The Kind Diet: A Simple Guide to Feeling Great, Losing Weight, and Saving the Planet (49 page)

Scrambled Tofu

Scrambled tofu is an easy way to clean out your fridge and end up with a great, simple meal. In fact, it’s good for lunch or dinner as well, so for those of you who don’t want too much protein in the morning, consider this as an anytime dish.

SERVES 2 TO 4

2 tablespoons sesame oil

2 cups chopped mixed vegetables (such as leeks, broccoli, zucchini, sugar snap peas, corn, mushrooms, red onion, sliced burdock, lotus root, and/or shredded cabbage)

1–2 tablespoons shoyu

1 tablespoon mirin (optional)

1 teaspoon umeboshi vinegar (optional)

Fine sea salt to taste

1 (14-ounce) package firm tofu, mashed or crumbled

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cup toasted seeds (such as sunflower, sesame, or pumpkin)

Chopped fresh scallions, cilantro, or parsley for garnish

Heat the oil in a skillet and, when hot, add the vegetables. Sauté until the vegetables are tender, about 5 to 8 minutes, depending on which vegetables you are using. If the vegetables start to stick or scorch, add a bit of water to the pan. Season the vegetables with shoyu, mirin (if using), ume vinegar (if using), and salt. Add the tofu, and cook, stirring constantly, until heated through, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add more seasoning to taste, if necessary. Serve sprinkled with the seeds, scallions, cilantro, or parsley.

Alicia’s Soft Rice Porridge

In the morning, you are basically waking up from a night-long fast, hence the word
breakfast
. Because your body is empty and needs some gentle waking up, try grains that have been cooked soft to make them more digestible. I feel really good when I start the day with warm porridge.

SERVES 1

1 cup leftover rice

4 dried apricots (or any dried fruit you like), chopped

Toasted sunflower seeds

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umeboshi plum, pit removed and cut into little pieces

Chopped fresh parsley

Place the rice, 2 cups of water, and the apricots into a saucepan. Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer (on a flame deflector if you have one) for 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and pour into a bowl. Top with the seeds, plum, and parsley. Good morning!

Variation:

Skip the apricots, and add
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diced onion and 1 small carrot also diced. Simmer as usual and add 1 teaspoon diluted miso during the last 3 minutes of cooking. Garnish with scallions, torn nori, and the toasted seeds. A savory, hearty start to the day.

Mochi Waffles Drizzled with Lemon-Walnut-Rice Syrup

These are delicious. Mochi waffles are fun and easy for everyday eating, but they’re also great to offer guests. Serve with a bowl of steamed collards and some tempeh bacon or Smart Bacon, and you have a quick, fantastic brunch.

MAKES 4 OR 5 WAFFLES

1 cup walnuts

1–1
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packages plain mochi (Grainaissance brand is good)

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cup brown rice syrup

Juice of
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lemon

Toast the walnuts in a dry skillet over medium heat until just starting to turn golden and fragrant, about 5 minutes, stirring often. Transfer to a bowl to cool, and chop coarsely. Set aside.

Preheat a waffle iron. Cut a package of mochi into 3 large pieces, widthwise. Slice each piece into long fingerlike pieces, about
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"-wide. Using 6 to 8 strips for each waffle, place the mochi strips on the hot, ungreased waffle iron and close the top. Cook until puffed and slightly crispy but not too hard and dry, about 3 minutes, or until your waffle iron signals that it’s done. Remove the waffle and place on a plate. Do not stack the waffles because they will stick together. Serve and eat waffles as soon as possible—they are best hot and crispy.

While the waffles cook, combine the rice syrup with 3 tablespoons of water, lemon juice, and toasted walnuts in a saucepan. Stir together over medium heat just until warmed. Pour over the waffles, and serve.

Millet and Sweet Vegetable Porridge

Millet is an underappreciated grain, but this porridge should change all that—it’s really great. Naturally alkalizing and rich in B vitamins, millet is soothing to the stomach, spleen, and pancreas. It makes me feel settled and deeply nourished.

SERVES 6 TO 8

1" piece kombu

1 yellow onion, finely diced

2 stalks celery, finely diced

1 cup finely diced kabocha or butternut squash

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cup yellow millet

2–3 teaspoons white miso

2–3 scallions, white and green parts, thinly sliced on the diagonal

Layer the kombu, onion, celery, squash, and millet in a soup pot. Gently add 5 cups of water to the pot, cover, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer until the vegetables are tender and the millet is creamy, about 35 minutes.

Place the miso in a small bowl. Stir in a few tablespoons of the cooking liquid to dissolve it, and stir the miso back into the porridge.

Simmer gently, uncovered, for 3 to 4 minutes to avoid destroying the miso’s enzymes. Serve sprinkled with the scallions.

Barley with Sweet Rice and Corn

According to Oriental medicine, barley is a tonic for the liver and gallbladder and helps to cool the body in spring and summer. It’s also great for the skin. Sweet rice is a sticky form of brown rice that is used to make mochi and amasake. It’s one of my favorite grains.

SERVES 2

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cup sweet rice

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cup barley

Pinch of fine sea salt

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cup fresh or frozen and thawed corn kernels

Gomashio (page
232
, optional)

Chopped fresh parsley, cilantro, or scallions (optional)

Place the rice and barley in a fine sieve, and rinse under running water. Transfer the grains to a saucepan, add 2 cups of water and the salt, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to low, cover the pan, and cook for 50 minutes. Add the corn, cover again, and cook 5 minutes longer. Serve topped with gomashio and a bit of parsley, cilantro, or scallions, if you like.

Hot Polenta, Millet, and Corn Cereal

Another great way to serve millet.

SERVES 2

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cup polenta

1 tablespoon millet

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cup fresh or frozen and thawed corn kernels

Pinch of fine sea salt

2 teaspoons roasted and ground pumpkin seeds (see Note)

Stir together the polenta and millet in a small saucepan. Add 2 cups of water, and soak for 6 to 8 hours or overnight.

The next day, add the corn and salt to the saucepan, cover, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a very low simmer, and cook for 25 minutes. Serve topped with the seeds.

Note:
If you have a suribachi, you can use it to grind your pumpkin seeds; otherwise, whir them briefly in a small food processor or blender just until finely ground. Don’t overprocess or it will get too oily and butterlike.

Cure-All Tea

Because it restores minerals to the blood, this tea is great:

• For hangovers
  
• When you’ve eaten white sugar
  
• To soothe digestion and release trapped gas
  
• To reduce heartburn
  
• For nausea
  
• If you’re just feeling weak and spacey
  

SERVES 1

1 kukicha tea bag (if you’re using loose-leaf tea, follow the package instructions)

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–
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umeboshi plum, pit removed and chopped very fine

3–5 drops shoyu

Steep the tea in 1 cup of boiling water. While the tea steeps, place the umeboshi plum into a teacup with the shoyu. Pour the hot tea over the umeboshi plum in the teacup, and stir well. Drink hot. The umeboshi pit is also good to suck on, if you want.

Menstrual Cramp Tea (Daikon Drink)

Make this drink if you’re feeling crampy; it will magically make you feel better. Daikon helps to relax the liver, and, in Chinese medicine, the liver is the organ that governs female reproduction. So when the liver relaxes, our female discomforts quiet down. This drink will also help to reduce swelling in the ankles.

SERVES 1

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cup grated (into a pulp) daikon

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cup spring water

1–2 drops shoyu

Combine the daikon and water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Add the shoyu, reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 2 or 3 minutes. Drink hot, warm, or at room temperature.

P.S. It’s important to eat lighter, fresher dishes right before your period. Skip bread and go easy on the salt. Eat more veggies, especially lightly cooked green ones. It’s not unusual to crave sugar or chocolate before menstruating, so let yourself have some good-quality sweets. You might even want an organic beer or sake to help you relax. If you don’t drink alcohol, try a glass of warm apple juice or even warm carrot juice. Sounds weird, but tastes great.