🍒 Eat More Plants: Issue #41
Hi friends,
It's only been five months since my last issue! And some of the recipes I've been saving up are a little out of season, forgive me for that. But the top picks very much are not.
We have hit corn season here in B.C. and after a few meals of simple corn on the cob, I was ready to make recipes, starting with the pick below, which had been sitting in my to-make list since at least last corn season. I am also still full-on into the ice cream making, with several containers in the freezer and sweet corn and shiso (separate, not together) varieties next on my testing list.
Hope you are well and also rejoicing in fresh local produce. And with that, onwards.
Recent favourites
I adore Hetty McKinnon's recipes, and this one for socca with herby sweetcorn salad is no exception. In the spirit of eating the garden, I omitted the avocado, added lightly sautéed zucchini and used a big mix of greens: dill, parsley, basil, thyme, shiso, a choy, kale and beet tops. The salad itself is a win even if you don't feel like making socca (chickpea flour pancakes), which are so easy and delicious.
Maybe you don't want to turn on your oven right now – I get it. But when you're ready, these brothy white beans are there for you. Make them ahead, don't try to time them for dinner – mine took way longer than the recipe says and tbh next time I would add a touch of baking soda in both the soak and the bake to help them soften up.
Smitten Kitchen's falafel turned out really well for me. I did not have the strength to use as much oil as she suggests (have you seen the price of groceries?), but my scant half inch worked just fine with slightly flattened patties.
Also from Smitten Kitchen land, I have made this sour cherry pie with almond crumble twice already and would probably do it again except that sour cherry season is tragically already over.
Quick hits
This napa cabbage salad with buttermilk dressing is excellent, and I've also used the dressing on other chopped veg.
I doubled the beans and the almonds in this recipe for baked rice with white beans, leeks and lemon, and I might even go further than that next time. Extra parm is always nice too.
This rhubarb and custard slice seems so simple but is way, way more than the sum of its parts. Follow Helen Goh on Instagram if you don't already – she's a dessert genius.
Don't feel like cooking? Make this Tuscan white bean salad for dinner. I'm not the biggest fan of cucumber so I used red pepper instead.
It's always time for shakshuka.
I adore sesame, so I had high hopes for Hope & Sesame sesame milk. Alas, while it's not bad exactly, they have stuffed it with pea protein so it tastes more like that than like sesame seeds.
You recommended
Thanks to Corinna, who sent me this pepita snap recipe. "This snack is stupidly easy to make and sooooo addictively yummy," she says. "And school safe."
I'm reading
Remember pleather? It's been rebranded as vegan leather, and it still kind of sucks.
The story of Vancouver-based Sunrise Tofu. (Their almond-flavoured dessert tofu is a staple chez nous.)
Why everyone likes to conveniently forget the link between meat production and climate change.
Eating locally and in season is delicious and supports sustainable food systems and food security, and bonus! It helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions too. Off to the farmers' market, all of you.
The Best American [and Canadian] Science and Nature Writing 2022. Learning so much!
How amazing is soil?
I'm listening...
...to excellent new(ish) albums from Arlo Parks and Christine and the Queens.
I'm writing
A lot for Chatelaine! Why I switched to a credit union to help fight climate change, how to start your own garden and how to prepare for a smokier future.
Plus, for MoneySense, an investor's guide to ESG reporting in Canada.
The footer
Eat More Plants is a sporadically published 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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Looking for something to cook? All previous recipe recommendations are saved on this Pinterest board.