Wednesday, April 7, 2010

My Favorite Student Preparation 2010: Savory Superfood Bouillon

So we wanted to make a superfood in class but several class members didnt want it to be sweet.  We settled on dehydrating heirloom tomatoes, kale from the garden, kelp powder, himalayan pink salt, nutritional yeast, 14 mushroom blend powder from Mushroom Harvest, chickweed and alfalfa powder.  Everything was finely ground into a powder and mixed together.  The result was a tasty bouillon of sorts that we could sprinkle into dishes for added nutritional potency.  What really surprised me was how delicious the dried kale was.  It smelt and tasted great, almost adding a peppery punch to it. 

Mother of Minerals(MOM)

As our winter weeds begin to yield to our spring wildflowers, I am quickly harvesting and brewing as many plants as I can into vinegars, glycerites and tinctures.  What a winter for chickweed, even 18 degree freezes didnt hold it back! A couple of years ago my students and I began creating a new blend, originally entitled FloraYoni, now toned down to Mother of Minerals.  It was our answer to Floradix, an nutritive blend for iron and other mineral support often seen on the market.  I gather my winter greens(collards, kale and spinach) from my garden, add in wild chickweed, cleavers, henbit, cilantro, alfalfa, nettles, kelp, and whatever other nutritive goodies I have growing, some fresh beets from the garden, and blend them into a mix of glycerin and apple cider vinegar.  These stew and brew together for a month.  I add in a bit o black strap molasses and Voila, a tasty nutritive base for folks.  No pills needed.  This brew is a tasty way to get all sorts of extra blood building nutrition into you.  Pederson's Nutritional Herbology gave a nutritional profile of Chickweed that blew me away.  Seasonal Yumminess that even kids will take.