On This Last Day of Summer ...

On this last, cool, rainy day of summer, I'm bringing you something comforting to cook while the rain trickles down outside, but will still help you get through the bounty of late summer veggies that you couldn't resist buying at the market this morning.

It's nothing fancy, nothing celebratory, just some stew. But it's not rich, with a heavy gravy and loaded down with the starchy potatoes and and dried legumes of the winter. It's flavourful and summery, with just a hint of spice, perfect to pop into the oven and forget about for an hour while you curl up on the couch with a book, or have a quiet coffee in the late afternoon. It has the beautiful late summer harvest of beef steak tomatoes, so ripe and juicy that didn't need to add a drop of water or stock to this stew, some yellow summer squash, the last of the season, a juicy yellow pepper and some fresh, borloti beans that went wonderfully soft and creamy. Fresh herbs from my balcony garden, that won't last many more weeks, were both cooked into the stew and sprinkled on top, and the whole thing has just a whisper of middle eastern spice -- namely zaatar, cumin and tumeric. I happily ate bowls of this for dinner a few nights in a row, accompanied by tumeric scented brown rice and barley pilaf, but you don't to get that involved. Simple brown rice or white rice would be perfect, as would a chunk of crusty bread, or even some short pasta.

This stew was inspired by a dish I had at a restaurant called Nuba in Vancouver. It was called simply the vegan stew, and was described as a stew of seasonal vegetables with tomatoes, onions and chickpeasm served over brown rice. It had creamy roasted eggplant and zucchini and a delicious, rich spice blend. Nuba was the first place we ate out at in Vancouver, and it was a beautiful treat -- delicious food, relaxed atmosphere, and the excitement that our vacation had just begun.

Our Vancouver trip is long gone, and I've gotten into the groove of teaching again, but every once in a while, I'll indulge in a little daydreaming of times past. This stew is beautiful, rainy day indulgence and the perfect way to good-bye to summer.

Last Day of Summer Stew
inspired by Nuba and Everybody Likes Sandwiches

1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 small onion, diced
2 large cloves of garlic
2 large, beefsteak tomatoes, roughly chopped
2 yellow summer squash, cut into half-moons
1 large yellow pepper, cut into thick strips
1 quart of fresh borloti beans, shelled and rinsed
1 teaspoon of zaatar spice blend
1/2 teaspoon of ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon of ground tumeric
2 large sprigs of fresh thyme
5-6 basil leaves, cut into a chiffonade
1 small handful of fresh parsley, roughly chopped
salt and pepper to taste

1. In an oven-proof pot, or dutch oven, gently heat the olive oil over low heat. Add the onions and garlic and some salt and pepper. Let them sweat for about 5 minutes, while you chop the rest of your vegetables.

2. When the onions are soft, add in the zaatar, tumeric and cumin and let the spices toast for about a minutes. Add in your tomatoes and give it a big stir.

3. After about 4 minutes or so, the tomatoes should have released their wonderful juices.  Add the squash, peppers, beans and thyme sprigs.  Pop the lid on and put the whole thing a 375 degree oven for about an hour (but check at the 45 minute mark to see if your beans are tender, or if you need to add liquid).

4. When you're about to serve, sprinkle with the basil and parsley.

Roasted Tomato Orzo Salad

Make this NOW!  If you're buried under work and don't have time to cook, but still want to taste that sunshine outside in your kitchen, make this salad.  Make a big batch and let it sit in your fridge. It only gets better with time.  Eat it all week for lunch, or supper.  Add some chopped raw cucumber, blanched broccoli or a nice green salad on the side and you're totally set.

The first time I made this salad, I totally fell in love with it. The second time I made it, I added chopped red onion and it was even better.  You could totally play with it -- add chopped roasted or raw red peppers, zucchini, roasted garlic, whatever you like.  Or keep it simple and enjoy it just as much.

Don't sweat it.  It's easy.  Take 30 minutes out of your work-at-home time and make this salad.  You'll be so glad you did.  Make it even if you're not busy, and spend the rest of your time biking outside, having coffee or beer on sunny patios or planting the garden.  It's THAT good.  Go for it!  Happy eating!

Roasted Tomato Orzo Salad
serves lots!

1.5 cups of uncooked orzo
4-5 ripe tomatoes, or couple pints of cherry tomatoes, chopped or halved
a big splash each of olive oil and balsamic vinegar
1 big pinch of salt
1 few good grinds of pepper
1/2 red onion, diced
3-4 basil leaves, chopped
a few sprigs of oregano (or use thyme, or parsley .. anything you've got on hand!)

1. In a large pot of water, cook the orzo for about 15 minutes, or until tender and/or al dente.  Drain and set aside.

2. While the pasta is cooking, toss the tomatoes in the oil, vinegar, salt and pepper.  Spread it out on a baking sheet and roast on high (under the broiler) for about 15-20 minutes, or until the tomatoes break down and the juices get kind of sticky.

3. Put the pasta in a large bowl and add the onion.  Toss with the tomatoes and their juices.  Add in the chopped herbs and toss again.  Let it cool in the fridge, if you can wait, or just dig in.  It's ten times better when you pull it out a few days later.

Vegan Bolognese

I meant to post this recipe last Sunday, but I was sleepy. It was a sleepy Sunday. It was hazy and warm outside and I didn't feel like doing much more than take naps and drink more coffee. Then it got really warm. I mean, unseasonably 26 degree sunshine warm and you all have probably been busting out summer recipes like cucumber and yogurt salad, grilled pizzas, gazpachos and cool guacamole dips. I didn't want to disrupt that at all.



But it's rainy and coolish today, and the forecast calls for single digit temperatures when the work week begins again, so I figured this nice, comforting bolognese would be appropriate for this weekend. It's really easy, pretty quick to prepare once you get all the chopping out of the way, and it's something that just gets better as it sits. So if you make it for supper tonight, it will taste just as good if not even better when you reheat it on Monday when the 5 (feels like -1) degree weather may be giving you the chills.



It's cold weather food, but still hints of spring, with all the nice veggies and tomatoeyness. It's more than a vegetarian tomato sauce for pasta. It's got meaty ingredients like cremini mushrooms, red lentils, kidney beans and chickpeas. The original recipe called for crumble tempeh -- I've never worked with tempeh and didn't have it around, but I'm sure it would have been great in place of the beans. The Italianeque herbs -- dried basil, oregano and crushed fennel really make a difference. I know a lot of people frown upon dried herbs, but they totally made a difference in the sauce and tasted great. I'm sure fresh herbs would be wonderful if you were making this in the middle of the summer when they're plentiful, but for now, dried is fine for me.

I loved eating this up over quick-cooking spinach flavoured Chinese noodles, but the obvious choice would probably be pasta. I've also had it over red rice and quinoa -- both excellent carbs to pair with this chunky stew-like sauce. I'm sure it's nothing like a traditional bolognese, but it's vegan, hearty and satisfying. You can feel good eating it, and I think we need a bit of that, especially during this time of the year.

Vegan Bolognese
adapted from What Would Cathy Eat?
serves lots!

olive oil for sauteeing
1 stalk of celery, finely diced
1 small carrot, finely diced
1 small onion, finely diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 small red bell pepper, finely diced
1 handful of cremini mushrooms, sliced
1/2 teaspoon of fennel seeds, crushed
1/2 each of dried basil and oregano
1/4 teaspoon of chilli powder
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 can of tomato paste
1 can of diced tomatoes
1/2 cup of vegetable stock
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup of red lentils, rinsed
1/2 each cup of cook chickpeas and red kidney beans
1 small bunch of spinach, chopped

1. In a large pots, saute the onions, celery, bell pepper and carrots in olive oil over medium heat for about 5-7 minutes, or until the vegetables start to soften. Add the garlic and mushrooms and cook for another minute or so.

2. Add the fennel, basil, oregano, chili powder, salt and pepper and give it a good mix. Add in the tomato paste and stir. Cook until the tomato paste just starts sticking to the bottom of the pot -- about another 3-4 minutes.

3. Add the diced tomatoes, vegetable stock, bay leaf and lentils and mix well. Cook, covered, for about 15 minutes, or until the lentils have softened.

4. Add the chickpeas, kidney beans and spinach and mix well. Turn off the heat and let the sauce stand, covered for about 5 minutes.

5. Serve over pasta! Don't forget to remove the bay leaf!

Hearty and Fresh: Black Bean and Buckwheat Dinner Salad

Some of the best meals happen because of accidents or mistakes. Sure, some of the time it's disastrous or most often it's not good enough to be tasty but not gag-inducing enough to justify wasting. I remember this one time I made a barley and bean salad and dressed it with a "vinaigrette" made from yogurt, ground coriander and honey. Not tasty at all, but I couldn't bare to waste it, so I choked it down ... for a good 3 days.




This beautiful black bean and buckwheat salad, though, it NOT the case. It was actually started by my dear sweet love who wanted to make a dish he first learned in culinary school that had black beans, quinoa and tomatoes. Very tasty-sounding. But instead of cooking up red quinoa, he started rinsing out the .. buckwheat. Ooooooops. He cooked it up, mixed it together but found that the didn't like the taste of the buckwheat. That's a shame, because I loved it. It was earthy and hearty and perfect with the black beans. I added some fresh corn a bunch of fresh herbs, and spiced up the vinigrette with a little dash of cumin. Yumtastic. I ate it happily for a good 3 days. He made do with leftovers and was pleased enough that I liked it. Score.


This salad also has the potential be to very versatile. When the sweet corn and local tomatoes become fading summer memories, can't you picture roasted squash and even orange segments thrown in? A bit of orange juice in the vinaigrette and maybe skip the cumin .. or maybe not! I love meals that you can play with. I'm sure the quinoa version is just as good and we'll try that soon, but buckwheat is definitely where it's at. Happy kitchen experimenting!

**note that I refrained from putting measurements in the recipe, because, hey, you can make as much or as little as you want.

Black Bean and Buckwheat Dinner Salad

toasted buckwheat groats, cooked (1 cup of buckwheat to 1 1/4 cups of water)
canned black beans (I used the salt-free kind)
tomatoes, chopped
fresh sweet corn kernals
lots of fresh herbs -- thyme, basil and parsley -- roughly chopped

red wine vinegar
olive oil
salt and pepper
cumin
**I like my dressings really tart, but do as you like

1. Mix up all the salad ingredients and season well with salt and pepper.
2. Whisk together the dressing ingredients. Taste and adjust.
3. Pour the dressing over the salad, toss and enjoy!

Soupy, Saucy Macaroni

Yeah, yeah, I know a post about macaroni right after holiday baking is a bit of a let down. I know. But follow me on this one. I know I should be wiring about eggnog cheesecake squares and butter basted turkey, but just to tell you the truth, holiday cooking scares me just a touch. I know .. I just wrote about how I love baking for the holidays. So I'm a total flake, I admit it.

Anyway, if you haven't stopped reading yet, let me share with you a very simple, but delicious and comforting meal that feels good going down and will keep you fueled and charged whether it's to get through the holiday rush, or to stay up later on January 2nd when you've realized that all the work you brought home to do over the holidays has just sat in your bag untouched since December 17th. Right...


We had this meal right around the start of the holidays when we needed something yummy, healthy and comforting to have on a cold night. I had plans for lots of holiday baking and making homemade decorations. In short, I needed to be energized, and this dish did just that. It's not a cheesy, rich, baked macaroni dish. Quite the contrary. The macaroni bakes in a very brothy, light tomato and vegetable mixture and is topped with crispy breadcrumbs and a sprinkle of grated mozzarella. The secret here is homemade vegetable stock and a little patience. It's not fancy or authentic. In fact, the macaroni isn't even "el dente" -- its slightly overcooked because it's been baked in the soupy sauce, but don't let that fool you. It's comforting, delicious and a tradition in the making. I think I'll make it a tradition to have this baked macaroni dish on the first day of my holidays. Yes! Tradition set.

Brothy Macaroni and Veggies

1 cup of uncooked macaroni
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 small onion, diced
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 small carrot, diced
1 stalk of celery, diced
3-4 ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped (or you could you a small can on tomatoes)
salt and pepper to taste
1 small sprig of thyme (or use 1/2 teaspoon of dried)
3-4 basil leaves, chopped (or use 1/2 teaspoon of dried)
2 cups of vegetable broth
1 tablespoon of breadcrumbs
a bit of grated mozzarella cheese

1. Cook the macaroni in boiling, salted water until almost tender. Drain and set aside.

2. In an oven proof pot, sweat the onions and garlic until soft and fragrant. If you're using dried herbs, add them now. Add the carrots and celery and cook for about 5 minutes,

3. Add the tomatoes and season with salt and pepper. Cook for another 5-7 minutes, or until the tomatoes break down and the juices start getting sticky. Add the broth and give it a good stir, making sure to pick up all the yummy bits that may of gotten stuck to the pot. If you're using fresh herbs, add them now.

4. Bring the mixture to a boil, and then simmer until the liquid has a reduced a little. Add in the macaroni. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs and cheese and bake in a 350 degree oven until the top is nice and golden brown and the liquid has further reduced.

5. Remove from the oven and serve.

New Favourite: Orange, Tomato and Bocconcini Salad

Have you ever tried something for the first time and thought "Oh my gosh .. this is definitely going to be a favourite?" I know it's kind of like an oxymoron; a favourite something is supposed to have wonderful memories attached to it, something that you've loved for a long time, something comforting that you look to and can count on. But haven't you ever experienced the thrill of the "new favourite?"

For instance, awhile back when I had breakfast in this new restaurant down the street and my multi-grain porridge came topped with cardamom spiced apples, I thought: OMG, cardamom is my new favourite spice. And it definitely has become a favourite -- added to curries, cookies, cakes, dressings ... but this post isn't about cardamom (although one is coming up soon!); it's about a salad. Wait! Don't navigate away! I'm not being anti-climactic! This salad is nothing short of perfection. What, with this definitely being salad weather and all, we probably need new and exciting salads to sneak in between the old favourites. This salad, though not new to by culinary partner (in fact, it was one of the very first salads that he made when he was in cooking school!), was just introduced to me recently. I had a bunch of mini bocconcinis left over from a previous salad (yeah, i'm a little salad crazy!) that had to be used up. I didn't really think about it much, but when I came out of the shower one evening I found a beautifully arranged plate of segmented oranges, quartered grape tomatoes, halved mini bocconcinis and in the centre, a bunch of basil in chiffonade. Beside it in a little bowl: a sweet, tangy, balsamic vinaigrette. "Can you toss the salad?" he asked non-nonchalantly. "The dressing is supposed to be made with white wine vinegar, but we only had balsamic." Only balsamic? I didn't complain, especially after I took the first bite . Sweet, fresh, tangy, lovely little fragrant hit from the basil ... perfect in every way.


Since that day, I've made this salad a bunch more times, and I always smile at each bite. It's really really that good. And I think the secret is in the orange. Tomato, bocconcini and basil have always been close friends; it's the first salad you think to make when the weather gets hot and steamy. But orange? Orange feels like winter, Christmas, mixed with warm comfy spices in cakes and muffins, or in winter salads when potatoes and parsnips need a little sweet juicy pick-me-up. But orange with the classic tomato cheese and basil combo? Unheard of in my culinarily-impaired mind. But never again. Those juicy, citrus-y sweet segments lifts and old favourite to new heights. You HAVE to try it this summer!

Orange Tomato and Bocconcini Salad
adapted from the Humbler College Culinary Management course :)

For the dressing:

3 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon of olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

For the salad

1 orange, cut into segments
a handful of grape tomatoes, quartered
4 mini bocconcinis, halved (or 2 big ones chopped up)
4 large basil leaves, chopped in a chiffonde

1. Make the dressing by whisking all the ingredients together until they kind of emulsify. Let it hang out in the fridge while you prepare you salad ingredients.

2. Toss all the salad ingredients together and drizzle the dressing over. Make sure that your first bite contains a bit of everything.

3. Repeat tomorrow!!

An Updated Comfort

I have a theory about comfort foods that many of you probably won't like. Yeah, ok, I know I'm going to make some enemies, but here it goes. A lot of foods that I see as being "comfort foods" are only comforting whilst you're eating them. An hour later, that comfort becomes indigestion, bloating and a whole bunch of other things that I shouldn't mention on a food blog. This is my dilemma. So how have I fixed that? Well, up until recently, I just practiced my willpower and simply abstained. But that's no fun at all .. right?

Enter: creative, thoughtful chef-trained partner who is constantly thinking of ways to make rich foods lighter so that I can partake. Aren't I so lucky? :) Over the past few years, I've had macaroni and cheese made with skim milk, cream-free creamy tomato sauce (the creaminess came from roasted eggplant!), and the silkiest, creamiest butternut squash soup sans dairy or soy. The other night, I came home to pasta and meatballs, an updated version. It wasn't covered in rich cheese or a heavy, thick sauce that had been simmering all day. It was light, yet hearty with a beautiful fresh, broth-y sauce that went so well with the coming of spring. And to top it off, it was cooked in a beautiful Bodum glass casserole dish that we found at a thrift shop.


Now, I take absolutely NO credit for this recipe; but seeing as my partner is too shy to blog and I didn't want this wonderful recipe to be overlooked, I'm giving it to you now. I'll also let you know that it was quite a struggle getting the recipe and method down. These chef-types cook on a whim, so I apologize if some of the instructions are a bit vague. I hope you'll try it anyway, and I hope you'll be inspired to update some old favourites.

Spring time Pasta and Meatballs

1 pound of ground chicken
2 egg whites
1/4 cup of breadcrumbs (we used panko)
3 teaspoons of chopped fresh thyme
1 teaspoon of chopped fresh rosemary
1 thai red chili, minced
a dash of hot sauce
2 dashes of Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon of dark soy sauce
salt and pepper to taste

one small onion finely diced
3 cloves of garlic cut in half
1/2 cup of water
1 28 oz can of diced tomatoes (the no-salt added kind)

1. Put the first 10 ingredients in a large mixing bowl and mix together gently until everything is incorporated. Be careful not to over mix. Use your hands -- they work the best!

2. Shape the meat into balls and let it rest, covered, in the fridge for an hour.

3. Using a wide skillet and a bit of olive oil, brown the meatballs in batches and set aside.

4. In the same pan, saute the onions until brown. Add the water to de-glaze the pan, making sure you get all the brown chicken-y bits from the bottom. Add the tomatoes and garlic, and season with salt and pepper.

5. Put the meatballs in an oven-safe casserole dish and add the tomato mixture on top. Bake, covered, in a 350 degree oven for 25 minutes or until the meatballs have cooked through. Now would be a good time to put on the pasta!

6. When the meatballs are done, dump in the pasta and stir it around. Let it sit (if you can wait!) for about 5 minutes so the pasta soaks up some of the liquid and gets extra yummy.

7. Enjoy, knowing that this time, that comforting feeling is going to last..