green goddess rice with asparagus and herb tofu

 

This dish sounds and looks fussy but comes together really quickly. It’s bright and fresh and full of green plant power. Vegan and gluten free

Start by cooking 1.5 cups of your favorite rice.

In a large pan caramelize 1 onion sliced thin

Meanwhile in a food processor zip together:

3 cloves of garlic
4 chives
1 lemon (zest and juice)
3 large handfuls of spinach
1 tbsp miso
2 tbsp hemp oil
2 tbsp olive oil
S+P
and caramelized onions

In the large pan you fried the onions in, brown in oil slices or cubes of herbed tofu. Season with S+P and once they are a nice golden brown add a handful of asparagus chopped into 2” lengths fry and season them quickly with a dash of lemon juice.

Now add your green goddess puree and the cooked rice into the pan and toss everything gently together. garnish with toasted nuts and enjoy.

stinging nettles + seedy chickie cereal balls

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We had the most wonderful culinary cultural adventure this easter weekend! The weather was divine and we toured from home to farm to home to farm, visiting friends and making new ones! We enjoyed a lovely spelt pancake breakfast complete with a decadence banana butter maple spread, also a Frasier river salmon roasted over an open fire, and the high light for me, was when a friend showed up with a HUGE basket of stinging nettles which she had picked from our lovely rail trail pathway. She sautéed them over the fire with butter and garlic and ginger and sea salt. They were fabulously fresh and injected a super dose of greens into us all. She sent me home with a bundle and last night I made a stinging nettle frittata, with fire roasted red peppers and farm fresh goat milk! I served it along with a massive smoked happy ham we bought from our local butcher. I have never roasted a ham before but I remembered my grandmother making ham often and our family always fought over the cracklin. The ham was juicy and divine and I served it with an apple cider ginger pear glaze. What a feast-full weekend.

My daughter and I made some little easter treats which we bundled up and delivered like little eater bunnies all over the valley. We made oat and coconut rice syrup birds nest and some rice crispy inspired seedy birdie balls with little pumpkin seed beaks.

Here is the recipe for our chickie balls, complete with a small amount of marshmallows…yes store bought white-y GMO marshmallows (‘hey it was easter and my daughter adores the stuff) I have however made some truly amazing homemade marshmallows in past, and I would certainly recommend trying to make your own some time.

seedy chickie cereal balls

In a large  bowl mix

3 cups of cereal (I used an assortment of all wheat free organic flakes and puffs and O’s)

1 cup of mixed seeds (flax, chia, & hemp)

1 cup oats

1 cup of coconut

pinch of sea salt

In a double boiler melt and blend

1/3 cup organic canola oil

2/3 cup almond butter

2 cups marshmallows

1 tbsp vanilla

If you have good bakers hand and can tolerate heat well, grease up your hand with oil and combine the melted almond butter lava into the cereal mix. If you are using a spoon or spatula you may want to oil it up too! Mix until combined, and work quick! You can press the mix into a prepared pan or roll into balls. Enjoy.

roasted roots n rice

A simple way to celebrate the lonely beet and the often over look carrot … roast them with honey and herbs and serve them on a bed of sticky rice and greens!

Making dinner with an sparse fridge is often a challenge, for me town day is once a week and until my garden wakes up I often find myself out of inspiring greens by weeks end and struggling to create a healthy hearty, meat and potato free dinner. I rely often on rice, lentils, beans and greens. This dish was a total off the cuff, whim that turned out really great. What I found in my fridge was 2 beets 4 carrots and half a bunch of swiss chard, what I created amounted to much more than that!

cook

2 cups of brown rice

cut season and roast

2 beets and 4 carrots cut into uniform (thick fry) 2” pieces

toss the root veggies in organic vegetable oil, season with S+P, cumin, granulated garlic, and dried lemon rind. Roast in a small cast iron pan at 425º for about 30 minutes. Once roasted squeeze 1 heaping Tbsp of honey over the veggies, quickly toss and return to a hot oven for 5 more minutes.

Fry in a large deep pan

1 yellow onion sliced thin

2 cloves of garlic minced

season with S+P

cumin seed (whole)

once golden reduce heat to low and add in finely sliced swiss chard or kale (small bunch)

top with lemon juice and braggs (about 2 tbsp each) and remove from heat. Once the rice is cooked add it to the large frying pan, along with 4 eggs whisked together well. Toss everything with the egg mixture and and allow to sit covered for about 5 minutes. The egg should be cooked but not visible as egg, it simply adds a silky coating to everything. Finish rice with a good drizzle of miso hemp dressing and a sprinkle of nutritional yeast. Serve topped with roasted root veggies and enjoy. For a vegan dish simply omit the egg and add a little extra dressing!

elvis cookies; fit for a king

These cookies are like fluffy banana pillows laced with peanut butter, chocolate and oats. They are light and are not too sweet.

I had a bag of peanut butter easter eggs in the pantry (which the easter bunny delivered a little early to the discovery of my daughter who knows that shiny packaged candy store treats don’t come home with me often) and some over ripe bananas on the counter, the combo was obvious and the elvis cookie was born! Apparently the king loved PB & banana sandwiches and therefore every time I combines these things I think he deserves some props!

I remember back when I was opening my second bakery, testing endlessly vegan banana cookie recipes, none of them really hit the mark. Bananas by nature make for fluffy-cake-y baked goods… so if you like a crunchy flat cookie, this recipe might be more to your liking with an extra 1/2 cup of butter added to make them more flat, and spread-y with a crisp bottom. I however like the occasional muffin top style of cookie, and this one I would make again for sure. Mmmabey even with some nuts thrown in for good measure!

Start by creaming

1/2 cup of butter

1/3 cup of almond butter (or peanut butter)

1/2 cup dark cane sugar

1/2 cup light cane sugar

2 eggs

2 over ripe bananas

splash of vanilla

Slowly add

2 1/4 cup spelt flour

1/2 cup oats

1/2 tsp bs

1 tsp bp

pinch sea salt

1.5 cup of chopped up chocolate peanut butter cups

Chill dough for 20 minutes then portion and top with a piece of peanut butter cup and bake on baking sheet at 375º 12-15 minutes.

greens gratin

It’s not everyday I cook up 3 huge bundles of bitter leafy greens and the dish is licked clean, but today I pulled out an old trick from my mom bag and just covered everything in cheese! Mmm It was the right call. I made this gratin gluten free by using quinoa flour and I also used almond milk and oil, rather than butter and cream, it’s far from vegan because I slathered it in Edam cheese, but this dish could easily be made vegan just by omiting the cheese, making a larger batch of béchamel and punching up the spices and miso in the white sauce, in this case I would top it with bread crumbs rather than more cheese)

Finely chop and wash

1 small bundle of swiss chard

1 small bundle of kale

1 large bundle of spinach

Salt the greens and allow them to drip dry in a strainer or salad spinner

In a small pot cook

2/3 cup of vegetable oil

2/3 cup of quinoa flour

Wisk and brown on medium high heat for about 5 minutes.

Add

2 Tbsp garlic granules

2 Tbsp grainy mustard

S+P

1 Tbsp miso

mix well then slowly  stir in

1.5 cups of almond milk (unsweetened).

cook until thicken on medium heat stirring often.

Add

1 cup grated white cheese (something sharp like gruyere would be nice, but anything will do)

*now you want this béchamel to be THICK! really way thicker than you normally would do, because the greens will add a TON of moisture to the pot, so fight the urge to thin it down, and if your mix is too thin, and more cheese.

In a large bowl toss the greens in the hot cheese sauce and squish everything into a nice deep casserole dish, cover the works with a handful of grated cheese, and bake covered at 350º for 15 minutes. Remove lid and broil for 5 minutes. Sprinkle with fresh parsley and be sure to serve with something you can sop up all the garlicky cheesy goodness with.

I caught my daughter in action using the massive serving spoon to lick up every last drop of greens gratin from the serving dish! That says it all.

spelt butterscotch brownies

My most favorite sister-in-law in the whole wide world spent the last week visiting us, and we celebrated her 30^th Birthday early (a couple times), and her birthday treat request was for chocolate brownies! They had brought with them a bottle of scotch so making real butterscotch brownies seemed only natural! This recipe was adapted from the Joy of Cooking Butterscotch Blondies. These brownies were pretty over the top! Filled with huge chocolate chunks, pecans, almonds, hemp seeds, and of course butterscotch sauce to die for. Next time I might just serve the butterscotch with spoons, straight up!

In a small pot melt and simmer:

1/2 cup butter

2/3 cup dark cane sugar

1/3 cup cane sugar

until bubbly and deep and silky

Add 1 Tbsp Vanilla

and 2 Tbsp scotch

remove from heat and allow to cool and thicken

In a bowl sift together

1 cup spelt flour

1/4 tsp bp

1/8 tsp bs

pinch of fine sea salt

once the butterscotch is cool (if you can stop your self from eating it all) wisk in

2 eggs

1 tbsp  brown rice syrup

Add sauce to flour mix and bring together

Now add your chunks of goodness:

1 did 1 cup of chopped nuts (almond & pecan)

1/2 cup hemp seeds (hearts)

1 cup chunks of dark chocolate

bake in a small 8”prepared square pan  for 20-28 minutes at 350º

lentil chard pilaf with maple glazed tofu

This delicious pilaf was devoured the other night by a tough table of city kids used to lots of chemical flavors, fillers and colours, so if this hearty earthy dish can please the mcfood lovers I know I am on to something with this combination of smoky sweet flavours.

Start by boiling 2 cups of water and quickly cook 1 cup of black lentils straight up (no seasoning), once cooked (15-20 minutes) set aside. I had 3 cups of cooked brown rice in the fridge so this is a great dish if you have leftovers if not get a rice pot on too!

In a deep cast iron pan dice and fry 1/2 a yellow onion, 2 large carrots, 3 toes of garlic, and 2 celery stocks in olive oil. When the onions are just brown, add 2 cups of boiling water and season with S+P about 1 tbsp of chili blend (I used my tequila sunrise which includes cumin, but if you use a chilli blend without make sure you add it in), cumin, and a few splashes of braggs. let this all bubble away on medium heat for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile cube up 1/2 a package of firm organic tofu and fry it off to a nice golden brown in organic canola oil. Season with S+P, dry lemon rind, and a dusting of chamela giri gara masala blend. When the tofu is golden on most sides and is nearing completion toss in about 3/4 cup of sunflower seeds and give them a quick toast.Once the tofu and seeds are nicely brown on all sided add a glug of maple syrup to the pan and give it all a quick toss. remove from heat and continue to toss and give it a squirt of sesame oil, and another sprinkle of sea salt then set aside.

Back to the big pan, add cooked rice and lentils to the reduced veggies and stock. Season with some sesame oil, lemon juice and a pinch of anise.

Chop 3-4 large leafy stocks of red chard into 1 cm strips (remove stock and save for another time), dice up 3 green onions finely. Add the veggies to the top of you deep pan, shut off heat to the burner (but keep the pan in place) and cover and steam for 3 minutes. Finally add the tofu and seeds to the pan,  toss everything and serve!

roasted banana buckwheat coffee cake with hemp streusel crunch

I hope you find this recipe as easy and divine as it truly is. Don’t get hung up on the roasting, the sifting, or the 1/2’s and 1/3’s… lots of baking recipes that read as complex are actually just a series of simple steps you can do while your waiting for peaks to stiff, or the oven to come to temp, etc. Also sifting flour is an easy way to get lovely fluffy cakes and muffins. and stopping to scrap your mixer bowl and incorporating ingredient slowly while balancing wet and dry is the best way to get results which will make you happy every time.

About 5 years ago I made some roasted banana and nut spring rolls (which I should revisit as they were unreal) It turned out though that I ran out of spring roll wrappers and had a couple cups of roasted banana nut puree left over which I whipped into a banana bread. Once I did that, there was no going back for me, I have never made banana bread again without first roasting the bananas. What a delicious way to add a deep complex flavor to a baked goodie!

Enough though about all of that, lets talk about this lovely buckwheat cake! This recipe is adapted from a cinnamon streusel coffee cake recipe I love from the Art & Soul of Baking. My variation (as usual) is made with ancient grains and almond butter laced with the caramel wisps of fresh dates and a hint of cocoa. Lots of people think they don’t like dates, but in a loaf like this, the soft flesh of the dates turn magically into little layers of sweet caramel waves. Bring on the date haters… they too will love this!

Start by peeling 2-3 overripe organic bananas, left whole and set in the prepared pan you will use to bake the loaf / cake in. This recipe will fit into a standard loaf pan but I used a nice 8×8 square pan instead. Set your oven to 350º and let the bananas come to temp in the oven and roast while your getting everything else ready. They should be bubbling and browning when they are ready to go (about 15-20 minutes)

In a mixer cream:

1/3 lb of butter

1/2 cup of almond butter

add 5 fresh seeded dates

Once combined scrap down the sided of the bowl and add:

1 cup of organic cane sugar

and 4 eggs (one at a time, scraping bowl once)

1 tbsp vanilla (the real deal)

In a separate bowl sift together:

2 cups of spelt flour

1 cup buckwheat flour

2 tbsp pure cocoa powder

2 tsp bp

1/2 tsp bs

pinch of fine sea salt

In a smaller bowl make the streusel by combining:

1/2 cup of course dark cane sugar

1 tsp cocoa

1 tsp cinnamon

1/3 cup of hemp hearts

a tiny pinch of fine sea salt

Remove your bananas from oven and add them into your mixer along with 1/3 of the flour mix. Once combined add 1/2 cup of organic yogurt and another 1/3 of your flour, scrap your bowl down and add the final portion of flour along with another 1/2 cup of yogurt.

Pour 1/2 of the batter into your hot pan, then sprinkle half of the streusel mix over the top, pour the rest of the batter in and cover with the rest of the streusels mixture.

Bake the loaf for 55-60 or a small cake for 40-45 minutes; these would bake off as mini loafs of muffins in 20-25 minutes.

enjoy

mason jar miso hemp dressing

This is a yummy new addition to my miso collection of successful experiments! And I have fallen head over heals in love with this wonderful new cold pressed organic hemp oil I have in abundance, making this dressing a delicious combination of  two perfectly pairing superfoods!

I love to make dressings in mason jars which makes for an easy way to measure, shake, serve and store it.

Start with 1 generous Tbsp of miso and mix into 2 Tbsp of hemp oil using a small whisk or the back of a spoon, until well blended. Add 2 Tbsp of lime or lemon juice, and 1 tsp of honey or maple syrup. S+P, and one toe of garlic minced. Shake well and douse your greens in this nutty rich dressing. This fab dressing keeps well in the fridge for a while, so you can scale up the recipe to make a larger batch easily.