I’m a lover of freshly ground unique spices, the type that transport you to faraway lands. The ancient combinations of herbs, roots and seeds that grow together and have been used together for thousands of years. Raw Spice Bar specializes in these special blends that pair ancestral combinations with the modern twist of being delivered to your door step every month.
Delivery subscriptions are all the rage, from a new pair of panties every month to craft charcuterie, the options are endless. For foodies and anyone looking to try new recipes, raw spice bar provides 3 different spice blends freshly ground, high quality and 3 different recipes. This month the theme was Persian New Year, though I made this recipe up with their Mast-0-Khiar spice blend, I tried the one for braised lamb shanks with advieh, a spice blend of green cardamom, angelica and a few others. They were to die for and so easy to throw together.
Mast-O-Khiar is a spice blend made from dried mint, dill, rose petals and black peppercorns. Paired with tahini, lemon juice, olive oil and sea salt, it makes a unique Iranian inspired salad dressing that goes really well with earthy beets.
I recently got a spiralizer and have officially fallen in love. Almost every vegetable is spiralizable (new word) and beets are no exception. This time I roasted them (after spiralling) to bring out their natural sweetness. You could also eat them raw for a fresher, juicier variation. If you don’t have a spiralizer, fear not, you can cut the beets into chunks, roast them until tender and slice them thinly before dressing. Served alongside fresh greens, with a bit of plain yogurt or goat cheese this is a truly uniquely delightful flavour combo. I hope you love it as much as I do.
3 Beets, peeled and spiralized Or cut into chunks and roasted
4 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbs lemon juice
2 Tbs raw tahini
1 Tbs mast-o-khiar spice blend (dry mint, dill, rose petals and black peppercorn)
1/4 tsp sea salt
fresh greens (optional)
plain yogurt or goat cheese (optional)
Instructions
To roast the spiralled beets, set oven to 400 and spread on baking sheet, roast for 15-20 minutes until soft. For chunks of beets roasting time will be a bit longer, just until tender and then thinly slice.
Let the beets cool.
Combine olive oil, lemon juice, tahini, spices and salt until smooth and pour over the cooled beets, toss and serve alongside fresh greens with a drizzle of plain yogurt or a few chunks of goat cheese.
Hello lovelies, it’s been awhile and I’m all up in a spring tizzy. My how time flies as the days get longer, along with the to-do list. My mom and grandma are visiting right now, gigi is meeting her great grandson for the first time!
As a lovely surprise I made them this decadent raw pie, oddly reminiscent of a pink creamsicle. The rhubarb in our garden is off the hook, it’s the gift that keeps on giving. The more you pull, the more springs up. I find myself searching for new ways to use rhubarb, aside from pie there are few ideas out there. Any ideas?
The new moon just passed so we took the opportunity to plant seeds in the garden. In biodynamic gardening, planting and harvesting is planned according to the lunar cycles. Which makes good sense, as the moon affects the ebb and flow of all H2O containing life. As the moon grows so do the plants, hopefully, fingers crossed, it’s the first year I’ve had a garden in awhile.
More about this pie. Roasted rhubarb is the way to do rhubarb, this roasted rhubarb + vanilla cream raw pie is healthy and light yet super satisfying. You’re going to love it, even if you hate rhubarb. I tricked my mom, who claims she hates rhubarb, but when I gave her a slice she unknowingly bit into it and thought it was oh so delicious. This brings to light a lot of misconceptions about rhubarb. Many folks think it’s too sour or stringy or bitter. I beg to differ, especially when roasted as it caramelizes the natural sugars. Do give this pie a chance, I wouldn’t lead you astray.
3/4 C raisins or dates (soaked for at least 30 mins)
1/2 C + 1/2 C + 3 Tbs coconut oil
2 C raw cashews (soaked 4-8 hrs)
1 C coconut milk
3/4 tsp vanilla extract or 1 vanilla bean, scraped
1/3 C raw honey or maple syrup
pinch sea salt
4 large rhubarb stalks
1/3 C raw honey or coconut sugar
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400F and roast rhubarb on a baking sheet for 20 minutes.
Using a food processor or high powered blender, combine raw almonds, rainsins or dates and 1/2 C coconut oil until smooth. Press this crust into the bottom of a 12 inch springform pan. Set in the freezer while making the filling.
Clean out the blender or food processor. Add the drained cashews, 1/2 C coconut oil, coconut milk, honey or maple syrup and vanilla and blend on high until super smooth and creamy. Pour over the set crust and place back in the freezer while making the topping.
Clean out the blender or food processor and add rhubarb, 3 Tbs coconut oil and honey or coconut sugar. Pour topping evenly over the vanilla cream and allow to set in the fridge or freezer for at least 2 hours before serving.
You guys know I’m Canadian eh? My momma grew up in Quebec and instilled a love for poutine into us from day 1. Okay, maybe not day 1 but you get my drift. That cheesy gooey goodness is infused into my childhood and every now and then I get a mad hankering.
Never had poutine? Well you’ve been missing something special but it’s never too late.
As far as Canadian cuisine goes, it’s literally all over the map, but Quebec wins every time. The twists on traditional French cuisine are endless, and there is also a smorgasbord of other cultures and their traditions thrown in. Quebec is home to most of Canada’s immigrants after all. Montreal is by far the most exciting and vibrant Canadian city.
So to honour my French Canadian roots I like to make homestyle real food delectable poutine once in awhile. Nope none of that weird packaged gravy or GMO fryer oil, just good old fashioned shoestring potatoes fried in chicken fat and smothered with the most delectable spicy roasted chicken gravy, mixed with melty raw cheddar, which isn’t traditional but sure is good.
To make the gravy and get the chicken fat, you really need to roast a whole chicken and save the drippings. I wrote a post on how to make the perfect roast chicken with a spicy smoky blend of flavours which lends itself to your eventual poutine. This is worth the effort, not only are there ample benefits from roasting a whole chicken, but the leftovers are superb.
This is a loose recipe so I am going to treat it as such. You could also make the gravy out of drippings from a roast beef if that’s more convenient, the procedure is the same. Enjoy this stringy, cheesy, comfort food, homemade poutine blows fast food chains out of the water. To make it paleo just ditch the cheese, it won’t be missed, unless you’re French 😉
If you use yummly, I’m now going to be using their recipe cards so that my recipes will show up in their database. It’s a pretty awesome way to keep track of all the delicious creations in your roster!
Spicy Chicken Poutine with Homemade Shoestring Fries
Yield: 2
Ingredients
4 medium sized russet potatoes
1 tsp sea salt
1 1/2 C pan drippings from roast chicken, left in the refrigerator until the fat solidifies on the surface
2 Tbs tapioca starch
2 C leftover spicy roast chicken (link in article)
1 C shredded raw cheddar
2 green onions, finely chopped
Instructions
Preheat oven to 425F
To make the shoestring fries, use a spiralizer on the smallest setting, par boil the spiralized potato for about 5 minutes and drain well.
Remove the fat from the chicken drippings and place it on a baking sheet (about 2 Tbs worth), pop this in the hot oven until melted.
Spread drained potatoes on to the pan and toss around until well coated in chicken fat, sprinkle with salt and bake for 30-40 minutes until golden brown. You may want to turn the halfway.
To make the gravy simply heat up the remaining pan drippings (about 1 C) combine the tapioca starch with an equal amount of cold water and slowly add to the simmering drippings until desired thickness is achieved.
Prepare the poutine in layers, potatoes, cheese,chicken, gravy, repeat and finish with chopped green onions. Enjoy!
Nettles, the stinging sisters as Susun Weed calls them, these magical stinging weeds turn into luscious nourishment once the heat touches them.
Nettles make me so giddy, they are such a treat and they don’t last long. When they arrive in early spring I stalk them and try to get them at their most prime, before they go to seed and get too rough and woody to enjoy. They are one of the first fresh local greens to come on the scene.
They like to grow in marshy wet places, alongside fields and swamps, near creeks and moist woodlands. When harvesting nettles, wear gloves and long pants, bring scissors to snip off the tender top shoots and if you’re lucky you can go around for a second harvest.
Many people see stinging nettles as an invasive weed, but they are actually a delicious food. All wild foods are far more nutrient dense than the domesticated plants we eat most often. Stinging nettles when lightly steamed to remove their sting, are reminiscent of spinach. They make a delicious earthy tasting tea and when infused for 4 hours or more offer an amazing source of key minerals that many of us are lacking.
We eat a lot of nettles this time of year, basically you can enjoy them in any dish you would use spinach for. So far we’ve really been digging stinging nettle omelettes, hummus, palak paneer, teas and other delightful nettle experiments.
This pesto is ah-ma-zing, it’s really a classic pesto just nettles instead of basil, which gives it a more demure taste but equally satisfying. We ate it with zoodles (zucchini noodles) and roast chicken which was divine, the next days leftovers were spread on crusty sourdough bread from the french bakery in town.
Henry David Thoreau once said ” All good things are wild and free.” I would have to agree, and nettles definitely fall into that category. Food is meant to be free and the Earth provides plentifully, we just have to know where to look.
It’s spring, the bees are out, the sun is shining and it’s time for a celebration!
What better way to celebrate the suns return than with bright yellow nutrient dense raw chocolate, heck yes.
These little gems are a cinch to make and packed with the ample benefits of bee pollen, a truly amazing superfood. Some nutritionists say we could live on bee pollen alone as it’s such a perfect food. Bees are amazing insects, their specialized hairs attract pollen easily with a sort of static electricity. To make one pound of honey bees must visit around 2 million flowers!
In the spring I usually get seasonal allergies which bee pollen, local honey, and wildcrafted nettles effectively eliminate. Bee pollen is one of the easiest foods to digest and assimilate. Not too mention its got a subtle chewiness that adds a lovely texture to these superfood sunshine chocolates. Raw cacao is loaded with amazing benefits as well as talk about more in detail in this post. It’s certainly no secret how much we relish in our raw chocolate around here!
Melt the cacao butter in a boil over a double boiler until liquid, add cacao powder and 1 Tbs of honey or maple syrup and stir until smooth.
Pour this chocolate mixture into your choice of moulds, I used a mini muffin tin. Pop in the freezer to set while you make the sunshine layer.
Warm up your coconut butter and coconut oil on the double boiler until smooth and creamy, mix in turmeric, bee pollen and sea salt.
Remove chocolate from freezer and top each with a dollop of sunshine mixture until evenly distributed. Pop back in the freezer for a few minutes to set. When the chocolates are set you should be able to easily pop them out of the mould.
Hey I'm Chantelle, my alter ego would be a mermaid if I wasn't such a terrible swimmer. I love writing authentically and cooking in my pyjamas. My favourite pastimes include eating avocados, travelling the world and hanging out with a toddler.
