For the love of chard!

Chard and White Bean Saute

I will admit, I fly the kale-loving flag far more often than the Swiss chard-loving one. As beautiful as it is in a bunch, I've been challenged over the years to find ways to prepare and enjoy it (its natural bitter saltiness always seems to shine too much for me). And as it's no longer so good looking once it's been sitting untouched - avoided, really - in the bottom of my fridge, I usually don't even bother to put it in my bag at the farmers' market to begin with. As a nutritionist though, I cannot scoff at the fact that this leafy green is an impressive source of vitamins K, A & C, magnesium, manganese, potassium, iron, vitamin E, and dietary fiber. Giving it another go last week, it turns out that some flavourful garlic and fennel, and some creemy white beans was just what was needed to give my chard story a happy ending!

5-6 large leaves Swiss chard, leaves separated from stalks - both chopped
1-2 tbsp olive oil
2 large cloves garlic, chopped or sliced
1/2- 1 cup diced fennel bulb
1 1/2 cups cooked cannelini beans
1 tbsp unpasteurized mellow miso paste dissolved in 1/4 cup filtered water
1/2 tsp sea salt, or to taste
generous fresh grinding of black pepper
a squeeze fresh lemon juice (optional)
2-3 tbsp pine nuts, lightly toasted

Steam the chard stalks for 2 minutes until al dente.
Heat the oil in a large skillet or saucepan (for which you have a lid), add the garlic and fennel and saute over medium-high heat for about 4 minutes, until the fennel begins to get tender. Throw in the beans, chard leaves and miso mixture and stir. Cover and allow to cook through for 2-3 minutes.
Remove from the heat, stir in the salt, pepper and lemon juice (if desired). Garnish with the pine nuts.

Makes 2 meal-sized servings, or 3-4 sides. GF, NF

Local bell peppers - Ole!

Okay, so this recipe is actually from Ripe from around Here, but in case you needed another reason to go get yourself a copy (maybe you want to sample some of the goods so to speak), or you have a copy but you haven't completely oriented yourself in there, here you go.

Raw Mexican Stuffed Bell Peppers

Lovely on a summer evening (or for a packed lunch), especially when fresh organic sweet corn is in season.

2 cups chopped green cabbage (from about 1/3 head)
1 cup fresh corn (from 1 cob) or fresh peas
1 small or ½ medium tomato, diced
¼ cup minced cilantro
2 green onions, sliced
1 medium clove garlic, crushed and pressed
1 tbsp flaxseed or olive oil
½ tsp chili powder
½ tsp minced fresh oregano (Mexican oregano preferred) or ¼ tsp dried
½ tsp sea salt
¼ tsp cumin
1/8 to ¼ tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
2 medium-large or 3 smaller bell peppers, any colour

Place the shredded cabbage in your food processor, and give it a whirl until it reaches a size/texture where it looks like rice (stop before it begins to get liquidy).
Scrape into a large bowl with a silicone spatula, and add the corn (or peas), tomato, cilantro, green onions, garlic, oil, chili, oregano, salt, cumin and cayenne. Slice the peppers length-wise. Remove the core and veins (I just use my fingers). Distribute the "rice" and veg mixture among them. Serve.

Makes 4-6 servings (depending on the size of your peppers and how hungry you are).

Watch me in my kitchen (for the first time in 2 years)!

Marta and Brock came to visit me in my kitchen on Monday. Watch what we got up to with a beet, a bit of citrus fruit and a spiralizer:

You're going to love this one.

Easy-to-Devour Kale Hemp Salad

I visited my friend Caroline for lunch a few months ago and she made me a salad similar to this one, and once I started making the recipe (the one that follows) at home, I couldn't stop. It only takes a minute and is a great way to rawify your meal. Everyone I've made it for loves it. Patrick, said it was like candy in salad form, so hard to stop nibbling on. When we're talking about liver-nourishing greens I'd say that's not such a bad thing!

1 large bunch kale, washed, thinly chopped, and dried (use a salad spinner if you've got one)
3 tbsp cider vinegar (If you have a medium bunch of kale do 2 tbsp)
1/2 tsp sea salt

Toss to distribute. (You know how some recipes say "gently toss"? Do the opposite of that. The more you kind of beat it up with your silicone spatula or your hands, the better.) Then add:

1/3 cup nutritional yeast (medium bunch? do 1/4 cup)
1/3 cup hemp seeds (medium bunch? do 1/4 cup)
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
2 tbsp hempseed oil (flax or olive oil will do)
1 cup fresh sprouts (any kind, but my faves are sunflower or green lentil)

Toss again until all ingredients are well-distributed. Allow it to rest for a few minutes, then enjoy! Makes 2-3 larger servings.

Oh, the shame.... and, moving on.

I can't think of anything I want to do right now, on this warm Monday evening at 8:30 when I'm not yet hungry for dinner because I ate lunch at 5pm, except write a blog post. I know that if I try to redeem myself and explain why I've been away from here for so long it'll slow me down, so let's just do that thing that good old friends (or friends that you instantly fit so well with that it seems from the start like you've been friends forever) do, and simply pick up where we left off.

I think trying to create some sense of chronology since I machine sewed my first item of my adulthood and received those first boxes of Ripe from Around Here would be nice, but don't hold me to it. If we're facebook friends (which we could be, just be sure to introduce yourself in your request), you may already have a decent sense of what's been up for me in the past month, and if you're a facebook avoider... well, I commend you for all the time you have to do other, hopefully less computery things in your life.

Since the end of May there have been book events (the Toronto launch at FoodShare, two events in Ottawa and three in Montreal, then another with the TVA here in T.O.), a visit to the National Gallery (in Ottawa), a strip spelling bee (yes, fer realz - but I was simply an audience member, not a contestant), my car was broken into mid-afternoon on a busy street (in Montreal), I got some publicity (for links see "Ripe media coverage" in the sidebar), Ryan and I saw an Arcade Fire show at The Music Hall, we started a roof-top garden with bucket planters (the same ones you can build yourself using the tutorial in Ripe from Around Here), there have been movies watched on warm summer evenings with friends (have you seen Crazy Heart (decent)? Date Night (funny!)? Precious (heavy!)? A Single Man (beautiful!)?), there's been a whole lot of Ella-loving, too much leg-shaving (I'm bad at it and resent all the cuts I inflict on myself), a few Bikram yoga classes (fewer than I'd like), some decent meals out (have you been to Lady Marmalade?), the scariness of the G20's presence here in Toronto (let's not even go there except to say lots of people want change and that there are lots of people and things in this world who/that need better care), a house party chez nous in celebration of Lesley's 31st birthday and Dominika finishing her Master's, the very surprising appearance of 2 starlings in our bathroom in one day, and a lot of smoothies and salads.

But one of the major busynesses has everything to do with the reason I ate lunch at 5pm today. Quilting. I took a 3-week class at The Workroom with Johanna Masko and am thrilled with the knowledge and skill I now have from making a string quilt.

At this point (as in today, and not as in more-than-a-week-ago when Karyn took this photo of the quilt top), it's just the binding (edge) that needs to be done and I'm hoping I can finish it by Wednesday so I can say "This is the quilt I made in June 2010."

The biggest thing of this whole new-found relationship with sewing is that I've become a bit fanatical about fabric. Fabrics are so fun and beautiful, and hold so much potential. (I think I feel more intensely about fabric than I ever have about yarn.) There've been times at night in the past few weeks when I wake up (maybe because Ella is restless in my poor-air-flow 3rd floor bedroom with all her hair that's not shedding as much as it might for the season) and have trouble falling back to sleep because of thoughts of fabric. I have gotten to the point where I'm thinking thoughts like "Do I want this soy latte, or should I just get a fat quarter of fabric?". The Workroom has a gorgeous selection, and I'm also excited about Sew Mama Sew (Portland-based online shop) and Fat Quarter Shop (Texas-based online shop). Your local Ikea may also have a decent and inexpensive fabric section (the one in Etobicoke does, but Ottawa - for example - does not).

I'm branching out past quilting a bit and onto my first dress pattern. If you are at all into sewing I might also recommend these free Amy Butler patterns, and if you're not, don't worry I'm moving on from this topic.

Who knows how this week will unfold, and just how productive I might be with all of the figurative pies I have my fingers in, but it feels like the end of a chapter of my summer (read: non-school time). Next Tuesday I head to Summerfest for 5 days to do a cooking demo and some workshops, and less than a week after my return I'm off to Sarasota Florida for my great-uncle and -aunt's 90th birthdays party (forgive the creative grammar, you know what I mean). For the month of August I will be in Montreal, house-sitting for a friend who's on tour with his band. When it's summer and you didn't plan a vacation (per se), and you have to do work but you don't have to do it anywhere in particular, and someone offers you their gorgeous house with 2 private balconies in a city you're familiar with and enjoy particularly in the summer, how can you say anything other than "Yes, yes, YES!"?

Finally (in more ways than one)

Maybe you noticed that I did one of those falling off the face of planet blog recently. It's not like it's the first time, but we can always hope it might be the last. Chalk it up to an intense semester of sciences, an improvement in the weather, and a touch of fleeting romance (yes, just a touch, and it did indeed flee). Whatever. I'm back now, let's not dwell on the past.

Today was a big day, and not only because I learned how to use a sewing machine in a fabulous intro class at The Workroom and made an envelope pillow case from start to finish - my first real sewing project.
(Okay, I did make a pair of drawstring flannel PJ pants once with the help of my friend's mom, but she did most of the heavy lifting, so to speak. And I digress....)

The bigger and more FINALLY-type news is that I got a call this morning wanting to make sure that I'd be home today to receive a delivery of 2 skids holding 13 boxes ... and I bet you know what that meant!

The books, hot off the presses, arrived in pretty great timing -- just as I was about to head off to the aforementioned class.




The delivery person was very kind and received my boundless enthusiasm very well. I bounced out of the house exclaiming "Yay! I wrote a book!!"
"Really?" he said as he unloaded the skids. "My son too he write book. Science fiction. He eighteen years old."

We opened a box right there on the back of the truck and he humoured me by looking through a copy.


Then he took my picture.

As we carried the boxes into the house I hollered at a middle-aged man across the street who was looking at the truck pulled up on the curb: "I wrote a book!"
"Really." he said, and crossed the street to take a look. "I write books too. I've written five novels." I grinned and he congratulated me and continued up the street.

I wasn't sure how I'd feel about the arrival of this book compared to last time, but I think it feels just the same: relieving, exhilarating and a little weird that someone thinks my work is worth enough to print it up all fancy and send it all over the place.

Lastly, and before you ask, don't you worry your pretty little head about you getting yours - copies of Ripe from around Here will be making their way into your local indie bookstores within the next few weeks.
Better yet, if you're in Toronto, come to the book launch at FoodShare on Wednesday May 26 - see the sidebar for details.

Syrup in the Spring

Maple Layer Cake

It’s no secret that maple syrup is a major staple in my kitchen – I live in Ontario after all! While it’s often asked to take a back seat in other recipes, here it gets to be centre stage. The cake itself is free of refined sugar – if you’re avoiding the stuff, just try a different frosting. The cakes themselves are firm enough that you don’t have to worry about them crumbling as you frost them (which makes this a great cake for beginning bakers).

2 2/3 cups light spelt flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp sea salt
1 ¼ cups maple syrup
1 cup applesauce
2/3 cup softened non-hydrogenated coconut oil or sunflower oil
3 tbsp ground flaxseeds (from 2 tbsp whole) + ½ cup filtered water, mixed
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 tbsp cider vinegar
1/2 - 1 cup pecans or walnuts (optional garnish, a mix of whole and chopped)

Preheat you r oven to 350oF. Prepare two 8 or 9-inch cake pans with a light coating of oil Line with a circle of parchment paper if desired for greatest ease of removal at the end.

Whisk together the flour, baking soda and powder, and salt in a large bowl. Add the maple syrup, applesauce, oil, flax mixture, and vanilla extract, and stir just until all of the flour is absorbed. Quickly stir in the vinegar just until it's evenly distributed.
Portion batter evenly into the cake pans and bake for about 25-35 minutes, until the tops are domed and a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before transferring it to a rack. Cool completely before frosting.

Maple Buttahcreem Icing
2/3 cup non-hydrogenated coconut oil or marg
2 ¾ cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup maple syrup
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Beat the oil (or marg) in a medium bowl with an electric handmixer or your strong arm and your favourite utensil for such things. Add the sugar about ½ cup at a time. Add the syrup and vanilla, and beat some more until a smooth texture is achieved. Spread on the completely cooled cake. Garnish with the nuts.

Makes about 12 servings.