stumped

I have lost my groove. It is gone - who knows where or why? - and I have been waiting for it to come back as quietly as it went. Today I am tired of the waiting and so I am pursuing the mysterious motivation to share whatever it is I have previously taken such delight in sharing. I could blame it on the dryer-fire or the ongoing restoration project that is frustratingly stalled. It could have been the brand-new fridge sitting in the middle of my kitchen for a few weeks that chased my groove away (I am notorious for needing every element in its rightful place before I can be creative) or the empty pantry that short-circuits so many kitchen adventures before they even begin. I find myself paralyzed by the incredible abundance of healthy recipes beautifully photographed that fill untold numbers of food blogs and wonder if the world really needs another entry in that class. Somedays I love the old-school look of the blog and other days I think it really needs an overhaul but that thought completely overwhelms me. Whatever the cause I have missed being involved in this endeavour and so here I sit, fighting the temptation to check my Pinterest feed or see what is newly posted on Instagram in an effort to procrastinate the exercise of writing. I confess I have gotten lazy and the only way to get my groove back is to get ... grooving?

Tonight's dinner seems like a good place to start. This morning my plan for dinner was a kale salad with beets and roasted salmon. Simple, undemanding, healthy. Certainly nothing to write about. And then. Then I saw this recipe on Food 52 and it just had to be what was done with the kale and the salmon. I was so right. This is better than good and almost as easy as the easy plan that wouldn't have been news of any kind. Sometimes the day just ends up a lot better than it begins.

Turns out this recipe was inspired by one of Heidi Swanson's recipes from Super Natural Everyday. I in my turn have made minor changes to the recipe that Ashley Couse published on her lovely blog Bloom & Nourish. Granted my changes are truly minor but aren't those little changes that we make when we cook what gives a recipe our signature, a personal flavour? I like a touch of heat to make things interesting but another might find that level of spice either entirely bland or too intense. My preference for food with virtue colours the dishes I choose or create. Feeling free to add or subtract from a recipe or an idea is what makes being in the kitchen gratifying and fun. Sometimes things work out amazingly well, other times not so much but every time I learn something for another day. 

crispy coconut kale with roasted salmon, sweet potatoes & coconut rice
(adapted slightly from Bloom & Nourish)

1 cup brown basmati rice
1 cup coconut milk
1 cup water
1/3 cup coconut oil, melted
1 tsp roasted sesame oil
2 Tbsp Tamari
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp Sriracha sauce
2 sweet potatoes, cut into 1/2" cube
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1 Tbsp grapeseed oil
1 bunch kale, ribbed and chopped
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
1 lb salmon fillet

Combine the rice with the water and coconut milk and cook. (I confess to having a rice cooker for so long that I would have a hard time managing or knowing what to do without one. It is just what happens when you live in Japan - everyone has one like everyone here has a stove.)

While the rice is cooking turn the oven on to 400 degrees F. Using a small tightly lidded jar combine the coconut oil, sesame oil, Sriracha, sea salt and Tamari. Close tightly and shake well to emulsify. Set aside.

Toss the cubed sweet potatoes with the grapeseed oil then spread on a baking sheet. Sprinkle with sea salt and smoked paprika and slide the lot into the oven to bake for about 25 minutes or until tender. Turn or stir the potatoes once during roasting.

Give the coconut oil dressing another good shake and pour roughly 2/3 of it over the chopped kale and coconut flakes. Mix well so that everything is well coated and spread on another baking sheet. Set aside.

Drizzle the salmon fillet with a couple tablespoons of the remaining dressing. Add the salmon and the kale to the oven with the sweet potatoes and roast for the last 15 minutes or so of the sweet potatoes baking time. Remove from oven when the kale is crispy, the salmon flakes easily and the sweet potatoes are tender. Serve the salmon on a bed of coconut rice topped with crispy kale and sweet potatoes. And be amazed.

beautiful borscht

I may be reading too much - looking outside at the falling snow I feel all War-and-Peace-ish and Dr Zhivago-y - and everybody is writing about detoxing and healthy livers and resolutions to eat healthy forevermore. Of course when I went to the market the bin of beets was both homely and beautiful. It was too perfect a storm; I could feel romantic and virtuous at the same time if I made a pot of borscht.

Beautiful borscht (has to be just about the prettiest soup) always makes me think of two things. Russian winter and Merin. The Russian connection is fairly obvious but I should perhaps explain Merin. Mike's paternal grandparents came to Canada from Poland and his Baba made borscht. I know this because after one trip to visit her in-laws Merin came home with a few Mason jars filled with the pretty soup and shared it with me. Prior to this sharing I was not a fan of the beet soup but Baba's soup opened the door. After that shared lunch I tried my hand at beet soup once but I was not impressed and didn't revisit the idea until the other day. I had been reading about the myriad health advantages of wonderful beets (an important source of betaine and folate, loaded with potassium, some magnesium and even a little vitamin C - beets are believed to be an excellent liver tonic and blood purifier) and, to be sure, we love beets whether cooked or raw. Soup is an easy answer to a fast, healthy lunch and absolutely obvious in the cold, cold, snowy winter. And so, borscht.

Some years we have a pretty bare and very brown winter. Other years it snows often - snowflakes falling for hours and hours in a thick curtain. This is one of the years when if one counted wealth in terms of centimetres of snow, Calgary would have to be acknowledged as having an absolute embarrassment of riches. It is snowing yet again today. Beautiful, big flakes drifting down and piling up, adding to an already abundant blanket and deep drifts everywhere. My little vegetable garden has a two foot fence around it (to keep the rabbits out) and today the top of the fence is officially buried. There is a lot of snow. I have never been to Russia - unless reading counts (doesn't) - but I imagine it to be beautifully snowy in winter and (thankfully) ever so much colder than it is here today. 

Having concluded that borscht had to be made I searched my cookbook collection and my favourite spots online for a likely-looking recipe. I read reviews and made my own calculations. But really there wasn't much of a contest - who wouldn't be won over by "Dr Zhivago Borscht"? It was a very wise choice. I may not be a borscht connoisseur but I do know good soup and this is good soup. If you don't have a good recipe for borscht - or even if you do - you really ought to give this one a try. I found the recipe on Food 52 - always a good bet - and made a very few, small modifications.

The soup has a wonderful fresh, slightly sweet taste (as one would expect from beets). I like to add a tsp or so (to taste) of apple cider vinegar to my bowl along with another sprinkle of fresh dill. Sometimes I add a tablespoon of sour cream as well. David likes some chopped smoked sausage in his bowl. Many recipes for borscht include shredded cabbage. I dislike overly cooked cabbage but cabbage is very highly thought of in the detox circles, so I decided to shred some very finely and added it to the hot soup the second day we had it. It cooked just enough but not too much. This recipe makes a generous large pot of soup. Enough for several lunches and even a jar or two to share.

Virtuous new year food. Romance. Merin and Russia. Who knew all that could be in a simple bowl of ruby soup?

beautiful borscht
(adapted very lightly from Food 52)

10 cups water
1 Tbsp grapeseed oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 bay leaf
3 large beets
3 medium carrots
2 medium-large red potatoes
1 large celery stalk, sliced into thin moons
3 Tbsp finely chopped fresh dill
3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
2-3 tsp sea salt
freshly ground black pepper

Optional add-ins:
apple cider vinegar
sour cream
finely shredded green cabbage
chopped smoked sausage
finely chopped fresh dill

Add the water to a large heavy pot and set over low heat. Add the oil, chopped onion, and bay leaf. Peel the beets and cut into quarters. Add the beets gently to the water and continue to prepare the other vegetables.

Cut the carrots into rounds and the potatoes into 1/2" cubes, adding each to the pot as they are ready. Add the celery slices and lemon juice. Increase the heat a bit (to a medium-low) and cook until the beet pieces can be pierced easily with the tip of a knife.

Carefully scoop the beets out of the cooking pot and let them cool slightly - about 2 minutes for easier handling. Use a box grater if you must but if you have a food processor this is a good time to pull it out. Using a large hole on your grater or attachment shred the beets, returning the shredded beets to the pot. Cook for a further 10 minutes. Add the dill and season to taste with salt and pepper. 

banana chocolate supermuffins

I am revisiting one of the very first recipes I posted when I started this blog. Seems fair enough to me - I receive constant notifications of updates to apps and software. The reason for the revisit is valid and not simple laziness. I have learned a lot about what is good and what is not (the pendulum will keep swinging) in terms of nutrition and have accordingly made changes to the original recipe. I didn't realize how changed it had become until I was making them with someone and they pointed out that what I was doing was not what I had written and why had I not told them!? The changes are small but add up to a much better muffin - in fact these muffins are so loaded with incredible power morsels as well as being extra-ordinarily delicious that the name simple begged to be upgraded to 'supermuffin' (power muffin being over-used and sadly inadequate).

These muffins are not cupcakes masquerading as a healthy snack. They are moist and thickly studded with chia, hemp and flax seeds snuggled up right next to rich dark chocolate and chopped pecans - more dense than light but a long way from being a dry and tasteless doorstop.

If gluten-free is important for you it is easy and successful to replace the spelt flour with your favourite gluten-free mix. When doing that I prefer a whole grain gluten-free flour* mix because just substituting an empty of nutrition gf mix for a nutritionally superior (even if it is not tolerated) sprouted whole wheat or spelt flour seems like a bad deal to me. 

Let your bananas get nice and freckled before baking them into supermuffins - or anything else for that matter - the taste is so much sweeter and richer.

banana chocolate supermuffins

1 1/4 cups oatmeal

1/2 cup sprouted whole grain spelt flour (substitute gluten-free flour here if you wish)

1/4 cup ground flaxseed

1/4 cup chia seed
1/4 cup hemp seed hearts

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

2 eggs

1/3 cup plain Greek yogurt

3 medium ripe bananas, mashed

1/2 cup agave syrup (or honey)

1/3 cup coconut oil, melted and cooled slightly

1/2 cup chopped pecans

2 cups good quality dark chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 F. Whisk together oatmeal, flour, flaxseed, chia seed, hemps seeds, baking powder, baking soda, and pecans. Combine eggs, yogurt, bananas, oil, and syrup. Fold into dry ingredients and add chocolate chips. Bake in greased muffin tin at 375 F for 22 minutes. Makes 12 large muffins.

Update: we have found we love these baked as mini-muffins. The recipe as written makes 48 mini-muffins. They freeze beautifully and are actually super good frozen. (Maybe a little odd? Give 'em a try before you judge.) The mini size is often just the perfect bite for when you want something to feel a gap or need a bit of energy. Also perfect for tiny hands.

* Note: I make my own blend of flours. This is the mix I use. It can be substituted cup for cup for all purpose flour.

whole grain gluten-free flour mixture
200 gm brown rice flour
150 gm sorghum flour
50 gm almond flour
50 gm potato flour
250 gm sweet rice flour
150 gm arrowroot
150 gm potato  starch

a breakfast bowl passion

Unless you are totally new to this blog you are by now well aware of how I feel about the first meal of the day. I am pretty passionate about it - because I am really ready to eat after a long night, it is nutritionally critical, and I just like the things I eat for breakfast. I tend to be a creature of habit (at least first thing in the morning) and love the comfort of familiar favourites for breakfast, so to add a new item to the lineup is tough. It means bumping an old friend or at least not enjoying it as often. One can only eat so much for breakfast!

Last month when I was in Vancouver helping with setting up LITCHFIELD I did not have the leisure to cook the old standbys. I was not in my own kitchen with my well stocked pantry right at hand and I didn't have much time to cook anyway but I still wanted/needed to eat a healthy and sustaining breakfast. This pretty breakfast bowl was born of that desire. It has quickly become a frontrunner in the favourites race. Fast and easy to put together and ultra adaptable it is the perfect breakfast for this (or any other) particularly busy time of year. It is loaded with superfoods and wise nutrition choices, tastes great, and is pretty enough to sit and gaze at …. if you have the time.

I like to use a combination of berries and another fruit (whatever is in season or on sale). Berries can be costly out of season but frozen berries work very well here and are almost always affordable. Sometimes I add chopped nuts but other times not. I like a half teaspoon of ground cinnamon most mornings but it is equally good without. The amounts suggested are what I use when I make a bowl for myself - you may like more or less of any one thing. Just to note: I do eat a hearty portion at breakfast time.

a pretty breakfast bowl

1/2 cup of plain Greek yogurt

1/2 cup blueberries

1/3 cup pomegranate arils (or half a pear chopped … )

3 Tbsp hemp hearts

1 tsp fresh bee pollen

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1Tbsp maple syrup

1 Tbsp cacao nibs

handful of broken pecan pieces

Layer the ingredients in a bowl, stir to combine, and enjoy.

just two for Sunday dinner

Sunday dinner at our house is most often a noisy, busy, happy, crazy, cluttered kind of affair with kids and toys scattered over top of and around parents lounging in groups and talking - the kind of catching up that is super important for all of us to stay connected. It is a highlight of my week, even those times when things just aren't like in the movies. I love to have all (or as many as possible) of my chicks in one place and under my roof, and Sunday afternoon is when it most often happens. Usually the house is full but occasionally the family has other obligations. On those rare Sunday evenings David and I have a quiet few hours together to enjoy a meal that is tailored just to us. No food preferences to consider other than our own, no bedtimes to work around. Just what we like and when. A soft and gentle time for we two. This past Sunday was one of those Sundays so I made a red quinoa salad that took my fancy earlier in the day and paired it with an easy bacon-wrapped, mustard and brown sugar-smeared pork tenderloin. Simple, easy, healthy, good. Enjoyed at leisure and together. Yummy enough to want to share.

Quinoa salads are so popular that they are becoming a bit cliche - a shame because there is so much creative potential. On the other hand there is a large contingent that has decided (quite emphatically) that they dislike quinoa and won't have it however it may be prepared. This salad offers something for both camps, those who think another quinoa salad is same-old-same-old and those who think they don't like quinoa. Red quinoa is quite a different beast from regular run of the mill white quinoa. Firmer in texture, nuttier in taste, and altogether better - it may persuade the quinoa nay-sayers to rethink their stand. The lime vinaigrette is spicy and bright. We liked it all. I made three small changes to the recipe. The first was of necessity not choice - I had only one lime so my vinaigrette  used the juice of one, not two limes. It tasted just about perfect to me but two may be better. The second was substituting grape seed oil for canola - I don't use canola anymore. (A reasoned choice.) And finally I increased the amount of cilantro because I love it :)

Our quiet Sunday was lovely for a change but I really hope we have a noisy, busy, happy, crazy, cluttered gathering next week. I miss it when we don't. 

red quinoa salad with spicy lime vinaigrette
(from Food 52 with a few small changes)

vinaigrette

1 shallot, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 small jalapeño, seeded and finely chopped
zest of 1/2 lime
juice of 1 lime
1 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp grapeseed oil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Combine all the ingredients except the oils in a small bowl. Gradually whisk in the oils until combined. Taste for seasoning and set aside.

quinoa salad

1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
1/2 tsp olive oil
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 medium butternut squash, peeled and seeded, cut into 1" cubes
1 Tbsp grapeseed oil
1 cup red quinoa
2 cups water
1 (15 oz) can white beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup cilantro leaves, roughly chopped

 Combine the pumpkin seeds with the olive oil and paprika on a baking sheet and toast at 350 F for about 8 minutes, or until brown and fragrant. Set aside to cool.

Turn the oven temperature up to 400 degrees F. Using the same baking sheet, combine the butternut squash and grapeseed  oil. Season with salt and pepper. Roast for 30-35 minutes, tossing halfway through to evenly brown and caramelize. Set aside to cool.

In a medium saucepan bring the water, pinch of salt, and quinoa to a boil. Lower the heat, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water to cool slightly. Transfer to a large bowl.

Add the cooked squash, beans, half the pumpkin seeds and half the cilantro. Drizzle with the lime dressing and toss to combine. Taste for seasoning. Garnish with the remaining pumpkin seeds and cilantro.

garden gado gado

When we were living in Tokyo I was introduced to gado gado - a dish that has become a family favourite but was almost never tasted. I was lunching with friends on that fateful day and the prepared lunch was a salad made with an odd selection of raw and lightly steamed vegetables topped with fruit and what appeared to be gravy. To be truthful it looked pretty nasty to me. Fortunately good manners prevailed and I simply could not refuse the dish thereby risking offence or embarrassment for my hostess. The first bite was a revelation and on the second I was hooked.  Gado gado is a particular favourite of Hannah's and as we were celebrating her birthday (a bit late) on Sunday, gado gado was the menu. This time I decided to use vegetables from my garden and make a slightly more North American version. Simple, clean, whole food. I don't know if it was better or not but it was certainly very good.

Gado gado requires a fair amount of chopping and prepping but as the dish is served cold it can all be done well in advance, making it a perfect meal to serve to guests. It also lends itself well to a family pot-luck type event where everyone brings an item and no one is stuck with a mountain of work. It can be plated if you want but it is much more fun to load the table with bowls of ingredients and condiments and let each person make a salad that pleases their personal palate. Kids and adults alike pretty much licked the plates clean.

The amounts I am including here happily feed our crowd - 8 adults and 8 children. I realize that may be many more than you are feeding or it may be less. It is simple to adjust the amounts down to accommodate your numbers and even more simple to make it as is and eat gado gado tomorrow night as well. It also pack well for a wonderful lunch.

garden gado gado

3 cups brown rice, steamed

4 cups chopped kale

5 carrots, scrubbed and julienned

4 medium beets, shredded

2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered

1 lb fresh green beans, lightly steamed

new potatoes, steamed and quartered

1/2 english cucumber, diced

6 eggs, hard-boiled, peeled and chopped

Peanut Sauce:

1 Tbsp coconut oil

1/4 cup grated onion

1 Tbsp grated ginger

1 1/2 cups natural peanut butter

2 cups water

3 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

2 Tbsp soy sauce*

1 tsp sea salt

1 Tbsp coconut palm sugar

3 Tbsp lime juice

sriracha sauce

Saute onion and ginger in coconut oil over medium heat for about a minute. Add peanut butter, water, soy sauce, sae salt, palm sugar and lime juice. Whisk until smooth and cook at low heat for 4 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool. Just prior to serving whisk in the apple cider vinegar.

Layer salad ingredients (roughly) in the order listed. If each person loads their own plate they can add according to personal preference in terms of what and how much. Drizzle with peanut sauce and pass the sriracha to taste.

*If you use a gluten free soy sauce (check the label carefully!) this is easily gluten free.

szechuan green beans with ground pork

This summer has been so packed with playing and wedding and camping and weeding that I can hardly believe it is time to harvest some of the fruits of that weeding but it is! I planted two varieties of green beans this year thinking that I would see which variety performed better. Of course, I can't remember which plants were what variety (although I did make a planting map and if I took the time to check all the info is there) so the experiment would fail any scientific effort but it doesn't matter really, both varieties have excelled. In fact, I would have to say that the competition has done them both good - I have already picked a good harvest of beans and as the plants are still blossoming it is safe to say that I will pick a good deal more. That makes me happy because I love green beans!!!

It may not be terribly fashionable and is certainly old-school but my very favourite way to eat green beans is fresh from the garden, lightly steamed (crispy but not squeaky), tossed with a spoonful of superior butter and a sprinkle of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. I could eat them twice a day. True story. But that is not a recipe or even a story so I'll share this:

When we went to Shanghai a few years ago a friend took me to her favourite restaurant to have her favourite dish. I loved the dish so much that we literally went back two more times that week for.... more of the same. The dish was szechuan green beans with pork - a much better pork and beans if you will. This recipe is not quite that dish but it comes close enough to make me happy. Given my devotion to green beans you may not think that much of an endorsement but you would be wrong - if this wasn't wonderful I would much rather eat my beans buttered, with salt and pepper. 

Adjust the heat to suit your preference and go nuts eating green beans fresh from the garden (or the farmer's market) while you can. I do!

szechuan green beans with ground pork

1 lb green beans, trimmed

10 oz. ground pork

2 Tbsp black bean sauce

1 Tbsp hoisin sauce

1 Tbsp cornstarch

1 tsp sesame oil

1 tsp honey

1 tsp crushed red pepper

2 Tbsp grapeseed oil

1 onion, sliced

3 cloves garlic, crushed

1 clove garlic, sliced thinly

1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1/2 tsp sea salt (or to taste)

Bring a pot of water to a boil. Blanch the beans in the boiling water for two minutes, then drain and pat dry.

Whisk together the black bean sauce, hoisin sauce, cornstarch, sesame oil, honey, and crushed red pepper. Set aside.

Heat a wok or large skillet over high heat. Add the grapeseed oil and ground pork, stir-frying the pork until it begins to brown. Add sliced onion and garlic; stir-fry until onion is softened. (about 3 minutes) Add green beans and sauce mixture, stir to combine with the pork and onions. Cook for a further 3 minutes or until the beans are tender-crisp. I usually add a few tablespoons of water at this point to keep things from sticking and burning.

We eat this with a bit of brown rice and go away very happy. If you like (David does) you can kill it with a healthy sprinkle of sriracha sauce. Whatever makes you happy. It is summer after all.

seriously good green choco smoothie

This is one of those things that I didn't think I would ever post - not because of inherent worthiness but simply because who needs a recipe for a smoothie?!!! Seriously. Put stuff in, process until smooth, drink. Simple as simple can be. But sometimes when you put stuff in it turns out to be seriously good and those times need to be remembered. The first time I made this smoothie David was wise enough to recommend that I write the ingredients down "so that you can make it again." It was just that good. So good that the 'title' of the recipe on the note paper stuck to the inside of my cabinet door is "Seriously Good Green Choco Smoothie" (with caps, lol). Not to blow my own horn ... he said it :)

Dates, cacao, chia, maca, spinach, banana, and almond butter load this smoothie with superfood goodness and the same ingredients load it with super deliciousness. It is rich and chocolatey and absolutely a treat. I am honestly so glad David had the foresight he did because this is just pretty perfect and the stars may never have aligned in just the right way again - I may or may not have remembered what went in and how much and that would have been a tragedy. This is date-night-treat-level good ... 

seriously good green choco smoothie

1 1/2 cups coconut milk
1 banana
1 1/2 Tbsp maca powder
3 Tbsp cacao powder
5 medjool dates, pitted
large handful of spinach
1 Tbsp chia seed
1 1/2 Tbsp almond butter
6 ice cubes

Put all the ingredients in a blender and process until smooth.

the evacuation sleepover and a kale salad

This has been a full, crazy week. It started with a quick trip to Victoria with a couple of friends (totally frivolous and fun and let's be honest... a tiny bit shallow) and ended with a  100 year flood as the Bow and Elbow Rivers over-ran their banks causing massive flooding and a state of emergency here in Calgary. I have no wish to make light of the devastation countless people face as they return to their homes. Many will return from the mandatory evacuation, as we did, to find that all is well. Others are finding relatively minor damage, while still others are returning to almost total loss of their personal possessions. Some of what is lost is replaceable but much is not. 

I say I have no wish to make light of this event - and I don't - but part of it was just plain fun for us. When the evacuation order came we had the luxury of an immediate invitation to camp at Eden's. Deacon and Aubrie gave up their beds with alacrity, anticipating the fun of sleeping bags on the floor (you've got to be very young to look forward to that!) I don't know how anybody else felt about our sudden and indefinite evacuation sleepover party but I was pretty happy to be with some of my favourite people. 

The order came mid-afternoon. It was a simple matter to gather the little bit that David and I would need for a few days, clear the fridge of perishables and head out but it was still getting close to dinner time when we arrived on Eden's doorstep. Dinner time and no dinner planned by either dinner planner - Eden and I had been sewing all day and not thinking about practical necessities like food. Certainly not thinking about hunkering down and battening the hatches against the flood of the century. That reality against the practical necessity of a meal meant we had to be a little bit creative with the combined contents of our fridges. Fortunately while neither of us had enough on our own, together it was just right - an apt metaphor for life.

The basis of this salad is a recipe a good friend of mine passed along at the quilting group I am part of. We needed it be dinner not just a part of it so we embellished. The result was a very happy one; even the kids loved it (although in complete honesty I have to admit that Ysa had to be persuaded and cajoled but as that is a current trend for her regardless of the items on the menu I am discounting her reaction. She did eat it. Eventually. ... which is not the current trend.) I had the red pepper and kale. Eden suppled some grilled chicken thighs, leftover rice and a couple of carrots. Tossed with a simple asian dressing it was fast, easy, healthy and yummy. Perfect, right?

For us this flood and the evacuation was not a difficult event. We had the luxury of a comfortable and familiar place to be sheltered, an easy and warm welcome and no real concern about the flood waters reaching our home. We were included in the order simply because the flood was anticipated to cut off access to our area. Nevertheless the damage that is all too evident in areas along the river just a short walk down the hill is witness to the awesome power of nature - a reminder that in the face of that power we are, in the end, quite powerless. We do have emergency supplies but they are scattered throughout the house, some in one spot others in another. I know where they are but David does not. Putting together a 72 hour kit that will meet our needs is high on my priority list now. This time we were lucky. Next time maybe not.

Asian dressed kale salad with rice and chicken
(adapted from Sheila Penner's recipe)

salad:
1 large bunch kale, stems removed and leaves finely chopped
2 carrots, grated
1 1/2 red bell peppers, diced
4 green onions, thinly sliced
2 cups cooked rice*, cooled
2 cups diced grilled chicken thigh

dressing:
2/3 cup almond butter
4 Tbsp grapeseed oil
2 Tbsp rice vinegar
1 Tbsp maple syrup
1 1/2 Tbsp grated fresh ginger
3 Tbsp warm water
1 tsp sea salt
hot sauce to taste

Place the salad ingredients in a large bowl.

Whisk together the dressing ingredients. Pour over the salad ingredients and toss to combine.

*Next time I might use brown rice instead of the white. There are arguments for the health advantages of each though, so I guess go ahead and use what you have and like.

rainbow superslaw

Life gets crazy busy - every season a bit more full than the last. When my kids were tiny I imagined that once they were more independent life would be easier. And it was.... in a way. Less hands-on with things like doing up buttons and zippers, getting food from bowls to mouths and bodies into beds but still complicated as I learned to navigate the intricacies of homework and after-school lessons - busy-er not less so. As we progressed through the teen years and on into university, then marriages and babies of their own I have realized that life doesn't slow down, it speeds up. As I move through the experiences of my life I know that I want to continue to experience personal growth. To be better, wiser, smarter, more skilled. That takes time and thought and effort. Doing that and keeping up with the people that mean the most to me means I have to run pretty fast some days. 

One of the things that gets left in the dust of the party of life is the small effort of sharing some of what I put on the table each day. Not that what is on our table every day is worthy of being shared but there are a lot more recipes I have been excited about than I share. If I could sit down right away and tell you how fun it was to try this or that, to share how well it was received and how delicious it was, how I made it easier, or even the laughable less-ables there would be a lot more posts. But I am usually running off to keep up with myself and some of the recipes that are really well worth sharing are neglected. This is one of those.

I saw this recipe in Everyday Food magazine and added it to the list of things that look good to me. That was last fall. I finally made it a few weeks ago for David's birthday dinner and after the first mouthful I really wished I had tried it earlier because we could have been eating it months ago! I love a good slaw and this is one of the best I have tried. Full of wonderful flavours and textures but most importantly, good healthiness. The cherry on the top is that it is really beautiful. The original recipe is Jamie Oliver's so you know it's going to be good :) 

Everyday Food recommends using a food processor and grating all the ingredients into the bowl in a prescribed order. My food processor while not small, is not large enough for that technique so I modified it. I used pecans instead of walnuts because of walnut allergies. Other than that, I followed Jamie's lead. Why mess with excellence?!

rainbow superslaw
(from Everyday Food and Jamie Oliver's Great Britain by Jamie Oliver)

2 raw medium sized beets, trimmed and scrubbed
1/4 red cabbage
2 large carrots
1/4 green cabbage
2 firm pears
1 cup pecans, roughly broken
2 large handfuls fresh curly parsley, chopped

dressing:
1 Tbsp mayonnaise
2 tsp grainy mustard
3 Tbsp cider vinegar
6 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Worcestershire sauce
sriracha hot sauce

Whisk the dressing ingredients together in a small bowl and set aside.

Shred or coarsely grate the cabbages and carrots into a large bowl. Grate the pears and add to the bowl. (To grate the pears I used a finer attachment.) Add about 1/2 of the chopped parsley to the bowl. Grate the beets into a separate bowl to keep them from staining everything.

Pour the dressing over the cabbage, carrots, and pears. Toss lightly to combine roughly. Add about 1/3 of the shredded beets and toss very lightly to keep the colours bright and separate. Arrange the mixed vegetables on a platter. Top with the remaining beets, followed by the rest of the parsley and finishing with the broken pecans.

Take a minute to enjoy the beautiful perfection of healthy, delicious food - then dig in!

she ain't what she used to be...

I am completely humbled, totally in awe of the mothers of young children, and seriously surprised that I raised five children. Five!!! I had forgotten how much energy - mental, emotional, and physical - it takes to more or less successfully navigate the average day with a houseful of young children but four short days reminded me. David and I spent those four days with Eden and Daylan's young'uns. Four busy days with three terrific kids. It was super fun but as David said (and I heartily agree) "the old grey mare, she ain't what she used to be". I had planned to do all manner of things with my days but I did none of them. Instead I played hide-and-seek, walked the long (and very slow) way home from dropping the two oldest off at school each morning, cuddled and read toddler board-books, picked up lego, ran the odd load of laundry, managed to get child-approved meals on the table and kids to activities, teeth brushed, stories read, hugs distributed, and then fall into an exhausted heap at the end of the day. It doesn't sound all that hard but I am out of training.

I loved every precious minute. Even the tottering on toddler-melt-down moments.

A quantifiable, bona fide success was Thursday morning's breakfast. Eden does not feed her children boxed cereal for breakfast, a choice I heartily applaud. But that choice dictates another choice - a more involved meal with more prep than putting out the boxes, bowls, and milk. A sure winner at their table is to serve pancakes. I could have made any one of their regular favourites but made a choice of my own. Happily they loved my choice.

The phrase "going like hotcakes"?  was on a (mental) loop during breakfast Thursday morning. Deacon ate 10 - two at a time on his plate and reaching for the next couple before he had swallowed the bite in his mouth. Aubrie was not far behind and I think Ysa was no slouch. I say think because she was at the other end of the table and I was too busy flipping pancakes to do more than notice that she was eating and happy. 

Super simple, quick to prepare, healthy. Fragrant and delicious, light and fluffy. I was happy to agree to the request for these banana pancakes for breakfast again on Friday morning. I think Deacon confirmed at least 5 times that "you won't forget to blog these, right Grandy?"

This is for Deacon.

banana chia oat blender-pancakes
(gluten-free)

1 cup milk (I used coconut)
1/2 cup plain yogurt
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 ripe banana
2 cups large flake rolled oats
1 Tbsp chia seed
1 Tbsp honey
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder

Put the milk, yogurt, lemon juice, eggs, vanilla, oats, chia seed, and honey in the container of of your blender. Blend on high for a minute and a half or two. Add the salt, baking powder, and baking soda and give the batter another quick whirl.

Bake on a hot griddle. 

We ate ours topped with fresh strawberries and maple syrup. .... As fast as we could :)

Important note: it helps to have an able egg-cracking assistant at your side. I probably couldn't have done it without Aub's help.