Celebrating Clean Food 7 Ways

Seven weeks and counting! Yes – that’s right, seven weeks of clean eating … and to celebrate my radical change of diet and my awesome commitment to being good to myself, here are some of my favourite dishes (so far).  These are in no particular order, and I invite you to celebrate and salivate… and, well, maybe get inspired to try experimenting with a few of these yourself. Basically I made these dishes up based on what I am and what I’m not eating these days. And I’m basically not eating wheat, carbs, dairy (‘cept yogurt and goats milk products) sugar – or any sweeteners, no fruit, vinegars, or anything fermented. And also no black tea or coffee. What are the yeses? Veggies and lots of ’em. Lean meats and fish. Some legumes. Brown rice and quinoa. Call it my own personal Cooking Challenge.

First up – eggplant lasagne. OMG.

1. This is made without pasta using super thinly-sliced eggplant (I use a mandoline) done 3 ways – brushed with olive oil and grilled,  dipped in eggwash and breaded with brown rice flour and sauteed, and sauteed in a plain eggwash. A fab trio – I was experimenting with all three. You could just use any one method, although for simplicity – grilled.  I used crumbled tofu with lots of garlic, shallots and fresh basil mixed with an egg as a replacement for the ricotta, and added a layer of fresh basil leaves. It is topped with grated goat mozarella. The sauce came from an organic sugar free brand that I jazzed up with ground sundried tomtoes, pine nuts, basil and garlic. In the background: romaine lettuces awaiting grilling. To be topped with homemade ceasar salad dressing and capers. This salad is almost famous.

Double-Double Garlic Choy Tofu

2. I use sauteed garlic, garlic stems or scapes (and brown ’em up for extra zing!) along with baby sui-choy and baby bok choy in this easy dish. Perfect for  a busy weeknight. The secret is to use sesame oil for the sauteeing and add a splash of Braggs at the end. You can also add asparagus or green beans for extra veg.

Quinoa, sundried tomatoes & goat feta side or salad

3. I am ardently attached to quinoa – this is just one of the many ways I love it. You can cook this up warm as a main or side dish and serve the leftovers up the next day as a salad. (What am I saying? Assuming there are any leftovers!)

Chili with greek yogurt and cilantro topping.

4. What can you say about chili? Handy, versatile, freezes beautifully, loved by most. Keep it clean. In this version I used organic ingredients and only sugar free tomatoes, tomatoe paste and beans. My cleanse includes lean beef, and you can also use ground turkey or crumbled tofu.

Radicchio Rolls and Italian Chicken

5. This was a knockout meal. Radicchio rolls are made just like cabbage rolls. My clean version is stuffed with cooked brown rice, fried onions and smoked tofu. Topped with home-made olive oil mayonnaise and baked.  The Italian Chicken is an adaptation of John Bishop’s Terracotta Chicken recipe. Chicken thighs are dredged with a brown rice/arrowroot flour mixture, browned and then baked in a tomatoe sauce (see Eggplant Lasgagne) topped with goat mozarella and garnished with fresh basil.

Sauteed Red Snapper with Yellow Lentil Stew and Carmelized Onions

6. Another mouthwatering combo. The lentil stew is one of my hubby’s specialties – and also freezes beautifully. It is made with yellow lentils, organic chicken broth and lots of lemon. The carmelized onions are are beautiful sweet, zingy counterpoint and the cilantro a great match to the fresh, comforting stew. The snapper is dredged in seasoned arrowroot flour and pan-fried in olive oil and butter. (Yes, I can have butter…*smack*)

Pepper + Goat Cheese Stuffed Omelette, Red Tomatoe Salad, Smoked Tofu

7. Brunch anyone? This special Sunday meal was inspired by the local Farmer’s Market. Fresh eggs and bountiful hothouse peppers were the basis for the omelette, with vine-ripened baby red tomatoes and basil as a sparkling side. Smoked tofu added a little extra protein and that Sunday brunch taste.  Yum.

And as an added bonus, here are a couple of my favourite “foodcessories”:

Fresh tomatoe, red onions, basil, olive oil. Is there more? Oh yes, fresh pepper!

Olives – any kind, all kinds. As a side or baked in almost any kind of mediterranean main. And homemade mayo, aioli, dressing…this one is a garlic/dijon base. You can put this stuff on almost any salad, veg or meat. Great as a dip, too.

So, happy clean cooking. After seven weeks I’m convinced I can serve up creative, delicious, satisfying meals that are healthy, organic and free of fillers. And how do I feel? Amazingly good. And virtuous. Really, really virtuous.

Here are a couple of my inspirations:

http://www.bishopsonline.com/
http://www.jamieoliver.com/books


Have fun!

Aunty O’Valerie’s Soda Bread

Yes, April is well upon us and I haven’t posted the new Recipe of the Month (ROM) yet! I’m quickly reposting the March recipe and then saving it with the ROM tag, so you can always find it if you want (and really, you should want it – it’s fab!) April’s Asparagus will be next!

Aunty Val’s Irish Soda Bread

Aunty O’Valerie. (Not exactly as pictured) This bread is a breeze to make and is an absolute must-have with homemade soups and stews. I recently served it warm from the oven alongside vegetarian chili to my visiting nieces and it was a hit. The girls eagerly tore into it – (girls after my own heart *sigh*) – and wisely preferred it to a store bought olive bread also on offer (no surprise to me. Ahem.).

This is one of my dear Aunty O’Valerie’s stand-by recipes and has become one of mine, too –  as have so many of her recipes. I offer it to you just in time for St. Patrick’s Day!

2 c whole wheat flour


2 c white flour


1 tsp baking soda


1/2 tsp salt


2 c buttermilk


1 egg


1-2 Tbsp sugar


1/4 c oil (canola)

Sift dry ingredients together. Mix in wet. Shape dough into an oval on a greased baking sheet (the dough will be sticky so use flour on your hands). Slightly score the top. Bake at 300 degrees F for 1 hour in the middle of the oven.

This recipe can be successfully doubled – just be sure to use two baking sheets. 

Soda Bread (pretty much as pictured)

Asparagus!

This amazing pic is by Jenn Co-McMillan at Alchemy Photographic Arts. Check out her work on her blog 365 Days of Alchemy (on my list).

This post is dedicated to Lisa S, for her perseverance, foodiness, and generally being a good sport. She has hounded me (in the good way) for this recipe. I think it is a perfect one to launch spring – and yes – you know what that means: ASPARAGUS SEASON.

Asparagus is my one weakness (ahem) and this is my favourite way to serve it. This recipe is from the amazing Diane Clements of The Tomato Cafe restaurant fame (among other things – like being an Olympian!)

Asparagus Nicoise Salad

Asparagus
Tomatoes
Nicoise or calamata olives
Capers

Dressing:
3 T red wine vinegar
2 t Dijon mustard
2/3 c olive oil
salt + freshly ground pepper to taste

Trim and cook asparagus until just al dente. Plunge into an ice bath to prevent continued cooking.
Drain and lay out on paper towelling to absorb any moisture. (at this point it can be refrigerated until later or even overnight)
Whisk together vinegar and mustard, add olive oil and mix well. S + P to taste.
Seed and chop 2-4 ripe tomatoes
When ready to serve lay out asparagus on a pretty platter, spread chopped tomatoes, 1/2 c olives (drained) and 2 T of capers on top of asparagus. Drizzle salad dressing over all or pass dressing at the table.

Et Voila!

Bread and Jam – er, Clams.

In most excellent news, The Preserving Kettle canning classes are continuing throughout spring, summer and fall (YES!) so I will be bringing you ongoing blogs about jam, jellies and a host of preserving possibilities. It’s a tough job, I know. But I’m willing. Such a trooper.  You could say I’ve got jam.

In the meantime, I promised to blog a bit about bread. I posted one of my favourite quick bread recipes as the ROM for March, and promise to post my best-ever French bread recipe, as an homage to my infatuation with all things francaise. HOWEVER.

captivating Calabrese!

Let me startle and amaze you by recommending a store-bought loaf. Yes, I did say store-bought. This is beautiful crispy-on-the-outside, soft-and-tender-on-the-inside Calabrese white from the local Save-On Foods. Yum. I served it alongside a platter of steamed clams that four of us DEMOLISHED as an appetizer. Sadly, not a clam left standing.

Steamed Clams* (legs hidden) with Chorizo

The Calabrese was the perfect dipping bread – spongy enough to suck up all that delicious wine-infused clam broth and strong enough to do the job. Incidentally, one of the best recipes for steamed clams EVAH, courtesy of the fine chefs at Northview Golf and Country Club in Surrey BC. If I share it with you I will have to kill you.

(No, seriously – I will be posting it in April – this one definitely deserves Recipe-of-the-Month status).

*My family has an ongoing joke about clams, provoked by Johnny Hart’s series of BC cartoons about clams published in the seventies. Still can’t talk about them, serve them, dig them or think about them without chuckling. Enjoy!

Best Ever Roast Chicken

Oh yes! This is the best ever roast chicken. Not only did I start with a plump, beautiful organic bird from Rusty Gate Farm in the Comox Valley, I used a foolproof Jamie Oliver recipe to roast this mouthwatering fowl. Along with being easy and delicious, I got to use some of the hardy herbs that are battling their way through November and hanging sturdily on in my garden. In this case, thyme and rosemary (I have to admit, rosemary is my favourite garden herb – don’t tell the parsely!)

(Uncooked chickens always look so naked & chilly. I want to cover their little thighs with my oven mitts!)

The recipe was so simple and the result so tasty. Juicy. Rich. Chicken-y. Jamie Oliver offers brilliant cookery advice – his recipes really are my one weakness. Is it his mischevious boyish twinkle? The great hair that curls this way and that? His “Aw-shucks, luv, anybody can do this” handsome way about the kitchen and garden? Well, of course!

And his recipes are just plain good. I think he is a maestro of roll-up-your-sleeves cooking with an unerring instinct for flavour-matching. I’ve never had a recipe of his fail. His cookbooks are pleasure to read, filled with great tips and wonderful pictures. And he is on a mission to promote fresh real food. Plus he is boyishly good-looking.

I served the chicken for Sunday dinner and there were plenty of leftovers for the rest of the week. (Such joy!) The organic roasters are really savoury and generous. Speaking of generosity, my aunt purchased a quantity of birds and most generously passed one on to us. Needless to say, the next time I am in Courtenay BC, I will be finding my way to Rusty Gate to fill up my cooler and return the favour! Definitely worth a 4-hr trip for these bosomy beauties (I am, of course, speaking of the chickens).

In keeping with my rich fantasy life, I am already planning out my imaginary chicken coop. Eating Rusty Gate poultry has given me an aspirational goal for hen-keeping – even the pretend version.

I served our roast chicken with a side of oven-roasted rutabaga, brussels sprouts and pecans and a cranberry-almond couscous.  Lipsmackingly good. Like Jamie. (Did I menion how cute he is?)

http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/chicken-recipes/perfect-roast-chicken

Soup: Soul Satisfying Food

There is something about a pot of home-made soup simmering on the stove that gives me comfort. In fact soup-making is my one weakness, and it doesn’t take much in the way of motivation to get me started. I keep organic chicken stock in the pantry, and save and freeze veggie cooking water, and of course any bones or remnants of roasted fowl or beast end up in the stock pot or frozen for later use. I have actually been known to invite a dozen people over for turkey dinner, just so I can save the carcass. Seriously.

I make soup by instinct, and my instincts usually tell me that the fresher the better for your veggies and that butter and cream are great additions to just about anything you have on hand. Yes, I am channelling Julia Child. And this doesn’t just apply to soup. I was moved to make the soup that is the topic of this blog after buying some gorgeous bunches of celery and a basket of fresh mushrooms at one of the last Farmer’s Markets of the season.

 

This particular soup really needs garden or farm fresh celery. It has a much more delicate stalk, more abundant leaves and its taste is incredibly pungent, and – well – celery-flavoured. Now is the time to get the last of it.

And mushrooms. These beauties are from the Shan Ming Mushroom Farm in Maple Ridge B.C. They are gorgeously flavoured – musky and earthy. And just-picked (plucked?) fresh.

Because I cook by instinct, these measures are approximate, but they should get you through to a beautiful, flavourful autumn soup that marries celery and mushrooms in a creamy, delicious fall meal. My basic rule is keep tasting. Adjust as it moves you!

1/4 c butter
2 c fresh celery stems & leaves, chopped
Medium onion, chopped
3-4 lge King Oyster mushrooms – stems chopped, tops sliced
6-9 button mushrooms – sliced
Bunch of Enoki mushrooms – long stems chopped, otherwise leave whole
(Or any other mushroom combo of your choice)

1/2 c white wine

3 c chicken or vegetable stock

Sea salt

Freshly ground pepper

1 c heavy cream

Melt butter in bottom of  your favourite heavy soup pot. Add chopped onion and lightly saute for 3-5 mins. Add chopped celery and leaves. Add sliced mushrooms (reserve Enokis). Sweat these together covered until celery is soft and mushrooms are limp. Salt and pepper to taste. Add white wine and simmer for a few minutes. Add chicken or vegetable stock (or both) and simmer for about 30 mins. Add the Enokis just a couple of minutes before you add the cream. (about five minutes before serving). If soup is bubbling, reduce the heat before you add cream. Taste and adjust seasonings. Serve with love.

Fresh Blueberry Cake

For those of you following the Blueberry Blog, here is the recipe for Fresh Blueberry Cake (same as the Rasberry Cake!)

1 c flour
3/4 c sugar

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 large egg

1/3 c buttermilk

1/3 c butter, melted and cooled

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 1/4 c fresh bluberries ( to fully cover cake)

Crumb Topping:

1/2 c brown sugar

1 T butter

2 T flour

Combine dry ingredients. Beat egg, buttermilk, butter and vanilla. Add dry ingredients to wet. Mix well. Spread in a greased 9X9 baking pan. Place raspberries evenly over top. Sprinkle on crumb topping. Bake at 375 for 35-40 minutes.

This cake is delicious slightly warm, at room temp or cold, with fresh whipped cream or ice cream  and garnished with fresh berries. 

Eat it and swoon.