thinly slice (i think the thin slice works best here) a brown onion, chop two cloves of garlic and fry them in some oil with ground and whole cumin, ground coriander, mustard seeds and chilli flakes (all to taste).

add a big bunch of washed and chopped english spinach and three chopped fresh tomatoes, put the lid on and let it all simmer together. when it’s a bit soft, add a can of chickpeas/garbanzos and more ground cumin and salt to taste. stir through, and let it simmer for an hour or so, till the spinach is super soft and the chickpeas melt in your mouth.

serve with rice, yoghurt and a little naan or pita.

hopefully more is brewing/fermenting in my mind other than nourishing dinners at home.

but for now, here is my salt n pepper tempeh with soba, enoki mushroom sauce and kimchi.

boil a pot of water.

cut half a block of tempeh into cubes and put the cubes in the water, boil for 5 minutes, drain.

in a bowl mix a handful of breadcrumbs (they’re everywhere here in canada), a few spoons of sesame seeds and a teaspoon of chinese five spice.

roll the boiled tempeh in the breadcrumbs and fry in vegetable oil.

for the mushroom sauce, chop the bottoms off a bunch (?) of enoki mushrooms. fry in oil with a crushed clove of garlic and a chopped onion until soft. add about half to three quarters of a cup of almond milk, simmer till thickish (you can season with tamari and lots of pepper)

serve with a roll of boiled soba noodles and a big spoonful of kimchi (which has fish sauce in it so makes it very much not vegan, but the rest is!)

i landed in toronto last wednesday, but left soon after for hamilton & guelph. i got back yesterday and had my first real meal at home.

i explored the neighbourhood a bit, and bought tasty fresh figs and blue cheese from the shop (literally) under my house. i fried up tempeh (there’s a story that goes with me buying tempeh in toronto…) and had it with the figs, blue cheese and greens. and a compulsory bagel in the background (i forgot how addicted i can become to bagels so quickly when they’re so accessible). my body has been craving fresh fruit and veges and this salad of a dinner hit all the right places.

the conference started on thursday night with a talk and exhibition opening. i made it to the talk but not the opening, and struggled to find anything to eat on campus during summer break in the evening. so had some trail mix leftover form the train trip…

friday was a full day – i gave my paper in the 9am session, and then it was straight through with going to other panels and keynotes. i ended up taking an afternoon nap because i really couldn’t deal with the fatigue that jetlag had put on my body.

the we escaped to dinner instead of another exhibition opening. to a local pho restaurant in downtown hamilton. a town that i heard described in very similar ways to say, newcastle, and with the same perceived derelictness and a whole lot of arts stuff going on. maybe marcus westbury should visit?

and then there was a film screening, but i was so stuffed there was no way i could go anywhere other than bed…

but a great conference overall, interesting through variety of form. and so reassuring to know that my favourite dish at the pho place at home can be found here, on the other side of the world.

i did a volunteer shift at the rizzeria today – printing posters, some artist prints and card with great people. kyla n cara came back home with me and we cooked up a (seemingly regular) nourishing saturday night meat meal.

this is a beef and sweet potato stew (with beef left in the freezer from the departed housemate), with greens and mash.

the sweet potato and brocollini came in this week’s box, the potatoes, capsicum and carrots were in last weeks…

the stew
saute a chopped red onion and garlic in a cast iron saucepan.
add a peeled and chopped sweet potato, and a chopped carrot, stir around
add a whole star anise, about a teaspoon of chinese five spice, a good shake of allspice and salt and pepper, a couple sprigs of thyme, and teaspoon of cumin.
heat a frypan with some olive oil
chop some red meat that your found in the freezer (and defrosted) into cubes, roll through a couple of tablespoons of arrowroot (with salt and pepper mixed in), and brown in the frypan
add the meat to the sweet potato and stir through
add a handful of cubed mushroom, a tin of chopped tomatoes, a handful of pitted kalamata olives and half a cup or so of vege stock, stir through
add a splash of red wine if you’ve got it
simmer until thickened

we mashed up potatoes, and braised broccolini and capsicum with garlic and sesame seeds