grapes | KarmaFree Cooking

Tag Archives: grapes

Natural Safe Ways to Clean your Produce

I’ve mentioned to you already how I like to use a produce cleaner like Fit to clean my fruits and vegetables from the chemicals, pesticides and wax companies throw over produce to make them look particularly pretty for display at the supermarkets. They might look pretty, but those chemicals are definitely no good for our health.

But what do you do if you don’t have Fit or any other commercially available produce wash with you??

There are indeed natural ways to clean your fruits and vegetables… using lemon juice, vinegar or a combination of the two.

Grapes are fruits we enjoy a lot – we love to welcome in the New Year by eating 12 grapes to ask for 12 wishes for the new year. And after 10 days of fasting and cleansing your system, the last thing you want is to intoxicate your body with the pesticides and wax non-organic grapes are coated with.

All you need to do is soak the grapes in water and add the juice of 2-3 lemons or limes to the water the grapes are soaked in. Try for the grapes to be submerged as much as possible in the acidic solution. If not possible, then be vigilant and rotate the grapes so at some point they’re all soaked with the acidulated water. If using vinegar, try 2 tsps per gallon of water. Soak the grapes for only 20 minutes to 30 minutes tops. After that, the grapes start to soak the acidic water and they start to become mealy… not a good thing.

The acidic nature of lemon juice or vinegar dissolves and breaks down the wax covering the grapes… Check out this side by side pic of grapes washed in just water and grapes washed in the lemon water.

Knowing this method, we were able to thoroughly wash grapes we purchased right on the streets of Allahabad. Lemons are very common in India and unfortunately, waxed grapes are too.

After the grapes, or any other fruits you wish to enjoy, are cleaned… just dry them off and store as you would usually do – in the fridge or countertop. Or just go ahead and eat them immediately!!!

Tags: clean, food, grapes, lemon, lime, natural, produce, vegetarian, vinegar, wax-free

Comments 4 Comments
Categories basics, MY EDITORIAL

Roasted Vegetarian Sausages and Grapes

19 Nov

Have you ever cooked with grapes?? I have never done if before seeing this recipe…

This recipe is adapted from Johanne Kileen, owner of Al Forno in Providence Rhode Island. I saw this on Ina Garten’s TV show Barefoot Contessa. I have never been to Al Forno, or to Rhode Island for that matter, but I have always been a fan of Johanne’s recipes. She’s also the inspiration for the Baked Pasta and 4 cheeses recipe here.

I had never cooked grapes before, but given my appreciation for Johanne’s cooking I was willing to try this blindly. I adapted this recipe to make it vegetarian and also to make it for just one person. But it is very easily made for 2 or more by simply multiplying the ingredients to the amount of people eating.

ROASTED VEGETARIAN SAUSAGES AND GRAPES

1 vegetarian sausage – I use Field Roast Smoked Apple Sage Vegan Sausages

1 tbs butter

2 cups of seedless grapes – I have used green and/or red grapes for this recipe

2 tbs pineapple juice

1 tbs balsamic vinegar

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees.
Slit the sausages down the middle on the long side, creating 2 long halves of sausages. Take some of the butter and slather the sausages halves with it. This will add some moisture to the vegetarian sausages, which tend to be on the dry side.
In a small roasting pan, add the grapes, remaining butter, sausages halves and pineapple juice. Nestle the sausages in between the grapes. Place in oven and roast for about 20-25 minutes, checking it once in a while and flipping the sausages if they get too browned on one side.
After 20-25 minutes have elapsed, add the balsamic vinegar. Cook for an additional 5 minutes, allowing the vinegar and juices to reduce until they are thick and syrupy.
Pour the sauce over the sausages and grapes and serve immediately, accompanied with mashed potatoes.

The original recipe calls for crusty bread too as an alternative to serve alongside this dish. I have always eaten it with mashed potatoes and it is sublime!!!

Tags: Al Forno, Barefoot Contessa, food, grapes, Italian, mashed potatoes, Rhode Island, sausage, Vegan, vegetarian

Comments 23 Comments
Categories main courses

The Shape of Foods Help our Organs?? – GRAPES

5 Oct

This is part of a series on how our food can help certain organs that resemble their same shape. I already share with you how carrots benefit the eyes and how tomatoes benefit the heart. But tomatoes are not the only heart-healthy fruit…

Grapes, when hanging in their clusters, also resemble the shape of the heart and provide additional benefits. According to the research I did, the benefits of the grape are found mostly in the skin and the seeds of the grapes. Components in grapes help with the suppression of blood clots, inhibition of LDL cholesterol and anti-atherosclerotic properties. Grapes also promote the relaxation of blood vessel walls and reduce blood pressure levels. The oil inside the seeds of the grapes, grapeseed oil, is said to strengthen capillary walls.

Grapes can be eaten fresh, dried in raisin form or in a juice. You can also enjoy them in a jam, jelly or even as non-alcoholic wine.

When eating them fresh or to prepare them for cooking, it’s important to wash grapes well using a fruit/vegetable cleanser or using a natural soak – like water mixed with a little salt and vinegar – to get rid of any wax and pesticide residues on the skins.

Here are a few grape recipes you can try soon: