Dessert By Candy

Self Appointed Head Of Catering Department

Something strange started happening as I became more capable in the kitchen. I began to develop an uncontrollable ambition to feed everyone in close proximity. I know the importance of eating well and how it can influence our quality of living. The mere thought of my loved ones eating poorly just bothers me to the core. That was the driving force behind another year of my self-appointed position as Head of Catering Department at my Montreal 24h relay teams.

The premise is simple. Each team of ten skaters relays on the F1 race track in Montreal’s Gilles-Villeneuve race way over a period of 24 hours. During this time, we make our home in the paddock next to the race course and life reduces to the simple matter of eat, skate, sleep. Fuelling our bodies in order to skate fast plays an important role. My inner control freak wanted to make sure me and my teammates eat nutritious food that tastes great with lots of varieties to suit different tastes. So of course I volunteered for the job.

Pleasant But Not Memorable

One can certainly do much worse in life than being described as pleasant enough, just not memorable. If I am a kid, I know that is not the kind of person I aspire to be. If I am a story, I want to be compelling enough that my audience remembers me. If I am a dish, is there a place in the world for me if I am merely pleasant but not memorable?

When I read the head notes for Minted Zucchini Tagliatelle with Cucumbers and Lemon in Dorie Greenspan’s Around My French Table, I had high hopes for this vegan dish. Praise was heaped upon this salad created by Frédérick Grasser-Hermé, someone who is anything but forgettable. I looked forward to a mind blowing taste experience like Greenspan promised.

Crossing The Boundary

When things cross the boundary from bad to absurd, I have the annoying habit to start cackling with genuine mirth. I pay for this dearly, of course. There had been at least two relationships that went down the drain because of my, ahem, inappropriate reaction. Had I assume a more sombre or at least sincere attitude, things could have turn out differently. But let’s not dwell on that anymore. I actually have a more light hearted anecdote to share.

Last Wednesday I met with a concussion specialist at the university sports clinic. Yes, it’s a confirmed case of concussion even though the symptoms are minor. I am now under the care of some good medical professionals and doing everything necessary to ensure 100% recovery. Last week I mentioned briefly the need to stop thinking. Actually, there is more to it than that. The exact words from the doctor were “minimize stimulation to the brain”. In layman’s term, the brain cells are trying to repair themselves and stimulation would overload them to the point which they sever non-essential connections to protect the nucleus. So, outside of my regular work hours, there would be

• no TV
• no movies
• no music
• no computer
• no reading
• no alcohol
• no physical activities
• no bedroom activities

Okay, so “no bedroom activities” were my words, not the doctor’s. He was a lot more matter-of-fact about it, being a doctor and everything. It was at this point that I started laughing, almost uncontrollably. I was fully aware of the seriousness of such seemingly extreme measure but I had to wonder. Concussion is no laughing matter and it’s also common injury in male-dominated sports. How on earth do guys cope with this last advice?!

Down Time

I thought things were slowly returning to an upswing but I was wrong. Last Saturday I fell during a ceremonial Walk To London roll and trashed my helmet. The fall was absurd and I am mad at myself for crashing under such innocuous circumstances. My helmet served me well and shattered as it should but I was dizzy for some time. After much consideration, I was taken to a nearby hospital in Washington DC on an ambulance, strapped to a board on the stretcher to immobilize me. When the triage nurse assessed my injuries, she asked is my home a safe place. I didn’t understand the question at first and was puzzled by this totally unrelated question. Of course my home is a safe place. It only dawned on me hours later that my weekly scars from skating-related crashes look suspiciously like the result of domestic violence. Not good, Candy, not good.

CAT scan and x-ray were taken and all results came back negative. But this emergency room visit was emotionally challenging. It was a very scary feeling to be surrounded by strange faces while lying helplessly on a stretcher, unable to move, unable to determine how badly I just hurt myself. The paramedics and triage nurses argued back and forth if my injury was a trauma only added to my stress. I was passed around between many different medical professionals. Although all of them were calm and friendly, I couldn’t shake that horrible feeling of being interrogated with the same questions over and over again. It almost felt like a trick to see how long it would take for me to break down. Obviously that was not the intention but I rarely felt so scare and lonely at the same time.

Slimming Down

An unexpected result of being away from home is that I am slimming down quickly. My home is typically stocked with all kinds of little bites for me to graze on throughout the day. Now that I have a few storage and cooking limitations, I think long and hard before putting an item into my shopping basket. That means meal planning is a lot more organized and I make sure to only purchase items I need for dishes I plan to make in the next few days. Just one week into my training and my clothes are already fitting a little more loosely. Imagine that!

Aside from more disciplined eating habits, I’m also craving different food in this warm weather. Salads that are ready to eat directly out of the fridge is the norm. Since the bean and butternut squash salad, I have also finished a batch of green bean fennel red onion salad and raw Tuscan kale salad. On today’s menu was roasted acorn squash stuffed with fruit & nut wild rice salad in blood orange vinaigrette. Funny how I cannot cook rice if my life depends on it yet wild rice is something I can make with reliable success.

Homesick Vegan

Since I arrived in Florida on Tuesday, I’ve been busy settling in. It’s been hectic and not at the same time. Things could get overwhelming when simple trips to the gym or the grocery store were preceded by long walk in the bright Florida sun. But once my daily chores and training were done, there were plenty of down time that I spent in solitude. I did not realize going into the office daily meant I was surrounded by human connection. Now that I work remotely, I miss that interaction.

I’m just a little homesick. Though I’m a seasoned traveler and I’ve gone on extended work trips or vacations before, this time things just feel a bit different. I’m not exactly relaxed in the vacation frame of mind because the responsibility of work and training continues to be the central focus of my life. Yet, I’m removed from the familiarity of daily life. This calls for comfort food that reminds me of home. This means vegan food that makes me feel good inside and out.

Vegan Cravings

I embrace food in all its animal and vegetarian glory but I develop intense cravings for vegan dishes over stretches of time occasionally. Such cravings are usually spurred by fatigue of cooking meat dishes for the boys. Sure it is fun to cook and eat finger-licking-good ribs, juicy roasts, and pan-seared steaks with that irresistible char. But honestly, my true love lies in a rainbow of colours and shapes from vegetable, legumes, and whole grains. Since my return from Virginia, vegan is the name of the game and I cannot be happier.

Novice vegan cooks often find it difficult or creatively restrictive to cook without animal products. I know I was. However, experience and knowledge taught me that it is merely a difference between the glass half-empty and half-full attitude. There is a lot of flavour to be coaxed out of vegetables. Conversely, whole grains and beans are perfect receptacle for flavour. Together they make a really good team for some truly satisfying dishes. Last weekend’s Heirloom Beans and Mushroom Stew was an illustration of this example.

Nutritional Powerhouse

Even by the low standard of fad diets, cabbage soup hit a pretty low point in culinary history. I totally understand if you want to run the other way once you find out that I have a cabbage soup recipe for you today. For those of you brave enough to read on, I guarantee that you’ll be rewarded with a feisty, wholesome, and hearty soup that just happens to be vegan and a nutritional powerhouse. Oh, and it has absolutely nothing to do with post-holiday cleanse because, as we all know, we did not over-indulge in cookies and eggnog the last couple of weeks.

My week-long vacation in Virginia had finally came to an end and I returned to my comfortable home last night. What welcomed me was an impeccably clean house thanks to Little Brother’s awesome effort and a fridge mostly devoid of fresh vegetable due to my own great planning. However, that did not mean I had nothing to work with. Given the right treatment, red cabbage, sweet potatoes, onion, a can of cannellini beans, and some leftover canned tomatoes quickly turned into a fragrant pot of soup with spicy kick from garam masala and ginger. The vibrant soup was joined by bits of green onion, roasted cashews, and flaxseed sesame lavash. I only meant to have a few sips before my workout but before I knew it, I gobbled down a large bowl. It was that good.

Indian Feast At Home

Indian cuisine is at once familiar and exotic to me. Familiar to my taste buds because Toronto is a multi-cultural city with large South Asian population and authentic Indian food is woven into our dining culture. Exotic in my kitchen because I rarely crave Indian food at home. The whole concept of toasting whole spices and grinding my own spice blend as building blocks for most dishes seems like a job best left to the professionals. However, there are great reasons to cook Indian food at home. The wonderful choices of vegetarian and vegan dishes fit right in to my way of eating. Besides, I can still enjoy the vibrant flavours of these dishes without the heavy greasy taste often found at restaurants with penchant for ghee.

About a week ago I received a new recipe to test for an upcoming issue of Cook’s Illustrated Magazine. The recipe for naan promises fluffy tender restaurant-style flatbread that I can make at home with a non-stick skillet. Of course I jump at the chance to cook an Indian Feast at home.

Soup Season Is Here

It’s been over a year since I started cooking with French Fridays with Dorie group and it’s amazing to see the sheer number of dishes I cooked from Around My French Table. Out of the 42 dishes in my archive, five of them are soup and all require pureeing. Good thing I invested in an immersion blender last Christmas! This week’s Spiced Squash, Fennel, & Pear Soup is no exception and my favourite small appliance got another good workout.

I make roasted squash soup on a regular basis as soon as soup season arrives. It is low in calories yet its warmth and heft feel so satisfying this time of year. I can eat bowl after bowl without guilt. However, squash soup can be a bit one-dimensional in taste. It is a welcome change to see a recipe incorporating plenty of other vegetable and spices to give this winter standby a makeover.