Tag Archives: Quark

Seasonal Foods: Roasted Beets and Walnut Salad

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Roasted, marinated beets are very nice with gouda and walnuts. Serve the marinated beets on a bed of microgreens. These greens are from our indoor growing unit.

This simple recipe is great at this time of year for using up root cellar beets. The salad is nice with either golden or red beets. If you use a mixture, the red beets will stain the golden beets pink. It’s best to make a large amount of this marinated salad and store in the fridge for easy meals throughout the week.

Roasted Beet Marinate

8c organic golden and/or red beets, peeled and cut into small pieces
1 small organic onion, rings
3 organic celery stalks, chopped
1c Orange Salad Dressing
2-3c organic microgreens
1/4c-1/3c organic gouda, quark or feta cheese
1/4-1/3c Crispy Salad Topping
Roast the beets at 300F for 60 minutes in a glass dish. The beets should be tender but not soft. While the beets are roasting, soak the onion rings in the Orange Salad Dressing. Add the warm beets and celery to marinate with the onions in the dressing. Cool the beet marinate in the fridge.

When ready to assemble the salad make a bed of greens for the marinated beets. Top the marinated beets with Crispy Salad Topping and gouda, quark or feta cheese. Grass Root Dairies is a local source for organic gouda or quark.

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The marinated beets keep well in the fridge. The salad can be assembled quickly for an easy meal. The marinated flavor continues to improve with time.

Orange Ginger Dressing

1 organic orange, freshly squeezed
1/2 organic lemon, freshly squeezed
1 clove organic garlic, finely freshly grated
2T organic ginger, finely freshly grated
2T raw cider vinegar
1tsp local raw honey (optional)
1T homemade whole seed mustard
1/2c organic extra virgin olive oil or organic toasted sesame oil
Freshly squeeze the orange and lemon. Finely grate the peeled garlic clove and ginger. I usually keep organic ginger in the freezer and grate the ginger without peeling. Add the raw cider vinegar, whole seed mustard, and oil. Shake vigorously.

Crispy Salad Topping

2c organic walnuts or organic sunflower seeds, chopped or whole
2T organic coconut oil
1tsp sea salt
In a case iron fry pan melt the coconut oil. Add the sea salt and walnuts or sunflower seeds and stir for a few minutes until the nuts are slightly browned. Cool completely before using. Store in the fridge until needed.

For the LOVE of Quark

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“Quark cheese is a soft unripened cheese with a smooth texture and mild flavour. Quark is excellent for recipes that call for cream cheese. Use it in your cheese cakes or as a topping for baked potatoes and for adding to dips and sauces.”
Grass Root Dairies

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Quark makes an excellent topping for warm salads. These microgreens and sprouts come from our indoor growing unit. The greens are topped with caramelized onions and sliced pork roast.

Easy Quark Dip or Creamy Quark Dressing

Quark makes a wonderful dip for cut vegetables or can be thinned out to make a creamy dressing for salads. Grass Root Dairies, the new name for Gort’s Gouda, makes a creamy, delicious quark. You can find quark in Kamloops at Nature’s Fare.

2 garlic cloves, finely grated
1/2tsp sea salt
1/2tsp black peppercorns, freshly ground
1/2c organic quark
1/3-1/2c virgin olive oil or raw sesame oil
This recipe is best made in small amount. Finely grate the garlic and place in a small bowl. Add the spices and mix in the quark well. Add 1/3c olive or sesame oil and mix again well. This will make a thick dip. Add more oil for a thinner dip or dressing.

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Quark makes an excellent dip for cut vegetables such as carrots, celery and broccoli.

eatkamloops.org is Now Carrying Gort’s Raw Gouda

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We are an overfed and undernourished nation.
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If you have been having trouble finding a good raw cheese in Kamloops, eatkamloops.org is now carrying Gort’s Raw Gouda. If you have never heard of Gort’s Gouda Cheese Farm, they are an organic, pasture based dairy in Salmon Arm, BC. They use only natural ingredients with no added preservatives. They produce a whole range of cheeses including many types of Gouda, Maasdammer, and Feta. They also have a range of fresh products including: organic, non-homogenized milk, Bulgarian yogurt, cream, and Quark. I think Gort’s makes a world class raw Gouda.

Maybe you are wondering what is so great about raw cheese. The first reason is the taste and texture of raw cheese. It’s an easy, nourishing snack food. But it doesn’t end there. Raw cheese is much better for you and easier to digest even for people who have trouble with fresh whole milk. The natural process of fermentation increases the vitamin B and C content in the raw cheese. The natural process of fermentation provides beneficial bacteria, lactase, enzymes, and lactic acid which aids in digestion of dairy products. These same beneficial bacteria also protect us from pathogens that could make us sick. If you are thinking: “What, there aren’t any healthy bacteria! We need to sterilize our food for it to be safe.” Please read What is a Healthy Gut? We may have made a Faustian bargain when we chose “sterilization” over promoting “healthy bacteria” in our foods. These healthy bacteria help support a healthy immune system. Sure, the sterilized foods last longer but these devitalized foods may be slowly killing us. In our attempt to control pathological bacteria in our food, we have replaced these difficult and sometimes deadly organisms with an evil brew of sterilizing chemicals. Along with killing the pathological bacteria, we kill the helpful bacteria that might protect and improve our health. We do not know the long term consequences to our health, our children’s health, or to the greater environment from this toxic brew of chemicals.

We are now selling bulk blocks of raw Gouda. The blocks are approximately one kilogram. We are selling the cheese for $25.00 per kilogram. Cash only. The raw cheese will age naturally in your fridge, so don’t worry about having too much cheese. It’s impossible! Just email us at info(a)eatkamloops.org to ensure we have raw cheese in stock. We can give you a sample of raw cheese to make sure you like it before you purchase.