Did you know that you are supposed to eat 4 servings of leafy greens a week, or that omega-3s reduce inflammation or that you can sprout lentils? Neither did (okay maybe I knew about the leafy greens) until I picked up the cookbook Get it Ripe by jae steele.
Get it Ripe was one of the first few vegan cookbooks I grabbed when I was told I needed to stop eating eggs and milk. It was recommended to me by my Naturopath as a great book to figure out how to make substitutions in my baking. And while this book is excellent for that (seriously good desserts, you won’t notice there is no butter!) and I got a lot of great recipes, what I really love about this book is it taught me how to eat. The first 100 pages of the book are dedicated to teaching the reader about vegan whole foods diets, shopping locally and the skills you need to be an excellent vegan cook. I don’t think I have ever learned as much from what I thought was a cookbook as I did reading Get it Ripe, I am also happy to support steele who is a Torontonian. She is also a registered holistic nutritionist, and recently started studying to become a midwife. In this book, steele’s tone is approachable and never judgmental and really made me feel like I could tackle changing the way I ate. Her book includes a lot of gluten-free, soy-free, nightshade-free and raw/living recipes that make this a cookbook for anyone. And I do feel like everyone should own it.
I have many favourite recipes in this book including the Simple Dal, Millet Stuffed Bell Peppers and Mocha Fudge Pudding Cake. One year I made all my staff the Glazed Lemon Poppy Seed Cake as christmas gifts and not one believed me when I told them it was vegan. That is my favourite trick to play. Tonight I made one that rotates through our list of favourites quite often – Sesame Kale Soba. It is a super quick 15 minute meal and includes some ingredients you might not have tried, or might be intimidated to try.
The main ingredient in this dish is Soba Noodles. You have probably seen them in your grocery store. They look like brown spaghetti and are often found in the asian ingredients section. Soba (which is Japanese for buckwheat) noodles are made from buckwheat flour and are often served hot with a broth or cold with a dipping sauce. These noodles have a nutty flavour that distinguishes them from your regular pasta and can be gluten free which makes it a nice alternative, just make sure to check the packaging to be sure.
The other two ingredients (that can be kind of optional if they really scare you, or you can’t find them) are dulse and arame. Dulse is a red alga and can be dried and made into a powder (which is what is called for in this recipe) and adds a spicy salty flavour. Arame is a sea vegetable and is a species of kelp and a great way to incorporate more seaweed into your diet. Typically it comes in a dried state and you would need to rehydrate it for a about 5 minutes for this recipe. Finally I added shitake mushrooms, which are not included in this recipe, but I love the earthy flavour so I often add them in. You can make this dish hot or cold, which makes for a great picnic salad.
Sesame Kale Soba
Ingredients
- 1 bunch green or black kale
- 1 1/2 cups of shitake mushrooms roughly chopped
- 1 8oz package of soba noodles
- 3 tbsp tamari (or if you can’t find this you can substitute with 2 tbsp soya sauce and 1 tbsp water to lighten the salt content)
- 3 tbsp of sesame oil
- 1 clove of garlic grated or pressed
- 1/2 tsp dulse (optional)
- freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 1/4 cup arame, rehydrated (optional)
- 3 tbsp unhulled sesame seeds
Directions
Place a large pot of water on high heat to boil. Wash kale, remove stems and shop. Remove stems from mushrooms (these are chewy and not something you want to eat) and roughly chop.
Add the noodles to the water and cook for approx 6-7 minutes, checking for an “al-dente” doneness. Sauté the mushrooms in a pan for about 5 minutes, add kale and cook together until kale is wilted and starting to crisp. Toss veggies with drained noodles and separate into bowls.
Combine the tamari, oil, garlic, dulse and pepper in a small bowl. Mix well and pour over noodles. Toss gently and top with sesame seeds and arame.
**adapted from Get it Ripe by jae steele
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