Bill and I left home for a week, Jan. 6 to 12, and went to Saskatoon. The city was buzzing with activity with the Crop Production Show, the Agriculture Graduates Association annual weekend of activities and the Canadian Figure Skating Championships.
Bill spent most of the week attending the Crop Production Show while my sister and I attended the figure skating at Saskatchewan Place. I never learned how to skate because there was no rink where I grew up and the sloughs were always covered in snow or rough ice, so the feat of gliding over the ice gracefully and doing all the jumps and lifts is remarkable. We sat in awe and enjoyed every minute of it.
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It was also a people event – chatting with the people sitting in adjacent seats, meeting up with friends and colleagues not seen in a long time while out on walks around the rink, and seeing the expression on the faces of family members when their competitors took their turn skating.
I’m thinking in particular of Ken Rose, a young man from central Ontario, who won the junior men’s title. His family was sitting near us, nervously cheering him on and so delighted when he had a good skate. Many of the skating families chatted back and forth as no doubt they meet up often at competitions. Some had interesting looking knitting projects on the go.
I left the skating on Tuesday afternoon to go to a Pulse Day session on celiac disease and the gluten-free diet.
People with celiac disease cannot tolerate gluten and the only treatment is a strict diet for life. Pulses such as peas, beans, lentils and chickpeas can play an important role since they are gluten-free. They replenish fibre and other nutrients that may be lacking when gluten products are taken out of a diet, and they make many gluten-free products taste better.
The session was given by Shelley Case, a registered dietitian from Regina who has a nutrition consulting business. Case has written a book called Gluten-Free Diet – A Comprehensive Resource Guide. It provides practical information for a healthy gluten-free diet, an extensive list of gluten-free products, a directory of manufacturers and distributors, recipes and other resources useful in helping persons with celiac disease.
To order the book contact: Case Nutrition Consulting, 1940 Angley Court, Regina, S4V 2V2, 306-536-7716, fax: 306-751-1000, e-mail: scase@accesscomm.ca, website: www.glutenfreediet.ca, $21.95 plus $4 postage and handling and seven percent GST. Send cheque or money order to Case Nutrition Consulting.
The Saskatoon Inn prepared several gluten-free pulse dishes for us to taste. Here are some of the recipes. Whether or not you are on a gluten-free diet, the following recipes make nutritious and tasty eating. All recipes were from Discover The Pulse Potential, a cookbook published in 1994 by the Saskatchewan Pulse Crop Development Board.
For information on ordering this cookbook write to: A5A Ð 116 – 103rd St. East, Saskatoon, S7N 1Y7, 306-652-2691, e-mail: foodfocus@quadrant.net, website at www.sask
pulse.com.
Lentil pizza squares
1/4 cup canola oil 50 mL
3/4 cup chopped onion 175 mL
1 cup sliced 250 mL
mushrooms
1 clove garlic, minced
4 eggs
11/2 cups red lentil puree 375 mL
11/2 cups low-fat sour 375 mL
cream
1 71/2 -ounce can 213 mL
tomato sauce
3/4 cup cornmeal 175 mL
1 teaspoon dry 5 mL
crumbled basil
1 teaspoon dry 5 mL
crumbled oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt 2 mL
11/2 cups grated low- 375 mL
fat cheddar cheese
11/2 cups grated low-fat 375 mL
mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup sliced pepperoni 125 mL
1/2 cup sliced ripe olives 125 mL
1/2 cup diced sweet 125 mL
green pepper
Preheat oven to 350 F (180 C).
In a skillet, heat oil. Add onion, mushrooms and garlic. Sauté until onion is transparent. Remove from heat and let cool.
In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs. Blend in lentil puree, sour cream, tomato sauce, cornmeal, basil, oregano, salt and the mushroom and onion mixture. Stir in cheddar and mozzarella cheese.
Turn into 9 x 13 inch (22 x 34 cm) baking dish that has been sprayed with non-stick vegetable spray.
Garnish with pepperoni, olives and green pepper.
Bake 40-45 minutes or until firm to touch. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting into 12 squares.
This recipe is gluten-free if you use gluten-free brands of sour cream, tomato sauce and pepperoni. You can check by reading the labels or phoning the manufacturers.
Yield: 12 servings.
Lentil chickpea stew
3 medium onions, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon canola oil 5 mL
4 stalks celery, sliced
1 cup chopped carrot 250 mL
1 teaspoon cumin 5 mL
1/4 teaspoon cardamon 1 mL
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon 1 mL
1/2 cup Eston lentils 125 mL
3 cups chicken broth 750 mL
1 cup water 250 mL
1/2 cup canned 125 mL
chickpeas, rinsed
and drained
1/2 cup slivered almonds 125 mL
In a saucepan or Dutch oven, sauté onion and garlic in oil until onion is tender. Add celery, carrot, cumin, cardamom, cinnamon, lentils, chicken broth and water. Cover and simmer 45 minutes or until lentils are tender.
Stir in chickpeas and almonds and cook long enough to heat through.
Yield: 6 cups (1.5 L)
Serving size: 1 cup (250 mL).
Spicy hot split peas
Pease porridge of nursery rhyme fame was made from dried yellow split peas, served hot or cold or even nine days old.
2 cups yellow split 500 mL
peas
1/4 cup sodium-reduced 50 mL
soy sauce
6 tablespoons honey 90 mL
2 teaspoons ginger 10 mL
root, thinly sliced
2 teaspoons cornstarch 10 mL
2 tablespoons water 30 mL
1 tablespoon sesame 15 mL
oil
10 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dry 5 mL
crumbled red chili pepper
1/2 cup diced red sweet 125 mL
pepper
1/2 cup currants 125 mL
Rinse peas, then cover with water and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes. Drain.
In a small bowl, combine soy sauce, honey, ginger, cornstarch and water. Set aside. In a saucepan, heat oil, garlic and chili pepper. Do not brown. Add peas, sweet pepper and currants. Sauté five minutes, stirring constantly.
Add soy mixture and cook, stirring constantly until mixture is thickened, clear and heated through. Serve on a bed of rice. Yield: 6 cups (1.5 L) Serving size: 1 cup (250 mL).
Smooth-top ranges
Dear TEAM: After reading about smooth-top ranges in your column, I’d like to offer some anecdotal information. I have been using smooth-top ranges for canning for over 20 years. My first smooth-top was ceramic. I purchased the stove second-hand and it was 30 years old when I replaced it. It came with instructions to use a metal star-shaped wire (ring) when canning or using very large pots.
When I bought my present range seven years ago (glass top) it had no instructions but I continued to can using my wire ring and have no problems. My first canner was lightweight aluminum, flat bottomed. My current one is the standard blue enamel you see everywhere. I have not noticed any damage to either stove from this method. However, I have found something that does damage smooth-tops. My husband has an espresso coffee pot that on both stoves etched a ring into the cook-top surface. It has a flat bottom and is smaller than the burner but certainly does damage the cookttop. – P. M., Central Butte, Sask.
Thank you P. M. for sharing this information with us.
TEAM is on-line
Dear TEAM: I am a fan of your column in The Western Producer. I also use the on-line version of the newspaper, but cannot find your column there. Are you not on the online version of the paper? If not, I think it would be great if you were. – D. C., Mafeking, Man.
Dear D.C.: Thanks for your comments and request. Others have also asked for our column to be included in the website version of The Western Producer. We agree it would be a good idea and so it will soon happen. Also, our readers have requested we have an e-mail address where questions can be sent. One has been set up. You can now send your questions, comments or other correspondence to us by e-mailing team@producer.com or by regular mail, TEAM Resources, Box 2500, Saskatoon, S7K 2C4.
Alma Copeland is a home economist from Rosetown, Sask., and one of four columnists comprising Team Resources. Send correspondence in care of this newspaper, Box 2500, Saskatoon, Sask., S7K 2C4.
