CREATING VARIETY IN YOUR COOKING
Variety is the key to enjoyment, satisfaction, and balanced nutrition. Other foods included on a regular basis are:
• Select foods within the following categories: grains, soups, vegetables, beans, sea vegetables, condiments, pickles, beverages, and occasional foods.
• Use different cooking methods: boiling, steaming, sautéing, etc. (see Styles of Cooking below)
• Cut vegetables in different ways.
• Vary amount of water used.
• Vary kinds of seasoning and condiments.
• Amounts of seasoning and condiments.
• Vary cooking time: don’t overcook or pressure cook vegetables.
• Use higher or lower flame in cooking food.
• Combination of foods and dishes.
• Adjust your cooking according to seasonal changes.
COOKING IN ADVANCE
• Grains, beans, sea vegetables, dried daikon, squash, kombu, azuki beans, and other well-cooked dishes can be cooked for two to three days at a time. These dishes may be reheated.
• Try to make at least one vegetable dish and soup fresh each day. The lightly cooked vegetable dishes are best consumed within one to two days.
• Soup may be reheated gently.
• Do not reheat leftover vegetable dishes. Take out the vegetable dishes that need refrigeration in advance and allow them to warm up to room temperature naturally.
STYLES OF COOKING
| Use often | Use occasionally |
| Pressure cooking | Baking |
| Boiling | Broiling |
| Blanching | Dry roasting |
| Steaming | Pan-frying |
| Steaming with kombu (Nishime) | Deep-frying |
| Soup making | Tempura (batter-dipped and deep-fried) |
| Stewing | |
| Quick water sautéing | |
| Quick oil sautéing | |
| Sautéing and simmering (Kimpira) | |
| Pressing | |
| Pickling | |
| Raw |
FOODS FOR REGULAR USE
These are the most important foods for everyone. They are essential to a healthy, balanced, and nutritious diet.
GRAINS AND GRAIN PRODUCTS
Use a variety with every meal. Eat brown rice often or daily.
| WHOLE GRAINS | WHOLE, CRACKED & FLAKED GRAINS | FLOUR PRODUCTS |
| Use often | Use occasionally | Use occasionally |
| Short-grain brown rice | Sweet brown rice | Whole-wheat noodles |
| Medium-grain brown rice | Mochi | Italian pasta (unenriched) |
| Barley (pearled) | Hato-mugi barley, | Japanese wheat noodles (Udon) |
| Millet | Pearl barley, Job’s Tears, | Japanese thin wheat noodles |
| Wheat berries | Barley grits | (Somen) |
| Farro (pearled) | Bulgur | Japanese buckwheat noodles |
| Corn (corn on the cob) | Cracked wheat | (Soba) |
| Whole oats | Couscous | Bread: un-yeasted, sourdough |
| Rye | Rolled oats | wheat, spelt, or rye |
| Buckwheat | Steel-cut oats | Puffed wheat gluten (Fu) |
| Long-grain brown rice: for hot | Corn grits | Boiled wheat gluten (Seitan) |
| climates | Corn meal (Polenta) | |
| Whole, Cracked, and Flaked | Rye flakes, barley flakes, or | |
| Grains | other flakes | |
| Other traditional grains | ||
| including amaranth, quinoa, etc. |
VEGETABLE SOUPS
1 to 2 servings every day with a meal.
Mildly season soups with barley miso, brown rice miso, shoyu, or sea salt.
Use barley (mugi) miso or brown rice (genmai) miso.
Garnish soups often with chopped scallion or parsley.
Miso vegetable soup: with wakame seaweed, a variety of vegetables, and miso.
Clear shoyu soup: with kombu seaweed, dried shiitake mushroom, a variety of vegetables, and mild shoyu.
Puréed sweet vegetables soup: seasoned with sea salt.
Puréed sweet vegetable soup with millet or barley: Cook in a small amount of grain to make a creamy soup. Season with sea salt.
Other types of vegetable soup: with a variety of vegetables, sea vegetables, beans, grains, or pasta.
Bean vegetable soup: Cook leftover beans in vegetable soup until creamy.
Grain vegetable soup: Cook leftover grains such as brown rice, barley, or millet in vegetable soup until creamy. Season with miso.
Noodle vegetable soup: with wheat or buckwheat noodles.
Fish vegetable soup: with white meat fish.
VEGETABLES
Eat one or more vegetable dishes with every meal. Do not reheat leftover vegetable dishes.
| Use often | Use often | Use occasionally |
| (1] Green Leafy: | (3] Root: | Artichoke |
| Arugula | Burdock | Asparagus |
| Bok choy | Carrots | Avocado |
| Carrot tops | Daikon | Beets |
| Chinese cabbage (napa) | Dandelion roots | Broccoli Rabe |
| Collard greens | Jinenjo | Celery |
| Daikon greens | Lotus root | Chives |
| Dandelion greens | Parsnip | Cucumber |
| Kale | Radish | Endive |
| Leek | (4] Sweet vegetables: | Escarole |
| Mustard greens | Sweet vegetables are a combination of round and root vegetables, these vegetables become sweet when cooked. *Broccoli and cauliflower are not usually considered sweet vegetables, however, they add a richness and freshness to puréed soups when combined with the sweet vegetables. |
Fennel |
| Parsley | Green beans | |
| Romaine lettuce | Green peas | |
| Scallion | Iceberg lettuce | |
| Turnip greens | Jerusalem artichoke | |
| Watercress | Kohlrabi | |
| (2] Round: | Lambsquarters | |
| Acorn squash | Mushrooms | |
| Broccoli | Patty pan squash | |
| Brussels sprouts | Purslane | |
| Buttercup squash | Salsify | |
| Butternut squash | Broccoli* | Snap beans |
| Cabbage | Cabbage | Snow peas |
| Cauliflower | Carrots | Spinach |
| Hokkaido pumpkin | Cauliflower* | Sprouts |
| Onion | Daikon | Summer squash |
| Pumpkin | Leek | Taro potato (albi) |
| Red cabbage | Onion | Tomato (fresh or sun-dried) |
| Rutabaga | Parsnip | Wax beans |
| Turnip | Pumpkin | Zucchini |
| Shiitake mushroom (dried) | Sweet potato | |
| Winter Squash |
BEANS AND BEAN PRODUCTS
Have 1 to 1½ servings per day.
Cook beans with a 1-inch piece of kombu seaweed to make them more digestible.
A serving of beans or bean products is ½ to 1 cup.
Beans may be cooked with vegetables, with grains, or in soups.
Season beans at the end of cooking with sea salt or shoyu.
| BEANS | BEANS | BEAN PRODUCTS |
| Use often | Use occasionally | Use occasionally |
| Azuki beans | Black-eyed peas | Dried tofu |
| Black soy beans | Black turtle beans | Fresh tofu |
| Chickpeas (Garbanzos) | Cannellini beans | Natto Tempeh |
| Green or black lentils | Great Northern beans | |
| Kidney beans | ||
| Lima beans | ||
| Mung beans | ||
| Navy beans | ||
| Pinto beans | ||
| Soybeans | ||
| Split peas | ||
| Whole dried peas |
SEA VEGETABLES
Use small amounts daily in cooking.
Nori, wakame, and kombu are used as a part of daily cooking.
They are used in a variety of dishes including: soups, vegetable, bean, and grain dishes.
| Use often | Use occasionally | Optional use |
| Toasted nori sheet | Arame | Agar-agar |
| Wakame | Hiziki | Dulse |
| Kombu | Sea palm |
PICKLED VEGETABLES
Use as a garnish often or daily.
Wash or soak the pickles if they taste salty.
| Use often | Use occasionally |
| Sauerkraut (white or red) | Beet pickles |
| Kimchi | Bran pickles |
| Quick shoyu pickles | Brine pickles |
| Quick ume-vinegar pickles | Daikon radish pickles (Takuan) |
| Shoyu pickles |
TABLE CONDIMENTS
Try to use one to two condiments every day.
Condiments are used on foods at the table—not in cooking.
Make a condiment tray and keep it on the table as a reminder to use them. Condiments with an (*) can be bought—it is best to make the others at home.
| Use often | Use occasionally |
| Toasted sesame seeds: 1–2 tsp. | Apple cider vinegar** |
| Green Ao nori flakes*: ½–1 tsp. | Brown rice vinegar** |
| Ume Shiso powder*: ¼ tsp. | Umeboshi vinegar |
| Umeboshi (Pickled plums)*: ½–1 plum | Lemon juice: from fresh lemon** |
| Nuts & seeds | Boiled nori condiment: 1–2 tsp. |
| *Sprinkle on food. | ** Not recommended in water or tea. |
SEASONINGS FOR COOKING
Use the full variety to make your food tasty.
Seasonings are used in cooking—not at the table.
| Use often | Use occasionally |
| Unrefined white sea salt: Si brand | Apple cider vinegar |
| Barley miso (Mugi): aged at least 24 months | Balsamic vinegar |
| Brown rice miso (Genmai): aged at least 12 | Brown rice vinegar |
| months | Chili peppers |
| Shoyu (naturally fermented soy sauce): aged at | Ginger |
| least 18 months | Harissa |
| Light sesame oil | Horseradish |
| Extra virgin olive oil | Wasabi horseradish |
| Umeboshi plum | |
| Umeboshi paste | |
| Umeboshi vinegar | |
| Garlic | |
| Lemon | |
| Saffron | |
| Soybean miso (Hatcho) | |
| Mirin (sweet taste) | |
| Toasted/dark sesame oil | |
| European herbs |
BEVERAGES
Drink a comfortable amount for thirst.
| Use often | Use occasionally | Use occasionally |
| Bancha twig tea (kukicha) | Roasted dandelion root tea | Black coffee or tea |
| Bancha leaf tea (green tea) | Kombu tea | Microbrewed beer |
| Roasted barley tea | Mu tea (mild) | Natural sake |
| Roasted brown rice tea | Carrot or carrot-greens juice | Red or white wine |
| Filtered water | Carrot, apple, and greens juice | Sweet vegetable drink |
| Carrot, apple, and orange juice | Soy milk: with kombu |
FOODS FOR OCCASIONAL USE
These foods are good for creating a more varied and satisfying diet. They are not essential.
FISH
1 to 3 times a week.
Choose from non-fatty, wild white-meat fish or wild salmon occasionally.
| Cod | Porgy | Salmon |
| Flounder | Red and other snapper | Sea Bass |
| Haddock | Scrod | Sardines |
| Hake | Sole | Turbot |
| Halibut | Other non-fatty, white-meat | |
| Ling | fish |
SEEDS AND NUTS
½ to 1 cup seeds, and 1 to 2 cups nuts a week (lightly roasted-unsalted).
Seeds and nuts may be used in cooking, as garnishes with a variety of dishes, and as snacks.
Seeds and nuts may be eaten boiled, blanched, lightly dry, or oil-roasted.
Pumpkin seeds and occasionally sunflower seeds and walnuts may be eaten raw.
| Seeds | Nuts |
| Pumpkin seeds | Chestnuts |
| Sesame seeds | Almonds |
| Sunflower seeds | Peanuts |
| Caraway seeds | Walnuts |
| Flax seeds: freshly ground | Pecans |
| Roasted tan tahini | Hazelnuts |
| Roasted black tahini | Pistachios |
| Tohum tahini | Peanut butter |
| Almond butter |
SNACKS
Snacks may be eaten in moderate amounts.
Try not to let them interfere with your regular meals.
| Leftovers | Puffed whole cereal grains | Nori, brown rice and vegetable |
| Pounded sweet rice (Mochi) | Popcorn: homemade, | rolls (Sushi) |
| Amasake | unbuttered | Steamed sweet portatoes |
| Noodles | Rice cakes | Sweet vegetable jam |
| Nuts | Corn Thins | Soy milk: with kombu |
| Seeds | Rice balls |
SWEETS AND SWEETENERS
Can be used almost daily.
| Use often | Use occasionally |
| Sweet vegetables | Amasake |
| Sweet vegetable drink | Barley malt (pure) |
| Sweet vegetable jam | Brown rice syrup |
| Chestnuts or chestnut purée | Pure maple syrup |
| Hot apple cider: diluted with bancha twig tea or filtered water | |
| Hot apple juice: diluted with bancha twig tea or filtered water |
FRUITS
3 to 7 times a week.
Cooked, dried, or fresh, seasonal Northern climate fruits.
| Ground Fruit | Tree Fruit | |
| Blueberries | Apples | Peaches |
| Blackberries | Apricots | Pears |
| Cantaloupe | Cherries | Plums |
| Honeydew | Dates | Tangerines |
| Raspberries | Grapes | Oranges |
| Strawberries | Figs | |
| Watermelon | Raisins |
USE SPARINGLY OR AVOID
These foods depend on your health.
Many are very acidifying or affect blood sugar.
| BAKED FLOUR PRODUCTS AND REFINED GRAINS | VEGETABLES | BLUE SKINNED FISH |
| Bamboo shoots | ||
| Curly dock | Herring | |
| Muffins | Eggplant | Tuna |
| Crackers | Ferns | |
| Cookies | Ginseng | ALL TROPICAL NUTS |
| Pancakes | Green or red pepper | |
| Chips | New Zealand spinach | Brazil nuts |
| Baked pastries | Okra | Macadamia nuts |
| White rice | Plantain | |
| Potato | ||
| BEVERAGES | Rhubarb | ALL TROPICAL FRUIT, INCLUDING: |
| Green magma | Swiss chard | Mango |
| Whiskey (natural quality) | Yam | Papaya |
| Rice milk | PICKLES | Pineapple |
| Frozen Rice Dream | Grapefruit | |
| Dill pickles | ||
| SEASONINGS AND SPICES | Herb pickles | |
| Garlic pickles | ||
| Tropical spices | Spiced pickles | |
| All commercial seasonings | Vinegar pickles | |
| Apple cider vinegar pickles | ||
| Wine vinegar pickles |
AVOID AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE
These are the worst foods for everybody.
| RED MEAT | BEVERAGES | OTHER FOODS |
| Beef | Artificial beverages | Bananas |
| Lamb | Cold drinks, iced drinks | Coconut |
| Pork | Distilled water | Coconut oil |
| Hard liquor | Palm oil | |
| POULTRY | Herbal teas | Palm kernel oil |
| Chicken | Mineral-bubbling waters | Palm fruit oil |
| Duck | Regular tea | Cashews |
| Turkey | Stimulant beverages | Lard |
| Sugared beverages | Margarine | |
| BLUE SKINNED FISH | Tap water | Artificially processed foods |
| Carbonated waters | All foods containing trans fats | |
| Tuna | SWEETENERS | |
| Blue fish | ||
| Swordfish | Agave nectar | |
| Artificial sweeteners | ||
| DAIRY FOODS & EGGS | Brown sugar | |
| Carob | ||
| Chocolate | ||
| Milk | Corn sugar | |
| Butter | High-fructose corn syrup | |
| Cheese | Concentrated fruit sweeteners | |
| Yogurt | Honey | |
| Frozen yogurt | Molasses | |
| Ice cream | Stevia | |
| Sugar substitutes | ||
| White sugar |