use up your leftover bread: say panzanella!

panzanella: a classic italian salad made of stale bread and tomatoes.  mine used half a loaf of crusty spelt bread, 3 large red tomatoes and a handful of yellow cherry and other hairloom tomato varieties, 1T of capers, lots of basil, two generous cloves of garlic (minced), a dash of coarse salt, and a generous portion of olive oil (3T).  

the spelt bread i used was quite dense so even though too stale for other consumption, i had to dry it out a little more for this salad.  to do that, i cut it into large cubes, tossed with some olive oil and baked/dried it out in the oven at 250F for 25mins.  in the meantime, i cut the tomatoes into large chunks, julienned the basil and diced the garlic.  i mixed those with some coarse salt, capers and olive oil.  i then added the dried bread and tossed together.  i let it stand, covered, on the counter for about an hour for the flavours to integrate.  before serving, i threw in a couple of handfuls of fresh arugula.

a delicious, filling salad that tastes like summer! and so easy!

eating out

i set out to eat out as much as possible this summer... not by going out to eat, but rather by taking every opportunity to picnic. picnic foods are easy and take no time to prepare so that you can enjoy warm summer nights while nibbling and catching up with friends. here are a few photos from this summer's outings.

mid-week in queen e park: blackcurrant iced tea, minty chickpea salad, grilled veggie/lentil salad, crudites, etc.



canada day beach picnic - lots of easy and tasty goodies: grainy/lentil salads, pesto potato salad, humus, mango salsa, crackers, olives, crudites and goats cheese.



sunday night at the mount pleasant community park: soba noodle salad, lentil artichoke dip, crudites, pita, good cold beer.



beacon hill picnic: well, we didn't make these, but take-out picnics are permitted too! delicious napolitan-style pizzas courtesy of prima strada in victoria, bc.



the chief hiking snacks: fruit, seedy bread, nut butters, nutella.

gourmet camping

i've been so busy camping, road tripping and swimming in the ocean that i have neglected my blog duties... this post has no recipes, but it does have some inspiring photos to prove that you CAN eat well while camping. my friend laura and i made it our mission to bring delicious and nutritious food on our last getaway to keats island, bc. here are a few pics!

summer salad: romaine, avocado, red bell peppers and hand picked blackberries

we drizzled this salad with some homemade balsamic vinaigrette that we brought along and sprinkled nuts and seeds on top (for additional nutrition and tasty crunch).



laura's jamaican coconut quinoa pilaf

my friend laura created a camp-stove friendly version of her favourite jamaican rice pilaf by making it with quinoa (which cooks much faster than rice and has lots of protein in addition to its good carb content). seasoned with ginger, allspice, garlic and studded with yam and smoked tofu pieces, this pilaf was a delicious one-pot meal and only took about 20 min to make. along with our salad and pernod anise/water coctails, it was the perfect end of day meal.



all into the pot...



add the coconut milk... and simmer...



voila!

nothing beats a beach picnic

great view, soft sand, calm water, good food, good friends, laura's mojitos: a perfect canada day picnic at centennial beach!

to eat, to drink:

• laura's mango salsa and chili-spiked hummus
• crusty bread, kalamata olives, fresh bc-grown sweet peppers, goat's cheese
• seedy crackers and flatbreads
  
• wild rice-french lentil salad (with bulgarian feta, dill and cherry tomatoes)
• laura's green lentil salad with apples and marjoram
  
• young potato-yam salad with leeks and pesto
• very buzzy mojitos
• blackcurrant iced tea, sweetened with a touch of honey