Asparagus Risotto

Asparagus were on sale at Greenlife/Whole Foods in Asheville this Saturday. In honor of the vernal equinox, i picked up a bunch and made my yummy spring risotto. This is a hearty dish. I combined a couple of recipes i found in 2007 & 2008 in the NY Times and did my own thing with them. One is the Pope's Risotto, a dish developed for the Pontiff's 2008 spring visit to NYC. Age 81 at the time, the Pope requested bland dishes that were light and seasonal, so this asparagus, peas and fava bean risotto was developed to suit the papal entrails.

The other is from my favorite food columnist, Mark Bittman's The Minimalist. Typical of his recipes, this Asparagus Risotto is simple, easy and mmm, mmm good.

so here's Kath's Yummy Spring Risotto with Spinach/Onion Pesto Sauce

For the Risotto:
1 bunch asparagus, cut into 1" pieces, tips reserved. remove any thick stems.
1 1/2 lbs Arborio rice
4C veg stock
2C water
2T olive oil
3T Earth Balance margarine
1/3 medium red onion, medium-small dice
1 portabello mushroom cap, large dice
1/2C peas (frozen OK)
1/2C white wine
1+t Celtic sea salt, to taste
3-4T vegan Parmesan
3-4T hemp nut seeds
1/3-1/2C toasted pine nuts

For the pesto:

1C packed spinach leaves, washed
1/4-3/8C packed sliced chives: 2-3
1/2C+ olive oil
1/4t Celtic sea salt


Steam half a bunch of the asparagus stalks (no tips) until soft, approx 5 min.

Put stock & water in separate pans and heat on low.

In a large, deep stir-fry pan, heat the oil and 1T of the margarine on medium heat. When its hot, add the onion, stirring occasionally until soft, about 5 min.

While the onion is cooking, puree the steamed asparagus stalks in a food processor (yes, u get to use it :), adding enough water to get a smooth paste.

When the onion is soft, add the rice and cook, stirring occasionally, until glossy, about 5 min. Add the wine, stirring until the liquid bubbles away. Add salt. Begin adding the warmed stock, 1/2C-1C at a time, stirring occasionally. Each time the stock has about evaporated, add a little more.

While the risotto is cooking, blend the pesto ingredients together in the food processor: put the veggies in the bowl and add the olive oil in a stream thru the hole at the top.

When the risotto has cooked about 15 min, add the remaining asparagus and tips, mushrooms and peas (if using fresh peas).

When the risotto becomes tender with a slight crunch (after about 30+ of cooking time) add the asparagus puree and peas (if using frozen). Remove from heat, add the Parmesan, remaining butter, hemp seeds and pine nuts, stirring well. add salt and pepper to taste. Serve with a spoonful of pesto over the top. Enjoy. KB

Why Celtic sea salt?

this type of salt has more trace minerals, many of which have few other dietary sources.

Why hemp seeds?

Hemp seeds are high in protein, especially important for those on a plant based diet. You can stir it into rice and grains and sprinkle over veggies and salads. they are about the size of sesame seeds, with a mild flavor.

NY Times Reports: Only 23% of US Meals Contain Vegetables

Alarmingly, the NY Times reported Saturday that only 23% of American meals include a vegetable. In that statistic, fries don't count as a vegetable, but paradoxically a piece of lettuce on a hamburger does. The CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention) reported that merely 26% of Americans are eating vegetables 2-3x/day.

Many reasons play apart: chiefly households with both adults working full time and the onslaught on convenience foods. Family dinner might be pizza or fried chicken picked up on the drive home at the end of the work day. Children complain and tired parents give in rather that fight for eating healthy meals. Junk food is so dominate in American diets, that a consortium of farmers put together an ad campaign using junk food packaging to sell baby carrots.

Another reason given that many wouldn't ordinary think about is Americans do not know how to cook vegetables properly. If you see yourself in this category, talk to a vegetarian friend, or look at some of the plant-based, healthy & yummy recipes I've included in this blog (check the recipes label on the left column).

Here's a few more suggestions on tasty and easy ways to enjoy veggies:

Roasted Root Vegetables

In the autumn & winter season, when the weather chills, yin dominates. Yin & yang are polar opposites. Yang is upward, warm, sun, male, activity, etc. Yin is female, dark, quiescence, deep, downward, cool. Spring and summer are yang seasons, and fall and winter are yin seasons. Root vegetables, which grow downward, deep in the cool earth nourish yin, so Chinese dietary advice recommends eating them in the fall & winter. Baking and roasting are recommended cooking techniques in the cool seasons as it warms cool yin.

Roasted root vegetables are easy, delicious and the perfect choice for autumn & winter. I like to do a medley of several different vegetables: beets, carrots, rutabagas (there's a vegetable most people won't eat), yams and winter squash. Whatever is available and you like will be fine. You can also roast singles: beets with rosemary, potatoes with oregano, or baked yams & squash.

Peel the veggies & cut into 1 inch pieces: cube a round veg, like rutabagas, cut carrots into 2" segments, halve or quarter beets, depending on size. Put them into a Pyrex dish (9x12 or 9x9, or larger if you are making a big batch) and drizzle with olive oil. You could add a few above ground vegetables for flavor, such as garlic cloves and quartered onions. Cover with foil and roast @375 for about an hour, shorter cooking time in convection ovens. Bake until tender and fragrant. I make a large batch as the veggies store well and can be reheated easily.

To include the valuable and often missed trace minerals - a rich source is found in sea veggies - toast a sheet of nori, crumble and sprinkle over the top. Nori is used for sushi rolls, and has little favor or fragrance. Find nori in packages in the macrobiotic section of the natural food store.

Nori is high in vit A (a breath taking 11,000 iu's per 100g) is rich in Calcium (470mg) and phosphate (510mg). Many sea veggies, such a s wakame, hijiki, arame & kombu are high in calcium (800-1300mg/100g). For comparison, spinach and cow's milk have 93 & 118mg/100g, respectively. The calcium in sea veggies are an easier form for the body to digest and do not cause stone formation. In fact, Chinese herbal medicine uses two sea veggies to dissolve cysts, masses and tumors: hai zao and kombu. Sea vegetables are an important dietary source of calcium for perimenopausal women. Also of note is the high level of potassium in many sea veggies, such as kombu (5800mg/100g), wakame (6800mg), dulse (8060mg), hijiki (get this: 14,700mg) & arame 3860mg). spinach: 470mg, cow's milk: 144mg.

Try floating a few crumbles of wakame in miso soup, with grated ginger, green onion slices, a tablespoon of cooked rice and some tofu cubes for a calcium rich lunch.

Most sea vegetables are black, which is the color of, and thus hones to, the Kidney. The Chinese Kidney system rules the yin, winter season, so this the optimal time to nourish the Kidney. The flavor of the Kidney is salty and its element is water. So black sea vegetables are an optimal choice for nourishing the Kidneys. The Kidney system holds our deep, reserve energy, called jing qi. The western go, go, go lifestyle depletes Kidney jing, so we must take advantage of every opportunity we have to supplement jing.


To bake winter squash, cut in half, scoop out the seeds and put a pat of butter in the cavity. put on a cookie sheet, cover with foil and bake 365 for about an hour until tender and fragrant. acorn, spaghetti & delicata and butternut bake well.

Yams can be baked whole or make yam fries: peel & slice vertically into 1/2 - 3/4" x 3" strips. Put strips in a glass dish, drizzle with olive oil, lightly salt & cover with foil. Bake at 375 for about an hour until tender. yummy.

Apple/yam puree for breakfast & dessert

Quarter & core the apples and cut yams into 3" segments. Add cinnamon stick, 1/4 - 1/2 a whole nutmeg, a few cloves (don't overdo them: they have a strong flavor) and whole anise. Either pressure cook on high for 8 min (add enough water to fill the pot to 1/3 of the fruit level) or put in a glass dish, cover with foil and bake at 365 for about an hour until tender and fragrant. Then puree in the food processor (yes, a chance to use it). No sweetener is necessary: this dish is plenty sweet on its own. Toast broken pecans and sprinkle over the top. I make a fairly large batch and reheat for breakfast & a guiltless dessert.


Vegetable soups are easy and warming in the winter. I enjoy a bowl with a piece of fresh baked bread for lunch. (slow bread recipe from Mark Bittman: NY Times food writer.) Butternut and rutabaga work well in pureed soups, as do zucchini & broccoli. I'll include soup recipes in future posts this fall and winter.

Use vegetable stock in place in water when cooking grains: it adds lots of flavor. I save my vegetable & fruit scraps and cooked spices and herbs in a bag in a freezer. I keep a bag of onion skins and garlic peels on the kitchen counter. When the veggie bag is full I put them in a pressure cooker with some fresh carrots, onion, garlic, celery and herbs, salt & pepper & the onion/garlic peels. Cover with water bring to pressure and cook for 12min or so to make vegetable stock. I then store it in the freezer in 1 1/2 - 2C containers to use for cooking grains, beans, or as a base for soups and sauces. Any vegetable or fruit peels, seeds and scraps can be used for this purpose, such as the seeds and pulp from squash, yam peels, apple and pear cores, parsley stems etc.

Using the stock in your cooking will get in a few more veggie servings each day. KB

UN Urges Global Move to Meat and Dairy-Free Diet

I don't get asked so much any more, but there were 4 main influences in my decision in becoming a vegan:

1. Earthsave was putting up graphic photos of mistreated livestock in the windows of my local health food store. Got me thinking.
2. Diet For A Small Planet by Francis Moore Lappe which laid out the advantages of a planet based diet verses a meat based diet in terms of environmental impact and the challenges of feeding the growing world human population.
3. I'm a native CA who came of age there during the 70's. Vegetarian diet seemed more healthy and at the time i was making a 180 degree life change from ice cream for dinner and a smoking habit to holistic health.
4. Spiritually, i do not believe that it's ok to kill other living beings. I feel our first priority should be the welfare, health, peace and prosperity of all living beings.

In 1994 I switched to a vegan diet. Yesterday I received a news article that the UN is calling for a Global Move to a vegan diet, beginning with a once a week meat-free day in an effort to contain climate change and to grapple with the challenge of feeding the billions of mouths in the world. KB

Food for Thought: Better to Eat a Cow than a Fish

I am vegan; however I often talk to folks who are sometimes vegetarians, or those who abstain from red meat. I think for them, the idea of eating a mammal is abhorrent, but occasional fish or chicken seems a tolerable or even desirable protein source. Even for those on an unabashed meat-based diet, the following discussion about which meats to eat may be insightful:

I was fortunate to attend a reading of a discourse read by Ven. Zhaxi Zhuoma Rinoche a couple of Sundays ago. Periodically, she paused to add in editorial comments and take questions that further illuminated and clarified the text. At one point she made a comment which spoke to me. That is that if one is going to eat meat, it is preferable to eat a large mammal which can feed many, such as a cow, rather than smaller life forms such as fish or shrimp. The logic is that if one eats a large animal, only one life is lost to feed many. With the consumption of smaller life forms, such as shrimp or shellfish, it takes many lives to feed one.

I thought this point was important to consider when making food choices. According to this idea, if one does eat fish or foul, larger animals such as tuna, swordfish, salmon, turkey or goose would be preferable to smaller species such as chicken, game hen, trout, catfish, lobster, and so on.

Do not get me started on the lobster.

And do remember if you are eating animals, to be sure they are humanly raised and slaughtered (no slaughter houses) and that they have eaten an organic diet that is hormone and pesticide free. (I will write a future blog post about this issue. Until then, see my September post regarding ways to lower risk of breast cancer for some preliminary thoughts on this topic.)

Eat happy, relaxed, humanely, nutritiously and be fully involved in your food. KB

Should Junk Food Be Sin-Taxed?

Let me take this opportunity to discuss the proposed surtax on soft drinks to help pay the costs of universal health care. First off, I'm for it, and here's why:

If we go to a universal health care plan, that would mean that we are all in the same insurance pool: we all put money in, and the sick and infirm take money out as needed to provide for their health care. That means that those of us who do preventative care, live a healthy lifestyle and cultivate our health are subsidizing the health care expenses of those who do not take care of their health. Obesity is at epidemic proportions in this country, and has been for some years. The costs of obesity in terms of disease has proportionally been on the rise, namely diabetes is now epidemic also. Other obesity related conditions include hypertension and hypercholesterolemia. These diseases lead to increased incidents of strokes, heart attacks and in the case of diabetes, kidney failure (requiring dialysis and transplants), blindness, peripheral neuropathy due to poor circulation, leading to amputations and so on. Obviously the dollar costs of these procedures as well as on going pharmaceutical use to treat these conditions is high: 150-200 billion $/annually in the US. (Smoking, for comparison, costs 120-150 billion annually). In a universal system that gets averaged out to all who pay in, meaning the healthy subsidize these costs as the rates rise for everyone in the system in order to pay out for those requiring the care.

Obesity is caused by poor diet. The cheap junk foods are the cause of the obesity epidemic. The government subsidizes wheat, corn, soy and tobacco. All of these contribute to poor health, and the heavily subsidized foods are used to make junk food cheap. Corn is used to make corn syrup, the cheap sugar substitute heavily utilized in junk food. Junk food is mainly purchased because it is cheap, so price directly correlates to its use. When price increases, usage decreases. As junk food is a direct cause of obesity and it's related diseases (diabetes, hypertension, hypercholestemia), decreasing the use of junk food will have a direct effect of reducing these diseases and the costs to society (under a universal health care system) for treating them. And because folks choose to eat these offending foods largely because they are cheap, one of the most direct results one can have in affecting behavior that causes obesity is too raise the price of the foods that cause it: junk foods. (Which by the way isn't really food: contrary to popular belief soda, red wine, chocolate and potato chips are not the 4 food groups, and corn chips do not count as a serving of vegetables).

Therefore I feel not only that the cost of soft drinks ought to be taxed, but all junk foods: fast food, donuts, pizza, Twinkies, chips, candy and so on, with the proceeds going to pay for the universal health care/insurance, to offset the costs of additional health care that the consumption of those offending foods cause are incurred by society.

It seems to me that in a society that sin taxes smoking and drinking (cigarettes and alcohol) obesity should be similarly sin-taxed by taxing junk foods.

In addition, I advocate for tax breaks to companies and individuals rewarding preventative care, such as gym memberships, healthy foods at cafeterias and menus, weight loss, smoking cessation, acupuncture, chiropractic and nutritional counseling, stress management, meditation, yoga, tai qi and qi gong classes. Tax breaks should be given when healthy foods are displayed prominently at eye level in stores and cafeterias, with junk foods and sodas/alcohol placed at the bottom/floor level of display cases, or high on shelves where children are present. Rather than subsidizing foods that cause disease, thereby increasing costs to the health care system that we all must incur, namely tobacco, soy, corn and wheat (these subsidized foods become the cheap, raw material of junk foods), the government should instead be subsidizing produce and organically grown foods (which have higher nutritional content and incur less cost to the environment). Remembering that fresh produce is often unavailable or entirely unaffordable in impoverished neighborhoods. As the NY Times reports in the article pasted below, the cost of produce has risen 40% in the past 3 decades, while the price of soda (made with government subsidized corn syrup) has fallen 33% during that same time period. Combined with an increasingly sedentary lifestyle and increased use of restaurants and fast food = a fool proof recipe for our obesity epidemic.

The following article from today's Sunday magazine section of the NY Times: Fat Tax by David Leonhardt lays out a well reasoned argument for surtaxing soft drinks. He postulates such a tax to lower the epidemic obesity and related diseases, such as diabetes, facing our country. These diseases are expensive to treat, increasing costs for everyone thru medicare, medicaid and raising private insurance premiums as the aggregate health care costs increase. Leonhardt argues that sodas (and i would say all junk food) have similar public health costs by causing obesity as cigarettes in causing lung cancer. KB

3 Tempeh Recipes

Occasionally patients mention that they would like to try tempeh, but aren't sure how to cook it. Tempeh is a soy product, made with fermented soybeans and formed into cakes. Often times other ingredients are added, such as grains or seaweed (sea veg). Tempeh has a strong flavor and needs to be marinated or cooked in sauces to moderate the taste. Here are 3 of my favorite tempeh recipes, taken form Peter Berley's cookbook "The Modern Vegetarian Kitchen". Berley is a vegetarian chef who cooked for many years at Angelica's Kitchen, one of New York's original and favorite veg restaurants. I love his cookbook and all of the recipes in it.

In his book Peter recommends using unpasteurized tempeh, which he claims is available in the freezer section. I have never seen it in Asheville. He praises its' texture and ability to absorb marinades.



Barbecued Tempeh

I have brought this to pot lucks and the plate always comes home empty. Non-vegs like to try it and always like it.

1lb tempeh
1/2 C cider vinegar
1/2C soy sauce (i use tamari)
1/2C olive oil
1/3C pure maple syrup
2t ground cumin
2t ground chipoti chili (i sub a Koren red chili i have on hand)
1t dried thyme
1t sweet paprika

I usually double this and bake it in a 9x12 pan.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Slice each block of tempeh in half horizontally, then slice each piece in half. Use a baking dish that will hold the slices in a snug, single layer.

Whisk together the liquids and spices. Pour half the marinade in the baking dish. Place the tempeh on top and cover with remaining marinade. Cover dish with foil, shiny side down, creating a tight seal. Bake 35min in a convection oven or 45-50min in a conventional oven, until most of the marinade is absorbed. Uncover and bake an additional 10 min (conventional oven). Convection: turn off oven and bake additional 9min, until well browned.

Remove and cool. If you are bringing it to a bar-be-que, i like to thrown it on the grill for a few min.

Peter recommends making Bar-be-qued Tempeh into sandwiches with toppings such as: chopped lettuce, sliced kirby or pickling cucumber, clover spouts, watercress and shredded carrots.

I like it as a main dish, served over a bed of brown basmati rice and steamed veggies on the side.

This dish freezers well. Peter advises that it keeps up to 10 days in the refridge.




Apple-Mustard Baked Tempeh Sandwich Filling

I generally double this recipe. The Natural Import Store in Asheville as wonderful, high quality sesame oil, avail mail order or pick-up. I have a link to their website on the bottom of the Resources page of my website www.AcupunctureAsheville.com



1lb tempeh
1 1/3C apple juice or fresh cider
1/3C olive or light sesame oil
3T soy sauce (i use tamari)
3T mustard (i use brown)
1t ground caraway seeds
1t ground cumin (i have successfully subbed curry pwd for the spices)
1/4 t black pepper
Sour kraut


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Slice each block of tempeh in half horizontally, then slice each piece in half. Transfer to a steamer and steam over boiling water for 8min.

Whisk together the liquids and spices. Place the tempeh a baking dish that will hold the slices in a snug, single layer. Pour the marinade over the tempeh and bake uncovered 28min in a convection oven or 35-40min in a conventional oven, until most of the marinade is absorbed and tempeh is nicely browned.

To serve, spread tahini and mustard (i use brown) on sandwich bread. Top with tempeh, sour kraut, and spouts or lettuce (i like dandelion greens). I think this makes great summer sandwiches.



Tempeh Simmered in Broth

This simple dish is surprisingly lite. Peter suggests adding a few chopped veggies and some leftover grains or pasta to the broth for a one-pot meal. I like to serve it over a bed of rice with steamed vegs on the side.

1lb tempeh, sliced in bite sized pieces
4C water
3T soy sauce (i use tamari)
1T olive oil
3-4 garlic cloves, lightly bruised with the side of the knife (apparently bruising affects the taste of garlic)
2-3 quarter-sized ginger root slices
1 sprig rosemary
1 sprig thyme
thinly sliced green onions (scallion) for garnish

Combine all ingredients, excepting scallion) in a pot and bring to boil. Reduce to simmer, cover and cook 30min. Remove herb sprigs and serve with sprinkled scallion.

4-6 servings

With Herbs and Foods, Form Dictates Function

Chinese medicine holds the concept the the shape of a plant or the climate it grows in dictates its medicinal properties. Like causes like. Here's something that has been circulating on the Internet that demonstrates this concept with foods. It's an interesting read. I would offer the caveat that i have not verified all of the info presented here. I am sharing it to illustrate the concept. But what i can verify is correct: carrots benefit the eyes, walnuts (in Chinese medicine theory) benefit the brain because it is shaped and looks like a brain, kidney beans nourish the kidney because they look like kidneys. Enjoy KB


A sliced Carrot looks like the human eye. The pupil, iris and radiating lines look just like the human eye... And YES, science now shows carrots greatly enhance blood flow to and function of the eyes.
A Tomato has four chambers and is red. The heart has four chambers and is red. All of the research shows tomatoes are loaded with lycopine and are indeed pure heart and blood food.
Grapes hang in a cluster that has the shape of the heart. Each grape looks like a blood cell and all of the research today shows grapes are also profound heart and blood vitalizing food.
A Walnut looks like a little brain, a left and right hemisphere, upper cerebrums and lower cerebellums. Even the wrinkles or folds on the nut are just like the neo-cortex. We now know walnuts help develop more than three (3) dozen neuron-transmitters for brain function.
Kidney Beans actually heal and help maintain kidney function and yes, they look exactly like the human kidneys.
Celery, Bok Choy, Rhubarb and many more look just like bones. These foods specifically target bone strength. Bones are 23% sodium and these foods are 23% sodium. If you don't have enough sodium in your diet, the body pulls it from the bones, thus making them weak. These foods replenish the skeletal needs of the body.
Avocados, Eggplant and Pears target the health and function of the womb and cervix of the female - they look just like these organs.. Today's research shows that when a woman eats one avocado a week, it balances hormones, sheds unwanted birth weight, and prevents cervical cancers. And how profound is this? It takes exactly nine (9) months to grow an avocado from blossom to ripened fruit. There are over 14,000 photolytic chemical constituents of nutrition in each one of these foods (modern science has only studied and named about 141 of them).
Figs are full of seeds and hang in twos when they grow. Figs increase the mobility of male sperm and increase the numbers of Sperm as well to overcome male sterility.
Sweet Potatoes look like the pancreas and actually balance the glycemic index of diabetics.
Olives assist the health and function of the ovaries
Oranges, Grapefruits, and other Citrus fruits look just like the mammary glands of the female and actually assist the health of the breasts and the movement of lymph in and out of the breasts.
Onions look like the body's cells. Today's research shows onions help clear waste materials from all of the body cells. They even produce tears which wash the epithelial layers of the eyes. A working companion, Garlic, also helps eliminate waste materials and dangerous free radicals from the body.

Homemade Applesauce: Healthy and Guilt-free Dessert

Apples have been on sale recently at Earthfare and Greenlife, so I bought a few pounds and made a easy applesauce, mmm, mmm. My grandmother used to make this and I still remember how much I loved eating it. We used to eat it with cinnamon graham crackers. It's also tasty over ice cream. Though, as an acupuncturist, I avoid frozen, sugary concoctions, such as ice cream.

I've been enjoying the applesauce over millet and walnuts in the morning for breakfast, or as an after-meal snack.

I used my version of my grandmother's recipe. She used to can it in jars. I haven't yet learned canning.

7lbs apples - I used a blend of macs and granny smith: they were both on sale. The granny smith added a tang, so I would continue with 50% green apples.

Whole spices: cinnamon [1 stick], anise [maybe 1t], nutmeg [1/2 nut], cloves [maybe 7 or so]

filtered water


Core the apples and cut into 3" chunks. (Quarter, then halve the quarters). I pressure cooked them on low pressure for about 5min with 1/4 pot of water and the spices [put these in a cloth teabag or a tea ball]. Alternatively, you could simmer them until they get soft. Then I pulled out the spices and pureed the apples with an immersion blender. You could use a food processor. My grandmother pushed them through a sieve with a wooden mallet. Using the modern appliances you get to use the skins, which have beneficial nutrients.

If the sauce is too wet, simmer it down a little longer. No sugar necessary, and boy is it tasty.

The cinnamon levels out the sugar spike, providing a slow release which is easier for the body to utilize. KB