Recipes

Recipes and menu are taken from The Macrobiotic Way by Michio Kushi and Stephen Blauer. There are some modifications for the purpose of making these meals easily manageable. The essence and flavors are left in tact.

If you are just beginning a Macrobiotics Diet, you will find this week’s menu to be a GREAT introduction to methods and beneficial ingredients. You can build a sustainable diet from here! My blog will continue to provide you with additional recipes and resources. If this is a diet that you wish to follow – consult your healthcare provider – then I highly recommend that you buy the book. It contains much useful information on nutrition.

If you do not follow a Macrobiotics Diet, feel free to use these ideas and alter seasonings to your taste and diet. If you like, add meat on the side!

Whole Oats with Raisins

Make-ahead, click here

Prepare in advance. Reheat for breakfast, adding water if needed.
For additional information on breakfast congee, click here

Miso Soup

2 1/2 c water
2-3 shitake mushrooms, soaked, stems removed, and sliced
1/2 kombu strip, 3 inches long, soaked
2 t barley (mugi) miso, or to taste
1/2 cup fresh snow peas, stems removed

Place water, shitake and kombu in a pot and bring to a boil.Cover and reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer for about ten minutes. Remove kombu, slice very thin, and place back in water. Reduce heat to low, add miso and snow peas. Simmer 2-3 minutes more.

Broccoli Pickles

Make-ahead, click here
optional: good quality prepared fermented pickled vegetables

Gomashio

Make-Ahead, click here

Fried Tempeh with Ginger

dark sesame oil
about 3/4 cup onion, cut into half moons
1/3 lb tempeh, cut into one inch cubes
water
1 t juice from freshly grated ginger
tamari, to taste

Heat a small amount of sesame oil in a skillet. Sauté onion for 2-3 minutes over med-high heat, stirring constantly. Add tempeh and sauté for 1-2 minutes. Add enough water to cover onion and tempeh; add ginger juice and cover skillet. Reduce heat to med-low and cook for 25 minutes. Season with tamari and and simmer several more minutes. Remove cover. Increase heat, Cook until water is evaporated.

Note: Juicing ginger is really very simple. I keep my ginger wrapped in a paper bag in the freezer. After grating a little chunk, simply pick it up and squeeze it until you get the amount of juice needed.

Steamed Kale

water
kale (desired amount)
tamari, to taste, if desired

Steam kale for about 5 minutes. Season with tamari, if desired. Steam for another minute. Kale should be slightly crisp and bright green.

Carrot and Watercress Sushi

1 carrot, quartered lengthwise
8 watercress sprigs
2 sheets toasted nori (purchase toasted, or toast gently over flame or on a sheet tray in the oven)
4 c brown rice
4 T sesame seeds, toasted (about 5 minutes in a saute pan, they will begin to pop)

Blanche carrots in boiling water (boil until tender). Remove carrots. Blanche watercress, about 45 seconds. Remove. Cool. Dry.

Place a sheet or nori on a bamboo sushi mat. Evenly spread 2 cups rice over nori, leaving about an inch or two uncovered at the top, and 1/4 at the bottom edge. Press rice down firmly. If you have a damp bamboo rice paddle, use it! If not, damp hands will work too.

Place 2 strips of carrot across the width of the nori sheet, about an inch or so from the bottom. Next, place 4 sprigs of watercress along the carrot. Sprinkle vegetables with about 1 T sesame seeds.

Roll sushi mat into a cylindrical shape, pressing mat firmly against nori and rice. When nori sheet is completely rolled up, wet the top edge slightly with water and press to seal edges tightly. Before unrolling sushi mat, squeeze gently to remove excess liquid. Slice nori roll in half with a sharp wet knife. Wet kbife between each slice and slice each half into four equal sections (rounds), approximately 1 in thick.

Repeat.

Oh no! I can’t that I forgot my crunchy croutons! It was nagging at me. Something was missing. They would have balanced out this dish perfectly! When you make this, don’t forget the croutons!

French Onion Soup

“French onion soup” may be a bit of a misnomer. Pretty sure, Escoffier would roll over in his grave at this description. However, the flavorings used here are compatible with a macrobiotic diet.

dark sesame oil
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1 shitake mushroom, soaked, stem removed, sliced
1 cup water
tamari, to taste
1/2 slice whole wheat sourdough bread, cut into 1-inch cubes, as garnish
1 T chopped scallions, chives, or parsley, as garnish

Sauté onions in small amount of sesame oil for 3-4 minutes. Add mushrooms and sauté another 1-2 minutes.

Add water; bring to a boil. Cover pot. Reduce to simmer; simmer for about 30 minutes, or until onions are very soft. Season with tamari.

Heat 1 inch of sesame oil in a sauce pan. (I used a small pot in order to conserve sesame oil.) When oil is hot, add bread cubes and deep fry until golden brown. Remove from oil and drain. Alternatively, one inch squares of mochi may be toasted or deep fried, and used for garnish.

Pour soup into bowls and garnish, as desired.

Brown Rice with Adzuki Beans

1 c brown rice, cooked, see Make-Ahead here
1/4 c adzuki beans, cooked, see Make-Ahead here
salt, to taste

Combine ingredients and gentle heat, adding enough water to loosen rice and prevent burning on the bottom of the pot. Gently stir until heated through.

Boiled Turnip Greens

turnip greens, sliced into 2 inch pieces – prepare any amount you need
water
roasted sesame or sunflower seeds, for grnish

Place one inch of water in a pot. Bring to boil. Add greens. cook for 2-3 minutes, or until greens are tender and bright green.

Nishime Vegetables

1 kombu strip – about 3 inches long, soaked and cut into one inch squares
1/2 c daikon, sliced and cut into bite-sized uniform pieces
1/2 c butternut or buttercup squash, sliced and cut into bite-sized uniform pieces
1/2 c carrot, sliced and cut into bite-sized uniform pieces
pinch of salt
water
tamari, to taste

Place kombu in a heavy pot. Place daikon on top of kombu. Set squash on top of daikon. Place carrots on top of squash. Add a pinch of sea salt and about 1/2 inch of water. Cover pot and bring water to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until vegetables are tender. Ad a small amount of tamari and simmer until vegetables are soft and water is evaporated. Mix and serve.

Cucumber Pickles

Make-ahead, click here
optional: good quality prepared fermented pickled vegetables

Grain Coffee and Bancha Tea

Make-Ahead, click here
If Bancha twigs are unavailable, you may opt for a good green tea

Enjoy!

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Macrobiotics Healing Week – Day Two

Menu

Breakfast

Lunch

Dinner