Introducing Gluten

Going through this process of re-introducing different kinds of foodstuffs into my system has been really good in actually introducing, for the first time, some grains and whatnots I hadn’t really cooked with or, in the case of kamut, had ever heard of. It was time at this point in my regimen, to introduce gluten, and see how that felt. So I did a little research into kamut, and then found the following recipe online. Then it’s just to get cooking.

Kamut is a type of wheat that has a only a very small amount of gluten. It is very similar to durum wheat and is one of those grains that have to be simmered for about an hour to cook (so cook a lot!). It is reputed as being tolerable by those who are allergic to wheat, but still off-limits for those who can’t deal with gluten. So it’s a good start when you want to check for a wheat allergy.

From how I felt later that night, I don’t think I am allergic to wheat, which, really, I’d much rather have as the case. What is the difference, really? Well, according to the INTERNET, a wheat allergy is the body's response to the specific grain, wheat, whereas a gluten intolerance is not an allergy, but an autoimmune disease, where the body attacks itself! Whoa! The reason why it's more annoying than a wheat allergy, is because with a gluten intolerance, one is to avoid gluten entirely - all gluten products, which include such yummy things as wheat bread, many pastas, delicious cakes and cookies, malt vinegar, vegetable protein (morningstar crumbles! NOOO!), soy sauce, etc.

So, I'm sure I'll be talking about this quite a bit in the next coming days, as I'll be starting my wheat introduction shortly. Here's the recipe I tried (it is super good, really, really good):

Oh, I found the recipe here.
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1 lb. kamut, steamed with 1 tablespoon garam masala spice mix
or 1 t. each cinnamon, ground cloves and ground coriander
(Recipe uses 4 cups of the cooked kamut; leftovers make great salads)
1 sweet onion, chopped
1 green pepper, diced
2 carrots, diced
1 tablespoon minced fresh gingerroot
1/2 cup bouillon
4 cups cooked kamut -- see note above
1/2 cup golden raisins
1 can pink beans or light red kidney beans
pinch cayenne, or to taste
1 cup frozen green peas, thawed
1 vine-ripened tomato, chopped
1/4 cup chopped cilantro or Italian parsley leaves

Bring the onion, green pepper, carrots and ginger root and 1/2 cup of
bouillon to a boil and simmer, covered, until the carrots are tender,
about 15 minutes. Stir the cooked kamut, raisins and beans into the
vegetable mixture and add the cayenne to taste. Just before serving,
stir in the peas, tomatoes and cilantro or parsley leaves. (EASY!!!)

8-10 servings (between three hungry people, we just almost ate the whole dish)
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The kamut was awesome, scrumptious, even. It had a super satisfying texture - like rice on steroids! The dish itself had a great variety of texture; the peas, carrots, beans and raisins in particular created a nice little bite medley, and it's very pretty when cut up and put into little bowls.
Now, when I had this (nervous laughter here...), it was also my first night with beer, so that in itself kind of messed up any speculations into whether I was allergic to wheat or intolerant of gluten or not. Whoops. I can say, though, that the beer definitely messed with me. My stomach was killing me after I had just one bottle. Since then I’ve been unable to handle beer without my stomach hurting a ton (cramps, at one point it felt like I was being stabbed in the intestines). It's the same reaction I have had to bagels. It’s not looking good. As I’m typing this my stomach is hurting, and I know I haven’t been avoiding gluten very well. It’s a bit childish, I know, but I may take awhile to admit defeat and just give up gluten altogether.

Healthy and Delicious

My parents were in town this weekend. Since I’ve been living in Texas, they’ve come down to Austin from Huntsville (a three-hour drive…a three-hour drive…heehee) EVERY weekend. And, I’ll tell the truth, it’s actually kind of nice. I haven’t lived near my parents in almost 7 years, and I missed them. They are very nice people. I like having them around. So there.

There are a lot of superficial differences between my family and me, one of those differences being what we eat. And this doesn’t usually bother me so much; I tend to be un-involved in others’ choices of what they choose to eat. Irrational food-prejudices annoy me, but I don’t really care when someone wants to eat a ton of meat in front of me, especially if it’s tasty. I am a big advocate of taste. Still, I guess in general I do enjoy sharing healthy AND delicious food; some people really don’t think healthy food can be tasty, and they need the enlightenment. So that’s one of my goals in living near my family. I want to influence the way they eat, at least a little. They don’t have a ton of healthy influences in their lives, and why not bring a little Portland food love to Huntsville, Texas?

Anyways, I know they like my cooking – at least, they are very convincing in their “Mmm’s.”

I wanted to cook something nice for my parents, but also easy. Usually that means I’m making a quinoa salad. Quinoa is one of my favorite grains ever (did you know it’s actually a seed? Hmm.), and I was intrigued by the following recipe because it uses red quinoa. I had never had red quinoa before, and I liked all of the other ingredients (avocados!!! cherry tomatoes!! avocados!!!), so I gave it a try. I found the recipe online, from the blog, AlmostFit. I pasted the recipe below, and put in parentheses my little changes.

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Ingredients

1 cup uncooked red quinoa
2 cups water
2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
2 avocados, diced
1 cup artichoke hearts
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
2 tablespoons of pine nuts, toasted (I used walnuts instead)
2 tablespoons of capers, to taste (Did not use capers)

Caramelized onions:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 thinly sliced red onion

Basic vinaigrette dressing:
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons fresh lemon or lime juice, with zest
2 cloves minced garlic
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Serves 4-6 as a side dish

Bring the quinoa and water to boil. When the water boils, reduce the heat to a simmer and cook until the water is absorbed, approximately 10 minutes. When cooked, quinoa has a texture similar to perfectly cooked pasta, or rice. Strain and rinse well under cold water.

While the quinoa is cooking, in a skillet heat olive oil over medium heat and saute the onions until transparent.

Prepare the vinaigrette by combining the ingredients and whisking.

In a large salad bowl, toss all of the ingredients together, including caramelized onions and the vinaigrette.

Serve cold or at room temperature.
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This meal was SUPER easy to make and effin’ DELICIOUS. Seriously. I have been missing out. Nathan thought it was the best quinoa salad I’d made (better than the quinoa paella? No way; that’s just crazy talk), but I think that was the just the out-of-detox-everything-tastes-amazing talking. In any case, it was tasty, if not also a liiittle too oily. Also, we had Nut Thins as a gluten-free accompaniment to the salad, along with some steamed kale with lemon juice. Yum. I felt great.

"Tijuana Tempeh"

One of the foods I craved the most when in South America was tempeh. I had plenty of access to tofu (yay China Town!), but it’s not the same, at all. As soon as I could, I looked online for some tempeh stir-fry inspiration. At this point I was still in the corn, etc., phase of my food re-introduction program (see bottom of this post). I think I’ve been eating corn chips every day; that’s not good, but other than that my diet has been pretty freaking healthy.

I found this recipe from the website In A Vegetarian Kitchen with Nava Atlas. I spent a lot of time reading the recipes; they look pretty tasty. Also, I was colored impressed by the array of cookbooks this lady had published. She has a ton of vegan and vegetarian books, some of which I’ve seen at friends’ houses (and they have great taste). Here’s the recipe I went with:

Tijuana Tempeh

Serves: 4

Ingredients:
. 3/4 cup vegetable stock
. 2 tablespoons shoyu or natural soy sauce (I used Bragg’s, I bet it's better with soy sauce)
. 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
. 4 teaspoons light sesame oil
. 8-ounce package tempeh
. 2 medium-sized red or yellow onions, sliced thin
. 6 to 8 large cloves garlic, minced
. 1 jalapeño or serrano chile, seeded and minced, or to taste
. 2 medium red bell peppers, cut into 1 1/2-inch strips
. 4 small zucchini, cut into 1 1/2-inch strips
. 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
. 1 ripe avocado, peeled, pitted, and diced (optional)

Whisk together the stock, shoyu, and lime juice.

Set a wok or stir-fry pan over medium heat. Add 2 teaspoons of the oil and the tempeh, turning it to coat both sides. Brown the tempeh on both sides. Remove it from the wok and cut it into strips about 1/2 inch thick and 1 1/2 inches long; set aside.

Reheat the wok over medium-high heat and add the remaining 2 teaspoons oil, swirling it to coat the sides of the pan. Add the onions and stir-fry for two to three minutes, until translucent. Add the garlic, chile, and red bell peppers and continue stir-frying for tow minutes more.

Add the zucchini and tempeh and stir-fry about one minute. Add the liquid seasoning mixture. Cover the wok and cook for several minutes, stirring often, until the vegetables are tender and the liquid is almost absorbed. Serve immediately, garnished with the cilantro, and avocado if desired.
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If you try this, I recommend throwing in some guacamole (homemade or Trader Joe’s version) on the side. Chips help to fill in the serious absence of crunch, especially as the texture in this stir-fry can be a bit mushy (crunchy tempeh would have been better).

Really quickly, I will write down the gist of my guacamole recipe. It is always good.

4 ripe avocados
1/4 cup diced red onions
4-6 cloves garlic (I like garlic)
1 tomato, diced
a LOT of chopped cilantro, like, definitely more than half a cup, maybe even a whole cup (I love cilantro)
Tbsp of hot sauce (my preference is Valentina Salsa)
salt, to taste
lime juice, to taste

That's basically it. If it's not incredibly delicious, usually adding more salt or lime juice helps.

I thoroughly enjoyed the leftovers of the "Tijuana Tempeh" (silly name, hm?) more than the first meal, especially when I added more lime juice and salt (see? It helps.). All in all this meal was okayyy the first time out, better and better as leftovers. I'm sure I'll be happier with this the next time I make it.

Chau.

Back, Back to Texas, Texas

So I took a little break. Let’s say the first few entries were a bit of a test run for myself. The last month has been pretty hectic, but I see the semblances of settling a’happening, and I want to get back into writing. I like food a lot. I’m planning on sticking around here for a bit, so now’s as good a time as any to get into this new little groove I’ve set for myself.

I’m in Austin now, after a drawn-out reintro to the United States via a road trip. Adjusting to the food here has been the hardest part of being back. Bagels, pizza, chips and rich, rich food made my tummy hurt almost every day. I needed a readjustment and decided to go through a brown rice detox once Nathan and I stopped all the couch-surfing. I’ve gone through a couple detoxes and each time learned a ton about my body and its cravings.

Still, depriving yourself of something your body has accustomed itself to is a difficult process. Once your body regulates itself to certain chemical compositions, it can be hard to let go. I’m not crazy about coffee, but I often find myself tied to sugar (sweet, lovely sugar). It’s crazy feeling the withdrawals of that; when I’m consciously avoiding sweet, but every part of me wants it sooo bad. These detoxes can do some amazing things though (Science!). I was pretty impressed after my first one. I had brown rice, soy sauce, gomasio, and occasionally steamed broccoli for ten days. My first two days I had only fresh juice (all praise the heavy duty juicer) and then it was rice, rice, rice. I felt alright the first day, horrible the second and had an all-out breakdown by the fourth day. It was intense, like epiphany that I should break up with my then boyfriend intense. I realized then how much I look to food as a crutch in my life, as a distraction from problems at hand. I took to writing, felt better, and continued eating brown rice. I made it through completely readjusted; I had seriously no desire for non-food food. Tortilla chips (once one of my favorite foods), french fries, etc., looked completely inedible. I craved real food and it was awesome. I was super happy, like, genuinely happy; I felt great. Then I drank beer one night and it all went down-hill from there. I did another detox one year later and have been doing these about once a year since.

With this latest one (which I ended this Sunday) I wanted to do a better job re-introducing foods into my system. I want to test my body a bit once I have a clean slate, so to speak. Before I started the detox, I had my last meal in my new apartment (above picture). We went to Central Market, a healthier, more organic and “natural”-friendly supermarket than its parent-store, H-E-B. H-E-B is a corporation found only in Texas, as far as I know, and they have an amazing tortilla making machine. Woo. Anyways, Central Market is a nice alternative to Whole Foods, if you’re into that. We (boyfriend and I) are into that. So we headed over and spent some dough on pre-made stuff. The salad we made ourselves in a lazy fashion (mixed greens from bulk, carrots, artichoke hearts, avocado, tomatoes, Annie’s Ginger Vinaigrette Dressing), the chips we got from Fiesta Supermarket (that place deserves its own posting someday, god bless ’em), and Central Market provided the rest: whole grain bread, bulk salsa, butternut squash soup, and wine. I’ve forgotten the name of the wine, but we’ll get it again. Whatever. After this meal...it's RICE! RICE! RICE!


Okay! So the general plan for the next seven days was as follows (the routine I kind of just put together after reading around about various brown rice detoxes and nutrition reports):

BREAKFAST: A green juice and a glass of water with lemon juice. (Sometimes I mixed them together, sometimes I had one and not the other.)

LUNCH: Brown rice with chopped celery.

SNACK (or whenever hungry really): Brown rice with chopped or grated carrots.

DINNER: Brown rice with steamed veggies. One kiwi for dessert.

Some notes: I made sure to exercise a bit everyday and drink lots of water. I tried to stick with high alkaloid foods, and less acidic foods, as high alkaloid foods are a little kinder to the stomach. The veggies I ate on a regular basis were celery, carrots, broccoli, and kale. I threw in parsley for its “chemo-protective” qualities. For seasoning, I stuck to Braggs Liquid Aminos and nutritional yeast. Our meals were actually quite delicious, and I think I’ll even make this on normal, eat-whatever-I-want nights. Yum.

So I felt a bit sick after the first day, like I was actually getting sick. I felt lethargic and had aching headaches (the headache part might have been from me getting sloppy in keeping up with my water-intake). After the third day, however, I felt awesome, physically. I had a lot of energy, but emotionally I felt a bit all over the place. I didn’t like that I couldn’t have certain things, especially when I was out toting my Tupperware of brown rice. That made me grumpy sometimes, but I got over it. On my last day, though, I was downright giddy. I even insisted on sharing some my diet with my parents when I heard they were swinging by for lunch, if for nothing but to proselytize the Word on health food. Hmph.

Hm, I suppose it’s interesting to mention I was reading The China Study whilst detoxing. I had been meaning to read it for a couple of years now, and had actually bought a copy for my dad awhile back. I picked it up and actually had a lot of fun thinking about nutrition and the food industry and just making a whole nutrition theme for my detox week. I just finished the book today and I’m pretty excited about watching the documentary, The Future of Food soon.


This is the first thing Nathan and I ate once we officially ended the detox – Rice Chips and baba ganouj. We were pretty freaking excited about it. Just to have that little bit of diversity on my palette was so...exotic. It was also my first experience with Tom’s Tabooley, a local provider of Mediterranean goodies. The baba ganouj was delicious, if also expensive. After that snack I cooked a mediocre Tempeh Coconut Curry. I put too much coriander and there just wasn’t as much love, I admit it. It’s been awhile since I’ve cooked with these ingredients and I gotta get back in a cooking mode, for sure. I’ll put the recipe up when I’ve made it better.

I found a random document online that talked a bit about re-introducing foods into the system after a brown rice detox. I have to admit, I didn’t look much farther than this little guideline. I was tired, and, okay, anyways I’m not following it sooo much. The basic idea is that I’m re-introducing various foods slowly back into my diet, noting how my body reacts to them, and moving on. Nathan and I tweaked the whole thing a bit, and this was the outcome:

Days 1-4: Add corn, corn oil, bananas, dried fruit, mushrooms, tomato sauce, avocados, wheat-free/gluten-free bread, rice pasta/rice noodles, dairy-free ice-cream, millet, amaranth, quinoa, canola oil, and sesame oil. No hydrogenated oils.

Days 5-7: Add walnuts, pecans, hazelnuts, tahini, almonds. (No peanuts, cashews, or pistachios).

Days 8-11: Add barley, buckwheat, oats, kamut, lentils, chickpeas, split peas, black-eyed peas, beans.

Days 12-13: Add yogurt and feta cheese.

Day 14: Add whole grain products.

Day 15: Add rennet-free whole raw mild cheese.

After that day I’ll add peanuts, etc. I don’t imagine it’s supposed to be a get-it-all-in-before-the-last-day kind of thing. We’ll see how it goes. I decided awhile back that after this detox I’d go vegan, and I’m sticking to that plan. I won’t be a super strict vegan, but I want my diet to be primarily dairy and meat free. Reading The China Study kind of scared me straight. Heart problems run in both sides of my family and I’d like to avoid that route as much as possible. That, and it would just be nice to have some possibility of a life in old age that I can enjoy. I will eat some bad food every now and then, but sparingly. Cheese is so good. Especially in the form of queso.

An Orange and Coconut Water in Golden Gate Park

More specifically, I was in the San Francisco Botanical Gardens, in Golden Gate Park. They were beautiful, even on a cloudy day. I didn't have much time to spend there, as I am not a very seasoned visitor to San Fran and forgot to bring an extra layer. I got too cold and left early.

Anyways, I picked up the coconut water at an over-priced natural food store right near the park, on Carl Street. I walked about 4 miles from the house I was staying at, in Bernal Heights, to the entrance I was told I must use, Lincoln Way and 9th Avenue (I also highly recommend that area, as you are led straight to the entrance to the Botanical Gardens). I was pretty thirsty by the end of that, so finding the natural food store was nice. I have been slightly obsessed with coconut water ever since my last trip to New York. It's a great drink; not only is it coco-licious, it's actually incredibly healthy for you. It's got a ton of potassium and minerals, natural isotopes and is super hydrating (it's a naturally isotonic beverage). Heh...and check out this crazy long list of benefits I just found online (now it's starting to remind me of kombucha...mmm...kombucha):

• Low in Carbohydrates
• 99% Fat Free - Contains No Cholesterol
• Low in natural occurring sugar
• Contains organic compounds possessing growth promoting properties
• Cures Malnourishment
• Effective in the treatment of kidney and urethral Stones
  
  
• Natural drink for feeding infants suffering from intestinal disturbances
• Excellent oral re-hydration medium, an all natural isotonic for all ages
• Re-hydrate naturally, free of added sugars or chemicals
• More hydrating to the body then water
• Lower arterial pressure
• Relieve spasms and stomach pain
• Ease burns
• Natural diuretic
  
  
• Presence of saline and albumen makes it an excellent drink in cholera cases
• Maintains the human body's natural fluid levels
• Can be injected intravenously in emergency cases
• Helps in carrying nutrients and oxygen to cells
• Eliminate swelling in hands and feet
  
• Normalize the intestinal function and raise metabolism
• Heal damage induced by antibiotics and toxins in the digestive tract
• Boost poor circulation

Wow! Well, I don't know about all of this stuff, but it is damn tasty and definitely makes me feel pretty good after drinking it. It accompanied my orange quite well (man, and it had been such a long time since I had had an orange), though I was pretty starving by the time I had a chance to eat dinner, which was no where near as healthy as this lunch-time snack ... uck.