Made from organically grown heirloom dent or flour corn, fresh hominy is a lovely addition to soups, stews or even eaten with unrefined salt and butter for breakfast! The process described here for preparing the corn is called “nixtamalization” and greatly enhances the nutritional profile of the corn. It does take some time, but is not difficult, and if you make a substantial amount all at once and freeze or can the extra, it will be ready to eat when you are!
The night before: Pour dried corn kernels into a large colander. Rinse thoroughly. Remove any ugly or damaged kernels.
Into a 2-gallon heavy-bottomed pot, pour the rinsed corn, add the lime and cover with filtered water half again as deep as the depth of the corn.
Stir. Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Turn off heat. Leave this to sit all night.
In the morning, pour the corn into a large stainless colander and rinse thoroughly.
Fill the cooking kettle with lots of cold water and pour in the corn. Work the corn with your hands, rubbing and stirring and rubbing and stirring. The water will become yellow.
Strain through the colander and rinse.
Repeat this process until the water is clear when you work the corn. It will take about 4 changes of water.
Rinse in the colander again and return to the pot. Cover well with filtered water.
Bring to a boil, put on the lid and reduce heat.
Simmer until the hominy is very tender (approximately 3 hours). Check to make sure it remains submerged in water.
Drain. Serve warm with unrefined sea salt and plenty of butter.
Freeze the extra in meal-sized containers, or ~ hominy may be canned. Consult a canning guide for instructions on how to can safely.
This quick and healthy breakfast can be modified with any fresh or dried fruit that you have on hand. You can also experiment with different seeds and nuts in this dish to give the couscous a different texture. This recipe is a nice alternative to your regular breakfast oatmeal.
Heat the couscous, milk, honey, cinnamon, and cranberries in a pot over medium heat. Stir frequently.
Remove the pot from the heat when all the milk has been absorbed into the couscous.
Place the couscous in bowls and sprinkle with pumpkin seeds. Serve warm.
Editor’s Note: Couscous should be soaked overnight or at least 8 hours in warm filtered water (enough to cover) along with an acidic medium such as lemon juice, vinegar or whey (approx 1-2 Tbsp). Soaking grains properly before preparation will allow you to absorb nearly double the minerals and vitamins from grains. Learn more about the importance of soaking grains on the Phytic Acid website. After soaking, simply discard soaking liquid, rinse, and proceed with the recipe as above..
Sweet, crunchy and a quick-grab-breakfast; cereal is an excellent invention. The food industry has really done a number on this convenience food with all it’s extrusion, colors, preservatives and other chemicals and processes. I understand fully that still, it is a hard thing to give up. There are so many varying levels of commitment in a real food journey and once “the box” is gone, you have officially turned a corner in my book.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grind two cups of almonds with one cup of kefir in blender until smooth. Pour mixture into large bowl and repeat with two cups almonds and one cup kefir, pour into bowl. Grind one final batch, this time using two cups peanuts and the final cup of kefir, add this to the large bowl as well. Place oil, honey, salt and vanilla in blender to combine well and add to nuts. Stir the entire batter to combine, sprinkle coconut flour on mixture and mix thoroughly. Pour batter into a half sheet pan (9 x13) and bake for 40 minutes. Let cool and then crumble onto baking sheets or dehydrator trays and dehydrate at 150-200 degrees for 12 - 16 hours. Once cooled, store in airtight container in the refrigerator.
No more rice cookers or constant surveillance over the stove top. No more dry, mushy, or burned rice. For perfectly cooked, easiest brown or white rice, baking the grains in the oven is my go-to method. Bone broths, like fish or chicken stock will increase the nutrition and digestibility of the grains.
Preheat oven to 375F.
Spread rice in an oven safe container; an 8 inch square glass baking dish, an oven safe stockpot, or dutch oven all work.
Stir in boiling stock or water, oil, and salt. Cover baking dish tightly with foil or lid if using a pot.
Bake until rice is tender, about one hour for brown rice, about 35 minutes for white rice.
Remove rice from oven, fluff lightly with a fork. If not serving right away, cover the dish with a clean kitchen towel.
Note: If you soak your rice before cooking, measure the amount of water you are soaking the rice with. Soak. Before baking, strain the soaking water into a measuring cup to calculate how much water was absorbed by the rice. Subtract this amount from the liquid amount called for in the recipe. You will only need to do this once if your soaking times are consistent.