Category: Smoothie

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

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.