garlic scape hemp pesto

The garlic scapes are  ready and abundant in my garden! Happy days! They are little preemptive tastes of the garlic harvest to come, and they couldn’t arrive at a better time! Scapes are the perfect addition to stir fry and can be used any where you would use garlic cloves, yet they are milder in flavor and more texturally present in most dishes.

My daughter snipped about 40 scapes yesterday, and certainly we have more to harvest (maybe even enough to do a batch of picked scapes!), so today my mind went immediately to pesto, and as I am flush in the omega goodness of hemp I whipped up a parsley hemp scape pesto that later will finish a batch a spelt gnocchi’s perfectly.

Pesto is like salad dressing.. you can taste and tweak it as you see fit. Some like it with more of a citrus kick, some prefer more earthy oil flavors, so here is my approximate measure of how I whipped up a batch to my taste.

In a food processor blend:

6 garlic scapes

1/3 cup lemon juice

1 tbsp sea salt

1 handful of parsley

1 cup hemp seeds

Enough hemp oil to bring everything together into a thin paste.

Thats it, your done. Now go ahead and put it on everything from pizza + pasta to rice + quinoa, even a slather on a grilled steak is nice!

enjoy.

almond butter oat bars

Gluten free and vegan, these 2 step chocolate almond granola bars are are great energy boosters. Nutty and not too sweet, full of omega boosting seeds and some oats to keep you going.

Pretty fast to assemble, it’ just waiting for the almond butter chocolate topping to set up that might make you impatient!

In a stand mixer start by blending together:

2/3 cup coconut oil

2/3 cup cane sugar

1/4 cup brown rice syrup

1/4 cup agave nectar

1 tbsp vanilla

2/3 cup almond butter

1/3 cup each: flax seeds + hemp seeds

Blend with 4 cups of oats (or a cereal blend of rolled grains)

Press mixture into a 9×9 parchment lined pan, bake at 350 for 20 minutes (or until golden brown). Cool.

In a double boiler melt together:

3/4 cup chocolate chips

2/3 cup almond butter

Spread mixture over cooled bar, and allow to set for a few hours before cutting and serving.

cardamom rye date nut drops

This recipe combines some of my most favorite flavors; rye, dates, hemp seeds, cardamom and coconut. These are all balanced in a dense and sweet (yet no sugar added) vegan dough laced with walnuts and a hint of cinnamon spice. mmm.

Inspired by my newest cookbook: Tassajara lunches, picnics and appetizers, I made a rye hemp adaption on their date and coconut cookies. For a girl who dislikes cookies so much, I have sure been baking lots of them these days! Keeping the troops happy and fueled.

 

Start by pulsing in a processor:

1/2 cup of dates (pitted)

1/2 cup walnuts

then mix in a large bowl:

fruit and nut mix

1/2 cup hemp seeds

1/2 cup coconut

1  1/2 tsp nutritional yeast

1 cup white spelt flour

1 cup fine rye flour

a pinch of fine sea salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp cardamom ground

then mix in

3/4 cup aguave syrup

1/2 cup organic veggie oil (I like grape seed for baking)

 

Once combined  portion into small balls and bake at 325 for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

share and enjoy over a cup of tea!

chocolate walnut mocha cookies

The perfect treat to share with friends for Solstice! Deep dark puddles of chocolate with a hint of espresso and walnut bits, which should keep you all going well into the bright night ahead.

I used white organic flour for these… which I almost never do, I was just to lazy to dig out a fresh sack of spelt flour. These cookies were made with coconut oil and fresh eggs, but no dairy products. certainly you could use spelt flour no problem in this oh-so-deep chocolately recipe.

The batter is totally unlike a traditional cookie batter, it’s wet and more like a brownie, and in fact the cookies them self taste a whole lot like a brownie, but with none of the cake texture. I can’t think what would make these better… they are perfect as is.

In a double boiler melt:

1/2 cup coconut oil

300 g dark good quality chocolate

once melted set aside to cool a little.

In a large bowl mix together:

3 large fresh eggs (at room temperature)

1 cup of your favorite dark sugar

2 tsp vanilla

beat until thickened

then add

1 cup sifted flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tbsp espresso powder

a pinch of fine sea salt

Gently combine, wet, dry and the melted chocolate together, then add 1/2 cup chocolate chips and 1 cup chopped walnuts.

Portion and bake cookies on a parchment lined pan at 350 for 10 minutes, cool, share  and enjoy.

rosemary dijon chicken ‘n rice arugula

The other night we hosted a number of friends and stoked up the big ‘ol outdoor turkey deep fryer which kept the folks entertained and well fed with an array of fried fare, and debauchery. At one point (with the first basket of french fries) I thought our band new outdoor shower might have gone up in flames, thankfully it was just a river of boiling oil next to a rocking open flame bubbling around my flip flop feet! Yikes!  You can be sure if the deep fryer comes out (which happens about once a year) some comedy ensues. We fried up: 2 whole chickens (1 from our stock and 1 my dear friend raised to it’s full on 7.5 lb fulness),  7 kokanee lake fresh fish the boys caught the day before they were fried whole until crunchy and perfect, dozens of veggie pakoras and a mountain of fries. Good thing I advised everyone to bring healthy leafy veggies and nothing fatty to accompony this fry up! My girlfriend for the first time in her life showed up at the party with a raw, thawed bird as her pot luck item! PERFECT!

It was a great night, and in the end most everything was consumed, except the last chicken  “Jayne Mansfield”, We had about 2/3 of her left and I felt she deserved the guest of honor place on the dinner table the next day so I whipped up this citrus mustard maple dish to soak her in and served her on a mountain of fresh arugula that another friend brought a pillow case sized bag full of!

This was a great way to serve left over chicken, but I think it would be perfect with tofu or white beans in place of the chicken. The nice thing about this dish is the hot rice blend was served over the fresh and unseasoned aruluga which wilted just a little and added such a nice fresh peppery crunch to the meal.

Cook 2-3 cups of rice using your favorite method.

Then in a large cast iron deep pan:

Brown 1 chopped onion in organic veggie oil

along with 4 cloves of garlic

once translucent and 4 cups of cooked chicken (or cooked beans, or add tofu and brown)

season with:

S+P

1 sprague of rosemary, beat and chopped

1.5 cups of hot water and one veggie bullion cube

2 tbsp dijon mustard

1 tbsp cayenne pepper

the juice from 1 lime

2 tbsp maple syrup

add 2 grated carrots

and one handful of crest finely chopped

Simmer away in the sauce for 5-10 minutes.

Mix chicken with cooked rice and serve over arugula (way more than you think you need as like spinach it wilts rapidly.. I used about 12 cups to serve 6 people)

Garnish with fresh chopped crest and rosemary, a squeeze of lime and a little sprinkle of sea salt.

Simple left over indulgence.

best ever banana bread

Organic spelt flour, milk chocolate chunks, walnuts pieces and  flax seeds in a perfect crumb cake made with roasted bananas… seriously this is the ONLY banana bread recipe you’ll ever need, and you can adapt it endlessly; nuts, fruits, seeds any combination will please a crowd (or just your breakfast plate, as it may be)

In a stand mixer start by creaming:

3/4 cup of butter

1 cup of organic cane sugar

3 ripe bananas (roasted at 350 for about 40 minutes)

2 tsp vanilla

2 large farm fresh eggs

1/4 cup buttermilk (or sour raw milk)

mix until well blended, scraping down the bowl a few times.

in a separate bowl sift together:

2 cups white spelt flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

gently mix dry ingredients into wet ingredients

Then toss in:

1 cup of chocolate chunks

1/2 cup flax seeds

1/2 cup walnut bits

Pour into prepared bread pan and bake at 350 for 60-70 minutes (or until a toothpick come out clean)

Total banana heaven!

eating the koot’s

Here it is folks, my S.O.L.E.Foodie guild to eating in the Kootenay’s, why? Because so many people ask me where they should recommend their visiting friends go for a meal, and I am always going on about where to eat (and where to avoid) so I decided to make a quick reference guide for visitors and locals on my favorite foods spots in and around this area. This certainly isn’t all inclusive of the good and bad food around, just my favorite food stomping grounds!

Winlaw: Sleep is for Sissie’s, this is my top pick of the two restaurants in Winlaw. Sissies offers fresh food that is mostly organic and local, which means a lot! Plus the bakers are cute and they pump out the “good-est” goodies around ;). There is live music often and the timber framed building offers great views and atmosphere, excellent for weekend breakfasts, healthy lunches and amazing dinners.

New Denver: Sandrella is my pick for summer time food. They make crepes and delicious gelato, and while most of it is conventional fare how can you go wrong with a nutella, PB and banana crepe? Also if you can manage to make your visit to New Denver on a Friday morning / early afternoon, you can take a wonder through the farmers market, and there is always some great baked goodies to be had there.

Sandon: Pack a picnic! If you are exploring this historic ghost town there are ZERO services here not even a vending machine, but it is a lovely stop, with great photo ops, exploration and hiking trails! Some smart food truck operator should make note and set up here for the summer season!

Nakusp: Slim picking for really good food here but we were lucky enough to stumbled into Karl’s Woodfire Pizza N’More on the “main” street only to discover they offered a GREAT selection of German beers on tap, which paired perfectly with a fresh woodfired thin crusted pizza.

Now I do have one other food item I must mention for the sake of my sweetie… there is a European bakery deli (no idea what it is called but it is on the east most end of the main drag on the south side of the road) they makes a crazy pork 3 ways breakfast sandwich (frankly the very thought of makes me sick) It’s called the boss hoss and if you are a tried and true meat eater and you aren’t afraid of conventional meat or heart failure you may just love this as much as my guy does. It’s a ham and cheese bun (freshly baked in house) stuffed with bacon, eggs, cheese and sausage, then slathered in a gooey white sauce. Seriously he says it’s pork-a-lishious.

Halcyon Hotspring: Now this is a hot spring resort with a killer restaurant; Kingfisher! We love this place… I would pick this for a fancy night out time and time again, even though it’s 2 hours away! The chef is ace and the menu is local fresh and exciting. The lunch menu is really reasonably priced for high quality food, while the dinner menu is a little more dear, but they are putting out great meals, perfectly executed, with local seasonal ingredients. Enough said. They have won my heart a few times. 2013> UPDATE since writing this the chef we loved has come and gone, we have twice been back with lack luster results. Not sure I will return for a great meal, but it’s also the only thing around. Not sooo bad, but not the glorious experience we had in past.

Nelson: As Nelson is a big place I have a number of recommendations…

roasted prosciutto wrapped asparagus

So simple, so delicious, this roasted spring time dinner couldn’t be easier. I loaded up with local asparagus the other day was had my heart set on wrapped little bacon bundles, when I realized what I had in the fridge was even better… thin sliced italian prosciutto salami!

I roasted up a pan full of new potatoes, onion bits and garlic cloves indulgently coated in nice organic canola oil and seasoned with sea salt, pepper and fresh chopped parsley. Cooked in a hot oven until the potatoes were nice and crispy on a few sided, then I tossed my lovely little pork wrapped greens on top and continued to roast the works for another 8 minutes or so. Served with a crisp garden salad this dinner is the perfect fresh spring time prelude to the summer season.

As for the prosciutto bundles:

Wash and trim 1 large bundle of asparagus.  Collect 2-3 stocks and wrap them tightly with prosciutto or prosciutto salami. Once all of your bundles are tied up brush them with a little olive oil seasoned with: 2 minced garlic cloves, sea salt, black pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice.

Roast and enjoy

How simple is this?

chicken wax bean soup with hungarian nokedli

Our permaculture intern is of Hungarian descent and as I am so interested in global food and cultural eating I have been  prying him for details on traditional dishes and his favorite foods, when he presented the sweetest little cookbook his mom made him. In it I found some tasty sounding dishes but was drawn especially to a recipe for Hungarian dumplings (nokedli)  in a wax bean soup. Yum. I used his mom’s nokedli recipe and instructions but ended up forming the “noodles” in the fashion my German friend taught me when I got my spetzle lesson. The lazy lumpy noodle dumpling are delicious and are well worth the effort. As there is nothing quiet as comforting as homemade chicken soup bursting with homemade noodles, or nokedli as it may be.

As for the soup goes it started it’s life as a roast chicken carcass that spent two day simmering away in onion and garlic broth, and then it got a Hungian sweet paprika treatment and the addition of the last of my frozen wax beans from last years harvest. The soup was great and although I took all sorts of slack for not serving it with sour cream (sorry to you traditionalists, and to Jordans Mom… I just don’t stock very many creamy white dairy type items in my fridge), everyone seemed to enjoy the soup immensely!

I won’t tell you how to make chicken soup, only that the addition of wax bean fried in butter and doused in sweet hungarian paprika made this my own take on the bean soup recipe in the cookbook. As for the nokedli, here is how it came together:

In a bowl mix 4 eggs with enough flour to make a thick gluey dough, that will fast become very hard to mix. But carry on mixing well until silky and thick. I used Anita’s white spelt flour (which is my favourite easy spelt sub in, it can be used in every manner one would use white flour, with out any of the traditional whole-grainy spelt issues to contend with)

Let the dough rest at room temperature for a time, and about 10 minutes before you want to serve dinner, get your soup up to a rolling boil and start to form the dough dumplings and let them boil for 8 minutes. Jordan’s mom’s technique was to cut little bits of dough over the edge of a bowl using a wet knife. My German friend showed me to use a large wooden paddle and a flat dough scraper to cut bits right into the boiling liquid. This is no easy task, but with some experimenting you will get a flow down. You want semi-consistent bite size lumps, which will start to float to the top once cooked.

Serve the soup with a hearty garnish of parsley and I used garden fresh peppery watercress in my garnish as well. And for those of you who enjoy sour cream, apparently this is the place for it! Go on give it a go (the nokedli I mean not the sour cream)

Enjoy, and thanks Jordan’s Mom, for sharing both the recipe and your super son!

chai chocolate pansy cake

Remember a couple weeks back when I posted this delicious spelt espresso vegan cake recipe, well when I was enjoying a bite of this dense and moist cake I though about how great it would be with chai spice rather than espresso, and so I busted one out to take to a lovely dinner party, and I was right… it was FABULOUS with a spicy chai kick. My daughter picked little purple pop up pansies from all over the garden and they were the perfect finish for this divine vegan dessert.

I didn’t tweak too much from my original post but I did double the batch to yield a whopping 12” spring form pan that made for 12 hearty portions (easily could have served 24)

I used in this recipe both a chai concentrate liquid as well as a chai spice blend. If you don’t have both I am sure just the concentrate (or a stiff brewed chia tea) would do, but you may want to add a pinch of a few chai essential spices from your pantry; especially cardamom and cinnamon and clove.