Om Hop Yoga

Enlightened Bread-Making

I work in sustainable investing and part of my job is encouraging companies we own to be more transparent with their operations, workplace practices, supply chain management, etc.  A transparent, environmentally and socially responsible company creates greater value for itself and its employees as well as its stakeholders.  Meeting the baker of the Berkshire Mountain Bakery, Richard Bourdon, on our recent trip to the Berkshires made me contemplate the real value of transparency and honesty when it comes to running a business.

The approach the Berkshire Mountain Bakery takes in running it's business is simple:  it's bread-making with integrity.  It is evident the process is authentic and based on the way bread was traditionally baked before mechanization.  Further, they explain exactly why they use this process and break it down in layman's terms for any interested customer.  You also get to know Richard.  His bio is a story at the end of which the reader feels like she knows him.  Here's a short excerpt:

"If you have the opportunity to meet Richard Bourdon you will be struck by his energy and drive. You can find him on any given day doing any of the following: mixing the dough, shaping the loaves, stretching the pizza, sweeping the floors, bagging the cookies or helping out a customer at the counter. If you are lucky enough to have him help you, you will discover a man who still speaks with a gentle French accent who is passionate about the food he produces. His knowledge and enthusiasm will leave you wondering if this man is a baker or a teacher and philosopher. For those of us who know him well, we know he is all of the above. We invite you to taste the bread baked by a man who is truly committed to bringing better food to this world."

Even in the brief moment that Aran and I met him, I can attest that every word of that bio is true.  I think every business, service, product, or idea has a story and this website made me realize the importance of sharing it.  Since I've become more attuned to how I nourish myself I love knowing what it took for the food to arrive on my plate.  Who picked the apples, or raised the animals?  Did they raise them in a humane and sustainable way?  What is the story of the farmer or baker or chef?  This knowledge enriches my experience of eating because food doesn't just give us strength and energy to go about our days, it supports our life force and has incredible healing properties.  

Richard helped me realize that perhaps I am not allergic or sensitive to all bread.  Perhaps I can actually have bread when it's made as it should be - using the sourdough or fermentation process that makes the whole grains in the bread digestible.  When I look around, most of the business ideas and start-ups these days are centered around solving our environmental and social challenges, making our lives easier and more productive or efficient, and bringing together people who are driven to make a positive impact.  And those creating these ideas, for the most part want to do so with integrity and many are even radically changing out-dated workplace practices and being mindful of the dynamics of the business as a whole - the operations, employees, community, environment, and products or services being offered.  It's not just about the bottomline anymore.  The approach is more holistic and more and more companies that are operating this way are finding they achieve greater successes and find more market opportunities than those who are less transparent and more narrowminded about what they do and offer.  In this way, this little bakery out in the Berkshires enlightened my thinking around what is good for my body and gained a loyal, supportive customer who has been telling all her friends and family about this gem.  

Thank you Richard and Berkshire Mountain Bakery for your authenticity!

 

Food for Thought. Quite Literally.

I am off sweets/ fruits for a little while for a reason related to my health & well-being.  Naturally, during the day I wish I could have a date or a piece of dark chocolate or even a tangerine!  Thankfully, I've strengthened my willpower muscle enough over the last couple of years that I can resist the temptations, but tonight's dinner made me realize something else. 

Aran made a divine grass-fed burger (to which he mixed in aleppo pepper, a jalapeno and of course some salt and pepper).  He laid it on a bed of beet greens that he sauteed in sherry vinegar and some-left over root veggies from last night.  He completed this intense flavor profile with a spicy calabrian chili yogurt.  I honestly didn't want the meal to end.  I ate it as slowly as I could savoring every succulent mouthwatering bite.  While I was washing the dishes he offered me a date.  It typically would make me cringe knowing I can't have something I really want especially when someone is offering, but this time, somehow, it was much easier to turn it down.  Perhaps it was my willpower, but perhaps the meal was so incredibly satisfying, that my psyche, brain, body, whatever is triggered by temptation wanted to keep luxuriating in the flavor complexity of the dish I just had.  

I think there are studies that indicate we reach for sweets or simple carbs because we are not satisfied in other parts of our lives or we're stressed out. These sudden bursts of sugar in our bodies trigger a chemical reaction in our brains that gives us that much needed boost of stimulation.  What if we can learn to cook (and lead our lives!) in a way that doesn't lead us to succumb to these habits of reaching for things so perfectly salty, sweet, and fatty that we cannot resist their temptation, and then end up suffering health consequences?  What if we learn to cook (and again lead our lives!) in a way that truly satisfies us so that unhealthy, addictive food is not a constant substitute?

I dream of being able to make a difference in someone else's well-being by changing the way they look at food and everyday living, as much as this process of reading, experimentation, and curiosity about food and health has made in mine.  

[Photo from a day trip to Governor's Island.  Thos cocunuts were darn good and the left over coconut meat we blended into a delicious smoothie the next day!]

The perks of becoming a spontaneous cook

 

How often do you come home and simply lack the energy to "cook" anything and don't really want to spend the money on take-out?  Whether we're working or taking care of the kids all day (which most mothers will admit is much like working), we all have those nights.  So what's the solution?  When Aran is here, he is typically able to effortlessly whip something up.  Aran is not always home early though and let's face it most of us don't have a co-habitant that can skillfully put together a tasty beautiful meal in no-time!  

I was inspired to write this entry on such a night.  I came home from work quite drained and the last thing I wanted to do was heat up some protein and greens or wait for the brown rice to cook.  So I peeked in the fridge and realized I could throw a bunch of delicious items together that while by themselves wouldn't really work, all together made a pretty complete meal.  As you see in the photo, I combined some smoked salmon with sliced cucumber, a handful of lettuce, hummus, olives, and sundried tomatoes.  The green frying peppers I started to sautee before I took everything else out and they were ready when the rest of my little Mediteranean-inspired ingredients were arranged in no particular manner on my plate.  Once the peppers softened, I drizzled the plate with olive oil and fresh lemon juice.

To be able to put such a wholesome and tasty meal together in no more than 10-12 minutes, is so easy, it just requires a little planning ahead so that when you're grocery shopping you know exactly what to buy.   I always stock up on things like smoked salmon or canned sardines, olives, sundried tomatoes, hummus, lettuce, canned beans and chickpeas. I really like these foods and I know they will either stay fresh for a week or two, like the sundried tomatoes and olives, or I'll eat them within a few days if they don't.  That is the basic rule.  So here we go:

BASIC RULES

1. Stock up on ingredients that (1) you love to eat and will consume in a few days if highly perishable and (2) that you love and will keep in the fridge for about 2 weeks.  

2. They should be solid foods truly satiate you and give you real nutrients!  I am not talking about white bread or pasta or anything too processed.  It's nice adding something like brown rice crackers or a piece of whole wheat toast, but don't over do it.  The intention is to eat whole nutrient-rich foods. 

3. Put together some tasty concoctions a day or two ahead when you have time so that you can add those to make your meal more complete.  I love making quinoa tabouleh in advance or simply having the grain by itself (it cooks within 15 minutes!) - quinoa is a grain that is also a source of complete protein.  It's a wholesome way to complete your impromptu dinner.  Also, you can make some extra rice that you can quickly reheat with some spices and herbs and a pot of lentil stew will last you a few days and is a healthy way to complete a quick meal as well!

Here are some ideas for items to have:

- canned beans and chickpeas

- olives

- sundried tomatoes

- smoked salmon

- canned sardines in olive oil

- hummus 

- carrots

- cucumber 

- lettuce 

- brown rice crackers 

- bell peppers

- pickles

- a nuts and seeds mix

- tofu

- cheese

- deli meat

I'm also writing this entry because I know all too well, how easy it is to slip into a routine of malnourishment - resorting to bread, pasta, cereal, etc. when our bodies need those greens, legumes and veggies.  Bread, pasta, and cereal are nice to eat every once in a while, but they don't contain the abundance of nutrients our bodies need. 

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And as a little bonus.  Here's a recipe for a curried lentil stew I made last winter!  

Curried Lentil Stew

2 table spoons olive or canola oil

2 1/2 cups water

1 large onion - julienned

1 cup green lentils

1 stalk celery - diced

1 carrot - diced

2-3 sprigs fresh thyme

1 sprig fresh rosemary

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds

1/2 teaspoon sage

1/2 teaspoon dry sage

1 table spoon zatar spice mix

Salt and pepper to taste

In a medium-sized pot, sautee the onions, celery and carrots in the oil until the onions start getting translucent.  Add the spices and sweat for about 5 minutes.  

While onion mixture is cooking, sift through the lentils and take out any rocks.  Then when ready, add the lentils to the sauteed vegetables and pour over with water.  Cook for 30 minutes or until lentils are soft.  Add more water as necessary.  Add salt and pepper at the end.  

 

 

 

Fun with Vitamix: Veggie Burgers

When your boyfriend is a Chef Instructor at Sur La Table, it is easy to get spoiled with high tech kitchen gadgets.  Our most recent splurge was on a Vitamix Blender.  These babies are high powered professional-grade turbo speed, yet relatively quiet blending machines and we've been loving taking them for a spin.  I love how smoothly it pureed lentils for my veggie burgers...of which of course I made enough for 10 because I didn't read the recipe carefully - 1 cup of UNCOOKED rice yields quite a lot more of 1 cup of COOKED rice! Hey, we ended up adding them to various dishes throughout the week so they never got boring!  If you intend to make the same mistake add them to salads, as an accompaniment to sauteed greens or veggies, and of course on various buns of your choice.  

Here's the recipe from an article written this Spring in the the NYTimes called Vegetarian Burger Bash.   

Curried Lentil, Rice and Carrot Burgers (remember it's always okay to make way more than you intended!)

Ingredients

2 tablespoons peanut or canola oil

1/3 cup finely diced onion

1 cup finely diced carrots

6 ounces mushrooms, sliced or finely chopped

1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

2 teaspoons cumin seeds, lightly toasted and ground

1 teaspoon curry powder

1/2 teaspoon yellow mustard seeds

Pinch of cayenne (or to taste)

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

1 cup cooked brown rice

2 1/2 cups cooked brown lentils, drained

1 egg

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil over medium heat in a heavy ovenproof skillet and add the onion and carrot. Cook, stirring often, until just about tender, about 3 minutes, and add the mushrooms, ginger, turmeric, cumin, curry powder, mustard seeds and cayenne and a pinch of salt. Cook for another 3 minutes or so, until the vegetables are tender and fragrant and the spices aromatic. Remove from the heat and transfer to a large bowl. Add the rice.

2. Purée the lentils with the egg and add to the vegetable and rice mixture. Stir together, season with salt and pepper, and shape into 6 patties.

3. Heat the ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Add the remaining tablespoon of oil to the pan and, working in batches if necessary, cook the patties for 2 minutes on one side, or until nicely browned. Carefully turn the patties over and place in the oven. Bake 10 to 12 minutes, until the patties are lightly browned and don’t fall apart. Remove from the heat and serve, with or without buns, chutney or ketchup and the works.

Yield: 6 burgers.

Advance preparation: These can be put together and shaped up to 3 days before browning. They can also be cooked ahead and reheated in a low oven or in a pan on top of the stove. Keep them well wrapped in the refrigerator.

 

 

Kale Saag.... a Vegan Kale Saag that is!

Boy am I the happiest (and luckiest!) girl when Aran has time to perform his magic in the kitchen! This Sunday evening he made a lamb curry with kale saag and brown rice.  The dish was wholesome and bursting with flavor.  While the lamb curry was wonderful, I want to highlight the kale saag.  We bought MimicCreme's Almond & Cashew Cream for fun a few weeks ago and it turned out to be a perfect substitute for dairy in this dish!  Whether you're vegan, vegetarian, lactose-intolerant, or just into experimenting in the kitchen, try this recipe!  Make it a side-dish or add some protein - maybe a little tofu? - to eat it as your main meal.  Your belly will be so happy!!

 

Kale Saag

1 large onion, diced

2 table spoons of fresh grated ginger

3 cloves of minced garlic or garlic paste

2 bunches chopped kale

1/2 cup almond & cashew cream

1 heaping table spoon curry powder

2 tablespoons olive oil (or 2 tablespoons butter for non-vegans)

Salt and pepper to taste

 

Sweat onions in olive oil (or butter) until translucent. Add garlic and ginger over low heat - be careful not to burn them. Add curry powder; cook for 3-4 minutes.  Add kale; cook for 10 minutes or until wilted.  Add almond & cashew cream. Simmer 15-30 minutes.  Taste and adjust seasonings.  

 

RECIPE: Cleansing Ginger-Cod Soup

 

I've never ever made a brothy soup before and with the right ingredients, a wide open Sunday evening, and a little inspiration from Bon Appetit magazine, this past Sunday seemed like the perfect time to add broths to my cooking repertoire.  Somehow it made me feel mature.  I have beautiful childhood memories of my mom making incredible rosoł (chicken soup) and barszcz (borscht).  In addition to beautiful ingredients, she added love, patience and utmost care in preparation to her recipe.  The transfer of the nutrients from the veggies into the water takes precious time, but the result is a beautiful belly warming soup and a broth you can reuse for the next several days.  The best part is you just chop up the veggies and then the pot handles the rest so you don't have to be in the kitchen the whole time! 

I was inspired by Bon Appetit's Cleansing Ginger-Chicken Soup.  I altered it slightly by substituting the chicken with cod and adding a few more fun veggies and greens I had hiding in the fridge.  It's a wonderful soup you can enjoy when the weather outside is freightful! 

Ingredients

• 1 onion, sliced
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 8 ounces unpeeled scrubbed ginger, cut into 1/2"-thick slices
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 10 whole black peppercorns
• 5 coriander seeds
• 3 sprigs parsely
• 1 small celeriac
• 1-2 lbs cod (I found that it break apart pretty easily so if you want left overs and you're cooking for two people, 1.5-2lbs is a nice amount).
• Sea salt
• Pepper to taste
• Cilantro leaves (optional for garnish)

Preparation

• Combine the first 8 ingredients in a large heavy pot.  Add 6 quarts water (preferably filtered or spring water); bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cover with lid slightly ajar. Reduce heat to low; simmer until broth is fully flavored, about 2 hours.  
• While broth is simmering, salt and pepper the cod. Toward the end of the 2 hours, gently put the cod in whole.  Continue simmering until cod is cooked through.  Season broth with salt and pepper to taste.  
• Garnish soup with cilantro leaves, if desired.
• If you'd like a nice clean broth, you can strain it by placing a fine mesh sieve over another pot and pour the contents over the sieve.  You can keep the solids (I find the ginger a bit bitter so I discard it, but keep everything else) in a little bit of the broth and then add more broth to them when you reheat the next day. 

Enjoy and as always, if you make it, let me know how it tastes!!

 

I love a green juice!

I'm on a green juice kick!  And I hope it never ends!!

Aran and I recently watched the documentary Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead - yes, it's an ominous title, but the message isincredibly positive and the story is in every way inspiring (...watch the trailer and check out the website here).  Joe Cross, a successful Aussi financier and businessman, realizes that he has let himself go.  He is severely overweight and has developed a serious and rare skin condition.  Unfortunately, living without any self-control and without a good sense for moderation, for many of us, eventually leads to cancer, heart attacks, heart disease, and hundreds of other debilitating ailments that make us prisoners to the pharmaceutical industry and our own bodies. 

Coming to this realization Joe decides to fly over to NYC - the land of 99 cent pizza slices, delicious street food, and unforgettable dining experiences to taunt him on every corner! - and go on a 60 day green juice fast!  He begins the first month of the fast in NYC and then sets off, with his juicer hooked up to an outlet in the back of the car, on a roadtrip cross-country to share the magic of juicing.  He interviews people along the way and tries to make them more mindful about their own health.  Some take to the green juices and others resist, but regardless of whether their taste buds are pleased, he awoke in their minds - and especially in one particular man whose life changed forever - the thought of making more careful food choices for themselves and their loved ones.  While I am mindful about how I eat, I'm even more knowledgavle having seen the amazing results backed up by medicine of a lifestyle change toward more greens, exercise and moderation and away from general excess, too much animal protein and complacency.  

So what exactly is a green juice?  It's a juice made from any green veggies and plants that you can possibly think of.  The standard - some call it the green champagne! - is made of kale, parsley, celery, swiss chard, cucumber, and apple, lemon and ginger.  Have one before breakfast or right after a yoga session or workout.  I promise you will excite and nourish every single cell of your body!   Since watching this movie, I'm not only grabbing a green juice to go whenever I can, but I'm also eating more greens and being mindful about eating more plants.  

And speaking of plants, eating more of them, as Mark Bittman of the NYTimes puts it in his recent op-ed, No Meat, No Dairy, No Problem, is simply a smart way to go if you're trying to "eat better" or want to improve your health. You can't go wrong by adding more plants and veggies into your daily regimen.  Plants create an alkalizing environment in your body, which gives your immune system more ammunition to fight bad bacteria which thrive when you're body's pH is on the acidic side of the balance.   So while it's fine to enjoy animal proteins, sweets, coffee, etc., it's also important to be mindful about making sure to balance your diet with plenty of alkalizing foods.  (For a more in depth explanation of balancing between acid and alkaline foods check out this link).

If I'm on the go and I'm hungry or just in need of a pick me up I Yelp the nearest green juice bar and I head that way!   Here are a few places that have green juice bars in NYC that I love. If you know of any other good ones, feel free to share with the community!

Health Nuts
835 2nd Ave (between 44th St & 45th St)  

Lifethyme Natural Foods Store
410 Ave of the Americas (between 8th St & 9th St)

Jus
at Coffeeshop
16th Street & Union Square West 

If you're intrigued Joe Cross has developed a website called Reboot Your Life (currently under further construction due to an increasing surge of traffic) that provides some detail on different levels of the green juice program.  Before taking on any radical change in your diet and even before cleanses and detoxing, please talk to your doctor or a trained healthcare progressional.   

Healthy snacks when you're on the go!

My new favorite snack: Yellow bell peppers with sheep's milk feta and fresh ground pepper. 

I took this with me on a train and I loved the combination of the crunchy juicy pepper, mild feta, and piquant ground pepper on my tongue... which made me think how easy it is to eat well and deliciously when you're on the go; all it takes is a little bit of forethought and preparation.  In 5 minutes you have a beautiful healthy snack!  

When I started really paying attention, I realized that apart from the fruit carts scattered in NYC or if you're lucky a bowl of apples and bananas at a Starbucks or Au Bon Pain, most of the snacks I see are laden with sugar and flour neither of which has much nutritional value.  I feel better when I have my green apple, banana, bell peppers or any other wholesome snack than when I have a glazed donut, or a pastry.  Of course I love my croissants, Donut Plant donuts or Dunkin Donuts, chocolate, I could go on, but I want to eat those things when I intend to.  I want them to be treats; something I look forward to on occasion.  Knowing my health requirements and what makes me feel good, I love not having to have to grab those things because I don't I other options, which I must say can feel like a great excuse! Don't let your mind trick you!  So whenever I'm hopping on a train, a plane, a bus, or a lengthy car ride, or I know I'll be away from my house for a while and I'll get hungry (which happens a lot :)) it is so worth it for me to take an extra 10 minutes (at most!) and prepare a snack.  It gives me that nice nutritious boost of energy and a dose of vitamins.   And you know what else?  It's a lot cheaper too! 

I've gone too many times without my favorite wholesome snacks and in turn have developed an unshakeable habit.  I'm kind of proud of this one! :)