Redefining Good Food

I believe food is so much more than fuel. Good food fills us up and tastes good, and is good for us, yes but our life is about more than just us. For good food to be truly *good* it must also be good for the planet. I learned at an early age in my childhood to use what we have and reduce what is thrown away; you’ll see these principles in my cooking and videos.

You’ll learn quickly that I waste very little in my kitchen. 58% of the food grown and produced in Canada is thrown away, so I try very hard not to add to that scary statistic. That means I look for ways to reduce our food waste and often share those experiments with you, especially on Instagram. And when my kiddos eat what I cook with broccoli stems, carrot tops, and unpeeled potatoes, I know my small step made a big difference.

I’m on a mission to help people and families cook more at home, reduce what they throw and build an abundant, sustainable and enjoyable lifestyle. With ease.

My Backstory

Years ago, I had a Sunday night routine that I am embarrassed to share. You see, every Sunday, after my kids were in bed, I would clean out the fridge and get organized for the week. I prepared meals every weekend so that despite the exhausting weekly routine, we could all eat at home in the evening.

Except that’s not how it turned out.

Instead, I would take the nourishing, delicious meals that I had prepared for my family the previous week and throw them away. We couldn’t even make the time to sit down and eat the meals I had prepared because of how gruelling our schedule was. This wasn’t how I was raised, and I remember feeling helpless as I emptied the containers out week after week. I wanted to do better but I couldn’t see a way out.

I believe the heart of the family beats in the kitchen, often around the kitchen counter.

My husband and I moved to Canada in 2003 and since then we have both moved homes and jobs a number of times, relocated from one end of the country to another and back again. Slowly the kids arrived and good food became more important.

I started writing Maple and Marigold in 2016 as a love letter. Maple represents Canada and our life here, and marigold with its significance in Indian culture represents my roots in India. I started sharing about spices, herbs, cooking techniques and healthy shortcuts that add the flavour of India into my daily cooking in Canada.

My kitchen in Canada looks a lot different from my mother’s back home in India. Our spice palette aka masala dabba may comprise of the same colours but the flavours are different. With some testing and tweaking over the years, I’ve recreated traditional dishes like keema matar (ground meat curry) to become a regular weeknight dinner feature, found acorn squash to be an delicious replacement for kaddu, and discovered that turmeric makes an excellent addition to mashed potatoes.

Food is more than fuel. And we are more than machines.

Traditional Indian wisdom has tons of advice about foods, herbs and spices in particular. Whole spices bring flavour, aroma and texture but that’s not all.

Certain foods and spices have nutritional qualities that can heal and protect. Turmeric and fennel seeds protect against colds and coughs. Ajwain (Bishop’s weed) is known to soothe a troubled digestive system, and more. Generations of grandmas in India have shared their knowledge and offered comfort with a cup of haldi doodh (turmeric milk) at bedtime. Food helps support our immunity, remove inflammation and boosts our mental and physical health. And It’s taken a while but science is finally catching up.

In 2020, I completed a Food & Mood program from Deakin University in Australia on how deeply connected our gut and brain were, and how what we ate fed our body and our brain. There’s tons of scientific evidence on how food impacts our physical health and it supports our mental well being too.

And that’s not enough. Good food tastes good and is good for us, but it must be also good for the planet.

In Canada, 58% of food produced is lost or wasted! A third of this food can be used to feed others.

In today’s fast paced world of takeout, drive-throughs and meal kits, it is becoming increasingly difficult to connect with what we eat. I love the convenience of how easily we can feed ourselves a healthy, well-rounded diet, however food is more than just energy. Food is more than sum total of its parts, and small sustainable steps over time have a big impact.

Many people doing their best within their means can change the world. 

Baby steps like using cauliflower and broccoli stems in everyday cooking, shopping our pantry to use and cook what we have, and finding out from the grocer why strawberries are available all-year long.

Spoiler Alert: it’s because we, the eaters, keep asking for them in the dead of winter.

Join me as we help each other cook more, use what we have, reduce what we throw away and nourish ourselves and our family.