rustic root veggie pie

Not only does this pie celebrate all things winter harvest, but it is beautiful and hearty and so very tasty!

I used my go to spelt cream cheese pastry dough for a pie crust but I omitted the sugar and added 2 tbsp of dried herbs: oregano, sage, parsley and thyme. This dough is so easy to work with, on a floured countertop roll it out to about 1/4″ thick, and as circular as you can, then slump it into a medium spring form pan, don;t push it in, just drape it and pat it. I cut all the extra dough off from the top of the deep pan and re-rolled it out to cut out some hearts to decorate the top with. Keep pie crust covered and in the fridge until your veggie filling is ready to use.

For the root pie filling: start by roasting what ever veggies you have in your pantry (6-8 cups worth) I used:

2 carrots

1 yellow onion

6 cloves of garlic

2 celery stocks

1 acorn squash

about 3 medium potatoes

2/3 of a small pumpkin

drizzle the lot in olive oil and season with S+P, chilli flakes, and the same herbs used in the pie crust dough.

Bake until nicely roasted (about 35 minutes at 375)

In a large bowl mash together all the roast veggies and add:

3 eggs

S+P

1 tbsp paprika

1 handful fresh parsley

2 handfuls of kale chopped into 1″ bits

and 2 cups left over pumpkin cheese sauce from pumpkin parmesan penne  dish, you can always make a sinple roux or cheese sauce as a substitution for this. Alternatively you could mash just the potatoes seperatly with some milk and butter then mix in the other veggies to the mash.

* leave some veggies chunky, you don’t want a homogenous blend for such a rustic dish.

Gently spoon veggie mix into pie crust, then push the extra edge dough down to create some lazy folds, decorate with cut crust shapes and brush the dough with a 1 egg + a drip of water wash.

Bake at 400 for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350 and bake for another 20-30 minutes.

Umm this is serious Yumm.

pumpkin parmesan penne

When ever I ask my partner what he wants for dinner he says “tacos” or “that corn chowder” I don’t even know why I bother asking, as for my daughter well her reply is always cheesy noodles please. Tonight I caved and made cheesy noodles with a serious mama spin. I managed to slip in 1/3 of a roasted pumpkin and used organic corn noodles, which yielded a gluten free meal packed with veggies and no one was the wiser!

The sauce for this was really special and it looked like I used orange cheese (which I never buy) but it made it taste cheesier somehow…

In a hot oven

roast 1 small pumpkin sliced into 1″ thick smiles (or any squash) until fork tender, with a drizzle of olive oil and S+P seasoning

also roast the seeds from the pumpkin (same seasonings)

and 4 cloves of garlic (skin on)

In a small sauce pan start a roux

1/4 c butter

1/4 c quinoa flour

allow to bubble away for about 5 minutes stirring often

season with:

S+P

freshly grated nutmeg (about 1 tsp)

a squeeze of course mustard

slowly add 2 cups of milk or cream

reduce heat and stir often as sauce thickens

Then add:

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

1 cup ricotta cheese

handful each of chopped: parsley, sage and oregano

Now add the 4 cloves of roasted garlic (peeled) along with about 2 cups worth of roasted pumpkin

Mix with immersion blender until smooth.

 

Toss cooked gluten free pasta of your choice in this divine sauce and garnish with toasted pumpkin seeds and a little more fresh parm.

* this recipe made enough sauce for our family dinner plus I reserved about 2 cups for a veggie pot pie I am planning to make tomorrow!

seedy rice quick fry + import beers

There are so many foods I cook in volume when I cook them… to ensure the fridge is always armed with a quick fix meal, whether it’s rice, bean, lentils, ground meat or boiled eggs, I love to have them on hand. Because eating out of the pantry means planning ahead, and sometimes I am not very good at that… So when I go to the trouble of soaking beans, I make sure I have enough to make a few meals.

This quick fry rice is the perfect use for left over brown rice and an abundance of fresh eggs. Oh and all the beer cans in the picture, were just delivered from the “province of cheep beer” by a visiting friend the other day, was the perfect accompaniment for this dish. Oh Big Rock Beer!

In a wok or deep frying pan brown:

2 cloves of garlic

2 shallots

2″ ginger freshly grated

in a bleand of sesame oil and organic vegetable oil

1 small can of matchstick chopped water chestnuts

1 cup of thinly sliced green cabbage

S+P

1 tbsp chinese 5 spice

5 sichuan peppers ground

Once the onion, garlic and cabbage are just golden brown, then add:

2 cups of cooked brown rice

a drizzle sesame oil

and a good glug of rice vinegar + soy sauce or braggs

allow to cook for 5 minutes before adding:

4 eggs, cracked into a well in the middle of the pan, break yokes and run a fork through the eggs a couple times. Then wait a few minutes until they cook a little more, before running a fork through them again. Do this a couple times before mixing the egg into the rest of the dish.

Toss in a handful each of sunflower seeds, black seasame seeds,  hemp seeds, and fresh minced parsley.

Serve and enjoy. Dinner on the table in less than 15 minutes!

herb and feta beer bread

As much as I am a baker, and former bakery owner.. I am not at all a bread baker. I can snap out a tart, a cake, batch after batch of cookies, bars, and squares but I seem to stumble at least mentally when it comes to yeast, not that I have had a lot of failures… but maybe just out of fear of failure, and a deep love of good bread.

When I stumbled upon this simple recipe online for beer bread I thought “hey carbonated drinkable yeast isn’t too scary” and the recipe seemed totally doable. I threw it together and the results were very nice… reminiscent of an irish soda bread almost, in that it was dense and thick and it also happened to be packed with a good amount of herbs and cheese making it really very tasty. It took less than an hour from start to finish and the recipe is so short and simple that your almost certain to have everything you need on hand.

In a large bowl mix:

3 cups of flour (1/2 organic white and 1/2 whole organic spelt)

1 tsp sea salt

1 Tbsp baking powder

1 Tbsp cane sugar

1 cup of cheese (I used goat feta crumbled)

1/4 cup assorted herbs both fresh and dried all from the garden (sage, parsley, thyme, rosemary, and oregano)

1 can of beer

Mix well then pour the THICK batter into a greased bread pan, brush top with a wash of 1 small egg and a little milk or water) sprinkle a little extra herbs on top, and bake at 325 for 45-55 minutes (until you can smell it and the top is nice and a deep golden brown)

Ta-da fresh bread… I served this with a big bowl of acorn squash soup and the two were a dynamic duo.

simple hearty and not at all scary!

 

garden harvest veggie ragu

My little green house is pumping out plump tomatoes, a couple handfuls a day.. most of which are chilling in the freezer, but these heirloom beauties were destine for a deep rich veggatarian ragu. This sauce is super versatile, I made a big pan full and had some on left over rice for lunch today dressed with fresh goat feta and oregano, the rest of the sauce (about a pint) will cozy in a jar and wait for a bed of pasta noodles this weekend.

In the event you too have a picky eater around, a thick tomato sauce is a great way to hid teeny tiny little veggie bits 😉 This ragu has 9 different veggies in it, I even slipped beet into this recipe, which I find adds a nice sweetness that works well with the mild acidity of the fresh tomatoes. I know a ragu is traditionally a meat based sauce… but seeing as this thick tomatoes sauce has a stick to your rib-nes to it.. I’m calling it a ragu!

Start warming a good amount of olive oil in a deep cast iron pan

add the following finely chopped veggies and brown:

1 yellow onion

1 carrot

3 cloves of garlic

1/2 of a large green pepper

1/4 of a small zucchini

season with S+P,  chili flakes, bay leaf, fresh minced herbs; oregano, thyme & basil.

Once all these veggies start to get  good and brown add in about 6 cups of diced tomatoes. I used an assortment of 6 varieties of heirloom tomatoes.

reduce heat and to the tomatoes add

2 cups boiling water

2 heaping Tbsp red pepper spread

1 small grated beet

Allow everything to simmer away for as long as you have to wait (adding extra hot water and season as needed) 1 hour is plenty but 3 is ideal! If you have less time to cook it down or  if you prefer a smoother sauce, you can zip it up with an immersion blender, me I like some tomato chunks.

That’s is.. simple garden harvest ragu, ready to smother anything you want to cover in deliciousness!

seedy quinoa power salad

The perfect use for left over quinoa! A super seedy omega protein salad. As with rice and beans and lentils, when ever I cook quinoa I always cook enough to make a salad with the next day, even if you just add a scoop to the top of a green salad, it’s a nice addition. Anyway this was just a big fridge clean salad, complete with dressing made while standing in the fridge door.

 

2 cups of cooked quinoa

finely diced veggies:

2 small tomatoes

3 bunches of red kale

1/2 cucumber

2 green onions

1 cup of a small red cabbage shredded

 

Toss veggies with quinoa and add the following seeds:

1/2 cup hemp seeds

1/4 cup flax seeds

1/2 cup sunflower seeds

 

drizzle with equal parts:

hemp or flax oil (walnut oil would be really yummy too)

apple cider vinegar

 

season with:

S+P

lemon zest

 

toss and enjoy, or put it in a mason jar and take it for a hike in the woods to keep you going!

 

almond butter pad thai and citrus spinach salad

I know it has been a long time since my last post because when I went to find a picture for a recipe and found I have 5 images waiting to post! I guess I have some homework to do…. I have been really swamped with gardening, and getting ready for a little one year in the valley celebration this past long weekend, at least I have still been snapping pictures of the tasty bits along the way.

Everything here is getting green and blooming, and the little chards and collards are popping their heads out if the mulch, little purple artisan lettuce’s are lapping up the rainy drizzle and I am waiting for them all to grace out table. Tonight after running to town and rushing around the valley, I came home with two simple ingredients: rice noodles & goat feta from up the river.

I made two quick and delicious light dishes tonight that went beautifully together; an almond butter tofu pad thai with hemp seeds and a citrus spinach salad with feta and cabbage, complete with miso hemp dressing. yum and yum.

This salad is super simple: spinach, one orange, some purple cabbage shaved thin, fresh goat feta, sunflower seeds, and a little shaved carrot all snuggled up in  my new favourite miso hemp dressing.

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!

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.

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!

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.

Goats & Torts

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Slow Stewed Goat Tacos; I was trying to come up with a witty title for this recipe; bah bah black beans, goat-ita’s, chimichangoat… you get the picture, and while I realize that it may be unlikely you have goat meat in your freezer, I wanted to share this easy, meaty Mexican dish which is great for strong and gamey meats; ground lamb, venison, or elk would all be nice slowly stewed in this blend of beer and chillis. Goat is one of my favorite meats, I adore a good Caribbean goat curry with roti, and would maybe give a toe for a firy Indian goat vindalo, seriously. This was my first time cooking goat and I was really thrilled to be given a few bundles of goat meat from some new and lovely friends who are in their first year of goat keeping and very recently they learned how to pack the gents neatly into brown paper. They now have two Nubian girls left who are sweet as pie (with another hopefully on the way) and of course milk and cheese to follow…

Lushious Little Spelt Carrot Loafs

Mmm these little carrot loafs are my take on the Rebar Carrot Cake Recipe, and of course carrot cake wouldn’t be complete with out creamy cream-cheese frosting.

Chedda’ Chive & Chili lock down

I confess. It’s true. I am guilty as charged! This recipe is neither healthy, nor easy, nor local (per say), nor is it allergen friendly. What it is however is kickin’ and cheesy and wrapped in gooey organic goodness. I found a recipe online somewhere for Apple Walnut Cinnamon roll cupcakes, and I made a version of these at work the other day, and while working with the dough I kinda fell in love with it’s silky elastic-y body. And so in another effort to make interesting lunch treats for my daughter I decided to make a savory take on the sweet buns.

This is defiantly more of a Sunday afternoon recipe than an after work ordeal. It takes time and love and a few cups of tea before you get to enjoy the fruits of your labor, but somehow when you get there it’s all worth it. 

FoodShed: late hot july

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Food Shed.1

So very many things on the go on the food front these days! A quick slide show of my food adventures over the last 3 days…

I am picking like a mad woman. I collected Elderflowers on Sunday and started a batch of Elderflower syrup which should be ready by Wednesday, I have a small bundle of Saskatoon berries drying for the pantry, The cherry bag in the freezer is growing slowly: I am not sure however how many more battles with red ants I have in me.. my legs are burning and the cherry tree is covered in the buggers! I need a serious permaculture solution for this tree! * Hoping my Chickens are vigoros enough by September to run around the tree before winter.

I made Bannock last night with Beth’s Grandmother recipe and while I had to use Spelt flour and a BBQ not a open fire I was pretty excited to dig into this adventure to make great Bannock! I found a really interesting web site with over 20 bannock recipes and techniques from different bands, geography and ages. I am looking forward to trying a few out. Also looking forward to sharing my success’s with friends:)

I have given up on the thimble berries… I will add what I have into a jam of some sort but I think I‘ll leave the rest for the bears!  Speaking of bears We purchased an electic fence the other day, and I have got it all but installed… here’s to keeping the Chooks , compost ‘n bits safe in the garden and new garden shed! I have two easy recipes to share today, the first is a sloppy start to a fab martini: Watermellon fizz, and the second plum pumpkin loaf is too good for words! Our friend Ben is here for the workshop build this week and he brought with him a big bag of over ripe plums he picked on Pender Island so I needed to put them to use right away and the results were stunning!

Watermellon Fizz

You know when you have half of a watermelon left over in the fridge you just aren’t really interested in eating? Well I was in this position and wanted to make use of it, so I got out the immersion blender and dug in. created a huge mess along with a thick watermelon slurry which I screened to a bright beautiful liquid.( the left over pulp is freezing in popsicle form right now). From half of a medium sized watermelon I got about 5 cups of juice which I added to half a liter of soda water along with about 2 tbsp lemon juice. Chill ‘til frothy cold and mix up your favorite girlie drink!

Sugar Plum Pumpkin Seed Loaf

Combined wet:

3/4 cup butter

1/2 cup oil

2 large eggs

1.5 cups of course cane or brown sugar

a big splash each of vanilla and grand marnier

Blend dry:

1.5 cups of spelt flour (your could use whole wheat * I plan to try buckwheat next time)

1.5 tsp baking powder

pinch salt

pinch cinnamon

1/2 cup of pumpkin seeds

Bring everything together in large bowl and add 1 cup of pitted diced very ripe plums.

Grease 1 large loaf pan, and pour batter into pan and top loaf with a sprinkle of course sugar, cinnamon and some seeds!

Bake 350º for 50-60 minutes.

Corngetti & Bean Balls

This dinner was picture perfect spaghetti and meat balls, only batter. It was Wheat Free, Vegan, and totally guilt free.

When I made the below barley beet and bean burgers I set aside about 1/3 of the batch which yielded about 10-12 patties total. The portion I didn’t turn into patties I rolled into little bit size “meat”balls  which I browned for dinner last night.  Dinner came together in about 15 minutes and was super easy. I started with 1/2 of a red onion and a few cloves of garlic diced and browned, simmer this with a can of tomatoes, whole stewed if you like your sauce chunky or crushed if you like it a little smoother. * I can’t wait to savor the first tomatoes from the garden this year! anyways as for garden goodie these day I had a bunch of basil and some parsley so I diced this up and added it to the simple sauce along with a pinch of S+P and a squeeze of lemon. In a separate pan (or the sauce pan if you want to do the meatballs first; simply brown the formed and refrigerated balls in olive oil slowly, rolling them around often to evenly brown all sides. Boil a package of Organic corn spaghetti toss it all together and top with more fresh herbs! Viola.