Greens

Greens are one of those things that I know I need to incorporate into my cooking more, but outside of the summertime months, it can get a little tricky. Heck, even during the summer months, greens can get tricky, depending on how dedicated you are. You have to buy them, wash them, use them.  What if you buy too much? Not enough? For maximum nutrient density (and flavour) you want to ensure you consume them as soon after picking as possible.

To the uninitiated, greens can seem a little daunting. What the heck to you do with them, anyway?

Answer… anything! Really, anything.

Lets start off with what “greens” are, and why you might want to increase your intake. “Greens” are leafy green veggies. Some may be very familiar, like spinach, others might be a bit more foreign, like kale or collards, rapini, etc .  Leafy greens are quite low in calories. They are low in fat, high in fiber, and rich in folic acid, vitamin C, potassium and magnesium, as well as containing a host of phytochemicals. They help reduce the risk of cancer and heart disease as well.

They taste good too. Seriously.

Personally, I love to visit the Farmers Markets and grab whatever fresh, local greens look good, but I know not everyone shares this affinity. It was on a recent Costco visit that I discovered this line of products, Cookin’ Greens .

Cookin’ Greens is  a Canadian company (yay!) that sells frozen dark leafy greens and greens mixes. From their website;

“dark-leafy greens that are farm picked and within six hours, double-washed, double blanched, chopped and quick-frozen for your convenience, locking in all of their flavour and nutritional benefits. The result is vibrant and textured thanks to the innovative IQF (individually quick frozen) process, improving upon the traditional, “frozen block” format of the past in favour of shredded, confetti-like glorious greens.”

All I know is since discovering these, I’ve been able to easily incorporate more greens into our diet. You can throw them in soups, on homemade pizza, in stir fries, smoothies, pasta sauces, the list goes on. And on, and on, and is only limited by your own culinary imagination.

Of course, buying local, fresh, in-season greens from your local farmers is the ideal, but for times when that’s just not an option and you are short on time or enthusiasm, these frozen greens really take all of the work out it for you.

I am happy to have found them, and have been experimenting quite a bit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cookin’ Greens Athlete’s Mix sautéed in a little olive oil and chopped garlic, topped with a few shrimp and drizzled with balsamic vinegar.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Omelette stuffed with 1 cup of sautéed Cookin’ Greens Athlete’s Mix which was cooked in some olive oil and chopped garlic, a few dashes of Tabasco, and topped with Parmesan Reggiano.

 

Now go get your greens and get cooking.  =)

Love Notes

About one week ago, as my 9-year-old was unpacking her school bag after school, she handed me her lunch bag and said, “you forgot my note today”.

I write my children notes. “Love notes”, I call them. They are different each day for each child. One day it could be a reminder to “do your best”, or “be a good friend”. Some days it is a good luck wish for a quiz or presentation. Some days it’s as simple as “I love you”, or if that morning was particularly rushed, “I *heart* U”. But there’s always a note. I keep a small pad and pen above the microwave near the cupboard that holds the lunch bags, so it is easy to grab.

Until that day, I though the love notes were more for me, my way of staying connected to them during their day. I wasn’t even sure they read them each day. Some days the love notes would come back in their lunch bags, crumpled up with a napkin, but often the lunch bags were empty aside from a spoon or glass container.

They never mentioned them until I skipped a day. My almost 12-year-old missed her note too. I had often wondered if those notes were a source of embarrassment for the girls. I mean, do other parents do this? Am is setting them up to be teased? I asked my older daughter and she said, “I don’t show them to anyone, they are just for me”. I asked her if she thought she was too old for them now and she said, “I will never be too old for love notes, Mom”.

Some mornings as I write the notes, I wonder what I’ll do when they are older and pack their own lunches, or buy them? When I might not have the opportunity to slip the little piece of paper with a heart on it into their bag?

… Love texts?

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is another Chef Michael Smith recipe from his latest cookbook, Chef Michael Smith’s Kitchen.

Chocolate chip cookies are deeply personal. Everyone likes them a certain way. Chewy, crispy, soft, flat, fluffy. I like mine to be crispy on the outside with an inner chewy-ness. This recipe delivers on both counts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just look at them. Don’t they look heavenly? Well they taste like they look, my friend.

Get the milk.

 

 

Ingredients

 

1/2 cup of butter at room temperature

2 cups of brown sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon of vanilla

1-1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon of baking powder

1/4 teaspoon of salt

2 cups of chocolate chips

 

 

Preparation Instructions

 

Preheat oven to 375F (190C). Lightly grease a cookie sheet, or do like I do, lay a Silpat or some parchment paper on a cookie sheet (makes cleanup super easy).

With an electric mixer, beat the butter with the sugar until smooth and creamy. Whisk in the egg and vanilla until everything is combined well.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt, evenly distributing the finer powders among the coarser flour. Scrape down the butter bowl and gradually add the flour mix, beating just until combined.

Stir in the chocolate chips with a spoon.

Scoop out a ball of the dough with a small spoon, roll it briefly in your hand into an even ball, then place it on the cookie sheet. Flatten the ball slightly. Repeat, leaving 3 or 4 inches in between the balls for the cookies to expand as they bake. Bake for exactly 12 minutes. Cool for a few minutes on the cookie sheet, then remove to cool further on a rack.

Cookies are best when fully cooled, but be sure to test one while still warm and gooey… strictly for quality control purposes, of course.

Sweet Potato Vegetarian Chili

This is a Chef Michael Smith Recipe, from his latest cookbook, Chef Michael Smith’s Kitchen.

I am a big Michael Smith fan. Besides being a maritimer, like me, he’s a proponent of not following recipes too closely, encouraging his readers to be comfortable in their kitchen spaces, and to trust their senses. Cooking is organic, and Michael Smith gets this. He and I also share a passion for cooking with ingredients that are fresh, local, and in season.

This is the first recipe I have tried from the book, and I have to say it was a big hit. This chili is hearty, thick, sweet, smoky, and deeply satisfying. This will be in regular rotation during the cooler months in my kitchen, and I’m already thinking of ways I can tweak it to personalize it.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons of vegetable oil

1 large onion, chopped

1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped

8 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

1 tablespoon of cumin seeds (or ground cumin)

1 tablespoon of chili powder

1 tablespoon of dried oregano

2 cups of fresh or frozen corn

1 can (14 oz/398 ml) of black beans, rinsed and drained

1 can (14 oz/398 ml) of kidney beans, rinsed and drained

1 can (28 oz/796 ml) of whole tomatoes

1 sweet potato, peeled and finely chopped

1 tablespoon of chopped canned chipotle chilies in adobo sauce

Cinnamon Sour Cream (Optional)

1/2 cup of sour cream

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

a sprinkle or two of salt

1 cup of tender cilantro sprigs

2 green onions, thinly sliced

Preparation Instructions

Heat oil in a soup pot (I used an enameled cast iron pot) over medium-high heat. Toss in the onions and green pepper and saute, stirring until they begin to brown, 6 – 8 minutes. Stir in the garlic, cumin, chili powder, and oregano. reduce the heat to medium and cook, stirring, until the spices are very fragrant, another 2 minutes or so.

Stir in corn, black beans, and kidney beans. Add the juice from the canned tomatoes, then coarsely chop the tomatoes and add them as well. Add the sweet potatoes and chipotle chilies. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat so the liquid is just barely simmering. Simmer, stirring frequently, until the sweet potatoes are tender and the chili begins to thicken, 20 – 25 minutes.

If making the sour cream and garnish, mix together sour cream and cinnamon. Just before serving, season the chili to your taste with salt. Ladle into serving bowls and top with the sour cream and a tangle of cilantro and green onions. Serve and share!

Gorgeous Roasted Tomato and Garlic Pasta

Yes, I just referred to pasta as “gorgeous”.

Anyone who knows me well knows I am somewhat of a Locavore. What is a locavore? Loosely defined, it is a person who seeks out foods which are grown and produced locally.

Not only is it great for sustainability (less trucking-in of foods) and great for the local economy (supporting local farmers and producers), but it is absolutely the most delicious way to eat. Not to mention, a great value for your money!

While some things have to be imported, tropical fruits, for example, I flat-out refuse to buy something imported if it can be grown here. Ontario is agricultural nirvana, There is no reason to buy a carrot from the US when we grow carrots right here. Or a tomato from Mexico, or garlic from China.

Not only do locally grown foods taste better, but since they are harvested when ripe and on your table often hours after picking, they are more nutritionally dense as well.

Tomatoes make an excellent case for buying local. The standard grocery store tomato was picked green and hard, trucked-in, (huge waste of gas, a finite resource) and stored in warehouses where they are made red, not ripe, by ethylene gas. Have you ever picked up a vibrantly red tomato only to find it hard as a rock? That’s the gas. You get the red without the ripe.

Now a local farm tomato is picked from the vine at the peak of ripeness, and is heavy, yielding to the touch, bursting with sweet juice and loaded with flavour. There really is no competition.

While  you are at your local farm, farm stand, or farmer’s market getting tomatoes, grab some garlic as well. Local garlic is a thing of beauty. If you love garlic but have never bought freshly picked garlic, you are in for a treat. much like tomatoes, the difference between imported and local is vast. Local garlic is gorgeous.

What better way to take advantage of all this local, fresh goodness than to roast it? Roasting caramelizes and brings out the sweetness of tomatoes and garlic.

Roasted tomato sauce? Yes please!

I made Chef Michael Smith’s Farfalle with Roasted Tomato Garlic Sauce

You’ll need

a dozen or so plum tomatoes, halved lengthwise (I quartered mine)
2 onions, diced
1 whole head garlic cloves, peeled (I halved mine)
a generous splash olive oil
a sprinkle or two sea salt and freshly ground pepper (I used celtic sea salt)
1 1 pound box farfalle

Preheat your oven to 400°F (200°C).

Toss the tomatoes, onions, garlic and olive oil together. Season the works with salt and pepper, and then toss everything into a 9- x 13-inch casserole or other baking dish.

Roast until the tomatoes shrivel and begin to brown a bit, about 1 hour or so. As they roast, their flavours will concentrate and caramelize. The heat will also break them down a bit so they’ll form a loose sauce when they’re tossed with the pasta.

When the tomatoes are done roasting, discard any onion slices that may have blackened a bit—a small price to pay for the rich flavours of roasted tomato!

Cook the pasta in lots of boiling salted water. Toss the hot pasta with the hot sauce and enjoy the tasty, roasted tomatoes and mellow, whole garlic cloves.

Delish!!

Coconut Water

Now that summer is in full swing (here, anyway), I want to share one of my favourite drinks with you. 100% pure coconut water!

This is the season that many people find themselves outdoors a lot, sweating. One of the best hydrators you can reach for is plain old water, but coconut water is the second best. It’s nature’s sports drink.

Speaking of sports drinks, do you know what is in those? Refined sugar, high fructose corn syrup, dye, a terrible amount of sodium,  and a host of nasty chemical additives.

Coconut water is all natural, it’s just the pure water from inside young, green coconuts (be sure to check the package to make sure it isn’t a coconut water “drink”, or from concentrate). It is fat-free, zero cholesterol, and contains more potassium than 2 bananas. It has natural electrolytes to help bring balance back to the body after sweating. It is an all-natural, ph balancing,  isotonic drink! Coconut water is so in tune with our bodies, that a doctor in remote locations can use a coconut IV as a short-term alternative to intravenous saline solution.

Coconut water has many of the same benefits of the super-healthy coconut oil. It contains lauric acid which your  body turns into monolaurin. It aids digestion, boosts the immune system, boosts your metabolism, and  helps to detoxify and fight viruses, among other benefits.

A bonus? Coconut water can also be used as a healthy and delicious cocktail mix.

I Love Coconut Oil

 

Pure, organic coconut oil.

I cook and bake with it, use it on my hair, and it is my #1 must-have skin care product.

Coconut oil  has a high heat threshold making it ideal for cooking at high temperatures, no worries of it breaking down and releasing free radicals like Extra virgin olive oil. Don’t get me wrong, I love my EVOO, but it has it’s place and a super-hot skillet is not one of them.

Coconut oil aids in digestion, strengthens the immune system, helps protect the heart, liver, kidneys, and pancreas. It supports a healthy metabolism as well as supporting the proper functioning of  the thyroid gland.

Coconut oil contains lauric acid, which is converted by the body into monolaurin. Monolaurin has antiviral, and antibacterial, and antifungal properties. Coconut oil is the #1 source for lauric acid!

I use it every single day after I shower. I warm a bit in my hands to melt it, and use it all over then apply a light moisturizer over top. It makes your skin incredibly soft and gives a sheen (not an oiliness). Another bonus, this beautiful oil penetrates the skin and strengthens tissues.

I also use it on my hair, the evening before I shampoo.  I warm a bit of coconut oil in my hands and apply it to the ends of my hair, from about the ears down. Then I massage my scalp with the residual left on my hands. Coconut oil is one of the few oils proven to penetrate the hair shaft into the cortex. Just be careful not to use too much.

I keep a jar in the kitchen for cooking and baking, and one in the bathroom for a moisturizer. The kids have a jar in their bathroom too… good habits start early.