Stacey: Thoughts on Week 2

Dan    Ask Dan     calgary, cooking, Kick The KD, learning, Stacey, thoughts

Fresh from the second class of Kick The KD I am feeling super excited.  I have long wanted to try grains other than typical wheat, but as aforementioned, I am the most unadventurous eater and couldn’t take the plunge on my own.  Dan introduced us to Quinoa, Millet, Couscous and Bulgur Wheat.

I mentioned to him in class that I suffer from a never ending pang of hunger, which I think is induced by caffeine, and have been looking for something to curb this without consuming endless amounts of calories in carbohydrate-products (i.e. toast, sandwiches, pastas etc).  The Quinoa salad just might be what I have long been searching for.  The fibre, protein and carbohydrates in the grain should be ‘filling’ while being relatively difficult for your body to break down, thereby keeping you sated for a longer time than junk carbs (i.e. muffins, donuts, etc).  Additionally, mixing it with vegetables (or even an additional protein product) is delicious and perfect for taking as lunch.

In between this lesson and the dessert lesson, my group and I attended a knife tutorial by the energetic Kevin Kent from Knifewear.  His passion for a quality product and proper maintenance/use was infectious.

We were taught how to prepare a ‘Posh Orange’ (absolutely no peel or membrane) as is how the Queen enjoys her orange which I was thrilled about!

Who doesn’t want to be posh at every conceivable moment? Plus it tasted fabulous!  Additionally, he made sure we knew how to properly hold the knife and how to cut so as to save our fingers. Thanks, Kevin!

Homework for the week is to prepare a meal that typically calls for rice and substitute it with our new grains.  I searched Tastes Better With Friends but didn’t see a rice recipe I wanted to try out for this particular project. However, in our house one of the staples is stir fried chicken and vegetables with rice.  Thus I chose this meal to serve with couscous instead.  Additionally, I have to admit I was a little disappointed we didn’t get the same assignment as last week because I was so looking forward to sharing the recipes we learned with my family! So I decided to incorporate them with the stir fried chicken (and sans chicken for my Vegetarian sister) meal.

I did the grocery shopping this week since it is Reading Week and I have a little more time than usual.  An interesting (annoying) note is that couscous and quinoa is extremely expensive at Safeway.  So much so that I did what I absolutely hate doing, going to more than one location.  Normally, I pay ‘convenience fees’ if it means I only have to go to one store.  I am happy to report that it was worth going to Superstore (which I knew specializes in carrying more ‘exotic’ foods).

I prepared the Quinoa Salad with a balsamic vinaigrette dressing and the Couscous Dessert.  I manipulated the salad by adding green grapes and strawberries because we had them and I thought they would be yummy and I added the left over arugula from last week, I omitted the red peppers as I didn’t think they would mix well with the other fruit. It turned out wonderfully and got rave reviews from my family members!  The stir fried chicken and couscous worked easily.  Again, I had my mom cook the chicken.  I guess the magic of throwing together a delicious sauce without a recipe comes with experience.

The dessert was changed (but this was the same in class) by using macadamia nuts instead of hazelnuts, as I also could not find them in the bulk aisle.  My family thought the dessert was yummy and in class we thought it was fabulous!  Who knew couscous could be served as a dessert?!

The couscous was a nice change from rice however three courses of grains was a little much by the end.  I’d recommend having each of these dishes during separate meals and that would be perfect!

We resume our lessons after a week break (Reading Week) to try our hands at breakfast foods. I can’t wait!  Breakfast is easily my most favourite meal (which I think applies for all 3 meals really).  I look forward to more opportunities with Dan as he shows us how truly easy and fun it is to Kick The KD!

–Stacey

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