It’s that time of year when the zucchinis are huge and abundant. A simple, colorful, tasty grain-free noodle can be easily made from summer squash, zucchini and/or carrots. Featured in the Hella Delicious 2012 Recipe Calendar.

• 1 large zucchini
• 2-3 medium summer squash
• 1 – 2 T lard, olive oil or coconut oil
• salt and pepper to taste

This is a very simple recipe that I made one day while making kimchi, I had left over diakon and carrots. This is really delicious, fresh and crisp. A living food full of enzymes and probiotics.

• 3 medium organic carrots, julienne
• 1 medium diakon radish, julienne
• 1-2″ ginger, grated or pounded
• 1 T salt or 3 T whey
• filtered water to cover

Saurkraut made with kefir grains gives you kefirkraut! Originally developed by Dom, please check out his site: Dom’s Kefirkraut in-site for a full description and history of the recipe. There are lots of other great recipes and interesting resources over there, which I am sure all the fermentation fanatics out there will really get into.

At the end of the summer I was down on Hastings in one of my favorite little stores–Como–it is run by a feisty Asian couple who speak Italian. They get in large sacks of fresh olives towards the end of the summer. This year I decided to buy one and try to figure out what to do with them. Just as I was heaving the sack onto the counter, a lovely lady behind me started asked me what I was going to do with them. I said, “Well I don’t know really.” She smiled and happily started telling me her recipe which had been handed down to her from her mother–a real traditional recipe (that’s why I love this area so much!). Her English wasn’t perfect, but I managed to get a pretty good idea of what she was saying and figured the rest out as I went along.

This is a recipe I was meaning to post a couple months ago, and am now doing so I can add it to www.amoderatelife.com‘s Tenth day of Bloggi-mas that I have been doing my best to be a part of this year. Today is casserole day. I made this for our Canadian Thanksgiving this year and it was a hit. It is best when cooked the night before and re-heated as the flavors have a chance to age and deepen together divinely. I used the wild fennel I harvested from our alley. Wild fennel has a much more vibrant flavor than cultivated so just use more if you haven’t a place to forage for wild fennel seeds.

• 2 medium eggplants, sliced lengthwise
• 1 coconut’s cream
• 2 T wild fennel seeds, ground
• 8 large tomatoes, skin off and sliced thickly across
• 1 T coconut oil
• 1 medium onion, sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, sliced

This year, while searching through various old cookbooks for pecan pie recipes I came across a lovely fresh apple relish (Apple Kitchen Cook Book by Demetria Taylor), which I just had to try. It was fantastic! Especially tasty with fresh, local apples, it works particularly well as a relish with turkey, and really helps to digest a big meal as it has homemade dill pickles as well as probiotic mustard and a touch of homemade mayonnaise. This is my version…I should have posted it before Thanksgiving! Keep it in mind for your Christmas dinner.

Everyone will recognize this old favorite! It is so simple and delicious–especially when made with the best homegrown ingredients. Who could resist? I grew my own balcony fingerling eggplants last year! This is a recipe that you can grow at home, even in an urban apartment with only a balcony .

Serves 2

• 2 tomatoes, sliced
• 1 sm eggplant, sliced
• 2 lg balls mozzarella, sliced
• 2 T e.v. olive oil
• 1 t balsamic vinegar
• 1 t sea salt or Himalayan salt
• freshly ground black pepper to taste
• Handful of fresh herbs i.e. mint, dill, basil, parsley, terragon…

This recipe is adapted from D. Mary’s recipe for Cucumbers in Jars on page 75 in the book Preserving Food without Freezing or Canning.

• 1 1/2 T sea salt per quart (litre) of water
• unchlorinated water
• small handful fennel seeds
• 6-10 black peppercorns
• 1 T mustard seeds
• 5-7 cloves
• 5-6 cloves of garlic, sliced
• 8-10 small to medium sized cucumbers, washed
• dill flower heads and leaves
• small handful of coriander seeds
• clean jars with canning tops
• 1 horseradish root, sliced (to keep cucumbers firm)

This was a lucky discovery. Tasty and amazingly good for you as well. Fenugreek greens can sometimes be found in an Indian food market and are often used in Ayurvedic cooking.

Serves 4

• 1 large avocado
• 2c quinoa (cooked)
• 1/2 c green olives stuffed with garlic
• 1/2 bunch fenugreek greens
• 1/2 bunch mint
• 1/2 lime’s juice
• 1-2T e.v. olive oil
• pinch of salt and pepper

Method
This is great for using up leftover quinoa but other grains like rice, buckwheat, or bulgar could also be used. Dice the avocado, slice the olives, rough chop the fenugreek and mint. Toss together and add the lime juice, olive oil and season to taste.

Fenugreek has a very uniquely light maple syrup aroma/flavor which really brings out the mint and goes well with the quinoa and avocado. It also gets into your skin and you may notice that you are smelling like maple syrup for a few days after eating it. A nice bonus for your workmates if you have terrible B.O

serves 4.
This refreshing and balancing salad will cool you down on a hot summer day.

• 2 bulbs fennel, sliced as thin as possible and placed in ice water while preparing remaining ingredients
• 1 bu fenugreek leaves, chopped (1c)
• 1/4 c extra virgin olive oil
• 2 t lemon juice
• 1 t harissa
• 1 lg garlic clove
• salt and pepper

Method:
Toss together. Taste. Adjust flavor.