Quarantine Food Diaries, Day 8, Kung Fu Panda Dumplings

" Your mind is like water, my friend. When it is agitated, it becomes difficult to see. But if you allow it to settle, the answer becomes clear. " 

- Kung Fu Panda

Our sacral chakra is known as the watery place, situated in the lower abdomen it is our place of emotion, creativity, fertility, intimacy, empathy and where we feel change. When we experience dramatic change in our lives, or if we do not feel secure in sharing our emotions our sacral chakra is out of balance. Many of us have been told not to cry, or not to express excitement as it looks like hysteria, that we do too much of something, or too little in our personalities. Take these thoughts, any of the thoughts that have made you feel like you could not or should not express emotionally and hold them for a simple meditation. Put on our playlist (link below) and for 3-5min focus on the breath, inhale and exhale, notice if one is shorter than the other. Place your hand above the pubic bone, your sacral chakra and breath into your hand. Visualize a body of water, whatever comes to you, imagine it rough and cloudy and recall these thoughts inhibiting your emotional, creative or intimate expression. Take your hand and physically pull these blockages from this space, removing the emotional debris, in your mind visualize a pristine calm and transparent body of water in your mind's eye.

I love the image of water as my emotional life, ebbing and flowing, never static, allowing for moments of wellbeing and moments of stress with the knowledge that nothing stays the same, that change is inevitable and the real key to it all is being able to see the emotions, acknowledge them and not hold onto them, but rather to try and see them outside of yourself, as an observer.
Think for a moment about how we can see others struggles and why they struggle so much easier than we can see our own. It is because we are not attached to their struggles as we are ours. We have a broader perspective without a personal attachment. So this is a choice we can make for ourselves as well but it takes discipline, every moment.  I choose to allow myself to feel and hold a feeling when it is good sweet feeling but somehow I choose to hold thoughts and feelings that are negative with even a tighter grip, why is that? That is my daily work, moment to moment discipline, to let go of not only the negative thoughts that like to linger longer but also the sweet ones, seeing them as the same thing.  In yoga we talk about finding that sweet spot between effort and ease, sthira and sukha, in our holding of emotions we can apply the same teaching. Harmony. Things are not just easy, and they are also not just hard either but being the observer and letting each thing come in and leave without disrupting your deeper sense of calm and rather only seeing surface ripples is the harmony found in  sthira and sukha.

Kung Fu Panda Dumplings

makes 30-40 dumplings

1/2 lb ground pork ( if you want to make these without meat substitute mushrooms here) 

1 tbsp grated fresh ginger

2 cloves grated fresh garlic

1/2 tbsp soy sauce or aminos

1/2 tbsp rice vinegar

1/2 tbsp cornstarch ( binding)

1/2 tsp sesame oil 

40 wonton wrappers

Dumpling Dipping Sauce:

2tbsp mirin

2tbsp soy sauce or  aminos

1 tsp grated ginger

1/2 tsp grated garlic

to add heat 1/4 tsp chili oil

mix all ingredients together. So I made both veggie version and pork version. They were both amazing.  Place a small amount of raw filling in each wonton wrapper, wet two sides and fold over into a triangle, pressing firmly along the sides. Gently flip over and stick two corners together. 

see pic!! You can make these either in a broth like a simple chicken or veggie broth, add in a few mushrooms and scallions, or you can saute´ in a shallow pan with a little sesame and olive oils until lightly browning on one side, add 1/2 cup of water cover and steam through. When the water is evaporated the dumplings are done. serve with a dumpling sauce.

Sweet and Spicy Deep Greens

1 Bunch Red Kale

1 clove grated fresh garlic

1 tbsp grated fresh ginger

2 tbsp Mirin

2 Tbsp Soy sauce or aminos

1/4 cup veggie stock

2 tsp sesame oil

2 tsp olive oil

1 tsp chili oil

Saute´ garlic, ginger and torn,  de-spined,  kale in sesame oil and olive oil, on medium to high flame, add soy sauce and mirin, it should sizzle, toss a bit and then add stock and cover 5 min. 

Done. add a few drops of chili oil of you like it spicy. 

Mediation water journey playlist 

spotify water journey

Join me on Zoom tomorrow at 9:30am for a gentle Vinyasa class 10$ drop in with yoga studio Balanced Planet, link on how to :

mind body sign up 

Quarantine Food Diaries, Day 7, Buddha Bowl, Gentle Qi Gong

It's raining today in New Jersey, bringing to mind my favorite word, petrichor. Have you ever had someone who has been running outside walk past you when they come in? If you close your eyes, fresh cut grass, ozone and damp stone, that's what petrichor smells like. I take a deep inhale, expanding through the ribs and savor the cool, musky scent it feels almost as if it were waking up each cell of my body so, I don't mind the rain. I can remember sitting in a yoga class years and years ago, before I taught, and heard the word Santosha it is the sanskrit word for contentment. I always connect the rain with this word, funny how our brains make connections. The yoga teacher was describing one of the Niyamas or daily practices of Yoga, these are laid out as daily habits or duties for proper living in the world. Right about now to kick the corona virus's ass and stay woke while doing it this ancient list of practices is what we need on our fridges. Santosha is described as the finding of contentment within each moment.  My memory of the first time I heard this word was on a similar rainy day to this one.  I had rolled out of bed, left unhappily crying children and brought my sleep deprived achy body to the mat. I cursed the rain, the cold, the lack of sleep, my loss of identity, the loss of my former physique, I was a bag of squirrels filled with discontent uncomfortable in my own body and mind, but I had the discipline to get to my mat and sit down and shut up. He went on about how beautiful the rain was, the appreciation of the sun because of the rain, the blooms and lush green of the mosses and grasses because of the rain. I began to feel a shift then and it has never left me, this being in WONDER of the present moment. It is also a discipline to do this, it becomes easier and easier with practice and more awareness. 

I am struck by my calm in this time of complete uncertainty we collectively face but I attribute this to Santosha. I am in WONDER  of what I am witnessing in the human race, resilience, community, creativity,  oneness.  I am in WONDER and awe at the transformation in the physical planet, clearer waters, dolphins in Venice, pollution clearing, fashion brands making scrubs and masks, LVMH making hand sanitizer instead of Channel No.5 parfum. 

It's worth reminding ourselves of the very basic daily duties we have to ourselves both individually and collectively. 

Decided to make a Buddha Bowl today. Not exactly sure how this term came into use but I use it to mean a warm bowl of grains and greens and a protein with a hearty dose of fragrant flavor. After having spent a week in St. Maarten just before we were all quarantined I picked up island spices for a good dry rub. But if you have a cabinet full of spices I encourage you to make your own, chili pepper flakes, lemon rind, garlic powder, paprika, cayenne pepper, salt, maybe a little cumin. 

Deep Green Salmon Buddha Bowl

Ingredients:

1 lb  Whole Foods Atlantic Salmon

dy rub of your choice,  paprika, lemon zest, cayenne pepper, salt, garlic powder, cumin

1 avocado

1 butternut squash cubed

2 garlic cloves minced

1/4 broth ( chicken or veggie)

1 head lacinato kale

1 cup quinoa white and red

2 tblsp pesto (make or buy) 

Rub spice mixture along the length of the filet and oil a cookie sheet and place the filet on it.

Pesto:

one bunch basil

1 garlic clove ( medium to big)

1/ 4 cup dry toasted pine nuts 

1/4  parmigiano grated

salt 

olive oil drizzle

The kety to making a good pesto is a small food processor for these quantities and adding olive oil last to "wet" the ingredients amking a thick paste not an oily mess.  The way pesto expands over pasta or any thing is with the addition of the cooking water of your pasta or quinoa in our case. 

saute´ butternut squash in olive oil salt,  pepper , I love using umami spice ( Trader Joe's) and garlic, browning a little before adding broth, cover and set to medium heat to cook through 10 min. 

wash and take the spine out of each of the kale leaves, roughly chop and place atop the butternut squash, don't mix in. re cover and let "steam" five minutes. uncover and toss together.

Meanwhile cook quinoa according to directions, and the last 10 min of cooking time for both squash and quinoa ( reserve a 1/2 cup of the water once it has been salted and is boiling), place the salmon under the broiler. 

In a large metal bowl combine all ingredients should you wish to make this a Buddha bowl and not a separated Poke Bowl. 

adding the pesto in really thickens the ingredients so don't be afraid to add some of the reserved quinoa water. 

top with slices of avocado and enjoy!

I have been offering movement daily and at various levels, today's offering is something anyone and everyone can do. It is movement that will assist in lymphatic drainage, boost the immune system, build blood flow and recharge your body and mind gently. 

Qi gong movements are gentle and intentional for medicinal purposes. 

Please enjoy 15 minutes or so daily.

Qi Gong, Beginner's Mind

movement

And if you like the music  you can listen to this playlist on Spotify

Beginner's mind playlist

Quarantine Food Diaries, Day 6, Immunity Building Blocks

“In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s there are few.”

-Suzuki

I’ve been asked by a few of you, to share my alkalizing diet. I often do this in the form of smoothies and juices early in my day. I find I can get the majority of my antioxidants and adaptogens in a smoothie or juice.
The weather has turned cold again and though I am making smoothies I am drinking them fireside. Feeling warmth be it a fire, warm bath or physical movement it always makes me feel filled, nothing like a chill to make you feel alone. So whatever you have available, use it, create heat. Self- care Sunday, right?
I like to make juices with my veggies and smoothies with my fruits, generally speaking.
Here are my two favorite recipes for immunity building of both.

Sunshine juice:

Serves 2

3 Carrots ( ocular function)

2 Celery stalks ( anti inflammatory)

An apple or orange ( vitamin c in the orange and pectin from the apple which is a prebiotic )

A knob of turmeric root ( anti inflammatory )

A good knob of ginger root ( adaptogen, immunity booster)

If you have a lemon add half a lemon too ( I didn’t and added cranberries for their anti oxidant properties)

Use a decent juicer ! Add a dash of pepper on top to activate the turmeric. If you have an MCT oil or cold pressed coconut oil add 1/2 tsp. too.

Chocolate Cherry Chaga

serves 2

handful Frozen cherries (anti oxidant, blood building)

2 tbsp raw cacao ( anti oxidant, blood building, anti inflammatory)

2 opened capsules mushroom elixir, or a chaga powder if you have, if not get it, Om makes one sold at Whole Foods and Four Sigmatic makes a good blend as well.

1 tsp Ashwaganda ( anti anxiety adaptogen)

1 1/2 cup milk alternative ( I prefer oat)

You may want to add a little maple syrup and or Almond butter if it is a meal replacement, to add protein.

blend and sprinkle a little cayenne on top

If you like that, I do!

I was thinking a lot about discipline and habit. As an empath I can easily and , especially now, get wrapped into the feelings of others and my only way out of this cycle is my own discipline a structure to each day. There is a form of meditation called Zazen meditation, a

Buddhist form of zen meditation whose goal is only that of itself, the discipline of keeping an empty mind, a beginner’s mind.
To do this in the easiest description possible is with practice. Everyday start with an empty mind, hah try and see if you can I dare you. Imagine what it is like to be a beginner at something, not knowing, without judgement and with no goal other than the sheer openness and discipline of learning, now do that in every aspect of your day, in every thought you encounter, in every conversation.
Let me know how that goes for you and how often you catch yourself as I do throughout a day relying on habitual behaviors and thought patterns. The key is to notice it. The next thing to do is ask if these patterns are serving you, are adding to joy in your life, or if they are destructive.
Once you have noticed, you have become the observer, it’s called witness consciousness. Hang out there for as long as you can, noticing and noticing. You will soon, after taking all the time you need noticing, start asking yourself what is serving you and what can be released as not useful. When that happens, get back to your mat, meditate on nothing. Just sit in stillness and empty your mind. The discipline is this, over and over and over again.

I’ve included another offering of movement link here as well, stoke the fire!

Movement and Asana

With Justin Marx 

43°F Cloudy
 Marlton, New Jersey, United States

Quarantine Food Diaries, Day 5, Birds Flying High, You Know How I Feel...

I spent a day in the warmth of the sun, soaking up the Vitamin D. I Admired the earth as buds on trees burst open in a concert of color. I slowed my pace and breath and watched nature expand and breathe deeply. The canals in Venice are crystal clear and dolphins can be seen frolicking in them. In China no new cases have been reported going on three days. Our constant access to the world news is both amazing and distressing so I chose nature for the most part again today.
The weather called for frivolity at least in my kitchen. I chose not to fret about writing and posting yesterday, knowing you would wait a day. It’s crazy to see how many live feeds have been popping up in so many sectors, I applaud everyone’s ability to adapt to this and am having a good time watching a few and participating as well.
When I finally returned inward last night it called for a new version of an old fashioned, I’ll call it:

The Nina Simone

1 jigger whiskey or bourbon

Dash of aromatic bitters

Dash Luxardo cherry juice

Orange zest

Palo santo

Glass cloche

Pour whiskey, bitters, cherry juice together, add ice, stir. Squeeze the orange rind, spritzing the glass, rub around the rim and place inside the drink. Light your palo santo, get it really smoking and then place it along with your drink under the glass cloche, watch it fill with smoke.

Remove the cloche and savor. If you don’t have a cloche, get creative, make a paper cone!

While sipping your cocktail like it’s summer on the back deck read over the next recipe and decide to make a corn tortilla stuffed with middleastern spiced lamb. We will be using up the rest of the hummus adding a little smoke to it (liquid smoke is the bomb) I made a new batch of beets, golden this time and ate them as a side and garnished the rest of my tortilla with grated goat Gouda and the last of the radishes, a dash of hot sauce and the last of the kale pesto.

It’s divine. And now also time to go shopping !!

Za’atar Lamb Tortillas

1 1lb lamb stew meat cut in 1” cubes

Zatar ( or make your own from what is in your pantry, see below)

Radishes

Golden beets recipe (from day 1 )

Hummus (from day 2 )

Liquid smoke

Goat Gouda

Buttered pine nuts ( from day 3)

Za’ atar :

( traditional Lebanese spice mix used to dry marinate meats specifically Lamb)

ingredients

1 tablespoon dried thyme- crushed

1 tablespoon ground cumin ( see note)

1 tablespoon ground coriander

1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds

1 tablespoon sumac

½ teaspoon kosher salt

¼ teaspoon or more aleppo chili flakes- optional

If you dry toast the cumin seed, coriander seed and sesame seeds and then mortar and pestle them or if you don’t have one you can use a cuisinart to rough grind them or coffee grinder. Toasting whole seeds will really make your Za’atar more perfumed and flavorful.

Put all ingredients together in an airtight container and use over and over again, steaks, roasted cauliflower, in olive oil with salt for bread dunking if you eat bread! You can top hummus and babaganoush with it or sprinkle on greens with olive oil and balsamic for a quick salad dressing with a Lebanese twist!

Coat your lamb and let sit while you dress up your hummus with a few dashes of liquid smoke.

Follow by slicing your slow roasted beets and arranging on a plate drizzle extra virgin olive oil, a balsamic reduced glaze, some of our newly made Za’ atar and top with buttered pine nuts.

Next heat olive oil and brown lamb pieces on all sides, make sure the lamb is dry rubbed, no extra moisture! Lamb can be eaten medium rare, rare.... you decide I eat it medium rare, if you prefer well done you’ll need to take each batch once fried and put it in an ovenproof dish in an oven at 400F for about 10 min.

Now you are ready to compose.

Heat a small amount of oil and fry one side of your corn tortilla only.

Smooth a scoop of hummus top with a few slices of lamb, grated radishes, if you have cilantro, or greens add those too and sprinkle with goat Gouda. A few drops of kale pesto and hot sauce and you have a rainbow to eat with your eyes.

50°F Sunny

 Marlton, New Jersey, United States

Quarantine Food Diaries, Day 4 Sweet Relief

"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes."

-Marcel Proust

No truer could a statement be than this right now, I used it before to calm my wanderlust but these last 4 days I think it could be a mantra for all of us.  Its raining and grey today, my alarm rang and I chose to lay longer in between awake and asleep. My days are not so different from my usual, I have been working from home for the past three years. Those of you who thought I was an extrovert have been surprised to see my introvert behaviors in full swing the last few years, and this shift has brought me what I had always looked for, internal calm. The way this manifests in me is much like Proust's quote about having new eyes being the ultimate discovery, and my discovery of internal peace through less doing and more being was just that.  This forced isolation  may have you kicking and screaming with anxiety but I would ask that maybe you could choose how you decide each moment how you are going to react or respond. There is actually very little we can control, what we can do however is decide how we show up to each moment. This is an opportunity to examine if your worrying is of service to you or if it is instead a useless waste of your time.  An opportunity to discern the behavior that is necessary right now, that of self isolation is a worthy consideration given the science shown about how this horrible pandemic is passed. 

It is said that Henry the VIII locked himself in his room during the black plague, as now, there was no vaccine against the plague and therefore isolating was the only option, I totally understand him. 

I commit to keeping my immunity high through yoga, movement, and clean eating, I hope to offer this for you as well.

We recorded a 40 min Vinyasa Class for anyone interested and you can find it here:

40 Min Vinyasa

I thought maybe a little breakfast goodie was in store for today,  as I woke up to grey skies, warm cereal felt like just the thing after practice. It is no mistake I am cooking with root vegetables and making a warm porridge for breakfast. These things address specifically our root chakra through diet, our place of security, the feeling that you are safe, I will offer this through each of the facets I can. 

So today I reached into the cupboard for my cracked buckweat, as I am gluten free, you can use, amaranth, millet, rice or oatmeal as well, each has a little different cooking time so pay attention to that but ultimately we are making a base porridge and turning it into a rainbow of a bowl full of phytonutrients and immunity building, anxiety calming boosts!

Buckwheat Breakfast Bowl

feeds 2

1/2  Cup  Buckwheat Cereal

1 1/2 cups water or water/ almond milk  (additional warmed milk if desired to put on top)

salt

grated orange zest

a pinch of hemp hearts

1 tsp Ashwaganda ( natural anti anxiety adaptogen) 

sprinkle cinnamon

sprinkle spirullina

handful pine nuts ( or any nut you've got)

1 tbsp butter

1 spoonful of almond butter per bowl

maple syrup or honey to taste

blueberries

mango

Take 1/2 tbsp of butter and melt over low heat in a small pan and brown pine nuts in it, careful not to burn. Set aside

Put water and milk together with Buckwheat and a pinch of salt and the other 1/2 tbsp of butter in a pan to boil, turn the heat to low and simmer 10 min. At the end remove from heat and mix in cinnamon and ashwaganda a little maple syrup or honey.

Compose your bowl:

buckwheat cereal porridge, blueberries, mango, a spoonful of buttered pine nuts and top with sprinkled hemp hearts, spirullina, a scoop of almond butter and fill one side with a little warmed milk and maybe additional syrup or honey if you like it sweeter!

Keto Almond Butter Cups

3/4 cup almond butter ( I use crunchy)

2 tsp stevia or if you are not strict Keto 1 tbsp maple syrup

2 tbsp millet for more crunch

2 tbsp coconut flakes

almond or coconut flour 

1 tsp vanilla

cinnamon to taste

Pink Himalayan sea salt to taste

1 Package Lily's chocolate chips

Mix all ingredients (not the chips) together and add your flour enough to make the almond butter mixture feel just firm enough to make balls, if you add too much it will make your butter cup too dry, so go slow, my almond butter was super oily so I needed about a 1/4 cup of almond flour.  

Make little balls, you choose your size but they are rich so...

make a bain marie ( double boiler) a bowl above soft boiling water to melt the chocolate chips

remove from heat when melted and quickly dip butter balls in and place them individually on parchment paper and put in the fridge!

I sprinkle a little cayenne and Himalayan sea salt on each 

Quarantine Food Diaries, Day 3

 Food for Mind and Body

I chose not to watch the news today, open twitter or perpetuate more panic inducing behaviors. Instead I coerced my partner into offering up what he does best, healing.
If you have ever met a modern day Shaman you might not understand at first but when he is in his healing space it is instantly evident on visceral, emotional and spiritual levels that you are being healed, that there is a shift in you that is tangible.
I teach yoga, I practice meditation, I read and assimilate philosophy into my daily practice of yoga “off the mat”. What this is, what he does, is something entirely apart. We often find ourselves in one act of doing after another, sometimes a yoga practice can be this as well, sometimes reading and absorbing information is still an act of doing. When we speak of being and not doing that is when real restoration occurs. It is understood that shavasana is the ultimate place of yoga, the slowing of the fluctuations of the mind. Shavasana is the final resting pose at the end of class where the expectation of the physical, emotional and mental bodies is absolutely nothing, simply to be, receive, accept, allow.
What my partner does takes one from this space into deep energetic healing through sound. I’m offering access to these video clips of his work in Seva or service to our community.

Sound Healing and Meditation with Justin Marx

Sound Healing and Meditation Part 1 

Sound Healing and Meditation Part 2

Sound Healing, Shamanic Drumming Part 3

I know, my quarantine food diary, but you see it is all connected, looking at ourselves these days and every day in a holistic way, with all of our facets. I am back in my kitchen, I think if I had to choose a single ingredient to eat forever, if there were only one thing left in the world, it would have to be a mushroom. Specifically a maitake mushroom. Known for it’s properties of combatting the free radicals in the body that cause cancer I was introduced to this mushroom at the time of my monumental diet change to combat systemic inflammation. I began taking maitake supplements in super high doses and it almost singlehandedly reduced all my inflammation. My father is a mycologist, a mushroom hunter, teacher, and I have had the fortune to have had numerous varietals of wild mushrooms because of it. Maitake or hen of the woods is still one of my favorites for it’s versatility. It has also become easier to find in supermarkets.
It’s a beautiful lacy mushroom and it’s flavor is rich and meaty it’s texture firm, it holds it’s own as a “steak” on the plate, and tonight it is our “steak”.
Super easy to prepare and accompanied simply with a sautéed sunchoke which in a pinch could be substituted with potatoes though the flavor profiles are super different.

Unlike yesterday tonight is less labor intensive, way quicker and completely vegetarian, well if you believe mushrooms to be vegetarian, but that is a later discussion.

Seared Maitake “steak” , Crispy Lemon Zest Sunchokes

Ingredients:

1 lb Maitake mushrooms

2 tbsp sesame oil

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Oyster sauce or worchestire mixed with a little maple syrup ( for brushing mushrooms)

6 sunchokes peeled and sliced thinly

1 Lemon zest peeled not grated

2 cloves garlic

1/2 cup white wine

Dust off Maitake shrooms, don’t wash!! Slice into 1/2 inch thick “steaks” as much as possible

Set aside.

Take peeled and sliced sunchokes or potatoes if you didn’t have or couldn’t find sunchokes ( though they are in season right now) and put in a pan with olive oil, sliced garlic and sliced lemon zest making sure not to have taken much or any of the white of the lemon. Salt and pepper, sauté on medium leaving to take on color on one side before moving to the other side, you may find they stick in which case, you may not have put enough oil or had a high enough heat or maybe there was just too much water on your sunchokes. No worries, add the 1/2 cup wine and they will loosen. Flip and continue to cook on medium until all of the wine is absorbed. At this point salt and pepper. Sunchokes can be eaten raw so they can be eaten as well at any version of “al dente” whereas potatoes must obviously be completely cooked through and you may need to add a bit of water to finish them.

While your sunchokes are cooking begin your mushrooms.

Heat a pan medium high with a little sesame oil and a little olive oil lay the mushrooms in not overlapping, salt and pepper. They need to sear on both sides when they are browned on both sides add a dash of water and the mushroom will plump up!

You may need to do two or three batches.

As they come out of the pan brush with a little oyster sauce or worchestire/ maple syrup blend.

Plate the sunchokes and place a Maitake “steak” atop... my version of steak and fries 😉

Serve with a simple green salad. Enjoy!

54°F Sunny

11 Provincetown Dr, Marlton, New Jersey, United States

Quarantine Food Diaries, Day 2, Pork and Beans (not exactly)

The Art of Texture

The supermarkets are continuing to restock, toilet paper apparently is just as high of a commodity as bleach and face masks, but you know what isn’t moving, Pork Belly.
Chicken is limited to 3 packs per person in some supermarkets, egg shelves are empty, potatoes are in short supply too, so now is when my inner child goes wild. I love being given the challenging task of making something out of what is at hand, namely the fatty slab of meat not many know what to do with called Pork Belly, Pancetta in Italian and just for all of you who may not know, it is actually what bacon is made from. The butcher counter always has it, while steaks were sold out, ground beef long gone and the anxiety over the chicken palpable,
I had them cut a long fat slice about 3 inches wide and 7 inches long. As with any meat the fat should be super white, if it is yellowed it is a sign that it’s old and just leave it alone and move on.
Now is when I must interject, making things in batches and utilizing same ingredients in different ways is super key to quarantine cooking! Pork Belly must be brined for 24 hours before cooking, the whole thing is a long process but it will keep for five days so buy enough that you can use again in other ways. I’ll make sure to include it in my next few days here and there.
We made poke bowls yesterday and I didn’t use all of my radishes or beets so we are using them here treated differently for color, acid and heat. I started my brine on Saturday when I bought the belly and cooked it yesterday so today it was ready to actually eat. Yes, a three day process but hey if it is one thing you have right now more than ever before it is time.
My accompaniments to this dish are decidedly Middle Eastern in flavor so if you are not gluten free, as I am, grab some Pita or Naan, at worst a corn tortilla will also work!

Seared Pork Belly with Cannellini Bean Hummus, Radishes, Beets and Kale Pesto

Ingredients:

1 slab of pork belly

Smoked paprika

Salt pepper

1 can cannellini beans

3 tbsp tahini

Juice of half a lemon

2 garlic cloves

Olives / pitted ( you can thank my partner who inadvertently bit down on one)

Radishes

Beets

Cauliflower curried

Kale pesto as garnish

2 days prior :

Salt, pepper and smoke paprika heavily the pork belly, wrap in parchment and foil and put in the fridge and forget about it.

1 day prior:

Set oven to 275F and place your pork belly in a cast iron pan wrapped as it was in the fridge or in a glass baking dish and bake for 3 hours.

Let it sit out and cool to room temperature before putting it in the fridge, resist trying it... or don’t, go ahead it’s amazing!

Day of :

Remove from fridge and take a bit of the now solidified pork fat and place in a pan, slice the pork belly into cubes and start your hummus.

Drain cannellini beans and place in a food processor with the garlic, lemon, tahini and purée. Maybe a touch of salt but your pork belly is salty so not too much. The garlic is hefty it’s a garlicky hummus, so if you’re not a fan reduce the garlic to one clove but remember we are balancing salt, fat AND heat.

Grate your radishes on a cheese grater and place in a small beautiful mound on the plate

Do the same with your beets.

Take kale or shard or even spinach and process with a little olive oil to make a deep green oil drizzle for color.

Once all is ready create your plate ..

A dollop

Of hummus, a few olives, little mounds of beets and radishes and a few drops of emerald green oil/ pesto

Heat your pork fat on high and place pork belly cubes fat side down in the pan searing on each side to create a crispy, browned “skin” about 30 seconds per side.

Bring to a cutting board and slice into bite size pieces and arrange atop the hummus.

Have naan or pita or corn tortillas at the ready to scoop up the delishessness !

And to think a cheap piece of meat and an can of beans. ...