a peek inside the fishbowl

Have you ever made anything using za’atar? I picked up a package at the Ottawa Fair Trade Festival the other day. It’s a savoury middle eastern blend of herbs and spices. It can be incorporated into almost anything (think: marinades, eggs, flat bread, salad dressings) but I thought I’d start with something super easy, such as homemade pita chips:

I was so happy with how they turned out: crispy and full of flavour. And they’re so simple to make. All you do is mix some za’atar with olive oil, spread it on pita, and bake it in the oven. Pro tip: use kitchen scissors to cut your pita into eighths. You’ll notice that each small triangle wants to flap open into two halves, like a duck bill. Split it so you have two equal triangles. The rough, inner part is where you spread the za’atar and olive oil paste.

You’ll need to experiment with quantities. I got a bit over excited with a few of these and spooned on too much. (Er. See above photo.) In terms of za’atar to olive oil ratio I started with 2 TBs of the spice mix with 3 TBs of olive oil and it seemed about right. Bake for 10-12 minutes in a 350F oven and you have yourself a pretty good snack.

This particular brand of za’atar is produced by a volunteer-run organization called Zatoun, and it’s available at Ten Thousand Villages. Zatoun provides help to olive farmers who have no other means of generating income. You can read more about them here.

Want to sample some of this blend? All Extra Helping subscribers are automatically entered to win a gift pack of Zatoun za’atar this week and a lovely bottle of fair trade Zatoun olive oil to go with it. It would make a great pantry staple or a thoughtful gift for foodies (that is, if you’re able to part with it!) Don’t you just love gifts that keep on giving? :)

The Germs in Subways, Visualized — https://t.co/USyAYTmX0n pic.twitter.com/pO3uBHIpvZ

— Mental Floss (@mental_floss) November 21, 2015

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I don’t think there are many places where you can fill your belly for pocket change so I will call this particular lunch a PERSONAL TRIUMPH.

I was coming home from a work assignment today. It was 1:00 p.m. I hadn’t eaten lunch and needed to pick up groceries, so I took a small detour to our local Farm Boy. I don’t usually buy meals from the prepared-foods fridges, especially for lunch, but I was starving and craving something that would excite my tastebuds.

In amongst the sushi, soups, and salsas, I spotted a lunch-sized container of tofu curry and rice for $3.29. It looked promising, and I was famished, so I popped it in the cart. I also picked up a small handful of snow peas in the veggie aisle, knowing that for another few cents it would make a lovely crunchy green addition to my dish.

The tofu and rice took two minutes to microwave. While that was heating up, I quickly sautéed the snow peas in a splash of buttery-flavoured olive oil from Emulsify. I had pine nuts in the pantry so I tossed a few in there, along with a shake of salt and a twist or two of freshly ground pepper.

All said and done, it took me five minutes, cost less than four dollars, and it was absolutely delicious.

My only regret is that I didn’t buy a second serving for tomorrow. ;)