GO YANKEES!

Sorry, couldn’t help myself.

Moving on…

My sister and I have joked recently about our friends’ and acquaintances’ reactions upon inspecting the contents of our kitchen.  Some have deemed my plethora of nuts and dried fruit a surplus of “snack food.”  Some have commented on the almond milk and Greek yogurt as an “interesting” [...]]]> First of all:

GO YANKEES!

Sorry, couldn’t help myself.

Moving on…

My sister and I have joked recently about our friends’ and acquaintances’ reactions upon inspecting the contents of our kitchen.  Some have deemed my plethora of nuts and dried fruit a surplus of “snack food.”  Some have commented on the almond milk and Greek yogurt as an “interesting” supply.  A good friend recently smiled and told me, “You’ve just got bags and bags of healthy food.”

I like to think of my cabinets as those of an amateur chef, and any good chef would always start with the basics.  On the top shelf of my cabinet, there are two boxes: cereal and granola; otherwise, you’d be hard-pressed to find anything with an ingredients list longer than one.  When the choices in the kitchen are basic and whole, eating healthfully becomes quite simple.

One of my simple essentials is dried fruit.  Dipping dates or dried plums [er, prunes] into the peanut butter jar is one of my favorite pre-exercise snacks.  I consider raisins to be a necessary addition to anything involving pumpkin.  And if you cook and haven’t bookmarked this recipe with dried figs, well, you’re missing out on an extravaganza of flavor.  I don’t use a large amount of sweeteners, but throwing dried fruit into a dish is an easy way to add some very natural sugars.  

Recently, I was given the opportunity to sample a couple new dried fruits, courtesy of Kopali Organics.

First, a quick note: I should stress that I’d never sample a product I wouldn’t eat normally – you all know that the foods I choose are almost entirely unprocessed.  The bulk of my groceries come from the farmer’s market, not from grocery aisles; I don’t eat frozen meals or dinners that come from a packet or can.  [There's nothing wrong with this; there happen to be some boxed soups or frozen meals that have excellent ingredients; I've just never eaten that way].  

So, I don’t want anyone to think that this blog will become an endorsement for certain businesses.  That being said, there are some wonderful companies out there who focus on simple and nutritious products, on making whole foods widely available, and on doing good for the environment.  Kopali is one of those, and their mantra of supporting both the body and the earth immediately interested me.

My first taste went sweet with their superfood mix, which includes dried mulberries, goji berries, pistachios, and cacao nibs.  Mulberries may be my new favorite fruit – their flavor is complex with just a touch of sweetness, a perfect addition to my morning banana oats, or in this case, my daily yogurt and granola.  As a bonus, they’re basically bursting with health benefits.

Oikos is better with mulberries mixed in.  Yes, I’m still battling my flavor and principle organic dairy issues.

I switched to the the savory route with dried mango, chopping and soaking some in water for a couple hours, which provided a perfect stand-in when I didn’t have fresh mango on hand.  It was just the colorful ingredient I needed for the most vibrant stir fry I’ve ever made:

In the rainbow-colored mix:

• red cabbage
• carrot
• rehydrated dried mango
• edamame
• kale
• onion
• arame

All were sautéed with bits of sesame oil, garlic, ginger, tamari, rice vinegar, and sesame seeds.  Pleasing for my tastebuds, my eyes, and my body – in other words, an ideal meal.

Thanks to Kopali for adding some super-healthy sweetness and a bit of new flavor to my meals.  They were a welcome addition to my store of “interesting” ingredients.

What’s your favorite dried fruit?  Do you prefer it sweet, savory, or on its own?

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My friends had a rule when it came [...]]]> Back in high school, my friends and I often visited a Japanese restaurant in the center of our town.  Offering a traditional hibachi menu, it had enough options to satisfy each of our varying palates (read: I could eat rice and chicken and give my vegetables away).  

My friends had a rule when it came to Asian dinners.  Chopsticks were obligatory, for at least a full five minutes.  Most of them were well-schooled in chopstick manipulation, and as soon as our chef-actor had thrown the final bites onto our respective plates, they all dug enthusiastically in.  For those first five minutes, however, two of us struggled, fingers, sticks, and bite size piece of food sliding around our plates.  It wasn’t exactly a…classy sight.

To this day, I can’t understand how it is possible to eat rice without a fork.  I may have developed enough dexterity to enjoy sushi and a spicy Thai stir fry without my Western utensils, but rice remains a mystery.

Chopsticks or not, the goods remaining in my refrigerator tonight felt Asian-inspired, so I decided on a stir-fry.  When I was first learning to cook, stir fries were a choice I often returned to.  A recipe is unnecessary; all that is required are a few good vegetables, some flavor, some rice, and a little trial and error.

Tonight’s mix:

• baby bok choy
• string beans
• carrot
• bean sprouts
• 1/3 block tempeh
• tamari almonds

And for flavor:

• fresh basil
• fresh ginger
• sesame oil
• rice vinegar
• dulse flakes

All over brown rice, with a salad alongside.  There was a lot going on in this dish, but it worked.  Especially since I ate it with a fork and knife.

Are you a chopsticks pro?

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