The
Mystic Cookbook, the secret alchemy of food, Denise Linn and Meadow Linn 2012
USA
“To Activate Clarity: Eat
Yellow – Yellow foods can stimulate the intellect as well as communication.
Yellow is associated with mental discrimination, organisation, attention to
detail, evaluation, active intelligence, happiness, concentration, and clarity
of thought. Yellow is a colour that stimulates flexibility and adaptability to
change. Yellow kitchens tend to be gathering places for family and friends to
chat about their day. Plus, healing vitamin C is found in lemons and
grapefruit. Summer squash, yellow peppers, sweet corn, pineapples, yellow
watermelons, and other yellow fruits and vegetables fill you with glowing
yellow energy; and they contain beta-carotene that promotes healthy eyes” the
authors.
Hawaiian
Rainbow Kebabs
20 bamboo skewers
Marinade: 3 tblsp brown sugar;
2/3 cup pineapple juice; 6 tblsp tamari; 8 cloves garlic, crushed; 1 tsp grated
fresh ginger
Kebabs: 450g beef, cut into
4cm cubes top sirloin works well); 225g button mushrooms; 450g sweet potatoes
(1 large or 2 small), peeled and cut into 4cm cubes and par boiled; 450g very
small gold potatoes, parboiled (if large, cut them into smaller chunks); 2
green bell peppers, cut into 4cm square; 1 red onion, cut into 3cm chunks; 1
fresh pineapple, cut into 4cm chunks; 1 275g pkg cherry tomatoes; vegetable or
canola oil
If using bamboo skewers
(available in most grocery stores), soak them in water for at least 20 minutes
to keep them from burning on the grill.
To make the marinade, combine
the brown sugar, pineapple juice, tamari, garlic, and ginger in a large bowl.
Cut the beef and wash the
mushrooms. Add the beef and mushrooms to the marinade and stir to combine.
Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate while preparing the other ingredients.
Bring 2 pots of water to a
boil, one for the sweet potatoes and one for the gold potatoes. Meanwhile, peel
and cut the sweet potato. When the water is boiling, add the gold potatoes to
one and the sweet potatoes to the other. Parboil until just barely soft (about
5 minutes for the sweet potato and 10 minutes for the gold potato). This is a
bit tricky. If they’re overcooked, they’ll fall off the skewer. But if they’re
undercooked, they won’t cook at the same rate as the meat and vegetables on the
grill.
Drain and rinse the potatoes
with cool water. Pour them back into the pots they cooked in and toss each with
1 tblsp vegetable oil. This will keep them from sticking to the grill.
Wash the tomatoes, and cut the
peppers, onions and pineapple. I find it helpful to put each ingredient in a
bowl and line them up on the counter. That way the kebabs can be made
assembly-line style.
Fire up the grill. When the
grill is hot, carefully oil the grate with a paper towel dipped in vegetable
oil.
It can be fun to put the ingredients
on the skewer in the order of the rainbow. Depending on how you assemble the
kebabs, you may end up with leftovers of some ingredients. In this case, you
can either save them for another use or make some haphazard kebabs with
whatever vegetables are remaining.
Grill over medium heat, about
5-10 minutes per side, or until the potatoes are cooked through and the meat
has reached desired doneness.
If you have leftover marinade,
you can gently boil it in a small pan until any uncooked meat juices are well
cooked and the sauce has reduced. This makes a tasty glaze to drizzle over the
kebabs.
Gratitude
Granola
Makes about 10 cups
5 cups old-fashioned rolled
oats; pinch of salt; 2 tsp cinnamon; ½ tsp freshly ground nutmeg; 2 to 3 cups
raw seeds and raw chopped nuts (pre-roasted nuts and seeds will burn);
suggestions: walnuts, pecans, almonds, cashews, hazelnuts, sunflower seeds,
pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, and flax seeds are all delicious options; ½ cup
shredded unsweetened coconut (optional); 2/3 cup honey or maple syrup; ½ cup
coconut oil, vegetable oil, or canola oil; 2 cups dried fruit (must be added
after cooking because it will burn otherwise); suggestions: raisins, golden
raisins, cranberries, cherries, blueberries, strawberries, chopped apricots,
chopped peaches, crystallised ginger, chopped mango, chopped papaya, or chopped
pineapple
Preheat oven to 180°C
In a large bowl combine the
oats, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, nuts, and shredded coconut. In a smaller bowl
combine the oil and honey. Mix the liquid ingredients with the dry and stir to
combine. If you’re using coconut oil in its solid state, you may need to use
your clean hands to mix it all together. The oats should be uniformly damp and
taste delicious when samples. If they’re too dry, add more oil and/or honey. If
not delicious enough, adjust ingredients until it passes your inspection. This
is part of what making granola so much fun!
Spread the raw granola evenly
between two large baking sheets and put them into the oven on the lower-middle
and upper-middle racks. Stir frequently, and halfway through the baking time,
rotate from top to bottom. Bake until crisp and golden, about 30-40 minutes.
The oats will become crisper as they cool. Stir in dried fruit. Cool completely
before storing in an airtight container.
