La Gourmandesse

The finished product- a different flavour in every bite.

This is a salad my mom likes to make for summer BBQs, and often gets asked for the recipe. We had a small dinner get together this week with friends who love different grains and interesting foods, so I thought Quinoa Salad would be a great addition to BBQ’d steak and roasted root veggies.

Quinoa has been getting a lot of good press lately. I tried it in the past in an attempt to go gluten-free (which only lasted about 2-3 weeks, I am weak) and didn’t enjoy the texture. But in this salad, you could almost mistake it for couscous, only way better for you, since it is touted as one of nature’s only complete plant proteins.

The salad starts with cooked and cooled quinoa, gets some feta, toasted pine nuts and dried cranberries added, followed by a drizzle of olive oil and lemon, a pinch of salt, and then a sprinkle of chopped fresh mint and flat leaf parsley.

Boil 1 cup quinoa in 2 cups water, then cool completely.	Toast 1/3 cup of pine nuts over medium heat for 5 minutes.
1/2 cup feta, crumbled.	1/3 cup dried cranberries.
2 tbsp. each fresh parsley and mint.	The quinoa meets the bowl.
In go the cranberries.	The feta joins the mix.
1/3 cup olive oil for dressing.	Adding the juice of 1 lemon.

This salad is summer in a bowl- and a different combo of flavour in each bite. The lemon and olive oil are light and fresh, the feta adds a bit of salt, the cranberries some sweet, the pine nuts some buttery crunch, and the mint and parsley round out the bunch with a refreshing finish.

As usual, this salad did not disappoint, got passed around for seconds, and the recipe requested. Take it to your next summer BBQ and let your friends marvel at this healthy bowl of freshness!

Week 3 CSA Share

Kevin & I joined a community shared agriculture (CSA) program this year and were very happily surprised to get our first share at the beginning of June. My post about our lack of a garden and which farm we chose can be found here.

It is week 3 of the 22 week season, and I must say our fridge is overflowing with greens!  We have bok choy, leaf lettuce, spinach and mixed mustard greens vying for attention in the crisper as I write.  It’s hard to decide who to devote your attention to, especially as not all the greens have a terribly long fridge life.

Gigantic salads seem to be the order of the week. I think we’ll see how far we can take this before we can’t stand to look at another leaf. Luckily the greens were accompanied by radishes, small turnips, kohlrabi and green onions to make a salad a bit more interesting. I never would have thought a turnip would be tasty in a salad, but these are crisp and sweet, nothing like the bitter mash that is inevitably served at holiday dinners.

It sounds like the share will evolve over time, and not always be so “green.”  I’m looking forward to the appearance of carrots, beets, and peas.  We’re also growing some treats on our back patio: tomatoes, red peppers, spinach and every herb you can imagine.  So far the basil and mint have gone wild.  My next post should be about pizza and mojitos! Going local on those will be no problem.

Cheers to many tasty summertime salads to come!

Spring salad with baked salmon fillet.

Today on my walk home from work I decided to pretend that I am a chic European housewife who grabs her delicious fresh food from the market daily. Unfortunately I don’t live anywhere chic and European, and it’s too early for the farmer’s market. So I took my chic and European self (I am a Dutch/British mutt, after all) to Metro and began to ponder dinner options.

My wandering took me past the salad ingredients and the fish counter. Soon my basket was piled with fresh arugula, green beans, new red potatoes, blackberries and salmon fillets.  I decided to concoct a version of a salad that my Oma used to make for my mom, and my mom has made for me. I’m not sure if it’s Dutch in origin, or just happened to be made by my Dutch Oma, but regardless of heritage it is fresh and tasty.

You start by boiling the green beans and potatoes until just tender, and then give them a bit of time to cool down. I keep it simple, a bed of arugula, some blackberries thrown in for a sweet-tart kick, place your green beans and potatoes artfully on top of that, and finish with a dijon vinaigrette.

The vinaigrette is a take off on my friend Chloe’s mother’s recipe. Gisele is from the south of France and makes the BEST vinaigrette ever (as I imagine all French women must).  It’s just 2 parts oil, 1 part vinegar, 1 part dijon, and a dash each of sugar, salt and pepper.

Tonight I baked some salmon fillets and placed them on top of my salad masterpiece. We paired it with a VQA Riesling (Trumpour’s Mill from the Grange), and I must say the combo of European flavours made me feel very ready for the open air markets that spring promises.  Now if only I had some travels to the Continent to muse about while I digest…

Image from Root Radicals CSA- July 2009 weekly share

For years now, I have wanted to belong to a community agriculture program. Last year, Kevin and I tried our hands at growing some tomatoes and herbs on the patio, but were dissatisfied with our limited space to grow food. We have since moved into a house with even less space to grow veggies (unless we planted some lettuce between our parking spots), and decided this year to take the plunge with a farm program.

After searching the web for local programs, we settled on Root Radicals Community Shared Agriculture, based from a Gananoque farm. For $400, you get a weekly share for the 22-week growing season, delivered to several pick up locations in the Kingston area. There will be several work bees throughout the summer that we hope to volunteer at and get our gardening fix for the year. I think a full share may be a lot of produce for Kevin and I, but hopefully it will force us to get all of our recommended servings of vegetables and give us the opportunity to share with friends.

The first delivery is slated for mid-June, and I don’t know how I will contain my excitement for the next 3 months.  I’m already thinking of future posts about the virtues of kohlrabi, kale and garlic scapes (all of which I have no idea how to prepare).  I look forward to expanding my vegetable bubble, and on this grey March day I am already thinking about all the crunchy green salads to come.

Lentils are a new thing for me.  They are usually an ingredient I shun,  having had some mushy experiences with them at the childhood dinner table.  I must admit I still only eat lentils in the context of this soup and remain wary of vegan recipes that extol their nutritional virtues as if to apologize for their taste and texture.

But rest assured, this soup is rich and flavourful, and the texture is smooth and thick.  Ginger and cinnamon bring some sweetness to the savory curry and tomato base.

Serve up this bowl of warmth on any long, dark winter night and I guarantee it will cheer you up. And even though this soup is good for you, it’s so tasty you’ll hardly notice.

Sweet potato and lentil soup

Sweet Potato and Lentil Soup

Ingredients

• 1 large sweet potato, peeled and cubed
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 cup red lentils
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 1 small can tomato paste
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 1 tsp minced fresh ginger
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tbsp curry powder

Directions

1. Saute the onions, garlic and ginger in olive oil in a large soup pot until the onions are tender.
2. Stir in the cinnamon and curry powder and cook a few minutes.
3. Add the sweet potatoes, chicken broth, lentils and tomato paste and mix well.
4. Bring the soup to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes, or until potatoes and lentils are cooked.

Serves 4-6.  Freezes well and will keep in the fridge 5-7 days.