Amy Longard | Plant-Based Nutrition, Culinary & Wellness Consulting

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Happy Thanksgiving to all my Canadian pals! I hope you enjoyed a bountiful & veggie-full feast this weekend.

I actually didn’t get a chance to snap a good photo of my own meal because I was too busy recipe testing, cooking and enjoying a nice dinner with family and new friends. I made and served a vegan holiday roast and thankfully it was a big hit at our dinner. It was kind of an experiment, but it worked out 🎉 and it’ll be making a debut at my Ottawa area PC Cooking School lessons in late-November/December.

As for this beautiful fall inspired grazing board, it was curated and assembled by culinary creator & food artist @debracowie. I was lucky to taste test the plant-based items that Debra will be featuring in her soon-to-launch company #GrazeWell and, yes, I got to sample this board. It was so good! Vegan cheeses, pâtés, homemade seed cracker and tons of other delicious things. If you’re in Ottawa be sure to follow @debracowie to stay updated on the official launch of her grazing board biz. 📸 by @cnpwedding.

🐷 CONTEST ALERT 🐷 This one is for the animal lovers. DETAILS BELOW.

So, today is my birthday and on my birthday I love finding ways to deflect the focus away from me and give back in some way, shape or form. Today I'm SUPER excited to share an extra special contest in partnership with @thesweetsanctuary and @madradish.

Next Saturday, October 19, the Sweet Sanctuary in Carleton Place, Ontario will be opening their barn doors to 10 guest for a VIP event including a catered vegan lunch by Mad Radish and meet & greet with the most adorable rescue animals I've ever met.

If you've dreamed of playing with pigs, galavanting with goats, clucking with chickens, or hanging out with horses (including mini-horses), this is the contest for you.

We'll be selecting five (5) lucky winners to join us. Each winner may bring a friend or family member along for the adventure.

If you'd like to take part in our giveaway here are official contest details.
1.Must be available and able to arrange your own transport to and from the Sweet Sanctuary in Carleton Place for the event next Saturday ( 🌧 or ☀️) from 1 - 3 pm.
2. Must be following @amylongard & @thesweetsanctuary.
3. Tag someone you'd like to bring as your +1 to this super exclusive event (you can tag as many friends as you'd like). If you'd like to bring a child (or someone who isn't on social media), just let us know in the comments and that'll count as your tag.

Contest closes on Thursday, October 17 at 9am ET. Five (5) winners will be announced that day on Instagram and Facebook. GOOD LUCK & happy Thanksgiving. 🍂🍁🌾

Quick survey: do you massage your kale? Yes 👍 or No 👎 tell me below.

If you said no or if this question sounds utterly ridiculous, allow me to explain.

Kale is a bitter & fibrous green, massaging it helps to breakdown the tough fibres and makes it much more palatable (softer and less bitter). You ONLY need to massage kale when eating it raw in salads, sandwiches or wraps. If you are cooking with kale, skip the massage and add it to whatever you're making. Heat will help breakdown and soften it.

Here's how you massage it: remove the tough stems from a bunch of kale, then either roughly chop or thinly slice the leaves. Transfer the leaves to a bowl add a splash of apple cider vinegar or fresh lemon juice (~ 1 tsp) and a pinch of salt. If you want, you could also drizzle in ~ 1 tsp of olive oil.

Using your hands, squeeze & press on the kale leaves (think deep tissue massage). You’ll do this for a minute or so until the leaves start to soften. Once they soften, shrink down and turn brighter green, your job is done.

I personally started eating kale because of my husband. Years ago, he had patented ab eye exam machine that was able to see the retina in hi-res and while doing research in this field he learned that kale is one of the most abundant food sources of the carotenoids (lutein in particular). Most people think of carrots for eye health, but I suggest you look 👀 to kale 🥬 if you want to keep your eyes in top shape. Lutein is shown to protect the eye from potential damage by light or oxygen.

Other fun kale facts: it's also a great prebiotic (think gut health), may help reduce blood cholesterol and is high in vitamin A, K and C.

I could go on and on about kale, but I’m running out of characters! Wishing all the the Canadians a great Thanksgiving. If you’re still on the hunt for healthy side dishes, I have a recipe for sautéed garlicky greens & my super greens salad on my blog (link in my bio @amylongard)
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📸 by @amyzambonin for @edibleottawa

Would you believe me if I told you I barely knew how to cook until I was in my mid-20's? Growing up in Halifax I always had healthy, homemade meals with lots of variety (thanks mom! 😘). Looking back, I'm so grateful for this, but truth be told cooking wasn't a requirement for much of my life because it was done for me.

When I was 24 I landed a job at the UN in Paris. I met people from all over the world and especially loved learning about food. Whether is was the French food culture, trying homemade empanadas from my Mexican colleague, or eating at a Lebanese restaurant for the first time. I was immersed in food culture yet my cooking skills consisted of opening boxed potage (veggie soup) or making sandwiches. However, like most people who spend any time in France I returned to Canada with a fascination with food.

Flash forward a bit, I moved to Ottawa to work for CBC. Since it was clear I couldn't depend on my mom to feed me anymore I learned to cook. I started by trying to replicate the potage-style soups I ate in France. Overtime I gained confidence and began experimenting with more varied soups, stews and a chilies, and I just continued to learn & expand my repertoire. To be clear, I was 26 (!!!) when I started cooking & making food from scratch.

Now, 10 + years later I'm running a cooking and nutrition business! 🤯 I'm formally trained as a chef, but truthfully I prefer simple, nutritious meals with lots of veggies. I learned so much in culinary culinary school, but my greatest learnings have come from spending time in the kitchen, cooking regularly and teaching others how to cook.

Knowing how to make your own food is a life skill and it is one of the most impactful things you can do to transform and maintain your health and well-being.
If you need guidance, inspiration, or an excuse to start cooking more plant-based meals, you should check out my online nutrition and meal makeover program, Plant-Based Breakthrough. It starts October 25 & I opened registration this week (early bird pricing is currently available). For details click on the in my bio @amylongard.
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📸 by @amyzambonin for @edibleottawa’s Plant issue.

A glimpse into my veggie haul from a visit to @mainmarketottawa on the weekend. I’m always excited to get shishito peppers and delicata (the cute little yellow and green squash at the bottom right side). I’ll be sure to show you how I cook them this week in my stories! What’re your favourite fall veggies? 🍂🍁

Today’s climate strike in Ottawa was so inspiring. Seeing all the little kids, teenagers and families gave me so much hope.

I wasn’t always the type of person who would attend protests. For much of my life I was blissfully unaware. I was always a nature lover (like, obsessed with being outside, hiking, woodland creatures 🐿 etc), however it took me a long time to connect the dots and realize that many of my behaviours and habits were super harmful to Mother Nature & her inhabitants.

I was very mindless in my consumerism and of the waste I was creating. For me becoming vegan was one way I was able to reduce my footprint but it was also the gateway that led me to start using eco friendly products (household and skincare), @earthologyfoodwraps (zero waste food wraps), bamboo toothbrush, metal straws, carrying around reusable cups, containers & cutlery, reusable grocery bags, and avoiding food waste. Now this is the norm for me now, but I know I can still do better. It’s a process and I’m always learning!

I have the privilege and the opportunity to make better choices and I don’t take that for granted. For the last many years most of my clothing has been thrifted or hand-me-downs, but I can still do better on this front. I do travel quite a bit and I plan to limit unnecessary plane travel. There’s so much plastic wrapping on foods and my goal is to buy most of my food plastic free (either from farmers markets, bulk stores, @nugrocery or bypassing stuff in plastic) and I would like to support companies who honour and accommodate #plasticfree products & purchases as well. Right now these are at the top of my @gretathunberg inspired to-do list.

How about you? I’d love to hear how you’re challenging yourself to be more kind to the environment. Tell me below! 👇💚🌍

© 2015 - 2019 Amy Longard Nutrition | 613.878.5086 | info@amylongard.com

The content on this website is intended for your information only. Health concerns should be addressed by a qualified professional.

Plant-Based Nutrition, Culinary & Wellness Consulting based in Ottawa, Canada.