Category: Breakfast

by Veggie Sutra

Home-made kefir – A fermented milk delicacy plus a Kefir-Blueberry Smoothie

As I mentioned last week, my kefir grains are here, and are thriving and making delicious kefir.  In fact my little pets have doubled in size.  The description given in various books and websites is appropriate – they look like little white cauliflower florets.  (Picture below.  They are not cute pets.  Please don’t judge.)

Kefir grains and a jar of home-made kefir

In his book, The Art of Fermentation,  Sandor Ellix Katz says “Kefir grains require regular care and feeding”.  It looks like I am committing myself to a lifetime of responsibility.  Once I have enough grains to share, I plan to give it away to some friends who can keep it going even if I drop the ball.

My primary sources for information on kefir are The Art of Fermentation by Sandor Ellix Katz, and a website by Dominic Antiteatro of Australia who is known as the Kefir King.  (In fact even Katz mentions Dom’s website in his book.)  Every other internet write up (including the one you are reading now) seem to have culled their information from these 2 sources but it is worth reading other experiences.

How to Make Kefir from The Art of Fermentation by Sandor Ellix Katz

Ingredients:

  • 1 litre/quart of organic whole milk (see note below on what milk to use)
  • 1 Tbsp (heaping) of kefir grains
  • About 24 hours of patience

Method:

  • Bring the milk to room temperature either by heating and cooling or leaving it out for a bit
  • Transfer to a clean glass jar
  • Add the kefir grains
  • Loosely cover with a cheese cloth and let sit on the counter away from direct sunlight
  • Shake or stir periodically (to spread the microbial activity).
  • Kefir is ready, when you can see that it has thickened a bit (It takes around 24 hours in California spring climate, longer if I want it sour)
  • Stir the kefir one last time.  Remove the kefir grains.  I just use clean hands or a spoon, as I found straining it a bit tedious. (See notes below on keeping the grains going.)
  • Enjoy the kefir
Notes:
  • What milk to use:
    • Regarding the type of milk to use, Sandor Katz says he always uses whole milk, raw when available, pasteurized if not.  I use organic pasteurized whole milk.  Even if you use raw milk, some people believe in boiling it and cooling it down to room temperature to kill the native bacteria (though they may be beneficial) so as to not contaminate the kefir.   Please let me know in comments below on what milk you have used for kefir.
  • Keeping the grains going:
    • Transfer the harvested grains to a clean jar, pour fresh milk over it and make the next batch.
    • If you have too much kefir, and do not wish to start another batch, put the grains in the refrigerator in some milk for up to 2 or 3 days.   Feed them periodically with fresh milk or else they will die.
    • The grains will multiply.  You can simply mix in the grains with the kefir and drink it. Or share it with friends.
  • There is a myth going around not to use metal containers or strainers when making kefir, but both Sandor Katz’s book and Dom’s website refute this.  Stainless steel should be perfectly fine.
  • Store-bought kefir will likely not have the same benefits as home-made for several reasons.
Kefir Blueberry Smoothie
Kefir is delicious consumed raw, especially for those who grew up eating yogurt.  The taste is not that far from yogurt.  In the chapter titled “Fermenting Milk” in The Art of Fermentation, Katz talks about other indigenous methods that different cultures have used for centuries to stabilize milk.  It is a fascinating read.
Since V and I typically start our day with a smoothie (as part of our regular breakfast variations), I decided to use the kefir to make smoothies.  We tried a Moroccan-style smoothie last time, this time it is a simple blueberry-banana smoothie.
A Simple Blueberry Banana Smoothie with Homemade Kefir

[Printable Recipe]

Makes 2 servings
Ingredients:

  • 2 cups home-made kefir (Get recipe here)
  • 1/2 cup blueberries (I used frozen berries this time of year allowing it to thaw in the fridge overnight)
  • 1 ripe banana

Method:

  • Blend all ingredients together
  • Pour and enjoy
  • If the smoothie is too thick for you, add half a cup of non-dairy milk and blend
Kefir Blueberry Smoothie
Please share your experiences with kefir and the ever-controversial topic of dairy!
by Veggie Sutra

Quick make-ahead healthy probiotic breakfast – Kefir Oats with Blueberries and Chia Seeds

Spring is here in Northern California in full force!  It is my most favorite season of the year, but this year, I have been holding out on winter hoping for more rain.  But I can’t deny it any longer.  The indomitable wild flowers are popping up everywhere.  The hillsides are green and yellow and considering the lack of rain, they will be brown in just a couple of weeks, so let’s enjoy spring for a bit.   (V is traveling on the east coast this week, and he is wondering what I am going on about spring considering the freezing temperatures there.  Now try denying climate change!)

As I mentioned in the previous post, I am on a major fermented and cultured foods kick these days and have been exploring recipes that use “kefir“.  Kefir is delicious and can be drunk straight up on a hot, summer day.  And hopefully by this summer, I will master kefir-making.  For now, I am using store-bought plain organic kefir with live cultures.

Oats with Kefir, Blueberries and Chia Seeds

Browsing for recipes online, I was inspired by a simple, make-ahead breakfast recipe for oats by Sara Bradford of nourishrealfood.com.  I made a variation of that with blueberries using a wide mouth mason jar.  The next morning I screwed the lid on and took it to work for my breakfast.  Super convenient!

Oats with Kefir, Blueberries and Chia Seeds

Recipe for Make-Ahead Kefir Oats with Blueberries
Inspired by Kefir Peach Overnight Oats by Sara Bradford of nourishrealfood.com
[Printable Recipe]

Ingredients:
For one serving

  • 1/2 cup plain old-fashioned Quaker oats (or any other rolled oats, but not instant)
  • 1/2 cup kefir (plain, unsweetened, organic with live cultures)
  • 1/2 cup water / unsweetened almond milk
  • 1/4 cup frozen blueberries
  • 1 Tbsp date sugar (or honey)
  • 1 Tbsp chia seeds (or flax or hemp seeds)
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder (optional)

Method:

  • In a wide-mouth mason jar or a plain old bowl, layer the oats, kefir, water, blueberries, chia seeds, date sugar, and cinnamon powder (if using) and leave it on the counter overnight
  • The oats will soak and the blueberries will thaw overnight
  • Mix everything up in the morning and enjoy!
Oats with Kefir, Blueberries and Chia Seeds

What other variations would you do to this recipe?  Do let me know in the comments below.

by Veggie Sutra

A Healthy, Probiotic Kefir Smoothie with Avocado, Orange and Dates

The Indian, Greek and Middle-eastern cultures have yogurt.  The Germans have sauerkraut.  The Japanese have miso and natto.  The Koreans have kimchi.  The Chinese have pickled vegetables.  The Balkan countries have kefir.  The English have errr. ummm.. beer(?).  What do these have in common?    They are all fermented foods that our ancestors considered beneficial to health.

I have been on a fermentation kick recently.  Fermentation preserves foods as much as it preserves our digestive systems due to the healthy bacteria called “probiotics“.

Kefir Smoothie

Growing up, making yogurt every night was a constant and a fresh batch for the next day was always ensured.   If we went away on a holiday, the first thing we did when we got back was to carry a cup to the neighbor to borrow some yogurt to start a new batch.

Now we make yogurt every two or three days with organic whole milk.  Even though V and I do not consume milk or other dairy products, I consider yogurt and ghee to be exceptions.  (V has his reservations about this theory of mine.)

Speaking of yogurt, kefir is yet another probiotic beverage made from cultured milk.  In her book Cultured Foods for Your Kitchen, Leda Schientaub says “The Turkish translation of kefir, “to feel good”, is a fitting description”.  As with yogurt, she says, “there is little or no lactose remaining in dairy kefir”.   This book has a treasure trove of recipes for making cultured foods and I highly recommend it for anyone who is starting to explore fermentation, in conjunction with Sandor Katz’s The Art of Fermentation.

  

Since I wanted to add some variety and probiotic power to our regular breakfast smoothies, I decided to give kefir a try.  I do intend to make kefir at home as soon as the kefir grains I ordered get delivered.   For now I used store-bought kefir – unsweetened, plain, organic with live cultures.

Recipe for a healthy, probiotic breakfast smoothie
Adapted from the Moroccan Style Avocado, Date and Orange Shake recipe in Lena Scheintaub’s Cultured Foods for Your Kitchen

[Printable Recipe]

Makes 2 glasses

Ingredients:
1 cup kefir (if store-bought, look for unsweetened plain kefir with live cultures)
1 cup water or unsweetened almond milk
Half an orange, peeled and cut in to sections
4-5 dates, pitted
1 avocado, peeled, seeded and sliced
1 Tbsp raw cacao powder (I used Healthworks Raw Certified Organic Cacao Powder that I ordered on Amazon.com)

Method:
Throw all the ingredients in to the blender and blend till smooth.  If the consistency is too thick for you, add half a cup of water or almond milk and blend.

Kefir Smoothie

With a boiled egg on the side for protein, this is a great all-rounder breakfast smoothie with healthy fats from the avocado, vitamin C from the orange, fiber and a hint of sweetness from the dates, antioxidants from the cacao powder and of course, probiotic power from the kefir.

by Veggie Sutra

A super simple kale smoothie for breakfast

V has been bugging me to post my kale smoothie recipe.  I suspect, however, that he just has a craving for it.   I finally gave in and made this “paleo” smoothie with a fresh bunch of kale from the farmer’s market this week.

Kale Smoothie

I just finished reading (or to be honest, skimming) “Eat the Yolks” by Liz Wolfe.  It is a book about discovering paleo.  Yes, a book about discovering paleo.  I can hear you going “What?!!   Aren’t you supposed to be a life-long vegetarian and isn’t paleo all about eating meat?”

True and true.  I picked up “Eat the Yolks” from the library because the title intrigued me.  Egg-white omelettes and such is all the rage these days and it drives me crazy.   Why would you pour something out of a carton when breaking an egg is probably easier?  And why would you discard the yolk, the most nutritious part of the egg?   And I did enjoy the book as Liz Wolfe has a wonderful sense of humor and she makes some valid points.

Speaking of paleo and meat, a little about the raison d’etre of Veggie Sutra.  I have no problem with people eating meat per se.  I was raised a vegetarian in India but I had friends who ate chicken, and mutton.  At their homes, cooking non-vegetarian food was a special deal reserved for Sundays and holidays and festive occasions.

Today, the (evil) meat and poultry industry in combination with fast food corporations have made meat ubiquitous in diets the world over.   This over-abundance comes at the price of making animals suffer terrible things and disconnecting people from it.  Liz Wolfe, in her book, counters this by asking people to buy their meat directly from ethical farms.   This is of course not possible for most people.  So here’s my sincere hope that this blog will inspire you to go mostly vegetarian.

Back to the smoothie; as I mentioned in an earlier post, our morning breakfast follows a certain pattern – any combination of smoothie, boiled eggs with a drop of tamari, crackers with hummus and/or sliced avocado, fresh fruit.   In the summer, our smoothies have berries and bananas in them, however as soon as we start seeing kale in the market, V gets the green itch.   So here goes the recipe for the super-simple kale smoothie I made today.

Recipe for a Super Simple Kale Smoothie
[Printable Recipe]

Makes 2 glasses
Ingredients:

  • 4 stems of kale, preferably Lacinato (also known as dinosaur kale)
  • 1 large banana
  • 2 cups of almond milk
  • 2 Tbsp of chia seeds (optional)
Method:
  • Wash the kale and remove the ribs (stem) by cutting around it.  Discard the stem and chop up the kale into small pieces
  • Peel the banana and slice
  • Throw all the ingredients in to a blender and blend till smooth

Notes:

  1. Chia seeds are optional, but I threw it in because we had it.  You can also use flax seeds, again optionally, if you have it.  If you use chia or flax seeds, then drink the smoothie immediately because the seeds will make the smoothie thicken if you let it sit.
  2. Lacinato (dinosaur) kale is not as bitter as other kale varieties and as long as you like the raw green taste of spinach, you will like this smoothie
  3. Add more almond milk if the smoothie is too thick for you
    Kale Smoothie

    Enjoy this great, green smoothie with a boiled egg (including the yolk!), and crackers with hummus to complete your nutritious breakfast.
    by Veggie Sutra

    Cilantro Hummus – Kicking off with a simple breakfast recipe

    Welcome to Veggie Sutra!    A healthy, green breakfast recipe seemed like an ideal post to kick off this blog.   

    Cilantro Hummus


    Our daily breakfast follows a certain pattern which we keep rotating when we grow tired of eating the same thing.   These are some of the choices on the table (pun intended) these days:

    Smoothie with frozen berries and banana with Soy or Almond milk
    Boiled egg cut in half with just a drop of tamari (soy) sauce in each half
    Pre-cooked steel-cut oatmeal with Soy or Almond milk topped with fruit
    Organic Brown Rice Cakes; Ak-Mak Sesame Crackers or Finn Crispswith Hummus or Avocado slices or both

    Fresh Cilantro

    The hummus is usually home-made unless I am having a particularly crazy week.   And I make it interesting by adding basil or cilantro to it.  Hummus will store well for up to a week in an airtight container in the refrigerator, so it is ideal for preparing ahead.  It is also high in protein content and therefore ideal for breakfast.  

    The recipe below is for the cilantro hummus I made yesterday minus the garlic.     I usually do throw in a couple of cloves of garlic but left it out as amma is here and she does not eat garlic (or onions).

    Chickpeas with skin removed


    Recipe:
    [Printable Recipe]

    Ingredients:
    1 cup dry chickpeas (kaabuli chana / koththu kadalai)
    1/4 cup organic extra virgin cold pressed olive oil
    1/4 cup tahini
    salt to taste
    pinch chili powder to taste
    one generous bunch cilantro 
    1-2 cloves garlic (optional)
    2 Tbsp lemon juice

    Method:

    1. Prepare the chickpeas:  Soak the chickpeas in warm water overnight or up to a full day and change the water out a couple of times.  Pressure cook the chickpeas for 3-4 whistles or simmer in a pot until soft.  Then remove the skin.  (I have found that if the skin is left on the hummus, it is not as creamy but it’s not the end of the world, so leave the skin on if you are feeling a bit lazy).
    2. Prepare the cilantro:  Clean by dunking in a bowl of cold water 3 or 4 times and chop roughly.  
    3. Throw all the ingredients in a food processor and process until smooth.  You can add 4-5 tablespoons of water if needed, or more olive oil.
    4. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.  Enjoy as a dip or spread.
    Hummus with Ak-mok sesame crackers

    What are your favorite breakfast ideas?   Do share.