The secrets behind Costco

I came across this interesting article about Costco this morning.  If you are intrigued by Costco and the ways in which they make buying groceries cheaper, you should read it.

Most interested fact for me? Costco buys up half of the world's cashew supply to sell to their customers because cashews are one of their top sellers.  Amazing!

Marinated & Barbecued Pork Tenderloin

My friend Carrie recently asked me about my favorite way to prepare pork tenderloin.  This recipe is hands down my favorite pork tenderloin recipe - it's like creating meat candy! This recipe is more of a guideline than an actual recipe.  You can add more or less of certain ingredients as work for your taste buds.  Try playing around with a few different flavours to find what works best for you.

Ingredients:
3/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 tbsp sriracha sauce (optional but creates a nice flavour kick!)
1 tbsp sweet chili sauce
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
Ground pepper

Directions:
1. Mix above ingredients in a bowl large enough to fit your pork tenderloin.  Add your pork to the marinade and gently swirl marinade around in order to cover as much of the pork as possible.
2. Marinate pork overnight (see cooking tip) or for as long as you have.  Turn occasionally.
3. Preheat your BBQ to 400 degrees.  Once your BBQ is up to temperature, turn off one side but leave the other side at high.
4. Place the pork tenderloin on the 'off' side of the BBQ.  Cook for approximately 10-12 minutes per side.
5. Use your meat thermometer to determine when your pork is done.  I like to cook my pork tenderloin to 145 degrees but be prepared for it to still be a bit pink inside at this temperature.
6. Bring your tenderloin to the table and let it rest for 5-10 minutes before you cut into it in order for the juices to redistribute themselves.  Enjoy!

Cooking Tip - When you marinate pork, it doesn't require as long of a marinating time as beef.  However, I'm a big fan of long marinade time.  If you have less time, just use the time that you have and turn the pork tenderloin every 30 minutes or so to ensure even flavouring.  If you have time to marinate overnight, be sure to turn the pork tenderloin in the morning before you start your busy day.

The Glory Bowl

We've had some gorgeous spring weather as of late in the Bow Valley and my interest in having salad for supper is increasing.  Luckily, this salad is in regular rotation at our house as it goes equally well with all seasons because the ingredients are available year-round. This salad always feels fresh, healthy, and delicious - I'd highly recommend that you make it soon!

This salad is from the Whitewater Cooks series.  They have published three recipe books - all of which have amazing photos of fantastic looking dishes.  I'm a bigger fan of their first cookbook which is where this recipe is from.  I was first introduced to this dish when our friend Rich made it for us a few years ago at his fabulous rental house in Deep Cove.  I was initially weirded out by the nutritional yeast flakes but I've since come around.  Locally, nutritional yeast flakes can be found in the bulk food section at Nutter's.  Elsewhere, look for them at your neighborhood health food store.

Ingredients: (SERVES 4)

The Bowl
4 cups brown rice
1 cup beets, grated
1 cup carrots, grated
1 cup almonds, toasted
2 cups torn spinach leaves
4 chicken breast, diced

The Dressing
1/3 cup nutritional yeast flakes
2 tbsp water
3 tbsp tamari sauce
3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/2 cup sunflower or olive oil
1 tbsp tahini paste

Directions:
1. Prepare rice and set aside.
2. Sauté chicken in a cast iron frying pan in 1 tbsp coconut or olive oil.
3. To prepare dressing combine nutritional yeast flakes, water, tamari sauce, apple cider vinegar, tahini and crushed garlic in blender. Add oil in a steady stream.
4. To assemble the bowls, place cooked brown rice into 4 bowls, top with beets, carrots, spinach leaves, almonds, and sautéed chicken.
5. Drizzle bowls generously with the dressing. Extra dressing stores well in the fridge for up to a week.  

Cooking tip - I tried using melted coconut oil in this recipe last night instead of sunflower/olive oil.  It worked well but only if I had used all of the dressing up at once.  Otherwise, the coconut oil resolidifies and the dressing will then require time on the counter to become a liquid again.

Tuna and White Bean Salad

I really love salads.  Unfortunately, I don't really like to make salads.  They feel labour intensive and time consuming to me.  I'm trying to work through this faulty logic as I have no trouble making other dishes that take much longer and frankly, salads are just such a healthy supper option.  

This recipe was found in the April 2011 issue of Cooking Light magazine (the same issue with the roasted tomato/asparagus dish).  I've only made a few changes to it as it was pretty perfect already.  My adapted version of the recipe is below.  This recipe makes enough for two large dinner salads.  

Ingredients

• 10 asparagus spears
• 1 tsp capers, drained
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1 tbsp red or white wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice 
• 2 tbsp good quality extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 tbsp butter, melted 
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp black pepper 
• 1/2 container grape or cherry tomatoes, quartered 
• 1/2 can (19-ounce) can white beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 head butter lettuce, torn into bite-size pieces 
• 1 avocado, sliced into 1/2 inch squares
• 2 tablespoons crumbled feta (optional)
• 2 (5-ounce) cans solid white tuna packed in olive oil, drained and broken into chunks 
• 
  

• Preparation

  1. 1. Snap off tough ends of asparagus spears. Steam asparagus, covered, for 3 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water; drain.
  2. 2. Combine capers and the next 7 ingredients (through pepper) in a small bowl, stirring well with a whisk.
  3. 3. Place 1/2 juice mixture, cherry tomatoes, and beans in a small bowl; toss gently to combine.
  4. 4. Divide the torn lettuce between two salad bowls.  Top each serving with 5 asparagus spears. 
  5. 5. Spoon about 1/3 cup white bean mixture over each serving, and top with can of tuna.  
  6. 6. Add 1 tbsp feta to each salad along with half of the diced avocado.  Drizzle each salad with about 1 tablespoon remaining juice mixture.
  
  
  
  
  Cooking tip - Be sure to buy the tuna packed in oil for this recipe.  Tuna packed in water is lower in calories but much lower in flavour.  You'll be happy to make the switch!

Dining out in Calgary

I'm a pretty big fan of John Gilchrist's restaurant reviews.  I generally agree with his views and enjoy the wide variety of restaurants he samples.  He has published a number of books and recently developed two Iphone apps with the information from his books. Both apps are on sale right now (not sure for how long) and work on Iphones/Ipads.  I've downloaded both and am happy to no longer haul around his books whenever I'm looking for dining options.  Both apps include some restaurants in the Bow Valley as well.

One of the places that has been well reviewed by John (and others) is the Little Lebanon cafe on 17th Ave SW (up near 37th St).  We stopped by for a late lunch yesterday and I was not disappointed!  I've been before but have never taken Scott.  Their cheese pie is absolutely fabulous: fresh-made dough wrapped around a deliciously salty cheese and then baked in the oven.  Their spinach/feta pie is a little acidic for my liking but the stuffed grape leaves were very good as was the side of garlic sauce that I dipped the grape leaves into.

Scott ordered the medium chicken shawarma and was completed stuffed when he finished it.  We each enjoy their fresh Lebanese coffee with baklava as dessert.  The staff were very pleasant and happily answered any questions that I had about the menu.  If you are in the SW, I'd highly recommend checking out this yummy little cafe.

Cost of grass-fed vs conventional beef

I have already posted about Iain Aitken's grass-fed beef  and in that post, I briefly mentioned the price difference between ordering directly from a farmer and buying beef at the grocery store.  I did a quick review of beef prices in last week's flyers and I wanted to share those prices with you to emphasize the cost savings.

This year, our beef from Iain will cost between $3.10 (half/whole cow) and $3.25/lb (quarter cow).  His beef is essentially organic ("We are often asked if our beef is certified "organic" and I'm proud to say it isn't - it's better than organic! We find most customers have a misunderstanding of what organic is and that our production methods are usually closer to their perception than the official organic standards are. Our grass-fed beef is produced without the use of hormones or antibiotics. The cattle are fattened solely on lush green pastures that have not been chemically fertilized or sprayed with herbicides or pesticides. They get to roam free and breathe the fresh Alberta air.")  and humanely raised prior to slaughter.  Most importantly (at least to me), all of his ground beef is single source.  This means that the beef that we use for tacos and spaghetti sauce comes from only one cow.  Grocery store ground beef often contains meat from 20 or more different cows - YUCK!

These flyer prices come from three different grocery stores in the Bow Valley.  Sale prices for beef would vary between locations but these are just a quick example from last week. And remember, these costs are for conventional beef, not hormone/antibiotic free/grass-fed beef.

Sobey's:
Extra lean ground beef - $3.99/lb
Top sirloin steak - $4.99/lb

Safeway:
Rib roast - $5.99/lb

Nesters':
NY strip steak - $5.98/lb

As you can see, ordering directly from the farmer is substantially cheaper than buying meat from the grocery store.  Yes, it does mean a large outlay of cash in the fall and your meat will be frozen, not fresh.  However, in my mind, the benefits of ordering from Iain (or another farmer just like him) far outweigh any cons.  Iain still has some beef available for this fall - please contact him directly to place an order.  At this time, he is just taking names to put the beef on 'hold'.  Payments are made when the beef is ready in the fall.  Iain delivers to Calgary and the Bow Valley.  If you are outside of these areas, google 'grass-fed farmers' to find a farmer in your area.

Contact:
Iain Aitken,
Blacketlees Farm
Rural Route 4
Rimbey, Alberta
T0C 2J0, Canada
Telephone/Fax: (403) 843-0094
Email: iaineaitken@gmail.com


*I'm just posting this info to save you from having to research the price differences between grass-fed and conventional beef.  I get no personal benefit from referring people to Iain - I'm just happy to see people saving money while switching over to a healthier product.*

Paleo Pork Balls

When we received our half pig last fall, I wasn't really sure what to do with all the ground pork that we got.  I'd never used ground pork before and was at a loss for a recipe idea.  Luckily, I came across this recipe during our Whole30 food cleanse and I'm now a bit obsessed with it.  


I've made it almost every week since I discovered the recipe and I've actually made very few changes to it.  I still feel as though it needs a little something else so if you have some suggestions, please let me know.  The original recipe is from 'The Clothes Make the Girl" website which is a great resource on eating and cooking Paleo.  My adapted version is below: 


Ingredients:
1 pound ground pork
1/2 tablespoon sea salt
2 tablespoon caraway seeds
1 tablespoon black pepper
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley (optional - use dried if you have it on hand)
2 tablespoons grainy mustard (horseradish dijon works very well)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400F degrees.  

2. Mix all ingredients together in a bowl until well blended.

3. Form into meatballs. One pound of pork will make approximately 9 meatballs. 

4. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper (only if you have some) and place meatballs on sheet.   
5. Place meatballs into hot oven and cook for 15 minutes. You want the edges to be slightly browned but without the meatballs being overcooked.  Try not to be tempted (as I was) to cook them longer than 15 minutes - it's plenty!

Cooking tip - This recipe really is the epitome of a fast and easy weeknight supper idea.  It probably takes about 5 minutes to prep the meatballs and they only take 15 minutes to cook in the oven.  I've typically been making the sauteed cabbage (as suggested in the original recipe) as one of our veggies along with some steamed broccoli or cauliflower.


Another cooking tip - I think that these would make fabulous pork burgers topped with tzatziki sauce and feta cheese.  I plan to try that idea soon but if you try it first, let me know what you think. 

The Price of CSA/CSF

CBC Vancouver did a story this week about the costs of CSA's.  They included farm CSA's and Skipper Otto's CSF.  While I believe that CSA's are mostly cheaper than buying the same amount of produce at the grocery store, I'm a huge supporter of the concept and don't mind if the costs end up being slightly higher.  However, it still needs to make good financial sense to me as I try to monitor my food budget closely.

While the CBC Vancouver story was about CSA's in BC, they are very similar to CSA's in Alberta.  The clip also does a nice job of highlighting the story behind Skipper Otto's CSF.

If you'd like to listen to the CBC story, please click here.

Holidays

I'm on holidays this week so I won't be posting recipes until I'm back next week. But, I'm promise that I've got a few good ones up my sleeve. In the meantime, make the peanut butter cookies or the west African chicken stew - both are getting good reviews! Happy Easter :)

Hello, springtime!

Spring has sprung in the Rockies.  This isn't really as noticeable as, say, on Vancouver Island where you have flowers blooming and trees blossoming.  But, it means (moderately) warmer temperatures during the day and less scraping of my car windows in the morning.

Spring also brings a return of fresh vegetables.  Tasty green things start popping up at the grocery store, specifically, asparagus.  Local asparagus isn't ready until late May/early June but California asparagus is still pretty darn tasty at this time of year.  Asparagus is on the clean 15 list so there is no need to worry about buying organic.  I'm a bit obsessed with asparagus lately, and while it is fabulous when its been steamed and topped with butter, this dish takes asparagus to a whole new level.

The original recipe is from the Cooking Light website and I've actually done very little to change it.  Click on the link to view the original or enjoy my slightly  adapted version below.

Ingredients:

• 
  1 pound asparagus, trimmed 
• 1 tablespoon good quality olive oil 
• 1 1/2 cups grape or cherry tomatoes 
• 1 clove, minced fresh garlic
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar 
• 1/4 teaspoon salt 
• 3 tablespoons crumbled feta cheese 
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 
  
• Directions:
• 
  
• 1. 1. Cook asparagus in boiling water 2 minutes or until crisp-tender. Drain and set aside. 
  2. 2. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add tomatoes and garlic; cook 5 minutes. 
  3. 3. Stir in vinegar; cook 3 minutes. Stir in salt. Add asparagus back to pan and cook for 1 minute.
  4. 4. Arrange asparagus on a platter. Sprinkle with feta cheese and fresh ground pepper.