Collard Green Pesto with Kalamata Olives

     Not your traditional pesto...but then again basil can be so expensive when it's not in season. So all the more reason to use collar greens — they're cheap and they'll last you a lot longer. I like this recipe because it's a good way to use up any greens that have been sitting in the fridge and have lost a bit too much of their luster. Blitz them up and no one will ever know that they were on their way to the compost bin, at least not after you add garlic, lemon juice, kalamata olives and some quality olive oil.

     Because this pesto is so much cheaper than a normal basil pesto, you don't feel so guilty having extra sauce, after all we've got to get our greens in somewhere.

Serves: 4-10 (makes about 750mL)

Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 small bunch of collard greens (about 600g with stems)
• 1/3 cup walnuts or pecans
• 1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives
• 2 cloves of garlic, inner leaf stem removed 
• 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
• 2 Tbsp lemon juice, about half a lemon, juiced
• 1/2 cup to 1 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup to 1 cup water
• salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

1. In a large pot of boiling water, blanch collards about 2 minutes, or until bright green.
2. Once blanched, cut away the stems, if not already done, and give the collards a rough chop.
3. Toss collards in a food processor with all the other ingredients (yes it's that easy!), starting with the lower quantities of oil and water.
4. Blend on low to begin, then transition to a higher speed as the pesto starts coming together.
5. Add more oil and water until desired texture is obtained.
6. Taste and season with salt and pepper.

To the Garden I Go!

     Spring seems to have arrived...hopefully it stays this time. It has been a busy couple of weeks over here, and I had a couple things I wanted to share with everyone. So for starters, I'm done exams (finally!), though summer school(s) will be starting next week, and I'm still busy working at SickKids, but I have also started a summer internship working with Rye's HomeGrown. 

     Rye's HomeGrown in a cooperative which aims to build capacity for food security by producing fresh, wholesome food for the Ryerson community and providing interactive educational opportunities in urban agriculture. I am so excited to be the communications coordinator for Rye's HomeGrown this growing season, and so have been busy up on our 1/4 acre roof-top garden.

We just started planting the cold-weather tolerant plants, like faba beans and lettuces, this week seeing as its been a pretty cold winter and the last of our earth only defrosted a couple of weeks ago. But we've also been busy in our greenhouse growing microgreens and seedlings, along with running our garden design program.

While the weather continues to warm up I'll be getting busier and busier with the gardens, so if miss a post here or there, just know that I'm probably covered in compost. But when I do post, I'm hoping to try and incorporate some of the delicious and local fruit and vegetables from our gardens here in the heart of Toronto into my recipes.

If you live in Toronto, and want to get involved you can follow @ryeshomegrown on twitter or instagram or look us up on facebook for more information. We have drop-in volunteer days the first Friday of every month, so if you our downtown on Friday you should swing on over to our rooftop garden, the Valarie and Andy Princle Environmental Roof, located on the George Vari Engineering and Computing Centre Building (152 Dalhousie st) at Ryerson from 1-3. You can check out any of the links above for more information. The farmer's Market at Ryerson will also be opening soon. We will be selling our produce on campus every wednesday from 11-3pm starting May 13th.

I'm not sure if you guys are excited but I sure am! Growing amazing produce right in the middle of Toronto is crazy! And I love it!

If you have any questions for me explicitely about Rye's HomeGrown, you can contact me at RHG.communications@gmail.com.

Sweet Iced Tea

Iced tea is one of the simplest and most delicious drinks you can make, at any time during the year. It's tasty and thirst-quenching and mixes well with liquor (if you feel so inclined). When we make it, we'll fill several jars in one go so that we have it on hand for the next week. Yes, it only seems to last a short while before you have to make more. But really, don't you have 5 minutes to spare?

The three smaller jars are our 1L mason jars, the extra large one is 2L and fits two pots of tea

Ingredients

1 L of water
1 1/2 tsp tea leaves or 3 tea bags
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice

Preparation

Brew the tea as you normally would. I usually brew teas for 3 minutes maximum (unless it's herbal, in which case leave it as long as you like) and usually a little less if the tea is prone to bitter, such as white and green teas. Use fairly hot water for black tea, herbal, mate and rooibos, around 98° C. If you have a thermometer, you can use it now, but if not, just wait a minute after the kettle boils before pouring the tea in. For green and white tea, wait several minutes, until the water cools to around 74° C, and perhaps brew it for a little less than 3 minutes. About 1 L of water fits in a large, 3 cup teapot, which in turn fits in a large mason jar, the kind that pasta sauce often comes in.

Pour the brewed tea into the jar you will be storing it in, then add 1/2 cup sugar and 1/4 cup lemon juice. These measurements make a sweet-but-not-too-sweet iced tea, with a pleasant acidity. You can adjust the proportions to your taste.

Stir your concoction with a chopstick or other stirring utensil, then let it cool a bit.

Refrigerate until cool, which will take several hours. If you're in a rush, fill your glass with ice, then slowly pour the tea over it.

Drink up!

Snow Pea and Sunflower Seed Pesto

I made recipe the other night and it turned out extra yummy. I wanted something different, something nutty. So, working off a basic pesto recipe, I made a snow pea, oregano and sunflower seed pesto and served it on gnocchi. Definitely not your usual Monday night pasta dish.
We only made one package of gnocchi, but we also had the pesto for leftovers with fettuccine  so there is enough pesto here for around 4 servings, depending on how much sauce you like. I added a tablespoon of pumpkin seed butter to round out the protein in the dish since it's a complete protein source, and it is also high in iron and a source of antioxidants. Sunflower seeds are also an excellent source of essential fatty acids, especially omega-6 fatty acids. So yay us on getting in some yummy extra nutrients. You guys might not really care what nutrients are in what, but nutrition is a passion of mine, so I have a tendency to think about my ingredients nutrient wise when I am cooking with them. Knowledge doesn't hurt, right?


Serves: 4

Ingredients

2 packages of gnocchi, or pasta for 4
1/2 cup roasted, unsalted sunflower seeds
optional-1 Tbsp pumpkin seed butter
2-3 cloves garlic
2 cup snow peas, washed
1 Tbsp packed fresh oregano (or thyme)
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup water
2 tsp lemon juice
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, the good stuff
Fresh ground pepper and sea salt to taste

Preparation

Toast the seeds until they smell toasty in a frying pan on medium heat.

Transfer toasted nuts and to a food processor. And pulse until crumbly.

Add pumpkin seed butter and pulse again until combined. 

Blanch snow peas in boiling water for around 15 seconds.

Add blanched snow peas, oregano, and salt and water to the blender and puree until smooth, scraping down the sides as needed.

Add the olive oil and mix until well combined, then add the nutritional yeast and the lemon juice and mix again.
If you desire a thinner product, add more water or olive oil, and mix well.
Season with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, cook gnocchi as directed on package. 
Drain when cooked(don’t rinse, it needs the starch to stick), and sauce with pesto.

Enjoy

Broccoli and Potato Soup

This recipe is my all time favourite blended soup from a great vegetarian site, vegangela.com. It consists of ingredients that can commonly be found in the fridge or pantry and can be whipped up in less than 40 minutes.

Serves: 2 large servings, or 4 small

Perfect with sautéed mushrooms & a dollop of vegan sour cream

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, peeled and diced
1-2 cloves garlic, chopped
3 cups vegetable broth
1 head of broccoli florets (2 cups)
3 medium potatoes, peeled and quartered
1/4 tsp thyme
salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

In a large pot, heat olive oil over medium heat and sauté onions and garlic for 3 minutes.
Add potatoes and broth. Cover, bring to a boil. Reduce reduce and simmer until potatoes are cooked, about 15 minutes.
Add broccoli and thyme andcover for 5 minutes, until fully steamed, but still bright.
Purée the soup with a stick blender.
Season with salt and pepper as desired.