Rice is a staple food in many different ethnic cuisines, and the number of rice varieties available might just surprise you. Hilah Johnson takes us on a world tour of rice, including red, black, and wild, and offers tips on how to cook and use rice.
Reprinted with permission by strongertogether.coop
Activated charcoal, sometimes referred to as activated carbon, has a long history of use throughout the world. Dating as far back as 400 BCE to purify water, research suggests activated charcoal may support total body cleansing due to its highly absorptive properties.
Derived from non GMO coconut shells, our new activated charcoal powder makes a great base for these 3 easy detox tips.
1. Create a skin mask
Add water or apple cider vinegar to create a paste.
2. Create a toothpaste
Add water or apple cider vinegar to create a paste. This paste will also brighten your teeth!
3. Add to a glass of water
Your water may turn black, but it's tasteless.
Activated charcoal is highly absorbent and may reduce the effectiveness of some medications or nutritional supplements. Use product as directed on the product label.
Culinary herbs are a key ingredient in many foods, but with fall rapidly approaching, it's time to start thinking about preserving your fresh garden herbs. The best way to save the taste of herbs from your garden is to preserve them before winter. While some herbal plants, such as parsley, will survive many months indoors in pots if brought in before a frost, most herbs are better frozen or dried to use in the months ahead. Dried and frozen herbs are easy to store and take up less room than a fresh herb plant. In fact, 10 pounds of fresh herbs equals about 1 pound of dried herbs. You can also process your herbs by making pesto or herb vinegars, to preserve their flavors.
Here are some tips on the best ways to preserve your herbs.
Harvest your summer herbs to savor their flavor all winter.
Herbs are best harvested before flower buds form and in the morning before the sun has evaporated the essential oils in the leaves. This late in the year many herb plants may have started to flower. To create higher quality leaves for storing, snip the flower buds to encourage new side shoots to grow. A few weeks later these leafy side shoots will be good candidates for harvesting and preserving. When harvesting branches of herbs, snip just above a leaf to encourage more growth during the waning days of fall. Always select stems that have little damage from disease and insects.
Herbs for drying can be grouped into two categories; quick drying herbs and slow drying herbs. Quick drying herbs include lavender, marjoram, mint, oregano, rosemary, and sage. These herbs are best bundled together in bunches of 10 to 12 stems, tied with rubber bands and hung upside down in an airy, cool room out of direct sunlight to keep the essential oils in the leaves from volatilizing. The bundles of herbs will dry in about 1 to 2 weeks, depending on the weather. Humid weather slows the drying process. Once dry, strip the leaves off the stems and store. Dried herbs are best stored in a dark place and used within three months of storage for best flavor.
For the best results, know the difference between slow and quick drying herbs.
These herbs don't dry well in bunches and are best if separated from their stalks and dried on screens. Herbs such as basil, dill leaves, lovage, parsley, and thyme fall into this category. Remove the leaves, cut them into small pieces, and lay them on screens for air drying or place on a cookie sheet to dry in the oven or a dehydrator. Set the oven or dehydrator to a low temperature (below 150°F), and stir often until the leaves are dry. Store in glass jars.
Herbs with high water content, such as basil, lovage, mint, lemon balm, and tarragon can also be frozen. Freezing preserves herbs in a bright green state and makes them available for adding to soups and stews in winter. Wash herb stems and remove the leaves. Pat the leaves dry and place on a cookie sheet or tray, separating them so they don't freeze together in a solid mass. Cover and place in the freezer until frozen. Store in an airtight container or freezer bags for up to one year.
Another handy way to freeze herbs is in ice cube trays. This is a great way to preserve combinations of herbs you use in special soups and stews in winter. Stuff three or four individual leaves or chopped herbs in a ice cube tray and fill with broth or water. Freeze, then remove the blocks and store in freezer bags.
I love eating pesto in summer and preserving pesto for winter, too. I use the ice cube tray method making batches of pesto by filling the trays and storing the cubes in freezer bags. Don't feel limited to basil pesto either. The word pesto, in Italian, means to pound or crush, so try out different leaf combinations like spinach and parsley, arugula and parsley or kale and sun-dried tomatoes. Vinegars are a great way to preserve herbs such as basil, oregano, thyme, and rosemary. Use three to four sprigs of herbs per one cup of vinegar. Experiment with white vinegar, cider vinegar and wine vinegar, using different herbal combinations and amounts.
Some herb plants are best preserved by collecting the seeds. Dill, fennel, and coriander are some of the most popular herbs whose seeds are used in cooking. To collect herb seeds, let the plants flower and form seed heads. When the seed head begins to yellow and dry, but before the seeds start dropping, harvest the head and cover it with a brown paper bag, securing the bottom with an elastic band. Hang it upside down indoors. Wait a week or so to let the herb seeds mature and dry. Periodically shake the bag to dislodge the seeds into the bag. Store seeds in a glass jar in a dark location. Use within six months for best flavor.
Soft, firm and extra-firm tofu are not only a delicious source of protein but also provide the basis for everything from sauces to stirfries and scrambles. Shefaly Ravula demystifies the most common types of tofu and offers tips on how to use and store them. She demonstrates how to make an orange dream silken smoothie. Once you have the technique down, customize this creamy treat with your choice of fruits, protein powder or flavorings.
Pickling can be just that—a pickle. True pickling is an ancient miracle for food preservation, but involves a drawn-out fermentation process requiring canning equipment, sterilization procedures and a whole lotta waiting around.
But, did you know that there’s a fast and easy way to preserve and chill your fresh garden veggies? Follow these quick pickling steps for those of you not ready to go all in.
Although cucumbers are the most common for pickling, you can pickle almost any vegetable such as baby carrots (not the bitty mature carrots which you find in packages, but miniature immature ones with the skin still on), shallots, onion, asparagus, cauliflower, green beans, zucchini, okra, and beyond. The fresher and crispier the produce, the better the final product.
The main ingredient in pickle brine is vinegar. White vinegar is most common, but you can also use cider vinegar or wine vinegar. Balsamic is not recommended as it’s too syrupy. Combine 1 cup vinegar with 1/2 cup water in a saucepan. Instead of diluting the vinegar with water, try including a 1/2 cup of white or brown sugar with a dash of cinnamon.
Add a few pinches of salt. Salt draws moisture out of the vegetables and encourages the growth of useful bacteria.
This is where it gets fun. Many "pickling spice" blends are available and work beautifully, but consider a visit to the bulk aisle at your local food co-op to customize your blend. Mustard seed, dill seed, dry coriander seed, red pepper flakes, bay leaf, black peppercorns and garlic are all great places to start.
Combine all the ingredients in the saucepan, stir to dissolve, and bring to a boil.
Trim off any inedible pieces of your vegetable (e.g., the ends of green beans or root ends of onions). If you're cutting your vegetables into pieces, make sure they're all about the same size for pickling consistency.
Leeks and carrots make great pickled veggies.
Place your vegetables in a clean, dry container. Glass jars are the best because they won’t absorb any odors from the pickles.
Pour the boiling brine into the jar and submerge the veggies completely (you can add water to bring up the level if needed). Refrigerate for at least one hour and let the brine work its charms. The longer you brine, the tastier the pickle.
Depending on your veggie, quick pickles will keep in the fridge for weeks to a few months.
Reprinted by permission from StrongerTogether.coop. Find articles about your food and where it comes from, recipes and a whole lot more at www.strongertogether.coop.
Banana whips are a staple of West Philly's biannual Dollar Strolls. Skip the lines and make your own banana whip at home by following these simple steps.
One bunch of fair trade, organic bananas
Chocolate, coconut, or whatever you like as a topping
Please note, you will need a juicer to create a creamy, ice cream-like consistency. You can also use a food processor for a slightly different consistency.
Peel and freeze bananas for at least 12 hours.
When you're ready to make your banana whips, thaw your bananas for a few minutes. Thawing the bananas makes them easier to cut.
Slice the bananas in half.
Push two halves of a banana through a juicer. One half - two thirds of a banana makes a 4 oz banana whip. You can also cut the slightly thawed bananas and blend in a food processor.
Top with chocolate, coconut, or whatever you please.
Egg dyeing is a fun way to celebrate this time of year—and it's a tradition that goes way back—as much as 5,000 years when Persians celebrated springtime with eggs colored with plant-based dyes. Plant dyes can be just as useful today and they're plentiful; in fact you very well might have dye-worthy ingredients in your kitchen already.
Here are some great plant-based dyes—fruits, vegetables, spices and flowers.
Optional: Tape, string, rubber bands, cheese cloth squares, natural beeswax crayons to create designs on eggs, and vegetable oil for an extra sheen.
Beet dye including pulp (top), onion skin dye with celery, bay and ivy leaves wrapped in cheese cloth (middle two), turmeric dye with rice wrapped in cheese cloth (bottom).
Hot Bath Method
Place uncooked eggs in a stainless steel stock pan. Add water 2-3 inches above eggs. (When using bottled juice, fill 2-3 inches above eggs. Do not add water.) Add natural dye ingredients and 1-2 tablespoons vinegar per quart of water.
Cold Bath Method
The process for cold dyeing is much the same as the hot method except the eggs and dyes are cooked separately.
Color variation
Colors may vary depending on steeping time and foods used to dye eggs.
Deeper colors
The longer the eggs stay in the dye, the deeper the color will be; leaving the eggs in the dye for several hours or overnight (in the refrigerator) is recommended for achieving deep colors. Allow the liquid and eggs to cool before refrigerating and ensure that the eggs are completely submerged in the dye. Eggs will be speckled if the dye matter remains in the liquid. For more uniform colors, remove the dye matter from the liquid, by straining the liquid through a coffee filter, before refrigerating.
Egg flavor
The flavor of the egg may change based on the dye, so if you plan to eat your dyed eggs, a shorter dye bath and fresh ingredients may be preferable.
Drying
Make a drying rack by cutting the bottom off an egg carton and turning it upside down.
Decorating
Reprinted by permission from StrongerTogether.coop. Find articles about your food and where it comes from, recipes and a whole lot more at www.strongertogether.coop
Thank vegans for this exciting new phenomenon.
Aquafaba is actually something we have been pouring down the drain for years. Also known as chickpea water, aquafaba (derived from the Latin word "aqua" for water, and "faba" for beans) is the liquid that forms when you cook dried chickpeas.
With a little help from sugar, starch, and a little something acidic to help stabilize it, aquafaba can be whipped up to a lofty peak, with nearly the same structure as whipped egg whites.
Via Creative Commons
Many aquafaba recipes call for draining a can of cooked chickpeas to get started. That is certainly easy and it works pretty well, but you can actually make better aquafaba at home from dried chickpeas.
When substituting with aquafaba, remember it has none of the fat other substitutes may have. Use aquafaba as a vegan egg white substitute or in cakes and meringues. Aquafaba is a great mayo starter that can be easily blended with garlic and herbs to make aioli for dipping, meat, or seafood.
Recipes that call for an egg or two to bind them are your best bets, like meat or nut loaves, veggie burgers, or savory breads. You can blend part tofu and part aquafaba with seasonings, then scramble to make a softer, lighter version of a tofu scramble.
Authored by Robin Asbell. Reprinted by permission from StrongerTogether.coop. Find articles about your food and where it comes from, recipes and a whole lot more at www.strongertogether.coop
A popular item for Mariposa shoppers, Kombucha is a bubbly, refreshing brew that also serves as a source of healthy probiotics.
Making kombucha can also be a fun and satisfying DIY project. The only challenge can be finding a scoby, the Symbiotic Culture Of Bacteria and Yeasts that floats in your brew, infusing the liquid with good bacteria. To find a scoby, put the word out to your neighbors, friends, and fellow Co-op shoppers. Anyone who brews on a regular basis will have extras. Another strategy is to look at the bottles of plain, unflavored kombucha and select the one with the largest floating blob of scoby. Strain the drink, and use the contents of the strainer as your scoby culture. The starter tea, or already-brewed kombucha, is essential to acidify the brew enough to keep less desirable bacteria from flourishing, so don't skimp on this ingredient.
Authored by Robin Asbell. Reprinted by permission from StrongerTogether.coop. Find articles about your food and where it comes from, recipes and a whole lot more at www.strongertogether.coop
Ginger is a great source of vitamin C, magnesium, potassium, copper and manganese. It's also widely studied for its medicinal benefits, including aiding nausea and vomiting, relieving the pain of osteoarthritis, and possibly a factor in treating heart disease. Of course, it's also delicious in all sorts of dishes and versatile. Try it using one of the techniques below.
1. Make sauces, dressings and dips all perk up with the addition of ginger. For a simple dipping or marinating sauce, add minced ginger to soy sauce. For a salad dressing upgrade, stir a bit of minced ginger to an otherwise plain vinaigrette.
2. Combine it with red miso and tahini in this colorful Kale Salad with Ginger Miso Dressing
3. Enhance flavor. This Ginger Beurre Blanc Sauce would nicely flavor any seafood or chicken, for starters.
4. Add it to grain dishes and mashed sweet potatoes.
5. Spruce up a simple stir fry with beef, chicken, or veggies. In this Grilled Tofu with Cilantro Ginger Pesto, ginger combines with cilantro.
6. Add fruit. Apples, pears and other fruit are delicious when seasoned with ginger. Sprinkle minced ginger on top of the fruit before baking or cook the fruit in gingered butter until softened.
7. Pickle it. Pickled Ginger is great for cleansing the palate or a light snack. This version is easy to make and, unlike many commercial varieties, uses no food dyes.
8. Add it to sweets. Dried and ground ginger performs well in desserts, like spice cookies, carrot cakes, or pumpkin and apple pie fillings.
9. Stir into cream cheese for spreading on fruit bread.
10. Serve it with curry. Offer tasty little bites alongside curried dishes.
