Monday, October 15, 2012

A quinoa bowl fit for Fall























The cold weather has arrived which means it's time to turn on the oven and enjoy warm grains and Fall crops. I've talked about my love of roasted brussels sprouts before, so you can imagine how tickled pink I was to see them at the grocery store last week. I roasted up a batch in garlic and lemon juice (recipe here), stir-fried some zucchini, red pepper, onion, and chickpeas and nestled it all into a bed of quinoa. I topped the dish with a generous squeeze of lime juice and a pinch of salt and pepper. The best part was enjoying it all over again for lunch the next day :)

Wishing you tasty meals and happy days,
Rebecca

Monday, October 8, 2012

Pancakes...or something like it.



Happy Thanksgiving y'all! On this beautiful morning I woke up craving pancakes. This never happens and as a result I admittedly have no idea how to make pancakes. Instead of following a recipe I got a little carried away. One thing lead to another, I swapped this for that and that for this, added a dash here and a dash there and all of a sudden I had something that somewhat resembled a pancake...kind of.  It doesn't exactly look like a pancake and doesn't really taste like a pancake either. These cakes are hearty with a lot of texture and while they are thick they aren't what you would call fluffy. Bottom line is that they tasted good and are chocked full of nutritious ingredients.

A note on nutrition: the oats, whole wheat flour, flaxseed and apple bump up the fibre content of this recipe. The ground flaxseed and almonds provide heart healthy fats.

Recipe:
Makes: about 12 small cakes

Ingredients: 
Large flake oats, 1/2 cup
Almond milk (you can use any type of milk you like), 1/2 cup + 1/4 cup
Whole wheat flour, 1/4 cup
Ground flaxseed, 2 Tbsp
Warm water, 3 Tbsp
Apple, diced, 1
Almonds, 1/4 cup
Coconut, 1 heaping Tbsp
Maple syrup, 2 Tbsp
Cinnamon, 1/2 tsp
Baking powder, 1 tsp

Directions:
1. Soak oats in 1/2 cup of almond milk. Ideally you should let them soak for 20 minutes. I'm a tad impatient so I let mine soak for 10 minutes and the earth did not shatter, so that should do.
2. While the oats are soaking, cut an apple into small pieces and cook over medium heat until soft(ish). Depending on the type of pan you use, you may need to add a small amount of oil to the apples to avoiding sticking.
3. Combine the ground flaxseed and water and let sit for about 5 minutes.
4. Place almonds in a bag, take a hammer, and smash the almonds into small pieces (my favourite part!). When the apples are almost finished cooking, add smashed almonds and coconut to the pan.  Remove from heat once the coconut and nuts are toasted and fragrant (just a couple of minutes).
5. Mix flour into the oat mixture.
6. Combine all ingredients into the oat and flour mixture.
7. On medium heat, add a tablespoon of oil to your pan and drop a heaping tablespoon of the mixture onto the pan. Cook until golden brown on both sides, flipping the pancake after about two minutes.
8. Drizzle with maple syrup and enjoy!






Wishing you happy days, tasty meals, and a delightful Thanksgiving,
Rebecca