Simply Sundried Spread

This blog post is for Maggie, who is an inspiring example of health and happiness! We chatted some at a local Chamber of Commerce luncheon recently and discovered we are kindred - in that we share a love for rice cakes. Yes, some claim they taste like cardboard laced with styrofoam (sourpusses!) but Maggie and I agreed that they make our day - especially if you're starting the day sans toast.

So I'm sharing with Maggie (and all the rest of you) one of my absolutely favourite recipes for a spread/dip that is healthful, packs a big flavour wallop and will be devoured by clean food fanatics, vegans and even unrecalcitrant carbo-loaders. You know who you are. Plus it's perfect atop a rice cake.

This one is from the recipe book ExtraVeganZa. (I just sooo love that name. Truly creative)

Sundried Tomato Olive Spread, on a humble brown rice cake, topped with avocado.
Clean and delicious.

Sundried Tomato Olive Spread

Ingredients:
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds, ground
1 cup Kalamata olives, pitted
1 cup sundried tomatoes
2-3 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp lemon juice

Place all ingredients in a food processor and blend until the ingredients become a paste. Serve as a dip with brown rice crackers, as a spread on rice cakes, or toss with warm pasta.

Note: The ExtraVeganZa recipe calls for 1 T of sherry. I use lemon juice as a substitute as my clean food regimen is alcohol-free - *hic*.

Finding the Centre

Happily moodling with my new Nikon this morning. Working with focusing on a small, close-in subject. Very appropriate I thought, for the blog - being all about having a macro-focus, or exquisite awareness of the little, tiny, everyday things that bring joy, contentment and peace. Here's my experiment:

Using P:Mode (a kind of flexible auto-mode).
Metaphorically, I can say I spend a fair bit of time in this mode...

Using the auto macro-zoom setting (added richness...better focus)

Using the auto macro-zoom with flash (exquisite awareness with just a little more dash!)

Variations on a theme  - yet with a common thread: the beautiful still centre that is the heart of the composition. Remind you of anything?



And the big boy that makes it all possible...

This is love.
(Taken with my trusty Canon compact)

The Healthy Happy Table

I finished my 3-month cleanse at the end of July. In many ways, the cleanse was one of the biggest challenges I've ever taken on - I'm a foodie and I'm also rather self-indulgent. Oh, you hadn't noticed? Ahem.

And the cleanse was really restrictive. I mean. Really. Restrictive. Proud to say, though, I managed it, and - not only that - I'm happier. Healthier. Thinner. More energetic. And did I say happier?

So I've decided to embrace this new way of eating as my regular diet. Oh, I'm going to cheat once in awhile - for favourites (like the Chinese at Flo's in Scottsdale. Especially the Mu Shu. Muuuu Shuuuu.). And I am definitely adding fresh fruit and sugar substitutes like honey and agave nectar to the roster, but overall...I'm going clean.

Here is a little video I made, honouring my choice. And really, the choice is about honouring myself. (Told you I was self-indulgent. Surprise!). A tribute to health and happiness.

Enjoy, and happy eating!

Bean There, Done That: Favas Part 2

Foray into Favas: a Two-Part Blog
Meet the Bean: Vicia Faba 
Part 1.
I am trying out fava beans (Vicia Faba) from scratch for the first time! Fussy little beans, I'd say. First you need to shell them. Not quite like shelling peas, with a simple crack of the pod and the thumb-slide to release the peas - favas seem to require a bit more wrestling, and then once you get them shelled, they need to be hand-peeled. Every bean. Seriously.
Every.
Bean.
By.
Hand.

Favas: just shelled.

Luckily, despite the size of the pods, the bean yield - from a great big bag - is pretty small. Of course, once you peel them (a complicated, delicate process involving a quick boil, an even quicker cool and a poke and peel method that requires a high degree of manual dexterity - these babies are slippery!) the yield is even smaller. *SIGH* Don't get me wrong. I love my legumes, but favas are high maintenance. A bean beyond, you might say.

Naked favas. Worth the effort?

I'm making an upscale version of 'Pork n' Beans', a childhood standby and a summer staple as far as I'm concerned. One of my all-time favourite summer meals is potatoes and onions  baked in foil in the campfire, steak grilled over same, and cold canned beans on the side. Flying ash from the firepit as garnish! Oh well.

Since I'm eating clean these days, the uber-convenient can o' beans is way off the list (not to mention potatoes and flyash) so I decided to whip up my own creation.

The plan: Fresh favas from the Farmers Market, simmered with the bone from leftover pork roast (organic, natch) then sautéed with onions and garlic (lots of garlic). Add basil and thyme from the garden and fresh diced tomatoes. A bit more simmering...et voila!

The outcome: 
Stay tuned for Part 2. I'm wiped from the shelling and peeling. I'm putting the batch together later.
Post-nap.


To find out more about Vicia Faba click the link.

Sufferin' Succotash! 
These Beans Rock. 
Part 2.

Results: Yummy.

A bit more like high-end succotash, than my fondly remembered P&Bs, the favas simmered in the pork broth, flavoured up with garlic, onions, tomatoes, thyme, bay leaf and basil were really delicious. I added diced pork (from the leftover roast) and also diced up some leftover roast squash - a nice hit of creamy sweetness that really complimented the beans. The beans? A lot of effort, but worth it.

Favas fully dressed. Worth it. This time.

Would I do favas from scratch again? Hmmm. Hard to say. I really love them, but I have a feeling they'll fall into the same category as roast duck - one of my faves, and just too fussy for me to make at home.

Perfect, though, for ordering in restaurant. And one thing I know I can make is reservations!

It's bean fun. I'd love to hear your fava stories!

Side note:
These beans travel well and taste great cold (just like the ol' canned ones). We had the leftovers at a picnic in the local park today. Hubby and I both longed for more...

Favas on a picnic. Have tupperware. Will travel.

Must Love Peas

Beautiful pea shoots from Mission, BC.

I am a big fan of happy collisions, and one of the summer's best is the collision of halibut season and pea season.

Yes, it is that time of year. Peas planted in the March cold are sweet and ripe and halibut is plentiful.

I'm convinced that the arrival of both of these delicious foodstuffs is part of a grand cosmic scheme to inspire fine dining chock-full of healthy goodness. (The food gods do want us to be healthy and happy!)

Last week hubby and I (another happy collision!) collaborated on a made-in-July summer dinner inspired by a find of fresh pea-shoots at the local Farmer's Market. Not only that, my sadly neglected June issue of Bon Appetit magazine just happened to feature a mouthwatering recipe featuring peas, pea shoots, and halibut. Spooky, I know. Another collision.

My fresh peas (and some back-up frozen ones) make a happy addition  to the pea & spinach puree

The dish starts out with a puree of peas and spinach. A super-healthy combination that comes out a rich, deep green. Fresh peas - which I just happen to have in my very own funny little garden - are added, and at the last, as the halibut is grilling, fresh pea shoots are wilted into the puree. (On points, I'd probably omit this last step and just serve the pea shoots fresh on the side. They seemed to give the puree a certain 'weediness', and they are so pert and delicious on their own).

Halibut on the grill. OMG.

 A mixture of finely sliced lemon rind, shallots, parsley (from the garden too!) and olive oil makes a kind of a gremolata/salsa to top the fish that gives it a real boost. There is this bright, fresh pea puree taste combined with the buttery-smoky halibut, and then the sparkly sharp lemony salsa kick. Yummy.

Salsa-y gremolata tops the fish. Oh my.

This meal is elegant, summery and uber-healthy. Plus clean. Yes, I am still on my cleanse (ten weeks and counting!) and this dish alone could convince me to stick with it.  Of course, you must love peas. Which I do. 

Peas and halibut - so happy together...

5 Fab Finds: From Europe to Maple Ridge, Avec Amour

Shopping in the Latin Quarter

Hubby and I returned from our trip to Europe a couple of weeks ago ( I know, unbelievably lucky to have the lives we have!) and I am eager to share some of my insights, travelogues and meanderings. Of course, I took over a thousand pictures. (I just love digital, don't you?) So its taking me awhile to sort them out and find themes...stay tuned.

But. One of the things I love about Europe is the boost it gives to the creative/artistic side of me. It is like one giant Artist's Date (for those of you familiar with the work of Julia Cameron: The Artists Way - highly recommended btw). I come back inspired in all kinds of ways.

I am just crazy for all the design elements I see - from buildings, to doors, to dishes, to chairs, to signage. Not to mention fashion. Oh, I mentioned it. In that case...

On this trip we visited both London and Paris (poor us!) and here are a few of my fab finds, or just fashion-stuff I noticed.

Jean Jackets - ubiquitous, and I mean everywhere:)
And worn with everything. I bought two.

Find #1. We spent a really spectacular day shopping on the London high streets - Oxford Street and Picadilly Circus - in a typical London rain. I bought Jean Jacket #1 at Selfridges and the absolute last m-sized jean jacket left in London at The Gap in Picadilly - thanks to the most helpful store manager on the planet. Why two? One cropped, one not. Of course. Didn't I already have one? Of course. Who doesn't here in NA? But these are from London. And that is something I noticed - there is a real trend toward American-styling in clothes and food, a shift in the five years since I was last in Europe.

Find #2.  With spring and summer come flowers, and in Paris I saw them everywhere. Floral printed dresses, blouses and jammies...women with flowers pinned in their hair, decorating shoes, pendants, rings, handbags and belts. Floral prints were also featured on the Liberty fabric floor in London. I love these cloth pin-on flowers, like the taupe one on my jean jacket. I bought two in the Latin Quarter (namedropper!). I might give one away. Be nice to me.

Find #3. I'm also a bit crazy for toile fabric. In Lindau, an amazing harbour town on Lake Konstanz, I visited Marie Lind fabrics (omg). Did I mention we also toured the Bodensee? Germany, Austria and Switzerland. I bought the little black and white pillow-cover in the picture readymade. I'm already unnaturally attached to it. (The gingham one in the background is from fabric I bought in the south of France five years ago - I know - poor me!)

One of my favourite new scarves alongside of one of my favourite old cardis

Find #4. Scarves! I'm an addict. And when I travel, I like to pick up one or two as a kind of combo indulgence-souvenir. The one pictured above came from a little boutique in the Latin Quarter (ahem) called Anoki. Hubby bought me a necklace there five years ago, that I still get compliments on. I'd say a scarf is the one accessory no wardrobe can do without. And if one is good....

Look at these beauties.
L-R Montmartre, Lindau, Montmartre, London

Find #5. This fab find came from Maple Ridge and was inspired by a trend that both hubby and I noted on our recent trip. Speaking of the American influence on style...cowboy boots. Or to be more precise 'cowboyish boots'. Western-style boots were worn in all kinds of combinations, by women and girls of all ages. Boots in general I noticed are worn pretty much year round - less weather-dependent and more outfit-dependent I'd say. After our high street escapades to find me the perfect jean jacket(s), I assured hubby that weren't going to hunt down boots to bring home. But, as luck would have it, last week I dropped into my local Value Village and found these - and on sale for half-price. Ah, life.

Boots, beautiful boots...a truly fab find!
$13 at the Maple Ridge Value Village

Nattily dressed, I'll keep sorting through my pics to share in future blogs and Facebook posts. Meanwhile, we're dreaming up our next trip. Italy, anyone?

Au Revoir.

5 Pathways to Contentment

"Yes, there are two paths you can go by, but in the long run, there's still time to change the road you're on."

 - Led Zeppelin

Pathway #1. The trail is marked. (And much remains to  be revealed.)

Pathway #2. The path that goes toward the light.

Pathway #3. The path that may be dark. (And we can see the forest for the trees.)

Pathway #4. The straight, wide way.

Pathway #5. Choice.

Happy Trails!