Hot Shots - February 21, 2022

Hot Shots - February 21, 2022
Severin R-B Danieli

Hello all,

Did anyone else catch some of the Olympics these past few weeks? My family and I have been glued to the TV for the snowboarding slopestyle and big air. Our Canadian Max Parrot (who was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma back in 2018, beat it, and returned to competition in 2019) won a gold in slopestyle, Mark McMorris (a personal fav) won bronze, and then Parrot won bronze in big air! Go Canada!

Since Vancouver hosted the 2010 Olympics, I always have a special place in my heart for the winter Olympics. I remember having tickets to some events and was up in Whistler for the first week of the games which will be an experience I'll never forget. I was in grade 11 at the time, and having those two weeks off of school was like Christmas came early.

Growing up I was a skier, and yes, I was that kid who went straight down the hill with no poles. When my dad turned 50, I was around 10 or so, and he switched both my sister and I to snowboarding as he wanted to start boarding as well. He is still going strong at 66 and he was up this past weekend on Blackcomb with my husband. I switched back to skiing once I got into high school and have never looked back.

recently I was up in Whistler, and we went to a delicious restaurant I had never heard of: Grill & Vine. It was very enjoyable, had an extensive wine list and a lot of veggie options. I had a butternut squash soup to start, a mushroom ravioli for my main and a meyer lemon tart of dessert. Basically my dream menu.

A few of our veggies caught my eye this morning, so they will be the hot shot items for this week! Let's dive in.

Limes limes limes.

Again, as stated one thousand times, I adore citrus. Limes are no exception. I add limes to anything I possibly can.

Types of limes include: key lime, Persian lime, makrut lime and desert lime. Persian limes are the majority of lime crops grown down in Mexico, and are a hybrid between a key lime and a lemon. Here at Disco, we have 38# Persian limes from Chula Farms, and also can repack them into 10# if requested.

A classic margarita is always a good option for limes, but a lime version of a lemon square is delicious, key lime pie of course, or if you are craving anything savory, a lime chicken dish, or a lime heavy salad dressing on your fav salad.

Bell Peppers.

A staple in most fridges, commonly used in salads, stir-fry’s, as a pizza toppings or stuffed! Peppers are native to Mexico, Central America and South America, and their seeds were first imported to Spain in 1493, and then spread through Asia and Europe. The version of pepper we know and love was first cultivated in the 1920’s in Hungary.

Available in many different colours; red, orange, yellow, green, purple and white, these peppers are mild when eaten. This is because they do not produce capsaicin, which is what makes your mouth burn when eating hot peppers.

My fav recipe for peppers is orzo stuffed peppers. That recipe is by Half Baked Harvest. - check her out on Instagram, she has the most delicious recipes, and funnily enough, is the sister of Olympic snowboarder Red Gerard who won gold in slopestyle at the 2018 Olympics! A full Olympic circle!

We've got red, orange and yellow peppers in both 25# and 11# boxes from various farms here at Disco.

Kabocha squash, and more specifically, red kabocha squash!

Kabocha squashes come in both red and green colouring, but have a similar earthy flavour with hints of chestnut. Filled to the brim with beta-carotene, fiber and vitamin A and C. Sweeter than a butternut squash, and similar in flavour and texture to a pumpkin and sweet potato, these squashes are versatile and delicious.

Best when roasted in chunks, pureed into a soup or used as an ingredient in vegetable tempura!

All squash varieties were domesticated inn Mesoamerica, and was estimated, by a 1997 study, that domestication occurred 8,000 to 10,000 years ago. This timeframe would mean that squashes were actually domesticated earlier than maize and beans! Kabocha squash was first introduced to Japan by Portuguese sailors in 1541, who brought these squash with them from Cambodia.

Available at Disco from Longview Farms on Vancouver Island, in 35# boxes.

Garlic! White Colossal!

The BC garlic season has come to an end, so we have some big, or, colossal, sized white garlic from Argentina in 30# boxes.

While my husband and I were in Italy, we visited some of his family in Tuscany. They were the loveliest people and had a dog named Colossal. Ironically, he was a tiny little poodle who was prancing around Tuscany and living his best life. Every time I hear the word colossal now, it just makes me giggle.

But, getting back to garlic. There is almost too much to say about garlic! So, the few things I will say are these: when roasting, leave them in their skins, it releases the flavour well but doesn't get too messy. A garlicky-alfredo sauce is next level on some spaghetti, or a garlic, potato and rosemary pizza.... oh my! I'm getting hungry just thinking about it.

If you are ever up in Whistler, apparently this is just a Whistler restaurant tour guide Hot Shots, but seriously, try this pizza at Creekbread:

Pemberton Potato Pie – Pemberton Potato Pie – thinly sliced, oven roasted Pemberton potatoes, organic rosemary cream sauce, roasted whole garlic cloves, organic baby spinach, whole milk mozzarella, edam and pecorino.

You will not regret it.

Mini cukes!

There seems to be an Olympic, snowboarding and Persian theme going on this week that was totally unintentional, but alas, these Persian cukes are just too good to be passed up.

Arriving at Disco in 12x1# bags from Bridges, these cukes are thin-skinned and only grow to about five or six inches long. Almost completely seedless, and extra crunchy, these cuties have a sweet flavour and are perfect for snacks, salads or pickling.

Just wanting to add this last section into this week's Hot Shots as it is a super important petition to sign!

Here is the petition, and you can read all about it on the website linked. I will post below a quick synopsis, but if you feel so inclined, please sign!

Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) are proposing to exempt many new genetically engineered (genetically modified or GE) foods and seeds from regulation. If approved, the proposals would remove government oversight of many new genetically modified organisms (GMOs) produced through the new genetic engineering techniques of genome editing (also called gene editing) that have no foreign DNA. This would mean unregulated GMOs on the market: GMOs sold without government approval and no mandatory notification to government, the public or farmers.

Action Needed!!

Express that you are against the proposed changes to the interpretation of the Seeds Regulations that would exempt many genetically modified (GM) plants from an environmental assessment by the federal government.

Here is the link again.

Thanks for reading along, and as always, stay safe and have a great week!

Chat soon