gazpacho...slurp your veggies!

It has been really warm here lately, which evokes hot summer days and cold soup.  My fridge is still brimming with bell peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, etc., an invitation to make gazpacho if I ever saw one.  I had my first taste of this cold soup over 20 years ago while working at Bagatelle, a quaint little French restaurant and bakery.  Back then, I was still leery of raw veggies, so imagine the trepidation I felt at having any - much less a whole bowl - of this soup (vichyssoisse, I had no problems with since it is cooked).  I overcame my fear, gulping down a spoonful of this delicious soup and have never looked back.

It wasn't until I was living by myself that I attempted to make my own version of gazpacho.  There are many different variations of gazpacho out there, this just happens to be the way I enjoy eating mine.  Each yummy spoonful of this healthy soup makes you feel so good.  I make sure all my ingredients are cold before I begin and  basically add enough vegetables to submerge them in cold tomato juice, no measurements required.  They are really good with the optional ingredients, my favorite is the diced hard boiled eggs.  It adds a yummy creaminess to the soup.

Um, can you tell I love me some avocado?  LOL

Gazpacho

Serves:  4

½ small red onion, diced

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

1 green or red bell pepper, diced

1 regular or English cucumber, chopped

1 pint grape tomatoes or 3 Roma tomatoes, chopped

2 (11.5 oz) cans Campbell’s Tomato Juice

2 tsp balsamic or red wine vinegar

1-2 tbsp olive oil

½ tsp freshly ground black pepper

1/2 tsp salt, or to taste

Optional ingredients:

avocado, chopped

hard boiled eggs, diced

cooked shrimp

1.  Remove seeds and stems on green pepper.  Remove ribs and skin on regular cucumber, but leave both intact if using English cucumber.  Dice, mince, and chop all vegetables and add to a large bowl.

2.  Add tomato juice, vinegar, olive oil, black pepper, and salt to vegetables.  Stir to combine. 

3.  Refrigerate for about 2 hours before serving.  Top with avocado, hard boiled eggs, and/or shrimp prior to serving.  

Notes:
Refrigerate all your ingredients prior to beginning to quicken the cooling time later on.  If you prefer your veggies smaller, you can add everything to a blender bowl and blend until you have smaller chunks of veggies.  I prefer my veggies in big pieces because I like to chomp on big chunks of crispy veggies.  Reminds me of chewing my cud. LOL!

kome kombucha with me

I have been wanting to make kombucha for a long time.  Armed with information gathered all over the Internet, I figured now was a good time to begin brewing my own "tea of immortality".  While anxiously awaiting for my SCOBY (Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast) to arrive, I purchased a half gallon-sized pickle jar and began gathering all necessary items.  Having never tasted this "elixir of life",  I bought six bottles of GT's Synergy Organic & Raw Kombucha in passionberry, guava, cherry chia and raspberry chia flavors to use as benchmarks for my homemade brew.  When all is said and done, my kombucha came out great!  It was better than some of GT's flavors, believe it or not.  I do like GT's cherry and raspberry chia flavors (mmm...slippery, slimy goodness!), so I am testing chia seeds in one of my bottles.  The chia seeds remind me of a basil seed drink/dessert that my mom made growing up.  So next time I am at the Asian grocer, I will get some basil seeds and add them to my kombucha.

What does kombucha taste like?  To me, the home brewed kombucha tea tastes like a slightly tart or vinegary, bubbly, mild-flavored apple cider.  I did add mango juice to mine, so that probably gives it less of a cider taste.  I am currently brewing a bottle with guava nectar and will do ginger and other flavors in the future.  This should save me a truckload of money since each bottle of GT's is $3.50.  As a comparison to other fermented drinks, I would say it is much more palatable than plain kefir.

As for the actual fermentation process, truth be told, it is rather alarming to see the kombucha ferment daily.  I was becoming more and more frightened by the growth I was witnessing.  The SCOBY, mushroom culture, or "mother" is definitely something else to behold.  While relaying my kombucha experiment to a friend, he asked if I have tasted it yet.  I told him, "No, I'm too scared!"  LOL!  Seriously, you have to have an iron gut to drink this after watching the mother grow on top of the tea from day-to-day.  But I did it and so can you!

Let's raise a glass to our newly detoxified liver and all the other "health" claims associated with kombucha!  Cheers!

This is GT's Cherry Chia Kombucha.  My favorite flavor!*

Newly arrived SCOBY, mushroom culture, or mother in starter tea.

Half gallon of cooled tea with the SCOBY added.

Slight "crust" forming on top of the tea after 3 days .

Mommy dearest, why art thou so scary?  My SCOBY day 6.

Oh, mother, how you frighten me so!  This is day 9.

The original SCOBY and her even bigger baby on day 11 (flipped upside down for picture).

Double fermented kombucha tea in recycled GT's bottles. 

Finished brew that has been double fermented with mango nectar.

 Fruit Flavored Kombucha
Typically this will create a drink that has less than 1 percent alcohol in it.  However, the longer you allow your tea to brew, the more alcohol it will create.  Something to keep in mind for those wary about alcohol in their drinks.

     1/2 gallon of filtered water
     4-5 tea bags (I used regular Lipton black tea)
     1/2 cup sugar (do not use artificial sweeteners or natural liquid sweeteners of any kind)
     2 tbsp organic apple cider vinegar**
     1 healthy kombucha SCOBY in starter tea (I purchased mine off eBay)
     3/4 gallon glass container (use glass to avoid leaching dangerous substances into your tea)
     a long handled wooden spoon
     1 disposable coffee filter or a clean kitchen towel
     1 rubber band
     small glass bottles with tight fitting lids
     fruit juice free of pulp (I used Jumex Mango Nectar)

1.  Bring water to a boil, turn off the heat, and add the tea bags.  Allow the tea to steep for 3-5 minutes before discarding the tea bags.  Add sugar and stir to dissolve granules.  Allow tea to cool then add apple cider vinegar.**
2.  Pour tea into a food safe glass container large enough to accommodate 1/2 gallon of tea with at least a 2-inch headroom at the top.
3.  Add the SCOBY with the starter tea and stir with a wooden spoon to mix the content.  Your SCOBY will most likely sink to the bottom of the jar, but should make its way to the top of the jar in a couple of days.
4.  Cover the top of your glass jar with a disposable coffee filter or clean kitchen towel and secure with a rubber band to prevent bugs and other unwanted items from getting into your tea.
5.  Set jar away from direct sunlight and allow to ferment for 7 to 10 days at room temperature around 68-75 degrees (brews faster in warmer temperature).  You can check the kombucha at about day 7 to see if it is tart enough (to draw out a bit of liquid, dip a clean drinking straw in, holding the top end closed to create suction).  If not, allow to brew a couple more days.  Your tea should not be sweet, but rather slightly tart and smell of vinegar.
6.  Once there is a slight tartness to the tea, remove about 90% of the original liquid leaving the remaining 10% and SCOBY to create a new batch of kombucha (minus the apple cider vinegar this time).
7.  Pour about 15% fruit juice into single serving bottles and top with the kombucha (I reused GT's kombucha bottles), leaving about a 1 1/2-inch headroom at the top.  Tightly cap the bottles and allow to ferment for about 3 more days on the counter.  Capping the bottles tightly will allow the tea to become effervescent/sparkly/bubbly.  Be careful not to leave them too long or the bottles may explode due to all the carbonation build-up.  DO NOT SHAKE THE BOTTLES or you will have a mess upon opening (ask me how I know).  Refrigerate tea to stop the fermentation process.  Drink up!

Notes:
1.  Black or green tea can be used for kombucha.  It's my understanding that sucanat or brown sugar should be used with green tea, but I cannot confirm this as I have not tested it myself.  Try to veer away from herbal teas, as it often results in failure.  Avoid Earl Grey or teas with citrus oils added since they promote mold or will eventually weaken your SCOBY.
2.  Your original SCOBY or mother will produce a baby, which you can use to brew a new batch of kombucha.  Using clean hands, separate the mother from her baby by peeling them apart.  You can keep the SCOBYs in your fridge as long as you continue to add fresh sweetened tea to the mother every once in a while and making sure she remains moist.
3.  Want to grow your own SCOBY?  Food Renegade has a great write-up on how to grow your own SCOBY using purchased bottled kombucha drinks.  I learned how to do the double fermentation (where the fruit juice is added in step 7) from them. 


*I am experimenting with the chia seeds right now.  I can't get mine to look like GT's chia kombucha yet, but will update when I figure it out.  I thought for sure they would sprout like basil seeds, but so far, they aren't doing what I expected.  Basil seeds will become gelatinous in water within 30 minutes, but my chia seeds appear to take a lot longer and are not as pretty looking as GT's.

**Vinegar is only needed if you did not receive very much starter tea with your SCOBY.  As you can see from the picture of my SCOBY above, there was very little starter tea that came with my mushroom culture.  If you have 10% or more unflavored tea from a prior kombucha batch or from a bottled source such as GT's Original, then vinegar is not required.

baked asparagus with balsamic butter sauce

Yippee, it is asparagus season!  I've been eating asparagus like there is no tomorrow.  Can't help it.  Like the bell peppers, these have been on sale for dirt cheap and they look amazing fresh!  I found this recipe a couple of years ago and absolutely love it.  If you have never tried asparagus or have never liked it in the past, try them this way and I bet you will become an avid fan.

Baked Asparagus with Balsamic Butter Sauce

From Allrecipes.com

Serves:  4

1 bunch fresh asparagus, trimmed

cooking spray

salt and pepper to taste

2 tablespoons butter (I used ghee)

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).

2.  Arrange the asparagus on a baking sheet. Coat with cooking spray, and season with salt and pepper.

3.  Bake asparagus 12 minutes in the preheated oven, or until tender.

4.  Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat until brown. Remove from heat, and stir in soy sauce and balsamic vinegar. Pour over the baked asparagus to serve. 

Note:

If you do not use ghee, then make sure you brown the butter first before adding the soy sauce and balsamic vinegar.  It will give it a wonderful nutty aroma and will take this recipe over the top.  

stuffed red bell peppers

I have bell peppers coming out of the wazzoo.  I needed a recipe that will allow me to utilize all the bell peppers taking up real estate in my fridge.  Unfortunately, most recipes call for a minimal amount of peppers, so the only option I found was to make stuffed bell peppers.  I actually made this recipe a few weeks ago when the peppers first went on sale and loved it.  My greed got the better of me and I ended up purchasing even more peppers (come on, THREE extra large red bell peppers for $1?!?  How can anyone resist?) I decided to make them again and WOW  they were even better this time around.  I would say these rival my cabbage rolls (a recipe I have been meaning to put up but have been too lazy to fix/modify for the this blog...it's complicated, folks!).  I sliced my red bell peppers along the length because it is easier and wastes less pepper.  Anyway, give this a try and tell me what you think.

Stuffed Red Bell Peppers

Adapted from Allrecipes.com

Serves:  6-8

6-8 large red or green bell peppers (red bell peppers will impart a sweeter taste)

1 large green bell pepper, diced

1 ½ lbs lean ground beef

1 large onion, chopped

3-4 cloves garlic, minced

1 ½ tsp Italian seasoning

1 tsp Kosher salt, plus additional for sprinkling inside peppers (about 1/2 tsp)

1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

4 diced Roma tomatoes or 1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes

2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1/2 cup uncooked rice

1/2 cup water

3 small cubes beef bouillon

2 cups shredded Italian-style five cheese Blend

1 jar pasta sauce (I used Muir Glen's Organic Italian Herb pasta sauce, 26 oz jar)

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 

2.  Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cut the peppers in half along the length and remove the seeds. Cook peppers in boiling water for 3 minutes; drain. Sprinkle salt inside each pepper, and set aside.

3.  In a large skillet, saute beef for about 3 minutes.  Add onions, garlic, and green bell peppers cooking until meat is browned.  Add Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper. Stir in the tomatoes, rice, 1/2 cup water, Worcestershire sauce, and 1/3 of the jarred pasta sauce. Cover, and simmer for 15 minutes, or until rice is tender and most of water has evaporated. Remove from heat, and stir in the cheese.

4.  Stuff each pepper with the beef and rice mixture and place peppers open side up in a baking dish.

5.  Spoon the remaining pasta sauce over each pepper and bake covered for 25 to 35 minutes, until heated through and cheese is melted and bubbly.

Notes:
I used about 4 fresh Romas instead of canned tomatoes, therefore the salt used was perfect.  However, you might consider going easy on salt by 1/2 tsp if you are using canned tomatoes.  Also, please keep in mind that Kosher salt is not as salty as regular table salt.