Anyone else need a bit of a reset to their digestive system this month? My consumption of cookies in December was a bit over the top. Well, more than a bit, but never mind. Let’s look forward, to this Split Pea, Barley and Spinach Soup.
This soup is a body-cleansing powerhouse. A mere 1/4 cup of green split peas contains 12 grams of both fibre and protein. Barley rings in at 8 grams of fibre and 6 grams of protein per 1/4 cup. Make sure you buy pot barley and not pearl barley. Pot barley is not hulled, meaning it still has the outer layer and is considered a whole grain. I suggest cooking the barley separate from the soup, and mixing it in at the end, so that it does not overcook. You want a bit of chew to your barley.
This soup also contains an entire 5-ounce box of spinach. In addition to the nutrients spinach provides, it also helps the split pea soup have a prettier green colour. Although, I will admit to a bit of editing to the green colour of this soup.
Leeks, carrots and celery form the base of this soup. I used vegetable broth, but chicken stock could also be used. I spiced things up a bit with some red pepper flakes, thyme and bay leaves. I like to finish the soup with a drizzle of yogurt and a sprinkle of crispy fried shallots, entirely optional, but very delicious.
My experience with vegetarian dishes that supposedly mimic the real thing (vegetarian chilli, vegetarian pot pie etc..) have always resulted in lacklustre results. They just taste like a vegetable stew. They’re lacking the hearty, savoury substance of the original. The ingredient list in most vegetarian recipes is LONG! So, if you’re going to ask me to chop a boatload of vegetables, I demand more than mediocre.
It’s the beef or lamb, in traditional Shepherd’s pie, that provides the depth of flavour. That hearty, savouriness is know as umami. Umami, translated from Japanese meaning “delicious yumminess”, is recognized as the fifth taste, after salt, sweet, sour and bitter. Interestingly, raw meat, does not have a high umami level. Only by cooking it are the amino acids, which are high in those flavour-bomb glutamates, released.
Luckily for vegetarians, there are some plant-based umami bombs that can replicate this hearty savouriness. On the ingredients list for this recipe you will find dried mushrooms, walnuts, tomato paste, and soy sauce. Are all high in glutamates and provide umami in spades!
Umami ingredients have a multiplier effect. Ingredients high in umami enhance one another so that the whole dish packs more flavour than the sum of its parts. It’s why a burger topped with mushrooms, cheese and bacon (all high in glutamates and thus umami), tastes so good.
Lentils and bulgar (cracked wheat) add the textural element and bulk to the filling.
The best part about Shepherd’s pie is the mashed potato topping. I snuck in a few parsnips for an earthy nutty sweetness and some cheddar cheese to make it extra delicious.
You will be shocked at how delicious and satisfying this dish is. You won’t miss the meat at all, and I promise that all the chopping and prep required for this dish is worth it.
Oscar Wilde once said, “I am not young enough to know everything.” As I age, I have learned to not rule out any possibilities. Kale is a perfect case in point. If you are a regular reader of this blog, you will know that I used to be a kale hater. Turns out, I was wrong. I just didn’t understand kale. Much like some people, kale is tough and needs a bit of massaging to coax out her very best qualities.
I recently had a kale salad at Mudtown Flats, in Owen Sound that blew me away and changed my mind about kale salads. I came home and immediately set about trying to recreate it. I think I nailed it. I urge you to give it a try.
Seek out Tuscan Kale (also known as Lacinato Kale or Dinosaur Kale or Cavalo Nero/Black Kale). It is a bit more tender than the curly variety and the flavour, while still quite earthy, has an almost nutty sweetness. The first step is to remove the tough stems.
Next, I’m going to give you the opportunity to practice your knife skills and ask you to slice the leaves as thin as you can. Remember to tuck your fingers under and away from the knife.
Next, treat the kale to a good sprinkling of kosher salt and get your hands in there to gently massage the leaves. I learned this trick from Mark Bittman. Did you guys know he recently started an online food magazine called Heated? It’s illuminating, highly entertaining and very well written.
The salt, combined with the massaging action, helps to break down the cell walls of the kale and make it more tender. Rub the kale leaves together between your fingers, only until it starts to wilt. It will only take a minute or two. Let it sit while you get on with the rest of the salad.
As in choosing a life mate, what you choose to pair with the kale is an important decision. Squash is an excellent partner. The sweetness of squash is the perfect foil for kale’s slighly bitter edge.
Cut the squash into little cubes, give it a drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper and roast in a hot oven until the edges get all brown and crispy.
With every salad I compose, I aim for contrast in both flavour and texture. Kale and walnuts are slightly bitter. Squash and golden raisins will balance the bitterness perfectly.
Crunch comes from toasted pumpkin seeds and walnuts. Walnuts are another ingredient I used to hate. Again, I didn’t really understand how and when to use them. They must be very well toasted or they will taste very mealy and unpleasant.
I added some feta cheese for creaminess and salt. If you can find Bulgarian feta, give it a try. It has a creamier texture than Greek feta. Check out this post if you’re a cheese geek and keen to learn about the differences between all the different styles of feta.
Sumac, a dried middle-eastern spice, adds a liveliness and lemony kick to this vinaigrette. It’s becoming more widely available and you’ll find yourself using it in dry rubs or marinades for chicken lamb, fish and vegetables as well as a finishing spice for humus and other dips and spreads. This astringent and tangy spice is very versatile.
Does anyone else suffer from “soup fatigue”? I’m talking about that feeling of losing interest after a few spoonfuls. I get bored by the flavour of every mouthful being exactly the same as the last. Not so with this soup. It’s got it all going on in terms of both flavour and texture.
I’ll warn you right now that this is not one of those soups you can throw together in 30 minutes. It calls for dried white kidney beans, so you will need to soak them for about 8 hours before proceeding with making the soup. Once the beans are soaked, they are cooked with onions, carrots and celery, which infuses the beans with great flavour. Plus, as a bonus, you use that flavourful bean cooking liquid in the soup. If you’re pressed for time, you could use canned beans, but you won’t get the same depth of flavour that cooking the beans yourself develops.
To add even more flavour to the soup I added a rind of parmesan cheese to the simmering pot. I keep the rinds in the freezer in a ziploc bag. They infuse the soup with a big boost of umami. Both regular and sweet potatoes are added along with a big handful of deep green kale.
While the soup is simmering, make a batch of coarse seasoned bread crumbs as a garnish. They add a welcome crunch to the creamy soup.
I was visiting my mom in Toronto a few weeks ago, and, as I was rummaging through her fridge, (because isn’t that what we all do when we go home to mom?), I was struck by the revelation that this woman, who lives alone, has a fridge stocked to feed a large army.
My mom is the condiment queen. All the shelves on the fridge door, as well as the entire top shelf are filled with jars and bottles. There are at least 6 jars of mustard (dijon, honey, yellow, spicy, brown and whole grain) and 5 bottles of hot sauce in varying intensity of heat, from wimpy to incendiary. And who needs 3 half-full bottles of hoisin and oyster sauce and 4 bottles, of soy sauce with varying levels of saltiness?
The produce drawers are packed with every kind of fruit and vegetable you could ever want. I was pleased to see that she finally keeps tomatoes on the counter now, after years of storing them in the fridge. And don’t even get me started on the tupperware containers of unidentifiable leftovers.
When I asked her why she has so much food in the fridge, she answered me quite simply, “Just in case.” To be fair, she has 6 children and 14 grandchildren (or snowflakes, as she likes to call them) and they are always stopping by for a quick visit and of course, a snack or meal. She wants to be sure that she has everyone’s favourites.
She has an additional fridge and freezer in the garage with back-up stock. The freezer is packed with ice cream novelty snacks that the older grandkids help themselves to, late in the evening, on their way home from a night out with friends.
I would be remiss if I forgot to tell you about the candy cart in the kitchen. It is a repurposed bar cart, filled with over 24 clear glass jars of candy, nuts and chocolate treats. She goes to Bulk Barn every few weeks to buy refill stock. She is diabetic and never touches any of it. My weakness is the sour jube jube jar, which I dump out onto the counter, pick out the red, green and purple ones, and then stuff the yellow and orange ones back into the jar.
I discovered a jar of bright green soup, at the back of the second shelf. My mom identified it as a Broccoli Coconut Milk soup that my sister, Bo, made a few days ago. I sniffed it, deemed it safe to eat and heated it up for our lunch. It was so good!
Vibrant and flavourful, this creamy soup is a nutrient-dense powerhouse. Here is how I recreated it. I started with some chopped shallots, because, for some reason, they don’t make me cry when I chop them, and I love their delicate flavour. But you could certainly use an onion if that’s what you have on hand.
I added some garlic and a jalapeno pepper for a bit of heat. Feel free to omit if that’s too spicy for you. Add one large head of chopped broccoli, including the stems (just peel and slice them). I used chicken broth, but water or vegetable broth would work as well, and about one cup of coconut milk. Use the full fat one please.
Simmer until the broccoli is very tender. The soup will look quite grey at this point, but fear not. Add in a bunch of spinach and a small handful of cilantro. I really like the bright citrus note that cilantro adds but if you’re a hater, leave it out. When blended, the soup turns the most vibrant green colour. You’ll feel healthy just looking at it.
Garnish the soup with any or all of the following: toasted coconut flakes, spinach leaves, crispy fried shallots, cashews and steamed broccoli florets.
In the 549 posts I have written for this blog, only one, thus far, has contained kale. This will be the second. This scarcity of kale recipes is not by accident. I just didn’t think I liked kale. it was tough and bitter and swallowing it scratched the back of my throat.
Apparently, I was doing it all wrong. I was buying curly kale, and using it raw, in salads. Curly kale is best for blending into smoothies or sauteeing, stews and soups, where the heat can mellow it’s bitter bite.
For eating raw, Tuscan Kale (aka Lacinato Kale or Dinosaur Kale or Cavalo Nero/Black Kale) is a better choice. It is a bit more tender than the curly variety and the flavour, while still quite earthy, has an almost nutty sweetness. You need to remove the stems, slice it quite thin and let it sit in the dressing for about half an hour before serving. That will help to tenderize it.
Kamut is an ancient wheat grain, likely originating in Iran. It is reminiscent of farro, but a bit larger in size. It has a firm and chewy texture and a rich buttery flavour. it is nutritional powerhouse. High in fiber, protein, zinc and magnesium, kamut is a fantasic addition to soups and salads. I love the Bob’s Redmill brand, which is available in most healthfood stores , or online.
This salad was inspired by and adapted from the “Berkeley Brussels Salad” from pbs.org. You can customize the salad to include what ever is in season and looks good at the market that day. I added some spring onions and radishes, thinly sliced raw Brussels sprouts and some julienned radicchio. If you’re making it as a main course salad, cheese is always a welcome addition. I used manchego, a Spanish sheeps milk cheese. Don’t forget the crunch. I added toasted pumpkin seeds.
The creamy avocado based dressing makes more than you will need, but it keeps well in the fridge for about a week. It’s delicious as a sauce for frilled fish, chicken or vegetables.
If there were ever a dish that could convince me to become a vegetarian, this would be the one! Eating this dish did not leave me feeling deprived of anything. Every bite was satisfying and left me craving for more.
When I saw this beauty at the market, I knew she had to come home with me. This is a Romanesco cauliflower. (I have also seen it called Romanesco Broccoli). It’s crunchier than regular cauliflower with a more delicate and nutty flavour profile. Romanesco is essentially an edible fibonacci spiral. Linda at Garden Betty, does an excellent job explaining that last sentence. Mother Nature is really showing off all her glory here. Each tiny peaked floret is an identical but smaller version of the entire head.
I decided to showcase Romanesco’s delicate flavour by roasting it. Slice the head into thick planks. Little bits will fall off as you are slicing. Just put them in the center of the sheet pan to protect them from burning. Olive oil, salt and pepper and a hot oven are all it takes to turn them golden brown and delicious.
I was on the phone with my big sister Faith, the day I was making this. I told her I was planning to top the romanesco with toasted Panko breadcrumbs, capers and almonds. She suggested adding golden raisins to the mix. Brilliant idea Faith! Every bite offers a perfect blance of flavour and texture. Sweet, salty, crunchy, creamy and nutty. If you can’t find Romanesco, just use regular cauliflower of broccoli. It will be equally delicious.
As we enter the season of butter, sugar and peace on earth, I thought it would be a good idea to post something healthy to counteract all the treats that come our way this time of year. Prep time is minimal for this dish and you can get dinner on the table in less than 30 minutes. Bookmark it for those busy days ahead. In addition to being fast and delicious, it is also very pretty and would make a great dish for entertaining.
The inspiration for this dish comes from Donna Hay. I adapted it slightly. She cooked the fish en papillote, which involves wrapping each piece of salmon in parchment paper. It’s a great technique for lean cuts of protein like white fish and chicken breasts, but I didn’t think it was necessary for salmon, which is quite high in healthy omega 3 fats.
Since you’re turning on the oven already, add a tray of roasted grape tomatoes. The acid-sweet balance of these are perfect with the rich salmon. Once the tomatoes are in the oven, get working on the fish. Thinly slice some lemons to make a base for the fish fillets. The spice mixture is a blend of smoked paprika, red pepper flakes, honey and olive oil. Finish with a sprinkle of coarse salt. I found a jar of pretty pink Himalayan salt at HomeSense last week! Scatter some fresh basil and chopped olives on the roasted fish and dinner is done.
I am continually amazed by the culinary alchemy that takes place when you roast or grill vegetables. The dry heat caramelizes the natural sugars in vegetables, which brings about a sweetness and amazing depth of flavour. Have you tried roasting parsnips? Next level fabulous, I promise you.
So although, intellectually, I know the joys of charring, when it comes to broccoli I have stubbornly resisted grilling it. I just love the taste of plain boiled broccoli. With a little drizzle of olive oil and a generous sprinkling of flaky sea salt, I could eat a huge bowl of it. I actually crave it. It’s kind of a comfort food for me. To be clear, it’s in a totally different comfort category than say, frozen chocolate chunk cookies. But chowing down on a big bowl of boiled broccoli makes me feel serene and calm.
I only tell you all this so that you will understand the depth of my resistance to grilling broccoli. But then something, or I should say someone, changed my mind and I decided to give it a try. I watched Michael Symon char broccoli and then combine it with Israeli couscous. I think he is such a talented chef. I love the big bold flavours of his food. Plus, he is just so sweet. Liz is a lucky woman.
Cut the broccoli into one inch thick planks. The flatter the surface area, the more even the grilling. There will be some rounded pieces, but that’s ok. Please don’t cut off the stems. Just peel off the woody outer core. The center is tender and the best part of the broccoli, as far as I’m concerned. A few glugs of olive oil, lots of salt and pepper and you’re ready for the grill. You could also roast them in a 400°F oven for about 10-12 minutes.
If you’re grilling, turn the heat down to low. The flat parts and stems will get light golden brown. The florets will deeply char, and you might worry that they are too burned. That deep char is what give this dish it’s amazing flavour, so don’t worry if they look black.
Once you take them off the grill, chop them up into bite sized pieces. I mixed mine with Israeli couscous because I love their bouncy chewy texture. Feel free to use farro, wheat berries or even quinoa if that’s what you love.
Get creative with the other mix-ins. Michael used golden raisins and sliced almonds. I substituted dried cherries and pistachios. Just don’t forget to toast your nuts. Some green onions, mint and Italian parsley add a verdantl freshness. I tossed it all together with a gentle vinaigrette made with fresh clementine juice and some fruity extra-virgin olive oil. Any leftovers will keep for a day in the fridge.
While this is ostensibly a post about a Brassica Grain Bowl, what I really want to tell you about is a new habit I have adopted. If you are a friend of my daughter, you know not to call her on a Sunday afternoon. That’s when she does her weekly meal prep. She chops, roasts and steams various vegetables and grains and fills her fridge with the component parts she will need for healthy meals all week long. That way, when she gets home from work, she is less likely to call a glass of wine and a bag of chips dinner, as her mother has been known to occasionally do, At some point, many children’s intelligence surpasses their parents and they start teaching us. I have decided to take a page out of my daughter’s book and start doing some weekly meal prep, so that my occasional solitary meals will be a bit healthier.
At the beginning of the week I fill a big zip-loc bag with chopped raw vegetables. My blend includes raw broccoli, brussels sprouts, kale and sugar snap peas. Shredding Brussels sprouts is admittedly a fiddly task. Do it by hand to work on your knife skills or go ahead an bust out the Cuisinart.
All this chopping takes time. I binge-watch something addictive on Netflix. This month I’m watching Offspring. Shot in Australia, I have become smitten with the protagonist, Dr. Nina Proudman, a slightly neurotic and very funny OBGYN. She is a rockstar in the operating room, but not so skilled in her lovelife. The series showcases her two siblings and parents. While I would not call them dysfunctional, they are decidedly eccentric and unconventional. Good luck watching just one episode! Completely addictive.
This raw veggie mix makes a great base for a grain bowl, an excellent slaw to accompany roast chicken, a delicious stuffer for Tuesday fish tacos, and a perfect foundation for some shredded chicken for lunch. You can sauté it in butter or olive oil and garlic and serve it as a side dish.
After I chop the vegetables, I cook up one or two kinds of grains or some brown rice. I love farro, barley and I’ve really been into wheat berries lately. I adore their chewy texture and nutty flavour. If you like quinoa, go ahead and cook up a batch of that. I won’t judge you.
I like to keep a jar or two of homemade dressing in the fridge so that a salad can come together quickly. For this grain bowl I mixed up a herb-lemon vinaigrette.
I also roasted some butternut squash. Sweet potatoes would also be delicious. Chop it small so it roasts quickly.The last component of my meal prep is a batch of pickled vegetables. Carrots, cucumber and shallots are a nice mix. They last for a while in the fridge and are excellent on tacos and sandwiches.You can top your grain bowl with whatever protein you like. Grilled chicken, skirt steak, salmon, tofu, chickpeas, cheese and eggs are all great options. Avocado is always a good idea and don’t forget the crunch on top. Seeds and nuts of all kind add welcome texture.
We have been eating overnight oats for breakfast, lunch and dinner this week, as I have been testing different variations. So far, no one has complained. This version is adapted from a Cook’s Illustrated recipe. They sweetened the oats with brown sugar but I switched it for maple syrup. I also added chopped apples to the oats while they were cooking. Their recipe used shredded apples but I found that I liked the texture better with little bites of diced apple.
The final change I made to their recipe was to sautee some apple slices in a bit of butter and maple syrup, because, well… butter and maple syrup on apples! It’s a fancier version, and those sliced apples look so pretty on top, but feel free to leave it out if that’s not how you roll. No judgement here. The night before, bring 3 cups of water and a good pinch of salt to a boil. Remove from heat and add 1 cup steel cut oats. Cover pot and let it sit on the counter all night. In the morning , add apple cider or juice, milk, cinnamon and some diced peeled apples. Cook for 5 minutes. Let sit for a further 5 minutes. Top with sauteed maple apples and some toasted almonds or pecans.
Drizzle with extra maple syrup because you deserve it.
When I was growing up, oatmeal meant Quaker Oats Instant Oatmeal in the package. We had an instant hot water tap, (the water never really got all that hot) so there wasn’t even any cooking involved. My mom would buy the variety pack, but my sisters and I only liked the maple and brown sugar, and I think we probably added extra maple syrup and brown sugar. My poor dad got stuck eating the unwanted apple cinnamon flavour. I recall that the dried apples always got stuck in your throat.
Fast forward a whole bunch of years and, “We’ve come a long way baby.”Now I’m eating oatmeal made with steel cut oats that you actually have to cook!
So, a little oats primer here. Whole oats, that have been cleaned and hulled, are called groats. They are a little too coarse for oatmeal. Groats that have been coarsely chopped are known as steel-cut oats (bowl on the left). Groats that are steamed and pressed are called rolled oats or old-fashioned oats (bowl on the right). Instant oats are pre-cooked, dried, and then rolled and pressed slightly thinner than rolled oats.Steel-cut oats have a wonderful nutty taste and chewy texture, but they take 40 minutes to cook, and who has time for that? Enter the overnight method. I learned how to make these from those clever folks over at Cook’s Illustrated.
Bring 3 cups of water and a teaspoon of salt to boil. Please don’t omit the salt. Your oatmeal will taste flat and lifeless. Take pot off heat, stir in 1 cup of steel-cut oats , cover pot and let sit overnight while you sleep. In the morning add 1 cup of coconut milk, bring to boil, reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, until oats are softened but still retain some chew and the mixture thickens slightly. This will take about 5 minutes. Cover the pot and let sit for 5 more minutes. The oatmeal will continue to thicken as it rests.
Mix in sliced bananas, shredded coconut and vanilla extract. Top with banana chips for some added crunch.
Mornings got a whole lot better around here. Stay tuned for an apple-cinnamon version with maple syrup!
