These tacos not only pack a flavour punch, but are also composed of plant-based powerhouse nutritional stars. Carrot tops add a wonderful fresh herblike taste to enhance the carrot flavour in this miso salsa. But be careful: don’t use the greens if they’re very large, as they will be bitter.
Miso contains B vitamins, vitamin K, protein, and many minerals. Because it’s fermented, it’s also rich in gut-friendly probiotics!
Per serving:
Scrub beets and place in steamer basket over boiling water. Cover and cook for about 30 minutes or until they are tender all the way through but still have a bit of firmness. When cool enough to handle, peel and cut into small dice. You should have about 2 cups (500 mL) diced.
In medium saucepan, heat 1 Tbsp (15 mL) oil over medium heat. Add shallots and garlic and cook, stirring often, until shallots have softened, about 3 minutes. Stir in walnuts and cook, stirring for 2 minutes. Add diced beets and let mixture cook, uncovered, stirring often, until ingredients are soft and liquid has all been absorbed, about 10 minutes. Stir in seasonings and lime juice until aromatic. Remove and set aside.
Preheat oven to 400 F (200 C). Remove carrot top from carrot and finely chop. Set aside. Peel and cut carrot into small dice. You should have about 1 cup (250 mL). Rub diced carrot with a little oil. Spread out on baking sheet and roast in preheated oven for 15 minutes or until slightly golden but still firm. Remove and set aside.
In medium saucepan, to make salsa, heat 1 Tbsp (15 mL) oil over medium heat. Add ginger root, shallot, and garlic and gently sweat until they begin to become translucent. Add diced carrot and miso and stir until carrot starts to become tender, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and fold in diced tomatoes, jalapeno, carrot tops, cilantro, and zest and juice from lime.
To serve, line corn tortilla with julienned beet greens, if using. Top with a scoop of Beet Taco Filling and Carrot Miso Salsa and your choice of additional garnishes.
Tourtière is, for me, the dish that best represents Québec. It can be traced back to the 1600s, and there’s no master recipe; every family has their own twist. Originally, it was made with game birds or game meat, like rabbit, pheasant, or moose; that’s one of the reasons why I prefer it with venison instead of beef or pork. Variation: If you prefer to make single servings, follow our lead at the restaurant, where we make individual tourtières in the form of a dome (pithivier) and fill them with 5 ounces (160 g) of the ground venison mixture. Variation: You can also use a food processor to make the dough. Place the flour, salt, and butter in the food processor and pulse about ten times, until the butter is incorporated—don’t overmix. It should look like wet sand, and a few little pieces of butter here and there is okay. With the motor running, through the feed tube, slowly add ice water until the dough forms a ball—again don’t overmix. Wrap, chill, and roll out as directed above.
My love of artichokes continues with this classic recipe, one of the best ways to eat this interesting, underrated, and strange vegetable. Frozen artichoke hearts are a time-saving substitute, though the flavour and texture of fresh artichokes are, by far, much superior and definitely preferred.
Cervelle de canut is basically the Boursin of France, an herbed fresh farmer’s cheese spread that’s a speciality of Lyon. The name is kind of weird, as it literally means “silk worker’s brain,” named after nineteenth-century Lyonnaise silk workers, who were called canuts. Sadly, the name reflects the low opinion of the people towards these workers. Happily for us, though, it’s delicious—creamy, fragrant, and fresh at the same time. Cervelle de canut is one of my family’s favourite dishes. It’s a great make-ahead appetizer that you can pop out of the fridge once your guests arrive. Use a full-fat cream cheese for the dish, or it will be too runny and less delicious.