Strawberry Basil Vinaigrette

Posted on October 10, 2012 by Sarina @ Earthgiven Kitchen

For someone who loves salad as much as I do, I haven’t posted very many salad recipes yet and I’ll have to remedy that!
This recipe was adapted from Oh She Glow’s Spring Salad with Strawberry Lemon Basil Dressing. I started making it in August when I had lots of fresh strawberries and basil in my garden. I love balsamic vinegar and use it in most of my salads. We’re past strawberry season in Ontario but I’ll keep buying organic strawberries from the grocery store for this recipe as it’s become my favourite salad dressing!

Strawberry Basil Vinaigrette
1 cup fresh strawberries
1/4 cup packed fresh basil, minced
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
3 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp grapeseed oil or extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tbsp agave
Herbamare or sea salt + black pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor until pureed. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Serve with your favourite greens. I love this dressing over a spinach salad with fresh strawberries and toasted pecans.

Late summer: pest-free gardening and homemade salsa

Posted on September 14, 2012 by Sarina @ Earthgiven Kitchen

After a very hot and dry July, August’s rains turned my lawn a shade I could almost describe as green, filled my rain barrel and finally brought out some more food in my garden: strawberries and peppers, which we’ve gotten to enjoy for the last month.
The peppers brought scores of ants, but I’ve been trying keeping them at bay with my all-natural pest deterrent. It doesn’t deter them all, but it led to a significant decrease in ants right away. I was motivated to take great care of my peppers after most of my vegetables failed in the heat earlier this summer. See July’s post for a reminder of my vegetable garden of shame!

Nontoxic vegetable garden pest deterrent
1 cup water
2 tbsp all-natural dish soap
2 tbsp cayenne pepper

The measurements need not be exact. Combine in a jar and shake well. Spray or pour over plants with firm skins like peppers. Reapply every few days. Wash vegetables well before eating, naturally!

The spray would work on vegetables with firm skins not delicate skins like strawberries or peaches that I imagine would soak in the taste of the spray.

The spray worked well enough to allow my peppers to ripen unhindered, then I made salsa with one of the peppers plus basil from my garden and the rest of the organic tomatoes from my Palatine delivery. Salsa is easy to make and the ingredients are cheap, no need to buy a jar. I like a mild salsa with a bit of sweetness and tang. I know basil is nontraditional, but for me, it gave the salsa just the right personality!

Tomato-Basil Salsa
2 large tomatoes
1 large onion
1 pepper, finely chopped
2 jalepeño peppers
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp pepper
1/2 tbsp Herbamare seasoning
1/8 cup maple syrup
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
4 large pieces of basil, minced

Finely chop all vegetables. Place all ingredients except the basil in a pot. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to a low boil for at least 15 minutes. Add the basil and stir well. Pour into glass jars and can, refrigerate or freeze.

Muffins and Magical Jam

Posted on August 16, 2012 by Sarina @ Earthgiven Kitchen

I think I’ve perfected my blueberry cornmeal muffins! I love the texture: juicy blueberries with the crunch of the cornmeal, plus they are wheat free for those who are sensitive or just want a break from wheat. (Note that it uses spelt flour which is wheat-free but not gluten-free).

I used the coconut sugar that my vegan food swap partner Sasha sent me in July and thought it turned out lovely. Knowing the health benefits of coconut sugar (it’s a whole unprocessed food product containing many vitamins and minerals plus it’s low glycemic index), I’ll certainly be using coconut sugar as often as possible over cane sugar. Plus it tastes delicious! It naturally has a caramel-like flavour; much tastier than agave, stevia or cane sugar. If you only have white sugar, you can swap it for coconut sugar one to one. If you don’t have coconut sugar or spelt flour on hand, I’ve made this recipe with white sugar and all purpose wheat flour and they also turn out great.

Blueberry Cornmeal Spelt Muffins
1 1/2 cup almond or soy milk
1 tsp vinegar (I used coconut vinegar)
2 tbsp ground flax
3/4 cup canola oil
2 cups unbleached all-purpose spelt flour
1 1/2 cups cornmeal
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
3/4 cup coconut sugar or other dry sweetener
1 1/2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen

Add the vinegar to the milk and stir. Add the flax and stir then let sit for five minutes to form a buttermilk that will help the muffins rise. Meanwhile, combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add the canola oil to the milk mixture and mix well. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients, pour in the wet ingredients, and stir until just combined ( over-mixing leads to unhappy muffins).

Pour into muffin cups and bake at 375 degrees for about 40 minutes for large muffins or 25 minutes for mini muffins.

They were delicious just as they were, but for a sweet treat, I like to add jam….
We used to buy sugary grocery store jam, but have since switched to organic sugar-free jam. Even better, I’ve started making my own sugar-free jam with organic berries from my garden. It is sweetened only with a little bit of maple syrup. Instead of pectin, I use healthy chia seeds, which thicken the jam while adding some nutrition. No fancy canning equipment needed! I can’t take credit for the idea of using chia as the “magical” ingredient, I saw it on Oh She Glows (doesn’t she have the best ideas?!) Her recipe for Magical Blueberry Vanilla Chia Seed Jam is found here.

Homemade muffins topped with homemade jam?! Heavenly!

I am submitting my muffin recipe to weekly blog parties Wellness Weekend, Healthy Vegan Fridays and Allergy Friendly Fridays.

July in the garden

Posted on July 19, 2012 by Sarina @ Earthgiven Kitchen

I love summer. I look forward all year to my summer garden and I’m one of those people who love the heat

Here is a photo of the harvest I was collecting daily in my garden last July, currently my blog header. Is that a gorgeous sight or what? I was so proud of my homegrown food.

This year…. the vegetables are not so great. My spinach and rhubarb are done for the season after a meager harvest and the rest of the vegetables are doing poorly. The peppers and zucchini aren’t up yet, still just flowers, which could be a pollinating problem, or too much heat. I’ve chatted with neighbours with vegetable gardens and they are reporting the same frustrations.

I tried two cauliflower plants this year; both ruined by heat and caterpillars, see photo of all the eggs in the cauliflower. Gross.

On the positive side, we are reveling in a plethora of raspberries right now.

I’ve been making raspberry smoothies, raspberry jam, raspberry muffins, and of course, just eating them fresh off the canes.

Strawberries are doing well too this year. I moved them to different location than they were last year, and that has resulted in less ants in the containers. Growing my own fruit and vegetables makes me deeply appreciate organic farmers; keeping insects away with no pesticides is quite a challenge.

The Saskatoon berries never came up, too much damage from the animals in the spring; hopefully we’ll get a good harvest next summer. For the first time in a dozen years, our mulberry hasn’t had ripe fruit by June, the berries are still small and white, though they look like they’ll be ready to eat in a week or two. The herbs are hanging in there with the heat. We finally had rain this week, which was desperately needed, my rain barrel was just about empty.

Anyone with tips for organic fruit and vegetable gardening? I’d love to hear your comments.

June in the garden

Posted on June 24, 2012 by Sarina @ Earthgiven Kitchen

First strawberry.

Roses and clematis.

The raspberries are just coming out now. The Saskatoon berry bush shows no sign of producing this year, perhaps too much damage from the rabbits and ground hog. No mulberries yet either which are normally ready by mid-June.

Henry enjoys the salad bar.

My first year attempting to grow cauliflower. The above picture was taken two weeks ago. Unfortunately, my cauliflower turned purple in last week’s heat wave (and it’s not a purple variety cauliflower). I learned after the fact that I should have blanched the curds when they appear by covering them with the leaves so they could finish growing in the shade. Lesson learned for next year!

Rhubarb. Hm, what shall I make? Muffins?

Spectacular peonies! They smell heavenly too.

Roses in an up-cycled tea tin.

Beautiful basil in my herb pot.

Zucchini blossom. Can’t wait to enjoy their veggies in a few more weeks. The spinach has been out for a few weeks though I just have three plants of them. The peppers barely have buds, so we’ll have to wait a while longer for them.