Atlanta Macrobiotics

You’ve sipped Green tea at the Chinese and Japanese restaurants, usually in the teeny cups they keep refilling over and over again. And this may or may not affect your sleep depending on your other intake of caffeine for that day. Yes, there is caffeine in this tea, although it’s less than coffee, but present. It’s from the leaf of the plant, and for those of you fortunate to have experienced Japanese Tea Serving you may have learned all about those special green leaves, and seen them crushed into the fine powders.

Well, on a Macrobiotic Diet there’s something even better than that! Bancha Twig Tea! And it has only miniscule caffeine – which means it’s there, but almost undetectable, especially the best Mitoku quality. And it’s helpful for so many conditions. I love covering all the benefits in my macrobiotic cooking classes. Here are a few for you to enjoy!

The loose twigs make a wonderful drink, and actually assists digestion. Just boil 5-7 minutes, to a light brown shade and enhanced aroma. Please enjoy in the morning, and I often take a thermos with me for the day when I’m away from home.

Need a more relaxing drink? Add a little apple juice, and voila, feel the tension melt away in your shoulder blades.

Feel the beginning of a headache coming? Add up to 6 drops shoyu (Macrobiotic Diet recommended soy sauce) to a drinking cup, and pour the tea over the shoyu. Now this is amazing. As the tea disperses the shoyu throughout the cup, guess what? When you drink this Sho Ban Tea, your blood is alkalined and the symptoms of the headache disperse and poof, vanishes! I keep a small bottle of shoyu at my desk, and have helped myself and other clients numerous times.

Do you sometimes get a sore throat or laryngitis? Gargle with salted bancha tea throughout the day, and you’ll nip it in the bud!

Travel with Bancha Twig Tea bags wherever you go! I had them at the beach years ago when I ran into a stingray, and guess what our Senior Macrobiotic Counselor Warren Kramer had me soak my foot in? Yep, Bancha Tea. It took the poison right out of my foot, so there I was the Marco Island Hilton hotel, foot in sink, soaking in bancha tea, while I sipped my Sho Ban for the trauma of the sting, and I was out dancing that very same night!

Serves 4-5

Benefits: Daikon strongly dissolves fat, oil and discharges animal products from past eating habits.

The root is especially helpful for the intestines and the tops cleanse our lungs! A perfect combination in healing our bodies, ‘specially since ancient Chinese medicine sees these two organs as a special pair! There are additional recipes we cover in our macrobiotic cooking classes. This recipe below is inspired by Michio Kushi and Alex Jack in Healing Foods

• 2 cup daikon root, diced
• 3-4 cups daikon tops, diced
• Pinch of si salt
• Shoyu to taste, 8-10 drops

1. Place daikon root in enamel cast iron pot, add water to cover.
2. Place tops over roots, lightly sprinkle with si salt.
3. Simmer 15 minutes.
4. Add shoyu 3 minutes.more.
5. Remove from pot and serve for a nice surprise, maybe your new favorite green veggie!

Use within 10 days, then make fresh! Enjoy your own personal ratio! You will learn your ratio from your macrobiotic counselor, and it will be perfect for your own condition. Sometimes this will change on future appointments as your condition improves. Learning how to make gomashio in a macrobiotic cooking class is a must! You have to see it, feel it, crush the seeds throughout the process, and reach the incredible aroma in a hands-on macrobiotic cooking class so you know what you are wishing to achieve. Perfect gomashio is the best!

Benefits: this delicious condiment actually is a digestive aid. Sesame seeds are rich in protein, calcium, iron and B vitamins.

Healing Foods, by Michio Kushi and Alex Jack

• 1 part si sea salt  to  16-22 parts sesame seeds, rinsed

1. Dry roast salt for 10 minutes til shiney and grind in a suribachi until fine.
2. Meanwhile, in another skillet, roast the rinsed, wet seeds for 5-10 minutes, stirring to prevent burning.
3. Seeds are ready when they no longer stick to the wooden spoon, and you can easily crush them between the pinky and thumb of your less dominant hand.
4. Add seeds to ground salt, and crush seeds in a circular motion around the suribachi until all the seeds crush.
5. A special brush allows you to get the most crushed seeds from the suribachi grooves.
6. Let cool to room temperature before storing in the sealed non-transparent container.

Gomashio stays fresher away from sunlight.

Serves 4-5

Based on Wendy Esko’s Soup du Jour, and from our Macrobiotic Cooking Classes

Serve warm in cooler months, room temp or cool in hot climate

Benefits: Soothing, relaxing; antioxidant, cruciferous veggie; benefits central body organs: stomach, pancreas, spleen 

• 1 medium Cauliflower, chopped           
• 4 – 5 lemon slices, cut in half moon,
• 2 Tablespoons parsley, finely chopped
• 4-5 cups water                     
• 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon si salt

1. Place cauliflower and water in enamel cast iron pot. Cover and bring to boil.
2. Reduce flame to medium-low, simmering 10 minutes.
3. Puree the cauliflower through a handmill, or blender, plus some of the liquid to the desired consistency.
4. Place back in pot, add the si salt, simmer another 5 minutes.
5. Serve in soup bowls, garnishing each with a lemon slice and parsley.

Benefits: Soothing, beneficial effects on digestion, blood quality and the mind, without caffeine.

Healing Foods, by Michio Kushi and Alex Jack

• 1 1/2 –2 Tablespoon Loose Twigs, preferably Mitoku Brand
• 1 1/2 quart water

1. Bring water to boil, and add twigs; cover and gently simmer 10 minutes.
2. Strain and serve, keeping remaining tea in a carafe.

Why this special brand of tea? What difference does it make, loose twigs or bancha tea bags??
Let’s say, this twiggy way, you know you’re getting the real mccoy tea, and Mitoku quality is the finest imported available. In case you are wondering a source for Mitoku products? For your convenience, we’ve provided a link you can just click on Natural Import Company, and voila, you are ready to order the finest Macrobiotic products!

Another reason to have this fine quality of tea: bancha tea serves as the base for several macrobiotic remedy drinks, such as Sho Bancha tea, which we recommend for frontal headaches, and digestion problems. This drink alkalines us so quickly, and often we are feeling good as new immediately! Good reason to start with the best quality, and you’re always prepared to take your health to the next level! Happy Tea Time!

Serves 2

Benefits: to relax and fulfill sweet cravings.

Less fruit is better, and sometimes none is best. This recipe adds kuzu which helps soothe digestion of fruits simple sugars, giving the dessert an apple pie consistency, reminiscent of Grandma’s!

• 1–2 Granny Smith Apples, sliced Pinch si sea salt
• 3/4 cup apple juice +1/4 cup water
• 1 teaspoon dissolved in 1/3 cup cold water

1. Place apple slices in small enamel coated cast iron pot.
2. Add diluted apple juice, and sea salt; cover and bring to boil over medium low flame, 7-10 minutes.
3. Stir in dissolved kuzu, thickening the mixture to consistency of apple pie filling.

Enjoy while warm.

Serves 4-5

Based on Aveline Kushi’s Complete Guide to Macrobiotic Cooking

Benefits: Lentils are rich in calcium, iron and dietary fiber cleansing the blood, strengthening digestion, and circulation.

Healing Foods, by Michio Kushi and Alex Jack

• 1 cup French baby green lentils
• 1/4 cup burdock, diced
• 1 cup onion, diced
• 2-3 cups water per cup lentils
• 1/2 cup celery, diced
• 1/4 teaspoon si salt
• 1 cup diced carrots
• 2 Tablespoons parsley, finely chopped
• Shoyu to taste
• Bay Leaf, minced garlic clove, shinshimi optional

1. Sort lentils, looking for stones, dirt and debris.
2. Rinse, and optional soaking overnight or 2-6 hours.
3. Place in enamel cast iron pot, add water and kombu, bring to boil uncovered.
4. Skim foam using the shocking method: add just enough water to stop the boiling, and skimming the foam. Repeat 3-4 times. Removing this foam makes beans more digestible.
5. Layer vegetables yin to yang: celery, onion, carrot, burdock and put lentils on top.
6. Add water, cover and bring to boil over medium flame; reduce flame  to medium-low.
7. Simmer 40 to 45 minutes.
8. Season and simmer for another 5 minutes.
9. Transfer to serving bowl and garnish with parsley.
10. Seasoning Note: bay leaf is additional digestive aid for cooking beans; one minced garlic clove will actually sweeten the dish without reeking of garlic; shinshimi removes old chicken from past eating.

These are optional and depend on the individual condition. Also can be used occasionally rather than each time a dish is prepared – variety is the spice of life!

Variations: celery, cauliflower, yellow crook neck squash for warmer months.

Serves 4-5

Benefits: Millet is very healing for the pancreas. Being the only alkaline grain, it aids digestion and helps balance sweet cravings. This is a layered dish, using round, ground vegetables to gratify the central body organs and penetrate a sweeter taste for this satisfying grain dish. You can also add 2 more cups of water for a wonderful millet soup, seasoned with miso at the end.

• 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup rinsed millet, lightly dry roasted
• 1.2 cup cabbage, sliced
• 2-3 cups water, to cover the vegetables
• 1/2 cup sweet squash, sliced
• 2 Tablespoons parsley, finely chopped thin, kabocha or delicatta
• Pinch si salt

1. Layer onion, cabbage, squash in enamel cast iron pot and evenly spread millet over the vegetables.
2. Sprinkle salt over dish.
3. Add water gently down the side of the pot so as not to disturb vegetable layers.
4. Cover and bring to boil over medium flame; reduce flame and simmer 20 minutes.

Variations: celery on bottom layer; substitute cauliflower, yellow crook neck squash for warmer months.

Note: February 4 we start eating for Spring weather! Serve winter squash October – February 4.

Servings: 4-8 This leftover may be kept in refrigerator for 2 days.

Based on Macrobiotic Path to Total Health, Michio Kushi and Alex Jack

Whenever we feel a bit under the weather, this turns us around to health again.

Benefits: Perfect food, so easily digested, it simulates intravenous feeding for instant improvement to our blood, giving smooth energy and assists healing the body. Perfect for a liquid diet.

• 1 cup short grain brown rice, rinsed and soaked overnight. Handmill.
• 5-10 cups water depending on the person’s condition
• 1/2 –1 umeboshi plum or pinch sea salt

1. Place rice, water  and umeboshi plum or pinch si salt in pressure cooker; cover and bring to pressure.
2. Reduce flame to medium-low, simmering 1 hour on a flame diffuser.
3. Remove from flame, open and stir thoroughly for an even consistency.
4. Puree the brown rice through a handmill. You will eat the soft cream, omitting the grain pulp.