Millet Bowl with Rosemary Mushroom Gravy and Kale

Here today, gone tomorrow.

A high of 22°C on Sunday, but only a high of 3°C yesterday. Ouch!

Let me share with you something that will not be disappearing so fast… my lovely surprise from the garden:

KALE! My kale is back! I swear, it is almost bigger than when we harvested it in the fall and it is not even April yet. I thought we had removed the roots, too, but I guess not, because little kale plants are popping up all over the garden. The Vates Blue Curled Kale is definitely a keeper. :)

Sadly, the kale will be our legacy gift as we won’t be able to enjoy it this summer (moving!), although I may be able to eat baby kale salads before we leave.

Now, the question for the gardeners out there. What is this plant? Is it a beet?

Last year, Rob and I diligently watered a plant all summer, thinking it was kohlrabi. We waited until the plant was nice and big because we thought it was a root vegetable. I eventually pulled it out to see what magical vegetable was hidden underneath….. except there was nothing there. We had been watering a weed!! We were very sad. But this doesn’t look weed-like to my virgin garden eyes (too pretty, no?)… and I don’t want to pull it out yet. We planted heirloom beets and kohlrabi in that area last year but nothing really grew. Our chioggia beets were gourmet: baby beets, not more than an inch in diameter in the fall (hehe). Please let me know if you have any ideas because it doesn’t really look beet-like or kohlrabi-like to me.

Back to the kitchen: Once I had the energy to cook after returning from Vancouver, the cold weather had me wanting a warming and comforting savoury dish. Angela’s Cozy Millet Bowl certainly hit the spot. Filled with sauteed rosemary mushrooms and kale overtop millet, this tasted rich without any heaviness. My changes were simmering the millet in broth, omitting the oil (since I was using a nonstick pan), decreasing the rosemary (just because I didn’t want to pick my plant clean), decreasing the tamari (1 tbsp of tamari is salty enough with the broth) and omitting the cornstarch. It wasn’t thick and creamy like a typical gravy but it was rich and savoury without hurting my belly (no grease, please). If you like a thicker sauce, add the cornstarch. I loved the thinness so that it trickled down to coat the millet. The worst part about this recipe? I wish I had made more!

Anyways, please help me with my garden query… else I may just rip it out in a month due to curiosity. Unless you tell me it is a weed, and I will rip it out tomorrow. ;)

This is my submission to Ricki’s Weekend Wellness and to this week’s Weekend Herb Blogging, hosted by Terry.

Oven-Baked Sweet Potato Fries with Fresh’s Miso Gravy

I know you’ve heard me lament about resto food.

When I first moved to Toronto, one of my favourite restaurants was Fresh. A vegetarian restaurant serving nice salads and wraps.  I have since found their dishes hit or miss and usually a miss unless it is the grilled veggie and pesto burrito. Please do not try their soba noodles! A soggy mess that disgraces Japan. However, their sweet potato fries with the miso gravy never disappointed and have rightfully been voted the top sweet potato fries in Toronto.

For the BBQ, I made a variety of seasonings for the sweet potato fries. I tried a batch with garlic, lemon pepper and smoked paprika, adapted from a recipe from Radiant Health, Inner Wealth, a batch with a Moroccan spice blend including cinnamon and cumin (somehow my spices went too toasty for my liking [aka burnt], so I didn’t serve them), as well as a one with simple salt and pepper. Other then the Moroccan batch, both turned out great. I really liked the roasted bits of garlic with the sweet potato fries.

At Fresh, the sweet potato fries are lightly spiced with sea salt, basil, tarragon and rosemary, but the winner was the miso gravy. Creamy and salty, it is a perfect match for the sweet fries.

Thankfully, the folks at Fresh are happy to share their (not-so) secret recipe, with it appearing both in their cookbook and online in the Toronto Star. It took me a while to crack out the recipe, but I am delighted I finally did!  My guests discovered the miso gravy also worked well with the grilled chicken, pork tenderloin as well as the salad. What wouldn’t taste delicious with a miso gravy? :)

This is being submitted to this week’s Weekend Herb Blogging, hosted by Rinku from Cooking in Westchester, to Ricki’s Summer Wellness Weekends and to this month‘s Bookmarked Recipes.