Charmed by Chia

Recently I had an article in a sweet magazine called Conscious Dancer. Conscious Dancer is a publication focused on transformative dance, mind-body fitness, and energy movement arts — some of my favorite things in life! The article is about chia seeds, one of my latest kitchen discoveries that has made its way into my regular routine. I love chia! Check it out here and below.

Charmed by Chia 
              (from Conscious Dancer Magazine Summer 2011)

Skeptical at first, I was soon hooked on chia. I tried these cute little seeds about six months ago, and since then have found endless ways to incorporate them into my diet. I won't say I was bowled over from my very first taste, because chia seeds are actually pretty flavorless. But a meal incorporating these tiny nutritional powerhouses is akin to one including wild salmon and greens. It’s well worth picking up a bag and finding ways to incorporate them into your own bag of kitchen tricks.

Chia seeds were a highly valued staple in several ancient South American cultures. The seeds were harvested by simply shaking them off of annual plants that grew wildly and abundantly in sandy desert soil. Chia fresca, a drink made by mixing the seeds with water, a little citrus juice, and some honey or sugar, was used as an energy source for generations and is still popular in Mexico today. 

You might wonder how to eat chia seeds, but it's easy to incorporate them into your daily routine. Just slightly larger than a poppy seed, chia offers a multitude of uses in the kitchen. First, you can hydrate them and use them as the basis of a simple and easy "pudding," adding raisins, honey, or your topping of choice. Or simply stir a few spoonfuls of the gel into your usual breakfast cereal or grain, hot or cold. Add a few spoonfuls of seeds or gel to smoothies of most any sort, or simply mix a teaspoon or two into your water bottle when you're on the run. Combine the seeds with water to use as an egg replacer in vegan baked goods or use them as a binder and thickener in raw desserts. Or, simply sprinkle them on anything, keeping in mind that the seeds soak up large amounts of water. If you eat them "dry," make sure there is plenty of liquid as part of your meal. 

Chia easily blends right in as it adds bulk to any food. Although the seeds don't have much taste of their own, I’m convinced that they contain some magical property that amplifies the flavors of whatever they are mixed with, making everything more delicious. Try cutting up a piece of fruit into small pieces and stirring it into a bowl of chia gel: fruit flavor magnified!

Chia seeds are also a great source of insoluble fiber. After consumption, this fiber digests slowly, allowing for a prolonged feeling of fullness and satiety. The absorption of complex carbohydrates, nutrients, and fluids in the body is slowed and steadied, which stabilizes blood sugar levels and assists the body in staying well hydrated with a healthy electrolyte balance. Your energy and endurance will rise as your body gets the steady, constant stamina needed for a few hours of high-energy dancing or other vigorous activity. The insoluble fiber in chia also works as a cleansing broom for intestinal debris, which in the long term leads not only to more efficient absorption of nutrients, but to a more regular elimination pattern. Eat a bowl of chia pudding every day for a week, and you will most definitely notice a welcome change.

Chia seeds deserve their recent renaissance in modern, cutting-edge health communities. They are free of cholesterol, but full of essential omega-3 fatty acids, with a perfect balance of omega-3s to omega-6s, and they’re devoid of the heavy metals often found in fish, a common source for these fats. The seeds are rich in calcium and magnesium, as well as boron, a micronutrient necessary for the metabolism of the former two minerals. Even better, chia is a source of complete protein, including all of the essential amino acids, which not only keeps you feeling full but assists with muscle regeneration after a strenuous dance. Health and nutrition author James Scheer, who wrote The Magic of Chia, calls it “one of nature's few near-complete foods.”

The sky-high levels of antioxidants in chia offer an abundance of good news. Because antioxidants serve as a natural deterrent for pests, their presence in chia means that no pesticides are needed in its cultivation. These antioxidants also protect against the oxidation and degradation of the seeds themselves, and a supply of chia can be stored at room temperature for three to five years and stay fresh. Not to sound apocalyptic, but chia seeds would certainly make a suitable addition to the emergency disaster kit we should all have at the ready!

It is said that mighty Aztec warriors used a tablespoon of chia a day to fuel their long-distance runs, and modern-day Tarahumara Indians still use chia as their primary protein source. We can eat chia to supply our bodies with sustaining energy that is perfect for endurance athletes, busy people, and spirited dancers alike.  Chia has been one of the best-kept secrets in nutritional history, but now is the time to embrace this potent superfood! 

How to Make Chia Gel

Chia seeds are very hydrophilic, meaning they attract and hold water. When combined with liquid, they absorb about ten times their volume, hydrating to the consistency of a gel. It's convenient to have the gel on hand so you can add a big spoonful or two to a smoothie, use it as a foundation for a bowlful of yumminess, or incorporate into anything else you might imagine! 

—Stir 2 1/2 cups of water into a bowl containing 1/3 cup of chia seeds, then stir occasionally for the next ten minutes to break up lumps. You can keep this gel for up to two weeks in the refrigerator. These quantities will make four or more bowlfuls of gel. 

Cheery Chia Pudding 

This recipe for a simple and easy "pudding" is only a guideline. It makes an energizing, inexpensive, and delicious morning treat or midday snack. Feel free to improvise with what you have on hand. If you make your own nut milk, add in a bit of vanilla seed paste or extract. Spices like cinnamon, cardamom, or nutmeg are always welcome. Bee pollen is a colorful, enzyme-rich addition, and maca, mesquite, or any other superfood blend in beautifully. Try adding raw cacao powder and a little honey for a little extra oomph!

 

1/2 to 1 cup chia gel

1/2 to one cup almond milk, preferably fresh

a small handful of dried or fresh fruit to taste

chopped nuts, seeds, spices, and superfoods as desired

In a small bowl, top the chia with the nut milk, fruit, and anything else you want to include. Stir together and be nourished!

My Favorite Lunch, and How to Sprout a Mung Bean

Over a delectable dinner after a class I taught last night, a student posed this question: What do you eat for dinner on a regular basis? A seemingly simple question, but it was one that presented me with a quandary, as there is no normal routine here. I have a pretty active and busy life and my dinners don't really consist of a particular formula or a pick from the list of my favorite dishes. Nope, not even for special occasions do I plan much in advance and shop for special ingredients - except for my classes of course! Nah, I normally just look around to see what I have on hand and brainstorm from there. Usually I focus on whatever farmer's market produce is hanging out in my fridge, and of course, I also figure in what I have already eaten throughout the day, striving for the balance that I know is right for my body.

Lunch, however, is a different story. I have been making variations on my favorite lunch for years now, and I am excited to share it with you here. It might sound fancy or "gourmet," but really it is a simple and satisfying bowl of nutrition that is great for lunch, wherever you are. It's as good at your desk if you work from home or a few hours after assembly if you take it along in a container if you're on the go or at the office. Here it is:

It consists of several different components, and of course you can add in whatever you like. This is just a formula and idea to build off of. What we are going to talk about here is the sprout component - mung bean sprouts in particular. 

Sprouts rock. Basically, you are taking dormant seeds and bringing them to life to grow a supremely superb source of nutrition that is a fantastic addition to any diet. Home-grown sprouts are low in cost - maybe pennies per jar-full - and are grown from shelf-stable seeds that you can store indefinitely. Once sprouted, they are high in vitamins A, E, and C and the minerals calcium, iron, and potassium. Also rich in enzymes, amino acids, and protein that is easily digested and assimilated, they are high in fiber, low in calories and full of vitality and life-force. This is the best type of superfood - home-grown, alive, and nutrient-dense - so let's all eat more of these please!

If you live someplace that is freezing in the depths of winter, or you're on a sailboat bound for a far-off place, home-grown sprouts can play an integral part in maintaining health, but even here in the Bay Area, where the winter farmer's markets are teaming with vibrant produce, I still like to grow my own sprouts and incorporate them into my daily routine as much as possible. I have grown many types of sprouts over the years - lentils, garbanzos and more - but mung beans remain my favorite. They seem to grow up the crunchiest and tastiest and maintain hardy tails (the sprout part) for the longest. They are yummy eaten out of hand as a little snack or as a crunchy last-minute addition to stir frys and soups, and they can also be thrown into a "green smoothie" to up the protein content. 

Here's how to grow your sprouts. 

First, fill a quart-size Mason jar with about 4-6 Tablespoons of seeds (1/4 cup is 4 Tablespoons). Cover with water and let sit overnight. Then drain the water out. You can buy fancy lids, but I just use basic screen material from the hardware store, cut into a square (about 7 inches x 7 inches) and then use a rubber band to secure it to the mouth of the jar. You can also do this whole process in a bowl, using a colander to drain the sprouts. 

Now, the seeds are ready to begin their germination and grow their tails. While they do, you need to rinse and drain them a couple times a day. Morning and evening work well, and I find that keeping them by the kitchen sink allows me to remember this task and make it convenient. 

Once they begin to sprout their tails, you can begin tasting the sprouts every day. Their taste is distinctively starchy and their vitality is apparent. After a few days, your jar full of mung beans will be fully grown:

Now, the sprouts will keep in the fridge for maybe 4 or 5 days, with the screen still covering them, or a regular jar lid. As I mention above, my favorite way to eat them is for lunch as part of a big salad-y type mixture. Try it, you might like it!

How to Make Dara's Vibrant and Alive Lunch Bowl

Put a handful or two of fresh salad greens at the bottom. Top with a handful of sprouts and some diced avocado. I add a few big spoonfuls of homemade kraut (fermented veggies) on top of that, and then drizzle with a generous amount of extra virgin olive oil. You can also drizzle on some raw apple cider vinegar, or maybe just some juice from the kraut. Another great addition to this to make it heartier and more filling is a scoop of quinoa - or even a sprouted Ezekiel tortilla torn up and placed at the bottom of the bowl. 

 Enjoy!

The latest musings, juicings & more, plus February class schedule

The Sage Table January 2011 Newsletter   Fellow Health Seekers and Culinary Enthusiasts, It doesn't seem all that long ago that the turn of the century was imminent, and now this: 2011, already. For me, this year started with a big beautiful bang. Actually, I was already in bed when I heard midnight fireworks, but I had spent the eveningcooking, singing, and dancing like a wild woman, and I was resting in a place ofpure joy and a comforting peace. I had spent the new year's evening surrounded byluminous new friends in Kauai, feeling incredibly alive and energetic after almost 3 weeks of mostly live foods and reveling in the good fortune of the daily blessingsbeing showered upon me from every direction. That night, the group of us prepared a feast to remember. My contribution: a lightly cooked Thai-style coconut curry. I made homemade coconut cream from coconuts opened hours before. I pounded a curry paste from scratch in a big stone mortar and pestle with turmeric, ginger, cilantro and galangal from farmer friends, and lemongrass and chilis from the garden outside. I had plucked some juicy kaffir lime leaves from a tree on my way into the house. The curry was complex and delicious and the way I wish all of our food was: local, in season, unadulterated by chemicals of any sort, and from land I know and people I trust. It was beyond delicious, and the evening was a memorable and positive way to start this year. Now, I am grounded back here on planet Oakland, but all that I gained from my tropical adventure is priceless. I am left inspired in ways I could not have imagined, both by my own radiant health and by all I learned from my experiences that will undoubtedly help others down that path as well. This year I will be sharing my gifts in unprecedented ways. I have been studying nutrition for years, and I am evermore committed to continuing my education, as well as to incorporating pieces of my vast storehouse of knowledge into my teachings. I also am committed to writing more, on my blog and perhaps elsewhere - maybe I will even write that cookbook finally!!! Videos, lunches for local friends, who knows what will be, but there are so many opportunities for worthwhile projects in 2011. Stay tuned... My seven January classes SOLD OUT - in quite a hurry I might add - so below please find February's schedule, with several repeats in case you missed out. The breakfastclass I taught right upon my return was especially fantastic, rich with information and ideas. Soup class will surely invigorate your daily adventures behind the stove, with recipes and tons of ideas and techniques. Fermentation is in the mix again as well, and so is the always-most-popular Indian. Thai too! And a new class: Adventures in Vita-Mixing! If you have been pondering purchasing one or you have a mega-blender you don't use enough, join this class - you will learn many things to do with this powerful machine! Look below, then head over to thesagetable.com and sign up asap for your spot. As always, I will be delighted to host you in my kitchen and around my table for a sweet and full evening together. I have so much appreciation for each person who shows up with an open mind, enthusiasm, and good questions for me! Thank you for supporting my little business. Here's to the new year. May it be rich, nourishing, and tasty in every way!      February Cooking Classes   Thursday February 3rd: Wintry Soups and Stews  Monday February 7th: Thai!  Tuesday February 8th: The Magic of Fermentation Tuesday February 15th: An Indian Feast Saturday February 19th: Healthy & Delicious Breakfasts** Thursday February 24th: Adventures in Vita-Mixing  *Classes are from 6:30-9:30pm. **Class is from 10am-1pm. Classes are small and do fill up. Head over to the website to see all of the delicious details on what we'll be making in each class, and for directions on signing up to reserve your spot. Getting Juiced Of the best parts of my Kauai trip was the green juice I made almost daily. I would use greens from the farmer's market and gather the rest from the land: noni fruit, lemons, limes, oranges, a slew of edible weeds and leaves. It was so vitalizing and I don't ever want to stop treating myself to such life-giving elixirs! So now I'm juicing up bunches of kale and juicy Meyer lemons from the 'hood. No nonis in these parts though... :( This kind of juicing is a great addition to any diet, for so many reasons. Most importantly, it renders the countless nutrients in the fruits and veggies easier for your body to absorb. It's very alkalizingwhich is always a good thing. And it's possible to get the benefits of a large amount of an array of veggies all in one glass - you can juice way more than you could actually eat - unless, unlike me, you have all day to chew! My current favorite juice recipe for GREEN JUICE includes: a small knob of ginger - a whole lemon peeled (or not if using Meyer) - about 1/2 bunch of parsley and/or cilantro, plus mint if I have it - one apple - maybe a half bunch or more of some sort of kale - plus whatever else I have around Here's the juicer I am most in love with right now. It's an amazing deal for less than $100 and is easy-to-feed and easy-to-clean-up, two important factors, trust me. Check it out. I like to drink my juice first thing in the morning with the addition of a little water, but the only way to know what works for you is to experiment and see what you prefer. There is no doubt about the fact that green juice especially is one of the pathways to radiant, optimal health, so get thee to a juicer as soon as you can and drink up!  Wishes to all for a sweet journey in this new year! May you move ever-closer to radiant health, inner peace, and satisfaction in your life.   With appreciation, Dara   www.thesagetable.com   Class Details  Classes are all held in my beautiful and comfortable kitchen in Oakland and have about 5 or 6 students each. Each class is meant to teach youas much as possiblein the time we are together - about home cooking, local food sources, and general tips to makedelicious and healthy food easily. After we cook, we get to sit down together todine and connect, talk about food issues, and have a little party of community and great food around the table. They are really FUN! Class Testimonials     "Your class last night was absolutely fantastic. Your energy, your joie de vivre and your knowledge are extraordinary." ~J.E. "It's a magical evening, and I highly recommend it.  Dara has SUCH passion for all that she is doing - how could a person not be entranced? Sign up!  You won't be disappointed!!!" ~C.G.     To stay apprised, why not join The Sage Table Facebook page? Go ahead, click hereto go "like" me. Once you do, you'll see new blog postings, announcements, cool news & more. Promise! ;)

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Kombucha no more!

In Whole Foods yesterday, while looking for a bottle to tide me over as my next home-brewed batch nears readiness, I discovered that they are not stocking Kombucha right now. Hopefully it's just temporary, but what a bummer to those who regularly shell out four bucks on one measly bottle and don't know how to make it for themselves when emergency strikes!

It is only when the brew measures below 0.5% alcohol that it is allowed to be sold as a non-alcoholic beverage. But when you have a fermenting product full of residual sugars, it can be really hard to make it stop fermenting, even when its cold temperature is maintained. More alcohol is produced, changing the product along the way from its journey from warehouse to store shelf. Besides, that's what makes all the fizz anyways: post-bottling fermentation.

But I guess some people complained that the innocent-looking drink they bought actually contained enough alcohol to get them drunk if consumed on an empty stomach on their morning ride to work. Bummer. So now the companies will need to find a way to standardize their brews so they meet the guidelines of The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau. Who wants their drink full of live probiotics standardized by those guys? Yuck.

So I say, if there's ever been an extra incentive to learn to make your own fizzy brew, now is the time indeed! If you live nearby, in the Bay Area, you can join me on July 20th in my kitchen in North Oakland. For the rest of you, I'm not going to go into a whole schpiel here on how to make it here when there's already hundreds of posts. (Though I do have some secrets for making it extra good!) Good luck. I am always here as a resource to answer your brewing questions, whether you know me or not. I'm nice like that, and also a fermenting geek ;)

Soup Soup Soup

Hello out there. It's been a while since I've posted here, but rather than harp too much on that fact, let's just move on while I get back to posting more regularly now that I am back in town and back in business. Last week I began teaching cooking classes again, here in my absolutely gorgeous kitchen in the home I am renting here in Berkeley, and the classes have been fantastic! Last week was a class on winter soups and then one on Indian food, a perennial favorite around here. It seems that whenever I put an Indian class on the schedule, it fills up faster than any others. Well, this week is another soups class, though this time I'll be co-teaching with my dear friend Kait who is an herbalist. We are going to be talking about healing soups in particular, so it's all about soups around here right now, which feels just right given the gloom and chill outside. I've been thinking a lot about how soups in particular are so nourishing and appropriate for just about anyone on the healing path, which I hope is all of us always. The bone broths are especially nourishing. With that in mind, I have a pot of chicken stock on the stove right now and bought beef bones this morning from Ted from Highland Hills Ranch at the Berkeley farmer's market to make another rich base to use in our soups in the class on Wednesday, as well as to sustain myself this week, when a vast majority of folks I know are suffering from colds and the like. The stock is simmering atop the lovely old white O'Keefe and Merritt six-burner stove that I am pretty much in love with. It's had a problem since I moved in though, with one of the double ovens very off the mark with its thermostat. Finally, yesterday, a guy showed up to repair it. He was a big old black guy who spent two and half hours bent over the stove in the kitchen while I worked before we began talking. He asked me my name, and then he looked straight at me and slowly proclaimed, Dara, you look HEALTHY! That felt great to hear, because I do consider maintaining radiant health a big part of what I am doing here. We went on to talk about the benefits of a daily dose of apple cider vinegar, how I make my own, the plight of humanity today in the face of all the really bad non-nutritive food out there now, and the strength we each possess but need to recognize before we realize the power we have to take control of our own health and well-being. It was a deep and restorative conversation and I was elated that this man and I were sitting there on my front porch really seeing each other and talking. I felt somehow more human, more real in the face of him. It turns out he is a renowned musician who had a top hit back back in 1966 and a long career since then. He is also a passionate political activist and the passion with which he spoke infused itself into me as I stood before him. He left me with a CD that he fetched out of his old pickup, a retrospective of his 40 years of musical expression which I am listening to as I write. I'll leave you with something as well: a recipe for a simple and delicious soup that will surely restore some warmth and passion into you too if you find yourself sitting down to dinner with a bowl of it before you. Caldo Verde (Portuguese Kale and Sausage Soup) This is a classic and simple Portuguese soup made with chorizo, potatoes, and thin strips of grassy green kale. It's supereasy to prepare, surprisingly full-flavored for so few ingredients, and light, wintery, and rich at the same time too. You can also add some cooked garbanzos if you want, for a more hearty bowl. 1 1/2 quarts water 1 pound russet potatoes, peeled 6 oz chorizo sausage, cut in half lengthwise, casings discarded, and cut into 1/2-inch chunks 4 garlic cloves, minced or put through a press i bunch lacinato or other dark green kale 1 -2 teaspoons smoked paprika (amazing stuff!), or regular paprika 1 cup cooked garbanzos, optional sea salt and pepper olive oil for drizzling Bring the water to a boil, add the potatoes and garlic. Simmer for about 30 minutes. Remove any very thick stems from the kale, then stack the leaves together, roll them up lengthwise, and cut the rolls into very fine shreds. Reserve. Use a potato masher to mash the potatoes right in the pot so they are in little chunks. Add the sliced kale into the pot, plus the sausage and the paprika and the garbanzos if you like. Turn the heat up, and cook for five minutes or a little longer until the kale is tender. Taste for seasoning, adding salt, fresh-ground pepper, and a little more paprika if you like. Serve the soup drizzled with good olive oil. makes about 4 servings

banana-coconut bread for my sweetheart

My sweetheart is vegan. Pretty much, at least. He does eat fish, and he willingly eats eggs too, though very occasionally. The no-dairy rule is the one he adheres to most strictly and the one that often gets overlooked when he can't resist sampling my baking. I don't blame him, but I love my butter. I would like to be able to support his longstanding decision, so I'm always on the lookout for delicious vegan recipes that I feel as good about feeding him as I do about eating myself. It's always nice to have options in my baking arsenal, and this is one recipe that you'd be surprised to learn is vegan if no one told you - it's that delicious.

As far as what fat to use in vegan baking, that is a bit of a quandary. Coconut oil is a great option to replace the butter, definitely way better than canola oil, which is NOT GOOD FOR YOU. At all. Despite the marketing various industries have done to convince us that it is. It is a highly-refined food, the likes of which I avoid as often as possible. Pure, virgin canola oil is a deep green and actually fragrant, almost grassy. To eradicate its odor and remove the vibrant color, it is processed, dyed and deodorized, and probably irradiated, reprocessed, and more. All of that renders it odorless and with an appealing high smoke point, so it is a workable substitute for butter to make moist vegan cakes and does make a capable high-heat frying oil. But I've not been victim to the great con, and I try to allow junk like that into my mouth as infrequently as possible, so I really try to avoid cooking with it. I try to stick with what I know to be healthful fats for my cooking: butter, virgin organic coconut oil, ghee and olive oil.

Unlike butter, coconut oil has a strong and distinctive flavor that might not complement the flavor of what you're baking, but I'd been trying to work it into my repertoire because I think it's just so yummy, and I've heard it's pretty good for you. When I read about a banana-coconut bread recipe from a book I own and love, my radar went off. It was eggless, and muffin and cake recipes without any eggs are few and far between, so I perk up whenever I see one. Surprisingly, you don't always need eggs to bake a cake - or anything to replace them either.

And it was meant to taste of coconut. Perfect! And indeed, the use of healthful unrefined coconut oil in this bread is genius. It is also genius to use really ripe bananas, as then you don't need any sugar to make this bread sweet and tasty. The original recipe called for an entire cup of sugar, but honestly, it is sweet enough for me without it that I can't really imagine it with it. Perhaps my sweet tooth isn't as sweet as yours though, so especially if your bananas aren't ripe enough that they are super sweet, I suppose you could add up to 1/2 cup sugar to the batter. Do what feels good to you, but I hope you try doing what I did, which is keeping the bananas holed up in a brown paper bag for a week while they await their fate and turn almost black, getting sickly sweet and soft in the process.

I try to avoid the "sugar blues" - you didn't know that aside from all of its other ill-effects, processed, concentrated sugar affects your mood? - so this recipe makes what to me is the perfect mid-morning or afternoon snack. It's whole-grain to boot (you choose the flours you use) and is full of immune-boosting virgin coconut oil. Let me know what you think if you try it!


Vegan Banana Coconut Bread

As far as flour is concerned, this recipe is pretty forgiving. You can use all purpose white flour if that's all you have, but I prefer whole wheat if possible. Spelt would also work fine, as would sprouted spelt flour if that's up your alley. The most recent batch I made was half white whole wheat flour and half whole wheat pastry flour, and it was tender as can be and pretty light. The texture will vary with the different flours, but it will always be yummy. The oats and flax contribute a nubbly texture that is really appealing.

Coconut oil is solid at temperatures below 76 degrees, so you need to melt it for this recipe. I usually stick the glass jar of oil in the oven as it is preheating, just until it's melted, and then remove it carefully. Don't worry if you have a few drips while measuring it out, just rub the oil into your hands - it's a fabulous moisturizer!

1/2 cup rolled oats
2 or 3 Tbsp ground flax, optional
1 2/3 cups flour
¾ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon sea salt
4 medium-sized or 3 large, overripe bananas
1/2 cup virgin coconut oil, liquefied
1/2 tsp. apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 ½ Tbsp. rum
up to 1/2 cup sugar, unrefined if possible (like Sucanat, Rapadura, or Alter-Eco)
½ cup dried shredded unsweetened coconut
1 Tbsp. demerara sugar, optional

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Brush melted coconut oil onto the inside of your loaf pan to coat it lightly.

Put the oat flakes into a medium bowl, and use your fingers to break them up into small pieces, a gritty flour of sorts. Alternately, pule them a few times in a food processor. This adds great texture to the bread. Then add the flax if using, the flour, baking soda, nutmeg, and salt as well.

Blend the bananas till smooth in a food processor if you have one. If not, mash well with a potato masher till smooth in a large bowl. Once smooth, run the machine to blend in the coconut oil, the vinegar, vanilla, and rum, or stir thoroughly. Add the sugar at this stage if you are using it. Then add in the flour mixture and blend until everything is incorporated. Then add in the coconut and pulse a few times or stir well.

Scrape the mixture into the pan. As much as I am against sugar, I do love sprinkling on demerara sugar here to create a sparkly crust over the top of the loaf, so sprinkle it evenly over the batter. Bake for about 45 minutes or longer, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out free of crumbs.

offering personal chef/catering services in the east bay

posted today on craigslist:

Cooking by Dara at THE SAGE TABLE

I'll start with the highest-quality SEASONAL, UNREFINED, FRESH, VIBRANT, and ORGANIC ingredients from the Berkeley Farmer's Markets and Whole Foods or the Berkeley Bowl. You choose from a wide array of cooking styles and culinary traditions, including Nourishing Traditions-style, raw, vegan, vegetarian, meat, and everything in between. I have over 15 years of experience cooking professionally, so my repertoire is vast and varied, and my palate is capable of making food you will delight over. Delicious and beautiful are my specialties, no matter what I'm making.

I recently had a few shifts and changes and now have a couple of openings in my schedule, so am looking for one or two new clients who would like regular weekly cooking services. I can cook for you in your home or in my own well-stocked and fully-equipped kitchen in North Oakland.

In addition, I do catering for varied events under 60 people and nutritional consulting if you are looking to change your eating habits and learn how real, unprocessed food can make you feel better.

Please contact me if you want to discuss any of this!

Thanks and blessings, Dara 510/914-1142

Ethical Seafood Reading (or Why to Learn to Love Sardines)

I've been reading a pretty fascinating book lately. It's called Bottomfeeder and is written by Taras Grescoe, an author I have come to esteem both for his thorough coverage of his subject as well as his wildly entertaining stories. Bottomfeeder reminds me of Fast Food Nation, which I loved years ago, but this time the book is a sweeping survey of our oceans, their bounty, and how we have been systematically destroying them. It's entirely gripping, containing within the fascinating stories an arsenal of startling and convincing facts that will leave you convinced that the management of our seas is a situation in dire need of urgent help - unless you don't mind eating jellyfish for dinner, which is all we'll be left with before long if things proceed as they've been.

Grescoe focuses each chapter around a different subject. He writes the stories of how the wormy and hideous monkfish came to be hip and trendy in fancy New York restaurant, the loss of the Chesapeake Bay's original keystone species, the Amercian oyster, and the subsequent toxic algae blooms that have stifled its once-teeming waters, and the loss of the North Atlantic cod fishery and how the enormous market for fish and chips contributed to it, supplied by corporations that see the ocean as a source of income and not a way of life for millions of fishermen. He goes to Marseille to search for the real recipe for Bouillabaise and finds it close to impossible to replicate with today's measly catch from the Mediterranean.

Then he's off to Portugal, where he feasts on grilled sardines, my new personal favorite for their affordability and their bottomfeeder status. (Grescoe says we ought to be eating these healthful bottomfeeders ourselves, instead of grinding them up for feed in fish farms, and I agree.) But by far the most fascinating chapter I've read thus far has been the one on aquaculture and shrimp farms. I hope you get a chance to read this book yourself, but if you don't, at least heed this advice: Never, ever do you want to eat farmed shrimp. His myriad stories will surely convince you, but I'll just tell you that farmed shrimp are pretty much poison in every way - for you the consumer, for the villages they exist in, and the waters they invade with their toxic effluence.

Ignorant indifference on the part of the seafood consumer is one of the biggest reasons the oceans have become so compromised, and it really takes more than toting around the Monterey Bay's Watch Card to make yourself an informed consumer. If you eat seafood at all, you owe it to yourself to read this book. Let's understand a little better the crises that are going on out in the oceans, and learn what we are buying, where it came from, and how it was caught. Demanding this information from fish sellers is the first step on the road to our oceans' recovery, so please start asking. And check out Bottomfeeder, it truly is a great read!

(Grescoe also wrote a stellar article on salmon in the New York Times in June.)

Quality of life, measured in melons

It's high summer in Northern California, and the abundance of produce is mind-boggling. A couple of weeks ago, it felt like I was drowning in apricots; I'd eaten so many already, and given bags of them away, but everywhere I turned, it seemed someone offered me more. An entire box of Frog Hollow jewels showed up on my front porch, and I took up a bag through my kitchen window one day, locally grown in the sunshine across the street. I shamefully ignored emails offering me ten pounds more. Eventually, the apricots begat so many fruit flies, I pureed the rest for a disappointingly unimaginative sorbet (It tastes just like baby food, everyone I fed it to declared, and it did. Oh well.) and froze the rest. I have bags of home-dried apricots now, and I'm going to have to make a special date to eat them, mid-winter, when finally, the barrage of fresh fruit is over.

At the farmer's markets lately, I have to hold back from buying too much fruit, fearing a barrage of more fruit flies. There are at least a dozen different types of melons for sale, and the fragrant ones I can't resist preclude the purchase of strawberries, peaches, or the delicate raspberries from Lucero Farms that I've been eyeing for what feels like months now, their bursts of dense winey flavor passed over once again. To avoid taking any home with me, I ask Carl, my favorite peach man, for two in a row, "Ready to eat now, please," take a few drippy bites, free the pit, then shove the rest in my mouth, savoring the sweet, unable to talk. Who needs expensive restaurant meals when you can have a simple piece of exquisite fruit? And the atmosphere couldn't be better, save for lying on my back in the grass under the fruit tree itself. I sit there in a coveted patch of shade under the trees, in the middle of Shattuck Avenue, surrounded by friends. It's the closest thing I have to a modern-day town square, the Berkeley farmer's market, and all who shop there eat like kings. We nod and smile knowingly at the shoppers around us, each one of us in on the secret. Talk about quality of life; to me, it's these sorts of simple pleasures that add up to make it high.

After the peaches, I savor a nectarine, and I wish my mother was next to me eating one of her own. She used to buy nectarines in the dead of winter, in New Jersey, in the Eighties, and though her kitchen would look naked without a bowl of nectarines on the shiny white table, I still don't think she's had a nectarine this good. At last Saturday night's party, I ate the most luscious white one standing over a kitchen sink. It wasn't organic, I admit, which I declared a shame, but it was entirely shocking, that piece of fruit, its honeyed perfume waking up every cell in my body when I was so sleepy at three in the morning. Some people remember restaurant meals, but I remember perfect fruit.

So I didn't bring home any peaches. Or anything other than a simple red watermelon, which I'll swiftly turn into my new favorite addiction. Next week, I'll bring home some little red berries, but for now, it's all about melon.

Watermelon Agua Fresca, Sorbet, or Slush

This is already a cinch to make, since it's little more than fruit, but certainly, if you see one, buy a watermelon that's free of seeds; it'll make the task a whole lot easier. I prefer red melon for this--seriously, is there a prettier color?-- but yellow would work too, or any other melon, come to think of it.

Making this into a slushy frozen treat is my new favorite thing. It's especially good to help cool you down on a sweltering afternoon, but really it's good any time of summer, whether chilled for a refreshing drink, or frozen into slush or sorbet. The acidity of the lime and the flowery aroma of the orange blossom water combine with the melon to make something really special. Enjoy!

red watermelon
fresh limes, juiced (use 1 or more 1 per quart of juice)
orange blossom water (about 1 or 2 teaspoons per quart of juice)
agave syrup or sugar to taste

First, wash the melon. Then, cut a thin slice from both ends. Stand the melon up on one of its flattened ends on a cutting board (I use this one, and love its lipped edges, which contain the juices of tomatoes, melon, and citrus, making for easy clean up). Using a sharp, thin-bladed knife, slice off the skin in strips from top to bottom. Rotate the melon (or the cutting board) until all skin has been removed. Cut the flesh into big chunks, and remove the seeds if there are any. The white seeds are fine to leave in there, but the black ones need to go.

Put the chunks of melon flesh in a blender and process for a while until it is uniformly blended and pretty much completely liquified. If you want, you can strain out any small pieces that your blender just won't eat up. Pour the liquid into a big glass jar or pitcher. Add a bit of fresh lime juice and orange blossom water, and stir well. taste it and if it's not sweet enough to you, add a few squirts of agave syrup, or add a bit of sugar and stir until it's dissolved. Taste the mixture and add more of these things to taste if you'd like.

You can serve the juice as is, like a traditional agua fresca. Make sure to chill it well, which will take at least an hour if not longer, or serve it over ice. Or you can chill it and churn it in an ice cream maker until the consistency pleases you. My favorite thing to do is churn it just until it's slushy and enjoy it that way--pure summertime heaven! If you do freeze it in an ice cream maker, but don't eat it all up right away and stick it in your freezer, it will likely get extremely hard in there. You can defrost it by leaving it in the fridge for 30 or 40 minutes. It will then be more scoopable, if not a little slushy, which is not a bad thing at all.

Yield: Depends on how big your melon is. One pound of melon usually equals in the vicinity of 2 cups of flesh, which in turn yields slightly less liquid once blended.