Mushroom Rice

Move over canned soup! This rice recipe cuts calories while amping up flavor compared to a traditional mushroom soup rice casserole. You’ll put in some extra time for the brown rice - but the nutritional bang for your buck is worth it. Brown rice has nine times more magnesium than white rice, a mineral that more than half of us don’t eat enough of! If you think you don’t like brown rice, you seriously need to try it with mushrooms! Try it for your next pot luck - It’s still great at room temperature and you’ll be a hit!

Photograph by John Chartrand

Ingredients:

• 1lb Sourdough Organic Mushrooms
• 1 cup brown rice
• 2 cups water
• 1 onion
• 1 clove garlic
• 4Tbsp olive oil

Instructions:

Bring 2 cups of water to a boil. Add 1 cup brown rice. Reduce pot to simmer and cover for 40 minutes. While the rice is cooking start on your mushroom mix. Finely chop the onion. Thinly slice the mushrooms. Crush one clove of garlic. Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Saute the onions until translucent and then remove them from pan. Add the additional olive oil to the pan with the mushrooms and garlic. Cook until the mushrooms start to brown. Set mushrooms aside. When rice is cooked drain. Mix in mushrooms and onions. Enjoy!

Roasted Fennel

Roasting is such a nice way to treat your vegetables, it softens them and brings out their natural sugars. Fennel Bulb, for those of you who haven't tried it, has a liquorice or anise-like flavour. It's also a great two in one vegetable as the delicate tops can be used as an herb to add an extra layer of fennel taste to this recipe or another. 

• 1 Bulb of fennel (tops removed and saved)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp chilli flakes
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 2 Tbsp olive oil

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Using your sharpest chefs knife cut the fennel bulb in half and then into quarters, lengthwise. At the bottom of the bulb there's a bit of concentrated root, kind of like a core; slice it away and discard or save for stock. Slice each quarter of fennel into wedges about 2 cm thick. Lay the fennel on a sheet pan. Scatter the salt, chilli flakes, and cumin over the fennel. Drizzle the olive oil over top. Toss in the over and leave alone for ~1hr. Enjoy!

This fennel recipe goes really well with a pan fried fish. The fennel tops can be chopped (as you would parsley) and sprinkled on top of the fennel and/or fish. Any leftover roasted fennel makes a delicious addition to a winter salad.

Brussels Sprouts

Happy Christmas Eve Eve! My favourite thing about Christmas (and any holiday really) is planning out all the food I want to make and all the recipes I want to try that year. Seriously, I had my recipes picked out 3 weeks ago. I do realize that this makes me a little crazy. And so, assuming that you might be a little flexible about what you are cooking in a few days, or perhaps in need of a bit of inspiration, here’s a simple recipe to help take your veggies off the back burner (literally!) and put them centre stage. These dressed-up Brussels get really crispy and even a little sweet in the oven; the dressing takes them up a notch from "veggies I roasted" to "vegetable dish." They aren’t your Granny’s brussels sprouts!

Ingredients:

• Brussels Sprouts 1 lb
• Olive Oil 1 Tbsp
• Salt 1/4 tsp
• Chilli Flakes Pinch
• Apple Cider Vinegar 2 Tbsp
• Olive Oil 1 Tbsp
• Pine Nuts 1/8 Cup
• Grated Parmesan Cheese (optional)

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 400F. Wash your brussels sprouts in cold water. Trim off the ends and remove any bits that look tired. Cut into halves or quarters for larger brussels sprouts. Toss in olive oil with salt and chili flakes. Spread evenly over sheet pan and roast in oven stirring occasionally until the outside is brown and beginning to crisp up (about 20-25 minutes). Meanwhile, prepare the dressing by mixing the olive oil and apple cider vinegar. When the sprouts are done toss them in the dressing while still warm and add your pine nuts and cheese (if using). Serve warm.