The Kind Diet: A Simple Guide to Feeling Great, Losing Weight, and Saving the Planet (42 page)

Pan-Fried Mochi

Mochi is made from sweet rice, and it’s sticky and gooey and freakin’ delicious. Often served at breakfast (see Mochi Waffles, page
286
), mochi can also be the grain component of any meal. My two favorite ways of using mochi are as croutons (see Note) for garnishing soups or as a snack on its own. Either way, to me it tastes best pan-fried with either sweet or savory flavorings. You could also make this with flavored mochi if you like; mugwort is one I use sometimes.

SERVES 2

Sweet Version

1–2 teaspoons sesame or olive oil

2 to 4 pieces unflavored mochi, each 1" x 2"

Shoyu

Brown rice syrup (about 1 tablespoon per serving)

Heat the oil in a cast-iron or stainless steel frying pan over medium heat. Place the mochi pieces into the pan, making sure they don’t touch. Cover, reduce the heat to low (or place the pan on a flame deflector if you have one), and cook for exactly 4 minutes. Flip the mochi, add about 2 drops of shoyu to each piece, cover, and let cook for another 4 minutes. The mochi should begin to get gooey, puff up a little, and morph into funny shapes.

Transfer the mochi to serving plates and drizzle with rice syrup. Yum.

Savory Version

2 to 4 pieces unflavored mochi, each 1" x 2"

¹
/
₄
sheet nori per serving

Grated daikon (about 1 tablespoon per serving)

Follow the same cooking instructions as above, but skip the brown rice syrup. Instead, place the cooked mochi onto a little sheet of nori, top with grated daikon, and wrap up to make a mochi burrito.

Note:
To make croutons for soup, cut the mochi into smaller pieces and cook as above without any of the additional flavorings or ingredients.

Ginger Pasta with Zucchini

While shooting Kenneth Branagh’s
Love’s Labour’s Lost
, I stayed in a hotel in London; in the room below me was another actress in the movie, Stefania Rocca. A beautiful and spunky Italian, she always had a huge group of friends visiting her, cooking pasta, drinking wine, and having a good time. Over the weeks that we worked and lived as neighbors, Stefania taught me a lot about cooking—she was into health food and really knew her pasta. This dish was born of that education, and it reminds me of that time. It’s simple, earthy, and nourishing. Grazie, bella!

Superheroes shouldn’t eat pasta every day, but 2 or 3 times a week is just fine.

SERVES 2

8 ounces whole wheat penne

2 pinches of fine sea salt

¹
/
₄
block firm tofu, cut into bite-size cubes

1 tablespoon olive oil

¹
/
₂
onion, chopped

¹
/
₂
zucchini, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced

Shoyu to taste

1–2 teaspoons ginger juice (grate a 2" piece of ginger and squeeze out the juice with your fingers)

Bring a large pot of water with a generous pinch of salt to a boil. Cook the pasta according to package directions until al dente; drain and set aside.

Mash the tofu with a fork in a small bowl and set aside.

Heat the oil in a skillet. Add the onion and a pinch of sea salt and sauté until the onion is translucent, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add 1 or 2 tablespoons of water to the pan if the onions begin to stick. Add the zucchini and sauté for 2 to 3 minutes, or until it softens, then add the mashed tofu and shoyu to the skillet. Sauté 2 minutes longer, then stir in the ginger juice and cooked pasta. Toss all the ingredients together over medium heat until the pasta is heated through and all the liquid has been absorbed.

Variation:

Use steamed kabocha squash, stir-fried red onion, corn, mushrooms, and umeboshi plum paste in place of the tofu, onion, zucchini, and ginger. It’s great when the squash becomes soft enough to coat the pasta!

PROTEIN DISHES

I try to eat a good variety of beans, and my regulars are azukis, chickpeas, lentils, black soybeans, kidney, and pinto. Variety is important because each bean contains different nutrients that the body needs. I also eat tempeh or tofu, but only a couple times a week each.

Although I’ve included some fancy bean dishes in this book, beans cooked simply are really good sometimes—like kidney beans with a little shoyu and parsley or maybe with some sautéed leeks mixed in. Mmm . . .

Basic Bean Cooking

Rinse and sort through beans, discarding any debris. Soak the beans in water to cover generously for 6 to 8 hours (overnight is easiest).

To cook, strain and rinse the soaked beans.

Place the beans in a pot with fresh water to cover generously. Add a 1" square kombu per cup of beans.

Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then lower the heat to a simmer and cook for 3 to 5 minutes. $ This will allow gases to release from the beans. If any foam is produced, skim it off with a spoon.

Cover the pot and cook the beans over low heat (or over a flame deflector if you have one) until tender, usually about 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Season with shoyu (
¹
/
₂
to 1 teaspoon per cup of beans) and let simmer at least 5 more minutes.

Cooking times will vary depending on the recipe and what type of bean you are using. You may need to add more water to the cooking beans if the water level in the pot gets low.

Azuki Beans with Kabocha Squash

This is a very traditional macrobiotic recipe, which may sound a little ho-hum, but it’s actually incredibly good. Originally cultivated in Japan and revered for their healing properties, azuki beans are said to strengthen the kidneys’ functions. This dish is high in potassium and iron, so serve it at least once a week if you can and you will feel its power. If you prefer the squash with a softer, stewier texture, add it to the beans 10 or 15 minutes earlier.

SERVES 4

4"–6" piece of kombu

1 cup dried azuki beans

2 cups kabocha squash cut into large chunks (peel only if the squash is not organic)

1 teaspoon shoyu

Chopped fresh cilantro or parsley for garnish

Combine the kombu and the beans in a bowl and cover with water by an inch or two. Soak overnight. The next day, drain the kombu and beans and discard the soaking water. Slice the kombu into 1" x 1" squares and place them in a heavy pot with a heavy lid, preferably enameled cast iron. Add the beans and enough fresh water to just cover the beans. Bring to a boil.

As the beans boil, strain off any foam that rises to the top. Let the beans boil, uncovered, for about 5 minutes, as this allows gases to release. Cover the pot, reduce the heat to low (and place on a flame deflector, if you have one), and simmer for about 40 minutes. Check the beans every 10 minutes or so, adding water to the pot when the water level appears to dip below the bean level. After 40 minutes, arrange the squash on top of the beans and add more water to keep the beans covered. Cook for another 20 minutes, or until the beans seem soft and tender. Add the shoyu to the beans, and cook 10 more minutes. Serve garnished with the cilantro or parsley.

Variations :

You can use any kind of winter squash (buttercup, butternut, Hokkaido pumpkin, delicata, and so on) or even carrots in place of the kabocha squash in this dish.

You can also make a soup from azuki beans and sweet vegetables. Follow the same directions, but use more water and a variety of sweet vegetables (such as onions, carrots, squash, and corn). Season with shoyu, and garnish with scallions. This is also deeply nourishing and revitalizing.

Black-Eyed Pea Croquettes with Dijon Glaze

Jessica Porter wrote
The Hip Chick’s Guide to Macrobiotics
, which contains this recipe by her friend Lisa Silverman. Now I don’t know Lisa, but I love her because anyone who can come up with this recipe, all on her own, is a genius! These croquettes are ridiculously easy and will please the whole family. The outsides of the croquettes get crispy in the hot oil, but the insides stay moist so they’re crunchy and satisfying—perfect for Flirts and people who think they don’t like beans! Although barley malt is best for the glaze, if you can’t get your hands on it, use rice syrup.

MAKES 12 MEDIUM-SIZE CROQUETTES, SERVES 4

2 cups black-eyed peas, soaked overnight in water to cover

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley or cilantro

¹
/
₂
teaspoon fine sea salt

1 tablespoon shoyu

1 teaspoon ground cumin

2 cups safflower oil for frying

Dipping Sauce

¹
/
₂
cup barley malt syrup or rice syrup

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

Drain the soaked beans and transfer to a food processor. Add the parsley or cilantro, salt, shoyu, and cumin. Blend until the beans are chopped to fine shreds, but don’t blend them to a pulp. The mixture will be slightly wet but should hold together. Form the bean mixture into something between football- and UFO-shaped croquettes in the palms of your hands.

Heat 1" of oil in a cast-iron skillet to about 350°F. To test the oil, drop in a tiny amount of croquette mixture. If it bubbles furiously and rises to the top, the oil is ready. Do not let the oil get so hot that it smokes. You may need to make little adjustments to the heat under the oil throughout the cooking process to avoid burning the croquettes.

Place 4 croquettes in the oil and fry for about 4 minutes on each side. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the fried croquettes to a plate lined with paper towels or a paper grocery bag to drain.

To make the dipping sauce, stir together the barley malt syrup and mustard in a small saucepan. Warm the sauce over low heat until it bubbles.

Serve the croquettes while still hot. Drizzle with the dipping sauce or serve it alongside the croquettes in individual dipping bowls.

Hijiki-Tofu Croquettes

I know these may sound weird, but trust me, they are really delicious. I love the cookbook
Christina Cooks
, and this recipe is an adaptation from it. I can’t think of a better way to serve seaweed to skeptics. And they’re not just for Superheroes—they work equally well as party fare or snack food for everyone.