Food

This delicious meatless entrée is perfect as a side dish for the vegetarians in your Christmas crowd. But it also serves as a lovely stand-alone brunch dish. It’s delicious served with a creamy butternut squash soup and accompanied by a crisp salad. Substitute carrots and beans with roasted asparagus, and add a little lemon zest to pack a punch.

Make-ahead tips

• Prepare vegetable filling the day before. Cool and refrigerate in tightly covered container. Bring to room temperature before baking in puff.
• Roll out puff pastry and refrigerate, covered, on prepared baking sheet overnight, if you wish.

For those who cannot or choose not to eat dairy or gluten, and even for those who can, this vegan chocolate pumpkin pie is the answer to the chocolate-covered good life. The pumpkin flavour is barely detected, instead acting as a structural backbone for the pudding. And, pumpkin provides antiaging skin support thanks to its high vitamin A content.

Long, long (I mean, like, embarrassingly long) before it hit the mainstream health scene in North America, quinoa enjoyed a storied history in Central and South American kitchens as an inexpensive, nourishing and environmentally friendly protein. One of quinoa’s many famous uses is in sopa de quinoa, a recipe that varies from region to region (and cook to cook), but is usually made with quinoa, potatoes, squash and any other vegetables that might be on hand.

Superfood boost

This lovely dal lends itself well to diced butternut squash in place of lentils. The kick of lime and smooth, creamy yogurt swirled on top add delicious tartness and visual eye appeal. Tip: To make ghee, gently simmer butter in a saucepan until it begins to caramelize, which makes it nutty tasting and aromatic. If you’re concerned about sodium, substitute water for vegetable broth, or use half broth and half water. Sometimes it’s difficult to find seeds such as mustard or cumin. In such cases, the soup is made equally delicious by adding more ground cumin to the broth and a bit of Dijon and vinegar.

Making applesauce is one of the most efficient ways of tackling your bounty of apples. With just three ingredients—apples, water, and lemon juice—it’s a sweet treat you can feel good about.

Weekend breakfasts offer the time for creating a satisfying meal. When it comes to hash, one can include any number of ingredients, such as squash or sweet potatoes, and even topping it with a poached egg for more protein. In our version, we added sunchokes (also called Jerusalem artichokes) for a lovely texture and flavour that’s perfect for the season.

Tips

• Breakfast Hash is also delicious as a filling for omelettes or large, thin crepes.
• Sunchokes, also known as Jerusalem artichokes, are a bit like a cross between a water chestnut and a potato. They’re so easy to prepare, since you don’t need to peel; just scrub clean and slice or dice. In a pinch, you can substitute with canned water chestnuts.

How can something so satisfying also be good for you? The full flavour begins with a mirepoix that is gently sautéed until vegetables are very soft and almost caramelized. And the rich red tomatoes and tomato paste are excellent for heart-healthy eating. Double up the recipe and store extras in the freezer for a speedy mid-week supper.

Wine pairing

Kitchari is an Ayurvedic staple and is extremely good for digestion. Split peas, moong dal, lentils … kitchari is made from many types of pulses. Our version includes split peas and rice soaked overnight to make it even more digestible. Coupled with spices, ginger, and greens, it’s a cleansing life-giving meal in a bowl—particularly in this season.

This soup is the perfect tool to get your kids to eat a variety of vegetables, because it’s chock full of so many of them. The combination together provides an earthy, yet not overpowering flavour. You’ll feel good knowing your kids are getting a megadose of vitamins and minerals essential to ward off the common cold and flu, and fibre for a healthy digestive system. If you don’t have butternut squash on hand just swap in sweet potato instead.

Tip

With current pandemic restrictions, it’s unlikely many of us will be venturing south any time soon. Instead, we’ve brought the flavours of Mexico to you with this recipe—a delicious and light stew, reminiscent of a dish served on the beaches in Zihua. The brightly coloured squash is paired with hot peppers and roasted tomatoes, then spiked with lime. It’s a perfect antidote to a cold January night. For a creamier stew, give it a few pulses with a handheld immersion blender before adding diced pepper and collards. Some like it hot; some not  The use of hot peppers is extremely individual. Some can comfortably eat the hottest of peppers while others can barely handle a little black pepper. In this recipe, we’ve included some hot pepper options. With jalapeno being the least hot, add or eliminate peppers as desired. And in the event of taste buds on fire, be sure to have plenty of plain yogurt available to provide edible soothing relief.  

Homemade salad dressing should be an integral part of everyone’s cooking repertoire—the basic formula is easily adjusted based on what you have in the cupboard. The nutty flavour of pumpkin seed oil combines beautifully with peppery arugula.

This warm and satisfying dish pays homage to slow-cooked North African tagines, but comes together in no time, combining sweet apricots with savoury and tender vegetables, legumes, and chicken. As with the black quinoa and lentil pilaf, the spices can be premixed at home if you’re heading out of town, making for efficient packing without sacrificing flavour. Using a fresh lemon (which doesn’t need to be refrigerated) also means you won’t need to lug a bottle of lemon juice along. Feel free to add other vegetables such as sweet potato, squash, parsnips, turnip, or cauliflower, or swap in dried figs, dates, or prunes for apricots. Any type of olives will work––e.g. green, purple, or black––and though you don’t need an entire jar for the recipe, you can serve the rest as an appetizer or snack. You can use dried chickpeas, soaked overnight, drained, and simmered in water until tender, or you can use canned, which saves time. Be sure to drain and rinse canned chickpeas thoroughly in water before using to significantly reduce the sodium content.  

This recipe reminds me of my childhood. My mother did all the cooking, but my father would always prepare the buckwheat crêpes, called galettes de sarrasin in French.

There’s a myriad of recipes for using the beautiful garlic scape—from pesto to grilled side dishes, whirled into hummus, tossed into a stir-fry, spun into a soup, or used as an artful garnish. Scapes look and taste delicious and don’t have the harsh bitter or zingy garlic overtone. The season for scapes is short, so this little scape vinegar recipe is perfect for giving you a few extra months of cherished scape flavours. It’s perfect for a salad pick-me-up or splashed onto a stir-fry.

Tip

Apple cider vinegar is easy to buy for a small price. But making your own is even easier. If you buy organic fruits, the skins are perfectly safe to eat. We’ve got a few ideas for using up your fruit peelings, which might just help neutralize your global footprint, but we’ll start with healthy and fermented vinegar. We can sip apple cider vinegar diluted with water to start every day, but there are hundreds of other wonderful ways it can be used.

This is what you want to reach for when craving something sweet ’n’ salty. The seedy figs add a pleasant crunch to the butterscotch sweetness from the dates. Slip a square or two into your purse or gym bag for an emergency pick-me-up.

If you’re up to speed on the latest food trends, you might have heard of this gorgeous indigo matcha. It’s actually not related to green matcha at all; it hails from the butterfly pea flower—a completely different plant (see Tip below). It doesn’t have quite the same benefits as green matcha. Nor does it contain caffeine. Take a nibble of one of these chocolates, though, and you’ll pop open a beautiful blue filling. Pure calm.

Tips

• To melt chocolate, it’s important to have it all chopped into equally sized small pieces so it melts evenly. Melting slowly is the key to ending up with shiny chocolate when it hardens.
• Blue matcha powder can be ordered online, but feel free to substitute with green matcha powder, if you wish.
• Making chocolate is easy with small square silicone forms. Just add a little melted chocolate into the base of each cup and place a square of filling on top. Drizzle with a little more chocolate to fully coat. Garnish and refrigerate until firm. Easy to pop out, and the chocolates turn out perfectly square every time.
• Butterfly pea flower is a beautiful blue flower that’s dried and ground and added to various recipes, providing a unique brilliant blue colour. It’s available in some specialty gourmet food shops and online.

When life gives you lemons, make this lemonade-inspired water infusion. To make this infusion an electrolyte-rich post-workout drink, forgo the ice, add a splash of unsweetened coconut water, and toss in a pinch of Himalayan sea salt.

Strawberries make a sweet splash against the spicy jalapeño and cooling jicama in this recipe, standing in for more traditional tostada flavors like avocado and lime. The raw tortillas make for a different texture than the usual crisped version—one that’s fun to try out.

With tons of citrus hints in this dish and the pungent Greek flavours of olives, artichokes, and garlic, keeping it simple is the perfect choice. Fill a beer glass with ice cubes and top with equal parts unsweetened grapefruit juice, sparkling soda, and a splash of honey syrup. Garnish with a sprig of rosemary.

Dandelion greens are a delightfully bitter green known for their role in promoting good digestion, as well as being rich in vitamin A. The greens are readily available in grocery stores, if you can’t find wild. Increase the wild food factor and tone down the bitterness by adding a small splash of birch syrup to these dandelion greens.

A healthy addition to this dish is the fermented bean paste, otherwise known as miso. It’s available in different strengths and colours. We suggest the light miso, as it’s less harsh and doesn’t overpower the salmon. Tip: Shiro miso is a paste made from white rice and fermented soybean, found in the dairy case. Substitute or partially substitute regular red radishes for daikon radishes for an added splash of colour.

Send your sweetie to bed with this nightcap and they’ll be sure to have sweet dreams. Studies have shown that compounds in red beetroot have powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, thus making this beautiful bevvy not only good but good for you too.

Tip

Bursting with intense flavour, these colourful squares are an excellent source of protein and key vitamins and minerals. Whenever possible, use organic ingredients. A tossed green salad and low-fat oven fries are ideal accompaniments to this family-friendly entrée. 4 medium-large zucchini, grated Dash of salt 2 large carrots, grated 1 Tbsp (15 mL) olive or camelina oil 4 large free-range eggs 1 1/2 cups (350 mL) shredded Jarlsberg cheese (or substitute Swiss or Edam) 1/4 cup (60 mL) chopped parsley 2 green onions, chopped 1 garlic clove, minced 1 tsp (5 mL) basil 3 Tbsp (45 mL) grated Parmesan cheese 3 Tbsp (45 mL) dry-roasted sunflower seeds Preheat oven to 350 F (180 C). Lightly grease 11 x 7 in (28 x 18 cm) baking dish. Place grated zucchini in colander and salt lightly. Let zucchini rest for 15 minutes. Squeeze out moisture from zucchini until quite dry. Pat grated carrot dry. Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add grated zucchini and carrot and sauté until crisp-tender. Meanwhile, in medium bowl, beat eggs lightly. Mix in Jarlsberg, parsley, green onions, garlic, basil, and the sautéed veggies. Place mixture in prepared baking dish. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan and sunflower seeds. Bake for 30 minutes, or until filling is set. Remove from oven and cool slightly for a minute or two. Cut into squares. Squares can be served both hot or cold. Serves 6. Each serving contains: 201 calories, 18 g protein, 11 g total fat (3 g sat. fat, 0 g trans fat); 10 g total carbohydrates (5 g sugars, 3 g fibre); 233 mg sodium source: "Easter Eggs-travaganza", alive #390, April 2015