Burnaby Food First - Volunteer Appreciation Dinner

To celebrate our wonderful volunteers -- we couldn't do it without you! -- Burnaby Food First friends recently gathered to eat and be merry together. 

Credit: Rebekah Mahaffey

The yummy dinner was from B.C. sources as much as possible -- including salmon from Regent Fish Market (Burnaby, BC), produce from Klippers Organics (Similkameen Valley, BC) and Ice Cap Organics (Pemberton, BC), and bread made by Anne of Companion Bakehouse (Burnaby, BC) with flour from Urban Grains (Agassiz, BC).



We were also treated to a great workshop by the fabulous Andrea Potter of Rooted Nutrition, where we learned how to make kombucha. 

Credit: Rebekah Mahaffey

A HUGE thanks to Vancity Branch 43 (Brentwood Community Branch) for sponsoring the event! A great time was had by all. See you next year!

Superbowl snacks on CBC's Weekend Morning Show!

 This morning I had the pleasure of presenting the following dishes for CBC's Weekend Morning Show, on the theme of tomorrow's Superbowl.  Host Terry MacLeod also makes chowder with mussels but PEI is not in the Superbowl.  :)

Seattle Seahawks Coffee wings
2 lbs chicken wings & drumettes, frenched*
1 cup strongly brewed coffee, cooled
1 cup of water
1 bay leaf
2 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon espresso grounds
1 Tablespoon ground black pepper
2� tsp spanish paprika
1� tsp garlic powder
1� tsp dried thyme
1� tsp dried Oregano
1 tsp ground sage
� tsp. cayenne
2 Tablespoon maple syrup*  Optional:  Trim chicken wings & drumettes of excess fat. I prefer them "Frenched" which just means removing the excess cartilage & skin from the 'handle' of the drumette. It is easy to do with a small sharp nice, but not necessary.
Optional:  Trim chicken wings & drumettes of excess fat. Frenched which just means removing the excess cartilage & skin from the 'handle' of the drumette. It is easy to do with a small sharp nice, but not necessary.
Place wings in a bowl and add brewed coffee, water, 2 tablespoons of salt and bay leaf. Cover and marinate in the fridge for 6 hours to overnight.
Mix remaining ingredients, except maple syrup, in a small bowl. Adjust seasonings as preferred (i.e. more or less heat)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Drain and rinse wings. Pat dry with paper towel. Toss lightly in spice mixture ensuring wings are evenly coated.
Arrange wings on baking rack (with lined drip pan underneath) and cook for 15 minutes.
Baste lightly with maple syrup and then cook an additional 10 minutes.
Baste a second time lightly with maple syrup and then broil for an additional 3 -5 minutes to caramelize sugars.

New England Clam Chowder (Recipe courtesy of Emeril Lagasse, 2001)

Ingredients

8 pounds small quahogs or large cherrystone clams, scrubbed and rinsed, opened clams discarded
4 slices bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 cups finely chopped yellow onions
1 cup finely chopped celery
1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
6 sprigs fresh thyme leaves
2 bay leaves
3 cups 1/2-inch cubed, peeled potatoes, about 1 1/4 pounds
2 cups heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Salt
6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 1 1/2-teaspoon pieces
1/4 cup minced parsley leaves
1/4 cup finely chopped chives or green onions

Directions

In a large stockpot bring 2 cups of water to a boil. Add clams, cover and cook for 5 minutes. Uncover, quickly stir clams with a wooden spoon. Cover and cook 5 to 10 minutes longer (this will depend on the type and size of clams you are using), or until most of the clams are opened.
OR
Use clam juice from bottles, your own stock (fish or chicken) and drain tins of whole clams for broth.

Transfer the clams to a large bowl or baking dish and strain the broth twice through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl, being careful to strain out the sand. (You should have about 6 cups of clam broth. If not, add enough water to bring the volume up to 6 cups.) When the clams are cool enough to handle, remove them from their shells and chop into 1/2-inch pieces. Set clams and broth aside.

In a large heavy pot cook the bacon until crisp and the fat is rendered. Pour off all bacon fat except 2 tablespoons. Add the butter, onions and celery and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, thyme and bay leaves, and cook until the vegetables are thoroughly wilted, about 3 minutes, being careful not to brown. Add the potatoes and reserved clam broth, and bring to a boil. Lower the heat, cover, and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes, or until the broth thickens slightly and the potatoes are very tender. (If you like a thicker broth, mash some of the potatoes against the side of the pot with a wooden spoon.) Remove from the heat, stir in clams and heavy cream and season with pepper and salt, if necessary.

Set aside for 1 hour, covered, to allow the flavors to marry. Place the pot over low heat, and slowly reheat, being careful not to bring to the boil. Serve hot, garnished with 1 or 2 pats of butter, parsley and chives.

Food Reward Friday

This week's lucky "winner"... the KFC Double Down Dog!!

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Super Bowl FEASTMODE Recipe Round-up

Every single thing that these guys do makes me love them even more! Sherm, being a straight up team player, and, let's face it, total boss. BeastMode, being so charming and adorable I just want to watch cat videos with him all day. You guys! I mean, they're awesome players and everything, but what I love is that they're are actually trying to make a statement and change some of the shittier things in the NFL (for the better), rather than just sitting back and accepting the status quo. LOVE. Also, they're Hawks, so I love that too. 

You know what else I love? Football snacks. 


Whether you�re one of the good guys (the Seahawks), a Patriot, or someone who watches only for the commercials, food, and drinks, I think these meaty (ahem, beasty) snacks and bites are perfect for your SB party! Or your snow-day party. Or your Wednesday night. 

Pigs 'n a Blanket with Grilled Onion Cream Cheese Dip: Just like a Seattle style street dog, these little bite-sized snacks combine dogs, cream cheese, and grill onions. Plus jalapenos, if you like to bring the heat. 
Beastmode Hawk-Wing Pizza AKA: Buffalo Chicken Pizza: My favorite pizza. Spicy, sweet, saucy buffalo chicken, with gooey melted cheese, a lil' blue cheese drizzle, and celery leaves to round it out.
Smoked Salmon Dip: This dip is creamy and smoky, with a little bite from the horseradish. Perfect for crackers, veggies, or a spoon!
Carnitas (for tacos or nachos!): No one says no to carnitas. Especially my recipe... just sayin, you won't regret bringing this to a gathering. You'll only regret not setting some aside at home for later. 

Hawaiian Sliders: With half the country buried under snow, this year's Super Bowl is the perfect excuse to make something tropical, to remind you of sunny days ahead! 
White Chicken Chili: Likewise, snowy weather is also a great opportunity to hunker down with a bowl of hot, comforting chili. A big pot of chili is a SB no-brainer.
BBQ pulled pork hand pies: These are a little more involved, but they're great make-ahead game day food. Also, you could make them football shaped!
Shredded beef (for tacos or nachos!): This spicy, tangy shredded beef is just begging to be on top of a pile of tortilla chips with black beans, melted cheese, and some fresh avocado. 

Other drool-worthy SB recipes from around the blogosphere:

• Stephanie kills it with the best looking mashups ever. California roll nachos and pulled pork banh mi tacos are things I need in my life, like, daily.
• Molly shared a BBQ chicken nacho recipe from her book, plus a classy SB line up including meatballs... girlfriend knows how to party!
• Tieghan posted a lineup of 26 "dude-food" recipes, and I can't even make it all the way through the list because I keep stopping on the chipotle cajun shrimp and guac pizza.
• Emily shared this fried hot dog + egg sammy for the big game. I don't even like hot dogs, but these look amazing... maybe I'll try 'em with spam instead!
• The gals at Spoon Fork Bacon have the cutest tiniest bloomin' onions ever! Related: one time Evan accidentally selected cippollini onions instead of brown/yellow onions at the self-checkout and we paid like $7 for 1 boring-ass standard onion. 
• Mandy's recipes always look rich, flavorful, and a little bit insane. In the best way possible. Can we just talk about her hot wings and her baguette sub for a minute!?

And, in case you missed it, these ChampionChip Cookies are a must: pretzels, dark chocolate, butterscotch, M&Ms. BOOM. (Legion of Boom, obvi). 

Is Meat Unhealthy? Part VII

Looking at individual diseases is informative, but it can cause us to become myopic, making broad health-related decisions based on narrow information. It can cause us to miss the forest for the trees. In this case, the "trees" are individual diseases and the "forest" is total mortality: the overall risk of dying from any cause. Does eating meat increase total mortality, shortening our lifespans?

Non-industrial cultures

Traditionally-living cultures such as hunter-gatherers and non-industrial agriculturalists are not the best way to answer this question, because their mean lifespans tend to be short regardless of diet. This is due to ~30 percent infant mortality, which drags down the average, as well as a high risk of death in adulthood from infectious disease, accidents, and homicide/warfare. It can also be difficult to accurately measure the age of such people, although there are reasonably good methods available.

However, there are semi-industrialized cultures that can help us answer this question, because they feature a somewhat traditional diet and lifestyle, combined with modern medicine and the rule of law. The so-called Blue Zones, areas of exceptional health and longevity, fall into this category. These include Sardinia, Italy; Okinawa, Japan; Loma Linda, California; Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica; and Icaria, Greece.

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BEASTMODE ChampionChip Cookies

Super Bowl week! Let�s snack!
Obviously I�m cheering hard for my Hawks, and packing these cookies full of blue and green M&Ms, but that doesn�t mean you can�t enjoy them even if you�re not a Seattle fan. I don�t like it, I don�t support it� but go ahead, put other colors of candies in them. I�ll look the other way. 

I�ve been making far too many cookies lately. Like, it�s becoming a problem. It�s all because of Ashley, and her insanely good recipe. I first made them exactly as written. Then I bought her mix, and made that (which I highly recommend!). Then I started using the base recipe, and adding other mix-ins. Seriously this chocolate chip cookie base is so solid. The cookies are chewy and have that perfect buttery brown sugar flavor that makes classic chocolate chippers so good. I made a riff of her Christmas cookie, with peppermint, milk chocolate, and white chocolate. I made a batch with dark chocolate and smoked sea salt. A batch with espresso chocolate and nuts. Then I made these: pretzels, dark chocolate, and butterscotch chips! WINNER. Then, because this batch was so good, I made them again for your Super Bowl feast, with mini M&Ms for team spirit. 
Sweet, chewy, crunchy, salty, chocolatey, butterscotchy. BeastMode FeastMode time! 
BEASTMODE ChampionChip Cookies
Makes about 24 cookies
Adapted from Not Without Salt (PS. she has a new cookbook out!)

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temp
1/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
1 egg, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (or vanilla paste, which I�ve been using for extra vanilla flavor and vanilla bean speckles!)
1 3/4 cups flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips, roughly chopped
1/2 cup butterscotch chips
1 cup pretzels, broken up into smallish pieces
2 tablespoons mini M&Ms (Seahawks colors, obviously)

In bowl of stand mixer or with electric mixer, cream butter and sugars together on medium speed, until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add egg and vanilla, and beat to combine. 

In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt.

With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture, about 1/2 cup at a time. Mix until combined. Stir in chocolate, butterscotch chips, and pretzels. 

Ashley recommends refrigerating the dough for up to 24 hours for best results. I tend to agree, but they�ll still work out if you don�t. I would recommend chilling a bit at least, to firm up the dough so that they don�t spread as much while baking. 

Preheat oven to 360 degrees, and line baking sheet with parchment paper. Scoop dough into balls just over a tablespoon-sized, place evenly spaced on cookie sheet, and press 5-6 mini M&Ms on the top of each one. 

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, and let cool before eating. 

Sneak Peek of the Apron Project

While we were out, we've been up to some cool things for Food First's Apron Project.



Earlier this month, community volunteers and Food First members got
together to photograph and model some of the aprons that our sewing
volunteers have been hard at work on. (Models and kitchen gadgetry not included with the actual aprons.)



Thank you to all the volunteers and Food First members who came out to help that day!

Credit: Christina Mak

Here are some behind-the-scenes photos from the apron photo shoot:

Credit: Christina Mak

Credit: Daniel Lane

Credit: Daniel Lane

Credit: Daniel Lane

If you would like to find out more about Burnaby Food First's Apron Project or volunteer, visit the project website for information on getting involved.

Food Reward Friday

This week's lucky "winner"... barbecue ribs!!

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Breakfast Tacos with Chorizo and Fried Eggs

One of my friends has the most insane stories from her office, almost daily. Recently she was telling me about her coworker from Texas (Dillon/ East Dillion I�m assuming). He was talking about the things he misses most about the lone star state, particularly breakfast tacos (followed closely, I'm sure, by Tim Riggins). And the rest of the coworkers didn�t believe him that breakfast tacos exist. Seriously!? Who are these heathens! I want nothing to do with them. And everything to do with breakfast tacos (and Tim Riggins).

A lot of things about Texas seem fantastical to me, from the armadillos to the pride of hometown high school football, but I've never once doubted the existence of the breakfast taco. Or the existence of Tami Taylor. To be honest, I've never even been to Texas (aside from the airport), but deargod, I don�t have to wear cowboy boots to know that eggs inside a tortilla is a good idea! You could go a few different ways with this. You could make a scramble and toss that in a taco shell�basically making smaller, less portable breakfast burritos�or you could go the fried egg route, which is what we�re gonna do! Because look how pretty! 

We start off with some red potatoes and spicy chorizo. Then we fry up some sunnies. I like them crispy around the edges�a little olive oil helps with that. Next we prove the existence of breakfast tacos by combining it all inside a small corn tortilla, and topping it with cilantro, sliced radishes, crumbly cotija cheese, green onions, avocado, and hot sauce. The harmony of flavors and textures in these bad boys is on point... runny yolk, cool and creamy avocado, bold and spicy chorizo, the saltiness of the cheese and crunch of radishes! So much goodness in each bite.

Breakfast tacos are real, man, even outside of Texas. 
Clear eyes, full stomachs. Tacos forever. 

Breakfast Tacos with Chorizo and Fried Eggs
Makes 8-10 tacos (2 tacos per person is ideal). If you make less tacos, you'll have extra potato-chorizo filling. Don't fret! I like to add a few scrambled eggs to it and make burritos, which I freeze for on-the-go lunches or breakfasts later in the week.

Olive oil
2 medium sized red potatoes, diced small
1 lb fresh chorizo (Mexican style)
8-10 corn tortillas 
8-10 eggs
Salt & pepper
Cotija cheese, crumbled
1 avocado, sliced
2-3 large radishes, sliced thin
Cilantro
1-2 green onions, sliced
Hot sauce (like Tapatio)

First, cook the potatoes. Heat about a tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat. Add potatoes, and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and cooked through--about 10 minutes. Salt & pepper lightly, and remove from skillet, set aside.

In the same skillet, add chorizo, and cook until cooked through, stirring occasionally so it's crumbly. Drain off excess oil, and add potatoes back to skillet. Toss together, and keep on low heat.

Heat tortillas. I like to heat a skillet over medium-high heat, with a little cooking spray, and heat each one individually so it's a little sturdier and chewier. You can also wrap them in foil and pop in the oven, or in a damp paper towel in the microwave.

Fry the eggs. My favorite way to get a good crispy edge and runny yolk is frying in olive oil.  

To assemble: Add potato-chorizo mixture to tortilla, top with fried egg, avocado slice, 3-4 radish slices, onions, cotija, cilantro, and, if you like it spicy, hot sauce.

Thank you to United Steelworkers Local 1-1937!

We send out a thank you to United Steel Workers Local 1-1937 for their donation and support!

Turkish Beef and Bean comfort stew on CBC's Weekend Morning Show

Tomorrow on CBC's Weekend Morning Show with Host Terry MacLeod I will be presenting this Turkish Beef and Bean dish, Etli Kuru Fas�lye.

Turkish Beef with Beans (Etli Kuru Fas�lye)

2-4 lbs beef (inside or outside round, chuck, etc.), cubed

2 cups cooked pinto beans (can also use white navy beans or black eyed beans)

1 globe eggplant, cubed and roasted

1 tin unsalted chopped tomatoes (use fresh in season!)

1-1/2 cups dry red wine

1 large onion, thinly sliced

4-6 cloves garlic, minced

2-4 tbs olive oil

1 tbs black pepper

1 tbs dried oregano

2 tbs Turkish Baharat (optional but fuller flavour if used)*

� tsp smoked paprika (hot or sweet optional)

� tsp ground cinnamon

� - 1 tsp dried chili flakes (to taste)

Salt, to taste

*Available at Pollock's Hardware Coop.

Saut� onion on medium heat in a large pot with the olive oil until translucent and starting to caramelize.  Turn up heat to medium high and add cubed beef with minced garlic to brown.  At this point, I like to add the cinnamon and oregano as well as other spices to put flavour into the meat and remove the smell of blood.

When the meat has browned, add the roasted, cubed eggplant.  This will add a rich and smoky flavour to the dish.  Add remaining spices, tomatoes and cooked beans.  In Turkey, the ratio of beans to beef is much higher than Canadian expectations so you may use a lot more beans to this dish as well. 

Add red wine and season with salt.  Let simmer for up to an hour or a few hours in a slow cooker.

Serve as a main dish or as you would serve chili. 

Afiyet olsun  (Enjoy your meal!)

Does high protein explain the low-carb "metabolic advantage"?

In 2012, David Ludwig's group published a paper that caused quite a stir in the diet-nutrition world (1). They reported that under strict metabolic ward conditions, weight-reduced people have a higher calorie expenditure when eating a very low carbohydrate diet (10% CHO) than when eating a high-carbohydrate diet (60% CHO)*.

In other words, the group eating the low-carb diet burned more calories just sitting around, and the effect was substantial-- about 250 Calories per day. This is basically the equivalent of an hour of moderate-intensity exercise per day, as Dr. Ludwig noted in interviews (2). The observation is consistent with the claims of certain low-carbohydrate diet advocates that this dietary pattern confers a "metabolic advantage", allowing people to lose weight without cutting calorie intake-- although the study didn't actually show differences in body fatness.

In Dr. Ludwig's study, calorie intake was the same for all groups. However, the study had an important catch that many people missed: the low-carbohydrate group ate 50 percent more protein than the other two groups (30% of calories vs. 20% of calories). We know that protein can influence calorie expenditure, but can it account for such a large difference between groups?

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New Year Goals: 2015 Style

Happy New Year! I know I�m a little late to the game here, being that we�re already half-way through January, but I took the last few weeks to recharge, and I�m excited to be back! I have a lot of fun ideas planned for this space in 2015� starting with a facelift!*

I always like to set a small health and lifestyle goal for January (in the past I've done no-boozuary, no process sugar, waking up earlier, etc), just so I can use the month to really get back into a healthy, productive mindset after all the holiday indulgences (which included tons of chocolate and butter, sleeping in later than I have since college, watching hours upon hours of Netflix, and barely leaving the house).  I also come up with a focus/theme for each new year (an idea I got from my friend LZ), and some goals for the year. So, here�s what I have planned for 2015! Let�s do this!

2015 Focus/Theme: Seek & Create Balance

Coming out of a year of extreme highs and extremely low low lows, I�m seeking a more even keeled, balanced year. Emotionally, physically, everything-ly. The low lows aside, I was hyper focused on the wedding for basically all of 2014, and if you�ve ever done that, you know it�s pretty much the opposite of balance. All wedding, all the time (thank you, patient friends and family!). So with that insanity behind me, I�m looking forward to more travel and entertaining, more outdoor adventures (and maybe a little less tv), and a new focus on creating a healthy and happy balance between creative pursuits, friendships, family, marriage (!), work, fitness, and even the boring stuff like keeping the house clean.

2015 Goals:

Food: Use my cookbooks�I think I�m most excited about this goal! I have a ton of great cookbooks, yet I never use them. I kicked this one off a little early with Sheet Pan Suppers, and just made an amazing cauliflower salad and a butternut squash dip from Jerusalem.

Travel: Visit (at least) two new places�with all the money we were spending on the wedding, we didn�t go on any international trips in 2014, and that bums me out. This year, I want to go on one big international trip, and also cross a few domestic destinations off my bucket list (NOLA, I�m looking at you� finger�s crossed!).

Home: Minimize, simplify, beautify�I have a tendency to hang on to everything, and I�m trying really hard to change that. when Evan and I moved into our new place in November, we made 7 trips to Goodwill! I�m talking entire carloads. Plus a couch and recliner. So in 2015, I want to continue to get rid of the clutter. But also, I want to focus on making our place more inviting. We moved into our old apartment when we were 24. It was a dark, cramped, cluttered space full of mismatched, ugly furniture and decorations. We hardly ever entertained because we hated it so much. Our new place is open and airy and beautiful, and we want to show it off!

January Goal:

Bring lunch to work every day: I was in an eating-out-every-day rut, so now�s a good time to reset, save a little money, and eat healthy homemade lunches. So far, so good! My tricks? Prepping a bunch of roast vegetables, beans, and grains over the weekend, so I can just throw everything together for a quick salad/bowl. Also, I�ve been making big batches of frozen burritos�chicken/bean/rice and egg/potato/sausage�so that I have quick options if I�m in a hurry. This week I made a few batches of juice to bring too!

So, that�s what I have planned for the year ahead. And, obviously, lots of new recipes for you to make! What about you? Any big goals, resolutions, or focus areas for 2015? Let�s do this together!

*PS. Thanks to Pipdig for the new design and layout! 
PPS. The photo above: the best day ever! More on that later!

Upcoming Workshop on Healthy Eating

Hey Food First-ers! A great event is coming up soon in Burnaby!



The Burnaby Division of Family Practice is presenting a workshop on �Healthy Eating' with Dr. Davidicus Wong.



Friday, January 16
7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Confederation Centre (4584 Albert Street, Burnaby / map)



Dr. Wong will discuss: 



� Why you are what you eat - the effect of diet on health

� The essentials of a healthy diet 

� Healthy eating on a budget



It's free, but you have to register at lcullen@divisionsbc.ca or by phone (604) 259-4450.

Is Meat Unhealthy? Part VI

In this post, I'll examine the possible relationship between meat consumption and cancer risk.

Is cancer risk even modifiable?

Cancer is caused by the uncontrolled division of a population of rogue cells in the body. These cells essentially evolve by natural selection to escape the body's multiple anti-cancer mechanisms.

To a large extent, cancer appears to be a numbers game. The human body contains about 37 trillion cells. To get cancer, all you need is one cell that develops key mutations that allow it to shed its built-in restrictions on cell division. The older you are, the more time you have to accumulate mutations, explaining why cancer risk rises sharply with age.

Unlike other common non-communicable diseases, we don't know to what extent cancer is caused by modifiable diet and lifestyle factors vs. bad luck that's completely outside our control. Some cancers, such as lung cancer, are typically linked to lifestyle factors like cigarette smoking-- yet the majority of cancers aren't so easily understood.

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Warming Soups on CBC's Weekend Morning Show

Yesterday on CBC's Weekend Morning Show with guest host Laurie Hoogstraten, I presented the following two warming, rich and healthy soups for winter.  The first, Dhal, is a traditional lentil soup that you can make thick or thin, according to taste.  The second, made with my Ras el Hanout spice blend, is also up to your tastes.

Soup is something from which you should demand great flavours.  It is so easy to prepare stocks or broths from what you have on hand already in most kitchens and then you control the salt and fat.  Both of these soups freeze well to have on hand or for lunches (regarding some New Year's Resolutions to bring your own healthy lunches to work).  Depending on the quantities and ingredients, each lunch can cost between $0.10 - $0.50.  Compare to buying lunch every day ($10 - $20!)

Dhal

2 cups red lentils
1 medium onion, diced
1 inch ginger, grated
3-4 cloves garlic, grated
2 tbs curry spice blend
2-3 tbs olive or vegetable oil
2-3 tomatoes, diced
1 cup spinach leaves
~ 4-6 cups water
~ 1 cup yoghurt
salt, to taste
optional, 1 tbs brown sugar to round out taste and cut acid

In a larger pot, bring lentils and water to a boil. In a separate pan, heat oil and saut� onion until translucent. Add spice blend and cook until softened. Add ginger and garlic and be careful not to burn. When the water in the lentil pot is boiling, add hot onions and spices to the pot and stir. Simmer and add vegetables. Bring to a gentle boil. Stir in yoghurt and test for salt.

Enjoy!

Kitchen offerings soup (aka, what do you have on hand?)

 I made a vegan soup with my Moroccan spice blend, Ras el Hanout.  It is spicy and has red cabbage, parsnips, tomatoes, carrots, porcini mushrooms, and squash.

1-2 onions, sliced

1-2 tbs olive oil

2-4 tbs Ras el Hanout

1 Kabocha squash, in large dice (depending on the squash, you can leave the skin on!)

3 parsnips, in coin slice

1/2 red cabbage, cored and fine slice (use green if you don't wish a dark red colour of soup)

3-4 carrots, in coin slice

a few cauliflower flowerets, rough chop

small amount dried porcinis, crumbled

stock or water, to cover for a thick broth

salt and pepper, to taste

Saut� onions in olive oil in large stock pot.  When translucent or caramelized, add ras el hanout and cook until soft over medium heat.  Add vegetables and stir to incorporate.  Add stock and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer until vegetables are soft.  Season to taste.

Enjoy!

Food Reward Friday

This week's lucky "winner"... croissants!!

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