Chompbook

We make pesto with different herbs/vegetable tops and then enjoy it in so many different dishes. It’s great on pasta or risotto, roasted vegetables or even as a spread in sandwiches. We have used basil, parsley, cilantro, carrot tops, fennel tops, arugula and even a combination of two of these greens. Ingredients small to medium bunch of herbs/greens (mostly leaf with some tender stems), roughly chopped 1-2 cloves garlic, minced 4 ounces of nuts, roughly chopped (almonds, pine nuts, walnuts…) 1/2 cup olive oil 2 - 4 ounces of Parmesan cheese or nutritional yeast (vegan option) 1/2 of lemon squeezed (approx 1 tbsp) salt and pepper to taste Method Whiz together in blender or mixer until smooth. Taste and adjust salt and pepper if needed.

The tapenade at one our favourite local Italian restaurants, Il Terrazzo, is very good. It is served complimentary to all tables and accompanied with warm focaccia bread. The restaurant has an excellent mussels dish (think white wine and cream sauce with sun dried tomatoes, roasted garlic, banana peppers, red onions, cilantro, lime, and asiago). They are often busy; so, make a reservation if you plan to go. Or try to pull a fast one and see if there is room at the bar… Get a glass of wine, enjoy the tapenade with focaccia and tuck into those mussels. We wanted to recreate the tapenade at home and were able to find the recipe from the food blog, Port & Finn. They emailed the manager at Il Terrazzo who replied back with the ingredients list (but not quantities - oh my!). You shouldn’t care but my opinion is that you can add more or less of the ingredients you like. Anchovies are often in tapenade too and sometimes I like to add marinated artichokes. Ingredients: 1 cup pitted Kalamata...

 The Rootcellar is a local grocery store here in Victoria with a focus on organic and locally sourced foods. They make a sauce that they call their Green Sauce and it has become well known here over the last few years. Google tells us that the sauce has been around for a lot longer and is known as Aji Verde; many food blogs call it Peruvian Green Sauce. Anyways, it’s good and you should eat it. Play around with the ingredients to get the sauce to your liking. It’s probably kinda fine here to use vinegar if you don’t have lime. I’ve seen some recipes add mustard and a small amount of onion for this sauce. We also will often use yogurt instead of mayo; or a blend of yogurt and mayo. Ingredients: ½ cup mayonnaise (we like vegan mayo)* 1 cup packed cilantro leaves with tender stems 1-2 medium jalapeños seeds removed, roughly chopped 1-2 cloves garlic roughly chopped 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 tablespoon lime juice ¼ teaspoon kosher salt *experiment with yogurt or sour cream or combinatio...

  These are our go to (somewhat healthy) pancakes. Normally, we make a batch, eat them fresh that day and then freeze the rest for later use. Once frozen, they take a quick re-heat and our kids devour them for breakfast (or a snack) with maple syrup! Ingredients: 1 cup white flour 1 cup whole wheat flour 2 1/2 tsps white sugar 2 tsp baking powder 1 tsp baking soda 2 eggs (lightly beaten) 2 cup greek yogurt 2 tsp vanilla 1/2 to 1 cup unsweetened almond milk Method: In a large bowl, mix together all dry ingredients - flour, sugar, baking powder and baking soda. In a separate, medium sized bowl lightly beat eggs. Once eggs are beaten, add vanilla, yogurt and almond milk and mix thoroughly. Add the yogurt/wet mixture to the flour/dry mixture and whisk together until there are no lumps or dry ingredients. At this point, if you find the mixture to be too thick add 1/4 cup more almond milk at a time until you have the right consistency. I find that depending on the thickness of y...

  When Nana sends over a recipe for baking, it almost always never fails. This is no exception. This banana bread is quick to prepare and a good way to use up ripe or brown bananas. We often add dark chocolate chips to this, sometimes nuts and when we are feeling a bit guilty zucchini. The zucchini is to tell ourselves that we are making it healthier and also justifying the fact that the loaf almost always only lasts a day, maybe two, in our house. Plus vegetables are good for us, right?! Ingredients: 2 ripe bananas 2 eggs 1/2 cup vegetable oil 1 cup of brown sugar 1 1/4 cups flour 1 tsp baking soda dash of table salt 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts (optional) 1/2 cup of dark semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional) 1/2 cup - 1 cup grated zucchini with as much moisture pressed out and removed (optional) butter Method: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Mash the bananas on a small plate with a fork. In a medium bowl, whisk eggs together until they are blended. Add oil, sugar and bananas ...

  There is something so special about fresh baking powder biscuits with a lovely home-made blackberry jam. This recipe was passed on from Paul a.k.a Grandad. I have tried so many times to make these biscuits close to how good he makes them but still haven’t come close. The fact that Grandad has been making these from memory and feel for years and years may be an indicator of why. When I originally asked for the recipe, the proportions were rather loose so I have been adjusting this recipe over time to try to perfect them. Ingredients: 1 3/4 cups flour 2/3 cup of butter milk *(if you don’t have butter milk, see note for how to make it below) 1 2/3 tsp baking powder pinch of baking soda 1/2 or less tsp table salt 1/4 cup cold butter *To make butter milk: Pour 2/3 cup less a tablespoon of whole milk into a container. Add 1 tablespoon of white vinegar and let it sit for 10 minutes. Method: Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Thoroughly mix all dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl. ...

  We have been getting these local, beautiful radishes and have found a recipe that uses the bunch, stems and greens included. It’s quick, easy and makes a great addition to any meal. Ingredients : x1 bunch of radishes plus stems and greens x1 tablespoon olive oil x1 clove garlic, minced x1 half of lemon x 1/2 tbsp of butter salt & pepper to taste Method: Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Remove stems and greens from radishes. Wash and dry. Quarter or half your radishes to desired size. Remove stems from leaves and roughly chop. Set aside. Preheat cast iron pan or oven safe pan with olive oil on medium-high heat. Sear radishes until blistered/golden on all sides (2-3 min). Put pan in oven for 10-12 minutes or until mostly cooked through. Remove pan from oven and place on stove top at medium heat. Add butter, stems and greens. After a minute or so add garlic and salt and pepper and cook until wilted. Check seasoning and add salt and pepper if needed then remove from heat. ...