somerville kitchen Summer Big Salads

As we say goodbye to summer, I wanted to share two Big Salads enjoyed on the picnic table this summer and inspired by the sweetest vegetable, beets.

Big Salad One with Red Beets

For this salad, both the beets and the beet leaves were used.

Simple ingredients comprising of:

3 fresh ingredients - tomato, cucumber and beet leaves;

3 boiled ingredients - beets, eggs and potatoes.

Now the most fun about big salads is the presentation. In this case, the beet leaves went down first, then the fresh vegetables followed by potatoes. Beets and eggs designed the top.

Simple dressing of red wine vinegar, olive oil and pepper.

Now that you presented it, go ahead and mix it. Enjoy.

 
Big Salad Two with Orange Beets

This one was based on a different formula.

On the fresh side there was butter lettuce and piperade peppers;

On the cooked side were the boiled potatoes and orange beets;

And to mix things up, some jarred artichoke hearts.

This salad was presented in clusters of ingredients over a bed of lettuce as opposed to layers. Makes it look more colourful.

For dressing, I used olive oil and balsamic vinegar this time.

And to create a non-vegetarian version, grilled chicken was added to the mix. Delicious!

Jardin Spaghetti Squash Meal #1

With four people over for dinner, I chose one of the larger jardin spaghetti squashes. And I followed a Kitchen Tip from one of the followers:

Cut the squash in half, rub it with oil, lay it on its flat bottom on a baking dish and bake in 350 oven for 30 minutes (this big one needed 40 minutes). 

And this big one would not fit in one dish, so I had to bake each half separately.

Once ready, clean out the seeds with a fork. Then, with a fork, shred out. They come out like a perfect vegetarian-made spaghetti.

Given one of the guests was vegetarian, the
jardin produced spaghetti was served with a mushroom-jardin herbs-tomatoe sauce, sprinkled with parmesan cheese and accompanied by garlic bread.





Now this is how I typically serve spaghetti squash, but with a dozen hiding in my cellar, I need to be more creative with Meal #2. Please, help, send interesting spaghetti squash recipes to somervillekitchenwindow@gmail.com.

And if all of this sounds very healthy, the dessert was even healthier, thanks to one of the guests.

A Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Chocolate Cake topped with Pamela's Wheat & Gluten Free Vanilla Frosting Mix.

To all those of you snickering at this, it was simply delicious!!!!

Thank you Lafer! Thank you Bob & Pamela!

The Invasion of the Spaghetti Squash

Just two seeds of spaghetti squash created this monster of a plant. 

Throughout summer, the plant grew and grew, climbed up trees, surrounded the picnic table. At some point I thought I will never be able to open the kitchen door and go to le jardin.



Three months later, cats is inspecting 15 healthy, yummy looking squashes.

So what is planned for the squashes you ask? First, some giveaways... one was passed on as a blogiversary contest gift (see what you missed at Happy Blogiversary) ... one was part of the plate exchange continuing story (details at Plate Exchange) 

...and the rest are sitting on the bench waiting for cooking inspiration.

Tune in tomorrow for the first spaghetti squash cooking adventure, with a newly learned Kitchen Tip on how best to bake them.

And if you have a unique, fun spaghetti squash recipe, please email to somervillekitchenwindow@gmail.com - who knows, you may be invited to make it with me using one of those squashes.

Cooking with Lebanese Pine Nuts

The most cherished products from Lebanon are pine nuts freshly collected from the abundant pine tree forests. Lebanese pine nuts tend to be longer and thinner than ones we find here from other countries, and have a whiter colour to them.

Here are two Lebanese recipes that capitalize on pine nuts. Enjoy.


1. Mehshi Warak Aatea

Many of you remember the Grape Vine Sunday feature where me and cats head out to pick up vine leaves. Well we did this again, but rather than making the same meal, we prepared the vegetarian version of Mehshi Warak (a.k.a. Aatea).

The process and recipe is identical to the one I featured for the meat version (Meshi Warak). The key difference is the stuffing.

The stuffing consists of pine nuts, chopped tomatoes, chopped onions, chopped mint or parsley, salt, pepper, a sprinkle of olive oil and a sprinkle of lemon juice.

The rest of the process is identical to the meat version, you blanch the grape vine leaves, stuff and roll them, pile them in a pot over potato slices o they won't stick to the pot, cover them with 1/3 lemon juice to 2/3 water, sprinkle with salt and olive oil and cook on low heat until the water is absorbed.

2. Seyyadeyeh

A very easy recipe for fish lovers. Chop your favourite fish into small pieces and fry in olive oil. Put aside.

In the same pot, fry some onions, add the cooked fish, salt, pepper, olive oil, turmeric, rice and the required water for the amount of rice. Cook on low heat until rice is ready. 



Now where the pine nuts come in is at the time of serving. Pour the rice & fish into a platter and sprinkle with slightly browned pine nuts. Fit for a king (and queen). Enjoy.

All pine nuts used in dishes above are brought directly from Lebanese pine-treed mountains.

The Arrival of Jardin Tomatoes

For almost a week now, jardin tomatoes have been ripening. Some look beautiful that I cannot believe they are from le jardin. Some look so ugly that they could be from farmers' markets.

Given the change of weather, tomatoes are being picked as soon as they show signs of redness and have been ripening on the kitchen counters beautifully.

And the week at somerville kitchen was like having a tomato festival; every day tomatoes were incorporated into the meal. Here is a tomato added to a fresh cabbage salad (the combination of cabbage and tomatoes is even more delicious fresh than cooked as cabbage rolls - try it).

Then they were served as part of Labneh and tomatoes on baguette appetizers (soft unripened cheese - read more on Labneh). 

And tonight they were the stars of an appetizer platter, right next to Labneh balls, artichoke hearts, boiled orange beets, and pickled thyme. 

Despite the weather, they are still giving, so come back daily to see where those jardin tomatoes are popping up at somerville kitchen.

 

Riding a Red Wagon

One thing the Empress, the Lady and the Blogger did not tell you about our roaming Hastings Sunrise last weekend (see The Beginning & Beyond) is how we started the day riding a Red Wagon.

Hastings East, just west of Nanaimo Street, a new hipster cafe with red wagon on the outside wall pops up at you.

Line ups at 9:30 on a Saturday morning, you'd wonder what the big deal is. But listen to me, wait in this line up. Not only is the crowd quiet interesting, but the food inside is worth the wait.

The Empress Recommends...Crispy Pork Belly

This piece of meat to the left is a delicious chunk of confit pork belly. It has a cinnamon taste, nicely cooked and does not feel greasy at all. Served with homefries, griddle tomatoes, and hollandaise on your two eggs, any style. The Empress will not have anything else there, so I suggest you hear the message and try this.

The Lady Enjoyed...Back Bacon Bennys 

I just loved how this dish was served on a Chinese food platter. Nice sauce covering perfectly done eggs that the lady enjoyed thoroughly. 

And the Blogger Will Eat Again...Piperade and Goat Cheese Omelette

An omelette rolled to perfection around slowly cooked piperade and onions. Piperade are those dark red perfectly sweet peppers that you will see featured again on the blog. The stuffing is mixed with goat cheese and drizzled with a simple, home made tomato sauce. Despite the many options on the menu, I could very well have this omelette again on my next trip.

So if you are looking for a new weekend brunch place to explore, or roaming the east side for a simple, home made dinner, check this place out.

The Red Wagon Restaurant

2296 East Hastings Street

Vancouver, BC

www.redwagoncafe.com

Proud to Be Eating Canadian

Canadian prairies first brought us Saskatchewan Turtle Burgers. Today they bring us Cavena Nuda - Rice of the Prairies (according to the package).

I found this package at Urban Fair and could not resist trying, simply for blogging material (blogomania at its best). Low in fat and sodium, free of cholesterol and trans fatty acids, high source of fibre and good source of iron - exactly what the doctor ordered.

But what is it? It is a variety of oats originally developed by Agriculture Canada, initially for baby pigs, and now for humans. 

Essentially they are naked oats. And because they are hull-free, they require less processing making them not only healthier for us but also environmentally friendly with no flooding or irrigation requirements.

Add to this their beautiful look and feel, and one wonders why those are not more of a kitchen staple in Canada.

Cooking them is easy, just as rice. 

They take slightly longer than the 40 minutes of cooking time on the cooking instructions, but once the water is absorbed they are tasty, chewy, and, at least for my own taste buds, much nicer than wild rice.

Tonight I ate them with a chicken stew, but the applications are endless and recipes are available at mysmartsfood.com.

I will sure be eating those again, I can just see them as a breakfast item - add milk and sweetened condensed milk and enjoy! Will keep you posted on my next Cavena Nuda adventure.