Wednesday, July 25, 2012 at 7/25/2012 08:00:00 AM
C came back into town for the week end and we just couldn't resist getting back into our old habit of cooking together. Here's what we came up with this time:
Ingredients (for 2 large servings or 4 small servings):
- 2 potatoes, peeled and chopped
- 1/4 cup milk
- half a bunch of broccoli, chopped
- 5 white mushrooms, chopped
- 1 cup seafood mix (I got the 10$ pack of frozen seafood from Super C - but feel free to use whatever seafood you prefer)
- Half a shallot, chopped
- Grated mozzarella cheese
- Salt and pepper to taste
Method:
- Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees.
- Boil the potatoes in a small sauce pan.
- In a separate pan, boil your seafood for a few minutes, simply to let them melt (Note: If your seafood isn't precooked, make sure it is cooked before proceeding with this recipe).
- In the meantime, mix your shallots, mushrooms and broccoli in a bowl.
- Once your seafood is ready, add to the veggies. Add salt and pepper to taste and mix. (Note: next time, I'll try adding coriander to the mixture. Feel free to add whatever spice you may think is appropriate for your taste buds)
- Once your potatoes are boiled, drain and add the milk. Mash until the potatoes and the milk have been properly combined.
- In large ramekins, layer the potatoes at the bottom and add the seafood mixture on top.
- Top it off with mozzarella cheese (quantity to your liking) and slide in the oven until the cheese has melted, approximately 5-10 minutes.
- Serve immediately.
Enjoy!
- CK
Wednesday, July 18, 2012 at 7/18/2012 08:00:00 AM
While attending a BBQ back home a few weeks ago, my aunt prepared a bean salad/dip that she served with multigrain tostitos. You can imagine my surprise when I found myself eating quite a large amount of it! i.e. amazing deliciousness.
In an attempt to create something similar, I came up with the following:
Ingredients (5-7 servings):
- 1 cup Garbanzo beans (Primo brand)
- 1 cup White kidney beans (Irresistibles brand)
- 1 cup canned corn, drained
- 2 cups diced tomatoes
- 1/2 diced white onion
- 3/4 diced sweet red pepper
- 1 cup chopped parsley
- 2 large minced garlic cloves
- 1.5 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- juice of 1/2 lemon
- optional: red kidney beans - note that the more beans you add, the more carbs you add.
- Mutligrain tostitos scoops
Very simply mix everything together! Add 6 crushed tostitos to each serving. I wouldn't advise adding the tostitos to the main mix as they might get soggy from the vinegrette.
This salad is perfect for a potluck, BBQ or even as an appetizer when you have guests coming over! Serve them in the scoops and you've got yourself some healthy finger food! :)
Nutritional Information (1 portion - if parted in 7):
Salad + Tostitos
Calories: 270.42
Carbs: 40.33 g
Protein: 11.03 g
Fat: 7.55 g
Cholesterol: 0 mg
Enjoy!
- CK
Wednesday, July 11, 2012 at 7/11/2012 09:31:00 AM
Before we head into this absolutely delicious recipe, I would like to introduce our new monthly guest blogger: Guillaume! While he is a work colleague of mine, he's worked in restaurants for many years. So, I'm sure he'll bring some great insight into the art of cooking! :) One of his recipes will be featured every second wednesday of every month. So make sure to check in! Welcome Guillaume!
This is one
of my simple “go-to” dish I do very often as it requires very little
preparation and it is enjoyed by all of my friends. If you wish to save a bit
of time during the preparation, you can easily replace the tomato sauce by sun-dried
tomato pesto or regular pesto. This dish incorporates many elements of a Greek
salad with the feta bringing all components of the dish together with its
saltiness and creaminess. The richness of the roasted pine nuts accentuates the
texture of the quinoa. The use of quinoa instead of pasta keeps the dish light
and fresh.
Preparation:
25 to 30
minutes
Ingredients:
Chicken
- 2 chicken
breasts (diced)
- 1 Lemon or
lime
- 1 teaspoon
of cinnamon
Quinoa
- ½ cup of
quinoa
- ½ cup of
stock (chicken or vegetable)
- ½ cup of
water
Tomato
Sauce
- 2 Tomatoes
- 1/3 cup of
finely chopped white onion
- 1 finely
chopped garlic clove
- 1 teaspoon
of oregano
- ¼ cup of
pine nuts
Vegetables
- ¼ cup of
finely chopped red pepper
- ¼ cup of
finely chopped green pepper
- ¼ cup of
finely chopped cucumber
- ¼ cup of
finely chopped red onion
- ¼ cup of
feta (crumbled)
Method:
- Place
the chicken breasts in a plastic bag and add the juice from one lemon or lime.
Add the cinnamon and bit of salt and pepper to taste. (the cinnamon can be
replaced by oregano, thyme, cumin, or any other combination of spices you may
enjoy). Vacuum seal the bag and place in the refrigerator while cutting the
vegetables.
- In
a saucepan, boil water and blanche the tomatoes for five minutes. Remove the
skin and dice the tomatoes. Keep some of the liquid used to blanche the
tomatoes in a cup.
- In
another saucepan, bring to boil ½ cup of water and ½ cup of stock. Incorporate
the quinoa and cook on medium heat, stirring intermittently, until all the
liquid has evaporated. Let the quinoa cool for 5 minutes.
- In
the saucepan used to blanche the tomatoes, combine a bit of oil and add the
finely chopped white onions and garlic. Add the diced tomatoes, the oregano,
and some salt and pepper to taste. Let the onions, garlic and tomatoes reduce
at medium heat stirring once in while. As the tomatoes, onions and garlic
reduce, add some of the liquid used to blanche the tomatoes as needed to help
build the sauce base. Cook for 10 to 15 minutes.
- Lightly
roast the pine nuts in a pan. In a blender, incorporate the tomato sauce and
half of the roasted pine nuts. Blend until the texture of the sauce is nice and
smooth. Let the sauce sit for 5 minutes.
- Cook
the chicken in a pan or on the barbecue. Let the chicken rest for 5 minutes
before dicing it.
- In
a bowl, combine the quinoa and tomato sauce, the rest of the pine nuts, the
vegetables, the feta and the chicken.
- Serve
at room temperature or chilled.
Saturday, July 7, 2012 at 7/07/2012 08:00:00 AM
As mentioned in my previous post, we spent the beautiful Canada Day week end at our friend's cottage. We had quite the relaxing time, so we came back extremely rested, our ears ringing from all the fireworks and surely, our bellies full!
Before we left to part-take in the shenanigans, I had asked one of A's co-workers for an amazing salad recipe she whipped up for a BBQ we attended. With a few adjustments (the original recipe called for Feta cheese and capers, which I'm not a big fan of), I came up with a warm, yet refreshing salad that everybody enjoyed!
Prep time: 15 minutes. BOOM!
Ingredients:
- 1.5 cups Orzo
- 1 cup diced black olives
- 1.5 tbsp diced sun-dried tomatoes (make sure to keep the oil it's dipped in)
- 1 tbsp herbs and garlic Boursin cheese
- lime juice to taste
- 1 extra tsp sun-dried tomatoes oil
- 1/2 tbsp basil
Do it up:
- Cook the Orzo according to the package (it shouldn't take more than 10 minutes to cook)
- Once your Orzo is ready, place it in a salad bowl and add the olives, the sun-dried tomatoes, the extra oil, and the basil. Mix well.
- Then add the Boursin cheese. The orzo will still be warm enough that the cheese will melt when mixed, creating a creamy looking salad.
- Finally, add the lime juice to taste, just to give it the kick it needs.
Enjoy!
- CK
Wednesday, July 4, 2012 at 7/04/2012 08:00:00 AM
C and I have just come back from a helluva long weekend at an amazing cottage on Leslie Lake. While we were there we revisited some favorite recipes from last year's cottage adventures, and mixed up some new ones. Because it was gonna be hot as heck, I focused on salads this year, making
one coleslaw, and
one pasta salad. M and I had prepared pretty awesomely for the cottage, but came back to empty pantries at home, so tonight I mixed together some leftover ingredients from the first two, and came up with something pretty tasty for a hot summer's night.
You're gonna need:
1 bag (roughly 5 cups) of broccoli, julienned (I had a bag of PC broccoli slaw in the fridge)
Half an onion, chopped
1/4 of a cucumber, sliced in cookies and quartered
1/4 fresh dill, chopped
PC Artichoke and asiago salad dressing (or anything creamy and cool)
a small handful of feta cheese, crumbled
tons of freshly cracked black pepper
Mix it all together and eat your heart out! Delicious with cheese pizza.
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