Healthy cabbage (and a bonus story)

Before I get into this great topic – let me tell you that at the end of this post you will find a most delightful story by Dr. Tae Yun Kim, where the lowly humble cabbage plays a major role.  If you have time – please read it!

I am sure everyone has heard how healthy cabbage is.  It’s full of cancer fighting components, helps reduce cholesterol and is therefore good for heart health, is packed with antioxidants, has a lot of anti-inflammatory qualities, and is excellent for your digestive tract.

Several cultures have propelled cabbage to their national foods, such as Kim Chi in Korea (a very nice spicy fermented cabbage) and of course Sauerkraut of the Germans.  They are both very very good and very very healthy.  Give them a try, if you haven’t!

Dr. Tae Yun Kim‘s favorite is to have either just plain Napa cabbage leaves, raw, and eat them with a spoon of brown rice and goju jang, a hot red pepper sauce.  Or steamed regular cabbage.

I love cabbage prepared in all kinds of ways and always like to come up with new and exciting ways to incorporate it into our food plan.

Yesterday, I started out, like I so often do, by sauteing chopped onions and chopped garlic in a little olive oil.

Then, I added shredded cabbage .

Just that, by itself, with a tiny bit of salt, was very very good.  But I wanted to combine it with some protein and make a meal out of it.  On consulting with my refrigerator, I saw organic, non-GMO tofu there, as well as eggs from the local farmers market.  I put half the block of tofu and an egg into the blender, and some parsley and gave it a whirl.

Then I combined the tofu mixture and the (slightly cooled off) cabbage mixture and put it in ramekins, which I then steamed.

It didn’t take very long, about 10 minutes or less, to have it “set.”

It turned out really good, very subtle and gentle flavors, yet the cabbage still shining through.

I understand many people nowadays don’t  eat any soy products, but still give this a try – just leave out the tofu and add another egg, or maybe substitute cheese if you can have dairy.

Go ahead, dig in your spoon and enjoy, and if you like, you can add any sauce you want, although I myself prefer to just let the simple earthy flavors come through.

Now, to that cabbage story.

“Once there was a king who had grown very bored and disenchanted with life.  He went from one meaningless and stagnant day to another finding no satisfaction or pleasure in anything.  He had even lost his taste for food, and all his traditional exotic dishes no longer yielded the joys they once had.  He grew so tired and apathetic that he issued a proclamation that whoever could bring him a dish that truly pleased him would be richly rewarded.

The greatest cooks came from all over the world bringing their best dishes.  But the king didn’t like any of them.  Life continued to be one boring dish after another.

One day a poor farmer came to the palace.  “Your Majesty, I have the most incredible dish you have ever tasted.  On this earth there is no other that can match it, but this dish takes some special preparation, and in order for you to fully enjoy it, I must ask that you eat nothing else until it is ready, ” the farmer said.  The king, by now so bored with his life, was willing to take the chance.

So the farmer left to prepare his special dish.

The next day the farmer arrived empty-handed in the king’s hall.  The king asked, “Well, where is my food?”

“I am sorry your Majesty.  It will be ready soon, I promise, but you must still keep your bargain.”

The next day, the farmer returned again, empty-handed.  This time the king was furious.  “Where is my food?” he roared.

The farmer replied humbly, “Oh, Your Majesty, I am still preparing.”

“Still preparing?” the king fumed.  “I am starving, and you are still only preparing?”

“I assure you this is the most fabulous food you have ever tasted,” the farmer pleaded.  If you’ll only wait one more day, it will be ready.”

Although the king was very angry and hungry, he was also anxious to relieve his boredom.  “All right,” he agreed.  “One more day.”

The next day the king awoke very early, his whole body filled with anticipation.  He could think of nothing but the farmer’s mysterious dish.  When the time came near for the farmer to arrive, it was all he could do to contain his excitement.

Finally, from beyond his hall the king heard the light footsteps of the farmer.  He smelled the most divine of smells.  His whole body reverberated with incredible sensations of pleasure and delight.  The farmer came closer.  The king could feel his mouth salivating and his stomach grumbling as his entire attention focused on the farmer’s simple porcelain bowl and its precious cargo.

The farmer lifted the lid to expose one thick slice of cabbage, steamed perfectly.  It was the most simple of dishes, but at that moment, it was a precious as the world to the king.

The king bit into this pure, plain, and simple cabbage.  Nothing in his life had ever tasted so good.  His senses came alive as he felt once again the intense pleasure of taste, and smell, and texture.  The king was so overjoyed that he made the poor farmer a rich man.”

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What you can learn from making Nutella cake

I was going to blog about the great, delicious crab-mushroom cakes I made the other day, but then this happened.  My good friend Shirley from Gluten free easily talked about her banana Kaluha coconut cake, complete with picture and everything.

Well, I felt this incredible pull tugging on me and sure enough before I knew it I was back in the kitchen.  I had to smile to myself. Dr. Tae Yun Kim always reminds us that we need to be flexible, and not just physically.  When your environment changes, when the situation changes,Dr. Tae Yun Kim says, we have to change according to the situation.

Dr. Dr. Tae Yun Kim illustrated this with a story: one of her students had planned a cruise to the Bahamas for a long time, and was all packed and ready and beyond excited.  However, the day she was about to travel to the port of departure, a hurricane was forming and there were already travel warnings going out.  Rather than cancel, she still went ahead, because she had already paid for the cruise and didn’t want to just cancel.  Within a day or two of the cruise, the hurricane manifested in all it’s nastiness, and not only did the travelers have to get off the ship in a hurry, they were also stuck for almost a week at a hurricane stricken island, with minimal food, water and worries about the storm.  Not an ideal vacation!

While granted, my situation wasn’t nearly that drastic, I still didn’t mind changing direction, and went ahead to make this delicious looking cake.  I mean, it was a good excuse to make that cake, right?

Fresh out of the oven…..

Here is the original recipe, go check it out!

I could already taste the cake, while I was mixing the ingredients together.  What aroma!  What smooth batter!  I did make a minor change  – I used double the amount, so I could bake it in my bundt pan, and I substituted – for the double recipe – 2 cups almond flour, and for the rest used Shirley’s gluten-free flour mix.

When I reached for the coconut, to add that to the batter, I couldn’t believe it.  None there!  Impossible!  I knew I had 3 bags!  Someone, who for the sake of peace in the household will remain unnamed, had thrown it out because “a mouse had gotten into each bag.”  Hmmmmm.

Once again I thought if a very fitting quote from Dr. Kim – don’t carve in your emotions – instead, let them flow away like water, and get rid of all negative feelings!

Ok, but what to put in the batter instead?  In checking out the pantry, I saw a nice jar of Nutella sitting there, and without much thought started to spoon in gobs of Nutella into the batter, which now looked a little too thin, and I added another 3/4 cup or so of almond flour.  and about one cup of Nutella total.

I put that into the bundt pan and baked this experiment at 350 for about 45 – 50 minutes.

The result was out of this world!  As in, so good it was unbelievable.

And this brought back to mind another gem ofv Dr. Tae Yun Kim’s sayings (quote from “The Silent Master”)

“Clinging to a good picture you have created possibly keeps you from expanding into an even greater good.  Clinging to a disagreeable picture keeps you there!  So, don’t hold on to either as though it is the final story.  You don’t hate, resent, fight, or quarrel with an undesirable situation, and you don’t overly love or cling to a desirable situation.  Detachment means you are always ready, open, and willing to experience change.  That is how you develop.”

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Summer fun in the kitchen

We have had some pretty hot days here in Northern California.  Not my favorite time of year – I love it in the high 60s – low 70s during the summer and below that in the winter 🙂

At any rate, heat or not, hungry Jung Suwon warriors want to still eat, to replenish the energy they spent working out and training hard.  So, feeding them “cool” foods benefits the cook and the warrior!

Dr. Tae Yun Kim advises her Jung Suwon warriors to eat as close to nature as possible, when possible, such as fresh fruits and vegetables, organically grown, and if you eat eggs and meat, get the eggs from free ranging, organically fed chickens, and only purchase organic, grass fed beef – if possible.  You really can taste and feel the difference!

Here are some visually appealing, great tasting, totally organic and gluten free meals and snacks:

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Beauty in the Kitchen

We always have choices, as Dr. Tae Yun Kim likes to point out.

“The power is in you, it is your personal choice what you do in your life!”

It’s just that sometimes those choices aren’t quite what we want!  Yet in the end, they might be just what we need!

For example, last week we were having a fancy dinner party at Jung Suwon, and usually we have a beautiful “edible arrangement on the dessert table, the center piece.  You know edible arrangements, right?  The fruit all cut up fancy, on a stick, and some of it dipped in chocolate?  The one that looks like a beautiful bouquet?

Well, the guests were already coming in, when with a big “ugh”, it was discovered that the edible arrangement hadn’t been ordered and it was too late now!

What kind of choice was that?

Well, I could have, of course, just given up and said we just don’t have an edible arrangement today.  Or, I could make something else, to make up for it.  Or, I could try to make the arrangement myself!

Once again, my Jung Suwon training came in very handy, in giving me the confidence to try something completely new to me.   Dr. Tae Yun Kim said it so well in one of her books,

“We need to learn to take charge of what we manifest by taking charge of our thinking.  Can you see that you can be your own worst enemy?  Why?  Because you are the one who monitors what you think.  Who thinks your thoughts better than you?  Others can suggest thoughts to you, but you are the one who accepts or rejects what you entertain in your mind.

Instead, be your own best friend!  We can achieve freedom from limitation of any sort!  You don’t have to accept anything except your freedom, your gift from the universe to create whatever you desire!”

Armed with this wisdom, I dashed to the store and loaded up on all sorts of fruits and grabbed some chocolate dip, got some craft sticks (actually my first batch was BBQ skewers) and a couple of heads of lettuce.

Back in the kitchen, at first I made a huge big mess and people around me started to give me the “you poor thing!” look.  I mean, look at this!

It does look kinda hopeless, right?

But I kept thinking, I can do this!  Why not?

HE CAN DO, SHE CAN DO, WHY NOT ME! is what we hear every day at Jung Suwon, to encourage us to do what we are capable of doing.

So I kept cutting up fruit, putting it on skewers, putting the skewers into the lettuce halves, dipped fruit and then, as a final touch, put roses in between the skewers, onto the lettuce to make it extra pretty.

So, tada, here it is!

 

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Quick, very healthy and gluten free lunch sandwich

It’s Memorial Day weekend, and we practically live outdoors now, especially since the temperatures are wonderful, around 65 degrees!  Perfect!

Great Grandmaster Tae Yun Kim has invited us to all kinds of great outdoor activities, including a BBQ.  But until then, hungry warriors are storming Jung Suwon, and something has got to be done about that!

It can’t take too much time to make food either, so here is a very healthy and very fast sandwich idea to keep Jung Suwon warriors going!  This can be made with regular bread, or, like I do, with your favorite gluten free bread.

Asparagus sandwich:

Pre-heat oven to 400 F.

Wash, and thinly slice lengthwise a handful of asparagus spears (about 6 or so spears per 2 sandwiches).  Sautee in one tablespoon of oil, with freshly crushed garlic, and add a tablespoon of chopped cashew nuts.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Saute until the asparagus is crip/tender.

While you saute the asparagus, toast 2 slices (per serving) of your favorite (gluten free) bread, and spread thinly with mustard.  Put on a layer of thinly slices avocadoes.  Heap the asparagus mixture on top of the avocado slices, and top with a sprinkling of parmesan cheese.  Broil for a few minutes until cheese is melty.

If you have really ravenous Jung Suwon warriors knocking at your door (or anyone else for that matter), you could also add a basted egg on top.  Either way, it’s delicious!

Happy Memorial Day to all, and please take a minute or two and think of all our service members and the great sacrifices they make to make the world a better place to live in!

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Healthy all natural detox soup

Dandelion

I have always been intrigued by natural foods, and living off the land.  But I didn’t know just how much you can literally live off that land!  Great Grandmaster Tae Yun Kim has opened up my eyes as to what you can eat, and what is better left to the cows!

When Great Grandmaster Tae Yun Kim was just a little girl, she was abandoned by her parents during the Korean War, because she was considered “just an extra mouth to feed.”  During that time, she learned to fend for herself, and quickly learned how to pick “weeds” and make food from it.  At the time, it was just for survival, but now Great Grandmaster Tae Yun Kim teaches that these “weeds” are very healthy and cleansing and work as a wonderful body detox, especially after the winter months.

The following “recipe” is just a guideline, a lot will depend on what you can find, and your taste buds.  But here I will share how Great Grandmaster Tae Yun Kim showed me to prepare this.  Incidentally, this soup is wonderful after a strenuous Jung Suwon class, when you crave food, but need something light and healthy.

First, go outside and see what plants you can find.  If you don’t know plants very well, you could go to a local health food store and buy some dandelions, it will work well.

Otherwise, here are some plants you could use:

Stinging nettle

stingless nettle

Sorrell

Pick a bunch of very young leaves only.  No flowers or old leaves – just the very young sprouts and tips of leaves.  Wash very well in water with Kosher salt, several times.  Chop into bite sized pieces (they are probably the right size if you picked them at their ideal “age.”)

Saute some onions and ground garlic in olive oil (if you prefer butter, that works too), until onion and garlic turn beige to light brown.  Add half of the wild herbs and briefly saute.  Add some flour (I use Shirley’s gluten free mix (see bottom of page), but you could use any gluten free combination you like, except, perhaps, coconut flour and almond flour.)

Brown the flour and then add either chicken broth, or water.  I prefer water, as it lets the fine flavor of the wild veggis come through, but chicken broth is also very good.

Put this in a blender and blend until smooth.  It should be nice and creamy.  Add salt and pepper to taste, but don’t overpower it.  The main flavor should be the wild herbs.  Finely chop the  rest of the herbs and add into the soup, just slightly heating it.

And that’s it, it’s that simple!  You could of course, get fancy and add a dollop of sour cream.  Or, if you want it more “Korean” flavored, mix in some goju chang.  (spicy red pepper paste.)  Or you could add some croutons and even some chicken.

But, as Great Grandmaster Tae Yun Kim points out, sometimes the simple things are the best!  I happen to like this soup the simplest way possible!

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Sometimes you feel like a nut….

As some of you might know, I have had some foot surgery and haven’t been in the kitchen a lot the past week.  Unfortunately, no regular Jung Suwon workouts for me!  And of course, I’ll have to watch what I eat even more as a result.

Great Grandmaster Tae Yun Kim recommended cashew nuts.  As is her style, she just sometimes mentions things along the way.  “Try some cashew nuts,” Great Grandmaster Tae Yun Kim might say, “see how you feel.”

Right off, I liked that idea.  I mean, I always give a try to Great Grandmaster Tae Yun Kim’s suggestions, but this one was really easy – I already love cashews!

I was a bit concerned about the high fat content in nuts – but as it turns out, Great Grandmaster Tae Yun Kim was right on the money even with that:  The cashew nut is nick-named the “low fat nut!”  Even so, it’s a good idea to not overdo it.

But just a small handful has a lot of nutrition in it!  Number one, it’s naturally gluten free and the most allergy free nut there is.  Number two, the fat it does have, is good for you!  Number three, it has a high amount of magnesium, which we all know is good for the heart.  And so the list continues.

Come to think of it, a perfect Jung Suwon post-workout food!  Just a small amount gives you a lot of nutrition, and after a hard workout, I don’t like to eat a large amount!

So then, Great Grandmaster Tae Yun Kim encouraged me to find “more things to do” with cashew nuts – and find I did!  I had no idea you can make so much with them – beyond the obvious, like cookies and breads – you can even  grind them and make cheese!  But before I pass on a recipe for that, I better make it myself first and get it Jung Suwon warrior appetite approved!

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Simply delicious brunch

This is Easter weekend, and there are so many recipes out there for wonderful and filling foods, desserts, candy and such.  So I am offering you something really tasty and healthy from Great Grandmaster Tae Yun Kim’s “tool box.”  Sometimes you need to get ready in a hurry for a Jung Suwon class, even during Easter weekend, and you don’t want to feel stuffed and heavy !

So here is what teacher Great Grandmaster Tae Yun Kim recommends: a light and healthy version of quiche.  If you are on a gluten free diet, like I am, you can use any recipe gluten free pie crust, or, like I do, leave out the crust altogether.

You will need:

Pie crust, either store bought or home made, or none at all

fresh spinach, a couple of bunches, well washed

fresh kale (or if you don’t like the taste, just use more spinach)

half a yellow onion, finely chopped

handful of sliced mushrooms

one cup organic, low fat cottage cheese (make sure it’s made from certified organic milk)

2 eggs

salt, pepper,

Pre-heat oven to 400, line small ramekins, or any small dish that withstands the heat in the oven, with the crust, and bake for about 10 minutes or until light brown.  Lower heat to 375 or 350, depending on your oven.

To make the filling, heat some olive oil in a pan, sautee a couple tablespoons chopped garlic.  Add the onions, sautee until see through, then add spinach, kale and mushrooms.  Lightly sautee, add salt and pepper, lemon juice if you like it more tangy.

In a blender, mix together the eggs and cottage cheese.  Squeeze out the sauteed veggies (you can save the juices to add to some soup later) and add the veggies to the egg/cottage cheese mixture.  Adjust seasoning, fill the baking dishes, and bake until set, around 15 minutes.

Let it set for another 10 or so minutes, then decorate with parsley and cherry tomatoes, or any garnish to your liking!

Now, sit back and enjoy the fruits of your labor, and know that Great Grandmaster Tae Yun Kim’s recipe will contribute to your health and well being.

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More tomato love

Don’t these cherry tomatoes look really good?  I love them!  They are perfect after a tough Jung Suwon class, as they help you cool down, plus, as Great Grandmaster Tae Yun Kim points out, they are packed with vitamins and minerals and are great to replenish your body.

Today we are blessed with some torrential rain, which I think is awesome!  To me, this spells soup!  But since it’s a weekend, it’s not just plain tomato soup which I told you about yesterday.  This is a soup that eats like a meal!  Great Grandmaster Tae Yun Kim teaches her students about proper nutrition, and balance.  Not only do we need to balance our bodies after a Jung Suwon workout, we also need to make sure we have a balance of all the nutrients we need!

So todays tomato soup is “enhanced, ” as Great Grandmaster Tae Yun Kim likes to call it.  It is the same recipe as I posted yesterday, except today I didn’t run it through the blender and left it chunky.  But go ahead and make it whatever consistency you prefer.  While the soup is cooking, get started on the “enhancements.”  In this case, Great Grandmaster Tae Yun Kim’s version of matzo balls.

You can start out with your favorite matzo ball mix (comes in nice little boxes such as this:

One quick note about kosher foods.  Great Grandmaster Tae Yun Kim at times recommends the use of Kosher ingredients, and even mentions this at Jung Suwon.  Why?  “Kosher foods are prepared under strict supervision, under the watchful eye of a Rabbi,” Great Grandmaster Tae Yun Kim explains, “Kosher foods therefore are pure and clean.  You do not need to be Jewish in order to benefit from Kosher foods.

Prepare the dough according to directions, and add some ground beef (that you have boiled out, and drained well.)  Add some finely chopped Italian parsley and/or any herbs you like.  Let this mixture sit for at least 30 minutes.

In a large pot, bring salted water to boiling, then put in the matzo balls you have rolled meanwhile.  Keep them small-ish, maybe as big as half an egg.  Turn the heat down and let the matzo balls simmer for 15 – 20 minutes.  Drain and put into the tomato soup, let it simmer for another 5 minutes, then serve and enjoy!

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Tomatoes, tomatoes, tomatoes!

So, in trying to do my “internal spring cleaning,” as Great Grandmaster Tae Yun Kim recommended,  I am feeling great, inside and out.  Skin nice and soft, lost a couple pounds and generally feeling better.  The tomatoes, in conjunction with some “kick butt” Jung Suwon classes, have worked miracles in my body, mind, and spirit.

Great Grandmaster Tae Yun Kim has a lot of special tomato recipes.  A couple of days ago I started with some very basic ones.  Here are some more!

Basic tomato soup:

This is my absolute favorite and it is so simple!

First, sautee a chopped up onion in some olive oil. Use good quality oil, it does make a difference.  As Great Grandmaster Tae Yun Kim always reminds, us, we are what we eat, so we want to use the best available ingredients!

Add freshly chopped garlic, and chopped up fresh tomatoes.  Add chopped parsley and basil.  If you like it spicy, add some freshly chopped Jalapeno pepper.  At this point, if you want to get fancy, you could add bell peppers, celery, mushrooms etc, I prefer mine very plain.

Sautee until tomatoes are soft, season with salt and pepper.  Let it cool a bit, then put in food processor until very smooth and thick.  I love it plain, as is, but you can eat with some nice, crusty bread, or rice, or even put some noodles in it!  It’s awesome however you eat it!

Great Grandmaster Tae Yun Kim also recommends stuffed tomatoes.  They are simple, easy, and you could even prep them before you go to Jung Suwon class, so that when you come home you got a good, light meal ready!

Here is Great Grandmaster Tae Yun Kim’s special stuffed  tomato recipe:

Pre-heat oven to 400.

Take a medium to large tomato, wash well with kosher salt.

Slice off the top, and hollow out.  Put it into a small, oven proof container and bake for about 15 – 20 minutes until firm/soft, but not mushy.

Meanwhile, sautee some onions and garlic with some finely chopped potatoes.  You can add parsley, green onions, or even spinach if you like.  When one, add a couple eggs and sautee until just creamy, then put it all into the tomato. Top with some cheese, and bake for 5 more minutes.

Now enjoy!

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