Vegan Challenge-Week 1 check in

Well…… I’ve DONE it!!  One whole week with not a hit of animal product past my lips! As suspected, it really hasn’t been that hard because we already enjoy many vegan dishes a week, so it’s not like it feels all “weird” to be eating the things we do, it’s just the every meal aspect of it and of course the cow milk in my tea! Oh and much to my dismay, discovered that most, readily available, chocolate products all seem to contain dairy!!

So what have I been eating you ask?

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On the first night I whipped up a little “Spicy Tofu with vegetables and noodles”.

Start a little before and marinade the tofu for maximum flavour.

Marinade:

• 2 cloves crushed fresh garlic
• 1 inch knob of fresh minced ginger
• 1 tsp chili flakes
• 1 tbsp sweetener of your choice – I used brown sugar
• 2 tbsp soy  or Bragg sauce
• 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar

I whizzed it all up in my mini chopper but if you do your mincing and crushing by hand, just mix it all in a bowl.

Meanwhile, chop up a block of firm tofu into 1 inch cubes.  I put them directly into a glass baking dish in one layer and then pour the marinate all over them and make sure they are evenly coated.

Let sit for at LEAST half hour, but the longer the better.

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When you are ready to eat, assemble your goods.

So now like any “stir fry” type thing, feel free to use what ever vegetables you enjoy but this is what I used:

• 1 large onion thinly sliced
• 4 medium size cremini mushrooms cut into fours
• 1/2 head of green cabbage thinly sliced
• 1 large handful of baby spinach with a rough chopped

Meanwhile:

Put on a pot of water to boil for the noodles.

I was surprised to find out that “Catelli Multigrain” noodles are in fact vegan.  I use these most of the time anyway but had never registered that they were egg free before because it wasn’t a priority, but good to know.

Then while the water is boiling, you might as well prepare a little garnish to go on top.

I chopped up a couple of green onions and made some carrot juliennes ( match stick size) with my new julien peeler ( I’ll show you that another time)

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Okay, let’s get started.

Firstly, in a large skillet or wok,  you want to pan fry your marinated tofu ( adding the marinade in a little at a time till it cooks down)  in a little neutral oil, till it gets  a little crispy on each side, just to give it some texture and the marinade makes a bit of a gooey sauce.

Then remove from the pan and keep warm in a heat safe container.

Add a little more oil and then toss in your vegetables.

Put you noodles in the boiling water and give a little stir.

Keep tossing the veg around until the cabbage starts to get nice and wilted.

Once the noodles are done, drain quickly and keep a bit of the cooking water.  Then toss the noodles into the pan with the veggies and toss them together.

Turn off the heat.

Give them a generous shot of soy sauce, sesame oil and rice vinegar and a sprinkle of sesame seeds and then keep tossing it everybody is well acquainted.

Place into your favorite bowl,  spoon on a helping of tofu, then top with the green onions,  carrot sticks and a sprinkle more sesame seeds.

Voila!  Vegan!

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A little mid week Chinese chicken

Back in the day……

There was nothing I loved more than a great Chinese Buffet!

I had this one particular friend, who she and I would dawn our most spacious sun dresses and steal away to the buffet and eat till we could barely walk!

But times of have changed.

Now I try to eat healthy and then since I developed that pesky shell fish allergy, going buffets where I don’t know exactly what’s in everything, is simply just high risk behaviour!

But every now and again, I get a strong craving for some Chinese style chicken!

So last night I googled “Sweet and Sour Chicken” and so this recipe is loosely based on the first three or four that I looked at.

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Start by cutting and appropriate amount of  fresh chicken ( I used boneless breast) into nice manageable strips or bite size chunks.

Place the chicken in a bowl with one egg white,  2 tsp of cornstarch and 1/4 tsp of salt.   Mix throughly till the chicken bits are well coated, then set aside.

Meanwhile chop up a bunch of your favorite Asian style veg into nice strips.

I used:

• red pepper
• yellow pepper
• red cabbage
• broccoli

But any nice firm veg will do.

And some finely chopped fresh ginger, about 1″ knob or at least 1 tbsp.

 

Oh yes…..and you will probably want to be cooking some rice or noodles or something on the side to go with it……or not.

Okay, now you are ready to go.

Get out your wok, or in my case big skillet and get it pretty smokin hot!

Then add about 1 tbsp of high smoking temp oil.  Do NOT use olive oil!!  I used coconut, it has a nice neutral flavour and can get nice and hot before burning.

 

Once the oil is nice and hot, dump your chicken in the pan and quickly spread it out to a single layer.  But then DON’T touch it!!  And yes it will immediately stick!

But then after a minute or two of cooking, with a good strong spatula, flip it over and let it go another minute or two.

Then remove it to a CLEAN bowl or plate.  Don’t worry if it still looks a little pinkish, it will cook some more soon.

Then add a little more oil to the pan, let it heat, then toss in all of your veg, including the ginger and give them a good toss.

 

 

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NOTE:   now in all the “Sweet and Sour” recipes I looked at, they were using pineapple as the “Sweet”.   I didn’t have any so I substituted in the sauce (coming next) but if you WERE to use pineapple chucks, this is where you would toss them in, with the veg and then use the juice in the sauce.

 

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Sauce:   So as mentioned, the real recipes called for canned pineapple and then the juice in the sauce.   But the closest thing I had was oranges.

• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 1/4 white or rice vinegar
• 3 tbsp brown sugar
• pinch of salt
• and in hind sight, I would have used a pinch of chili flakes

Mix that up well.

Once the veg have cooked for a minute or two, pour in the sauce, mix well and turn up the heat until the sauce starts to bubble.

Then add the chicken back in to the pan.   Stir it all up, put the lid on and let simmer for a couple of minutes until everything is well cooked.

Serve with your favorite side dish!

Easy chicken!  And the best part is……you know EXACTLY what’s in it!!

 

Cockle Warmer

Well we all knew it would happen sooner or later, that the weather would turn on us! I hope not as bad for you as it has been for some!

Now that we have changed the clocks back to standard time here in North America,  it is time to turn to our comfort food.

The “Cockle Warmers” if you will.

Here’s a little impromptu dish I whipped up for a dreary night.

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I started with the base of my “Butter Chicken” recipe but went the lazy route.

Here is what you will need:

• boneless, skinless chicken breast cut into cubes
• 1 large onion sliced
• 2-3 cloves minced garlic
• 1 inch minced fresh ginger

Start by browning the chicken is a deep skillet.  When the chicken is no longer pink, toss in the onions, garlic and ginger and keep stirring around till everything is looking a bit “sweaty”.

Now I just happened to have some grape tomatoes that were about on their last days so I tossed them in.   But you could use any chopped or canned tomato if you like.

Keep cooking till the tomatoes get a bit wrinkly looking.

Then add your spices.  Curry type dishes can be very personal from heat to intensity.   I hate to admit but I really have no rhyme nor reason to my combos.  I have a big drawer full of old pickled artichoke jars that I fill with my herbs and spices.  I open the drawer and see what takes me.   On this occasion I added, more or less a “good sprinkle of”:

• cumin
• coriander
• chili flakes
• turmeric
• commercial curry powder
• smokie paprika
• garam masala
• salt & pepper

Sprinkle all of those over the chicken and then stir in thoroughly till you can smell them.

Then add about 1/2 cup or more of cream.

Stir that in well and then cover and let simmer for at least 10 minutes till the flavours get good and acquainted.

You COULD stop here.

But I also happened to have some left over chick peas in the fridge that I tossed in and then some nice kale that I chopped up and added in at the last minute.

Put the lid back on for a few minutes until the chick peas heat and the kale wilts.

Then you are good to go!   Just add it to some rice or your favorite grain.

Or in my house, we even put this sort of thing on pasta!

I quickly whipped up a little cucumber salad to have something fresh along with it.

Finely slice either by hand or on a mandolin slicer some:

• Cucumber
• red bell pepper
• red onion

Toss them in a little rice wine vinegar with a drizzle of something sweet, sugar, honey, agave etc and a little salt and pepper.    Let the vegetables sit in this for a little before serving.   But I like to leave as much of the liquid behind when serving.

And there you have a quick Wednesday night type dinner that was very easy and you can hide all sorts of good for you things in there!!

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Pineapple Chicken

For those of you who have been following along for a while, you’ll know that I don’t usually eat in Asian style restaurants.

Not that I don’t LOVE that food, it’s just that with my shell-fish allergy it is just too high risk to make sure I don’t accidentally eat the wrong thing?

So I often have to rely on trying to recreate my favorite dishes so that I know exactly what is in them.

Pineapple chicken used to be one of my favorite dishes from the Chinese take-out.   I am embarrassed to admit that I used to love that heavily battered stuff in the super sticky unnaturally red sauce.  I even liked the frozen version that you could bake in the oven in the tin foil box!

My how times have changed.

I think you will find this version just a tad healthier.

You will need:

• skinless, boneless chicken ( breast or thighs)
• 1 large onion diced
• 1 orange or yellow bell pepper cut into triangle chunks
• 1 tbsp minced fresh ginger
• 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp chili flakes
• 1 can of pineapple chunks in own juice.  ( drain but keep juice for sauce)

Start by dicing the chicken into bite size bits and add to a hot  skillet with a few sloshes of a neutral oil.

Brown on all sides and then add onion, peppers and ginger, keep cooking.

After a few minutes, add the vinegar, soy sauce and chili flakes.   And if you like things sweeter, at this point you could add a tbsp of brown sugar or the sweetener of your choice.

Mix well, then add the pineapple chunks, stir in, turn down the heat and let simmer until everything is cooked through.

Once everything is well heated and chicken is cooked, it is time to make the sauce.

Add to the reserved pineapple juice, 2 tsp of cornstarch and mix it in until it is completely dissolved then add to the chicken and keep stirring until you see that the sauce is thickened up.

I served it with some “orange scented” basmati rice.  Which basically means I used orange juice as half of the cooking liquid and then added some fresh orange zest just before serving.

For greens, I cooked up some brocoli with a bit of bok choy and fresh ginger with a splash of soy sauce and sesame seeds.

There you go.  A healthier version of an old favorite and you know exactly what you put in it!

Pineapple Chicken

Salad Wraps

I love, love, love these!

They are easy, tasty and another favorite way of hiding the veggies!

So what you will need for wraps:

• rice paper
• mixed greens salad mix or other lettuce
• cilantro leaves
• veg cut into strips   ( your choice is endless)

Some choices being:

• cucumber
• peppers
• zucchini
• carrot
• jicama
• basically anything you can cut into a strip

Prepare all of your vegetables before you start.  Then place everything out ready for assembly.

Get a flat, big enough to hold the wrapper, sized bowl of warm water, a cutting board with a clean tea towel on it.

Dip the wrapper in the water for a few seconds till it goes limp.   Practice makes perfect on this.

Lay it out on the the tea towel and line the middle with salad greens then top with your favorite veg.  Being careful not to stuff them too much that you can’t roll them.

Feel free to sprinkle with chopped toasted nuts or sesame seeds or the like.  And the cilantro leaves.

Then roll them up like you would a burrito.  Fold over covering the filling, then sides in, then roll.

Meanwhile………..and this is only a suggestion.  Feel free to use the dipping sauce of your choice…….there are many!

For sauce:

• 1/2 cup raw soaked cashews  or 2 tbsp peanut butter
• 1/2 cilantro
• 2 cloves fresh garlic
• 1/2 inch fresh ginger
• 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
• 2 tbsp soy or Bragg sauce
• 1/2 tsp chili flakes

Whiz this up in the food processor.  Add a little water if it is too thick whiz again.  Repeat till you get the consistency you like.

These make a great snack or lunch or make a bunch ( smaller size ones) and they make a great party snack!

Salad rolls with dipping sauce

Citrus Chicken

As I have mentioned many a time before, I am allergic to shell-fish and for that reason I avoid most Asian style restaurants because the abundance of shell-fish is just too high risk.

But this doesn’t mean to say that I don’t LOVE some of the foods one might get there.  Before “the trouble” ( because I wasn’t always allergic) I used to frequent many a Chinese buffet!

One thing I particularly miss is Lemon Chicken.

So today I thought I’d try my own version, only without the crispy batter of course.

Here is what you will need:

• boneless skinless chicken breast cut in bite size cubes
• 2-3 cloves minced garlic
• aprox 1 inch minced fresh ginger
• 1/2 orange pepper in thin slices
• juice of half a fresh orange
• juice of 1 fresh lemon
• 2 tsp orange zest
• 1 tsp lemon zest
• 2 tsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp sugar ( or sweetener of your choice)
• 1/2 tsp chili flakes ( more if you like)
• 1/4 water or stock

In a hot skillet, add about 1 tbsp of oil and then brown the chicken.   Then add the garlic and ginger, toss well and cook till they are well sweated.

Then add all of the other ingredients, mix well and bring up to a boil, then simmer for about 10 minutes.

At this point, it can be ready but the sauce will be thin.   OR you can do like real Chinese food and add some cornstarch to thicken it up and give it that glossy look.

Put 1 tbsp of cornstarch in about 3 tbsp of water and mix into a thin paste, then add to the chicken dish and mix in well.  It should take a short time for it to thicken up.

Then it is ready to serve.  Top with some green onion and maybe some toasted cashews?

Citrus Chicken

Singapore Noodles

Back in the day, I used to eat a LOT of Singapore Noodles! 

Back when I lived in Montreal, I used to work as a Stage Manager in live theatre, so every Thursday night, I would call in the order from the lighting booth and then after the show,  we would swing by the Kam Shing restaurant on Cote des Neiges Blvd to pick up a big order of Singapore Noodles and General Tso Chicken.

Those were the days!   I could still eat shrimp back then.  In fact, it was while eating those noodles every week that I started to notice “the trouble”.  I always dread the thought that I may have over eaten shrimp to the point of being allergic!!

Oh well……so now I make my own, without the shrimp of course!

Feel free to add shrimp if they are no trouble to you.  Or substitute with chicken or tofu or like in this particular version, there is nothing at all!

Firstly, you will need:

• 1 pack thin rice stick noodles (rice vermicelli)

Then, thinly slice up:

• 1 red or green bell pepper  ( or half of each)
• 1 medium onion
• 1 carrot into match stick size bits
• 2 cups Napa cabbage
• 3 teaspoons minced ginger
• 1 cup of mung bean sprouts ( but I didn’t use any)
• 2 green onions

Then for the sauce mix together:

• 1/4 cup water or broth
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar  ( or favorite sweetener)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt  ( or 1 tsp soy sauce )
• 1 1/2 tablespoons curry powder, or to taste

Start by boiling some water for you noodles, either in a pot or a kettle.  When the water boils, turn it off and add the noodles or pour boiling water over noodles in a bowl, stir to soften them.

Rice vermicelli noodles

Then in a skillet or a wok, heat some oil then add, peppers, carrots and ginger. 

Once they get a head start, add the cabbage and if using, bean sprouts.  Add a bit of the sauce to help cook down the cabbage.

Drain the noodles and add to the skillet, toss into vegetables.

Add the remaining sauce and the green onions, toss quickly till noodles are completely coated.

Singapore Noodles

Serve immediately.  I garnished with some chopped cilantro and black sesame seeds.

Ah the memories!

Lamb and lentil stew

We get good lamb around these parts.

It is my feeling that if you are going to eat meat, then you need to at least eat the best quality of products.  From farms that treat the animals ethically and under the best circumstances.

And I am also of the feeling that you can eat meat, without having to eat a LOT of meat.

This lamb and lentil stew is a perfect example of that.

I started with a fairly small amount of meat, about a pound, cut into bite size chunks and brown them in your Dutch oven in a little olive oil.

Once well browned, all a large onion coarsely sliced and or chopped so that you have nice big pieces.

Stir those in with the lamb meat.  Cook until then are wilted down and even a little brown is okay because it adds flavour.

Then add about a cup of rinsed green lentils and stir them into the mix.

Now add the flavouring.  This is what I used, but feel free to come up with your own:

• 2-3 minced fresh garlic
• 1 tbsp grated fresh ginger
• 1 tbsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp smokey paprika
• six dried dates finely chopped

Add all of these and mix in well.  Then add:

• one can of tomato paste

Stir in to coat everything well.

Then add about 4 cups of water or stock of your choice.

Stir well and then put on high and cover till it comes up to the boil.  Then turn down to a low simmer.

The longer you can leave it the better, but keep checking it and adding more liquid if you need it.   Cook until the lentils are tender and you have a nice thick sauce.

We had it on a bed of couscous.

Very comforting.

Sesame chicken and asparagus pasta

Here is another quick mid-week easy dinner for you!

Here’s what you will need:

• skinless boneless chicken in bite size bits
• asparagus cut into 1 inch bits
• pasta of your choice ( rotini or penne work best for this)

For the sauce:

• 2-3 cloves garlic
• 1 inch fresh ginger
• 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
• 2 tbsp soy or Bragg sauce
• 1 tbsp sesame oil ( or other neutral oil)
• 2 tbsp tahini ( sesame paste)
• 1 tbsp of maple syrup or agave syrup
• 1 tsp crushed chili ( more if you like)
• 1/4 cup of water or stock

Then I whizzed it up in the mini hand blender.  If you don’t have a blender make sure you mince the garlic and ginger SUPER fine!

So boil the water for the pasta.

In a large skillet saute the chicken parts in a bit of oil. 

Saute chicken

Cook thoroughly, because this is the only time it is being cooked.   Once the chicken is done add the asparagus and about 1/4 of the sauce, just enough to coat the chicken and asparagus and help steam it a bit.  Put on the lid.

Meanwhile, boil and drain the pasta.

Then toss pasta into pan with chicken and asparagus and the rest of the sauce.  Toss well and let it all heat up nicely.

Serve immediately topped with toasted sesame seeds and some chopped green onion if you have it.

Sesame chicken and asparagus pasta

Thai Noodles

Or Pad Thai to some, although my recipe isn’t completely authentic, so perhaps “Thai Style” noodles?

As I’ve mentioned before in this blog, I am terribly allergic to shell-fish so because of that my former love of Asian style food, especially Thai has been curtailed.

I’ve had to learn to make my own “Asian Style” dishes so that I know EXACTLY what it is in them.

One place that I can really get into trouble is with certain fish sauces.  Often they are made with shrimp which will do me in.  Also certain Thai and Chinese curry powders will have pulverized shrimp shells in them.  So if you have a shell-fish allergy….be very very careful in these types of restaurants.

So a long time ago I learned to make my own Thai Noodles.  The recipe, I believe, was based on that of a legendary Toronto eating institution called the “Bamboo Club” which was a funky West Indian type eatery and night club that served up spicy food and even spicier music!

I’m just doing it from memory so I can’t tell you exactly was in their’s but here is what is in mine:

• plain chicken breast or tofu  ( or if you can, shrimp) or any combo of these
• 1 package medium width rice noodles ( I like the brand with the elephant )
• 2 eggs slightly beaten
• 2-3 cloves minced garlic
• 1 inch fresh minced ginger
• Salt & pepper

Sauce

• juice of one lemon
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1/4 soy sauce ( + 2 tbsp of fish sauce IF you can have shell fish)
• 2 tbsp brown sugar ( or sweetener of your choice)
• 1 tsp chili flakes ( more if you like)

 

Garnish

• 2-3 green onions thinly sliced on the bias ( for garnish)
• 1/4 cup crushed peanuts  ( for garnish)
• handful of chop suey style sprouts ( garnish)

Get everything ready before you start because once you begin, everything will happen fast and it is all about timing!

Start by either boiling a kettle or a pot of water for the noodles.    You can make them either by boiling a pot and when it reaches the boil toss in the noodles and then turn off the heat!  Stir them down until they are soft and cover for a few minutes.

OR place the noodles in a large bowl and then pour the boiled kettle water over them.  Same thing, stir till softened down and then let sit a couple of minutes.

While the water is boiling, mix together all of the ingredients for the sauce.  I find doing it in a 2 cup measuring cup is the easiest.

Chop up the things for your garnish.

Okay, now you are ready.

Cut chicken or tofu into bite size pieces and toss into wok or none stick frying pan with a couple of splashed of oil.    Cook until chicken is well cooked then toss in garlic, ginger, salt & pepper and keep tossing till well coated.

Drain your noodles and toss them in the pan with the chicken, toss them around.   Then pour the sauce all over the noodles with as even distribution as you can, toss well to coat.

Then, in the SAME cup that the sauce just came out of, break in your two eggs and beat slightly.  This picks up the left over sauce.

Then pour the egg evenly all over the noodles and put a lid on the pan for a couple of minutes.

Once the eggs “set” toss the noodles all up again to mix the eggs in to the rest of the noodles.

Serve immediately!

Garnish with green onion, chopped peanut, bean sprouts and a wedge of lemon on the side!

As good as these are fresh, they make a great snack at room temperature left over from the pan!

Or re-fried up the next day or to be honest, even cold!

Not so buttery Butter Chicken

Imagine my surprise when I found out that there isn’t actually any butter IN Butter Chicken!

But don’t get your hopes up because it still isn’t exactly “skinny friendly”!

Last Sunday, the Chef and I were busy and running around trying to get everything done and both realized that neither of us was particularly keen on being in charge of dinner.

In fact neither of us could even think of what we might like to eat.  I’m sure you’ve had days like that, where nothing really appeals.

I just knew that I wanted something warm and comforting in my belly after a long day of errands and could picture some nice bowl of something or other while watching the Grammys.

Then I got the bright idea that I would like some Indian take out!  No one has to cook and it’s warm and comforting!  But….trying to find something like that on a Sunday afternoon around these parts can be a challenge.  We stopped by a few of the regular suspects but they were closed on Sundays or wouldn’t be open till much later.

Fine.

I guess I would just have to make my own damn butter chicken and like it!

As it turned out…..we LOVED it!  Unfortunately it was probably one of those magical alchemy scenarios that I will never be able to recreate exactly again……but thought I’d write it down for you while it’s still fresh.

So it isn’t “technically” a recipe, but it’s what I did at the time and hopefully you can recreate or make your own version even better!

Start with:

•  skinless, boneless chicken ( as much as is appropriate)

Cut it into 1 x 1 inch chucks and add to a hot skillet or dutch oven with about 2 tbsp olive oil.  Cook on all sides till you no longer see any pink on it.  Then this is where the need for magic spicing powers comes in.  The only thing I can say is a “sprinkle” of each of these in a way that looks like enough.  Does that help?  No.  Well then, anywhere from 1 tsp to 1 tbsp according to taste, of the following:

• Ground cumin
• Ground coriander
• Paprika
• Tumeric
• Garam Masala
• Chili powder
• Chili flakes
• salt

In no particular order.

Keep cooking and tossing till all the chicken bits are well coated and then transfer to a heat safe bowl.

Chicken sautéed in spices

Then in the same pan….DON’T clean it….cause you want all the tasty bits from the bottom……toss in:

• 1 coarsely chopped red onion

Chunky red onion

Cook for a few minutes till the onion starts to get wilty.  Don’t worry if anything sticks or even seems a bit burny because anything stuck will come off later and add a bunch of flavour.

Once the onions have worked a little then add:

• 3 -5 cloves of minced garlic ( or whatever your garlic tolerance is)
• aprox 1 inch fresh ginger peeled and minced

Toss those around and get them real friendly with they onion.

carmelizing onion, garlic and ginger

Then add a tin or jar of diced tomatoes.  I have to admit that I only had half of a can that was left over from something else, but I’d wished I’d had a whole can.

The other thing is I had about a tablespoon of dried oregano in with the tomatoes because I bought too much at the bulk section and it simply wouldn’t fit in the jar and I didn’t want to waste it!!  So the oregano is optional, because it isn’t really a traditional Indian spice, but then again, might have been the thing that made the dish!  Hard to tell.

Mix the tomatoes in well with the onions, garlic and ginger.   This is where you are gonna want to start scraping the tasty bits off the bottom of the pan.   Try to get as much of them up at this point.

Let that simmer up a bit and then……..here it comes…….the “no butter, butter” of the dish……..you will need to add:

• 1 cup heavy cream ( or more depending on how much you are making)

Stir all the other bits well into it and then bring the whole pot up to a boil then turn it down a little and let it “reduce” as the Chef likes to say.

Reducing the sauce

Once it gets to a nice creamy consistency, turn it down and the add the chicken back in.  Give it a stir and then put the lid on it and let simmer a bit to make sure the chicken is well cooked and all the elements have exchanged phone numbers!

So that’s all fine and dandy but what are you gonna do, just sit there with a big old bowl of butter chicken?  Well, I mean I know I could but…….

Butter chicken

I had some plain old small potatoes in the pantry so I quartered them and boiled them up in some salted water, just to the point of cooked but not so soft that they were ready to mash……if you know what I mean?

While they were boiling, I chopped up some baby spinach and some garlic and added them to a heat safe bowl with some olive oil and a bit of salt and pepper.   Then mixed that stuff up together before adding the boiled potatoes.   This way it would coat the potatoes evenly and with less wear and tear on the potatoes which might be a problem if I added things the other way around.

When the potatoes are done, drain them and toss them with the garlic and spinach mixture then let them sit.

Meanwhile, put on your rice.  Eating Indian food is one of the rare occasions that I actually eat white rice, although I am getting used to the brown basmati rice too.   When cooking the rice, to give it an extra zing, I try to add a few cloves and a couple of pods of cardamom.  But it helps to fish them out again before serving, biting down on either of those can be quite startling.

When your rice is almost ready, heat up a skillet and toss in your potatoes just to warm them up and give them a little colour here and there.

Spinach garlic potatoes

When everything is done, put it all together, and you got yourself one FINE little meal.

Butter chicken with spinach potatoes and rice

 

 

Oldy but goodie

For those of you who have been following my blog for awhile, I know that you will have seen this one before.

But given it is winter in half the world right now, I didn’t think anyone would mind this recipe again.  Try it tonight, it is so easy and so comforting.

Enjoy. 

Sorry I haven’t figured out the “reblog” feature yet so:

Click here to see “My Favorite Soup” recipe.

 

Thai noodle soup

Sushi Lessons

My Scotland relatives who now live in California that we were visiting for Christmas are very hard to shop for.   But the one thing we knew they enjoyed was eating.  

And sure we cooked while we were there, which they always enjoy, but why not teach them some cool stuff that they can do on their own once we are gone?

It isn’t every day that you get a professional Chef coming to stay, so why not take full advantage of the situation?   So we decided to give them an “Asian party snack starter kit” and a coupon for a cooking class with the Chef!

It was a basket filled with all the fixins and tools to whip up some sushi, gyoza and assorted other things.

The lesson was well attended and the pupils fast learners!

Then we feasted on the fruit of the labour.  Which was really nice to have a break from freakin turkey!

Sushi lessons

If you’d like to make some sushi of your own,  click here  to check out an old posting of mine where I give you the blow by blow.

Or  click here   for the gyoza lesson.

The gift of food always seems welcome!

Three appliance beverage.

Actually, I think it is technically a four appliance beverage!

In my last year of holistic school my roommate used to bring me one of these every Saturday morning from a restaurant called “Fresh” near where we lived in Toronto.  Then when I was finishing up school and had to do a work-study I did it there because like the name implies, they offer healthy fare.

So I learned to make this drink myself.

They call it “Deep Immune Elixir” if you are ever at Fresh and want to try it.

Here is what’s in it:

• 6 dates
• 1/2 or so of fresh ginger
• 4 medium red apples
• juice of one lemon
• 1/2 ripe banana
• 1 tbsp chywanprash  ( see yesterday’s post)

So now here is where all the appliances come in.

First, boil the kettle and put the dates in a small bowl and just barely cover them with boiling water.

Next appliance, the juicer.   Juice the apples and ginger per usual method.

juicing apples

Next is the blender.  Add the apple, ginger and lemon juice to the blender with the banana, blend till mixed.  Then add the soaked dates and the chywanprash and blend till smooth.

Next, transfer blended mixture to a sauce pan.

Heat the beverage till just warm.  DON’T let it boil or even get too hot.  That would destroy all of the enzymes in the juice and ruin the medicinal properties.

Deep immune elixer

Then put in a mug and drink like a nice cup of hot chocolate.  Only this will surely fix what’s ailing you!

Dipping Sauces

Here are the dipping sauces that we had with our  Gyoza.  ( see yesterday’s post)

First the Chef  made up a batch of what we’ll call “basic sauce” meaning each dipping sauce starts as this and then the additional ingredients are added to make it into a specific sauce.

Basic sauce:

• garlic
• ginger
• cilantro
• green onion
• soya sauce
• sesame oil

Lemon Soya Sauce:

• basic sauce
• extra soya
• lemon juice

Sweet miso:

• basic sauce
• miso paste
• water to thin it out

Chili Thai peanut:

• basic sauce
• peanut butter
• chili flakes
• water to thin it out

Dipping sauces

 

 

 

 

Stir them up and start dippin!!

 

 

These sauces are also great for vegan sushi!   ( Click here ) to see how to make them!

 

Party snacks are my favourite food!

 

 

 

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Gyoza – not just a party snack

As we get closer to the holidays I am still on the quest for interesting party snacks.

The Chef suggested we make some home made “Gyoza”.   Or as I would know it as an Asian dumpling type thing.

I was willing to give it a try.  But let me warn you right off the top, these babies are pretty labour intensive and instead of them being a party snack, I would suggest having a gyoza making party! Because if you had a production line full of friends to help with this, it would make it SO much easier.

Let’s start with the filling.  Keep in mind, these can be made with pork, chicken, shrimp or completely vegetarian ( maybe even vegan if you check what’s in your won ton wrappers! )

In fact, the Chef informs me that you could even make dessert versions with mascarpone cheese and strawberries and the like!

They are a versatile snack.  But a lot of work.

Here is what we used for this batch, but feel free to substitute as needed.

• ground raw pork
• finely minced red onion
• shredded carrot
• shredded cabbage
• finely minced garlic
• finely minced ginger
• soya sauce
• white/black sesame seeds
• raw egg

In a large skillet start with the pork and cook till almost completely done , then add all of the other ingredients except the egg.   Once all the vegetables are cooked, crack in the egg and mix it in well.  This will help hold the filling together.

Let it cool down so it will be easy to work with.

Now it is production line time!   Get everything set up to save time. 

• Have baking sheets lined with parchment paper
• Round won ton wrappers
• a bowl or glass of water
• filling mixture
• dumpling press

The dumpling press is my new favorite toy!  Boy do I wish I had THIS baby when I was making my empanadas.  Would have made life SO much easier!

Dumpling press

I found this at a local hardware store for $3.00.  If you see one, pick it up.  You will love it.

So here we go.   Lay down the won ton wrapper.

Dip your finger in the water and wet the outside ring of the wrapper so it will stick together.

Add a bit of filling.  You will have to experiment until you get the exact right amount that works best.

Place with won ton wrapper full of filling on the dumpling maker.

Squeeze shut.

Open again and carefully peel the dumpling out of the mould and place on the parchment lined baking sheet.

Repeat.  ( you can see now why having a production line for this activity would help!!)

Make sure you keep the surface of your dumpling press dry by wiping it off after every few dumplings, otherwise things will start to stick.

When the tray is full put it in the freezer.   Even if you are going to be eating them soon.  This will help them keep their shape when cooking or once totally frozen you can bag them up and use them later!

So, now to cook them.

First we will boil them in a pot of water.  But only a few at a time because if they touch, they will stick!  So, boil a few and wait till they come to the surface then fish them out.

Dry them, and then into the frying pan, cook on both sides till they are a bit crispy and brown.   Same thing, only a few at a time so they don’t stick!

Then they are ready to eat!

A little dipping sauce and you are good to go!!

Gyoza with dipping sauce

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Pork loin with veg

This is actually a pretty healthy dish, even if it is pork.

Pork loin is a nice lean cut and you can add so much flavour to it that you don’t really need to eat that much of it at one sitting.

I started by marinating it in:

• 1 inch fresh ginger finely chopped
• 2-3 cloves of fresh garlic finely chopped
• 1 tsp chili flakes
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
• 3 tbsp soya sauce

Whiz that up in a food processor, mini chopper or by hand and then pour over the pork loin in a non reactive container.

Marinating pork

When you are ready to go, sear off the pork in a large skillet.  Make sure you brown it on all sides and then return to the roast pan.  This will help keep the meat moist.  Then put it into a 350 degree oven.

Meanwhile, put on a pot of rice.   Normally we only eat the brown nice, on account of the high nutritional value, but for this dish, plain long grain white rice looks really nice!

Then chop up some vegetable of your choice.  Tonight I used baby bok choy, kale, onion and red peppers.

Drizzle a little sesame oil into the same pan you used to sear the pork and stir fry the vegetables very quickly till they are only slightly wilted.

Chop and stir fry veg

When the pork is done, let it rest a few minutes and then slice into 1/2 inch thick rounds.

 To assemble, first place a bed of rice on the plate, then a ring of stir fried veg, then a few pieces of pork lion into the centre.

 

Then I used the left over drippings and marinade in the bottom of the pork pan to pour over as a simple little sauce.

 

 

 

Marinated pork loin with rice and veg

 

 

Actually, based on this photo, seems it would make a nice “Christmas Wreath” dinner too!

 

Just a thought.

 

 

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Indian style chicken and red lentils

See now this is a prefect example of how easy it is to be creative in your kitchen and use what you have.

This all started when I was looking at the online flyer from my local grocery store and saw that they have something called “Tandoori red lentil soup” on sale this week their “home meal replacement” department.

I thought to myself ” hmmm…..now that sounds good, bet I could make some of that!”

So I punched that title into our friend Google and a whole bunch of recipes appeared.  I looked at a few and some seemed more complicated than others and so I went through the ingredient lists to see if I could get away with making any of them without having to go to the store!

This is what I came up with.

I started by taking out the trusty dutch oven and over medium heat drizzled in a bit of olive oil.

Then I added:

• 2 carrots, peeled and finely diced
• 1 medium onion finely diced
• 4 cloves of garlic finely minced
• about an inch of fresh ginger finely chopped
• 1 large handful of fresh parsley finely chopped ( cilantro would be MUCH better here but I was without!)
• about a cup of finely chopped baby spinach  ( it was on it’s last legs in the fridge so in it went!)
• 1/2 tsp sea salt

I let those cook a bit and get to know each other.

Then I added :

• 1/2 cup rinsed red lentils

Stir those in and make sure they are well coated.

Then in a small bowl I combined:

• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground coriander seed
• 1 tsp crushed chili flakes
• 1 tsp paprika
• zest of two lemons ( keep lemons for juice later)
• a few grinds of black pepper

Make a hole in the vegetables at the bottom of the dutch oven to expose the cooking surface and pour in the spice mixture.  Stir it around a little to “toast” it which will release the flavours.

Then mix everything in together.

Then add:

• 1 tin crushed tomatoes ( feel free to use fresh but I didn’t have any)
• 1 tin coconut milk
• 1 small tin tomato paste

Stir well.

Now you could stop here and have a lovely vegan item, just put on some rice and you are in business.

You could also add a tin of say chick peas or the like if you were so inclined.

But I can only feed the Chef vegan items so many times a week so I also added a couple of chunked up raw chicken breasts.   Cooked would be fine too.

Stir it all up, put on the lid and let’er simmer till the chicken and lentils are good and cooked.   Red lentils pretty much just disintegrate into a nice thick sauce so no need for any thickening agents.

Indian style chicken and red lentils

But I know what you are thinking.   “This doesn’t sound like soup!”

You’re right.   I mean, it COULD be soup if you wanted to add a bunch more liquid and thin it out, but we are eating it on rice for more of a “something I found on the Indian buffet” type item.

Add the juice from the two lemons just before you are ready to go to the plate.  It will balance the flavour and give you a shot of vitamin C to boot!

I of course added a little steamed kale on the side, cause I’m crazy that way!

What we had for dinner

And there you have yourself a hearty, tasty, week night, comfort dish!  

And I didn’t even have to go to the store!!

Maple Ginger Salmon

I stole this recipe from an old friend.  Well, maybe “stole” is a little harsh, it has been years since she’s made if for me and I’m just making it from memory!  Perhaps “inspired” by an old friend’s recipe!!

Actually, the time she made it I have to admit that to this day, it is the best salmon I’ve ever had!  But that might just be because it was a great night with friends and food!   And what probably made it so good was that it was wrapped in tin foil and was either put or fell ( I can’t really remember) into the remaining embers of the charcoal briquettes in the bar b que!!

Here’s what you will need:

• Some nice pieces of salmon of your choice, as many as you need.

The Marinade:  Again, amounts based on how much you are making

• 2 – 5 cloves fresh garlic
• about 1 inch chunk of fresh ginger
• a few tbsp of maple syrup
• a few tbsp of good soya sauce or Bragg sauce
• a couple of tsp of roasted sesame oil
• 1 tsp or less of chili flakes

Maple ginger marinade

Whiz this up in your mini chopper or food processor or just make sure you chop everything really fine and mix by hand.   Pour into a baking dish, adding a little water if  the marinade is too think or doesn’t cover the bottom of the dish.

Then add the fish and turn them over and around in the marinade and let sit for at least 1/2 hour but an hour would be better.

Marinate the salmon

Then into the oven at 400 degrees for about 10 minutes or as long as they take too cook according to the thickness of the fish and the efficiency of your oven!

OR

If you want to do them on the bar b que that would be great too.   Right on the grill is fine but if you want to do them like I had so long ago……take a good size piece of tin foil and place a piece of salmon in the middle then spoon a few spoonfuls of marinade over the fish and then wrap it up into a little bundle and either put on the grill or if you are camping…..toss right in the fire!

Serve with your favorite side dishes!

Maple ginger salmon

 

 

 

 

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