Sharon Hanna tonight @ Main Street Rocky Mountain Flatbread Company

Have you heard about Rocky Mountain Flatbread's micro-green farm controversy?  Get the scoop tonight and check out Sharon Hanna and Carol Pope's new book Kale and Friends: 14 Easy-to-Grow Superfoods.

Event details here.

Meet Sharon Hanna the best selling author of The Book of Kale.
Sharon shall be signing books & demonstrating a recipe from her new book.
We shall also be featuring a Kale & Snap Pea Salad, Kale Pasta & Kale Flatbread!

Kale Blossom Mango Lassis at Moberly Community Arts Centre

 Yesterday was a cold and wet Vancouver day, so the only bees out were the bravest bumble bees. This bee was drinking from this tiny snow berry blossom with incredible focus and it was shaking--almost as though shivering. I think the shape of this blossom protects the nectar from being watered down.

These nodding onions buds are just starting to open.

You can see why some varieties of this kind of lavender is called "butterfly lavender."

 So let's go into the kitchen! I demonstrated my way of making kale chips. Preheat the oven and pans to 350 degrees F. Masage kale with olive oil and salt. Turn off the oven. Put one layer of kale on the heated pans. Try not to let the leaves overlap. You will hear a slight sizzle. Put the pans in the oven for about 20 minutes or until crispy.

 I passed around the chips and then crumbled the rest to make the gomashio in The Book of Kale by Sharon Hanna. I coudn't find seaweed flakes, so my friend Lori Snyder cut some nori into strips. We served this on top of avocado on brown rice crackers. This is one of my favorite snacks.

 We used the gomashio to season naked pumpkin seed and kale blossom  pesto. The arugula is really spicy at this time of the year, so I mix it with the kale blossoms to mediate the heat.

 I hadn't used a blender to make pesto before, and had to add extra oil to make it work. I reccomend using a food processor so you can use less oil. Sometimes when you do workshops, you have to work with what's available!

 So I forgot the yogurt to make the mango smoothies, but I went with the flow and made vegan smoothies. This one is decorated with edible flowers from the Moberly Community Herb garden: calendula, borage, lavender, and cat nip.

Madame Beespeaker's Kale Blossom Lassis

For 1 big serving or 2 small servings:

1 large ripe mango

1 handful kale blossoms

3 tbs low fat yogurt

1 cup coconut water

1/2 tsp grated fresh turmeric

2 ice cubes

Garnish:

1/4 tsp freshly ground green cardamom seeds

Cut as much flesh from the mango as you can and put aside. Put the coconut water in the blender first, followed by the other ingredients. Pulse and blend until smooth. Add more yogurt or coconut water to your taste. If you want to keep this vegan, you could use coconut milk, coconut yogurt, or add more coconut water. If you want to keep the recipe more local, use dairy milk or your own nut milk instead of coconut water and substitute some of your canned or frozen peaches (if you're lucky have any left at this time of the year). Garnish with the cardamom and edible flowers. Enjoy!

 

 The little Labrador tea plant in the garden is blooming. Lori says it can be used to make a hangover remedy. I'll put that in my files!

 The shade garden at Moberly looks fantastic in the rain.

Oh poor sodden bee, hanging on to wallflowers waiting for the sun to come out. I know how you feel.

DIY Sushi Birthday Party with Gnomes

 Peter's birthday is very close to Mother's day, which often creates a bit of a conflict. This year we decided to pool forces and celebrate both on the same day with a DIY sushi party, celebrating Peter as "a mother of invention."

 We invited some folks who are passionate about sushi and much better at making it than we are. This is a tricky way of inviting people for your house to make you dinner, but don't tell them that!

 I made kale bud and blossom gomae, using the recipe from Sharon Hanna's The Book of Kale. I didn't have mirin, so I used some ice wine I'd been given that I use for cooking, not drinking.

Jeremy knows how to make those big fat ocean rolls that I find a challenge.

 There's cucumber, tuna, tobiko and egg in his roll. I'm lucky if I can put two ingredients in my roll before it falls apart.

 Next, we have Ali, who is a pro at making raw sushi with radish sprouts, mango, avocado tofu, and kale.

She also added the gomashio I also made from The Book of Kale. The Russian kale tends to shatter when you make kale chips, so this is a great way to use those small pieces.

 I made a vegan cake that uses vinegar and baking soda as a leavening agent. I used hibiscus tea in the batter and malt vinegar from Spinnaker's brew pub in Victoria. I made one version of the cake with buckwheat flour, but I think it needs some flax "eggs" in it to make it a bit more moist. The coconut truffle icing is coconut cream, coconut milk, cocoa and a bit of icing sugar.

 The birthday boy--my favorite garden gnome in the world!

Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there and to all the mothers (and fathers) of invention.

Kale Recipe Roundup

I've had a request on more recipes featuring kale, so here is a round up of recipes that look tasty to me.

The Tea Cup Chronicles currently features a good lookin' kale salad with apple, roasted beets and caraway.

How about this kale pesto with roasted walnuts at Taste Spotting?

I want to try his hearty kale and sausage soup from the Kitchn.

This looks like a classic: spaghetti with braised kale at Bon Appetit.

Here are kale chips and kale-dusted popcorn at Smitten Kitchen.

Now my favorite kale dish is Gomen wat (Ethiopian Greens). Here is a recipe for the spiced butter Niter Kibbeh and Berbere and Awaze--spice mix and spice paste at A Hungry Bear Won't Dance. I imagine you use the butter and spice paste with to make braised spicy kale. It's the butter that makes it UNCTchewous

Let me know if you try any of these recipes!

I also encourage you to listen to the podcast of Chef Bruce Wood talking to Sheryl on NXNW on CBC about his marmalade recipe and cooking with nettles. Charming!