Carrots and Hiziki Stir Fry

Recipe for the Morning After

Last Updated on Wednesday, 7 March 2012 10:28 Written by Flax Wednesday, 7 March 2012 10:28

Kongnamulguk, or sprout soup as we say in English, is one of Korea’s national dishes.  It is a  a very healthy and nutritious soup that is really more of a meal than a first course.  Besides being a great cure for a cold, this soup is touted for it’s hangover curing abilities.  Sprouts, the main ingredient in this soup, contain aspartic acid, shown to be useful in curing a hangover.

This dish is very simple, it takes about five minutes of preparation time and another thirty minutes of cooking time.  The soup is served  accompanied by brown rice and kimchee (spicy Korean pickles).  If  you are not a food perfectionist, you can replace the kimchee with sauerkraut or any pickled vegetables.  Just spice up whatever pickles you already have in the house by adding some chilli peppers and ginger and call it kimchee.

Ingredients:

• sesame oil
• 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 onion, sliced
• 1 chilli pepper, finely chopped
• 6 cups water
• 1 package mung bean sprouts
• 1 large piece of kombu (seaweed)
• 3 scallions, sliced on an angle into small pieces
• soy sauce
• hot chilli flakes
• 11/2 cups cooked brown rice

Saute the garlic, onion, and chilli pepper in the sesame oil.  Add the water and bring to a boil.  Simmer for five minutes.  Add the sprouts and simmer for fifteen minutes more.  Add the scallions and remove from the flame.

Place the rice, soy sauce, kimchee (pickles) and chilli pepper on the table.  Ladle the soup into bowls and add the remaining ingredients at the table.

Serves 6.

Orange With a Twist

Last Updated on Thursday, 1 March 2012 03:12 Written by Flax Thursday, 1 March 2012 02:54

This soup, based on a variety of orange vegetables is unique due to the variety of spices it encompasses.  Orange vegetables, sweet in flavor are very to the spleen and are wonderful for anyone who suffers from digestive issues.  The combination of warming and invigorating spices that are used in the recipe below are also meant to help to improve the digestive system.

Ingredients:

• olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1″ ginger root, grated
• 1 butternut squash, chopped
• 5 carrots, chopped
• 1 sweet potato,  chopped
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 4 liters water
• juice of 2 lemons
• 1/4 cup pine nuts
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp allspice
• salt and pepper
• chopped coriander for garnish

Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot.  Saute the onion until it turns translucent, add the garlic, ginger, and spices and saute for two minutes more.   Add the water, bring to a boil, and then add the remaining ingredients.  Simmer on a low flame for one hour.  Puree, garnish with the chopped coriander, and serve hot.

Serves 8-10.

Coconut Cookies

Last Updated on Wednesday, 15 February 2012 04:56 Written by Flax Wednesday, 15 February 2012 04:41

While I am not a big fan of baked desserts, there are times when they are appropriate.  While baking recipes will often call for butter, Jewish law prevents eating a dairy dessert after a meat meal.  Traditional Jewish dessert recipes, such as yeast cakes and kichelech,overcame this problem by creating desserts which technically did not need any fat.  Modern Jewish baking recipes have adapted dairy dessert recipes, replacing the butter with margarine.  Unfortunately, as many of us well know, margarine is extremely unhealthy.

Hydrogenated fat, margarine, or trans fat, is one of the worst things that a person can put in their body.  In addition to being linked to coronary heart disease, it also tastes terrible.  I personally can’t stand that scum that sticks to the tongue and the roof of the mouth after having (accidentally) eaten something with margarine.  Not only that, I know that the scum that is on my tongue is the same scum that is sticking to my intestinal wall as well as clogging up my arteries.  So, what are the options?  Many of us believe that canola oil provides a healthier alternative.  This is not necessarily the case, as the oil on supermarket shelves is refined.  The refining process depletes the oil of vital nutrients and, while it removes the taste of rancidity, the harmful effects of rancid oil remain behind.

The recipe below recommends using coconut oil.  While again, I think everyone is better off without cookies, I know that some of us, at least some of the time, might on occasion eat a cookie or two.  In which case, I try to make the baked goods as delicious, and as healthy as possible.  Coconut oil was not traditionally used in baking but rather as a skin moisturizer and a hair conditioner.   As a practitioner who bases her beliefs on proven ancient traditions, I still think that it is better not to bake with coconut oil, but rather to stay completely away from baked desserts.  Since I know that the vast majority of people won’t do that, I will have to say, that after butter, the best choice of fat to use in baking would be coconut oil.

The myth that coconut oil is bad for you is unfounded:

• Coconut oil is beneficial for the heart. It contains about 50% lauric acid, which helps in preventing various heart problems including high cholesterol levels and high blood pressure and it does not lead to increase in LDL levels.
• Coconut oil strengthens the immune system as it contains antimicrobial lipids, lauric acid, capric acid and caprylic acid which have antifungal, antibacterial and antiviral properties.
• Coconut oil contains lesser calories than other oils, its fat content is easily converted into energy and it does not lead to accumulation of fat in the heart and arteries. Coconut oil helps in boosting energy and endurance, and enhances the performance of athletes.
• Coconut oil is now shown to be helpful in treating Alzheimer’s disease.
• Coconut oil stops tooth decay.  (I would still recommend brushing your teeth after a eating a cookie).

My daughter used the recipe below to make cookies for her brother’s bar-mitzvah.  They were so good that unfortunately there are none left.  I am hoping that we will get lucky and she will make us another batch.

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp ground flax seed
• 3 tbsp hot water
• 8 tbsp coconut oil
• 1 cup whole spelt flour (or wheat)
• 1 cup white spelt flour (or wheat)
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 tbsp orange juice
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 180 c (350 f).

Pour the hot water over the ground flax seed and allow to sit for five minutes.

Cream the sugar and the coconut oil.  Add the remaining ingredients and mix with an electric mixer until smooth.

Roll the dough between two sheets of parchment paper to 1/2 cm thickness and use a cookie cutter to cut out desired shapes.

Place the cookies on a greased cookie sheet and decorate with the chocolate chips.

Bake in a preheated oven for 10 minutes.

Sima Herzfeld Navon is a nutritional healer and teaches healthy cooking classes.