Exactly one year ago, this orchid bloomed, and exactly one year later – to the day – it blooms again. Some kind of deep, visceral comfort that, despite everything, “the universe is unfolding as it should.”
Tag: livingslimcanadian
To all the Lebanese restaurants I’ve loved before: a million thanks. Tabouli recipes can vary a bit from person to person and place to place. Which is how good cooking must always be. This one is made with quinoa not bulgur. And I think of it, at least in part, as a winter salad. Because sometimes, in the dead of our Canadian winters, we may not feel like making salads the way we would in the summer. And yet, we yearn for that sparkle. The sparkle of tabouli lasts for a week in the fridge.
QUINOA
¼ cup quinoa
½ cup water (or tiny bit more)
About 1/8 tsp salt
Bring all to a boil and then simmer for 15 minutes. Set aside to cool.
VEGGIES
1 big, beautiful bunch of fresh curly parsley
1 whole English cucumber
About ¼ to 1/3 medium-sized red onion
3 green onions
8-10 cherry tomatoes or other tomato
¼ cup lemon juice (fresh or bottled)
1 tablespoon mild oil (sunflower, safflower, or olive oil)
1 teaspoon salt
Wash the parsley making sure there are no bits of sand hiding anywhere. Discard at least half of the stems and chop everything else fairly fine. Slice the cucumber into manageable slices and then chop into small pieces. Chop all other vegetables. It is not strictly necessary to have both red onion and green onion, but I like both.
Add cooled quinoa and toss well with the oil, lemon juice and salt. Taste for seasoning.
That’s it. If you like, add ground black pepper. Store in a good, sealed container in the fridge, and you have a sparkling taste of summer that is good for a week. Unless, of course, you are cooking for a crowd, in which case it’s done in a day. I like the flavour, the crunch, and the nutrition of quinoa. But bulgur (cracked, parboiled wheat) is traditional and also excellent of course. Either way, the grain should be cooked (or steamed in boiling water for the bulgur) but not to sogginess as it serves to keep the salad from becoming too wet.
Who can’t love antipasto? One of the prettiest love letters Italy has ever sent the world. Granted, an antipasto plate like this would not have graced the dining table of my trim Newfoundlander of a mother. But the idea of antipasto? Ahh yes, that would have been deeply acceptable to her. Because wherever we live in the world, an appreciation for real food as good food is written deep within us all, prompting us to acknowledge “deeply and profoundly, that these items are more enjoyable, more delightful and more sparkling in taste than any junk food we could ever consume.” –Living Slim: A Canadian Woman’s Way
Dreaming of the time we can travel again. This sweet dessert is a perfect reminder of a great cross-country trip taken on VIA Rail Canada a few years back. It’s a wonder I didn’t walk off that train 3 days later, 12 pounds heavier! But every lovely mouthful consumed at those well-set tables was so worth it!
Happy New Year as we take our “cups of kindness“ together-apart this year . This bouquet was a gift from a friend. May such friendships help sustain us as we attempt to keep well by keeping apart – perhaps for another six months – while all those working hard to bring us a vaccine continue their work. In gratitude.
The quiet weight of winter’s first snow. The muffled softness of an unplowed street. The simple purity of a walking meditation. “We all need these moments. And never more so than now, in our time of hurried everything: when cellphones are never off; when work invades every hour of our week; and when we live, very often, completely out of touch with the calming effects of nature.” – Living Slim: A Canadian Woman’s Way
Winter lunch at one of my alma maters: Centennial College in Toronto. This is where new chefs get trained and where the rest of us get to enjoy wonderful deliciousness.
https://thelocalrestaurant.ca/
@TheLocalCC
#livingslimcanadian #livingslimtoronto #realfoodisgoodfood #eatbettereatless #lovefoodliveslim
First reader review on Amazon.ca!! Thanks Alexander Roth.
I’m particularly happy that this review mentioned the deliciousness of the food I write about. I believe deeply that healthy eating is happy eating. That good food is delicious food. And that our relationship with food works best when it is full of positivity, gratitude and joy.
It’s true. I have given Korean food short shrift, but not anymore. (Blame it on an unhappy and goopy experience in a food court.)
But it helps in life to have friends who get you to try new things! This spread was delicious, nutritious, and full-on worthy of Living Slim’s seal of approval.
Note: not much in the way of heavily processed foods. Can we learn something there… All kinds of good tastes and good nutrients from the soup, the seaweed, the egg, the meat, the veggies, and that yummy purple rice.
This was a spread for four, and we all ate to our complete satisfaction!
After which it was a dive into something completely else: PEI turn of the (last) century culture as we enjoyed an outdoor variation of Anne (with an e) of Green Gables in beautiful Guild Park. #livingslimcanadian