Tag: vegetables

The Urban Farm is Growing!

Back in the winter, we started a few seeds. We’re not willing to accept that city living means you can’t have some self-sufficiency in your food chain.

So here’s our progress so far. Peas are starting to climb up the trellises. Lettuce and chard are growing, with a second crop underway. Radish, carrots and beets are mostly lurking under the ground, with the exception of a few carrot seeds that must have lain dormant over the winder and now are growing.

Not featured in this photo, except for the corner of one leaf, bottom right? Great, Great Grammy Hergett’s rhubarb, imported as a root from Nova Scotia.

Farmers' Market Season has Arrived!

Now I know summer is really going to get here! The East Lynn Park Farmers’ Market is finally open.

Clearly the farmers have had the same problems we’ve had with the garden – cool temperatures, and not enough sun. But there were a few early veggies to be had, and some rhubarb. As for us, we bought a delicious looking rack of lamb from the Belanger brothers, Peter & Josh. By the time we arrived their veg were pretty well sold out.

We also swung by Montforte and picked up some cheese – oh, what a surfeit of delicious dairy flavours. Today we went for an oozing packet of ripe deliciousness (camembert?) with herbs, and some nice hard cheese for grating.

Last stop, Better Bulk for some whole wheat flour – gotta get some bread going before the heat returns. It’s going to be a tasty week.

Smokin' Bean Salad with Sprouts

Many years ago, when our kids were young, I copied a recipe from Lucy Wing for a delicious bean salad. Over the years, it’s been changed, adapted, and adjusted (and lost!) to the point where it doesn’t even resemble the original recipe any more. But I think fondly of the days when we were discovering our “family foods”. This one gets tweaked a little every time. Here’s today’s version:

Whisk together in  a large bowl, 15ml Dijon mustard (1T), 30ml cider vinegar (2T), and 15 ml olive oil (1T). Trim and blanch very slightly, a good handful of green beans. Plunge into cold water, and cut into bite-sized piecees. Rinse about 500ml (2c) of bean sprouts and add to the bowl. Then dice a large tomato and put that in. Pit and chop (large or small, your choice) some black olives. Add 500ml (2c) of cooked white beans (I used Great Northerns, which I had cooked with onion and rosemary, earlier in the week). Lastly, cheese. something sharp. Feta works, or an aged cheddar. In this case, Plank Road had some delicious applewood smoked cheddar. For a large bowl of salad, you don’t need much – 60g (a couple of ounces) will do. Grate it in. Stir everything together, and let stand in the fridge for about 1/2 an hour (although it gets better overnight!). You can serve it as a side, but it’s really a meal. Add some homemade wholegrain bread, and you’re set!

We did have a little trouble finding bean sprouts on short notice. Next time I might just pick up some mung beans or lentils from Better Bulk and sprout my own.

How would You Braise a Mixed Grill?

The other night we didn’t have as many people for dinner as expected, so there were leftover lamb chops. Plus we had a piece of beef tenderloin that hadn’t been used. (Such is life when adult children begin to flee the nest…sometimes here, sometimes eating elsewhere).

The idea was that we should make something a bit liked mixed grill. We didn’t have sausage, but the meats were enough. We browned them nicely with some red onions, peppers, and a carrot or two, diced. Then, a little wine tipped in to loosen the nice browned bits. At the end of the browning, we put in some mushrooms, and a good handful of rosemary, chopped, plus a grind of pepper.

We covered this with a can of diced tomatoes with herbs, and popped it in the oven for an hour, with the cover on. Then we removed the lid, and left it bubbling along (at about 350F) while we made some mashed potatoes.

In the end, it was a great way to celebrate what we hope was the last day cold enough for braising until the autumn!

Chili Artichoke Pizza

By now you’ve figured out that we eat pizza at least once a week. One of our favourites is Artichoke Pizza. But you can’t eat the same thing every day – it would get a little boring. So we like to switch up the ingredients a little.

This version uses basically the same recipe, but I had some rye flour which I substituted for the whole wheat. I also used homemade chili sauce from last summer as the base. It was raining, so I didn’t want to wander out to the shops. So a few re-hydrated chanterelles, a bit of diced red bell pepper, some artichokes from a jar and a few black olives were pressed into service.

For cheese, I had some Canadian sheep’s milk feta (yes, I know in the EU that we wouldn’t be allowed to call it that, but it was delicious). A sprinkling of part-skim mozza finished things off. In a little over half an hour, we had a delicious pizza, ready to eat, without ever using a phone or the internet to get it.

Salade Huron-coise

So what did we do with the remaining Glazed Lake Huron Char? We made a delicious Salade Nicoise – that is, Salade Huron-coise!

There was a leftover red potato, so we cut that up, along with the remaining fillet.

Some greens, a few steamed haricots verts, a boiled egg, some capers and olives, and we were nearly set. For the dressing, a tablespoon each of lemon juice, extra-virgin olive oil, Dijon mustard, and a sprinkle of lemon pepper.

So good!

A Char-ming Discovery

We’re well-served on our walkable route to food and feast-stuffs, except for one thing. There is a limited supply of places to buy good-quality fish. Recently we visited Hooked, on Queen Street. They have an amazing selection, arranged west-to-east in a gorgeous glass fridge. Advice and provenance of the fish are freely provided.

The only problem we had with Hooked was figuring out which fish. Too many to choose from, and all of them looked good. In the end we settled on a huge fillet of Lake Huron Char. Then, what to do?

We baked it, glazed (see our recipe page, here).

Of course it was too big for two, so we put a couple of pieces in the freezer for a day when we want a delicious meal, but fast. So much better than the corner burgermeisters. There was still some left. What to do?

Stay tuned tomorrow!

You Can Never Have too Much Curry

Really, you’re thinking? Didn’t we just have curry yesterday? Well yes, that’s true. But today’s curry is a far cry from yesterday’s cousin.

In this case, it’s a “use it up” curry. There were a few veg going begging in the fridge, that needed to be used up. Sometimes the amounts you can buy at the grocer do not equal what you need for your meal plan, and you just have to recalibrate.

In the beginning, we got some brown rice cooking. We like to make a big batch and then portion it out in the freezer where it can be reheated by steam or microwave, when we don’t have a lot of time on our hands.

The curry began with a pot, a little oil (olive, in our case) an onion and some garlic. Then 4 or 5 button mushrooms, quartered. They were about to go over the edge, but still edible. We broke up the stalks of asparagus that had been sitting around for a day or two longer than absolutely ideal, and pared and chunked in a carrot.

To this, a tablespoon of the same Patak’s curry paste we used for the lamb yesterday. A little bit of white wine (also something that doesn’t register as a leftover in some households) went in the pot next.

We had two cups of cooked kidney beans and a cup of cooked chickpeas (all from Better Bulk, see our blogroll) which we tossed in. You can also check our recipes page to see how to cook dried beans of all kinds. These tipped in, juice and all.

The whole thing was set to simmering until it looked stew-y or curry-ish. Served over rice, it was awesome, vegetarian, and tasty!

Leftover Lamb Curry

I know, some of you who still have teenagers (or who are young enough that you’re not weight-conscious) are thinking, “what is this leftover lamb of which you speak”?

But really, truly, I assure you, someday you two may have leftover delicious roast lamb in your futures. Sure, you can just eat it cold, in a tasty sandwich, with some Dijon and lettuce, and maybe some sliced pears and goat cheese. Another great way, is a tasty curry with whatever veg you have on hand.

In this case, I sauteed an onion, some bell pepper, and a bit of celery (the holy trinity), a couple of diced carrots, along with a clove or two of garlic and about a teaspoon of minced fresh ginger. When that was soft, I diced up the lamb and tossed it in.

Immediately I added a heaping tablespoon of curry paste (I used Patak’s but in a pinch you could use curry powder; I just don’t think it would be as flavourful). Then about a cup of vegetable broth, beef broth, lamb broth, or wine – really, any will give a great taste. Come to think of it, beer would work, too.

Chop up a couple of tomatoes and stir them in. Let the whole thing simmer til the carrots are nice and soft.

Delicious comfort food, the second time around.

Barbecued Lamb for a Celebration

I had thought I’d get burgers on the grill or take-out for my Mother’s Day dinner, but Steve surprised me. Walking about in the neighbourhood while I was at French class, he popped into Royal Beef, where they had some awesome lamb roasts.

He cooked this one one the barbecue with a marinade of Dijon mustard, olive oil, 5-spice powder, salt, and pepper. He served it with some new potatoes and spring asparagus.

Consider me spoiled.