50 Pretty edible They say we eat with our eyes first, so always keep in mind


that it’s important for dishes to look appetizing, in addition to them being tasty and nutritious. I mean, you can’t get good nutritious food into your family if they don’t want to even eat what you serve them, right? I’m not suggesting every dish look as beautiful as this Kale


Salad, but what fun it would be if they did! On the other hand, each dish should have some bright colours rather than vegetables that have been cooked until they’re gray, and it never hurts – if there aren’t a lot of colourful vegetables in a dish – to garnish it with fresh herbs, chopped green onions, shredded cheese or chopped


Jude’s Kitchen JUDIE STEEVES


nuts; something that will give it more colour. If you’re having people over for a meal, it’s even more


important you honour them by putting out dishes that look attractive as well as tasting terrific. As we enter a new calendar year, many of us will have


resolved to improve our health by eating more nutritious food and by exercising more, but it’s difficult to do that if your food isn’t appetizing-looking – if it isn’t food that includes a variety of colours and textures, as well as appetizing smells and flavours. Yummy-looking food is important to healthy eating. I’ve always been a strong proponent of eating local food,


supporting local farmers and reducing our footprint by rejecting foods that have been flown in from halfway around the world, wherever possible. However, it’s a bit of a challenge in this part of the world,


when we’re deep in winter. That said, there are some delicious local foods that are either grown indoors in winter, store well through winter, or keep well in other ways. We can rely on fresh, local greens, tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers from BC greenhouses; apples, pears, Brussels sprouts and root vegetables such as onions, carrots and potatoes; and berries, which freeze wonderfully. For such local foods to continue to be available to us, we must, as consumers, make a conscious decision to purchase food from BC farms over food from elsewhere, whenever possible. And it wouldn’t hurt if we encouraged our friends, neighbours and family to do the same. Not only are there benefits to our local economy, we’re all helping to reduce our carbon footprint and every little bit helps.


A colourful kale salad to kick off the New Year! JUDIE STEEVES PHOTO KATY’S KALE SALAD


This is not only a tasty salad, but also pretty enough to serve royalty. In fact, even your family may feel like they’re royalty if you serve them this.


4 large stalks of kale 1/2 long English cucumber 2 medium-sized carrots, different colours


Dressing: 2 garlic cloves


1 tsp. (5 ml) honey


1 tsp. (5 ml) dry mustard 1/4 tsp. (1 ml) dried oregano 1/4 tsp. (1 ml) fresh basil


sprinkle of salt


1/2 small red onion cherry tomatoes


2 tbsp. (30 ml) cider vinegar 1/2 tsp. (3 ml) salt


1/2 tsp. (3 ml) pepper


1/4 tsp. (1 ml) dried thyme 1/4 c. (60 ml) olive oil


• Wash and dry kale, remove leaves (I just hold the stem and strip off the leaves with my hand) from the centre spine and cut fairly small into a salad bowl. • Sprinkle salt on kale and massage for about 30 seconds. • Slice cucumbers thickly and quarter the slices. Thinly slice the red onion. • Peel an orange-coloured and a pale-coloured carrot and use a peeler or a specially-designed slicer to cut the carrots from the thick to the thin end, to form into petals for the decorative flowers. Roll them up to form edible flowers. • Before finishing the salad, prepare the dressing and toss the kale with some dressing. • To make the dressing, finely mince the garlic and add to a carafe or jar with the remaining ingredients. Shake well and dress the kale.


• Add the remaining ingredients to the kale and dress the remaining salad just before serving. • Decorate the top with the carrot flowers, poking a cherry tomato into the centre and decorating the top with the rest of them. Serves 6.


SALMON with SPINACH & VEGETABLES


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This covers all the bases, nutritionally, in a single dish that is busy cooking in the oven while you relax with either friends or family before dinner. With the green spinach and orange carrot, this dish is both attractively colourful and a powerhouse of nutrients.


15 oz. (426 g) salmon 10 oz. (283 g) spinach 1 onion


1 c. (250 ml) rice 1 1/2 c. (375 ml) milk


1/2 c. (125 ml) Swiss cheese salt and pepper to taste


1 egg 2 carrots


1 tsp. (5 ml) ground cumin 1 c. (250 ml) water 10 mushrooms


couple of chopped green onions, to garnish


• Drain and mash a couple of tins of salmon in a medium-sized bowl, retaining the bones, but crushing them as well.


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• Beat an egg and add it to the salmon. • If the spinach is fresh, chop and quickly wilt it in the microwave or on top of the stove before adding it to the salmon mix. • Grate carrot, finely chop the onion, and add to the salmon mix with the cumin powder. • Bring the water, milk and chopped or sliced mushrooms to a boil in the microwave or on top of the stove and cook for several minutes.


• Add the raw rice to the salmon mixture and thorough combine everything. Season to taste. • Scrape out into a greased casserole dish, then pour the milk, water and mushroom mixture over top. Grate Swiss cheese over the top and cover with a snug lid.


• Cook in a 350°F oven for about 45 minutes to an hour, removing the lid for a few minutes at the end to brown the cheese. If you’re in a hurry, you could run it under the broiler.


• This can also be cooked in the microwave oven in a microwave-safe casserole dish on medium power for about 25 minutes, if white rice is used.


• Make sure you use a large enough dish that four inches or so of head room remains. • Garnish with chopped green onions before serving. Serves 4-6.


COUNTRY LIFE IN BC • JANUARY 2018


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