Easy Kimchi

Prep time: 1 hour                                Fermentation time: 3-7 days                     Add to MyFitnessPal

Ever wonder what goes into that sour, sweet, hot, salty, umami bomb known as kimchi? You look into the jar at the grocery store and see red, orange, yellow cabbage, carrots, maybe a bok choi or two and think, how do they make that stuff? And why is it so disgusting/amazing? And if you can buy it in the store, why on earth would you bother making it? And why does it get eaten so much in the hottest part of the summer.

Hot, yet strangely cooling. It looks a little funky, but there' no better condiment on the planet

I know, I know, fermented foods are kind of polarizing. You either love them, hate them, or are too scared to try them. But get this, not only are they tasty, but the National Institutes of Health recently published several studies in which they concluded that Kimchi has the benefits of being "anticancer, antiobesity, antoconstipation, colorectal health promoting, probiotic, cholesterol reducing, fibrolytic, antioxidative, antiaging, brain health promoting, immune system promoting, and skin health promoting." In short, forget everything you've heard about goji and acai berries, kimchi is the ultimate superfood! Not only does it have the lactofermentation benefits, but the each of the main ingredients carries its own suite of incredible nutrient. Too bad a lot of the storebought stuff has been pasturized and cut the benefits, according to the folks over at Livestrong, in half.

As for eating Kimchi in the summertime - it turns out that spicy fermented foods stimulate a cooling homeostatic response in the body, leaving you feeling (and actually) significantly cooler after you've eaten it.

Oh, and it tastes pretty darned good too :). I'll be posting a kimchi soup recipe here in the next few weeks, and it's indispensable on Bibimbop. Can you tell I love the stuff?

Curly Fries

Prep Time: 7 minutes                        Cook Time: 10 minutes                   Add to MyFitnessPal

Curly fries - those time-honored savory treats from childhood - are a classic July food. They're also packed with starch, breading, and fried in 10-day-old oil. But dang they taste SO good! And it turns out, they're a piece of cake to make and they can actually be good for you.

They go great with Smye's Catsup

Using this particular spice mixture, these taste nearly identical to those served at a particular fast food restaurant that famously serves roast beef sandwiches - but feel free to play with the spices and make to suit your own tastes.

Turkey Meatballs

Prep Time: 5 Minutes                        Cook Time: 10 Minutes                              Add to MyFitnessPal

Do you ever crave a big, heaping bowl of spaghetti and meatballs? If you're like me and have had weightloss surgery, there's nothing I can do to help you with the heaping part, but spaghetti and meatballs, it turns out, are a synch!

Can't believe how easy these are

These meatballs only take about 15 minutes from ingredients-in-the-fridge to meat-on-your-plate and the taste is incredible! And you don't even have to worry about breadcrumbs. Looking for the full spaghetti meal? Don't worry, that post is coming soon! These are also super versatile - I love them in curries, soups, sandwiches, pasta, and even tacos (weird, I know). 

Lettuce Soup

Prep Time: 10 minutes                         Cook Time: 25-35 minutes                 Add to MyFitnessPal

My partner and I moved to the woods to start our farm four years ago and had no idea what we were doing. We both love salads and decided to plant two 20 ft rows of mixed lettuce thinking, "This will be great!" We'd read that with cloches, row covers, and proper care, we could grow lettuce all year long; did out the math to figure out how much lettuce we'd need for roughly 3 months and went to sow. What we didn't realize was that if we planted all our lettuce at the same time, they would all reach maturity at about the same time. After weeks of careful cultivation, we had 3 months of greens, no idea of how to preserve it, and no where near the stomach capacity to eat it all. And thus, lettuce soup was born.

It sounds icky, but WOW it's good! I've been on full food for over 2 months and I still make this all the time, it's amazing!

Initially wary of cooking my lettuce, this is now my very favorite use of lettuce throughout the year!

Farm Update The First

There have been a few changes to the Smye Farm this year, blowing our options for what we grow wide open!

Chiles, in the PNW? YES!

Check below the jump to see the latest updates to the Smye farm garden. Animal updates coming soon.

Berry Sorbet

Preparation Time: 5 minutes                   Chill Time: 20-40 minutes                      Add to MyFitnessPal

There's no reason to say goodbye to sweet frozen treats on a hot summer day. It's just a matter of what we put in them and how much of each we eat. And THIS sorbet is one you can just about fill your pouch (or bypass, or DS, or balloon, or whatever) on. It's fast, it's sweet, it's tart, it's made of whole foods and, most of all, it's delicious!

Blueberry sorbet - my personal favorite!

(And oh yeah, it can help you poop, but it won't overpoop those of you who are already regular).

Buffalo Bleu Chicken Macaroni & Cheese

Preparation Time: 5 minutes                      Cook Time: 5 minutes             Add to MyFitnessPal

What's that you say? The photo looks like the nasty, gluey, salt-laden, carb-heavy, fat-soaked, artificial-as-heck and, admittedly, not so tasty stuff you used to order at the diner at 2 in the morning back in the days of late night hangover cures and binge-eating junk food.

Sorry, the lens got a little steamy

Don't worry, it's nothing like that. Believe it or not, this mac n' cheese is wholesome, has as much vitamin C as a cup of orange juice, and tastes incredible. It's a little rich for my taste most nights, but on special occasions it really hits the spot!