The Kind Diet: A Simple Guide to Feeling Great, Losing Weight, and Saving the Planet (48 page)

¹
/
₂
cup umeboshi vinegar

Place the radish slices in a glass jar. Pour the vinegar and 1 cup of water over the radishes in the jar until they are completely submerged. (If you need to make additional brine, combine 1 part vinegar to 2 parts water.) Cover the container with a cheesecloth, and secure with a rubber band. Pickles need air in order for fermentation to take place. Let stand at room temperature for at least 24 hours or up to 3 days. Rinse the pickles in fresh water before serving. After 3 days, let your pickles live in the refrigerator. They will be fine for about 10 days, but they will get saltier and stronger as they sit, so the older they are, the more rinsing and possibly soaking they will need before eating.

SUPERHERO DESSERTS

To keep your Superhero powers at their peak, it’s best to have dessert no more than once every other day, but if you’re newly off of sugar and it still feels strange and foreign to you, have as many Superhero desserts as you need to keep yourself comfortable.

If you need a quick dessert, have a piece of seasonal fruit or 1 tablespoon peanut butter with some strawberry jam. Apple slices dipped in almond butter and maple syrup are also incredibly yummy. Try almond or hazelnut (or any flavor you like) amasake. It’s a thick, milkshake-y drink made from fermented sweet brown rice and is available at most health food stores.

The desserts in the Vegan section are okay for Superheroes every once in a while. For example, Crispy Peanut Butter Treats with Chocolate Chips (without the chocolate chips!) on page
184
are basically Superhero fare, as is the Peach Crumble on page
194
.

If you think you’re going to lose it and buy some desserts made with nasty foods, by all means, make one of the sexier vegan desserts. They’re always a better choice than a store-brought dessert and will satisfy you completely.

Candied Ginger Pears

I love this recipe with the maple syrup drizzled on top at the end, but the dessert itself is so sweet that you may not need it. Find out for yourself!

SERVES 4 TO 6

1 cup ground almonds

2 tablespoons brown rice syrup

3 large or 4 small pears, halved and core scooped out

1
¹
/
₂
cups pear or apple juice

1 teaspoon ginger juice (grate 1" fresh ginger and use your fingers to squeeze out the juice)

Pinch of fine sea salt

1 tablespoon kuzu mixed with 1 tablespoon cold pear juice

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon lemon zest

4 teaspoons maple syrup (optional)

Heat a dry skillet over medium heat. Add the almonds, and toast for 3 to 5 minutes, stirring constantly, until fragrant and golden brown. Transfer to a small bowl to cool. When cool, buzz the almonds in a food processor or blender until very finely ground. Heat the rice syrup in a small saucepan. Add the ground almonds, and stir over medium-low heat until the mixture thickens. Set aside.

Arrange the pears in a deep skillet, cut sides up. Add the pear or apple juice to the pan along with the ginger juice and salt. Cover the pan, bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium, and simmer for 7 to 10 minutes, or until the pear halves are soft. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the pears to a serving platter, reserving the cooking liquid. Fill the hollow of each pear with some of the ground almond mixture.

Stir the diluted kuzu into the reserved cooking liquid, and heat for 3 to 5 minutes, stirring constantly, until the sauce thickens. Remove from the heat, and stir in the lemon juice and zest. Pour the sauce over the pears, and serve. For extra sweetness and some color, drizzle each pear with 1 teaspoon maple syrup.

Plum Soup

Back in the day, I was served a fruit soup for dessert at a fancy French restaurant. I’d never heard of fruit soup, so I found it exciting, elegant, and really delicious.

This recipe is easy; it will take only a few minutes to make. You could have a cup of this every day and not gain an ounce—and stay really healthy. If you can’t get plums, substitute about 2 cups of any seasonal fruit or berries, peeled and cut into large chunks.

SERVES 2 OR 3

1 cup apple juice

1 cinnamon stick

1 tablespoon currants

Pinch of fine sea salt

8–10 small plums, peeled, pitted, and halved

1
¹
/
₂
tablespoons brown rice syrup

1 tablespoon kuzu mixed with 1 tablespoon water

Combine the apple juice, cinnamon stick, currants, and salt in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the plums, return to a boil, then simmer for 20 minutes over low heat. Add the syrup and kuzu. Cook for another minute, stirring constantly, until thickened. Pour into a bowl and allow to cool before serving.

Strawberry Kanten

Kantens contain a sea vegetable called agar agar, which makes liquids set like Jell-O. This works well with any kind of berry, or use a combination of berries if you like. Superheroes can have kanten 3 or 4 times a week, and it will last about 4 days in the fridge.

SERVES 4 TO 6

1 pint fresh or 1 cup frozen and thawed strawberries (or any berry of your choosing)

4 cups apple juice

1 tablespoon fresh orange juice

Pinch of fine sea salt

3 generous tablespoons agar agar

A few drops ginger juice (grate 1" piece of ginger and use your fingers to squeeze out the juice)

Slice the berries thinly, and arrange them in an 8" x 8" heatproof glass dish or baking dish.

Combine the apple juice and orange juice in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the salt and agar agar. Bring to a boil, and let simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring often to make sure the agar agar doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pot. Simmer until all the agar agar has dissolved. (If it doesn’t dissolve completely, it will make little lumps in your kanten.) Stir in the ginger juice and pour over the berries.

Allow the kanten to cool to room temperature, and then refrigerate, uncovered, until chilled and set, about 2 hours. The kanten is now ready to serve or may be covered and kept in the fridge for up to 4 days.

Variations:

You can make this with any kind of juice you like, including peach, apricot, or pear. A combination I especially like is peach juice with fresh apricots and blueberries. Because apricots are only around 1 month of the year, I try to use them in all sorts of dishes. They are my favorite!

To make a lovely fruit pudding, increase the agar agar to 4 tablespoons, let the kanten set completely, and then whiz it all in a blender with 1 tablespoon tahini. Serve in a wine glass!

BREAKFAST AND SPECIAL DRINKS

My idea of a great breakfast is one that is nourishing, satisfying, and makes me feel great for the rest of the day. Generally, that means a grain porridge, a cup of miso soup, and some steamed leafy greens with some yummy seeds. For more ideas on greens, see page
63
.

Of course, there are times I like a fun breakfast with cereal, tempeh bacon, or waffles, but that’s for when friends are over or I’m having a lazy weekend with my husband.

Quick breakfast ideas:

• If you want something super quick, try puffed kamut or puffed rice crisps with some nondairy milk. There are some really good cereals out there with clean ingredients and no white sugar.
  
• Lightly steam a piece of sourdough bread for a few seconds until it’s soft. Spread some tahini and all-fruit jam on it . . . sounds weird, but it’s totally yummy.
  
• Sometimes I just eat leftovers. I pull out any grain or vegetables from the day before, pour on some dressing or some seeds, and I’m good to go.
  

In this section I’m also including a few of my favorite drink recipes. I make these only as needed to treat cold and menstrual symptoms, hangovers, and other assorted minor ailments. Any of the teas below are fine to drink whenever you like.

Roasted barley tea:
I love barley tea; I drink it hot when it’s cold out and cold when it’s hot out—it just tastes that great. Barley is great for the skin and has an overall cooling effect on the body. I buy big barley tea bags and just keep refilling my cup with water throughout the day.

Kukicha tea:
Bancha and kukicha come from the same tea plant, but the bancha is made from leaves and the kukicha from the twigs. Bancha—which is a type of green tea—has a noticeable amount of caffeine in it, whereas kukicha has only trace amounts of caffeine. Kukicha also contains some calcium and is naturally alkalizing, which is why it’s used in my Cure-All Tea on page
290
.

Bancha tea:
Green tea is fine to drink every once in a while, but you might find it has too much caffeine. All that said, if you’re a big coffee drinker, make the transition with green tea.