What We Caterin'

Kreck here.  For the last few weeks I've been spending a ton o' time preparing for my final planning studio presentation at school on farm innovation and land use planning in Ontario.  Exciting!  Because my studio group is looking at food, we offered to do the catering for our presentations.

We went to St. Lawrence Market and picked up a ton of local vegetables, cheeses and ingredients to make this spread.  After hours (and hours) of washing, chopping, blending and displaying we came up with this:

Here are the veggie platters we made up with local produce, including white and purple carrots and orange and purple cauliflower...

And the dips...

Cilantro Dip

Spicy Sundried Tomato Dip

Hummus (with a lovely garnish)...

Local food: It's what we caterin' with!

Where We Goin': Soup-A-Licious

Kreck here. Yesterday some friends and I did a road trip up to Holland Marsh to check out the Soup-A-Licious festival that's taking place this weekend.  We took part in the self-guided farm tours and saw some neat things...

Bajar Greenhouse

Carron Farm Ltd.

(Red, purple, white, yellow and orange carrots, oh my!)

The festivities continue tomorrow, so check it out if you have a chance!

What We Makin': Roasted Vegetables

Kreck here.  A few weeks ago I bought these PURPLE (!) potatoes from the farmer's market without knowing what I'd do with them.  Today it was their time to shine, because I decided to try my hand at roasting vegetables.  And believe me readers: if I can do it, so can all of y'all.

I started off by cutting up potatoes, carrots, celery, onions and a couple of garlic cloves, as well as a couple of apples, just to be adventurous.  I tossed them in a large bowl with olive oil, cayenne pepper, paprika and oregano.  Then I put everything in a large casserole dish, covered it with aluminum foil and put it in the oven (at 375 degree Fahrenheit) and let it cook for 75 minutes.  It may take more or less time depending on your oven, so just keep checking to see if the harder vegetables are cooked.

Behold the result:

This was so good, especially the apples!  (And all of the produce was local!)  The next time I make this, I will definitely add more apples, onions, garlic and herbs.

Give it a try!

Vegetables:  It's what we roastin'.

What We Linkin' To: The Best Bulk Food Stores in Toronto

Kreck here.  My apologies for being a deadbeat blogger lately.  I'm still a deadbeat blogger, but maybe this link to an awesome post on another blog will make you forget about that...

BlogTO's list of the top 12 bulk food stores in Toronto

(Be sure to read the comments part for a debate on whether the Bulk Barn deserves a place on this list.

I vote yes.)

What We Eatin': Jen's Famous Carob Peanut Butter Cups

Kreck here.  Jen made a vegan, gluten-free version of Reese chocolate peanut butter cups this evening, and lordy they were good!   The cups have a layer of peanut butter, icing sugar and shredded cocunut between two layers of melted carob chips -- that's all there is to it!

Warning:  These are really delicious, but they are super sugar and filling -- one bite is probably all you need.  I decided to save half of one for tomorrow (which I never, ever do!).

Jen's Famous Carob Peanut Butter Cups:  It's what's givin' us a sugar high!

What We Eatin': Pickled Green Beans

Today I paid my bro a visit, and left with a jar of pickled green beans!  They were pickled with two cloves of garlic, pepper corns and a small chili pepper, so they definitely had a kick.  Mmm!

What We Makin': Eggplant Parmesan

I absolutely love making warm hearty meals when the weather gets cooler, and this eggplant parmesan is perfect for cooler days.

First, slice your eggplant into 1/2 inch slices.  Sprinkle lightly with salt and let sit for 15 minutes or so.  While that is working, you can get to work making a sauce.  Canned pasta sauce is great for when you're in a rush.  This time, I opened a jar of pasta sauce and added some onions, garlic, grated zucchini and red peppers.

For the "parmesan," I made up a simple substitute that I really like.  I added 1 cup of sesame seeds, 1/2 a cup of almonds, 1/2 a cup of nutritional yeast and 1 tsp of sea salt into a food processor and blended until it became a fine crumb mixture.

After the eggplant is ready, rinse it off in a colander and pat dry.  Next up, you'll need to bread and fry the eggplant.  I mixed egg replacer with hemp milk and some water together and put it into a wide bowl.  For the breading, I mixed spelt flour with some corn meal and some Italian seasonings.  First dip the eggplant into the milk mixture, then the breading.  Shake off any excess breading and drop into a frying pan heated with a layer of oil.  After the slices brown, transfer them to a paper towel to blot excess oil.

Once all of the slices have been fried, you can move onto layering the eggplant with cheese and sauce.  I also used some grated soy mozzarella along with my parmesan mixture.

Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven covered with foil for maybe half an hour or so.  Then take the foil off and broil it until it starts to brown.

--Jen