A banner for the World Central Kitchen flies where the non-profit group provides food to people transiting through a train station at Przemysl, a city on Poland's southeastern border with Ukraine, in April 2022.

Books worth cooking from, Part 1

The World Central Kitchen Cookbook: Feeding Humanity, Feeding Hope arranges recipes according to the non-profit’s core principles

How many cookbooks do you own? How many do you need? Which of each year’s new cookbooks are worth buying or borrowing? We’re going to take a look at several over the next few columns. Here’s the first! Chef José Andrés is famous in North America and his native Spain for his two dozen food […] Read more

Small paper envelopes stored in a closed glass jar in a cool dark space is an ideal containment method.

Harvest, part 3: Saving seeds

First We Eat: Select the best from your fall harvest to bring forward in spring

Some years ago, I went on a road trip — a research tour for a book I envisioned writing about small-scale organic and sustainable farmers in Western Canada. I drove from my home in Calgary through the mountains into the verdant interior valleys of B.C., then west to the coast, to Vancouver Island and up […] Read more


Raspberries in the patch are a thorny affair, so wear protection to minimize scratches.

Harvest, Part 2: Cherries and peaches and berries, oh my

First We Eat: In the sudden absence of B.C. fruits, our own local produce is even more precious

We live a long way from peach country, the wine-and-fruit-specialist Okanagan and Similkameen valleys in B.C.’s deep south. Those two B.C. valleys are home to twice as many fruit growers as Ontario and Quebec combined, and StatCan sets the province’s fruit production at over $450 million annually. Each summer, one fruit grower, Little Quail Orchard […] Read more

Fresh basil still in the garden.

Harvest, part 1: Garnishing summer greens

First We Eat: In the dog days of summer, salads with protein can help dial down the heat needed for food prep

We’ve been in deep summer heat for weeks now after a rainy spring, and every plant in my yard — including the quack grass and chickweed — is consumed with the green fuse of growth. The result is a cornucopia of everything. The scarlet runner beans and snow peas twining around their bamboo stakes tower […] Read more


skipper otto fish

B.C. fish for Prairie plates

First We Eat: A co-operative aims to sustain the sea for fishing families’ future

Wild fish was part of my childhood on Vancouver Island. We picked oysters and mussels, dug clams, scooped up spawning grunions, and cast hooks for salmon. But these days, as fish prices skyrocket and issues over whether to eat farmed or wild fish become ever more complex, my consumption of fish has plummeted, relying on […] Read more

Dry-roasting quinoa before cooking is necessary to remove the bitterness imparted by naturally-occurring saponins on the seeds’ exterior.

Brunching, part 2: Quinoa

First We Eat: Grain dishes can be augmented with various textures and flavours

Threshing, winnowing, drying. Those ancient words resonate with us, and for good reason. Humans have been harvesting grains to use for food by these timeless methods for millennia. Just think of wheat, barley, rice — and quinoa (pronounced keen wah). Quinoa, like amaranth, is not a grain, but a high-fibre pseudo-grain — an herb, in […] Read more


quiche in a parallelogram shaped pan

Brunching, part 1: Quiche

First We Eat: Build it properly with a wall of flavours, and real men can and will eat quiche

When Dave and I started to plan a recent family gathering, we quickly realized a daytime event was more likely to suit our guests than an evening supper. Even as the sun moves back north and daylight hours lengthen, time spent talking after eating often means our guests would face a drive home on gravel […] Read more

More seeds than I need from Seedy Saturday -- but good for sharing.

Seedy Saturdays

First We Eat: A freshly pulled carrot from the garden will remind you why this vegetable is such a mainstay

Back in March, I joined a crowd of people purposefully moving from booth to table to booth at St. Mary’s Wellness and Education Centre in Saskatoon. The occasion was the annual Seedy Saturday, an opportunity amidst the snow and ice for gardeners to buy seeds and think about spring. Seedy Saturdays occur across Canada under […] Read more


The citrus and honey mustard dressing recipe you’ll see below is as good on fruit or fish as it is on greens.

Eating while retreating

Homemade dressings can help with mindful eating while elevating any salad

I am standing in a laneway lined by a double row of blue spruces, a shelled bit of peanut on my ungloved palm. It’s only a few seconds before a black-capped chickadee settles on one of my outstretched fingers, its tiny wire claws gripping my skin tightly. It’s an alien feeling, and I work hard […] Read more

egg

Bigger than breakfast, part 2: Eggs

A food with these properties can either anchor or support a dish at any time of day

It’s hard to ignore the pejorative meanings of the word “egg” lurking under the straw scattered about the henhouse. So let’s just call out a few to clear the air: “egghead” is slang for a smart person; “egg on your face” means you’ve messed up and are embarrassed; “egging someone on” is to encourage foolish […] Read more