Eating Vegan: Day 1

Jay and I are excited to be taking Heather's 30 Day Vegan Workshop, starting today!

I loaded up on produce and have been pouring over vegetarian and vegan recipe books, looking for new ideas to try.

Today for lunch we ate roasted yam wedges with an amazing sage-lime aioli.

Sage-Lime Aioli (Vegan)

2/3 cup vegenaise

zest of one lime

juice of half a lime

1 small clove garlic, crushed

1/2 tsp salt

Oh so yummy. Will use this as a veggie dip as well. And next time I will try a lemon-basil version. 


I'm looking so forward to trying new recipes, and giving lots and lots of veggies a starring role on our plates!

Curing: Homemade Bacon!

I made bacon.

Let me give you a moment to pause and ponder my awesomeness...

Bacon!

I had 3-4 lbs of pork belly in my freezer, waiting for me to get up the nerve. I rubbed it with a mixture of 1/4 cup kosher salt, 1/4 cup brown sugar, and 1/4 cup maple syrup. I turned it in the brine each day for 7 (maybe 8?) days. Then I smoked it in my electric smoker using applewood chips. This piece above went into the freezer, and the other three pieces came to the Island with us.

Oh. My.

The first morning we had a feast with Graham and Kyla. I filled a sheet pan with slices of the meatiest bacon, and we roasted (baked?) it. It tasted like bacon candy. That, along with potato scones, and scrambled local eggs, and shredded Brussels sprouts sautéed in bacon fat, was Breakfast. Super Breakfast.

After that, we added cubed bacon to everything. The fattier pieces were thrown into cast iron pots and pans, rendered of their fat, and then we sizzled whatever we were going to cook in the flavourful awesomeness while Kyla ate the crispy fat bits. I can't even remember all the wonderful things we ate over those five days together but I'm pretty sure that bacon was part of every meal. We have been eating vegetarian meals since arriving back home to compensate for the abundance! 

I was so happy to remember that I had one more piece at home in the freezer. It's thawing now, and I believe it will star in baked beans tomorrow.

Can't wait. 

Cooking: Garlic Scape Pizza

How to make a simple, delicious, pizza, without leaving your house:

 Roll out your favourite pizza dough as thin as you can. 

 (Sometimes I have my own dough in the fridge. Sometimes, like today, I have a thawed batch from Calabria Bakery down the street. Sometimes I use a pizza stone, but sometimes, I just oil a sheet pan, and sprinkle it with cornmeal. Sometimes, I do a lot of things. Sometimes, I read a book all day and eat popcorn. But I digress...)

 Spread the dough with Garlic Scape Pesto, which you found in a little jar in your freezer, where you stashed a few last June when your garlic patch came to life. 

 Tear some whole, home-canned tomatoes into shreds with your hands and sprinkle them on top of the pesto. 

 Top with mozzarella from your fridge (especially yummy when homemade, which this was not) and a light grating of parmesan. Feta is also delish. 

 Tear up some thinly sliced back bacon from Sloping Hill Farm, and add it to half of the pizza, so you can offer your children a slice when they get home from school. You will be loved. 

 Drizzle a bit of olive oil, and a fine pinch of sea salt flakes. 

 450 degrees for 10 minutes, or until it is as crisp as you like it. Please bake on the bottom rack of your oven for the best crust results! 

 Dig in.

Baking: Pumpkin Waffles

These are a family favourite.

I always stock up on sugar pumpkins in the Fall and keep them in my cold room. Then I periodically roast a couple of them up, puree, and freeze in recipe-sized batches. Mainly in 3/4 cup amounts for this particular recipe! 

 If we have any in the house, we add a dollop of whipped cream on top of these waffles. That, along with dark grade maple syrup, makes these ultra-decadent. I can only ever eat one waffle. My kids eat 2, usually. Jay eats 3 or 4, sometimes more. It makes my stomach hurt, watching it! But oh, he is in heaven as he enjoys these! I think he confuses them with a stack of pancakes... 

 If he doesn't polish off the whole batch, they keep well, and I send them along as a school snack, cut in half diagonally and with a little container of maple syrup for dipping. I get extra love from the kids on those days.

Enjoy.

Pumpkin Waffles

1 3/4 cups milk (I've also used almond with success)

3/4 cup pureed pumpkin

1/3 cup oil

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour

1/4 cup lightly-packed brown sugar

1 tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

Mix wet and dry ingredients separately, then stir together. I usually whisk the whole thing smooth, then let it sit for 5-10 minutes while I preheat my pride and joy (my All-Clad waffle iron). 

Oil or spray your iron to prevent sticking.

Serve with real maple syrup (dark is delicious!) and, if you really want to kick it up a notch, a dollop of lightly sweetened whipped cream.

makes approx. 12 waffles, depending on the size of your waffle iron.

Baking: Applesauce Muffins

The apple tree in Parksville went crazy this year. When we had our annual September gathering over there with friends this year, Jason and the kids and I spent a number of hours freezing applesauce from the fallen apples, and we filled two large Rubbermaid Roughtotes with apples from the tree. 100 lbs I'd say.

Much canning of applesauce and apple butter followed.

All these one-cup jars of apple sauce and butter are sitting around with not much to do, so I've tweaked a few recipes to come up with a quick, weekday morning muffin. Great for school snacks. These are plain muffins to be sure. Next time I may add some diced apple to really kick things up a notch".
(whoo, hold back Bonnie!)

Quick Applesauce Muffins

1 cup a.p. flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp allspice

1/2 tsp cloves

1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder

Whisk dry ingredients together. 

1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

Whisk together, then pour over dry ingredients. 

Pour in 1 cup applesauce. Blend gently until evenly mixed.
Fill 12 lined muffin cups

Bake at 400F for 15-20 minutes. Check at the 15 minute mark. My first batch seemed over-baked at 20 minutes, and my second was perfect at 15. But it will depend on your oven.

Enjoy with a cup of tea. Or a whole pot.