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What do I stock my pantry with when trying to live a healthy lifestyle? This is a common question that we often ask ourselves. Recently, I shared five pantry staples that are rooted in Japanese tradition and the study of Macrobiotics: gomasio, miso, rice vinegar, umeboshi plum paste and kuzu. So, you’ve bought these items, but now what do you do? Don’t let them sit in your pantry and build up dust. We’re taking a deeper dive into each ingredient and sharing inspiration for a simple way to use them in delicious recipes. Starting with gomasio below!

Recipe

Kale Goma

Yields 4-6 servings

Ingredients

• ½ cup sesame seeds
• 6-inch piece of wakame seaweed
• ¼ teaspoon sea salt
• 1 pound kale, washed and stemmed
• 2 tablespoons brown rice syrup, whisked together with
• 2 tablespoons water, until smooth

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Spread sesame seeds and wakame on sheet tray and transfer to oven. Toast seeds and wakame for 6-7 minutes, or until sesame seeds are fragrant and wakame is crisp. Remove tray from oven, and set sesame seeds and wakame aside to cool.
2. When cooled, transfer sesame seeds, wakame, and sea salt to a mortar and pestle, suribachi (Japanese version of mortar pestle), or a food processor. Grind mixture until sesame seeds are half powdered and half whole. Set aside.
3. Bring 1 gallon water to boil with 1 tablespoon sea salt. Prepare a large ice bath. Blanch kale for approximately 2 minutes – or until kale is cooked and color is bright – and immediately transfer to ice bath using slotted spoon or strainer.
4. When cooled, remove kale from ice bath, wring all excess moisture from kale with hands, and finely chop. Transfer chopped kale to bowl. Add rice syrup and toss to coat. Add ¼ cup or more sesame mixture (“gomasio”) to taste, tossing to coat.

This post was originally published by the Natural Gourmet Institute. Learn more about today's Natural Gourmet Center.