Redwater Rustic Grille (Aspen Estates)

Cross-posted from Calgary is Awesome.

Thanks to my brother for re-schooling me in the Rule of Thirds.
Mama T's birthday was a few weeks ago and she picked the new Redwater Rustic Grille at Aspen Landing as her birthday dinner destination.

Squeezed in between two clothing stores in the open air mall, the restaurant looks small at first, but once you go in, you immediately descend a flight of stairs into the spacious dining room. The space is dimly lit and elegant, with dark wood finishes and red and black accents. Large windows overlook a gorgeous [fake] lake. A "private room" sits in the centre of the restaurant, and I say "private" because the walls are made of glass! A fairly large group was dining in there and they looked like they were having a good time.

Although it was only a Thursday night, the restaurant was super-busy and it only got fuller as the night went on. Luckily for us, my mom had made reservations using OpenTable.

Redwater is known for its extensive wine list, but unfortunately my parents are essentially teetotallers, so I can't really comment on that.

After placing our orders, dinner was kicked off with the usual bread and a creamy brandy butter flecked with peppers, giving it just a bit of heat.

    
We didn't have to wait *too* long before we got our appies - my brother and I shared the Margarita Lime Chicken Tacos ($9), which were smoky and messy, though I wished the tortilla chips would've been a little crunchier.


My mom gave us her Roasted Tomato and Corn Soup ($7) as she'd been hoping that there would be more corn than tomato. It had a hint of "southwestern" spice, making it a good match with the tacos.


My dad had the Iceberg Wedge Salad ($17). Instead of the usual iceberg wedge and blue cheese dressing, this one also came with tomato wedges, a smattering of red onion and bacon, sauteed baby shrimp and a black pepper lime dressing, topped with some fried wonton wrappers.


We had to wait a while before the mains arrived; this was the situation with dessert as well - just when I was about to mention how long the food was taking, the servers would come. If I'd known I would've said something sooner!

My brother and I both weren't feeling particularly hungry that evening, so we shared their smallest piece of meat - an 8 oz beef tenderloin ($35). All of their entrees come with one of three sauces, as well as your choice of two sides. The restaurant was nice enough to split our entree onto two plates, and charged us $3 for double the amount of vegetables.


For sides, my brother chose grilled white asparagus, while I chose the dill and honey roasted golden beets and carrots. The asparagus was ok, a bit woody in some parts, which is completely understandable given that it's September (and not spring). I really liked the beets and carrots - sweet and earthy, very seasonal. We ordered our steak rare as that's how my brother likes it. Even though I usually like my steak medium-rare, I enjoyed our tenderloin as it wasn't bloody or too raw in the middle. The garlic poblano butter that we chose as our sauce was a nice complement.

My dad and sister both ordered the half-rack of lamb ($35), which looked very tender and juicy. My sister shared a bite of her mashed potatoes, which were creamy and buttery.


My mom ordered their Field Mixed Greens ($9) with an additional side of seared ahi tuna ($7). This was a springy salad with curls of carrot and beet, crunchy pumpkin seeds and a sweet strawberry peppercorn vinaigrette.


For dessert, my sister chose the Chocolate Temptation Platter - a choice of two chocolate desserts for $9, or all four (flourless chocolate cake, chocolate mousse, chocolate ice cream and chocolate mint crème brûlée) for $18. My sister got the chocolate mousse and chocolate mint crème brulée - both were very rich and chocolatey.


I ordered the lemon tart ($9), which was served with a scoop of crème fraîche and honey ice cream.


Unfortunately it wasn't anything special - the lemon curd in the tart was ok, but the crust had no flakiness or crumbliness at all; it was a little on the soft side. I did enjoy the ice cream - the tanginess of the crème fraîche was front and centre, with just a hint of sweetness.

Overall I felt that my experience at Redwater was like the lemon tart - ok. The food was good, but nothing special, and the relatively slow service didn't help either. Coincidentally, some of my fellow food blogger have been at Redwater's Macleod Trail location - feel free to take a peek at Wendy's and Jen's experiences.

Redwater Rustic Grille (Aspen Estates)
114 - 326 Aspen Glen Landing SW
Calgary AB T3H 0N5
(403) 686-6731
Open for lunch Mon-Fri at 11:30 AM, dinner every day at 5 PM. Online reservations available.

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Oven-Roasted Tomato-Coconut Soup

Did you know that I was in Swerve last week? A few people noticed, including Pierre, who shot me a compliment via Google Chat. Of course, I couldn't help but notice his soup recipe that was in the issue, especially given that B. had fallen in love with roasted tomatoes after we made them with our risotto. While I roasted mine in a fiery 450˚ oven for about an hour, Pierre takes a slower approach, roasting them at 300˚ for 2½ hours.


Yum.

Although the original recipe calls for heavy cream, Pierre slipped me an insider tip - the soup is also good with coconut milk, which is perfect, given that B. is lactose intolerant and especially sensitive to cream. Pierre also suggested adding a little bit of red curry paste, which sounded delicious (plus I had some on hand to boot), but B. had just come off a week straight of eating mapo tofu and needed a break from spicy food for a while.

The recipe is sooo easy (as with all things that take a long time) - it literally took me less than five minutes to slice the tomatoes in half and pop them in the oven. We then went to pick up B.'s new dining room chairs and did a bit of shopping before coming back to these juicy jewels.


While B. built the chairs, I set to work making the soup - you sauté some garlic, onion and red pepper in some olive oil until they begin to soften and brown (I'm thinking I might just roast everything next time), then let them simmer in a little bit of white wine before adding the tomatoes and a bit of tomato juice.


After simmering for a little bit, you then purée it. Pierre recommends a hand/immersion blender, but we didn't have one, so I did it in batches in the regular blender. I learned the hard way (aka burnt hands and tomato soup flying everywhere) that the "pulse" button turns the blades at a speed faster than "1", despite being careful not to fill the blender too full. Eventually I recovered and cleaned everything, blended the rest of the soup and added the coconut milk.


I served it with the rest of the wine, a whole grain baguette (nothing fancy, just from Superstore) and some cheese (a sharp cheddar and a brie) that B. already had in the fridge. A lovely way to celebrate our first dinner at the new kitchen table sitting on the new chairs! (Thanks, Pierre!)

Oven-Roasted Tomato-Coconut Soup
Adapted from KitchenScraps
Makes 6 servings

• 10 ripe tomatoes
  
• 2 tbsp (30 mL) olive oil
  
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled
  
• 1 medium onion, peeled and diced
  
• 1 medium red pepper, seeded and diced
  
• 1 cup (250 mL) white wine
  
• 2 cups (500 mL) tomato juice*
  
• 1 cup (250 mL) coconut milk
  
• Chopped chives (we had green onions) for garnish, optional

1. Preheat oven to 300˚F (150˚C). Slice tomatoes in half and place them on a baking sheet, cut side up (you may want to line the baking sheet with foil or parchment paper for easier cleanup later). Roast in oven for 2½ hours.
   
2. Turn off oven and allow them to cool and dry out completely in the oven for about an hour. If you are impatient like me, then you can cool them on the counter. If you'd like to store them and make the rest of the soup (or some other recipe) later, allow them too cool completely before transferring to an airtight container and storing them in the fridge.
   
3. In a medium saucepan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Sauté garlic, onion and red pepper until the vegetables have softened and begin to brown. Add in white wine and boil until the alcohol smell has evaporated (or is at least not so pungent.)
   
4. Add the tomatoes and tomato juice. Save one or two halves to dice up finely for garnish. (Note: even with a sharp knife this will be difficult and messy.)
   
5. Simmer the soup for 10 minutes, then using a hand blender/immersion blender, puree soup until it is smooth. Then blend for another two minutes until it is silky smooth. If you don't have a hand blender/immersion blender, do this in batches in your regular blender - remember, hot liquids expand! Always start at the lowest speed.
   
6. If using a regular blender, return the soup to the pot (if using a hand/immersion blender, it should be in there already). Stir in coconut milk and bring to a simmer.
   
7. Serve soup topped with diced tomato, chives, and a drizzle of leftover coconut milk. For a Thai twist, Pierre suggests going "all out" with red curry, rice noodles, cilantro, bean sprouts and toasted peanuts. Yum.

Nutrition Info (per serving): 211 calories, 12 g fat (8 g saturated), 0 mg cholesterol, 17 g carbohydrate (4 g fibre, 10 g sugar), 4 g protein, 236 mg sodium. An excellent source of vitamin C, folate, potassium and manganese. A good source of iron and magnesium.

 

*If sodium is a concern, try low-sodium vegetable juice (I couldn't find any low-sodium tomato juice), a blend of tomato juice and water, or simply water.

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Sweet & Smoky Oven Ribs

Continuing on the "Where did our BBQ season go?" and "Recipes that take long but are technically easy" themes, I present to you these ribs from Smitten Kitchen.

Now you can enjoy ribs year-round, and you will even want to make them in the oven on a hot summer day - the oven doesn't go very hot anyway, and you also free up grill space to make other foods. And yes, the recipe takes a *scary* six hours, but you don't have to do very much - mix up a spice rub, rub down the ribs, wrap the ribs in foil and put them in the oven, turn the oven down at hour 4, and finally, make up a sweet, smoky, sticky sauce.

    


We used "extra meaty" back ribs instead of spareribs, and they still ended up fully cooked, moist and flavourful. The spice rub is open to tweaking - I, for one, would definitely be adding cumin to it for a little more smoky flavour.


It was only after I started preparing to blog this recipe and did the nutrition analysis that I realized it's actually not very good for you. It all comes down to portion size - I think we tend to underestimate how much meat is actually on a rack of ribs; according to the Canadian Nutrient File, a rack of ribs is only about 27% bone, so a 5 lb rack of ribs works out to about 3½ lb of meat, or 14 oz meat per person (!!) So if you want the recipe to be reasonable, you should be serving it to about 19 people, which, if you're lucky, would probably work out to one single rib per person.

I think I'm ok just filing it into my "this is unhealthy" box. (More ribs for me!)

Sweet & Smoky Oven Ribs
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen
Makes 4 generous servings

• 1 cup (250 mL) brown sugar, packed
  
• 2 tbsp (30 mL) chili powder (preferably ancho), or paprika
  
• 2 tsp (10 mL) salt
  
• 2 tsp (10 mL) garlic powder
  
• ¼ tsp (1 mL) cloves, or allspice
  
• ½ tsp (2 mL) cinnamon
  
• 5 lb (2.3 kg) pork spareribs (side ribs), though back ribs are ok too
  
• 2 tsp (10 mL) mild or hot pimentón (smoked Spanish paprika), Hungarian or regular paprika would probably work too
  
• 1 tbsp (15 mL) cider vinegar or white/red wine vinegar

1. Preheat oven to 200˚F (95˚C). In a mixing bowl, combine the brown sugar, chili powder or paprika, salt, garlic powder, cloves and cinnamon; you can do this easily with a fork. Place each slab of ribs on a piece of foil large enough to fold into a packet. Sprinkle spice rub over the ribs, patting it in generously on all sides. Turn the ribs meat side down and tightly fold the foil to make sealed packets - make sure the seal is *tight*! Otherwise, the juice will leak out of the packet and leave you with dry ribs.
   
2. Put a rack on a baking sheet (a cookie cooling rack works for this), put ribs on rack and place in the oven. (Alternatively, you can place your ribs directly on your upper oven rack and put a large baking sheet on the lower rack to catch any drippings.) Bake for 4 hours at 200˚, then reduce the temperature to 175˚F (80˚C) for another two hours or until a fork easily penetrates the meat. Open each packet carefully and pour the accumulated juices into a saucepan. Boil the juices and reduce them by half, at which point you will have a syrupy sauce that easily coats a spoon. Stir in paprika and vinegar.
   
3. Serve ribs with sauce drizzled on top or on the side, depending on your preference. For extra caramelization, you may want to stick your ribs under the broiler for a few minutes before pouring sauce on top.

Nutrition Info (per serving): 1329 calories, 80 g fat (30 g saturated), 317 mg cholesterol, 58 g carbohydrate (2 g fibre, 54 g sugar), 62 g protein, 1537 mg sodium. An excellent source of thiamin (vitamin B₁), riboflavin (vitamin B₂), niacin (vitamin B₃), pantothenic acid (vitamin B₅), vitamin B₆, vitamin B₁₂, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, zinc and selenium. A good source of copper.

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Tofu Patties

B. seems to have taken an interest to tofu in the past few months. To be honest, I don't think it comes from a desire to be healthy or to move toward vegetarianism (ha!) but probably more from an I'm-too-lazy-to-go-grocery-shopping-and-tofu-keeps-for-a-while perspective.

We'd been meaning to make these tofu burgers/patties for some time, but we never got any BBQ weather during our short-lived summer (and I imagine it would take extra work to prepare a BBQ that hasn't been used for three years!) An article in the Herald featuring the Veggie Burger Madness blog (and his book, Veggie Burgers Every Which Way) re-sparked our interest in veggie burgers. Unfortunately, the website was a little overwhelming for us veggie burger novices, so we clicked back to this simple recipe from 101 Cookbooks.


If you have a good food processor, this recipe is super-easy - throw the ingredients directly into the food processor, blend, shape into patties and grill (or fry, broil or bake). Since we only have a blender, we had to mix our burgers in batches and do a lot of poking and scraping down sides in between.


Clearly B. likes his burgers big, because out of a recipe that is supposed to yield six patties (eight, technically, but we could only find tofu in 350-g packages at the store), he was only able to make four.


The patties are a little dry, so they would be great as a burger slathered with condiments. I think I'd also try adding a bit of grated zucchini or carrot to bump up the moisture.

Despite their dry, clearly-not-a-meat-burger-ness, there's something about them that sort of grows on you. The cashews and sunflower seeds add texture and some nutty notes, while I'm sure the mushrooms are there for their umami qualities. Especially with the cumin, the patties remind me a little bit of falafel.

Tofu Patties
Adapted from 101 Cookbooks
Makes 8 patties

• 1 lb (454 g) extra-firm tofu, drained, patted dry and sliced
  
• 2 large eggs
  
• ½ cup (125 mL/55 g) bread crumbs, or panko
  
• ½ cup (125 mL/55 g) cashews
  
• ½ cup (125 mL/55 g) sunflower seeds
  
• ½ cup (125 mL/55 g) mushrooms, sliced
  
• 1 tbsp (15 mL) Dijon mustard
  
• 1 tbsp (15 mL) soy sauce
  
• 1 tsp (5 mL) cumin
  
• ½ tsp (2 mL) cayenne pepper
  
• 1 tbsp olive oil

1. Place all the ingredients, except olive oil, into a food processor. Pulse until the mixture starts to come together, forming a paste. You may need to scrape the sides down once or twice. If the mixture is too thin, add a bit more bread crumbs; if it's too dry, thin it out with some water.
   
2. Divide the mixture into eight equal portions (a scale may be good for this if you are anal like that) and shape into round, slightly flattened patties.
   
3. Pour olive oil into a large skillet over medium-high heat. Arrange patties on skillet and cook, turning once, until browned on both sides, about 10 minutes. (We used a Foreman grill and it took us a little less time.) Serve with your favourite burger fixings, or enjoy as a patty crumbled on top of a salad or served alongside some risotto.

Nutrition Info (per patty): 215 calories, 14 g fat (2 g saturated), 52 mg cholesterol, 11 g carbohydrate (2 g fibre, 2 g sugar), 12 g protein, 208 mg sodium. An excellent source of magnesium, copper, manganese and selenium. A good source of thiamin (vitamin B₁), folate (vitamin B₄), iron, phosphorus and zinc.

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Simply Risotto

Is it just me, or do the recipes that take the longest generally end up being pretty easy? You can stuff some herbs, and maybe half a lemon, up a chicken's bum and throw it in the oven to roast; you can throw some ingredients and broth into a pot and let it simmer into a soup or stew. You can cook down a bunch of apples to make sauce, or if you're feeling particularly ambitious, jelly.

I'd like to think that risotto is the same way. People think risotto is scary because it takes a long time, but really, it's just stirring. Yes, it means that you won't be free to do other things at the same time, but if you think ahead and you pop some tomatoes in the oven to roast and let your boyfriend make the put-everything-in-a-food-processor tofu patty recipe, then dinner is all set.


I learned how to make risotto from my friend Blair way back in second year of university. I probably have a recipe written down on a stained index card somewhere, and was pleasantly surprised that I could reproduce it from my head at B.'s house. Yes, that's how easy risotto is.

    
When something has as few ingredients as a basic risotto, it's all about the ingredients. Use real butter. Use a decent white wine (not hard for me to find something "decent" as I know nothing about wines, ha!) Use homemade stock if possible; if not, cheat and perk up some store-bought stuff by throwing in some fresh herbs ;)



Traditionally I would throw any add-ins (i.e. peppers, mushrooms, spinach, whatever!) right into the pot, but often that throws off the liquid balance and can leave you with overcooked vegetables and undercooked rice. Here I took the safe route and just pan-fried some crimini mushrooms in butter on the side, but don't be afraid to experiment. I'm sure there are lots of recipes out there that can serve as inspiration, or start small, like playing with the types of broth and types of wine. (I can imagine beef broth and red wine being very intense together.)

Basic Risotto
Makes 4 servings

• 3 cups (750 mL) vegetable or chicken broth
  
• 3 tbsp (45 mL) butter
  
• 1 onion, chopped
  
• 3 cloves garlic or 1 shallot, sliced
  
• 1 cup (250 mL) arborio, or other short-grain rice
  
• 1 cup (250 mL) white wine
  
• ¼ cup (60 mL) parmesan cheese, grated

1. In a small saucepan, bring broth to a boil. Turn heat down to low and leave pot on stove until ready to use.
   
2. In another, larger saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and saute until onion becomes soft and translucent. Add rice and stir to coat in butter.
   
3. Ladle ½ cup of broth into the rice. Stir until all of the broth has been absorbed. Repeat with the remaining broth and with white wine. Taste to make sure risotto is at desired texture; if it's too hard, leave it on the heat and stir occasionally until it is fully cooked.
   
4. Fold in parmesan cheese and other add-ins, if using. Serve.

Nutrition Info (per serving): 356 calories, 10 g fat (7 g saturated), 45 g carbohydrate (2 g fibre, 2 g sugar), 9 g protein, 577 mg sodium. An excellent source manganese and selenium.

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Crabapple Jelly

Despite our short growing season, Calgarians are notoriously good at growing crabapples. As the seasons change from summer to fall, branches sagging heavily with these red and green orbs, and lawns littered with bruised, over-ripe fruit are common sights in yards around the city.


They're fun to pick, but their mouth-puckering tartness makes them not-so-fun to eat! The solution? Cook them!

The most common recipe that you'll find for crabapples is crabapple jelly. It seems simple enough - crabapples cooked down so that you just get their juice and pectin, then add sugar. On the advice of some friends, I scored some used canning gear from Kijiji and set down to turn 10 lb of crabapples (from a single tree!) into jelly.



    







Canning was its own adventure in itself! I used a combination of tips from Canadian Living, where I got the recipe, as well as from Atco Blue Flame Kitchen. Unfortunately my mom doesn't like cinnamon, otherwise I would've totally tossed in a few sticks in, and perhaps a few cloves and nutmeg to boot! If you're planning to give these as gifts and there are a few spice-haters in your group too, I would make a label suggesting that people can sprinkle a bit of cinnamon on top of their crabapple jelly if they so desire.

Despite the fact that all the lids snapped happily into place, producing these beautiful jewel-toned jars, my jelly was actually a flop. I made a mistake in scaling the recipe, so it came out sugary-sweet, with no trace of crabapple taste.

The original recipe called for 4½ cups of sugar for 6 lb of crabapples, so I should use 7½ cups of sugar for 10 lb of crabapples, right? Wrong. While their 6 lb of crabapples made 6½ cups of juice, my 10 lb of crabapples only made 10 cups of juice, so I should have only used just under 7 cups of sugar. *sigh* Don't make the same mistake as me! Scale at Step 3, or better yet, taste! Also, don't forget that cooking times are increased if you are using more apples.

I am going on a jelly rescue mission with some apple juice and new lids later this week - wish me luck?

Crabapple Jelly
Adapted from Canadian Living
Makes about 8 × 1 cup (250 mL) mason jars

• 6 lb (2.7 kg) crabapples
  
• 4½ cups (1.5 L) sugar

1. Prep crabapples by cutting out any bruises and removing both stem and blossom ends (you might find that halving the apples makes it easier as those stems go deep!) Do not peel or core the crabapples, as this is where the pectin (i.e. the gelatinizing factor) is.
   
2. In large Dutch oven, bring crab apples and 6 cups (1.5 L) water to boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes or until softened. Using potato masher, crush crabapples; cook for 5 minutes longer.
   
3. Wet and wring out jelly bag and suspend on frame over large measuring cup or bowl. Fill with crabapples; let drip, without squeezing bag (as this will make the juice turn cloudy), for about 2 hours or until juice measures 6½ cups (1.625 L), adding up to 1½ cups (375 mL) water if necessary. You may need to empty the measuring cup or bowl periodically to make sure that the jelly bag does not touch the liquid.
   
4. In large clean Dutch oven, bring juice with sugar to full rolling boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly and skimming off foam as necessary. Boil for 15 to 18 minutes or until the jelly reaches gel stage. To test for gel stage, place a few small plates into the freezer. When ready, remove one of the plates, place 1 tsp (5 mL) or less of jelly and freeze again for a minute. The surface of the jelly should wrinkle when pushed with a finger.
   
5. Using funnel, fill hot, sterilized 1-cup (250 mL) canning jars, leaving ¼" (5 mm) headspace. Cover with prepared lids. Screw on bands until fingertip tight. Boil in boiling water canner for 10 minutes, add 5 minutes if you live at a high altitude (i.e. in Calgary). Remove jars from canner and let cool, undisturbed, for 24 hours. Check that lids have snapped into place and refrigerate any that haven't and use within three months.

Nutrition Info (per tsp): 14 calories, 0 g fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 4 g carbohydrate (0 g fibre, 4 g sugar), 0 g protein.

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Cookbook Review: A Complete Illustrated Guide to Cooking with Arthritis, by Melinda Winner

Did you know that September is Arthritis Awareness Month? That was the theme of my work newsletter this month. Instead of going the traditional route and discussing antioxidants, omega 3, glucosamine and chondroitin, I decided to tackle a more offbeat but equally important question - are there limits to the recommendations we as dietitians can give to our patients with arthritis if their pain and fatigue makes it difficult for them to prepare healthy meals?

I was inspired to answer this question after reading about A Complete Illustrated Guide to Cooking with Arthritis by Melinda Winner in the Calgary Herald. In the book, Winner, who has been diagnosed with five types of arthritis, shares her tips for coping with chronic pain in the kitchen. The 319-page tome reads much like a regular cookbook, with recipes for hors d’oeuvres, entrées, soups, sauces, baked goods and desserts. The only difference is that at the end of each recipe, there is a note for the “physically challenged”, which points to specific techniques described near the end of the book to make preparing the dish easier. Each of these tips are illustrated by photographs of Winner using them in her own kitchen.


Me trying one of Winner's techniques
Winner’s techniques are mainly geared toward people who have arthritis in their hands, but they can certainly speed up meal preparation for people with sore hips and knees who cannot stand for long periods of time. For example, she suggests maximizing the use of kitchen gadgets like food processors, immersion blenders and standing mixers. The food processor alone can chop and shred vegetables, grate cheese, make breadcrumbs, whisk dressings and sauces and mix dough. To help relieve back and leg pain, she suggests purchasing rubber mats to place in front of the stove and counter, or sitting down for as much of the meal preparation as possible.

For cutting and slicing, Winner often suggests using a fork to stabilize the item to be cut instead of putting pressure on the hands. For those who cannot grasp a fork, she recommends holding a serving fork in the crook of your elbow. She also advises using the forearms to apply pressure on top of the knife to push it through the food being cut. I was surprised to find that a serrated knife was actually more effective than my usual chef’s knife for some of these techniques – probably something to do with where the centre of gravity is on the knife.


While I admire the concept behind this book, I must admit that I was disappointed by it. While the Herald showed a relatively healthy recipe, I struggled to find a healthy recipe that also allowed me to try a lot of the tips; ingredients like butter, sour cream, mayonnaise, bacon, shortening and cheese in all forms feature prominently throughout the book. Even recipes that look healthy at first glance have excessively large portion sizes – one recipe in particular worked out to 1 lb of meat per serving!

I know people generally don't judge a cookbook based on nutrition, but there were other elements that I thought could have been improved as well. There were a few repeat recipes making the cookbook unnecessarily long – many of the recipes use marinades and sauces; the recipe ingredients would indicate “one batch” of a sauce, then the recipe for the sauce would follow. One Apple-Mango Chutney was used in two recipes, and was also featured in the Sauce section of the cookbook, with no references to each other! While it could be argued that it saves people with arthritis from flipping back and forth through the book, that is certainly not the case in the section where Winner shares her tips. Although the book is billed as a “complete illustrated guide”, the photographs only appear at the end of each section, which often describe multiple methods, as opposed to next to the corresponding text. I had to read through some of the tips a few times to understand what I was being asked to do.

Despite its obviously amateur execution, A Complete Illustrated Guide to Cooking with Arthritis does raise important questions about the counsel that dietitians and other health professionals give to their patients given their conditions and how it affects their ability to follow health advice, as well as other aspects of quality of life. However, I don't see myself recommending this cookbook and hope that someone else out there will step up to the plate and help address some of these concerns.


I ended up trying a recipe that requires quite a bit of chopping, but don't be intimidated by the long ingredient list - it's essentially chicken and vegetables with a marinade/sauce.


It was originally named "Japanese Hot Chicken Stir-Fry", but the recipe includes Sriracha sauce (Thai) and five spice (Chinese), and the dish spends more time being steamed than sautéed, so I thought the name "Spicy Asian Chicken with Vegetables" would be more appropriate. It's a little high in sodium, so if that's a concern for you, swap out the Sriracha sauce for a chili sauce with less sodium, or cut back on the soy sauce and Sriracha, which are the main sources in the recipe. Don't skimp on the five spice, however, it gives the dish a very distinctive aroma, reminiscent of Cantonese BBQ duck.

Spicy Asian Chicken with Vegetables
Adapted from A Complete Illustrated Guide to Cooking with Arthritis, by Melinda Winner
Makes 6 servings

• 6 tbsp (90 mL) rice vinegar
  
• 6 tbsp (90 mL) Sriracha sauce, or hot chilli sauce
  
• 3 tbsp (45 mL) garlic, minced
  
• 1 tbsp (15 mL) low-sodium soy sauce
  
• 1 tsp (5 mL) fresh ginger, grated
  
• 1 tsp (5 mL) five spice
  
• 1 tbsp (15 mL) vegetable oil
  
• 680 g (1½ lb) boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs, pounded flat and cut into thin strips
  
• 1 medium red pepper, cut into thin strips
  
• 1 medium green pepper, cut into thin strips
  
• 1 onion, chopped
  
• 1 tomato, diced
  
• ½ head napa cabbage (also called Chinese cabbage or suey choy), roughly chopped
  
• 225 g (½ lb) mushrooms, sliced

1. Prepare marinade/sauce by whisking together rice vinegar, Sriracha sauce, garlic, soy sauce, ginger and five spice. Place chicken in a separate bowl and cover with half of the marinade. Let stand for at least 30 minutes. (I suggest doing this step before prepping the vegetables)
   
2. Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet or wok over high heat. Add chicken and sauté until browned.
   
3. Add red and green peppers, onions, and tomatoes. Stir well and cover for about three minutes. Add cabbage and mushrooms. Stir well and cover for about three minutes. Stir in the remainder of the marinade/sauce, to taste (Careful, it is spicy!) Serve with rice.

Nutrition Info (per serving): 197 calories, 4 g fat (1 g saturated), 65 mg cholesterol, 10 g carbohydrate (3 g fibre, 5 g sugar), 463 mg sodium. An excellent source of niacin (vitamin B₃), folate (vitamin B₄), vitamin C, phosphorus, potassium and selenium. A good source of vitamin A, riboflavin (vitamin B₂), pantothenic acid (vitamin B₅), vitamin B₁₂, magnesium, zinc and manganese.

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