Usually if I have Thursday off, as I do today, I take myself out to a lovely lunch at Cafe Gratitude in Berkeley, and I feel very healthy and inspired. Because of a project, however, which I will write about later, I was compelled to stay home for my afternoon meal. I decided to make something that would be reminiscent of the meal I'd of had there, which the last two times has been their "Macro Bowl," as in macrobiotic. I'm still not sure about all the principles of the macrobiotic diet, but I do know that it has to do with balancing foods that are yin and yang (every food is more one than the other, apparently), using a lot of grains and vegetables, and usually (always?) including a pickled item. Gratitude's Macro Bowl is shredded raw kale, steamed quinoa, homemade kim chee, teriyaki raw almonds, sprouts (the kind with big green leaves) and tahini sauce. I never thought it sounded good, but after it was recommended to me I finally found out it's delicious.
I didn't have a pickled item, unfortunately, but I did have leftover quinoa from last night. Quinoa cooks much more quickly than rice, so this kind of meal could be done easily without having it leftover, and using whatever you have for toppings. I added some fresh, frozen, dried, and bottled things I had in the kitchen. I was going to use Annie's Goddess dressing to simulate the tahini sauce experience, but when I tossed and tasted the mixture before dressing, I liked the flavors so much that I didn't want to overwhelm them. I chose oil and vinegar instead, which is my favorite dressing almost always.
I think the tomatoes that are at farmers' market already must be greenhouse...
The pistachios were an excellent touch, as are the almonds in the restaurant meal. It's satisfying the have an occasional hard, crunchy bite. I never would have thought to mix pistachios with much of anything except they were the only nuts I had. I love improvising!
Ingredients:
-one serving of leftover quinoa, about a cup
-half a fresh tomato, chopped
-a little fistful of chopped fresh mint
-1 clove garlic, chopped finely
-bit of red onion, chopped, about a tablespoon
-bit of frozen peas, rinsed but not cooked
-bit of frozen corn, rinsed and then cooked in a little water for about a minute
-handful of pistachios, shelled
-a tablespoon or so nutritional yeast
-olive oil
-balsamic vinegar
Stir and enjoy!
...I meant to take a picture after tossing, but the meal mysteriously disappeared before I remembered to photograph it again. mmmm!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment