Forks Over Knives

Good Monday afternoon. Welcome to a new week. It's hard to believe we are halfway through May in this Year 2011 of ours. It still seems like a "new" year. Freshly minted. Full of promise. Now we're talking about plans for the summer. Can this be right? What about all the wonderful things I was going to have accomplished by now? Can it really be true that I will soon have an eight-year-old daughter? Eight years of parenthood already? Is this how it's going to be now, with time accelerating constantly, picking up speed, no set of brakes I can use, just this tiny rear-view mirror for looking back behind me? Sigh.

Perhaps it's the arrival of a new baby in my brother's family (and congratulations to them) that has me feeling more philosophical than usual. It always feels like births and deaths are big flashing neon signs on the Highway of Time Passing. So, with the family ties theme in mind, here is another well-tested family favourite recipe of the week. This came back from a five-week French Immersion program with Christina, a specialty of her host, dictated in a kitchen and transcribed in French on an oil-stained sheet of paper which has been pulled out of the binder countless times since. You can put slices of this pâté in a pita pocket with some veggies and dijon mustard, serve it up on a plate with a couple of sides or even just scoop it on a cracker. All are delicious.

You're probably wondering about the title "Forks Over Knives" from the subject line. This is a new documentary film currently premiering in the U.S. which is soon to be released here in Canada. It looks like an amazing undertaking which looks at a lot of the things I'm used to discussing here every week. It features the author of and information directly taken from the book "The China Study," which I reviewed back in February. I'm sure you've read it by now, right? 

The "knives" to which the title refers are scalpels and the subject of the film is how we can change our dietary input to reduce negative health outcomes which necessitate surgical intervention. Namely, we can decrease our consumption of animal products and highly processed foods and increase our consumption of fruits, vegetables, legumes and whole grains. Sound at all like one of the founding principals of Meatless Mondays? Read a great review of the film by Roger Ebert here. Looking forward to seeing it when (if) it comes to London. 

Enjoy the recipe and have a great week. See you at the movies--save me the aisle seat.