The Yum Yum Factor

Last Saturday, I took The Kid to The Windup Bird Cafe for the first of two, free sushi making classes that Sang Kim is offering to bring awareness to about child poverty and food insecurity right here in our own backyard. It was a packed house with kids from the age of 6 up to 15 with the majority hovering around 11 years old  (my kid was the giant 15 year old of the bunch). What I loved most about this afternoon class was not the facet that he learned to actually make a maki roll, although I am thrilled that he now has an appreciation of just how finicky these things are to make. No, what I loved was the sneaky way Sang uses making sushi as a sort of metaphor to make these kids think about something a little deeper. After each roll is finished, he makes sure that they all eat the roll they just made, even if it was terrible. After everyone has eaten their roll, they go on to the next and at the very end, they all say they are now full and can't eat any more.  San...

We love edamame. If you have ever eaten sushi, you have probably had steamed, salted edamame in the pod and might not even know what edamame is apart from the fact that it is a tasty snack. Let me give you quick answer: it is the preparation of immature soybean in the pod and it's packed with protein, fibre, folates, vitamin K and more. In North America, we just call the actual soybean edamame, regardless of how it's prepared or whether it's in the shelled or removed. One of my favourite, quick lunch bag items, we go through this stuff like an ape goes through bananas. As much as we love the stuff, I am becoming increasingly wary of the soybeans coming from overseas because I can't really be sure about the quality. I keep reading all kinds of stuff about GMO's and other sketchy practices in production, never mind the fact that they are coming half way around the world to land in my freezer so who really knows how fresh they are? It is widely reported that 99% ...