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Johnny Loves Ozuké

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Last night we received one of the most enthusiastic and heart felt endorsements from our Facebook page. Interestingly we receive at least an email a week asking us if ourjumping beets ~fizzy, earthy, so alive they climb out of the jar beets are safe to eat. Something about your food rushing out to greet you has been unnerving for some folk who from experience expect a vacuum sealed lid to pop and show that everything is dead and safe and hermetically sealed. Well our beets are definitely NOT dead. They are the most live and most nutritionally dense of all our products, between the mineral and iron rich beets, the zinc and magnesium rich Maine coast harvested dulse seaweed and the blood bolstering garlic something truly magical happens. Johnny felt the magic. Here is what he said. 🙂

PS. make sure you read to the bottom there is an amazing 3 ingredient raw beet soup recipe that Johnny magicked together.~~~

jarring beets

I am slowly starting to ease into eating more fermented foods. I have a lifelong history of acute eating disorders that have caused some pretty intense damage to my body, especially my distressed digestive tract. I am a firm and faithful believer in the power of healing naturally with whole foods and know how beneficial fermented foods are to the digestive system. I recently discovered Ozuke’s sensational line of raw organic krauts at a local natural market. There were quite a few raw kraut brands to choose from but Ozuke’s really caught my attention so I went with my gut feeling and decided to give it a try. One of the first things I noticed was the amazing aroma that scented my car as I drove home. The krauts are freshly packed in air tight glass jars but the smells still seem to seep through. This made me eagerly enthusiastic to get home and dive in! The bottle will caution you to open carefully as natural explosion can happen. Do not let this scare you. You know the feeling when you pop open a bottle of bubbly on a special occasion and suds soar? Most people find this exciting as they cheerfully celebrate while they pop the top resulting in a fizzy frenzy. My reaction to opening my first jar of Ozuke beet, kale and dulse kraut was exactly this and so much more! To my surprise about 1 inch of shredded beets emerged from the top of the jar almost like it was sprouting up to shout “let’s get this party started!” Too anxious to wait, I quickly wiped up the beautiful beet splatter paint (hey, we all need some color in our lives!) and determinedly dove into deliciousness. I’m blushing to admit but I did not want to put the jar down. I was clinging to it like Winnie the Pooh to his honey pots! Everything became euphoric! The combination of sweet, salty, savory and slightly sour/tart raw-kraut-rocked my world like I was in some kind of sauerkraut sacred space with a note on the door that said, “Please do not disturb. I am in sauerkraut Heaven right now!” I say this with sincere seriousness. Nowadays I prefer to make all my own food, including homemade organic krauts, but Ozuke’s products are my new exception and obsession. I am currently hooked on their beet, dulse & kale kraut which I love using to make a dreamy & creamy fermented raw soup with 3 simple ingredients: Ozuke’s beet kraut, ripe avocado and Thai young coconut water – pureed into pure beet bliss! I am on a mission to try different krauts and start a staple stockpile of their fabulous fermented foods in my fridge! I feel it deep in my heart to share this testimonial because the outstanding owners at Ozuke are not just changing the food industry by promoting real, raw and healing foods but also changing the lives and health of others. I encourage others to embrace, enjoy and experience the nutritional cathartic healing benefits live fermented foods offer. Your health is worth it and you deserve it. Ozuke’s products are the perfect way to get your fermented food fix! You will feel the love, passion and positive energy they hand pack into every blessed jar. I cannot thank you enough Ozuke, God bless! JohnnyLovesOzukeJohnny Righini aka Mr. Sauerkraut Sassypants with his favorite Ozuke beet kraut!

Thank you Johnny for taking the time out to share your story and fizz like your favorite beets with such healthy enthusiasm.  xo

Boulder County Home & Garden

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Fermented Foods Find a Following

Fermented foods are making a tasty new splash as “good-for-you-foods”–although our grandparents knew it all along. By Mary Lynn Bruny

RECIPES FOR FERMENTING

fermenting-redrice Red Rice Make this recipe once, and I promise you, your family will ask for more. My daughter, Kailee, would never let a beet near her lips in any other way! Ingredients Butter or olive oil, to taste 1 jar Ozuké the best pickled things Beets, Dulse & Kale 3-4 cups rice, cooked 1 teaspoon garlic (or to taste), minced Toasted sesame oil Optional: sprouts, kale, fried eggs Directions Put butter or olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add one full jar Beets, Dulse & Kale. Sizzle for a bit, then add cooked rice. Stir over medium heat until everything mixes together. Add minced garlic and drizzle with toasted sesame oil. We serve this rice with a fried egg on top with sprouts and baby kale on the side. You can always snazz this up with another kind of protein and call it dinner. —Mara King, Esoteric Food Company

Golden Quinoa & Pickled Beets Salad

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Running around taking care of things such as work, kids, and chores can make it challenging to eat well every day. Here is a protein rich quinoa salad that can be made anytime and refrigerated, making it easy to just grab-n-go. The best part is that this colorful dish can be eaten hot or cold, and the ingredients are simple, and nourishing.

Our ozuké pickled beets, dulse, & kale is the SUPERFOOD ingredient adding brilliant color and intense nutrients to this meal. In addition to being a great source of iron, beets have been shown to provide antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and detoxification support. Dulse, a mineral rich sea vegetable, contains trace elements and is a protein source. Kale, a member of the mustard family, is high in calcium and vitamins A,C, and K. And, of course, ozuké pickled beets, dulse, & kale, like all of our fermented foods, is raw, organic, and probiotic.inthejarWhat makes puts the ‘gold’ in golden quinoa? Turmeric! Dubbed by some as the ‘world’s healthiest food’, turmeric comes from the roots or rhizomes of the plant species Curcuma longa (Ginger family).  Perhaps best known as an ingredient in curry, turmeric is what gives mustard its bright yellow color.  It is rich in manganese, iron, vitamin B6, fiber, and potassium. Turmeric’s color and flavor make it a great spice to incorporate in so many recipes.
ingredientsIngredients: 
1 cup of quinoa
½ teaspoon of turmeric
1 TBSP Extra Virgin Coconut Oil or Olive oil
½ small onion, chopped
1.5 cups of water
1 cup edamame, frozen
1 clove garlic, peeled & smashed
½ cup each of fresh cilantro, and mint, and parsley, lightly chopped
½ cup carrots, shredded
½ cup cashews, toasted
1 TBSP or more of lemon juice & zest
Salt & pepper to taste
½ cup or more ozuké beets, dulse, & kaleinthepanDirections:
In a medium saute pan with lid or sauce pan, heat oil. On medium/high heat saute onion and quinoa for about 5 minutes or until lightly toasted. Add water, edamame, garlic clove, and stir. After bringing to a simmer, cover and let cook about 15 minutes. If possible, let cool, then fluff. While quinoa is cooling toast cashews in a pan on medium heat. Add remaining ingredients, stir and top with ozuké beets, dulse, & kale.
peasgarliccooked and fluffed

Serve Golden Quinoa as a meal or a side dish, hot or cold. As an alternative to shredded carrots, consider using this Cranberry Carrot Salad recipe.

Cranberry Carrot Salad:
4 cups shredded carrots     
½ cup or more dried cranberries     
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice     
1 teaspoon fresh lemon zest     
2 tablespoons honey
Salt to taste
Fresh dill leavescarrots

Pickled Beets Et Al Sushi

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Woo Hoo: Another guest blog from Michelle Auerbach photo by Zoe Auerbach

There is nothing like not cooking.  When it’s 90 degrees in the kitchen at ten a.m. on a Saturday morning, turning on the oven or even the stove can seem like diving into lava.  But, even in the winter, a meal using no pots and no pans is a gift to whoever cleans your kitchen after you cook.  Sushi should be one of those meals, but never is.  However, this recipe allows sushi lovers to get creamy, salty, crunchy, and tangy – along with seaweedy – without making rice or messing up more than a bowl, plate, and cutting board.

Pickled Beets Et Al Sushi

1 Tablespoon white miso

1 teaspoon raw honey

3 Tablespoons tahini

Avocado

Carrot

Cucumber

Romaine lettuce

Zuke Beets, Hijiki, and Kale

Sushi Nori

Mix the miso, honey, and tahini in a bowl.  If it is not smoothing out to a nice paste add a teaspoon of hot water.Slice the avocado into strips.  Use a vegetable grater to make long strips of the carrot and cucumber.  Wash the romaine lettuce and break into sushi nori length strips.Take one sheet of nori, spread a little it of the mixed miso paste on the edge of it.  Then, line up the vegetables in palate pleasing proportions.  Finish with a couple dollops of the Beets, Hijiki, and Kale.  Roll up into a long nori roll and place on a plate seam side down. You can either make a few at once, or just bring all the ingredients to the table and let people roll their own to taste.

 

“Red” Rice- Easy Way to Get Kids to Enjoy Beets!

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There is a Bhutanese red rice.  This recipe starts with plain white rice and stains it red with beets. My Daughter Kailee would never let a beet near her lips in any other way.  Red Rice is all the rage at my house these days.  Start with butter melting in a pan.  Add a full jar (you heard me!) of our Beets. Sizzle for a bit then add cooked rice. Stir over medium heat until it is all incorporated.  Add finely minced garlic and drizzle with toasted sesame oil.  We love to serve this rice with an egg on top and some sprouts or baby kales on the side.  You’ll definitely enjoy the bright red pearly grains juxstaposed with a vivid white of eggs and the greens.  It’s such an attractive plate and you can always snazz this up with another kind of protein and call it dinner.  Make this one time and I promise your family will start harassing you for more and more beets.  Enjoy 🙂

The most intense of vegetables

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Tom Robbin’s novel, Jitterbug Perfume, begins with these immortal words. ” The beet is the most intense of vegetables. The radish, admittedly is more feverish, but the fire of the radish is a cold fire, the of discontent not of passion. Tomatoes are lusty enough, yet there runs through tomatoes an undercurrent of frivolity. Beets are deadly serious.” Then he wanders in his marvelous bohemian prose for awhile and lands at my favorite lines about our dear beet: “The beet is what happens when the cherry finished with the carrot. The beet is the ancient ancestor of the autumn moon, bearded, buried, all but fossilized; the dark green sails of the grounded moon boat stitched with veins of primordial plasma; the kite string that once connected the moon to the Earth now a muddy whisker drilling desperately for rubies.”  Tell it, Tom.