Wednesday's cooking workshop with Ben Spiegel!

Its time to put your term papers aside for 1h to come learn how to cook all those funny vegetables from your basket in a friendly organic atmosphere! Ben, a McGill student, is an expert at cooking those weird vegetables, and he will give us a free and very instructive cooking workshop. The workshop will focus on the content of this week's basket, and Ben will show us a few different things you can do with the veggies you picked up today. It should last roughly 1h, and you will save hours of looking for recipes on google for kale!

We'll meet shortly before 5pm in the Organic Corner, if you are late, just come meet us directly at the kitchen on the 3rd floor of the Shatner building.

Cooking Workshop, Organic Night and Last Distribution for the term

Tomorrow will be the last distribution of Organic Local Baskets for the Fall 2007 Term. Come get one last sweet potato and cinnamon bread or Habeshan apple pie to help you go through the long nights of studying ahead. As the fields of our farmer will slowly get covered with snow in the coming weeks, we'll have a new vegetable provider in January. We are working hard on finding the most suitable source of baskets possible, with the maximum amount of local vegetables and as little packaging as possible. But rest assured, the Wassihun family will continue to provide us with their ever so popular sweet breads and Ethiopian treats!

But, before saying goodbye for the winter break, we have a week filled with fun and instructive organic activities! It all starts on Wednesday at 5pm, when Ben Spiegel, an expert at cooking those weird vegetables you find in your basket every week, will give us a free and very instructive cooking workshop. The cooking workshop will focus on the content of THIS WEEK'S basket and will take place at 5pm in the kitchen on the 3rd floor of the Shatner building. Drop by tomorrow at distribution to sign up as space in the kitchen is limited!

Finally, on Friday the 23rd, come to the Organic Night in the Shatner Ballroom from 5 to 9pm to taste the difference of a completely organic meal. The evenings festivities will include a free dinner, drinks, insightful guest speakers on organic food and a showcase of the green clubs on campus. No need to sign up, everybody is welcome!

Organic Campus wishes you all a fabulous exam session, with lots of positive energy and we hope to see you all back in January at the Organic Corner!

Your dedicated volunteers from Organic Campus:

-Curtis, Andrien, Kelly, Meighen, Shannon, Alexandra, Sylvia, Michal, Matthew, Angela, Elsie, Steffi and Josiane

Squash Soup

This makes a creamy sweet soup which is a great way to use up these squashes we've been getting every week! My mom found this recipe on Google, but I believe the original credits go back to The Vineyard Kitchen by Maria Helm Sinskey.




Cut and remove seeds of a large squash, or about 4 lbs total
Bake at 400F for 45 min

Meanwhile, sautee 1 medium onion, chopped, in 1 tbsp of olive oil until soft.
Add 1 tbsp honey and cook until it bubbles
Remove squash from shell and cut into rough chunks and add to pot
Add 6 chopped sage leaves and 4 cups chicken/veggie stock

Bring to a boil and simmer for about 45 minutes until tender
Puree in the blender or with a handheld.
Serve with crème fraiche (optional) and salt/pepper to taste

Cooking Workshops!

Don't quite know what to do with all these funny vegetables your getting each week? Why not come out to a Cooking Workshop run by an experienced organic veggie chef!

Although details aren't confirmed as of yet, the tentative date is next Wednesday the 21st of Novemeber around 5 or 6pm in the Shatner building.

Kale, Chard, Potato, Celery Root and Collard Greens Gratin

This is how I used up lots of those winter veggies, loosely based on a recipe for Kale and Potato Gratin from "Joy of Cooking"

Preheat 350 F

Steam about 8-10 min until almost tender:
Kale, stemmed
Chard, stemmed
Collard Greens, stemmed
About one big bunch total
Chop coarsely when cool

Slice 1/8 inches thick:
potatoes
celery root
2 small onions
You want enough potatoes/celery root to roughly equal four medium sized potatoes

In a casserole or gratin dish:
Layer in alternating rows of Potatoes/Celery root, onions, veggies.
Begin and end with potatoes
On the onion rows also dot with butter/margarine, 1/2 tsp minced fresh tarragon, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/8 tsp (or more if you like) ground black pepper

Pour over everything 1.5 cups milk or half and half (or a mix of the two...)

Cover and bake about 30-45 minutes until potatoes/celery roots are tender
(Good idea to put the dish on a cookie sheet to catch any milk that boils over)
Boil for a couple minutes to brown the top

Yum!

Welcome!

Hello to All! This is the new Organic Campus Blog! Here is where you can get up to date information on events, see recipes and in general contribute your ideas and comments!

This will hopefully be a permanent work in progress, but right now we're still working out the little details, so bear with us!