Core Recipes

ONE GOOD DRESSING

I tend to think of managing food in a busy life from the perspective of core units. It's a lot like having core pieces in your wardrobe - 1 good white shirt, 1 good pair of shoes, 1 good pair of pants, 1 great cardigan etc. You build a daily outfit with them and they make life easy. Good food in a busy everyday life is a lot like this. At this time of the year, one good dressing in your fridge fits the bill. I love this tamari, garlic and coriander dressing and love how it works with grain salads.

This is a recipe I've been making for many, many years and a staple in the salad line up at The Earth Market (my wholefood cafe, long since gone). It is an infinitely variable - "take a grain, add things to it and give it a good dressing salad", and indeed the salad below is one of those variations. The occasion was my nieces birthday and this was her request for the salad line up at lunch. The thing about this salad is that it's not rocket science - I used what I had on hand - namely heirloom carrots of all colours and spring onions from the garden, flat leaf parsley that has sprung up everywhere, roasted pine nuts and toasted sunflower seeds. But a word first about the jar above - I love these small preserving jars - I bought them when in the U.S a few years ago (yes, I buy cooking equipment when I travel !!) and love using them for small storage of all descriptions. I'd been planning this blog a few weeks ago and smiled when I saw Heidi Swanson using them for her dressings in this post - loved the synchronicity.  It's a beautiful photo - I love Heidi's photography. You can find those jars here.

But to the recipe - this is a robust dressing that works well with robust whole grains - barley and rice work particularly well. In a word, it's easy - I hope you enjoy it.

Throw the ingredients into a bowl

Packed and ready to go




TAMARI, GARLIC AND CORIANDER DRESSING

I like to use a salt reduced, wheat free tamari and prefer it's lighter flavour. You could consider tamari to be a real food version of soy sauce. I use the Spiral brand (in Australia). I use apple juice concentrate as I love it's subtle and earthy sweetening.

2 tablespoons / 40 ml extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons apple juice concentrate
3 tablespoons / 60m salt reduced tamari
2 cloves garlic crushed
2 teaspoons wholegrain mustard
2 - 3 tablespoons finely chopped coriander (cilantro)

Make the dressing either by hand or in a blender. Either add all ingredients to a blender and process well. If making by hand make sure the garlic and coriander is nice and fine -  add to a jar and shake well.

BROWN RICE SALAD 

I'm a bit keen of the Bio-Dynamic Rain Fed Brown Rice, it has the most amazing flavour and of course I love the ethics behind it. Build the base of your salad with grain, and then add as many other bits as you would like. More vegetables and less grain, or more grain and less vegetables !! Make more than you need as this only gets better as it sits in the fridge for up to 2 days. 

1 cup brown rice - long or medium

Add to this your choice of what's available:

VEGETABLES - just make sure they are finely diced. If using onion, use spring or purple. If using purple make sure it is very finely diced. Nothing worse than big (and lots of) chunks of hot onion in the mouth. Colour counts also, so try to use bright colours - capsicums, corns, carrots, asparagus etc.

ADD MORE NUTRIENT DENSITY - toasted seeds or nuts, left over cooked legumes, sprouted legumes, well flavoured tempeh

ADD HERBY FRESHNESS AND FLAVOUR - go for it - sprouts, parsley, mint, fennel and lots of it.

I prefer to soak the rice overnight to make it more digestible. Place in a bowl and cover well with water. Add 1 teaspoon whey or 2 teaspoons yoghurt (kefir is fine also), or lemon juice. Leave at room temperature (yes, even if it's hot) overnight, or for 6 hours. Strain well through a sieve and pat well with a tea towel (to soak up extra water). Place in a pot with a pinch of sea salt, add 1 3/4 cup water (or 2 cups if the rice is not soaked). Cover with a lid and bring to the boil over a gentle heat. As soon as it reaches boiling point, turn the heat down as low as possible. Cook the grain for 40 - 50 minutes. When it is ready small steam holes should be evident and when the pot is tipped on an angle, no water pools. If it does, cook for a while longer. When ready, cover well with a clean tea towel and leave to sit for 30 minutes before using.  

Add to a bowl with all ingredients, as much dressing as you desire and toss together.