Let's Eat

Let’s Eat A collection of recipes to take with you

written by Alexandra Piros with photography by Eleanor Isdale

Let’s Eat

Some Things & Others Publishers Trout Lake Victoria Drive Vancouver, BC Copyright 2016 All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form Designed by Alexandra Piros Photography by Eleanor Isdale Designed, printed and bound in beautiful British Columbia, Canada Let’s Eat/ Alexandra Piros ISBN 1-2345-5432-9

Let’s Eat A collection of recipes to take with you

No longing for anything now or hereafter as we home into the mountains heart —John Muir

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Green Smoothie

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Chocolate Granola

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Summer Spring Rolls

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Chickpea Sweet Potato Salad

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Layered Chocolate Cake

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Breakfast Smoothie makes 2 cups | active time 5 minutes | total time 5 minutes

Ingredients

This is my favourite smoothie. When I feel fancy I add in some extra berries or other

frozen fruit that’s sitting in my freezer. It’s super customizable and great to take along with you to work or school.

1 banana, peeled and frozen 1 tbsp protein powder

Directions

1 tbsp nut butter 1 tbsp chia seeds 1 big handful kale or spinach, or a mix of both 1 cup almond milk 1/2 cup ice

make ahead tip Make a big batch of this

smoothie and freeze it in

individual glass jars. Before

heading out the door in the morning grab a jar from

the freezer and let it thaw

in your bag. I wrap mine in a clean dishtowel so that

nothing else in my bag gets

wet from the condensation.

The smoothie will be ready to enjoy by lunchtime.

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Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth and creamy.

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Placing desserts and smoothies in the freezer is a great way to have healthy treats and snacks ready to go whenever you need to. Simply freeze them in individual servings (mason jars are great for

smoothies!) and take them out right before you head out the door. They’ll slowly defrost in your bag while you go about your day and are ready to enjoy within a few hours

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Chocolate Granola makes 7 cups | active time 15 minutes | total time 45 minutes

Ingredients

When a sweet tooth strikes this is one of the greatest things I reach for. Top with

almond milk and fresh berries and you have a healthy snack that keeps you filled for a while and you get to enjoy chocolate at the same time!

5 cups rolled oats 1 cup raw pumpkin seeds

Directions

1/2 cup chia or flax seeds 1 tsp salt 1/2 cup cacao powder 1/3 cup melted coconut oil or grapeseed oil 1/3 cup agave or maple syrup 1/4 cup cane sugar 1/4 cup chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat oven to 165°C. In a large bowl stir together oats, pumpkin and chia/flax seeds and salt.

In a medium bowl melt the coconut oil. Then add the cocoa powder, maple syrup, sugar and mix until a smooth paste forms.

Pour chocolate mixture over oats and stir until completely incorporated.

Line a big rimmed baking sheet with baking paper (you might need to use two sheets if they’re a little on the smaller side) and spread the oats out evenly. Press down firmly to compress them down, this ensures a few of them will stick together to form delicious clusters.

Bake for 15 minutes, stir, and bake for an additional 15 minutes.

Let cool completely. Once cool, stir in chocolate chips, if desired.

Store in a cool, dry place.

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Rice Paper Summer Rolls makes 8-10 rolls | active time 20 mintes | total time 20 minutes

This is my kind of comfort food. The kind that is filling, fresh, full of flavour, and makes you feel awesome afterwards. Do yourself a favour and

Ingredients

double (or triple) the peanut sauce recipe. You’ll want to pour it on everything.

Peanut lime sauce makes

Directions

5 tbsp peanut butter

about 3/4 cup

Make the sauce by adding all the ingredients into a jar with a secure fitting lid and shake it until a smooth sauce forms. Add extra water as needed, sauce does thicken when it has been sitting for a bit.

2 tbsp lime juice

Preheat a heavy bottomed frying pan, preferably cast iron, over mediumhigh heat.

1 tsp ginger garlic sauce

To slice up the tofu place the block on its long skinny side and slice it into three thin steaks, approximately 1/2 inch thick. Keep them stacked together, place it flat and cut into 10-12 strips, each 1/4-1/2 thick. They should look like fat matchsticks. By now the pan should be nice and hot.

Coat with the canola oil, let heat through for a minute and then place the tofu gently into the pan, sprinkling some salt on top. Leave the tofu alone for 3-5 minutes and then flip with a thin metal spatula.

While the tofu is browning assemble your workspace: place the sliced vegetables into little piles at the top of your cutting board. Fill a big, shallow, rimmed dish with water and place next to your cutting board.

Get the rice paper wrappers ready to go as well, but do not place them in the water yet.

1 tsp soy sauce

2 tbsp maple syrup 2 tbsp water, or more to thin Filling 1 carrot, thinly sliced 1/3 of a cucumber, thinly sliced big handful of cilantro 1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced 1 pack extra firm or pressed

When the tofu is evenly browned on all sides place it on a small plate close to your workspace. Now it’s time to get into a rice paper wrapping rhythm.

tofu, sliced (see directions)

Continued on page 22

8-10 rice paper wrappers

handful of lettuce leaves

1 avocado, pitted and sliced

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Rice Paper Summer Rolls, continued Place one wrapper into the dish with water and let it soften for 10-20 seconds. You don’t want it entirely soft yet, it will continue to soften as you place the fillings on top. Take it out, place it on your cutting board and place a small amount of vegetables and tofu at the lower middle.

You want them to be in the shape of a little rectangle. Before you start rolling it up, place a new wrapper in the water to soften. Close up your first roll by folding the bottom of the wrapper over the fillings, then folding in the sides over the centre and continue rolling until the spring roll is fully rolled up. Don’t be afraid to pull on the rice paper, it gets very elastic as it softens up.

Place seam side down on a big plate and set aside. Continue with the remaining ingredients until all the filings are used up.

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Chickpea Sweet Potato Salad serves 4 | active time 20 minutes | total time 45 minutes

Ingredients Chickpeas

This is the ultimate entrée salad. The chickpeas and sweet potatoes transform this from a sad side salad to a magical, fill your belly and be happy weeknight dinner salad. The tahini dressing takes it to the next level. Go ahead and double the recipe to pour extra sauce on everything, I won’t tell.

2 cups cooked chickpeas 1 tsp coriander 1/2 tsp cumin 3/4 tsp smoked paprika 1 tsp garlic powder 1/2 tsp salt several pinches of fresh ground pepper 1 tbsp canola or olive oil

make ahead tip This salad is an excellent

Directions Preheat oven to 200. Get two baking sheets ready by lining them with tin foil.

Add chickpeas, along with spices and oil, to a big mixing bowl and mix until well combined. Spread the chickpeas out on to one of the baking sheets.

In the same mixing bowl, add the sliced sweet potatoes along with the garlic powder, oil, salt and pepper and mix until evenly coated. Lay out the sweet potatoes on the second baking sheet, making sure there’s as little overlap as possible.

Bake for 25 minutes. Flip the sweet potatoes and check the chickpeas for crispiness. Stir the chickpeas if you are returning them to the oven to ensure even baking. Bake chickpeas and sweet potatoes (if applicable) for an additional 10-15 minutes until browned evenly.

container. I like to keep the

While everything is baking, make the tahini dressing. Add tahini, lime juice, maple syrup, salt and pepper to a jar. Start off with a little less water and increase as you see necessary. The dressing will thicken as it sits in the fridge, so factor that in if you are making this ahead of time.

it’s lunch time, I pour over

Continued on page 26

take-along lunch. Simply

combine all the ingredients, except for the sauce in a big sauce in a small jar. When the sauce, close up the

container tightly and shake it to distribute everything evenly.

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Dressing

Chickpea Sweet Potato Salad continued To assemble place one big handful of greens in a deep bowl. Top with cherry tomatoes, carrots and the still warm sweet potatoes and chickpeas.

Generously pour over the tahini dressing and sprinkle on some pumpkin seeds.

1/3 cup tahini 3 tbsp lime juice scant 1/2 cup water 1 tbsp maple syrup Sweet Potatoes 2-3 medium sized sweet potatoes, sliced into 1/2 inch thick rounds big pinch each of salt and pepper 1 tsp garlic powder 1 tbsp canola or olive oil Salad 4 big handfuls of baby spinach, kale or other salad leaves 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved 2 cups spiralised or shredded carrots 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds

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Layered Chocolate Cake serves 8-10 | active time 20 minutes | total time 1.5 hours

Ingredients

When I was little, one of the traditions my mom and I regularly repeated was a big

Black Forest Cake for my birthday. We would go to the bakery in the next village over, 2 cups almond or soy milk

pick up a big slice (or two, or three) and eat at our kitchen table overlooking the farm

fields. As the years went on and I became more confident in the kitchen I started mak2 tsp apple cider vinegar or lemon juice

ing my own with the help of my mom. This cake is a gentle nudge to those childhood

birthday cakes. While it isn’t a traditional Black Forest Cake, the raspberries can easily be swapped out for pitted cherries and the recipe doubles beautifully if you want to go

1 1/2 cups organic cane sugar 2/3 cup melted coconut oil

all out and make a four layer cake.

Directions

2 tsp vanilla extract 2 cups all purpose flour 2/3 cup cocoa or cacao powder 1 1/2 tsp baking soda 1 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 177°C. Lightly grease two 8-inch springform pans and put aside until ready to use. Also, place a big bowl in the freezer to chill.

In a big bowl that can hold all of the ingredients whisk together the milk and vinegar and let curdle for a few minutes. You just made vegan buttermilk!

While the milk is curdling, mix together the dry ingredients in a separate bowl.

Back to the milk. Add in the sugar, coconut oil and vanilla extract.

Whisk until well combined.

Place a fine mesh sieve over the big bowl and pour the dry ingredients in it. Gently sift the ingredients through the sieve, stopping halfway though to mix it with the milk-sugar mixture. Beat until no large lumps remain.

Continued on page 30

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Ingredients

Layered Chocolate Cake, continued

Coconut Whipped Cream

Pour half of the mixture in either springform and bake for 25 minutes, or until a butter knife inserted in the centre comes out clean.

2 cans coconut cream, chilled in the fridge for at least 8 hours, or overnight 5-8 tbsp organic powdered sugar

Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then gently invert on a wire rack and let cool completely.

Whipped Cream While the cakes are cooling, start making the whipped coconut cream.

Take the bowl out of the freezer and the coconut cream out of the fridge without tipping or shaking it.

Scrape out the cream into the chilled bowl. Beat for 30 seconds with an electric mixer until creamy. Add in the powdered sugar and mix until creamy and smooth, about another 30-60 seconds. Refrigerate immediately until the cake is fully cooled.

To assemble Very gently place one layer of the chocolate cake, flat side up, on a big plate (or a cake stand if you have one). Spread a thick layer of coconut whipped cream and place the second layer of cake on top (also flat side up). Top with remaining whipped cream, reserving some for serving, and top with berries.

Serve immediately or refrigerate for up to 3 days, though best when fresh.

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Having enough storage containers on hand to take your food along with you is essential in keeping

motivated. I like to keep jars that held jam or roasted peppers, as well as any hummus or other small

plastic containers that you get at the grocery store.

They hold up really well and are light to transport.

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