Collard wraps, lentil fennel salad and strawberry margarita jam
Good morning, friends.
If you’re in Canada, I hope you’ve got a relaxing day on tap for this weird mid-week day off. (Or perhaps an extra-long long weekend?)
My big plans include making a batch of this strawberry margarita jam (paywalled, sorry, though you can also find it in the book Preservation Society Home Preserves) and grilling up some veggie burgers for lunch. Maybe lounging out back in the late afternoon with some magazines, though my allergies are still bad. And trying to figure out how we’ve already made it through half of the year, which is one of my personal Canada Day traditions. (“How can it possibly be July?”)
I’m also thinking about farm workers, whose crowded, subpar living conditions have suddenly gained national focus thanks to coronavirus outbreaks. You can’t blame those workers who have either chosen or been forced to opt out this year, though apparently that doesn’t bode well for the Okanagan cherry harvest.
This piece in Maisonneuve magazine does a good job of explaining the history and context of migrant farm labour in Canada. “In this moment, there is this reckoning with the broader costs of a cheap food system,” says food systems expert Anelyse Weiler. “What might a system look like where everyone’s livelihoods are well remunerated and well respected, including farmers, including farm workers, grocery store workers? What would it take as a society to make that a reality?”
The recipe list
If you like fennel and lentils, you will love this vegan lentil fennel salad. If you’re not sure, be forewarned the recipe makes a lot. I have been eating lentils for days. It would be easy to cut in half.
“I made vegan banana bread,” says Amy. “It’s my second go, and can confirm that the recipe truly slaps. It tastes like normal B-bread. I recommend if you want to conserve your eggs or whatever.”
I enjoyed these California quinoa salad collard wraps, with an edamame “pesto” that isn’t actually pesto (more like a hummus?), even though I didn’t have tomatoes or mango to put in. They would be even better with avocado.
Tina passed on this recipe for radisshu no amazu-zuke, or Japanese sweet vinegared radish pickles. They are really pretty.
If I had an air fryer, I would make this air fried summer squash with chive breadcrumbs.
And this vegan frozen banoffee pie looks amaaaaazing.
The reading list
This piece by (vegan!) writer Alicia Kennedy on translation and the English-language dominance of food media is thought-provoking, and I have signed up for her newsletter. (She is also working on a book about veganism that sounds super interesting.)
As people reduce their meat intake, eating more fish and seafood is often a recommendation – but there simply aren’t enough fish in the sea. So this piece from Hakai on the rise of faux fish is timely. Would you try these “lobster” rolls?
Somehow, the New York Times recently published a cringe-worthy piece on Thai fruit. This Instagram story by writer Osayi Endolyn explains exactly what was wrong with it.
Sourdough lovers, how about some recipes from outside of Europe? I’ve got New World Sourdough in my library queue, and in the meantime, you can find some of the recipes in this National Post story.
And finally, remember the 100-Mile Diet? I interviewed the authors when I was at Canadian Living, back in 2007, but it’s been a full 15 years since they started writing their column for The Tyee. Here’s a retrospective of the series and the movement.
The footer
Eat More Plants is a weekly newsletter by Kat Tancock, sharing recipes and inspiration for vegetarian and vegan dishes, restaurants, products and more. Please reply with your own tips so I can include them in a future issue, and send this newsletter to your friends.
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