An important source of protein in the vegetarian diet, tofu has a subtle flavor and can be used in savory and sweet dishes. It is often seasoned or marinated (e.g., with tamari soy sauce) to suit the dish (see our recipe — including scallions – below).

A soft, bland, white cheeselike food high in protein content, Tofu (also called bean curd) originated in ancient China.  Along with its relatively large amounts of protein, this East Asian delicacy has a low calorie count and little fat.  It is high in iron and, depending on the coagulant used in manufacturing, may also be high in calcium and/or magnesium.

“Bean there, done that”

The edible, nutritious soybean itself, a widely grown species of legume native to East Asia, has numerous uses.  Soybeans produce significantly more protein per acre than most other uses of land.

In 2010, soybeans represented 58 percent of world oilseed production, and 35 percent of those soybeans were produced in the U.S. This country exported 1.59 billion bushels of soybeans, which accounted for 44 percent of the world’s soybean trade.  Soybeans are used in a variety of items to substitute important nutrients. U.S. soybeans are in high demand around the world, especially in China.

Sliced Tofu with Tamari and Scallions — Recipe by Rori Trovato*

This amazingly simple meal has layered, complex flavors; it makes a great first course or casual, light lunch.

Be sure to soak the tofu in tamari soy sauce.  The well-balanced, smooth rich flavor of tamari goes beyond its saltiness and blends so well with so many spices that the salt shaker won’t even be missed.  Low sodium varieties are also available. Tamari can be found in your local health food stores and supermarkets year-round.  Tamari is dark brown in color and usually slightly thicker than regular soy sauce. The salty fermented paste derived from soy beans, called miso, actually served as the basis for development of tamari.

Ingredients

1 pound soft or medium-firm tofu

2 Thai bird chilies or 1 teaspoon red jalapeno, finely chopped

1/4 cup wheat-free tamari

3 tablespoons bonito flakes (optional)

1/4 cup finely chopped green onion scallions, green part only

Preparation

1. Slice the tofu and place on a platter
2. Top with tamari, green onions and chilies
3. Sprinkle with bonito flakes (if using)

*iVillage

Broccoli, a plant in the cabbage family with its large flower head and thick, fibrous stalk, is made for the ceramic knife.

Broccoli is usually boiled or steamed, but may be eaten raw and has become popular as a raw vegetable in hors d’œuvre trays.

Broccoli is high in vitamin C, as well as dietary fiber, and contains multiple nutrients with potent anti-cancer properties

Snack Girl’s Broccoli Fixation

Lisa Cain, Ph.D., is an avid snacker, foodie, published author, and mother of two. An evolutionary biologist by training, she has become obsessed with how food contributes to our overall health.

She is also known as “Snack Girl” and blogs at www.snack-girl.com.

“Do you think Snack Girl is done trying to convince you to eat broccoli?” Snack Girl asked (rhetorically) on her blog exactly one year ago today (Feb. 15, 2011). “I will NEVER give up (really).”

Earlier, Snack Girl took a stab at convincing broccoli haters to eat the veggie again with a broccoli and peanut sauce recipe.

She kept working on the “how to make broccoli delicious” concept and came up with a broccoli recipe that includes a SECRET ingredient that I will now share with you.

Roasted Broccoli and Sugar.

Surprised?

According to the good doctor, one teaspoon of sugar – a mere 15 empty calories – won’t ruin two pounds of broccoli.

The idea is pretty simple. You add sugar to the broccoli so that when it roasts you get a sweet flavor (and it caramelizes a bit). And, yes, add some olive oil, too.

Also, you need to cut the broccoli lengthwise and cook it a very high heat. This way, you seal in the lovely flavors and the result is unlike any broccoli you have ever tasted.

Snack Girl’s Roasted Broccoli Recipe

(makes 4 servings)

• 2 pounds broccoli crowns
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• ground black pepper (optional)

Preheat oven to 500F. Cover the bottom of a large rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil (not necessary but aids in clean-up). Place sheet on the lowest rack of the oven while oven heats up.

Cut crowns into four wedges lengthwise.  Place broccoli in bowl and add olive oil, salt, sugar, and pepper to taste (optional). Toss to combine. When oven is heated, place broccoli on baking sheet and roast for 11 minutes (until slightly browned). Serve and enjoy.

Per serving: 141 calories, 7.6g fat, 16.1 g carbohydrates, 6.4 g protein, 5.9 g fiber, 366 mg sodium.

But our favorite is “the Love Apple,” derived from an early belief that tomatoes had aphrodisiac powers.

The tomato was not always considered good to eat.  Many thought it was poisonous because it belongs to the nightshade family, so in Victorian times it was grown mainly as a decorative plant.

Today, thousands of types of tomatoes are cultivated worldwide for consumption, though only a few varieties appear in our stores.

Tomatoes form the basis for our romantically named featured dish—”Roasted Love Apple Soup,” which can appropriately be served hot on Valentine’s Day.  For our recipe shown below, cherry tomatoes provide the best flavor, but it is worth experimenting with other tomatoes.

Though you won’t require your Kyocera Ceramic knives for use on cherry tomatoes, you will certainly need them to slice larger tomatoes and chop the onion and chives required in our recipe.

Valentine’s Day provides the perfect opportunity for a quiet evening in with home-cooked food and a good bottle of wine. This recipe for tomato soup makes a simple starter for any meal. The dish can be prepared well in advance and stored in the fridge.

Recipe for Love Apple Soup

Serves two (2) – very generous portions

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: approximately 1 hour

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. cherry tomatoes – washed and left whole

• 1 small onion – peeled and finely chopped

• 4 cloves of garlic – do not peel

• 3 tbsp olive oil – for drizzling on tomatoes

• 1 tbsp olive oil – to fry onions

• 15 fl. Oz. light vegetable stock

• Himalayan salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

To Serve:

• Chives, finely chopped

• Heart-shaped croutons

• Soya cream (optional)

Preparation:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F
2. Place all the tomatoes and garlic in a single layer in a large roasting dish and drizzle with 45 ml of oil.
3. Roast in the oven for approximately 30 minutes. The garlic should be soft when pierced with a knife.    The tomatoes should be changing color and the skins starting to split.
4. Use a large saucepan to fry the chopped onions until just translucent. Take care not to let them go brown because this will affect the color and flavor of the soup.
5. Squeeze the garlic skins to remove the flesh and add this to the onions.
6. Add the roasted tomatoes together with any juices in the roasting dish.
7. Pour in the vegetable stock, bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
8. Allow to cool and blend until the soup is very smooth and the tomato skins are well blended.
9. Season to taste.

For Valentine’s Day, serve Love Apple Soup piping hot with heart-shaped croutons, a swirl of soya cream, a sprinkling of chopped chives and a fresh bagel.

Well…it’s true.  The rutabaga resembles a large yellow turnip and is suspected of having wild cabbage in its genetic makeup.

Known as the “Swedish Turnip,” the rutabaga’s name derives from the Swedish word rotabagge ~ “rot” for “root” and “bagge” for “bag.”

A Eurasian brassicaceous plant (Brassica napobrassica), rutabaga is cultivated for its bulbous yellow- or white-fleshed, edible tuber, which is used as a vegetable.

The fibrous material is excellent for slicing with a Kyocera ceramic knife.

What exactly does a rutabaga taste like?

It’s a little bitter, but that bitterness is balanced with a nice, sweet earthiness.

But recipes often hide the taste.

Swedes and Norwegians cook rutabagas with potatoes, sometimes with the addition of carrots (“for their color”), and mash them with butter and either stock or, occasionally, milk or cream, to create a puree called rotmos (Swedish, literally: root mash) and kålrabistappe (Norwegian). Onion is occasionally added.

Here’s our favorites recipe:

Rutabaga with Caramelized Onions and Apples

1 small to medium rutabaga

2 tart cooking/baking apples

2 yellow onions

4 tablespoons butter, divided

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 1/2 tablespoons cider vinegar

Kosher salt and coarsely ground black pepper to taste

1. Peel onions and cut in half. Slice thinly. Peel and core apples; slice, then julienne into matchsticks about 1/4 inch thick. Toss apples and onions together to combine.
2. Melt three (3) tablespoons butter in a large heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-low heat.  When butter is melted, add onion-and-apple mixture and allow to cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally for 45 minutes to one (1) hour. About 30 minutes into the cooking time, sprinkle one (1) tablespoon of brown sugar over the onion mixture and gently stir in.
3. When onions are deep golden brown and caramelized, add 1-1/2 tablespoons cider vinegar to pan and stir, scraping up browned bits from bottom of pan. Cook for 1-to-2 minutes longer until vinegar is absorbed, then turn off heat and set aside.
4. While the onion mixture is cooking, wash and peel the rutabaga. Cut into 1/2-inch to 3/4-inch dice. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and cook diced rutabaga until tender ~ about 20 minutes. Cooking time will vary according to the size of your dice, so test at five-minutes intervals. The rutabaga is done when it is fork-tender. Drain well.
5. Remove onion mixture from pan and melt remaining one (1) tablespoon butter in the same pan. When melted, add rutabaga cubes. Season with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper and cook over medium-low heat until heated through, about 10 minutes.
6. Add onion mixture back to pan and gently stir into rutabaga cubes. Let cook for a minute or two to heat through.  Serve immediately.

Three peelers in one, the Perfect Peeler rotates to vertical, horizontal, and 45-degree positions for a range of peeling styles.

The Patent-pending Perfect Peeler:

• Fits small and large left and right hands.
• Features an ergonomic, non-slip handle and an ultra-sharp advanced ceramic blade.
• Is dishwasher safe, easy to find in a drawer and fun to use.

Made from advanced ceramic, the Perfect Peeler blade is super sharp and stays sharp 10 times longer than steel blades.  It provides an optimum cutting angle that glides effortlessly through foods.  It won’t ever rust or corrode, won’t brown foods, and won’t transfer a metallic taste or smell to food.

A fruit and vegetable peeler is a rather commonplace kitchen tool, made to do an ordinary food-preparation task.

But the Kyocera Perfect Peeler transcends the ordinary and is unmatched in quality and performance.  And you don’t need to just take our word for this fact.

Here’s what one expert reviewer had to say about the Kyocera Perfect Peeler.  According to Paul S., writing on Bestcover.com:

“…Most vegetable peelers are fairly low-tech and simple. And they do an ordinary job. They’re little more than a steel or ceramic blade and a rubber handle. The Kyocera Perfect Peeler is different. If you’re looking for the best ceramic peeler, it’s in a class by itself.  Ceramic blades are extremely sharp, and stay sharp. And Kyocera gives them a new twist. The best part about the Perfect Peeler other than its modernist design is that with a flick of a dial you can use it horizontally, vertically, or at a 45-degree angle like a paring knife. It’s solid and sturdy, and its keen ceramic blade never rusts. Its rotating head, soft grip and pivoting sharp blade make peeling effortless. Its only drawback is that ceramic blades can be fragile, and the two pins that hold the blade in place are somewhat delicate. But if you have to plow through a pile of different vegetables, the Perfect Peeler is the best way to go.”

The amazing onion provides layers of flavor and color to a wide variety of dishes and cuisines.  Onions are often chopped and used as an ingredient in various hearty warm dishes, but they are also often used as a main ingredient in their own right in, for example, French onion soup or onion chutney.

Onion are used raw in cold salads or pickled in vinegar and eaten as a snack. These dishes are often served on the side in fish and chip shops throughout Australia and the United Kingdom, where onions are also often served with cheese.

In the U.S., onions are the third most consumed fresh vegetable and are available in grocery stores year round.  Ranging in size from less than one-inch to more than 4.5 inches in diameter, bulb onions can be yellow, red or white in color.

How to Select

Dry bulb onions should be firm for their size and have little to no scent.  Avoid bulbs with any cuts, bruises, or blemishes. When purchasing whole peeled onions, select ones with an outside layer that does not show signs of being dehydrated. Fresh-cut onions should be purchased before the expiration date.

How to Cut

With a few simple tips, and a little practice, these techniques for cutting an onion will save time, tears and uneven cooking.

Start with your sharp Kyocera ceramic knife and a large, firm onion for ease of cutting.  Gripping the onion and with fingertips curved, slice in half from the root end straight through to the top end.

Split the onion in two equal halves, leaving the root ends attached.

Peel back the onion skin and discard it. Place onion halves onto the cutting board with flat sides down. Slice off about 1-inch from the top end of the onion, discarding or saving as desired.

Grip an onion half firmly, curving the fingertips away from the knife for safety.  Slice evenly in parallel cuts from one side of the onion across to the other. Thinner cuts will result in smaller dice; thicker cuts for larger dice.

Move your fingers out of the way and grip the onion at the root end.  Make a parallel cut, slightly angled down toward the cutting board.

Make a second parallel slice above the first one and also slightly angled toward the cutting board (and away from your fingers).

Gripping the onion and keeping your fingers curved away from the knife, slice across the onion in parallel cuts.  When the onion becomes unwieldy to grip, turn the remaining portion face down on the board and continue cutting.

Repeat for the second onion half, chopping the onions from the last few cuts to make even dice.  If you’d like, freeze any onion trimmings, including the brown skin (which will add color) to add to your next stock pot.

Cutting an onion produces a series of chemical reactions that unleashes propanethial S-oxide, an irritant that causes the eyes to fill with tears.  If you want to prevent tears, you have to chop in a way that produces less irritant, and prevents the irritant from reaching your eyes.  Position your cutting board next to the stove and turn on the exhaust fan. Irritants will be pulled away from you and your eyes.

How to Prepare

A staple in the kitchen, onions can be prepared in a number of ways and can be found in almost every cuisine. Aside from the many ways onions are used raw, these are the four most common methods found in recipes: sauté, caramelize, grill and roast.

Onion Rings Recipe with Egg Batter, Deep Fried

Ingredients:

• 3 large Spanish onions or sweet onions
• 1/2 cup flour
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 egg, well beaten
• 1/2 cup milk
• cooking oil for deep frying

Preparation:

Wash and peel onions, cut into 1/4-inch thick rounds. Separate rounds into rings. In a bowl, combine flour, seasonings and baking powder. In a measuring cup, whisk together egg and milk. Add milk mixture to dry ingredients, blending well. Dip onion rings into batter, then drip into cooking oil at about 365°. Fry until golden brown, turning to brown both sides. Remove to paper towels or brown paper bag to drain thoroughly. Sprinkle with a little salt before serving.

Fried onion rings recipe serves 6 to 8.

All hail the mighty potato, an integral part of much of the world’s cuisine.

The potato is a starchy, tuberous crop from the perennial Solanum tuberosum family (also known as the nightshades). The word potato may refer to the plant itself as well as the edible tuber.  Neat facts:

• The potato is the world’s fourth-largest food crop (following rice, wheat and corn/maize).
• The annual diet of an average global citizen in the first decade of the 21st century included about 73 lbs. of potato.
• The potato is mega-delicious.

The potato can be baked, mashed, curried and more, but we are interested in slicing it for Martha Stewart’s Crispy Potato Roast (see recipe below).  Here’s how to properly prepare the potato:

• It doesn’t matter much whether you peel the potato or not—but if you’ve decided to leave the skin on, make sure the potato is well cleaned before starting.
• The only hard part of slicing a potato is that there are no flat edges, which means an unstable base.  So the first cut is to create a base.
• To slice a potato into round slices, grip half of the potato with your fingertips and cut into the desired thickness at a right angle to the cutting board.
• If the potato is too wobbly, you can cut a little off the bottom to stabilize it. Place the potato on the cutting board, and slice off a ¼ inch from one of the long sides.
• That becomes the first slice, and creates a flat surface on the potato.
• Flip the potato on it new flat side, and you’ve got a much more stable base.
• Then, working from one end of the potato to the other, slice disks the desired width – super thin or thicker.
• To chop the potato, stack one or two slices and cut the slices into thin strips.  Rotate the slices a quarter turn, and cut into smaller pieces.

If you use the “create a base” technique and maintain a good safe grip on the knife, you’ll be able to mow through a bunch of potatoes in no time at all.  Happy slicing.

Martha Stewart’s Crispy Potato Roast

Ingredients

4 pounds russet potatoes, peeled

4 shallots, thickly sliced lengthwise

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

coarse salt

1/2 to 1 teaspoon red-pepper flakes (optional)

8 sprigs thyme

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a small bowl, combine butter and oil. Brush bottom of a round 9-inch baking dish with some butter mixture.
2. Arrange potato slices vertically in dish. Wedge shallots throughout. Sprinkle with salt and red-pepper flakes (if using); brush with remaining butter mixture. Bake 1-1/4 hours. Add thyme and bake until potatoes are cooked through with a crisp top, about 35 minutes more.

Cook’s Note

The thinner the potatoes are cut, the crispier they’ll become in the oven. Keep the slices together as you cut them so that you can arrange them easily in the dish.

This is a prime season for using a ceramic knife created specifically to slice boneless meats, fruits and…vegetables.  Winter in the northern climes means that there won’t be much in the way of a green salad on dinner tables until spring.  Now is the time to turn to other vegetables for a winter salad. You can make winter salads from a variety of vegetables (e.g., beet, avocado, pea shoot, etc.).

Here’s a winter salad recipe with which you can impress friends and family:

Celery Root and Beet Salad

Many will probably have never even heard of this delectable dish, let alone actually tasted it.  As you prepare it, consider yourself a ceramic slicing & dicing pioneer.

Start with Celeriac (Apium graveolens rapaceum), the unsung frog prince of winter vegetables.

Pare off its warty exterior and you’ll uncover the royal vegetable within: a perfect, ivory-fleshed  winter alternative to potatoes and other starches.

Celery and Celeriac are cousins.

Celery (Apium graveolens), whose leafstalks are eaten raw or cooked, is a plant of the parsley herb family.

Celeriac – also known as celery root, turnip-rooted celery or knob celery – is a kind of celery grown primarily as a root vegetable.

If you like celery you’ll like celery root, which has a slightly earthy and subtle taste.  Don’t be afraid of how it looks. Its supposed to look like a demented turnip.

Easy to Prepare

This recipe for Celery Root and Beet Salad is nice because the celery root is uncooked, so you get a nice crunch. The beets give it a beautiful red color. This recipe takes a bit of time for the beets to cook, but you can always roast them the night before and then just assemble the salad the next day and set it aside for the flavors to blend while you make the rest of your dinner.

Salad Ingredients

1 (1‑lb) Celeriac celery root

6 medium beets (2 1/4 lb with greens), trimmed, leaving 1 inch of stems attached

2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice, plus additional to taste

2 tablespoons minced shallot

1/4 cup olive oil

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup chopped walnuts (2 oz), toasted and cooled

Use your Kyocera ceramic knife set to carve a “boneless” (also known as boned) ham.  This whole cured ham is a cut of pork that has had the hip, thigh, and shank bones, as well as most of the fat, removed before it is rolled, molded and packaged.

Boneless hams are easier to carve because there is no bone to carve around. While still flavorful, the ham’s texture can be affected by the processing methods used to remove the meat from the bones. There are also boneless hams produced from small chunks and reformed hams (oval shaped), which are meant to be sliced and used for sandwiches.

If you decide on a boneless ham for your New Year’s meal, count on at least 1/4 pound per person.

Baking Your Ham

The most traditional way to prepare a whole ham is to bake it.  Although ham is perfectly delicious all by itself, you can make it extra-special by using a glaze. The most popular glaze recipes contain combinations of fruit juice, wine or whiskey, honey, mustard, brown sugar, fruit preserves, and spices. Brush some of the glaze over the surface of the ham before placing it in the oven.

• For a ham that has only been partially cooked, you will need to allow about 20 minutes per pound in a moderate (350 degrees F/175 degrees C) oven.
• A fully cooked ham will require about 10 minutes per pound in order to be heated all the way through.

To help keep your ham moist and juicy:

• If it’s going to be in the oven for more than an hour, you may want to place a foil “tent” over your ham in order to keep it from drying out.
• Continue to brush the ham with glaze and baste it with the pan juices every 20 minutes or so, until it is heated through.
• To finish the ham and give it a deliciously caramelized coating, remove the foil tent, brush it with glaze and pan juices one more time, then turn your oven to the broiler setting. Allow the outside of the ham to get nice and browned—this should only take about five minutes, but watch it closely so it doesn’t get too dark.
• When the internal temperature reaches 160 degrees F (80 degrees C), the ham is ready for serving.

Enjoy and Happy New Year from Kyocera!

A ceramic knife is an affordable kitchen tool that allows for less strenuous food preparation, maximization of nutrients, and a lowered risk of food contamination. These are fantastic qualities for raw foods preparation.   Since the entire principle of the living foods lifestyle is based on the idea of eating close to nature in order to obtain optimal nutrition and energy from foods, a ceramic knife is a great way to approach gourmet preparation without chemically altering the ingredients.

But why should you have to remember every detail and fact about why ceramic kitchen knives are superior to stainless steel knives?  Just enlarge and print out the chart below and give it along with the knife gift set so that your friend or loved one can keep it for handy reference anytime he or she wants to share with a guest or visitor the unique advantages of this most durable of kitchen tools.

For your giftee, ceramic adds a bit of joy to the food chopping and some extra energy to culinary creations.