoes are the glue that you dip your turkey in so that other, better foods (stuffing, cranberry sauce, corn, etc) will stick to the bird and thus make it taste like something. It’s also instrumental in the post-meal leftover sandwich, which is easily the best part of Thanksgiving (old man naps while seating completely upright aside).

Fooch: I’d like to continue shit-talking Louis on this one. Forget stuffing — mashed potatoes is the go-to side. Mashed potatoes is the Orlando Pace of this draft. The offensive tackle prospect that you know will turn into a Hall of Famer. It’s not a sexy pick, but like Christian said (when he wasn’t trashing my old man choices), it’s the glue of the Thanksgiving meal.

Louis: Boxed fake mashed potatoes >>>>>>> real mashed potatoes. I will take no more questions at this time.

3. Cranberry sauce (Ocean Spray) — David Fucillo

I’ve learned to enjoy fancy cranberry sauce, but nothing tops the gelatin version! Some will mock me for my distaste of gravy, but this actually serves as my choice of gravy. I combine all my sides together with the turkey, and the cranberry sauce is what keeps it from turning into a lumpy mess.

Louis: This is high for cranberry sauce, but I get that people really love it, and I like the gelatin version over the Real Stuff, too. But I will NOT abide this gravy slander, sir.

4. Cornbread dressing — Alex McDaniel

Aside from being the Thanksgiving dish most likely to start a family fight over the right way to make it, cornbread dressing is the quintessential side-that-could-also-be-a-meal holiday food. (It’s also way better than stuffing in that we don’t shove dressing up a bird’s ass.)

Louis: Y’all know you don’t have to cook stuffing in the turkey’s butt, right?

5. Pumpkin pie — Eric Stephen

In theory I probably should have picked a side dish here, but since I had two picks back-to-back I wanted to give the Thanksgiving dessert its proper due as a first-round pick. Pumpkin pie is not something that should be eaten year round, but it is a Thanksgiving staple. There was no way this was lasting until the end of the third round, so I had to make sure to grab my dessert — the dessert — right away.

Fooch: Every draft requires someone forgetting that a selection already happened. I was psyched to take pumpkin pie in the third round, only to realize I missed Eric taking it with the fifth overall pick. Pumpkin pie with whipped cream is what Thanksgiving is all about. I probably should have taken it over cranberry sauce, but such is life.

6. Green bean casserole — Eric Stephen

I have to be honest here: for the overwhelming bulk of my Thanksgiving dinners, I’ve had fairly standard green beans, maybe spruced up with bacon here and there. But green bean casserole is the ultimate comfort food, and perhaps more importantly it’s one of the easiest sides to make — green beans, cream of mushroom soup, and fried onions — which is important for those of us who aren’t hosting but rather bringing something to the table.

Christian: Easily the worst kind of bean. I appreciate the casserole’s commitment to making a healthy food so capable of bringing on a stroke.

Louis: Is there any part of green bean casserole that actually tastes good other than the French’s fried onions sprinkled on top?

Fooch: The fact that Christian shit-talked my Brussels sprouts the way he did and doesn’t offer nearly enough hate for green bean casserole is just unacceptable.

7. Sweet potato casserole — Alex McDaniel

I’m not sure why I didn’t make this my first pick because it’s undeniably the most on-brand example of Thanksgiving indulgence in existence. How do you make sweet potatoes, a naturally tasty and good-for-you food, more appealing? Mix them with a shitload of butter and brown sugar and eggs and vanilla before topping them off with marshmallows and EVEN MORE butter and brown sugar. Plus, it’s the only dish other than boring-ass cranberry sauce that counts as a side AND a dessert.

Christian: A dessert as a side dish? You really are from the South.

8. Brussels sprouts (with balsamic glaze) — David Fucillo

A vegetable I would never eat as a kid I have grown to love as an adult. I’d be fine with just a basic sprout dish cooked with some salt, pepper and garlic. In reality, a balsamic glaze and potentially some bacon takes this side to a whole other level.

Christian: Of course the guy who picked candy corn and raisins at Halloween wants Brussels sprouts, the villain food from every Nicktoon from 1992-1998. Enjoy your tiny cabbages, old man.

9. Sausage and herb stuffing — Christian D’Andrea

How do you improve on stuffing? Add a bunch of pig fat to it. This is effectively a breakfast sandwich, blended down into spoonable form. I love every word in that sentence, so that’s an easy pick for me.

Louis: Talks shit about stuffing then takes the frozen Jimmy Dean’s version of it eight picks later. OK.

10. Spiced peaches — Louis Bien

It was slim pickings for sides at this point of the draft outside of [Insert vegetable] and [Insert starch]. But spiced peaches are a nice curveball on the plate — sweet and tart and delicious. Who cares that they don’t actually go with anything.

Alex McDaniel: It’s hard for me to talk shit about such a delightfully Southern dish, but I’m guessing spiced peaches in Wisconsin just means throwing some cinnamon on a Del Monte fruit cup and calling it a day.

11. Rye old fashioned — Louis Bien

A simple, noble, delicious cocktail that tastes like the embodiment of crackling fireplaces, cozy sweaters and fucking off from work.

Christian: You went to the University of Wisconsin and chose rye over brandy for your old fashioneds. The city of Madison will judge you for this. Harshly and drunkenly, as is tradition.

Louis: Do I get to rebut in the comment section? Listen, I hear you, but brandy hurts, man.

12. Cheesecake — Christian D’Andrea

A top five dessert after any meal. Can be topped with literally any fruit in order to make it healthy.

“Healthy.”

Louis: Yes, that’s exactly what I want after my 20-pound meal, a sugar bomb with the density of a red dwarf.

13. Roasted potatoes — David Fucillo

Gotta have a starch and I couldn’t justify scalloped potatoes. Mashed potatoes are the easy choice, but a quality toasted potato can bring a little something extra.

Christian: How difficult was it for you to pass up “rolls” or “water” here?

Louis: “Mmm, pass the filler please.”

Eric: This is a great side, but missing only one step: mashing the potatoes.

14. Hot bourbon cider — Alex McDaniel

Adding bourbon to apple cider is a) delicious and b) more socially acceptable than drinking straight whiskey from a Solo cup at the Thanksgiving table. Or so I’ve heard.

Christian: The only thing I don’t like about this pick is your Solo cup bias. Next you’re going to tell me everyone sits on chairs that don’t fold up at your house and the kids’ section isn’t just a three-legged card table.

15. Mac n’ cheese — Eric Stephen

The gamble in picking my dessert first meant that most of the good sides would be snatched up by this time of the draft. But what could be better to add to Thanksgiving than one of the best side dishes for any meal? Mac n’ cheese is delicious whether out of a box or made from scratch, and for an extra touch maybe through some bacon in there since I didn’t get to add them to my green beans above.

Louis: I am probably very, very alone in this, but I love mac n’ cheese in pretty much every context except Thanksgiving. Here’s a sumptuous banquet of Earth’s bounty, and also cheddar noodles.

16. Boring-ass regular cider — Eric Stephen

I suppose I could have just picked a beer, or even tequila here (man, that would hit the spot right now), I picked a beverage I have in my kitchen at this very moment. Yes it’s relatively plain, and non-alcoholic, but the spicy warm beverage is just perfect for the holidays, and hit the spot.

Christian: Warm Dr. Pepper was RIGHT THERE.

17. Salted caramel pie — Alex McDaniel

Listen. If you eat a bunch of rich and/or sweet stuff at dinner, maybe DON’T make this your dessert choice. Eat some Jell-O and go lie down. But if you kept things dry and boring, salted caramel pie is the dessert you DESERVE, not to mention a hell of a lot more creative than standard, boring, embarrassingly un-salted pies.

Christian: Is the recipe for this just “salt, sugar, butter, milk” and then a shrug emoji?

18. Hot buttered rum — David Fucillo

I’m not a big holiday drinker, but this just seems like a quality option during a cold, winter evening. Why get complicated?

Christian: OLD. MAN. PICK. Fooch drafted himself a Thanksgiving meal he read about once in a Dickens novel.

19. Porters/brown ales (like say, Tyranena’s Rocky’s Revenge?) — Christian D’Andrea

A good warming beer to ease in the oncoming winter. Nothing sets up the 4 p.m. hibernation break quite like a couple beers to wash down the week’s worth of carbohydrates you just ate.

(Tyranena, please send me stuff.)

Fooch: I love a good porter or brown ale, but I can’t even begin to imagine trying to drink this during or right after a huge Thanksgiving meal. I’m a glutton when it comes to this meal, but this would knock me on my ass before I even finished eating. I at least like to make it back to the television and pass out while watching football.

20. Ritz cracker pie — Louis Bien

I think this goes by mock apple pie in some circles, but we usually make this with pecans and/or walnuts in the mix, too. Ritz cracker pie is light and fluffy and sweet and perfect after over-gorging on everything else. I almost always end up having some for breakfast the next day.

Christian: I ... have no idea what this is?

(Ritz, please send Louis stuff.)

Our final results:

So who won our inaugural Thanksgiving sides draft? Throw your vote in below. The winner will earn a smidge of pride. The loser will be mocked relentlessly for having terrible taste.

If you can’t see the poll, click here.

[visiononion28-blog]

drop cornbread biscuits

This past Saturday, we hosted our second Friendsgiving, stuffing 17 people in an apartment that has no business holding 17 people, but it’s okay, there’s wine for that. Our first one was in 2016; you can read about it here. I took 2017 off because I was a teensy bit busy book touring for Smitten Kitchen Every Day** It was fun to be back.

When having friends over, I like to get everything done that I can in advance and I do this for completely selfish reasons: I want to enjoy my party, too, and I can’t if I’m scrambling around all day and am bone tired by the time food comes out. But last week was abnormally busy and I only got to grocery shopping on Thursday, only to discover that one week before Thanksgiving, it’s like tumbleweeds, the lull before the weekend stampede, all past-prime rosemary and other sadness. I almost cancelled but my husband miraculously found almost everything that evening, and instead I did a very beautiful, highly recommended thing: I nixed a few things on the planned menu and swapped more complicated ones for simpler recipes with shorter ingredient lists but high reward. Here’s the menu, a few details, and completely random tips:

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* Herb and garlic baked camembert: This is in Smitten Kitchen Every Day and there will never be an SK party without it. In fact, it’s gotten so popular that my friends and family make it now too, so I outsourced it. My SIL brought three, we heated them here. It was so nice to have one less thing to do.

* Bacon-wrapped dates: No recipe, but there are a gazillion on the web. I don’t stuff them (I did it once and it was way too pesky, especially given that they’re good without stuffing) and no dip. We made a ton and they were gone quickly; my daughter called them “bacon candy.”

* Turkey: In 2016, I did a hybrid wet brine from a bunch of sources. It was delicious but not worth the logistical nightmare. And mopping. This year, I made The Judy Bird, a Thanksgiving application of Zuni Cafe’s famous roast chicken. There are many dry brine recipes out there but this was the simplest and why make something more complicated unless you know it’s necessary? Based on the turkey reviews, I don’t think it needs anything else. My changes are that I baste it with a melted 1/2 cup of butter, and then when I’m out of butter, the pan juices, and this year, I put quartered red and yellow onion wedges in the bottom of the pan (tossed with a little oil, salt, and pepper) and friends, they were glorious after getting caramelized and lightly charred in turkey-butter drippings for a few hours. Here’s a logistical tip I don’t think enough recipes make clear: You want to rest your turkey for 20 to 30 minutes before carving it, tented lightly with foil. It’s then going to take 15 minutes to carve (I had a friend holding a YouTube video tutorial in front of me because I’m very bad at it.) This gives you 30 to 45 minutes of empty oven time where you can reheat sides, which is more than most need. I have a single, not big, not great oven and it was all I needed. [I mean, needs being relative, just in case Nancy Meyers is out there and wants to lend me a set kitchen and the life that goes with it next time.]

* Gravy: I really ought to write up a recipe one day, huh, but I use a basic formula of 1/2 cup butter, 3/4 cup flour, 8 cups chicken or turkey stock, a splash of dry marsala or sherry to deglaze the pan, and a lot of salt and pepper. (You cook this the way you would a bechamel.) When your turkey is done, if you want to separate the drippings, you can replace any of that butter with fat and any of that broth with juices. Or you can skip it! The gravy will have a less nuanced turkey flavor, but it’s still pretty awesome, especially if you have homemade stock. (In a freak bit of luck, I discovered two quarts of this in the freezer from last winter and used them for the gravy, stuffing, and more.) I make the gravy right in the bottom of the roasting pan, stretched across two burners; this way I can scrape up all the good, flavorful bits. If you don’t use the dippings to make gravy, I highly recommend you use them to drizzle over the sliced turkey, to keep it as moist as possible when you serve it.

* Stuffing: I also owe you a recipe for this but although I have two stuffing recipes on this site that I adore, I made a simple challah stuffing instead — although I made it decidedly less simple by making my own challah. Each loaf will make enough bread cubes to easily fill a 9×13-inch dish. I made mine with just celery, onion, and herbs, but you could easily sauté some mushrooms, diced apples, pancetta or crumbled sausage in too. Oh, and definitely make enough to have leftovers; this is important.

* Cranberry sauce: I went old-school with this, with a very early recipe on this site. I wanted something on the sweet side because my friend Ang was bringing a more savory one with tomatillos. Both were delicious.

* Green bean casserole with crispy onions: Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it (homemade). I make the green beans extra firm (just 2 minutes, then into ice water), then the mushroom sauce. Cool them both fully before mixing them. This goes in the fridge overnight. I’ll fry the onions — always make more than you need — and keep those separate until we’re about to eat the warmed casserole.

* Slow-roasted sweet potatoes: Once I realized I’d have no time for the root vegetable gratin I’d originally planned, I added these and 10/10, would recommend because the ingredient list is basically nonexistent. I baked them for the 2 to 3 hours before the turkey goes in, because they need a lower temperature. Broil them to get a good color on the skin. Leave them out while the turkey roasts (they’ll stay decently warm for a couple hours) and rewarm them just before eating. We served these in 2-inch segments, skin and all, and I was texting the recipe to friends demanding it even before going to bed that night. It’s that good.

* Stuffed mushroom casserole: My friend Ang brought this too and it was delicious. (She thinks it needs more cheese, though. I had no complaints!)

I didn’t make any pie at all! (Although my friend Molly brought a mincemeat pie with a cheddar crust and it was wonderful.)

* Bourbon pumpkin cheesecake: I made this in a 9×13-inch pan to cut as bars instead. Same recipe. Same temperature. However, you’ll want 1.5 or even 2x the crust, and it bakes in about 30. Seriously. It’s awesome.

* Perfect Manhattans: Because why not. I made two carafes of them, just scale up the recipe until you run out of an ingredient or carafe space. Friends can pour or shake it over ice; leave cherries or orange peel strips on the side.

* Cranberry crumb bars with mulling spices: This is in The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook.

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Finally, as always, I have a last minute recipe for people who do things at the last minute. It’s never my intention, but it’s consistently my reality. I made these biscuits the first time over the summer, a season where we eat outside and act like it’s no big deal (waah), for a 4th of July ribs fest along with slaw and corn and all of those summery things. So, they go really well with warm weather. But they’re also a great quickie dinner roll, or even a fun addition to a breakfast-for-dinner night (like we had last night) with scrambled eggs and bacon. They take 5 minutes to put together and 15 to bake and there’s nothing not to love about that. They’re craggy and crisp on the outside and plush within, perfect for splitting open with your fingers, buttering, drizzling with honey, and finishing with flaky salt or nestling into the side of your holiday plate.

Previously

One year ago: Endive Salad with Toasted Breadcrumbs and Walnuts Two years ago: Root Vegetable Gratin and Cheesecake-Marbled Pumpkin Slab Pie Three years ago: Kale and Caramelized Onion Stuffing, Apple Cider Sangria and Date, Feta and Red Cabbage Salad Four years ago: Sticky Toffee Pudding, Pickled Cabbage Salad and Pretzel Parker House Rolls Five years ago: Perfect Uncluttered Chicken Stock, Cranberry Orange Breakfast Buns, Green Bean Casserole with Crispy Onions, and Apple-Herb Stuffing For All Seasons Six years ago: Granola Crusted Nuts and Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Vinaigrette and Gingersnaps Seven years ago: Sweet Potatoes with Pecans and Goat Cheese, Creamed Onions with Bacon and Chives Eight years ago: Sweet Corn Spoonbread Nine years ago: Moroccan-Spiced Spaghetti Squash and Chard and Sweet Potato Gratin Ten years ago: Mushroom and Barley Pie Eleven years ago: Roasted Stuffed Onions and Simplest Apple Tart [New!] Twelve years ago: Cranberries: Candied, Fruity, and Drunk

And for the other side of the world: Six Months Ago: Pasta Salad with Roasted Carrots and Sunflower Seed Dressing 1.5 Years Ago: Rhubarb Upside-Down Spice Cake and Tall, Fluffy Buttermilk Pancakes 2.5 Years Ago: Failproof Crepes + A Crepe Party and Crispy Tortellini with Peas and Proscuitto 3.5 Years Ago: Crispy Broccoli with Lemon and Garlic, Not Derby Pie Bars, Liege Waffles, and Mushrooms and Greens with Toast 4.5 Years Ago: Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp Bars and Five Egg Sandwiches

** have you bought it? There’s so much great Thanksgiving and holiday stuff in there, like a chocolate pecan slab pie, a kale caesar that we have out at almost every dinner party, a wild mushroom shepherd’s pie, and a few of my favorite cookie recipes, ever. Between now and December 12th you can order either my first book, The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook, or Smitten Kitchen Every Day, my second with a custom inscription of your choice from The Strand and it will arrive by Christmas.

Drop Cornbread Biscuits

Servings: 8 to 12

Time: 20 minutes

Source: Land O Lakes

Print

Shown here are 8 large biscuits; you can make 12 smaller ones, just use the short end of the baking time range.

1 3/4 cups (230 grams) all-purpose flour

2/3 cup (90 grams) cornmeal

1 to 2 tablespoons granulated sugar (use 1 for a more savory biscuit)

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon fine sea or table salt

1/2 cup (115 grams) cold butter, in cubes

1 cup (235 ml) cold buttermilk (buttermilk substitutes)

Heat oven to 450°F. I covered my baking sheet with parchment paper but it shouldn’t be strictly necessary, and many shouldn’t go in this hot of an oven, so use your own discretion.

Stir flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt in the bottom of a large bowl with a fork or whisk. Add butter and toss to coat cubes in dry mixture. Use your finger or a pastry blender to break the butter into smaller and smaller bits, until the largest is pea-sized. Add buttermilk and stir once or twice, until a dough comes together.

My very scientific method of dividing the dough evenly is to press it gently into the bottom of your mixing bowl into roughly a circle. Cut into 8 or 12 wedges. Pull out one triangle of dough with a soup spoon for each biscuit, pressing it into a craggy, messy ball, then drop it onto your baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough.

Bake for 12 to 14 or 15 minutes; smaller ones should be done at 12, larger ones at 14 or 15. Remove from oven and serve warm. Biscuits are best on the first day. On the second, gently rewarming them will improve the texture.

Source: https://smittenkitchen.com/2018/11/drop-cornbread-biscuits/

[jakehglover]

Refreshing Asian Marinated Kale and Kraut Salad Recipe

Recipe From Marisa Moon of My Longevity Kitchen

With summer fast approaching, you and your family are probably looking forward to enjoying as many barbecues and picnics as you can, to enjoy the beautiful weather. And what good is a picnic without a delicious and healthy side dish, like a salad? If you’re looking for an Asian inspiration, this Marinated Kale and Kraut Salad from Marisa Moon of My Longevity Kitchen is a great choice.

The tanginess of the sauerkraut and rice vinegar combines well with the sesame oil and mustard powder, creating a harmonious blend with the earthy flavor of kale. What’s wonderful about this recipe is that you can make it ahead of time without worrying about its flavor going bad — it even tastes better after a few days!

Ingredients for the dressing/marinade: 1 garlic clove, minced 2 tablespoons rice vinegar 1 teaspoon sesame oil 2 teaspoons oil of your choice (extra virgin olive oil or avocado oil are good choices) 1/2 tablespoon water 1/2 teaspoon each of fine sea salt and black pepper 1/2 teaspoon mustard powder (optional) Monk fruit to taste

Ingredients for the salad: 1 head curly kale, stemmed and ripped into 2- to 3-inch pieces (these vary in size, so start with less and add more once you see how much marinade is left) 2 to 4 tablespoons sauerkraut or tsukemono (Japanese pickles) 2 hard-boiled eggs, sliced or diced

Procedure:

Mix the dressing ingredients in a bowl big enough for the kale.

Add the kale and toss to combine.

Take your hands and get in there, squeezing the kale to break down the fibrous texture and work in the dressing.

Cover the bowl with a lid and leave at room temperature for two to three hours, or refrigerate overnight. This salad gets better with time — even days!

When you are ready to eat the salad, mix in 1 to 2 tablespoons of sauerkraut or tsukemono per serving.

Add the egg. You can go ahead and mix it in for a wonderfully messy combination of textures, or serve it in slices for a prettier presentation.

Drizzle your salad with a little extra olive oil or chili oil.

Prep time: 15 minutes Makes two servings

Kale: A Super Serving of Nutrients in Every Bite

Did you know that a 100-gram serving of kale contains 2.92 grams of protein, 4.1 grams of dietary fiber and only 0.99 grams of sugar? Its carbohydrate-to-protein ratio is 3-to-1 – an exceptionally high amount of protein for any vegetable. This is why it’s been recently dubbed the "new beef."

Kale also boasts of an impressive nutrition content, namely calcium, potassium, phosphorus and magnesium. It’s rich in vitamin C, folate and vitamin A — no wonder it’s been dubbed a superfood.

One tip when adding kale to your meals: Always buy it organic. As with other greens, kale tends to accumulate toxins present in the soil where it’s grown. Better yet, grow your own kale at home. Check out my article “How to Grow Your Own Superfood — Tips for Growing Kale” for more useful pointers.

While the recipe above can be prepared in advance, take note that this may mean sacrificing the crispiness of your kale — it stays crispy for a relatively short time, which is why it’s best used a few days after being harvested. If you like your kale with a bit of crunch, eat the salad immediately, but if texture isn’t an issue, then you can leave it for a few hours before serving.

The Benefits of Adding Fermented Vegetables to Your Meals

One of my longstanding health recommendations is to optimize your gut health by regularly consuming fermented foods, and sauerkraut is one of the best options out there. But don’t be fooled by its German name, which literally translates to “sour cabbage” — it’s surprisingly an Asian creation.

According to The Spruce Eats, ancient workers who constructed the Great Wall of China more than 2,000 years ago were said to have fermented shredded cabbage in rice wine so they would be able to enjoy this vegetable during the nongrowing season. A thousand years later, Genghis Khan brought the dish to Europe, where it became a staple, often served with pork.

Eating fermented foods like sauerkraut is an inexpensive — and far more effective — way of reaping the benefits of probiotics. Research shows that cultured vegetables can influence the microbiome, which then leads to a wide array of beneficial effects, including helping:

Combat infections caused by Helicobacter pylori bacteria  

Improve symptoms of autism

Protect against neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s

Ease urinary tract infections

While you can buy ready-to-eat sauerkraut from groceries, it’s much better to make your own version at home. Try this easy, healthy classic sauerkraut recipe from Pete Evans.

Have You Ever Tasted Tsukemono?

While you may have heard of sauerkraut, you’ve probably never heard of tsukemono before. This is a type of Japanese pickle, made by soaking vegetables in brine and adding vinegar and spices. There’s no single variety of tsukemono, as each region has its own specialty, resulting in an infinite number of varieties.  

According to Serious Eats, tsukemono is an integral part of a traditional Japanese meal, called a washoku, because it brings about harmony. Aside from refreshing the palate and countering the savory flavor of umami-rich foods, tsukemono components, which are often vibrantly colored, also help meet the general rule that a meal must have five colors: red, black, green, yellow and white.

You can use different tsukemono varieties for this salad recipe. Traditional examples include “gari” or pickled ginger, “beni shoga” or red pickled ginger, “misozuke” or miso pickles, and “kojizuke” or koji rice brain pickles. You can buy tsukemono from different Asian specialty stores — or, just like sauerkraut, you can make it at home.

The Finishing Touch: Pastured Eggs

Organic, pastured eggs are a great source of healthy fats, protein, nutrients like choline, and antioxidants lutein and zeaxanthin. Adding eggs to your foods is a simple and cost-effective way to add valuable nutrition to your diet.

While I prefer to eat eggs as minimally cooked as possible, such as poached, soft-boiled or over easy with very runny yolks, hard-boiled eggs are a good snack option. Added to salads, they not only pack a nutritional punch, but also impart a different texture that contrasts with the vegetables.

Where your eggs come from also matters. Free-range, pastured organic eggs are my top choice because they’re much more nutritious than conventional ones. One egg-testing project found that, compared to commercial eggs, free-range eggs contain:

Two-thirds times more vitamin A

Two times more omega-3 fatty acids

Three times more vitamin E

Seven times more beta-carotene

To make sure you’re purchasing truly organic eggs, source them from a small, local farmer near your area. You can also find them in farmers markets.

About the Author: Marisa Moon of My Longevity Kitchen is a public speaker and certified primal health coach who provides one-on-one guidance to help individuals put an end to the confusion regarding what is healthy. Marisa honors ancient practices by learning the ways of our early human ancestors — from the days before industrialized food and crazy-busy schedules — and then she adapts those lessons for modern living. Work with Marisa: MarisaMoon.com, subscribe to her recipe blog, My Longevity Kitchen, and/or visit her coaching channel “The Wild Within” through the free Aura smartphone app.

from HealthyLife via Jake Glover on Inoreader https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2018/06/03/kale-kraut-salad-recipe.aspx