Oh Canawa!

A month or so ago, my wife brought home a new grain purchased at Whole Foods in Vancouver. I'd never heard of it and she had tasted a cold salad with an olive oil-lemon juice-parsley-garlic theme and raved about these little seeds.

I love sprouted quinoa (not a fan much of the seedier varieties unless I want hot and sweet breakfast cereal). I also find sprouted quinoa one of the quickest, easiest and most versatile lighter grains to work with. I've been on a kick of reducing my heavier/higher glycemic grain index consumption and decided to play with canawa yesterday.

We had precious little by way of fresh herbs (as in none!). So, this is just a rough draft and exercise for me of how this grain behaves. I couldn't find cooking ratios online and had to just go with my quinoa knowledge of 1 parts grain to 2 parts water.

I would have let it rest far longer the the 8-12 minutes one does for sprouted quinoa. It was a bit dry and mealy for me immediately following preparation. I preferred the canawa texture after a night in the refrigerator, soaking in olive oil, lemon juice and the carrots/chickpeas/caraway seeds/onion/garlic/dried dill/thyme/turmeric/pepper/salt you see above.

I am excited to try this with green olives, fresh cilantro and parsley, tomatoes and other tabouleh-like recipes.

I prefer sprouted quinoa at this point, but I am always up for an adventure with an ancient grain!

For more information on canawa, try this site.

Happy eatin'!

Embellished Field Roast Meatloaf

This particular meal is not from an establishment outside the house. Rather, it is a Field Roast meatloaf purchased from Karmavore in New Westminster that I made with garlic cloves, sweet peppers, diced tomatoes and onions.

This is how a Fraser Valley vegan cook makes it happen!

Introductions are veg-friendly!

Hi. I spend a great deal of time in the Fraser Valley (yes that one in BC). I'm primarily a vegan eater (very very rarely vegetarian if honey or egg whites are involved).

I'm very new to this area of the planet and have found myself searching for or having to stumble blindly upon my vegan eats and shopping sources. Since I blog about life experiences I thought some other veggies would find this useful as a resource and quick stop for ideas.

Thanks and happy eating!