Fabulous Fermentation Week - tempeh with greens, goats cheese and fresh strawberries

Things just got really exciting! Two of my food blogging guru's (they don't know it, but I've been geek-ing out on their recipes and blogs for a while now!) - Sarah Britton (My New Roots) and Elenore Bendel Zahn (Earthsprout) - banded together to spread the goodness of fermented foods and created the wonderfully delicious "Fabulous Fermentation Week". The pair devoted this week to posting yummy and interesting fermented food recipes and invited a load of other bloggers to do the same. I very quickly jumped at the chance to get involved and add my own fermented-food-inspired dish.

Both Sarah and Elenore got right down to it and shared with their readers just how easy it is to ferment your own food. I was especially excited to see Sarah's Kimchi post - after returning to New Zealand from my year in Korea, I have been craving and seriously missing my daily dose of Kimchi, but thanks to Sarah I've learnt just how easy it is to make it yourself at home! And taking a look at Elenore's Sauerkraut... well I've never seen purple cabbage look quite so delicious! Sarah and Elenore's do-it-yourself Fabulous Fermentation Week efforts are such a treat to read and learn from. Make sure you check them out.

Rather than attempting the fermentation process myself, I've decided to share a dish that has a fermented food as its star ingredient - my Fabulous Fermentation Week contribution is a fresh throw together bowl of tempeh with greens, goats cheese and strawberries. 

Tempeh (as pictured above) is indeed made from soy beans and there is no doubt a lot to talk about when it comes to soy products and where you stand with regards the soy-controversy. I personally am not a fan of many soy foods because they are usually heavily processed, genetically modified and mass grown and contain a load of toxins we should stare clear of. 

As many of you may already know, Chinese cultures have been eating soy beans for years. But it is their well mastered technique of fermenting the bean to rid it of toxins, unlock its nutrients and increase our ability to digest it that much of the western world has managed to forget, or rather, ignore. Although I've skimmed over it a little now, it is not my purpose in this post to educate you on the truths behind soy - I am still learning myself, but there is information out there that I encourage you to read so that you can come to your own conclusions.

Thankfully, there is some light at the end of my soy tunnel. When you eat soy beans that have been fermented and produced in a conscious and organic nature, you are boosting your bod with a serious protein hit. And let's not forget about the whole purpose of this weeks post - fermented foods are packed with bacteria (don't worry - the good stuff) that help our bodies go go go (pop on over to My New Roots or Earthsprout to learn a load more about the abundance of nutrients in fermented foods). 

Tempeh is a soy food that I don't mind dabbling in thanks to the fermentation process. It has strong roots in Indonesian culture and is made with whole soy beans that are fermented in a starter culture (a fungus called rhizopus oligoporus, if you'd like to know). Tempeh has a very strong flavour - nutty, tangy and quite rich. It is an acquired taste for sure, but one that I recommend trying out a few times. It grows on you. Luckily, there are tempeh producers out there who are going about getting it in our stores ethically. Check out a health food store and you're bound to find some in the refrigerated section. Many manufacturers add in other grains which you might like to look out for and avoid. Just have a good read over of the pack! 

I've packed a load of greens into this bowl. Namely rocket (or arugula) to add a spicy crunch that I find helps balance the deep earthy-ness of the tempeh. I've combined fresh raw greens (mainly rocket, but feel free to top it up with kale or lettuce greens etc) with some sautéed silver beet, zucchinis and leeks and then just heated through the tempeh. I like this combination as it adds more guts to the dish and makes it enjoyable in the current southern and northern hemisphere climates. To give it a creamy salty finish I've happily crumbled over some goats milk feta and topped it off with some fresh strawberries that give bursts of sweetness to excite your taste buds even more. 

Feel free to skip out the feta if you'd prefer to keep this a dairy free meal!

Fabulous Fermentation Week!

tempeh with greens, goats cheese and fresh strawberries

serves 2

for the pan...

approx 1 Tbls olive oil

bottom 1/3 small leek - thinly sliced

1 small zucchini - cut into small rounds 

150 grams of organic tempeh - cut into small cubes (as seen above)

1-2 Tbls organic wheat free soy sauce or nama shoyu

1 packed cup silver beet - roughly chopped

for the salad bowl...

two decent handfuls of rocket (& your choice of roughly chopped greens) per person

to finish...

100 grams goat's milk feta - crumbled

6-8 strawberries - leafy top removed and roughly quartered 

juice of half a lemon

a few good glugs of cold pressed extra virgin olive oil 

rock salt to taste

Chop and prepare the leeks, zucchini and tempeh as outlined above. Heat 1 Tbls of olive oil in a hot pan and then add the sliced leek. Once the leek begins to soften and starts to turn translucent in colour add the zucchini and stir together for about a minute. Next add the tempeh. After 30 seconds or so, poor in the sauce soy and quickly stir through. The pan will steam up nicely. Reduce to a medium heat and continue to cook for another minute or two. Add the silver beet and cover with a lid to encourage it to wilt down. This should take a minute or so, then remove lid and stir together. Turn off element and leave aside to cool a little.

Divide the handfuls of rocket into two salad bowls - one bowl for each person. Prepare the strawberries and set aside. Layer the pan-cooked vegetables over the rocket bowls. Divide the feta and crumble over each dish. Add the strawberries, a light squeeze of lemon juice and a good dashing of olive oil. Lightly toss through. Finish with a little crunch of salt if you'd like, bearing in mind the saltiness of the feta.

I hope you can give this dish a try. Luckily, everyone can take their part in Fabulous Fermentation Week! If you don't have a food blog then just get cooking and try out some fermented foods. Enjoy xx

  

throw together stir fry

Finally! I'm back. New Zealand - it is very VERY great to see you again. The past few weeks have been seriously full - coffee dates, reunions, burning holes in all my pockets, wallets and bank accounts, and not keeping up with eat it posts (sorry!). More details, recipes, photos and stories from my venture home after Korea will make their way onto the blog as I settle back in to a slightly more structured lifestyle. For now though, I can at last share this easy brown rice stir fry that I'd promised a few posts back. 

In my zucchini fettuccine post I wrote about some of my thoughts on the good and bad behind carbohydrates. Check it out here for more background info. I've become more aware in recent years that not all carbohydrate foods are right for me, namely refined grains such as white flour and white rice. So I've had to adjust some things and lower my intake of particular foods. But this does not mean I want to seriously cut out carbohydrates for good (sorry Dr. Atkins). 

This may seem a little out of the blue, but I want to rewind just a little - back to those angst ridden teenage years. Remember if your parents ever said "no!", you'd want to say "yes!", right? If rules were in place, you'd want to break them? Am I ringing any bells? Well, the same goes for me now that I'm an adult. But rather than battling with parents over house parties and riding in cars, it's food that has become the topic of debate. If I'm told I'm not allowed to eat white doughy pizza crust because it's bad for me, then I'll be breaking bars to find the stuff. The whole concept of a 'diet' or not being allowed to eat certain foods makes me feel uneasy.

I have a sneaky feeling that some of you can relate to this concept and have probably experienced, at some point in your life, the yoyo effect - dieting and cutting out a certain food from your diet, feeling deprived and then compensating by introducing it back in with full force. Thankfully I now know that's not a healthy pattern! I never want to associate deprivation, hunger, not allowed and DIET with food. My solution instead is to introduce and welcome new, healthy and delicious foods!

When I introduce foods that are really good for me, I notice that foods that don't bode well with my digestion or body, disappear from my menu quite easily. By consciously channeling my focus onto healthy foods that I should eat (instead of obsessing over foods that I shouldn't eat), the idea of deprivation never comes to mind. 

So in keeping with the theme, here is another dish that introduces a healthy whole grain, is a great carbohydrate source, fills you up and will have you dreaming of more ways to welcome it into your diet.

Why Brown and Black Rice? - White rice is polished and refined so that the hul, bran and germ are removed, depleting it of its fibre and nutrients. Unlike white rice, brown and black rice only have the hul (the outer layer of the rice grain) removed, retaining it's nutritional make-up and boosting us with a bunch of natural goodness. 

Brown rice is extremely high in soluble fiber which is not only great for our digestive system but helps us to feel full for longer and can lower our chances of overeating. Let's not stop at fiber though. Other essential minerals in brown rice include manganese, omega 3 and 6 fatty acids, potassium, iron, and a bunch of B vitamins. Manganese for one, is needed to build strong bones, helps us to metabolise cholesterol and fats, and aides in the absorption of vitamins.

Black rice takes it a step further - it packs all the brown rice punch, but its rich and deep dark colour provides super antioxidant levels. These help our bodies stay clean and neutralise toxins that creep inside us through processed foods, pollution and other chemicals. 

Oh, and did I mention it looks amazing. I love its deep tone and the way it contrasts against the brown rice. Black rice is a little harder to come by in supermarkets however and tends to be priced a tad higher than brown. So don't fear if you can't use it in this recipe. If you've not tried either variety before, it's good to know that the taste is different to white rice. It's nuttier, richer and, well, just more interesting! Give it a go.




throw together stir fry

I've kept the flavours in this dish relatively simple to showcase the complexity in taste of the brown/black rice. The nature of most stir fry meals in my kitchen is usually very last minute and thrown together when I can't be bothered with anything too extravagant and want a quick and easy meal. For this reason I've tried to use simple flavours and ingredients that are staples in my pantry and fridge. What I love about a stir fry is that you can throw in whatever veg you've got and add a shake or sprinkle of whatever sauces or condiments take your fancy. I'm not sticking to any traditional recipe here, so please feel free to experiment with your own flavour combinations. The main goal of this post is to encourage you to try out brown and/or black rice. Enjoy!

serving for 2
1 1/2 cups cooked brown rice*
1 1/2 cups cooked black rice**
2/3 cup shaved almonds - lightly dry toasted***


2 Tbls sesame oil (or preferred cooking oil)
1 large onion - finely sliced
4 cloves garlic - finely chopped
2 Tbls fresh ginger - finely chopped
1-2 small dried red chillies - crushed, seeds removed to desired heat, and finely chopped

1 carrot - cut into thin strips similar to the red capsicum
2 medium sized red capsicums - seeded and cut into thin long slices

1/2 head broccoli - cut into small florets
2 Tbls brown rice vinegar (if you don't have this, lemon juice might complement nicely)
2 Tbls water (more if the pan requires it)
4 Tbls soy sauce (look for wheat free varieties if you'd like to keep this dish gluten free, or alternatively use tamari - this has a stronger flavour so you may need to adjust quantities)
Cracked pepper
Salt

Begin by preparing all vegetables and removing rice from the fridge so it is not so cold when it comes time to cook with it. Add sesame oil to a hot pan and once it glides easily across the bottom add onions and garlic. Stir and cook for a few minutes. Reduce heat a little and add the ginger and chilli. Continue to stir until the ginger is fragrant. Boost the heat and add the carrots. It's really important the pan is piping hot at this point. Toss them through the pan and add 1 Tbls of vinegar. As the carrots start to warm add the other vegetables and continue to move them so they are evenly cooked. Add another Tbls of vinegar. This will create steam for the vegetables to cook in. As soon as the pan dries out again, replace this step by adding water. 

Once the vegetables are heated through but still crunchy, add the rice, soy sauce and pepper. Combine everything together and keep on a medium to high heat until the rice is hot. Just before serving, mix through the almonds (leaving a little for garnish). Have a taste and add a sprinkling of salt, some more soy sauce and a dash more vinegar if you think it needs it. Serve in warm bowls with an extra topping of almonds.

* I like to cook up a batch of brown rice at the start of the week and use it as I need it - usually in a stir fry and cold rice salad. I find using rice that was cooked the day before/cold brown rice works really well in this dish. But if you don't have time you can cook it whilst preparing the vegetables. Then, simply place the rice in a sieve and run a cold tap over it to cool it down a little, before bringing it back to temperature with the other flavours in the stir fry pan. There are many different methods used to cook brown rice so you can follow cooking directions on the back of the packet. I usually add it to a pot with at least three times as much water and cook with the lid ajar on a rolling boil for about 20-25 mins, drain then cool. It has a much firmer bite then white rice, so don't be afraid by this texture and overcook it! 

** I like to cook the black rice in a separate pot to the brown so it doesn't stain the colour of the brown rice. Depending on the grain too, the black can sometimes take a little longer to cook. By separating them you avoid staining and uneven cooking and end up with a lovely colour contrast in your bowl. Remember too, if you don't have black rice, this dish is still great without it.

*** To toast the almonds, place them in a dry pan over a low heat. Keep a close eye on them so they don't burn, and toss them every 30 seconds or so for an even toast. 

zucchini fettuccine with raw & zesty parsley pesto

I've always been a lover of Italian food and although New Zealand is about as far away from Italy as you can get, my parents put their own spin on Italian cuisine and made it a staple in our kitchen while I was growing up. Lasagne was my birthday dinner of choice year after year. Not a week went by without one of my parents whipping up a pasta dish with a sauce that was always made from scratch. I've old memories of my Dad, Mike, setting aside a whole Saturday and devoting it to the kitchen - a ritual he practices to  this day. His full-day-cook-up saw him make amazing pizzas with dough that was nurtured and cared for like a baby (and if he wasn't jumping continents to Europe, he'd be whipping up some elaborate Indian style curry - Saturday night dinner was always a treat)!

So it goes without saying... I love pasta. I love bread. I love pizza. But in recent years my body hasn't been dealing with the massive amounts of refined wheat (think white pasta, pizza dough, most breads) that it used to so easily enjoy. 

Initially, even though my body was telling me it couldn't cope, my mind wasn't having a bar of it. The thought of life without bread and pasta was not worth a second of my time. I soon realised though, that the weight gain, exhaustion and the slow but dangerous decline of a healthy functioning body was not worth it. So, although  I couldn't really stomach the idea of getting rid of pasta and bread from my diet, I knew I could find some ways to shift my thinking and prepare food a little differently so that I felt better and ultimately my body would be happy and healthy.

When I first approached this issue, I was quick to blame carbohydrates in general as the source of the problem. I think many of us associate pasta and bread with weight gain. And when we think of pasta and bread - we think carbs. So if carbs are stopping us from doing up the top button on our jeans, just cut them out of our diet right? Wrong! In my venture into understanding the story behind carbohydrates, I learnt that they don't just come in the form of pizza, pasta and bread. Lentils, chickpeas, brown rice, barley, beans, buckwheat, quinoa, heck even fruit and vegetables are all great sources of carbohydrates. So are we supposed to cut them out of our diet too? I don't think so! 

Refined carbohydrates are foods that I like to keep an eye out for. A refined carbohydrate basically means that its natural nutrients - including fiber, minerals and vitamins - have been stripped. In other words, it is no longer a whole food. Let's take white flour for example. Many people consider white flour to be nutritionally 'dead' because of the intense degree to which the wheat berry has been striped of its nutrients during the milling process. So it makes sense as to why I was feeling so blocked up after eating refined wheat. It's lacking in real nutrients and clogging up my system, providing zero health gains. 

Then there's the marketing element to food that tricks us with skilfully constructed jargon to promote, what I consider to be, fake health. These days you'll find on your shelves 'enriched' white flour. Please don't be fooled. This just means the wheat berry has been milled and ground down, depleting it of its vitamins and minerals and then had a very small artificial handful thrown back in. What's the point? I guess after all this stripping and breaking down someone realised that food should be eaten to nourish us and that we actually need key nutrients to live. So by supplementing (a very small few of) the nutrients back in (making it 'whole' again) and whacking on a label that reads 'enriched', the problem's solved. I'll let you ponder that for a minute.

All that being said, I'm not telling you to never touch a loaf of bread again! But my thoughts on the matter are to keep things in moderation. Cutting down on refined foods in general and replacing them with nourishing whole and real foods has helped me become a healthier person and I just wanted to share some of my own insight!

Ok, now let's rewind a little here to my love affair with pasta. If life without bread, without pizza, without pasta was out of the equation, then I wanted to find a way to make it work for me. And I've been experimenting! - How can I replace refined carbohydrates with WHOLE foods? Let me tell you.

The first answer is simple and in the question itself....

Replace the refined carbohydrate with the unadulterated (whole) version! I try to avoid using so much white flour and sub in wholemeal flour or spelt flour. Or try out brown rice, black rice or quinoa instead of white rice - they fill you up for longer and have far more complex and interesting flavours. A simple start.

When it comes to bread and mastering a decent loaf - I'm still a novice and I've struggled to source some white flour alternatives in my little country town in Korea. It's a work in progress so let me get back to you! Don't let me stop you experimenting though - if you're new to it, start subbing in wholemeal flours in baking and work your way up to bread.

My second answer is right here in today's dish... I want to share with you two meals (this post and next) that each demonstrate recipes which replace refined foods with whole foods. First up is my Italian inspired zucchini fettuccine with raw green pesto. The purpose of this dish is to give you an idea of how you can put a mega twist on a pasta classic. 

Next we'll jump continents from Europe to Asia and I'll show you a classic rice stir-fry dish I like to whip up using brown rice instead of white (stay tuned for my next post). You can also check out last week's recipe - crunchy red vegetable, kumara and brown lentil salad, for more inspiration. Lentils are a great carbohydrate that are protein packed and 100% whole.

Right. Zucchini Fettuccine time. So, maybe I've potentially drawn you into this recipe under false pretences. There isn't actually any pasta in this dish as the title suggests. But don't run away - I've enticed you this far and we're hitting the home straight. As it turns out, zucchinis are amazing and my new best friend. When you peel them and give them a light steam they have a similar texture to pasta, with a fresh and lighter taste - a true lifesaver in my recent journey. I could go on about how good it is or how much it really tastes like pasta, but I'm not sure you'll believe me until you try it out for yourself! 

Give this recipe a go, and if it doesn't satisfy, make sure I'm the first to know about it!

zucchini fettuccine with raw-green pesto 

raw & zesty parsley pesto
1 cup raw walnuts - soaked for 5-7 hours*
3 cloves of garlic* - roughly chopped
2 packed cups of parsley
juice of a lemon
1/2 cup cold pressed olive oil
1/4 cup water
tsp of flaky sea salt or rock salt
decent grind of cracked pepper

Add walnuts, garlic and parsley to a food processor and blend until the ingredients have broken up and started to mix together. Add lemon juice, salt and pepper and give it a few pulses. Next, with the blender on, slowly pour in the olive oil. Everything at this stage should be combined but still a little dry. Next add water, as you did the olive oil, so that the pesto reaches a creamy yet chunky paste and holds nicely together. I like my pesto to have texture but also easily spreadable. You can tweak the water or add more olive oil at the end to reach your desired consistency. Have a taste and season more if you fancy. To store, keep in the fridge for up to five days and top with a little olive oil if it starts to dry out.

I've kept this pesto raw so that it's user friendly for everyone. I've talked about the goodness of a diet rich in raw foods here, check it out if you'd like. This pesto is a great addition to your fridge whether you're a 100% raw foodie, or just love the taste of a good quality pesto. If you do swing in the complete-raw direction you can enjoy this dish by preparing the vegetables as I've outlined below and skipping the steaming and cooking steps.

zucchini fettuccine
serving for two

3 large zucchinis (stock up if there are only small ones available at your market)
12-14 cherry tomatoes - halved
approx 8 button mushrooms - quartered (or chopped into 6 if they are big)
2 Tbls of olive oil
juice of half a lemon 
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 lightly packed cup spinach - roughly chopped 
salt and pepper
water for steaming
3 Tbls raw & zesty parsley pesto
parsley - finely chopped (optional for a garnish)

Bring a pot of water to boil that fits a steamer inside. Peel the zucchinis to remove and discard the skin. Continue this same peeling motion but keeping the shavings in a bowl (see picture below). Continue to peel till you reach the seedy centre. Set aside and prepare the tomatoes and mushrooms as described above. Add the olive oil to a hot pan. When the oil is hot, sprinkle the oregano around the edge of the pan and arrange the tomatoes on top, flat-face down - reserving space in the centre of the pan. Place the mushrooms in the middle. After a minute add lemon juice to the mushrooms and give them a stir. Wait another minute or so and then flip the tomatoes (once they are starting to brown up). At this point you can mix them all together, season with salt and pepper to taste and add a dash of water or extra lemon juice if the pan dries out. Continue to cook till the mushrooms are soft and the tomatoes skins start to wrinkle. Turn to a low heat and cover. 

Add the zucchinis to the steamer for two minutes (no longer). If they start to turn translucent remove them. All you really want to do is heat them through. While they are doing their thing (this is where timing gets a little tricky), add 3 healthy sized tablespoons of pesto to the tomato/mushroom pan and mix through. When the zucchini is ready, add this to the pan and bring everything together (I find tongs handy for this step). If necessary add an extra drizzle of olive oil for lubrication, or even an extra dollop of pesto.

Garnish with parsley, cracked pepper, and a sprinkling of salt if that takes you fancy.

* Completely immerse 1 cup of walnuts in clean filtered water and leave to soak for 5-7 nights - overnight is fine, or during the day while you're at work. Soaking your seeds and nuts breaks down their enzymes which inhibits our bodies from efficiently absorbing their nutrients. Plus they swell up and change in texture ideal for this recipe.

** The garlic I was using in Korea was really powerful. If I used three cloves this pesto would blow my head off. I don't remember garlic being that strong at home. I got my lovely mother to test out the recipe and she used 4 cloves and said it was punchy but great. So I've rolled with three in this recipe assuming you're using a relatively mild-average bulb. But feel free to judge this yourself. Definitely throw in at least one clove! It cuts into the strength of the olive oil and works well with the lemon juice to brighten the flavours.

eat it - it all starts here

Welcome!

The time has come for me to stop procrastinating and get on and begin this blog! I’ll get straight to it and give you a little bit of background info. 

For the past ten months I’ve been living in a very small, very isolated country town in South Korea. It’s been a crazy whirlwind experience with its mega highs and mega lows. When I first arrived my health was not in the best shape and so I decided to set aside one year to devote myself to finding ultimate health and happiness.

It's been a year without the comforts of home and strong support networks of friends and family – something I've had to seriously adjust to. But I've taken this ideal opportunity to put my health first. Health and cooking good food has been my main focus.

I've set aside one whole year! Not some crazy-fast-paced 6 week diet - no carbs this, or low fat that. Just pure foods, whole foods, REAL FOOD!

                                                      

My favourite thing about Korean food is the selection of beautiful side dishes - called pancheon and namul.
(Above)

Buckwheat, banana and blueberry pancakes. Some home comfort weekend cooking.

     
Ten months in and I feel like a very different person! Along the way a few things have become clear. First of all, after rummaging through many blogs, recipes and information on the web (thank you Korea for the fastest, most amazing internet connections in the world!!), I've learnt about a whole network and community of people out there sharing, reading, interested in and learning about whole foods nutrition. I for one am hooked! Every day that I learn something new, I've this desire to share it. And so that is exactly what I plan to do.


Next I've realised that some people are a little scared or intimidated by the idea of new foods and different cooking. So I'd like to find ways to make it easy, accessible and fun and inspire all sorts of different folk to build their own health and get cooking.

Just a few months ago something clicked quite perfectly into place for me - I’m clearly passionate about all of this, so why not make it a pretty serious part of my career. I've been researching and thinking about studying nutritional medicine and luckily New Zealand offers some great schools where I can make this happen. On my way home to the beautiful Aotearoa later this year, I’ll be taking a rather delicious trip through South East Asia, enjoying an extremely extravagant stop off in Oz to see some very special friends and then home to my roots to set up camp and make holistic nutrition a bigger part of my life. So, if you like, watch this space. I'll post and share as I learn and most importantly spread some very tasty recipe love!

Why Eat It?...

There is one simple answer to that. We are what we eat right?? So, if you want good health…Then EAT IT.