Cherie shed a great light on raw foods and provided a host of great information on why we should be eating a lot more of them. Her talk further illuminated the health benefits of the raw, fermented foods we make and we were proud to send her home with several jars.

Now, with two of her cookbooks in hand, we’ve been having a great time experimenting with several of her raw food recipes and incorporating our raw fermented foods wherever possible. One of our favorites so far is her Broccoli-Tahini Paté, which we’ve modified to include Firefly Kimchi. The combination is magnificent and makes a great dip for veggies or spread on sandwiches, wraps, nori or lettuce cups.

Broccoli-Tahini-Kimchi Paté
(Adapted from Cheri Soria’s Raw Food Revolution Diet Cookbook)

3 cups chopped broccoli
1/3 cup raw tahini paste
2 tbsp cilantro
1 tbsp ground flax seed
1 tbsp tamari (or soy sauce)
1 cup Firefly Kimchi

Soak the broccoli in a large bowl of almost-boiling water for one minute. Drain and let dry.

Meanwhile combine the remaining ingredients in a food processor. Add the broccoli and puree until smooth.

Season to taste with salt and pepper or a dash of hot sauce if desired.

Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.  

Leafy Greens and Cortido Enchiladas

For the enchiladas:

• 1 lb. swiss chard or kale
• 1 Tbsp butter or coconut oil
• 2 yellow onions
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1 1/2 cups ricotta or cottage cheese
• 3 cups tomato sauce
• 2 Tbsp taco seasoning (see below to make your own)
• 8 – 10 corn tortillas
• 1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded

For the sauce:

• 1 cup Cortido Sauerkraut
• 1 tsp fresh lime juice
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves
• 1/3 cup raw pumpkin seeds
• 1/4 cup Cotija cheese

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9 x 13-inch baking dish and set aside.

Pull the chard or kale from the stalk, wash and set aside. Heat a large pan over medium heat and melt the butter or coconut oil. Add the onions and sauté for 10 minutes until soft and beginning to caramelize. Add the garlic and sauté for another 3 minutes until fragrant. Add the chard/kale, cumin, salt and pepper and sauté until greens are wilted, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and add the ricotta or cottage cheese and stir to incorporate.

In a separate bowl combine the tomato sauce and taco seasoning. Pour one cup of the sauce into the greased baking dish.

Fill a shallow bowl with boiling water and dip each corn tortilla into the hot water for about 10 seconds to soften. Remove and spoon a generous heap of the greens mixture into the center of each. Roll the tortilla around the greens mixture to form a log shape and lay, seam side down, in the baking dish atop the tomato sauce. Repeat until all tortillas have been filled and are lined up next to one another in the pan. Pour the remaining tomato sauce over the tortillas and use a soft spatula to spread evenly and ensure all tortilla edges are coated with sauce.

Cover with foil and bake for 40 minutes. Remove foil, sprinkle the mozzarella on top and bake for another 10 minutes until cheese is melted and bubbly. Remove from the oven and let cool while making the sauce.

To make the sauce, combine all ingredients  in a standing blender and pulse until combined and smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper if needed.

Serve enchiladas with a drizzle of the sauce over each serving and enjoy!

(Taco seasoning: combine 1/4 cup chili powder, 3 Tbsp cumin, 2 Tbsp dried oregano, 2 Tbsp ground coriander, 1 Tbsp garlic powder and 1/2 tsp ground red pepper.)

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Recipe adapted from original found in Simply in Season, by Mary Beth Lind and Cathleen Hockman-Wert

In addition to the low-calorie and high-fiber qualities that cabbage is most often recognized for, and aside from the its benefits as a fermented food that we have covered in great deal as you might imagine, there are some interesting new studies that show cabbage lends some surprising health benefits to the female population.

Cabbage is a rich source of phytonutrients, in particular indole-3-carbonole (I3C) and sulforaphane, which are major players in the antioxidant and detoxification process throughout your body. On a whole these phytonutrients help break down and eliminate cancer-causing substances.

Specificially, I3C helps both improve estrogen detoxification and promote natural production of the most benign form of estrogen. Since both the amount and type of estrogen in a female’s body has been linked to a higher incidence of breast cancer, eating more I3C rich foods can help decrease your risk.

Sulforaphane helps increase the actual production of antioxidants and enzymes that detoxify the body. Recent studies also focus on the power of sulforaphane to stop the growth of breast cancer cells later in growth.

In addition, other compounds called isothiocyannates have been linked to a decreased risk of breast cancer due to their activation of liver enzymes that help cleanse carcinogenic substances from the body. They have also been shown to impact the way estrogen is metabolized and the way your body responds to the hormone.

As icing on the cake, research on these compounds also suggests that finely dicing or fermenting cabbage before eating it makes its beneficial nutrients more available to your body during digestion and activates beneficial enzymes that help these cancer-fighting processes take place.

So, next time you reach for a head of cabbage, or hopefully a jar of Firefly’s fermented foods, think about it both as a deliciously crunchy food that belongs at any backyard BBQ or summer dinner, but also a food that will fight for the healthy of your body with every bite!

Linda is a writer and has recently published a book titled, Detoxification: 70 Ways to Cleanse, Clear & Purify Your Body, Space & Life. We’re looking forward to reading through her wealth of information on improving health through natural cleansing methods – maybe there’s some information on probiotics in there too!

Here’s her winning recipe:

Eggs With Wilted Baby Greens and Kimchi Salad Stuffed Radicchio

(Makes 4 individual servings)

• 8 large pastured eggs, poached or soft boiled
• 2 lbs fresh bitter baby greens – choose a combination of young tender leaves such as dandelion, nettle, arugula, chard, mizuna, watercress, mustard, turnip or beet tops, endive, chicory, kale, or spinach (Reserve and thinly slice 1 cup raw greens for kimchi salad)
• 2 cups Firefly Kimchi
• 1 small red, yellow or green sweet bell pepper, thinly sliced
• 4 whole radicchio leaves, separated
• 8 ripe cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
• Extra virgin olive oil and umeboshi plum vinegar for drizzling (Eden Foods makes a nice one.)
• 4 Tbs grass fed butter, ghee, &/or pastured bacon fat
• ½ cup homemade chicken stock &/or white wine (use either one or a combination of both)
• 3-4 small shallots, minced
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1-2 oz dried dulse seaweed
• 2-3 oz sheep’s milk Pecorino Romano cheese, shaved thin with a potato peeler
• 4 Tbs fresh parsley and chives (or other fresh herbs of your choice) chopped fine
• sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

Boil water for poaching or boiling eggs, and cook them on a separate burner while preparing the rest of the dish so they’re just done and hot at serving time.

To make the kimchi salad, stir together the reserved sliced raw baby greens, kimchi, sliced bell peppers, 3 Tbs of the chopped parsley/chives, and a drizzling of olive oil. Spoon ¼ of the mixture into each radicchio leaf, top with sliced cherry tomatoes, and place one stuffed radicchio leaf on each plate.

Melt 2 Tbs of the butter in a skillet on medium heat and add the baby greens, season with salt and pepper and sauteé, stirring and turning regularly til wilted and soft. Add stock/wine, reduce heat and simmer gently uncovered, allowing most all the liquid to reduce until greens are still succulent, but not too juicy. Remove wilted greens to a warm plate and hold in a warm oven.

Return pan to medium-low heat and add the rest of the butter. Once it has melted, sauteé shallots, garlic and dulse for a few minutes, just until the aromatics soften, release their fragrance and begin to turn slightly golden, and the dulse crisps slightly.

Divide the wilted greens into four equal portions and plate them alongside the stuffed radicchio leaves. Pour over each portion of greens some of the butter/shallot/garlic/dulse mixture, drizzle with ume plum vinegar, and top with thin shavings of Romano cheese. Add two cooked eggs atop the greens to each plate, grind some fresh black pepper over them and sprinkle them with the fourth tablespoon of chopped parsley and chives.

Combine a bit of egg, greens, dulse, cheese, kimchi salad and radicchio on your fork, and savor the delightfully rich explosion of flavors on your palate!

There will be plenty more contests and chances to win so make sure you stay tuned to our facebook page for updates.

We’re hosting our first Firefly Recipe Contest this week in honor of springtime and all things egg!

We love eggs because they make an easy, affordable and healthy accompaniment to all of our fermented foods. Plus they’re a versatile ingredient you can combine with so many different flavors and ingredients.

From breakfast burritos with our Cortido Kraut to hand rolled sushi with hard boiled eggs and our Yin Yang Carrots; we’ve combined eggs and our fermented foods in too many ways to keep track.

Now we want to hear from you about your favorite egg and kraut or egg and kimchi recipe. We’ll be reviewing recipes all week long and will award 2 free jars of Firefly products to the winner this Sunday!

Don’t limit your recipe to just eggs and kraut though, we want to see creativity, great uses of other healthy, seasonal ingredients and fun preparations that will make our products even more enticing.

You can use any firefly product you want too; we’ve got everything from classic sauerkraut to salsa and kimchi so grab a jar (see where to buy here) and get cooking!

Send your best recipe to contests@fireflykitchens.com by Saturday April 7^th for a chance to win. We’ll announce the winners on our Facebook page and by email at 4 pm Sunday April 8th. We’re looking forward to seeing your Kraut and Egg creativity!

Here’s one of our favorites to get the ideas rolling:

Egg, Avocado & Kimchi Salad

8 large organic eggs, hard-boiled
½ cup diced red onion
3 stalks celery, diced
2 large avocados cut in bite-sized pieces
1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 cups Firefly Kimchi (with 3 Tbsp brine from the jar)
Salt and pepper to taste
2 heads butter lettuce, washed and torn into bite-sized pieces

Cut the hard-boiled eggs into quarters or smaller and place in a large bowl with the red onion, celery and avocado. Place the mayo and kimchi in a blender and pulse until the kimchi is roughly chopped and the mixture is combined. Pour the kimchi mixture over the eggs and toss to evenly distribute. Season to taste with salt and pepper if desired. Serve over individual bowls of the torn butter lettuce or between two slices of your favorite bread and enjoy!

Cheryn joined us in the kitchen last Saturday for our All About Kimchi fermentation class and walked away with not only a jar of kraut and a handbook on fermentation, but with the information she needed to put together a great article on Firefly Kitchens.

PulpLab, one of many publications Cheryn writes for, is a NYC based publication that follows new trends and ideas in food, art and culture. We were thrilled to be featured in their “Edible Culture” section and just couldn’t let go of her creative way of describing how to use Firefly products.

“Consider it the “Little Black Dress” of condiments,” she said. “And it’s damn tasty, too!”

Read the full article here on PulpLab.com

Kimchi Miso Pancakes

1 bottle of Firefly Kimchi brine (available at Seattle farmers markets)
3 tbsp Korean Miso paste
2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups Firefly Kimchi
2 tsp sesame oil
2 tbsp canola oil

Combine the brine (all or most of it) and Korean miso (I suppose any kind will work, but the Korean kind has a deeper, stronger flavor) in a large mixing bowl and stir until miso is dissolved. Then add enough flour to make a fairly thick batter (you may not need all 2 cups and you may need more depending on how thick you like your pancakes). Add the kimchi and stir to combine (you may need to thicken again with a bit of flour after this step).

Heat the sesame and canola oils together in a pan over medium heat. When the oil is hot, spoon about 1/4 cup of the batter into the pan to make a pancake. Fry until golden brown on both sides. Repeat this step to cool all pancakes. You can keep the others warm in a 200 degree oven while your finish cooking.

Serve with diced green onions or chives, a light peanut sauce or a sesame oil and kale pesto!

Stimulating your digestion is one of the best things you can do for your body this time of year; helping to clear out any accumulated buildup or stored toxins from the more stagnant winter months. Fermented foods, with a host of natural probiotic bacteria and digestive enzymes are an ideal supplement to aid gentle cleansing and create efficient and healthy digestion.

Powerful probiotics, or “good bacteria”, replace accumulated bad bacteria and help clear out the digestive system by promoting the passage of buildup that your intestinal walls can accumulate. Digestive enzymes act like worker bees for your digestive system, breaking down foods more efficiently, move them through your body more completely and facilitating better absorption of available nutrients.

As you add more fermented foods to your diet this season, you will find that you will have more available energy, less sluggish feelings after eating or during mid day slumps and a decreased tendency to pick up bugs and get sick.

If you’re not already a fermented food enthusiast, it is a good idea to start introducing them to your system slowly, starting with about ½ cup a day or less. You’ll be surprised to see the difference it makes to your digestive process and the efficient cleansing they promote. It is best, however, to consume them daily, especially during times of cleansing and change like the transition between winter and spring when your body will benefit from the added digestive support and nutrient source. When consumed regularly, you might find that you’ll begin craving healthier foods that make your body feel better, eating less mindless snacks and hardly nourishing processed foods and that even your skin feels healthier.

This recipe is one of our favorites this time of year because it incorporates some of the first seasonally fresh foods, easily digested protein and spices that spike your digestive and circulatory fire. It is also one that you can prepare at the beginning of the week and keep on hand for easy and healthy lunches, dinners and snacks all week long. Enjoy and happy spring from Firefly Kitchens!

Zesty Quinoa, Chickpea, Arugula and Kimchi Salad

4 cups cooked quinoa
2 cups soaked and cooked chickpeas
2 cups fresh baby arugula
Zest and juice of 1 large lemon
3 tbsp good quality olive oil
1 cup Firefly Kimchi
Salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a large salad bowl and toss to combine. You can drizzle a little extra brine from the kimchi jar on top too for an added probiotic and boost. If you’re making the recipe ahead of time leave out the arugula and add it in only just before you are ready to eat to prevent wilting. You can also try adding other great spring ingredients to the mix like green garlic, pea tendrils, green peas, fresh herbs, raw kale and baby onions. If you’re not a kimchi fan, this recipe will also work with any other Firefly fermented food, especially Cortido Kraut and Yin Yang Carrots.

Originally published in Crosscut.com on 3/20/12

The first and only kimchee factory in Ballard, to my knowledge, is located in the relatively desolate, semi-industrial gulch north of Leary Way and east of the Ballard Bridge.

The owner-operated Firefly Kitchens is located a few blocks from an electrical substation and next door to an auto body shop. In previous lives, the Firefly building was used as a fabricating shop for fishing vessels and a plant for making three-ring binders….

Read the full story at Crosscut.com

Thanks to the author Hugo Kugiya and the Crosscut team for the great feature on Firefly Kitchens!