Having today (Saturday) blocked off in my schedule meant that it was my first true "Friday night" in a long time! I love spending time with my patients but I also love my weekend mornings to cuddle with my pup (and Tony), make a big breakfast, drink coffee, and go for a leisurely morning walk. And write blog posts. 

Anyhoo, I thought I would celebrate my Friday evening with one of my favourite things: Mushrooms. We had a bundle of king oyster mushrooms and crimini mushrooms just waiting to be appreciated by our palates. So we decided on a risotto and got cooking. 

Risotto is one of those "scary" dishes that people usually think takes too much time or effort. Well, it does involve quite a bit of stirring, but it really isn't that difficult and I'll tell you it is totally worth it at the end! We used the king oyster and crimini mushrooms, but you can use any combo of other mushrooms... shiitake, enoki, oyster, portabello.... just skip on those white mushrooms because the nutrient amount and taste is very low! This recipe uses butter and parmesan cheese, but you can easily make this vegan but substituting the ingredients below. And it will be just as tasty.

Tony chopped the mushrooms and onions while I heated the broth (when you and your family or friends can work together and view it as quality time the process can be quite enjoyable!) and 45 minutes later we had an amazing meal. We steamed some organic chard as a side to bump up the nutrient value... high in vitamins K, A, C, and magnesium. This recipe was adapted from epicurious.com

Directions:
1. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1/4 of mushrooms and sprinkle with salt. Sauté mushrooms until tender and beginning to brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer mushrooms to medium bowl. Working in 3 more batches, repeat with 6 tablespoons butter, remaining mushrooms, and salt and pepper.

2. Bring 7 cups broth to simmer in medium saucepan; keep warm. 

3. Melt remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons butter with olive oil in heavy large saucepan over medium-low heat. Add leek (or onion), sprinkle with salt, and sauté until tender, 4 to 5 minutes.

4. Add rice and increase heat to medium. Stir until edges of rice begin to look translucent, 3 to 4 minutes.
 
5. Add white wine and vermouth and stir until liquid is absorbed, about 1 minute. Add 3/4 cup warm broth; stir until almost all broth is absorbed, about 1 minute. 

6. Continue adding broth by 3/4 cupfuls, stirring until almost all broth is absorbed before adding more, until rice is halfway cooked, about 10 minutes. Stir in sautéed mushrooms. 

7. Continue adding broth by 3/4 cupfuls, stirring until almost all broth is absorbed before adding more, until rice is tender but still firm to bite and risotto is creamy, about 10 minutes. 

8. Stir in 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, if using. Transfer risotto to serving bowl. Pass additional Parmesan cheese alongside, if desired.

I was so excited to move back to Hants County; it is so great to be close to my family, hike in the Gaspereau Valley, take my pup for walks around Haliburton House... but sometimes I really miss Vancouver. Mostly the food. Well, the 2 minute walk from my apartment to the beach was pretty amazing. But mostly the food. 

One of my favourite restaurants was The Foundation, a very hip all vegetarian place that would leave most "meatatarians" trying to remember what meat even was (*Sigh*... Im still struggling to find a decent vegetarian burger in Hants County!).

Anyhoo, I digress. I was craving my favourite salad from that restaurant... steamed broccoli and fried tofu over a bed of delicious greens with a warm peanutty dressing drizzled over top. This recipe is pretty easy and quick, especially if you have a good blender to blitz up the sauce.

Ingredients:

• 1 block extra firm tofu: cut into thin rectangles
• 1 tsp Garlic powder
• Salt and pepper
• Coconut oil
• Broccoli
• Purple cabbage: shredded
• Cilantro
• Toasted seeds: pumpkin, sunflower, sesame
• Greens: spinach, kale, chard
  
  For the sauce:
• 2 tbsp Peanut butter 
• 2 tbsp tamari or soy sauce
• 1 tbsp lime juice
• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 tbsp honey
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 inch ginger root. chopped
• pinch of red pepper flakes or dash of hot pepper sauce for some heat

Directions:

• Steam broccoli to your liking
• Heat frying pan on medium heat, coat with coconut oil. Toss tofu, garlic powder, salt and pepper in bowl and then place in pan browning tofu on each side.
• Chop up greens and lay them on a plate
• Blend sauce ingredients together in a blender. Modify to your taste buds!

Assemble:

• Place steamed broccoli, shredded cabbage, and tofu on your bed of greens. Drizzle with sauce, sprinkle with toasted seeds and cilantro and enjoy!

I've been craving swiss chard lately and trying to figure out different ways to eat it... at every meal. I sautéed it in coconut oil this morning along side of my eggs, I ate it for lunch in a protein "buddha" bowl (this recipe will be coming soon!), and I wanted it again for dinner. I told you, I'm on a kick!

I reached in the depths of my cupboard and found a Bobs Red Mill gluten free pancake mix, took a look in the fridge and found some mushrooms, (still) a large bunch of chard, onions, and some mozzarella cheese and thought: this will do. I love the mixture of mushrooms, caramelized onions and greens... and think of the antioxidants! Greens like chard, kale, beet greens, and spinach are packed with vitamins A, C, E, and K which all work well together to battle oxidation in our bodies. Crimini mushrooms are a source of trace minerals like selenium (an important mineral for the detox pathways in our liver) and vitamins B1, B2, B3, B5, and B6: all of these B vitamins are excellent to help our bodies deal with stress and energy levels.

Tony followed the instructions on the pancake mix package, just adding a bit more liquid so the mixture was more "crepey" and took care of the crepes.

I found a recipe that would serve as the backbone of our dinner (from a website called "Julia's Album) and then sliced up some onions, chopped the mushrooms, diced the garlic and chard and got to cooking.


Ingredients:
One package gluten free pancake mix
Handful of shredded mozzarella cheese
Caramelized onions:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3 onions, medium or large, sliced
• pinch of salt
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
  
  Adding mushrooms and chard:
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 10 or 15 small mushrooms, sliced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• pinch of salt
• 3 cups chard (or spinach)

Instructions

Step 1. Caramelized onions

1. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil on high heat in a large skillet, when oil is heated, add sliced onions and cook on high heat for about 10 minutes, constantly stirring with spatula. The onions should start to brown, but without burning (a couple of onions may be burnt here and there, but overall they should not be charred).
2. Reduce heat to medium and continue cooking onions for 10 more minutes, continuing to stir, as onions brown even more without burning. At this point add just a pinch of salt over onions.
3. Continue cooking for 10 more minutes on medium or low heat, stirring occasionally to make sure onions don’t stick to the bottom of the pan or burn. Total you should have cooked onions for 30 minutes.
4. Remove from heat and sprinkle onions with a small amount of balsamic vinegar to deglaze the pan. Using spatula, mix the onions, scraping the bottom of the pan and coating onions with a pinch of balsamic vinegar you just added.
   
   
Step 2. Adding mushrooms and chard

5. After you have started cooking onions, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in another pan, and add sliced mushrooms and minced garlic. Add just a pinch of salt. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook mushrooms and garlic covered for about 20 minutes, occasionally stirring.
6. Add cooked mushrooms to the pan with caramelized onions, add 3 cups of chard and stir on low heat just until chard wilts.
   
   Step 3. Making the crepes and assembling:
7. Cook the crepes on each side, and then add the mixture to one side then fold in half. 
8. Remove from heat and add a sprinkle of cheese (or skip for a vegan recipe!)
9. Serve immediately... we sliced up some tomatoes and fresh mozzarella cheese with basil, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar as a side salad.