This West Coast take on green goddess dressing dished up with heart-healthy salmon is a double heart-smart dinner.
1 small avocado, peeled and chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
2 cups (500 mL) buttermilk
2 Tbsp (30 mL) fresh basil, chopped
2 Tbsp (30 mL) fresh tarragon, chopped
1 Tbsp (15 mL) rice wine vinegar
1 Tbsp (15 mL) extra-virgin olive oil
Sea salt, to taste
1 head butter or Boston lettuce
1 - 8 oz (250 g) filet cooked salmon, at room temperature
1/2 English cucumber, thinly sliced
3 Tbsp (45 ml) shelled hemp hearts (optional)
For dressing, whirl avocado, garlic, buttermilk, basil, tarragon, vinegar, and oil in blender. If dressing is too thick, thin with water. Taste and season with salt, if you wish.
Coarsely tear lettuce and place in bowl. Crumble in salmon and add cucumber. Drizzle with half the dressing and toss to mix (refrigerate remaining dressing for another day). Sprinkle with hemp hearts.
Serves 4.
Each serving contains: 223 calories; 25 g protein; 11 g total fat (2 g sat. fat, 0 g trans fat); 7 g carbohydrates; 2 g fibre; 110 mg sodium
source: "Avocados", alive #347, September 2011
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.