We designed these cups as another quick meal you can put together with the leftovers you have on hand. Delicate butter leaf lettuce makes a fun vehicle for this incredibly flavorful filling of meat, chicken, fish, or tofu and veggies.
You can also get creative with the filling—mix and match proteins and seasonal veggies, or try incorporating grains or legumes instead. Top each lettuce cup with extra kimchi, any of your favorite krauts, or Yin Yang Carrots for an extra splash of flavor and crunch.
Makes 18 to 24 lettuce cups
1 tablespoon coconut oil or butter
1 small yellow onion, diced (about 1 cup)
½ teaspoon salt
6 medium mushrooms, diced
3 cups cooked leftover meat, tofu, or other protein
1 to 2 medium carrots, grated (about ¾ cup)
¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint (optional)
FOR THE SAUCE:
2 tablespoons coconut oil or butter
1 cup Firefly Kimchi
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar ½ cup cashews, chopped
Juice of 1 medium lime (about 2 tablespoons)
2 teaspoons honey
2 tablespoons tamari
2 to 4 tablespoons water, to thin (if needed)
16 to 20 medium leaves butter leaf or red leaf lettuce (from 1 to 2 heads lettuce)
Heat the coconut oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add the onions and salt, and sauté until the onions are translucent, about 10 minutes. Add the mushrooms and sauté until their moisture has evaporated, about 5 minutes.
Transfer the mushrooms and onions to a large mixing bowl. Add the meat, carrots, cilantro, and mint, and thoroughly combine.
To make the sauce, combine all the ingredients except the water in a blender or food processor, and whirl until smooth. If it’s too thick, add water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the sauce is the consistency you want. Pour the sauce over the veggie mixture and toss to combine.
Scoop a small amount of the protein and veggie mixture into the center of each lettuce leaf and arrange the leaves on a serving platter, or serve the mixture with lettuce leaves on the side so your guests can make their own wraps.
Cortido Kraut + tuna = Cortuna.
This wrap starts with a tuna salad punctuated with tangy kraut. Steamed collards add a healthy lining to your favorite tortilla. These wraps are great as a light lunch or portable snack, but you could also turn them into an appetizer by slicing the wrap and skewering the slices with toothpicks to keep them rolled up.
Makes 4 wraps
4 medium collard leaves
2 (5-ounce) cans wild-caught tuna
1 cup Cortido Kraut
¼ cup mayonnaise
⅓ cup finely diced celery
½ cup finely diced red bell pepper (½ small pepper)
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 (8-inch) flour or corn tortillas
Bring a large pot of water to a rapid boil. With a sharp knife, remove the thick stems of the collards, keeping the leaves whole. Drop the collards into the boiling water and cook until they are just wilted, about 1 minute. Remove the collards, quickly rinse them with cold water to stop the cooking, drain them, and set them aside.
Drain the liquid from the cans of tuna and put the tuna in a medium mixing bowl. Take the kraut out of the jar with a clean fork, letting any extra brine drain back into it. Roughly chop the kraut and add it to the tuna, along with the mayonnaise, celery, bell pepper, and red pepper flakes, and mix well. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
To make the wrap, put a tortilla on a work surface and lay a collard leaf on top of the tortilla. Scoop ¼ of the tuna mixture onto each collard and tightly roll it up burrito-style.
Serve immediately or refrigerate for up to 3 hours before serving.
Satisfying, fun, and surprisingly simple, making sushi at home allows you to completely customize every roll to your taste and texture preferences. Make it as spicy, crunchy, colorful, simple, or complex as you like by choosing your own fillings. We’ve included some of our favorites below, but avocado, radishes, sautéed mushrooms, cilantro, cooked or raw sushi-grade fish (make sure it’s fresh!), and tofu also make great additions.
Makes 8 rolls
1½ cups Classic Kraut
1 large avocado, halved, pitted, and peeled
1 tablespoon mayonnaise or cream cheese
½ to 1 teaspoon powdered wasabi
½ to 1 teaspoon soy sauce or tamari, plus extra soy sauce for serving
1 medium cucumber, peeled
2 medium carrots
8 (8-by-8-inch) sheets nori
4 cups cooked brown rice (see Rice, for cooking instructions)
4 green onions, sliced in half lengthwise
8 to 10 asparagus spears, steamed (optional)
12 medium prawns, cooked and sliced in half down the midline (optional)
Pickled ginger, for serving (optional)
To make the sauce, take the kraut out of the jar with a clean fork, letting any extra brine drain back into it. Put the kraut, avocado, mayonnaise, wasabi, and soy sauce in a blender or food processor and whirl until smooth. Set aside.
Cut the cucumber lengthwise into 8 pieces. (Slicing this and the other veggies lengthwise makes it easier to build a tidy sushi roll.) Using a vegetable peeler, shave the length of the carrot to make ribbons.
To prepare the wraps, fill a small bowl with hot water and place it next to your work surface. Lay a sheet of nori on a flexible surface, such as a bamboo sushi rolling mat or a tea towel lined with plastic wrap. Spread about ½ cup of the rice evenly over the nori, leaving about an inch of exposed nori on the far edge. Spread 1 to 2 teaspoons of the prepared sauce on the rice. Lay 1 cucumber piece, a few carrot ribbons, ½ green onion, 1 asparagus spear, and 3 prawn halves lengthwise across the rice. Moisten the exposed nori on the far edge with a little warm water from your bowl.
Starting with the rice- and veggie-covered edge, roll the nori around the filling until the rice is enclosed and the moistened seaweed edge seals the roll. Gently squeeze the roll evenly. Unroll the nori from the bamboo roller or plastic wrap and set aside. Repeat the filling and rolling process with the remaining nori sheets.
When you’re ready to slice your rolls, dip a sharp knife in hot water (to prevent it from sticking), and slice each roll crosswise into about 8 pieces.
Serve with soy sauce and any remaining wasabi kraut sauce for dipping. Pickled ginger also makes a great accompaniment.
As a nutrient-dense food, nori (seaweed) is a rare source of vitamin B12, which is necessary for energy production; other B vitamins; vitamins C and E; iodine; and numerous trace minerals that benefit the body.
Fresh and crunchy, these gluten-free, vegan, and paleo-friendly burrito-style rolls are perfect for a packed lunch or as a light dinner or refreshing appetizer. Almost any vegetable you have on hand will work well, so get creative with combinations. For a dipping sauce variation, try mixing a tablespoon of hoisin sauce into a ½ cup of our PB Chi Spread. Spring rolls make a great meal on their own when you add cooked and thinly sliced prawns, chicken, beef, or tofu to the filling.
Makes 8 rolls
2 ounces rice vermicelli
4 cups boiling water
8 large round sheets of rice paper, also called spring roll wrappers
1 cup Yin Yang Carrots
1 cup (½ medium) grated jicama
2 cups chopped spinach or greens of your choice
8 sprigs fresh herbs, such as mint, basil, or cilantro
FOR THE DIPPING SAUCE:
¼ cup rice wine vinegar
¼ cup tamari
1 tablespoon honey
2 teaspoons sesame oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds (optional)
Put the vermicelli in a medium heatproof bowl. Pour the boiling water over the noodles until they’re submerged, and let them sit until they’re soft but not mushy, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir once to keep them from clumping. Drain the noodles, rinse them with cold water to stop the cooking, and set them aside to cool.
Fill a pie pan with warm water. Soak a sheet of the rice paper in the water until it softens, about 30 seconds. With your hands (not a utensil, lest it tear the paper), carefully transfer the sheet from the water to a cutting board or large plate.
Make each roll right after you remove the rice paper from the water. Put about 1 tablespoon of the vermicelli on a rice paper round. Add about 2 tablespoons each of the carrots, jicama, and greens, and an herb sprig. Tightly roll up the rice paper burrito-style. (The rice paper will naturally stick to itself, sealing the roll.)
Put the roll seam side down on a serving plate and prepare the remaining rolls. Once all the wraps are prepared, slice them in half on the diagonal.
To make the dipping sauce, combine all the ingredients in a small bowl, stirring well. Pour the sauce into a serving bowl and serve with the wraps.
Kraut and eggs are the ultimate power couple. Kraut provides the probiotics and enzymes to help you digest the protein-rich eggs, and the hint of tangy brine enlivens the eggs’ creaminess. When you’re serving a crowd, make more than one egg salad so your guests have a few flavor combinations to choose from.
Keep the sandwich simple by spreading mayonnaise on the bread, or, for a little variety, Dijon mustard, aioli, or Sun-Dried Tomato Tapenade are great choices. We always like adding a slice or two of tomato when they’re in season and finish with lettuce. You can make this as an open-faced sandwich too.
You could easily turn these egg salads into deviled eggs for a more elegant occasion or serve the egg salad in a creative way, wrapping it in lettuce leaves or spooning into hollowed-out cucumber halves.
Makes 2 to 4 servings
4 hard-boiled organic eggs, peeled
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
½ cup Firefly Kimchi
4 to 8 slices whole-wheat or hearty French bread
Condiments of your choice (such as mayonnaise, mustard, aioli, or tapenade)
Tomato slices and lettuce leaves, for serving (optional)
The Basic
Put the eggs, mayonnaise, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl. Smash the eggs with the back of a fork, breaking them down into small chunks. Take the kimchi out of the jar with a clean fork, letting any extra brine drain back into it. Dice the kimchi and add it to the egg mixture and stir to combine the ingredients.
Spread 2 to 4 slices of bread with your preferred condiment, spread ¼ to ½ of the egg salad (depending on how many sandwiches you’re making) on the bread, add the tomato and lettuce, top with the remaining 2 to 4 bread slices, and serve immediately. The egg salad can be made ahead and refrigerated for up to 24 hours.
GREENED EGG SALAD: Add ½ cup drained, roughly chopped Emerald City Kraut; make sure to remove the kraut from the jar with a clean fork), ¼ cup finely chopped celery, 2 teaspoons minced chives, and ½ cup finely chopped red bell pepper to the egg salad.
BACON AND EGG SALAD: Add ½ cup stemmed and finely chopped kale, 3 strips cooked bacon cut into ¼-inch pieces, ½ cup drained, roughly chopped Classic Kraut; make sure to remove the kraut from the jar with a clean fork), ½ teaspoon stone-ground mustard, ¼ teaspoon salt, and a few grinds of pepper to the egg salad.
CURRANT AND CURRIED EGG SALAD: Add ½ cup drained, roughly chopped Ruby Red Kraut; make sure to remove the kraut from the jar with a clean fork), 1 teaspoon curry powder, 2 teaspoons currants, ½ cup roughly chopped arugula, 2 tablespoons slivered almonds, and ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper to the egg salad.
A fantastic use of leftovers, this filling sandwich easily accommodates any meat, cheese, or greens you might have in your fridge. Try it with a spicy mustard and pumpernickel bread for an old-world spin, or add leftover grilled chicken and barbecue sauce for a midsummer meal. Our absolute favorite way to serve it is after Thanksgiving with a thick smear of cranberry sauce and sometimes even a few spoonfuls of stuffing layered between the turkey and cheese.
Makes 4 sandwiches
8 slices hearty bread
16 slices extra sharp cheddar cheese (about ¼ pound)
8 to 12 slices roast turkey or chicken
2 cups arugula
2 tablespoons butter, divided
1 to 2 cups Cortido Kraut
1 cup cranberry sauce or chutney (optional)
Lay 4 slices of the bread out on a large work surface. Place 2 slices of cheese on each one, covering the bread. Layer 2 to 3 slices of turkey and ½ cup of arugula on top of each piece of bread. Top each with 2 more slices of cheese and a second slice of bread.
Melt ½ of the butter in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Place two sandwiches in the pan and cook until the bread is toasted and golden. Flip and repeat on the other side, cooking until the cheese is thoroughly melted. Remove from the heat and repeat with the other two sandwiches.
Take the kraut out of the jar with a clean fork, letting any extra brine drain back into it, and roughly chop the kraut.
Gently pull apart the sandwiches just far enough to stuff each with ¼ to ½ cup kraut and ¼ cup cranberry sauce. Slice in half and serve warm.
In Seattle, we are fortunate to have many chefs who are dedicated to local, seasonal, and sustainable whole foods. Cynthia Lair—chef, nutrition educator, and hilarious improv actor—is one of our favorite local food celebrities. Cynthia’s first book, Feeding the Whole Family, has been a solid resource for our cooking and has provided much inspiration for the creations at Firefly Kitchens. She was kind enough to share her grilled Smoked Salmon Reuben recipe. It’s also fantastic made with Caraway Kraut instead of Classic Kraut and pastrami in place of the salmon.
Makes 4 sandwiches
1 cup Classic Kraut
8 slices rye or whole-grain sourdough bread
4 slices Havarti or Swiss cheese
½ pound smoked salmon, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons pickle relish (optional)
2 tablespoons ketchup (optional)
2 tablespoons mayonnaise (optional)
2 tablespoons whole-grain mustard (optional)
4 teaspoons butter, divided
Take the kraut out of the jar with a clean fork, letting any extra brine drain back into it. Roughly chop the kraut. On one piece of bread, add a slice of cheese followed by ¼ of the salmon, then add the condiments to the second piece of bread. Repeat for the additional sandwiches.
Heat 2 teaspoons of the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Put two sandwiches in the skillet, and cook until one side of the bread is golden and toasted, 3 to 4 minutes. Flip the sandwiches, and repeat on the other side. Remove the sandwiches from the pan and set them aside. Put the remaining butter in the skillet and cook the remaining two sandwiches in the same manner.
Cut each sandwich in half and serve right away.
When Denise Breyley, Whole Foods Market’s West Coast Forager, called us for a Super Bowl recipe to put on her blog, the occasion seemed right for sloppy joes. Our version has less sugar than traditional recipes and a heaping dose of tangy kraut to balance the rich sauce and fuel the digestive fire. Try maple syrup or molasses (or a combo) instead of brown sugar and see what you think.
Makes 4 servings
1 teaspoon olive or coconut oil
½ cup finely diced onion
⅓ cup finely diced green bell pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound grass-fed ground beef
1½ cups tomato sauce
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons water or more as needed
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 burger buns, or 8 slices hearty sourdough bread
1 cup Classic Kraut
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté until translucent, about 10 minutes. Add the bell pepper and garlic and sauté for another 2 minutes. Add the beef and sauté, stirring frequently, until it’s cooked through, 7 to 9 minutes. Stir in the tomato sauce, tomato paste, vinegar, brown sugar, and mustard, and cook until all the ingredients are hot and bubbly, 5 to 7 minutes. Thin the mixture with the water, 2 tablespoons at a time, to get the consistency you like. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Toast the buns if you want to. Spoon ¼ of the sloppy joe mixture onto the base of each bun. Top each with ¼ cup kraut. Place the other half of the bun on top and serve hot.
In many Asian countries, the nutty and sweet adzuki bean is used in desserts. Here, we combine them with beets, leftover rice, and Ruby Red Kraut to create a very “meaty” vegetarian patty. It’s the beans, beets, and brown rice that give this dish its name. Meat eater–approved, these burgers will be the star of a summer barbecue.
Make a double batch and freeze any extra patties for a quick lunch or dinner down the road. The burgers cook well both in a heavy cast-iron pan and on the grill.
Makes 4 servings
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil or butter, divided
½ small white onion, finely diced (about ½ cup)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
½ small red beet, shredded (about ½ cup)
1½ cups cooked adzuki or black beans (see Legumes, for cooking instructions), or 1 (15-ounce) can, drained
1 cup cooked brown rice (see Rice, for cooking instructions)
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
½ cup Ruby Red Kraut
2 organic eggs, beaten
⅔ cup all-purpose flour
4 burger buns
Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a medium skillet over medium-low heat. Add the onion and sauté until translucent, about 10 minutes. Add the cumin and chili powder, stir, and cook until the spices are fragrant, another minute. Put the spiced onions into a large mixing bowl. Do not clean the skillet—you will use it later.
Mix the beets, beans, rice, salt, and pepper into the onions. Take the kraut out of the jar with a clean fork, letting any extra brine drain back into it. Roughly chop the kraut and add it to the beet mixture. Add the eggs and mix to incorporate. Add the flour, a few spoonfuls at a time, stirring after each addition. The mixture should soon clump together into a sticky, but moldable, consistency. Form the mixture into 4 large patties.
Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon oil over medium heat in the skillet you used for the onions. Place the burgers in the pan and cook until they’re lightly crisp and toasted on one side, 4 to 5 minutes. Flip the burgers and repeat, this time covering the pan. Cook until browned, about 10 or so minutes.
Place each burger on a bun, garnish with your toppings of choice—of course, kraut is great on burgers. Serve immediately.
Burgers are a classic and ideal vehicle to load up with all sorts of kraut and other toppings. We couldn’t pick which ones to share, so we give you one basic burger and three different topping variations depending on the kraut you choose.
Makes 4 burgers
1 pound grass-fed ground beef
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce (optional)
4 burger buns
The Basic
However you plan on cooking your burgers, heat things up: preheat the barbecue, stove-top griddle, or oven (to 375 degrees F).
Combine all the burger ingredients in a large bowl and knead them together until well incorporated. Form the meat mixture into 4 patties.
Cook the patties for 4 to 5 minutes on one side. Flip the burgers and cook until they’re done the way you like them.
While the burgers are cooking, toast the buns. Put each patty on a freshly toasted bun, add the toppings of your choice, and serve hot.
SUPER KIMCHI BURGER: Top each burger with about ⅓ cup Firefly Kimchi, sliced avocado, a fried egg, and a small handful of fresh spinach.
SUPER CARAWAY BURGER: Top each burger with mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, about ⅓ cup Caraway Kraut, a small handful of sprouts, and a slice of cheddar cheese.
SUPER RUBY RED BURGER: Top each burger with about ⅓ cup Ruby Red Kraut, sliced avocado, a couple slices of cooked bacon, and a few thin slices of tomato.
KRAUTIFY YOUR CONDIMENTS
While we’ve heard some folks call our krauts “the little black dress of condiments,” we like to think of them as necessary ingredients for a well-balanced meal. Here’s a list of classic American condiments and a simple way to “krautify” them so you get your daily dose of beneficial bacteria—and good flavor!
The easiest way to make these a bit more zesty and interesting is to simply mix a teaspoon or two of minced Classic Kraut into each serving of your favorite condiment. If you have a jar of Classic Kraut blended up, that will make adding kraut even faster. Try with these condiments:
• Salsa
• Ketchup
• Mustard
• Barbecue sauce
• Tartar sauce
• Mayonnaise
• Horseradish
• Pickle relish
• Hot sauce
• Sweet and sour sauce
• Steak sauce
