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By Kelly Rossiter IN Food & Health Mar 7 2011
I always look forward to March. The sun is noticeably warmer each day and the days begin to stretch out. I can see the end of the winter vegetable tunnel and start to look towards the days when I can get some fresh ramps and asparagus. Not quite yet, but soon enough.
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By Kelly Rossiter IN Food & Health Feb 1 2011
February is the hardest month for me in terms of cooking and eating. I live in Toronto, so the possibility of local fresh vegetables is pretty limited. At this time of the year, my husband and I eat a lot of cabbage, JerusalemIn other words, lots of root vegetables with the occasional green. artichokes, carrots, potatoes and celeriac. + READ MORE
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By Kelly Rossiter IN Food & Health Jan 3 2011
We all know the the indulgences of November and December must be paid for in January. Whether it is extra weight you need to take off from eating party foods, or extra money you need to pay for all the gifts you bought, you can manage a lot of this by carefully choosing what you cook and eat this month. + READ MORE
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By Kelly Rossiter IN Food & Health Jan 1 2011
My son and his girlfriend started a tradition last year when they had a party on New Year's Day and showed episodes from the various and sundry Star Trek series. They let everyone know the time of day each series was showing, and guests could drop in according to the series they wanted to see. No doubt some people were there for the whole thing. Tomorrow the theme is Dr. Who and there is certainly plenty of material there for people to see. It seemed like a fun thing to do to provide a bowl full of fortune cookies, with fortunes that relate to Dr. Who. + READ MORE
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By Kelly Rossiter IN Food & Health Dec 31 2010
Today is my last Soup of the Week. In fact, today is my last day for regular posts for Planet Green. Many thanks to the readers who have been following my columns over the years since Planet Green first started. It's been a lot of fun. I'll still be doing my monthly recipe round up and other occasional round ups. I'll be continuing to write for TreeHugger doing my daily Weekday Vegetarian column, and I hope you'll join me there. + READ MORE
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By Kelly Rossiter IN Food & Health Dec 29 2010
I've written before about the necessity of having a well stocked pantry. You are much more likely to cook at home if you have the ingredients on hand. Now, in the wake of the recent East Coast blizzard, is the time to turn to the pantry and make a nutritious dinner without having to leave the house. + READ MORE
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By Kelly Rossiter IN Food & Health Dec 27 2010
Well, here it is two days after Christmas and I'm looking at a plate of leftover turkey. We had a small turkey this year, so there isn't that much leftover, but there is still enough for a couple of meals. I'm still feeling a bit lazy, so rather than making some kind of casserole, I took the easy way out and made some turkey melts. + READ MORE
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By Kelly Rossiter IN Food & Health Dec 21 2010
If you are looking for last minute food-related presents for someone on your Christmas list, here are a couple of lovely books from Williams-Sonoma, Weeknight Fast and Fresh by Kristine Kidd and Cooking at Home by Chuck Williams and Kristine Kidd. + READ MORE
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By Kelly Rossiter IN Food & Health Dec 17 2010
Lately I've been looking through lots of recipes for my series on street food, and I've been attracted to flavours that aren't so common in my own cooking. I've made many recipes from North African, and I learned a lot about food in East Africa from my trip to Kenya last year, but food from West Africa is a bit unusual for me. + READ MORE
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By Kelly Rossiter IN Food & Health Dec 14 2010
My daughter, who is attending university an hour away from our home, gets a bit jealous when she reads about the food I am cooking. She's a good cook and baker, but her schedule doesn't always allow her as much time in the kitchen as she would like. So when I made these for my husband's family Hanukkah party, I had to promise her that I would make them again this week when she arrives home for the Christmas break. + READ MORE
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By Kelly Rossiter IN Food & Health Dec 13 2010
I've made lots of spring rolls in my time, although I have yet to achieve the beautiful crispy exterior that you get in Chinese or Thai restaurants, and presumably from street vendors. They are still really delicious, but somehow that perfect crispness eludes me + READ MORE
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By Kelly Rossiter IN Food & Health Dec 3 2010
Soup made from oatmeal? I was curious, then absolutely flabbergasted by how delicious this very simple soup is. One of the women in my book club mentioned kale brose during our last meeting and she sent the recipe along for me. To the dismay of some members, we had just determined that our next meeting would be around Robbie Burns day and we would have Scottish cuisine. Agreeing that we wouldn't make haggis or deep fried Mars bars, those of us in the group who are of Scottish heritage are going to try to convince the naysayers that traditional Scottish food is quite wonderful. Hence the brose. + READ MORE
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By Kelly Rossiter IN Food & Health Dec 1 2010
Here we are at the end of the year again, and I'm not sure where all that time went. The next couple of weeks for me will be filled with baking and cooking for family and friends. I have some recipes for Hannukah, which starts today and some for Christmas, as well lots of other ideas for dinners. + READ MORE
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By Kelly Rossiter IN Food & Health Dec 1 2010
It's a pretty common thing for Canadians to beat winter by travelling south to warmer climes for their vacation. I don't mind winter at all and I actually like the cold better than too much heat. I prefer a crisp bright winter day to 100F in the summer. I do find the grey wetness of November pretty dreary, however. That's when I start to look at recipes that make you feel better, like braises, stews and casseroles.
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By Kelly Rossiter IN Food & Health Nov 26 2010
I'm going to be sharing street food recipes over the next few weeks. It's a fascinating aspect of many cultures where people are used to getting snacks or whole meals from street vendors. Hopefully (although perhaps not always) the food is fresh and local. + READ MORE
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By Kelly Rossiter IN Food & Health Nov 25 2010
There may be some of you out there who aren't spending Thanksgiving with family or friends, but would like to have some turkey. Nobody is going to buy a big bird for two or four people, but there are some things you can do. You can buy a turkey parts and have a deconstructed turkey dinner, or you can make turkey scallopini. + READ MORE
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By Kelly Rossiter IN Food & Health Nov 24 2010
Here is a very quick, easy and healthy dish for a weeknight dinner. I served it alongside a Bombay aloo, and they went together very nicely. Spinach and chickpeas make a great combination, and this had a light, bright flavour. I'm eating the leftovers for breakfast as I write this. + READ MORE
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By Kelly Rossiter IN Food & Health Nov 23 2010
After my big dinner party last week testing Thanksgiving recipes for TreeHugger I had a bunch of evening meals out and I felt like it had been a long time since I'd had a simple homey dinner. This recipe appealed to me, not just because I had everything on hand needed to make it, but that I could put the whole thing in one pot and then just relax and sit down and have a drink before dinner while reading. + READ MORE
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By Kelly Rossiter IN Food & Health Nov 19 2010
This soup is about as simple as you can get, using ingredients readily available in your refrigerator and pantry. I had some particularly flavourful homemade chicken stock which really made all the difference in this comforting bowl. It would also be wonderful with a good strong vegetable stock.
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By Kelly Rossiter IN Food & Health Nov 15 2010
I've been thinking a lot about Thanksgiving recipes and dinner parties and so it was wonderful to make this quick and very easy chicken for a mid-week dinner that was totally different from the recipes I had been reading. No fuss with this recipe, just get it cooking and then go do something else until the chicken is done. I served it over basmati rice and added some pan fried Brussels sprouts that just took a couple of minutes to cook. All in all, dinner was on the table in 30 minutes. + READ MORE
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By Kelly Rossiter IN Food & Health Nov 5 2010
Today is opening day for The Royal Argricultural Winter Fair in Toronto, which is one of my favourite things to do in Toronto. While there are lots of activities aimed at families, it is first and foremost a working fair where farmers bring their livestock and produce for prizes and for sale. It is a fantastic place to learn about food production and distribution. + READ MORE
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By Kelly Rossiter IN Food & Health Nov 3 2010
November has rolled around again and we all know what that means: Thanksgiving. Whether you are planning the whole dinner yourself, or adding a side dish or dessert to the big family dinner we'll give you some ideas to help out. And while the focus of this month's round-up is Thanksgiving, if you are Canadian and you've already celebrated that wonderful harvest dinner, there is still plenty here for you to try. + READ MORE
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By Kelly Rossiter IN Food & Health Nov 1 2010
My husband is the guinea pig for all the recipes I post on Planet Green and TreeHugger. He's an excellent sport about it all, eating whatever I put in front of him without complaint. But every once in a while he rebels and asks me to put aside the lentils and kale and make him a Chinese meal. I usually turn to Fuchsia Dunlop and find something spicy and delicious, better than anything you can get for Chinese take-out. + READ MORE
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By Kelly Rossiter IN Food & Health Oct 29 2010
I bought a cauliflower the other day which I absolutely did not need. I had a refrigerator full of fresh vegetables waiting for me to eat them, but I passed this pile of absolutely perfect Ontario cauliflowers and I couldn't stop myself. + READ MORE
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By Kelly Rossiter IN Food & Health Oct 27 2010
This, dear reader, is what 16 pounds of fresh olives looks like. I realize that I'm not actually preserving my own local harvest here, given that the Southern Ontario climate does not allow really for the growing of olive trees. But I live in a predominantly Italian and Portuguese neighbourhood here in Toronto, and people here make their own wine, can their own tomatoes, cure their own sausages and salamis and yes, cure their own olives.
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By Kelly Rossiter IN Food & Health Oct 21 2010
The most freqently asked question when I give someone some of my preserves is "What do I do with it?" It's a good question because there are lots of answers beyond "Put it on toast". While quince jelly is indeed delicious on toast, it is also fabulous in a salad dressing or as a glaze on a fruit tart. The pumpkin bread recipe I shared with you last week was made with the pumpkin butter I have sitting in my refrigerator.Today I'll share a recipe for using marinated artichokes. + READ MORE
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By Kelly Rossiter IN Food & Health Oct 20 2010
Some people find artichokes daunting. In all honesty, I can see why, given that each artichoke comes with it's own little set of armour. Once you get the hang of them, they really aren't difficult to use at all and they are so much better than canned. It is a bit disconcerting to see how much of the hard outer part is discarded, but then you get to that lovely light green interior and all is well.
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By Kelly Rossiter IN Food & Health Oct 19 2010
A couple of years ago, I shared a recipe for steamed pork buns with Planet Green readers. Since then I have discovered the wonderful cookbooks of Fuchsia Dunlop. She has a rather different recipe for pork buns, and seeing as it is one of my husband's favourite treats, I decided to give it a try. The results were quite different from the pork buns I have made in the past. + READ MORE
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By Kelly Rossiter IN Food & Health Oct 18 2010
I know that sometimes when I post things under the series Preserving the Harvest you might wonder what you actually do with that preserve, other than marvelling at your ability to make it. I think perhaps the pumpkin butter might be one of those things. My daughter phoned me to tell me how much she loved the pumpkin butter on toast for breakfast, but that wasn't my real reason for making it. + READ MORE
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By Kelly Rossiter IN Food & Health Oct 15 2010
I was all set to make a pumpkin soup for lunch today with all of the extra pumpkin I bought earlier in the week, when my husband reminded me that he had a lunch meeting. All of the sudden chopping and cooking pumpkin seemed way too much like work. I decided to leave the pumpkin for another day and make something much faster and easier, while cleaning my refrigerator out a bit too.
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By Kelly Rossiter IN Food & Health Oct 13 2010
Sometimes I think I shouldn't be allowed out in markets. I went to do my shopping to make pumpkin butter, apple-onion chutney and cranberry-ginger relish. I carefully wrote out the amounts of ingredients I needed and I still got it wrong. I needed 11 pounds of apples, 8 pounds of pumpkins and 1 package of fresh cranberries. I ended up with about 16 pounds of apples, 12 pounds of pumpkins, 3 packages of cranberries and a basket of pears that I didn't need at all. + READ MORE
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By Kelly Rossiter IN Food & Health Oct 12 2010
Now that we are half way through October, my preserving, while not over, is certainly slowing down. Which is a good thing because my dining room floor is getting more covered in jars by the day waiting for the shelving to go into my cold room. Soon we won't have room to pull out a chair to sit and the dining room table. + READ MORE
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By Kelly Rossiter IN Food & Health Oct 8 2010
Everybody knows the way to get a kid to eat broccoli is to smother it in Cheddar cheese sauce. Well, maybe. It's a great flavour combination and it works really well with soup. This is a very quick and simple soup that you can have on the table when your kids get home for lunch. If they eat lunch at school, send it along in a thermos with a cheese biscuit or a half of a chickpea salad sandwich and some fruit for dessert. + READ MORE
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By Kelly Rossiter IN Food & Health Oct 8 2010
I remember the first time I had a turkey at my in-laws, I was shocked. There was no gravy. My inlaws were cranberry sauce people and my parents were gravy people. I had never before in my life had a turkey that was not accompanied by copious amounts of gravy. When I later told my mother about the dinner, she had a sharp intake of breath and then whispered "how did you manage to eat it?". Actually the same goes for roast beef, my in-laws favoured horseradish and my parents favoured, of course, gravy. But I digress. + READ MORE
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By Kelly Rossiter IN Food & Health Oct 7 2010
My daughter and I have spent a lot of time this summer looking through and cooking from the Williams Sonoma book The Art of Preserving. We've been impatiently waiting for pumpkin season so we could make the spiced pumpkin butter. I've never made a fruit butter before, so this was a new experience for me. Of course, the classic is apple butter, but this pumpkin version just sounded so appealing to me.
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By Kelly Rossiter IN Food & Health Oct 5 2010
I'm a lazy summer cook. I tend to make salads or quick pastas or I toss something on the barbeque. I'm really more interested in being outside during the summer, sitting and reading. Autumn is here and that means crisp days and turning leaves and lots of squash and apples at the farmers' market. But something about cooler weather and shorter days makes me want to get back to serious cooking. + READ MORE
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By Kelly Rossiter IN Food & Health Sep 30 2010
When I went to pick up my bushel of sweet red peppers from my local vendor last week, I was fascinated by the huge variety of different peppers they had for sale. I really wanted some hot banana peppers to pickle, but I came across these beautiful fire-engine red hot cherry tomatoes, and I just had to buy them. The guy who sold them to me said "You know these are hot right? People buy them all the time thinking they are sweet and come back to complain they burned their mouths". Yup, I knew they were hot and I bought them with my son in mind.
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By Kelly Rossiter IN Food & Health Sep 29 2010
I have always loved pickles, but I usually bypass the bread and butter pickles in favour of dills. That's because bread and butter pickles are usually quite sweet and I prefer my pickles sour. But looking through the The Art of Preserving, I found a recipe for bread and butter pickles that uses only a quarter cup of sugar, so that was the one for me.
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By Kelly Rossiter IN Food & Health Sep 28 2010
My husband and I used to get all of our vegetables from a lady who lived down the road from our cottage. It's too much work for her now to keep a garden for selling vegetables, so now she just grows enough for her family. Occasionally she has a glut of something and she will put a sign out by the road indicating what she has on offer. This year my daughter dropped in when the sign went up for fresh garlic. She had 8 dollars in her pocket, and came away with 24 heads of garlic. + READ MORE
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By Kelly Rossiter IN Food & Health Sep 27 2010
I wrote earlier in the summer about a duck that my son Hugh and his girlfriend Rebecca got at their CSA farmers' market. It was a delicious treat and I was really happy with the way it turned out, so when Rebecca mentioned that ducks were on offer again last week, I jumped at the chance to cook another one. + READ MORE
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By Kelly Rossiter IN Food & Health Sep 22 2010
I've missed the last two weeks of the farmers' market since I've been back in town because I have such a glut of fruits and vegetables and I've been harvesting from my garden like mad. It's hard to get through everything and I hate to see anything spoil. I keep suggesting to my son and his girlfriend that they come by for some of the astonishing amount of kale and sorrel I have, but they get a CSA box and they face the same issue. This week I thought I would take the bull by the horns and just toss together some ingredients that you wouldn't necessarily normally find together. + READ MORE
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By Kelly Rossiter IN Food & Health Sep 21 2010
My book club was meeting last week and it's an evening I always look forward to.This is a group of very adventuresome eaters and excellents cooks, so I always look forward to the great meals. We've cooked Italian and Indian, Mennonite food from Ontario and last meeting was food from the south of France. This time we were reading an author from New Orleans, so that's what we were cooking.
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By Kelly Rossiter IN Food & Health Sep 13 2010
I'm afraid I haven't written much lately, but I sure have been preserving up a storm. I now have about 300 jars of pickles, jams and jellies. In fact I have so many, my husband was forced to clean out a cold room in the basement where he is going to set up shelves to hold my stash. Right now I have about 80 jars of canned tomatoes lining the wall of my dining room, and about 200 jars on the lintels above the windows of my cottage and they really can't stay there. + READ MORE
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By Kelly Rossiter IN Food & Health Aug 23 2010
I never seem to be able to catch pears right at their optimum eating point. I bought a basket of pears at the farmers' market and they told me they would take a couple of days to ripen. Well, a couple of weeks later, and they were finally ready. Of course, the problem then is that they ripen all at once and go bad really quickly, so you have to stuff yourself with pears. Either that or can them. + READ MORE
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By Kelly Rossiter IN Food & Health Aug 18 2010
September always seems to me a more sensible time for the new year than January. Hopefully, everybody is fresh and relaxed from the summer. The hot, muggy weather has made way for the crisp air and cool nights of autumn. How well I remember the first day of school each September with my kids in their new clothes, excited but a little anxious as well about the new teacher, new classroom, new friends. My son came home each day for lunch until Grade 4, when suddenly it hit me - I had to make lunch everyday.
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