On July 1, we had a “Cooling Summer Foods” cooking class. These are the recipes that we enjoyed. Everyone was blown away that natural ingredients could be so colorful and delicious. I hope you enjoy them too.

CREAMY CORN SOUP

4 ears corn, organic, kernels cut off and set aside

1 onion, diced

kombu, 6” piece

1 T miso, unpastuerized brown rice or barley

5 cups water

parsley, chopped to garnish

Cut the kernels from the corn and set aside. Put the water, kombu, and the corn cobs into a soup pot and bring to a boil. Allow a sweet broth to cook, which takes about 10 minutes. Take out the kombu and the corn cobs. (You can reuse the kombu for another dish, if you’d like.) Add the corn kernels and allow to simmer for another 5 to 10 minutes. Blend in a food processor or blender and return to the pot. Take a small amount of soup and put into a suribachi and puree with the miso. Add the miso back into the soup pot and stir, but do not boil. (Boiling kills the beneficial enzymes in the miso.) Serve garnished with chopped parsley.

CRUNCHY BROWN RICE SALAD

Salad

4 cups cooked brown rice

½ cup each, lightly steamed

- carrots, diced

- corn

- peas

- broccoli, diced

1 stalk celery, diced

½ cup minced parsley

½ cup scallions, thinly sliced

¼ red onion (optional)

½ cup tamari roasted almonds

Dressing

2 T sesame oil

2 T water

2 T brown rice vinegar

2 T lemon juice

1 T shoyu or tamari

½ tsp basil

1 tsp oregano

Cut the vegetables into the same size as the peas and corn. Combine all ingredients and toss with the dressing. Adjust seasonings to taste. Best if it marinates for a few hours before serving.

Variations: Change the vegetables seasonally, including things like daikon, red radish, cabbage, burdock root, zucchini, etc as desired. Beans also make a nice addition, such as kidney, pinto, garbanzo, or azuki.

GINGERED GREEN BEANS (from the Eden website)

8 Shiitake Mushrooms, soaked 20 minutes in 1 cup hot water

1 Tablespoon Toasted Sesame Oil

1 1/2 pounds green beans, remove stems, cut into 2" lengths

1 clove garlic, minced

1 Tablespoon ginger root, peeled and finely minced

1/2 cup water, including shiitake soaking water

2 teaspoons Shoyu Soy Sauce, or to taste

2 teaspoons Organic Kuzu Root Starch, dissolved in 1 Tbsp. cold water

1 Tablespoon lemon juice, freshly squeezed

1/4 cup slivered almonds, or chopped pecans

Directions

Remove the stems from the shiitake and discard. Reserve the soaking liquid. Slice the caps. Heat oil in a large skillet. Sauté garlic and shiitake for 1 minute. Add beans, ginger and almonds. Sauté 1 to 2 minutes. Add water, soaking water and shoyu. Cover and simmer for 5 to 7 minutes until the beans are tender. Remove lid. Slowly add the kuzu to the skillet, stirring constantly to prevent lumping. Squeeze lemon juice over and serve.

CUCUMBER PEACH STIRFRY (another of Christina Pirello’s amazing creations!)

extra virgin olive oil, 1 tsp

1 red onion, thin half moon slices

Sun dried unprocessed sea salt (such as Lima brand), pinch

1 large cucumber, very thin slices (do not peel, so go for organic)

2-3 ripe peaches, pitted, thinly sliced

juice of 1 fresh lemon

2 tsp brown rice syrup

fresh basil sprigs, for garnish

mesclun salad mix

Place a small amount of oil and onions in a skillet and turn heat to medium. When the onions begin to sizzle, add a pinch of salt and sauté until they begin to brown, 5-6 minutes. Stir in cucumber slices, a light seasoning of salt and sauté just until they begin to wilt, about 2 minutes. Stir in peaches and sauté for 2 minutes more. Remove from heat gently stir in lemon juice and rice syrup. Serve warm on a bed of chilled salad greens, with basil sprigs. Makes 4-5 servings.

PUMPKIN SALAD

1/3 of one kabocha (Japanese pumpkin), large dice with skin on

2 to 3 scallions, diced

½ cup dried fruit (raisins, cranberries, or a mixture of both), optional

½ bunch watercress, blanched, steamed, or raw, and diced

1 stalk celery, diced

½ cup walnuts, toasted and chopped

pinch of sun dried sea salt

½ cup tofu mayonnaise (see recipe below)

Cut the kabocha and place into a pan with a small amount of water on the bottom, no more than ½ an inch high. Bring to a gentle boil, add a pinch of salt, cover, turn heat to low, and simmer on low for about 15 minutes or until the squash is just tender. Strain out and place into a bowl, and allow to cool. Meanwhile, cut the celery and scallions and add this into the cooled kabocha. Clean the watercress, and either blanch, steam, or use it raw, cutting it into 1 to 2 inch long pieces. Add this to the bowl. Toast the walnuts, chop, and add to the salad along with the optional dried fruit. Mix with approximately ½ cup of tofu mayo. Serve over a bed of lettuce.

TOFU MAYO

8 oz firm tofu (Mrs. Cheng’s preferred)

1 T lemon juice

1 T brown rice vinegar

1 T mellow white miso

Slice tofu and steam for just 3 minutes. Blend all ingredients until smooth and creamy, and adjust seasonings to taste. Keeps refrigerated for 2 to 3 days (and if it separates, just re-blend).

BLUEBERRY CRISP

4 cups blueberries, organic, fresh or frozen

1 cup organic apple juice

1 T kuzu, dissolved in room temperature water or apple juice

½ cup sunflower seeds

½ cup almonds, pan toasted and chopped

1 cup rolled oats, organic, pan toasted

½ cup walnuts, pan toasted and chopped.

4 T brown rice or maple syrup

pinch of sun dried sea salt

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Put the berries and apple juice into a sauce pan and bring to a gentle boil with (a very small) pinch of sea salt and about 1 T or rice or maple syrup. Cover, turn heat to low, and simmer for about 10 minutes. Meanwhile toast the nuts and oats and then chop the almonds and walnuts. Put the dry ingredients into a bowl, and set aside. When the berries are done, add the dissolved kuzu until the mixture thickens, and pour into a baking pan. To make the rest of the topping, add the brown rice syrup to the nuts and oats and mix well. Spread over the top of the berries and bake for 7 to 10 minutes, or until the top begins to brown.