Pseudo French Toast

May 1, 2015May 8, 2015 / Kake2Kale | Culinary Travel Adventures / 2 Comments

What is your earliest breakfast memory? Mine goes back to my childhood in Hong Kong when I stayed for the weekend at my grandmother’s home and shared her breakfast. She was born in Japan, hence, she served me pickled daikon, soft-boiled egg, toast, fruit and then a cup of tea with a generous amount of condensed milk. I always looked forward to those weekends. That hot cup of, beyond sweet, creamy flavourful tea still fortifies my soul when I think of it. And I still use her technique to make the perfect soft-boiled egg. I suppose I looked forward to those weekends because it was just the two of us. She really made me feel special.

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Feel The Beet!

April 17, 2015April 27, 2015 / Kake2Kale | Culinary Travel Adventures

Confess it, don’t you love getting free samples? Well, I most certainly do, especially when they are the latest and greatest in the health food industry. Last weekend, the Canadian Health Food Association Trade Show took place in Vancouver. I sampled all sorts of delights from chaga mushroom tea, brown rice kale chips to a salted caramel, cashew milk frozen dessert. Besides trying great food, there were talks given by doctors and health experts.

One of the speakers was Kathy Smart who is a registered nutritionist, holistic chef, named Canada’s health activist, and she was even a guest on Dr. Oz. Kathy had clients who wanted to slim down, so she tested a theory on them which she claims worked time and time again. Her theory is that a plant-based protein works better for apple-shaped women and meat based protein is best for pear-shaped women. Whether you’re wanting to trim down or not, here is a tip about how much protein to eat. Take your weight in pounds and divide it in half, then this is the number in grams that you should be eating a day. So let’s say you weigh 140 lbs., then you should be eating 70 grams of protein per day.

Kathy Smart also talked about her list of top healthy foods. Can you guess which vegetable she thinks should be crowned vegetable of 2015? BEETS! This superfood is a powerhouse of nutrients with some not readily found in other vegetables/fruits. As an example, beets have a high concentration of betalains (antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and detoxifying). They also contain vitamin C, magnesium, iron, folate, manganese, nitrate and potassium. This purple vegetable offers a huge range health benefits including: warding off cancer, supporting the digestive tract, boosting the immune system and energy, lowering blood pressure, helping arthritic pain, preventing cardiovascular disease, stroke and dementia. In China when women are menstruating they eat a lot of beets to replenish their iron levels. Don’t throw out the beet greens (tops of the beets), as they have a good dose of lutein, an antioxidant that supports eye health. I cook them like I would spinach or swiss chard. So, if you didn’t believe in the benefits of beets before, then it’s time to embrace and feel the beet!

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A 4-Carrot Soup

April 9, 2015April 17, 2015 / Kake2Kale | Culinary Travel Adventures / 1 Comment

I once knew a couple who were very much in love. They dated for 5 years and didn’t have much money, so he proposed to her with a 1-carrot diamond ring! No, that is not a typo, he found the biggest carrot and carved it into a ring. To her, that ring was more meaningful than a real diamond ring and she proudly wore it until it wasn’t fresh anymore. As demonstrated, you can do more with carrots than just eat them.

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East Meets West Sandwich

March 13, 2015March 19, 2015 / Kake2Kale | Culinary Travel Adventures

My idea of an extreme mash up would be, Lady Grantham (Maggie Smith’s character on Downton Abbey) at the dining table suspiciously eyeing a Vietnamese Sandwich on a plate before her, in her peevish upper-crust British accent, “You can’t be serious! Am I expected to pick this up with my HANDS, like a scullery maid, picking up a scrub brush?”

Thank goodness I am not a member of aristocracy because I have no prejudices against eating food with my hands. Sandwiches are not something I eat a lot of, perhaps because of the bad press they have gotten ie, Wheat Belly, Hi Carbs, Gluten. But there are times when nothing satisfies like a sandwich, especially when it is a Vietnamese sandwich called the Banh Mi.