Superfood Evolution Ezine -- Issue #012

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Table of Contents:

1. Fermenting Foods In The Winter Months
2. TOP Ideas For A Healthy Holiday Feast!
3. Harvesting Wild Mallow or Malva
4. BOOK REVIEW: Wild Fermentation
5. Recipe of the Month
6. Announcements
7. DVD of the Month

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Hello friends,

Welcome again to Superfood Evolution! A big thank you to all my Superfoods-for-Superhealth site visitors for your attention and support! Here we go with my monthly newsletter #12. Many of you expressed great interest in learning more about superfoods, superhealth and achieving optimal states of aliveness! So, here it is by popular demand! It is my intent to uplift and empower your true health potential to create the best life ever for you and your family.

"You are what you eat" is the first rule of thumb here, the rest just falls into place!

Fermenting Foods In The Winter Months

For those of us new to fermentation, it is an art that has its learning curve and often takes a little practice to get down. I approach it as a form of artistic expression and the winter season is perfect for some indoor experimentation and creativity.

Many of us naturally crave the pickled taste of sauerkraut or the tang of seed cheese when our bodies need a little more enzymatic assistant. When we listen to these cravings our inner body ecology can naturally re-balance.

Why create your own fermented foods?

1) They are freshly made by YOU.

2) Once you learn how to make your own you don't need to buy them.

3) You can adjust ingredients to create the best for your personal taste.

4) For the satisfaction of making your own from scratch (kinda like making your own compost).

5) To share your delicious recipes with friends or give a jar as a gift.

All cultured and food ferments require a certain period of time for the living cultures to grow and do their magic. So, a fair amount of patience is required. One of the first fermented foods I discovered how to make was sauerkraut. It is incredibly easy and just takes a few ingredients and tools to get you started. In addition, most kraut ferments only take a few days before they are ready to eat.

Homemade miso making probably has the longest fermentation time, up to a year or more. But it can be well worth the waiting period when you consider it's fairly short preparation time. I am just about to decant some garbanzo bean miso and black bean miso I made a year ago....just in time for Xmas gifts!

Explore the fermented foods section of our website and learn how to make your very own tempeh, seed cheeses, kombucha, miso, coconut kefir and, of course, sauerkraut.

(See Kimchi recipe below)

TOP Ideas For A Healthy Holiday Feast With Family!

I came up with a few ways to make the holiday meal a much easier experience if this is your goal. These ideas work best, of course, when there is a potluck or buffet table sort of situation. You can also adapt them for sit down dinners by offering to contribute a dish and/or beverage.

1) To Drink - One of the most challenging things about family gatherings is the alcohol being consumed all around you. In some ways I think alcohol is good for the social lubricant it offers, but in other ways it's not the best ever. For this reason, I like to bring my own bottled beverage or elixir drink with me.

Kombucha is a great wine/alcohol substitute that you can flavor special with holiday spice. In addition, Kava root is often used in healthy party drinks that have a mild relaxing yet energizing effect, similar to alcohol without the side effects. You can bring a nice raw fruit juice or nut nog mixed with Kava tincture. Cacao chocolate drinks are another raw party favorite. I especially like to try to limit my use of cacao to these occasions. You can bring a big thermos full of hot chocolate mixed with other superfoods to begin or end your celebration!

2) Appetizers - This is a fairly easy one to manage. All you need to do is make a great raw dipping sauce and a display of raw veggies. Traditionally nuts are often served during this time of year. So, another idea is to bring unshelled nuts with a nut cracker. This makes it more fun and assures you don't eat too many. A bowl of mixed nuts with their shell is also a site to behold as most of us are used to buying them shelled in bulk quantities.

3) Main Course - There are several possibilities here, some cooked...some raw. You can make a raw/dehydrated nut loaf if you have a good recipe. Or you can make a cooked version using lentils. If it is buffet/potluck style a nice tempeh dish with greens and shiitake is always nice. Most people, from my experience, accept vegetarian entrees more than raw or fermented food dishes. A simple whole baked winter squash with veggies can also be a welcome delight.

4) Salads - There are many ways to make a salad and often they are raw by nature. So, this is a good one to bring if you want something simple that you can eat without making too much of a fuss. Salads can range from beautiful green salad to an assortment of grated or chopped veggies with seed cheese, avocado or olives.

5) Desserts - This is one category of the holiday meal you can pretty much do what you want within reason. Raw fruit pies might be a little intense for some people, but often you can make a nice raw cheesecake, for example, that looks more familiar in look, taste and texture to the traditional version. This is also another good time to make some kind of dehydrated raw cacao cookies or raw chocolate treats.

Ultimately, make the conversations you have and connections you make more important than the food. Bring a couple things you can enjoy raw or cooked, but make this time about celebration and accepting others for who they are. The most important thing is to enjoy the company of those around you, spreading good energy and cheer is the best way to spend Xmas with family and friends.

Wild Mallow or Malva (Malva sylvestris)

Depending on the region where you live, this common wild, edible green can be found in most moderate climates all over the world. My first experience with this thick, leafy green was among a field of other wild edibles in an array of "nature's produce."

Some people don't prefer the dense, somewhat course texture of these rounded leaves, but I actually love them. The best way to eat wild mallow in a salad is to break it up into smaller pieces, so you don't get a big huge leaf to chew on.

Mallow is related to the common herb Marshmallow (Althaea officinalis). It was originally introduced to the U.S. by European settlers who valued the leaves for their mild taste and high nutrient content. It is best to eat the young shoots either raw or slightly steamed, however you can eat the mid-aged leaves as well as the flowers.

A great way to enjoy this wild green is blended into a raw or heated soup. The properties of the leaf offer a slightly demulcent quality that is perfect for thickening soups. I enjoy mixing them into salads for this reason because they help the other greens to move through the bowels.

BOOK REVIEW:

Wild Fementation

by Sandor Katz

This is one of the most enjoyable cookbooks I have ever read. Although it only involves minimal cooking, Sandor the author takes you on a little journey into the wonderful world of fermentation. He is lively and inspirational, giving you just enough information on each specific category of fermented foods, so you don't get overwhelmed.

I love all the raw recipe ferments offered, and some you can adapt to your own liking. For example, using a sour dough culture to make a raw dehydrated bread. One of my favorites is his sour cream recipe using sunflower seeds cultured with kefir grains.

This book is definitely a "must have" if you are at all serious about fermenting your own food and drinks at home. He also discusses a bit on historical uses of fermentation as well as the health benefits, with a great forward by Sally Fallon.

Recipe of the Month:

Spicy KIMCHI

There is nothing quite like the fiery, tangy taste of traditional Korean Kimchi. This is a slightly different version that eliminates, of course, any sugar or fish paste. I like to use carrots and red bell pepper to give a natural sweetness.

Once you get the taste of this cultured food you will want to have it on hand on a cold winters day. The spiciness definitely warms up the body and provides beneficial enzymes to the digestive tract at the same time.

• 2 large heads napa cabbage
• 8 med carrots
• 2 inches of peeled ginger root
• 3 chopped red bell pepper
• 2t celtic sea salt
• 1 bunch chopped green onions
• 2t dried red chili flakes
• 1 lemon (juiced)

1. Chop one napa cabbage to desired size.
2. Place in large bowl.
3. Place other cabbage head and 1C water in food processor.
4. Process until fine and moist.
5. Place in the same large bowl.
6. Add carrots, ginger, salt to processor with 1C water.
7. Process until fine and moist.
8. Add to bowl of cabbage.
9. Chop red bell and green onion by hand.
10. Add to bowl.
11. Add chili flakes and lemon juice
12. Mix everything with clean hands.
13. This is your kimchi!

• Pack a gallon jar full of the kimchi mixture.
• Tamp down with clean hands to compress.
• Leave a few inches at the top of the jar.
• Pack in some cabbage leaves.
• Place a sprout lid on top.
• Cover with a cloth.
• Let sit for 3-7 days.

When your Kimchi is ready, remove the first layer and discard. Dont forget to do a taste test to make sure it is fully fermented. It should be softer, pickled and incredibly delicious! Decant into smaller size jars for cold storage.

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2. Visit our Superfoods Blog with posts and links to new pages. Bookmark them using the orange RSS feed button on any page to get instant updates.

DVD of the Month:

Dirt!

Dirt! The Movie

We all need nutrients from "dirt" to provide us with the essential ingredients for health and happiness. When the soil is strong and nutrient dense we have a paradise of energy rich food and superfoods.

This documentary takes you inside the wonders of the soil. It tells the story of Earth's most valuable and underappreciated source of fertility...from its miraculous beginning to its crippling degradation. It is a good look at farming practices that have not worked and how we can learn from these mistakes, moving forward into a better, more intimate connection with this earth we call home.

Dirt brings to life the environmental, economic, social and political impact that the soil has. It shares the stories of experts from all over the world who study and are able to harness the beauty and power of a respectful and mutually beneficial relationship with soil.

"The only remedy for disconnecting people from the natural world is connecting them to it again." What we've destroyed, we can heal. Award winner of the 2009 Sundance Film Festival.

Until next month...

Here's to your Superhealth!

Much love,

Shira