Our first food swap was held last night on the University of Toronto campus, and Natalie and I are thrilled at the turn-out and the diversity of the items. There’s already been Facebook posts and emails sent with people raving about the food they brought home. It’s 20 hours later and I’ve devoured 3 of the 5 items I swapped for. It’s been tough to practice enough restraint in order to save some dishes to bring to work for dinner!

The spread of dishes really impressed us in regards to accessibility, diversity, and quality. All of the dishes were vegetarian, with many vegan and gluten-free options in the mix. As well, in regards to main ingredients, there were only two that made multiple appearances: lentils and chocolate. And when is there ever too much chocolate? In my books, lentils aren’t that far behind either.

Here’s a list of the swapped items. Recipes are now posted!

• Lentil & Feta Salad
• Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Ginger Miso Soup & Burdock Root
• Quinoa & Beet Salad
• Minestrone
• Brownies
• Brioche
• Shepherd-less Pie
• Mushroom & Onion Quiche
• Dark Chocolate & Mint Chocolate Faux Truffles (“fuffles” started to be tossed around as shorthand)
• Baked Apple Sauce (this recipe will be coming shortly!)

The extra great news is that the crowd was also a mixed group, so there’s lots of room for growth. Please don’t hesitate to contact us and join in next time. A number of people passing by expressed interest in joining in next time. Was that you? Send us an email or sign up below to follow the blog!

Visit the Gallery for more photography from the swap!

The Future

Our next swap will be held in January, so as not to compete with December schedules of exams, holiday parties, and traveling. As well, we will be reconsidering the time to run the swap. For example, we may try moving it to a weekend, or simply pushing the start-time back to 7p.m. to allow for more after-work travel time. If you have any ideas, please send us an email at divideandsavour@gmail.com .

Don’t you wish you could have been there? Join us in the new year for our next swap! Try out the recipes! Party on!

Poll: Faux truffles – would you eat something if it were called a ‘fuffle’? Answer in the comments!