Posts filed under ‘Eco’
Modern day porridge
When we moved to Vancouver, I dragged along a variety of products from Highwood Crossing in Alberta. They make awesome organic flours, canola oil and breakfast foods that I doubt are available here. I’ve written before about how much I love their granola and I’m also a big fan of their steel cut oats.
I always admired my grandfather’s unbreakable routine of beginning each day with a steaming bowl of porridge topped with brown sugar and milk. Is there anything more comforting than that? This is my modern-day version – steel cut oats topped with fresh fruit, soy milk, maple syrup, sunflower seeds and ground flax.
Steel cut oats
1 cup of steel cut oats
3 cups water
pinch of salt
Add oats to boiling salted water. Cook for 15-20 minutes over medium heat, stirring often. Add toppings of your choice and enjoy for breakfast, lunch or whenever the mood strikes.
Blueberry mango spinach salad
I love fruit in salads. The combination of blueberries and mangoes get a bit of a kick from hot pepper flakes and cilantro. This salad is fresh and summery and tastes great with grilled fish and boiled new potatoes.
Blueberry Mango Spinach Salad
1 ripe mango, cut into small chunks
1-1/2 cups fresh blueberries
1/2 red pepper, minced
2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped
2 tablespoons shallots, minced
1/4 teaspoon hot pepper flakes
Juice from 1/2 a lime
6-8 cups fresh spinach
Mix together mango, blueberries, red pepper, cilantro, shallots, hot pepper flakes and lime juice in a small bowl and let the mixture rest for at least a few minutes to allow the flavours to combine. Place spinach in a large salad bowl or on individual plates and sprinkle with the mango-blueberry mixture. Drizzle your favourite salad dressing on top and serve.
Pacific Spirit Park
Spend an afternoon one day soon wandering the quiet woodland of Vancouver’s Pacific Spirit Park. We explored this regional park a couple of Saturdays ago and I came away from the day feeling grounded and calm, the same way I do after all nature walks in inspiring green spaces.
Pacific Spirit Park reminded me a bit of Goldstream Park on Vancouver Island (one of my favourite parks anywhere) with its big tall trees, crushed stone pathways, and lots of cool shade to balance out a hot day. What I loved most about it is that it’s an urban park located adjacent to the UBC campus. Large green spaces are such an important thing for cities to have.
I hope you’ll go. It’s just a short bus or bike ride away from the vibrant city hustle of downtown. (more…)
Glittering like jewels
Now that we’re in Vancouver, I’m discovering a new version of the west coast that is thriving, vibrant and urban. It’s an ideal place to situate my passions for food, gardens, and culture and I love living here a little more every day. Still, after spending last week exploring our old stomping grounds on Vancouver Island, the allure of returning someday remains. (more…)
Strawberry salad!
A quick post to point you in the direction of my strawberry salad recipe. It’s strawberry season again and enjoying the ripe red fruit in a delicious salad is a rite of summer for me. I found beautiful BC-grown organic strawberries for sale at the corner store on our street this week and I’ve been blissfully eating my way through a big basket for the past two days.
I’ve updated the original recipe to include mint and chopped green onions along with the salad greens, strawberries and goat cheese. Those herbs combined with the creamy cheese and the juicy sweetness of the strawberries is a magical pairing.
Happy strawberry finding and salad eating!
