aduki puree with ginger + umeboshi

after looking at the photos of this dish, i realized it bears an uncanny resemblance to chocolate pudding. sorry for the tease. this is not chocolate pudding; it's actually aduki bean puree. but that's just as exciting, right? ;)

i was introduced to the aduki bean while studying at the Natural Gourmet cooking school. though the program has branched out from its '70s macrobiotic roots, a macro spirit continues to infuse many of the teachings - in terms of ingredients, cooking techniques, and healing modalities. aduki beans, a star of the macrobiotic kitchen, made an appearance in many dishes - soups, stews, purees, pates, and even desserts (mmm, sweet aduki bean pudding is delicious). i developed a fondness for these little red beans and have been cooking with them ever since.

like their legume brethren, aduki beans are a rich source of in fiber, protein, B vitamins, and iron. traditionally they are used to help support the kidneys and reduce excess fluid in the body. aduki beans do not require soaking, and they cook pretty quickly, in about 1 hour to 1-1/4 hours. so they don't require a lot of advance planning.

i cooked a pot of aduki beans a couple of days ago, not really sure what i would do with them, and this morning thought to puree them with fresh ginger and umeboshi. i must have been channeling my inner Annemarie Colbin (founder of NGI), because upon consulting my trusty copy of her book The Natural Gourmet, i discovered a recipe that was nearly identical to the one forming in my mind.

if you're new to umeboshi (aka ume plum), it's a stone fruit related to the apricot that is preserved in salt with shiso leaves, creating a salty-sour pickled treat. umeboshi is a standard cure-all in macrobiotics and traditional Chinese medicine for colds, flu, nausea, hangovers, and fatigue, and is also believed to aid digestion, encourage elimination of toxins, and have a beneficial alkalizing effect on the body. umeboshi can be purchased whole or as a paste. it has an intense flavor, so a little goes a long way.

(my jar of umeboshi. yogi says they look like balls of dough soaked in wine....)

i always keep a jar of umeboshi in the fridge. an after-dinner umeboshi tea is great for digestion: steep half an umeboshi in 1 cup of hot water for 10 minutes and add a squeeze of ginger juice. it's also a delicious addition to bean dips and salad dressings, because it provides a perfect balance of salty and sour (if you love preserved lemons, i think you'll also be a fan of umeboshi).

i pureed the adukis along with some of their cooking liquid, fresh ginger, umeboshi, shallot, and avocado oil (i wanted a very neutral tasting oil that wouldn't hide the mild earthy flavor of the aduki beans; untoasted sesame oil would work, too, but i would avoid an assertive extra virgin olive oil here).

the ginger and tangy-salty umeboshi are the perfect complements to the earthy and mellow aduki beans. this is a delicious dip for brown rice crackers, crisp slices of fresh daikon, or any other vegetable crudites. you can also use it as a spread for sandwiches or wraps (in place of hummus); just layer on some veggies, and you've got a light meal.

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aduki puree with ginger + umeboshi
Adapted from The Natural Gourmet, by Annemarie Colbin
yield: about 3 cups

the beans can be cooked up to 2 days in advance; store chilled in their cooking liquid until ready to use. the cooking time below is for unsoaked beans; soaking them for 8 to 12 hours will reduce the cooking time to about 40 minutes.

1 cup aduki beans
4 cups water
1 teaspoon sea salt
1x1 inch square of kombu
2 tablespoons chopped fresh ginger (peeled)
1-1/2 umeboshi, pitted and chopped (or 1 tablespoon umeboshi paste)
1/2 small shallot, chopped (about 2 tablespoons)
1/4 cup avocado oil
freshly ground black pepper, to taste

combine the beans, water, salt, and kombu in a pot. bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover, and simmer until beans are tender, about 1 hour and 15 minutes (may take any where from 1 hour  to 1-1/2 hours depending on the age of the beans).

let beans cool, remove kombu, and strain (reserving cooking liquid). transfer beans to a blender or food processor and add ginger, umeboshi, shallot, oil, and a few grinds of black pepper. process until smooth, adding some of the cooking liquid, if needed, until the puree has a dip-like consistency.

kalegarita

just in time for saint patrick's day, i've got a green drink for you!

wheat berry salad with roasted broccoli + grape tomatoes

this bizarre winter-that-wasn't seems to be morphing into an early spring: it hit 70 degrees in nyc last week, and the forecast is for 60+ over the next five days. and you know what that means (well, aside from the more pressing issues of tornadoes and tsunamis and other global-warming-related phemonena that i won't get into). our roasting days are numbered.

almond butter thumbprint cookies

have i mentioned that i have a sweet tooth? you might have suspected it, since i post a fair amount of cakes and cookies and muffins around here. i like my greens, and i also like to get my sweet on.

the sweet tooth starts calling out for a little something right after lunch or dinner. it doesn't have to be a huge slice of cake; just a few bites will (usually) suffice. so i make a point of having some not-too-guilt-provoking sweets around - hello, dark chocolate. but in my experience the best way to satisfy a sweet craving is with a treat that also delivers a decent amount of protein and healthy fat. these are the nutrients that signal to the stomach and brain: okay, all good, we've had enough!

and that's where the flourless almond butter cookie comes in.

the dough for these little guys is built on 3 simple ingredients that i almost always have in the kitchen: almond butter, coconut palm sugar, and ground flax meal (plus a little water and salt).

no flour, no eggs, no butter. how can it be?

crispy spiced pepitas + my favorite portable lunch

my all-time favorite brown-bag lunch is a marinated tuscan kale + parsley salad with avocado, currants, and spiced toasted pepitas. it's so ridiculously easy, you can have it fully assembled in 5 minutes right before bedtime (maybe one day i'll be able to do this while i brush my teeth, but i'm not there yet :) or in the morning while the coffee brews.

triple lentil stew with red quinoa + toasted coconut

do you ever find yourself in a leftover lentil situation?

by that i'm referring to a pantry jammed with near-empty jars holding small, uneven quantities of different lentil varieties. each amount isn't quite enough to cook on its own, but clearly they need to be used for something .... and they've been sitting around for what seems like forever .... it's one of those kitchen dilemmas.

you've been there? then this is the stew for you. no idea what i'm talking about? then go out and get some lentils, quick, 'cause you'll want to make this anyway. it has toasted coconut on top!

collard + roasted chickpea salad with golden goddess dressing

this salad is a winner. and i'm so eager to share it with you that i couldn't wait till i had a real, non-hipstamatic photo of it.

here it is, in all its fuzzy green-and-gold glory.

spiced almond kudzu brew

i've been really into bedtime brews lately. they've become a big part of my getting-in-sync-with-winter plan. which is to do my best to take things slowwwwww. 

nowadays we aren't often encouraged to scale back our pace during the colder months. our lifestyles, particularly in cities, hardly change at all with the seasons. this time last year i was doing my fair share of running around, parka-clad, from the office to sweaty evening vinyasa classes, eating late dinners, and the like. didn't feel all that good though. so in early december, seeing another winter approaching, i thought about how i might do things differently.

olive oil steel-cut oats

hi.

just stopping in with a quick question: have you tried olive oil on your oatmeal? if the answer's no, i'm here today to convince you to give it a go.