Walk Widely. Eat Wisely. Live Gratefully.
Last night’s dinner, Chicken Paprikash. It’s fast and easy to prepare, but most of all, it’s a comforting food. It’s been an adjustment learning to see all over again but with this dinner, no recipe-reading was required.
Stay tuned for today’s special, pancakes!
There’s so much to be grateful for on a sunny Sunday like this one. The garden is full of little birds, and we’re warm from eating banana raisin pecan cinnamon oatmeal. Although we are big fans of food cooked slowly, I have to admit that the day I learned to make old-fashioned oats in the microwave was a happy day. No more instant mush. And no more standing and stirring a pot to keep it from sticking. I’ve been warned that my recovery from eye surgery will be a slow one, but it is punctuated by moments of brilliance, when suddenly I can see in a whole new way. Tomorrow…back to the gym!
We heard that the top Superbowl food was chicken wings. We also know those who flavour chili. But we decided Lamb and Chickpea Tagine was called for. We started with a recipe from www.cookinglight.com, then made some adaptations: deglazing with some beer after the browning stage, lemongrass pounded and tossed in with the garlic instead of cilantro at the end, baking slowly in the oven instead of stovetop, adding yogurt, and substituting parsley and pecans for cilantro and pistachios. (OK, we still used the lamb and the chickpeas).
Now all that’s left is the cheering and the crying.
The weather in Ontario this week hardly constitutes the kind of weather for “cold weather food”. But it’s a small sacrifice for something so delicious. We had two lovely local lamb shanks in the freezer. While those were browning in a Dutch oven on top of the stove, we chopped a carrot, a hot pepper, a leek, and a stalk of celery. When the shanks were browned we turned the oven to 350F. Then we added the veg and sautéed until they were softened a bit. After deglazing with a little beer, we added a stalk of thyme (the leaves will fall off and the stem can be fished out before serving). Other flavours included a few raisins, 3 chopped dried apricots, 6 pitted, chopped black olives, some oregano, chili powder, and ground cloves.
We poured over a pint of diced tomatoes (or half a large can), covered it, and put in the oven for 20 minutes. Then we turned the shanks, let it go for another 20 minutes. For the last 10 minutes we took the lid off, and in the meantime, made mashed potatoes. The lamb was fall-off-the-bone delicious. Happy Groundhog Day!
After roasting a chicken the other night, we decided to make some soup with the leftovers. All was going well, until it came time to add the vegetables. There were good choices – garlic, ginger, celery, onion and mushrooms. Some tasty small pasta. Then the trouble began…I decided to use a couple of carrots that were in the fridge. One was purple. Not thinking, in they went. Before I knew it, the soup was an awesome shade between fuchsia and lilac. We’re too frugal to throw out an perfectly good pot of soup…so after eating a bowl with some homemade rye bread, we put the rest in the freezer to serve to some adventurous young visitor!
Long day! The bathroom reno revealed that we have been sitting on the upstairs toilet on a wing and a prayer. Weather made us late for an important appointment. It’s payday and we haven’t shopped but have leftovers from the last meal plan. What to do?
We cooked some long whole wheat pasta. Meanwhile, we used a tiny bit of olive oil and sautéed a shallot and half a bulb of fennel. When the pasta was nearly done, we added a can of wild-caught salmon, a diced tomato, and some red pepper pesto to the pan. Then we tipped in the cooked pasta and let it sit for 5 minutes to gain flavour.
When it was ready we stirred, served, and sprinkled with some chopped dill.
Now…off to the couch to forget the day. (Thanks East Dell, we’re sure you’ll help with that).
It’s the time of year when minds turn to winter weight loss. But we’re not big believers in the quick fix. What gets us into a mess can often be turned around to get us out. We’re free of holiday distractions and back into our normal “eat less, move more” routine. Today though, the Toronto weather is still in the deep freeze. (Yes Winnipeg, we hear you laughing…) it made us want a warm and satisfying breakfast.
For 330 calories, here’s what we had: 2 large eggs, scrambled in a nonstick pan and topped with 1/2 ounce of Shropshire Blue cheese. On the side, a slice of whole wheat toast with 2 teaspoons of blueberry-raspberry jam we made back in the summer (thanks, East Lynn Farmer’s Market!) and half a small hothouse local tomato.
Starting the day in a satisfied frame of mind!
Christmastime at our house always involves tourtière, usually on Christmas Eve, after Mass. The year we moved to the walkablefeast Neighbourhood, I went shopping at Royal Beef for my ingredients. I didn’t see any ground pork, so I asked the butcher. And do you know what he asked me? “Are you making tourtière ?” and ” What mix with the beef, 50-50? Because I can just make that up for you.”
Those are the sort of touches that make you know you’re at home, even if your “real” home is miles away. And they’re also what make you want to be a small shop shopper, and turn in your big box membership forever.
White Christmas? Think what you will about Canada, but in these parts, snow this week is an unlikely prospect. However we did have a wonderful life filled with freezing rain and other niceties today.
The cupboard is pretty bare…shopping is tomorrow. So we made a great warm-up dinner. For two, we cooked 3 ounces/90 g of whole wheat spaghettini. At the same time we sautéed a red onion in some olive oil. We chopped and tossed in a couple of small pepperoni. Then we added a 2c/500ml jar of diced tomatoes, put up in the summer. When it was simmering, we added 2c/500ml cooked white beans from Better Bulk (check our recipe page for baking beans). After the pasta reached al dente, we stirred it into the sauce, turned it to low, and simmered for 4 or 5 minutes. We served it with some thinly-sliced basil on top, and a nice glass of Cab-Shiraz.
Healthy food! It’s all around us, but with so many tempting treats beginning to make an appearance, being able to cook up a fast feast of healthy food is essential. Today we made a veggie-packed pasta dish.
We started by putting 2 ounces or 60 grams per person of whole wheat pasta on to cook. In the meantime, we diced four skinless, boneless chicken thighs into a sauté pan with some olive oil. As the cooked, we finely diced and added a shallot and a clove of garlic. Next came a carrot, peeled and diced fine, and 1/4 head of fennel, finely diced. While it was cooking over low heat,we ground up about a teaspoon/5 ml of fennel seed, and zested a lemon. we juiced the lemon into a small bowl and got rid of any seeds.
When the pasta was al dente, we drained and tipped into the sauté pan with the lemon juice, zest, fennel seed, a small amount of pasta water if needed, and a couple of tablespoons (10 ml) of light whipped cream cheese. We left it in the pan, covered but off the heat, for about 3 minutes for the flavours to come together, and ate it up. The cooking took less than half an hour, including boiling the water…leaving more time to watch Christmas specials and make some presents.