Homemade Kimchi (version 1.0)

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Ingredients:
1 head of napa cabbage (about 2 and 1/2 to 3 pounds)
1 pound of radish, cut into matchsticks
1/4 cup sea salt
1 and 1/2 cup water
4 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tablespoons of ginger, minced
3 stalks of green onion, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 tablespoons red pepper flakes, or 2 tablespoons of cut-up fresh chilis
2 tablespoons sugar

Directions:

Chop up the cabbage into bite-sized pieces, and cut up the radish into medium-sized thin sticks. Mix together in a bowl.

Dissolve the sea salt into water. Pour over the cabbage and radish.

Let sit for at least 2 hours, mixing occasionally.

Drain the vegetables, but keep the liquid. Add the garlic, ginger, green onion, red pepper flakes, and sugar.

Mix well for several minutes.

Put vegetable mixture into large seal-able containers. Leave about 1 inch of space from the top. Pour salt liquid over the mixture until the liquid just covers the top of the mixture.

Seal the containers and keep at room temperature in a dark, dry environment. Leave for 1-3 days (depending on how fermented you like kimchi). After bubbles start appearing in the liquid, or gas starts pushing the container lid upwards, the kimchi is ready to be stored in the refrigerator.

Green Salad

:: BASE (mixed together) ::
1-2 heads of romaine lettuce
1 bunch of spinach
1 bunch of arugula (if available and fresh. adds a kinda spicy flavor to the base)
1/2 bunch of chopped green onions
1/2 bunch of cilantro

:: TOP (chopped and garnish style on top) ::
carrot peels (i use a potato peeler to get nice thin strip style peels)
celery
bell pepper (usually orange or yellow for color diversity.. gotta have presentation too =P)
jicama
tomato
cucumber
slivered almonds
dried cranberries

You can do all sorts of things to change it up depending on the style and what’s available. Add different types of produce, glaze some walnuts instead of almonds, mandarin orange slices, sliced chicken, croutons, etc, etc. My goal is to make a salad as healthy as possible yet full of flavor so it doesn’t require a salad dressing (or very little) to eat it.

Granola

This is one of my favorite foods to make. Very healthy while maintaining a tasty flavor. Great with milk, over fruit salad, or in a parfet.

Blend:
8 Cups oats
1 Cup raw shredded coconut
1 Cup raw sunflower seeds
1/2 Cup raw wheat germ
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1 Cup raw chopped nuts

Blend:
1/3 Cup boiling water
1/2 Cup honey (3/4 Cup for sweeter)
3/4 Cup cold pressed virgin coconut oil

Optional: vanilla or almond extract

Thoroughly combine both mixtures, then DRY in the oven 1 1/2 – 2 hours @250 degrees. Set on several cookie sheets, turning mixture every 15-20 minutes. The goal is to dry the mixture, not bake and brown it.

Granola is especially to taste. Add or subtract anything you dont like. I add dried fruits (cranberries, blueberries, dates, banana chips, etc AFTER the baking and cooling. Adding before makes the fruits too dry and hard to chew.

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