There isn’t a lot that is better than strawberry season. It means the weather is probably getting consistently warmer, school is almost done for the summer and , of course, strawberries suddenly taste AWESOME.
My Mom use to take my sisters and me down to Granville Island where we would buy a big container of strawberries, eat them all for lunch while we fed the birds our donuts and then go back to buy more to take home with us.
I had a dream the other night that I smelled like old cabbage and everyone around me was too polite to say anything. I have been spending a lot of around fermenting cabbage lately… So far nobody has been bold enough to tell me that I smell like sauerkraut, but clearly my subconscious thinks I might. Oh god, DO I?!
At least I am on trend. Home fermentation projects are picking up steam, which is great news for the world’s intestinal health. Imagine a world where all of our intestinal bacteria was in balance! It could only lead to world peace.
Kimchi, a spicy, more interesting version of naturally fermented sauerkraut, is a Korean staple, and I totally understand why (and that’s before we even get into the health benefits). It is tart, salty, pungent, complex and sooo very addictive. The version that I make is not authentic, as I have kept the ingredients fresh and as local as possible (no rice starch or fish sauce etc) but it is equally delicious and addictive.
Do you know what makes it a lot easier to eat a vegetable-heavy, alkaline vegan diet? Cheese. Isn’t that what you are missing deep in your soul each time you enjoy a salad or an Italian style meal? You’re not alone. One of my sisters (the lactose-intolerant one…) is always sending me pictures of dishes she has made using my recipes (which I love, btw), often with the comment ‘except I added some cheese’. In fairness, she lives in a part of the world that people travel to for the cheese alone, but I do think a simple nut-based cheese recipe might be a good thing to have in our back pockets no matter what part of the world we live in.
Dairy on a whole, whether we are lactose intolerant or not, is high on the list of things to avoid if we are fighting or preventing cancer. For starters, it is often highly processed and full of hormones and antibiotics, which can upset our own hormone balance and digestive health. It is also acid-forming, which is not good when we are striving for an alkaline, disease-free body. I don’t love to stress the negative with ‘bad foods’ and create guilt when you do indulge, because then you’re eating cheese and guilt, which is worse than just cheese. If you are going to have a bit once in a while, make sure it is really good, eat it slowly, sitting down, and enjoy every morsel.
For the rest of the time (the majority of the time), I have new cheese for you. Faux cheese. Raw, nut-based, vegan cheese. If this sounds about as exciting to you as a toothbrush in your trick-or-treating pillowcase, be prepared for a pleasant surprise.
The first time I fermented my own pickles, I made them way too salty. I have issues with numbers, which makes following recipes really hard, and apparently results in salty pickles. After staring at them for a while, I saved them and added them (in small amounts) to recipes the same way you might add capers. The rest, I dehydrated, ground up and realized I had invented my own fermented, raw dill pickle seasoning (popcorn, anyone?).
