Comfort Noodles.

There are days the sun is shining and you bound out of bed ready to scale mountains (or whatever your equivalent).  There are other days when it is cold and gloomy out and it seems as if those mountains keep growing with every step you take.  On those sort of days most people have their go-to comfort food.  I am no exception.  Not so surprisingly, mine includes noodles (with french fries being a very close second).

As a trainer and nutrition coach I shouldn’t admit this, but my absolute down in the depths meal is spaghetti noodles, with butter and sea salt (or truffle salt if I feel like splurging).  I blame a high school friend with a ridiculously fast metabolism for introducing me to that.  As an adult who knows a bit better I still go to pasta, but try to clean it up a bit.

I’ll be honest, the last few weeks the so called mountains have felt quite large.  The butter and truffle salt are calling, but instead, this is what I had today.  Buckwheat soba noodles with oven roasted onion, tomatoes and anchovies.

Ingredients

Sauce (for 2 people)

• 1 small sweet onion (vidalia), finely chopped
• a handful of small sweet cherry tomatoes cut in half
• a few glugs of olive oil
• 1 tbsp dried oregano or a few fresh sprigs
• sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper
• 1 can oil packed anchovies, well drained and chopped (optional, but so tasty!)
• 2-3 tbsp white wine
• enough noodles (your choice) for 2
• shaved parmesan cheese and freshly torn basil leaves for garnish

happiness is a little fish!

Method

• Preheat oven to 350degrees.
• Spread onions onto a rimmed baking sheet.
• Spread tomatoes in a layer on top of onions.
• Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt and oregano.
• Place baking tray in oven for approximately 45minutes until tomatoes and onions are soft but not browned.
• While tomato and onion mixture is baking, place drained anchovies in a large bowl and add a glug of wine and some fresh cracked pepper.
• When tomato mixture is cooked, turn off and let rest in the oven.  Meanwhile boil some well salted water and cook pasta as per package instructions.
• When noodles are cooked, drain and add noodles, tomatoes and onions to anchovy mixture.
• Toss well.
• Serve with fresh parmesan cheese, freshly ground pepper and torn basil. (a glass of red wine doesn’t hurt either)

For the record, the mountain didn’t get smaller, but the meal sure seemed to help.

Coffee cravings.

I’m from Vancouver.  It is a fairly well established theory that people from the West Coast like their coffee.  The term coffee snob is frequently, and often justifiably, used.  I’ll be honest though I thought I had escaped the snobbery.  Don’t get me wrong.  I like a good coffee, and I will certainly forgo a cup rather than partake of the swill from certain big coffee chains (West Coast ones included).  But then I took a trip back to my hometown…. and I forgot to bring my own coffee.  I brought my travel mug, but no beans.

Ok, maybe a teeny bit snobby.

It started in the airport.  Do I grit my teeth and get a coffee from one of the overpriced, bitter chains? No, I would rather sleep on the plane anyway.  Do I accept one in styrofoam from the nice attendants walking down the aisle?  No, a “real” drink seemed like a better option (besides, it will help me sleep!).  Okay.  All good so far.  Then I woke up the next morning….  ugh.  Brown water masquerading as coffee.  Okay, tea it is.

After sending a few emails to friends and a plea to the tweetusphere I got a bit of help.  A quick hop in the car and I found a place that sold some beautiful italian espresso perfect for the stovetop espresso maker hidden at the back of a kitchen cupboard.  Pre ground and not even organic (sigh) – surely that cancels out the snobbery?

My first cup of americano in my Dad's favourite old coffee mug.

Mini-coffee crisis averted I sat down (with a cup of coffee) to write Fridays blog.  Yes, if you’re reading this you’ll know that Friday has come and gone.  I’m getting to that.  Not only did I forget to bring my own coffee but my laptop was on the other side of the country.  I seemed to have forgotten that a key to blog writing is pictures (isn’t that a bit of an oxymoron?).  Which not so surprisingly are on my computer.  So to my little phone I went to see what I might have some pictures of with which to create a blog.  I started scrolling through my fairly purged phone library of photo’s and realized the only thing I had more than one picture of were coffee cups.  Hmmm….are you starting to sense a theme to this trip?

Just to be clear - do NOT steal this mug!

It started me thinking about what a big role coffee plays in so many societies.  In many ways it brings people together.  On this trip alone I’ve made plans to meet at least three people “for coffee”, I’ve attempted to figure out (with the help of at least 2 other people)how you actually make one of those big urns that are ubiquitous at funerals and large family gatherings work, I’ve spiked one with scotch in memory of a dear friend (my mug, not the urn), and I’ve had steaming cups out in the garden with my mom while working in the beautiful fall weather.

Coffee out, with friends, tastes better.

I’ve also been thinking of some of the great memories I have that involve coffee – morning espresso in the Italian countryside with friends, at the gym prepping to do a workout with my gym buddies, my dad in the garden with a cup talking to the cat, following countless meals around many friends tables, settling in for morning skype conversations with friends over the globe and even just sitting quietly at home with a mug and a book.

Maybe I am a coffee snob.

But you know what?  I think I’m okay with that.

Simple Fall Carrots.

Sometimes dinner rolls around and you just don’t want to get fancy.  Maybe you don’t have the time or the ingredients.  Maybe you just want something simple and clean.   Summer or winter Peter Rabbit got it right.  It’s hard to beat fresh carrots.

For an easy vegetable dish try steamed carrots with butter and sage.  It’s simple.

Instructions

• First, pick some carrots fresh from the garden (or Mr. McGregors).

Or grab a bunch from the farmers market.

• Cut them to your preferred size.  Place in the top half of a vegetable steamer and cook until just tender.
• While they are cooking melt a tbsp of butter in a saute pan and add a handful of chopped fresh sage.
• Let the sage get a bit crispy, but be careful it doesn’t burn.
• When the carrots are cooked, drain them and place in the pan with the butter and sage.  Toss.
• Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste.

Serve the carrots hot, warm or even cold the next day.  It is just as good for dinner with a roast chicken as it is with quinoa for a quick lunch.  Just don’t get caught in the garden!

Oven Roasted Tomato Paste

In my continuous quest to have summer last all year one of my favourite ways to preserve the taste of the season is oven roasted tomato paste.  Looking for a weekend project? Making it isn’t difficult, just a bit time intensive.  I assure you though your winter meals will thank you for it.

Ingredients

• as many ripe roma tomatoes as you wish.  (A full baking sheet makes about one ice cube tray worth of paste.)
• olive oil
• sea salt

You will also need:

• large sheet pan(s) or cookie sheets
• parchment paper
• food processor / belnder
• ice cube tray

Method

• Head to local farmers market and buy a ridiculous amount of tomatoes.
• Preheat oven to 250 degrees.
• Wash the tomatoes and cut them in half.
• Cut a piece of parchment paper to fit your sheet pan(s).
• Place tomatoes cut side up on the paper. Don’t worry, they can be packed fairly close together.  The more the merrier.

• Drizzle olive oil over the tomatoes.
• Sprinkle with sea salt.
• Place in oven.
• Allow to cook for 3-4 hours.  At about the 3 hour mark make sure you check that they haven’t started to burn on the edges.
• When they are cooked, remove pans from the oven and let them cool.

 When the tomatoes are cool, place them in a blender.  Puree until smooth adding more olive oil if necessary.  To keep the puree for immediate use, place it in a jar in the fridge.  Ensure that there is always a thin layer of oil on top to prevent spoilage.  It should last this way for about a week.  To save some for the coming months just spoon the paste into an ice cube tray, cover and place in the freezer.  When frozen, use a knife to remove the cubes and put them in a labelled container in the freezer.  Tomato paste cubes are the perfect size to add a bit of zing to eggs, pasta, beans or vegetables in the coming months.

Cucumber Salad

It is officially fall.  Boo.  Yet it’s hard to be sad when Vancouver is having absolutely fabulous weather and my garden is happy.

In the spirit of keeping summer alive here is a gloriously simple cucumber salad.  Perfect as a side with almost anything, it is also great with some chick peas or quinoa added for a complete meal in your lunch box.

Ingredients

• 2 english cucumbers or 1 large field cucumber, thinly sliced
• 1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
• 1/4c olive oil
• 1/8c white wine or rice wine vinegar
• Juice of 1/2 a lemon
• 2 tbsps chopped fresh dill
• Sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.

Method.

• Thinly slice cucumber and red onion.  A mandolin works well (and quickly!) for this.
• Toss together in a bowl and sprinkle with salt and chopped dill.
• Pour oil, vinegar and lemon over top of cucumber and onion.  Toss.
• Taste test.  Add more dressing, dill or salt if necessary.

This can be eaten immediately, but it’s better made the day ahead as it lets the flavours meld.

Enjoy these last glorious days of summer.

How to peel a tomato.

This was not the post I planned for today.  But then something happened.

Yesterday, as I was prepping 40lbs of beautiful field tomatoes for the freezer a friend innocently asked  “is that how you peel tomatoes?”.  It was then that I realized that every year when I freeze tomatoes (or peaches) I get the same question.

So folks,  here ya go.

First.  Get some tomatoes.

Next, boil some water in a large pot and set a large bowl of cold water next to the stove.  When the water is boiling use a slotted spoon and place them into the water.

Watch them until the skin splits.  As soon as the skin splits use a slotted spoon to remove the tomatoes and place them in the cold bowl of water.

Place the bowl in sink, and if the water has warmed add more cold water.  It is important not to let the tomatoes actually cook at this stage.  You just want to be able to peel the skin.

Peel off the skin.

That’s it.  You’re done.

What you do now is up to you.  You could leave them whole, core them, slice them, quarter them, mash them, seed and puree them, your options are endless.  This batch I just quartered and put into freezer bags.

Now they just sit in the freezer and wait for the winter rains as a little mealtime reminder that summer always comes back.