teabowl

Earth Bowl is the yummiest, healthiest, most counter-intuitive meal imaginable. Originally published by Caroline Dupont in Enlightened Eating (an excellent, continually surprising source of vegetarian, vegan and raw food recipes and inspiration), Earth Bowl combines apples, celery and nuts into a healthy meal or snack. It could be breakfast because it has apples and nuts. It could be dinner because it has celery. It takes less than 5 minutes to make.

Earth Bowl

1 apple, diced (green or red, but should be crunchy and not mealy)
2 stalks celery, diced
half a cup of pecans, loosely crushed
quarter cup of pumpkin seeds (or maybe slightly less)
half a cup of sugared, pitted dates, chopped into small pieces
juice of one orange

Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Stir. Eat. Serves one person as a meal, two as a side salad. I have no idea what you’d serve it with, though. But it’s really good.

Crocs are strangely compelling. I’ll make a confession up front: I’ve just bought my first pair after resisting them for the last few years. Like this blog, I thought they were ugly and cheap looking. Shoes made of injection-moulded rubbery plastic seemed like another indicator of the impending apocalypse. It did seem that shoes like these should never grace the feet of anyone over the age of five.

But Crocs have had a strange victory march, certainly through North American society. And this has been despite a variety of alarmist high-exposure news reports about them. For example, Maclean’s (Canada’s very own, low-rent version of Time magazine) ran an exposé about how Crocs in healthcare (where they are very popular) are endangering both patients and staff. Says Maclean’s:

An increasing number of hospitals and health centres are moving toward banning Crocs and Crocs knock-offs from their facilities for fear the shoes have endangered both patients and staff. The main offenders appear to be the popular Beach and Cayman models, which have holes on top, side vents and a back strap rather than a closed heel. They allegedly have been responsible for infection control hazards because bodily fluids such as blood have spilled into the holes. Staff have reportedly twisted ankles because of the open back. And staff reaction times are said to be compromised because it’s suspected that clogs are more difficult to run in than traditional hospital footwear.

And you do see them everywhere in hospitals. I’ve been spending a bit of time lately at Toronto’s Sick Kids children’s hospital, and I would say - estimating anecdotally and visually - that 50-70% of all staff seem to have them on their feet. They come in all sorts of colours, to match various flavours of scrubs, and you can sort of understand how walking around on something soft, wide and washable would make sense in a hospital. As for running or infections… well, sure. You might have to slip them off if they call a code and run on your socks, and you may have to throw them into the washing machine once in a while.

Horror stories from outside of healthcare abound, too. For example, CityNews reports about a four-year-old Toronto boy who almost lost a toe in an escalator:

Duncan was at Sherway Gardens with his family, coming up an escalator when suddenly one of his Crocs got stuck between the moving stairs and the stationary wall. His mother quickly figured out what was happening, but not before his shoes were forever ruined. “I dropped my shopping bag and ripped his foot out,” recalls Duncan’s mother, Karen Goodfellow.

And the Japanese have actually issued a government warning to let people know that Crocs can get kids’ feet stuck in escalators.

All of this sounds a bit like sour grapes, doesn’t it? Like alarm bells rung by those that are aesthetically offended.

I’ll admit that they’re perhaps not the most pleasing shoes to the eye. And - being German - I’m partial to Birkenstocks, the original manufactured clog (we’ll leave out Dutch wood-sole clogs for the purpose of expedience here). Birkenstocks are shaped ergonomically (and have been, for a hundred years), look good and can be worn as sandals in the summer and slippers in the winter. But: I’ve discovered that they can become smelly and stained pretty fast because of all their natural materials (leather, cork, etc.). And, while Birkenstock offers the ability to replace the footbed, this is a costly process which - in my experience - doesn’t work very well.

So the idea of wearing an anatomically shaped, anti-bacterial, disposable, $35 clog is sort of appealing. Plus Crocs are completely vegetarian/vegan-friendly. And now you can even buy a recycled, post-consumer version (but those only come in a putrid grey that’s truly, deeply ugly).

I’ll see how I actually do this summer… I may flounder and go back to my Birkenstocks when I’m finally confronted with my size M12/13 pair of brown Caymans on my feet, paired with shorts and no socks. That’s why I have the big mirror in my hallway. Just so that I can be mortified at myself before I leave the house.

The City of Toronto has launched a Zerofootprint co-branded CO2 calculator. Zerofootprint is a Canadian not-for-profit aiming to calculate and offset our individual and collective impact on the environment. Above is my own “quick calculator.” I don’t know if I’m supposed to be appalled or elated: being a vegetarian in a small apartment is obviously a good thing; flying around in air planes and driving a car are not.

Try it out at http://www.toronto.zerofootprint.net. Or read about Zerofootprint the organization here.

Hezbollah Tofu is a blog trying to organize vegans to “veganize” Anthony Bourdain’s recipes. They’ll publish them as a zine once they have collected enough. Bourdain is quoted from Kitchen Confidential:

Vegetarians, and their Hezbollah-like splinter faction, the vegans, are a persistent irritant to any chef worth a damn. To me, life without veal stock, pork fat, sausage, organ meat, demi-glace, or even stinky cheese is a life not worth living. Vegetarians are the enemy of everything good and decent in the human spirit, and an affront to all I stand for, the pure enjoyment of food.

What offensive, contrarian drivel. I’ve enjoyed reading Kitchen Confidential in the past for its ‘revelatory’ nature (then again, not sure why I didn’t know those things were going on in kitchens anyway). The Hezbollahs write:

We’re going to enjoy vastly improved, veganized versions of your masturbatory, blood-oozing recipes. And then we’re going to compile them, sell them in zine form, and donate the proceeds to vegan outreach organizations and farm sanctuaries–in your name. Anthony, I have to say, I’m really looking forward to the great work we’re going to do together for veganism.

The web. Such an awesome place. I’ll buy copies of the zine and give them to all my friends.

For vegetarians, Muskoka isn’t always a particularly good food destination. In fact, area restaurants fall either into the ‘fine dining’ category (rustic, meaty fare, often involving game) or a cornucopia of chain restaurants that you’d find anyplace in North America (Pizza Hut, McDonald’s, Harvey’s and the like). Restaurants make the usual concessions to ‘those not wishing to eat meat’ - risotto and two kinds of pasta, one with mushrooms and another with pesto or sundried tomatoes.

So it’s a particular delight to find a vegetarian-conscious establishment in Huntsville, ON - a few clicks away from Deerhurst Resort, Hidden Valley and the Delta Grandview Inn, all popular area vacation spots. 3 Guys and a Stove is owned and run by Jeff Suddaby, who also has his own cooking show on Global, Who’s Coming For Dinner? (I’ve never seen the show, but after eating at the restaurant I’d be interested in checking it out.)

The restaurant itself is definitely rustic. It’s a two-level free-standing building along Highway 60 (washrooms upstairs, so definitely not wheelchair accessible from what I could tell). There are booths and tables on the ground floor (as well as the open kitchen and a large-ish bar), and tables only upstairs. Since it’s the middle of winter, I’m not sure what sort of a ‘patio’ or al fresco experience 3 Men might offer in the summer. The wait staff are friendly (in that lovely, small-town Ontario way - and I don’t mean to have an air of big city condescension about this, although I’m sure I do) without being overbearing or too in your face. The soundtrack is a stream of blues and r’n'b, courtesy of Galaxie Blues (a Bell ExpressVu music channel), from what I could tell. It’s certainly appropriate for the decor and ambience.

Okay, on to the food. It’s a biggish menu - one of those Restaurant Makeover chefs might say it’s a little too large - but the sections that concern us are right in front. The second page has ‘Rice - Pasta - Stews - Burgers’ and this is where the vegetarian magic is. Rice, pasta and stew dishes are “prepared as vegetarian entrees.” This means that vegetarians can order any of these dishes without worrying that they’re based on chicken stock or have hidden bacon bits in them. Omnivores can choose to add lamb, chicken, shrimp, scallops, etc. to these dishes.

After enjoying some tiny, freshly baked two-bite mini-buns with butter, we started by sharing Risotto Fritters, “with red onions, roasted peppers, French Brie, fried corn-dusted tomatoes and tart onion salsa.” These were really flavourful, especially the red onions (pickled, I thought) and salsa arranged around the sliced tomato base. The fritters themselves were tasty but paled a bit when compared to all the red bits on the plate.

The vegetarian main dishes we tried were a rice dish and a stew. The rice dish was the Curry Jasmine Rice, “with almonds, roasted vegetables, fresh pineapple, coconut, raisins, grilled bananas, sweet fruit chutney and wildberry yogurt.” It was tasty and provided a nice variety to the palate. There were some doubts as to whether the yogurt was truly vegetarian - most store-bought fruit yogurts have gelatin which is decidedly non-vegetarian. Other than that, though, this was a very tasty and satisfying choice.

The stew was Curried Roasted Vegetable & Red-skinned Potato Stew, also an Indian-inflected taste sensation. Described by the menu as “green chili tofu, raisins, pineapple, roasted almonds, bananas, sweetened coconut, peach chutney, blueberry yogurt & fried pappadum,” this dish lived up the delicious description. While I’m not sure why the tofu was called “green chili” (I would expect that to be a little hotter and more, well, chili-ish - instead, it was basically flavourless and a little too soft), I really liked the fruit flavours and crunchy almonds. And the pappadums were crunchy and added a nice ‘authentic’ Indian touch.

We declined dessert but were told that the White Chocolate Cheesecake is the chef’s signature dessert. At $14.95 a piece, it’s also an insanely expensive way to end your meal (mains were around $13), so it would have to be excellent.

Chef Suddaby has written a cookbook and also appears to have his own line of prepared foodstuffs called JEFF. These include coffee, jam, red pepper jelly and the like. It’s hard to say how successful these might become, but I imagine they’re more or less a vanity project.

All in all, a very positive experience and recommended if you’re vegetarian and happen to find yourself in Muskoka with an empty stomach. Worth a drive, and it might be a nice lunch destination for a day trip in the summer.

4 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, diced
2 stalks of celery, diced
4 cloves garlic, chopped
4-6 medium yellow potatoes, diced (no need to peel)
1 pound (450g bag) green lentils, picked over and rinsed
4 vegetarian stock cubes (low-salt if possible)
6-8 cups water (you may need more - I used about 150% of the volume of the lentils)
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons parsley (fresh is better)
3 tablespoons yellow curry powder
2 tablespoons brown sugar, sucanat, agave juice or honey

In a large pot, heat olive oil and fry onions, celery, garlic and potatoes until the onions and celery are soft. Add lentils, stock cubes, water and salt. Stir and bring to a boil at a high temperature, then boil at medium heat for 30-40 minutes until the potatoes are soft and the lentils are tender. Add curry and parsley, continue to boil at medium heat for another 5 minutes.

Using a hand blender (if you have one), puree about 30% of the soup to get a softer, smoother consistency. Take off the heat source and stir in your preferred sweetener.

The quantities are approximations - they should work, but lentil soup isn’t an exact science :) What you’re aiming for is something thinner than daal and thicker than a regular soup - it’s really a ’stew’ you’re making.

This is highly recommended. Great food and amazing pictures. For those who, like me, enjoy their cookbooks well illustrated, this is definitely worth buying.

World Food Caf,

Chris Caldicott. Frances Lincoln 2006, Paperback, 192 pages, $15.48

(Amazon, apparently, cannot reliably display accented characters, like ‘é.’)

(Direct URL: http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/0711217513/)

Happy New Year. I’ve been thinking about cooking with more spices lately. Even though I typically pack flavours into my dishes using all the ‘normal’ methods (lots of onions and celery, vegetarian stock cubes, herbs, chilies) I’ve not really cooked a lot with spices, especially from Asia. Having grown up in South Africa, a country whose cuisine is - in part - deeply rooted in Indian, Malaysian and Indonesian cooking, I’m of course familiar and comfortable with (eating) curries. But I don’t think I ever had a particularly differentiated understanding of the different kinds of curry (red, green, yellow, etc.) until I moved to Canada and properly encountered Thai cooking.

Thai restaurants are cheap and plentiful in Toronto, and it’s a very affordable lunch alternative to Middle Eastern or fast/junk food. Once I turned myself into a ‘committed’ vegetarian (one who makes sure he doesn’t eat anything based on meat/chicken stock or fish sauce), though, finding good Thai food suddenly became a whole lot more difficult as many dishes are based on fish stock ingredients. Recently, I discovered Jean’s Vegetarian Kitchen along the Danforth (a little further East than Greektown). It’s a fully vegetarian Thai restaurant that’s well worth visiting. While certainly not an incredibly comfortable place (the decor is pretty basic and it’s lit very brightly), the food is very tasty and there’s a lot of variety. The curries (red, green, yellow/Malaysian) are superb, as are many of the stir fries and soups. Jean’s also sells the mystery spice combination for its yellow curry, so I bought a jar ($5).

In South Africa, one of my favourite ‘indigenous’ dishes is bobotie. I say indigenous in inverted commas because the recipe is said to have originated in Indonesia (another Dutch colony) and introduced to South Africa in the 17th century. It’s a minced meat bake spiced with curry, covered by a thick blanket of a white egg custard. Served with vegetables, yellow rice and a sweet chutney, it’s tremendously tasty - real comfort food. Many years ago, I used to take pride in my home-made bobotie, but I’ve never attempted to make a vegetarian version of it. Now I think I’m ready to try, especially since there are so many great soy-based minced meat alternatives available. That’ll be a project for an upcoming weekend. (The BBC offers what appears to be a nut-based recipe for vegetarian bobotie. I think I’ll stick to fake meat instead.)

I also think that curry could be used meaningfully in all sorts of other dishes. For example, Alton Brown suggests to use cumin, coriander and grains of paradise in his recipe for lentil soup (it’s not vegetarian, but can easily be converted). That sounds to me only a small step away from just adding curry… and in fact, Google says there are a number of Ayurvedic recipes for lentil curry soup.

Curry (like so many other things: green tea, red wine, dark chocolate…) is also said to have medicinal properties (here and here). Although I know too little of Ayurveda to really comment, I’m willing to believe that what tastes good will also make me well. Let’s see if curry lentil soup works. There’s snow falling outside and I want snow day comfort food.

I was served this delicious and very rich vegetarian dish tonight. It stems from an out-of-print cook book by Mary S. Atwood called Adventures in Indian Cooking (1972). Well worth making. Tonight, it was served with basmati rice, spiced green beans in tomato sauce and home-made naan.

4 eggs
4 tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon clarified butter
2 medium potatoes, cooked and cut in half-inch slices
2 medium onions, sliced
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 cloves

2 tablespoons ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon ginger, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
pinch each of turmeric and cinnamon
1/2 bay leaf
1 1/2 cups coconut milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon lime juice

Beat eggs, milk and salt together. Melt butter and make an omelet. Fold in half and cut into 1/2-inch strips. Heat oil and brown onions. Remove half of them and set aside for garnishing. To the remaining onions in pan, add cloves, coriander, ginger, chili powder, turmeric, cinnamon and bay leaf. Fry for a minute or two. Put in coconut milk and salt; simmer for 5 minutes. Add potato slices and omelet strips and continue simmering until thoroughly heated. Remove from heat. Stir in lime juice. Garnish with reserved browned onion.

Variation: Instead of omelet strips, poached eggs can be added just before serving.