Food & Other Mind Snacks

I am forever taking pictures of the random food I create. I am also frequently Googling my way to delish recipes and fun gardening tips but forgetting where I put the links: this is my place to capture all of it.

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Mushroom Bourguignon a la Smitten Kitchen. So rich, yet not a heavy meal! Find the recipe in The Smitten Kitchen cookbook by Deb Perelman! 🍄‍🟫🍷🍝

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Momofuku-style brussels sprouts (LINK)

Elevate your holiday brussels with some spicy fish sauce vinaigrette

I can’t remember when I discovered this recipe, originally based on the Momofuku brussels and adapted by one of my food faves, Food52. But, since discovering that brussels can be crunchy and zesty, I’ve not looked back.

These brussels have graced our holiday tables every year for the last several and they are a HIT. But, they’re also good for a random Tuesday lunch: simply serve over rice and add a splash more sauce. 🐟

Momofuku's Roasted Brussels Sprouts With Fish Sauce Vinaigrette Recipe on Food52

This brussel sprouts with fish sauce recipe will add much-needed spark to your winter diet (and your Thanksgiving spread). Adapted lightly f

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Easy roast chicken, every time (LINK)

But you must start with a free-range bird.

This is one I’ll probably print out and stuff in my already-stuffed recipe book, it’s that good and worth having around in print for those moments when the computer or phone are out of reach.

The only adjustment I’ve made to this is to stuff the cavity of the bird with fresh sprigs of thyme, sage, and rosemary from my garden. 🌱

Definitely save the pan drippings for a truly decadent gravy (I usually cook potatoes alongside and save the cooking water to add to the gravy pot) and set aside the roasted garlic and lemons to add to your stock pot later: the carcass and roasted bits makes for an epic, unbelievably golden chicken stock.

Recipe courtesy of Bon Appetit!

No-Fail Roast Chicken With Lemon and Garlic

Only 6 ingredients, and you'll always know when it's done.

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Chilean Beef Empanadas de Pino (LINK)

We have some friends who are moving to Chile in the new year, and recently they had us over for a little holiday get together. I was tasked with bringing over an appetizer so, in their honor, I made Chilean empanadas.

Thanks to some help from another friend (who is himself Chilean!) I was able to source a recipe and all the ingredients I needed, supporting a few small, local businesses in the process. The filling was quick to whip up (and so yummy) and with the help of pre-made empanada wrappers, the whole thing came together in about an hour. Muy bien!

For the Pino filling, I used beef all-spice sausages smashed up, from Fresh Valley Farms, just north of me in the Okanagan Valley. I added some Mexican oregano from San’s Latin Market in Kelowna and a dash of smoked paprika (yum) found at my local farm stand, Don o Rays.

Served with spicy salsa and hot sauce, these are a filling snack or quick lunch meal!

Chilean Beef Empanadas de Pino - Pilar's Chilean Food & Garden

Quintessencial and a Sunday tradition for many families in Chile. This recipe for Beef Empanadas brings the true flavor home.

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Easy, gluten-free oat waffles (LINK)

These waffles check all the boxes! They are…

Crispy on the outside

Fluffy and soft on the inside

Slightly sweet

Filling

A perfect catchment for butter and syrup

Gluten-free!

We made these for Christmas brunch and they did not disappoint. Serve with coffee and Bailey’s!

Easy Gluten Free Oat Waffles

These crispy and fluffy oat flour waffles are the very best! They're light, healthy and gluten free. Best of all, they only require one flou

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Cucumber Tomato Basil Salad

The essence of summer, in a bowl! Farm stands are bursting this time of year with all sorts of fresh produce. This salad is simple, satisfying, and makes all the flavours of summer POP. You must source all these ingredients locally, from a farmer's market or farm stand (or your backyard garden) for best results.

All you need is...

1 cucumber

fresh tomato (either a handful of cherry toms or one beefsteak)

1 large, spicy clove of garlic (or more if you are a garlic fanatic)

a few basil leaves

salt

olive oil

Chop cucumber into bite-size pieces. Slice the cherry toms into quarters (or chop up your beefsteak into bite-size bits). Chiffonade the basil. Mix all ingredients into a bowl, drizzle with oil and sprinkle with salt. Mix again, taste. Serve straight up or over a bowl full of rice.

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Everything is better with butter (especially if it's homemade)

- Making butter is ridiculously easy and worth doing. Here's why you should try it, plus a link with instructions and pics (of course).

Years ago, a friend once shared with me that she accidentally made butter. She was hosting a party and needed whipped cream for a dessert but all she had on hand was liquid whipping cream.

So, she threw it in a stand mixer, let it run, and promptly forgot about it. Hours later, she returned to find that she had over-mixed the cream. The result? BUTTER.

Yep, it's really that easy. Below is a link to show you how it's done. As per usual, The Kitchn is here to save the day.

How To Make Butter (and Cultured Butter!)

If you have heavy cream, you can make butter.

I tried this a few weeks ago and was beside myself with glee. Making butter is one of those "kitchen hacks" that makes one feel like an alchemist. How can something like butter be so impossibly easy?

After doing the math, I determined that the cost difference between DIY butter versus buying a pre-made brick is marginal. I purchased good-quality cream (in glass bottles!) and estimated that my homemade varietal was mere pennies more expensive.

In short: making butter from scratch is worth doing if only so you can brag to your friends that you know how to do it. ;-)

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Soak up summer with basil pesto

- When it's in season and abundant, there is nothing better than picking fresh, fragrant bouquets of basil and pureeing it into a smooth, ethereal pesto sauce.

Last summer was a bumper basil year. Friends of ours had it growing in such abundance that they allowed us to harvest as much as we liked because they just needed it to be eaten!

We also heard from other friends that they had so much basil, that they had taken to eating it as you would spinach. As in, basil salad. This is actually quite practical if one is faced with a plethora of green leaves, but to us modern consumers it feels bougie, ostentatious. Why? Probably because most of the time, we're buying basil in the grocery store, where 5 leaves cost about $5.

In any event, I made basil pesto with our gifted bunches. Here is the recipe courtesy of The Minimalist Baker (replace pine nuts with walnuts for an even cheaper, but equally delicious, sauce)!

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Smoky Salsa Verde & Greeny Green Enchiladas

When tomatillos are in season there is only one thing to do: make copious amounts of salsa verde, then slather it all over some vegan enchiladas.

Tomatillos are one of those fruits I love, but always seem to forget about. Luckily for me, several local farmers grow them. Last summer, I bought a whole whack of the green globes and transformed them into an utterly ridiculous, smokey, tangy salsa. The trick? Grilling the veg! Link below!

Tomatillo Salsa Verde - Love and Lemons

The best tomatillo salsa verde recipe! Learn how to make tangy homemade roasted tomatillo salsa to serve with chips, tacos, enchiladas and m

What to make with smoky salsa verde

The salsa pairs well with vegan enchiladas, the recipe for which is also courtesy of Love and Lemons (via one of my favourite recipe reference sites, Food52). Pro tip: do not replace the cashews with raw peanuts. My pea-brain thought it would work but I can assure you, it does NOT. Ew. Follow instructions and stick to cashews. ;-)

Zucchini Verde Vegan Enchiladas Recipe on Food52

This vegan verde enchiladas recipe has no cheese & is packed with zucchini, poblano, & tomatillos. The tofu in the filling is undetectable o

Photos from my salsa-and-enchilada-making excursion!

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Yes, you *can* grill lettuce: Grilled Romaine Salad with White Beans

We harbour a lot of conceptions of what food is supposed to be. One of those is that lettuce should always be raw. Lettuce be transformed into another way of thinking.

Becoming an adult is a lot about un-learning and re-learning. This is something I'm figuring out every time I discover a new-to-me recipe that breaks my brain a little.

For example, my world turned upside down upon learning that brussels sprouts could be roasted and tossed in a spicy, fish-sauce marinade. I no longer felt animosity towards what had previously been soggy, mushy green balls.

The same holds true for a salad: did you know you can grill it??

Grilled Romaine Caesar Salad with Herbed White Beans (30 Minutes!)

If you've never tried grilling romaine lettuce, you're missing out. It adds a new depth of smoky flavor, wilts the lettuce slightly so it's

Turns out, you can! The Minimalist Baker will show you how.

This salad is the perfect accompaniment to any summertime meal. Best served when romaine lettuce is fresh and in season. Check out your local farmer's market!

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Foods to pair with rosé wine - LINK

In the early days of the pandemic, my friend and I schemed different ways to safely engage in our favourite activities: namely, drink wine & eat good food. Rosé Day gave us that opportunity! Here are 4 of our favourite dishes, featuring local food.

During the first summer of the COVID-19 pandemic in BC, before we all really knew what the frack was going on, my friend and I were trying to decide how to hang out without also being up in each other's business. We knew we should probably be outside and that hugging was somehow deemed verboten. At the same time, we also loved drinking wine, eating good food, and gabbing the afternoon away.

It was also, at some point, "International Rosé Day." Coincidence?

So it was that we whiled away an afternoon in June - on her porch - belatedly celebrating this "holiday." Plates were heaped full of local goodness and our cups ran over with sparkly, rose-coloured wine.

It was, in short, delicious.

And since that time, I have struggled to remember where oh where I found the recipes we feasted on for that sumptuous day! Until almost two years later (as in, right now, this very minute).

Behold: 17 of the Best Things to Eat with a Glass of Rosé, from The Kitchn (shoulda known, they are my top source for recipe inspo!)

17 of the Best Things to Eat with a Glass of Rosé

If it’s summer, it must be rosé season. The blush-colored wine has risen in popularity dramatically in the past couple years, and there are

Below are the four dishes I assembled for our rosé celebration. All are best served with produce as fresh as possible, meaning: LOCAL, LOCAL, LOCAL!

Asparagus with eggs and parmesan

Spiced oven fries with garlic spread

Ricotta and fresh pea toast

Strawberry slab pie (to which I added rhubarb from my garden)

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Fool-proof hard-steamed eggs - LINK

I used to hard-boil my eggs and struggle with the peels: always sticking, ripping off half the egg with them, utter chaos and frustration.

Not anymore! After discovering this kitchen hack, I'm never going back. Perfect eggs, every time!

Perfect Steamed Boiled Eggs Recipe

Steaming cooks eggs more gently, for easy-to-peel "hard-boiled" eggs with tender whites.

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Nothing beets pesto pasta…with beets

Late-winter meals when eating locally go a little something like this...

Opens fridge: "Oh yes, still winter, no greens. Hmm...what am I going to make with these beets?"

Opens freezer: "Oh, right! I have pesto I smartly froze last summer! Something green, yippee!"

Opens pantry: "Score! My gluten-free pasta noodle stash is still kicking. Time to make pesto pasta!"

Pesto pasta on its own is an elevated experience, particularly with homemade pesto. Mine was made with basil from a friend's organic garden and as mentioned above, I had the good sense to freeze some for winter eating.

As it turns out though, pesto pasta is taken to an entirely new level when combined with a steamed-beet salad.

(Bonus points if you cook your pasta noodles in the beet water!!)

(Extra, super bonus gold stars if you can somehow procure fresh olive oil. We were blessed with a bottle of pure, olive-y gold from a friend whose parents have an olive farm in Italy...I know, isn't that ridiculous?)

Now, let's see if I can remember how I made this dish...

For the salad:

3 beets (locally-grown, if possible)

olive oil

Bragg's Liquid Aminos (to taste)

1 Bubbies Kosher Dill Pickle, small dice with some of the fermented pickle juice

fresh garlic, minced (see beets, above)

For the noodz:

2-3 brown rice ramen noodle packs

basil pesto (fresh or thawed from frozen)

butter or coconut oil

Method:

Prepare beets: get yourself a small saucepot and fit it with a steamer basket. Add water until the level reaches the bottom of the steamer basket. Place beets in a single layer and steam until a fork can easily pierce the beets (20 minutes? I can't remember).

While beets are steamin' away, prepare the salad: combine all ingredients in a bowl and whisk.

When beets are finished, remove from steamer basket and let them cool off enough to handle without burning your fingers. Cut into medium dice and add to the salad bowl. Toss!

Remove the steamer basket from your pot and bring that beet water to a boil. Throw in your noodz and cook according to package directions. Drain.

Return pasta back to the pot and toss in as much basil pesto as your heart desires. Throw in some butter too, for good measure (or coconut oil, or omit...)

Time to serve it up! Pile your noodz in a bowl, top with the beet salad, and enjoy!

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Bomb-proof home fries recipe - LINK

I struggle with home fries. Every time I try to make them, I either end up with potato mush or charcoal.

But not anymore!

The Kitchn, one of my very favourite websites for food, recipes, and kitchen hacks, came through with the save on this one. The recipe below is seriously bomb-proof! I've made it three times now and each time, the results are consistently the same: unbelievably delicious.

These home fries are best served alongside fresh, orange-yolked sunny-side-up eggs (mine were courtesy of my backyard chickens!).

How To Make Diner-Style Home Fries

When heading out for breakfast or brunch, you’ve got a choice to make: Do you order something sweet, or opt for something savory? For me, it

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Dried bananas are so a-peeling

Learning a new food preservation method is endlessly satisfying, for a number of reasons:

It makes me feel like a culinary badass.

It is practical: preserving food reduces food waste and saves me money!

It is delicious and nutritious.

I've experimented with a number of food preservation methods over the years, including fermentation (yogurt, sauerkraut, kimchi), blanching and freezing (broccoli and greens), canning (tomatoes, jam, and dehydrating. Dehydrating is my latest obsession.

We borrowed a food dehydrator from my partner's 89-year-old adopted "Oma." She and her late husband purchased the dehydrator sometime in the late 80s and while certainly not fancy, it does the job (and well!).

So far we've dried local harvests of stone fruits and apples but recently, I had too many bananas to deal with. Solution? Dry them! I love dried bananas so was excited to try this. Turns out, they're even better than the store-bought variety! YUM.

I can't wait to never buy dried bananas again. 🍌

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In praise of microgreens

When one is eating local food in the interior of BC, winter can seem very long. There are not a lot of fresh, local greens to be had and what little is available disappears by about mid-November.

Is it spring yet?

It was with great pleasure that I undertook a mission to grow my own microgreens this March (why I didn't start this sooner is beyond me; perhaps I am a glutton for punishment?). I decided on sunflower micros because they are hearty and sizeable with just the right amount of crunch.

Crunch, as it turns out, is a feeling that I really miss in the winter. Cabbage is crunchy, yes (when raw fermented into sauerkraut or kimchi) but otherwise, most winter veggies are of the softer texture. This isn't so bad: winter is all about warm, cozy bowls of stews and fragrant pots of squash risotto.

But winter is long and by March, I am hankering for something with bite...and chlorophyll.

The microgreens sprouted in under two weeks, as promised on the package directions. They were all I hoped for and more: a pop of green and crunch to add to my winter bowl of rice and eggs.

Incidentally, March is also when my chickens decided to start laying again so now, all of a sudden, I find myself with an abundance of eggs and microgreens. Life is good and spring is on the horizon.

Maybe winter isn't so long, after all.

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Remembering my Asian greens - LINK

I love Asian greens - the diversity, crunch, and seemingly endless variety all make my eyes and mouth water!

But, because they are still new to me, I am always forgetting the proper nomenclature. Was it yu choy? Or napa? What about bok choy? Am I spelling these right?

Well, thanks to one of my favourite websites for all-things-food, I now have a resource! Bookmarking it here for future reference. Maybe it will be helpful to you, too? 🥬

The Serious Eats Field Guide to Asian Greens

When you walk into the produce section of your local Asian supermarket, you'll probably be greeted by a dazzling but daunting display of unu