Mona’s Bean Salad

I have kept a recipe note book since I was in the 6th grade.  Before that there are a few random recipes in earlier diaries…but I started keeping a dedicated notebook in when I was 12  (the same year that my little sis was born). I used that note book until I was half way…

Comforting Greek Vegetable Stew

Do you like cooking for other people? Personally it’s one of my main motivations for cooking creative food, making it nourishing and preparing food in general. This week we finally started doing something at work that we’d all been intending for ages: cooking a staff lunch to share. I made a goal to start after…

Ieva’s Greek Salad

  When I was 12, I went to spend a summer in Vancouver with my biological father Hank and his fabulous wife Ieva.    I admired that Ieva was so well read and educated.  I admired her wit and sense of humour.  I admired that she had travelled the world and lived abroad.  I admired…

Salad with Trout, Apples, Pecans and Manchego

Many years ago, I went on a fabulous, week-long canoe trip to the boundary waters.  Nothing went wrong on the entire trip.  We had good weather, there were no bugs, no one got hurt, we didn’t run out of food,  the lakes were stunningly beautiful  On our way back to Minneapolis, we stopped at the…

How to Roast Asparagus in Under 10 minutes

You know,  I am pretty sure that I had never tasted or even heard of asparagus until I came to the east coast to go to college.  When I did finally try it, I found it delicious but entirely unaffordable.  I find good prices on asparagus all the time now, which makes me very happy!…

Salad Rolls

When I was a pre-teen visiting my family in Vancouver, I liked to visit the food at Granville Island.  This goes to show that my idea of a good time has not changed all that much in 25 years.  I still go to look at food markets in whatever city I visit.  ANYWAY at twelve…

Quinoa with Wild Plantain, Dandelion and Peppers

I’ve been taking this permaculture class once a month. What that means is I’ve been talking with other people who are interested in strange, interesting and unexpected food plants. So we geek out. I just cooked a dish with a plant that I grew up with. I used to play with these all the time…

Juice #1!

Hey y’all. Just a quick update to tell you about the first juice I made with my new juicer. I have some longer entries in the works though… Yea we’re back! I drank this juice, my eyes opened and I finally felt awake after a groggy morning. Ingredients: 4 apples, quartered 4 carrots 1 stick…

Experimental Economical Vegetable Stock

I have really gotten into making vegetable stock using this new method. It is the most economical thing you can make if you cook with vegetables and enjoy soup. The trick is this: you save the discard bits of the vegetables you chop up and use in other dishes. These can be saved over time…

Improvise Stir Fry!

You know, everyone who I consider my tribe here in Vancouver–and I’m talkin’ my extended circle of friends and acquaintances–make stir fries. It’s my regional cuisine, and it’s a way of life. Why is this? The deep-rooted Chinese influence on the city? The chronically lingering hippy culture? Maybe it’s the fact that stir fries are…