A Valentine for Your Heart

by Kathy Humphrey

“Have a heart,” the old saying goes. And we all do—in the physical sense, at least. Our hearts work away for us from conception until death, moving our blood through our bodies.

February, the month of pink and red paper hearts, love, sugar and febrile excitement around the 14th, is a natural for heart month. Our hearts have no choice but to do what they do: we can and should do all that we can to make it easier for them. Exercise—the more aerobic exercise that we get—makes our hearts stronger and better able to do their job. What we eat also makes a huge difference to our hearts: think of veins and arteries as drainpipes and then think of those pipes, clogged up with scum. To avoid those clogs, eat lean, whole and green—choose low fat milk instead of cream, whole grains, and lots of leafy greens—better for your whole body, and a real love token for your ticker!

Fudge Pudding
1 cup sifted flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup sugar
6 Tbsp cocoa
1/2 cup partly-skimmed milk
1 tsp vanilla
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 3/4 cups hot water

Preheat oven to 350˚F. Sift together flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and 2 Tbsp cocoa. Combine milk, vanilla and oil. Add to dry ingredients. Pour into greased 9" pan. Combine brown sugar and remaining cocoa. Sprinkle over batter; pour hot water over the batter and bake for 40 minutes. Serve with vanilla frozen yogurt, or sherbet.

Oat-Nut Cookies
3 cups rolled oats
1 cup butter (can use margarine)
1 cup wheat germ
1 cup sunflower seeds
1 cup honey
2 eggs
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup water
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350˚F. In large bowl, combine dry ingredients. In separate bowl, mix all the rest of the ingredients, stirring until well combined. Blend wet with dry; mix well. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto cookie sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes (until golden brown).

Quinoa Salad
2 cups quinoa, cooked
1/2 cup pecans (pine nuts or almonds may be substituted)
3 Tbsp fresh mint, chopped
1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
3 green onions, chopped
3 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 clove garlic, minced
salt and pepper, to taste

In large bowl, combine quinoa, nuts, parsley and mint. In a separate bowl, whisk together olive oil, lemon juice and garlic salt, then pour over quinoa. Gently toss this dressing over the quinoa. Season with a generous amount of salt and pepper. To blend flavours, chill at least 15 minutes before serving. Toss again before serving. Adjust seasoning if necessary.

Boiled Beet Soup
4 medium-sized beets without tops or roots
3 cups beef or chicken broth
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp chopped onion
salt, to taste
pinch of sugar (optional)
plain low fat yogurt, as garnish (1 Tbsp per serving)

Boil the beets until tender. Cool to room temperature and peel. Chop beets roughly and place them in a blender with the broth, lemon juice, and onion. Blend on a high setting until well puréed. Add salt to taste and a pinch of sugar, if desired. This soup can be served cold or hot. Top with a dollop of yogurt in each bowl before serving. (A bit of red, for St. Valentine!)

Burrito Bean Casserole
1 onion, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
3 Tbsp olive oil
2 x 540 ml cans black beans, rinsed and drained
1 x 398 ml can tomato sauce
2 tsp ground cumin
salt and pepper, to taste
1/4 cup chopped fresh coriander, if desired
12 whole wheat flour tortillas (warmed)
1 1/2 cups grated Monterey Jack cheese,
guacamole and tomato salsa (if desired)

In a large heavy skillet cook onion and garlic in the oil over moderately low heat, stirring until the onion is softened. Add the beans and mash about half of them with the back of a wooden spoon. Add the tomato sauce, cumin, and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer mixture, stirring, for 3 to 5 minutes, or until thickened slightly. Stir in coriander. Working with one warmed tortilla at a time and keeping the others covered, spread about 3 tablespoons of the filling down the center of each tortilla and roll the tortillas, enclosing the filling but keeping the ends open. Arrange the burritos, seam sides down, in one layer in a baking dish, sprinkle them with the Monterey Jack, and bake them, covered with foil, in the middle of a preheated 350˚F oven for 10 minutes. Serve the burritos with guacamole and salsa.

Kathy Humphrey lives in Victoria with her husband and two children. She tries to see cooking for a family not as a chore but as a creative outlet.