Getting Ready for Rain

I love sunshine. And I also love rain. I also love snow. I love that we have all four season where I live. It's truly a blessing. Rain gets a bad reputation and I think it's unfair. Sure, I'm guilty of being a bit disappointed when rain gets in the way of bike rides and walks in the market, and I get more than a little annoyed when my shoes fill up with water. But in the end, I know that rain still rocks. It gives us the perfect excuse to stay inside and do nothing but relax and drink warm beverages. It makes the most wonderful soothing sounds that help you sleep in when your weekday alarm clock inside your head won't shut off. And it makes you feel a little less guilty for leaving work early only to go home and crash on the couch with a big bowl of something comforting.



I have to admit that cooking during weekdays is pretty difficult. I'm usually dead on my feet by 4pm and pass out on the streetcar ride home. Weekday dinners have to be quick, or they have to be made ahead and reheated. I'm the type of person that can make a soup or stew on Sunday, stick it in the fridge and heat it up for supper all week. If you are as well, this braised cabbage and carrot dish is perfect for you. I made it yesterday when I saw that the forecast called for 3 straight days of rain during the work week and I knew that I would need to come home to something comforting and quick.

I first made this braised stew-y dish in April, when spring was just moving in -- the time of slushy sidewalks and chilly wintery rain. It really warmed me up then, and I'm betting it will do the same this week. It's a simple braise of fresh market carrots, purple cabbage and Roma beans (though canned will work just fine I'm sure!) all spiced up with crushed fennel seeds and smoked paprika. I originally used these two spices to mimic the flavours of a chorizo sausage -- I love the spices but hate the oily mess the sausage leaves in the vegetables. I'm not sure that it tastes like chorizo, but it's definitely a winning combination. My thyme pots are still going strong, so I also added a big bunch of that, but if you're making this in the dead of winter, which I'm sure I'll do as well, some dried thyme would be just fine. This braise would be great served with crusty bread if that's your thing. I'd prefer it over noodles or macaroni. It would also be the perfect side dish to pork chops or Oktoberfest sausage, but that's getting too complicated for a week night ... I'm such a wimp! Why do I even have a food blog? :)

Braised Cabbage and Carrots with Beans

1 tablespoon of olive oil
1/2 small head of red cabbage, shredded
2 carrots, cut into coins
a big handful of Roma beans, shucked (or half a can of whatever beans you like)
1/2 an onion
2 cloves of garlic
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon of dried oregano
1 teaspoon of crushed fennel seeds
1 teaspoon of smoked paprika
2 cups of water or vegetable broth
4 big springs of fresh thyme
salt and pepper to taste

1. In a large pot, sweat the onions and garlic until fragrant and soft. Turn up the heat and add the dried oregano, fennel seeds, paprika, salt and pepper. Stir and cook for about 3 minutes.

2. Add the cabbage and carrots and give it a good stir. Add the vegetable broth and bay leaf and put the lid of the pot. Cook for about 5-6 minutes, or until the carrots and cabbage are just starting to soften. Add the beans and cook, covered for another 10-15 minutes or until the vegetables and beans are cooked to your liking (I like the cabbage and carrots to still have a bit of bite, and the beans to be creamy but not falling apart).

3. Taste and adjust the seasonings. Stir in the fresh thyme and serve with whatever you like!

Montreal Coleslaw

So, did I mention that I went to Montreal? Oh yeah.. I did. Did I mention that I'm yearning to be back there? Did that too, eh? I haven't officially come down off my Montreal high, even though it's been more than enough time. There's just something about that city that makes me miss it in a strange way.

I've been to Montreal many times, but I always find something new each time I go there. This year, we discovered the markets. And during one of our market visits, I discovered la pomme blanche. It's a beautiful, small green apple that's first harvested in July, and then again August. It's not just tart, it's sour. Think sour apple candy! It's totally delicious, totally refreshing and totally sour! I bought a huge basket just a few days before were were supposed to come home, and seeing as I didn't want to lug a gigantic bag of apples on the train with me, I had to eat most of them up. My partner is not really a sour apple snacker. He'll have a bite, but that's about it. My best friend is against apples in general (yes yes.. only when they're raw because they have a weird texture .. crunchy? crispy? delicious? ahem...).




So. I. Ate. Apples. I snacked on them pre-breakfast, post-workout with a glass of grapefruit juice at the tiny kitchen table before anyone else even got out of bed. I packed them on our walking adventures and happily crunched them in between drinking coffees and eating bagels. I ate them after dinner as a refreshing fruity dessert. I even made a sandwich with one and stuffed slices of it in between orange-honey mustard and vache qui rit cheese. It was the perfect train snack. Totally perfect.

When I got home, I had 4 pommes blanches left and with 2, I made this delicious coleslaw that reminded me of all my favourite flavours from this past Montreal trip: sour apples, sweet local strawberries and tangy orange mustard. I also threw in some beet because I remembered seeing these beautiful mulit-coloured beets at the market. It added a beautiful deep flavour to the salad and balanced out the cheek puckering apple very nicely. The dressing is on the sweet side, and doesn't follow the 3:1 oil-vinegar ration, which is what I like, but feel tree to taste as you make it and adjust accordingly. Seeing as we don't have pommes blanches here in Ontario, I'd say the granny smith would be a fine substitute, or even better, the ginger gold, which I just discovered. It has a very similar texture to la pomme blanche, but isn't quite as sour. If you're against apples, I can't help you here.. this salad screams "J'aime les pommes!"

Counting the says til my next trip back to la belle province...


Sour Apple Coleslaw with Sweet Fruity Dressing

1/4 of a large (I mean huge) head of purple cabbage (or 1/2 of a normal sized one)
2 sour apples
1/2 a giant beet root (or 1 normal sized one)

1.5 tablespoons of honey mustard
3 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon of orange marmalade
2 teaspoons of strawberry jam
1 tablespoon of olive oil
a little grinding of black pepper

mix-ins (optional): goat cheese, sunflower seeds, toasted walnuts or almonds

1. Shred your cabbage. Julienne your apples and beet. Mix together in a large bowl.

2. In a smaller bowl, whisk together the mustard, vinegar, marmalade, jam, olive oil and pepper. Give it a taste and adjust to what you like.

3. Pour your dressing over the salad and give it a nice big toss. Let it sit in a fridge for at least 20 minutes. Top with mix-ins of your choice and enjoy!

Colcannon, a new way

Calm yourselves: I did not use these to make dinner.. although that would be kinda cool, considering that it's Halloween soon. Yup, you guessed it. These were part of Halloween plan. Specifics? Borrowed from my scientist sister, used by 13-year-olds, one pretending to be a mad scientist, another the victim with her eyes and mouth sewn closed. Yeah, I need a life.








This week was incredibly crazy. We had taken a little mini-vacation to Ottawa leaving on a Friday night and returning on a Sunday evening. After walking in the sunny crisp autumn air, enjoying the beautiful fall colours, sampling Ottawa's coffee and eating at the most incredible vegan restaurant in the hidden downtown of Gatineau on the Quebec side, reality bit me on Monday. Halloween preparations at school. Oh. My.. I won't continue. Despite the stress, all went well, but I'm exhausted.



After a crazy week of eating cleverly defrosted leftovers in between baking these muffins for the bake sale and these healthy oatmeal cookies to give away instead of candy (yeah yeah .. but you know, the kids liked them!!), and trekking all the way up to the UPS pick-up centre near York University (don't EVER send or receive anything from UPS) it was time for some cooking. And it was comfort food that we were both craving. Calm yourselves. I did not eat peanut butter for dinner .. although I thought about it. Instead, we made a comforting dish of potatoes and cabbage -- our very own version of colcannon. Traditionally, colcannon is just mashed potatoes with boiled cabbage mixed in. At Halloween, it was served with small coins in the middle as prizes. We skipped that part ... I was all Halloweened out! But we did fancy it up a little by using red cabbage and adding a beautifully smooth aged cheddar studded with caraway seeds. We also baked it in the oven for bit to the let the cheese get brown and bubbly. Yum! Very comforting and just what we needed to erase week of stress.

Happy Halloween!

Fancied Colcannon
makes 2 large servings

2 medium white potatoes
1 tablespoon of cream or milk
1 cup of shredded red cabbage
a small chunk of crumbled aged cheddar with caraway (or just sprinkle in some caraway seeds)
1 tablespoon of bread crumbs
salt and pepper to taste

1. Boil the potatoes in salted water until mashable. Drain and pour into a large bowl. Add the cream/milk and mash until desired consistency (we liked a bit of lumps!).

2. Blanch the cabbage for about 2-3 minutes, or until the colour just starts to fade a bit. Add to the mashed potatoes. Crumble in half the cheese and stir. Season to taste.

3. Pour the mixture into a cake pan and top with the remaining cheese and breadcrumbs. Put under the broiler for about 10 minutes, or until the cheese gets brown and bubbly. Serve immediately.

Coffee Update (it's been a while!)

Cafe 260: double americano, mochacinno and banana chocolate latte (!)
Bisogno Espresso Bar: cappuccino, vanilla soy latte and drip coffee (they steamed my cream!)
I Deal Coffee (Ossington): rooibos tea, drip coffee and cappucino
T.A.N. Coffee: vanilla tea latte with almond milk (!), mochacinno and vanilla soy latte (so good!)
Cafe Novo: soy latte, cappuccino and latte au miel with almond milk (sooooooooo delicious!) enjoyed in the sun with a chococlate truffle brownie and meringues (proceeds going to charity)