Archives: News

The smell of spring is in the air and everyone has a little bounce in their step. We have enjoyed some sunny, warm days, and according to the forecast, there are more of those to come. We all know from experience that winter will rear it’s head a few more times before we see tulips, but we can really sense that it’s not far off.

Our business follows the seasons very closely. In summer, we enjoy vegetables grown close to home. We see our farmers like Rideau Pines, Roots & Shoots, and Ferme Pleine Lune on a daily basis. We cook using fresh local ingredients, and we modify our menus to focus on meals that don’t require heating, side dishes to accompany the BBQ, and easy entertaining items that you can take to to the cottage, or host in your own backyard.

In the fall we are in full harvest and gearing up for the big holidays – Thanksgiving and Christmas. We are stocking our cellars with pumpkins from Ferme Chapeau Melon and apples from Hall’s Apple Market, and flash freezing tomatoes and late fall berries. We are in full production all the time, working hard to keep up with the volume of business, while ‘putting up’ some vegetables for later use. We are cooking more root vegetables, stews, and heartier dishes to keep you warm as the weather changes.

In the winter we see a real scarcity of local vegetables, other than our few greenhouse growers, and the farmers that are able to overwinter beets, potatoes, apples, etc. The cost of ingredients skyrockets, and those ingredients are coming from much farther away. We continue to be able to source our meats locally from farmers like Pickle Patch Farm (seen here featured in Edible Ottawa), and things like mushrooms grown year round by Le Coprin, eggs from Bekings, and herbs & lettuces from Burt’s Greenhouse, which we sell weekly in our retail store.

The spring is a mixture of excited anticipation, and depleted inventory. There is almost nothing left in the ‘cellars’ and nothing available yet from our growers. We rely on those climates that see spring earlier than us to supply us with those early spring vegetables. We wait with excitement for those first signs. Asparagus is usually the first herald of Ottawa spring, followed quickly by leafy greens, rhubarb, and other vegetables that the farmer has started early in the greenhouse. This Foodland Ontario guide is very helpful when planning seasonal meals using local ingredients.

So as we dream about tulips, asparagus and green grass, and reflect on how the seasons change, and we change with them, let’s share a recipe that makes us think about spring.

Ham and Asparagus Quiche

1

10 inch pie shell

2 tablespoons

olive oil

2 medium

shallots, thinly sliced

10 ounces

asparagus spears, cut on the diagonal into 1-inch long pieces

1/2 pound

ham, cut into 1/4-inch cubes *

Freshly ground pepper

1/2 cup

milk

1/2 cup

heavy cream

3 large

eggs *

6 ounces

Aged Cheddar, grated (1 1/2 cups) *

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add shallots, and cook, stirring, until translucent. Add asparagus. Cook, stirring frequently, until asparagus are just cooked but still crisp (not mushy). Pre-heat oven to 375°F. Place pie pan on a baking sheet to catch any overflow. Sprinkle half the cheese evenly over the bottom of the crust. Spread asparagus and ham over the cheese and then top with remaining cheese. In a medium bowl, whisk together milk, cream, and eggs. Season with fresh ground pepper. Pour over cheese. Transfer to oven, and bake until just set in the center, 30 to 35 minutes. Cool on a wire rack for about 10 minutes before slicing.

*We like to use St. Albert’s. Cheddar, Beking’s Eggs & Ontario Berkshire Ham

Beking’s Egg Delivery

Sautéed Mushrooms in warm Balsamic on Organic Greens

1 pound

Mushrooms diced *

1 small

onion diced

1 clove

garlic diced

½ cup

good quality olive oil

1 tbs

butter

¼ cup

good quality balsamic vinegar

1 tbs

chopped fresh rosemary and thyme

4 handfuls

mixed greens

Salt and Pepper to taste

*White Button Mushrooms will work well for this recipe but you can also use oyster mushrooms or King Eryngii mushrooms from Le Coprin.

Sauté onion and garlic in butter and 1 tbs of olive oil until onions are clear.Add mushrooms and sauté until the mushrooms are golden brown (add more oil if necessary). Season with Salt and Pepper.

1. In a medium sized bowl whisk balsamic, a pinch of salt, freshly ground pepper and remaining olive oil.Add to mushroom mixture in pan and heat through until the vinaigrette is warm.
2. Toss warm Balsamic & Mushroom mixture gently with Greens and serve immediately.

February is a great month to Love Ottawa for so many reasons!

This is the last week of Winterlude, our annual celebration of snow and ice. It’s a spectacular event providing visitors from all over the world a unique opportunity to see our beautiful city and enjoy the great, wintery, outdoors. Winterlude runs until February 17. Skate all 7.8K of the Rideau Canal and take the free shuttle to Jacques Cartier Park and enjoy the giant winter playground, Beavertails, snow sculptures, tube sliding and much more!

February is a great month for indoor activities as well. You could take in a dance or music performance at the NAC. They have a fantastic line up of interesting shows.

Visit one of Ottawa’s many museums. There are so many to choose from, including the newly renovated Science and Technology Museum. Check out the Museum of Nature’s current exhibit called Me and My Microbes – The Zoo Inside YOU. Then there is the Aviation Museum, Experimental Farm, Museum of Civilization, War Museum, and the list goes on.

There are so many outdoor activities that you can enjoy in Ottawa in February. Visit any number of our local Ski Hills, including Camp Fortune, Vorlage, Calabogie, Edelweiss, or venture out a bit further to Mont Ste. Marie or Tremblant. Besides the Rideau Canal (one of the longest skating rinks in the world), there are other outdoor skating rinks all over the city including the Rink of Dreams at City Hall, a rink at Rideau Hall, and of course the Oval at Brewer Park. You can walk through Jack Pine trail or snowshoe and cross-country ski through Gatineau Park. There are also small cabins & yurts available to rent if you want to book one and spend the night.

Regardless of which outdoor activity you plan, you might want to include a ‘winter picnic’. We often think about picnicing in the warm summer months, but a winter picnic can be just as fun if you are properly dressed, and plan out the meal. This week’s recipe tips and ideas are for a simple outdoor picnic. Remember to bring a warm blanket, matches if you want to build a fire, tissues and a small trash bag.

Visit our website to see the details on our full Valentine’s Day menu and get your pre-orders in for pick up on the 14th of February.

Fire Warmed Burritos

We sell both vegetarian and chicken burritos in our retail store. They can be wrapped in foil and warmed in the coals of your winter campfire. If you want to make up a batch quickly for yourself, here is an easy recipe:

1 pound

taco meat (you can use leftover shredded chicken, cooked & seasoned ground beef, or an assortment of roasted vegetables)

1 cup

cooked rice (white, brown, whatever you have easily on hand)

½ cup

shredded cheese (mild to sharp cheddar or jack cheese)

¼ cup

salsa (choose your favourite – we sell our house made salsa in our retail store)

4 large

flour tortillas (10” or more)

Fill each flour tortilla with ¼ of all the ingredients, roll half way, fold over the ends, then continue rolling. Wrap each burrito in foil and pack for your picnic! These can be made ahead and frozen.

Easy Vegetarian Chili

Chili is the perfect thing to warm you up on a cold day, and depending on your taste you can add additional ‘heat’. Pack it in a large thermos, and bring non-breakable mugs and spoons to serve. You could also pack cornbread or dinner rolls, that could be wrapped in foil and warmed in the campfire. If you don’t want to cook, we sell beef & vegetarian chili in our retail store.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon

vegetable oil

1 cup

chopped onions

3/4 cup

chopped carrots

3 cloves

garlic, minced

1 cup

chopped peppers (any colour will do)

2 cups

other assorted vegetables (we like zucchini, diced sweet potatoes, broccoli)

1 tablespoon

chili powder

1 1/2 cups

chopped fresh mushrooms

1 large can

of chopped tomatoes (28 ounce)

2 cups

cooked kidney beans (or black beans or any bean will do)

1 cup

whole corn kernels

1 tablespoon

ground cumin

1 1/2 teaspoons

dried oregano

1 1/2 teaspoons

dried basil

salt & hot sauce to taste

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Sauté onions, carrots, and garlic until tender. Stir peppers and other vegetables (except mushrooms) and chili powder. Cook until vegetables are tender. Add mushrooms, and cook 4 minutes. Stir in tomatoes, kidney beans, and corn. Season with cumin, oregano, and basil. Bring to a boil, and reduce heat to medium. Cover, and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. You can add your favourite hot sauce at this point and season to taste with salt.

Other Winter Picnic Ideas:

• Hot Chocolate or Apple Cider in a Thermos
• Homemade cookies, Muffins, or Granola Bars
• Sandwiches
• Grain Salads
• Veggies & Dip
• Baked sweet or white potatoes, wrapped in foil to reheat – great with chili!
• Garlic Bread (wrapped in foil)
• S’mores ingredients for if you are making a fire

There are only 11 days left until Valentine’s Day. Each year we theme our meal and have drawn inspiration from Julie Child, Frida Kahlo, Italian food, Spanish Food, and more. This year, being 2020, and knowing that Valentines’ Day occurs during Winterlude, we decided to take inspiration from all of the things we love about Ottawa.

Here is the full menu:

Appetizer

Ottawan’s love to ‘Do Brunch’. Enjoy appetizers inspired by some of Ottawa’s great brunch spots, without the lineups!

• Mini Quiche with Caramelized Leek & Beking’s Egg
• Shrimp with Bloody Caesar Salsa & Pickled Green Bean
• Everything Bagel Bites with Herbed Cream Cheese

Soup

One of the beautiful things about our City is that People from all over the world call Ottawa home, share their incredible cultures and inspire the fusion of flavours in our soup course.

• Vegetable Medley with Curried Coconut Broth

Mains

Ottawa’s street food and restaurant scene lets us enjoy foods from many different cultures. Our main course pays homage to some of Ottawa’s best street food in the comfort of your home!

• Mediterranean Spiced Breast of Chicken, Roasted Red Pepper Hummus, House Pickled Turnips

or

• Vegetarian Sweet Potato & Chickpea Cakes, Roasted Red Pepper Hummus,
• House Pickled Turnips

Both come with:

• Green Beans, Peppers, Roasted Tomatoes & Feta with Black Olives &
• Oregano Balsamic Dressing
• Oven Roasted Fingerling Fries with Garlic Aioli

Dessert

One of Ottawa’s great treasures is the Rideau Canal. It provides us with so many opportunities to walk, bike, boat, and skate! Ottawa would not be as ‘lovable’ without it so our dessert course is a tribute to this beautiful waterway.

• Hot Chocolate Mousse with Cinnamon Sugar Donut Holes

The meal is available for pre-order and pick up in our retail store on the 14th of February between 9am and 6pm and can be enjoyed on Friday or Saturday in the comfort of your own home!

If this menu is not what you are looking for, keep in mind that our Gourmet Shop will be well stocked with seasonal items, and our Thursday February 13 Fresh Meal Menu features Duck Confit with ‘Heart’ Beet Risotto!

February is a great month to LOVE Ottawa and until February 17 you can take in one of many Winterlude activities.

This month we are sharing a recipe for a Gluten Free Shortbread cookie, a Sugar Cookie, and Royal Icing so you can make your own cookie Hearts. We have these beautiful decorated and somewhat ‘cheeky’ cookies in our retail store, and for the week of Valentine’s we will be stocked with cookies, mini decorated cakes, and much more!

Gluten Free Shortbread Cookies

4 sticks (2 cup)

butter

1 ½ cup

granulated sugar

2 large

eggs

2 tsp

vanilla

3 ¼ cup

white rice flour + ½ cup for dusting work surface

1 ½ cup

arrowroot or corn starch

1 ¼ cup

potato starch

2 tsp

salt

1 tsp

xantham gum

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Using a mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time. Mix for 1 min. Add the vanilla.
2. In a separate bowl, combine 3 ¼ cups of the rice flour and all of the arrowroot (or corn starch), potato starch, salt and xantham gum. Add ½ of the flour mixture to butter and mix for 1 min. Add the rest of the mixture and continue mixing until ingredients are combined.
3. Divide the dough into 3 balls. Set two aside. Dust your counter with flour. Press the ball flat with your hands first. Then roll dough out to just over ¼ inch thick. Using your favourite cookie cutter, cut out cookies and place them on prepared cookie sheets about 1 inch apart.
4. Bake in preheated oven for about 12-15min. Cookies are done when they just start to get golden around the edges. Remove from oven and place them on a cooling rack. When cool, decorate cookies with icing.

Sugar Cookies

2/3 cup

butter

3/4 cup

sugar

½ tsp

orange zest

½ tsp

vanilla

1 egg
4 tsp

milk

2 cups

flour

1 ½ tsp

baking powder

¼ tsp

salt

Preheat oven to 350ºF.

In a large bowl, cream together butter, sugar orange zest and vanilla until pale yellow. Add egg and beat until light and fluffy. Stir in the milk. In a small bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Add to butter and sugar mixture and mix until well combined.

Divide the dough in two. Flatten each half into a disk, wrap in cling-film and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Grease a cookie sheet. Remove one disk from the fridge. On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to approx 1/8 inch thick. Cut out desired shapes (I used trees that were around 4-inches.) Place cutouts on prepared cookie sheet and bake for 6-8 minutes, or until slightly golden around the edges. Allow to cool, then decorate with Royal Icing (recipe below.)

Yield: 3 dozen 4-inch cookies

Royal Icing

1

egg white

2 cups

icing sugar

juice of one lemon

1-2 tsp

water food colouring (optional)

In a small pot, bring an inch or so of water to a simmer. Place a small bowl over the pot and add egg white. Beat egg white until stiff but not dry. Remove from heat and add icing sugar and lemon juice, beating until well combined. The icing should be slightly runny so that when you drop a spoonful back into the bowl it melds with the rest easily with only a slight resistance. If your icing is too thick, add one teaspoon of water at a time until the desired consistency is reached.

Add food colouring if desired, mixing well. Fill a pastry bag with icing and pipe on cookies to decorate, starting by outlining the cookie and then filling it in. The icing should run together to fill in the gaps. Use different coloured icings to make patterns.

Allow to dry for 2 hours before storing cookies.

Our January ‘Nourish Yourself’ has been a huge hit among Vegans, Vegetarians and veggie loving meat eaters. The portion sizes we have been serving are identical to our regular meals, but the difference is that 2 out of 3 days, we are substituting animal protein with nutrient dense vegetable options.

 

For years, the Red Apron has been trying to ‘encourage’ our clients to eat more vegetables and less meat. We are not vegetarians ourselves, but believe that reducing our consumption of animal proteins is both good for our health and the planet. This thinking has not been wholeheartedly embraced by our meat loving customers in the past, although this year we seem to be winning a few more people over.

However, I think it’s important that all of our customers understand some of the challenges we face in moving this goal forward. First, regardless of how popular a vegetarian or vegan menu is, it is never as popular as our meat based meals. In fact, on average we see 50 to 75 people fewer people sign up for each vegan of vegetarian ‘Dinner to your Door’ Menu than those with meat. As you can imagine, this takes it’s toll on our bottom line. Additionally, we see that the meatless meals are being enjoyed by meat eaters looking to expand their vegetable intake, but we don’t see a lot of vegans and vegetarians step up to order these meals. Often their commitment to being vegetarian/vegan is combined with other food intolerances, allergies, and preferences.

With all this in mind, we have decided to carry on with at least one Vegan or Vegetarian dish each week, rotating it around the days on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday. Over the next few months we will evaluate the feedback and the numbers and hopefully we will the interest in those meals continue to grow. So please, tell your vegan and vegetarian friends to check out those menus online!

We want to remind all of our customers that we have a large, and growing selection of Vegan and Vegetarian meals in our retail store. These items can be added to your deliveries on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.

There are many ways to squeeze more veggies into your diet each day:

Make a vegetable soup! Most of our soups are vegetarian or vegan, and many of them are pureed. They are super popular, especially with people who have young kids. It seems that a kid who would not eat a vegetable unless forced, would happily slurp up a creamy cauliflower and potato soup without blinking. Chunky soups make a delicious and hearty dinner, served with warm bread and butter or olive oil. They also provide you an opportunity to use bone broths which are extremely good for your skin, bones and hair.

Blend veggies into a smoothie! A fruit based smoothie can be made more delicious and nutritions by adding a veggie or two. Beets are nutritious and add beautiful colour. A handful of spinach or kale can make a smoothie vibrantly green and nutritious.

Start every meal with a salad! Make a small green salad and load it up with other vegetables to enjoy before your meal. For young children, put a plate of carrots, snap peas, radishes, and cucumbers out before dinner so they can snack on vegetables. Then you don’t have to argue over whether they eat veggies on their plate. I did this often when my kids were young, and I was always surprised by how many vegetables a ‘hangry’ kid will eat.

Build a Bowl! We have a new cookbook in house from America’s Test Kitchen called ‘Bowls – vibrant recipes with endless possibilities. It’s available in our retail store and it’s full of veg-forward ideas to build a bowl. It’s a beautiful and creative book that will get you enjoying vegetables in many different ways, and with every meal, including breakfast. Here is a photo of my breakfast bowl, which was vegan chili, served over sweet potato, with a poached egg and avocado on top.

This week I am sharing a few recipes for soups that are easy and adaptable.

Potato & Leek Soup

Note: The basic recipe is very versatile, and you can easily adapt this recipe to accommodate different vegetables. Some examples are Butternut & Fennel, Carrot & Ginger, Pumpkin, Sweet Potato, Jerusalem Artichoke etc.. If you want to add some depth of flavour, the root vegetables can be roasted beforehand.

Ingredients:

Olive oil or canola oil

1 medium

white onion, diced

2 cloves

garlic, minced

3 pounds

potatoes (preferably organic)

3 – 4 large

leeks

1 cup

white wine

4 cups

vegetable chicken stock

1 pinch

thyme

1 cup

whipping cream

Salt and pepper

Directions:

Peel and chop potatoes into 1 inch pieces.

Wash and slice leeks. Sometimes with leeks it is easiest to slice them up and then rinse them in a colander, as they can get quite a bit of dirt wedged in between the layers. Sauté onion and garlic in oil until transparent, about 5 minutes. Add leeks and sauté until tender. Deglaze with white wine and cook until wine is almost evaporated. Add potatoes and stock. Simmer on low for 10 minutes. Taste for seasoning.

Add cream and remove from heat and cool. Blend in batches in a blender until smooth. Add more water/stock if necessary to achieve the desired consistency. Re-heat until warmed through and serve.

White Bean, Kale & Potato Soup

Olive oil

1 medium

onion, diced

2 cloves

of garlic, peeled & minced

1 can

organic white beans (rinsed & drained)

1 bunch

of kale (rough chopped)

3 medium

potatoes (peeled, cubed & cooked until tender)

1 liter

chicken or vegetable stock

Juice from can of tomatoes (1 can of tomatoes will be used in 3 recipes)

Fresh time & oregano (1 tablespoon each, chopped)

Sauté onions & garlic in soup pot in 2 tablespoons of oil. Add kale and cook until wilted. Remove from pan. Put white beans, potatoes, stock, tomatoes and juice in the soup pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, add herbs and simmer for 10-15 minutes. Add back kale & onion mixture and test for seasoning. Add salt to taste and serve.

This meal would be best served with crusty bread. The soup can be garnished with fresh chopped parsley and grated cheese (parmesan or cheddar).

We are entering the third of our four week January tradition of focusing on ways to Nourish mind, body and soul. Our veg-forward menu featuring weekly vegetarian and vegan meals has been a tremendous success. Here is some of the feedback we have received:

We’re REALLY loving the menu this month and the vegan/veggie options in particular. ! Thanks for the diversity, the always great food and service! ‘
— Kevin

Just wanted to let you know that I LOVE the Nourish Menu! The dinners are not only finger-licking good but I feel healthy and light after! Thanks! I’m looking forward to trying more of your Nourish recipes 🙂
— Sarah

‘We really enjoyed last night’s dinner. I have to say that you won me over with your vegetarian or vegan meals in the last few months. When I ordered sporadically, I was one of those people who usually chose the dinners that included meat, but I’ve been delighted with so many meals that I probably wouldn’t have chosen in the first place, including the vegan ones. Now, I’m thrilled to see that vegan dinners and I can’t wait to taste all of them. Thank you for all hard work you put into making such flavourful meals.’
— Jacynthe

As we move through this month of self care, I wanted to share some suggestions on how we might be able to Nourish our spirits, especially during a month of cold and snow.

Take a few moments throughout the day to enjoy a few deep breaths. Often the stress of the day can cause us to breathe shallowly, and reminding yourself to breathe can often calm the mind, the nerves, and the stomach.

Stretch, especially when first waking and before getting out of bed. Starting off the day slowly while listening to your body’s needs sets the pace for the day. Throughout the day take small stretch breaks to keep the blood flowing, and the muscles relaxed, especially if you spend most of your day sitting at a desk.

Stop and think before saying YES automatically. Our desire to please others often leads us to agree to take on more than we can manage. It’s ok to say no, especially when your plate is already full.

Laugh often. Find what makes you giggle uncontrollably and do it as often as you can. Watch comedies or hang out with people whose humour you enjoy. The health benefits are too numerous to even mention.

Declutter something – a closet, drawer or cupboard. Organizing something makes us feel good every time we go back to that place.

Call and speak to people you love or miss. Although we are more connected than ever, we often don’t take the time to settle into a good phone conversation and catch up with an old friend or family member.

Let things go. We all carry around our ‘hurts’ and at some point it’s important to let it go. Forgive, forget, and move on. If you need help, then create a ritual for letting go. Make space in your heart and soul for letting the good things in by cleaning out the garbage that you have been carrying around for way too long!

There are only two weeks left to jump on the Nourish Yourself bandwagon and enjoy these delicious meals.

Our recipe this month is a simple vegetarian chili with lots of delicious serving suggestions. We have it on this Wednesday’s menu but you might enjoy it so much you want to make a batch yourself. Vegan Chili is so easy to make because you can literally use any vegetables that you might have on hand or are in season. You can keep it warm in a crock pot which makes it the perfect dish to serve to a crowd after skiing, skating on the canal, or a long winter walk.

Red Apron’s Vegan Chili

Ingredients

1 tablespoon

vegetable oil

1 cup

onions, chopped

¾ cups

carrots, chopped

3 cloves

garlic, minced

1 cup

diced red peppers

1 cup

diced zucchini

1 cup

diced cauliflower

1 large can (28 ounce)

can of diced tomatoes

1 small can

tomato puree

1

chipotle pepper minced (from can) or to taste

1 ½ cups

cooked kidney beans *

1 ½ cups

cooked black beans *

1 tablespoon

chili powder

1 tablespoon

ground cumin

1 ½ teaspoons

dried oregano

Note: other optional vegetables include mushrooms, spinach, diced butternut or sweet potatoes, corn kernels, etc.

*Note: we use organic dried beans and soak overnight and cook till tender. They can be kept in the freezer portioned out in small bags to use. However, in a pinch you can use a good quality low salt canned bean, preferably organic.

Directions

Heat oil in a large saucepan on medium heat. Saute the onions, carrots and garlic until tender. Add the remaining vegetables, and seasonings. Cook until the vegetables are tender. Stir in the tomatoes and beans. Test for flavor. If you like it spicy you can add cayenne pepper at this point. Salt to taste. Bring to a boil and reduce the heat. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes stirring occasionally.

Serving Suggestions

Set up a ‘serve yourself’ chili bar with a variety of toppings and garnishes. My list includes:

Baked sweet potato or white potato – spoon the chili over the potato and garnish for an extra hearty meal!

• Chopped green onions
• Chopped cilantro
• Sour cream or vegan coconut yogurt
• Shredded cheddar cheese or vegan cheese
• Crumbled corn tortilla chips
• Pumpkin seeds
• Guacamole or diced avocado
• Diced spicy sausage to satisfy the meat lovers in your party
• Hot dogs in buns – ladle your chili over the dog and you have chili-dogs
• Lime wedges

This month at the Red Apron we are celebrating the New Year with a month long celebration of Nourishing Meals that are veg-forward, nutrient dense, and featuring one Vegan and one Vegetarian meal each week!

There are so many ways to Nourish your body beyond food. Head to the spa for an evening, or a weekend and pamper yourself as the seasons change. Just 15 minutes from downtown Ottawa you can visit Le Nordik to relax and unwind. This is a popular destination and you have to call ahead to make a reservation.

Just outside of town in the other direction you can spend a night or two at the Strathmere Retreat. I visited recently for a night with my mom and was so impressed with their food and services. It’s the perfect little getaway.

If you are willing to drive a little farther, you can visit Ste. Anne’s Spa in Haldimand Hills and truly be pampered. Now that their wedding season is over, these venues will be offering specials to entice you to visit.

Resting, disconnecting and sleeping are all great ways to Nourish Yourself. Sometimes we just need a little break from the hustle and bustle and a stay-cation or a few days away somewhere quiet will do the trick.

The New Year is a good time to consider learning something new! Attend a workshop or a class, not for work or career advancement necessarily. Nourish your brain by learning something that truly interests you. Supply and Demand on Wellington offers pasta making classes which is a fun way to spend an evening while learning something new. The Urban Element on Parkdale has a whole schedule of classes on their website. C’est Bon Cooking School offers classes and foodie tours around Ottawa.

We often get obsessed about diet and exercise in the New Year, but there are ways to move your body that are lots of fun. Find a big toboggan hill in Ottawa and become a kid again. Aside from all that exercise you will get trudging back up the hill, there is nothing more thrilling than barrelling down the hill at full speed! Take a dance class. There are so many options ranging from ballroom, to pole dancing, to salsa. Dancing always make me feel joyful, and I look for every opportunity I can find to dance.

Speaking of Joy, we have a new cookbook in the Retail Store from Joy McCarthy, bestselling author and creator of Joyous Health. If you follow the link to her blog you can find the recipe for her delicious Creamy & Dreamy Kale Salad.

The holiday break has given me a bit of time to cook for my family – something I don’t often have time to do! I love to cook, especially when I am not in a rush to get a meal on the table. That’s why I love the Red Apron Dinners. I don’t have to worry about shopping, prepping and cooking. I get to just re-warm and enjoy a Nourishing Meal made from scratch.

But when I do have time to cook, I go all out,  and this past week we made pasta – from scratch. We find this to be a fun, family activity, and afternoon spent making pasta can provide simple meals for other occasions if you make enough to enjoy now, and freeze for later. I received Evan Funk’s American Sfoglino as a Christmas Present and it’s a beautiful book which I would highly recommend. I like how he lays out the recipes, with the pasta recipes at the front, and the sauce recipes in chapters.

Our old Atlas 150 Pasta machine I picked up at CA Paradis years ago still does a great job, but we are also practicing hand rolling and hand shaping pasta, which is a bit more of a challenge, and in some cases requires some tools that not everyone would have in their kitchen.

The recipe I want to share with you this week is for the Ricotta Gnocchi – a dish that I enjoyed often when visiting Italy this past summer. For the Bolognese I am sharing a link to one of Evan’s own recipes, but I will warn you – it’s fantastic and will require a lot of time and equipment including a meat grinder! You can use my recipe, which is quite simple, but not nearly as spectacular.

Lately I have been using fresh milled local flours from Almanac Grains – available at the Ottawa Farmer’s Market. Their 00 Durham, mixed with a small amount of Semolina, seems to be the perfect pasta flour.

Ricotta Gnocchi

400 grams

ricotta (I suggest letting it sit in a strain for at least an hour to drain off any excess water)

3

eggs beaten

1/2 cup

finely grated Parmesan cheese

2 teaspoons

salt

5 grates

fresh nutmeg

1 1/4 cup

flour (you will probably need more)

semolina flour for dusting

Pulse the ricotta, eggs, Parmesan, salt & nutmeg in a food processor or whisk until smooth. Pour the flour onto a clean work surface and make a whole in the middle. Using a bench scraper, combine the flour and wet ingredients, folding and cutting until incorporated. At this point you may need to add more flour. You want to fold and knead the flour for a few minutes until combined, soft and not too sticky. Form into a ball and dust the surface with a good amount of semolina flour, place the dough on the dusted surface, and cover for an hour to rest.

Flatten out the dough into a square about 1/2 inch thick and dust (generously) with more semolina. Using a pizza cutter or knife, cut into 1/2 inch strips. Then cut into 1/2 inch squares. Toss the little squares in a bowl with more semolina until fully quoted and carefully remove them to a parchment lined baking sheet. When you are finished, I suggest you put them into the freezer to firm up until you are ready to eat.

These can be frozen and bagged for later use.

Boil the gnocchi in salted water for about 2 1/2 minutes – testing one to make sure it’s cooked through. They will float to the surface when cooked, but frozen gnocchi might take another minute to fully cook through. Remove with a slotted spoon or skimmer and put them directly into your heated sauce in a saucepan on medium high heat for 1-2 minutes, then serve immediately with fresh parmesan.

Happy New Year!

The New Year presents us with an opportunity to reflect – on our careers, our health and our family –  and set our intentions for the coming year. What are the major goals we want to set for ourselves this year? What small changes do we feel we are capable of making to improve our life. How are we going to take better care of ourselves and those around us in 2020?

Many of us struggle to treat ourselves with kindness and I believe that our resolutions and intentions should reflect kindness, to ourselves especially. It’s easy to say ‘I resolve to lose 20 pounds’ this year and then be self-critical when we find it a difficult goal. It would be much kinder to say ‘I intend to fill my beautiful body with more delicious and nutritious vegetables every day’. The end result could be the same.

The vegan and vegetarian trend is strong and there can be a lot of pressure on meat eaters to conform. However, there are still many very ethical farmers out there producing ‘clean’ meat, free of hormones and antibiotics. They care about their land and their animals and often focus their efforts on raising heritage breeds, which themselves are endangered creatures. We can resolve to eat less meat for our health and the environment, and be careful to only support trusted and local sources. This is a resolution I have been practicing for many years in our home and our business.

In this time of concern for the climate, there are many ways we can reduce our impact. Resolve to bring your own shopping bags, and purchase items that are packaged in fully recyclable containers, or not packaged at all. Become familiar with our City’s blue and black box program and be clear on what goes in these bins.  At the Red Apron we are working to ensure that all of our packaging can be either re-used, composted or goes into the blue, black or green bin in the City of Ottawa. A significant amount of our packaging is made in Canada, and made from 100% recycled materials. More and more of our packaging is made from plants and compostable.

Often our resolutions involve serious commitments to fitness and exercise. That’s wonderful if it works for you, and all of us could benefit from more movement. Maybe there are other opportunities to increase movement in ways that speak more to your heart and soul? I love to dance, so look I for opportunities to go dancing any time I can. My business partner takes couples dance classes each week at Fred Astaire. You can go Salsa Dancing every week at Rahim’s Salsa on Elgin. If dancing isn’t your thing, then walk more, take a yoga class, or swim!

One of my most important resolutions that I try to practice each day is expressing gratitude. Like everyone, I experience struggles, challenges, set-backs, frustrations and loss. It’s part of life, and the older we get the more opportunity we have to experience these things. However, I am very focused on the things in my life that cause me joy and I try to show appreciation for these gifts every day. I communicate my appreciation and gratitude verbally to those I love, and work with, and I am very aware of how fortunate I am. Some people find a gratitude journal is very helpful, and others count their blessings each morning or night before bed. Being grateful has made a huge difference in my life and it has honestly changed the person I am.

One really important personal resolution I have made is to try to spend more time outside, and surrounded by nature, especially trees. A forest walk can have huge physical, mental and health benefits that we are only recently able to quantify. Exposure to forests and trees has been proven to boost the immune system lower blood pressure and stress, improve your mood and increase your ability to focus. It can accelerate recovery from illness and increase energy levels while helping to improve sleep. Talk about drug free cure for what ails you!

This January, the Red Apron will be Nourishing our customers with a month of meals that are designed to boost your immune system, increase your vegetable consumption, reduce your meat consumption, and introduce new colours and flavours into your diet. Our ‘Nourish Yourself’ menu features a weekly vegetarian and a weekly vegan meal, and is posted on our website.

This month I wanted to share easy ideas for Taco Meals. I love tacos and find them to be a very simple way to eat a nutritious breakfast, lunch or dinner. If you keep your freezer stocked with a package of corn or wheat flour tortillas, you can execute a delicious meal in very short order using mostly leftovers in your fridge. This type of meal is extremely popular with young kids too, and allows them to participate in making some of their food choices.

Breakfast Taco Ideas

I like to lay out a buffet of small plates, with a pile of warm taco shells and some, or all of the following ingredients:

• Scrambled eggs
• Black beans – warmed in a bowl with a sprinkle of cumin and a drizzle of olive oil
• Bacon or thick sliced pork belly
• Grated cheddar cheese
• Sliced ripe avocado or leftover guacamole
• Diced tomatoes or a tomato salsa
• Warmed taco shells, 2-3 per person

Lunch or Dinner Taco Ideas

We often serve tacos on the Red Apron menu and the varieties are endless. We have done duck, pork belly, fish, chicken, beef and vegetarian versions. Here are my suggestions on how to build an amazing taco buffet:

In the taco

• Protein of your choice – this could be any leftovers from a previous dinner
• Cheese – we like cheddar, goat cheese, or Monterey Jack
• Salsa – this could be a store-bought variety, or one you make yourself
• Slaw – slaw makes a great taco garnish, and any combination of shredded vegetables tossed in a spicey vinaigrette will do!
• Guacamole – easy to make with ripe avocado, diced tomatoes, lemon or lime juice & salt
• Beans – any variety, including re-fried – our southwestern salad (pictured above) is the perfect taco filling
• Hot Sauce
• Corn or wheat flour tortillas

On the side

Tacos are generally a complete meal all on their own, but there are a variety of items that make great sides for a taco meal.

• Rice or rice with beans
• Oven roasted sweet potatoes with chili and sea salt
• Refried beans
• Corn, or corn on the cob, depending on the time of year

Every holiday season presents the same challenges.  How to get through a typically very busy time of year with school, work, extracarricular activities, while at the same time preparing for the holidays which undoubtedly will involve entertaining friends, family & loved ones.  Depending on your approach to the season, your schedule may also include a healthy dose of gift shopping and wrapping.

If you are looking for some creative entertaining ideas, consider the following;

Order a smoked fish or shucked oyster platter from one of our wonderful fishmongers in the region. Pelican Seafood Market & Grill, and the Whalesbone on Kent  assemble a smoked fish platter that will impress your guests.  Paired with a bag of fresh bagels from Kettlemans, or some assorted artisanal breads from True Loaf Bakery, and you are ready to face any holiday brunch or cocktail.

Get out your slow cooker! You can load it up in the morning and come home to a meal that is ready to serve.  We have included an easy slow cooker recipe that will feed a small crowd or would be great to bring to a pot luck.

Mix up a batch of scones and freeze them unbaked for later use. (See recipe below). They are excellent for Christmas morning when you are opening presents and don’t want to cook breakfast.  Smear on some lovely spreadable goat cheese and your favourite jam. We sell both in our retail store!

Many of our local grocery stores will make up a fruit platter, cheese platter or vegetable platter for you on relatively short notice. This provides easy ‘fillers’ for your appetizer or buffet table and a healthy, kid-friendly options.

Host a pot luck. If you pick a theme and guide your guests towards solutions that are going to work well together, then your event/party will be that much more cohesive. For example, maybe you tackle the roast beef with gravy, and ask one person to bring a simple appetizer, one to bring the mashed potatoes, one to bring a vegetable medley and one to bring dessert.

Visit our retail store and stock up on our selection of Red Apron Holiday Appetizers, which included our delicious flatbreads, dips, spreads, selection of cheeses & charcuterie, pretzel bites with beer cheese, potato cheese poppers, sweet & sour meatballs, and so much more!

Remember to take some time out of your busy December schedule to take a walk to Parliament Hill to enjoy the lights.  Each year, Canada’s Capital Region glows with thousands of holiday lights during Christmas Lights Across Canada. Each night from dusk you can enjoy a beautiful show projected on to the Parliament buildings. Remember to bundle up!

Dried Fruit Scones

Ingredients

3/4 cup

well-shaken buttermilk

1/4 cup

pure maple syrup

1/2 cup

plus 2 tablespoons heavy cream

3 1/2 cups

all-purpose flour

3/4 cup

sugar

1 teaspoon

salt

1 teaspoon

baking powder

1/2 teaspoon

baking soda

2 sticks (1 cup)

unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

1/2 lb

dried figs, chopped (about 1 1/2 cups) – you can substitute dried cranberries, currants or any dried fruit combination.

2

large egg yolks

Directions

Put oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat oven to 400°F.

Whisk together buttermilk, syrup, and 1/2 cup cream in a small bowl. Mix together flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in bowl of a stand mixer with paddle attachment at low speed, (or whisk in a large bowl) until combined. Add butter and mix (or blend with your fingertips or in a pastry blender) until mixture resembles coarse meal with some small (roughly pea-size) butter lumps. Mix in the dried fruit, then add buttermilk mixture and mix until just combined. (Do not over-mix.)

Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper and drop 10 (1/4-cup) mounds of batter onto each sheet, leaving 1 inch between mounds. Scones can be made larger or smaller and I like to use my ice-cream scoop to measure and drop the dough.

Whisk together yolks and remaining 2 tablespoons cream, then brush over tops of scones.  Bake, switching position of baking sheets halfway through baking, until scones are puffed and golden, 20 to 25 minutes total. Transfer to a baking rack and cool enough to handle.  Scone batter can be mixed a few hours ahead of time or frozen on a baking sheet and then bagged in an airtight bag.  They can be baked from frozen but will take a bit more time.  Use a toothpick to test for doneness

White Bean Cassoulet

Serves: 4-6

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon

olive oil

1

large onion, finely chopped

4

chicken thighs, bone in

2

pork sausages, cut in half or thirds

4 oz

double smoked bacon, diced

3

cloves garlic, minced

2

carrots, peeled & diced

1 teaspoon

dried thyme leaves

1/2 teaspoon

black pepper

1 tablespoons

tomato paste

3 cups

chicken stock or water

1 1/2 cups

white (great northern) beans, soaked overnight and drained

3 tablespoons

minced fresh parsley

To Prepare:

Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add onion to hot oil; cook and stir until onion is tender, about 4 minutes.  Add garlic and thyme, salt & pepper. Remove from pan.  Brown the chicken on both sides. Remove.  Brown Sausage on all sides.  Remove. Sauté diced bacon.  Transfer all ingredients to the slow cooker and add tomato paste, chicken stock or water and beans.  Make sure the beans are completely covered with the liquid.  Stir until combined.  Cover and cook on LOW 7 to 8 hours.  Test beans for doneness. Before serving, garnish with chopped parsley and home made croutons.

In our business we try to support local growers and producers as much as possible, and work to keep our dollars in our community. When shopping for the holidays I try to apply those same values. In the spirit of a happier, more ethical and local holiday season, here are some of tips you might find helpful.

I try to shop local where possible. Each dollar you spend at an independent business returns 3 times more money to your local economy than one spent at a chain store, and makes a lasting impact on the prosperity of local residents. Independent businesses employ more people per dollar of revenue and use the services of other local businesses  (accountants, doctors, farmers, lawyers, designers, developers, printers, etc.).

I talk to the shop owners directly. Your shop owner and their team should be able to tell you what their position is on sourcing brands and products for their shelves. Are they selling fair trade, sweatshop free, organic or local products?  For example, in a recent conversation with a new business in our community – The Stomping Ground– I discovered that the owner makes significant efforts to ensure his products are fair trade and many of his brands are also organic. His ability to articulate the  values he adheres to when sourcing new products, which convinced me that I could feel comfortable shopping in his store.

In that spirit you can ‘shop local’ at the Ottawa Farmer’s Market at Lansdowne this Saturday & Sunday  from 9am-3pm (December 21 & 22).The Christmas market goes beyond food stuffs and showcases knitters, weavers, crafters, soap & jewelry makers, just to name a few. Visit their website for details and a list of vendors.

Re-gift, make by hand or re-purpose. I am not a super crafty person and don’t own any fancy tools or equipment, but I can cook and bake.  I am also not opposed to re-gifting items that I know I can’t use (but please don’t tell my mother).  I also have a few simple and creative ideas for turning something old into something beautiful.

A few years ago I took a tarnished silver cream & sugar set, planted them up with succulents, and gifted them to a friend. They were so beautiful, I almost hated to part with them.  This year I poured vodka over some vanilla beans in a beautiful bottle I had saved. In 6 months my recipient will have vanilla extract.  If they can’t wait that long, they can make some crafty vanilla infused cocktails.

I am sharing recipes that are great for breakfast/brunch and both can actually be made the night before and popped into the oven first thing in the morning.

Christmas Morning Frittata

2 teaspoons

olive oil

1 small

onion or green onion, chopped

2 large handfuls

fresh spinach, chopped

8

whole eggs

8

sun-dried tomato halves, chopped

1/2 cup

crumbled feta or chevre

2 tablespoons

chopped fresh basil

or

1 tablespoon

pesto

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Heat oven to 400°F. Heat oil in a large pan over medium heat. Cook onions until soft but not brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Add spinach; cook 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat. Lightly whisk eggs in a bowl and season with salt & pepper.   Oil the bottom of a baking dish and cover sun-dried tomatoes, cheese, basil, spinach mixture. Pour over the filling mixture and bake until firm in the center – approximately 20-30 minutes. You can test for doneness by jiggling the dish and if the center appears runny then continue cooking.  Do not overcook as your frittata will continue to cook for a few minutes after it has been removed from the oven.

You can do all these steps the night before right up to the cooking, and keep the frittata in the fridge overnight.  Cooking time may vary if the frittata goes into the oven cold.

Morning Buns

1 ½ cups

milk

1/3 cup

vegetable oil

1/3 cup

sugar

3 1/3 cups

flour

7 gr

yeast (1 package)

½ cup

flour

½ teaspoon

baking soda

1/3 teaspoon

baking powder

½ teaspoon

salt

4 cups

sliced bananas

1 cup

caramel sauce

1 cup

chocolate chips

Warm the milk, oil and sugar until the sugar is disolved and the mixture warm to the touch but not hot.

In a large bowl or stand mixer with a dough hook combine the 3 1/3 cups of flour and yeast and add the warm milk mixture.  Mix until combined.  Let stand for one hour or until doubled in size, covered with a tea towel.

Mix the remaining half cup flour with baking powder, soda and salt and add to the dough mixture.  Knead for 5 minutes until a soft dough comes together.

Mix the bananas, caramel sauce and chocolate chips and set aside.

Roll out the dough to make a rectangle about ½ inch thick.  Spread the banana mixture on top of the rolled dough and then roll the dough up into a log shape.  Slice the log into 1 inch pices and arrange the swirls in a greased 9 x 13 cake pan so they are touching each other.

At this point you can put the pan in the fridge overnight to bake the next morning.  You could also freeze your buns for a couple of weeks and bake from frozen.  Otherwise, put the pan right into a 350 degree pre-heated oven for 40-45 minutes until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.