Hot Yam!

New website!

2010-11-19T07:14:00.000-08:00

Hey folks! Thanks to Rebecca, our social media guru, we have an awesome new website. Check it out: hotyam.ca.

Free Tomato Preserving Workshop Tomorrow!

2010-09-10T11:13:00.000-07:00

The Hot Yam! and the Dig In! Camps Agriculture Project are holding a couple of FREE tomato-preserving workshops tomorrow at the CIE (formerly ISC!).

When: Saturday, September 11th, 12pm-3pm / 2pm-5pm
Where: CIE Cumberland House (33 St. George Street)
What: A chance to hang out and preserve some beautiful local tomatoes. All materials and equipment will be provided - go home with a jar of your own!

We have space for 15 people per session. RSVP here!: http://www.doodle.com/iwrfsu69nzf3priz

Be sure to include your e-mail in the doodle when you sign up.

First General Meeting of the Semester

2010-09-09T12:13:00.000-07:00

We're having our first general meeting of the semester next Wednesday, September 15th at 6pm at Hart House. We'll be holding elections for the following positions for next year:

* Meal Coordinator
* Volunteer Coordinator
* Secretary
* Treasurer
* Hot Yam! University Liaison
* Kitchen Manager
* Food Orderer
* Inventory Guru
* Equipment Buyer
* Volunteer Outreach Coordinator
* Education Coordinator
* Legal/Policy Guru
* Publicity/Volunteer Recruiter
* Webmaster
* Social Media Guru
* Yam Zine Coordinator

We have 21 applicants for the above 16 positions.

When: Wed Sept 16, 6pm
Where: Hart House Music room (ask at the hub if you don't know where to go)

Hope to see you there! We really encourage everyone to come out. Even if you haven't volunteered yet, you're more than welcome!

Apply for a planning position! Deadline extended to September 1st

2010-08-27T07:03:00.000-07:00

Don't forget to submit your application for a Hot Yam! planning position! We've extended the deadline to the end of the day next Wednesday (September 1st).

You may have noticed that a few of the positions require more time than the others. Because of this and because they are so essential for the Yam! to run, the following positions come with an honorarium!

- The Volunteer Co-ordinator
- The Meal Lead Co-ordinator
- The Treasurer
- The Kitchen Manager
- The University Liaison
- The Secretary

Please find the application here: ttp://www.formstack.com/forms/?985922-XCjt330mGK

Love,
Hot Yam!

Want to get more involved in Hot Yam!?

2010-08-13T15:45:00.000-07:00

Hello fellow yammers,

Already starting to miss Hot Yam! due to our long hiatus? Well, here's your change to get some more Yam! in your life!

The academic year is quickly approaching and to make sure that Hot Yam! continues running smoothly, we need your help. There are several roles that Hot Yam! needs to function, and we are recruiting people to fill those roles. The most important roles that we have available are:

- The Volunteer Co-ordinator
- The Meal Lead Co-ordinator
- The Treasurer
- The Kitchen Manager
- The University Liaison
- The Secretary

Descriptions of these roles, along with all of the others that we have available can be found at http://tiny.cc/6xfbc

This is a great opportunity to get involved with Hot Yam! Whether you're a young yamling or an old salt of a yam, a great experience awaits you.

If you are interested, please fill out this form by Friday, August 27th: http://www.formstack.com/forms/?985922-XCjt330mGK

Keep in mind that this is a serious commitment that begins at the beginning of the fall term, and will last throughout the fall and winter academic terms (from September 13th, 2010 to April 29th, 2011).

Whether you apply for position or not (but you should), send an email to hottestyam@gmail.com to join the planning list (everyone welcome).

Love,
Hot Yam!

All the recipes I could find!

2010-08-06T10:02:00.000-07:00

Several weeks are missing, but hopefully these will tide you over during our search for the missing recipes.

In reverse order of appearance...

August 5, 2010

Carrot & White Bean Salad
Serves 6

1 pound carrots
¼ pound dried white beans
1 tbsp lemon juice
salt and pepper
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp chopped parsley or lovage
2 tsp finely chopped mint leaves

Soak the beans over night.
Cook the beans, and then give a cold rinse.
Peel and grate carrots.
Mix the lemon juice with the salt, and then whisk in the oil.
Toss with carrots, beans, parsley and mint and season with pepper to taste.

Kale and Rice and Nori

1 head of Kale
about 2 cups leftover cold rice
1 or 2 sheets of Nori
about 4 tsp rice vinegar
about 2 tsp soy sauce
white pepper to taste

Wash Kale, chop it into thin strips and wilt it in boiling water/steam it over boiling water for 8 minutes.
Dump the Kale into a colander, run cold water over it, and then press out the excess water.
Break the rice apart so that it's not in big chunks.
Cut the nori into thin strips and mix the rice, kale, and nori together.
Add seasoning.

Borscht
Serves 6

2 bunches beets with greens (about 8-9 medium beets)
½ cup chopped onion
One-pound can stewed tomatoes
3 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/3 cup vegan sugar
vegan sour cream to taste
dill to taste

Scrub and clean beets, but don't peel them. Save the greens.
Place beets in large pot, add onion and cover with 3 quarts of water.
Simmer for one hour, or until beets are very tender. Remove beets from water, but SAVE the water.
Discard onions. Finely chop beets and return to water. Wash and chop greens and add to water. Add tomatoes, lemon juice, and sweetener.
Cook over medium heat for 30 minutes or until greens are tender. Chill for at least 2 hours before serving.
Add a dollop of sour cream and sprinkle with the chopped dill.

Plum Crisp

3 lbs plums
½ cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp nutmeg
½ tsp cloves
½ cup sugar
½ cup rolled oats
½ cup flour
6 tbsp Earth Balance

Chop plums.
Mix with brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves.
Mix the rolled oats, flour and sugar, and cut in the butter.
Pour the fruit mixture into a buttered baking pan.
Top the fruit mixture with the flour mixture.
Bake at 375°F for 30-45 minutes.

July 29, 2010

Spicy cumin couscous
Serves 4

1 cup couscous
½ tsp ground cumin
1 tsp salt (start with less than that and add more to taste)
1 cup corn kernels
½ cup red onion, finely chopped
¼ cup fresh cilantro, minced
1 jalapeño, minced
3 Tablespoons roasted garlic olive oil
3 to 4 Tablespoons lime juice

Place couscous, cumin and salt in a in a large heatproof bowl or storage container and pour 1 cup boiling water on top.
Cover tightly and let sit until all the liquid is absorbed, about 10 minutes.
If the couscous is not quite tender, add an additional 1/4 cup of boiling water, cover, and let sit for a few minutes longer.
Fluff up with a fork.
Toss in corn, red onion, cilantro, jalapeño, garlic and lime juice.

Hot and Sour Chickpeas
Serves 6

12 oz chickpeas
2 med onions (minced small)
4 tbsp vegetable oil
8 oz tomatoes (peeled and finely chopped)
1 tbsp ground coriander
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground fenugreek
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tbsp onions (minced very small)
2 jalapeños
1 inch cube ginger, grated
4 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp chopped coriander

Soak chickpeas overnight.
Drain, cover with water, and simmer 1¼-ish hours until deliciously tender (reserve cooking liquid).
Fry the two onions vegetable oil till tinged with brown (about 10 min).
Add tomatoes and fry for another 10 minutes at medium low heat, stirring and mashing tomatoes.
Add ground coriander, cumin, fenugreek and cinnamon, and stir and fry for about 30 seconds. ***careful! This is where it will start to stick, keep the heat low and stir like crazy.
Add the chickpeas and 1½ cups of the cooking liquid, and simmer gently for ~20 min (make sure the chickpeas are really soft and delicious. If they are even a little bit crunchy, just keep them going. The more simmering the more delicious they will be. But don't let them fall apart. ***be even more careful! This is where it will want to burn. Don't let it!
Mix separately the 2 tbsp onions, jalapeños, ginger, lemon juice and fresh coriander.

Kachumber (Indian Cucumber Tomato Carrot Salad)

2 carrots, grated
2 firm tomatoes, chopped
1/3 red onion
1 big cucumber finely chopped
¼ cup fresh coriander leaves, finely chopped
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp white vinegar (seriously. White.)
1 tbsp white sugar (yep.)
½ tsp chili powder
½ tsp cumin powder
½ tsp salt
6 mint leaves, chopped

Mix everything besides the mint and chill overnight.
Garnish with the mint.

Peach Cake

(recipe might be found eventually)

July 15, 2010

Young beet salad with lemony-dill vinaigrette

5 young beets, with greens included (average beet diameter 1 inch)
3 beets without greens (average beet diameter 2.5 inches)
a few sprigs of dill
10 mL lemon juice
10 mL apple cider vinegar
15 mL olive oil

Trim the stems off the beets, leaving a stub, and set the leaves aside in the refrigerator.
Boil the beetroots; large and small beets must be cooked in separate pots, or added at staggered times, because smaller beets cook faster. Boil until tender.
Once cooked, plunge into cold water. This will loosen the skins.
Remove the skins and taproot with hands, and slice off the remaining stem tops.
Wait until the beets cool, and dice them into cubes smaller than 1 cm.
Wash the dill, and mince finely, leaving out stems.
Mix together with the olive oil, the lemon juice, and the apple cider vinegar. Whisk thoroughly, and set aside for about an hour.
Pour approximately half the dressing over the warm beets.
Wash the leaves, and remove the stems below the leaf.
Slice the leaves into 2cm wide sections.
Steam the leaves for no more than 30 seconds, until just tender.
Mix in with the rest of the salad, and add the remaining dressing.

Parsley pesto pasta salad with beans and sweet peas

50 grams pasta (farfalle or rotini)
a small bundle of parsley
a small bundle of arugula
6 or 7 cloves of garlic
15 green and yellow beans
15 sweet peas
5 mL rice vinegar
25 mL olive oil

Skin the garlic, and halve.
Wash the parsley and chop coarsely.
Wash the arugula and mince.
Put the garlic and parsley into the food processor until they form a paste, and slowly add the olive oil.
Mix in the arugula and set aside in the fridge.
Wash the beans and peas.
Trim the beans' ends, and chop the peas into 1cm sections.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and add pasta.
Cook for about fifteen minutes or until al dente.
Rinse under cold water.
Sprinkle with the rice vinegar.
Combine the beans, peas, pesto and pasta, mix well, and refrigerate. Serve chilled.

Broasted barbecue tofu with purple mustard leaf

2 pounds, or 1 kg of tofu
2 small cans, or 500 mL, of tomato paste
½ cup tamari or Braggs
¼ cup blackstrap molasses
¼ cup nutritional yeast
a few chipotles in adobo
2 heads purple mustard leaf
½ cup olive oil

Whisk together the tomato paste, tamari, molasses, nutritional yeast, adobo chilies, and 1/3 cup of olive oil.
Wash the tofu and slice into 1-cm-thick slabs.
Lightly oil each slab and place into a tub, covering each layer with barbecue sauce.
Preheat the ovens to 400 degrees
Bake/roast/broast the tofu for about 15 minutes, turning occasionally.
Ladle a little of the left-over barbeque sauce over the broasted tofu.
Wash the mustard leaf thoroughly.
Slice into very thin strips, and arrange on top of the broasted tofu.

Apricot cinnamon coffeecake

1½ cup berries or fresh fruit, diced
1 cup soy or rice milk
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 tablespoon ground flaxseed
2½ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sucranat sugar
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
8 tablespoons Earth Balance
1 teaspoon baking powder
1¼ teaspoon baking soda

Wash the fruit.
Slice to remove the stone, and mince into small pieces.
Toss the fruit in 3 tablespoons of flour until coated.
Preheat the over to 350, and use small amount of Earth Balance to grease the pans.
Combine the rice milk and vinegar and set aside.
Grind the flaxseed, and mix with 3 tablespoons of water. Set aside.
Mix together 1/3 cup flour, ¼ cup sugar, and the cinnamon. Cut in ¼ cup cold Earth Balance, until crumbly. Put in cold fridge.
Sift together the rest of the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
In a very large mixing bowl, cream the rest of the Earth Balance with the rest of the sugar. Alternate adding flour and milk, mixing only enough to combine. Fold in the flaxseed mixture, and then the fruit.
Spread the batter into the pans, and cover with crumbly topping.
Bake about 35 minutes or until done.

June 10, 2010

Quinoa Soup with Vegetables and Charmoula sauce
Quinoa was used in place of Couscous for this recipe. Feel free to experiment with different grains.
8 servings

2 tsp olive oil
1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tbsp paprika
1 tsp ground cumin
¼ tsp hot red pepper flakes
1 cup quinoa
1 leek, trimmed and diced
1 carrot, diced
1 zucchini, diced
1 sweet red pepper, diced
1 cup diced sweet potato
8 cups vegetable stock
2 cups peas, fresh or frozen
Charmoula sauce (recipe follows)

Soak and rinse the quinoa for 10 minutes.
Heat oil in stock pot. Add onion and garlic and cook until tender. Add paprika, cumin and hot pepper flakes. Cook for about 30 seconds, or until fragrant.
Add quinoa and stir to coat well. Do not let it toast for too long.
Add leek, carrot, zucchini, red pepper, sweet potato and stock. Bring to boil. Cook for about 15 minutes, or until quinoa is almost tender.
Add peas. Heat thoroughly. Taste and season with salt and pepper.
Ladle soup into bowls. Swirl spoonfuls of Charmoula into each serving.

Charmoula sauce

3 cloves garlic
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp ground cumin
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp cayenne
¼ tsp pepper
1 cup chopped fresh parsley
3 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp olive oil

Puree garlic in food processor. Add paprika, cumin, salt, cayenne and pepper and combine. Add parsley and blend in. Add lemon juice and olive oil and puree (you should have about 1/3 cup / 75mL).

Vegan Tzatziki Sauce
Makes roughly 2 2/3 cups

1 pkg silken tofu (the firmer the tofu, the more viscous)
juice from 1 lemon (about 1/4 cup)
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tbsp canola oil
1 tsp salt
freshly ground pepper
3 tsp dried dill
¼ tsp paprika
pinch of cayenne
1 cup finely chopped cucumber
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

Blend tofu, lemon juice, garlic, oil and spices together in a blender, or with an immersion blender in a container.
Place diced cucumber in a towel and squeeze out excess moisture. Add to sauce along with the parsley. Pulse the blender several times to incorporate. Refrigerate until needed.

Falafel Patties

1 15-oz. can chickpeas, drained
2 gloves garlic
½ small onion
3 tablespoons sesame tahini
½ cup flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
¼ cup quinoa flour, plus more if needed
1 tsp sea salt
½ teaspoon ground cumin
¼ teaspoon ground coriander
olive oil for brushing on patties

Preheat oven to 425°F.
In a food processor, combine all of the ingredients except for the olive oil. Process until smooth and there are no large pieces remaining. Using hands, roll into golf-ball sized pieces. If mixture is too dry, add a bit of oil; if it's too wet, add a bit more quinoa flour. Flatten into patties, and lightly brush both sides with a bit of olive oil.
Arrange falafels on a baking sheet. Oven temperatures will vary, cook for roughly 15-20 minutes, then flip the patties and cook for an additional 10 minutes. Each side should be slightly browned and crispy.
Alternatively, you may pan fry the patties on high-heat, and cook each side until lightly browned. Transfer to a plate with paper towel on it.

Saffron Rice Pudding - (Sholezard)
Shole Zard is a sweet Iranian dessert made of saffron, sugar, and rice.
12 servings

2½ cups of rice
12 cups of water
A pinch of salt
2½ cups of sugar
1 cup of rose water (optional)
1 teaspoon of saffron
¾ cup of slivered almonds (optional)
¾ cup of whole/chopped/crushed pistachios (optional)
2 tablespoons of cinnamon

Rinse rice in cold water. Change the water every now and then until the water stays relatively clear. Avoid draining.
Place rice and water mixture in pot and bring to a boil.
Cook for 20-25 minutes, or until rice is tender. When cooking, skim the top occasionally.
Add the sugar while you continue to stir constantly and boil gently. The mixture will thicken, like a custard, and you will not longer be able to see the grains of rice.
Dissolve the saffron in another small bowl or a cup in the hot water and add to the pot.
Optional: Stir in rose water and slivered almonds.
Stir over medium or low heat until mixture becomes thick.
Pour the mixture into a separate bowl, sprinkle the cinnamon and optional toppings on the mixture.
Cool before serving.

May 27, 2010

West Indies Soup

1 medium onion
3 roughly chopped carrots
1 roughly chopped quarter celery root
8 cups of water, broth, beer, or some combination of those
1 large diced yam
1 squash (pick a type)
1 can coconut milk
leafy greens
dry roasted coriander, cumin, cinnamon

In a large pot fry onion until translucent.
Add carrots and celery root. Sweat them until they begin to caramelize.
Add liquid, yam and squash.
Bring to boil, cover and simmer until yam is cooked and squash is mushy.
Turn to low heat or take off heat.
Add one can coconut milk, leafy greens and spices.
Cover and let sit for ten minutes or so.

Caribbean Rice with Red Beans and Chiles

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small red onion, minced
1 small red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 or 2 small, fresh hot chilis, seeded and minced
2 garlic gloves, minced
½ teaspoon peeled and minced fresh ginger
½ teaspoon brown sugar
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground allspice
¼ teaspoon dried thyme
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup couscous
1 cup water
1 15 oz. can dark red kidney beans

Heat the olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat.
Add the onion, bell pepper, chiles, garlic, ginger, brown sugar, salt, allspice, thyme, and nutmeg.
Cover and cook, stirring, until the bell pepper has softened, about 10 minutes.
Stir in the couscous to coat with the oil.
Stir in the water, cover, and let stand for five minutes.
Stir in the beans and cook until hot, about five minutes.
Taste and adjust the seasonings.
Serve hot.

Turkish Tomato Salad

2 large tomatoes (or 4 medium), chopped
½ large cucumber, peeled and diced
½ yellow pepper, seeded and chopped
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ cup parsley, finely chopped
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons Spicy V-8 (or tomato juice)
generous grating black pepper
½ teaspoon paprika
¼ teaspoon cumin
salt to taste (optional)

Combine all ingredients and mix well.
Serve immediately or chill for an hour.
Try it in a pita with hummus or on top of a green salad.

Chai Latte Cupcakes

1 cup soy or rice milk
4 black teabags or 2 tablespoons loose black tea
¼ cup canola oil
½ cup plain or vanilla soy yogurt
¾ cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
½ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
pinch of ground white or black pepper
½ cup confectioners sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

Preheat oven to 375 and line tin with cupcake liners. In a small saucepan heat soy milk till almost boiling, add tea bags, cover and remove from heat. Let sit for 10 minutes.When ready to use stir teabags and thoroughly squeeze to insure as much tea is dissolved in milk as possible.
In a large bowl whisk together oil, yogurt, sugar, vanilla and tea mixture until all yogurt lumps disappear. Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cardamom,
ginger, cloves, and pepper into wet ingredients. Mix until large lumps disappear; some small lumps are okay. Fill tins full and bake about 20 to 22 minutes until a sharp knife inserted comes out clean.
Make sure cupcakes are completely cooled before adding topping, or the sugar will melt.
To assemble, sift confectioners sugar over cooled cupcakes first, then mix cinnamon and nutmeg together and sift onto each cupcake.

Thanks as always to our wonderful photographer Jono.

Happy cooking and hope to see you next Thursday!

Love,
Giovannayam.

Recipe for June 3rd

2010-06-08T16:03:00.000-07:00

Creamy leek and mushroom soup (contains soy)
1) Chop onions and leeks, slice mushrooms, dice potatoes (~ 3/4 inch chunks)
2) Heat oil on medium in pot, add onions and saute until slightly translucent
3) Add leeks and saute 2-3 minutes
4) Add mushrooms and a bit of salt, saute until mushrooms are tender and have released their juices
5) Add stock and potatoes, cover and cook until potatoes are tender
6) Turn heat down to low
7) Add almond/soy milk
8) Temper in flour (remove some soup from the pot into a separate bowl, whisk in flour until smooth, whisk flour mixture back into the soup
9) Let cook until soup thickens slightly
10) Season with salt and pepper

Chocolate Brownies(contains soy and gluten)
Ingredients
1/3 cup flour
2/3 cup cold water
12 oz silken tofu
1 cup chocolate chips
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1.5 cup flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1.75 cups sugar
3/4 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup oil
Instructions
1) In a blender puree the tofu, flour and water until smooth.
2) Pour it into a sauce pan, and whisk constantly over low heat until it thickens (it should not boil, if it starts to turn the heat down). This takes about 10 minutes.
3) Remove from heat and stir in the chocolate chips, salt, vanilla and sugar. Stir occasionally until the chocolate is melted. Put mixture in fridge to cool completely. (20-30 minutes)
4) Preheat your oven to 350.
5) When mixture is cool enough mix in the oil.
6) Sift the 1 1/2 cups of flour, the cocoa and the baking powder together.
7) Fold in the tofu mixture until well combined and smooth.
8) Spread evenly in a greased baking pan for 35-40 minutes, or until a knife comes out clean.

Stay tuned for more recipes! Coming soon:
Saute of baby Asian greens (contains sesame oil)
Potato and chickpea salad with fresh herbs

Recipes recipes (May 1st & May 13th)

2010-05-18T18:13:00.001-07:00

Last Thursday was our first day back from a long hiatus. It was wonderful. Sorry we ran out of food and had to turn some of you away. The main reason for this? Shortage of volunteers. So send hottestyam@gmail.com an email and ask how you can help out! No cooking experience necessary. No, really! Come learn with us! (or show us your skills if you have em)

Before I get to Thursday's recipes, we had a little event a couple weeks ago:

On May 1st, we braved the not quite perfect weather and had a lovely ride down to the Leslie Street Spit with Bikechain.

We cooked some lovely picnic-y food for the occasion and here are the recipes!

WHITE BEAN AND ROSEMARY DIP
makes 12 servings

¼ cup olive oil, divided
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
¾ cups white beans (Great Northern, cannellini, or white kidney beans), drained and rinsed
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons kosher salt
3 sprigs fresh rosemary, rinsed

In a 10-inch frying pan over medium heat, stir half the olive oil and the 2 cloves garlic until fragrant,being careful not to brown garlic, about 1 minute. Pour the oil and garlic into a food processor. Wipe out the pan and set aside.
Add white beans, lemon juice, and salt to the food processor and whirl until smooth. Pour into a serving bowl.
Return the frying pan to medium heat and add the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil and the rosemary sprigs.
Warm the rosemary in the olive oil until fragrant, about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally so the rosemary doesn't burn. Remove from heat and let cool 10 minutes.
Set the rosemary aside and drizzle the olive oil over the bean dip. Mince one teaspoon of the rosemary leaves and sprinkle over the dip.

CURRIED LENTIL DIP
makes 8 cups

2 cups red lentils
5 cups water
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 cups diced onions
3 cups peeled, cored and diced apples
6 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
½ cup raisins
2 tsp curry powder
2 tsp garam masala
½ cup coconut milk
4 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp salt

Bring lentils and water to a boil. Lower heat and simmer 20 min.
Heat the oil in a separate skillet, sauté the onions, apples, and garlic with salt for 5 min @ med heat. Add the raisins, curry powder, and garam masala and sauté for 10 more minutes or until tender.
In a food processor or blender, purée the cooked lentils with the sautéed onion mix with the coconut milk and lemon juice. Add salt to taste.

ROOT VEGGIE SLAW
serves about 50

6 cups celery root, grated
4 cups grated parsnips
4 cups grated parsley roots
5 cups grated beets
8 cups grated cabbage (can be all green or some green and some red)
4 cups sliced shallots (if Ontario is available, or other fragrant and mild onion)
6 cloves garlic, finely minced
¼ cup toasted sesame seeds (whole, unbleached)
210 mL vegetable oil
180 mL cider vinegar
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt, pepper to taste

Lemon zest from 2 lemons, optional (if used, use lemon juice instead of some of the cider vinegar)
Shred all veggies and mix together.
In a separate bowl, mix the sugar, salt and vinegar together. Slowly combine oil with a whisk.
Mix into vegetables. Add toasted sesame seeds if desired.

There was also a delicious cake, which was the same delicious cake we had on March 11th.

Thanks a lot to Alex & Jeevs for kick-starting the summer with these delicious dishes:

STEAMED ASPARAGUS WITH DELICIOUS DRESSING
(The dressing may not be exactly the right amount, but just mix together 3 parts olive oil and 1 part lemon juice)

1 bunch asparagus
t tbsp olive oil
1 tsp lemon juice
salt & pepper to taste

Wash asparagus and break off tips.
Steam until just tender.
Whisk together oil and lemon juice and drizzle on asparagus.
Salt and pepper to taste.

CUMIN AND PEA SPROUT COUSCOUS
Serves 5

1 cup couscous
½ teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon salt or to taste
½ cup red onion, finely chopped
1 jalapeño, minced
1 to 1¼ cups boiling water
¼ cup fresh cilantro, minced
3 Tablespoons olive oil
3 to 4 Tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
1 cup pea sprouts

Mix couscous, cumin, salt, red onion and jalapeño.
Add 1 cup boiling water, cover and let sit for about 10 minutes. Add more boiling water if necessary and then fluff with a fork.
Mix in cilantro, olive oil, lime juice, pea sprouts.

DULSE SOUP WITH TOFU AND BOK CHOI
Serves 6

3 cups water
dash salt
2 tbsp grated peeled ginger
½ cup minced red onions
½ cake (8 oz) soft tofu
3 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp dulse flakes (dried seaweed)
2 cups thinly sliced bok choi (one bunch) (or other greens)
2 tbsp lime juice

Boil the water with the salt, ginger and red onions.
Add tofu, soy sauce and dulse flakes and boil 10-15 minutes.
Add bok choi and boil till just wilted (about 3 minutes).
Add lime juice just before serving.

AMAZING APPLE RHUBARD CRUMBLER
serves 16 (one pan)

2 lbs apples (ideally russet variety, otherwise mix green and red, e.g., granny smith and pink gala, or even just tart apples to avoid sourness)
½ lb rhubarb
plenty of cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and/or cardamom – spiced to taste, suggested at least a teaspoon of each
more cinnamon
pinch salt
1 tbsp citrus zest (grated from orange and/or lemon) or more
½ cup fresh ginger, grated or finely chopped
½ cup crystalized ginger, very small pieces, (can be substituted with more grated fresh ginger)
½ cup brown sugar (to taste – a little more or less is fine)
¼ cup coconut creme
½ cup largest shredded coconut flakes (roughly 1 inch in length) – or sliced blanched almonds?
½ cup rolled oats (raw or roasted, can use most mueslis or granolas)
½ cup of flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
¼ cup of margarine (earth balance)
dash of salt if using unsalted butter/margarine

Chop apples and rhubarb and mix with spices (cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, cardamom), pinch of salt, zest, ginger, other ginger, ½ cup brown sugar, and coconut creme.
Top with shedded coconut and oats mixed together.
Mix together flour, rest of brown sugar (1/3 cup), margarine and dash of salt. Top the topping with this mixture.
bake at 415°F for 20 minutes and then 365°F for the 40 minutes.

Love,
Giovannayam.

Recipes from April 1st

2010-05-13T17:55:00.000-07:00

Today was the first day of the SUMMER YAM! Yay! It went wonderfully. Today's recipes (and recipes from May 1st's Bikechain event) will come, but for now, here are the recipes from April 1st:

TOASTED ALMOND AND KALE SOBA NOODLES
Serves 4

1 tbsp olive oil
1-inch piece ginger root
2 tblsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp tamari
2 tsp toasted sesame oil
1 cup kale
1 onion
1/3 cup of raw almonds
3-4 leaves of cilantro
2 cups of buck-wheat soba noodles

Cut Onions into half moon slices. Slice Almonds in half length wise. Chop Kale into small pieces.
Mix the Sauce before cooking begins. Mix together Garlic, Ginger, Sesame Oil, Rice Vinegar and Tamari and set aside.
Cook Soba noodles as directions dictate (usually add to boiling pot of water and allow to cook for a minute or 2. Take out, drain and run under cold water. Set aside.
Heat up oil on medium heat. Add almonds and toast for 2-3 minutes.
Add the Onions and allow to soften for another 3 minutes or so.
Add Kale and cook for several more minutes
Add the sauce and allow the garlic and ginger to fry for several minutes until the whole dish is heated through.
Add the soba noodles and and Mix well.
Serve and eat!

MUSHROOM BARLEY SOUP
Serves 4

½ cup pearl barley
6½ cups water/stock
3 tablespoons Earth Balance
1 cup white onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound mushrooms, sliced
3 tablespoons soy sauce
4 tablespoons dry sherry
1 teaspoon salt
ground pepper

Cook barley in boiling water (1½ cup)
Meanwhile, melt Earth Balance in pots, sautée onions. Add garlic, mushrooms, some salt.
Cover and cook, stir, until everything is very tender.
Add soy sauce and sherry.
Add barley and fill pots with water.
Add lots of ground pepper.
Simmer on low, partially covered.

CABBAGE SALAD
serves 10-15

1 napa cabbage
2 cucumbers
1 apple
3 white carrots
¼ lemon
rice vinegar
Kosher or sea salt
dried red pepper (crushed is better)
crushed garlic

Rinse vegetables in water and salt
Cut cabbage in half lengthwise. Slice crosswise in strips.
Sprinkle cabbage liberally with salt. Let cabbage sit until water is drained. (This process varies in time, usually takes a few hours)
Cut and slice carrots.
Add salt, stir. Let carrots sit until water is drained.
Core and dice/slice the apple (This can be done the next day if there is not enough time).
Pour out the drained water from the cabbage, carrot.
Pour cabbage, carrot, apple and crushed garlic into big bowl. Add rice vinegar and crushed red pepper.
Pour contents into a sanitized plastic bag. Shake so the contents mix well.
Refrigerate contents for next day.

THUMBPRINT COOKIES
Makes about 18-20 cookies

1 cup all-purpose flour
4 oz Earth Balance Vegan Butter - at room temperature
¼ cup sugar
1/3 cup mixed-fruit jam (or any other of your choice)

Preheat your oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
In a bowl, cream butter with sugar until light and fluffy, about 7-8 mins.
In another bowl, whisk together the flour and ground walnuts and add to the creamed butter mixture. Mix until well combined to form a soft dough. Do not knead a lot as this can get pretty sticky. Use some all-purpose flour for dusting.
Now refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes. This makes is easier to shape the cookies.
Take a teaspoonful of dough in your hand, form a small ball, and press lightly in the center with your finger to make a shallow hole. (Use light pressure with your thumb or index finger.)
Arrange the cookies on the baking trays, 2 inches apart. Leave enough space as they will spread a bit as they bake. Bake for 15 minutes, until the edges are slightly colored and the cookies look firm.
Let the cookies cool completely on a wire rack, then fill the holes with your favorite jam.

As always, photos courtesy of Jono.

2010-04-02T08:34:00.001-07:00

It was our last Yam! of the semester....

photos courtesy of Jono
...and our not-so-secret admirer sent us a song...

On the South Side of Campus by Judy Garlic
(sung to Somewhere over the Rainbow by Judy Garland)

On the south side of campus,
You can find
Volunteers in bandanas
And a place to unwind.

On the south side of campus
When you eat,
Walk or bike to St. George St.
And get yourself a treat.

Just join the line behind the sign
For food that's sent straight from Cloud Nine
To feed you.
Then take your tupperware or plate
From Giovanna, Jon, or Kate
Then bid them adieu.

On the south side of campus,
Green's no dream.
Local food from the market:
Baked, grilled, raw, stewed, or steamed.

With tasty options at the Yam,
The answer's simple:
Eat at the Hot Yam!

Don't cry! We'll be back again on May 13th!

Our not-so-secret admirer is putting his creativity to good use

2010-03-30T07:27:00.000-07:00

Sing to My Girl by the Temptations.

I eat local --
Nothing from a can.
And it's delicious, too;
Not to mention vegan.

I guess you'll say,
"Who can make a meal this way?"
Hot Yam! (Hot Yam! Hot Yam!)
Eatin' at Hot Yam! (Hot Yam!)

If you've tupperware,
Put it in their care.
They'll put food inside;
Guaranteed good fare.

Well, I guess you'll say,
"Who can make a meal this way?"
Hot Yam! (Hot Yam! Hot Yam!)
Eatin' at Hot Yam! (Hot Yam!)

Service with a smile,
Genuine at that.
Filled with many friendly people,
With whom to chat.

Well, I guess you'll say,
"Who can make a meal this way?"
Hot Yam! (Hot Yam! Hot Yam!)
Eatin' at Hot Yam! (Hot Yam!)

Many many recipes!!

2010-03-27T18:44:00.000-07:00

I finally got the urge to blog again and there's a whole bunch of recipes that've piled up over the past month. I've got FOUR whole meals to remind you of.
So let's get started. Right after I update you on our schedule.

We just have one more meal of the semester. It's this coming Thursday (April 1st). But we've set the date for the start of the SUMMER YAM!, which is Thursday, May 13th. Wasn't that little glimpse of summer we got great? (See below!)

Doesn't volunteering look like so much fun? The summer is a great time to start! Send us an email and we'll get you set up.

Here goes!

March 4, 2010

Lydia and Lei brought you an APPLE-LICIOUS meal!

GRILLED TOFU WITH APPLE SAUCE, ROSEMARY & THYME MARINADE
feeds 5-10

1 package of 420g firm or extra firm tofu
¼ cup applesauce
1 tbsp olive oil
½ tsp thyme
½ tsp rosemary
½ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper

Cut each block of tofu into 20 evenly sized square slices.
Whisk together marinade (rest of ingredients) into a large bowl or container.
Evenly coat tofu slices in marinade and refrigerate until ready to use.
Brush grill with olive oil.
Grill tofu on medium heat until both sides are golden making sure to flip tofu halfway during grilling process.
Serve with apple roasted potatoes (follows).

APPLE ROASTED POTATOES WITH BASIL
5 servings

1 large sweet potato, peeled
2-3 assorted seasonal potatoes
1 large golden delicious apple cubed
olive oil
dried basil
salt
assorted apple cores

Preheat oven to 400°F.
Peel and chop sweet potatoes.
Wash, scrub and peel other potatoes.
Place all potatoes into a large bowl.
Drizzle olive oil and sprinkle basil and salt on top of potatoes and toss.
Place potatoes onto greased baking sheet (use olive oil to `grease`).
Core and cube apples.
Place apples, cores and additional cores that have been reserved onto baking sheet with potatoes.
Bake in oven for 20 min. or until done.
Remove apple cores and discard.
Serve with grilled tofu (above).

APPLE & PARSNIP SOUP
6-8 servings

3 golden delicious (or granny smith) apples
1 ¼ lb parsnips
1 tbsp olive oil enough to fry shallots in
5 large shallots (sliced)
1 ¼ tsp ground coriander
5 cups veggie broth

Peel and core apples. Cut into 1-inch pieces.
Heat oil in large pot over medium-high heat.
Add shallots and sauté for 3 minutes.
Add parsnips and sauté for 3 more minutes.
Add apples and coriander and stir for 1 minute.
Add broth and bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer until vegetables are very tender, about 25 minutes.
If the soup is too thick, add more broth and return to a simmer.
Allow the soup to cool slightly; purée until smooth, either by working in batches in blender or using a hand blender, thinning with more broth by half-cupfuls as desired
return soup to pot and bring to simmer; season to taste with salt and pepper.
Optional: Sprinkle diced apples on top.
Serve.

BEET & APPLE SALAD
4 servings

4 beets
4 golden delicious apples
¼ cup sunflower oil
2 tbsp lemon juice
salt
black pepper

Cook beets, let cool, remove skin, let cool completely. Refrigerate.
Core and dice apples.
Dice beets.
Place beets and apples into a large bowl.
Combine sunflower oil, lemon juice, salt, and black pepper by whisking together to create a dressing.
Toss beets and apples with dressing.
Serve or refrigerate before serving.

March 11, 2010

Illya and John's first yam! meal was a big success!

CARROT SALAD

2-3 carrots
2-3 Tbsp orange juice
2-3 Tbsp olive oil
half inch piece of ginger
¼ cup dried berries (raisins, cranberries, or whatever your preference)
a few drops sesame oil
1 tsp sesame seeds (black ones look cooler so use them if you can)

Grate carrots.
Finely grate ginger.
Combine carrots, orange juice, oils, ginger and berries in a bowl.
Let sit for a little so the flavours marry nicely.
Garnish with sesame seeds.

BULGAR PILAF

a couple Tbsp olive oil
1 small onion
1 cup #3 coarse or #4 extra coarse bulgar
2¼ cups water
1/2 cup red lentils
1/4 cup soft wheat (or gluten-free flour mix)
1/4 cup red quinoa
flat leaf parsley
a dollop of yogurt, hummus, olive oil & lemon juice, or whatever's your preference
Middle Eastern or North African spice mix (recipe for Moroccan follows)

In a medium pot fry onion in oil until translucent.
Add the bulgar.
Fry until it just starts to darken (smoke is BAD).
Add water, lentils, wheat and quinoa.
Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cover tightly.
Wait 20 minutes (no peaking).
DON'T PANIC the red lentils will disappear ie stop being red
Garnish with coarsely chopped parsley.
Add a dollop of hummus, yogurt or something to that effect.
Add the spice mix.

MOROCCAN SPICE MIX
Sorry that this recipe doesn't really have proportions. There is no real way to make a recipe for this you just sort of have to get a feed for it.

a lot of cumin
a lot of coriander seeds
a little black cumin (hard to find but definitely worth it)
very little cardamom and cloves (ridiculously strong flavours so use gingerly)
a little of the ubiquitous cinnamon

Dry fry everything taking care not to burn it until your roommates come down to ask what smells so good.
Grind it all up and store in an airtight container

LENTIL SOUP

a couple Tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion
3 carrots
1 quarter of a celery root
1 yam
8 cups water, broth, beer, marmite, or some combination of those
1 cup lentils (little ones and big ones)
lemon juice & olive oil to taste

In a large pot fry one medium onion in oil until translucent.
Add carrots and celery root, roughly chopped.
Sweat them until they begin to caramelize.
Add liquid, yam (diced), and lentils.
Bring to boil, cover and simmer until lentils are cooked.
Serve with lemon juice and olive oil

CHOCOLATE CAKE

1 2/3 cups brown sugar
2½ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup oat flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
¾ teaspoon salt
2/3 cup cocoa
1½ ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 cup hot brewed coffee
1 cup light coconut milk
2 tablespoons cider or white wine vinegar
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
¾ cup vegan margarine

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. use one 9x13 pan for one cake.
Sift sugar, flours, baking soda and salt into a large bowl, then whisk to combine.
Margarine in a bowl. Add coconut milk, vanilla, and vinegar. Blend with electric mixer.
Combine cocoas and chocolate in a large bowl and cover with hot coffee; whisk until smooth.
Add margarine-coconut milk mixture to the chocolate mixture and whisk to combine.
(The hot coffee will melt the margarine if it's not super mixed)
Add liquid mixture to dry ingredients and fold gently with rubber spatula. Mix nicely.
Bake 20-25 minutes.
Cool cakes in pans on wire rack to room temperature, about 2 hours.

March 18, 2010

And then it was St. Paddy's Day, so Hannah and Cynthia put together a wonderful Irish themed meal.

HEARTY IRISH STEW

½ Yellow Onion Sliced
2 Garlic Cloves minced
2 Carrots diced
3 Celery stalks diced
3 small Russet potatoes in cubes
4 cups of vegetable stock
16 oz diced tomatoes and liquid
¼ cup of red wine
3 tablespoons of flour
3 tablespoons of vegan butter
2 tablespoons of vegan Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon of soy sauce
1 teaspoon Herbs de Provence
1 teaspoon Rosemary
2 bay leaves
Pepper to taste
pinch of crushed red peppers
2 teaspoons of sea salt
½ cup frozen peas
12 cups brown mushrooms
13 cups kidney beans

Saute yellow onion sliced, garlic cloves minced, carrots diced, celery stocks diced, pinch of crushed red peppers, pinch of sea salt for about 5 min.
Add 3 tablespoons of vegan butter let melt and then add 3 tablespoons of flour and cook for 2 min.
Add red wine and de-glaze pan.
Add vegetable stock, tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce and bay leaves. Simmer covered for 45 min until all flavors are combined.
Add potatoes and simmer covered for 45 - 60 min.
Add Salt and Pepper to taste

IRISH SODA BREAD

2 cups soy milk
2 Tbsp. vinegar
4 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp. vegan margarine, at room temperature
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
3 cups caraway seeds
3 cups currants

Preheat the oven to 425°F.
In a small bowl, combine the soy milk and vinegar. Set aside.
Sift together the flours in a large bowl. Using your fingers, rub the margarine into the flours, forming a crumbly mixture. Add the salt and baking soda.
Make a well in the center and gradually add the soy milk mixture, mixing constantly. Add only enough to make the dough soft but still manageable.
Knead inside the bowl for 30 seconds.
Remove to a lightly floured baking sheet and use the palm of your hand to flatten into a 1 1/2–inch-thick disk. Use a knife to score a cross in the center.
Bake for 25 minutes. Reduce the heat to 350°F and bake for 15 minutes. If the crust is too hard, cover it in a damp tea cloth. Let cool.

CABBAGE SALAD

1 savoy cabbage
about 1 cup roasted unsalted cashews for garnish
5 tart apples
2 cups pea shoots
½ cup canola oil
1 orange
¼ cup maple syrup
1/3 cup mustard
¼ cup cider vinegar

Thinly slice cabbage and apples.
Toss with dressing, cashews, and pea shoots.

STOUT CUPCAKES

3/4 cup soy milk
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons flour
1/3 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup stout beer (note that Guinness isn't vegan, check this out for more info)
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup canola oil
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. In a small bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, whisk together the soy milk and the vinegar. Add the beer, sugar, oil, and vanilla to the soy milk mixture and beat until foamy. Add the dry ingredients in two batches and beat until well incorporated.
Fill your cupcakes containers of choice 3/4 full. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and the top springs back when lightly touched. Transfer to a wire rack and allow cupcakes to cool completely before frosting.

COFFEE ICING
Sorry, this one isn't scaled down. I wouldn't recommend making this volume...

2 bags powdered sugar
1 tub earth balance
1 small jar instant espresso powder
2 cans coconut milk
3 cups cocoa powder
1 bottle vanilla
1 litre sweetened soy milk

March 25, 2010

Jason, Armida and Ian led a delicious lunch followed by a wonderful snack at the Youth Food Systems Fair.

JERK CHICKPEAS

2 cups dried chickpeas, soaked overnight
6 green onions, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
1 tbsp fresh ginger
¾ cup soy sauce
½ cup cider vinegar
¼ cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
½ teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon cayenne
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground allspice

Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add chickpeas, and boil under tender.
Puree all other ingredients in a blender or food processor, until
well-combined.
Marinate the chickpeas in the jerk sauce overnight, in a non-reactive
container.
Preheat oven to 425. Spread chickpeas on a roasting pan or baking
sheet, and roast for 15 minutes.

CABBAGE JAMBALAYA

1 block firm tofu
1 onion, chopped
3 stalks celery
1 clove chopped garlic
1 medium head cabbage, chopped
1 (14.5 ounce) can stewed tomatoes
2 cups vegetable stock
½ cup dried black beans, soaked overnight
½ cup dried black eyed peas, soaked overnight
1 cup uncooked rice
1 tbsp creole seasoning
salt and pepper to taste

In a large stock pot over medium high heat, saute tofu, onion, celery,
and garlic in the oil. Cook until everything is evenly browned. Stir
in cabbage, tomatoes, stock, beans, and rice. Season with creole
seasoning. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low. Cover and cook
for 35 to 40 minutes, or until rice and beans are done. Add creole
seasoning, and salt/pepper to taste.

KALE SOUP

2 tablespoons oil
1 medium onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 medium carrot, diced into ¼-inch cubes (about 1 cup)
1 cup diced celery
6 1/2 cups vegetable broth
2 red potatoes, diced into ½-inch cubes
1 cup lentils
2 tsp dried thyme
2 tsp dried sage
3 cups kale, rinsed, stems removed and chopped very fine
salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat.
Saute onion and garlic for 5 minutes.
Add carrots and celery, and saute for an additional 10 minutes.
Add all ingredients except for kale, salt, and pepper. Bring to a
boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer for about 45 minutes, stirring.
Add chopped kale, salt, and pepper. Simmer for an additional 5 minutes.

APPLE CAKE
from dairyfreecooking.com

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 t. baking soda
½ baking powder
2 t. ground cinnamon
½ t. ground ginger
¼ t. nutmeg
¾ t. salt
¼ cup finely ground flax seeds
1/3 cup water
½ cup (1 stick) dairy-free soy margarine, melted
2 cups packed dark brown sugar
1 t. white distilled vinegar
1 cup chopped apple pieces
1½ cup coarsely grated apple

Preheat the oven to 350. Lightly oil and flour 3 parchment-lined 8" round cake pans and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, sift together the clour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt. Set aside.
In a medium-sized mixing bowl, mix together the finely ground flax seeds with the water. Let stand for 3 minutes, or until slightly thickened. Add the melted soy margarine, brown sugar, and vinegar, and whisk until well combined. Add the wet ingredients and the apple pieces and grated apple to the dry ingredients. Mix until just combined. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pans and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center emerges clean, about 35 minutes. Allow the cakes to cool in the pans for about 20 minutes, then invert the cakes onto a wire cooling rack to cool completely.

And that's it! Thanks to Jono for all those lovely photos, except the shopping pic, for which we have Tia to thank.

Happy cooking everyone!

Love,
Giovannayam.

More from our not-so-secret admirer...

2010-03-24T22:32:00.000-07:00

The past few weeks of recipes will come eventually. Send hottestyam an email if you're looking for a specific one. They're all floating around somewhere, waiting for a loving yammer to put them into order...

Our Not-So-Secret Admirer

2010-03-12T11:31:00.000-08:00

Some of you may not know this, but the Yam! has a not-so-secret admirer who writes to us weekly. I haven't asked if he's okay with us sharing his identity, but here's an excerpt from this week's wonderful email (read it to the tune of Hey Jude):

Hot Yam, don't make it bad.
Take some green things and make a salad.
Remember those nuts stay out of that batch!
Then you can serve everyone salad.

Hot Yam, don't be afraid.
Once a bake sale, but now much better.
Go out and peel some potato skin,
Then you can serve everyone salad.

And anytime the lines get long, Hot Yam, refrain,
From prepping your meals a little earlier.
For well you know that it's a fool who eats cold stew
Because that will only make him surlier.

(Mostly local, fully vegan)

Hot Yam, don't let me down.
When exams come, why can't I see you?
Remember those nuts stay out of that batch!
Then you can serve everyone salad.

So let it out and let us in. Hot Yam, begin
To think up new ways to brighten summer.
Oh, and don't you know I've eyes for you, Hot Yam? You do.
Hot chickpea is nothing next to you.

(Mostly local, fully vegan)

Hot Yam, don't make it bad.
Take some green things and make a salad.
Remember that nuts stay out of that batch!
Then you can serve everyone salad salad salad salad salad salad salaaaaaaad!

Organic, heavenly food. Four dollars for you. No tax.
You've got some rave reviews: Now Magazine - 5 N's.
Organic, heavenly food. Four dollars for you. No tax.
You've got some rave reviews: Now Magazine - 5 N's...

Recipes from February 25th (and 26th)

2010-03-05T10:36:00.000-08:00

We survived the two-day-a-week trial run, and it was awesome! We are hoping to expand in September, but one crucial part of this is volunteers. Please send email to hottestyam[AT]gmail[DOT]com to find out more about volunteering.

Here's some awesome recipes (thanks to Alex & Kate) that I've kept you waiting too long for:

CELERIAC CARROT SLAW
4-6 servings

1 large celeriac bulb
2 large carrots
2 garlic minced
2 tbsps sherry vinegar (or red wine vinegar)
¼ tsp salt
2 tsp dijon
1/3 cup olive oil
1 tbsp vegan sour cream
freshly ground black pepper

Peel and grate celeriac and carrots (you should have about 4 cups).
Mix minced garlic, vinegar, salt, and mustard in small bowl.
Whisk in olive oil until smooth and thickened.
Stir in sour cream and fresh ground pepper to taste.
Pour over grated vegetables and toss gently.

BAKED ONION SOUP
6 servings

2 tablespoons olive oil
8 medium onions, quartered and thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups water
One 32-ounce carton low-sodium vegetable broth
¼ cup dry red wine
1 teaspoon dry mustard
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Long narrow French or Italian bread, as needed
1½ cups grated mozzarella-style nondairy cheese (see Note)

Heat the oil in a soup pot. Add the onions and sauté over medium-low heat until golden. Add the garlic and continue to sauté slowly until the onions are lightly and evenly browned, stirring frequently, about 20 to 25 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Pour the water over the onions and give them a good stir. Then add the broth, wine, and mustard. Bring to a rapid simmer, then lower the heat. Cover and simmer gently for 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
Meanwhile, cut the bread into 1-inch-thick slices, allowing 1 or 2 slices per serving depending on the size of your soup bowls. Bake for 15 minutes, or until dry and crisp, turning the slices over once about halfway through the baking time.
To assemble the soup, place one layer of bread (1 or 2 slices) in each ovenproof bowl and ladle a serving of soup over it. Sprinkle about 1/4 cup of the grated cheese over each. Place the bowls on 1 or 2 sturdy baking sheets to make them easier to handle. Bake for approximately 10 minutes, or until the cheese is melted. Serve at once.

QUINOA LENTIL SALAD
6 servings

1 cup dried green lentils
1 bay leaf
1 cup quinoa
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp salt
¾ cup of raisins or cranberries
¾ cup of walnuts
2 green onions
¼ cup of fresh parsley
4 Tbs of lemon juice
1 Tbs of agave
1 Tbs rice vinegar or white wine vinegar
¼ tsp salt
3 Tbs olive oil
pinch of pepper

Add 1 Cup of quinoa with 2 cups of water, 1 tsp of turmeric, 1 tsp coriander, 1 tsp salt. Allow to reach a boil then quickly switch to simmer, cover and let cook for approx 12 minutes. Keep an eye on it as it tends to burn on the bottom soon after the water is absorbed.
At the same time, add 1 cup of lentils to 3 cups of water (check the instructions on the package...different lentils call for different proportions). Add a bay leaf and allow to cook thoroughly. Lentils will take quite a bit longer than the quinoa.
Once both grains are cooked, let them cool and then mix together.
In a separate bowl mix together the dressing (the lemon juice, agave, vinegar, salt, oil and pepper).
Add chopped walnuts, cranberries, chopped green onion and minced parsley.

APPLE CRISP
8 servings

6 McIntosh apples, peeled and diced into ½-inch pieces
½ lemon, juiced
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground or freshly grated nutmeg
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
½ cup flour (or graham cracker crumbs)
½ cup brown sugar
¼ cup margarine

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
In a 9 by 12 baking dish, combine apples, lemon juice, cinnamon, nutmeg and sugar.
In a small bowl, mix flour, brown sugar and margarine together using the tines of a fork and your fingers, working until even, small crumbles form.
Sprinkle topping evenly over apples
Bake 15 to 20 minutes until apples are just tender and topping is golden brown.

Thanks to Katherine for the last photo, Jono for the rest of the photos, and of course to all our wonderful volunteers for making the Yam! such a success. This week's recipes will come soon.

Love,
Giovannayam.

Recipes from February 4th and 11th

2010-02-14T20:12:00.001-08:00

Here's a couple weeks of delicious yam recipes to tide you over for the week off.

But don't forget we're running two days in a row the week after! Thursday as usual, and then Friday, same time, same place!!

Here are the recipes from February 4th. Thanks to Jon and Dom for leading, and of course to Jono for the photos. This is one of the most attractive meals the Yam! has ever served.

CHILI

2 tbsp olive oil
1 jalapeno pepper
½ cup diced onion
1 cup barley or bulgur wheat
6 tsp chili powder
1½ tsp paprika
1 clove garlic
¾ tsp cayenne
820 ml canned crushed tomatoes
1700 ml black beans
1700 ml kidney beans
425 ml cannellini beans
1 lb yams!
1 lb carrots
1 celeriac/celery
2 cups? red wine

In a large pot heat olive oil. Saute jalapeno, onions, carrots, yams, celeriac and garlic over medium heat until onions are translucent (5-8 min).
Add the remaining ingredients and slowly bring to a boil.
Cover pot & simmer on low heat for 20 min (until barley is done).

COLESLAW

1 lb carrots
5 lbs cabbage
½ cup apple cider vinegar
½ cup sesame oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp brown sugar

Peel carrots.
Cut cabbage into food processor-friendly chunks and use food processor with shredding disk (on large setting) to shred cabbage and carrots (alternatively use a knife and/or grater).
For dressing, whisk together the vinegar, oil, salt, pepper and sugar.
In large bowl, combine shredded cabbage, carrots, and dressing, and toss.

We topped ours with some corn sprouts from FoodCycles.

CORNBREAD
from www.recipezaar.com

2 tablespoons ground flax seeds
6 tablespoons water
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup cornmeal
¼ cup sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
¾ teaspoon table salt
1 cup soy milk
¼ cup canola oil

Preheat oven to 425°F.
Spray 8-inch-square baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
Bring the water to a boil in a small saucepan.
Add the ground flax seed, reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer the ground flax seed in the water for 3 minutes or until thickened, stirring occasionally.
Set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt until well-combined.
Add the ground flax seed mixture, soy milk, and canola oil to the flour mixture.
Beat just until smooth (do not overbeat.)
Turn into prepared baking pan. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Cool on wire rack 10 minutes; invert cornbread onto wire rack, then turn right side up and continue to cool until warm, about 10 minutes longer.

CHOCOLATE GUNPOWDER COOKIES

1 cup flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp cayenne
¼ cups chocolate chips
2 tbsp cocoa powder
½ cups vegetable oil
½ cups agave
1/3 cups maple syrup
½ tsp vanilla
½ tsp almond extract

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F, prepare greased or parchment papered cookie trays.
Mix the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cayenne, chocolate chips and cocoa powder in a bowl.
Mix the veggie oil, agave, maple syrup, vanilla and almond extract in another bowl.
Mix wet and dry ingredients together.
Spoon out tablespoons of dough, about 2 inches apart, on to cookie sheets.
Bake 20 minutes.

And now the recipes from this past week (February 11th). Thanks to Rochelle from First Nations for the recipes. And also thanks to Jono for the first two pics and Katherine for the last.

CRANBERRY-RICE SALAD
Serves 6

1 cup long grain white rice
¼ cup. wild rice
½ cup dried cranberries
¼ cup chopped parsley
¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoon olive oil
¼ cup green onions diced
½ teaspoon ground cloves
salt to taste

Cook the rice to package instructions.
Fluff rice and add all other ingredients.

POTATO LEEK SOUP
Serves 4-6

2 tbsp oil
¾ pound leeks, washed and sliced (white and light green parts)
1½ pounds potatoes, sliced or diced (peeling optional)
2 cups vegetable stock or water
2 cups soy milk
1 tsp salt
black pepper to taste
½ tbsp parsley, chopped

Sauté the leeks in oil over medium heat until limp, 8-10 minutes.
Add the potatoes and stock, bring to a boil, lower heat, partially cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, until potatoes are completely soft, about 30 minutes. If there is not enough liquid, add more stock, water, or milk, * ½ c at a time.
Stir in 2 cups soy milk, salt, and pepper and simmer for 10 minutes.
You can serve the soup like this or put some or all of the soup in a blender or food processor for a smoother heavier soup. If neither appliances are available, use a hand held masher to achieve similar results.
Garnish with additional parsley and pepper and serve.

BAKED SQUASH
Serves 4

1 acorn squash
2 tablespoons sesame or olive oil
4 teaspoons fresh cinnamon, non-irradiated
2 cups water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cut the acorn squash in halves (across the middle is best) to make two acorn cups. Scoop out all seeds (You can toast the seeds on a separate cookie sheet if you wish, with some olive oil, garlic and salt).
Place the halved acorn squash cut side up in a baking pan. Add 2 cups of water to the bottom of the baking pan.
Mix the 2 tablespoon sesame oil with the cinnamon, then pour that mixture in the acorn cup cavities.
Bake in a 350 degree oven for at least 30 minutes, check with a fork for tenderness. When the squash is tender, it is done.
You can then easily scoop the squash out of it's shell, or cut the skin into desired portions.

GINGERBREAD COOKIES
makes about 48 cookies

½ cup sugar
1 teaspoon powdered ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1½ teaspoons baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1/3 cup molasses
1/3 cup soymilk
2¼ cups whole wheat pastry flour

Preheat oven to 275°F. Lightly mist two or three baking sheets with vegetable oil spray, then dust with flour.
Mix the sugar, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Add the molasses and soymilk and mix well. Add 1 cup of flour and mix well. Mix in enough of the remaining flour to make a very stiff dough (if mixing by hand, knead the dough to thoroughly mix the flour).
On a floured surface, roll a portion of the dough with a flour-dusted rolling pin to 1/16-inch thickness. Cut the dough into shapes with a flour-dusted cookie cutters or a flour-dusted knife.
Using a metal spatula, carefully transfer the cookies to the baking sheets. Bake until the edges are dry and the centers give just slightly when pressed, about 20 minutes.
Allow to cool on a baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer with a spatula to a wire rack to cool. Once cooled, store in an airtight container.

Yay! Happy Valentines Day / Chinese New Year / Family Day / (American) Presidents' Day / Olympics / Reading Week :)

With love,

Giovannayam

Shout out from the Globe and Mail

2010-02-11T14:00:00.000-08:00

Today's Globe and Mail has an article about students, cooking and campus food, and there's nice little shout out to Hot Yam! and The People's Potato.

2010-01-29T07:01:00.000-08:00

Let's start with a few announcements:

Friday February 5th we're catering the Food Justice Unconference.
February 11th our meal will be a collaboration with First Nations.
There's no meal during reading week (February 18th)
There's an EXTRA meal Friday February 26th! That's right, we'll be serving two days in a row!

And now here are the recipes and some photos from this week's meal. Thanks to both our photographers this week (Katherine for the first and Jono for the rest), and also to our meal leads Jason and Ian for these awesome recipes!

CURRIED LENTILS
Serving size: 4

1 medium onion
1 Tbsp vegetable broth
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp ginger
½ tsp turmeric
½ tsp salt
1 cup diced tomatoes
½ cup chickpeaks, dried, soaked overnight
½ cup beans, dried, soaked overnight
1cup lentils
1 ½ cups broth
1 cup leafy greens

Sauté onion in oil for 3 minutes.
Add garlic, ginger, turmeric, salt, tomatoes, broth, and lentils.
Simmer, covered, until lentils are cooked.
Add 1 cup greens, simmer again for 2 more minutes.

ROASTED RUTABAGA

(to be honest, some of ours were griddled and not roasted)

Serving Size: 1

1/3 rutabaga
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp coconut oil to coat the baking sheet
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp Old Bay seasoning, cajun seasoning, or other mixed seasoning

Preheat oven to 425 F. In a bowl, mix all the ingredients except 1 tbsp of coconut oil.
Use a food processor to slice the rutabaga into small chip slices.
On a very large sheet pan, coat it with that remaining 1 tbsp coconut oil and spread the seasoned strips out in a single layer.
Put into the oven to bake for about 30 minutes, stiring/turning every 10 minutes.
After when done, add the mixed ingredients on top of the chips, and stir the chips.

BEET & CIDER SOUP
(Beware of dying yourself and your kitchen red)

Servings: 6 servings

3 tsp (10 mL) coconut oil
2 onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 potato, peeled and cubed
4 cups (1 L) chopped beets (4 large)
3 1/4 cups vegetable stock
3/4 cups apple cider
2 tsp (10 mL) curry paste, ground ginger, or cumin.
salt/pepper

In saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Add onions, garlic, potato and your choice of seasoning. Cook, stirring often, for 5 minutes or until onions are softened.
Add beets and stock; bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
Puree soup until smooth. If desired, thin with more water, stock or milk. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

MAPLE-CARROT SPICE CAKE
Servings: 15

1/2 cup soy milk, at room temperature
1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg, spices
scant 1/2 cup maple syrup (use dark amber, grade A syrup)
1/4 cup canola or soybean oil
½ cup grated carrot
2 tbsp + 1 tsp (35ml) brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
Icing sugar to dust, or icing to glaze

Preheat oven to 350F. Whisk together soy milk and vinegar. Cover and let stand at room temperature for 10 mins to allow milk to curdle.
Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutemg into a large bowl. Whisk together oil, maple syrup, vanilla and brown sugar into the soy milk mixture.
Make a well in the dry ingredients and whisk in the wet ingredients in two batches. Whisk just until no large lumps remain, a few small lumps are okay. Do not overmix.
Pour into pans, and bake at 350F for 20-22 minutes, until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool completely on a wire rack before frosting.

With lots of Yam! love,

Giovannayam

2010-01-22T09:45:00.000-08:00

Thanks so much to everyone who came out this week! Your donations really helped. We were able to make ~$350 to donate to relief work in Haiti (through Partners in Health).

Missed it? You can still help out by donating here: www.standwithhaiti.org

Here are the recipes (thanks to Anny & Michelle)!

CHICKPEA AND LEEK SOUP
Yield: 6

12 ounces chickpeas, soaked overnight in water
1 medium potato, peeled
2 leek, finely, sliced
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, finely, sliced
salt
freshly ground pepper
850 millilitres chicken or vegetable stock
extra virgin olive oil
25mL soy milk

Rinse the soaked chickpeas, cover with water, and cook with the potato until tender.
Remove the outer skin of the leeks, slice lengthways from the root up, wash carefully and slice finely.
Warm a thick-bottomed pan, and add the tablespoon of oil. Add the leeks and garlic to the pan, and sweat gently with a good pinch of salt until tender and sweet.
Add the drained chickpeas and potato and cook for 1 minute. Add about two-thirds of the stock, the soy milk and simmer for 15 minutes.
Purée half the soup in a food processor and leave the other half chunky this gives a lovely smooth comforting feel but also keeps a bit of texture.
Now add enough of the remaining stock to achieve the consistency you like. Check for seasoning.

ROOT VEGETABLE SHEPHERD'S PIE
Yield: 4 to 6 servings
Time: 1 hr total, 45 mins active

2 medium russet potatoes, peeled and cut into large dice
1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cut into large dice
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
10 ounces cremini mushrooms, cleaned, stemmed, and quartered
1/2 medium yellow onion, medium dice
2 medium carrots, medium dice
1/2 medium celery root, medium dice
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon dried thyme
2 cups mushroom broth
2 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/2 cup frozen peas

Heat the broiler to low and arrange a rack in the upper third of the oven. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil; set aside.
Place russet and sweet potatoes in a large pot of heavily salted water and bring to a boil over high heat. Simmer until just tender when pierced with a knife, about 5 minutes. Drain, then return potatoes to the pot. Mash coarsely; add salt, and pepper; and stir until just combined. Set aside.
Heat olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat until shimmering. Add mushrooms and cook, stirring rarely, until browned, about 6 minutes. Add onion, season with salt and freshly ground black pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion just begins to soften, about 3 minutes.
Add carrots, celery root, tomato paste, and thyme and stir to coat vegetables. Add mushroom broth and soy sauce and stir until incorporated. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally, and cook until vegetables are just tender when pierced with a knife, about 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, combine water and flour in a small bowl and stir until smooth. When vegetables are ready, add flour mixture, stir to combine, bring to a boil, and cook until sauce has thickened, about 1 minute. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Stir in frozen peas.
Transfer mixture to a 7-by-11-inch baking dish (or a 3-quart baking dish) and spread reserved mashed potato mixture over top. Place on the prepared baking sheet and broil until the top starts to brown, about 5 minutes. Let cool 5 to 10 minutes before serving.

VANILLA CUPCAKES
Yield: 12 cupcakes

1 cup soy milk
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
¾ cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup canola oil
2 ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons corn starch
¾ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 Fahrenheit degrees and grease the muffin pan with some oil.
Whisk together the soy milk and vinegar in a large bowl, and set aside for a few minutes to curdle. Add the sugar, oil, and vanilla extract to the soy milk mixture and beat till foamy. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, corn starch, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add in two batches to wet ingredients and beat till no large lumps remain.
Pour into pan, filling three-quarters of the way. Bake 20 to 22 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer to cooling rack and let cool completely before frosting.

VEGAN BUTTERCREAM ICING

½ cup nonhydrogenated shortening
½ cup nonhydrogenated margarine
3 ½ cups confectioners’ sugar
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
¼ cup plain soy milk

Beat the shortening and margarine together until well combined and fluffy.
Add the sugar and beat for about 3 more minutes.
Add the vanilla and soy milk; beat for another 5 to 7 minutes until fluffy.

Thanks as always to Jono for the photos (and also to Laura for hand modeling)

--Giovannayam.

Recipes from December 3rd and January 14th

2010-01-17T21:22:00.001-08:00

Hello folks! I know some of you have been itching to make the past few meals at home and we've been letting you down by not letting you in on our secrets. But no longer! Well, I've at least got two of the past three meals. January 7th will come soon.

December 3rd (thanks to Hannah!)

ROASTED BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP

(recipe adapted from culinate.com)

Serves 4 – 6

3 tbsp canola oil +a little extra to bake squash
3 cups chopped onions
2 to 4 tsp cup curry powder
2 small/medium butternut squash
2 tart apples, peeled, cored, and chopped
4 cups vegetable broth
1 cups apple juice
salt + pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cover a large baking sheet with foil. Pour a tablespoon or two of oil over the foil to create a thin film. Cut the butternut squash in half, scoop out the seeds, and place each half on the oiled foil, flesh-side down. Bake squash until tender, 45 to 55 minutes.
While the squash is cooking, prepare the rest of the ingredients. In a large stockpot, heat the oil. Add chopped onions and curry powder and cook over low-to-medium heat for about 10 minutes, until the onions begin to soften. Add chopped apples and cook another 5 minutes, giving the contents of the pot an occasional stir. Add broth and apple juice to the pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer.
Once the squash is tender, remove it from the oven and let cool; when cool enough to handle, scoop the flesh out with a large spoon and add it to the simmering soup pot. Cook for several minutes, checking to make sure that the apples and squash are tender.
Turn off the heat under the pot, and with an immersion blender, a food processor, or a regular blender, purée the soup until smooth. (If using a food processor or ordinary blender, be sure to only fill the container half full, to avoid burning yourself.)
Season to taste with salt and pepper and return to simmer if the soup has cooled.

ORANGE MAPLE ROASTED FENNEL, COUSCOUS, AND CHICKPEAS

Thinly slice fennel bulbs, then toss with oil and salt.
Spread the fennel in a single layer on a baking sheet and roast at 425 for about 20-30 minutes or until the fennel has caramelized a little bit.
Mix with couscous, chickpeas, some chopped fennel fronds, and this dressing, courtesy of theppk.com:

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp maple syrup
3 tbsp orange juice
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp grated fresh ginger
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp nutmeg
salt to taste

PURPLE CABBAGE SALAD WITH CURRANTS, CARROTS, AND ALMONDS
(recipe courtesy of veganyumyum.com)

Serves 4-6

1 small head purple cabbage, shredded
4 carrots, shredded
sliced or slivered almonds
dried currants or raisins
(dressing):
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp seasoned rice vinegar (or plain?)
1 tbsp water
¼ tsp salt
1 tsp maple syrup
2 tbsp canola oil

Shred cabbage and carrots.
Mix with almonds and currants.
Whisk the dressing ingredients together and add that too.

GINGERBREAD COOKIES

(recipe from theppk.com)

makes about 16 cookies

1/3 cup canola oil
¾ cup sugar
¼ cup molasses
¼ cup plain soymilk
2 cups all purpose flour (we used half AP flour and half whole wheat pastry flour)
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
½ tsp nutmeg
½ tsp cloves
½ tsp cinnamon
1 ½ tsp ground ginger

In a large bowl beat together oil and sugar for about 3 minutes. Add molasses and soymilk. The molasses and soymilk won't really blend with the oil but that's ok.
In a sepearte bowl, sift together all the other ingredients.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet in batches. Mix together with a firm spoon or spatula until well combined. You should have a pretty stiff dough. Flatten the dough into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and chill for an hour or up to 3 days in advance. (If you chill longer than an hour you may want to let it sit for 10 minutes to loosen up a bit before proceeding).
Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly grease your cookie sheets.
On a floured surface roll you dough out to a little less than 1/4 inch thick. You can do this in 2 batches if you don't have the space. Cut out your shapes with your cookie cutters and gently place on cookie sheets (if you are using them to decorate with remember to cut a hole with a straw or something before baking). Bake for 8 minutes.
Remove from oven and let them cool for 2 minutes on the baking sheet then move to a cooling rack. Wait until they are completely cool before icing.
For the icing: mix small amount of water with confectioners sugar until you get a consistency a little thicker than toothpaste. Add food coloring!

January 14th (thanks to Kate & Mike!)

COCONUT CHICKPEA CURRY

6-8 servings

4-6 cups of chick peas
2 onions
3 cloves of garlic
4 tomatoes (roma or 1 can or crushed)
2 tsp of cumin, salt, and tumeric *
1 tsp of paprika and garam masala
1 tbsp of mild patak curry paste (found in most grocery stores) *
1 cans of coconut milk
2 cups of mushrooms (or other desired vegetables, potatoes work well)

* add more cumin, tumeric and patak paste to taste

Soak the chickpeas overnight.
Boil the chickpeas for 1 hour, and drain.
Meanwhile chop onions, garlic, mushrooms.
Sautee onions and garlic until translucent. Add mushrooms and sauté until soft.
Add tomatoes, simmer for 5 minutes.
Add chickpeas, turmeric, paprika, patak paste, coconut milk, salt and let boil for 20 minutes?
Add garam masala, and cumin in the end. Adjust flavors if needed.

SPICY SESAME POTATOES

6-8 servings

3 large potatoes cubed or cut into wedges (sweet potatoes or Yukon)
1- tbsp of paprika
1- tbsp of chili powder
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons of sesame seeds
2- tbsp of oil or enough to coat

Pre heat oven to 426.
Toss potatoes in spices, oil and sesame seeds. Lay flat on baking sheet.
Cook for 15 min. Then flip and cook for another 15 min.

GARLIC LIME SLAW
makes 6-8 servings

1 ½ cups of shredded green or red cabbage
1 cup of shredded carrots
1 cup of sprouts
¼ a cup of thinly sliced fresh mint

Dressing:

1/4c of lime juice
2 tbs of brown sugar, or maple syrup
½ teaspoon of salt
1tbs of olive oil
2 garlic cloves minced
1 small fresh chile minced
1 tbs of grated peeled gineger root

Whisk together lime juice, sugar and salt.
In a small skillet on medium high heat the oil and cook the garlic chilies and ginger until sizzling and fragrant (1 min).
Whisk into the lime juice.
Let sit about 20 min before dressing.

DOUBLE CHOCOLATE COOKIES
makes 18 cookies

3/4 cup canola oil
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 tablespoon flax seed, plus
1 teaspoon flax seed
1/2 cup soymilk
2 cups flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups semisweet vegan chocolate chips (obviously, vegan chocolate chips if you want these to be vegan)

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Grind flax seeds in a blender until they become a fine powder, then add the soy milk and blend for about 30 seconds more and set aside.
In a large bowl, sift together cocoa, flour, baking soda and salt.
Cream the sugar and oil in a separate large bowl.
Add the flax/soy milk mixture and mix well.
Stir in the vanilla.
Slowly mix in the dry ingredients (the original recipe does not call for a mixer, but you may want to use yours.).
Mix in the chocolate chips.
Roll dough into 1" balls and flatten into disks about 1 1/2" in diameter.
Place on an ungreased cookie sheet about 1" apart and bake for 10 minutes.
Let rest on the cookie sheet for about 5 minutes, then remove with a spatula to a cooling rack and cool completely.

A big thanks for Jono for the photos.

--Giovannayam.

2009 In Review: Yes We Yam!

2010-01-12T19:42:00.000-08:00

Hello my succulent spuds,

With our first general meeting of the year coming up this Friday, I think it's high time we take a look back on the deliciousness that was 2009 at the Hot Yam! There was....

Delicious Food!

From gnocchi to parathas to a smorgasbord of soups, 2009 saw a constant stream of tastiness flow out of the Hot Yam! kitchen. We served all year long in 2009, allowing us to take full advantage of Ontario's phenomenal agricultural bounty and our local farmer's markets.

With food safety in mind, our volunteers nevertheless shed blood, sweat, and tears (of joy!) while sharing their recipes, their skills, and their love of all things sustainable.... serving up thousands of memorable meals in the process. Go team!

They say that smell is the sense closest linked to memory.... but until they invent scratch-and-sniff computer monitors, here are some pictures instead. Thanks to our fantastic photographers, especially Jono “Yamlicious” Lung, for capturing our culinary creations.

Delicious Press!

With food this good, the 'Yam! managed to score some very positive media attention in 2009. We have so much gratitude for all the reporters, reviewers, and media outlets who stopped by our humble eatery – you rock! Aside from the warm, fuzzy feelings they gave us, your articles and reviews have helped spread the word about our mandate, our practices, and our vision. Here's to more good news in 2010!

Here are some links to 'Yam-lated stories from the last year:

Steven Davey's Review in NOW Magazine from late August. Still giddy!

More Love from NOW Magazine: Top 10 Restros of 2009, best lunch under $5, and a mini review!

The Varsity: Living Arts, Nov 9, 2009 - Eating Vegan at The Hot Yam!

The 'Yam often came up when the Varsity discussed campus food, like in these four articles.

The Bulletin, March 10, 2009 - Student-run vegan eatery popular lunch option.

Delicious Events!

EatLocal! - The Hot Yam!'s annual local-food extravaganza brought together students, a farmer's market, free local eats, awesome merchants, and a lot of other community folks. This was one of three events associated with World Food Week in October, sponsored by Hart House.

Home Is Where the Fork Is – New College has exhibited an ongoing commitment to food issues, and collaborated with the 'Yam! in October to put together a fantastic food event. We served up 8 wicked dishes featuring a plethora of local autumn ingredients, and even demonstrated how to make our much-lusted-over vegan chocolate pudding. This was another World Food Week event.

Food4Health Student Unconference – The goal of this event was to inject some energy and excitement into both existing and soon-to-be-existing campus food initiatives. From bees to food maps to gardens and beyond, 'Yams not only participated at all levels but also catered the lunch. Watch for a similar get-together in early February, 2010. This was our last World Food Week event - phew!

ISC Cafe – From August 31st to September 4th the HotYam! was busy serving up amazing food every day at the International Students Centre. It was our way of welcoming back the school year with open arms, and full stomachs.

DisOrientation – We pushed our free wares outside of the UTSU building as part of their post-Orientation event-fest.

Earthcycle – The 'Yam provided some good eats at UofT's big, rocking environment week in September. Because nothing ruins a good meal quite like climate change.

PowerShift Canada 2009 – In October, masses of young people converged in Ottawa to demand immediate and sweeping government action on climate change. Not only were 'Yams part of the action, but Kira and Indra also led an engaging workshop for the participants entitled “The Decorporatization of Campus Food”. You tell 'em!

Delicious Developments....

Identify 'N Impact Youth Award – We were truly honoured to be the recipient of an I'N'I Award in 2009. These awards aim to “celebrate the valuable contributions young people make to communities throughout Toronto, and the important role youth play as advocates, visionaries and agents of social change”. These awards are sponsored by the Toronto Youth Cabinet; thank you so much, Toronto youth!!

Kitchen Makeover! - Have you seen it? Our magical kitchen has been outfitted with new ranges, shelving, new lights, and more! We owe so much to the folks at the International Student Centre for their hospitality, patience, and support. You're the best!

Education and Outreach – The Environmental Students' Union graciously sponsored our first-ever work-study position in 2009. We would like to welcome once more Heather to the Hot Yam! She'll be helping us make the 'Yam! a more educational, more engaging space well into 2010.

FoodCycles - FoodCycles is an inspired (and inspiring) urban farm and learning centre, located within the city of Toronto itself. Launched in 2009, FoodCycles is committed to growing delicious, nutritious, earth-friendly food at their Downsview Park digs, making them easy friends with the 'Yam. We were proud to be one of FoodCycle's first customers, and we are even more excited to continue our relationship with them far into the future. Deep thanks to all the visionary farmers and suppliers, who provide the foundations for everything we do.

… and Awesome People!

At the Hot Yam!, our goal is to provide the community with good, soul-satisfying food. To make it happen, we run completely on the time, energy, spirit, and generosity of people, both our impassioned eaters and our irreplaceable volunteers. After everything that happened in 2009, one thing is definitely clear - we're doing this together.

As we go bravely forth into the new year, one that promises more opportunities, more challenges, and more amazing food, I think we all deserve a big, sustainable pat on the back for a job very, very well done.

May the Yam be even Hotter in the months to come!

- A. Jason Yam, et. al

Hot Yam! volunteer meeting: Friday, Jan 15th, 6-7pm @ISC

2010-01-10T10:26:00.000-08:00

Hello my lovely winter greens!

Greetings from UofT's vegan and mostly local, mostly organic volunteer lunch party: Hot Yam!

Do you eat at the Hot Yam! but secretly wish you were in the kitchen were all the cool kids are?

Maybe you're a new volunteer and want to find out more about us and meet the other yam!s?

Or perhaps you already volunteer with us but want to take it up a notch and join our planning team?

Well, perfect timing! The Hot Yam! is having a general volunteer meeting this week and everyone is welcome (including you, yes). The meeting will be held at the International Student Centre, from 6-7pm, Friday January 15th. Come out, meet everyone, and find out how to get involved!

Carrots and chickpeas,

Yam, Esq.

p.s. In case you didn't know, Hot Yam! serves up $4 plates of deliciousness every Thursday from 12-2pm at the International Student Centre. Email us at hottestyam@gmail.com (or visit hotyam.blogspot.com) for more info.

Hot Yam! needs an accountant!

2010-01-07T15:53:00.000-08:00

Hi lovelies!

We at the Hot Yam! are applying for funding and we desperately need a chartered accountant to prepare a Review Engagement Report for us. Do you or anyone you know have the magical accounting abilities to work with us?

Here is the posting on the GoodWork Canada mailing list we recently sent out with more details:

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITY

Position: Accountant to prepare Review Engagement Report
Organization: Hot Yam! http://hotyam.blogspot.com
Location: Toronto, Ontario

Hot Yam! is a unfunded, student-run all-volunteer lunch
service that operates at the University of Toronto. Each
week we serve a vegan, mostly local, mostly organic meal for
$4 to the University of Toronto community, or anyone that
comes to eat with us. Our aim is to provide a healthy, fair
and sustainable alternative to the corporate food services
on campus, as well as educate our volunteers and eaters
about the food system and sustainable agriculture.

We have been running successfully since January 2007, and
growing every year. This past year we have started to serve
200 people each lunch. We have had some great press this
year, including these two wonderful reviews in NOW
Magazine:

http://www.nowtoronto.com/food/story.cfm?content=170983
http://www.nowtoronto.com/food/story.cfm?content=172991

As mentioned, we are currently unfunded. Each week we
attempt to make enough money through our meal sales to
pay for the week after, as well as cover rent and equipment
costs. We are in the process of applying for funding from
the university. We have been conditionally accepted upon
producing a Review Engagement Report completed by a
chartered accountant.

This volunteer job posting is for a chartered accountant to
work with us to prepare this document. We need it completed
it by January 18, 2010.

In exchange we will feed you weekly and love you always,
advertise you, or yes, we can discuss monetary remuneration
although, at the moment, we do have not much to offer.

If you are interested in this job, please contact us at:
hottestyam AT gmail.com

Nov 26, 2009: Split pea soup, quinoa, greens, and pear cake

2009-11-28T08:23:00.000-08:00

Mmm.. this was a delicious meal if I say so myself! On the menu this week was:

Ethiopian split pea stew
Quinoa-squash-cranberry salady wonderfulness
A mess of roasted greens
Upside-down pear cake

We had a lot of great and positive feedback from the meal! Yay! Scroll down for recipes. This week's meal was led by Dulcie and myself, Jon, and brought to you by many many amazing volunteers that took time out of the hectic exam and assignment freakout time to shop and chop and bake and serve and clean. Love!

Our resident photographer, Jono Lung, took some other photos from the day:

(I think that's Dulcie explaining what a vegan is to this wee pup.)

Also, at this week's meal our amazing education and outreach workstudy, Heather, put up a really cool display called "Vegan IT" asking for eaters to scribble up their ideas on what being a vegan is all about. Strictly speaking a vegan diet is one that contains no animal products. Hot Yam! serves vegan meals for a number of reasons but primarily because it's very accessible: whether you're an omnivore, vegetarian or vegan you can eat with us; aswell a vegan diet can have a much lower environmental impact than one that includes animal products. In any case, we'll report back with some of your thoughts on veganism from the activity shortly.

We also put out a survey to our eaters (which you can fill out online if you didn't have the chance to at the meal). We'll report back about the results once we have a chance to analyse 'em.

Some stats about this week's meal:

We fed about 160 paying customers, and fed lots and lots of volunteers.
We had 80 responses to the survey.
We spent about $460 dollars on food for the meal. This doesn't include the cost of the quinoa, walnuts, and flour which had in storage.
We made about $180 dollars in profit; or $140 if you subtract the money we spent on non-foodstuffs, like dishwasher detergent.

The big disappointment with this meal was running out of greens part way... that was my fault as my guesstimate of the broccoli needed was way off. It was late when we were shopping, I thought we were going over budget.. I panicked. On the upside, the cake was fantastic!

Speaking about cake, here are the recipes!

Ethiopian split pea stew (kik alicha)

This is probably the easiest and tastiest soup you'll ever make.

3.5 C yellow split peas

10 C of water

3 Onions

half a head of garlic

1/2 C of minced ginger

2 1/2 tsp of tumeric

olive oil

Directions: First, simmer peas and water till almost tender (30 minutes). Dice onion and mince the garlic and ginger. Fry the onion in olive oil until the onion goes translucent (about five minutes). Add the garlic, ginger, and tumeric and cook for a couple of minutes. Add a bit of water and cover, cooking on low for 3-5 minutes. Add peas with a bit of salt to taste and simmer until the peas are very soft.

Spiced Pear and Ginger Upside Down Cake

Topping:

3 pears

1/4 C margarine

1/3 C brown sugar

Cake:

1/2 C margarine

2/3 C brown sugar

1/2 C light molasses (or we used 1/3 C dark molasses and 1/6 C of agave or corn syrup)

1/2 lb (1.6 C) of all purpose flour (we mixed all purpose, whole wheat and Atta flour we had!)

2 tsp ground ginger

2 "flax eggs"

1/3 C of soy milk

1 tsp baking soda

Directions for making flax egg substitute:

1 Tablespoon flax seeds plus 3 Tablespoons water replaces one egg. Finely grind 1 tablespoon whole flaxseeds in a blender or coffee grinder, or use 2 1/2 tablespoons pre- ground flaxseeds. Transfer to a bowl and beat in 3 tablespoons of water using a whisk or fork. It will become very gooey and gelatinous, much like an egg white. In some recipes, you can leave the ground flax in the blender and add the other wet ingredients to it, thus saving you the extra step of the bowl.

Direction for the topping:

Preheat your oven to 350 F. Grease your baking tin. Peel (or don't. We didn't), and halve and core the pears. Poach (or don't! we didn't!) in a simple syrup for 30 minutes until soft. Cream the margarine and sugar until soft. Spread on the base of tins. Place pears cut side down on top of this with the tops pointing inwards.

Directions for making the cake:

Melt the margarine in a pot with the molasses. DO NOT LET IT BOIL! Remove from heat and let it cool a bit. Mix flour and ginger in a large boal. Make a well in the middle and pour flax eggs and margarine/molasses mix into the well. Mix until smooth.

Meanwhile, warm the soy milk. Add the baking soda. Pour this into the mix and mix well. Pour the batter over the pears being careful not to disturb them.

Bake for 45 minutes or until a knife slides out cleanly. We had to bake them for 50-55 minutes.

Let cool, INVERT, and enjoy.

Squash Quinoa Salad

We got this recipe from this blog and played around with it by leaving out the kale. We left out the kale mainly because we wanted to put the kale in the....

Mess 'o greens

But it turns out that Ontario kale is rather hard to find at this time of year. Le sigh. So instead we bought whatever local greens we could find and roasted them up. This is about the easiest thing you can do short of just eating these things raw (also recommended!).

We used:

Broccoli
Bok Choi
Green Peppers (donated!)
Onions
Garlic.

Chopped the greens up into medium sized pieces, minced the garlic, mixed it all and drizzled on some olive oil and roasted them in a shallow pan at 425-450F until they had cooked but still had a bit of crunch. Salt, pepper, random spices and voila.

We got the greens and most of the other produce from the wonderful folks at 4Life Natural Foods in Kensington Market! Go check 'em out!

Eat Local!

2009-11-02T08:03:00.000-08:00

October 21st, 2009 was Hot Yam's 3rd annual Eat Local! event. Our Yams cooked up delicious treats for all to enjoy. The event was a huge success with great turn outs. Our appetizing zucchini cakes sure made many tummies happy and satisfied!

So without further ado, here is the aforementioned mouth-watering zucchini cake recipe!

Enjoy!

Zucchini Cake

18 tbs flaxseed meal (3:1 water/seeds, boiled until eggy)

9 cups granulated sugar

6 c vegetable oil

12 cups coarsely grated raw zucchini (food processor!)

18 tsp vanilla

18 c flour

6 tsp salt

6 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

6 tbsp cinnamon

3 tsp nutmeg

icing sugar for dusting

1. Grease pans. Preheat oven to 350F.

2. Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, and dry spices.

3. Mix in the sugar and wet ingredients: egg substitute, vanilla,

oil. (The recipe says "mix dry ingreds, then wet, then stir wet into

dry" but that dirties too many pans for me.)

4. Mix in the zucchini.

5. Bake for ~60 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. The

bread should still be moist in the middle, just not gooey.

6. Cool before removing from the pan.

7. Dust with icing sugar before serving.

(Stay tuned Yammers! As the rest of the recipes are to follow..)

Recipes from Octobe 29

2009-10-31T11:13:00.000-07:00

Dear Hot Yams,
This week felt a little scaled back, instead of the usual 200-250 eaters we fed only 150. However those 150 were so lucky to have enjoyed Lydia's very own:

* Cheeky Chickpea Wrap
* Funky Chunky Apple Onion & Sweet Potato Soup
* Grandiose Grilled Vegetable Salad
* Simple Cinnamon Pear Cookie

I know you all are dying to make these dishes at home so I will get straight to the point...

For the Cheeky Chickpea Wrap:

Ingredient & specification:	Item count/volume:
Whole wheat or multigrain tortillas	16 packages of 8 OR 21 packages of 6
Organic chickpeas	5 15 oz cans
Butternut squash	3
Tomatoes (diced)	10-12 small
Red pepper (julienne)	12
Red onion (sliced)	3
Spinach	3 bags
Dried basil	1 tsp
Dried oregano	1 tsp
Salt	1 tsp
Black pepper	1 tsp
Paprika	1 tsp

Cooking Directions:

Cut squash, place in stockpot and cook in boiling water until tender
Strain and mash
Add seasoning (basil, oregano, salt, black pepper, paprika)

Preparation directions:

Wash spinach and allow to dry
Rinse and strain chickpeas, add turmeric to enhance colour
Dice tomatoes and strain
Julienne red pepper, slice red onion
Warm tortillas in oven to make them more pliable
Line tortillas with dried spinach
Scoop squash onto spinach lined tortilla and spread out
Add diced tomatoes, chickpeas, red peppers and onion
Roll up wrap and cut in half
Plate and serve

Next Up is the Funky Chunky Apple, Onion & Sweet Potato Soup

Yield: 250 servings

Ingredient & specification:	Item count / volume:	EP weight: (EP= edible portion)
Golden Delicious apples ( ½” cubes)	20 regular size
Granny Smith apples ( ½” cubes)	20 regular size
Sweet onions (diced)	20 regular size	2.400kg
Red onions ( ½” cubes)	20 regular size	2.400kg
Sweet potatoes ( ½” cubes)	40 small size OR 13 large size	8.000kg
Celery stalks (finely chopped)	40	2.400kg
Carrots (finely chopped)	40 small size OR 20 medium size	2.400kg
Garlic (finely minced)	40 cloves (5 heads)
Dried thyme	6 tbsp
Dried sage	3 tbsp
Salt	3-4 tbsp
Pepper	2 tbsp
Water	40L

Variations and substitutions:

Crispin apples can be substituted for Golden Delicious apples

Preparation directions:

Peel sweet potatoes and cut into ½ ” cubes
Cut onions into ½ ” cubes
Finely chop celery and carrots
Finely mince garlic
Peel apples and reserve peels (to be used for broth)
Core and cut apples into ½ ” cubes

Cooking directions:

Place water and salt into stockpot and bring to a boil
Add apple peels and reduce to a simmer
Simmer for approx. 10-25min.
Remove from heat and puree using an emersion blender to create an apple broth

Heat oil in pan over medium heat
Add onions and until softened
Add celery, carrot, and garlic. Cook until golden (approx. 8-10 min.)
Add apples, sage, and thyme, and cook for about 7 minutes or until apples have softened
Transfer all ingredients to stockpot with apple broth
Add sweet potato, and pepper and bring to a boil
Reduce heat, cover an simmer for about 25 min. or until sweet potatoes are tender
Adjust seasoning if need be

Grandiose Grilled Vegetable Salad

Ingredient & specification:	Item count/volume:
Zucchini (sliced)	30
Tomatoes (small roma or plum, sliced)	250
Eggplant (small, sliced)	30
Yellow peppers (julienne)	125
Mushrooms (sliced)	15 cups
Red onions (small, sliced)	5

Olive oil	8 cups
Garlic cloves	125 (15 heads)
Salt	5 tbsp
Black pepper	5 tbsp
Dried basil	5 tbsp
Dried oregano	5 tbsp

Variations and substitutions:

Olive oil can be substituted for another cooking oil such as sunflower oil

Preparation directions:

Finely mince garlic
Combine olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper
Julienne peppers and slice all vegetables into evenly sized cuts
Toss vegetables in olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper mixture
Let marinate for 20-30 min. (if time is not a constraint)

Cooking directions:

Preheat grill, and lightly brush with oil
Place vegetables on grill and cook until grill marks are present (about 5 minutes) and vegetables are still firm
Turn vegetables over and until other side is browned and vegetables are tender
Remove vegetables from grill, sprinkle with basil and oregano, plate and serve

Simple Cinnamon Pear Cookies

Yield: 256

Ingredient & specification:	EP weight: (edible portion)	AP weight: (as purchased)	Item count/volume:
Cake and pastry flour	1.920g		16 cups
Cinnamon	16g		5 tbsp
Baking soda	28g		4 tsp
Salt	8g		1 tsp

Organic sugar	1.400g		8 cups
Sunflower oil	400g		2 cups
Pure vanilla extract	40g		2 ½ tbsp

Chopped pear	640g	760g	3-4
Lemon juice			120 ml
Soy milk	480g		2 cups

Preparation directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F
Combine ingredients into cookie dough
Line baking baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats
Scoop dough onto cookie sheets using cookie scoop

Variations and substitutions:

Sunflower oil can be substituted with canola oil or safflower oil
40g (2 ½ tbsp) pure vanilla extract can be substituted with 120g (8 tbsp) artificial vanilla extract
If parchment paper or silicone baking mats are unavailable, brush baking sheets with oil

Baking directions:

Bake for 10 min. in oven at 350°F
Remove from oven and let sit on cookie sheet for 10 minutes
Transfer to cooling rack and let sit for 10-15minutes

Serving Directions:

Prior to serving take remaining pears, core and slice
(Cut each pear slice in half if there are not enough slices for everyone)
Use remaining lemon juice to sprinkle over pears in order to prevent browning
Plate each cookie with a pear slice and serve

As always please remember to scale down the recipes ad to enjoy!

Love Always,
Michelle the Yam

representing at POWERSHIFT!

2009-10-29T12:18:00.001-07:00

Yams! Let's all take a tubermoment to remember that behind all this awesome food party action we are group of young (or youngish) people dedicated to creating a campus-based alternative to aramark and chartwells and sodexho and ... you name it. It's one of many ways that all involved - eaters too - contribute to a simpler, more nutritious, more delicious, more self-empowering, more communal, more sustainable, less corporate and more awesome campus! Way to go!

This past weekend a huge group of mostly students from across Canada met in Ottawa to talk about stopping climbing change. The 4-day Powershift conference was organized by the Canadian Youth Climate coalition as a forum for youth activists to commune. We shared knowledge and techniques and frustrations with each other.

Hot Yam! was there too. I co-facilitate a workshop with Indra N. for about 20 people from across the country who wanted to talk about changes they want to see in food service on their campus. We talked about problems with corporate food services on our campuses and then answered a lot of questions about how the Yam works. We also learned about a few alternative food initiatives that already exist that I've never heard of.

Some of us Yammers have been talking about a gathering of Canadian campus-based foodies in the new year. So far this is who we know about. Let me know if anyone is missing!

Caffeinds (U of T)
People's Potato (Concordia)
Midnight Kitchen (McGill)
Happy Belly (McGill)
Tupperware Thursdays (Dalhousie)
Sprouts (UBC)
G-Spot (Carleton)
People's Republic of Delicious (U of O)

Love and revofoodtion
Kira Yam

Action 4 Food Justice 'Unconference' Tomorrow 10-3pm at Hart House

2009-10-26T10:37:00.000-07:00

Dear Yams,
Tomorrow Hart House is hosting an exciting Foodie event, the Action 4 Food Justice Unconference! There will be lots of interesting people and discussion that will aim to connect existing on and off campus Food Initiatives as well as inspire new ones. The Hot Yam! Will be providing a free lunch of BBQ tofu sandwiches, lentil soup and iced zucchini cake! Hope to see you all there, some more details below:

Tuesday October 27, 10-3, Music Room (Hart House). Free lunch provided.

This is an opportunity for all the food passionate people from the UofT and Toronto community to share ideas, collaborate and foster action on food issues. This interdisciplinary day of action on food will enrich participants’ perspectives on food-issues, and foster collaboration. Our goal is to channel the large amount of energy and dedication around food into working groups that will deliver tangible and effective actions on campus and beyond.

Hope those midterms are going well with everyone and you have a little extra time to join us tomorrow.

Love,
A Yam

Pictures from October 8th

2009-10-22T13:02:00.000-07:00

Well if you haven't noticed already, our pictures are getting snazzier. That's cuz we've got the wonderful talents of photographer extraordinaire Jono Lung to help us capture our meals in ones and zeros..

On the menu that week was:

Black Eyed Fritters (a la Vegan Soul Kitchen)
Green Thumbed Collard Redux (a la Vegan Soul Kitchen)
Copper Tongued Couscous
Red Cheeked Candy Apples

Recipes to follow..

Roasted Red Peppers, Cranberry Poached Pears, Wilted Arugula and Seasoned Squash

2009-10-20T13:56:00.000-07:00

Dear Faithful Yammies,
Last week was a busy one for those at the Hot Yam! We not only served a total of 180 loyal eaters (plus volunteers) on our regular Thursday lunch but we went ahead and catered another 50 lucky new college students at the event "Home is Where the Fork is" without even breaking a sweat! (ok maybe we were sweating a little bit). We couldn't have done it all without our amazing volunteers who dedicate their precious study time to us every week. So here is a Big

THANK YOU !!!!

to everyone who came out to help (and eat).

In addition I'm here to share some of those lovely delicacies you encountered on your plate.
As always these recipes are altered to accommodate many more eaters then you may have in your home, so simply remember to downsize when you are putting together your own shopping list

First up

Roasted Squash and Wilted Arugula Salad /w Warm Maple Syrup Vinaigrette (for 250)

Approx 75 pounds butternut squash, peeled and 3/4-inch) diced

5-6 L extra virgin olive oil
1 litre pure maple syrup
1 cup Kosher salt and 1/2 freshly ground black pepper
6 cups dried cranberries
9 litres apple cider or apple juice
6 cups cider vinegar
5 cups minched shallots
2 cups Dijon mustard
50 big bunches baby arugula (4 oz each)
15 cups walnut halves, toasted
¼ cup lemon zest, optional

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Place the butternut squash on a sheet pan. Add 375 ml olive oil, the maple syrup, 1 cup salt and ½ cup pepper and toss. Roast the squash for 15 to 20 minutes, turning once, until tender. Add the cranberries to the pan for the last 5 minutes.

While the squash is roasting, combine the apple cider, vinegar, and shallots in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cook for 6 to 8 minutes, until the cider is reduced to about 1/4 cup. Off the heat, whisk in the mustard, 1/2 cup olive oil, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper.

During service, place the arugula in a large salad bowl and add the roasted squash mixture, the walnuts, and the zest. Spoon just enough vinaigrette over the salad to moisten and toss well. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and serve immediately.

Then time for some

Sweet Potato, Apple, Carrot, and Red Lentil Soup (for 250)

1-2/3 cups margaine or olive oil

12 large sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped small
20 large carrots, peeled and chopped small
8 apples, peeled, cored and chopped small
7 onion, chopped small
3-1/3 cups red lentils
1 tablespoon and 1/2 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
1 tablespoon and 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 tablespoons a 1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon and 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon and 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1 tablespoon and 1/2 teaspoon paprika
30 cups vegetable broth

Melt the butter in a large, heavy bottomed pot over medium-high heat. Place the chopped sweet potatoes, carrots, apple, and onion in the pot. Stir and cook the apples and vegetables until the onions are translucent, about 10 minutes. (Will have to do in 3 batches, 2 pots)
Stir the lentils, ginger, ground black pepper, salt, cumin, chili powder, paprika, and vegetable broth into the pot with the apple and vegetable mixture. Bring the soup to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the lentils and vegetables are soft, about 30 minutes.
Working in batches, pour the soup into a blender, filling the pitcher no more than halfway full. Hold down the lid of the blender with a folded kitchen towel, and carefully start the blender, using a few quick pulses to get the soup moving before leaving it on to puree. Puree in batches until smooth and pour into a clean pot. Alternately, you can use a stick blender and puree the soup right in the cooking pot.
Return the pureed soup to the cooking pot. Bring back to a simmer over medium-high heat, about 10 minutes. Add water as needed to thin the soup to your preferred consistency. Serve with yogurt for garnish.

Quinoa-sunflower stuffing in turkey-shaped roasted red peppers (for 250)

(from "3 Bowls: Vegetarian Recipes from an American Zen Buddhist Monastery")

1 litres canola or corn oil
20 medium onion, diced
20 teaspoon sea salt
60 large celery ribs, chopped
35 cups mushrooms, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
50 large carrots, grated
60 garlic cloves, minced
0.8 cup dried sage
½ cup dried basil, crumbled
3 tbsp and 2 tsp ground fennel seeds
3 tbsp and 2 tsp, thyme crumbled
3 tbsp and 2 tsp, oregano crumbled
3/4 cups sugar
15 cups quinoa (dry)
300 ml tamari / soy sauce / Bragg's
20 cups sunflower seeds, toasted and ground
84 small or medium bell peppers, whatever is cheap, tops cut off (probably green)

Preparation:

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and salt and saute, stirring occasionally, until the onion begins to soften, about 2 minutes. Add the celery and saute until it is bright and tender, about 3 minutes more. Add the mushrooms, carrots, garlic, sage, basil, fennel seeds, oregano, adn thyme and saute until the mushrooms and carrots soften and most of the juices have evaporated, about 10 minutes.
Add 37.5 cups cold water, the quinoa and tamari and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to very low, cover, and simmer until the water is completely absorbed and the quinoa is tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Stir in the sunflower seeds.
Stuff peppers full with stuffing, bake in 400 oven until peppers are softish, cut into thirds

and for desert!

Cranberry Poached Pears (for 250, 1/2 pear each)

45 cups cranberry juice cocktail

3-3/4 cups white sugar
15 cinnamon stick
4 star anise
120 Bosc pears, peeled with stems intact (about 3 half-bushels?)

Place cranberry juice, sugar, and cinnamon stick into a large saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, and simmer until the sugar dissolves. Meanwhile, peel the pears, leaving the stem intact.

Place the pears into the simmering juice and cover. Cook until the pears are tender, turning occasionally, 15 to 20 minutes. Once tender, remove the saucepan from the heat, and set aside to cool to room temperature. Turn the pears a few times as they cool so the color remains even.

If you were attended Where the Fork is and wanted to recreate some lucious local cuisine then please proceed

Tofu Dill Pizzatas (for 50)

- 15 blocks extra firm tofu

5 red onions
10 cloves garlic (start with 7?)

- 3 bunches dill

- 1.85 cups dijon mustard

- 1.85 cups apple cider vinegar

- 3 lemons

- 1/3 cup olive oil

- 50-60 pitas

12 tomatoes, diced OR 6 cucumbers, sliced thinly (depends on whats local and freshest and ripest; we can do a mix as well)

Combine and mash everything except for ½ bunch of dill and cukes/tomatoes; Toast slightly pita

Spread tofu onto pitas; Garnish with cukes/tomatoes and a bit of remaining dill; Cut into quarters

Apple Crisp (for 50, 5 recipes)

For the filling
20 lbs apples (I use Roma)
2 1/2 cup light brown sugar
2 1/2 cup sugar (I use Florida Crystals)
2 1/2 cup apple juice or water
2 tablespoon arrowroot powder (cornstarch will work too)
5 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon cloves

For the topping
5 cup quick cooking oats (not instant)
5 cup flour
5 cup light brown sugar
2 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 2/3 cup canola oil
15 tablespoon soy milk
5 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 F

Peel, core and thinly slice apples. Dissolve the arrowroot in the apple juice or water. Set aside.

Place apples and raisins in the baking dish, add sugars and spices and combine everything well (you may need to use your hands to do this). Pour arrowroot mixture over everything.

To prepare the topping, in a medium bowl, combine all dry ingredients. Add oil, soymilk, and vanilla, mix well. Crumble topping over the apples. Bake for 45 minutes.

Remove from oven and let cool at least 15 minutes before serving.

Zucchini bread (for 50, 5 recipes)

15 tbsp of flaxseed meal (boil 3 parts water, add 1 part seeds, cook

and stir until the consistency of eggs)

7.5 cups granulated sugar

5 c vegetable oil

10 cups coarsely grated raw zucchini

15 tsp vanilla

15 c flour

5 tsp salt

5 tsp baking soda

1 1/4 tsp baking powder

15 tsp cinnamon

2 1/2 tsp nutmeg

Instructions:

1. Grease pans. Preheat oven to 350F.

2. Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, and dry spices.

3. Mix in the sugar and wet ingredients: egg substitute, vanilla,

oil. (The recipe says "mix dry ingreds, then wet, then stir wet into

dry" but that dirties too many pans for me.)

4. Mix in the zucchini.

5. Bake for ~60 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. The

bread should still be moist in the middle, just not gooey.

Cool for 20 minutes before removing from pan.

Califlower and Potato Gratin (for 50, 6 recipes)

INGREDIENTS

6 large heads cauliflower

6 pounds potatoes
6 medium onions, diced
7.5 cups (1.875 L) soy milk
4.5 cup water
1 cup and 1 TBSP raw cashews
6 teaspoon salt
6/8 teaspoon white pepper
6/8 teaspoon nutmeg bv
1 cup and 1 TBSP oil
2 cup unbleached flour
3 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoon black pepper
3 teaspoon garlic powder

2 tablespoons nutritional yeast

¾ cups tablespoons whole wheat bread crumbs
3 teaspoons paprika

METHOD

Cut the cauliflower into medium pieces and potatoes in a medium dice, and place in a bowl with the onions. Set aside.

Blend the soy milk, water, cashews, salt, white and black pepper, nutmeg, garlic powder, and nutritional yeast in a blender until smooth. Pour into a saucepan and gently heat, stirring often. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a small saucepan. Add the flour to make a roux. Then whisk the heated soy milk mixture into the roux to make a light, creamy sauce. For a thicker sauce, use more roux. Pour the sauce over the vegetables and stir.

Oil a casserole dish. Pour the vegetable and sauce mixture into the pan and press lightly. Sprinkle the bread crumbs over the vegetables and cover with paprika. Cover and bake in a preheated oven at 180C/350F for 45 to 55 minutes.

Chocolate Pudding (4 servings, 3 for sample and (1) for demo)

6 (2) cups soy milk
9 (3) T arrowroot starch
1 ½ (1/2) cup sugar
1 (1/3) cups cocoa power
3 (1) t vanilla extract
3/8 (1/8) t almond extract

in a small saucepan off the heat whisk together the soy milk and arrowroot until the arrowroot is dissolved. add the sugar and coca powder. place over meduim heat and whisk constantly until the mixture thickens, about 7 minutes. once the mixture starts to bubble and is quite thick, turn the heat off. mix in the extracts. chill in fridge for an hour and then cover them with plastic wrap and leave in fridge overnight.

Love Always,

A Yam

Eat Local! on Wednesday, no Thursday lunch

2009-10-20T03:39:00.000-07:00

Happy World Food Week (http://www.harthouse.ca/foodweek) folks!

Instead of our regular weekly lunch, it's time for the 3rd (approx.) annual Eat Local!

International Student Centre

Wednesday, October 21

10am-4:30pm

The Eat Local! event hopes to bring greater awareness to the University of Toronto population and the local community about the importance and benefits of eating locally grown and produced food. The event will be centered around a free vegan, and mostly organic and local lunch, in addition to displays of educational materials from key organizations including Local Food Plus (LFP), Ontario's Greenbelt, Foodland Ontario, and FoodShare!

So, come to the International Student Centre with empty bellies and open minds, to munch on muffins while learning from our guests about food in your community. Lunch is at 12 - we're serving wraps heavy with delicious local treats!

This is taking the place of our normal meal on Thursday, so you'll have to get your Yam! fix on Wednesday. Next week we'll be back to our normal Thursday meal.

Eat Local U of T: October 21st!

2009-10-08T17:33:00.000-07:00

Madd Morrocan Stew, Beautful Beet Salad and a Little Apple Cake Never Hurt Anyone...

2009-09-30T09:15:00.000-07:00

This past week was a doozy! wooo weee did anyone else see that line? Well for those of you who were patient little clams you enjoyed the awesomeness that was Emma's faboosh lunch. On the menu this past week was a beet and eggplant salad, a green salad with ground sunflower seeds, a morrocan chickpea stew with brown rice and of course the infamous apple cake!

where to begin?

Ingredients

Beet and eggplant salad w/ onions and cilantro

70 beets

25 med eggplants

50 large onions chopped (we have these ready)

25 cups of lentils

10 bunches of cilantro

dressing:

1 cup white wine vinegar

1 1/2 cup olive oil

1/2 cup soy sauce

Basting for eggplant

2 cups olive oil

3 tbsps cayenne pepper

Green salad with ground sunflower seeds

60 bunches of greens - can be mixed, doesn't really matter what type they are, as long as they're fresh

dressing:

1 1/2 cup of red wine vinegar

2 cups olive oil

2 tsps salt or to taste

1 tbsp black pepper

8 cloves of garlic, minced

sunflower seeds

Morrocan Chickpea stew with brown rice

1 1/2 cups vegetable or sunflower oil

30 med-large onions

60 garlic cloves, finely minced

1 cup turmeric

1/2 cup cinnamon

1/2 cup medium curry powder

1/2 cup ground cumin

1/8 cup nutmeg

1/8 cup salt or to taste (add it bit by bit - may need more)

1/4 cup black pepper

30 red peppers, cut into inch long strips

50 pounds of sweet potatoes

10 eggplants

30 cups dry chickpeas

cans chopped tomatoes (??) or 100 cups chopped tomatoes (45 lbs)

10 litres water

Apple cake

1 2/3 cups (400ml) spelt flour = 27+2/3c

2 tsp. (10ml) baking powder 1/2c + 3T

1 tsp. (5ml) cinnamon = 5 1/2 T

1/2 tsp. (2.5ml) nutmeg = 2 3/4 T

1/4 tsp. ground cloves = 4.15tsp

1/2 tsp. (2.5ml) sea salt = 2 3/4T

3/4 cup (180ml) applesauce (Filsingers makes a local organic apple sauce) = 12 cups + 7.2T

1/2 cup (120ml) maple syrup = 8.3 cups

1/4 cup (60ml) organic (non-dairy) milk (Unsweetened almond milk) = 4c + 2.4T

1/4 cup oil (60ml) (non-hydrogenated coconut oil, organic canola oil, or a light-tasting olive oil preferred) = 4c + 2.4T

2 medium apples**, peeled, cored and cut into thin chunks / chopped thin slices = 33.2 apples

I hope everyone enjoys these delightful recipes and brings their shining faces back this thursday for a menu with an italian twist

This week October 1st

fettuccini alfredo with roasted vegetables
green salad with italian dressing
white bean and garlic soup
lemon cupcakes

I'll see you in line!

Cunning Corn on the Cob and French lentil Salad (Spetember 17 lunch)

2009-09-30T09:13:00.001-07:00

Hello little yammies! I caught quite a few of you enjoying fresh corn on the cob and frensh lentil salad...if you enjoyed it so much that you'd like to recreate it at home please do the following...

Spiced corn for 10 Get this:

10 cobs of corn

1 lime

margarine

1 tbsp spice mix (ie. chilli, paprika, cayenne, cumin, coriander. Make it up. This is the fun part)

do this:

boil corn

put margarine on

dip halved limes in spices and rub on corn. Make sure to squish the lime so the juice gets all over.

Warm french lentil salad for 8ish

Boil

1 c. french lentils (blue, du puy - same price as red lentils at essence of life in Kensington!!) in 3 c. water with 1/2 tsp salt (30 min until tender, not mushy!!!)

saute

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 tsp ground fennel seed

1 1/2 tsp dries thyme (or 1-2 tbsp fresh) for a few seconds in 2 tbsp olive oil

add

4-5 stalks celery (or one fresh fennel bulb), chopped (core removed and sliced thinly if its fennel)

1/2 tsp salt

and stir fry at hight heat for 2 min

add

1 bunch collards or kale or escarole (that’s the best) rinsed, drained, and chopped

and saute about 2 more minutes until softened but still bright and crisp. dont let it get soggy...

drain and add lentils, drizzle on some balsamic vinegar, and put walnuts on top if you want

finally....plum torte!

Recipe for one 8X8 square or 9inch springform pan

Grease and flour pan

Halve and pit approx. 15 prune plums (though seasonally adjusting the fruit can be delish indeed)

set aside

combine 1/2 cup margerine

with 1 cup sug OR 3/4cup maple syrup or combo

beat until smooth and fluffy

add two egg replacers (2tbsp ground flax cooked till goopy in water or 1/2cup apple sauce)

beat til smooth

add and mix just til blended

1 cup flour of choice and 2tsp baking powder

spread in greased pan

place plums on batter cut half down

sprinkle with mixture of 1tbsp sugar+tsp cinnamon

bake at 350 for 1 hour

enjoy!!!

Walah!

Photos from the Hot Yam Cafe

2009-09-21T20:33:00.001-07:00

Hot Yam! welcomes students back with lovely lentils, beautiful beets, cheerful chapati and zealous zucchini bread

2009-09-12T11:22:00.001-07:00

This week the Hot Yam! gave the first week of school a super boost by delivering an inventive Indian inspired meal.

First up was a beautful beet salad in order to re-create this dish you will need:

1-2 beets (depending on size)

1/2 tsp sugar

1/2 - 1 tsp salt (to taste)

1/2 - 1 tsp ground pepper

1/4 tsp ground coriander or cumin

1 tsp lemon/lime juice

Once you have acquired all the ingredients you shall continue to:

1. Peel the beets

2. Boil the beets for 5 minutes.

3. Grate the beets. They will still be firm.

4. Mix together all the ingredients.

Real simple right! and then you'll have plenty of time to move on to the for the Chapati and Raita....

For the Raita You will need:

2 cups soy yogurt

2 tsp lemon/lime juice

1/4 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp garam masala

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

salt to taste

You just take these ingredients and mix them together, adjusting the salt and the chili powder to your personal taste... and of course the Raita would be lonely without some Chapati to dip and enjoy.

For the Chapati you will need merely:

1.5 cups atta flour (1 for recipe, 1/2 for anti-sticking purposes)

1/2 tbsp oil

1/2 tsp salt

warm water

Now take a breathe and....

1. Make a dimple in the center of 1 cup of flour, and pour the oil in. Mix.

2. Add warm water until the dough is sticky, but not too sticky. Let it rest a few minutes.

3. Take a small palm-full of dough and roll it out very thin. You will need extra flour to prevent the dough from sticking to your hands, the rolling pin, and the table. Let it rest a few minutes.

4. Heat a griddle as hot as possible. Cook the chapati (dry!) on the griddle until lightly burnt on both sides. Hot Yam Tip: This requires careful supervision!

5. Keep chapati warm (e.g. on a plate under a clean towel) until serving time.

For some delicious Dhal (that is Indian Lentil soup) you will need to gather:

3 tbs. oil

½ tsp. mustard seeds

¾ tsp. cumin seeds

1 bay leaf

1 dry chili (substitute for fresh)

½ small chopped onion

1 chili chopped (use dry chili with whole

spices if you have no fresh)

1” chunk ginger grated

3 garlic clove

1-3 tsp. salt

1 Roma tomato chopped

1 ½ tsp. coriander

½ tsp. turmeric

pinch cayenne

½ cup lentils

2-2 ½ cups water

Now this recipe has several steps...you will begin with the whole spices:

1. Toast whole spices in pot.

Add oil and fry spices.

2. Just before mustard seeds pop add

onion, chili, ginger & garlic.

Add salt and fry a few minutes.

3. Add tomato, coriander, turmeric

& cayenne. Mix and fry letting

tomatoes break down.

Add lentils and water—bring to a

boil.

4. Place lid and whistle on pressure

cooker. At first whistle turn heat

to low, cook for 10 minutes.

Quick release pressure by running

pot under cold water.

Now for Desert how about something nutritious and delicious? Thats what i thought... Zucchini Bread it is

You will Need:

3 tbsp of flaxseed meal (boil 3 parts water, add 1 part seeds, cook

and stir until the consistency of eggs)

1.5 cups granulated sugar

1 c vegetable oil

2 c coarsely grated raw zucchini

3 tsp vanilla

3 c flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp baking powder

3 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

(1 c chocolate chips or coarsely chopped nuts optional, but we will

skip this for Hot Yam!)

Instructions:

1. Grease pans. Preheat oven to 350F.

2. Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, and dry spices.

3. Mix in the sugar and wet ingredients: egg substitute, vanilla, oil. (The recipe says "mix dry ingreds, then wet, then stir wet into dry" but that dirties too many pans for me.)

4. Mix in the zucchini.

5. Bake for ~60 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. The bread should still be moist in the middle, just not gooey.

6. Cool for 20 minutes before removing from pan.

Hope everyone is having a great time back at school! and if not, the Yam! will comfort you every week until its over!

Hot Yam! Lunch Thursday September 10, 2009

2009-09-08T18:18:00.000-07:00

Are you ready for a delicious meal this Thursday? I sure hope so!

We've got a nice Indian-themed meal in store for you:

daal
raita
chapati
beet salad
zucchini bread

Sounds just fantastic, doesn't it? Come to the International Students Centre Thursday, September 10 between 12 and 2 with $4.

photo from Thursday, Aug 27th

2009-08-28T08:46:00.000-07:00

Four salads, compote and a corn square dipped in chocolate.

AUGUST 31-4: Hot Yam! in the house.

2009-08-27T15:29:00.001-07:00

We (that's me and you, to be clear) are doing something unprecedented in Yam! history. We are going to run a full week, all day cafe. And we need extra help.

FULL WEEK!

ALL DAY!

Forward this message on to friends and compatriots who are thinking of joining our volunteer ranks this year. We think that Yam Cafe Week is a pretty perfect way for them to get their bearings in our kitchen.

Have no fear. It's actually going to be really laid back. No really! We'll be open 9-3. The plan is to just serve coffee/tea and muffins in the morning and then to serve easy soup/salad in the afternoons. We only need 2 or 3 people in the kitchen at a time so that someone can serve and other(s) can prep for the next day. CAVEAT: THURSDAY WILL BE A NORMAL LUNCH as well as coffee time in the morning! NO WEDNESDAY NIGHT PREP. Prep will be done in the day!

Please sign up here on Doodle to volunteer. Check closely what you sign up for because the time slots are not consistent (some are one hour, some are two, etc.)

http://doodle.com/64rrcdtx2p87bq2d?adminKey=

AND IF YOU CAN'T COME COOK, DEFINITELY COME EAT!

2009-08-27T14:13:00.000-07:00

Hot damNNNNN! Now magazine's Steven Davey sends some foodie love our way. Check out Hot Yam! with our name in lights (click on the image to link to the article!):

Photos from last Thursday

2009-08-24T12:55:00.000-07:00

Hot Yam! Lunch Thursday Aug 20

2009-08-18T09:06:00.001-07:00

Here's the menu this week:

White Bean Bruschetta
Beet and Coconut Soup with Cucumber Salsa
Roasted Vegetable and Orzo Salad
Raspberry Cake

12-2 pm in the ISC Baldwin room.

INGREDIENTS:

White Bean Bruschetta:

white beans

garlic

rosemary

olive oil

balsamic vinegar

red pepper flakes

salt

bread

Beet and Coconut Soup:

beets

cream of coconut

veggie stock

garlic

cumin

lemon zest

lemon juice

cucumbers

shallots

mint

salt

Roasted Vegetable and Orzo Salad:

orzo pasta

lemon juice

garlic

onion

salt

pepper

olive oil

tomatoes

peppers

zucchini

dill

Raspberry Cake:

soy milk

turmeric

apple cider vinegar

flour

cornstarch

baking powder

baking soda

salt

canola oil

sugar

vanilla extract

almond extract

margarine

raspberries

A Yam! In Finland

2009-08-13T12:20:00.000-07:00

Ex-yammer Lynnette Choo has made her way to Finland, and now writes for the Helsinki Times. We've heard she plans to start The Kuuma Jamssi! over there any day now.

Photos from August 6, 2009

2009-08-10T07:46:00.000-07:00

Photos by Jonathan Lung.

How to cook a meal for one-hundred people (and actually feed ninety-five).

2009-07-31T13:18:00.000-07:00

Short version:
Take a recipe which you like and which you think more people should taste. For me this was "Stewed Taro with Green Onions" which I had discovered after falling in love with taros in Taiwan.
For all other meal components, take some recipes which you liked from previous meals (they should be on the blog). Replace as many ingredients as you can by seasonal things.
Write a shopping list and be around all day so volunteers can ask you questions. They know by themselves how to do all the things needed to make a meal, likely even better than you do.

Long version:
Here are some of the troubles I ran into, some tips, and finally a list of ingredients which I think made up the final meal. (But I am not sure about the details of it.)

My zeroth mistake (before even starting, that is) was to not ask for directions to the Farmer's Market on time. I was saved because one of the volunteers who came shopping knew the location.

My first mistake was to take a recipe off the Hot Yam! blog without checking the numbers. In June, we only cooked for about 50 to 60 people and I was planning for a hundred. Fortunately the recipe was for our dessert and I had bought enough peaches for the crisp and could run and get more of the other stuff, too. So we didn't manage to bake the dessert on the evening before, but we had it all ready to bake in the fridge and it took us almost no extra time to deal with in the morning.

My second mistake was not to check with my lovely volunteers whether they had actually bought all the things on the shopping list. In the case of lentils we had wisely foreseen that the store might not have enough on display and told the shoppers to ask the clerks for refills from the back. But apparently the back of store also ran out and I noticed the lack of lentils only in the early morning when cooking them. In the end, it turned out that having 17 cups of lentils instead of 25 was not much of a problem, but it made me feel that our success was more due to luck than due to skill.

My third mistake was to have three people peel and mince garlic for two hours. Maybe it was less than six person-hours spent on this, but I think that it was a bit of a waste of time, given that there were lots of other things to do. When some of the people had to leave and the garlic was still not done, we just chopped it up coarsely which was good enough for the meal.

My fourth mistake was to give somebody a laborious job and tell him to grab more help once more people showed up. Half an eternity later, he was still doing it by himself and not much advanced, while other people were standing around looking for work.

My fifth mistake was to do things by myself instead of helping people do things. Sometimes I was too busy to know what's going on in the kitchen at large. Also, it's not fun to work by myself when others are working together and happily chat while they do it.

My only advice is what I think is the most important function of the leader: make sure that nothing that needs to be done is forgotten and make sure that new volunteers learn enough to be productive helpers.

Now here come the recipes: For the stew, I bought 27 lbs of taro of which we had to throw one or two away because it didn't meet our high quality standards. For garlic and green onions I don't know how much we actually had. The soy sauce was added to our taste; it was less than a bottle

The salad was planned for 100, we sold about 74 and I think with the volunteer meals, the recipe yielded about 90 to 95 servings. (At one point, we made the salad servings bigger, because it seemed we had more salad than soup, so there is no fixed measure of what a serving is. Feeds any number from 60 hungry people to 120 dieting ones.)

Ingredients:
(Except for the onions, I bought all the herbs and veggies myself and the numbers are correct. For the onions, 10 is the number from the shopping list and I only saw them when they were chopped up. Also don't know if it was big or small ones. If recipes really mattered, we should go by weight for everything but liquids!)

7 cups of green lentils (cooked)
10 cups of red lentils (cooked, note: cooks faster than the green ones)
10 onions (marinated in salt overnight, which --as I once read-- makes the softer)

and all those things fresh from the Farmer's Market at Bloor and Borden streets:
5 bunches of coriander (cilantro)
5 bunches of arucula
4 or 5 bunches of basil
4 bunches of oregano
4 FMB green beans
3 FMB red tomatoes
3 FMB yellow tomatoes
4 bunches of baby carrots

dressing:
freshly squeezed lemon juice (we had about net of lemons that did not give much juice)
less than a bottle of olive oil
other things which only the dressing-making volunteer knows and which might include some apple cider vinegar which I put on her counter.

Personally I was not much involved in making the salad. Maybe that's why I liked the salad most of all meal components.

As a bonus, I conclude my reflections with a list of most memorable moments:

my first taste of the salad when I got my full plate served by one of our lovely volunteers.
the scent of oregano and basil when I bought them and later every time I passed by the herbal volunteers just to take another fresh breath.
me in tears, handing back the unknowingly thrown away onion bottoms to Kira. I felt so sorry for my unqualified messing with her job. (But the tears were due to the frying of garlic.)
stewing the taro with Keith.
finding a job assignment that did not involve Giovanna washing anything.
Guru's smiling face and bright eyes when we went to the farmer's market. (Totally justifying the twisted reasoning I had to make up to justify her coming with me and the men going to Kensington market.)
full opportunity to engage with my most-loved job at the Yam: scraping the bottoms of the dessert-pans.

On my next meal there will be German food (but no sausages) and I will make different mistakes to make sure that I keep learning things.

Behind the curtain: Me and Giovanna in a heated debate. "Everything went wrong! We did not have enough lentils, the crisp recipe was not right, this is lacking organization."

- "No, I think you are doing great."

At this point one of our patrons walked up to us: "I just want to say that I am coming here often and this was one of the best meals that I had for a while. It was really delicious."

Giovanna: "There you go."

me: "Maybe you are right."

Hot Yam! lunch, Thurs. July 30

2009-07-28T18:22:00.001-07:00

What's for lunch? A yam!

Mark your calendars -- this week's meal is on. Join us for a delicious, vegan, mostly local and mostly organic meal organised, cooked, and served by our lovely volunteers

This week's meal is a bit different -- inspired by this week's meal lead, Jack, after his recent trip to Taiwan:

Here's le menu:

Stew of Taro (芋头) in its own juice
Lentil salad with coriander (香菜) and seasonal vegetables
Baked sweet potatoes (地瓜)
Peach crisp

We'll serve from 12-2pm, Thursday in the Baldwin Room, International Student Centre, 33. St. George St.

Yams!

vegan chocolate pudding never looked so good...

2009-07-25T09:02:00.000-07:00

The spatula-lickin'-good pudding recipe is from the cookbook Vegan with a Vengeance.

chocolate pudding
2 cups soy milk
3 T arrowroot or tapioca starch
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cups cocoa power
1 t vanilla extract
1/8 t almond extract

in a small saucepan off the heat whisk together the soy milk and arrowroot until the arrowroot is dissolved. add the sugar and coca powder. place over meduim heat and whisk constantly until the mixture thickens, about 7 minutes. once the mixture starts to bubble and is quite thick, turn the heat off. mix int he extracts. chill in fridge for an hour and then cover them with plastic wrap and leave in fridge overnight.

Falafel recipe found here. Grab some pitas, stuff them with hummus, tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce (etc) and add a few falafel ball (which are really healthy when broiled in the oven and not fried.)
The pea soup recipe was really simple. We got our recipe from the Peoples Potato Vegan Cookbook but you can try this recipe and get the same effect.
And lastly the cucumber salad was super easy. Cut cucumbers into cubes and then coat them in a simple dressing using ingredients like olive oil, white wine vinegar, lots of lemon juice, dill, salt, pepper, and anything else your heart desires.

Thank you to everyone who came out to try the meal, and also thanks to the amazing volunteers who came to help out! New volunteers are always welcome and very much appreciated :)
An extra special thanks goes to Sam for taking so much leadership with the meal this week (thank her for the pudding!)

The Hot Yam! Lunch, Thursday, 12-2pm

2009-07-15T05:47:00.001-07:00

Lovers,

The hot yam! is serving up our vegan, mostly local, mostly organic goodness this week at our regular Thursday 12-2pm time slot.

Le menu:

- Grilled Vegetable Focaccia
- Spicy Carrot Soup
- Strawberries!

Plus a drink of some sort, and plenty of smiling faces. I promise.

When: Thursday (tomorrow), July 16, 12-2pm
Where: The International Student Centre, 33 St. George St.
What: See above. For $4 dollars.

Why: Because we believe UofT needs good, affordable and accessible food, 'course.
Who: You! (And your colleagues!)
How: Well, you just show up and I'm quite sure you'll figure the rest out.

Le Yam.

Meal announcement: Thursday 12-2pm @ ISC

2009-07-01T07:33:00.000-07:00

Hello lovelies,

It's that time of week again. The Hot Yam! is serving up some wholesome vegan organic local deliciousness made by our beautiful volunteers, especially for you. Yes, you! What luck!

This week we're not able to do our usual Wednesday prep work because the ISC is closed for Canada Day -- so we're going to cram all our cooking into three hours on Thursday morning, which means....

We can really use your help Thursday morning from 9-12am in the ISC kitchen. Come volunteer with us and help us wash, chop, stir, season, toss, bake, shake, and serve. No experience required -- just a profound love for the chaotic! Did I mention volunteers eat for free? Just show up when you can, for as long as you'd like.

Or, of course, if you're okay with being boooring you can just come and eat our amazing meal. Share the love and bring your friends too!

This week's menu:

Everything-that's-in-season salad
Rainy-day red lentil soup
Charming cherry chocolate cupcakes
They're-just-so-good-on-their-own Cherries

See you there!

The Hot Yam!

p.s. The International Student Centre (ISC) is located at 33 St. George St.

June 25, 2009 Recipes

2009-07-01T07:27:00.000-07:00

Here's the recipes from last week. This is scaled to about 40-50 people.

Cool curried apple soup
Ingredients
10 small onions, finely diced
1.5 c safflower oil
4 T. curry powder
5 T. ginger, minced
2.5 cup apple cider
30 lbs. cooking apples of choice, peeled, cored, and diced
40 cups vegetable stock
10 cup apple juice
10 cup soy milk
1 c. lemon juice
salt and pepper, to taste
In 3 large pots, saute the onions in oil for 5 minutes or until soft. Add the curry powder and ginger, and saute an additional minute. Add the apple cider, and stir well to deglaze the pot. Add the diced apples, vegetable stock, and apple juice, and bring the mixture to a boil. Cover, reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 20-25 minutes or until the apples are tender. Remove from the heat and allow to cool for 10 minutes. Immersion blender it! Whisk in the soy milk, a little of the lemon juice, and season to taste with salt and pepper. If desired, add additional curry powder, apple juice, or lemon juice to the soup to adjust the sweetness or spicy flavor of the soup. Serve hot or cold.

comments: we chilled the soup after cooking the apples. The next morning we blended it and wisked in the soy milk. And we entirely omitted the lemon juice as the apples we used were sour enough we thought.

Asparagus mint salad

Ingredients

2.5 c lemon juice
2.5 c olive oil
60 kalamata olives, chopped
3.5 c fresh mint, chopped
10 pounds asparagus, steamed and cut into 1-inch pieces
10 red bell pepper, finely chopped
8 small onions, finely chopped
salt
pepper

Directions Whisk together lemon juice, olive oil, olives, and mint, then toss with remaining ingredients.

Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Ingredients

30 lbs of sweet potatoes

3 c. safflower oil

salt

pepper

¾ c rosemary crushed

Directions: clean and cut sweet potatoes into cubes, toss with oil salt pepper and rosemary – roast until done.

Strawberry RHUBARB CRISP

Ingredients:

20 cups sliced rhubarb
5-6 quarts of strawberries, chopped slightly.
15 cups sugar
1 c. flour
4 T cinnamon

Place rhubarb in roasting pans. In a bowl, combine sugar, flour & cinnamon.
Sprinkle over fruit. Set aside

TOPPING:

8 cups flour
5 cups packed light brown sugar
2 T. salt
5 cups margarine
5 cups uncooked oatmeal

Combine flour, brown sugar & salt. Cut in margarine until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in oats. Sprinkle over fruit. Bake 1 hr. at 350 degrees

Hot Yam! Thursday, June 25, 12-2pm @ ISC

2009-06-24T05:20:00.000-07:00

Hey lovers,

The Yam! is on this week (tomorrow!), and don't you forget it! For $4 you get a mostly local, mostly organic, all vegan and delicious lunch! 12-2pm @ the International Student Centre, 33 St. George St.

Tell your friends, bring your dates and fellow revolutionaries -- the Hot Yam! needs more eaters this summer so start spreading the word.

On this week's menu:

- Cool curried apple soup

- Lentil and Asparagus mint salad

- Sweet potato mash

- Strawberry rhubarb crisp

Don't forget: bring your own tupperware and earn 1000 bonus points!

The Hot Yam!

too hot to handle, yam styles.

2009-06-12T15:50:00.000-07:00

The weathers been a bit gloomy for June - but on the bright side, Summer Yam has been heating up!

This week we made...

Carrot and Parsnip Soup,
Sprout Salad,
Roasted Asparagus in Couscous with Cashew Sauce,
and....Rhubarb muffins!
(so gooood)

Love for the Hot Yam!

2009-05-08T13:22:00.001-07:00

Ah shucks...

The Studious Yam in Pictures

2009-04-16T19:00:00.001-07:00

Coming up April 15th!

2009-04-08T19:19:00.000-07:00

THE STUDIOUS YAM!

Why study alone when you can study with tasty comrades?

Snacks! Sweets! Tea & Coffee! International Student Centre. April 15th 10am-5pm.

Hot Yam Recipes April 8 2009

2009-04-08T19:13:00.000-07:00

Bean Salad
Online Here!

2 (15 ounce) cans black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup finely chopped red onion
1 green bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 (15 ounce) can corn kernels, drained or 1 (10 ounce) bag frozen corn, thawed or 2 cups fresh corn
2-3 tomatoes, diced or cherry tomatoes, halved (canned fine too)
3/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro (optional)

Dressing:
3 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar
2 tablespoons apple cider or distilled vinegar
1 lemon, juice of or lime, juice of
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon coriander
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes or 1 pinch cayenne
1 chipotle chile in adobo, canned in adobo sauce, diced

Chewy Oat Bars
Online here!

2 cups chopped and pitted dates or jam
1 cup orange juice
1 teaspoon grated orange rind
2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup wheat germ
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup safflower or other light oil(veg, sunflower…)

1. In a saucepan, combine jam, orange juice.(*and, if possible, some rind from the juiced lemons for the salad dressing). Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.

2. Preheat oven to 350F. In a large bowl, combine oats, flour, wheat germ, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

3. In a smaller bowl, combine maple syrup and oil. Using a sieve, thoroughly drain the liquid from the cooked jam into the syrup-oil mixture, stirring well to combine.

4. Combine oat and maple syrup mixtures, stirring to mix thoroughly.

5. Press dough into cake pans. Spread jam filling over this, then gently and evenly pat more crumb mixture on top.

4. Bake 30 - 35 minutes or until lightly browned.

Mushroom Soup
Katzen, Molly. The New Moosewood Cookbook. Berkeley, California: Ten Speed Press, 2000. Page 28.

1/2 cup pearl barley
6 1/2 cups water/stock
3 tablespoons Earth Balance
1 cup white onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound mushrooms, sliced
3 tablespoons soy sauce (1L+)
4 tablespoons dry sherry
1 teaspoon salt
ground pepper

1. Cook barley in boiling water (1 1/2 cup)
2. Meanwhile, melt Earth Balance in pots, sautée onions. Add garlic, mushrooms, some salt.
3. Cover and cook, stir, until everything is very tender.
4. Add soy sauce and sherry.
5. Add barley and fill pots with water.
6. Add lots of ground pepper.
7. Simmer on low, partially covered.

Planning Meeting Minutes - Mar. 27th

2009-04-02T19:00:00.000-07:00

Hey Yammers,

Last Friday, the Hot Yam! planning group met to discuss the future structure of the Yam. This is a totally open sub-group of the Hot Yam that consists of people interested in the day-to-day administrative running of the Yam. Click
here if you want to join this listserv!

Here's what we talked about:

1. Paid Jobs

one option is to use some of the levy money for paid positions
Suzie raised a concern that things might get messy and we'd need to be careful not to create a power structure
Michelle said that the cyclical nature of the yam should help prevent a power structure. She also brought up the idea of voting in representatives for jobs.
Kira suggested having an unpaid "board of directors" but a paid staff. She noted this could include work study positions.
Ben had a neat idea: he thought we could pay "ancillary" jobs like "Food Safety Officer" (or "Textiles Manager") rather than paying meal-coordinators. This too could help maintain the cooperative nature of the Yam.

2. Potential Positions

We also discussed potential positions
volunteer coordinator
outreach and advertising
ISC representative
inventory manager
textiles manager (washing stuff)
food health and safety officer
ISC house committee representative
treasurers
communications
volunteer recruiter
weekly email update sender
bulk product sourcer
recycling sorter

Any other ideas? Comment below or email us!

3. Types of structures

We created a google doc with questions to ask other groups
In this document, we listed all the groups we plan to get in contact with and assigned people to contact them.

4. ISC House Committee Meeting

Suzie and Meghan attended the ISC House committee meeting. We noted that because we use the ISC space, it's important to relate what we do to the concerns of international students. Dermot (ISC program coordinator) mentioned that he would love for the Yam! to be active when international students arrive in the summer. They have 3 BBQs for international students. We're going to approach him to see if we can do some catering. Also, Dermot told us the ISC is getting new furniture. Hooray!

5. Weekly Lunches

extend our hours 11:30 to 2:30
start cooking for at least 150 people
we considered giving free lunches to the ISC staff, but no resolution was made
need to make more copies of the volunteer sign up list
Kira's going to design us a poster with our email address on blog on it. We'll put this up at future lunches
lunch leaders are asked to bring an extra copy of the ingredients to keep at the service counter.

6. Blog

lunch leaders are reminded to post their recipes to the blog.
Please remember to cite your sources!

7. Misc.

Suzie and Meghan are going to set up a bank account for the Hot Yam. This is going to be very important if we are successful in getting the levy.
The Sustainability Fair catering is OFF.
If anyone wants access to the hottestyam email account, please email us! We're a coop and want the email to be accessible

That's all folks.

April Fools' Meal!

2009-04-02T15:02:00.000-07:00

This week at the yam we kicked it up a notch, cooking for over 150 people!
Here's what we made:

Cauliflower Steak with Quinoa and Basil Oil
based on a recipe from Dan Barber via Dulcie's favourite book.

Here's what you need (Serves 4):
1-2 cauliflower cut into 1 inch thick steaks
olive oil for cooking
1 cup quinoa
1.5 cups vegetable stock
2 shallots
1 leek, rinsed and chopped
1 apple, diced
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1/2 cup zucchini, diced
1 tsp fresh thyme
1 tbsp fresh chives, chopped

Basil Oil (makes more than you need, but it's delicious on soups and salads)
2 cups basil
1 cup chilled grapeseed or olive oil (we used olive)

Here's what you do:
Dan and I diverge a little on this because he's not cooking for 150 simultaneously. He's also a better cook so this is an easier way!

At the largest part of each cauliflower head, cut two cross sections to create 2 1-inch thick steaks. In a large saute pan coated with oil, brown the cauliflower steaks on both sides. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.

On med-low, cook the quinoa in 1 tbsp-ish of oil until it smells nice and nutty and is a little darker. Add the vegetable stock. Bring to a boil, and then reduce the heat to low, simmering until the quinoa has absorbed all the stock. You can tell if the quinoa is done because 1) it won't be crunchy when you eat it and 2) the "curl" of the quinoa will have separated from the rest of it.

Meanwhile, saute shallots, leek, zucchini, apple, and garlic. Add the leftover cauliflower florets and season with salt and pepper. Now here's where Dan and I diverge. He puts all this stuff in a blender and then adds a bit of it to the quinoa later. I've done that once, and it's delicious, but not doing that works out to (especially for 150). Anyway, blended or unblended, set aside this vegetably goodness.

Once the quinoa is ready, either mix in the un-blended veg or a big spoonful of the blended veg (you can use the rest to make a delicious cauliflower soup). Add thyme and chives, and drizzle with basil oil.

To make the basil oil: Optional: blanche the basil and shock in ice water (or save some water and soak it for a few minutes). Dry the leaves. Not optional: In a blender, puree basil and oil. Strain (or not).

How to plate: Place cauliflower steak on a bed of quinoa mixture and drizzle basil oil around the plate.

Yum!

We also made baked apples with cinnamon raisins.
To be honest, we just made up the recipe, but here's what you do:

Preheat oven to 350 C.
For each apple, you need the following mixture:

1 tbsp margarine (we like Earth Balance)
1 tbsp brown sugar
some raisins
dash of cinnamon
dash of nutmeg

Mix all that together. Taste it. Good? Good. Carefully cut the bottom bit out of the apple. Then core the apple (ideally you don't want to cut a channel through the apple, but we did, and you didn't notice, did you?)
Stuff the apple with the cinnamon-raisin-sugar mix. Place on a baking sheet and cook in the oven for 15-30 min. (keep an eye on it).

Pour the sugar mixture that leaks out onto the pan back onto the apples.
Enjoy.

Black Bean Soup (serves 6)

Materials:

3 cups of black beans

1 tbsp olive oil

3 cloves minced garlic

2 onions, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

2 tsp chilli powder

2 tsp chopped fresh or pickled jalapeno pepper

1½ tsp dried oregano

1 tsp ground cumin

½ tsp aniseed

6 cups vegetable stock

1 14 oz can stewed tomatoes

¾ tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper

4 tsp lime juice

Method:

Rinse black beans. In a big pot, cover in 3x volume of water and bring to a boil for 2 min. Remove from heat and let soak 1h. Then drain.

In a large pot, add oil, garlic, onions, and celery and saute for 5 minutes until the onions are softened.

Add chilli powder, aniseed, oregano, jalapeno, and cumin. Cook, stirring occasionally for 1 min.

Add beans and vegetable stock. Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer 1h 15 min or until beans are very tender.

Next, add the tomatoes and season with salt and pepper. Simmer 10 minutes, and blend it a bit with your choice of blender (we used a handy submersion blender (immersion blender? I never know) leave some texture though 'cause it's nice).
For a final flourish, add the lime juice.

Serve hot! This soup would be delicious with tortilla chips for a black bean burrito-soup fiesta.

*Disclaimer: This post is tagged with "gluten free". We're pretty sure it is, but no guarantees!

March 18, 2009 meal

2009-03-21T08:44:00.000-07:00

My Those cupcakes look splendid!

This week at the Hot Yam! we cooked up a gr8 ginger carrot salad, many servings of Happy Hummus, Lovely lentil soup and out of this world-cupcakes. We hope that our meal made your bellies full and happy--!
Below are the recipes so that you may recreate the experience over and over again:

Ginger carrot salad
Ingredients For 5 people:
3 large carrots, cut diagonally into thin slices
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 clove garlic, grated
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
1/8 teaspoon seasoned salt
1 dash cayenne pepper
1/2 cup raisins

Procedure:
Cut Carrots thinly on a diagonal and boil then for 2 min, ( still crunchy carrots)

Whisk together oil, vinegar, garlic and ginger, season with cumin, cinnamon, sugar and cayenne, Mix carrots, (add raisins in the morning)

Hummus
Ingredients for 6 people:
2 cups cooked chick peas
1/3 cup of tahini
_ cup of lemon juice
2 cloves of garlic
1tsp of olive oil
_ tsp of paprika
_ tsp of cumin
as much water as needed, perhaps a cup or two
Procedure: If Chick peas are dried soak overnight, drain and boil with a pinch of salt until tender. Add all ingredients in food processor and spin away until the desired consistency!
Hot Yam! tip: to enhance the taste, when adding water to the blend, use the same water that was used to boil the chick peas

Curried Lentil Soup
Ingredients for 8 people:
3 medium onions
2 tbsp of graded ginger
3 cloves of garlic
4 stacks of celery
2 tbsp of curry powder
1 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp of tumeric
1 tbsp of dried coriander
1 can of coconut milk
6 cups of veggie stalk
2 cups of red or green lentils
2 cups of chick peas
Procedure: sautée the onions, celery, garlic, ginger and oil in pot until tender. Add 6 cups of veggie stalk and spices. Bring to boil. Add lentils and coconut milk and chick peas. Should take approximately 45 minutes but making it the night before helps all the flavors to burst!

Now onto Dessert! Yum

The cupcakes
(recipe for 1 batch - makes 12)

1 cup soy milk
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract, chocolate extract, or more vanilla
extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder, Dutch-processed or regular
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Frosting!

- 1 L of earth balance marg (we have a bazillion tubs, anyone know how many? It's at least 2...)
1 L earth balance shortening
28 cups of icing sugar (get this from essence of life. it's vegan. ah the vegan sugar issue)
60 mL vanilla
2 cups of soy milk

Procedure

1. Preheat oven to 350°F and line a muffin pan with paper or foil
liners.
2. Whisk together the soy milk and vinegar in a large bowl, and set
aside for a few minutes to curdle. Add the sugar, oil, vanilla
extract, and other extract, if using, to the soy milk mixture and
beat until foamy. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour,
cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add in two
batches to wet ingredients and beat until no large lumps remain (a
few tiny lumps are OK).
3. Pour into liners, filling 3/4 of the way. Bake 18 to 20 minutes,
until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely.

Frosting

1. Beat the shortening and margarine together until well combined and
fluffy. Add the sugar and beat for about 3 more minutes.
2. Add the vanilla and soy milk, and beat for another 5 to 7 minutes
until fluffy.

For the frosting, the timing actually matters\

Happy Baking!