Toronto’s historic Evergreen Brickworks is a community environmental centre, a hub of social innovation and green design, promoting a sustainable lifestyle.
Tourists visiting Toronto during the summer months have to make a pit stop at the Evergreen Brickworks Farmers’ Market on a Saturday. In 2010, Evergreen Brickworks was named one of the top 10 geotourism destinations in the world by National Geographic.
Arvinda’s will be featuring some Indian inspired recipes perfect for a Father’s Day brunch at the Evergreen Brickworks on June 16th.
The atmosphere and plethora of amazing fresh, local and organic produce and artisan products inspires us to cook and create, engage and learn, and leave with a feel-good, fuzzy feeling about the great things happening in this city.
This is a ‘must-do’ on any foodie’s list, especially if visiting Toronto for the first time!
Fiddleheads native to North America are available early spring. No longer a camping delicacy, fiddleheads are now found at natural food stores like Whole Foods Market.
My foray into the world of wild foods (namely fiddleheads) came to me as a teen in girl scouts, learning about wilderness survival techniques and edible foods safe to eat if stranded without food provisions on a camping trip.
Starting out in Brownies, moving onto Girl Guides, Pathfinders and finally Rangers, I had twelve years immersed in the Guiding movement imparting me with some of my best childhood memories and camping experiences hands-down!
Our Indian vegetarian dinner! The star of the plate was the Steamed Vegetable Kofta in a creamy sauce.
I’m sharing with you some photos from the Long Table Community Dinner at Whole Foods Market to benefit the Oakville Milton Humane Society that we were a part of last week. The event was a huge success and raised approximately $3900! This will help change the future for many homeless, abused and neglected animals.
This dinner was particularly timely after the recent 33 chihuahuas were rescued from a Oakville home in April.
Statistics say at least one third of the Indian subcontinent is “pure” vegetarian. Pure meaning vegetarians who will consume dairy but no eggs. Hmmm..one third of the people of a billion population—now that’s a lot of vegetarians!
Vegetarianism in India however was not always a common practice, as the ancient Aryans were known to sacrifice animals to the gods and consume meat. It wasn’t until the rise of Buddhism and Jainism in the 6th century BC through advocating peace and ahimsa or non-violence, that the rise of vegetarianism began to proliferate in India.
Jains being the most orthodox vegetarians in the world avoid eating root vegetables that may disrupt the soil ecosystem in the ground when harvested. Garlic, onions and in some instances tomatoes and beets are also avoided due to their resemblance to the flesh of an animal.
It was Gandhi, also a strict vegetarian who once said, “I do feel that spiritual progress does demand at some stage that we should cease to kill our fellow creatures for the satisfaction of our bodily wants.” Gandhi’s teachings of ahimsa supported vegetarianism in India.
Most packaged food products and menus in India are denoted with this green vegetarian-friendly symbol while the red denotes non-veg. Clever system, so vegetarians can avoid animal by-products that are commonly found in so many products.
Whole Foods Market Oakville presents a community long table dinner on May 5th, 2011 in support of Be Kind To Animals Week benefitting the Oakville & Milton Humane Society. My mother Arvinda and myself, along with Chef Michael Kilip of The Twisted Fork are preparing a mouth-watering, decadent vegetarian meal that evening. We’ve added one of my favourite dishes to the menu – Vegetarian Makhani Kofta Curry ~ steamed cabbage and vegetable dumplings immersed in a creamy spiced velvety sauce. (more…)
What are you drinking while waiting for this morning’s lunar eclipse?
Right now my mug is full of Coconut Chai Hot Cocoa. Paradoxically, the coconut is supposed to remind me of the tropics and warmer times, while the Chai spices remind me it’s the week of Christmas. And what a fitting combo for an auspicious night of the lunar eclipse followed by the winter solstice—both in one night (more like morning), a definite rarity. I feel so lucky!
...reminds me of the tropics and Christmas at the same time!
A total eclipse of the moon, which should be visible in northern skies December 21, 2010 (right now in this moment!), when the Earth blocks the sun’s rays from the face of the moon for 72 minutes, casts the Earth’s shadow on the moon. The result is an amber lit moon. According to NASA Science by 3:17 a.m. EST, “That’s when the Moon will be in deepest shadow, displaying the most fantastic shades of coppery red.”
I’ve lasted this long to see the red brilliance cast upon on the moon and my hot chocolate is keeping me warm and awake! The next time this rare occurrence is happening is on December 21, 2094, so this is so worth the wait.
Compared to my fave Garam Masala Hot Chocolate, this one has more sweet notes from the cardamom in the Chai Masala and coconut milk.
Did I mention I usually slip in about 1/8 tsp. of turmeric powder into my hot chocolate!? Sounds a bit odd I know, but this way I get my daily does of turmeric antioxidants! You won’t even notice it, as it’s masked by the taste of cocoa.
================================================================================================================================ Coconut Chai Hot Cocoa
I used So Delicious unsweetened coconut milk, which is not like thick canned coconut milk. So Delicious is drinkable, light and not heavy! I found organic coconut extract at Whole Foods Market. Note: The extract I used was not concentrated, so if you’re using another brand, only use 1 drop of extract, otherwise the flavour will be overpowering.
I used lots of layers of coconut, even organic coconut sugar to sweeten!
Ingredients: 1 cup coconut milk (I used So Delicious unsweetened) 1 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder (use good quality cocoa) ½ tsp. Arvinda’s Chai Masala + 1/8 tsp. turmeric (for bonus antioxidants) 3-5 drops pure coconut extract
coconut sugar, to sweeten
dry coconut, toasted, to garnish (optional)
Method: In a small pot, heat coconut milk on medium high heat. Whisk in cocoa powder and stir until milk is frothy and cocoa powder is well dissolved.
Stir in Arvinda’s Chai Masala, turmeric (optional) and coconut sugar to sweeten. Whisk again. Strain into a mug and stir in coconut essence. Garnish with toasted dry coconut.
Enjoy on a bitter cold winter solstice-lunar eclipse night! Serves 1.
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In India the winter solstice is observed asLohri, the bonfire festival in northern India, in the state of Punjab on the eve of the winter solstice. However over time this festival has been paired with the Hindu winter solstice festival called Makar Sankranti, marking the sun’s change in positioning into Capricorn, where the sun God Agni is revered. For this reason, Lohri is typically celebrated in mid-January.
Punjab, being home to vast farmlands and India’s wheat-growing region, Lohri is celebrated before the harvest period, where huge bonfires are lit on the land and sweets, nuts, seeds and candies are eaten and thrown into the fire in hopes and promise for a prosperous growing season.
The winter solstice in North America to me has always been a special, sacred day, a time to light candles and feel the presence of lightness during the darkest, longest night sky.
Celebrations take place at Toronto’s Kensington Market’s Winter Solstice on December 21 at 6:30pm. The festivities dotted with decorated lit lanterns look amazing and I want to go!
Check out the fun from 2009!
Okay, I better catch this lunar eclipse!
Did you see the lunar eclipse? Was it amazing or what?! And what were you drinking to stay warm? A teaspoon of:U2. Listening to:Ultraviolet (Light My Way).
I’ve mentioned before all spices are not created equal.
What makes Indian cuisine complex is the vast number of spices used in any given dish and the techniques used to cook them. Timing is also important as each spice is used at a different stage in the cooking process.
With such a wide array of spices required may make Indian cooking seem daunting to the novice cook. Knowing your Indian spice box will let your Indian cooking come with ease and give you amazing and deep flavours as a result.
Additionally each spice has unique medicinal values, making Indian cooking beneficial to health.
Join me in an Indian Spice Discovery Workshop at Whole Foods Market Oakville to learn more about these amazing spices, where they come from and how they are used to create simple and delicious Indian dishes. Cooking demonstration of a few dishes included!
Details: Indian Spice Discovery Workshop $20 Whole Foods Market Oakville
301 Cornwall Road., Oakville, Ontario
(conveniently located walking distance from the Oakville GO Station)
August 18, 2010
7:00 pm
Call Whole Foods Market at (905) 849-8400 to register.
Please bring your questions that night as this will be an interactive and intimate workshop. We’ll choose local and seasonal ingredients to create some delicious Indian dishes you can create on the fly!
This beautiful organic Ontario rhubarb was given to us by Susan Schroeter of Lean on Me Nutrition (Holistic Nutritional Counselling) in Oakville, Ontario. Susan grows her own rhubarb and was gracious to share some with Arvinda
Whole Foods Market continually offers interesting seminars on everything from healthy eating and cooking naturally, to uber body care au natural. I love going to these seminars whenever I get the chance since they make me feel I’ve taken a bigger step forward towards better health, and I feel motivated to try new ingredients outside my comfort zone. Best of all, most of them are free!
Last week I went to the Home Canning Workshop to brush up my ‘preserving’ skills! A few years back when I was doing my Masters degree in Environmental Studies, I had a group project in Ecological Economics with the objective to address the mass importation of out-of-season fruits and vegetables into the Toronto region. Despite the fact Southern Ontario is a highly productive agricultural area, the majority of the produce consumed by Ontarians is imported and is especially true of out-of-season and climate-specific fruits and vegetables. Since the time of project in 2006, this of course has dramatically improved with the opening of more local markets and with retailers favouring local foods.
As part of the project, our task was to develop a series of solutions to solve the problem at hand. Canning, preserving and pickling came out on top as a great way to avoid purchasing produce (like tomatoes) during winter months when they are useless and taste like cardboard. It’s no wonder my Italian friends insist on canning their homemade tomato sauce every September. This usually takes place in the garage in huge batches!
A guide to home preserving.
Our group was thinking of running a series of canning workshops for singles. Would you go to a Boy Meets Girl ‘Jamming Session’ if you were single? We never did get around to it, but the idea seemed novel at the time!
Fast forward to 2010 and with all of my good intentions to get canning, I still hadn’t gotten around to it. When I met up with my friend Rossana in May, she was already planning her homemade Italian tomato sauce cook-off! So timing of Whole Foods Market’s sponsored Home Canning Workshop could not have been better!
Lavender Infused Strawberry Freezer Jam
Hosted by Chef Emerie Brine of Bernardin, we made a series of super, easy jams including Lavender Infused Strawberry Freezer Jam and a Strawberry Balsamic Preserve. And with some good luck, I was the winner of a Bernardin All-In-One Starter Kit (the starter kit is perfect for the first-time canner like me). I think this was meant to be!
I won the Bernardin All-In-One Starter Kit -- perfect for first-timers!
So this inspired my Curried Peach Rhubarb Chutney:
Ingredients:
3 organic rhubarb stalks, washed, trimmed and cubed
3 organic peaches, cubed
¼ cup raw cane sugar
1 tbsp. vinegar
2 tsp. Arvinda’s Madras Masala
½ tsp. sea salt
Simmer and reduce.
Method: In a heavy bottomed pot combine above ingredients and cook on medium low for 20 minutes. Serving suggestions: Serve this sweet and spicy chutney as a condiment on a cheese platter or alongside any Indian meal.
Arvinda's Madras Peach Rhubarb Chutney
Alternatively, try Rootham’s delicious Black Pepper Lime Chutney, which is in my pantry as we speak. This chutney is spot-on and I especially enjoy it with a vegetarian Indian meal. I came across Rootham’s Gourmet a few years back when I was working on a project on Canadian food products. Founded in the early 80s, Rootham’s line of innovative preserves and jams were naturally featured since they were using local, seasonal produce from a backyard garden. There are so many delicious varieties to try, but for an Indian meal definitely go with Rootham’s Black Pepper Lime Chutney.
Rootham's Black Pepper Lime Chutney is perfect for an Indian meal.
For canning tips and recipes visit:www.Bernardin.com. Last year at the annual Feast of Fields Bernardin gave out a delicious jar of homemade salsa to attendees. If you plan to make it out this year, I hear they’re planning on another goodie giveaway!
As March Break wraps up and the kids head back to school, many will be enthralled by their winter break cooking experiences and kitchen stories. A couple days ago I was at Whole Foods March Break Chef Camp for the Spices of India session, to teach the kiddies about spices. As I walked into the room, these clever little munchkins were cooking up Samosas and Tandoori Chicken with my friends Amanda and Rose. Impressive!
Even though I was enthused by their excitement and liking to the spices, I really shouldn’t be all that surprised. Over the years, we’ve run a number of Indian cooking classes for kids and have had a handful of aspiring teenage chefs join our adult classes—all wanting to learn authentic Indian cuisine!
A few weeks back, I spoke to Victor Nerenberg on the Indo-Canadian Report at Radio Canada International about how we’ve had excited young chefs in our classes, amongst other Indian cooking techniques. Listen to the radio clip.
We served up Arvinda's Phyllo Samosas with Garam Masala Organic Raspberry Tamarind Date Chutney
Tuesday night’s Dine, Demo & Dinner fundraiser for Doctors Without Borders, Haiti Earthquake Relief Benefit was a resounding success!
The series of three chef fundraising events held in Oakville at Whole Foods Market and in Toronto at Great Cooks this week was organized by Lisa Slater and Judy Hembruff whom we’ve worked with for the last 14 years in the all-women’s chef event Eat to the Beat, held each October to raise funds for Willow Breast Cancer Support.
Rose from Whole Foods Market with Preena
Edward Street's Tory & Chef Chris Klugman made a Spiced Orange & Cauliflower Mash that makes my mouth water!
Preena with Chef Julia Hanna of Julia's Ristorante
Arvinda’s will be participating at Demo, Dine & Donate Haiti Earthquake Relief fundraiser on Tuesday, February 9th, 2010 from 6-9pm. Catch up with some of Oakville’s top chefs for cooking demonstrations and dinner at the Oakville Whole Foods Market. (more…)
Namaste! I'm Preena Chauhan and I welcome you into the world of Indian spices and happy & healthy Indian cooking through my recipes and food ideas.
It is only recently the world has discovered the immense medicinal power of turmeric. In India, the use of turmeric has been used for its medicinal value for centuries. A teaspoon a day, keeps the doctor away...
