#greenhouse hack

Mushroom Immunity Broth Ramen (V)

Not to brag, but we have some pretty cool staff. They’re wildly inventive too. This evening’s Food Hack is evidence of just that—it comes from our brilliant shop team at Macpherson. Our Mushroom Immunity Broth is the bone-free answer to all of our bone broth of our dreams. It tastes sensational when sipped between two mitts. But there’s ‘shroom for more magic—poured into a bowl, stirred with noodles, and blended with fresh veg, the resulting ramen is an easy and delicious weeknight supper. 

Ingredients:

Cooked ramen noodles

1 cup Mushroom Immunity Broth

Roasted, raw, or steamed veggies of choice

Pinch of salt and pepper

Handful of sesame seeds

Green onion, chopped

Optional additions: tofu, hot sauce, or anything else your hear desires

Steps:

Add your ramen noodles and broth to a soup bowl, and then mix in your vegetables, toppings, and other garnish. Grab a spoon!

Greenhouse Hack: Very Veggie Slaw Noodles (V, GF)

Noodles are one of our favourite foodles. Not only do they offer the opportunity for a Lady and the Tramp-style romantic encounter, but they are super versatile supper companions. Case in point—today’s Greenhouse Hack.

We’ve paired the slurpable superheroes with our Very Veggie Slaw, a plant-based salad off the Greenhouse Food Menu, made by our friends at Foodbenders. Ready in mere minutes, the bowl makes for a satisfying, nutrient-rich dinner. And if your chopstick dexterity leaves something to be desired, fear not, this dish tastes just as great twizzled around a fork.

Bowl Ingredients:

1 package Greenhouse’s Very Veggie Slaw

1 package rice noodles

Two large handfuls arugula

1 avocado

1/2 small sweet potato, cubed and roasted

1/2 medium cucumber, thinly sliced

Fresh cilantro, for topping

Fresh mint, for topping

Black sesame seeds, for topping

Chili flakes, for topping

Dressing Ingredients:

Juice of one lime

1 tbsp almond milk

1 tbsp water

1 to 1.5 tbsp low sodium tamari

¼ cup almond butter

1 clove garlic

1.5 tbsp maple syrup

1 tsp chopped ginger

½ tsp sesame oil

Steps:

Prepare your supper’s veggie mix-ins. Slice avocado and cucumber, and roast sweet potato. Alternatively, take to the fridge and remove whatever leftovers are suited to this evening’s noodle bowl. 

Add all ingredients for your sauce into a blender or food processor, pulsing until well mixed. If your blend is too thick, add more water, mixing in one teaspoon at a time. If your sauce seems a bit too liquid-y—fear not. Just put it in the refrigerator and let it set while you assemble your bowl.

Cook your noodles according to packet instructions and add to two bowls once ready. 

Add a healthy dollop of your dressing over the noodles.

Next, tumble your Very Veggie Slaw into the bowls, top with any additional mix-ins, then garnishing with fresh herbs. 

Chicoutimi Beet Salad (V, GF)

We’re tough Canadians, but we must admit that April’s cold first week has left us a little moody. Is it so wrong that we’d like to show off our ankles and pack up our parkas for the season? Rather than mope (tough, remember?), we decided to take to the kitchen—and prepare the fanciest warm weather supper we could muster. Some might call it an act of denial, but we like to think of it as a powerful act of manifestation. To summon the sunshine into your own Sunday: Chicoutimi Beet Salad.

Ingredients:

1 container of Greenhouse’s Quinoa Pilaf “Chicoutimi”

4 to 5 beets, boiled or roasted

1 to 2 blood oranges, peeled and sliced 

A few generous spoonfuls of your favourite plain dairy-free yogurt (when feeling adventurous, we like to make our own using the Minimalist Baker’s recipe, but a store-bought tub will do just fine!)

Microgreens and chopped mint, for garnish

Salt and pepper, to taste

Optional: chopped pistachios

Steps:

If you are boiling your beets, add them to boiling, salted water and cook for around 45 minutes, or until fork-tender. Pro Tip: beet skins will easily and cleanly peel off after they’ve been boiled, so don’t worry about peeling them beforehand.

If you’re roasting your beets, preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit, peel your beets and coat them lightly in oil, wrap in aluminium, and then roast until cooked through. This should take approximately 45 to 60 minutes.

While you wait for your beets to cool, you can start to prepare the rest of the dish.

Peel and slice your blood oranges; full round discs are most aesthetically pleasing, we think!

Scoop a generous dollop of your dairy-free yogurt onto your plate (a Michelin Star-style schmear is optional, but encouraged.)

Spoon the Quinoa Pilaf Chicoutimi on top of the yogurt. Can’t you already feel the weather warming?

Now pile your sliced beets, blood oranges, microgreens, and mint atop the salad, then sprinkle the pistachios, salt, and pepper for added crunch and flavour. Enjoy!

-Elena Mari and Nathan Legiehn for GHJC

Very Veggie Slaw Stuffed Sweet Potatoes (V, GF)

Few joys in life compare to the first warm bite of a fully loaded baked potato on a chilly evening. Trust us—we’ve done extensive testing. Besides pairing perfectly with cashew cream, the orange warmer uppers have four times the recommended daily allowance of beta carotene, so your skin, hair, and eyes will thank you four times over too.

Of course, the tubers would be lonely on their own, which is why we present Greenhouse Hack #138: Very Veggie Slaw as Stuffing. Find the new vitamin-rich grab-and-go salad at Mac, Forest Hill, St. Clair, Brookfield Place, Queen West, Commerce Court, Briar Hill, and The Detox Market. (It’s on UberEats by those spots too.) Grab it, and then go home and get baking!

Ingredients:

2 to 4 Ontario sweet potatoes, washed

1 Greenhouse Very Veggie Slaw 

1 tbs olive oil, for brushing potatoes

Salt and pepper, to taste

Optional garnish: arugula and/or pumpkin seeds

Cashew Cream Ingredients:

1 cup raw cashews, soaked for 2 hours

2 tbs fresh lemon juice

1 clove garlic

½ cup water

2 tbs olive oil

Sea salt (to taste)

Steps:

If preparing your own cashew cream, soak cashews for approximately two hours. (If using a store bought variety, kick up your feet and unwind for a while.)

Preheat your oven to 375 F. Use a knife, fork, or other pointy device to poke holes in the exterior surface of well-washed sweet potatoes. Watch your fingers!

Bake sweet potatoes for approximately one hour, or until fully cooked.

While your tubers are baking, prepare your cashew cream. Strain cashews and combine all cashew cream ingredients in a blender, whizzing until smooth. 

After about one hour, remove sweet potatoes from your oven, brush with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. 

Cut potatoes open, slicing the centre so that you’ve left a gap in your spuds, but have not separated the two sides from each other.

Fill those sweet suckers! Load baked potatoes with our Very Veggie Slaw as filling, then top with cashew cream. Add arugula and pumpkin seeds, plus extra seasoning if you wish, and then tuck in.

-Elena Mari and Nathan Legiehn for GHJC

Almond Butter Chia Pudding Waffle Topper (V, GF)

Waffling on your weekend breakfast plans? Sure, you could add a handful of fresh berries to a bowl of your go-to waffle or pancake batter, again... but you could also outfit your Saturday stack with a scoop of the dreamiest garnish in the land: Almond Butter Chia Pudding. 

Our new breakfast pot was born to top morning pastries, didn’t you know? Psst: Don’t have a favourite waffle or pancake recipe? Waffle lovers: We highly recommend the Banana Coconut Waffles by The First Mess. Flapjack fiends: Turn to page 36 of The Greenhouse Cookbook with haste. 

Garnishes three to five plates.

Ingredients:

Your favourite waffle (or pancake) recipe

Garnish:

1 pot Greenhouse’s Almond Butter Chia Pudding

One banana, sliced into rounds

Handful of cacao nibs, for topping

Handful of chia seeds, for topping

Maple syrup, for topping

Steps:

Prepare your waffles (or pancakes), following the steps on your favourite recipe. We know the scent alone will tempt you to eat pastries straight from the pan, unadorned. Resist.

Transfer your waffles to clean plates, and top each with a scoop of chia seeds, cacao nibs, and sliced bananas.

You’re not done yet. Add a generous scoop of Almond Butter Chia Pudding to each eater’s stack. One breakfast pot should be used to garnish three to five plates.

Drizzle with maple syrup, and slice in!

-Elena Mari and Nathan Legiehn for GHJC

A Shroom of One’s Own Pasta (V)

We may have had a smattering of sunny days over the past couple of weeks, but we aren’t quite out of the chilly-weather woods just yet. But what’s the rush when you can get cozy with this warming and hearty recipe? Great for a chilly, rainy weeknight, and bound to make you smile (it has a great sense of ‘shroomour), this dish is also super simple to pull together—we’ve already done half of the work for you. 

This latest Greenhouse Hack incorporates our Shroom of One’s Own mushroom soup. Made in Toronto, the soup is a creamy blend of three different kinds of mushrooms, with potatoes, onion, and garlic and plenty of herbs and spice. You can pick up a cup at any of our locations with a Hot Bar: Macpherson, Forest Hill, Queen West, Brookfield Place, St. Clair, and our latest location, Union Station!

Here’s the step-by-step for how to make this dinner of champignons.

Ingredients:

1 cup Greenhouse's A Shroom of One’s Own soup

Handful of sliced mushrooms (optional)

1 clove garlic (optional)

Drizzle of olive oil

Sprinkle of vegan parm or nutritional yeast

1-2 tbsp thyme leaves

Your pasta of choice (We used gluten free wild rice spaghetti noodles)

Salt and pepper, to taste (We added a bit of truffle salt... and it was perfection!)

Steps:

Fill a large saucepan with water and a generous pinch of salt, and then bring it to a boil.

While waiting for your water, sauté the garlic and mushrooms in a pan until nice and brown. This will add extra bite to the pasta sauce, and the garlic brings a nice extra dimension to the flavour of the dish.

Once your water is bubbling, add the pasta and cook according to the package instructions.

While your pasta is cooking, pour your A Shroom of One’s Own soup into the pan and bring to boil. Reduce the heat, and let simmer for around 10 minutes to thicken up.

Strain the cooked noodles and add them to your pan, stirring through the mushroom sauce.

Serve up, and add a drizzle of olive oil, some fresh arugula, a sprinkle of vegan parm or nutritional yeast, and salt and pepper to taste.

Greenhouse Hack: Netflix, Chili + Chicoutimi Stuffed Peppers

Our weeknight plans are simple: Netflix, Chili + Chicoutimi. Tonight’s twenty-minute meal is warm, savoury, and entirely plant-based. We’ve blended our fan-favourite chili with our cookbook-inspired pilaf for a hearty stuffing. You need fuel for your binge-watching! Stretch too.

Ingredients:

4 bell peppers 

1 bowl Netflix and Chili soup

1 container Quinoa Pilaf “Chicoutimi”

1 tbsp olive oil, for brushing

Optional toppings: Vegan sour cream (or plain coconut yogurt), microgreens, chopped cilantro, and chopped chives

Steps:

Preheat your oven to 375 F. 

In a medium-sized bowl, combine one serving of Greenhouse’s Netflix and Chili Soup and one serving of Greenhouse’s Quinoa Pilaf “Chicoutimi.” Mix well.

Wash four bell peppers, cut off the top stem and “lid” portion, and then use a spoon to hollow out the veg. Fill evenly with your chili and pilaf mixture.

Place stuffed peppers in an oven-safe dish and brush with olive oil.  

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until lightly brown but still firm.  

Top with your favourite toppings. Dig in!