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Cuisine Curses and CuresHealthy kitchen hexes from our friendly kitchen witch by MEGHAN HANRAHAN
At night I prepare my kitchen for the witching hour. My ingredients await: a bowl of dried black beans, a tray of alfalfa seeds, and a jar of tomato paste with whey, garlic, and maple syrup. All must be prepared for their journey to the other side. I add water to the beans, rinse the seeds, and tighten the lid on the paste to keep out any air. Bewitched with the possibility of transformation, I fall asleep. Beneath the veil of night the beans awake, their sleeping nutrients charmed out of hiding and into wild bioavailability. The alfalfa seeds grow tails. The red paste looks unchanged, though an energetic charge surrounds the jar. By morning, ordinary food has become extraordinary food. Fortunately, this kitchen witchcraft doesn’t involve dancing naked, or adding a pinch of eye of newt. In fact, it’s so easy, anybody can do it. Kitchen witchcraft, or traditional methods of food preparation, is gastronomic wisdom passed down through the ages. Soaking, sprouting, and lacto-fermentation are techniques employed by kitchen sages to preserve and/or produce food with enhanced taste and nutrition. Given the right incantations, one can even raise food from the dead. Imagine spreading ketchup revitalized with enzymes on your burger! Keep reading; I promise to reveal the spell. Level one witchcraft begins with soaking. Grains, beans, nuts, and seeds benefit greatly from spending the night underwater. All plant seeds have what we call, in nutritional jargon, antinutrients. Antinutrients are components of food that interrupt the course of nourishment. Phytic acid is one example. Found in the outer hull of all seeds, phytic acid blocks the absorption of minerals such as calcium, zinc, and iron. Unless neutralized through soaking, sprouting, or fermenting, phytic acid can cause mineral deficiencies. My initiation to kitchen witchcraft began with soaking brown rice. Soaking puts a charm on digestibility by softening the rice’s fibre, converting starches to sugar, and improving the bioavailability of vitamins. Enzyme inhibitors, which prevent complete digestion and nourishment, are also ordered to give up the ghost. Cooking time decreases and, by morning (yes, this can happen in your kitchen while you sleep!), the spell is cast. Sprouting is the next level of the craft, what I refer to as “kitchen gardening.” After an overnight soak, place freshly rinsed seeds in a wide-mouth glass jar. Cover the jar with a piece of cheesecloth and secure with an elastic band. Prop the jar on an angle so any remaining liquid can fully drain. Throughout the day, the seeds need to be rinsed and drained a minimum of three times. Each seed sprouts at a different time, marked by a tadpole-like tail. This is the seed’s way of telling you it’s alive with enzymes. Left a little longer, some seeds, such as sunflower, will even grow greens. Coaxing a seed into germination creates a higher quality source of protein, carbohydrates, and essential fatty acids (EFAs). Eaten in their sprouted form, plant seeds are alkalizing and have a cleansing effect on the body. Nutritional thrills aside, sprouting is an enchanting process. Seeds have much to reveal about the transformative powers of life. Some of my favourite things to sprout are sunflower seeds, chickpeas, and quinoa. My latest fascination (and the unveiling of the promised spell) is fermented condiments. Traditionally, pickles and chutneys were fermented and had a nutritional function. In contrast to today’s highly processed, sugar-laden condiments, lacto-fermented condiments are full of enzymes and lactic acid, which promote complete digestion and strong immunity. Lacto-fermentation is an artisan’s craft that produces familiar foods such as yogurt and sauerkraut. This technique relies on synergy with the invisible world of microbes. To ferment, one must harness the power of lactobacillus, also known as the “friendly bacteria,” that is ubiquitous in our environment. When conditions are right, lactobacilli pre-digest starches, fats, and proteins, and produce lactic acid as a by-product. Lactic acid, a natural preservative with a slightly sour taste, promotes healthy intestinal flora. My most recent homebrew is ketchup. Sally Fallon’s Nourishing Traditions cookbook provided the recipe. Using whey as an inoculant, I cajoled pasteurized tomato paste back to life. This ketchup could now impart vitality, practically revolutionizing yam fries and burgers. As for taste, my fiancé, a self-described ketchup fiend, gave his approval. My kitchen operates in perpetual witchcraft mode. Soaking, sprouting, and fermenting are weekly rituals to ensure delicious, nutritious, and enzyme-rich food. I dare you to try this magic—the dancing naked part I leave up to you. Meghan Hanrahan is a holistic nutritionist, educator, and writer who’s under the kitchen spell and awaiting transformation into a higher life form. Find her at nourishingartscollective.com. 
Good Egg, Bad EggLearn what the labels really mean by MELISSA BREYER
I really love eggs. They are versatile, rich, delicious, and uniquely nutritious. Egg protein has the right mix of essential amino acids that we need for tissue-building, and is said to be the highest quality food protein known, second only to mother’s milk. One egg provides 22 per cent of the adult daily requirement of choline, an essential nutrient for brain and memory functions, and egg yolk is one of the few foods that naturally contain vitamin D. Eggs offer carotene, calcium, iron, phosphorus, zinc, thiamin, B6, folate, B12 and pantothenic acid, to name just a few of their important nutrients. Granted, eggs have got a bad rep in the cholesterol department. However, an increasing body of scientific research is showing that the real offender in raising blood cholesterol levels is actually saturated fat, not cholesterol. That said, be aware that one yolk contains 1.5 grams of saturated fat. But then there’s factory farming, which gives me the heebie-jeebies. Most conventional egg farms use confined, high-density housing, and most laying hens are caged in houses of 40,000 to 100,000 birds. I won’t go into the details of cage space per bird, but let’s just say that I won’t be buying any conventional eggs. Ever. Many conventionally caged laying hens cannot engage in many of their natural behaviours, including perching, nesting, foraging, or even spreading their wings. Certified Organic: Vancouver Humane Society research has determined that the most humane systems presently operating in Canada are Certified Organic Association of BC (COABC) and Pro-Cert certified organic egg production systems. Eggs certified by these two organizations are produced in higher welfare systems where hens can behave more naturally. In B.C., all BCSPCA Certified egg farms also meet certified organic standards. Free-Range: Generally speaking, free-range eggs come from chickens who have some access to the outside, depending on the weather. They may or may not have litter in which to scratch and dust-bathe. They may or may not be overcrowded. They may or may not have access to nests and perches. In B.C., there is also a BC Specialty Egg Certified Free-Range egg, which may have higher standards than conventional battery systems (but not as high as Pro-Cert and COABC certified organic systems or BCSPCA Certified). However, there is still no audit system in place to ensure these standards are being met. Free-Run (or Cage-Free): Free-run eggs generally come from hens that are kept indoors in large barns. They have no access to the outdoors and may or may not have litter. They may or may not be overcrowded.1 When selecting eggs, the bottom line is: opt for organic and/or free-range. They have less antibiotic or hormone residue and have a higher omega-3 and vitamin E content. They are a better nutritional choice, have better flavour, and are produced by farmers who generally support the use of renewable resources. And if all that’s not enough, at least consider the happiness of the hen! Melissa Breyer is a care2.com senior editor who is trying to convince her neighbours that raising hens in her city garden would be a great idea. Reprinted with permission from care2.com. 1 from chickenout.ca 
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ffee’s three Vancouver cafés began charging patrons a five-cent green tax whenever they bought a drink in a disposable cup. Funds collected will go towards local sustainability initiatives. Coffee drinkers who bring their own mug, on the other hand, receive a 15-cent discount. How much more motivation does a caffeine freak need? Well, Salt Spring has a few other ideas, one of them an online quiz, the Carbon Cool Challenge, that tests your global warming IQ. Developed in partnership with the Sierra Club of B.C., this game might even give Al Gore something to ponder.
