This is a dish that elevates the humble zucchini to impressive new heights. People (like my husband) who don’t love cooked zucchini seem to adore this dish, perhaps because it has such a bright, fresh flavour. It makes a great lunch on its own, or a tasty side dish for grilled meat or fish. I’ve even eaten it stuffed in a pita and that was a meal to remember.
Ingredients
Directions
With a spiralizer, turn the zucchini into ‘noodles’. You can also prepare this dish by slicing them very thinly with a mandoline or very sharp knife. Put the zucchini in a bowl and set aside.
In a small jar with a tight lid, combine lemon zest and juice, maple syrup or honey, salt and pepper, thyme leaves, Dijon, olive oil and finely minced sweet onion. Cover and shake well to combine and emulsify. Taste and adjust lemon, oil or salt to suit your preferences.
Drizzle the vinaigrette over the zucchini and toss gently to combine.
If serving later, cover and refrigerate for up to four hours.
When ready to serve, scatter pecans over the top and serve immediately.
Serves 2 – 3 and can easily be doubled or tripled.
I come from a family of very keen gardeners, so you'd think my yard would be amongst the nicest ones on the block. This is actually not the case...yet. I’m in the process of revamping my gardens to make them more beautiful and environmentally-friendly. One of my first steps was to get my green thumbs on wildflower seeds as a quick fix for some of the bare patches.
For a quick fix, I planted wildflower seeds amongst my beloved herbs and now, this section of my garden is be a thriving, ‘bee-utiful’ paradise that is both abloom and abuzz. There are many other ways you can entice bees and butterflies into your yard, including adding pollinator-friendly perennial plants to your garden throughout the growing season - unlike annuals, you can plant perennials anytime. They may be past their blooming time this year, but they'll establish great roots and be all set to entice those pollinators next year. Here are five of my favourite bee-friendly perennials that are beautiful and also happen to be edible:
Bee Balm leaves have a mild citrus flavour while the vibrant flowers (typically red but sometimes pink, purple, or white) have a minty taste. You can use both the leaves and blossoms in fruit salads or steep the leaves to make a tea reminiscent of Earl Grey.
Cornflower is also called bachelor’s button, these compact blossoms have a slightly sweet to spicy, clove-like flavor. While they’re great as garnishes, they're spectacular when frozen into ice cubes or an ice ring.
This versatile plant can be consumed in a variety of ways. In the spring, harvest the tender flower stalk shoots when they're less than eight inches tall, then slice and use in stir-fries. When the flower buds develop, pick while still green and firm and prepare by steaming or stir-frying. The unopened buds also make great pickles. When daylilies are blooming, stuff, and cook unopened whole flowers as you would with zucchini blossoms. Sprinkle the sweet-tasting, large petals in salads, or use the whole opened flowers to decorate a cake or platter of cut fruit.
The delicate purple flowers of the lavender plant can be used in baking and cocktails. I like to use lavender to flavour various vinegars for salad dressings.
These miniature members of the carnation family have a delicate clove-like or nutmeg scent. Use the petals to add a pop of colour to salads.
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I was first introduced to cookie butter, also known as Speculoos spread, on a trip to Europe. It reminded me a little of the butter, brown sugar and cinnamon spread my mom used to make, except that it was SO MUCH BETTER. Creamy, smooth and packed with flavour, it is fantastic on scones or toast, but it becomes almost life-changing when transformed into ice cream. Look for cookie butter and Speculaas (spice cookies) at a store that specializes in European food products. Just like this also-fantastic roasted marshmallow ice cream, there are no eggs in this recipe, so there’s no need to cook up the ice cream custard before freezing it. It’s quite possibly the most ‘more-ish’ dessert ever.
Ingredients
Directions
Place 1/2 cup of the cookie butter in a glass measuring cup or microwave-safe bowl and microwave over medium power until melted but not bubbling. Add the sugar and stir until smooth. Let cool for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
In a large bowl, use a stand or hand electric mixer to beat together the cookie butter and sugar mixture with the milk until smooth (about 2 minutes). Add cream, vanilla and salt and beat 1 minute more.
Transfer the mixture to a container with a lid and refrigerate until very cold – at least an hour or up to a day.
Pour the chilled mixture into an ice cream maker and freeze, following the instructions for your maker. Alternatively, you can pour the mixture into a shallow metal baking dish and place in the freezer, stirring thoroughly every 10 minutes until solidified.
After the ice cream has become frozen and thickened (but not frozen solid), sprinkle in the cookie pieces and continue churning or stirring until blended.
Slightly melt the remaining 1/4 cup cookie butter spread in the microwave. Spoon the ice cream into an airtight container a bit at a time, drizzling the melted cookie butter in between layers of ice cream.
Cover the surface of the ice cream with plastic wrap to keep ice crystals from forming on the top, then place lid on container. Freeze until the ice cream is solid (time will depend upon the setting of your freezer but it should take at least 2 hours).
Makes 1 litre.
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