le marche st. george

You've probably seen one or more of these photos scattered throughout my work in the last few months, but today I'm compelled to publish them all in one place. Together they show the collective magic that is Le Marche St. George, a cafe and small market located in Vancouver, Canada. It's the kind of place we all romanticize about owning one day. A cafe where the guests come for the people just as much as they do the coffee. A place where the owners travel and hand-select luxury goods to sell in small quantities. Where the texture on the walls authentically screams of weathered age, and where the marble top tables transport you to 1920's Paris. The ceiling-to-floor shelves stocked with local staples -- coffee, jam, pickles, and crackers.

I sat here for hours my first time in Vancouver. I sipped on a cappuccino. I split my flaky croissant piece by piece to nibble on its airy richness. Beside me sat a foursome of middle-aged women. They talked about using their bikes to get around and someone they knew who developed diabetes. Mothers with strollers made their way up to the door. I watched it all through speckled light cast through the trees. Little shadows danced on their children's faces as they waited patiently in their strollers. The table in front of me was a beautiful still life all its own. 

This experience welcomed me to Vancouver. It gave me pause -- moments to gather my thoughts, realize where I was, and get ready for something new. Who I was, there at that cafe, preparing for it all, is not who I turned into after the experience. That trip, those adventures, the way they changed me was like being branded on the brain with a scolding hot iron. My eyes will never see the same. Everything holds a different hue than ever before. I hold that moment at Le Marche St. George in my heart as a glimpse of who I was, a person on the brink of something new.

minted greek yogurt sauce

This yogurt sauce came about as the result of a successful farmer's market trip. The freshest ingredients - mint, young garlic, and beets - had my appetite feeling all inspired. I haven't been eating much dairy, but throw a small dab of this on the side of some marinated beets, and you can't go wrong. Finish the plate off with a sauteed fillet of fish and fresh salad, then boy, you have a meal. Even in the smallest amounts, its strong herb and lemony flavors brighten up any dish.

Ingredients:

1 Cup Greek Yogurt

1/2 Cup Packed Mint Leaves

1 Green Garlic Clove

2 Tbs. Sesame Oil

Juice from 1 Lemon

1/2 Tbs Salt

Directions:

1. Peel the outside layer from your young garlic, and slice each clove. Saute over medium heat in a bit of olive oil until just see through. Remove from flame.

2. In a food processor, whip yogurt until light and airy.

3. Add mint, garlic, and salt and continue to run the food processor until garlic and mint are chopped into little specs of green.

4. Stir in lemon juice.

5. Taste and add more salt accordingly.

weekly scenes

Life has been yogurt parfaits and a lot of plants lately. We've been working our little butts off in the garden, and trying to squeeze in all of our regular hobbies around it. Needless to say, things have been busy, but busy with all good things. I ain't got nothing to complain about. I'll just sit back and enjoy the ride. 

apricot and purple potato samosas with honey yogurt sauce

What's more fun than purple potatoes? Now really. Its like the natural equivalent to green ketchup: one of your favorite childhood foods in a fun color. They're plenty full of carotenoids which will help eliminate free radicals in your body, essentially detoxing the cells and keeping them pure. They're also crazy fun to cook with for the only reason being that they are so much fun to look at. 

So when I went home to cook my mom dinner, I threw these guys in there. I muddied them up with some fantastic Indian spices. Then I threw in some game changing apricots and walnuts, and rolled them in fillo dough.  To flash fry these little table footballs, I opted for healthy sesame oil, a favorite of Ayurvedic practitioners and ancient cultures of the west. To top them off, I paired the samosas with a  sweet yogurt dipping sauce, the easiest thing you'll ever make.Yum. Sweet, nutty, aromatic  and full of soft potato texture, these guys were a huge hit.

Samosa Ingredients (makes a dozen):

3 Purple potatoes, peeled, boiled, and mashed lightly with a fork

3/4 Cup Chopped Turkish Apricots

1/2 Cup Chopped Walnuts

2 Tsp Indian Curry Powder

1/2 Tsp Tumeric

1 Tsp Cinnamon

1 Tsp Salt

1 Pkg Fillo Dough Sheets 

*be sure to remove dough from the freezer and place it on the counter at least an hour before you plan to use

Yogurt Sauce Ingredients:

1/2 Cup Greek Yogurt

1 Tbsp Honey

1/2 Tsp Marsala Seasoning

Directions:

1. Mix together all samosa ingredients except for the fillo dough. Make sure that your potatoes still have a little bit of chunk to them, and then let everything sit until room temperature.

2. Mix together dipping sauce ingredients, and let it chill in the fridge while you finish making the samosas. 

3. Unrolling your fillo dough and using a big knife, cut the end of your sheet into a 3"-4" strip.

4. Take a heaping tablespoon of your mixture, and form it into a little triangle. Place the triangle on the bottom left-hand corner of your fillo dough strip. Continue to roll it up like a table football.

5. Once you've rolled it up, do it once more so that the samosa has two layers of dough.

6. Once you've rolled all of your samosas, pour about a 1/2" of sesame oil into your frying pan, and let it get hot. 

7. Fry samosa's 1-2 minutes on each side, until lightly browned

8. Serve with sauce