Cheezy Gnocchi & Peas

It might surprise you to learn I barely sit down these days. In between feeds, I have not been able to sit down for months.

When I was pregnant, people told me I’d be watching a lot of television while on my maternity leave. Nothing could be completely wrong.

Even though baby P is not crawling yet, the need for baby snuggles are real. However, our baby demands snuggles while standing. As soon as you sit down, he knows and will probably wake up and start to cry. It took me 5 months to figure out I could read my computer while standing and swaying if I brought it to the kitchen island. It is higher than my computer desk and I could work while standing. And as time passed, I started typing again.

Warm Barley Bowl with Roasted Brussels and a Coconut Curry Dressing

Between holiday parties, preparing for your own holiday (lights, decorations, etc) and always more busy at work, December has to be one of the busiest months of the year. I was not prepared to join in Sam and Andrew‘s Vegan Mystery Box Challenge but once I heard the three ingredients were cranberries, pistachios and coconut milk, I just had join in.

Shaved Brussels Sprout Salad with Hemp and Orange + Greens 24/7 Review + Giveaway

Wowzers, have you ever seen such a pretty salad before?? Filled with all things green (spinach, arugula, Brussels sprouts, avocado and hemp seeds), you feel almost virtuous for eating it, too.

The salad is courtesy of Jessica’s new cookbook, Greens 24/7. As a fellow Canadian, I have been following her blog, Cupcakes and Kale, for years. I highly recommend her High Protein Creamy Cauliflower Alfredo Pasta and was eager to eat my way through her cookbook.

All her recipes include something green. Lots of leafy greens, but also cucumbers, avocado, broccoli, zucchini, nori, spirulina,and celery. They span the gamut from drinks (Cherry Kale Quencher Smoothie), breakfast (Green Goddess Granola), sides (Cool Ranch Kale Chips), soups (Lemony Miso Soup with Chinese Broccoli), salads (Mediterranean Broccoli and Barley Salad), green mains (Ginger Bok Choy and Sweet Peas with Miso-Glazed Tofu, Samosa Burritos with Peas) and the ultra creative green desserts (Brownies with Spinach, Spinach Ginger Cookies, Lemon and Parsley Olive Oil Cake and Cabbage Strudel).

Suffice it to say, if you are looking for ways to eat more greens, this is your cookbook. My favourite recipe so far has been the Stuffed Baked Sweet Potatoes with Broccoli, Swiss Chard and Hummus. We also both enjoyed the Creamy Spinach Curry with Tofu Paneer. However, I had prettier photos for the salad, so that is what I am sharing today. 🙂

No stranger to raw shredded Brussels sprout salads (see this Maple-Dijon Brussels Sprouts Salad), this is yet another way for me to eat eat one of my favourite vegetables. I chose to thinly slice them instead of using the food processor which made for cute mini cabbage creations in the salad. The vinaigrette was simple and allowed the produce’s own flavours shine with a faint sweetness from the juicy clementines.

One of the great things about this cookbook, are the pretty photos of nearly every recipe.The photos were done by Jackie Sobon (check our her teaser portfolio from the cookbook here). This is the photo from the cookbook below and the Superfood Salad in the rear.

Recipes from Greens 24/7 spotted elsewhere:

Green Juice without a Juicer (with a UK giveaway)

Mediterranean Broccoli and Barley Salad (with a giveaway)

Mushroom and Spinach Galette (with a giveaway)

Shredded Rainbow Salad with Lemony Avocado Dressing

 Thankfully, the publisher allowed me to giveaway the cookbook to a reader living in the United States or Canada. To be entered in the random draw for the book, please leave a comment below telling me about your favourite green ingredient and how you prepare it. The winner will be selected at random on February 5, 2015. Good luck!

PS. I am sharing this with Souper Sundays.

PPS. Check out my giveaway for Vegan Without Borders going on now.

Balsamic-Maple Brussels Sprouts & Sweet Potato & Giveaway for But I Could Never Go Vegan!

Rob is away this week for work. He likes to update me on his day-to-day life…. like what they serve for breakfast at work, especially when it is unusual like Brussels sprouts. I would be excited about that, too! I have had Brussels for breakfast once, when we used them in this curried dill tofu scramble. Turns out I had just made Brussels sprouts as a vegetable side and it was so good, I could possibly consider eating it for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

I mean it includes all good things: roasted Brussels sprouts, roasted sweet potato, both in a sticky tangy-sweet glaze courtesy of balsamic vinegar and maple syrup. I like how the nutritional yeast adds a tackiness to the marinade and thickens it up, helping it to coat all the vegetables. I opted to skip the dried cranberries and I excluded them purely on principle. I had a sneaking suspicion that fresh/frozen cranberries would be surreal in here. I included them in this Balsamic Curry Roasted Vegetable dish and their tart juiciness would have complemented the dish well.

The recipe is courtesy of Kristy’s new cookbook, But I Could Never Go Vegan!. I have been a long-time reader of her blog, where Kristy creates the creative recipes and her husband, Chris Turner, takes the most gorgeous photos. (You totally know he gets the credit for the top photo).

Kristy’s book is a cute foray into vegan cuisine. She aims to convince you that will not be lacking anything while munching vegan-style. Each chapter was created with recipes targetted to bust vegan myths: All Those Special Ingredients are Way More Expensive; I Could Never Give Up Cheese!; Where Would I Get My Protein?; Tofu Doesn’t Taste Like Anything; Vegan Cooking is Too Hard; Where’s the Beef?; Just Thinking about Salad Makes Me Yawn; What About Brunch?; Fake “Foods” Freak Me Out; It’s All Rabbit Food; Not Soup Again!; I’d Miss Pizza; Can’t I Be Pescatarian Instead?; My Friends Won’t Want to Come Over for Dinner; No Way. I’m Italian (or Southern/German/Mexican/French); But I Hate (Insert Vegetable Here); I Don’t Want to be Left Out at Potlucks and Family Get-Togethers; You Can’t Bake Without Butter Or Eggs; Wait, Is Chocolate Vegan?; But I Scream for Ice Cream.

Yeah, she definitely covers her bases! Her recipes span the simple and easy (see below) but also mostly on the elaborate side: Potato Sauerkraut Soup with Sausage Crumbles, Buffalo Cauliflower Calzones with Cashew Blue Cheese, Pretzel Dumplings with Mushroom-Sauerkraut Gravy; Salisbury Seitan Phyllo Pouches with Rosemary Mashed Potatoes. I may be wrong but I only recognize a few recipes from her blog: Spinach Artichoke Soup, Chickpea Sloppy Joes and Jackfruit Tuna Salad Sandwich. There may be others, but those were the ones I recognized and previously bookmarked. These sprouts and sweets are similar (and likely improved) from her Cheesy Maple Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Broccoli dish. I am certainly looking forward to cooking through these recipes. One can not help but to be inspired by the photography and recipes.

Recipes spotted elsewhere:

(Vegan) BBQ Bacon Burgers

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Thankfully, the publisher allowed me to giveaway the cookbook to a reader living in the United States or Canada. To be entered in the random draw for the book, please leave a comment below telling me about the hardest that prevents (or used to prevent you) from becoming vegan. The winner will be selected at random on December 15, 2014. Good luck!

I am sharing this with Shaheen’s Eat Your Greens and Virtual Vegan Potluck.

Mediterranean Chickpeas Braised with Brussels Sprouts, Kale & Sun-Dried Tomatoes

Turns out our furnace problems were solved with a new thermostat. Thank goodness it was such an easy fix. It will be a bit warmer over the next few days which is perfect for us. It will melt the snow and allow us to rake all the leaves we had neglected earlier before winter resumes again later in the week.

Hearty winter fare is back into my kitchen for good and this was a delicious side, and could definitely work if you are looking for a something different for a holiday meal. Brussels sprouts are braised with chickpeas, kale and sun-dried tomatoes along with Italian-inspired seasonings. I thought this was excellent. Highly recommended.

What are you planning to serve for Thanksgiving?

I am sharing this with this month’s Eat Your Greens and Cook Your Books.

Maple-Dijon Shredded Brussels Sprouts Salad with Pecans and Cranberries & Cookbook Giveaway!

While I prefer Brussels sprouts roasted, I also like them slipped into scrambles, skillets, stir fries, pastas, soups and salads. The last on my bucket list (I think) was to try them raw, shredded into a slaw.

Raw versus cooked. Talk about something new. Now the endearing term “little cabbage” comes to light. Shredded Brussels sprouts let their true Brassica family roots shine through, with a definite cabbage undertone. Here it is paired with a sweet maple Dijon mustard dressing with sweet dried cranberries and local Southern pecans for some crunch.

Not sure whether raw Brussels sprouts are for you? I am certain this would be delightful with roasted ones, as well. Sometimes, it is nice not to wait for your vegetables to roast or to try something different. Something a bit lighter in spite of its wintery feel.

This salad is courtesy of Raw & Simple, which I verily enjoyed (un)cooking through this summer, amid Houston’s hot heat. Judita has written a cookbook with easy, tasty recipes without the fuss of complicated raw show-stoppers. Some delicacies are included, too, though. She incorporates a few non-raw ingredients like maple syrup, as evidenced by this recipe. I recommend her simple Raw Chunky Tomato Marinara with zucchini noodles, Calexico Salad, Five-Pepper Vegetable Chili, and still want to try her Southwest Corn Chowder, Healthy Mary (a spin off a Bloody Mary), Thai Veggie Noodles, Raw Meat and Cheese Pierogies and her Wild Blueberry Meyer Lemon Cheesecake. 

A few typos aside, I really enjoy this cookbook and want to share it with you.Thankfully the publisher is letting me give a cookbook to one reader living in the United States, Canada or the United Kingdom (YES!). To be entered, please leave a comment here, telling me which recipe you’d like to try the most (or if you have a recipe from Judita that you recommend). Have a look through the table of contents of Raw & Simple on amazon (or my list below) or pick something from her blog and tell me what you want to cook the most. I will randomly select a winner on November 30, 2013. Good luck!

Other recipes from Raw & Simple shared online:

Mushroom Miso Soup
Strawberry Spinach Salad with Sweet Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing
Sunny Peach Salad with Chipotle-Maple Dressing
Nacho Cheese Dip
Thai Veggie Noodles
Raw Chunky Tomato Marinara Sauce with Zucchini Noodles
Pumpkin Spice Smoothie
Apple Pie Smoothie
Hazelnut Fig Shake
Oatmeal Walnut Raisin Cookies
Superfood Seed Bar
Orange-Almond Truffles
Chocolate Haystacks
Wild Blueberry-Meyer Lemon Cheesecake Squares

PS. Other giveaways I am sharing right now: Plant-Powered 15 and Practically Raw Desserts.

Note: I purchased my own copy of Judita’s cookbook.  I was under no obligation to share a review. The opinions expressed are entirely my own.

This is my submission to Deb for this week’s Souper Sundays, this week’s Health Vegan Fridays and this week’s Raw Food Thursdays.

Curried Dill Tofu Scramble with Brussels Sprouts and Arepas

Oh my gosh… what happened? I posted on a Monday! WHAT?!

Long hours at work must be making me sloppy. *sad face*

Bonus for you, I suppose, since I decided to still write up a quickie Tuesday post!

Now that Rob is back, it means that we have our Houston weekend routine back in place. On one day of the weekend, it goes something like this:

1. Sleepy fresh oatmeal breakfast before heading out for a 50-km bike ride (The cronut ride is still my ride of choice. Mostly because the route is very simple. We came for the cronut, but kept returning for the bathrooms… although Rob gives their donuts two thumbs up)

2. Come home to a delicious smoothie, then hop in the shower to remove all that grime

3. After we are both clean, we do a load of laundry, hang out a bit and then let the laundry hang dry.

4. Now, it is usually time for lunch. Rob and I usually make a scramble of sorts, with arepas or chilla.

This time, Rob decided to merge our two favourite tofu scramble recipes… Especially since we learned that dill + curry = awesome! But how about, dill + curry + tomato + Brussels sprouts! With some noochy and kala namak goodness sprinkled overtop? Very awesome! Booyah! I honestly look forward to my freshly made weekend meals with Rob. When they taste this good, who wouldn’t be thrilled? 🙂

Do you have a favourite morning routine?

Wild Mushroom and Minted Brussels Faux Pho

Apparently, the worst is behind me.

While my homies in Canada relish in local winter squashes, apples and other fall delights, Houston is experiencing its autumn as well. Last weekend as Rob and I went out for our weekly cronut ride, wherein we no longer buy cronuts, almost overnight, after the torrential rains had abated, there was a bit of a nip in the morning air. Of course, this is still Houston. It is all relative. Translation: It was only 20C (68F) that morning but I was cold in my sleeveless shirt and shorts. My parents are battling frost warnings at night, and their highs are still our lows. A few days later and a few degrees more, we are back in summer mode. As I write this, at 6am on the last Saturday in September, it is 25C, feels like 36C (77F and 97F respectively). Five degrees short of the day’s high. Woe is me. I am really looking forward to this “winter”. Perhaps this could entice more people to come visit me?? 🙂

While I have not yet been craving kabocha squashes, I spotted a stalk of Brussels sprouts at the grocer. With a cute tag that exclaimed “We’re back!”. In Ontario, I’ve associated Brussels sprouts as fall/winter vegetables and ate my weight in them last year. I broke down and carried the huge stalk home with me, almost cradling like a baby since I did not want to damage them.

I ended up combining a ton of Asian goodies (thank you Viet Hoa) with the Brussels sprouts to create this very nice rendition of Vietnamese pho. The ingredient list is daunting, but it is a fairly simple soup to whip up. The abundance of vegetables creates a flavourful soup without too much of a soup base. The broth is nicely flavoured with ginger, star anise, tart lime juice, salty tamari and aromatic toasted sesame oil. Fresh mint adds a beautiful brightness. For the vegetables, seared Brussels sprouts, baby bok choy and meaty mushrooms make up the bulk of the soup. In addition, I added sliced water chestnuts, julienned bamboo shoots and baby corn (the latter all canned).  I haven’t cooked with them before, but the bamboo shoots were akin to short noodles and the water chestnuts added a neat crunch. Definitely recommended. I used a mix of Asian mushrooms (shiitake, Portobello and enoki) but feel free to use just one.

The soup made a ton and filled me up all week long. Leftovers were just as good, if not better. While this may not seem like a fall-inspired recipe, this seems like a Texan fall-inspired meal. A light veggie-filled soup perfect during the hot weather. Hannah told me she may stop to read my blog during the winter, as she lives in Toronto, missing her warm Aussie winters. Please don’t hate me for the abundant heat! 🙂

Have you fallen for fall veggies yet?

Brussels sprouts done before:

Simple Ayurvedic Brussels Sprout, Mushroom and Leek Mixed Grain Skillet

Chinese Five Spice Vegetable and Noodle Stir Fry

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Creamy Balsamic Miso Dressing

Roasted Orange and Brussels Sprout Veggie Noodle Bowl

Spaghetti Squash with Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Chickpeas

Roasted Balsamic Curry Fall Vegetables and Cranberries with Kamut

Warm Lentil Salad with Caramelized Onions and Brussels Sprouts

This is my submission to Deb for this week’s Souper Sundays.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Creamy Balsamic Miso Dressing

Another batch of lost photos. Although the “lost” photos from that previous post were found (!!), months after I repeated the recipe (HA!).

This time, I am not sure where the photos went, but I have an ample substitute.

Pardon my faux pas.

One of my favourite vegetables this winter (if you could not guess) were Brussels sprouts.

I roasted them, roasted them, and roasted them again. I added them to soups, stirfries and skillets.

Recently had a hankering for a creamy, balsamic dressing. Something tangy, something sweet but creamy, too. Then I remembered I had already made such a thing: Tess’ Miso Healthy Dressing. When I went looking for my photos of my creamy balsamic miso dressing, I looked at my notes from the recipe: tossed with brown rice, roasted Brussels sprouts and white beans. No photos to be found, but I did find photos of another creamy dressing with roasted Brussels sprouts. (Yes, there were lots of roasted Brussels sprouts around here).

Brown rice and white beans are left to your imagination. However, I included them in my recipe because that’s how you assemble a meal. 🙂

In any case, do not limit this dressing to roasted Brussels sprouts. With the change in seasons, make it more spring-friendly. Take your favourite leafy green, add some chopped veggies, chickpeas or quinoa, and smother it in the dressing. Or grab yourself some Brussels sprouts and get thee roasting. 🙂

This is my submission to this week’s Weekend Herb Blogging, hosted by Haalo, and my dressing is submitted to this week’s Raw Food Thursday.

Simple Ayurvedic Mushroom and Leek Mixed Grain Skillet

I don’t shop at the standard grocery stores. I prefer the smaller, independent ethnic grocers for my veggies and natural foods stores for my pantry staples.

However, I recently heard that Costco had some interesting foods, and sent my family searching for sprouted mixed beans. Turns out they stopped selling them here a few months ago, but my aunt spotted a sprouted rice and quinoa blend instead. Always eager to try something new, I decided to give it a shot.

Uh, let’s just say that packaged mixed grains don’t always work so well. When I’ve made mixed grain dishes before, I cook the grains separately, or add them at different times so they finish cooking at the same time. I couldn’t get the grains to be as fluffy and distinct as I am used to.. unless that is what happens after they are sprouted? In any case, the mix turned out to be a bit on the mushy side, both when I’ve made it on the stovetop and in the rice cooker. I tried to salvage the mix by introducing it into this easy skillet.

I’ve made multiple skillets before, and each time I gush over its simplicity.  I swear, I wasn’t planning on sharing this recipe. It just seemed too simple, too boring and I didn’t think it would taste as flavourful as it did. The original recipe suggested throwing everything in the skillet and cooking, but I shunned a mise-en-place and threw things in as I finished chopping them. First went in the leeks, then the portobello mushrooms, next the red pepper and Brussels sprouts. Grated carrots and garlic rounded the veggies out with a sprinkle of salt and thyme. After the vegetables brown and begin to caramelize slightly, cooked grains get dumped in for a complete meal. No dressing, no broth. Thyme was the only herb but this was surprisingly flavourful. Do not discount the flavour of veggies (and garlic).

I think I may relegate my mixed grains to soups… that seems pretty foolproof. What do you think? Fan or foe of mixed grain blends?

Do you like it when I share easy, seemingly non-recipes with you?

This is my submission to this week’s Weekend Herb Blogging, hosted by Simona, and to this month‘s Herbs on Saturday.

Ayurvedic Winter Vegetable Stew with Adzuki Beans

Oops, I pulled a Joanne.

I stockpiled my winter squashes, only to discover one going moldy. Booo…. so much for hoarding my squashes until the snow prevents me going grocery shopping. One buttercup squash down but a golden nugget squash that was still fine.

This looks like a kitchen sink soup, but I was actually following a recipe! (mostly)

I have become fascinated with Ayurvedic cuisine as of late. Mainly because the recipes tend to have an Indian slant that I quite enjoy. Not hard-core, authentic, spicy curries, but milder flavourful Indian-infused dishes. Ayurvedic cuisine balances the six tastes (six rasas), sweet, salty, sour, pungent, bitter and astringent. By determining your dosha, or your main energy as per Ayurvedic tradition, you can tailor your foods to match your constitution.

I will not pretend to know much about Ayurvedic cuisine, although I did figure out my doshas: bidoshic with a bit more pitta (fire/water) than vata (air/space). I connect better with pitta-reducing recipes, which shies from heat and spice (among other things). Recipes can be modified to better balance your dosha, and these are modifications that I do instinctively: reduce chiles, omit curry paste, etc. Although my love of quinoa must be from vata because pitta precludes it!

This is an Ayurvedic winter vegetable stew that balances vata and pitta and decreases kapha. I made it more pitta-friendly by omitting the green curry paste (miso-curry soup isn’t so scary) and ground pepper and made it more Janet-style by adding adzuki beans (good for both vata and pitta).  Ignoring all the dosha-stuff, I can assure you that this is a delicious stew. The main flavours are miso, ginger and dill dancing around winter vegetables like winter squash, Brussels sprouts and broccoli. Adding in the suggested green curry paste would probably make this an entirely different soup altogether, and would be more up Rob’s alley. I have yet to figure out his dosha but he definitely has less pitta!

Have you ever tried Ayurvedic cuisine? What is your dosha?

This is my submission to Deb for this week’s Souper Sundays.

Roasted Orange Veggie Noodle Bowl

Did you catch this post yet? Why Four Workouts a Week May Be Better Than Six.

It struck a chord with me, as I stopped cycling for the winter. More is not always better.

I found it to be a well-designed study. While it investigated older aged exercise-naive women, I found it fascinating that the women doing 6 work-outs a week spent less energy overall throughout the day because they were tired and stressed form their work-outs. Instead of being invigorated by exercise, too much exercise caused them to feel like they were short on time, and became more sedentary during the day. Interestingly enough, this was shared shortly after another article talked about how models slim down for their work. Lots of intense exercise but nothing that gives them muscle definition. Egad. My advice: if you are doing a lot of exercise, eat. Fuel your work-outs properly.

In any case, let me know if you enjoy these interesting news and tidbits, even if non-food related.

For those that are here for the food: I tried something new. Roasted oranges. I often roast vegetables but not fruit (I’ve tried roasted strawberries which were very good, though). I was intrigued. I tried them but prefer juicy oranges au naturel. They had a deeper more caramelized flavour but I missed the juiciness. Try it and let me know what you think.

I paired them with roasted Brussels sprouts (which I adore) as well as red bell peppers. A creamy orange ginger dressing, a bit heavy on the vinegar, worked well with the kelp noodles (the vinegar tenderizes them nicely). Feel free to use your favourite noodle. Or try it more like my Crunchy Cabbage Salad with a similar tahini-orange dressing, my orange teriyaki vegetable quinoa bowl or a brown rice salad with roasted beets and oranges with an orange-sesame vinaigrette.

This is my submission this month for Pasta, Please for peppers and to this month’s Simple and in Season.

Spaghetti Squash with Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Chickpeas (& the best cat videos)

In the morning, I like to read through my blog roll. Rob and I read different blogs, so we often share fun links with each other.

I might share interesting recipes with Rob (beer-soaked fries, anyone?), whereas Rob might share interesting news. Real new like we’re losing the penny. Where was I last year when they decided that? Or not so important (but still real) news like the Toronto IKEA monkey that made front page news around Christmas (that I otherwise missed). Or the software developer who outsourced his own job to China. I think my favourite part of the detective work was documenting that he spent hours watching cat videos.

It is true: we love cat videos, too. Like this one, this one and this one. Oh, and this oldie but goodie. I liked those better than the World’s Best Cat Video, although it was still pretty cute. The top 30 cats of 2012 had some of our favourites, too, including grumpy cat! (With a special nod to #5, cat alarm cat).

OK, OK, I know I should be studying. 😛

I have been keeping things simple in the kitchen like this easy spaghetti squash stir fry with Brussels sprouts and chickpeas. Once you’ve roasted the squash, it comes together pretty simply. An Italian spiced dish with basil lightened with lemon juice, that is really more than the sum of its parts. It has been a while since I’ve cooked with spaghetti squash. My first venture was less than stellar and it took me a while to regain my confidence. Once you get past the notion it is pasta (it isn’t), you can enjoy it as a noodly-shaped squash. Actually, if you haven’t yet watched it separate into the thin spaghetti strands, you are in for a treat. A neat trick from nature. This dish was also nice as leftovers.. booyah!

So, do you enjoy cat videos, too? Any favourites?

This is my submission to this month’s Pantry Party for noodles, to this month‘s Credit Crunch Munch and this month‘s Simple and In Season.

Chinese Five Spice Vegetable and Noodle Stir Fry, Take 2

I don’t know about you, but sometimes I reflect on where I have been and I wonder how I managed to pull through. How did I manage to survive 4 years of medical school? Nearly 5 years of residency? Cycle between Ottawa and Kingston and back again? In the thick of it: I don’t think, I just perform.

During medical school, for the first two years, I routinely had lectures from 8am to 5pm every day, interspersed with small group sessions, anatomy labs and clinical skills workshops.  Even when I go to conferences, I don’t subject myself to 9 hours of lectures in a day. It is just nuts. However, this weekend I sat through 3 days of intense review-type lectures. Rapid fast compressed learning, except it was more of a reminder of things I already knew. However, after 10 hours of lectures on Saturday, and a lengthy 3 hour drive home (thank you Toronto traffic), I was positively pooped. The next day, too. The last thing I wanted to do was to cook… it was that bad. I ended up sleeping at 8pm. 😉

Meals stashed in the freezer are a definite boon these days. However, I find cooking therapeutic. A way to destress as I chop and julienne vegetables, stirring patiently as I saute onions or peacefully munch through the leftovers.

When I finally made it back into the kitchen, instead of reinventing the wheel, I revamped an old favourite. This is a variation of my Chinese Five Spice Vegetable and Noodle Stir Fry. Same flavours, mostly different vegetables. Turns out the original recipe called for winter vegetables like Brussels sprouts. My first incarnation included parsnips, carrots, green beans, oyster mushrooms and Swiss chard; basically the odds and ends in my fridge. This time, I included thinly sliced Brussels sprouts, enoki mushrooms, carrots and parsnips: the current odds and ends in my fridge. The hardest part is chopping all the vegetables, but a quick saute in the wok yields a flavourful meal from the Chinese five spice. I use kelp noodles, which I like in Asian stir fries, but feel free to use your favourite noodle. Gena recently wrote a great post all about kelp noodles if you have yet to try them. I am already imagining my next incarnation, likely including edamame. 🙂

This is my submission to this week’s Weekend Herb Blogging, hosted by Marta.

Roasted Balsamic Curry Fall Vegetables and Cranberries with Kamut

Earlier this year, my cousin’s wife was trying to track down kamut, an ancient wheat. She explained to me that kamut contained less gluten, perfect for her gluten-free adventures.  She searched high and low and could not find whole grain kamut. Kamut flakes and puffed kamut, yes, but not regular old kamut.  Since she was hoping to get rid of gluten, I suggested not trying to track down such a hard-to-find ingredient, especially since it still contains gluten, even if it is a smaller amount.

A few days later, when I decided to reorganize my whole grains, I discovered I had kamut. Turns out I had forgotten all about it. I bought a small amount while in Calgary, since I had never seen it before. Unfortunately, while Community Natural Foods has an online store, I don’t see kamut for sale.  With my curiosity piqued, I decided it was time to try out the kamut.

Nothing fancy, I opted to add it to a bowlful of roasted fall vegetables. More veggies, less grain, please.

The verdict?

First, the kamut. I will admit that it was nice. Similar to wheat berries, they were pleasantly plump yet their shape made it more akin to orzo. A plumpy, chewy orzo. Milder than wheat berries, I rather enjoyed them.  If I had easy access to kamut, I would likely choose it over wheat berries, but since I don’t know where to replenish it in Toronto, I will just have to finish my spelt berries first. Although, I am already on a whittling of the pantry plan, where nothing is being replenished except for my easy-to-find favourites: quinoa, red lentils and chickpeas.

Next, the veggies. Delicious right from the oven, I had a hard time holding back from gobbling everything down. I loved combining the different roasted vegetables for different complementary flavours. The Brussels sprouts were earthy and crispy, contrasting the soft and sweet squash, next to the tart and juicy cranberries. The balsamic-curry dressing was not overpowering, and allowed the natural flavours to shine.

Don’t have kamut? No worries. Simply omit it or add your favourite whole grain or bean. I am thinking chickpeas or white beans would be great here.

If you do have kamut, and live in the GTA, please tell me where you found it. 🙂

This is my submission to this week’s Weekend Herb Blogging, hosted by Brii.