Tag Archives | thanksgiving

Clean Green Salad with Seed-Crusted Avocado

Published on in Greens, Nightshade-free, Raw, Salad, Salad dressing, Seeds By |
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Clean Green Salad with Seed-Crusted Avocado

I am currently on a road trip through Western USA and Canada and cannot stop thinking about salad. Not the standard salads that seem to be on every menu around here that tend to lean heavily on cheese, mayo and candied nuts (why are these the bones behind salads these days?), but real salad that is mostly green with some fresh, colourful, crunchy veggies. Internal shower salad.

Clean Green Salad with Seed-Crusted Avocado

It is the time of year that our salad switches are turned back on and we start to crave this type of food again. Even more so if you happen to be on a road trip and your supply of healthy snacks is getting low and you’re beginning to eyeball the chips at the gas station, wishing you knew less about nutrition. Unless truck drivers have amazing partners (or are, themselves amazing) and make themselves kale chips and sprouted pumpkin seeds for their long journeys, I can’t see how Doritos, Red Vines and Dr Pepper wouldn’t become part of their regular diets. And all that sitting too. Poor Truck Drivers.

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Veggie Shepherd’s Pie (aka Gardener’s Pie)

Published on in Freeze-able, Greens, Legumes, Main course, Nuts, Roots By |
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Vegan Shephard's Pie with Cauliflower & Parsnip Topping

It currently feels like spring where I live. There is no snow on the mountains, the cherry blossoms are out, making the world beautiful (and attacking my husband’s sinuses), and I haven’t worn a winter coat in at least two weeks. I may even have gotten a suntan today, I’m not complaining, it is a little weird though; it’s February! It’s also noticeably lopsided considering on the other side of the country there are people creating tunnel slides in the 7 feet of snow in their backyard.

Vegan Shephard's Pie with Cauliflower & Parsnip Topping

It is still winter though, and I’m sure our West Coast winter coats will get a little more action before spring officially arrives. For this reason, and for the sake of the rest of the shivering country, I want to talk about foods that keep us nourished and warm through the colder months. (more…)

Creamy Swiss Chard & Sweet Potato Gratin

Published on in Greens, Nightshade-free, Nuts, Roots By |
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You know that ceramic dish that you have in your cupboard that is the perfect shape to make gratin potatoes in? We are going to fill it with two entire heads of rainbow chard and a giant sweet potato. Not only that, but it is going to taste so good you are going to want to make it again as part of your holiday dinner. Promise.

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This is holiday comfort food at its finest, and it’s coming from a girl who from the age of six, would circle the buffet eating as many scalloped/mashed/fried potatoes as I could, off of the mound I had scooped onto my plate before I sat down, so as to minimize the potato teasing. I know my comfort food, I now how to eat, and luckily, I also know how to make it comfortable for your insides too. Christmas on the outside and on the inside.

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Years ago, I made a version of this for a usually very health-conscious client who was pregnant and wanted only mac and cheese-style food for her last trimester. Understandable. I made it with full fat cream and gruyere cheese, which, let’s be honest, can make anything taste good. But guess what? This doesn’t taste too far off of that dairy-filled version despite its virginal, dairy-free status. If I had been smarter back then, she would have gotten this version.

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Shaved Brussels Sprouts with Chanterelles and Parsnip Purée

Published on in Legumes, Main course, Nightshade-free, Nuts, Roots, Snack By |
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From a young age, once I realized that they had very little to do with Cabbage Patch Kids, I paid no attention to Brussels sprouts. Did anyone when they were kids? They popped up at Christmas and Thanksgiving but were pretty easy to ignore. Once I finished cooking school and was working in fine dining, the challenge was to make them delicious (hello bacon, cream, blue cheese, char-grill and sometimes deep fry), and even then it was only for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

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The general consensus seemed to be that it took all of the most intense/aggressive flavours and techniques to make them edible. You could have subbed just about any veg into one of those recipes back then and it would have tasted close to the same. It wasn’t about celebrating the Brussels sprouts, it was about making them taste like the other stuff. Secret ingredient fail.

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