Is it Japanese Lasagna or Italian Sushi?

September 26, 2014 / Kake2Kale | Culinary Travel Adventures

The first lasagna I ever had was made from the generosity of a stranger. This was shortly after we emigrated from Hong Kong and Mom was shopping at Safeway. She returned home with a handwritten lasagna recipe given to her by another grocery shopper. That night Mom made it, much to everyone’s delight. She shared how this stranger took the time to write out the recipe then escorted her around the store to choose the ingredients. At that time, I thought of how Canada was a wonderful land and that Canadians were genuinely kind. It was probably a very insignificant act for the stranger, but to my family, we tasted the deliciousness of generosity that night.

As that stranger knew, lasagna is one of those fail proof dishes that even a first timer can’t ruin. I am almost positive that you could sneak in lawn clippings and coffee grounds and no one would be the wiser. Don’t worry; this week’s original recipe doesn’t include any lawn clippings or coffee.

One day, {Kale} mentioned that she had some seaweed in her pantry and asked if I could do something with it. It was actually giant kelp and on the back of the package was a recipe for seaweed lasagna. But what a disappointment! It was basically a regular lasagna recipe that just exchanged the noodles for seaweed. Instead, I thought about my favourite way to eat seaweed… SUSHI! What could be more crowd pleasing than a California roll? So, is my new seaweed creation considered Italian sushi or Japanese lasagna? Either way, {Kale} and I enjoyed the finished product very much.

Before you jump into making this recipe, there’s a caveat. Remember those stand-up menus in sushi restaurants that had the various types of sushi listed and some were labeled “challenging”? I suppose this recipe could be considered “challenging” if you make it as is. The challenging ingredient is the giant kelp because it is quite chewy and has a strong “sea” taste. So if you’d like to try the recipe but are not sure if you want to go for the gusto, then I’d suggest using nori. I’ve put an addendum to the recipe. Nori is the seaweed that is commonly used to make sushi. It is milder, and lighter.

I’d like to dedicate this post to my dear friend Jo who left us much too young from her battle with cancer. Jo was a master herbalist whose life was very much in tune with nature. I loved it when she shared her knowledge and the fruits of her labour with me. She had been working on a precedent setting municipal vegetable garden. Every summer she would collect kelp and drape it all over her apartment to dry and then bundle it up in silk pouches to be sold at craft fairs as bath detoxifiers. She took the time to find just the right colour of silk and handpicked each strand of kelp. I always felt refreshed after one of her seaweed baths. In case this inspires you to try this, you can reuse the pouches up to 10 times and just dry them afterwards.

Jo would have been tickled by my sushi inspired lasagna, not only because of the kelp but for the Asian twist that I added. Jo was adventurous in many ways and trying new foods was definitely one of them. Though she was of British stock, she joked about having Asian blood in her because she loved foods like congee, dumplings, tofu. This one’s for you beautiful Jo!

Superfoods in this Recipe:
Seaweed: Contains many nutrients and is especially high in iron and iodine. Iodine can help with supporting a sluggish thyroid. Also contains minerals that are important for strong bones.
Tofu: Soy has had some bad press, but I always say, everything in moderation. When I lived in Hong Kong as a child, I would have a chilled bottle of soymilk (sold like cola) as a weekly treat. But here, it becomes a replacement for dairy milk, and is consumed everyday. Tofu is high in protein, calcium has lots of soy isoflavones, that may decrease bone loss due to menopause.
Avocado: Contains high amount of potassium, vitamins K, B complex, C and E. Rich source of monosaturated fat which is a good fat, can help with lowering cholesterol and reducing the risk of strokes.
Crab: High in protein and minerals like zinc, iron, calcium and copper, as well as Omega 3’s. It is also abundant in selenium, which is an antioxidant and plays a role in thyroid health.

California Roll Lasagna serves 4

Ingredients:

8 lasagna noodles (may replace with Gluten Free noodles)
8 sheets giant kelp*
250 gm medium firm tofu
1 large avocado
120 gm crabmeat
1 T. lemon juice
1 t. salt
1 t. black pepper
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1 cup Bechamel sauce**

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 F.
Cut 8 strips of tin foil to approximate the width and length of the noodles.
Boil the noodles according to the instructions on the box.
While noodles are boiling, blend the tofu, avocado, lemon juice, salt and pepper in a food processor or blender. Stir in the crab meat once it is blended.
When the noodles still have 2 minutes left to cook, add the kelp.
Drain the noodles and kelp.
Lay the tin foil out then lay a strip of kelp, then a lasagne noodle, spread with a thick layer of the tofu crab mixture. Then roll up and put in a casserole dish.
Continue until all eight are rolled. Top each with some béchamel sauce.
Bake for 20 minutes. Unwrap the rolls and serve topped with more béchamel sauce and sprinkle of parsley.

*Nori version
Take 3 sheets of nori and cut each sheet into 3 long strips, you will have one leftover. Boil the noodles, drain. Then lay out the noodles onto the foil, place a strip of dry nori onto the noodles and spread the tofu mixture on top. Carry on as above.

Bechamel Sauce

1T. butter
1 T. flour (or GF flour)
1 cup milk (non-dairy is fine)
Salt and pepper

Directions:

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium high heat.
Add the flour, stirring constantly, letting the flour cook for about 2 minutes until it gets a nice brown colour.
Add the milk, stir constantly until the sauce thickens, and coats the back of a spoon.
Season with salt and pepper, to your taste.

This recipe is perfect for tweaking. If you want you can add more crab or avocado, some herbs, or if you prefer, to use cream cheese instead of tofu. Make this recipe your own and let me know how it goes.

Eat healthy, live great! {Kake}

Kale Pesto with Roasted Potatoes and Egg

September 19, 2014 / Kake2Kale | Culinary Travel Adventures / 1 Comment

We’ve been growing kale in our garden for a few years now. For those of you who have never planted anything for fear of killing it, then kale is for you. We usually just buy the seedlings in the spring, plant them and water them somewhat regularly and they supply us with their prodigious leaves from summer into late fall. Growing kale is definitely 20% effort for 80% results.

Kale used to be one of those mysterious things that adorned plates at restaurants. Mom and I had lunch many years ago when my sandwich platter came with a scoop of coleslaw that was nestled in a green frilly leaf. Mom saw this leaf and in an awed voice said, “I think that’s kale; it’s very nutritious.” It was like she had seen a unicorn! I took a little bite of this strange leaf with high expectations, but was completely disappointed by the tough chewy texture and bitterish taste. Mom finished off the rest of my discarded leaf. Little did I know then that she was further fortifying her anti-aging genes; my Mom has always looked young for her age. But at that time, I had as little use for kale as those plastic green cut-outs that come with your sushi.

How far we’ve come! Kale has now shot out of the shadows and straight into our gardens, our salads, chips, smoothies. It’s the Susan Boyle of the vegetable world, living a life of obscurity until a spotlight was shone on it and it burst forth in all of its green glory. It has definitely had more than its share of 15 minutes of fame, and still going strong, though other veggies are trying to vie for its prominence in our fridges and plates. Besides the conventional curly and heavy textured leafy kind, there is the non-curly and not as chewy kind called locinato, or dinosaur kale, as well as black kale, which really looks purplish.

My favourite way to eat kale is to make them into chips by dehydrating them, which makes them really crispy so they taste just like the kind you can spend oodles of money on in the grocery store. It’s worth the trouble. My neighbor has a dehydrator that she generously let me use, but she just moved and I might have to get one for myself. Here is my go to recipe for dehydrated kale chips. http://goneraw.com/recipe/cheesy-kale-chips

With the abundance of kale in my garden, I thought I’d make pesto with it. One night I had a craving for comfort food, and what’s more comforting than breakfast for dinner. So I roasted some sweet potatoes and potatoes, added the kale pesto and a fried egg, read my Vanity Fair magazine and settled in for the night…heaven.

Superfoods in this recipe:
Kale – High amount of calcium and vitamin K. In the Brassica oleracea family which is known to have a protective effect against cancer, because they contain Indole-3-carbinal (IC3) , which promotes a healthy balance of good estrogen to toxic cancer causing form of estrogen, it also has an anti-tumour effect.
Garlic – The major player in the allium family ( includes, leeks, onions, shallots, chives, green onion) contains sulphuric compounds that may help with lowering blood pressure, destroy cancer cells. Allicin, one of these compounds in garlic is not only anti-bacterial, anti-viral and anti-fungal, but research has shown that as allicin helps your body to neutralize dangerous free radicals.
Pine nuts – This seed has the highest amount of protein found in any nut. They are the only source of pinoleic acid, an appetite suppressant. They contain a high concentration of oleic acid which is good for heart health. Pine nuts are also rich in iron and packed with antioxidants.
Olive oil – Extra virgin olive oil has a distinctive taste and is high numerous antioxidants which are anti-flammatory and may protect the heart.
Sweet potatoes – Contains vitamin C, B complex, calcium and beta carotene. This is a complex carbohydrate, which means the carbs get released slowly in our body, so we don’t experience a dip in our energy levels, so our blood sugar remains stable. B vitamins support our nervous system, which help us to feel calm and improves sleep.
Eggs –Nature’s near perfect food. Contains a wide range of vitamins, such as vitamins A, D, E, choline, B12, as well as protein, lutein and zea-xanthin. Try to purchase Omega 3 eggs, to make it even more of a superfood.
Breakfast for Dinner serves 2

Ingredients:

1 potato
1 sweet potato
½ T. olive oil
¼ t. salt
Kale pesto (recipe below)
2 eggs
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 F.
Cut both potatoes into wedges then drizzle with olive oil and salt. Place on baking sheet and bake for about 40 minutes, turning once.
Just before the potatoes are done, fry the eggs and set aside.
Once potatoes are cooked, divide them between two plates, put about 1-2 Tablespoons of pesto onto each plate and top with fried egg and parmesan cheese if desired.

Kale Pesto makes about 1 cup

Ingredients:

2 cups kale (chopped)
1-2 cloves of garlic
1/4 cup pine nuts
1/2 olive oil
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Puree kale, garlic and pine nuts in a food processor, or blender.
Then stream olive oil into the mixture with machine on low.
Then add cheese and salt and pepper at the end.

To store leftover pesto, pour olive oil over the top to create a seal, so the pesto does not oxidize. It can be refrigerated for a week, or frozen for 3 months. But if freezing, do not put the cheese into the pesto, but add when serving.

Eat healthy, live great! {Kake}

Quinoa Kale Burger with Goji Berry Ketchup

July 25, 2014 / Kake2Kale | Culinary Travel Adventures

Going to Macdonald’s as a child was really not a huge draw, although my parents somehow always chose to take my brother and I to Macdonald’s whenever they had bad news to tell us. The burgers were unmemorable, but the shakes, oh boy!! Just the mention of Shamrock shakes today will put a stupid smile on my face. Burgers were considered food that only people who camped, hunted, listened to rock and roll, drove trucks and had mullet hairstyles ate. Not that we felt above those people, we were just into other things, like not eating with our hands, unless it was a barbecue pork bun at dim sum and then you had no choice. To this day even eating crab I only allow one hand to handle the crab while the other hand uses chopsticks.

One night I was looking through my cupboard trying to decide what to make for dinner and saw cans of beans. I keep buying them because I know they are good for me, but they just sit there. So I took a can down, opened the fridge and once I saw the leftover cooked kale inspiration hit me for these burgers.

Mulling over what condiment to go with the burger it occurred to me that goji berries blended with ketchup might work well. By the way here is a little tidbit about the provenance of the word “ketchup”. We were having ketchup on something and I was saying the word in my mind. I suddenly made the connection with the Cantonese words for ketchup. I looked it up in the dictionary, and indeed, its origins are Chinese, because “ke” means tomato and “chup” is sauce. The goji berry ketchup’s sweet and tart flavour is the perfect foil to the burger. You can add your own twist by adding chilli powder, or sriracha.

Superfoods in my burger and condiment recipes:

Cannellini beans: These are also called navy beans because they were a staple for the U.S. Navy in the early 1900’s. Packed full of protein, fiber and also vitamin B1, as well as lots of minerals.
Quinoa: Contains antixoidants, as well as all 9 essential amino acids making it a complete protein, perfect for vegetarians.
Kale: High amount of calcium and vitamin K. Kale is in the Brassica oleracea family which is known to have a protective effect against cancer, because they contain Indole-3-carbinal (IC3) , which promotes a healthy balance of good estrogen to toxic cancer causing form of estrogen, it also has an anti-tumour effect.
Onion: High amount of quercetin (which is an anti-histamine, helps your body combat allergies). Onions are also antibacterial, antiseptic, detox properties, lowers cholesterol, protects the heart.
Goji Berries: These are also known as Wolfberries. They contain the highest concentration of protein of any fruit, high amounts of carotenoids, vitamin C, and 21 trace minerals. It is anti-inflammatory, anti-fungal and anti-bacterial.

Quinoa Burgers makes 8 burgers

1/2 cup uncooked Quinoa
1 can or 398 ml Cannellini (navy)beans, drained and rinsed
2 cups kale (stem removed and chopped)
¼ cup onion (minced)
2 eggs
½ cup corn (fresh or frozen)
2 T. plus 2 t. olive oil
2 t. mustard
1 t. ground coriander
½ t. chilli powder
1 cupgluten free breadcrumbs (or regular breadcrumbs)

Directions:

Place the quinoa in 1 cup of water, cover and bring to a boil. Keep uncovered and simmer for about 10 minutes, or until all the water is absorbed and the quinoa grains have opened up.
While quinoa is cooking, heat 2 teaspoons of olive oil over medium heat add the onion, cook for 5 minutes, then add the kale and continue cooking for another 5-7 minutes until kale is wilted.
Then in a large bowl combine the cooled quinoa, kale and then rest of the ingredients mix well. Form into 8 patties and using a tablespoon of oil at a time cook the patties in a frying pan.

Goji Ketchup makes 1/2 cup

1 T. goji berries
1 T. filtered water
1/3 cup ketchup (whichever one you have in your fridge)

Directions:

Rehydrate goji berries in filtered water for 15 minutes
Do not drain the berries, but add goji berries along with water to ketchup. (There will be nutrients from the goji berries in the water that it has been rehydrating in.) Puree with a hand blender until smooth. That is it!

Eat healthy, live great! – {Kake}

The Laaracino

July 18, 2014 / Kake2Kale | Culinary Travel Adventures

I don’t come from a family of coffee drinkers or even tea drinkers for that matter. Just water and milk when I was growing up. But that would change when my Dad spent some time in France studying French, it was there that he got accustomed to drinking coffee. Not too long after that Dad took my brother and I on our first European trip. It was in Paris where Dad encouraged me to have my first cappuccino. As a teenager obsessed with Vogue magazine, it seemed like this cup of creamy, foamy coffee was the perfect entry point into the world of Catherine Deneuve, Chanel, the Concorde.

Since then, I will have the occasional latte when going out for coffee. My husband has learned that drinking coffee has all sorts of benefits such as reducing the risk of diabetes, staving off Alzheimer’s disease, it may also be helpful to those suffering from depression. So now we make coffee at home a few times a week.

My Dad is Mr. Health, and his knowledge and lifestyle has influenced how I eat and take care of myself. So when I found a whole stack of McCafe coffee cups on his kitchen counter I knew I was on the right track. One night after family dinner we ended up at Dairy Queen, and my Dad was the first one to order and I was wondering what he could be getting, because he doesn’t eat ice cream, or anything sugary. Then we saw him picking up 3 cups of coffee, and I thought, “Strange, why three?” None of us drink coffee after dinner. So when I asked about it, he said, he paid for one and got 2 refills, to drink in the next day or two. Is my Dad smart or what?

I have inherited my frugalness from my Dad. Every year I will allow myself one Frappacino for the whole summer. But very rarely do I ever take myself up on that offer. First of all, it’s an expensive drink that is mostly crushed ice. And, if I want it to taste good, there’s going to be tons of sugary syrup. So I have come up with my own version, thus naming it after myself. My version is dairy free, gluten free, sugar free and has superfoods. One thing about coffee is that it can inhibit absorption of vitamins and minerals, so for those who have a morning coffee, take your supplements an hour away from it. Because of this my Laaracino actually does not have coffee in it. I do not miss the coffee taste because the maca, malt and the cocoa satisfies my coffee loving taste buds. But by all means add coffee to my Laaracino, if that is what pleases you.

The superfoods in my Laaracino:
Cocoa – High in vitamin B’s and magnesium, both of which supports the nervous system. It also has phenylethylamine, which stirs up happy feelings, and releases stress. Cacao has an even higher amount of antioxidants than blueberries.
Maca – This root from Peru has lots of nutrients, but it is mainly known for increasing cognitive function, libido, energy levels. It is also an adaptogen which means it helps the bring the body into balance. For instance, when the body in under stress, maca helps support the adrenal glands to deal with the stress.
Coconut oil –Has antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal and antiparasitic properties and contains lauric acid which is found in mother’s milk. Breast-fed babies are better able to fend off infections than babies not given mother’s milk.
Vanilla powder – This is simply the seeds that are inside the vanilla pods. They contain a phytochemical called vanilloid that reduces inflammation and improves brain function.
Cinnamon – Can be beneficial for reducing risk from diabetes and heart disease.

Laaracino serves 2

2 cups almond milk (or any type of milk)
2 t. maca powder
2 T. malt powder, gluten free if made from rice (optional)
4 T. cocoa powder
2 T. coconut oil
1 t. cinnamon
1 t. vanilla powder
5 drops stevia (or other type of sweetener)
pinch of sea salt
4 cups of ice

Directions:

Put all the ingredients in a good blender, whiz until the ice has been blended and serve in two frosty glasses.
Feel free to experiment with this recipe and make it your own, ie. add a banana, frozen yogurt, liquer, coffee if you must, you get the idea.

*You may wonder if it is possible to substitute vanilla extract for the vanilla powder, I haven’t simply because extract wouldn’t be as nutritious as the powder. If any of you do make this with the extract let me know how it goes.

Eat healthy, live great! – {Kake}