Category Archives: Food Matters Project

About

Posted on by
Reply

I’ve been meaning to write an about section for this blog. Here’s a sneak peek.

I’m thirty-two and it hurts. More than ever before, I feel like Kevin from the wonder years every single minute of every single day.

I’m Québécoise all the way but can’t quite grasp what being Québécoise truly entails.

I spent my teenage years having Roseanne’s Dan as a father figure and Courtney Love as role model.

I blissfully and blindly married into royalty, ancient persian royalty that is, at the age of 20.

I teach french for a living. I enjoy it but often wish I had gotten my MBA instead.

I suffered from a severe concussion when I gave birth to a king almost four years ago and never recovered : je vois la vie en rose!

Food matters to me. Eating an open-face tomato sandwich with homemade vegan mayo feels both natural and political to me.

I’m hosting the FMP today. I chose two vegan mayos for you to experiment with : tofu mayo and bread-and-nut mayo. I made the bread-and-nut version and loaded it with fresh herbs. This mayo is both earthy and slightly tangy. Most importantly, it has that same addictive factor that regular store-bought mayo has. It is vegan and healthy, but will fit beautifully with all of your carnivorous favorites : tuna sandwiches, blts and burgers.

tofu mayo (print)

recipe from mark bittman

makes : about 1 cup

time : 10 minutes

Here is a delicious homemade vegan mayo. To make this more of a sauce, add some soy milk, water, or a little more olive oil.

6 ounces soft silken tofu (about 3/4 cup)

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard, or to taste

1 tablespoon honey or sugar, optionnal

1/4 teaspoon paprika

1/4 teasppon salt, or to taste

Put all the ingredients in a blender. Turn the machine to a medium speed that keeps things moving without splattering. Let it run for a minute or 2, then turn it off.

Scrape the sides of the container with a rubber spatula, turn the blender back on, and repeat the process two more times. Taste and add more salt if necessary. Serve immediately (or store in a jar for up to several days).

bread-and-nut mayo (print)

recipe from mark bittman

Like the tofu mayo above, this homemade vegan mayo is going to taste much better thant store-bought eggless mayonnaise or, for that matter, most store-bought “real” mayonnaise. Plus both vegan mayos keep for days, if not longer.

Bread-and-nut mayo is based on skordalia, the classic Greek sauce that tastes great with almost anything. Use whole wheat bread here if you like but stay away from breads witth seeds or bits of grain.

1 small slice day-old bread, preferably whole wheat

1 tablespoon olive oil, plus more as needed

1/2 almonds, walnuts or cashews*

1 garlic clove, to taste**

1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice, or to taste

salt

pepper

Put the bread in a bowl and wet it with a few tablespoons of water. Squeeze the bread dry, then put it in a food processor with the oil, nuts and garlic. Process the mixture until the nuts are ground. With the machine running, slowly pour in 1/4 cup water, followed by a drizzle of oil to form a creamy sauce as thick or thin as you like.

Add the lemon juice and some salt and pepper and process to combine. Serve immedialety (or cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days).

* I used walnuts.

** I skipped the garlic, obviously.

Knock knock

Posted on by
5

“Knock, knock!

Who’s there?

It’s the wind.

The wind who?

The chilly wind of autumn bringing you a steaming hot cake.”

You guys, I can’t tell a knock knock joke. Truth be told, I can’t even laugh at one of your knock knock jokes either. Even though I grew up watching a lot of american tv, I never understood knock knock jokes. I still don’t understand them to this day. It’s a cultural thing, I guess.

I can’t tell a knock knock joke. Oh well! I can bake a cake though, a cake that’ll make you forget all about the windy wind and all that is coming along with it.

This cake is like soup. It’s cake-soup. It will warm you up any time of the year. It’ll warm you up because it actually tastes warm. The tang of the apricots, orange juice and pineapple creates an actual mouthwatering warmth. This cake is also filled up with a good dose of protein – from the eggs, almond flour, chickpea flour and walnuts – that will get your muscles all fired up. It’s even got a warm and tangy glaze to help prevent seasonal depression. If the lack of natural light is not an issue where you’re from, you can skip the glaze and the cake will be just as warm and delicious.

I’m telling you guys, stock up on apricots and chickpea flour, make cake-soup and protect your body and soul from all that icy wind coming your way.

apricot breakfast cake with orange glaze (print)

recipe adapted from mark bittman

1/2 cup orange juice

1 cup dried apricots, chopped

1/3 cup olive oil

1/3 cup raw sugar

2 eggs

1/4 cup corn flour

1/4 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 cup chickpea flour

1/4 cup almond flour

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup grated carrots

1/2 cup crushed pineapple, well drained

1/2 cup walnut

1 cup icing sugar

Preaheat oven at 350.

Let the apricots soak in 1/4 cup orange juice for at least 15 minutes.

In a bowl, whisk together the oilve oil, sugar and eggs.

In a separate bowl, combine the flours, baking powder and salt.

Drop the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and whisk until smooth.

Add the apricots and their soaking liquid, carrots, pineapple and walnuts, and stir until blended.

Pour into a greased 8- or 9-inch round baking pan and bake for 30 minutes.Allow to cool in the pan for 15 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the glaze, simply whisk 1/4 cup orange juice with the icing sugar. Drop and carefully spread the glaze on the cooled cake.

nutrition facts : 319 calories; 16.3 g fat; 3.1 g dietary fibers; 28.4g sugars; 6.2 g protein

gâteau-déjeuner à l’abricot et son glaçage à l’orange (imprimer)

recette adaptée de mark bittman

1/2 tasse de jus d’orange

1 tasse d’abricots séchés, hachés

1/3 tasse d’huile d’olive

1/3 tasse de sucre brut

2 oeufs

1/4 tasse de farine de maïs

1/4 tasse de farine de blé entier

1/4 tasse de farine de pois chiche

1/4 tasse de farine d’amande

1 1/2 c. à thé de poudre à pâte

1/4 c. à thé de sel

1/2 tasse de carottes râpées

1/2 tasse d’ananas broyés, bien égouttés

1/2 tasse de noix de grenoble

1 tasse de sucre à glacer

Préchauffer le four à 350.

Faire tremper les abricots dans 1/4 tasse de jus d’orange au moins 15 minutes.

Dans un bol, fouetter l’huile d’olive, le sucre et les oeufs.

Dans un autre bol, mélanger les farines, la poudre à pâte et le sel.

Verser les ingrédients secs sur les ingrédients liquides jusqu’à l’obtention d’une texture homogène.

Ajouter les abricots et leur liquide de trempage, les carottes, les ananas et les noix de grenoble, et mélanger

Verser la préparation dans un moule rond de 8 ou 9 pouces de diamètre et cuire 30 minutes. Laisser refroidir dans le moule avant de démouler sur une grille et de laisser refroidir complètement.

Pour faire le glaçage, fouetter simplement 1/4 tasse de jus d’orange avec le sucre à glacer. Verser et étaler doucement sur le gâteau refroidi.

valeur nutritive : 319 calories; 16,3 g de lipides; 3,1 g de fibres; 28,4 g de sucres; 6,2 g de protéines

Silent Tuesday

Posted on by
Reply

quinoa tabbouleh (print)

recipe adapted from mark bittman

(4 servings)

1/2 cup quinoa, rinsed and drained

salt

1/3 cup olive oil

1/4 cup lime juice

black pepper

1 cup finely chopped parsley

1/2 cup finely chopped mint

1/2 cup finely chopped kale

1 cup edamame

7 radishes, finely diced

1/2 cup finely chopped chives

2 tomatoes, seeded and finely diced

1/2 cup finely diced seeded cucumber

1/4 cup pistachios, chopped

Cook the quinoa in salted water like pasta and drain well. Toss the warm quinoa with the oil, lemon juice and pepper. Set aside.

Just before you’re ready to eat, add the remaining ingredients and toss gently.

nutrition facts : 391 calories; 26.4 g fat; 7.5 g dietary fibers; 3.1 g sugars; 14.8 g protein

taboulé au quinoa (imprimer)

recette adaptée de mark bittman

(4 portions)

1/2 tasse de quinoa, rincé et égoutté

sel

1/3 tasse d’huile d’olive

1/4 tasse de jus de lime

poivre

1 tasse de persil, finement haché

1/2 tasse de menthe, finement hachée

1/2 tasse de chou borécole, finement haché

1 tasse d’edamame

7 radis, hachés menu

1/2 tasse de ciboulette, finement hachée

2 tomates, épépinées, hachées menu

1/2 tasse de concombre, épépiné, haché menu

1/4 tasse de pistaches, hachées

Cuire le quinoa comme des pâtes dans de l’eau salée et bien égoutter. Y ajouter l’huile, le jus de lime et le poivre. Réserver.

Au moment de servir, ajouter le reste des ingrédients et mélanger doucement.

valeur nutritive : 391 calories; 26,4 g de lipides; 7,5 g de fibres; 3,1 g de sucres; 14,8 g de protéines

The bitter part of me

Posted on by
3

This life is bittersweet. My life is bittersweet. This post is about the bitter part of me. Feel free to skip to the recipe.

The bitter part of me feels bitter. What about?

About true love not being what I made it up to be.

About scars that don’t heal.

About dreams not coming true.

About words once spoken can’t be taken back.

About short summers and long winters.

About gray hair and wrinkles and saggy boobs.

What not about?

So, yeah, the bitter part of me takes over once in a while.

It takes a lot of sweetness to help swallow down all that bitterness.

It takes chocolate : white, milk and dark.

It takes berries : strawberries, raspberries and cherries.

It takes paninis : three sweet paninis!

Life is sweet!

P.S. This is a FMP post. If you’d like a recipe for this, head on to let’s cook and be friends to read Margarita’s post. If your own bitterness reaches sky-high levels, click here for more sweet panini inspiration.

Sticky hot

Posted on by
2

Whenever it gets sticky hot outside (and inside for that matter), and it does pretty much everyday down here in Montreal, I find myself hesitating between booze or ice cream.

Booze or ice cream? Là est la question!

The prince of persia would choose booze. In a heartbeat.

The little king would choose ice cream. Obviously.

I can’t choose. In other words, I choose both!

For the Food Matters Project, I followed Jennifer’s simple and amazing lead and threw some fresh raspberries, sugar, water and limoncello in the ice cream machine.

After about twenty-five minutes of noisy churning, I went out on the balcony to take a few shots of my homemade boozy sorbet.

This is what my sorbet looked like after spending about two minutes staring at the sunset.

That is one sticky hot sorbet!

So I quickly put it out of its misery : it was sweet, lemony and how refreshing! It made me forget my own sticky hotness… for about two minutes, that is.

For the original recipe, click here. For twisted twists on boozy sorbets, click here. For the road to happiness, buy an ice cream machine!

rustic raspberry and limoncello sorbet (print)

recipe adapted from mark bittman

(4 servings)

4 cups fresh raspberries

1/4 cup limoncello

1 cup water

1/2 cup sugar

In a bowl, pour the limoncello all over the raspberries. Set aside.

Heat up the water and the sugar until the sugar is completely dissolved.

Pour the hot liquid over the raspberries. Roughly mash the raspberries with a fork. Cool down completely in the refrigerator, at least one hour.

Freeze in the ice cream maker according to instructions.

sorbet rustique à la framboise et au limoncello (imprimer)

recette adaptée de mark bittman

(4 portions)

4 tasses de framboises fraîches

1/4 tasse de limoncello

1 tasse d’eau

1/2 tasse sucre

Dans un bol, verser le limoncello sur les framboises. Réserver.

Chauffer l’eau et le sucre jusqu’à ce que le sucre soit dissout.

Verser le liquide chaud sur les framboises. Écraser grossièrement les framboises à l’aide d’une fourchette. Refroidir complètement au réfrigérateur, au moins une heure.

Passer à la sorbetière selon les instructions du fabricant.