VIDEO: Cooking up good things with pulses

VIDEO: Cooking up good things with pulses

Canned chickpea water substitutes for egg whites in making macarons

While Canada grows copious amounts of pulses, most are exported. Chefs Geoffroy Dextraze and Chef Chris Kopp of Winnipeg’s Prairie Ink Restaurant and Bakery share their experiences developing new pulse recipes for the provincial launch of the International Year of Pulses. The event was put on by the Manitoba Pulse and Soybean Growers and attended by […] Read more

Do you have a collection of empty ice-cream pails?

Do you have a collection of empty ice-cream pails?

If you do, you probably use some to fill with Christmas goodies to have on hand in the freezer

My parents never threw out anything that might be used for something else. This was never more evident than in the stack of plastic ice-cream pails leaning like the Tower of Pisa in a corner of the laundry room. No kidding, it’s taller than I am. Growing up, we ate a lot of ice cream. […] Read more


Bigos (Polish stew)

Bigos — a Polish stew made for sharing

Perfect for a cold winter meal and gets better as it’s reheated

Nouvelle cuisine has its place, but I prefer food with a long and storied history, especially when the recipe and story come from a dear friend. But this recipe does not begin in her kitchen. It begins on a winter road trip along the Crowsnest Highway between Alberta and British Columbia. After a long day […] Read more

cake

Prairie Palate: Getting tired of zucchini yet?

Make some cakes with them – perfect from the freezer or eating warm from the oven

When my husband and I got married 20 years ago, we had one pre-nuptial agreement, at his insistence: that I would never plant more than six zucchini at a time. Talk about tough love. Zucchini is my favourite summer vegetable, for a number of reasons. It grows quickly, it’s lush and attractive, the flowers are […] Read more


After a week the fermented vegetables will have a mild tang.

Lowly cabbage deserves recognition

Fresh or fermented — it’s packed with nutrition

Cabbage may still be regarded as a vegetable of the poor by some, but it’s high time it receives equal respect and recognition with its cruciferous cousins. This humble vegetable is chock full of nutritional benefits. Part of the brassica family, cabbage is a cool-weather crop widely grown around the world. Studies at the Oregon […] Read more

Thoughts of upcoming election bring thoughts of Dief’s dinners

Thoughts of upcoming election bring thoughts of Dief’s dinners

John Diefenbaker was a proud Prairie boy and his mother was an excellent cook

Since we’re in the midst of a federal election campaign, I’m thinking of John Diefenbaker’s dinner. The Dief was Canada’s 13th prime minister and a proud Prairie boy… especially proud of his mother Mary’s good Prairie cooking. Diefenbaker was born in a small town in Ontario in September 1895. In 1903, when he was seven, […] Read more


Eating well for a happy farm team

Good food can increase productivity, improve efficiency, and keep those workers coming back

In July I had the fun and privilege of joining 30 farm women in a cooking experience at the Kansas City Culinary Center. In teams of six we cooked meals for low-income families and also heard how two farm women, Karmen and Kerri Mehman of MBS Family Farms make 40 freezer meals that feed a […] Read more

See recipe for this Vinegret below.

Searching out my farming roots in Russia

Prairie Palate: Since childhood I had dreamed of this and finally the opportunity came


My farming ancestors came to Canada from Russia in the 1890s and, ever since I was a child, I dreamed of visiting their village on the Dnieper River. That opportunity came in April. Despite the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, which is unfolding east of the Dnieper, I made a trek to the little village […] Read more


Greek salad and meatballs

Making a pilgrimage in Greece

Prairie Palate: Wheat was more than a food here but a symbol of life itself

For more than 2,000 years ancient Greeks made a pilgrimage to the temple of Demeter, the goddess of farming. A few weeks ago, I did, too. Today, the temple is in ruins, but it is possible to walk the stone streets, run your hand over ancient walls and contemplate the importance of farming in Greek […] Read more

Rhubarb Pudding


It grows like a weed, but rhubarb makes for a great-tasting pudding

Prairie Palate: After a long winter we're always eager to see signs of spring

You may call them weeds, but to the pioneers, dandelions were dinner. After a long winter of root vegetables — progressively shrivelling and even running out — dandelions and other “weeds” were the first greens of spring. Mother Nature’s salad bar. Tender young dandelion leaves were collected by the pailful, as were lamb’s quarters, sorrel […] Read more