Mixed Grains Salad (name sucks, salad's delicious!)

This sounds disgustingly healthy. In fact, it is playfully delicious. The grains all provide a pleasant bite with a good mix of crunch from the nuts, seeds, and veg and little bursts of sweet and fresh throughout. 

Makes 8 to 10 servings

1 cup (105g) wheat berries

3/4 cup (75g) brown rice

1 cup (105g) pot barley

1/4 cup (55g) olive oil

2 Tbsps. tamari sauce + 2 Tbsps. water

1/4 cup (60 g) lemon juice

1 Tbsp (18g) Dijon mustard

2 cloves garlic, minced

¼ tsp freshly ground pepper

4 green onions, thinly sliced (60 to 80g)

1 sweet red pepper, seeded and diced

1/3 cup (50g) dried cranberries

1/2 cup (65g) roasted hazelnuts, chopped

1/2 cup (70g) toasted sunflower seeds

1. Boil some salted water in a saucepan and cook the wheat berries at a gentle simmer for 30 minutes, covered.
2. Add the brown rice and gently simmer for another 25 minutes. 
3. Add the barley and cook another 20 minutes, until all the grains are tender. The wheat berries and the brown rice should start to split. Drain any excess water from the pot right away, otherwise the grains will continue to take on water and the starches will settle on the outside of the grains making for an unpleasant gelatinous texture in the finished salad.
4. In large bowl, whisk together oil, soy sauce, lemon juice, mustard, garlic, salt and pepper. Add wheat berries, brown rice, barley, green onions, red pepper and raisins. Toss to combine. Stir in hazelnuts and sunflower seeds.

Coleslaw with vinaigrette

I really like this salad. It is quite tart when fresh, but mellows wonderfully of the next few days if you don't eat it all in one go. The juices from the carrots and the cabbage leach out and blend with the vinaigrette as the flavours meld over time.

1lbs/455g cabbage (recommended is ½ green cabbage and ½ red cabbage), finely sliced

2 large carrots (6oz/170g) grated

2 scallions, finely sliced (30 to 40g)

¼ cup (60g) Tbsps apple cider or white wine vinegar

1 Tbsp + 1 tsp (25g) Dijon mustard

1 tsp salt 

1 tsp pepper

½ cup (100g) good olive oil

1. Prepare all the vegetables and mix in a large bowl.
2. Put the remaining ingredients in a small jar, screw on the lid tightly and shake until emulsified, just a few seconds.
3. Pour the dressing over the vegetables and mix together thoroughly.

Salade de carrottes (Carrot Salad)

This has become one of my go-to salads instead of leaf lettuce. Sometimes I'm looking to pair a different flavor, and sometimes it's for the colour. Seasonally speaking, it's also a way of having a crunch salad when leaf lettuce isn't available.

1 lb carrots, peeled and grated

2 Tbsps minced chives or chopped green onion (15g)

2 Tbsps minced fresh parsley

Dressing

3 Tbsps. (36g) fine olive oil*

2 Tbsps. (27g) lemon juice

2 tsps. (14g) honey or maple syrup

1 tsp (7g) Dijon mustard

½ tsp ground cumin

¼ tsp salt

1. In a large bowl combine the carrot, chive or green onion and parsley.
2. To make the dressing, whisk all of the ingredients together in a small bowl until emulsified.
3. Pour the dressing over the carrot mixture and toss until the carrots are evenly coated. 
4. Allow the salad to marinate for at least 20 minutes before serving. Toss again before serving. 

*I don't usually talk about 'using only the best' of anything, but I did bother to point out that a fine extra-virgin olive oil would be choice in this instance. Regular olive oil is mainly for cooking and doesn't have much in the way of flavor. However, in a salad dressing of this kind you want to taste the olive oil, which is why a real cold-pressed, extra-virgin olive oil, preferably unfiltered, is best for a really tasty dressing but, if you don't have any, it'll be just fine.

Célerie gratiné

Celery isn't one of my go-to vegetables. I usually only need a stalk or two and then it sits in refrigerator until it turns into a putrid liquid. Not really. Well, maybe once. Anyway, this recipe is a great way of using up the rest of the celery before it transforms into compost.

1 bunch celery (1lb to 1lb 8oz), including leaves, chopped
1½ tsp salt
2 Tbsps (1oz/28gr) butter
2 Tbsps flour
¼ tsp nutmeg
¼ tsp pepper
2 cups milk
½ cup breadcrumbs (55g)
¼ cup (¾ oz/20gr) Gruyère cheese

¼ cup chopped chives or 3 chopped scallions (45 to 60g)
2 Tbsps chopped parsley

1. In a skillet combine the celery and salt. Add water just enough to cover. Bring to a boil and then simmer, uncovered, until the liquid is completely gone. The celery should be  totally cooked. Dump into a plate and set aside.
2. In the hot skillet, melt the butter and sprinkle in the flour, nutmeg and pepper, whisking until it starts to turn brown. Add the milk and whisk until it's smooth, then add the celery and cook until the sauce becomes creamy and thick. Taste and season with salt.
3. In a bowl, combine the breadcrumbs, cheese, chives and parsley. At this point, either leave the celery mix in the skillet or dump it into a gratin dish or casserole. Sprinkle the cheesy breadcrumbs on top.
4. Set the oven to broil. Put the dish in the oven and broil until the top is golden.

Ginger Citrus Soba Noodles

Part 1
4 oz soba noodles (100% buckwheat soba if gluten free - other types of noodles are ok.)
1 cup edamame

Part 2 - The sauce
juice from approximately 1⁄2 of an orange (about 1⁄4 cup)
1 Tbsp lime juice
1 Tbsp tamari (or soy sauce)
½ tsp hot sauce (or to taste)
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
2 tsps minced fresh ginger

Part 3 - The rest
1 cup snow peas
Mild vegetable oil
2 to 4 oz mushrooms
¼ cup chopped scallions or chives (30 to 45g)
Extra orange & lime wedges to squeeze in at the end
a few teaspoons of sesame seeds, for garnish

1. Bring a small pot of water to boil and add edamame. Cook for 7 to 8 minutes, remove from the heat source, and let stand until the rest is ready.
2. While this is happening, start the water for the noodles. Throw in a pinch of salt. 
3. While the water for the noodles is coming to a boil, string the peas and slice the mushrooms.
4. Put a pan on the stove with a splash of oil and turn on the heat to medium high.
5. While the pan heats up, start mixing together the ingredients for the sauce, which all go in at once and get whisked together.
6. Once the pan is so hot that the first snow pea will sizzle when it hits, add all the snow peas and a pinch of salt, turn down the heat to medium and stir fry for few minutes, until tender and they get a slight char on both sides. Keep shaking the pan or stirring and flipping the peas to make sure they get cooked on both sides. Remove from the pan and set aside. 
7. Do the same for the mushrooms.
8. Now, turn off the heat and let the pan cool down for a few minutes. Add the noodles to the boiling water while you wait.
9. The reason to cool the pan a bit is that it is relatively hot and dry. The next step is to add the sauce, and if you add it while it's too hot, it may spit dangerously. Regardless, stand back when you pour in the sauce. It should still be hot enough to bubble just a little bit. Stir continuously as it thickens, about 2 to 3 minutes. If it doesn't bubble a bit, turn the heat back on to low. The sauce should reduce to a light syrup. Don't let it burn or reduce too much.
10. Add the cooked noodles, snow peas, mushrooms and edamame to the pan. Stir to mix everything together with the sauce. Add a good squeeze of lime, and cook a few minutes more. Taste & adjust. If necessary, add more soy sauce, another squeeze of orange or lime, perhaps more hot sauce if you want more heat. Top with a drizzle of toasted sesame oil, scallions (or chives) and sesame seeds.

Turkey Burgers (the secret is Cheese)

Ground turkey tends to be sort of bland, and I've searched for a good turkey burger recipe. I think I'm in pretty good form here, and have Frankensteined a number of recipes including ideas from plain old regular burger patty recipes.

1 lb ground turkey
¼ cup bread crumbs or quick cook oatmeal
1 egg, lightly beaten
3 green onions, chopped (45 to 60g)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 to 2 tsps fresh sage, minced (optional)
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp ground pepper
1 to 2 Tbsps cheese (whatever you have bits of, cheddar, mozzarella, gruyere, parmesan, blue, doesn't matter except to your taste)

1. I like to cook the garlic in a little oil first, and I save the oil to cook the patties in.
2. Mix all ingredients together and form into 4 patties.
3. Cook the patties in a medium skillet over medium heat, turning once, to an internal temperature of 165°F.

Chłodnik - Polish Cold Yoghurt Beet Soup

This makes an unusual, violent pink soup that is beautiful and delicious. It's great for a lunch on early fall days, with the warm, buttered potatoes and the cool, colourful soup.

Serves 8

One bunch of young beets with leaves (about 6)
1 tsp lemon juice, to taste
1 garlic clove, minced
5 cups of boiling water
1 English cucumber, quartered and finely diced
about 10 radishes, halved and sliced
4 spring onion tops or chives, chopped (40 to 60g)
A small bunch of dill, minced
4 cups natural yogurt or cultured buttermilk
sea salt to taste
freshly ground black pepper to taste
golden caster sugar to taste - optional
4 to 6 hard boiled eggs to serve
1 to 1½ kg cooked baby potatoes to serve
1 Tbsp (½ oz/14gr) butter for potatoes

1. Wash beet leaves, stems and roots. Peel roots and dice them, chop leaves and stems (if there are lots of leaves use only half).
2. Boil water, add beet material along with garlic and lemon juice. Cook covered until beets are soft but still crunchy.
3. Remove from heat, add cucumber, radishes, half of the dill (reserve the rest to sprinkle over potatoes), spring onions and set aside to cool down a bit. Add yogurt (or buttermilk), season to taste with salt, pepper (and sugar if using, but good young beets should be plenty sweet already) and place in the fridge for at least an hour.
4. Serve chilled with freshly cooked baby potatoes topped with butter and dill and hard boiled eggs on the side.
5. Add more boiled water if the soup is too thick or too intense in flavour.
6. If you have too many beetroot leaves, wash and chop them and freeze to use later in different soups.

Leeky Goat Quiche - Chèvre and Leek Quiche

One of my standard quiche recipes, I made this as a side-dish to my parent's catered 50th wedding anniversary, and was quite chuffed when it became the focus of the meal. I love it when people ask me for the recipe!

1 blind-baked pie crust, completely cooled

2 Tbsps (1oz/28gr) melted butter

2 to 3 scallions (45 to 60g)

1 (6oz/170gr) leek

3 eggs

1 cup crème fraîche
pinch nutmeg

4 to 5 oz chèvre cheese

½ tsp salt

1⁄4 tsp pepper
Optional: 1 Tbsp tarragon

1. Pre-heat oven to 400°F and blind-bake the pie crust. Allow it to cool completely before using to allow the crust to set.
2. While crust is baking, fry leek in butter until soft. Add the scallions and cook with the leeks for another 2 to 3 minutes, to wilt. Set aside.
3. Whisk together egg, crème fraiche, nutmeg, salt and pepper (and tarragon, if using).
4. Spread cheese in bottom of pie shell. Sprinkle fried leeks on top.
5. Pour egg mix into shell; sprinkle fried scallions on top.
6. Turn down the oven temperature to 350°F and bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until the custard is just set.
7. To keep the quiche warm, cover it with aluminum foil and bake it in a preheated oven at 200-250F.

Chicken Noodle Soup

What research has shown is that chicken soup is effective to relieve the effects of the common cold by blocking the white blood cells that ineffectively try to attack the cold virus, causing the production of phlegm. What they haven't been able to do is propose a viable theory as to how chicken soup does this. It makes me happy that plain-old chicken noodle soup is a delicious home remedy. And, if it's made with the Foundation of Goodness Chicken Stock, it is excellent. The only caveat for this soup is the chicken pieces - do not over-simmer the soup once the chicken pieces have been added. The chicken will continue to cook and become tough. This is also good to remember if re-heating the soup.

2 cups (10oz/280g) diced chicken breast

1 Tbsp vegetable oil

1⁄2 tsp salt 

1⁄2 tsp fresh ground black pepper or to taste

8 cups chicken broth or stock

2 stalks celery (4oz/114g) diced

2 carrots (4oz/114g) diced into little cubes

4 green onions, thinly sliced (60 to 80g)

2 cups (3oz/85g) egg noodles

1⁄4 cup fresh dill, cilantro or parsley, finely chopped

1. If you don't have leftover chicken, then you can prepare chicken breasts on a baking sheet. Preheat the oven to 350°F; coat the chicken with oil, season with salt and pepper. Cook in the oven for 30 to 40 minutes making sure the chicken is fully cooked (internal temperature of 160°F). Remove from the oven and allow to cool before dicing.
2. Heat the chicken stock by simmering in an uncovered pot before adding the other ingredients.
3. While the broth or stock is brought to a simmer, cut up the chicken breast, cutting the meat into medium sized cubes and set aside. Dice the celery, slice or dice the carrots, and thinly slice the green onions.
4. Add the veg and noodles to the pot. When the noodles are fully cooked (8 to 10 minutes), so should the veg. Add the chicken meat and then the herb of your choice. Allow to cook for an additional 4 minutes or until the meat is heated through. Serve piping hot.