Pasta with Broccoli

For the main dish, Michelle shared a Pasta with Broccoli recipe in line with the idea of adding more vegetables in our diet.

Senior Kitchen 070

Michelle encouraged the use of whole grain pasta which has higher fiber contents.

Ingredients

  • 8 oz (1/2 pound) chunky, whole grain pasta
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 4 cups chopped broccoli
  • 2 tablespoons minced garlic
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground pepper
  • 1 cup crumbled feta cheese

Extra salt for cooking pasta. Salted water gives the pasta more flavour. Adding a bit of the pasta cooking water to your pasta sauce helps to thicken the sauce and makes it sticks to your pasta better.

Senior Kitchen 005

You may experiment with these variations:

  • add one cup cooked edamame or other beans
  • add 1/2 cup chopped kalamata olives
  • top with toasted walnuts or pine nuts
  • add a couple chopped tomatoes at the end

Source: Moosewood for Health

Serves 4

(more…)

Continue ReadingPasta with Broccoli

B Vital Salad Dressing

Michelle also included the nutritional yeast in this B Vital Salad Dressing prepared in the South Arm Older Adults Cooking Club session. This B Vital Salad Dressing can be used on spring salad mix, chopped up romaine or on steamed vegetables.

Senior Kitchen 072

 

Michelle shared some ways to add more vegetables and fruit in our diet:

  • try to start meals with a salad
  • add at least one or two vegetables to every meal
  • add cooked or leftover vegetables to your pasta dishes, either blend into the sauce (e.g. shredded carrot) or add to the pasta itself
  • choose more fruit-based desserts; either a piece of fruit, fruit salad or a baked dessert treat with fruit as a component

Ingredients

  • 3 tablespoons nutritional flake yeast
  • 2 tablespoons water
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce or tamari
  • 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar or other vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon crushed garlic (1 to 2 cloves)
  • 1/2 cup neutral oil (grapeseed, canola, etc)

Vegetables of your preference

Senior Kitchen 004

P/S: the cucumber is harvested from the senior garden

Source: Mintgreenapron.blogspot.com

(more…)

Continue ReadingB Vital Salad Dressing

Quick Pesto with Broiled Tomatoes

The South Arm Older Adults Cooking Club started a new session in September. We welcome back the old members and some new members for another great cooking sessions.

Senior Kitchen 076

Michelle, the facilitator of the cooking club prepared four recipes for this session. The first recipe is Quick Pesto with Broiled Tomatoes.

The quick pesto consists of nutritional yeast which is a deactivated yeast; sold as a food product. It contains protein, vitamins and fiber. It often is fortified with additional B vitamins.

Ingredients

Quick Pesto

  • 3 cups basil leaves
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1/4 cup pine nuts, sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds
  • 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
  • 1/2 cup olive oil

Broiled Tomatoes

  • 4 medium tomatoes, cored and halved crosswise
  • 5 tablespoons panko or breadcrumbs

Senior Kitchen 007

Source: Vegetarian Times

(more…)

Continue ReadingQuick Pesto with Broiled Tomatoes

Strawberries with Orange Ricotta Cream

June is strawberry season. Michelle shared a dessert made with strawberry just in time for the season.

Strawberries with Orange Ricotta Cream 001

This Strawberries with Orange Ricotta Cream is a breeze to make and is a great way to serve up summer berries.

From mnn.com:

  • 1 cup of strawberries provides 150% of your Vitamin C.
  • 1 cup contains 3 grams of fiber
  • contains potassium and folate important for bone density
  • may protect against cancers

REMEMBER: always wash your berries well.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
  • 1/2 cup low fat vanilla yogurt
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon grated orange rind
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 cups quartered strawberries

Strawberries with Orange Ricotta Cream 002

Source: from Cooking Light

Makes 4+ servings

(more…)

Continue ReadingStrawberries with Orange Ricotta Cream

Carrot Ginger Tea Sandwiches

We made 2 types of sandwiches at the South Arm Older Adults Cooking Club.

Carrot Ginger Tea Sandwiches 001

The first sandwich comes from the Fairmont Empress Hotel in Victoria, British Columbia. A fabled Victoria landmark, the Fairmont Empress has played host to royalty, celebrities, and guests from around the world since 1908.

Ingredients

  • 2 grated carrots
  • 2 tablespoons cream cheese, softened
  • 2 tablespoons good-quality mayonnaise
  • 1 teaspoon sweet ginger paste (we used Japanese picked ginger)
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 4 slices multi-grain bread (we used wholewheat)
  • 4 teaspoons unsalted butter
  • alfalfa sprouts or lettuce (we omitted the this)

Carrot Ginger Tea Sandwiches 002

Source: this recipe is adapted from Fairmont Empress Hotel

Makes 2 sandwiches

(more…)

Continue ReadingCarrot Ginger Tea Sandwiches

South Arm Older Adults Cooking Club Celebrated a Successful Season

This is the last kitchen for the season before the break for summer. The South Arm Older Adults Cooking Club celebrated a successful season with great leadership from Michelle and Stella. We also want to thank our volunteer, Rula.

Senior Kitchen Celebrated Successful Season 001

We made some wonderful sandwiches, homemade Ranch Salad dressing and a strawberries dessert.

Senior Kitchen Celebrated Successful Season 002

Jeff were able to get Starbucks to sponsor coffee for the kitchen. A great thank you to Starbucks and Jeff.

Senior Kitchen Celebrated Successful Season 003

Mila made a Filipino dessert called Biko. It’s made with sweet rice, coconut milk and condensed milk. What a sweet ending to a meal. Thank you, Mila. (more…)

Continue ReadingSouth Arm Older Adults Cooking Club Celebrated a Successful Season

Borscht

The second Ukrainian dish that Joe made in the Gilmore Park Church Community Kitchen was Borscht.

Borscht-12

The above beet soup was slightly tangy and the beets were sweet. I once heard from a commentary by Dr. Art Hister on the Global Morning News that beet root juice helps lower blood pressure and thus helps to prevent cardiovascular problems.

Ingredients

  • 8 cups cold water or chicken/vegetable broth
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 3 beets, cut into thin strips or coarsely grate
  • 3 medium carrots, cut into thin strips or coarsely grate
  • 2 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 3 pepper corns
  • 1/2 cup half & half
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 2 tablespoons flour, optional (to thicken soup if preferred)
  • 1/2 pounds green beans, cut into 1″ length

Borscht-01

P/S: the potatoes in the photo above were for the Potato Perogies recipe.

Borscht-02

Joe brought along his manual food processor for show and tell in the kitchen. He prefers to use the manual one than the electric food processor. He’s an old school guy.

Source: Joe

(more…)

Continue ReadingBorscht

Potato Perogies

I have not been back to the multi-cultural community kitchen for a long while. This is because Minoo is having new groups of people, mostly new immigrants and she’s demonstrating very basic recipes which I had mostly covered in the blog already.

Out of the blue, Minoo asked me if I would like to come to the Gilmore Park Church Community Kitchen because one of the member is going to demonstrate a couple of Ukrainian recipes. Of course I’m more than happy to attend. It’s always nice to learn from another culture.

Potato-Perogies-30

For this kitchen, Joe (the gentleman in the above photo) demonstrated how to make Potato Perogies and Borcht soup. Thank you, Joe for sharing with us.

Potato-Perogies-27

Minoo served the Potato Perogies with a simple greens salad.

Ingredients

Dough

  • 3 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup milk
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1 egg, beaten

Filing

  • 3 large potatoes
  • 1 small sweet onion, finely chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 400g cheddar cheese, grated
  • 2 tablespoons butter

Potato-Perogies-01

P/S:

  • missing from the photo are the potatoes. onion and garlic;
  • ingredients not for this recipe are the lemon juice, ground pepper, half & half

Source: Joe

(more…)

Continue ReadingPotato Perogies

Cupcakes with Fresh Fruit Icing

Michelle prepared a recipe of Cupcakes with Fresh Fruit Icing for a lesser guilt dessert at the South Arm Cooking Club for Older Adults.

Cupcakes-with-Fresh-Fruit-Icing-16

Michelle used strawberries for the fresh fruit icing. Here are some health benefits of strawberries from Besthealthmag.ca.

  • excellent source of Vitamin C
  • good source of potassium and fiber
  • considered an immunity booster”
  • may promote eye health and help prevent cataracts
  • may also help reduce inflammation in joints
  • helps to regulate blood pressure
  • helps fight bad cholesterol
  • best health dubs strawberry ‘one of the most heart-healthy fruits you can eat’

Ingredients

  • 1 cup unsalted butter, softened, at room temperature
  • 3/4 cup, plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 4 large eggs
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • zest of 1 lemon
  • 1/4 cup milk

Glaze

  • 1 1/2 cups berries (raspberries, strawberries or blackberries), plus extra fruit or crystallized flower petals for garnishing
  • 1 1/2 to 3 cups or more icing sugar

Cupcakes-with-Fresh-Fruit-Icing-03

source: Jamie Oliver.com

(more…)

Continue ReadingCupcakes with Fresh Fruit Icing