KombuchaCHIC

Hot! I bought a new KitchenAide food processor to aide in my raw food preperation last week and I had to try it out. I ended up making a batch of salsa the very night I brought it home. Now, I usually use vinegar in making salsa...it is a normal component of this zesty dip. However the only vinegar we have at home is balsamic, which is not the best taste for this spicy treat.

Joe being the genius he is (post modern or otherwise), suggested I use kombucha in the recipe. My latest kombucha brew was on the vinegary side so he figured it would be a good substitute for apple cider vinegar. They are also both very similar in taste.

I have never really thought about using kombucha in food recipes before, but I must say that the salsa turned out wonderfully! I actually like to drink my kombucha with some food so making it a part of a dish is a great way to have your daily intake!

I know there are some strange "kombucha bread" recipes out there, but I have never tried them. For one, I am a raw foodist and I don't often eat bread. For two, most bread you have to bake at a high temperature and it seems any raw aspect of the kombucha would be killed. It is my guess that the kombucha would loose a lot of its beneficial properties if it was heated to the point of killing off all those probiotics. So, adding kombucha to a dish which you do not have to cook is the way to go. Some other foods that I think kombucha would be good if added to are: salad dressings, dips, spreads, and smoothies.

I was in a hurry this morning so I grabbed a container of kombucha that I have been fermenting and I'm quite sure it was done. I poured a bit into one of my trusy bottles halfway, and filled the other half with some Dole's Mango Lime Fiesta Juice.

I jumped on my bike and rode to work and tried my brew juice mix out with a tasty banana. Yummy stuff! I can taste the tanginess of the kombucha, but the sweetness of the juice balances it out and compliments it quite nicely!

Joe and I went up to Deer Valley today to watch a Mountain Bike race. It was the first one I had ever witnessed, and it was quite interesting. We ended up taking a summer lift ride up to a peak and hiked down 2 miles. We rode the lift the rest of the way down and by the time we reached the resort, the race was over and the award ceremony was going on.



By this time we had worked up quite a hunger and I was in the mood for a tasty salad. It's a good thing for us that Park City has a Wild Oats in it, because we always seem to make the best salads there.

We made our way over to Wild Oats and hit the salad bar. Next to the salad bar was a cold beverage case and I was delighted to see several flavors of GT's Kombucha stocked in it! It has been a few days since I last had kombucha. The remainder of my last brew had been used up and right now I have two new batches fermenting away.

I quickly looked over my choices, and to my pleasant surprise I discovered a new flavor that I have neither tasted nor seen before! GT's Multi-Green Kombucha! I was terribly excited and new I couldn't pass this up. I picked up the bottle and checked out the ingredients on the back.

"100% G.T.'s organic raw kombucha, klamath mountain blue-green algae, chlorella, spirulina, and 100% pure love!!!" It reads. I smiled as I thought of how wonderfully healthy this beverage is...Combining the natural beauty of kombucha with the amazing benefits of these super greens. However, I was wary of the taste. Green beverages never strike me as being very tasty, although I have been proved wrong many times.

As Joe and I sat down in the sunshine outside and treated ourselves to a feast of salad, raspberries and pluouts, I slowly opened my kombucha and had a taste. I was pleasantly surprised by the flavor! It tasted just like any normal kombucha! Tart, with a slightly sweet undertone and a bit of fizz. The only difference was that the color was green and the flavor was a bit more mellow and toned down. Good stuff! I definitely give this green drink two thumbs up.

On an unrelated note, we recently brought home another Bengal cat as a playmate for our existing one. Bhajan (brown) and Shardul (white) and turning out to be wonderful friends after only two nights! What a great weekend this has been!

Ok, so this post isn't exactly about kombucha, it is about a wonderfully healthy RAW recipe I have created. I did, however, make kombucha while I made this recipe. And because of my passion and dedication to good health, I have decided that this blog would be a good place to share my recipe.




Spread:

1/2 c Pine Nuts
1/4 c Pecans
1/4 c Sunflower Seeds
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp ginger
2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp curry powder
5 sun dried tomatoes
2 tbsp olive oil
dash pineapple juice
1 tsp raw tahini

Process all until it is a thick paste. I chilled this overnight to help set the flavors in more, but it isn't neccesary.

Filling:

Red Onion
White Onion
Carrots
Mushrooms
Zuccini
Olives
Avacado
Bean Sprouts

Julienne very finely and set aside.

Assembly:

Place a nori sheet down and cover bottom 1/4-1/2 with an even coating of the spread. Place the julienned veggies in the middle of the sheet with the avacado on top. Roll tightly and use a bit of the spread as "glue" on the clean end of the nori sheet to seal it up. Slice and enjoy!