Greek Vegetable Sauté

Happiness to me is cupboards full of all the ingredients I like to cook with, a variety of vegetables in the refrigerator, and a freezer stocked with good meat.  Not everyone in the world can buy quality locally grown meat as easily as we can in the Annapolis Valley.  Aside from the excellent meat shops like Meadowbrook Meat Market and Oulton's, many of us are also lucky enough to have neighbours with free range chickens, homegrown pigs, rabbits and lambs who like to share.
So this night, we had some beautiful lamb chops from our friends Stephanie and Austin (the kind of wonderfully generous friends that we should all have).  I followed a Mediterranean-inspired Gourmet recipe for the chops and wanted a side dish that would cover both the carbohydrate and vegetable aspects of our meal.  This dish combines a few of my favourite things; spinach, tomatoes and garlic; with sweet onions and sharp feta cheese.  In the coming weeks, local spinach and hothouse tomatoes will become more readily available, just in time for you make this simple and delicious dish.

This time last year: Corned Beef with Winter Vegetables

Greek Vegetable Sauté
Although we served this alongside lamb chops, this would also be lovely on its own for supper or to take to a potluck!  It's just as nice at room temperature as it is hot.

3 small Potatoes, diced
2 tablespoons Olive Oil
1 Onion, diced  (1 cup)
1 large clove Garlic, minced
1 1/2 teaspoons Salt
1/2 bunch Swiss Chard, sliced into ribbons
4  cups Spinach, chopped
3 Plum Tomatoes, diced in 1/2" pieces
1/2 Lemon
1/4 cup crumbled Feta Cheese (I love Holmestead)


Place the potatoes in a small pot and cover with cold water.  Add 1/2 teaspoon salt and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to low and simmer until tender, 10-15 minutes, then drain.  Meanwhile, in your largest sauté pan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat.  Add the onions and stir often until they are tender and beginning to brown.  Stir in the potato cubes, garlic, Swiss chard and salt.  Add a few tablespoonfuls of water and cover the pan to steam the chard until it is tender, about five minutes.  Uncover, add the spinach and tomatoes and toss until the spinach is wilted and liquid has evaporated.  Pile into a serving dish and squeeze the lemon juice over the sauté, then sprinkle with the crumbled feta.

Little Vegetable Dishes

This time last year: Honey Curry Dip  and Hodge Podge

We just got back from a weekend camping trip at Kejimkujik.  Six adults, three kids and a dog.  Glorious weather.  Lots of food.  We returned to sites we've been camping on for twenty five years, in a warm forest that smells just like I remember every year and feels like home.  I strung a hammock between two trees, set up a giant tent and a makeshift kitchen. The kids and I hiked, swam, threw rocks and pigged out.  As I've told you before here, we like to eat well, and it can get a little out of hand.  On our way home yesterday I was looking forward to a little balance!  We decided to have a supper of vegetables.

One of the most memorable meals of my life was when I was living with some girls in a one room cabin on Saltspring Island.  It was summer and we had gone to the market and come back with a huge assortment of vegetables.  We cooked each in different ways, made some cheesy garlic bread, and sat down to feast.  A meal of small vegetable dishes can be enormously satisfying (even without cheese bread).  It doesn't need to be a huge production, and everything can be served at room temperature if that's how the timing works out.  This time of year, markets and home gardens are vegetable bonanzas and you don't want to be limited to just a few at suppertime!

Some of my favourite simple vegetable dishes of the season are Swiss Chard with Caramelized Onions, Sugar Snap Peas in Brown Butter, Parsley Potatoes, and Roasted Asparagus.  If you click around the All Things Vegetable section of this site, you'll find lots more ideas as well.  And here's one more.

Warm Spinach and Tomato Salad

2 t. Olive Oil
1 Clove Garlic
8 oz Spinach, washed and chopped
1 medium Tomato, cut in chunks

Heat the oil over medium heat in a frying pan for a minute, then add the garlic.  When the garlic sizzles, stir in the spinach and a pinch of salt.  Stir for about thirty seconds, until the spinach begins to wilt, then add the tomato.  Cook for another minute at the most, just until the tomatoes have heated through.  Remove from the heat and serve hot or at room temperature.

Nothin' Says Lovin' like Focaccia in the Oven

The last two weekends, I have catered weddings. They were both beautiful outdoor extravaganzas, with lovely weather (sunny and breezy), and both took place in gorgeous rural settings. These were hands-on weddings, planned by creative people that really put their heart and soul into putting on a wonderful celebration for their friends and families. Both were breathtaking.
Sometimes in the scramble to get the food ready and to the wedding, I forget that someone is really getting married. Then poof!, the stunning bride appears in her gown. It always takes me by surprise, the power of the idea of a true love promised to last forever. The families, the cake, the kids, the food, the dresses, just the amazing effort of creating a memory. I am always overcome.
Congratulations Candice and Jeremy and Shasta and Patrick!
So I thought I'd provide a couple fun party recipes from these celebrations. Both use a wonderful no-knead focaccia dough. It is amazing and flexible, easy-peasy and impressive. In the first recipe, the dough is baked thick so it can be split and stuffed. In the second, it makes a great thin pizza crust.

Roasted Vegetable Focaccia Bites (We make these all the time, but made up miniature for Candice and Jeremy's wedding, these were a big hit!)

Makes 32 mini sandwiches, or 12 lunch size sandwiches

Focaccia Bread (adapted from Suzanne Dunaway’s No Need to Knead Bread Book)

2 cups Warm Water
2 teaspoons Yeast
4 cups Unbleached All-Purpose Flour (or use part Whole Wheat Flour)
1 tablespoon Salt (I use Sifto Kosher Salt at home)
3 tablespoons Olive Oil, divided
2 teaspoons dried Rosemary or 2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, chopped

Sprinkle the yeast over the water in a large bowl. After five minutes, add the salt, 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and 2 cups of the flour. Stir until smooth, then add the rest of the flour. Stir with a large spoon for two minutes until the dough is smooth and flour is incorporated. The dough will be very sticky. Cover the bowl and let the dough rise until doubled in volume, 45 minutes to an hour. Preheat the oven to 500. Oil a 13x18 baking sheet and ease the dough with a scraper onto the middle of it. With oiled fingers, gently spread the dough into a large oval. Let rest for five minutes, then evenly push the dough to fill the pan. Drizzle with the remaining olive oil and sprinkle with the rosemary. Place the pan in the oven and reduce the heat to 450. Bake 15-20 minutes until golden brown. Let cool in the pan, then cut in half.

Sundried Tomato Mayonnaise:

¼ cup Sun-dried Tomatoes, soaked in warm water for 20 minutes
1 clove Garlic
¼ teaspoon Salt
2 tablespoons chopped Parsley
1 teaspoon dried Oregano
1 cup Mayonnaise
1 tablespoon Lemon Juice

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and process until fairly smooth.

Roasted Vegetables:

1 bulb Garlic, top ¼ inch cut off and wrapped whole in foil
4 large Carrots, peeled and cut into thick strips
1 Red Onion, cut into 8 wedges
1 Yellow Onion, cut into 8 wedges
1 bulb Fennel, tops removed and cut into thin slices
1 Red Pepper, seeded and cut into ¼ inch slices
2 tablespoons Olive Oil
1 tablespoon Balsamic Vinegar
1 teaspoon Salt
Preheat oven to 400. Combine carrots and onions in 13x18 pan. Drizzle with the olive oil and sprinkle with the salt, then toss the vegetables until coated. Nestle the garlic packet in the vegetables, and place in oven. Roast until vegetables begin to soften and brown, stirring occasionally, about 25 minutes. Add the fennel and red pepper and stir to coat with the oil. Continue to roast another 25 minutes, stirring occasionally so the vegetables around the sides of the pan don’t burn. Vegetables should be tender and browned. Remove the vegetables to a large bowl, and let the garlic cool. Squeeze the garlic out of its skin into a small bowl. Mash and add the balsamic vinegar, then stir this into the vegetables.

Assemble the Sandwiches:
Split each Focaccia piece horizontally. Spread the bottom and top generously with the sun-dried tomato mayonnaise and layer with roasted vegetables, then the top of the Focaccia. Cut each sandwich into 16 pieces.
You can try adding grilled pork tenderloin or chicken breast for a more substantial sandwich. These are perfect as is, but you can grill them in a panini press with or without mozzarella, too. The vegetables will keep about a week in the fridge and make a great side dish or addition to any pasta recipe.



Spinach and Tomato Pizza
These can be cut into mini wedges after cooling a bit, then arranged on a tray and served at room temperature.

1 recipe Focaccia Dough
2 C. Tomato Sauce (your favourite homemade or bottled)
1 lb. Spinach, trimmed and chopped
3 large Tomatoes, diced
4 C. Shredded Mozzarella
4 fat cloves Garlic, minced

Make the focaccia as described above, but divide between two pans. This will take a little more patience and coaxing, but it will work! Preheat the oven to 425. Spread the dough with the tomato sauce. Layer on the spinach, then the tomatoes, then the cheese. Sprinkle with the garlic. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until the cheese is bubbling and browned.

Big Bunches of Greens

My garden gives me great joy, but sometimes overwhelms me with too much of a good thing. I've also found the same thing true at farmer's markets. There is so much beauty I want to take it all home, but if I do it without a plan, it might go to waste. This recipe is for such times as you find yourself with the desirable problem of too many fresh greens in your fridge. It's filling and stew-y, but also very rustic Italian and sophisticated. I can't help but feel good about life when I eat this. Warning: Eat it for lunch and you might find yourself justifying a half glass of red wine at noon. You're welcome.


Summer Solstice Soup of Garden Greens and White Beans
Don't worry if you're missing something. Either substitute another green, like Swiss Chard, Arugula, or Mustard, or leave it out.

2 T. Olive Oil
1 small Onion, diced
3 cloves Garlic, sliced
a handful of Garlic Scapes, chopped
1 small bunch Kale, sliced into ribbons
3 C. Chicken or Veggie Broth, or Water
1 small bunch Broccoli Raab, stems and leaves separated and chopped
½ lb. Asparagus, cut into 1 inch lengths
1 can White Kidney Beans
3 T. Chopped Parsley
1 T. Fresh chopped Thyme
½ lb. Spinach, chopped
Salt and Pepper
3 Tomatoes, diced
freshly grated Parmesan Cheese
Fresh Basil

Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook for 5 minutes or so, until nicely browned and fragrant. Turn the heat to medium- high and add the garlic scapes and kale. After a minute, stir in the broth or water. Bring to a boil, then cover and cook for 5 minutes, or until the kale is nearly tender. Add the broccoli raab stems, asparagus, white beans, parsley and thyme. Stir and cook uncovered until the raab is tender, about 5 more minutes. Stir in the spinach and broccoli raab leaves and turn off the heat. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve in big bowls with chopped tomato and grated Parmesan on top, and basil if you've got it.

You Can't Trust a Skinny Chef

I own a restaurant. So that makes me a professional food lover, which gives me the right, no, the obligation, to eat whatever I want. I'm always testing, tasting, and re-tasting, thinking I've skipped meals when really I've already eaten plenty while working my way through an eight to twelve hour shift surrounded by food. Great food. Our Cafe serves mainly healthy fare, but that doesn't mean calorie free. Three years after the birth of my second child, I didn't like what I saw in the mirror. No justification could fix the fact that I thought about being overweight way too much. My low came when I found myself at a dear friend's birthday party, stealing her camera and deleting all the photos of myself I didn't find flattering.
Eating is a funny thing to be addicted to. Other substances must be shunned forever, but we have to eat to live. Food was a big part of my life growing up. Nearly every activity had accompanying side dishes, and I looked forward so much to dinner that I would cry if it was something I didn't like (hello fish). I loved cooking from a young age, and would make treats (and enormous kitchen messes) for my family. I ate for comfort, and I ate out of great love for the flavours I was discovering. I ate for a living, getting my first cooking job in a Saltspring Island kitchen at age 18. So there was a real love and passion for food (positive) coupled with a tendency to overeat, especially when I was stressed out (negative). And I hated the idea of dieting, and how annoying people on diets could be to committed overeaters, especially when their diet worked.
Because I'm a big ol' food nerd who reads cookbooks in bed, I have a favourite cookbook author. As a cooking obsessed vegetarian teenager, my mom had given me “Still Life with Menu” by Mollie Katzen. I had already read cover to cover my neighbour's copy of the Moosewood Cookbook, also by Mollie, and loved her writing style, her recipes and food guidance. So I was stunned one day while searching online to discover that she had Co-Authored a Diet Book! I thought, “if this woman who has shaped how I cook and feel about food has something to teach me about losing weight, then I want to learn!” I bought it.
I realized I knew lots about food, but so little about how to really eat for health and well-being. The book, titled Eat, Drink and Weigh Less was co-written with Walter Willett, head of the Department of Nutrition at Harvard. It cleared up a lot of my confusion about calories and metabolism, as well as providing a blueprint for long term health. Among Mollie's contributions to the book were many wonderfully simple and tasty recipes. It worked. I lost forty pounds over six months.
Of course, the authors insisted I exercise, and I did. I went to fitness classes a few days a week at our Town Hall (I've never been self motivated, so paying in advance for those classes really got me there). I met inspirational instructor Maggie Travis and joined my amazing cousin Melyssa Hutchinson's fitness Boot Camp. I was just ready, so ready, to shed the old tired me and get moving! So now I'm strong and lean, too. And so grateful for having made the change.
My friend and co-worker, Annette, reminds me constantly to try to be happy with what I have. Like she says, a negative body image can't truly be overcome simply by changing the body. She attends classes, too, and we have a great time trying to outdo each other. It really helps to have that kind of support.

Part of this journey has been rediscovering breakfast. Here are two of my favourite ways to get things cranking in the morning:

Maple Almond Bowl (serves two people who are resolved to make this day a great one)
If you are eating solo, wrap up the second bowl for tomorrow....or the next day.
½ C. 12 Grain Cereal
1 ¼ C. Water
pinch of salt
2 T. toasted and chopped Almonds
2 Medjool Dates or 6 regular dates, diced (I wet the knife so they don't stick)
1 small Apple, diced (I like Boates, VanMeekeren Farms, and Suprima Apples)
2 t. Ground Flax Seed
2 T. Maple Syrup

Combine the cereal, water and salt in a small pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 5-10 minutes, until nicely thickened. Pour into two bowls. Sprinkle each with the almonds, dates, apple, and flax seed and drizzle with the maple syrup.

Spanakopita Eggs for two (multiplies easily, but use a larger pan)

2 t. Olive Oil
½ small Onion, diced
1 clove Garlic, minced
pinch each Salt and Oregano
two big handfuls or more Spinach, chopped
4 good Eggs
2 T. Feta, crumbled (I love Holmestead)

Heat the oil in small pan over medium high heat. Add the onion and garlic, along with the salt and oregano. Cook 2-3 minutes, until the onion has softened. Add the spinach, then toss and stir until it wilts. Transfer to a plate, and return the pan to the stove. Beat the eggs with a pinch of salt and freshly ground pepper. Pour them into the hot pan. Now stir gently for a few minutes, scraping the bottom of the pan (I use a silicon spatula). When the eggs are mostly set but still wet, shut off the heat and fold in the spinach mixture and the feta. Allow to sit on the heat another minute if you like them cooked more.
Divide between two plates and serve, with toasted pita bread or on its own.

Spinach

Spinach. It's green and leafy. You know it's good for you, but maybe you don't eat enough of it. Yet I know by the popularity of the Poppyseed dressing at the Cafe that lots of you are eating it, in the form of Spinach Salad. Add some Bacon, a few slivers of Red Onion, some Tomato and Sliced Egg, and you're in business. We've usually been able to find a local source of spinach by late March or April, which makes it the first fresh local vegetable in spring. We've been buying beautiful spinach from Katrina Fairn at the Berwick Farmer's Market and Taproot Farms, and I've gotten lovely stuff in previous years from Goldfinch Farm (just look for Dora at the Wolfville Farmer's Market). And while one can certainly consume plenty in raw form, cooking it reduces its volume so much you can easily eat half your daily vegetable requirement in a few luscious bites.

In fact, it's cooked Spinach that I now adore, in many different forms. Just try adding a large chopped bunch to a hot pan with Olive Oil and Garlic and turning it until it's cooked (sprinkle in some salt to taste). Or make a simple pizza and top with chopped Spinach, Tomato and minced Garlic. Mix cooked Spinach into your scrambled Eggs, add a big handful to any pasta dish, stir lots into curries and soups and use a bed of chopped spinach under just about anything. Spinach adds great flavour, and virtually calorie free volume (there may be more to come on this subject, since I love to pig out but don't like the side effects). Here's the latest favourite staff meal at Union Street:

Spinach and Veggie Skillet with Broiled Cheese

For 2 Veggie Lovers

1 T. Olive Oil
½ C. Red Onion, sliced
1 C. Mushrooms, sliced (we like Valley Mushrooms)
2 C. Red or Green Peppers, sliced
2 cloves Garlic, minced
2 enormous handfuls Spinach, chopped
1 C. Decent Tomato Sauce, or 1 large Tomato, chopped
1 C. Cooked Chicken, chopped
½ C. Feta cheese or Mozzarella

Preheat your oven's broiler and move the rack to the top position. Heat the oil in a large ovenproof frying pan over medium high heat. Add the onions, mushrooms and peppers and saute until onions have softened and mushrooms are beginning to brown. Stir in the garlic, spinach and a pinch of salt and cook for another minute, until the spinach has wilted. Add the tomato sauce or tomatoes and the chicken if you're using it. Top evenly with the cheese. Place the pan under the broiler for a few minutes, watching intently, until the cheese has melted and is bubbling and browned. Divide between two bowls and serve with crusty bread.

We have experimented with about a hundred different Poppyseed Dressing recipes, but we feel this is the best. It comes in a roundabout way from the old Broadstreet Cafe in Kentville, NS via my dear friend and fellow food lover Terry Thornhill. It has a shocking amount of sugar, but it does make Spinach tempting to even the most vegetable-wary.

Poppyseed Dressing makes lots, and keeps at least 1 month in the fridge
1 T. Dry Mustard
1/2 C. Sugar
1/3 C. Vinegar
1 C. Canola Oil
1 t. Poppyseeds
1/2 t. Salt
1/8 t. Pepper
1/2 t. (yes) Garlic Salt

Put all the ingredients except the poppyseeds in a blender and blend until thick. Pour into a jar and add the poppyseeds, shaking to distribute. My oh my.