You would think with my Polish heritage I would have secret family recipes but I don’t. So I turn to good ole’ Sandor and his amazing fermentation bible for advice and encouragement which never fails. I made his sour dill recipe with a bunch of cucumbers I bought at a farm stand (my cucumber crop was a failure this year! it was in too shady a spot. and I think it would help if I watered it more often). So I followed his recipe and fermented it in the crock that is my slow-cooker, which was the perfect size for a plate to fit on and weigh down the cukes. We are blessed with a gigantic grape vine so I had easy access to grape leaves, which magically retain the crunch on pickles. Oak leaves also do the same thing. Since it was still summer when I fermented them, they were ready in less than a week. These pickles are unbelievable. They are unlike any store-bought pickle I have ever had. They just taste…right. I love how there is no vinegar added, just a salt water brine and some dill and garlic and it’s heaven. I ended up with about 4 mason jars’ worth and have eaten my way through half of them. I must confess I am a bit of a food hoarder so the last jar may hide out in the fridge for a special occasion (or until next cucumber season–but I doubt that). I just found chanterelles from last year in my freezer and realized I should enjoy them since fresh ones are now in season. I just can’t bring myself to have the last bite of food or eat the last bit of something—just in case of who knows what…but it’s definitely programmed into my head.

Ready to eat!

The best bonus of these pickles is that there is a giant pile of brined garlic waiting to be eaten along with the pickles. Crunchy with a pungent spicy garlic bite, each clove is an adventure to eat. It’s so delicious and I just assumed it was pickle by-product bound for the compost. But no, this garlic is great. I haven’t used it for anything in the kitchen except for eating out of the jar. I bet it would be great sliced on put on a sausage-dog with some sauerkraut. Now that’s an immune system boost I could eat every day.

I realized this week that I’m not alone in my fermentation fetish.  Being a fan of Sandor Katz, I received an email from him detailing his whereabouts and I was excited to discover that not only was he coming to Portland, but there was a whole free festival centered around fermentation and community.  I don’t think the event planners realized how big of a turnout it was going to be and neither did I.  I only know a few people who are interested in fermenting and the rest of my friends just consider it part of my quirkiness.  But the funny thing, it’s not weird and out there, it’s the way things used to be.  Eating used to center on preserving the harvest and making food last.  So many cultures have fermenting and culturing as a base of their food history and as the world gets more Westernized, there is a fear of it’s loss for not only history’s sake but for our health as well.  I won’t wax on regarding the health benefits of fermented foods but in a nutshell, it’s proven to support the immune system, aid in digestion and creates a conscious bond with our food and in doing so, our place on earth.

The festival only lasted 2 hours but it was a crowded one.  Luckily this type of community was as excited as me and patient enough to wade through the masses of people to sample each other’s ferments and chat a bit.  I do wish it was a little less crowded or in a bigger venue because I would have liked more time to talk to the people sharing their home ferments but I felt like once I grabbed a sample, I had to keep moving through the room.  There was a lot of kefir, sauerkraut and kombucha to sample and I got to try a few new things as well.  I tried an Earl Grey Kombucha which was divine and now I feel inspired to branch out with my kombucha batches.  I’ve been doing solely green and Oolong bases and adding in some fruit simple syrups for the second ferment.  I think this event was eye opening because fermenting is very personal and it was great to see people making their own variations, like a batch of sauerkraut that had grated fresh turmeric root in it, making it a bright yellow.  The tastiest kefir I had was a pina colada kefir, which must have been a coconut water kefir with pineapple juice.  It was refreshing and delicious and a nice way to introduce culturing to the general population.

The extreme end of the introduction spectrum was the natto,  which is soybeans fermented with a bacteria called Bacillus subtilis. I had only heard of natto and how gross it is.  I considered buying the bacteria when I stocked up on tempeh starter but was scared of natto and this business of refined palates and obscure Japanese flavors.  Well, I am proud to admit that I tried it and it wasn’t as disgusting as I anticipated.  It was sort of nutty in flavor and phlegmy in texture.  They served it on nori, which I didn’t like but I think it would be good in fried rice or mixed with other things.  Perhaps natto will make it on my list of things to make at home, but I know I’m not in a rush to make it.  My current fermenting counter space is relegated to sour dill pickles, which I’m really excited about.  A friend from college was making them last time I visited her and I got to try them and they were delicious.  I love the idea that it’s just cucumbers, salt and water and time does the rest.  Expect an upcoming post and photos of my sour adventures.

The highlight of the festival was getting to meet Sandor, who was so sweet and nice.  He seemed a little overwhelmed with the crowd but he definitely took time to talk to people and answer questions.  I was worried about the amount of surface mold on my pickle crock and he gave me the reassurance that I needed.  He brought a crock of “kraut-chi” to share and I was lucky enough to try a bite before it ran out.  It had cabbage, okra, peppers, mung sprouts, Nasturtium and more.  It was the ultimate example that you can ferment anything!  There were some home brews there as well, which were fun to try.  There was a spruce ale, a local wine and hard cider (which ran out before I got to try it).  Other highlights included a fruit kimchi, gingered carrots and brined garlic.  It was a fun time and I can’t wait for more fermenting events because it was obvious that this city is ripe and ready for it.  I am not alone!

I sure haven’t but their drinks are amazing. It’s not all watery like rice milk is which has always disappointed me. I’m not looking to drink cream, but this “shake” is extremely satisfying to consume. Apparently Grainaissance has been around since 1979 and operates out of California but the thing I love the most about this drink is not that it is free of corn syrup, refined sugar or even cane sugar. It’s the pure fact that there’s no added sugar at all! This magical concoction is brown rice…fermented! So the sweetness comes from the carbohydrates in the rice being broken down by Koji, which is the same stuff (correct me if I’m wrong) used to make sake. But this tastes much better than sake and for something with such simple ingredients and feels so pure and unrefined, I’m impressed that it tastes so good and not all granola-y like some brands of hemp milk out there (Living Harvest excluded-they are the only ones that make hemp milk right). So I suggest trying one next time you have a sugar craving. I feel an at-home experiment coming on…

I’m not much of a hummus maker or eater (gasp!). Although I do enjoy hummus and the many variations that it can inspire, I find that when I make it I’ll eat it once and it will invariably rot in the back of my fridge. It’s definitely a snack food or sandwich spread, which leads us to the fact that I am not a snacker or much of a sandwich maker. Perhaps when I have kids I’ll get into the hummus groove since those creatures eat so much. But I did make the pictured hummus. We’ve got the peanut sesame hummus from ED&BV and it’s unbelievably amazing. Well, I could believe it because you can’t go wrong with the flavor combos. The creepy looking one in the back in an improvised white bean garlic rosemary hummus with tahini, lemon juice and salt. Pretty basic but the roasted garlic gave it a nice smoothness to contrast the woodsy rosemary. Making homemade hummus is easy and fast (if you have canned beans) and is always welcomed at parties. At least the ones that I attend.

Taking a break from mushrooms, let’s look at this luscious tart I made recently. It was really easy to make and very tasty. For the crust, I veganized a recipe off epicurious and it was amazing. It’s a cornmeal crust with rosemary and I made it in my food processor. Instead of butter I used Earth Balance. I par-baked the crust for about 25 minutes at 375 degrees (or until it gets a nice golden color).

During the baking of the crust, I made the cashew cream filling from My Sweet Vegan, which is simple and easy (food processor!) and very rich. I found it to be too thick and I added more water to thin it out to more of a custard consistency. I really like the maple syrup in it, it gave it a nice dimension. I tossed some fresh, local figs in this fruit concentrate sweetener I have from Mystic Lake Dairy. It’s great stuff and deserves it’s own post one day. Once the crust was baked and cooled, I spread the filling in it and arranged the figs on top. Then I baked it at 350 degrees for another 20 minutes to soften the figs and brown the crust. I loved the rosemary in the crust and the texture the cornmeal gave it, along with the sweetness of maple syrup and richness of cashews and of course, the figs. I adore figs. I didn’t know you could even eat or procure fresh figs until I moved to the west coast. Figs used to be a thing of dried round packages at holiday times, which are tasty but are nothing compared to the fresh thing. There’s just something about figs I adore. Luckily they grow well here and I plan to have my own tree one day. Currently my favorite fig variety is the Adriatic. It tastes like fig jam and it’s amazing.

Lobster Cauliflower Soup

This soup can be substituted any way you like it. Play around with the mushrooms and the grain. It’s a simple dish and comforting for that cold weather coming. It’s closely based off of a Leslie Cerier recipe. Enjoy!

A Soup that doesn’t contain Lobsters or Cauliflower
Yield: 4 hungry people

Ingredients

• 3 cups chopped cauliflower mushroom
• 1/2 cup rice milk (or other)
• 7 cups water, divided
• 1/2 cup pearled barley
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 Tbl dried shiitake
• 1 Tbl dried porcini
• 1 Tbl olive oil
• 1 medium onion, medium diced (1 cup)
• 1/2 carrot, 1/4″ rounds (1/2 cup)
• 1 rib celery, 1/4″ slices (1/4 cup)
• 3 cups sliced lobster mushroom
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1/2 tsp dried sage
• 1 tsp sea salt, or more to taste
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• parsley for garnish

Method

1. Soak cauliflower mushroom in milk. I’m not sure if this accomplishes anything, but I read it makes it more tender. I think the ideal is 30 minutes but I forgot about it and it was more like an hour.
2. In a stockpot, combine half of the water, barley and bay leaf and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 40 minutes.
3. Bring the remaining water to a boil in a separate pan and once it reaches a boil, turn off the heat. Add the dried mushrooms and allow that to soak for at least 20 minutes. (Good timing to get it started while the barley is cooking).
4. Heat the oil in a skillet of your choice and saute the onions for about 5 minutes.
5. Add the carrots, celery and lobster mushrooms and saute for 10-15 minutes or until the lobsters are soft and you don’t feel scared to eat them. A lot of water should be cooked off at this point, but you don’t want too dry a pan.
6. While the lobsters are cooking, strain the cauliflower mushrooms from the milk and add it to the simmering barley mixture along with the dried mushroom water. Return mixture to a simmer and continue cooking for 10-15 minutes (you can time this together with the lobster mushrooms).
7. Add the sauteed lobster mixture to the soup with the wine, thyme, sage, salt and pepper. Simmer for 5 minutes more, balance salt to your palette and serve with some parsely to liven it up.

I don’t eat a lot of cabbage, which may shame my Polish ancestors. Maybe it was because my mother grew up with so much cabbage that she didn’t force it on me or that I only had it at Grandma’s house on holidays. Regardless, it has not become a comfort food for me. My Polish comfort foods are pickles and pierogies. Now I can add sauerkraut to that list.

Making sauerkraut is easy and not very time consuming. It’s origins lie in China as a staple for the people who built the Great Wall. I first made it in culinary school when other people were curing meats and experimenting with innards. My free time was spent veganizing French classics and fermenting whatever I could. I was shocked at how easy it was; it practically made itself. I made a huge batch at school and fretted over what to do with it. I prefer it as a sandwich condiment but the Polish traditionally stew it up with kielbasa for a warm wintry meal. Since it’s summer, it’s been adorning all the sausages I have been making.

Red cabbage turns pink!

Homemade kraut is different than the store bought stuff because it is alive. It still has plenty of crunch and tang to it. I think the canned stuff is crap and belongs in a time capsule with canned asparagus. Making it at home is cheap and since it’s fresh and raw, it’s very beneficial. It is filled with good-for-you bacteria that add to the bio-diversity of your intestinal flora. Like a field of wildflowers in your belly instead of a field of one type of flower, your digestion and immune system are stronger for it. If that makes any sense. It’s like eating yogurt for the probiotics it contains. A detailed report on benefits of kraut can be found here. I base my recipe off of Sandor’s, who is a fermentation master and improved his health dramatically by adding fermented foods to his diet. He has an amazing book that I can’t wait to buy. It’s next on my list. He recommends 5 pounds of cabbage to 3 Tablespoons of salt.

Did you know there was a long term study on Polish women who immigrated to the US? The ones who Americanized their diets and stopped eating sauerkraut had a much higher rate of breast cancer than the Polish women who maintained their diet of lacto-fermented foods. So, we’ve got kraut fighting cancer, reducing junk food cravings, morning sickness and providing us with plenty of Vitamin C and stronger immune systems. Let’s make some!

Sauerkraut Yields about 2 packed cups of kraut
Ingredients

Core, chiffonade & salt

• 1.5 pounds of cabbage (about a medium head)
• just under 1 Tablespoon salt (sea salt)
• optional: juniper berries (make grandma proud), caraway seeds, celery seeds, kelp flakes, minced garlic, chili flakes
• A glass jar
• A smaller jar to fit inside
• A clean tea towel
• Rubber Band

Method

1. Wash all of your equipment well with hot soapy water and let it dry while you prepare the cabbage.
2. Peel the outer leaves of the cabbage off (you can save them for a liner for the weight).
3. Cut the cabbage in quarters, remove the core (if you don’t want it) and chiffonade the cabbage as thin as possible.

Fermenting a small batch
4. Place the cabbage in a large bowl and toss with the salt.  Allow to sit 15 minutes or until it starts getting juicy.
5. Pack the cabbage into your jar (a medium head of cabbage fits nicely into a quart jar).  I usually fill the jar half way and start tamping on it with a wooden spoon and adding more cabbage as I make more room.  It’s surprising how much it compacts.  You don’t want any air spaces and the goal is to have the cabbage completely covered by it’s own juices.  If it’s not really juicy yet, let it sit 10 minutes then come back to it and tamp some more.
6. Once it’s packed tight and the juice level is adequate, place the outer leaves or a clean plate or a clean small jar on top of the kraut (this keeps the cabbage submerged in the juice so it can do it’s fermentation anaerobically).  Place a weight on top of this (I usually use a small jar filled with beans to weigh it down).  Then, cover it with a towel and tie it on with a rubber band (or string).  Improvise with what you have around.
7. Put it in a cool, dry place and check on it every few days.  If there’s mold, scrape it off, it won’t hurt you.
8. Some people like it really sour, it prefer a slight crunch and tang.  In summer that’s about 3 days and in the winter it might take a week.  Once it tastes how you like it, I put a lid on the container and keep it in the fridge.  Once it’s in the fridge it lasts a long time.  I haven’t had a batch go bad on me in the fridge yet, so I’m not sure of the shelf life.  Repack the kraut every time you take from it to keep it in the liquid.

Great sandwich addition

You can really play around with added ingredients. I’ve heard of people adding grated beets, apples or brussel sprouts to the mix. You can add a lot of spiciness and make it akin to kimchi (which I made once and never again, it’s too hot for my taste). My current batch has kelp, caraway seeds and garlic in it. A classic is dill and juniper. I’d recommend starting off with 1 teaspoon and increasing spices to your desire. My current batch on the counter has 1/2 tsp black peppercorns, 1 tsp caraway seeds, 1/2 tsp celery seeds and 1 tsp kelp flakes. It should be interesting.

Vital wheat gluten is a wonderful thing. My first encounters with seitan (the wheat meat) were unflavored store-bought varieties over 10 years ago. This little gluten has come a long way from Chinese Buddhists of the past. While in culinary school I wanted to learn how to make it, the traditional way. One of my chef instructors knew how but laughed at me. I always wanted to use my spare time to do some “old-world” thing from scratch, no matter how long it took. Making seitan from bread flour takes a LONG time. Basically you put flour and water in a bowl and knead it until it’s like bread dough. Then you soak it in water, let it sit, knead and knead and rinse the starch away. It took about 3 hours, probably longer, but it came out just like the rubbery stuff that I knew. My goal that day was to grind it and make a vegan version of salisbury steak because I was assigned cow salisbury steak that day to learn to make. I have blacked out the entire meat side of the day and only remember kneading that doughy glutinous mass.

Au naturelle w/Dijon

Knowing the labor involved in scratch-seitan, I am quite thankful for whoever thought to isolate the gluten from the flour and sell it in powdered form. Called vital wheat gluten and available in most supermarkets now, it takes the 3 hours kneading process down to 5 minutes or less. Plus by doing it this way you can add in lots of flavors that aren’t possible with homemade gluten. I have seen a lot of recipes calling for nutritional yeast, soy sauce and lots of spices in the mix, which really make it palatable for omnivores. There are many ways to cook it, from simmering on the stove (which makes it too spongy), braising in the oven (mixed results), wrapping in foil and baking it (for the seitan o greatness) or steaming it (Julie Hasson style). If your stove is finicky, I don’t recommend simmering it at all. I’ve tried all kinds of broths and flavoring agents but it doesn’t seem to soak in from the boil water. The best way to infuse flavor is directly into the mixture.

Julie’s Italian Sausage

I am always experimenting with different seitan recipes and most recently made Julie Hasson’s Italian Sausage. I love that she adds chickpea flour to the dough, it seems to give it a great texture and flavor different than the others. My husband LOVED this sausage recipe and I will be playing around with it a bit. I didn’t have onion powder, smoked paprika or red pepper flakes so I used more Hungarian paprika and jalapeno flakes. I used a powdered chik’n broth from my co-op instead of what she recommended and it didn’t come out too salty. I also cheaped out and used less foil than she does in her video and some of them popped out of the package and are crazy shapes. It still tasted awesome. Moist, not too chewy and great flavors.

Seitan o’greatness

Last year, the Seitan O’Greatness was on a lot of food blogs and I too tried the recipe and found it easy to make and bake. This seitan is like a log of pepperoni, spicy, meaty and dry. I’ve also tried the Italian sausage from the Artful Vegan and liked that flavor combination a lot, although if I were to do it again, I would wrap it in foil and steam it, not simmer it in cheesecloth. Real Food Daily has an interesting seitin recipe that uses pureed beans in the mixture and it’s baked in a loaf pan. It tastes like pureed chicken and stuffing. It was much softer than the other seitans and not sliceable, but really tasty. I will have to make these recipes again and update with pictures.

Added to Tahini Noodles

The options to cook seitan are endless. We like to pan-fry and serve plain with dijon mustard if we’re feeling lazy. I’ve added it to tomato sauces, pasta dishes, grilled and eaten like a hot dog, cut up and put in burritos, or braised with sauerkraut if I want to feed my Polish cravings. I also like to cut it into strips and throw it into soup. I look forward to seeing more people develop new recipes and the continued improvement of this lovely hunk of protein.

Unfortunately, we are not in a “green” zone, like Seattle. We are in Florida. At the local farmer’s market, I asked a vendor if he used sprays or pesticides on their produce. I got an “I don’t know” from one and a laugh from the other. Apparently, seeking produce sans chemicals is not in demand or the supply at the farmer’s markets. I was shocked to see apples from Washington and grapes from Chile at the market. Guess “local” is not in demand, either. I don’t want anyone to take offense, I am just observing the differences between my experiences in Seattle’s markets versus the markets I’ve visited in Florida. We did find a nut and dried fruits guy at the market that had raw, organic nuts at a good price.

So the raw idea came about because I want to learn more about raw cuisine and want to practice. I used the highly recommended Ani Phyo’s Raw Food Kitchen as my intro to raw foods. She has a lot of good information about green living as well as eating. I was excited to try her recipes. Some of the recipes we liked, others were blah. We did 5 days of raw foods and survived. Overall, it was not difficult but a lot of prep and washing the food processor and blender. I was in the kitchen for hours making the dishes, which was too much for me. I assume you spend less time as you learn more, but it seemed like it was more time to un-cook than to cook. I found it difficult to make some of her recipes without a dehydrator or a $400 Vita-Mix blender. I have been trying the oven drying method (turn your oven on, turn your oven off, wait, repeat) and the bread took about 14 hours to dry. I would do sun-drying but I am in muggy Florida. I think it would just add moisture to my food and rot it. We spent about $175 on food for 5 days of raw for 2 people (we did end up with some leftovers). $60 of that was just nuts. Nuts are expensive and it was intense to eat so much fat in the form of nuts and olive oil (she calls for a lot in the recipes). Her serving sizes are HUGE, which left us with more food than we could eat.

Why raw? There are many schools of thoughts on raw, and the one I am learning about is vegan raw foodism. The concept is to consume food that is “live” and not heated over 104 deg F (although people do have different opinions about the temperature thing). The main benefits of eating raw is for increased energy, improved health (prevention and healing of disease) and benefits of anti-aging. When food is cooked, there is a loss of vitamins and water. Juliano says that cooking in metal pans means we are consuming toxic metals as well. It’s very cleansing and high in fiber. Not all raw folks are 100% raw, there are many people who choose percentages of raw/cooked that work for them. I have always found raw cuisine fascinating and fun. I’ve enjoyed trying new raw places, my current favorite is Almond Blossom Cafe in Flagler Beach, FL. They blew me away with great flavors, textures and presentation. I always feel great after eating a raw meal and a little hyped on energy.

I didn’t really notice any detox feelings while on the raw diet. I missed bread and chocolate and beans. The main thing that my body noticed was the high level of fats in the food and the lack of carbs. I personally don’t consume a lot of carbs, but zero was a little extreme. I like fat like everyone else, but I was overwhelmed by the amount of olive oil in the soups and salad dressings.

Now on to the recipe reviews. I think Ani has done great and beautiful things with raw food and I don’t want to offend, just offer my personal opinion.

Hemp Muesli.

For breakfast, we tried the Hemp Muesli and the Spanish Scramble. The buckwheat crispies were delicious, but took a long time to dry out in my oven. The muesli mixture was tasty and balance in terms of texture. I made the Almond Yogurt to go with it but was not impressed with the yogurt. It was really thick and gritty (no Vita-Mix). Instead, I watered it down and added some honey and sea salt and turned it into a milk and it was much better. The portion for the muesli was perfect. I also made the Pumpkin Mylk to go with the muesli and really liked it. I used less water than called for in the recipe.

Spanish Scramble.

Another breakfast we had the spanish scramble, which is nut-based. I added more water than the recipe called for. It looked great, the portion was too big and it was really filling with lots of chewing. The texture got old after a few bites. The flavor was little bland. It needed a kick, like more cilantro or salt. Perhaps a VM would have helped out here as well. Overall it was too fatty for me in the morning.

Save the Tuna Pate; Thai Salad.

Tuna Salad: Ate as a wrap. It was okay. The texture was right on for mock-tuna, but the flavor was lacking salt. I doubled the dulse flakes and wished I added more. Matt hated it. The Thai Salad was delicious and a fun balance of herbs and greens. The dressing was really oily. I think with a little less oil it would be really good. I didn’t have Kaffir lime leaves. I used Meyer lemon leaves.

Burrito: This was a favorite meal for both of us. Apparently so good I forgot to take a picture. The nut meat is great, but perhaps too much salt. The baja cheese was weird but it went fine in the burrito. Matt really wanted it on a tortilla shell; the cabbage leaves were not cutting it for him. I thought it was fun. The corn salsa was delicious and tasty and perfect.

Ginger Almond Nori Rolls.

Ginger Almond Nori Rolls: Interesting. Raw nori is a little too fishy for my palatte. Matt liked it a lot. The pate had a lot of salt and lemon in it, making it “fishy”. I used julienned carrots instead of the gobo and a variety of sprouts instead of pure mung beans. Fun texture, good flavors, but not for me. I apparently have a thing with seaweed, sometimes I love it, sometimes I hate it.

walnut garlic soup.

Walnut Garlic Soup: I used 2.5 cups of water instead of 4. I wished I used less oil, too. It was too oily and hard to eat with that much fat (not to mention there are oily walnuts and avocadoes in it). I blended the dill with the soup. It was nice and creamy and I loved the avocadoes in it.

Sun Burgers.

SunBurgers: Definitely add the lettuce and tomato and a lot of catsup and mustard. It is bland alone. The bread was hard to make but tasted good. The catsup was too sweet for me. The mustard was awesome. I used a little less oil for that one. The burger itself was fine, but nothing amazing. This meal involved a lot of chewing, which got tiring. I think a dehydrator would have helped a lot for the bread and the burger.

Apple Pie.

The apple pie was awesome! I think if I had a mandoline to slice it would have been better with thin slices. Raw seems to need a lot of machinery. I really wanted to do the noodle dishes, but I needed a spiral slicer to get it right. Gourmet raw does require a bit of investment. I sliced the apples as thin as I could and it was worth it. We looked forward to the pie every night.

We also made (not pictured) the Sweet Spicy Pecans which were really spicey. I would do cayenne to taste. But it’s a great tasty snack. The Portabello Bisque was good, except that it was too watery, oily and salty. If I made it again I’d do half of the salt and oil and add water until it’s the texture I like. The ceviche style mushrooms were delicious. The curry salad was wonderful. I used less oil and water in the dressing and it was delicious. I would make that dressing again.

In summary, I didn’t love it nor did I feel full of energy. If anything the high fat content made my appetite decrease. Funny that when I eat at a raw restaurant I feel different. Maybe 5 raw days is different than 1 meal here and there. Everyone’s bodies need different things, but I will not pass it aside. There are many benefits to eating this way, and I will try to incorporate it into my usual diet, just not 100%. I still have a number of recipes in the cookbook marked and want to try them out when I have time (and the money) to do it.

I’d like to take a moment to interrupt the regularly scheduled bread events to share today’s lunch, prepared 100% de scratcho. I made the lovely seeded marble rye in school. The tempeh is from my previous makings (it kept very well in the freezer). The flavor is so delicate I didn’t want to alter it by breading or marinating. I just steamed the tempeh for 20 minutes to kill any unwanteds then seared it in a little canola oil for color, crispness and a little fat. The sauerkraut is my latest love, it is from a red cabbage and is a shocking shade of magenta. The sprouts are radish seeds that have quite a spicy kick to them.  The cheez sauce is from the Uncheese Cookbook (Swiss White Melty Cheez recipe). I’m not too excited about the cheez, but it’s an effort and it added to a creaminess in the sandwich. Please let me know if there are any keepers in that cookbook; I know I won’t have the patience to cook them all….