I don’t eat much of this stuff. I’m not actually a big fan of vinegar based coleslaw. Maybe I’m not selling the recipe well… so, why post a coleslaw recipe? Because everyone in my family loves this recipe – it’s in high demand at my house. It’s rare when there isn’t some made up in a container somewhere in the fridge.

And I’m told you’ll like it too, readers. I will guarantee it’s like to coleslaw you’ve had before. Are you brave enough to try after that ’sales pitch’?

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup Organic Virgin Olive Oil
• 1/3 cup Organic Apple Cider vinegar
• Parsley
• Herbamare
• Pepper
• 1/4 large white cabbage
• 1/4 large red cabbage
• 1 shredded carrot
• 1/4 large onion chopped
• 1/4 cup sliced black olives (optional)
• 1 inch feta cheese crumpled (optional)

Method:

1. Thinly slice the white cabbage. Then chop to pieces of one to two inches. Put in mixing bowl.
2. Do the same with the red cabbage.
3. Add the shredded carrot and chopped onion to the red and white cabbage.
4. Pour the Olive Oil over the contents of the bowl. Then add the Apple Cider Vinegar. (The oil is added first or the vinegar just pools on the bottom.)
5. Season to taste. Add the optional black olives and feta cheese.
6. Mix. Let sit 10 minutes before serving for enhanced flavor — let the vinegar soak in a bit or else you’ll have vinegar cabbage soup!

Up in Northern Ontario here, it’s quite cold today so I’m going to make one of my most grandparent-impressing soups. I don’t know about your grandparents, but mine are all about root vegetables.

This warming and tangy soup has a really pretty muted-orange glow, and has just a touch of spice. I’m a big fan of lively soup! Be sure to try this recipe with organic carrots, potatoes, onions and celery, as their flavor is so much better than those grown on industrial farms.

Organic root vegetables like these are considered seasonal no matter where you live, and are found easily in health food stores and plenty of grocery stores, too. Choosing organic oranges is especially important when you make an orange zest, so as not to ingest the surface pesticides found on industrially-grown orange skin. Nothing good about pesticide soup, folks!

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This recipe really speaks for itself. Show me a person that dislikes warm goat cheese, toasted pistachios, and caramelized onions and I’ll show you a person that hasn’t lived.

Okay, maybe that’s extreme. But this is really good salad. And that’s extremely truthful.

Ingredients:

• One bunch of arugula, washed and dried
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 1 Tbsp maple syrup
• 4 Tbsp fresh goat cheese
• 4 Tbsp green pistachios, shelled (or walnuts)
• 3 Tbsp blueberry balsamic vinegar
• 3 Tbsp olive oil
• Fresh black pepper and sea salt to taste
• Optional: Red onions, pears

Method:

1. Divide the greens and goat cheese between two plates. DO NOT eat all of your goat cheese right now impatiently, you need it for the salad. PUT IT DOWN.
2. Now, put a dry frying pan on med heat and toast the pistachios until golden and fragrant. Again, don’t eat all of your pistachios right now, save them for the salad. Trust me, you don’t want to eat too many pistachios anyway. Your stomach will hate you for it.
3. Remove from pan and place to one side. Melt the butter in the same pan and slowly cook the onions over low heat for about twenty minutes.
4. Add the maple syrup and let it thicken. Whisk together the vinegar and oil and set aside.
5. Divide the pistachios between the plates and top with the onions and dressing. Add pepper to taste.

My better half comes from Russian ancestry and on occasion I have to make foods that I would certainly not make if I were only cooking for myself.

Now, having said that of course, I will say that I love this dish. My experience with beets before learning of this particular recipe was with my family dinners as a child when my grandmother used to try and make me eat beets. Like every child, I complained constantly that all the foods that were good for me were also terrible tasting. I felt like it was some sort of punishment!

But now? I love beets! They taste delicious, they’re good for you, AND I can touch-up my hair colour with the left over red beet juices! Not many of you can say that, I bet.

Ingredients:

• 1 or 2 good sized beets, peeled and then shredded
• 1/4 cup minced red onion
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar1/2 lemon squeezed
• 4 tbsps olive oil
• 1 tbsp maple syrup (homemade is best, but I don’t expect all my readers to be pioneers)
• salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Wisk together the vinegar, olive oil, lemon juice and maple syrup. Pour over beets and onions and toss. Taste and add salt and pepper as desired.

Makes about 4 to 6 servings, depending on how delicious it ends up being.