Goodlad Community Garden - 'Spring Fling' Season Opener!

Dear Food First-ers:



We wanted to let you know about an event the Edmonds People in Community Association are hosting at their Goodlad Community Garden site (7912 Goodlad St. Burnaby / map):



2016 Garden Season Opener and Registration

3 plots currently available



Saturday, March 19

10:00am - 12noon



Drop on by if you are interested! For more information, please email info@epiccommunity.ca. Note: please access the garden via the side gate. 

Goodlad Gardeners Prepare their Gardens for Winter
Credit: Leanne Zmud

A Free Issue of Examine.com Research Digest

Examine.com is a website that provides unbiased information on supplements and nutrition.  They publish the Examine.com Research Digest (ERD), which reviews the latest studies in these areas.  I like ERD because it does a nice job of curating recent science, making it understandable and engaging for a broad audience, and explaining important background information.  They have no conflicts of interest because they don't sell anything except information.  I've been a scientific reviewer for ERD since the beginning.

Examine.com is celebrating its fifth anniversary today.  To celebrate, they offered to put together a custom issue of ERD using five of my favorite articles.  I chose articles I thought my audience would enjoy.  You can download your free copy here (PDF).

If you like it and decide you want to sign up for ERD, there is a link in the PDF, or you can visit this page.  They're having a sale today, so if you're thinking about joining, today is a good choice.  If you purchase through the links I provided, you'll be supporting Whole Health Source at no extra cost to yourself.

If you already have ERD, let me know how you like it in the comments.

Green Mac & Cheese

I swear to God, my children once ate vegetables.  They ate fruit, and healthy grains, and fish and lean meats and foods that came in all different shapes, sizes, textures and COLORS.  Then, each of them hit 18 months, and they were all, "nah... OVER IT... I'll just eat chips and Skittles until I'm out of college and my palate returns to normal, thanks."  My son (who turns SEVEN today!) was always a little better (maybe because I had time to actually focus on one, single child?) but my girls are trying to turn me into a mental patient.  As a mom, I keep trying.  That's my job, to feed them healthy foods.  So I keep trying.  Like yesterday, I made this Green Mac & Cheese, assuming I could trick them into thinking a magical leprechaun turned it that color.  That's fun, right?!  

Me: Hahahahahahaha, look lasses and laddy, a wee little leprechaun has played a trick on us, ohhhhh, aren't we lucky little Irish children!?!

Them: (Blank, disgusted stares)

Cut to THREE different-sized meltdowns over dinner.  My middle kid ran from the table, the baby just screamed "all done, all done, all done, all done" and my seven-year-old took a bite, plugging his nose and choking back tears, like I was feeding him poison.  

My take on this creamy, cheesy pasta full of pureed spinach and broccoli (which I decided to throw into the blender with the spinach so there were NO VISIBLE SIGNS OF VEGETABLES)... it's delicious.  It's so, so good.  Carson loved it as well.  Which is good, because we will be eating it for lunch every day this week.  You should make it too, because your kids are probably better than mine.

Recipe!

*Look, I even melted cut-up string cheese on the top because I ran out of cheddar and I wanted it to be EXTREMELY GOOEY AND CHEESY.  

Lemony eggs for loving on CBC's Weekend Morning Show

This morning I presented the following dish for CBC's Weekend Morning Show with host Terry MacLeod.  The eggs are from Nature's Farm and the Gluten Free shells are from Piccola Cucina.  The butter for the curd is our wonderful Notre Dame butter.  

Lemon Curd

2-4 lemons, zested and juiced
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
3 eggs (I use Nature�s Farm eggs, available at the St. Norbert�s Farmer�s Market)

Finely grate the peel of 2 large lemons. Squeeze the lemons and reserve the juice. (I used Meyer Lemons for this recipe)
Melt 1/2 cup butter in a double saucepan over a very gentle heat.
Gradually add 1 cup superfine sugar, 3 beaten eggs, the grated lemon zest and the lemon juice.
Stir until thickened.
Put into sterilized jars while still hot and cover with wax paper, pressing the paper on the surface of the lemon curd. (If using curd for Lemon Meringue Pie/tarts, cool in fridge)
Leave until completely cold before covering the jars.

Lemon Meringue Pie/Tarts

3 large egg whites
1 lemon curd recipe
Pie or tart shells ( I used gluten free Almond tarts from Piccola Cucina, locally made and available at Vita Heallth, DeLuca�s Red River Coop stores, GJ Andrews)
pinch of cream of tartar
2 tbs sugar

Prebake pie and tart shells at 375� for 10-15 minutes.
Fill tart shells with curd.
Whip egg whites with cream of tartar until soft peaks forms.  Gradually add the sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks form and appear shiny.  Top the lemon filling, making sure to cover completely to the edges.  Otherwise the meringue will shrink to nothing.

Bake for 10-15 minutes at 375�F or until the meringue is golden.  Cool on rack completely before slicing.

Enjoy!

Local Food Security Report Released!

Hello Burnaby Food Firsters!

Cover of Local Food Security Report 

(click image to download report)

After some hard work and intensive research, we are very pleased to share with you our newly published report, Local Food Security: Turning Policy into Action in Metro Vancouver!



We took a look around the Lower Mainland to see what other food security agencies/networks were doing to address food security (or insecurity) � as well as understanding what was working for each neighbourhood or municipality.



Our report contains recommendations to move us towards greater food security! Please download our report (PDF) and have a read.



Don�t forget to support us! By:

• volunteering,  


• donating or 


• buying an apron, 

You will help us support community workshops and publishing reports to help us move food security forward!



Other BFF blog posts on food security:

• http://burnabyfoodfirst.blogspot.ca/2015/05/what-is-food-security_20.html 


• http://burnabyfoodfirst.blogspot.ca/2015/06/tackling-food-insecurity-by-dealing.html


• http://burnabyfoodfirst.blogspot.ca/2015/07/drought-in-bc-and-california.html


• http://burnabyfoodfirst.blogspot.ca/2015/08/nutrition-important-part-of-food.html


• http://burnabyfoodfirst.blogspot.ca/2015/09/policies-impacting-food-security-in-bc.html

Roasted Fennel

Let me start by saying, I've never liked fennel.  If you're unfamiliar with it, it's a flowering plant series in the carrot family and it's highly aromatic.  I just copied that from Wikipedia.  Anyhoo, the herb tastes and smells like black licorice, which I can't stand (any if you like that, you are a unicorn). However, the bulb of the plant, once it's roasted, is... wait for it... friggin' delicious!  That was an exciting "wait for it" moment, wasn't it?  Perhaps the highlight of your day?

ANYHOO, we were at a restaurant in Brooklyn once that served roasted fennel as an appetizer, and I've been thinking about it ever since.  I finally passed it at the grocery store, spontaneously bought it, and roasted it last night with no real plan in mind.  We were eating taco pizza, in fact, and Carson and I ended up smothering avocado and roasted fennel on top of ours.  It's so versatile, and really be a good side or topper for anything!  Once it slowly cooks in the oven, the vegetable softens and mellows and tastes earthy and caramelized and delicious.  Try it!

Roasted Fennel

Serves 2

Printable Recipe

1 fennel plant, bulb halved and sliced into pieces

Extra virgin olive oil

Balsamic vinegar (or glaze)

Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Place fennel on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil and balsamic (I used glaze).  Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and use hands to toss to make sure it's all evenly coated.  Roast for 30 minutes.    

Minnesota Wild Rice & Mushroom Soup

If someone asks me where I'm from, I always say Minnesota.  Technically, I was born in California, and then I spent a big chunk of time in Connecticut before moving to the Midwest when I was 9 years old.  I lived in Minnesota until I graduated high school and never moved back, not even 10 years spent there and yet, I still feel like that's where I'm "from."  Sometimes I wonder why that is?  Is it because most of my concrete memories are from that time?  Or because I formed so many close friendships that are still strong today?  Maybe it's because I called soda "pop" for many years, or because I still crave Bruegger's Bagels even though I can get a true east coast one whenever I want.  Or is it because my mom still lives there, in the same house we grew up in?  (Even though she's slooooowly spring cleaning, packing up, and asking us if we want Dumbo on VHS.) 

It's probably all of those things and more... so whenever something is associated with Minnesota, I feel a certain alliance with it, like this recipe.  Oh, a Minnesota Wild Rice & Mushroom Soup?  Well, I'm FROM THERE, so I need to make it.  Also, I will make anything with caramelized mushrooms and heavy cream.  This was SO GOOD.  Rich, creamy, hearty... proving us Minnesotans know how to eat.  I mean, we fry Snickers bars and put them on a stick and sell them at our state fair, duh.