Who knew that having two smoothies per day could bring so many health benefits?! And in ONLY 21 DAYS!! 🙌
So, how does it work? Check the link and take the ➡️ “21 smoothie diet challenge”
Creamy cauliflower soup (in the pressure cooker)
2 cups water
Put water, kombu and mushrooms in a medium pot. Soak for several hours, or overnight if time permits. (In the refrigerator if overnight)
2 to 3 small white potatoes, peeled and cut up (for body)
Heat the pot over medium heat for about 10 minutes. Turn off the heat just before water starts to boil.
Remove kombu and mushrooms, squeezing moisture from mushrooms into the pot.
Shiitake develops the best flavor in cool water but if you don’t have time for a long soak you can place the kelp, mushrooms and water in a pot, heat to just below boiling, turn off the heat and soak for 15 minutes. That’s usually what I end up doing though I mean to soak it overnight.
Kanako stemmed the shiitakes and added the sliced caps to the rice dish. She also cut the kombu into 1/2″ squares and added it to one of the dishes. Using the kombu is a matter of personal taste.
OK, I admit the deep-fried tofu cakes were ridiculously delicious. But I doubt I’ll be deep-frying anything in the “easy vegan” kitchen. When Kanako described growing up in Japan where her family kept a pot of oil handy, and deep-fried foods were cooked every day, she almost convinced me that it was a good idea. But, whoa, that’s not going to happen. I might make the incredibly delicious tofu balls in the oven or in a pan on the stove, and if I do and it works, I’ll share the recipe with you. In the meantime, let me tell you about the daikon; I don’t even like cooked daikon that much, but it was DELICIOUS — sweet and mellow. According to Kanako, this is the perfect time to buy daikon, and I believe her. You could cook the daikon, maybe add some large carrot chunks, kale or bok choy and wok-browned tofu cubes, and have a wonderful stew. I’ll post a recipe soon.
I loved the rice with burdock root, but I’m going to give you the much simpler recipe for grilled eggplant with miso topping. The topping is very versatile, and you could mix a batch and keep it for months in a sealed container in the refrigerator. You could use it on fried tofu, potatoes or whatever you want.
Grilled eggplant with miso topping
2 ounces red miso paste
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon mirin
2 tablespoons dashi
3 Japanese or 1 large globe eggplant
3 tablespoons canola oil (more as needed)
toasted sesame seeds (for garnish)
Directions
- Place miso, sugar, mirin, dashi in a small saucepan. Mix together well. Place over medium heat and stir with a wooden spoon until you get a creamy consistency, about 5 minutes. Set aside.
- Cut eggplant in half lengthwise.
- Heat a large cast iron skillet to medium. Add oil.
- Grill the eggplant with the cut side down. After 5 minutes, flip to cook through. Continue to flip eggplant until cooked and soft, ending with cut side up. (Add more oil if necessary to prevent sticking.)
- Spoon miso sauce over cut side of eggplant and place under broiler for a minute or two. Garnish with sesame seeds. (If you cooked the eggplant in a pan that can’t go under the broiler, carefully transfer with a large spatula onto a broiler pan before adding sauce.)
- Cut into sections to serve.
We actually started with the salads, above. They were both tasty but my favorite was the carrot and daikon. This salad is supposed to be good for digestion and preventing heartburn. I have no personal experience with this but you could try it and let me know!
Daikon and carrot salad with sweet vinegar
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons mirin
1 teaspoon lime juice
1/2 medium daikon radish, washed well (peeled, if not organic)
1 medium carrot, washed well (peeled, if not organic)
Salt
1 teaspoon dried chili flakes
Directions
- Mix the rice vinegar and mirin in a small saucepan.
- Heat over medium heat and cook until the alcohol in the mirin evaporates. (The cooking is just a minute or two, and whether or not alcohol evaporates during cooking is questionable. Alcohol content can vary among brands of mirin from 0 to 14%.)
- Add lime juice to the dressing.
- Cut the daikon and carrot into matchsticks or grate on a course grater.
- Sprinkle salt over the vegetables and leave for 5 minutes.
- Rinse the radish and carrots under running water to remove salt, and squeeze out excess water.
- Toss the vegetables with the dressing and garnish with the chili flakes.
Above you see a hotpot that was cooked in a traditional Japanese cooking pot. It was filled with wonderful vegetables that were cooked in a broth of dashi and soy milk. I’d give you the recipe but my arms are tired from all this typing. Go make dashi!