Dessert By Candy

Eat My Greens

I’m a huge fan of vegetable and quite capable of filling my tummy with ridiculous amount of them in every meal. For this reason, juicing holds little appeal to me. Why would I sacrifice all that interesting texture? Why would I need to mask the vegetal flavours with sweet fruit? Why gulp when I can chew? Vegetable is beautiful and delicious in their own right. I want to enjoy them in all their green (red, yellow, purple or brown) glory.

For similar reason, I yawn at pureed soup. They are not unlike the savoury cousin of your morning glass of green juice—one dimensional. I prefer soup that is hearty and chunky with multitude of flavours. Therefor, it was a complete surprise that I fell head over heels for this creamy Green Gazpacho from Yotam Ottolenghi’s Plenty.

P.S. Not Too Much

Last weekend I “celebrated” the one year anniversary of my first concussion. In the last twelve months, I fought hard in my rehabilitation, addressed my body alignment issues, learned to skate again, and trained to be strong once more. Then it all came crashing down with a second concussion and a still unresolved ankle cyst. That is more than enough material to inspire some soul searching.

When I started inline speed skating in 2006, my life revolved around daily workouts, annual racing calendars, and multi-year long term training goals. I was not aware of it at the time, but somewhere along the way, I transformed from physically active individual to highly disciplined athlete. Oddly enough, I did not see myself as the latter. I only thought I exercised a bit more than most people so that I could do well at races (and enjoy hearty meals yet not turning into a whale). Being competitive is fun. Achieving goals is fulfilling. I love that feeling of wanting something so badly that I force myself through fatigue and disappointment to ultimately triumph. In hindsight, that obsession is a quality shared by many athletes.

Waste Not

Despite my love of good food, I am not a frequent participant of the numerous food events held in and around my city. I do not consider myself a homebody but compare to many of my food loving friends, I really do not get out much. Last week was an exception. On Tuesday, I enjoyed a most wonderful evening filled to the bream with great food, great drinks, great atmosphere, and a great cause. The Stop’s Night Market was an all-you-can-drink-and-eat festival featuring high profile local restaurants and popup vendors. Money raised from this event was enough to provide three days of healthy food for 9000 people! Check out the great recap by foodpr0n and Bon Eats.

Earlier in the week, I also caught wind that ACE Bakery celebrates their 20th anniversary with a series of artisan incubator workshops. I signed up for Friday’s Spirit Tree Ciderie Tasting Workshop not knowing what to expect. I love cider and the course description mentioned guided tasting. That was already more than enough incentive.

Baby Step

I cooked a lot last weekend, quite unexpectedly. It all began with two glistening sides of wild caught sockeye salmon fillets that I bought on Friday. Wild salmon season is upon us and I gladly take advantage of the high quality and low price. Of course it fits right in with my omega-3 and antioxidant rich diet. After a month of experimenting with a more restrictive form of anti-inflammatory diet, I cannot say my ankle inflammation is getting any better nor do I feel any differently in general. The lump is so big now it is beginning to interfere with my daily activities. I will meet with an orthopaedic surgeon this week to discuss my options.

Like any dietary regiment, I do not expect to see changes overnight. One approach to anti-inflammatory diet is to maintain an overall balance that leads the body to produce more anti-inflammatory chemicals. Rather than totally abstaining from certain food such as grains and starchy vegetable, I will only eat them in moderation and always bear in mind to offset them with some anti-inflammatory superstars. It doesn’t mean I’m going to have cake, pastry, and bread everyday. But I welcome the return of whole grains, beans, dairy, and sweet summer fruit to my menu. Cold water fish, ginger, allium, nuts, and spices will continue to play significant role in my diet. Keeping that in mind, here is my menu of last Saturday night’s family dinner.

Salmon (Again?!) Dinner

Baby Kale & Mango Salad with Guacamole Dressing

Roasted Sockeye Salmon & Grapes on Fennel

Strawberry Rose Yogurt Icebox Cake

Healing Power Of Food

In most cases, my avoidance of grains and grain-like ingredients fit well into the diet preference of the loved ones I cook for. As athletes, carbohydrate plays an important part in the macronutrients we consume so completely avoiding whole grains is challenging. Since I am not actively training, I can get away by filling the void with sweet potato, winter squash, lentils, and ridiculous amount of vegetable. The same cannot be said for M who is deep in his racing season.

On Tuesday, I got a phone call that I dread. While I was enjoying the eats and drinks at The Stop Night Market with friends, M had an altercation with a vehicle during training. I could only make out few details from the incoherent description of his training partners. But the underlying message was clear: get him to the emergency room even if he was unwilling. What followed was a long night of waiting at the hospital. Fortunately, the initial assessment was that injuries were minor and we dragged our tired bodies home at 4am.

I Miss Baking

While I enjoy the culinary challenges that come with a new diet, some things I miss dearly. Specifically, baking. It is not a craving for baked goods but rather I miss the actually baking itself. Few things compare to the satisfaction of pulling out a fresh loaf of bread and mingling in the sweet fragrance of butter, sugar, flour, and eggs.

Last week, I needed the oven to roast some squash and sweet potatoes. It just seemed like such a waste of energy if I don’t take advantage of having a hot oven for an hour. Naturally, I quickly whipped up a loaf cake. That was just the right thing to do.

On The Road

It is hard enough to maintain healthy eating habit while traveling, let alone following restrictive diet rules. This weekend I head out to Middle Of Nowhere with an hour flight followed by six hours road trip. It isn’t so long ago when planning my travel provisions is all about portability and taste. Now, I need to consider food that I should eat more of and those I should avoid. It is a juggling act.

Complimentary hotel breakfast is awesome if I don’t mind loading up on bread, instant oatmeal, banana, sweetened yogurt, make-your-own waffle, overcooked scrambled eggs and bacon. I can potentially pick up a few avocados from the grocery store but I decide to go with something different. One good thing about staying in budget hotel is that the room is usually equipped with mini fridge and microwave. Although chia seeds are not particularly anti-inflammatory, they are certainly packed with nutrition. Chocolate Raspberry Chia Pudding is a great breakfast option.

Gingery Creamed Kale & Cabbage

I never really understand the appeal of creamed spinach. My very limited exposure involves dark steakhouses, sizzling slabs of juicy steak, and garlicky mushrooms. No wonder the creamed spinach doesn’t stand a chance among such stiff competition. If I want to eat spinach, I can think of so many different ways that don’t mute the mineral tang with copious amount of butter and cream. Why oh why?

But of course, not everyone’s a fan of leafy greens. I understand that. When I came across Marcus Samuelsson’s recipe for Gingery Creamed Kale & Cabbage, my curiosity was piqued. He took the creamed spinach idea and used hearty lucinato kale and green cabbage. Instead of one dimensional richness of cream, he boosted flavour with turmeric and ginger. I wanted to taste the result so badly…until I saw 2 cups of cream and 1 cup of buttermilk at the bottom of the ingredient list. I decided to give this recipe a vegan makeover.

I Have No Grill

Every summer I bemoan the lack of grilling at my home kitchen. The month of May, food media drum up the excitement of summer with special features on grilling and I can only sigh in envy. That continues until the frenzy of Thanksgiving takes our attention from grilling to roasting. Luckily, with my current emphasis on eating fish, I discover that some grilling recipes adapt beautifully to a quick broil in the oven. This was exactly what I enjoyed last night for dinner.

I love it when my Sunday supper comes together like jigsaw pieces falling into place. First, there was a basket of sweet bell peppers I picked up at the farmers market. A lone eggplant and half of a red onion begged to be used too. This led me to the Marinated Pepper and Eggplant recipe in Suzanne Goin’s Sunday Suppers At Lucques. This cookbook organizes recipes by seasonal menus and the recipe is paired with California Sea Bass Kabobs with Charmoula. Coincidentally, swordfish was on sale at my favourite fishmonger. Both fish are firm flesh and meaty so taking advantage of the sale made a lot of sense. The only caveat? The recipe was written for the grill. I would need to adapt accordingly.

Nicer-With-A-Grill Fish Dinner

Asparagus Bundles with Smoked Salmon

Swordfish Kabobs with Charmoula

Marinated Pepper and Eggplant

An Embarrassing Confession

I wish I have intelligent things to say about this plate of Goat Cheese & Strawberry Tartine. The timestamp on the photos told me I made the open-faced sandwiches exactly a year ago when I happened to have all the ingredients at home. That very weekend, a three-year relationship came to an end. The ingredients came from the famed Marche Jean Talon in Montreal and I drove home heartbroken. Only a year? More like a lifetime ago. Thankfully it is all behind me now and I have my hands full with other concerns.

I am also thankful that I made notes way back when. I used green olive baguette from Première Moisson, unripen goat cheese from Qui Lait Cru Fromagerie, local Quebec strawberries from Ile d'Orleans, home-grown basil, and balsamic vinegar. Looking at these photos reminds me of spring 2012.