happy saturday // last winter market

Fresh organic produce at the Winter Farmers Market.

Happy Saturday, friends!

Last Winter Farmers Market of the season! Hope you find yourself eating something fresh and/or homemade this weekend.

x, Mel

fingerling potato + pea salad with cilantro pesto

eating green in 2013: fingerling potato and pea salad with cilantro pesto, recipe found on p. 144 of canadian house and home (may, 2013) 

///

simply. more. green.

If you need a new side dish to pair with your favourite white wine this is it! The commonplace potato salad gets a verdant makeover by chef Eric Vellend - this herbaceous version is decidedly delicious and our babe loved it. 

A verdant potato salad (a vast improvement over potatoes as usual)! 

wheat berry salad

eating green in 2013: wheat berry salad, recipe found on p. 52 of "Super Natural Cooking", by Heidi Swanson. 

///

simply. more. green.

A winter salad to consume on the cusp of spring... Delicious and lively, I made this wheat berry salad over the weekend to share with my mother-in-law, a dear friend (and our sitter for the evening!) and my family. This dish is a new favourite for several reasons: 1) it's incredibly healthy and easy to make, 2) it can be customized by season (imagine lemon juice, blanched asparagus and peas for spring), and 3) it provides a lot of leftovers!*

///

*A fourth reason this dish is a new favourite: it allows for less guilt (and more room in one's tummy) when sticky toffee pudding is on the menu for dessert!

edamame hummus

eating green in 2013: edamame hummus from "oh she glows", recipe found here. 

///

simply. more. green.

I made this hummus to share at a St. Patrick's Day birthday party yesterday and just had to make it again this afternoon! I guess I'm craving some garlic breath (baby Grace too)...

"More, pease."

vinaigrette to salivate over

eating green in 2013: very green vinaigrette, recipe found here. 

///

simply. more. green.

Everyone ought to have at least one "nutrition nut" friend in their lives. For me, that friend is Freya Kristensen*, the author of the blog Baboon Reviews. In my experience nutrition nuts, Freya being no exception, often bring not only the best food to dinner parties, but also food that is fresh and unfamiliar. This past Saturday Freya shared this vinaigrette with myself, Sean and a handful of friends, leaving me itching to whip up a batch as I too am incredibly bored with the basic olive oil/balsamic vinegar mix (see Freya's blog post). The "Very Green Vinaigrette" is a brilliant dressing, the agave nectar perfectly balancing the tang of the dijon mustard. In addition, adding this dressing to an already green salad is a clever way to consume a variety of green herbs (rosemary, parsley, and tarragon for example). G and I shared an all green salad for lunch today, but this dressing was all mine, all mine!

///

*Freya, we truly like and appreciate you for more than just your prowess with healthy food, for example, we love your desserts too (ha)!

All green lunch, devoured. 

///

{**I'm experimenting with a new image size, hope you like it!**}

pumpkin seed pesto

eating green in 2013: pumpkin seed pesto, recipe found here. 

///

simply. more. green.

It's been a long time since I broke with routine for a Friday evening (99.9% of the time opting for pizza and salad). After a relatively rough week caring for sick ones and subsequently falling ill myself, something other than pizza was needed. A few weeks ago I bought some vegetable pasta curly cues that were begging to be eaten up with a tasty sauce. This pumpkin seed pesto recipe arrived in my inbox today from Eden of Feed Life, with perfect timing as apparently pumpkin seeds are rich in zinc, a nutrient that encourages healing (among other things).

Now that we've had a zinc-tastic family meal, it's time for a funny movie - also known to speed healing! 

Zinc-tastic pumpkin seed pesto for happy, healthy times. 

when only sugar and fat will do

eating green in 2013: savoury kale scones with squash and cheese, recipe found here. 

///

simply. more. green.

Everyone in our house has taken a turn battling the flu over the past week and a half, thus some comfort food to be enjoyed with a nice cup of green tea. When as under the weather as we have been, sugar and fat are the only true mood boosting remedies (this goes for any manner of malady - along with a little kale, butternut squash and cheddar cheese!).

Cheers to strong immunity, green things and good health in 2013. 

Cheesy, kale-y goodness. 

gorgonzola + minty green pizza

eating green in 2013: zucchini, pea and mint pizzas, recipe adapted from here.

///

simply. more. green.

A green cheer me up; a stinky delight; minty freshness. I made these pizzas today for everyone in our house who is under the weather, which is actually everyone but me (may I not jinx myself!). Originally meant to be tarts, I adapted the recipe slightly by using a cornmeal/spelt crust and Gorgonzola rather than feta. Little G started with the crust, moved onto peas and eventually licked a few pieces of zucchini. I think the choice of cheese may have been too strong for her and will consider using something with a little less "bite" next time. For tonight, it's been delicious, even if I am eating most of it alone!

edamame pesto pasta

eating green in 2013: pasta with edamame pesto, recipe found here.  

///

simply. more. green.

This past week I fell rather hard off the "green wagon" (cornflakes and Guinness one evening for dinner, oh my) but I'm hopping right back on with this recipe. While preparing the ingredients I may or may not have been seen hanging over the food processor, eating this delicious pesto by the spoonful. Homemade pesto is fantastic for it's punch and freshness, but more importantly, for what it's missing - piles of unnecessary (and ruinous) sodium. I used whole wheat pasta for it's high fibre and iron content, keeping little G's brain properly powered!

Eating green is pretty dandy. 

strong to the finish

eating green in 2013: green lemonade, recipe found here.  

///

simply. more. green.

This morning called for a bit of second breakfast, thus a refreshing spinach lemonade! I made it smoothie style, opting to use an immersion blender rather than a juicer (ha, the juicer that I don't own) and added one kiwi. Unsure if little G would like it, I let her start by dipping her fingers, a few minutes later I could barely wrestle it away from her. In fact, after downing a whole glass a mild tantrum ensued because more smoothie failed to magically appear (I made only enough for two glasses).

It seems we have one green-loving babe on our hands, bringing me endless delight. "Strong to the finish" 'cause she eats her spinach!

Baby green machine in action.