Dave Whitehead's kale garden in Masset | PC: Dave Whitehead

Welcome to Haida Gwaii Eats, a new series featuring recipes submitted by Haida Gwaii residents, and using locally sourced ingredients! Food has the ability to connect us to our environments, cultures, and each other, and with this series we hope to do just that! Of course, while being ever mindful of respecting land, sea, creature, and creative.

Spring is a time for cleansing, rejuvenation, and readying our gardens for the summer ahead. This recipe does a wonderful job of using both fresh and preserved ingredients, and can be made ahead of time or on the day of. Brown rice is an excellent source of dietary fiber, as are greens, which act as natural detoxifiers for our bodies. Greens such as kale, arugula, mizuna, mustard greens, spinach, baby beet tops, Miner’s lettuce, Winter purslane and parsley all tend to grow well on Haida Gwaii, and contain relatively high amounts of iron, calcium, and vitamin K. If you are looking to start up your own garden this year, seeds can be purchased from many of our local retailers or online from West Coast Seeds. Locally grown spring greens can often be found at this time of year at our local farmers’ market (check out the HG Farmers’ Market list on page 22 of this magazine).

Haida Gwaii residents are lucky to live within arm’s reach of Dah Bog Cranberries or Sk’aagii Chaay Moss Cranberries which are gathered around October. This is an excellent recipe to make use of them! If no local sources of dried cranberries are available, they can, of course, be found at one of the many shops on-island. As an alternative, dried currants, which have a slightly sweeter flavour, are also commonly available (Isabel Creek in Daajing Giids Queen Charlotte has some lovely organic ones). We hope you enjoy this simple, yet hearty salad, and return here for more Haida Gwaii recipes. Bon appétit!

Thank you for taking the time to check out this new series! If you would like to submit a recipe for subsequent issues of Haida Gwaii Eats, please email Kaila, at kaila.radan@gmail. com. Haawa/Haw’aa!

Brown Rice and Spring Greens Salad with Curry Dressing
Submitted by Masset’s Nita McKenzie

Curry Dressing

• 4 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• ¼ tsp curry powder
• ½ tsp liquid honey
• pinch each salt and pepper

In a small bowl, whisk together oil, lemon juice, curry powder, honey, salt and pepper. (Make ahead: refrigerate in airtight container for up to 2 days).

Brown Rice Spring Greens Salad

• 2 cups lightly packed baby kale or other spring greens
• 1½ cups cold cooked brown rice
• ½ cup canned green lentils drained and rinsed
• ½ cup grated carrots
• 2 tbsp dried cranberries or currants

In a separate bowl combine kale (or other spring greens), rice, lentils, carrot, and currants/cranberries. (Make ahead: refrigerate in airtight container for up to 6 hours). Add dressing, toss to coat.

Notes from Nita: Black eyed beans can be substituted for lentils and make for a delicious choice! If not sweet enough, add more honey to taste.