It's a savoury life: Recipe ReDux

Showing posts with label Recipe ReDux. Show all posts

Saturday, July 21, 2012

Too hot to cook

Growing up my grandmother's famous excuse for not cooking was that it was simply "too hot to cook." Now, I didn't grow up on a tropical island, houses didn't normally have air conditioning, and some years it seemed like it never topped 25 degrees celcius. However, it was a great excuse to avoid the stove and simply have tea and toast for breakfast, lunch, and dinner (because apparently it is never too hot for tea and toast). When I'm feeling a little lazy, I dance to my dear nanny's words that it is simply too hot to cook.

However, in all honesty, this month I may as well be living on a tropical island because Toronto has been HOT. Real hot. Too hot to cook hot. Which fits in perfectly with the Recipe ReDux Challenge this month: Beat the Summer Heat with No Cook Meals.

Cashew Lemon Creamy Salad Dressing

Makes: about 1 cup of dressing

Recipe:

3/4 cup cashews

1/2 cup water

1/2 lemon

1 clove garlic

2 basil leaves

1 tbsp fresh cilantro

1 tsp coconut (optional)

1/2 tbsp Maple Syrup (you can also use honey or agave)

Directions:

1. Throw cashews and juice from half a lemon (I actually added some more in after, so maybe a little more than half a lemon, depending on how much you like lemon) in a food processor. Process until cashews become smooth. To help the process add water 1 tablespoon at a time. Keep processing. It took about 10 minutes and 1/2 cup of water (8 Tbsp) for my dressing to get the desired consistency.

2. Add garlic, herbs, coconut, and syrup and process until well blended.

3. Take a taste test - is it sweet enough? sour enough? garlic-y enough? Take the time to play with the recipe a little bit and add more of whatever it needs.

4. Once your dressing tastes delicious and is the desired consistency add it to your favourite salad.

My salad had arugula, corn, match stick carrots, and raisins. I topped it off with smashed cashew pieces.

Before you leave be sure to check out some of the amazing recipes posted by other Recipe ReDuxers.

Wishing you tasty meals and happy days,
Rebecca

Monday, May 21, 2012

Sea what you've been missing

Recipe Reduxers have been given the Sea What You've Been Missing challenge this month in hopes of expanding our culinary skills to include nutritious treasures from the sea. With that in mind I got my sea vegetable hat on and decided to skip the japanese restaurant and make homemade sushi.

Sushi is one of my favourite foods however I almost always fill my sushi cravings at Japanese restaurants since it takes a bit of time and patience to make at home (but hey, all good things in life take time and patience, right?). After making these vegetable sushi rolls I have decided that a make-your-own-sushi party is in my near future (regardless of the rice-smooshed-onto-floor mess that I will inevitably face at the end of the night).

The great thing about sushi is that you can add whatever fillings suit your fancy, your budget, and your refrigerator contents. I used sautéed and roasted veggies but you can also try smoked salmon, raw sushi-grade fish, shrimp, or mango!

Recipe: Asparagus Portabella Sushi Roll

First, decide what you want to fill your sushi with. I chose oven roasted garlic asparagus, sautéed portabella mushrooms, sautéed tofu, cucumbers, and avocado. These can be hot or cold (I prefer cold).

Next, cook your rice. Make sure you use sushi rice since it has a sticky texture that keeps everything in place. Add uncooked rice to water and bring to a boil (see package instructions for ratio of rice:water). Reduce heat and cover for 15 minutes (do not uncover during this time). Remove rice from heat and let sit, covered, for ten minutes. Meanwhile, mix 1/4 cup rice vinegar, 4 teaspoons of sugar, and 3/4 teaspoon of salt. Pour mixture over rice in small batches and fold rice until covered. Spread rice on a baking pan and let cool.

And of course, the feature of this post - Nori! Nori is a thin, dried, seaweed sheet. One sheet of nori contains 1 gram of fibre, 6% Daily Value of Vitamin A, 4% of Vitamin C, and 3% of Vitamin D.

Place plastic wrap on top of the bamboo mat and place the nori on top of the plastic wrap. Place the shiny side of the nori down with the dull side facing up.

Spread a layer of rice over the dull side of the nori. If the rice is sticking to your hands just run them under cold water.

Place sushi filling across the middle of the nori. Don't overstuff - unless, of course, you have a really big mouth :)

Roll the nori with just the plastic and then finish it off by wrapping the bamboo mat around the roll. To better see how this works check out this instructional video.

With a sharp knife cut the roll into slices. Serve with wasabi, pickled ginger, and soy sauce.

When possible, choose low sodium soy sauce, or limit the amount you use. Soy sauce has a high amount of sodium which in excess can increase your risk of high blood pressure, dehydrate you, and in my case, cause a serious case of swollen eye lids!

Check out the recipe redux entries below to find some more recipes that feature small fish (like sardines, anchovies, and smelt) and sea vegetables (like seaweed and kelp).

Wishing you tasty meals and happy days,

Rebecca

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

No-Bake Brownies

Spring is in full force in Toronto and I mean full force. Sunshine, patios, jackets left at home, people are wearing t-shirts for heavens sake! It's wonderfully unreal (although I do find global warming worrisome). Along with this sunny weather comes bumble bees and maple sugaring. With that in mind, this month's Recipe ReDux Challenge was "Stick with Maple Honey Sweetness" - cooking and baking with maple or honey to add natural sweetness to everything.

Like any proud Canadian I love maple syrup. Small amounts can transform salad dressings, baked goods, smoothies, even salmon. I do, however, have one word of caution - natural sweeteners, like maple syrup, honey, and agave nectar are not health foods. When comparing maple syrup to granulated sugar they both have about 50 calories in one tablespoon. While some natural sugars have trace minerals it's certainly not a compelling reason to "add a little extra". Enjoy your sweet treats but avoid having too heavy of a hand when adding sugars and syrups.

While cruising around Pinterest I came across a recipe for Raw Two-Bite Brownies. It immediately shot out of the printer and landed itself on the top of my To-Do List.

There are only three tablespoons of maple syrup in this recipe, however the dates provide the majority of the sweetness (along with a dose of fibre).

Recipe: No Bake Brownies

Ingredients:

Almonds, unsalted - 1 cup

Cashews, unsalted - 1/2 cup

Ground flaxseed - 1/4 cup

Alkalized cacao powder (or cocoa powder) - 1 Tbsp

Shredded coconut, unsweetened - 1 Tbsp

Maple Syrup - 3 Tbsp

Dates (or prunes) - 10

Dark chocolate - 2 oz (about 57 grams)

Nut butter - 1 Tbsp

Almond milk (any sort of milk or water will work) - 1- 3 Tbsp

Vanilla - 1/2 tsp

Instructions:

1. Throw the nuts and flaxseed into a food processor and process until it turns into a flour. Do not let it process for too long or it will turn into nut butter. We don't want this.

2. Add every thing except milk to the food processor and process until all the ingredients are well mixed.

3. Add small amounts of milk at a time until a dough ball forms. It will be obvious.

4. Roll the dough into small balls (this recipe is rich and full of healthy fats so I don't recommend going bigger than 1 tablespoon of dough per cookie). Flatten to your liking. You will notice a lot of oil on the balls. This is the natural oil from the nuts. You may wish to pat away some of the oil with a paper towel although this is not necessary.

4. Refrigerate for 1 hour.

5. Eat, enjoy, and savour your delicious treat.

Store in the refrigerator or freezer.

Before you leave take a look below to check out what the other Recipe ReDuxers have whipped together this month.

Wishing you a sunny spring and tasty days,
Rebecca

Saturday, January 21, 2012

A Fresh Start

This month's Recipe Redux is dedicated to the ever important, ever scrumptious breakfast. In my mind there are two types of breakfasts: the week day morning "oh-man-I-probably-shouldn't-have-pressed-snooze- that-last-time" breakfast and the weekend morning "roll-out-of-bed-nothing-but-time-on-my-side-let's-do-something-special" breakfast.

I have a few go-to quick and nutritious weekday breakfasts but this is Recipe Redux, it's time to do something special - weekend breakfast it is.

My wonderful coworker hooked me up with eggs from a small local farm. Look how beautiful they are:

With these lovely eggs I decided to make an omelette.

Omelettes are great, not only because of their versatility and taste, but because it's an awesome way to add a serving or two of vegetables to your day.

I sautéed mushrooms, onions, zucchini, and kale. Piled them high on top of my eggs, held my breath and made the flip. Success.

I must admit that I enjoy ketchup with eggs. Instead of smearing cheap ketchup all over this beautiful omelette I opted to make bruschetta. For this I combined one clove of garlic, a chopped tomato, a pinch or two of basil and some olive oil. Simply delightful.

Recipe: Omelette

Ingredients:

3 medium eggs

Milk

Pepper

Red Chili Flakes

Kale

Mushrooms

Zucchini

Red Onion

Directions:

1. Cut and sauté veggies. I like to cook the mushrooms and onions first. Once they are nicely browned I add the rest of the veggies.

2. Scramble eggs with milk, pepper, and red chili flakes. Pour on a separate, oiled, heated, medium frying pan. Cook on low-medium until egg solidifies.

3. Add sautéed veggies to one side of the egg and carefully and quickly flip the remaining half of the egg over the veggies. This can take practice and patience, but you can do it! Good luck.

4. Let the omelette cook like this for a few minutes, serve and enjoy.

Tip: If you flip your omelette and your egg or filling needs to be cooked some more pop your frying pan into the over at 300F and bake for 5 to 10 minutes.

Recipe: Bruschetta

Ingredients:

Tomato

Garlic

Olive Oil

Basil

Directions:

1. Chop tomato, add one glove of garlic, about 1 Tbsp of olive oil and about 1 Tbsp of basil. Mix.

2. Top omelette with bruschetta.

Before leaving, take some time to look through the breakfast recipes below created by other recipe reduxers.

Wishing you a fresh start to your day,

Rebecca

Recipe Redux:

Friday, October 21, 2011

Hi Pumpkin, want some Chili?

Fall is officially here! I love the fresh, crisp air and the buzz and excitement when a new season approaches. A change of season also brings a change of recipes - see ya later juicy summer produce and a warm hello to dark leafy greens, root vegetables, and squash! This is a quick season so it's best to get cookin'!

Pumpkins can go beyond jack-o-laterns and pies - this week I made Vegetarian Pumpkin Chili. Chili is my favourite cold weather meal. It's easy to make, super nutritious, and leaves me with quick, warm meals all week long. Bonus: it freezes really well!

This was the first time I've put pumpkin in my chili and I sure am glad that I did! The pumpkin spice gave the chili a deep, warm flavour, and the puree thickened it up.

Chili is a great dish because you can literally throw in whatever veggies you have in the fridge! Feel free to play around with this recipe - add different veggies, throw in some lean meat, or change up the herbs and spices to better suit your tastes.

You'll probably want to start with the pumpkin puree first since the pumpkin takes about 45-60 minutes to bake. While the pumpkin is baking make the chili.

How to Make Pumpkin Puree:

Wash your pumpkin

Cut it in half and scoop out all the guts and seeds

Put about 1/2" of water in a baking dish and then place each half of the pumpkin face down in the dish.

Place in the oven at 350°F for about 45-60 minutes (or until the pumpkin is soft and can be easily pierced with a fork)

Carefully remove the pumpkin from the oven.

Scoop out the flesh and place in a food processor.

Add Pumpkin Pie Spice (1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg, 1/2 tsp ground ginger, 1/4 tsp ground allspice).

I also had a clove of roasted garlic on hand so I popped that into the mix.

Pulse until pureed - don't let it get too thin!

Fall Pumpkin Chili

Step1: In a large pot heat 1 tbsp of olive oil, minced garlic (1-2 cloves), and diced onion (about 1 onion)

Step 2: Chop your favourite vegetables and add them to the pot.

I used:

1 med zucchini
4 tomatoes
1 red pepper
1 green pepper
6 mushrooms
1 jalapeño + 1 habanero pepper (I like it HOT!)

Step 3: Add 2 cups of beans (I used black beans)
Step 4: Once all the veggies are cooked, pour in a can of tomato sauce. I used a tomato sauce that had italian seasonings in it. I could really taste the basil and oregano so I didn't need to add any more herbs. Add the pumpkin puree (see below for recipe). Mix together and let simmer for 20-30 minutes.

Serve and sprinkle with fresh parmesan cheese. Yum!

This recipe was inspired by Recipe ReDux, a group of bloggers who take on the challenge of making healthy, delicious recipes each month. Check out these other bloggers that have taken on this month's challenge: fresh pumpkin!