This nutrient-dense salad delivers great taste that is sure to please banana lovers’ palates. Although it may seem unconventional to feature bananas in a savoury salad, the interplay of sweet and tangy will make your taste buds sing. Pecans add a crunchy texture and heart-helping fats to the mix.
4 small bananas, sliced
2 celery stalks, diced
1 small red pepper, deseeded and chopped
1/2 small red onion, diced
1/4 cup (60 mL) chopped pecans
1 Tbsp (15 mL) lemon juice
1/4 cup (60 mL) mayonnaise
1 Tbsp (15 mL) honey
Add bananas, celery, red pepper, onion, and pecans to salad bowl. Stir gently to mix, being careful not to break banana slices.
In separate bowl, mix lemon juice, mayonnaise, and honey. When well mixed, incorporate dressing into salad mixture and again be gentle so as not to break banana slices.
Divide mixture and place on 4 individual serving plates or in 4 small salad bowls. Place on top of red lettuce leaves and garnish with parsley for an attractive presentation.
Makes 4 servings.
Each serving contains: 269 calories; 2 g protein; 17 g total fat (2 g sat. fat, 0 g trans fat); 31 g total carbohydrates (19 g sugars, 4 g fibre); 91 mg sodium
source: "Go Bananas", alive #376, February 2014
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.