The South Arm Older Adults Cooking Club resumed for the Fall session.

Michelle prepared a menu fills with whole food of local produce, brown rice and chicken.

The salad for the day is Greek Salad using local fresh produce like tomatoes, cucumber and green pepper. The fresh basil is from Michelle’s garden.

Ingredients

• 1 long English cucumber, cut in half lengthwise, remove seeds if necessary and chopped
• 1 red onion, chopped
• 1 green pepper, chopped
• 4 roma tomatoes, chopped
• 2 green onions, chopped
• handful of kalamata olives
• 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

Dressing

• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil or 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper
• optional;  1 garlic clove, minced

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Michelle prepared a salad to go with the Pasta with No Cook Sauce for the South Arm Older Adults Cooking Club.

We left out the radicchio from the recipe because it’s not in season.

Tips:

• You can store the salad mix and dressing separately and mix a smaller portion just before serving. It should last several days in a plastic bag in the fridge.
• If you are making your own salad mixes in ziploc bags, or cutting up lettuce ahead of time, place a paper towel in the ziploc bag. It reduces moisture and you can keep the greens from wilting for several days if stored this way.

Ingredients

• 6 cups chopped Romaine lettuce
• 2 cups shredded radicchio or thinly shredded cabbage
• 1 small sweet onion (red or white), thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

The South Arm Older Adults Cooking Club served the Pasta with Veggie Confetti with a Mixed Greens salad.

This Mixed Greens with Orange Chive Dressing has a refreshing summer feel.

Ingredients

• 3 oranges
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon chopped chives
• 1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard
• 1/4 teaspoon each salt and ground black pepper
• half bulb fennel, cored
• 5 cups mixed salad greens, washed and dried

Fennel bulb is actually called “Florence Fennel” and is a crisp vegetable that can be sauteed, stewed, braised, grilled or eaten raw. They are used for garnishes or can add flavour to salads. It is high in Vitamin C, fiber and potassium.

Source: Canadian Living: Eat Right, Tasty Recipes for Every Diet

Makes 6 servings

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The South Arm Older Adults Cooking Club celebrated Earth Day with a vegetarian menu.

Michelle, the facilitator shared an Apple Romaine Salad with Candied Pecans from food.com.

Ingredients

• 1-2 heads romaine lettuce, sliced moderately thin
• 3/4 cup candied pecans
• 1/2 cup blue cheese (we used feta cheese)
• 1 cup apple, diced

Dressing

• 1/4 cup apple juice
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 small red onion, diced fine
• 1 bunch chives, chopped fine
• 1 1/4 apples, grated
• 1/2 lemon, zested and juice squeezed out

Source: food.com

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The South Arm Older Adults Cooking Club harvested some baby kale from the garden for salad.

We picked the leaves from the bottom of the kale. Kale is a hardy plant and it will survive the mild winter here. Michelle had a kale plant in her garden which lasted 3 years and it grew to 5 feet tall before it toppled.

Ingredients

• 1 bunch kale, ribs removed, leaves very thinly slice (if baby kale, just remove the ribs)
• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• kosher salt to taste
• 1/4 cup dates, seeds removed, cut into slivers
• 1 Honeycrisp apple, cut into thin matchsticks
• 1/4 cup slivered almonds
• 1 ounce pecorino, finely grated (1/4 cup), optional
• freshly ground black pepper

Source: Foodnetwork.com

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The South Arm Older Adults Cooking Club made a Classic Greek Salad to complement the Spinach Pie with Greek flavorings.

This classic summer salad with olive oil and redwine vinaigratte captures the sunny flavours and colors of the Mediterranean.

Ingredients

• 1/2 pint cherry tomatoes, halved or 2 large tomatoes, diced
• 1/2 red onion, sliced
• 1 medium cucumber, diced
• 1 green pepper, diced
• handful of Italian parsley, chopped
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 1/2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste
• 2 handfuls kalamata olives, pitted (we omitted this)
• 8 ounces feta cheese, crumbled or cubed

Source: In the Kitchen with Stefano Faita

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Michelle shared a Butter Lettuce Salad with Gruyere and Walnuts recipe at the South Arm Older Adults Cooking club.

From BestHealthMag.ca:

A diet rich in walnuts and walnut oil may help the body deal better with stress. Research published last year in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition found that walnuts and walnut oil lowered both resting blood pressure and blood pressure responses to stress in the  laboratory. The researchers said the study shows that a dietary change could help our bodies better respond to stress.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup walnuts
• 1 head butter lettuce
• 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
• 2 1/2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 oz gruyere cheese, diced
• 1 tablespoon chopped chives
• salt and pepper to taste

Source: this recipe is adapted from The Art of Simple Food II, by Alice Waters

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Michelle shared a Raita recipe from My Father's Daughter by Gwyneth Palthrow as a side dish in the Indian inspired meal at the South Arm Older Adults Kitchen. Raita can…

Minoo also prepared a salad to go with the Roasted Red Pepper Soup and Tamale Pie.

This Lemon Garlic Sesame Salad is simple to prepare and the dressing will be good in the refrigerator for a week.

Ingredients

• 1 head leafy lettuce (we used Romaine)
• 1 can mandarin sections
• 1/4 cup slivered almonds

Dressing

• 2 teaspoons toasted sesame seeds
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• juice of one whole lemon
• 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Source: South Arm Multicultural Community Kitchen

Serves 4

Minoo also shared with us some tips on food safe. The tips are very useful, whether applying in our home or cooking for others.

You can click on the images above to have a larger view.

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First, an update of the baked goods sales fund raising at the South Arm Christmas Craft Fair on 16Nov 2013. A total of CAD913 was raised for the Richmond Food Bank. A great thank you for all the volunteers that help to make it happened.

Michelle shared a recipe from her blog in the South Arm Older Adults Cooking Club.

The Winter Confetti Salad is much easier to make if you have a food processor to shred the cabbage. Otherwise, grate the carrots and slice the cabbage really thin.

This recipe makes a big batch. Keep the dressing separate until you are ready to serve. The Winter Confetti Salad will keep for a few days in the refrigerator.

Ingredients

• 1/2 head of green cabbage
• 1/2 head of red cabbage
• 2 carrots
• 1/4 cup chopped flat leaf parsley

Dressing

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
• 1/2 lemon, juiced
• 2 tablespoons agave syrup or honey, or more to taste
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• ground black pepper to taste

Optional

• pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, dried cranberries or raisins

Source: mintgreenapron.blogspot.com

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