A MONTH OF SALADS - Day 3

Day 3. A short and sweet kinda day. The only thing to report is that today is another errands day, and a busy soccer night at our house. Plus it was pretty gloomy out there, so my intention in picking the salad for tonight's dinner was based on bringing zing and colour and big tastes to the table, with few ingredients and easy prep. The pickings for today herald from a lovely blogger out on the west coast of Canada, Elaine at Flavour & Savour.  Witness, The Cucumber Mint Salad with Thai Dressing.

It was an easy choice. I needed something simple and easy, and wanted to use up cucumbers I had purchased at my local Coop a few days ago, courtesy of local produce fellas The Cucumber Man. They're purveyors of locally grown biologically controlled fresh scrumptious green house produce. This salad was the perfect side to our miso soup (by request, and why yes, it was a short-simmered beef bone broth as the base with a dollop of chickpea miso, and chives from the garden, and ground up powder from my fire cider last fall. (That's for another post now, innit!)) and Korean-flavour inspired beef meat balls. The bold flavours of the salad complemented the meal; I only wish I had sliced more cucumbers, as I had a lot of dressing leftover. Ah, but this will be good again for lunch tomorrow! Other tweaks: I used the fish sauce and used more than they called for, and added my house-fermented hot sauce. Because if you know me, you know I'm going to slip in some fermented something in there...

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Thanks to The Cucumber Man today for the local cukes and to Elaine at Flavour & Savour for her recipe. Link below!

A MONTH OF SALADS - Day 2

Today, I had to run some errands up in the NE of town, a part of town that I love and is foodie heaven. I planned to stop by the Italian store and pick up some arugula. This morning, I was thinking that the salad I was going to make was going to make itself known once I stepped foot into the shoppe.  It's like I was going to be taking my own trip to Tuscany today! My honey planned a roast beef (Tuesday night dinners are his thing), and so my plan was to make a fresh Italian inspired salad to go with the yams and beef. Arugula it was. This was the image I had in my mind as I set off for my errands on this drizzly day in Calgary:

There were fresh veggies, and cheeses galore, and antipastos that I could have easily grabbed. But those antipastos are packed in oils that may have gone rancid (and soy oils, not to mention! They're a no-go in my books.) And cheese, well I have a lot of that on a regular basis, I wanted to opt for a dairy free salad tonight. A fairly simple salad is what came about, one that even my little (10 year old) liked! I can't rank this salad, as it is one off the top of my head. That would be cheating! But I invite you to try it on for size, and tell me what you think. Or what you'd tweak! 

ARUGULA SALAD WITH WALNUTS AND CRANBERRIES

4 cups arugula
handful of chives (I grabbed 4 stalks from my garden)
1/4 cup of dried cranberries
optional: a handful of spinach or sorrel leaves (Hotchkiss grows sorrel, available at Amaranth), shredded thinly (sorrel adds a nice lemony bite, and is so supportive to your liver! Plus it's a super perennial in your garden. My fave.)

CANDIED WALNUTS
You can simply use 1/4 cup soaked and dehydrated walnuts
OR 
Melt 1 tbsp of butter in a warm pan.
Add 1/4 cup of soaked and dehydrated walnuts, toss enough to coat and warm nuts.
Add 1 tbsp of honey, toss enough to coat and meld.
Add 1/2 tbsp of Apple Cider Vinegar to deglaze pan.
Add 1/2 tsp of smoked paprika and pinch of salt.
Mix until it is all glommed together, and let cool on parchment paper.
When completely cooled, add them to your salad.

SIMPLE DRESSING
1 1/2 tbsp of good quality olive oil
2 tsp of good quality balsamic vinegar (I used Blue Door Oil & Vinegar's Red Apple Balsamic on this salad)
pinch of salt
grind of pepper

Dress your salad just before serving. Eat up. With glee.

How this works: weekday mornings, I post my intention on my Facebook page. Weekday evenings, I post here on the blog the recipe or source of the recipe, and link to it on all social media accounts. Thanks to locals Blue Door Oil & Vinegar and to my own garden for the local stuff today, and to the Italian Store for the fresh arugula. 

A MONTH OF SALADS - DAILY POSTINGS

For the month of June, I will be doing a month of salads and posting my daily picks on my Facebook page and on Instagram. Why salads? Well it's the perfect time of year to get some fresh goodies in, they're usually pretty straight forward and easy to prepare; plus they are undeniably nutrient-dense morsels of vitamins and minerals that are necessary to a multitude of bodily processes. Yeah, sure all that.

BUT TRULY. It's because they're delicious. That's my main reason. And I don't have to cook them. Won't you come along on this salad journey? Posts will happen on weekdays on social media, and I invite you to join me. Let me know what salads you've tried that are top faves at your house! 

For today's instalment, June 1st, I propose the Shaved Asparagus Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette. My substitutions (in order to use up what I have, and to up the nutritional ante): I will swap out the burrata cheese for goat cheese as I have some in the fridge to use up; and I find pine nuts too pricey, so am substituting my pre-soaked and dehydrated pumpkin seeds. Make sure to use a top notch olive oil in order to impart those anti-inflammatory properties! 

Thanks to I'm Bored Let's Go for her fabulous recipe! 

LATE NIGHT EDITION: I made the salad. It was DELICIOUS! Lemon is a delight, and Noble Meadows makes an extra creamy goat cheese that was a nice touch. A bit labour-intensive to shave the asparagus, but so worth it. Our house rating: 9 out of 10! 

COMING SOON!

There is a little co-production in the works. Keep your eyes peeled for news of a collaboration with a local company I am seriously loving these days! We will have an announcement later on this week. This may or may not take shape in a cooking class format. Rest assured, it will most definitely include good food and ways these good foods will nourish your sweet self. Stay tuned!

Foods That Fuel

I have been so very fortunate and blessed to be asked to lead the Friday afternoon cooking elective for the Junior High students at the Calgary Waldorf school for this spring semester. We have had such good times in the kitchen, bandying about ideas of foods they want to learn to cook, practicing our flipping skills (MAD! skills) with eggs done a million ways. And whilst whipping up salad dressings and tinkering with seasonings and learning to make vegetables sing, I asked the group if there was something they were interested in learning when it came to cooking. I threw out a few ideas: specific ingredients? particular cuisines? foods for glowing skin? And then the subject of macronutrients came up: carbohydrates, fats and protein. And I gave a brief overview of how these nutrients are integral to our overall health. BRIEF synopsis. 

Turns out these sparkly kids are quite involved in sports and games and overall physical health. And they are interested in knowing how to best fuel their bodies through their various activities! And so we decided that in session 3, we would delve right into FOODS THAT FUEL. And that we did, this past Friday afternoon!

I have been posting little leaks on the Facebook page about some of our projects over the last few weeks. This past Friday was my favourite so far. We made electrolyte drinks, smoothies, power balls (or bliss balls we called them) and protein pancakes. These last ones really pack a punch! They come from a recipe inspired by the lovely Monica Corrado at Simply Being Well, from a GAPS cooking class I attended in Colorado last fall. These puppies are great when you make a big batch and store them in the freezer. Simply pop one in the toaster or the oven to warm them up when you need a protein punch, or the perfect breakfast start to the day! Nutrient-dense, this protein-full snack will help rebuild and repair those muscle tissues post-workout, especially after intense exercise. Bonus, they can fit with most dietary restrictions! They are grain-free, GAPS-friendly, Paleo-friendly, protein rich, and full of antioxidants that will help with lowering inflammation and help combat free radical damage.

GRAIN FREE SQUASH PANCAKES                 inspired by Monica Corrado at simplybeingwell.com

1 cup of organic nut butter of your choice (we used peanut butter - this is GAPS friendly)

5 eggs

1 cup of cooked squash (preferably organic; we used sweet potatoes due to an allergy to pumpkin in the class. You could use butternut squash, pumpkin, kabocha squash, mashed carrots, really any delicious mashed root veg will do!)

Ghee

--> Puree your squash with a hand blender if it isn't already. Hand mix in your eggs and nut butter. Fry your pancakes in ghee in a hot pan on the stove. Devour with loads of butter and maple syrup, or a dollop of yogurt or creme fraiche, along with fresh berries. Store any leftovers in the fridge or the freezer, and pop in the toaster to warm them up!

I'll be dropping links to the recipes that inspired those we whipped up in the kitchen over the course of this next week on my Facebook page. All while I figure out what is on the menu for session numero quatre… I invite you to stop on by and 'like' this crazy thing we are building!