Blissful Bites (5 page)

blissful trick

Store extra citrus zest or grated ginger in a small glass jar in the freezer for up to a month so you have it available for another recipe.

And, remember, eating simply is a good way to eat, so every meal doesn't have to be a gourmet cook-a-thon. If cooking plant-based meals seems daunting, a good way to start is to set a realistic goal for yourself each week. Learn basic cooking first, like how to make grains, cook vegetables in a tasty way, and how to make plant-based protein dishes with beans, tofu, and tempeh. Try at least two recipes out of this book per week, then go from there.

Making delicious, nourishing food can take some time, but if you plan your weekly meals and prep a few things beforehand, you'll shave several minutes off each recipe. Here are some great tips of the trade to get you started making blissful meals while saving money and time:

• On Sunday, plan your menu for the week around what is available at the farmers market and what you already have in your pantry. If you have certain grains or beans stocked, use those up before you buy more. Write your weekly menu out in a notebook while making your shopping list. I find it's better to go to the store with a list so you don't end up wandering around aimlessly.
  
• Choose two days a week for “batch cooking,” where you cook a large pot of grains and beans that you can use throughout the week. After all, it doesn't make sense to cook one cup of grains; you might as well make three cups, and then use it for various meals. For instance, out of one pot of brown rice you can make porridge for breakfast and sushi for lunch. Then you can use it in a grain salad for dinner, mixed into a soup for a one-pot meal, and in rice pudding for dessert. Finding crafty ways to use leftovers will not only save time and money, it will also encourage you to be creative in the kitchen.
  
• Get your vegetables washed, cut, and ready to go every few days. It's best if you buy veggies whole and cut them yourself. The precut veggies at the store have been cut and stored in a plastic bag for days, leaving them lifeless and tasteless. Cut your own and store them in airtight glass containers. Buy “green” bags to keep produce fresh for up to a week (as long as it hasn't been precut). These special bags can be found online or in most natural food stores and they really do work!
  
• Always wash grains, nuts, seeds, and beans before using in a recipe. They all have enzyme inhibitors on the outside, which prevent them from germinating too early; rinsing them washes this off. Also, if you are buying these items from the bulk bins (which I hope you are, since it reduces packaging and waste—plus it saves you money), they'll be dirty and possibly contain small stones that need to be picked out. To wash, put the food in a medium bowl, cover with water, and swirl your hand around, moving in a circle or a figure eight pattern. Drain and do the same thing again until the water is clear. You can use a mesh strainer after the final wash to catch anything that remains.
  
• Some of these items will need to be not just rinsed but soaked as well. In the grain and bean section, I specify which foods need to be soaked and which can go without. For those grains and beans that need to be soaked, rinse them thoroughly first, then cover them with water in a bowl right before you go to bed. You really can't over soak grains and beans, unless you leave them soaking for days. Cook them as soon as you wake up while you get ready for your day.
  
• Avoid the easy “junk food” way out. Do this by planning ahead and making sure that healthful food is always available to you. Have your pantry and fridge stocked, so when you come home from work you can easily figure out what to do for dinner. Also, if you have a tendency to run for the vending machine at work, make healthy snack foods to take with you like the
  chewy trail mix bars
  , on page 234. If healthy food is not easily accessible, you are more likely to make poor decisions on what to eat and miss out on bliss.
  

This is a funny thing about cooking. Everything you could possibly think of affects the food you make. Your mood, the weather, your environment, not to mention the quality of ingredients and where they came from, or how long they've been sitting in your pantry all affect how a recipe is going to turn out. Sometimes these things only have a small effect, but I wanted to put it out there for you to think about anyway. Another thing: If two people make the same exact recipe, the dish will come out differently for the same reasons I listed. Everyone has a different energy and personality, and that goes into the food. So your
coconut bliss granola parfait
, on page 35, is going to look and probably even taste a little different than mine, and that's okay. I want you to own that parfait, because it's made from your hands and that's pretty rad.

Go ahead and be creative. Don't feel like you have to stick to the recipe exactly. If something calls for zucchini, and you can't stand zucchini or only have broccoli, then give the broccoli a whirl or just leave it out completely. Don't feel trapped by these recipes. Recipes are building blocks or springboards that help guide you in making delicious, vibrant meals. If the recipe is a spring recipe but it's wintertime, then change the vegetables to whatever is in season at the moment and you have a whole new dish.

Both dried and fresh herbs have their place in plant-based cooking—often in the same recipe. With dried herbs, you always want to add them to the recipe toward the beginning, either sautéed in oil or water, or blended into a sauce or dressing. Since they have been dried you must reconstitute them, which will bring out their flavor. You need more fresh herbs than dried herbs to get a concentrated flavor. For example, if a recipe calls for dried coriander, I might use a teaspoon or tablespoon. But if I wanted fresh coriander (cilantro), I would use more like one-quarter of a cup. With fresh herbs, you want to add them to the recipe toward the end or use them as a garnish.

Adding nuts and seeds to a dish or using them as a garnish is an easy way to up the flavor, presentation, and nutrients of a recipe. I always buy raw nuts and seeds, then toast them myself in a skillet (rather than in the oven, where they are more likely to burn). Over a medium flame, heat up your skillet and add the nuts or seeds. Make sure the flame is not too high. The pan doesn't need oil because the nuts already have plenty. Stir frequently or shake the pan back and forth. Try not to walk away from the pan for too long because they will burn before you know it! Keep stirring until the nuts are golden brown and fragrant. Depending on the nut and how much you chopped it (this should be done before adding them to the pan), this process could take anywhere from two to ten minutes.

Many recipes say season with sea salt to taste. This is because everyone's taste buds are different and my preferred level of salt is going to be different than yours. You will need to season the recipe to your preference, but remember it's always best to cook the salt/seasoning into the food rather than applying salt at the dinner table. Adding salt in the cooking process brings out the natural flavor of the food, and you will end up using less salt in the long run (and we could all use a little less salt in our lives). Start with a little, and add a touch more as you go along. If you add too much at the beginning, it will be very difficult to fix the saltiness of the recipe.

Another way I season recipes is to use shoyu, tamari, or coconut aminos. Shoyu is a high-quality, unpasteurized soy sauce made by fermenting soybeans with water, salt, and wheat. Many of the brands found at Asian markets or regular grocery stores are high in sodium and contain alcohol. Try to find a high-quality shoyu or soy sauce that does not have alcohol. Tamari is the wheat-free version and is thicker and stronger in flavor than shoyu, so you can use less. I prefer tamari because it's gluten-free. Coconut aminos is the new kid on the block; it is raw, gluten-free, and soy-free. Experiment with all of these seasonings to see which you like best.

In an ideal world we would all be born with knife skills. Learning proper knife techniques can save you time, heartache, and frustration (and fingers in many cases). If possible, take a class near you or watch videos online. But the best way to learn knife skills is to practice. So get out that fancy new chef knife and get to choppin'! Below I describe the most commonly used cutting techniques.

chiffonade

A chiffonade is a fine slice or shred of leafy vegetables or herbs. You would use this cut for lettuce in salads, wraps, or tacos and with fresh herbs like basil. To chiffonade, simply stack a few leaves, roll them into a cigar shape, and slice. Remember to remove any tough, woody stems that you want to exclude from your preparation.

chop

Chopping a vegetable means it can be cut into chunks that do not need a uniform or specific shape. This is most commonly used for soups, stews, or anything that gets pureed.

shredding

Shredding is usually done with cabbage and carrots for dishes like cole slaw, and can be done by hand or with a food processor. To shred by hand, first remove the wilting outside leaves of the cabbage. Cut it in half down the center, then cut those pieces in half again. Carefully cut out the stalk. Put the flat side down on the cutting board and straight slice down one side of the cabbage until it's all in strips.

dicing

Dicing is cutting a vegetable into small cubed pieces. That usually means cutting the vegetable the long way first, then turning it to cut in the other direction. The size of your dice depends on how wide you cut these rows. You would use this cut anytime you want your vegetable in uniform pieces.

julienne

This describes the cutting of vegetables into uniform, matchstick-sized pieces. Begin by neatly cutting the vegetable on the diagonal at about 45 degrees. Next, stack one to three pieces and slice into strips longways. If some of your strips come out thicker than others, you can always go back and slice them thinner. You could use thicker matchsticks for sautés and thinner ones for raw salads.