THE VOLUPTUOUS VEGETARIAN: One Tesla worth of Tomatoes, please

Welcome to my crazy world of real food cooking ...

Eat Food. Not too much. Mostly Plants. -- Michael Pollan

I wish I could take credit for that because I think it sums up how we should eat. Simply -- eat stuff that really is food, instead of stuff that is food like substance. The supermarket is almost entirely food-like-substances, and, my friends, you should probably never ever eat them.

Fortunately, there is a world of deliciousness out there, and it can all be had in a way that not only doesn't harm your health, but in a way that benefits you hugely.

I think it's important to eat stuff that satisfies you, that keeps your blood sugar stable, and that gives you stuff your body really needs to run optimally.

But baby, it's gotta taste good.

I really like getting experimental in the kitchen. I love cooking, I love layering flavours, and I love coming up with really super yummy food. I have very strong opinions about what constitutes food, and there are a lot of things I won't touch in the kitchen. Bottom line? Pretty much everything I make is ridiculously good for you even if it tastes decadent. Although there are occasional big fat cheats ... but even those stick to real food, my friends.

For food that is usual gluten free, usually free of cane sugar, usually super low on the glycemic index, full of protein, fiber, flavour, and excellent energy, join me and Alice down the rabbit hole.

Every recipe on this blog is my own original effort and idea, so please pass 'em on, giving credit where credit is due.

Many thanks, and come back often. I'm really glad you are here!

Monday 3 September 2012

One Tesla worth of Tomatoes, please

Today's foray to the Leslieville Farmer's market netted an entire bushel of stunning chemical free plum tomatoes -- red, resplendent, ripe, and ready to be sauced. Picture if you can the toothsome thick flesh of perfect roams: beautifully sun kissed and seductively swollen with promise, yet with no hint of softness or rot to mar their blissfully burgeoning perfection. It's enough to transform even the starchiest pragmatists among us into temporarily drooling foodie fools.

Now, the fact that I'm the sucker who will have to do the saucing not with-standing, I'm stoked about our score. The other fact that makes me the sucker is that there were better than 40 lbs of little red cuties in that bushel, which then had to be carried home. That is in excess of what my 4 year old weighs. My 4-year old, incidentally, who announced to me the other day that I was to call him Tesla. Yes, in addition to raging chocolate addicts, geeks proudly abound in this house. And sometimes they just bound. The 4-year old one at any rate. I'm more of a scamper-gavotter myself.

The secret to sauce -- or so my sauciest and sassiest friends have informed me -- is the long slow simmer. In a nutshell, say they, it doesn't matter what you put in, so long as you simmer it for hours. You can guess what my house is going to smell like for the foreseeable future.

Haystrom Farms enthusiastically sold us these pretty tomatoes. Thanks!

I am not -- nor have I ever been -- Italian. So, I cannot promise that this will pass muster with anyone who grew up eating their Nonna's sauce. However, we find it is flavourful and delicious and works great for our saucing needs, especially with all ingredients fresh from the farmer's market -- and, hallelujah, perfectly ripe.

GIANT sauce:

(I made this 3 times, because my pot can only hold 15 lbs of tomatoes at a time. Can you say SUCKER???)

1/4 cup extra virgin coconut oil
15 lbs of roma tomatoes, diced
2 lbs onion, diced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 lb carrots, diced or sliced

3 tbps sea salt
black pepper
3 tbsp oregano
4 tbsp marjoram
3 tbsp basil

directions:

1. combine and simmer for HOURS. If you have a cheap crappy stockpot like I do, make sure you keep it on very low. If you have a significantly better enormous pot with a thick encapsulated bottom, only you know if you can push the heat up a notch to medium.
2. allow to cool (and puree with an immersion blender if you like)
3. put into clean 1 L jars and freeze