Global Vegetarian Night @ Higher Ground Café

Cross-posted from Calgary is Awesome.

Higher Ground and I actually go way back - as a high school student at nearby Queen E, I would often go during my spares for an apple-berry tea or soup. In a weird twist of fate, I met one of their managers, Dan Clapson, through the Calgary Food Blogger Bake Sale back in June (he made the very-popular London Fog cookies!) His blog, Dan's Good Side, features lots of yummy recipes interspersed with restaurant reviews and interviews for Food Network Canada, as well as quick posts about his favourite musicians. Dan was kind enough to invite me to have one of his Global Vegetarian Night meals at Higher Ground on the house! (So yes, this review may be a little biased.)

Higher Ground's Global Vegetarian Night happens every Wednesday between 5:30-9:30 PM. Call to make a reservation, and you will get a three-course vegetarian (often it is vegan) meal for only $19 prepared by Dan himself! Because B. and I often have other commitments on Wednesday night, it's difficult to get our schedules to mesh and ultimately we couldn't, so I brought my friend Winnie (a fellow foodie who also brought a camera with her). I think Dan was trying to make a joke on our reservation sign about how hard my name is to spell, but Winnie appreciated how she was inadvertently incorporated into the reservation (though I personally would spell our names "Vinccinnie")


We kicked off our meal with a Spinach Salad with Cranberry Peppercorn Dressing. I loved how a cucumber was hulled to make a little cup for the peppery dressing. The spinach was buttery and the sliced almond added a welcome nutty crunch. There were a few slices of apple in it as well, though I would've appreciated more to get that fruity tang.


The main course featured two domes of quinoa studded with walnut halves topped with roasted zucchini, onion, eggplant, tomato, carrots and a tangy tomato sauce. The dish was presented on one large plate as opposed to two separate ones, making for a more intimate meal. I personally would've liked the vegetables to have been cooked for a little longer, especially the eggplant, to let them soften and have their earthy, fall flavours come out.


Dessert was simply a pair of pumpkin cookies, drizzled with a maple sauce and sprinkled with sliced almonds. The cookies were a little undercooked in the middle, but in this case it worked as it was meant to be eaten with a fork like a mini-cake. A sweet, comforting end to the meal.

I was impressed by the friendly service by the staff - Winnie and I felt like we were our own little island, having a three-course meal while everyone else seemed to just be sipping coffee or cramming for their midterms. The service was also very efficient; our dishes were cleared almost as soon as we were finished, and quickly replaced with our next course. We left the restaurant feeling comfortably satisfied. Unfortunately for us, I would say this was probably one of the less creative menus I've seen for this night (likely because Dan was actually away for holidays) - Andree from are u gonna eat that? had a more Vietnamese-inspired meal featuring grilled tofu satay and spaghetti squash salad rolls a few weeks ago, and earlier this month the menu featured borscht, vegan cabbage rolls and quinoa-stuffed dolmades. I guess this only means that I have to get myself down to Higher Ground more often - and for only $19, I'm more than happy to.

Of course, even if you can't make it to the Global Vegetarian Night, Higher Ground's regular menu consists of a delicious selection of breakfast items, salads, soups, sandwiches and baked goods, and of course, coffee and tea!

Higher Ground Café
1126 Kensington Rd NW
Calgary AB T2N 3P3
(403) 270-3780
Global Vegetarian Night every Wednesday between 5:30-9:30 PM by reservation only. Open Mon-Thu 7 AM-11 PM; Fri 7 AM-Midnight; Sat 8 AM-Midnight; Sun 8 AM-11 PM.

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Bumpy's Café

Cross-posted from Calgary is Awesome.

My perennial brunchmate Tiffany and I learned the hard way this morning that Holy Grill is closed on Sundays. Undeterred, Tiffany quickly suggested that we head around the corner to Bumpy's for our brunch fix.

Tiffany said that her colleagues often go to Bumpy's, but the café was new to me. It's a colourful, cramped space decorated with a retro vibe, and humming on this Sunday morning - we were lucky to squeeze into a table before a rush of people came in.

Being a café, customers are expected to order at the counter (though if you are staying, they will bring the food out to you) and there is a much smaller selection of items than at a sit-down restaurant. Still, I was tempted by the muffins that were coming out fresh from the oven and the yogurt-and-fruit cups sitting in a bucket of ice on the counter. Bumpy's offers a number of lunch items as well - including a yummy-looking mac & cheese that the lady at the table behind us had ordered.

I ordered a quiche and a cappuccino (which came out to only $9.49, excluding tip) while Tiffany had a breakfast panini and some tea.


Usually they have a few types of quiche available, but today there was only broccoli (which was fine - given my health sensibilities I would've probably chosen it anyway). I was pleasantly surprised to find that my quiche came with a ramekin of vanilla yogurt topped with strawberries. The quiche wasn't bad, but it wasn't impressive either - the broccoli was obviously the frozen stuff, and the crust (usually my favourite part) was just ok.

Tiffany enjoyed her breakfast panini, which contained bacon (you can also choose ham or sausage), egg and real cheese.

Overall, the service at Bumpy's was pleasant and efficient. I probably wouldn't go back for brunch as I enjoy more of a "sit down" affair, but I would certainly be back for coffee or tea (and some freshly baked treats) if I'm in the neighbourhood.

Bumpy's Café
1040 8 St SW
Calgary AB T2R 1K2
(403) 265-0244
Open Mon-Fri 6:30 AM-5 PM; Sat 7:30 AM-4 PM; Sun 8 AM-3:30 PM. Closed holidays.

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Best Weight: A Practical Guide to Office-Based Obesity Management

This book, and thus this post, is geared toward nerdy dietitians and other health professionals. We will return to our regular programming soon.

I devoured this book last weekend.

I guess I should start with another disclaimer - I have been a huge fan of the blogs written by the book's authors, Dr. Yoni Freedhoff and Dr. Arya Sharma for quite some time. Dr. Freedhoff is the medical director of the Bariatric Medical Institute in Ottawa; his blog Weighty Matters takes a sarcastic, humourous look at how marketing and public health initiatives sadly often don't help, if not hinder, the fight against the obesity epidemic (and the Funny Friday posts are great too.) Dr. Sharma is the medical director of the Weight Wise program in Edmonton, professor of Medicine and chair of Obesity Research and Management at the University of Alberta and the scientific director of the Canadian Obesity Network. His blog takes a much more serious tone than Dr. Freedhoff's, often featuring the latest in obesity-related research. Dr. Sharma is a real advocate for obesity as a multifactorial chronic disease.

So, even before I opened the e-book (they were kind enough to distribute it for free to Canadian Obesity Network members, and it is free to join), I knew this would be good.

Best Weight summarizes over 30 years of Dr. Freedhoff's and Dr. Sharma's combined experiences in obesity management into a practical, easy-to-read, 100 page book. (I'm not kidding when I say that it's easy to read - as someone who hates reading pdf files on the computer, I managed to read the whole thing on my MacBook on a lazy Sunday afternoon.)

In their introduction, the doctors say that their goal was to "write the book we each wish we’d had when we started out," and I'm glad that as a practitioner, I have it now. This book is not about the latest and greatest in obesity research, but it's about helping readers feel more comfortable in approaching and managing their patients with obesity, whether it is making sure that the clinic has the right furniture/supplies available to make your patients feel comfortable and want to come back and see you, factoring in all the variables (medical, psychological, etc.) that make it easy for a person to gain weight, or difficult for them to lose weight, or just knowing the right things to say as opposed to "our dietitian's going to put you on a diet plan."

I believe that different health professionals are going to get different benefits from this book - for me, the most helpful sections were "Let's Talk About Weight", a chapter on how to begin the conversation with patients and setting realistic weight goals, as well as the sections on lifestyle assessment and lifestyle-based treatment. Doctors may find the more clinical sections talking about obesity-related conditions and medications more helpful, and I've also shared the book with my clinic manager, in hopes that she will get chairs without arms and keep better tabs on the magazines in our waiting room! With sections on surgery and many different types/approaches to treatment, I'm sure that this book will be a great reference to turn back to as a person's career/practice evolves.

The most frustrating aspect of reading this book is probably seeing that this information is so important and so straightforward, but knowing that the people who need to read it are probably not going to read it. I have tried sharing the book with my colleagues at work, but haven't heard anything from them. I really hope that Dr. Freedhoff and Dr. Sharma continue their work in obesity awareness and management and I hope that people with obesity know that there are health professionals out there who do understand that it's not easy and are willing to listen and to help them work towards feeling healthy and successful.

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Pork Satay with Peanut Butter Sauce

You're probably expecting a Thanksgiving recipe, or at least some creative idea on how to use that leftover turkey. I've got nothing. Our Thanksgiving menu this year looked very similar to last year's, except this year my mom just made a rack of lamb in addition to the turkey (as opposed to a prime rib, crab legs and a shrimp ring), we had Brussels sprouts and string beans, two kinds of mashed potatoes (my brother wanted instant ones because they are creamy, and a family member brought a mashed potato casserole flecked with bacon and topped with cheese), mashed sweet potatoes, salad, a Chinese dessert (split pea and coconut cream pudding), two pies...

Anyway, B. and I made this last week at his house. He has gotten into a habit of trolling food blogs (no idea where he got that from) and sent me a link to this pork satay recipe posted on Julie's blog.

The original recipe calls for almond butter, but B. had peanut butter, so we just went with that. I did tone down the brown sugar and soy sauce in the recipe as peanut butter already has a lot of added sugar and salt on its own, while I like to assume that most almond butters are a little more natural.


We grilled these on the Foreman and you have to watch them closely, otherwise they'll come out dry! B. also noted that the peanut sauce was "too peanut buttery" - maybe I should've added the full amount of sugar and soy sauce? I do have a lovely, cooked peanut sauce recipe from Martin Yan Quick and Easy, but this is so much quicker - you just toss all the ingredients together, thin it out with a bit of water and stir it all up. Our attempt at this recipe didn't turn out perfectly, but it's definitely worth making again just to get it right.

B. made coconut rice to serve with it, simply by subbing the water with coconut milk in the rice cooker. Except he opened a new can of coconut milk when there was an open one from the week before in the fridge. (Grrr...)

Pork Satay with Peanut Butter Sauce
Adapted from Dinner with Julie
Makes 4 servings

• 1 pork tenderloin (about 500 g)

Marinade:

• 1 tbsp (15 mL) fresh grated ginger
  
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
  
• 2 tbsp (30 mL) brown sugar
  
• 2 tbsp (30 mL) orange, lime or lemon juice
  
• 1 tsp (5 mL) low-sodium soy sauce
  
• ½ tsp (2 mL) curry powder
  
• 1 pinch hot pepper flakes

Peanut butter satay sauce:

• ½ cup (125 mL) peanut butter
  
• ½ tbsp (7 mL) brown sugar
  
• ½ tbsp (7 mL) low-sodium soy sauce
  
• 1 tbsp (15 mL) lemon or lime juice
  
• 2 tbsp (30 mL) hot water
  
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
  
• ½ tsp (2 mL) Sriracha sauce

1. Cut the pork tenderloin in half crosswise and then lengthwise into strips. Set aside. In a medium-sized bowl, mix marinade ingredients together. Add pork strips and stir (or toss with your hands) to coat. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour or overnight.
   
2. In a small bowl, mix together all the satay sauce ingredients, and thin with additional water if necessary. Set aside.
   
3. Preheat a grill or broiler. Thread the pork onto skewers that have been soaked in water for at least 10 minutes. Grill or broil on both sides until just cooked through. Serve with sauce on the side.

Nutrition Info (per serving): 302 calories, 17 g fat (4 g saturated), 40 mg cholesterol, 18 g carbohydrate (2 g fibre, 12 g sugar), 22 g protein, 293 mg sodium. An excellent source of thiamine (vitamin B₁), niacin (vitamin B₃), vitamin B₆, phosphorus, potassium, manganese and selenium. A good source of riboflavin (vitamin B₂), vitamin B₁₂ and zinc.

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Wishes & Goals 2010 Check-Up - October

Every month this exercise gets a little more painful - each time I do one of these check-ups, I feel like I'm slipping just a little further away from my goals as opposed to inching closer to them. You'd think that knowing that I'm not doing very well would make me more motivated to do better in the month ahead, but no, I just feel miserable about myself.

Don't get me wrong - snacks are now an integral part of my weekday routine, and now I eat more fruit (and cheese) than I used to. I'm also drinking more water than I used to, and now I notice it more on the days when I don't get enough. Last year, going to bed at 1 AM, maybe even 2 on a weeknight was normal for me. Now, even though I don't make it to bed at 11:15 every night, it is a big deal if I see that it's past 12 (let alone past 1) and I'm never awake at 2 AM anymore (except on the odd weekend). On December 31, I probably won't be able to say that I have a morning and afternoon snack every day, or that I get at least 7.5 hours of sleep every night, but I will be able to say that I've moved forward in certain areas because I did set those goals. More importantly, I've learned a lot about setting and achieving goals that I can use for myself and my clients - one of these lessons is to not be so stubborn about keeping the same resolutions/goals for an entire year that it makes you feel miserable every month.

My Goals for 2010
7.5+ hours of sleep
Looking at the colours, it looks like I didn't sleep at all in September, and this month hasn't been going so well either. For the most part, I'm still going to bed within an hour of my set "bed time" so it's not that bad...

Each snack must contain a vegetable or fruit
I think this is probably the only goal that I'm doing well with. Towards the end of the month I've started to fall in love with those mesh bags of Babybel cheeses and those boxes of Armstrong cheddar cheesesticks (Mmmm... smoked cheddar) as my "protein". We'll see what my cholesterol has to say about that in May. I don't think I need snacks on the weekend because I clearly sleep in... an afternoon snack might still be necessary, and good to get more fibre and vitamins in my system!

Be able to do 100 full, proper pushups without stopping by December 2010.
On average I did my pushups about once a week and got up to 40 pushups, then fell off the wagon and the last time I checked I was back down to 31. However, that was on a Thursday after kickboxing class. This month I am taking a break from pushups because I will be upping my kickboxing to about 4-5 times a week and will probably be too tired for pushups. I will still try to do my biweekly checkpoints though.

Drink at least 48 oz of water at least three days a week, INCLUDING Thursday, Saturday or Sunday.
This month was mostly off, but towards the end of the month I started to get back into my groove. I'm finding I'm drinking more water at home now, which is good, but I need to get better about carrying a water bottle with me - I actually don't like those stainless steel water bottles because I can't tell how much I've drank. I'm eyeing this Thermos water bottle (it has one of those fancy one-touch flip lids and a rotating meter so you can keep track of how many bottles you've drank :P), but I'll most likely just dig up an old water bottle somewhere in the house...

I will save at least ⅓ of my paycheque every month in hopes of buying a house/condo within walking distance from my work by 2011-2012.
I didn't put any money into savings this month because I had to make my annual payment for my life insurance. However, I didn't have to take any money out of savings, so I think that's a good thing.

Wishes for 2010
Do a thorough room purge.
Yikes. I need to do that.

Recipes/Techniques I wanted to try this year:
I canned crabapple jelly and made soup from KitchenScraps! (Vote for Pierre in Project Food Blog!) I didn't even realize I did two things this month! Now I feel awesome.

Blog Stuff
Continue upward trajectory of posts this year
I posted 9 entries in September 2010, vs. 5 in 2009.

Include nutrition information for my recipes whenever possible
I haven't done this for past recipes since April.

Rewards/Positive Reflection
Despite not having a stellar month (and it's now 11:13 and I haven't brushed my teeth yet - yikes!) I think this entry has had a pretty positive spin on it and even though I probably won't meet my goals as written, I've made good progress towards them. So the only thing that I'll be missing out on is those physical rewards (a new camera, etc.) that I'd promised myself - who cares?

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Whole Wheat Blueberry Oat Bran Flax Muffins

A few weeks ago, my parents (whom I affectionately refer to online as Mama T and CuteDad) decided to have some people over for mahjong. They obviously had to buy food for their guests, so they went to Costco and bought so many raspberries, strawberries and blueberries that it probably worked out to a punnet per person. Needless to say, most of the fruit was left untouched (including a pack of Asian pears that eerily did not go soft or brown for 2-3 weeks), and since my siblings have not fully grasped the benefits of eating fruit (or adequate sleep, or regular physical activity, for that matter), I was virtually left to deal with it alone. Sure, smoothies are great, and so is the simplicity of topping a bit of thick, creamy Liberté 0% Greek Yogurt with some fresh berries, but the only surefire way to get rid of a lot berries at once (and get people to eat them!) is to turn them into baked goods.

These muffins can actually be traced back to Cook's Illustrated, which peskily asks you to sign up in order to view the recipes on their website. Obviously, I will save you the trouble of having to give your address to yet another corporation and tell you that versions of the recipe actually appear at least three times in the blogosphere - on Simply Recipes, Smitten Kitchen and montcarte.



Of course, I couldn't help but "healthify" the recipe - it is a muffin, not a cake, after all - and used whole wheat flour instead of white. Since we have an ample supply of oat bran and ground flaxseed at home I find that I often swap out a tiny bit of the flour for it in my baked goods. I cut down on the sugar a little bit and I used salted butter and took out the added salt - one day I will have to figure out how much salt is in salted butter to see if that's a worthwhile swap.

    
Despite all the modifications, the muffins were still a hit! They've probably lost their "perfect"/"Better-than-the-bakery" status, but they were moist, fluffy and exploding with berries.

    


This recipe doubles quite easily (what I did), but make sure you have the equipment to be mixing such a big batch of batter! Otherwise your muffins end up with little clumps of flour floating to the top :(

I made these again with strawberries instead of blueberries, and tried to make them the smaller size that Deb (Smitten Kitchen) recommends. Strawberries don't look as pretty when they're baked into muffins (they take on this greyish hue and get all slimy) and I lost control of the temperature a bit and burnt the bottoms. (Oops!)

One of the girls at work has been bugging me for this recipe and for one reason or another I haven't been able to put it up until now - this one's for you, Tara.

Whole Wheat Blueberry Oat Bran Flax Muffins
Adapted from Simply Recipes, Smitten Kitchen and montcarte
Makes 16-24 muffins (recipe doubles and halves easily)

• 2½ cups (625 mL) whole wheat flour
  
• ¼ cup (60 mL) oat bran*
  
• ¼ cup (60 mL) ground flaxseed*
  
• 1 tbsp (15 mL) baking powder
  
• ½ tsp (2 mL) baking soda
  
• 10 tbsp (150 mL, or 1¼ stick) butter, softened
  
• ¾ cup (185 mL) sugar
  
• 2 large eggs
  
• 1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla extract
  
• 1½ cups (375 mL) plain yogurt
  
• 1 tsp (5 mL) grated lemon peel
  
• 2 cups (500 mL) blueberries, fresh or frozen and defrosted

1. Adjust the oven rack to the middle-lower part of the oven. Preheat oven to 375˚F (190˚C). Line a standard (not mini) muffin tin with paper liners, or grease each muffin cup individually. Set aside.
   
2. Whisk together flour, oat bran, flax, baking powder and baking soda. Set aside.
   
3. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar together, beating until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating until incorporated after each one. Beat in grated lemon peel.
   
4. For this step, make sure that you beat the ingredients until just incorporated. Do not over-beat. Beat in half of the dry ingredients until just incorporated. Beat in a third (½ cup/125 mL) of yogurt. Beat in half of the remaining dry ingredients. Beat in another third of the yogurt. Beat in the remaining dry ingredients, then the yogurt. Fold in the berries. If you are using frozen berries, defrost and drain excess liquid before tossing them in about 1 tbsp (15 mL) of flour.
   
5. Using a small ice cream scoop, distribute the muffin dough equally among the cups - for bigger muffins, fill the cups until they are nearly full, for smaller muffins, fill only to three-quarters full.
   
6. Bake for 25-30 minutes until the muffins are golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the centre of a muffin comes out clean.

Nutrition Info (for 1 of 16 muffins): 216 calories, 9 g fat (5 g saturated), 46 mg cholesterol, 29 g carbohydrate (4 g fibre, 13 g sugar), 6 g protein, 208 mg sodium. An excellent source of manganese and selenium. A good source of magnesium.

*If you don't have oat bran or flaxseed, feel free to just substitute with more flour, or better yet, any other ground up healthy stuff like wheat bran, psyllium, hemp seed, chia seed or ground nuts.

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Janice Beaton Fine Cheese's Grilled Cheese Bar

Cross-posted from Calgary is Awesome.

About two-and-a-half weeks ago, my friend Tiffany casually signed off an email by saying "Btw, we should go to the grilled cheese bar, if you haven't already been." Excitedly, I replied, "WHAT IS THIS GRILLED CHEESE BAR YOU SPEAK OF?!?"

It turns out that I'd already knew about the grilled cheese sandwiches being served up at Janice Beaton Fine Cheese, but when it's described as a "grilled cheese bar" it makes it sound all the more sinful and gluttonous, no?

So after work one day, Tiffany and I decided to head down to Janice Beaton to have an early supper of grilled cheese sandwiches. The menu consists of three choices, all $7 - a classic three-cheese sandwich, a croque-monsieur called Ham and Cheese, Please and the Whim of the Day, which on that day was queso fresco with pesto and tomato sauce. We ordered one each of the Ham and Cheese, Please and the Whim of the Day, and swapped halves.

Janice Beaton has a small counter set up by the window with bar stools where you can sit down and enjoy your grilled cheeses (instead of bringing them outside into the cold and letting them go soggy). The sandwiches are served on cute little wooden cutting boards with their logo lasered onto them, alongside a small ramekin of a mild, crunchy red cabbage coleslaw and a few tiny gherkins.

The croque-monsieur was good, with locally sourced ham, Brassica mustard and gooey Gruyère sandwiched between panini bread grilled so crispy that there were air bubbles on the surface, yet somehow not charred at all. However, it paled in comparison to the Whim of the Day, which the lady behind the counter accurately described as tasting like "pasta in a sandwich". The queso fresco held its structure despite being grilled, giving the sandwich a bit of a chewy texture, while the garlic-basil pesto and chunky tomato sauce provided the rich, familiar flavours often associated with pasta.


The service at Janice Beaton was top-notch, despite the fact that their primary service is selling cheese, not serving it. Our food was brought out to us as we chatted at the counter, and though we probably overstayed our welcome (we were there till about 15 minutes before close) we definitely did not feel rushed at all. We didn't have anything to drink, but there are Italian sodas available, as well as wine by the glass. On Wednesday nights, they have wine/beer and cheese pairing nights for $50 - this month there is a Thanksgiving-themed night, and a series of Quebec-themed nights. Give them a call (or better yet, pay them a visit) for more information and to reserve your spot!

Janice Beaton Fine Cheese
1017 16 Ave SW
Calgary AB T2R 0T5
(403) 229-0900
Grilled cheese sandwiches available during store hours: Mon-Fri 9 AM-7 PM; Sat 9 AM-6 PM; Sun 10 AM-6 PM.

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