“Local” Food for Thought

Local Saskatchewan Foods and Recipes

October 11th, 2020

Eating locally grown food and supporting local farmers is a small step towards addressing the climate change crisis. For this reason, and because October is Saskatchewan’s Agriculture Month, I am listing some of my favourite ingredients that are local to Saskatchewan along with some recipes to utilize them in!

For more on food and climate change, visit the David Suzuki Foundation: https://davidsuzuki.org/queen-of-green/food-climate-change/

My 6 Favourite Home-Grown Foods

1. Lentils – the ultimate plant-based protein
2. Beets – a runner’s secret to getting faster
   (https://runningmagazine.ca/health-nutrition/how-beets-can-benefit-your-running)
3. Carrots – my garden favourite and key to my 20/15 vision (greater acuity than 20/20)
4. Flaxseed – high in fibre and omega 3 fatty acids and a plant-based substitute for eggs
5. Saskatoon berries – the sweetest home-grown treat, with more calcium, fibre, potassium, iron, and protein than blueberries
   (http://www.sunriseberryfarms.ca/the-saskatoon-berry)
6. Oats – a versatile staple throughout my typical day of eating, high in beta glucan, resistant starch, and a decent amount of protein (https://foodtofit.ca/blogs/post/my-top-5-saskatchewan-grown-foods)

My 3 Favourite Recipes – Utilizing Saskatchewan Foods

Borscht

This recipe is abundant in home-grown root vegetables, including beets, carrots, and yams.

Ingredients:

• 4 cups of water
• 3 medium beets
• 2 medium carrots
• 1 yam
• 6 cherry tomatoes
• 1/2 red onion
• 1 tbsp miso paste
• 1/2 lemon (juice)
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1.5 tsp dill
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp Himalayan salt
• 2 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 cup coconut milk (lite or full-fat)
• 2 cups kale or cabbage
• sprinkle of parsley

Directions

1. Boil water in a large pot and add the beets, carrots, yam, tomatoes, and onion.
2. Once the root vegetables are tender, add the miso paste, lemon juice, oil, bay leaves, dill, pepper, garlic powder, and salt. Stir and let cook on medium heat for about 5 minutes.
3. Remove the bay leaves, reduce heat to a simmer and add the vinegar, coconut milk, kale or cabbage, and parsley. Let cook for another 5-10 minutes and then serve!

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Lentil Burgers

This is recipe is high in protein, which I don’t always find in plant-based burgers. Lentils are the star here, as well as, ground flax that is used as a binder. In the images above, I served the burger with brown rice, homemade tzatziki, and salad. You could also serve it like you would a typical burger – on a bun with a side salad and optional homemade fries (I would use yams for the fries)!

The recipe is similar to my Black Bean Burger recipe, with the substitutions of lentils in place of black beans and a flax egg (2 tbsp of ground flax with 4 tbsp of water, left to thicken for 5-10 minutes) instead of a regular egg.

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Frozen Greek Yogurt Sandwiches

The best snack or treat and a great use of Saskatchewan-grown oats and Saskatoon berries!

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If you are local to Saskatchewan, I hope that you enjoy these recipes! If not, I hope to inspire people from all parts of the world to research what your community has an abundance of and use those ingredients as staples in your meals!

Eating local can be a tasty and a great way address climate change.

Thanks for reading and sharing!