Not Just a Salad

This is a bit of a cheater post, since what I'm leaving you isn't really a recipe, but I couldn't let this salad slide by the way side. Considering that I've had it in different variations about 5 times this past week, I can safely say that this salad is a winner.

Ok, so it really is just a salad. But hey, I love salads. You can make friends with salad. Wanna know why? Because you can put whatever you want in it, and when it's late spring about to bloom into summer, the markets are just beginning to tumble out the fresh, local produce, perfect for a salads. It's also a time when avocados aren't five dollars a piece, and can be purchased three at a time for a reasonable price.

Fresh herbs litter this lovely salad -- thyme, parsley, oregano -- anything from your garden. I've had versions with fresh peas, lovely Ontario asparagus, cherry tomatoes, and just bare bones as the picture shows: crisp romaine lettuce, avocado and tofu chunks, random fresh herbs. It also sings with a simple lime vinaigrette sweetened with maple syrup.

I would love this salad sprinkled with cumin-seasoned black beans, chickpeas, slices of fresh, local strawberries, chunks of fresh peach, Ontario corn, fresh off the cob, cucumber cut into tiny chunks ... Seriously, whatever you want.

Happy Salad!

Summer Fresh Salad Base:
for one!

3 large leaves of romaine lettuce, chopped
a chunk of firm tofu (mine was seasoned with herbs)
1/4 of an avocado, chopped (don't wait till it turns brown like I did!)
1 handful of fresh herbs -- I used parley, oregano, thyme

1. Toss all the ingredients in a bowl, plus any extra add-ins you like (suggestions above!). Now, make your dressing.

Vinaigrette
juice of half a lime
1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon of maple syrup (or honey, or agave)
1/2 teaspoon of herbs de Provence
a few grinds of black pepper

2. Whisk together all the ingredients. Taste and adjust the seasonings. Add more sweetener if you like.

3. Pour over your salad and dig in.

Tea Time Blueberry Cake

Hello there. Are you enjoying the summer? Specifically, are you enjoying the summer fruit? I hope so. This first month of my summer has been uncharacteristically busy -- an out-of-the norm for me. Usually when school ends, I spend a good week and a half doing nothing and mulling about, reminiscing and baking scones or making a treat for a road trip. Not this year. Boo hoo.

But I did make cake. A wonderful, hearty, spelt and blueberry tea cake, sweetened with dark maple syrup and made with the season's first Ontario blueberries. I obsess over berries each summer, and in the fall, I always regret not eating more. Berries are so fleeting and will always be. And even though I know the best way to eat these local delights is to just enjoy them straight up, I can never resist baking up batches of goodies studded with ripe, local fruit. This cake is no different. It's a very simple, no fuss cake, adapted from one of Heidi's recipes at 101 Cookbooks. Her version uses huckleberries and includes a little crumble topping. Seeing as I've never seen a huckleberry here in Ontario before, I decided that blueberries would have to do, and although I love crumble topping, I skipped it for a more wholesome, breakfast friendly-version of this cake. Heidi also included some fresh rosemary and thyme in her cake and I loved the idea of herbs adding that little something extra to a dessert. I followed her lead with the thyme, as each summer they grow like mad on the balcony and I feel bad if I don't use them up, but instead of the rosemary, I added some fresh lavender leaves which perfumed the cake ever-so-slightly -- perfect with the floral, fruity berries.

While making this cake, I thought about one summer when my sister drove my best friend and I to a farm just north of the city, and we spent the afternoon in the sun, picking blueberries and raspberries. When I sampled the blueberries I bought for this cake, the whole day came flooding back to my mind -- the hot, dusty drive out of town, the sun on the back of my neck as we stooped over the pick our berry treasures, the way I giggled when a farm boy with an accent handed me my blended lemonade and grilled corn on the cob, the rustic, touristic feel inside the gift shop where you could buy jams, pies, and other assorted goodies, and the way my best friend giggled at me when I bought honey-roasted soybeans of all things at the shop and snacked on them all the way home in the car. Gosh, that was a good 7 or 8 years ago, but I remember it so clearly.

I'm not sure if there will be road trips, berry picking or dusty car rides into farm land this year. But there will be cake, there's already been lots of coffee, and there will always be giggles and good times.

Happy Summer. I hope you're having a good one .. and I hope it lasts forever ...

Maple Blueberry Tea Cake
adapted from 101 Cookbooks

1/4 cup of spelt flakes
1/3 cup of skim milk yogurt
zest and juice of one lemon
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup of dark maple syrup (grade B amber)
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
3 tablespoons of canola oil
3-4 sprigs of fresh thyme, leaves only
5-6 fresh lavender leaves, finely chopped
1 cup of spelt flour
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
1 cup of fresh blueberries, washed

1. In a large bowl, combine the spelt flakes, lemon juice and zest and yogurt. Stir well and let it sit for 10 minutes before adding the egg, maple syrup, vanilla and canola oil. Mix well.

2. Add the thyme and lavender and sift in the flour, baking soda and powder. Mix until just combined. Add the blueberries and give it one final mix.

3. Pour your batter into a baking pan and bake at 350 for about 25 minutes, or until the cake tester inserted comes out clean and the top of the cake is springy when you touch it.

4. Serve with tea, coffee or big dollop of yogurt and more fresh berries for breakfast!

Dream Cookies and Snackable Gifts

We've talked more than once about homemade gifts being the best kind. I haven't stopped believing that for a second -- especially when it was my best friend's milestone birthday. But not just any ol' batch of cookies would do for this birthday -- it had to be special.

And these cookies definitely were! After some fruitless internet searches and a quick and painless phone call to one of our favourite coffee adventure shops, I was able to make a re-creation of this moist, rich, vegan, gluten free cashew cookie that we couldn't stop talking about since the summer. Sweets from the Earth -- you rock! A cookie recipe with on 5 ingredients that's vegan and gluten free?! Awesome. I even found a website useful measurements. Score! They were delicious and fleeting!

Cashew Dream Cookies
inspired by Sweets from the Earth; recipe via Madcap Cupcake makes about 20 cookies

1 cup of smooth cashew butter
1/4 cup of silken tofu (about a third of a package of mori-nu)
1/2 cup of sugar
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
pinch of salt

1. In blender, mini-chopper or food processor, blend the tofu until very smooth. Pour into a large mixing bowl.

2. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. The mixture will be really thick and a bit hard to mix at first, but will eventually become smooth and cookie-dough-like.

3. Drop spoonfuls on a cookie sheet and flatten slightly with a fork. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

4. Cool completely on the cookie sheet before removing -- this is important or the cookies will fall apart!

Oh yeah! I also included as part of the birthday package, some maple rosemary glazed nuts. There are tons of recipes out there, but I didn't really follow any specific one. These are totally addictive and beautiful when packed in a jam or mason jar. Edible gifts are the best!



Maple Rosemary Glazed Nuts

2 cups of mixed nuts of your choice (I used cashews and almonds)
1 teaspoon of crushed, dried rosemary
1 big pinch of salt
a few good grinds of pepper
1/2 teaspoon of chili powder
1 tablespoon of canola oil
3 tablespoons of maple syrup

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the rosemary, salt, pepper, chili powder, canola oil and maple syrup until well-combined.

2. Add in your nuts and mix until everything is coated.

3. Pour the nuts out onto a cookie sheet and bake at 350, turning frequently, for about 20-30 minutes, or until the nuts are deep brown.

4. Cool completely before packaging.

It can't be over yet!

There are still mountains and juicy peaches and baskets overflowing with blueberries spilling over everything in the market. We had a humidex advisory warning yesterday. Summer can't be over yet ... can it? I know, I just baked autumnal cookies and put on a sweater when I got up one morning, but I can change my mind, can't I?



Yup, I just did. Even though I'm fully going back to work on Tuesday, I'm going to hang on to summer for as long as I can, even if it's just for the fruit. Two weeks ago, I went to a local farmer's market and bought my third yellow watermelon of the season. I swore it would be my last watermelon of the summer. I was walking through Kensington market on Friday, and what did I see on sale? Watermelons. Yup, it's cut up in my fridge as we speak. And yesterday when we biked past another little market with baskets upon baskets of BC blueberries on sale, how could I resist?


It was humid, and sticky and smoggy yesterday, and so we stayed inside for much of the day. We made blueberry preserves with some of our findings, and froze a little bag to surprise ourselves in the dead of winter when summer berries are but a fading memory. And we also sacrificed a few, just a few, to make this beautiful peach and blueberry breakfast bake. It's lemony and summery and very light. If you're looking for a traditional crisp or crumble, you may be disappointed. There are no buttery clumps of crumble goodness -- I save that for the apple crumble later when fall really rolls around. But this, no. This is the perfect breakfast treat. The fruit is heated just until it softens up and starts oozing those lovely summery fruit juices. There's no flour or corn starch like in traditional pies or crumbles; those fruit juices and set free. Everything is kissed with lemon, and topped with a wholesome crispy topping sweetened with pure maple syrup. With a big spoon of yogurt and nice strong coffee, this is the perfect way to celebrate summer .. summer that's NOT over just yet.

Peach and Blueberry Breakfast Bake
serves 4

1 cup of blueberries, rinsed
2 peaches, pitted and chopped
2 teaspoons of sugar
zest and juice and half a lemon
1/2 cup of old fashioned oats
1/2 cup of ground almonds
3 tablespoons of maple syrup


1. Toss the fruit in sugar, zest and half the lemon juice. Pour into a pie pan or baking dish.

2. Mix together the ground almonds and oats. Add the rest of the lemon juice and maple syrup. With a fork, gentle mix until everything gets sticky and moistened.

3. Sprinkle the topping over the fruit and bake in a 375 degree oven for about 20 minutes, or until the top of brown and crispy and the fruit juices have just started the bubble. Enjoy warm with summer's arm around your shoulder.