January
onion
Part of my purpose with this blog is to inspire you month-to-month with recipes that feature ingredients you can buy from your local farmer (or be growing yourself). There are days when we’ve got a heap of these vibrant veggies fresh from the earth and vibrating on the counter in front of us, and we’re stumped. Now what?! The best answer is often “as little as possible.” Food this fresh doesn’t need a lot of frills. Still. Sometimes we could use a gentle nudge to get take it this last step from farm to fork, especially for veggies that may be less familiar or those that offer themselves in ridiculous abundance.
In January, there’s not much in the fields on South Vancouver Island. Bits of hardy long-standing greens and Brussels sprouts, maybe some leeks, celery, or kohlrabi. But local farmers will still have onions in cold storage, making January the perfect time to let the humble onion move from working the wings of almost every meal to take centre stage.
Here’s a recipe that makes onion the star! Adapted from Amanda at Chez le reve Francais, it uses a short-cut to caramelize the onions. Purists and those with more time can use a more traditional technique (and without the added sugar) here. Puff pastry makes this rustic tart super special, but if you like to experiment, you might try several layers of phyllo or focaccia bread dough.
Rustic Caramelized Onion Tart
Ingredients
1 roll puff pastry (or creative crust of choice)
1/4 C butter
5 medium onions, any colour
1/4 C sugar
1 T balsamic vinegar
fresh thyme, salt and pepper
Step 1 Prepare onions and pastry
Peel onions and slice into 1/2 inch rounds. Place in a shallow tray and cover with boiling salted water to soak and soften for about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, roll or cut your pastry/crust into a size slightly larger than your skillet.
Step 2 Caramelize
To use the quickie technique, heat butter over medium heat in a cast iron skillet. Add thyme and then onions with wider cut side down. Leave them alone for about 10 minutes, then sprinkle with sugar. When sugar is melted, season generously with S + P, more thyme, and drizzle with balsamic. Remove from heat and take pause to admire your burnished discs of gold.
Step 3 Assemble and bake
Top with pastry or bread dough and bake eat 400 until crust is golden too. Timing will depend on what you’ve used, but 30 mins seems about right for puff pastry.
Step 4 Hold your breath
Let cool for a few minutes as you ready yourself for the big moment. Place a serving platter over the skillet and… flip!
Step 5 Exhale. Drop your shoulders. Salute the humble onion, and serve.
Sprinkle with more fresh thyme and toasted walnuts. Cheese lovers may add some provolone and gruyere for what then becomes French Onion Soup without the soup part. If you want the soup part, try this.
February
kale
Sing praises to the hardy kale, a plant that can stand strong all winter long in our climate, and get sweeter as the temperature drops. This old-world food has been having its decade, and for good reason. Let’s talk nerdy nutritionist numbers, just this once. Eating one cup of fresh raw kale, you will take in only 33 calories (burn almost as many chewing), and in the process get 684% of your daily RDA for vitamin K; 134% of vitamin C; 206% of vitamin A; plus a good dose of iron, folate, omega-3s, magnesium, calcium, and iron. Though sources vary some on these numbers, please take the point that kale is indeed a nutrient powerhouse. You can also thank kale for being versatile, affordable, and super easy to grow. So why oh why am I reading that the average American eats only 2 to 3 cups of kale a year??!!! If you are reading this, I doubt you are the average American, and I do hope you take advantage of local kale is available fresh from farms in our region 12 months a year. Even February!
Winter kale is especially great for soups, stews, and kale chips; tender spring leaves for salads; and spring kale shoots steamed or roasted like asparagus. Most recipes will offer the instruction to remove the inner rib before preparing kale leaves to eat. Remember you can reduce food waste by saving those ribs to add goodness to your next veggie stock or smoothie.
Today’s recipe: Kale sauce. I swear that just being in the same room as vibrant green and impossibly simple kale sauce makes me come more alive. Adapted from Joshua McFadden's Six Seasons Cookbook, you could add this sauce to pasta, as Joshua suggests, or try serving over potatoes, other roots, or winter squash. My favourite way might be with abandon over any whole grain + protein + seasonal vegetable combo for a colourful and satisfying-on-all-levels Abundance Bowl.
Kale Sauce
Ingredients
2 cloves garlic
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 large bunch kale, any variety
Juice from 1 small lemon
Flaked salt and fresh ground black pepper for serving
Step 1 Get ready for this!
Set a large pot of water to boil.
Step 2 Prepare garlic oil.
Use a small skillet to sauté diced garlic in olive oil. Once garlic is soft and aromatic, transfer garlic oil to blender.
Step 3 Cook kale.
Remove (and save for smoothies!) any tough stems from kale.
Once the water has come to boil, generously season with salt, and add the kale. Boil for about 5 minutes, until tender but not mushy.
Use tongs to remove kale from the pot and transfer to blender. Yes, it will be wet. And yes it’s ok!
Step 4 Cook pasta.
Add a drip of olive oil and pasta of choice to the boiling water.
Step 5 Blend sauce.
While pasta cooks, blend the garlic oil, kale, and lemon juice (have caution with hot foods in a stand blender). Continue blending, adding pasta water, a spoonful at a time, until you achieve a nice silky texture and that crazy brilliant green colour. Smile. Season with salt and pepper.
Step 6 It’s ready already?!
Drain the pasta, transfer back to the pot, and toss on the with Kale Sauce.
To serve, finish with flaked salt and fresh ground black pepper, perhaps a drizzle of olive oil and fresh lemon wedge, or toss with some freshly grated Parmigiano.
March
red radish
March is high time to elevate the under-rated red radish. These peppery little roots are just the ticket in early spring to help dissolve any stuck winter yuck (think mucus and phlegm) and support the body’s natural internal spring cleansing processes. In traditional medicines, radishes are considered a digestive tonic, good liver support, and used to treat a variety of conditions from constipation to kidney stones.
Buy a bundle of red radish from your local farmer friend, but before you pop one in your mouth, just take a breath and enjoy a moment of just looking. Admire the crimson skin, the translucent aqueous bright white flesh… it’s for sure gonna make you smile, and maybe even get happy enough to plant some quick-growing seeds for yourself.
Red radishes always make for a snappy slice in salads and slaws, or a colourful addition to veggie trays, but beyond that, folks seem short on ideas for how to enjoy these spicy delights of spring. Try radishes sliced thin and layered into sandwiches, atop avocado toast, or grated for extra zip and crunch in burritos. Keep going! Enjoy red radishes stir-fried, roasted, steamed, pickled, or mixed into soups and stews. Here’s a recipe adapted from Sarah Britton that invites us to explore poaching radishes. It’s genius. Who knew the punchy radish to have such a smooth and mellow side?
Tip to reduce food waste: save radish greens to add to any sauté or to make pesto!
Poached Radish and Arugula Spring Salad
Ingredients
1 bunch radishes (greens removed and saved for tomorrow)
1 bag arugula
2 T ghee, butter, or olive oil
2 cloves garlic
salt to taste
2 t apple cider vinegar
2 t honey or maple syrup
Step 1 Prepare
Slice radishes in lengthwise in halves. Mince garlic.
Step 2 Poach
Melt ghee in a large skillet. Sauté garlic for about a minute, then add radishes, cut side down, sprinkle with salt. Allow to poach for about 10 minutes until the radishes are tender but not mushy. Drizzle with vinegar. Remove from heat and toss with honey.
Step 3 Serve with style
Arrange radishes over a bed of arugula, and pour the pan drippings over everything to dress. Top with flaked salt and roasted pumpkin seeds, diced chives or local garlic greens if you have them.
April
chard
If it’s April and you are eating at my house, it’s a safe bet you’ll be getting garden chard on the daily. Bountiful, easy-to-grow, and versatile, you can use tender, buttery sweet chard leaves in any recipe that calls for cooked kale or spinach. I’ve also had fun and rave reviews using giant leaves of chard instead of grape leaves in dolmades, and even in place of cabbage in cabbage rolls. Both dishes feel special, are not difficult, and can become a very rewarding Sunday afternoon kitchen adventure.
Those thick stems are choice for eating, too, so don’t toss them when you’re cooking the leaves! I’ve heard they pickle quite nicely, though I’ve not gone there (yet). Feels easy and tastes great simply to chop the stems to steam or stir-fry along with the leaves (adding the stems to the pan a few minutes before the leaves so that they have a chance to soften).
Here’s a recipe inspired by Barbara Kingsolver in her classic food treatise Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. This dish expresses the mood of the season and is wildly adaptable—you might choose to make it all about chard, or rather use a combination of chard, kale, spinach, beet greens, mustards, or collards. While Barbara calls for the addition of sun-dried tomatoes (preserved from last summer) and diced carrots (the precious brand newest spring ones), I offer here bare bones variation to dress up as you may wish.
Eggs in a Nest
Ingredients (for a meal for 4)
2 big bunches chard (or a combination of chard and other greens)
1 large onion (2 leeks are a great option)
2-4 cloves garlic, to taste
olive oil to sauté
8 eggs
Step 1 Prepare.
First, prep the chard. Slice out the colourful stems, and cut them into 1/4-inch slices. Stack the leaves on top of one another, roll them up in a sweet bundle and cut crosswise to create little ribbons of chard. Nice chiffonade, chef!
Cube onions and dice garlic.
Step 2 Sauté.
Sauté onions for a couple of minutes in your biggest, deepest skillet. Add garlic, and then chard stems and cook for a few minutes more until stems begin to soften. Add greens and cook until they shine and wilty.
Step 3 Nest!
Make 8 little hollows in the chard mixture. Crack an egg into each hollow, doing your best not to break the yolks. Cover pan and allow eggs to poach for 3 - 5 minutes or until they are as firm as you like.
Step 4 Fly!
Served with salt and pepper over short grain brown rice. Yum.
Note: after step 2 you realize you are actually out of eggs. But don’t fret, just signal left turn, and with inspiration from this recipe you’ll be serving instead a light, lemony (chardy!) pasta in about 15 minutes.
May
fresh herbs
You’ve got a few months of creative cooking with hearty kale and chard quite literally under your belt. You’re feeling green and good, and also noticing a strong natural inclination towards eating more of your greens raw. Bingo. You are synched with the seasons in just the way you want to be to support personal and planetary health. And rest assured, all the salad greens and fresh aromatic herbs you need to satisfy your green tooth are locally available by the bushel in May. If you’ve ever had a thought that it might be a good thing to support your local farmer, do it now. Simply refuse to do plastic tubs of California salad in May.
About herbs. When I was a kid, parsley was the sad wilty green sprig of a thing on the side of the plate (that, and I shudder to remember, got chucked in the garbage when the plates were cleared). Oregano, cilantro, and dill? These mysteries seemed to just grow older in dusty bottles on the spice rack. Mint? Candy canes and the classic Pep-Chew. Omg. I’m so sorry magical aromatic little plants. I don’t know whether to call you a herb or an herb, but I’m sorry. May May’s recipes make up for lost time.
If you’ve been relating to herbs only as things to be used by the dried teaspoon, may these May recipes open some doors in your mind. Walk through those doors and you’ll be surprised to find yourself tossing by the fresh and fragrant handful phytonutrient-rich herbs into every pot and onto every plate. Looking to other cultures, we gather inspiration. Here are some herb-forward sauces and dips from around the world: cilantro sofrito, parsley chimchurri, cilantro and parsley zhug, and, of course, pesto (you don’t need to wait until basil in July to have sumptuous pesto). Side note: any of these sauces can be thinned used to dress your tossed salads. Green on green is a good look and May is the month to really go for it. I hope this refreshing, cleansing Ginger Mint Lemonade is gonna prime your pump.
Ginger Mint Lemonade
Ingredients
1 bunch of mint (depending on the variety, you may want even more)
4 organic lemons
2” knob of fresh ginger
honey to taste
Step 1 Prepare lemons
Use a box grater to zest 2 of the lemons. Save these precious gold shavings in the freezer to add zest (literally) to salad dressings, pastas, muffins, or to any of the sauces behind the QR.
Squeeze these 2 lemons for juice and add the juice to your blender.
Quarter the other 2 lemons and toss them in too (skins and everything).
Step 2 Blend.
Add ginger, and the whole bunch of mint to your high-powered blender, along with 4 cups of water. If your blender runs with a lower hp, you may need to mince the ginger first, and remove any woody stems from the mint.
Step 2 Strain and serve.
After blending, strain through a mesh sieve. Taste and add more water and/or honey as desired. Serve chilled. Feel awesome.
June
fennel
I finally fell for fennel last summer. It might have happened that sunny backyard moment of sipping house specialty strawberry kombucha through nature’s best bio-straw: a fennel stem! (note to my 13 year old self: more fun than root-beer and a pack of Twizzlers). In Greek mythology, Prometheus found another fine use for the fennel stem—when he stole fire from Olympus to return to human-kind, it’s where he secreted the glowing spark.
Stems aside, every other part of the fennel plant can also be put to good use. In Mediterranean cuisine, its seeds, flowers, and feathery leaves are used as garnish to add their distinctive sweetness to salads and tea. Bulbs, composed of overlapping leaf bases, are enjoyed raw or cooked.
Turns out fennel is also highly nutritious, and this galactagogue is the special ally of breastfeeding women (boosts milk supply), menstruating women (eases cramps), and any person who ever eats (stimulates gastrointestinal motility).
At City’s Edge Farm, Sol taught me to grow a variety called Florence fennel, especially admired for its whopping big shapely bulbs. Eaten raw, it is crisp, sweet and boldly licorice-y, a texture and flavour that softens and mellows when roasted or caramelized. Thanks to Sarah Britton of My New Roots for this creative recipe idea.
Fennel and Arugula Flatbread
Ingredients
1 pizza crust (here’s a simple spelt pizza dough you can make ahead)
Olive oil, ghee, or coconut oil
2 or 3 big fennel bulbs
maple syrup or hot honey to drizzle
1 lemon
1 big bunch arugula
soft goat or cashew cheese
Step 1 Prepare fennel
Slice fennel bulbs thinly on the vertical.
Heat oil in a large skillet. Add fennel slices in a single layer on the pan, sprinkle with sea salt. Like making pancakes, leave it alone for a few minutes, until the bottom side turns golden. Flip and repeat. Add a sprinkling of fennel seeds if you have them, and a drizzle of maple syrup or hot honey.
Step 2 Do pizza
You know how! Brush your crust with olive oil and a sprinkle of salt. Top with fennel and yummy globs of soft cheese. Bake until the crust is crisp and cheese is melty and browned.
Step 3 Prepare arugula
While things are baking, toss arugula with a bit of fresh lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper.
Step 4 Add greens and serve!
When crust is crusty, remove from oven pile high with arugula. Serve with pride.
Variations: try with pesto or tomato sauce for a delicious twist, but don’t forget who is the star of this particular show (the fennel!).
July
cherry tomatoes
Confession: I’ve just been poking around the internet to learn something new about cherry tomatoes to share. The first 3 sites I landed on bragged them up as a handy a bite-sized treat that “bursts” with flavour and colour. All 3 sites made exceptional use of the word burst. Well done! And who could disagree? These sites also explored the history of the cherry tomato (no real consensus, I’m afraid); and compared it with it’s younger cousin the grape tomato (cherries are prized for their juiciness and thin skin, which is what has them bursting in your mouth; while and grapes have thicker skin and meatier flesh, making them less burstable, but perhaps a better choice for sauces and soups). Finally, all these sites celebrated the fact that the beloved cherry tomato is available year-round.
Sigh. Yes it’s true. Big trucks and small plastic clam shells can carry cherry tomatoes from Argentina directly to your neighbourhood grocery store. But farmers are not grocers, and local cherry tomatoes, the ones that Burst with a capital B, don’t show up in abundance until July. If we’ve been waiting for them, what a heart-bursting celebration it is when they finally arrive!
It’s worth repeating some words Barbara Kingsolver, and I’ll say no more:
Pushing a refrigerated vegetable from one end of the earth to another is, let’s face it, a bizarre use of fuel. But there’s a simpler reason to pass up off-season [veggies]: they are inferior. Respecting the dignity of a spectacular food means enjoying it at its best…
Waiting for foods to come into season means tasting them when they’re good. The waiting is a part of the value equation. You’ll understand the formula restraint = indulgence when you taste your first… cherry tomato of the year in July. (from Animal, Vegetable, Mineral)
You may never tire of bursting those juicy sweet local cherry tomatoes in your mouth, but just in case you are looking for a less popping way to enjoy them, I hope this mellow out recipe might inspire.
Cherry Tomato Confit
Confit comes from the French meaning "to preserve.” It’s a perfect way to store tomatoes in your refrigerator once the days of local harvest are over. There are lots of cooking techniques for confit. This one comes courtesy of my mother-in-law, and cooks up more quickly than most without losing any of the beautiful character of the dish. I also like this version for its fun way with garlic.
Ingredients
2 pints cherry tomatoes
2 heads garlic
2 large shallots or one yellow onion, quartered
a few sprigs of fresh herbs such as basil, oregano, thyme or rosemary
sea salt and pepper
1 ish cups olive oil
a few dashes of balsamic vinegar
Step 1 Prepare.
Preheat oven to 400 F. Place tomatoes in a large baking dish with deep sides. Slice garlic heads in half vertically, and add them, cut side up. Peel shallots and find a spot to tuck them in amongst the tomatoes. Cover with enough olive oil to almost reach the tops of the tomatoes. Add a generous teaspoon of salt and lots of black pepper. Lay a few sprigs of fresh herbs on top. Mmmmm, voila. Into the oven.
Step 2 Roast and Squish.
Roast for an hour or so, until garlic and shallots are tender and oozy, and the tomatoes have begun to wrinkle and - burst. Cool slightly, and then get in there and gently squish garlic cloves out of peel into the tomato mixture.
Step 3 Serve.
Devour confit with a crusty sourdough baguette, on pizza, or toss with freshly cooked pasta. Use up any excess oil in other dishes. It is said that one can store tomato confit in the refrigerator for a month. Check this site to learn to make oven-dried cherry tomatoes—another way to enjoy them long after the local harvest ends (without the plastic clam shell).
August
tomatillo
At first we wondered if it wouldn’t do to feature tomatillos the month directly following the cherry tomato. After all, they seem kinda the same. Actually—not so much the same at all! Let’s play spot the differences.
Herbal, tangy, a little bit citrus-y, tomatillos really are their own mysterious thing. Stunningly beautiful to grow, in August the bushing plants look as if they’ve been decked out with dozens and dozens of tiny paper lanterns. The fruit is ready to harvest when the lanterns pull apart to give a glimpse of the glowing orb within. Tomatoes don’t do that.
Peel away the papery husk and you’ll discover something very sticky that tomatoes don’t do either. Rinse away the stick, and your tomatillo is ready to go! But now what?
Tomatillos keep for a long time in the fridge, so you could procrastinate for a good 2-3 weeks. Or, you could roll up your sleeves and make Sol’s Tomatillo Strawberry Pie! This dessert delighted the crowd at the epic 2024 City’s Edge Farm community appreciation dinner (and in fact was farmer Sol’s very first time baking pies!). Bravo! The tart tomatillo takes on a taste much like rhubarb to make an outrageously delicious combination cooked up with strawberries (try that, tomato!).
For more ideas for this month when local tomatillos are abundant and waiting for you to notice, you might try tomatillo salsa, or tomatillos classically paired with green chiles in Enchiladas Verdes.
Tomatillo Strawberry Pie
Ingredients
Pastry for 9-inch double crust pie (simple pie crust recipe here)
3 C ripe tomatillos, husk removed, rinsed and quartered
3 C sliced strawberries
1/4 C flour for thickening
1 - 11/2 C white sugar, depending on how big is your sweet tooth
juice and zest from one organic lemon
3 T cold butter slices, optional
Step 1 Pull back your hair and find your best faded apron.
Preheat oven to 400 and lay bottom crust in your pie pan.
Step 2 Filling
Combine remaining ingredients in a large bowl, and spoon over bottom crust. Dot with butter if using.
Step 3 (is the most fun)
Pop the top crust on and pinch the edges together to seal and make beautiful. Follow your intuition to cut slits in the top crust for decoration and ventilation. Place pie pan on a baking sheet to catch drips.
Step 4 Bake
Your pie is done when top crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbling pink through the slits in the crust. Cool just a bit before serving.
Step 5 Let your hair down. Call your friends! You just did pie!!!
September
zucchini
Did you know that a zucchini has more potassium than a banana of the same size? Me neither. And that zucchini is technically a fruit? The only fruit, in fact, that begins with the letter “Z” in the English language (an absolutely useless nugget of information you’ll now never forget. You’re welcome :)
In all seriousness, please consider this post my whole-hearted cry of encouragement to receive the generosity of the Z fruit while it’s giving! Try it spiralized in place of spaghetti noodles (drizzled with olive oil and tossed with fresh herbs and sea salt, or tossed in fresh pesto); sliced lengthwise in place of lasagne noodles; grilled, stuffed, roasted, stirred into soup or ratatouille, baked into delicious sweet or savoury breads and muffins. What you can’t eat fresh, take a quick minute to grate and freeze for your winter soups and baking, and make mental note to never, ever buy another Mexican zucchini unless you happen to be in Mexico.
What would a collection of rustic homey recipes be without something called Mom’s [fill in the blank]?Thanks to my mother for this one, which she says comes from a Canadian Living mag in back in the 80’s. Yes, I do remember ‘80s recipes, and I promise that this one calls for neither tinned cream of mushroom soup, cornflake crumbs, nor mini marshmallows.
Mum’s Mediterranean Zucchini Salad
Ingredients
3 medium zucchini
1 green pepper
1 large tomato sliced into thin wedges, or a pint of halved cherry tomatoes
1/2 c diced green onions, chives, or red onion sliced into thin crescents
1 bunch chopped fresh parsley (or combination of parsley and other seasonal herbs like dill, oregano, cilantro)
1/4 c chopped kalamata olives or marinated artichoke hearts (or both)
1 c shredded mozzarella, crumbled feta or your go-to vegan cheez (optional)
For Vinaigrette
1/4 c fresh lemon juice
1/4 c olive oil
1 T balsamic or red wine vinegar
1 T light miso (or anchovy paste if you like it or are in the ‘80s)
a generous handful of diced fresh herbs of choice
Step 1 Matchsticks.
Cut zucchini and green pepper into matchstick pieces about 1” long. Place in salad bowl along with remaining chopped veggies and herbs.
Step 2 Shake.
Add all vinaigrette ingredients to a mason jar, and shake. Season to taste with salt and black pepper. Pour over salad and toss gently. Cover and chill until ready to serve.
Step 3 Serve.
Mum used to tuck this salad + lettuce in a pita for the occasional crunchy break from PB & J for lunch. You might try it over a bed of garden greens, topped with toasted sunflower seeds and extra dressing.
October
pumpkin
Surprise! A pumpkin recipe in October! Who would have guessed? Gotta love jack-o-lanterns, but you may be surprised for realsies to learn what other tricks pumpkins can treat us to.
Pumpkin flesh contains plenty of beta-carotene, good for our eyes and to help fight off infections as the days grow cold and darker. And all of those seeds! Yes, you can roast and eat un-hulled pumpkin seeds. They are full of antioxidants, minerals, and fatty acids. Here’s one way to do it.
Of course you can also eat the flesh of your big ol’ Halloween pumpkin, but it won’t be as flavourful as the smaller, sweeter varieties our local farmers are growing for us to use instead of canned pumpkin puree for pie, muffins and stuff, or anywhere you would use winter squash.
I hope you’ll enjoy how pumpkin’s subtle flavour can sing out in this soup. I’m calling it Two Step Pumpkin Miso Soup (ok maybe a few small steps have been smooshed together for the sake the title), but the point is, it’s so good and easy you’ll wanna dance. Double the recipe because, like most soups, it’s even better the second day.
Two Step Pumpkin Miso Soup
Ingredients
2 T toasted sesame oil (or substitute olive, avocado, or coconut oil)
1 sugar pie pumpkin (about 1.5 pounds)
1 really big onion
4 whole cloves of garlic
1 or more T freshly grated ginger
2 T light miso, or more to taste
2 cups water or vegetable stock
pepper
Step 1 Roast
Slice your pumpkin into thin crescents. You can leave the skin on if you have a high speed blender, peel if not. Set aside the seeds for roasting. Chop the onion into similar-sized crescents. Toss onion, pumpkin and whole garlic cloves in oil on your roasting pan, sprinkle with salt, and pop in a 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes.
Step 2 Blend and serve.
When everything is roasty, pop it in batches to your blender, along with the roasted onions and garlic, miso, ginger and water. Thin to desired consistency.
Warm and serve garnished with a swirl of tahini and a few strips of local seaweed. Those pumpkin seeds you saved and roasted (yes you did!) are another great garnish.
For a different take on this soup, use extra stock to make it more brothy, and add chopped seasonal greens or extra seaweed and soba noodles.
November
cabbage
Cabbage is the mother of the Brassicas, a big happy family which includes broccoli, cauliflower, kale, kohlrabi, collards and Brussels sprouts. This is a family we’d do well to invite to share our tables, on the daily. I could list a litany of nutritional reasons why, but let’s just say it doesn’t get much healthier (or, unless you are a nutrition nerd, more boring to read).
Let’s do cabbage fun facts instead! Babe Ruth used to wear a cabbage leaf under his ball cap during games (cabbage is rumoured to cure baldness). I myself spent weeks decades ago with fresh cabbage leaves in my bra (a smelly effort to relieve painful blocked milk ducts).
Cabbage can be eaten raw or cooked up in any way your imagination and time will allow—sautéed, roasted, stirred, steamed. But a word of caution, dreamers, whatever you do, don’t cook the Mother of Brassicas too long. Overcooked cabbage may leave a temporary smell in your kitchen that has caused an image problem for this humble vegetable (I can hear her cry “not my fault!!!”). Adding bay leaf or lemon to cooking cabbage will help keep things smelling fresh(er).
No conversation about cabbage would be complete without the word fermented. Check out these recipes for simple small-batch sauerkraut and kimchi to get you started on an adventure down that rewarding rabbit hole.
Crispy Cabbage Pancakes (inspired by the Japanese Okonomiyaki)
Ingredients for 8 biggish pancakes
4 cups finely shredded cabbage (any variety)
2 grated carrots
1/2 cup diced chives or ½ a diced red or yellow onion
2 cloves of minced garlic
1 inch fresh ginger, grated
2 T toasted sesame oil plus more for cooking
1 T tamari
4 large eggs
1/2 cup almond flour (or flour of choice)
1 tsp black pepper
Step 1 Shred.
Use your box grater or food processor to shred/grate the vegetables.
Step 2 Batter up.
Whisk eggs in a large bowl. Add sesame oil, tamari, ginger and pepper. Stir in almond flour and whisk to combine, then fold in the shredded vegetables.
Step 3 Make pancakes.
Preheat skillet over medium, swirl the pan with oil. Place small scoops of cabbage mixture into the pan. Resist the urge to flatten these pancakes. Instead, cover the pan and allow your Okonomiyaki to cook undisturbed over medium heat about 4 minutes. When browned on the bottom, flip and cook covered for another 3-4 minutes.
Step 4 Serve.
Garnish with toasted sesame seeds and more chives. Serve with tamari and your favourite hot sauce for dipping.
December
beet
Mineral-rich beets have long been prized for their medicinal qualities, and perhaps just as highly valued over the eons as an aphrodisiac. Medicinally, beets are known to tone the blood and build red blood cells. Because beets also have a cleansing effect on the liver, a couple shots of beet juice may help shorten recovery time from Decembers. Ok. I tried for two sentences to distract you, but I’d bet your mind is still thinking about beets as aphrodisiac. Yes? Modern scientists may support the ancient wisdom about this: beets absorb from the soil and store high amounts of boron, an essential mineral for building human sex hormones.
Bottom line: eat yer beets. Eat the whole thing, from the top of the greens to the bottom of the root.
Generally speaking, try to cook beets inside their skins to prevent the colour and other goodness from bleeding out. Beetroot can be roasted, steamed, or shredded raw to add to slaws and salad - or baked in a velvety vegan chocolate cake. Beet soup is of course a more classic way to enjoy beets (riff on this recipe which features other veggies of the season), and if you are into fermenting (or want to be) here’s a fun fizzy beverage called beet kvass. It’s good medicine. Double the recipe to take care of yourself on those mornings after December parties.
But for now and for funsies, Beet Jerky!
Dare to bring beet jerky to share at your holiday party and see how long it takes before the conversation turns to the colour of everybody’s pee. But plan this mischief well in advance. Time is a key ingredient here—we need let the beets marinate and then dehydrate.
There are lots of ways you might boldly season your Jerky. Here’s one. Play.
Beet Jerky
Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds red beets (or about one bunch)
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
4 T tamari
2 T maple syrup
1 tsp mustard powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp smoked paprika
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp black pepper
Step 1 Careful!
Scrub but don’t peel your beets. Use a mandoline or a very sharp knife and your most excellent chef skills to slice beets on the horizontal into 1/4” rounds. Please take good care lest your cutting board become stained red with something other than the beet juice.
Step 2 Marinate
Combine remaining ingredients in a large bowl and add the sliced beets, tossing to cover all of the surfaces. Cover and keep in the fridge all day or overnight if you can manage. Give them a stir now and then if you think of it.
After several hours, drain the beets. Save that magenta marinade and shake it with olive oil to pour over salad or cooked grains. Pow!
Step 3 Dehydrate
You can use a food dehydrator if you have one, but an oven also does the trick. For the oven method, spread the beet rounds in a single layer on baking sheets, and bake at 200 for 2-3 hours, flipping at least once part way through. You’ll know they are done when they are dry, but still bendy and chewy. Just like jerky!
Now put on your shoes cause you are ready for your holiday potluck! Have fun! Tomorrow your friends will be reminded of you and the gifts you bring. Pah rum puh pum pum.