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(Un)Usual Suspects, An Unusual Alliance, & Eating Organic in Guelph

First, I’d like to congratulate Well Fed Flat Broke for her first place finish in the Food and Drink category of the Canadian Blog Awards. It’s a great blog and I really encourage you to check it out and add it to your feed. Also thank you for everyone who voted for The Mindful Table. Your support is really appreciated and we finished third in a pretty close race for the top three spots!

And now to my semi-regular Friday round-up of articles, websites or videos from across the world wide web that caught my attention.

With Meat, Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder. I can certainly relate to a lot in this article from Grist, which talks about the experience of eating meat after being vegetarian, and how to eat less meat. Somehow, a meat meal seems more special when we eat meat less frequently. Check out the recipes at the end of the article. I’m looking forward to trying the spicy squash and chorizo soup. Yum!

The (Un)Usual Suspect: Why Organic Spices Aren’t Always Safe. An interesting article on a topic I never thought about: the safety of spices in the spice chain. Apparently there have been a few recalls of organic spices recently. Irradiation plays an important role in ensuring the safety of spices from countries that may not have the same sanitary standards as us. Spices are often dried outside in the sun where it is possible to get contamination from insects, birds and other sources. However organic spices are not irradiated. The article also gets into the safety of organic food in general. One thing the article fails to do is put the safety issues into perspective with the large-scale industrial food manufacturing. I’d love to know how recalls between organic and conventional food compare.

Life for Egg-Laying Hens in the US May Improve. Now this is big. The US Humane Society and the United Egg Producers are lobbying together for legislation that will ban the use of battery cages in egg production. Strange bedfellows indeed!, but definitely a match that may force a well-needed change to how eggs are produced. The EU has already gone cage-free. Like the US, almost all Canada’s eggs are  cage eggs, which is the main reason I only buy organic eggs. Hopefully we won’t lag behind for long!

Eating out Organic and Local in Guelph. This week was the organic food conference in Guelph, ON. The conference website provides a list of local establishments serving local and organic food. If you’re planning on being near Guelph, bookmark it! Great resource.

Roasting Vegetables 101. Root vegetables, winter squash and cauliflower are seasonal staples at this time of year. Simple Bites has some great tips for roasting up these veggies, which brings out and enhances their natural flavours. Not to mention, your home smells great!

Image credit: Animal Rights Advocates Inc, Creative Commons License.

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By Amanda S. – January 27, 2012

Porridge Three by Three Ways

During the winter, oatmeal porridge is a breakfast staple for me.  It is hearty, versatile, and filling. Oats are also very nutritious. They are a great source of many vitamins and minerals, plus they have a low glycemic index. This means that they are digested slowly, which can help control appetite and delay hunger.  (I posted last year about the cultivation and nutrition of oats.)

Here are three ways to prepare basic porridge. The basic recipes can also be jazzed up by adding fruits, nuts and spices:

  • Overnight Steel-cut Oatmeal: Porridge made from steel-cut oats is easily the most flavorful and filling of oatmeals, but it is also time-consuming. Who has an hour to cook breakfast? The solution? Well there are two actually…
  1. Take a lesson from beans and soak them overnight. Basically, bring 1 part steel-cut oats and 3 parts water to a boil then turn off the heat, cover, and let them sit overnight. In the morning, add in any extras such as cinnamon, nuts and raisins, turn on the heat to warm everything up and voilà! The beauty of this technique is that you can make as much or as little as you want. If you’re the only porridge-eater in your family, simply use 1/4 cup oats for a delicious breakfast for one.
  2. Use your slowcooker. I have to admit I haven’t tried this, but I can’t see why it wouldn’t work. Use 1 part oats to 4 parts water and simmer in your slow cooker for three to eight hours. If you want yummy extras in your porridge like dried fruit, add them at the beginning.
  • Basic Quick Oatmeal: If steel-cut is not your thing or you have difficulty finding them, you can always make quick oatmeal. I shared my basic recipe in last year’s oats post. In a nutshell, combine 1/3 cup quick organic oats with 3/4 cups liquid (I use water and organic soymilk), and cook for 5 minutes.

While plain oatmeal is tasty on it’s own, I like to add flavour and texture with fruits and nuts. Here are three great ways to jazz up your oatmeal beyond basic nuts and raisins:

  • Cook your oatmeal with green cardamom pods (about 1pod  per 2 servings) and a handful of dried apricots. Add almond butter (1 tablespoon per serving) once the oatmeal is cooked. Serve with drizzled with honey.
  • Add dried cranberries and some grated orange rind (use organic to avoid pesticides) or cranberry sauce to your porridge. Serve topped with slivered almonds.
  • Try adding chopped dates or dried figs (chopped or quartered) while the oatmeal is cooking. Serve topped with grated apple and drizzled with maple syrup.

Finally, if you are you are one of many folks who grabs breakfast on the go and then eats at your desk, consider this innovative tip for portable porridge from The Kitchn blog: Divide a batch of oatmeal into mason jars. Grab one each morning and reheat it in the microwave. Brilliant!

Do you have a favorite porridge recipe? Share it in the comments below!

Photo credit: Yaroslav B.

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By Amanda S. – January 24, 2012

Rice Bowls: A Simple and Warming Meal

I love rice bowls, especially on cold winter days or brisk autumn ones. Basically a rice bowl is a bowl of  rice typically topped with steamed or raw veggies, a protein, and a sauce. They tend to be very popular in vegan restaurants, where they are often made with brown rice. I believe that they are Japanese in origin, where they are called donburi, or possibly Korean.

Rice bowls are simple to make, nutritious and filling. Generally, all you need to do is make some rice and while the rice is cooking steam your veggies, sautée your protein, and make a quick dressing or sauce. The photo at the top of this page is from a quick rice bowl I pulled together with ingredients I had on hand in my fridge: tempeh (which I simmered in ginger, garlic, soy and maple syrup to flavour before sautéeing), broccoli, baby spinach, and a grated carrot, which I didn’t bother cooking. I used the cooking liquid from the tempeh as the rice bowl sauce, and topped the whole thing with a dash of sesame oil and sesame seeds. Total prep time, not including rice, was 10 minutes.

I prefer to use brown rice since it is less processed and feels more substantial than white rice. Brown rice is also higher in B vitamins, iron, magnesium and fibre. I also choose organic rice. It doesn’t cost much more per serving compared to conventionally-farmed rice, which is often grown with a lot of insecticides. You can also find fair trade rice at some stores.

Here are some rice bowl recipes:

If you want someone else to make your rice bowl, Aux Vivres has some fabulous ones. The ingredients are usually organic, and local when in season, too. Another option is Kazu, which isn’t organic or use specifically sustainable ingredients, but does have some good vegetarian choices.

If you know of other places in Montreal that serve delicious rice bowls, let me know!

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By Amanda S. – January 17, 2012

Canadian Blog Awards 2011 Finalists

My semi-regular Friday roundup of articles, websites or videos from across the world wide web that caught my attention.

This round-up I’m doing something different. You see, I’ve been nominated for a Canadian Blog Award in the category of best Food and Drink Blog. Some of you may already have voted for me in the preliminary round of voting. (If so, thank you!)  Well now it’s the final round. The nominees have been narrowed to down to five in each category, and yes, I made the cut!

So this round-up, I wanted to list the other nominees, and provide a link where you can go vote for your favourite one.

  • As Ink Remains. A graphic designer from Toronto comments on her passions: fashion, art, design, Toronto, and of course, food!
  • Well Fed Flat Broke. A Vancouver-based blog about “eating great food, and not paying a lot for it. It’s about eating seasonally, and making the most of what you have in your pantry and what you can afford.”
  • EC’s Blog. The blog of Elspeth Copeland, a food consultant working on her thesis on Canadian Cuisine for her diploma in Gastronomy from the University of Reims.
  • Ali Does It Herself! A blog by Ali, a student in St-John’s, documenting her attempts at “new things and new projects, just to see if I can do it myself.”
  • The Mindful Table. (That’s me!) A blog that explores local and sustainable food and dining choices in Canada with a focus on Montreal and south-western Quebec.

You can visit the Canadian Blog Awards finalists page here. The voting poll is here. You only get one vote, so make it count. Polling closes next Friday, January 20th, 2012. Don’t forget to check-out the other finalists in other categories.

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By Amanda S. – January 13, 2012

UK: Making It Easy To Choose Sustainable

I’m always amazed when I travel back to the United Kingdom at how much easier it is to identify more sustainable and healthy food choices from food labels, and just how many more of those options are available.  I think these labels speak for themselves, so this post is essentially a photo essay of the food I found on recent trips to the UK.

Stopping for a bite along the motoway. Yup, that's fresh fruit at the service station.

Perhaps a sandwich made with pole & line caught tuna? Note the nutrition info right on the front of the package. (M&S, Marks and Spencer)

How about a pork pie? (Waitrose)

Or maybe you want to make the sandwich yourself? (Waitrose)

Later on, perhaps some fresh fish for dinner? (ASDA)

Or maybe something frozen? (Waitrose)

Followed by a nice mug of hot chocolate before bed? (Co-Op)

Wondering where your morning eggs are from? (Booths)

And if concerns over packaging are keeping you up... (M&S)

What do you think? Would you like to see food labeling like this in Canada? Have you seen food labeling in other countries that you think is more informative that what we have here? Share your thoughts!

UPDATE on Canadian Food Blog Awards: I made it into the final round! Thanks to everyone who voted. Now I have to ask you all to vote again. The list of finalists and a link to the voting poll can be found here. Voting ends January 20th.

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By Amanda S. – January 11, 2012