Yum!

 

I don’t usually ask my friends to do things. I usually go when they ask me, but when I saw “The Power of Yum! By Chef Rebecca Katz that Legacy and Moda Health were offering I knew I would be asking two of my dearest friends to go with me. I believe I surprised my dear friend Summer by my request, because I don’t do that very often. I am glad that she and Karen her cohort went with me.

Chef Katz started off her show with saying “The notion of cooking is to have great taste and great nutrition comingling together.” I love that. An example of this is we all know that we are supposed to be eating kale, quinoa and other vegetables and no one likes them. Because we don’t take the time to explore the spices and ingredients in our kitchen and combine them with the vegetables we despise. We just expect that if we steam them or eat them raw that is all there is to eating them. That is simply not the truth. We have some amazing spices, turmeric, garlic, cinnamon, basil, bay leaves, and oh so many more spices and herbs in our arsenal. Katz demonstrated this when she allowed a participant to try just quinoa and lentils together. It was bitter and not very good, but when she added lemon juice, cucumbers, and other magnificent ingredients it was yummy. That is gives you the power of yum.

Another thing that Chef Katz said that struck a chord with me was “bring all your senses into cooking”. We were all given senses in order to know what taste and looks and smells good, but we don’t use them enough in the kitchen. I know I don’t. Especially right now as I have issues with smelling due to my trach. But I was inspired to cook more in my kitchen with healthier ingredients.

I have a couple of recipes to share with you from Chef Katz. And I bought ingredients to make the kale this week. My friends and I went to Gateway Produce here in Vancouver and stocked up on some veggies and fruit. Just to let you all know that Chef Katz didn’t use measurements she cooks a lot like I do. A dash of something here, a pinch of something there, and so on.

Yummy Kale:

Kale: a bunch ripped into pieces

Red onion: sliced

Salt: a pinch

Cumin seeds: a pinch or so

Garlic

Red chili flakes

Stock of your choice

Lime juice

Zest of lemon or lime

Maple syrup

Pumpkin seeds

Olive Oil

What you do is put the olive oil into a pan allow it to get heated then add the red onion, garlic, and spices. Then after onion get soften to your liking add the kale with the stock, lime juice, pinch of salt, zest of the lemon or lime. Allow it to cook down and it does, then add the maple syrup or honey and then pumpkin seeds.

Doesn’t that sound yummy, it smelled yummy too.

Chef Katz goal is to inspire us all to go into our kitchens and explore all those yummy flavors out there. I know I am.