Slow Changes: Step Two

Here is the second in a 12-step series that focuses on how you can add to your menu without subtracting. There will always be those who trumpet what you must remove from your diet. Food Pillars focuses on increasing your power to use healthier food in your routine. We believe eventually these nutrient-rich alternatives will replace poor food choices - because they taste better, and make you feel better, too!

Photo Credit: Kathryn Akomah-Mordi

Photo Credit: Kathryn Akomah-Mordi

One of the easiest foods to add is condiments - because they're already part of our lifestyle. But the Food Pillars condiments contain no high fructose corn syrup, no preservatives, no artificial ingredients, and no rancid or inflammatory oils. Plus, they have the added pop of a probiotic boost.

Since we probably have palates overly-conditioned to sweet and salty tastes, the first 3 Slow Changes steps tailor our tongues to appreciate sour, bitter, and umami - significant flavors for our physiology. Umami, introduced in Step 1 as the brothy, savory flavor is resorative; it conditions and repairs the gut lining. Sour flavors, featured today in our condiments, are stimulating to the liver, our organ of detoxification. Sour foods are a meaningful contrast to the steady stream of sweet foods we consume.

Begin your condiment experience with a carton of plain, unsweetened yogurt with live, active cultures. Line a wire strainer with cheesecloth or a coffee filter and set it over a bowl. Dump the yogurt into the prepared strainer and set it in the fridge for 24 hours. When you come back, a transparent, yellowish liquid will have dripped into the bowl. This is whey. It is the secret, probiotically-active ingredient that will add the zing to your condiments.

Catsup
Take 5 minutes to prepare; enjoy for 50 days or more!
12 oz. tomato paste, preferably organic
2 Tb. whey (see above)
1/4 c. raw honey
2 Tb raw cider vinegar
1/2 tsp. mustard powder
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
1/8 tsp. allspice
1/8 tsp. cayenne powder
1 tsp. sea salt
1 1/4 c. water

Whisk all the ingredients together and pour into a pint-size jar. Screw the lid on and leave the container at room temperature for two days. (This allows the probiotics to grow; the salt and whey create an acidic environment that prohibits mold and pathogens, so don't worry about that!) Refrigerate after 48 hours. Keeps for many months.

Super Easy Ranch from www.wellnessmama.com 2/3 c. yogurt (just use some from your wire strainer, above*)  1 tsp. dried dill salt & pepper to taste 1 clove garlic, minced 2 Tb. parmesan cheese 6 Tb. olive oil In a food processor or blender, pulse the yogurt, dill, salt and pepper, garlic, and parmesan until blended. With the motor running, drizzle in olive oil until emulsified. Add water to thin if dressing is too thick. Keeps one week in the fridge. *Yogurt solids are just as probiotically-rich as whey - both parts have been inoculated during the culturing process Salsa Fresca Don't limit yourself to chips; it's good on eggs, hamburgers, black beans...) 4 c. chopped tomatoes 1 onion, chopped 1 jalapeno, seeded and diced (or chili pepper if you like it hot) 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 bunch cilantro, stems removed 1 1/2 tsp. salt 4 Tb. whey (see above) 1/2 c. lime juice (or lemon) Combine ingredients and pack into a quart jar, leaving 1" of head space. Screw on the lid and leave at room temperature 2-3 days. (This allows the probiotics to grow; the salt and whey create an acidic environment that prohibits mold and pathogens, so don't worry about that!) Refrigerate until use.