Food Swap!

I enjoyed my first food swap yesterday! Swaps like the one I attended started in Brooklyn, NYC and have spread to cities throughout the country, including Grand Rapids. If you join the GRap Food Swappers group on Facebook, you will be notified about future swaps. If you aren't from Grand Rapids, look for a local food swap in your town. Or start one! I brought ginger-honey homemade yogurt, sauerkraut, and apple cider vinegar and came home with spice blends, dried herbs, greens fresh from a backyard hoop house, gluten-free cookies (& gift certificate for some reflexology), a bagel still warm from the oven, sweet chili sauce, herbal tea blend, elderberry liqueur aged since 2010, applesauce, and drumroll... milk kefir grains! I almost bought some grains online the other day and am so glad I held off! The swap was a blast and I can not wait for the next one.

This week's menu contains an unlikely ingredient: bread. A dear friend of mine baked me a lovely loaf of honey oat wheat bread. There is so much love in the loaf! It was carefully braided and packaged in brown paper with twine and a sweet note. Although I don't buy anything with sugar, grains, or other non-GAPS approved ingredients, I don't usually decline these things if they are made for me as long as they are made with whole ingredients, which this bread was. If I was at a potluck, I would skip the bread. This was a gift, so I'm eating it. Gluten doesn't bother me, but it will make what remains of my Candida pretty content. :) I'm turning the bread into buttery croutons that will accompany this week's borscht beautifully.

January 29 - February 4 Recipes

Nourishing Borscht (Beet Soup)
Ingredients:
1/2 onion, chopped
1/2 head of garlic, chopped 
4 beets (small-medium)
4 C water

2 carrots, sliced
1/2 bunch chard, chopped or ripped into pieces (~ 6 leafs and stalks )
1/2 Tb salt
1/2 Tb ground pepper 
1 tsp oregano

Directions:

1. In the bottom of a large pot, saute chopped onions and garlic in a tablespoon or two of olive oil on medium. When soft, add chopped beets. Sprinkle a little salt on mixture.
2. Add remaining ingredients. Let reach a gentle boil.
3. Turn heat down. Let simmer until desired texture. Top with croutons.

*Recipe found here, then edited for what I have available in my kitchen.




Buttery Croutons
Ingredients:
loaf of bread, cut into cubes
1/2 c. butter, or other oil you have on hand (coconut oil, beef fat, olive oil)
garlic clove or two, crushed
Directions: 

1. Place oil and garlic in a pot on the stove and heat until fully melted and sizzling.
2. Pour over cubed bread in a bowl, and toss until fully coated. 
3. Arrange on baking sheets in single layers. Bake at  300°F for 10-15 minutes or until golden. Serve immediately, or allow to cool completely
4. Store in an airtight container once fully cool. These should keep for at least a month at room temp, but may also be frozen.

Miso Soup with Kimchi

Yes, I know this is a clash of cultures (Japanese miso and Korean kimchi), but they work well together. My last giant batch of kimchi was fermented too long. It's kind of effervescent tasting, which is weird experience when eating a vegetable. I've been adding it to soups and finding that the effervescence subsides enough to be palatable. This soup is so fast to make, it's my go-to when I'm running late for work in the morning.

Ingredients:

water

seaweed (I have an abundance of nori, which is great with miso)

green onions

tamari (for added saltiness/flavor, optional)

kimchi

egg(s) (optional)

Directions:

1. Heat water in pan until boiling. Crack your egg(s) into the pan and don't stir until they are fully cooked. Then add seaweed.
2. When seaweed is cooked (in the case of nori, when it disintegrates), turn off the heat. Sprinkle in green onions.
3. Once the soup has cooled a little add miso. Miso has active cultures and heat will destroy them. When the miso is dissolved, stir in desired amount of kimchi.

*Cooked chicken can replace eggs, if eggs in soup is not your thing.

Roasted Winter Vegetable Salad

Ingredients:

a fennel bulb, finely chopped
a butternut squash, cubed
an onion, chopped

1/2 stick butter, melted
salt, to taste

Directions:

1. Mix together all ingredients
2. Distribute evenly on a baking sheet and roast for 1 hour at 350 degrees. Gently stir vegetables to ensure even baking. 
3. Check every 15 minutes for tenderness. Remove from the oven when tender.
4. Serve warm with sauerkraut.

**I had originally planned to make this a raw salad with a few different ingredients. Once I started chopping the fennel and tasting it, I realized that it had a stronger taste than I was hoping for. I do enjoy the flavor of anise in moderate amounts, but nibbling on the fennel brought back memories of horror: "OH NO! I think I'm eating a black jelly bean! I thought it was purple!" Roasting the fennel greatly reduced that black jelly bean taste and brought out a delicious sweetness with only a hint of anise. Perfect.

Salad with Basic Dressing

This week, I have some really beautiful greens on hand. At the food swap I received some delicious frilly, slightly bitter greens (lettuce?) that will add nice texture to a salad. Also, beet greens, swiss chard, and kale have been growing nicely in my porch garden all winter. The beet greens are so delicious and sweet! Verging on cherry tomato sweet! I'm making a salad with all these greens, plus a few cucumbers, almond pieces, and basic dressing. And maybe some croutons.

Basic Dressing Ingredients:

2 parts apple cider vinegar

1 part olive oil

1 clove garlic

fresh, finely minced herbs/spices (I like cilantro + ginger)

Directions:

1. Mix well and dress salad. Store in the fridge. It keeps for forever. 

Crustless Baby Quiches
Ingredients:
broccoli florets, bite-sized
butter, for greasing muffin tin
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 of an onion
salt
eggs
1/4 c. milk, yogurt, or kefir
1/2 t. oregano
1/2 t. basil
1/4 c. salty cheese, like parmesan or romano
Directions:

1. Place broccoli florets and onion in a pan with a little bit of water in the bottom, sprinkle with a little salt. Cover. Steam until the broccoli turns bright green and slightly tender.
2. Grease a muffin tin, or line with paper cups. Fill cups half way with broccoli and onions.
3. In a small bowl, whisk eggs, milk, garlic, and herbs herbs until an even consistency is reached. Pour over broccoli and onions in the muffin tin until wells are 3/4 full. 
4. Bake in 350 degree oven until quiches are golden brown.

January was a very busy month for me. I spread myself too thin every week and realized by Sunday that what really needed to be done that week had not even been touched! This February, I will be saying 'no' to more and spending time completing projects and getting enough sleep. Cheers to a restful February!

EAH