Beans, Greens and Grains

I have been thinking a lot about how to organize a salad plate that we could put on the menu, or as a feature item at the Black Dog Pub. Not only that, but as the spring and soon to follow summer creeps in here, I want to be able to make quick and filling meals to eat on our back deck. This morning, while I was flipping through Nava Atlas'Vegetarian Five Ingredient Gourmetcook book, it dawned on me! BEANS! GREENS! and GRAINS! All I need is a green salad, with a bean (legume) salad coupled with a grain salad... and voila you have a nutritionally balanced salad plate meal! I wasted no time putting it together my first beans, greens, and grains salad plate for lunch today.
Pictured here is lunch. I served a lentil salad, a coleslaw, hummus, a baguette, some brie cheese, grapes and strawberries. YUMMY!

We enjoyed this lunch after doing a little bit of planting this morning. Pictured below is my herb garden. The oregano is coming back strong from last year. I decided to plant LOTS of basil (can you say I love pesto) some lavender, sage, garlic and corriander/cilantro. I also planted some individual pots of parsley, and much more basil. I will have enough basil to make pesto this year.

Energy Cookies

I am back to recipe testing for my next vegetarian cooking class on February 24th. Since February is heart and stroke month in Canada I thought I would offer a class that encourages eating more whole grains and legumes. February is the month that we in the wellness industry focus on lowering our risk of heart disease and stroke. The heart and stroke foundation recommends eating more whole grains, fruits and vegetables, and high fiber foods to reduce your risk of heart disease. The soluble fibre found in grains and legumes helps to reduce "bad" LDL (low density lipoprotein) cholesterol. The insoluble fibre helps to keep your bowels healthy and regular. Additionally the heart and stroke foundation encourages people to enjoy meatless meals a couple of times a week since they are both nutritious and easy on the pocket book.

These are Dreena Burton's Energy Cookies from Vive le Vegan. I have already promoted these cookies with my pre and postnatal clients as a healthy snack. I also encourage my holistic nutrition lifestyle coaching clients to eat healthy snacks and these would be a fantastic choice. These cookies feature nutritious whole grain flours, pumpkin and sunflower seeds, hemp seed nuts, AND are wheat free, sugar free and loaded with lots of goodies. Best feature yet, even my five year old daughter eats and ENJOYS them!