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One of the foods that is very overlooked in the western world yet proven to be a nutritional powerhouse and linked to beauty is ….. are you ready for this? NATTO.

Yes, it is a fermented soybean product that stinks and looks sticky and …. well… gross!

I have to admit. I don’t find anything natural and healthy to be gross. The things i can get prissy about are fried foods, gross chemical packaged foods, processed foods and yes- all of those combined in one -FAST FOOD.

I get completely and entirely grossed out by … will not name names but you get it.

So to me natto is: Whatever, really… you will make a big deal about this? :O

But i have been taking nasty bitter herbs for years and i have grown to develop a “sophisticated” natural palette. BTW if you have kids – do them a favor and start them early on appreciating natural flavors 🙂

NATTO

japanese natto vitamin k2 vegan source food recipe for beautiful skin

japanese natto vitamin k2 vegan source food recipe for beautiful skin and heart health

VEGAN SOURCE OF VITAMIN K2 (possibly the only vegan source, a very rare nutrient) great for bones, prostate health, anti cancer.

Vitamin PQQ great for maintaining  youthful skin

Probiotics, enzymes – it is a fermented product

Great Amino Acid Profile (high in Protein)

Minerals and vitamins

Natto is great for your heart health; it increases blood circulation to restricted areas, reduces blood clotting and it lowers cholesterol.

It has been linked to one of the contributing factors to the Japanese longevity. Also women in the areas with high natto consumption have glowing wrinkle free skin at a later age. Not seen in the areas with lower natto consumption.

You can get it at Japanese, Korean and some other Asian markets.

I have made my own natto in the past by fermenting it in my dehydrator (to keep it warm)- this was years ago. I will get into fermenting again soon.

That’s a good way to get organic natto that is natural and MSG free.

Onto the DIP.

Personally I didn’t taste the natto in the recipe… but i already mentioned that the smell doesn’t bother me (so thats a disclaimer) I also love durian if that tells you something.

The dip is a just a lose recipe. You can tweak it in any way you want. It is a great way to serve raw or cooked veggies and increase your vegetable consumption while adding natto and other super foods to your diet.

Place all of the below listed ingredients in the blender:

Tofu- half a block or so

A spoon of natto (you can skip this – you will get a nice creamy peanut coconut dressing)

A few big carrots – as base

Coconut milk

Peanuts, peanut flour or peanut butter

Lime Juice

Herbs and Spices – lemongrass, parsley, chives, garlic scapes, green onions, thyme, curry, garlic, cinnamon, black pepper or whatever your favorite flavoring might be. Even a fire roasted salsa can work, or pasta sauce, mustard, hot sauce, etc. Use your imagination. (don’t put all of those in together hehe -might be conflicting flavors 😛 )

Mustard covers up the natto smell pretty well.

Soy Sauce, Miso, Salt if you use those.

Serve with chilli, cumin, sumac on top.

The color was amazing milky creamy orange – so I must have to work harder with my camera (who am I kidding- phone) to get it to look more like itself. I will have a hard time blogging about food because taking photos when hungry is not an easy task for me.

Asimilar dip I made a few nights ago -was more tomato based and no natto – very yummy.  I used pasta sauce actually and it was heavenly.

tomato dip vegan gluten free diary free low fat

tomato dip vegan gluten free diary free low fat

Also this diluted with coconut milk and water makes a lovely soup base for mushroom, veggie, tofu soup. I did make an amazing soup with it using perilla leaves (raw), noodles, enoki mushrooms. I will have to make it again so i can snap a few photos 🙂

Namaste