Borscht - dedicated to Nita

Who doesn't love borscht? Each time someone in our office pulls out a bowl full of the hearty ruby soup ohs and ahs erupt as if a puppy had been pulled out fresh from the fridge. While I don't necessarily condone chilling your puppy, I do condone a healthy bit of office envy during lunch time, I'm a bit of a jerk like that. I've listed my own recipe that I've been using to promote office envy for the past 10 years.
Meat free too,  you can load up on our vitamin (S)mug.
This should take you about 30 mins start to finish, don't over cook it - flavour will develop once your borscht takes a fridge nap overnight.
1 onions
3 carrots
3 stalks of celery
2- 3 cloves of garlic
3 large potatoes
3 large beets
1 large 900ish mls tin of tomatoes
1 liter of low sodium veggie broth
2 cups chopped kale or red cabbage
1/2 TBSP oregano
1 bay leaf
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 TBSP dried dill or a handful of fresh dill frowns.
vinegar to taste -
cracked pepper
topped with sour cream

5 mins     Heat a sturdy pot and sautee onions, celery
                        and carrots.
3 mins     Add garlic for a short warming
1  min      add the tin of tomatoes and broth
1 min       crank the heat up and toss in the cubed
                    potatoes and beets
1 min       add spices EXCEPT vinegar, dill and pepper
10 mins   clamp the lid on and boil the whole mess until
                     the potatoes
                    and beets are nearly tender
5 mins       add the chopped kale or cabbage and
                       cook until tender
TOTAL: 26 mins
5 mins
Remove 3/4 of the cooked veggies and using an emersion blender blend it up to baby food consistency.
Return the blended veggies to the pot
To finish add vinegar, dill and pepper to taste
GRAND TOTAL: 31 mins

Serve with heavy bread and consider trying it with a Tripel style beer...you can be sure to make coworkers envious if you pull a beer out at lunch.

When drama and cuteness met April 2008

Dedicated to Nita, who makes ever Monday a great day to go into work. She keeps my ship steady, taught me the importance of details and supported me through all the own puppy problems. Your the best!

Greens - aint not big thing

Too many iceberg heads of lettuce out there blanding the whole world up with their tastelessness. If your in the grocer and your buying iceberg, please for the love of sweet bearded baby Jesus remember this ...

                    you CAN buy good taste.

There is no reason for this leafy treason, it's time to be introduced to the new green in town. Time to give up on the regular leafy ho hum, and approach the greens as an experiment in developing new flavors and combinations. Salads, cole slaws, fresh veggies and cru de tay it can all be better when your try something new.

 

Here's a simple chart to help you start your picking, of greens…I don’t even what to think about what else your picking sitting in front of your computer, alone, without anyone watching …ewwwwww. 

Type	taste	Availability	Colour
Black Kale	Brassica-spinach x brocolli	Health food stores	Dark purple to blue often dusty looking
Red Cabbage	X-crunchy slightly sweet, brassica finish	Widely available	Dark purple, sometimes shiny and sometimes dusty
Ridicioo	Bitter & Herby	Widely available	Dark purple and white, shiny
Beet Greens	mild beet root flavor with boost of grassy	sold attached to beet roots & in mixed greens packs	Shiny green and deep purple, stems are deep ruby red leading to red veining.
Green Kale	Like seaweed without that ocean flavor	available easily	deep green/blue, should be even in tone. May even look dusty
Spinach	fresh green grass – cud	available everywhere	shiny vibrant green
Arugula or Rocket	Green + pepper or horse radish	you might need to ask for it.	shiny vibrant green
Swiss Chard	green and earthy – same taste regardless of stem colour	green grocier	leaf is shiny green, stems range in colour form white, yellow orange and red
Dandilion	green and bitter	health food stores	vibrant green, pale green and white stems
Mustard	Horseradish and greens	health food stores	less vibrant green than above, but still grass green
Romaine	Greens and celery – crispy	green grocier	Shiny vibrant green and white stems, paler as the leaves go into the centre
Butter Lettuce	tender fresh green, mild	Seasonal, dependent on location	Shiny vibrant pale green
Green Cabbage so many varities!	mild broccoli lots of crunch	easily available	Variable from emerald to pale green to white
Frisse	mildly bitter	available in small quantities	variable dependent of light source white to pale yellow and tinted green
Sprouted Seeds	mild and crunchy	dependent on location can be available	variable dependent of light source white to pale yellow and tinted green
Endive	mildly bitter	dependent on location	White to pale green

_{Time to go out and turn over a new leaf.}

Pickled Pink Onions - Fridge Pickle Edition

What the hey Zuse? I haven't posted about pickled pink onions!
Probably cause the just are part of the routine that I forgot about these cute pickled pinks - they go in everything and are a time saver that I can't live without.

pickled pink punks packed preciously

What you'll need:
Red onions
1 c. vinegar - white vinegar mix in some red wine or cider vinegar for added flavour if you want.
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
glass jar with excellent seal - consider a wire bale jar

Method:
Thinly slice the onions, use a knife     or mandolin
warm the vinegar and add star and salt
stir til disolved
fit the onions in your glass jar tightly, consider this an opportunity to treat your onions badly - make them cry for a change.
top up with the vinegar solution
Seal and place the whole think on the counter to cool - then into the fridge for a little chilled nap for at least 24 hours.

What you need to do is start experimenting - try these on everything you might use green onions on, sandwiches, potato salad, on salmon, with greens and the side of every meal. Time saver of the century - ok maybe that's an exaggeration or maybe not, hey I started making them and was able to start a blog...so there.