Posts tagged under Vegetables. Show all posts.
Now that the weather is improving, I begin to get really excited about fresh local produce (and I mean really excited). So what’s local, in season and something different to try out? Easy…fiddleheads. If you haven’t tried them yet, you should. The season is short, so don’t delay.
A little research on this native Canadian plant reveals that the name comes from the curled end of a violin, which it resembles, thus the ‘fiddle head’. The delicacies are the young, new fronds of a fern that have not yet “unfurled” and opened their leaves. The end is still curled in a tight spiral, ready to unroll as the sun warms it and it gathers strength and size.
They are full of vitamins A and C and niacin and riboflavin.
Wash your fiddleheads well. They can be a bit gritty since they are found in the soil…along riverbanks and the forest floor.
Here is a great and easy recipe that my family loves.
Stay tuned for my next favourite seasonal picks!
What’s your fave seasonal fruit or veggie?
The most essential tool in my kitchen is a good quality, sharp knife. In fact, over the years I have spent more money than I care to admit building my collection. So when I came across the reasonably-priced ($3–4) Zyliss Fresh Cut Salad Knife in my local kitchen supply store, I was very excited to try it. Zyliss is a Swiss company that has been making quality kitchen tools for over 50 years. The Salad Knife is a brightly coloured plastic knife with serrated edges that is designed for cutting greens and, unlike some metal knives, it won’t turn the leaves brown. My oldest son is the one who uses it the most in our kitchen though, and not for preparing salads! Now that he is at the age and stage where I feel comfortable with him using knives, I feel more at ease because he’s using a plastic knife. Plus, it is one less knife to remember to sharpen. But moms be warned…even though this knife is plastic, it is still sharp and can cut little hands so don’t leave your children with one unattended!
Photo copyright Holly Sisson Photography
Read any mom tip book or visit any website, and you will inevitably come across a chapter on how to get your kids to eat more vegetables. It’s a national maternal pastime. There’s the sneaking veggie puree into everything strategy, playing games with food and the ’50 times before they like it’ approach. I am proud to say all three of my kids love to eat raw veggies as snacks and with meals—and the way they developed that taste was simple, no games required.
I started always keeping a ‘veggie box’ in the fridge—a Tupperware container full of raw, cut-up vegetables such as carrots, celery, peppers, cherry tomatoes, sugar snap peas, sliced cucumber, and cauliflower, that I refill every few days. When the kids are really hungry (like after school or when we come in for lunch after an active morning skiing or playing soccer), out comes the veggie box as the first choice for snacks, along with some vague excuse from me like ‘Just eat these for now, I’ll get you something else in a minute’ or ‘I am looking for your sandwich in the cooler’. Then lo and behold, when I turn around in a few minutes, half the box is gone. (The only thing that’s been rejected out of hand so far is radishes.) And the more often they eat them, the more they seem to like them. An added benefit is that I am eating a lot more veggies too, as they are always washed and ready to be eaten. Perfect with hummus when I get home from work.
What’s your tip for getting your kids to eat veggies?
I love to eat (and have the thighs to prove it) and I like to cook for family and friends. I’m not sure if that makes me a foodie—but I do know that I can get a little obsessive about certain foods at certain times of the year. Now is one of those times, and fresh green produce is my latest obsession. I get ridiculously excited about it. I remember from my earliest summer memories at my grandmother’s cottage when I would sit in her kitchen and pop those little green peas out of their pods (and eat half of them). We loved the small baby cucumbers that she would soak in vinegar and dill. Now I think and dream green all day until dinner time. Beans, asparagus, crunchy peas, fresh lettuce, mint, basil, dill, chives and any combination of them to serve for dinner so my family doesn’t feel like they are eating the same thing every night. Mix them all into a salad with tuna (freshly grilled or from a can) with an egg and some new potatoes for one of my favourite all time salads—nicoise. You can also blanche the veggies and throw them into a bowl of cooked pasta, some olive oil, salt and pepper, fresh arugula and voila. Sometimes I venture out of my green box and add a few roasted tomatoes—for colour and a nice juicy punch. It’s all good, and it’s all good for you. I love summer.
What do you like to cook in the summer?
For me, it’s all about the summer fruit. Cherries, strawberries and blueberries. I can’t wait to eat and cook with them and often find myself faced with an empty fridge and only berries to use for dinner…my poor kids!
Comments
Mine too - I have been making this recipe for bean and barley veggie soup a lot and they love it! I do too.
http://www.cookwithcampbells.ca/en-ca/Recipes/ribstickinbeanbarleysoup.aspx
I love the idea of a veggie box…quick and easy too. I find that my boys will eat any, and I mean ANY, kind of veggie if it’s put in a soup. I have no idea why, but we eat several kinds because it goes down quickly, and with no trouble.