I picked up my share from KEG this afternoon and in it I got carrots, potatoes, sunchokes (aka Jerusalem artichokes), lentil sprouts (from 5 different kinds of lentils!), lettuce, salad greens, wild leeks, and green onions. With my share, I also get a $20 credit that I can use to buy anything else from the table. I chose eggs from an Amish farm, sausages, and blueberry jam. So tonight for dinner we had bangers and mash and nearly everything on that plate was from my share: I roasted two of the sausages in the oven sprinkled with some of the wild leek and green onions. I made some nice and fluffy mashed potatoes with this week’s potatoes and served it all alongside a very colourful if simple salad of lettuce, lentil sprouts and grapefruit. Link here to pictures of my shares.

Mark Bittman’s recent column on roasting winter vegetables inspired this simple, yet very fulfilling meal. I chopped a few small carrots, one parsnip, some sunchokes (aka Jerusalem artichokes), and a sweet potato. I added a few whole garlic cloves (with skin), drizzled some olive oil, sprinkled some fleur de sel, black pepper, oregano and roasted them in the oven, pre-heated to 450 F for about half an hour.

Meanwhile I cooked a cup of quinoa with half a cup of dried cranberries in 1 1/2 cup of salted water. While the quinoa cooked (it takes about 15 mins) I roasted a handful of walnuts and chopped a half cup of fresh parsley.

In a cast iron skillet, I stir fried a red onion in a tablespoon grapeseed oil (or any plain vegetable oil). When the onions were translucent, I added a small purple cabbage, chopped, and two tablespoons tamari sauce. I cooked it for a few minutes (I like it crunchy so I sauteed it only till it warmed through) and then mixed in 1tbsp toasted sesame oil, a few dashes ume plum vinegar, and sprinkled some sesame seeds. I then removed it from the heat and set it aside.

When the quinoa absorbed all the water, I let it sit for 5 mins, and then mixed in the chopped parsley, chopped walnuts, and seasoned with a few dashes of ume vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper.I also added a bit more olive oil and some balsamic vinegar to the roasted vegetables.

Scrambled tofu & carrots, red kale stir fried with caramelized onions, pine nuts, and seasoned with tamari, and watermelon radishes marinated in a raspberry vinaigrette. It all made my day much brighter.

The mix of colours was sooo nice:

Notice the flowers on the right bottom corner:

Alan devoured his meal in no time at all:

We capped the meal with a glass of white wine and a simple dessert made of cantaloupe served with a tablespoon of maple syrup, which we ate in our balcony watching the sunset.

This was very very simple to make and very tasty. I felt creative so I got a cornbread recipe off the internet, replaced a few ingredients, added some veggies, and voilà: Tomato kale conbread

Ingredients:

1 cup yellow cornmeal [I used Bob's Red Mill's wholegrain medium grind cornmeal]

1 cup spelt flour [also Bob's Red Mill's]

2 tbsp sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

5 tbsp butter [which I completely forgot; didn't notice the difference so I guess this can be optional]

1 large egg

1 cup buttermilk, or light sour cream, or plain yogurt [I used kefir]

1 small zucchini, grated

2 tbsp sundried tomatoes, chopped

4-5 small tomatoes

4-5 cups kale, washed and coarsely chopped (I let some of the water cling to the leaves so it will steam better)

2 tbsp olive oil

2-5 garlic, chopped (I looove garlic, so used 5)

handful of basil for decorating

Preparation

In a medium bowl, combine cormeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and soda. If using butter, cut the butter into the mixture with two knives or a pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add the chopped sundried tomatoes.

In another bowl, whisk together the egg and kefir until well blended. Add to the cornmeal mixture, and stir in the zucchini. Mix until thoroughly moistened.

Heat a 10-inch cast iron or heavy oven safe skillet over medium heat. Add olive oil and stir fry the garlic until it starts to turn golden (careful not to burn it), add kale and cook until wilted (about 2 mins). This is what my curly kale looked like:

While the kale wilts, quarter the tomatoes, put them in a bowl and sprinkle about a tbsp olive oil, salt & black pepper and set it aside.

Once the kale is ready, spoon cornmeal batter evenly over the kale and carefully spread it out. Place the tomato wedges on top:

Bake in 350F for about 30 minutes. Remove form the oven, sprinkle basil and let it sit for a few minutes before serving.

It was delicious! Next time I’ll sprinkle some crumbled goat cheese on top alongside the basil…

Ingredients:

1 can white navy beans (or any other bean), rinsed

2-3 cups spinach, washed and coarsely cut

2 garlic cloves, slices

3 tbsp sunflower seeds, lightly toasted (pine nuts would also be nice)

3 tbsp currants

1 red pepper

1/4 cup white wine (or water or stock)

olive oil

salt & pepper to taste

Directions

1. Preheat the broiler on high for a few minutes while you wash the pepper and spinach. Once the oven is hot, place the whole pepper on a cookie sheet underneath the broiler and roast it until it is charred on all sides (about 10 mins). Remove the pepper from the oven and wrap in tin foil. [This is based on the method described here]. Once the pepper is cool enough to handle, unwrap it and peel off the skin. Chop it up.

2. Soak the currants in hot water for about 10 mins.

3. Meanwhile pre-heat a skillet on medium heat and add 2 tbsp olive oil. Add the garlic and cook until golden (be careful not to burn the garlic!)

4. Add the spinach, season with a bit of salt & pepper. Once it starts to wilt, add the white wine.

5. Once the white wine has evaporated somewhar and the spinach is wilted, add the currants (drained), sunflower seeds, & beans and mix well. Lower the heat.

6. Mix in the roasted red peppers and serve.

We had it warm and it was very tasty. The next day I added some balsamic vinegar to the leftovers and ate it as a bean salad. It was even better!

I know there are people who like eating each dish on their plate separately. But to me, it’s all about the mix of flavours. If I’m eating one main with two side dishes, each forkful has to have a third of each. The beauty for me is in the blending which always tastes better than the sum of each dish. So when I looked to these two salads, I didn’t hesitate. And this is what I had:

Ingredients

1/2 cup black lentils

1 1/2 cup of water

3 small kale leaves, centre removed

3 sundried tomatoes

1 small lemon

1 tsp lemon peel

1 garlic

1 1/2 tbsp olive oil

1/2 tsp ground cumin

salt & pepper

Directions

1. Cook the lentils in water until done (about 20 mins)

2. Meanwhile chop the sundried tomatoes and the kale leaves and set aside

3. mix the lemon, olive oil, cumin, salt & pepper in a small bowl

4. Once the lentils are cooked, mix while still hot with the kale & tomatoes, add dressing and combine well. Eat either warm of cooled. I liked it warm.

This was lunch yesterday. I couldn’t get over how beautiful the colours were, particularly in contrast with the blue bowl.

I worked at home today just so I could make some lunch. Inspired by a recipe from my favourite food magazine, I made this nice chickpea, carrot, and parsley salad. I had some guacamole that I made yesterday and some leftover bbq chicken, which all combined made a very nice filling lunch!