Recipe – Page 25 – Goboroot.com

Pea Shoots and Beet Salad

I have a garden in the front yard and the back yard, where we rely on our produce all year round. But when food becomes scarce, a kitchen window sill becomes my garden; jars of sprouts, trays of pea shoots and sunflower sprouts are nestled on shelves with grow lights. We rely on these tiny yet powerful greens to get through the winter. Sprouts give us the freshest, the rawest and the most nutrient-rich food in a small package. I used to consult Mark M. Braunstein’s book called Sprout Garden until I got the hang of the procedure. Once I learned, it became second nature. Another book I really like is called Microgreens, which has photographs of individual sprouts and information about them. Now we eat different kinds of sprouts everyday. Anyone can start a small indoor garden in a cupboard or a pantry in the kitchen.

Pea Shoots and Beet Salad

Serves 4

6 medium beets

1/2 pound pea shoots

200 g goat cheese

3/4 cup pecan halves

Wash the beets and remove leaves, leaving 1 inch of stem on the beets. Place them in a pot, cover them with cold water and bring to a boil. Cook for 40 minutes to 1 hour until tender. When the beets are done, plunge them in cold water and remove the skin. Pat dry and slice into 1/4 inch thick pieces.

Prepare the salad by washing, draining, and patting dry the pea shoots. Place the pea shoots in a large bowl, spoon the goat cheese on top, and add the sliced beets. Sprinkle the pecan over top of the salad. Serve with balsamic vinaigrette.

Balsamic Vinaigrette

Makes about 1 cup

1/3 cup balsamic vinegar

2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2 shallot, chopped

2 teaspoons brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Combine all the ingredients in a screw-top jar and shake well. Taste and adjust the seasonings.

Miso Soup and Brown Rice Balls

We have been serving this menu item on Sunday nights for a while after consuming some cheese, meat dishes and indulgences during the week. Somehow eating something very simple like this meal seems right to cleanse and restore the body for the coming week. Indeed, how soothing the very first sip of miso soup is!

Miso is well known for its anti-aging properties, cancer prevention and ability to lower the chance of cardiovascular disease as well as intestinal disorders, to name a few. When you shop for miso, I would strongly recommend that you look for organic and non-GMO (genetically modified organism) miso.

Miso Soup

Serves 2-3

3 cups water

1 cup shiitake, washed and sliced

2 tablespoons white miso

1 tablespoon red miso

1 cup mung bean sprouts

1 cup red clover sprouts

Wash the shiitake, remove any hard part at the end of stems, and slice into 1/4 inch pieces. Put the water in a pot over medium heat and add shiitake, then bring to a boil. Turn heat down and simmer until shiitake is cooked, about 5 minutes. Put the miso in a ladle and submerge it into the simmering water. Whisk the miso gently with two chopsticks until dissolved. Bring to a simmer and continue for a few minutes without boiling. Serve in a bowl and, just before eating, top with a handful of sprouts .

Brown Rice Balls

Serves 2

2 cups brown rice (or 1 cup each of Japanese white rice and brown rice)

2 sheets nori, cut in half, making 4 pieces

Sea salt

A bowl of water for wetting your hands

Cook the rice according to the instructions on the packaging. Spread cooked rice on a big flat plate, separating in quarters, and cool. Wet and lightly sprinkle salt on your hands. Then, scoop the quarter of rice and form into a triangle shape, gently pressing to make sure that the rice does not fall apart. Put a piece of nori around each ball and gently press.

Serve with miso soup.

Peanut Butter Cookies

My partner, Pascal, was craving sugar and decided to bake something at 10:00 pm! All we had was a jar of organic peanut butter in the fridge. So I pulled an old baking book from the cupboard that I had brought from Japan and been using for over twenty years! I love this recipe because it’s not too sweet. The key is to use a nice quality peanut butter.

Peanut butter cookies

Makes about 35 cookies

80g Butter, room temperature

80g Crunchy peanut butter

100g Brown sugar

1 egg

160g Unbleached all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

*I use salted butter, but if you use unsalted, you might want to add a little bit of salt, say 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon.

Preheat oven to 335 degrees F (300 degrees F for a convection oven). In a medium bowl, whisk butter and peanut butter until it becomes creamy. Add brown sugar little by little and whisk until pale and fluffy.

Beat egg into the peanut butter mixture. In a separate bowl combine flour and baking powder and add to the peanut butter mixture and blend in. If the mixture is too sticky, put in the fridge till it becomes hard.

On a lightly floured surface, form the dough into a log about 5 cm in diameter and cut into 35 pieces.

Shape the pieces into rounds by hand and place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Crisscross mark them with the back of a fork.

Bake for 20 minutes, until brown. Let them cool on rack.