You’ll want to add this ginger, star anise and bird chili infused asian hot pepper vinegar to everything! It is so good and can jazz up the plainest of dishes or fill the empty space when a dish just needs a certain je ne sais quoi. I love it in stir fries, with a touch of sugar and tamari, you’ve got yourself a full on yummy sauce. Its delicious added to thai soups and curries, added to salad dressings, sautéed vegetables, the list goes on. You can try infusing vinegar with different hot peppers and spices for a different effect. Garlic, peppercorn, and habanero infused white wine vinegar is great for more South American style. Get creative! Hot pepper vinegars are a chefs bestie!
You had me at golden beets, darling. Rare gems which only show themselves for such a short window of time. They overwhelm me with their golden hue, to be turned into a multitude of lip-smacking creations. I want to shred them to top my salads, juice them to give me zesty energy, slice them thinly to show their stripes to the world, roast them and allow their sweetness to burst forth. Since I only had 3 golden beauties, I chose the latter option, because roasted beets alone are wonderful, but combined with roasted cauliflower to form a perfect summer golden beet soup, they really shine. Hot or cold, this soup is divine, I served it chilled since it was such a hot day and we enjoyed it with bumble berry BBQ sauce smothered roast chicken, which was really something. This super simple soup has side effects of: contentment, you are what you eat syndrome, and sunshine spewing out your every orifice. Ok maybe not that last one.
Stunning, right? If your ever wondering what to do with beet greens, well you’ve come to the right place. Just a few ideas…
Lightly steamed with some butter, salt, pepper and lemon
Stir fried in sesame oil and copious amounts of sesame seeds
Blended into a nourishing smoothie with berries, banana and yogurt
Finely chopped and fried with garlic to stuff a piece of chicken or an omelette
Raw in salads
And now, a tiny monologue…for any friends who care to hear my life ponderings.
What I’m realizing lately, is that everything gets better with practice. From taking care of a baby to communicating effectively in our relationships to photography, to washing the dishes. The parallel of practice is change. We can never stop practicing, because we and all things around us are constantly changing. One hurdle may be overcome but the natural progression of things simply brings us to the next obstacle. Natures design for our elevation, also exists to humble. I’ll take a piece of that pie, and come to realize that we are always learning, growing, shrinking, changing, and it’s okay if some lessons take time. Sometimes I think it’s not good enough, I need to be better. But I stop and ask the question, am I doing my best? Is that not all I can ever do? Yes, that’s all we can do, and everything, in time, gets easier.
I’m grateful to have this blog, this space, to write and share my passions with all of you lovely readers. Le sigh, life is good.
Ps. This pesto is great with scrambled eggs, zucchini noodles, or with some lemon and olive oil for a proper salad dressing.
Golden Beet & Cauliflower Soup with Parsley Pumpkin Seed Pesto
Author: Chantelle
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 4
Ingredients
3 golden beets, cut into 1 inch chunks
½ a head of cauliflower, broken into florets
2 carrots
½ tsp sea salt
some fresh cracked pepper
1 tsp+1 tsp toasted sesame oil
1 cup coconut milk
1½ cups water
½ tsp tumeric
bunch of parsley, stalks removed
4 small garlic cloves or 2 bigger ones
½ cup pumpkin seeds
½ cup olive oil
1 tsp sesame seeds
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400F
In a roasting pan combine the beets, cauliflower and carrots coat with 1 tsp sesame oil and salt + pepper. Toss to coat. Roast for 30 mins.
In a blender or food processor add pumpkin seeds, parsley, garlic, olive oil and sesame seeds and blend until well combined. Set mixture aside.
Add the roasted vegetables to your blender or food processor with coconut milk, water and turmeric, process until you achieve a smooth and creamy soup.
Top with pesto, fresh cracked pepper and sesame seeds.
Elder flowers are the fragrant flower that comes before the elder berry. They are sweet like a rose yet distinct in their specific nature, divinely scented and begging to be infused in desserts and sweet drinks alike. The elder plant is found all over the world, though most abundant in North America. Elderflower also has medicinal uses, it’s anti-viral, anti-bacterial properties help ward off illness and strengthen the immune system.
“Research in Ireland showed that elderflower extract was effective in killing many common hospital pathogens, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)1. This study gave scientific proof of elderflower’s antibacterial properties against most gram negative and gram positive bacteria tested that align with traditional medicine uses of the past. Further study of elderflower components showed the potential for antiviral and anti-inflammatory benefits as well.”
Be advised to only use the white flower, fully separated from the stems, the stems and leaves are toxic but the flowers are deemed safe and edible.
Use Elderflower Syrup in…
creamy desserts, such as, panna cotta, or creme brûlée
Yeah I know it sounds weird and sort of nasty but trust me, my friends, these sweet potato brownies are sooooo good! Believe me, I was skeptical, I’m one of those people that thinks marshmallows on mashed sweet potatoes is a thanksgiving abomination. However, the old saying rings true, what ever grows together, goes together. Yams and cacao come from the same places and they mingle just beautifully. You will be able to fool your homies with these stellar, moist and healthy brownies. Instead of sugar we are using naturally sweet dates and no need for heavy cream and butter because the smooth sweet potatoes cover that department too.
A cool wind blew through the mountains today, carrying memories of those long days spent wondering what the wind was. I crunched some leaves as I sat beside the river and remembered my affinity for such things, simple pleasures. Memories of this wind only brought me back to a simple time where the future and the past didn’t exist. I look at my baby boy, and I remind myself constantly, all I have is this moment, this moment is all I have. When my nose floats over his head and catches that most sweet smell. It won’t last forever, he won’t let me smell his head when he’s a grown man, or maybe he will if I do a good job.
I am doing a good job in life, if I can taste every bite, without worrying what the next bite is going to taste like.
Thick hot day, the kind that melts you and makes everyone feel heavy. Lets go for a walk up to a friends, he suggests. Are you mad? I’m not walking anywhere but the beach. Yes, that kind of day. Even the car hating little one sleeps soundly. The kind of day where all you can do is try and keep it all together, and not fall asleep at the wheel. And come home to crave smoky BBQ ribs and brownies for dessert. But not just any old ribs, and certainly no typical brownies. Chug onwards, and give up on sleep, it’s for sissies anyway. The pressure of the harvest is on and mid-vortex-internet-suucubus overtaking you, a thought, that those saskatoons will fade before you know it, and their plumpness begs to be picked. Proud of my speed, you learn to pick fast when your baby is screaming and mosquitos feast upon your flesh. 4 L bucket – 7 minutes, I think it’s time to quit my day job.
I’ll tell you something, this is the first time I’ve ever made ribs of any kind. I saw these local organic baby back ribs at the market and in a rush just grabbed them (my brain doesn’t work on logic at the market) hardly knowing at all what to do. My mom made ribs for us, they were good, but not this good, sorry ma. I did my homework, checked out some rib recipes around the net and got the basic gist that low and slow is essential, and like all things, a good sauce. I wanted something classic, yet refined, out of the ordinary, yet still lip smacking good. The berries call to me, and I remember their plump abundance sitting on the counter, waiting to be transformed. This sauce consists of ample saskatoon berries which could be swapped out for blueberries, shadbush or huckleberry. Along with raspberries, and some black raspberry (a cross between a blackberry and a raspberry). Feel inspired to use whatever is most available to you, the more wild, the better. Even cherries would work well in this recipe.
Be prepared to never want these bumble berry BBQ ribs to end, don’t be like me and use only 1 rack of ribs for 2 people, I could’ve easily eaten a full one to myself. J was literally ticked that I only made 1 rack, but how was I to know they’d be so good. Beginners luck I suppose…
1 scotch bonnet pepper, very finely minced, or a habanero or jalapeño for less intense spice
1 Tsp coconut oil or other fat
Instructions
Preheat oven to 300F.
Combine spices for the cajun seasoning, salt and pepper.
Cover the ribs with your dry rub mixture. Optionally you could let the ribs absorb the spices overnight.
Cook, covered with foil for 2 hours.
Add the berries and water to a small pot and heat to a simmer until the berries have released their juices.
In a separate pot or pan, heat the oil and add to it the garlic and onions, sauté until translucent and aromatic. Add the paprika, Worcester sauce,vinegar and the hot pepper.
Strain the berries in a fine mesh strainer or cheesecloth, add the juice to the other pot with the onion.You can use the berry pulp in smoothies or baked good.
Bring the mix to a simmer and turn off.
Heat oven to broil and uncover ribs from the foil, smother them in BBQ sauce and broil for 5 mins.
These pickles are infuriatingly beautiful. Our distinctly red exterior white interior radish has made love with it’s brine and they have become one. Why am I always giving vegetables human tendencies? Probably the same reason everyone I meet gets associated with an animal. I’m a pro at this, go ahead send me your photo to analyze, not my fault if your totem is a turkey. My infant son has no animal, so far hes gone from alien to peanut. Really why do little babies resemble peanuts SO. Much. I digress. Love these purdy pink pickles, they are some special and unique. Coriander, all spice, habanero chile. Zing! Jamaican jerk spice inspired pickles to the core. I hope you love them as much as I do, and desire to eat them on everything. They are quite satisfying with any fattier cut of meat or something rich and cheesy.
Apple cider vinegar was my choice as it is so healing and delicious. In the past when I was vegetarian I suffered from low HcL (hydrochloric acid) which is the healthy stomach acid that does the great initial job of breaking down our food. Funny enough, the condition of acid reflux is typically cause by low HcL. Products like (insert chalky sweet candy like substance here) actually exacerbate the condition and make matters worse over time. The best remedy is truly, apple cider vinegar, with each meal until your stomach acid is able to regulate itself to a point where you don’t experience the reflux effect. Tantalizing stuff right? Long story short, that’s just one of the therapeutic uses ACV has.
Now I know you must be wondering if you could pickle these using the wild fermentation technique, aka, substitute vinegar and sugar for a salty brine and allow to ferment at room temperature for several weeks, resulting in a delightfully probiotic super powerful veg substance. The answer is yes. But you need to consider the intensity of the spices won’t be quite the same since they aren’t heated in any matter. However an equally flavourful addition would be some fresh garlic and pepper corns or caraway seeds or hot chilis. Today I am hooking you guys up with 2 recipes for these spicy pickled radishes, one wild-fermentation version and one quick pickled vinegar version, yeehaw!
Mix together the water and salt until the salt is dissolved, mix in habanero.
In a large mason jar or 2 smaller mason jars, add the radishes, distribute the peppercorns evenly.
Cover with the salt water brine mixture, leaving a bit of space at the top but making sure the radishes are completely covered with brine.
My habit it to bang the bottom of the jars on a table a few times to force any air bubble to rise to the surface. Seal well and allow to sit at room temperature anywhere from 2 days to 2 weeks. Check them often to taste and see if they are "ready" for your palates perspective.
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.
