Friday, September 16, 2011

Glory Bowl Dressing

1/3 C nutritional Yeast
1/3 C water
1/4 C tamari
1/2 C apple cider vinegar
2 clover crushed garlic
1 1/2 C oil (olive or canola)
2 T tahini paste

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Pesto Recipes

Parsley Almond Pesto

Chop: 1 c. parsley

1/3 c. almonds

1 tbsp. thyme or basil

2 cloves garlic

Mix in: 1/4 c. oil

1/4 c. grated parmesan (or other hard sharp cheese)

1/4 c. chicken or vegetable broth


Spinach Almond Pesto

Chop: 1 1/2 c. nuts (almonds, cashews)

3/4 c fresh spinach (or any green), handful basil, bunch parsley

6 cloves garlic

Add: 1 c. grated parmesan ( or any hard salty aged cheese, e.g. pecorino, romano)

1/2 c. veg. broth

1/2 c. olive oil

1 tbsp. lemon juice

1 tsp. lemon zest

Can't Beet It Salad

Makes 4 - 6 servings

This can be made with or without the goat’s cheese, depending on how heavy or light you want it.

Salad:

2 cups beets, steamed or boiled until just soft, cooled, and sliced.

2 cups fennel bulbs, thinly sliced

1/3 cup walnuts, halved

1/2 cup softened goat’s cheese, crumbled (optional)

Dressing:

2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup rice vinegar

1 tsp. honey or maple syrup

1/2 tsp salt or to taste.

In a large bowl, combine all salad ingredients and gently toss, In a jar, combine all dressing ingredients and shake well. Pour over salad, toss again, and serve.

Morrocan Carrot Salad

Makes 4-6 servings


4 cups carrots (~ 1 pound or 500 g.)

2 cloves chopped garlic (no ginger)

chopped cilantro and parsley - 1/2 cup each

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp sweet paprika

pinch of cayenne

1/2 tsp sea salt (as written, but I think you didn’t add any, and it tasted fine)

1/4 cup olive oil

4 Tbsp lemon juice, usual 3 to 1 amounts


Marinate at least 2 hours, keep up to 2 days.

Kale Chips (without the performance!)

Ingredients

  • 1 bunch kale
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon seasoned salt or sea salt

Directions

1. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). (Optional: Line a non insulated cookie sheet with parchment paper.)

2. With a knife or kitchen shears carefully remove the leaves from the thick stems. Wash and thoroughly dry kale with a salad spinner or with a towel. Rub small amount of oil into leaves with fingers and tear into bite size pieces and sprinkle with salt.

3. Bake until the edges brown but are not burnt, 10 to 15 minutes.

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Chinese Dumplings and Rex Wyler

On Friday I really figured out why I love the concept of community kitchens.


Diana, one of our wonderful kitchen coordinators, had brought the makings for shrimp chinese dumplings and stirfry. We supplemented with fresh harvest from our garden: chives, garlic scapes, Su choi. Some of us prep the filling, while others of us knead the dough, under open skies out in the sunshine. My dumpling dough rolls are fat, "just like how my mother makes them, Zhang Jun tells me) We forgot to bring rolling pins, so we scrub a water bottle and use that instead, which works fine. Evra, who is under two, helps squash the dough balls. We make a production line: roll a ball, squash flat, roll thin, fill with shrimp mix, fold and seal. Jenny makes perfect dumplings with fluted edges.


The dumplings go into a big pot of boiling water, where they bob around and then disappear inside a thick clay pot. When we eat them, they are steaming hot.


Zhang Jun tells us that dumpling sauces are very specific to different regions in China: in the north: garlic and vinegar; in the south: soy sauce and ginger. Her father breaks with tradition: vinegar, sugar, soy sauce AND ginger. Unheard of. on this particular dumpling eating event, we are dipping our dumplings in sesame oil, vinegar, and sugar--"and that's ok", assures Zhang Jun. Heck, we are cooking on a camping stove, after all!


The dumplings are fantastic, of course, and not just my belly gets filled.



On a related note, we just celebrated Opening Day at the brand new Farmer's market at the Unitarian Church of vancouver (Oak and 49th). In true Unitarian style, there was plenty of meaning packed into the occasion. Rex Wyler (founder of Greenpeace and Hollyhock Centre), Andrea Reimer (City Councillor, Executive Director of WCWC) and Mary Forstbauer (organic farmer, President of the BC Farmer's Market Association) all spoke at the ceremony. Rex had this to say, and it made me think of our Growing Eden:



We need to understand that these random changes, these attempts that we make in our families, in our homes, in our neighbourhoods, these things that we do-- we don't know how it's all going to turn out. And here's where faith comes in.


I have faith. What I have faith in nature. And I have faith in our nature. That there are deep seated instincts and feelings that we have for each other, cooperation, compassion,...but I trust these instincts. I do not necessarily trust our ability to design the future. What I do trust is our ability to make changes, to do the best we can, to leave this legacy of change. Because I tell you, we are not going to be saved by the global market. We are going to be saved by communities here. Our children and our grandchildren, they are going to benefit, not because they have cheap goods from around the world, or because they can get food from far away-- they are going to survive because we have built the institutions that allow them to localize and be self sufficient.


Big changes are coming. Big changes. And I believe this too. That we can have richer, more rewarding, way happier lives with way less. It's not the stuff that makes us happy.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Harvesting Blue Skies

Eggs and New Potatoes with Green Olive Pesto

Serves 4-6

5 eggs
Salt and ground black pepper
1 T white or apple cider vinegar
1 C finely diced new potatoes or red potatoes (about 3-4 potatoes)
1/4 C firmly packed fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
3 anchovy fillets
6 green olives, pitted
1/4 C toasted walnuts
1 T lemon juice
3 T olive oil
1 celery stalk, halved vertically and thinly sliced
2 scallions, green and white parts, thinly sliced

Put the eggs in a saucepan with cold water to cover, 1 teaspoon salt and the vinegar. Bring to a boil, then decrease the heat and simmer, covered for one minute. Turn off the head and let the eggs sit in the water, covered, for 15 minutes. Drain the eggs and transfer to a bowl of ice water. When cool, peel and finely chop the eggs and put them in a large bowl.

Put the potatoes in a saucepan with cold water to cover and a dash of salt. Bring to a boil, then decrease the heat and simmer, covered, until just tender, about 4 minutes. Drain and let the potatoes cool. Add the potatoes to the eggs.

Combine the parsley, anchovies, olives, walnuts and lemon juice in a bowl of a food processor and pulse until coarsely ground. With the food processor running, slowly pour in the olive oil. The pesto should have a course texture, so turn off the machine once all of the oil has been poured in to prevent overprocessing.

Gently toss the pesto with the eggs and potatoes. Fold in the celery and scallions. Season with salt and plenty of pepper.

Mediterranean Shepherd's Pie

5 C. peeled and diced butternut squash (about 1/2 pound)
salt and ground pepper
6 T olive oil
1 yellow onion, diced
2 C fresh leafy greens, stemmed and finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced, plus 1 clove peeled and smashed
2 C cooked chickpeas (or 1 15 oz. can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 cup walnuts, pulsed in a food processor until finely ground
5 anchovy fillets, minced (Not included by Diana)
1 1/2 C Vegetable or chicken stock
1/2 C bread crumbs
1 C fresh flat-parsley leaves
Zest of lemon

Preheat oven to 400.

Toss the squash with salt and pepper and 3 T of olive oil. Arrange it in a single layer on a baking sheet and roast until the squash is very soft, about 50 minutes. Stir occasionally. Let the squash cool and puree it in a food processor until smooth. Season with salt and set aside.

Heat a large saute pan over medium-high heat and add 2 T olive oil. Add the onion and saute until soft. Add the greens and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in the minced garlic, chickpeas, walnuts and anchovies. Add the stock and bring to a boil. Decrease the heat and simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes.

Transfer the chickpea mixture to a 10-inch round glass baking dish, and spread the squash puree evenly over the top. Sprinkle the bread crumbs over the squash in a thin layer, then drizzle with the 1 remaining tablespoon of olive oil. Bake until the bread crumbs are lightly browned, 20-25 minutes.

To make a gremolata, combine the parsley, zest, and smashed garlic clove in a food processor and grind to a course meal. Set aside in a small dish. Serve the pie in slices with the gremolata scattered on top.

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Chickpea and Leek soup

Ingredients for 6 generous portions

1 can chick peas (or 1 1/2 cup dried chickpeas, soaked and cooked)
1 potato
6 leeks, finely sliced
1 tbsp. olive oil
(knob of butter) - optional
2 cloves of garlic, finely sliced
salt
freshly ground pepper
850 ml (3 1/2 cups ) chicken or vegetable stock, (or water and bouillon powder)

2 handfuls Parmesan (or Romano) cheese grated as garnish
Chopped cilantro as garnish

Note: Leeks need very careful washing or you will have sand in your soup! Cut off the roots, peel away the toughest outer leaves, and trim off the tough tips of leaves. Slice each leek from root to leaf, open leaves of each half and rinse under running water. Be sure the water runs away from the root, to wash out the dirt and grit. Slice a 2nd time from root to leaves then chop finely.

Method: Blend 2/3 chickpeas, or use food processor to make puree.

Cook potato, finely sliced until tender, add chickpeas

Cook sliced leeks and garlic in olive oil (and butter) with a good pinch of salt. Sweat gently until tender and sweet.

Combine with the potatoes and chickpeas and cook for 1 minute.

Add 2/3 stock, check seasonings, simmer for 15 minute. Add more stock to desired consistency. Check seasonings.

Serve with a grinding of black pepper and sprinklings of cheese and cilantro.

Bon appetit!



Monday, June 6, 2011

Inch by Inch, updated

7 Vegetable Cous Cous

In Morocco, seven is a lucky number. A few more vegetables have been added for extra good luck. (So not all are needed, e.g. if peppers are getting too expensive.)

On this Friday, May 27th, the cooks, Diana and Catherine, added just one cabbage and 4 peppers because this group likes sweet peppers.

This recipe feeds nine.

Cook onion first in a bit of oil.
1 lb. carrots, cut into one inch pieces
1 lb. turnips, cut into one inch pieces (maybe less)
6 med. onions, peeled and cut in quarters (also maybe less)
1 1/2 small green cabbages, cored and cut into 8ths
7 1/2 tomatoes, chopped (you can use canned chopped tomatoes (1/2 can) plus 1/2 can tomato paste
24 cups vegetable broth or water
1 tsp. turmeric
1 tbsp. sweet paprika
1 tbsp ground cumin
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup or more chopped parsley
3/4 cup chopped cilantro
1 1/2 lobs zucchini, cut in one inch pieces
3 red pepers, sliced and cut into one inch strips
1 1/2 19 oz can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
salt, pepper (and cayenne pepper) to taste

In a large pot, combine the carrots, turnips, onions, cabbage, tomatoes, vegetable stock or water, turmeric, sweet paprika, cumin, cinnamon, parsley, cilantro.

Bring to boil, reduce to simmer, and cook for 10 minutes.

Add the zucchini, sweet potatoes, red peppers, salt and pepper (and cayenne) and chickpeas.

Simmer until vegetables are tender, 15-20 minutes.


6 cups of cous cous
3 tbsp olive oil or vegie oil
6 cupt sof boiling water

lemon wedges

While vegetables cook, work the oil into he cous cous with fingertips. Stir in the boiling water and cover tightly. Let stand until tender, 15-20 minutes. Fluff up the cous cous and serve with the vegetable stew and lemon wedges.

June 3, Mint and spinach soup (YUMMMMM)

1 T. vegetable oil
6 green onions
2 T. grated ginger
1 T chopped green chili

4 C. chicken stock
1/2 C coconut milk

4 cups spinach, chopped
1/4-2 C fresh mint
1 T lime juice
salt and pepper

Heat vegetable oil in soup bowl over medium heat. Add onions, ginger, chili adn saute for 2 minutes. Pour in chicken stock and coconut milk. Bring to a boil and simmer uncovered for five minutes.

Add spinach, mint and lime juice. Cook 10 minutes more or until spinach is wilted. Season with salt and pepper. Serves 4.

Add and cook 10 minutes