Kick Up Your Coleslaw

Posted by amanda in brocolli, budget, carrot, celery, coleslaw, daron richardson, do it for daron, easy, mayonaise, mental health, salad, vegetable, vegetarian, zazaza

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Tangy and tasty!

There's this little place in my neighborhood called Zazaza, and they make the tastiest, most creative pizzas I've ever had the pleasure of getting my paws on. While this isn't a story about them, you should totally check them out for eat-in or take-out. They're also great supporters of the Do It For Daron initiative involved in raising awareness about, and transforming the experience of youth mental health issue, born out of the tragic death of 14-year old Daron Richardson in November 2010.

So, Zazaza is a great community restaurant, full of great people, supporting an even better cause that warrants all the attention it can get in this difficult times for teens.

In addition to these excellent things, Zazaza serves a ridiculously delicious coleslaw with their pizzas. I don't even LIKE coleslaw, and I LOVE this coleslaw. I think it has to do with their dressing, which is the part I usually don't like about the average 'slaw (since from this blog, I'm sure you can deduce that I am seriously into vegetables).

My take on their dressing is as such..in a bowl mix together:

1/4 cup mayonnaise (or miracle whip or sandwich dressing or whatever you're into these days)
1/2 TBSP Apple cider vinegar (any other vinegar would also work, but would alter the flavor slightly, so experiment!)
1 TBSP whole grain mustard (my mustard option of choice, though I'm sure others are tasty...a spicy mustard would probably be divine!)
1/2 TBSP Brown sugar
1 TSP red pepper flakes (more if you're REALLy into kicky cole')
A couple of good cracks of black pepper

Spoonful by spoonful I used this to dress: [you're basically looking at being able to dress 6.5-7 cups of veggies  all told, so divide up as you like)
2 large celery stalks sliced thinly
2 large carrots sliced thinly
roughly 11oz of carrots (julienned), broccoli stalks (julienned) and red cabbage (sliced thinly)

I love broccoli coleslaw, so usually go heavy on it..of course proportions here are up to you, but this is the quantity of slaw content that the dressing is proportional to.

Tasty additions would be:
-dried cranberries
-flax seeds
-toasted almond slivers or slices

Easy Roasted Chicken and Potatoes

Posted by CK in carrot, chicken, easy, potato, recipe

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As a New Year's resolution, A and I decided to work on our diet. He's been wanting to include healthier foods and essential nutrients in his diet, but when cooking isn't your favorite thing to do, that goal can be hard to achieve. That's why we decided that once a week - preferably on Sundays, we'd cook at least 4 full meals for the week - as we both like to indulge in a little take out once in a while or are often invited to family suppers.

In any case, last Friday was our first cooking day during which we prepared a lasagna, spinach pies, an amazing quinoa, sweet potato and broccoli soup recipe (our first guest blogger will be posting up this recipe very soon!), a pad thaï for that night's supper, as well as today's special: roasted chicken drumsticks with potatoes and carrots. To create this delectable meal for 6-8 portions, get:

• A large box of 15 chicken drumsticks
• 5 large Russett potatoes
• 4 large carrots
• 3/4 cup of olive oil

• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 3-4 tbsp italian spices
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Put your drumsticks in a bowl and rince. Spread about 1/2 tbsp of salt on them and mix well.
2. Pre-heat your oven to 375 degrees F.
3. Peel and cut your potatoes into cubes (or however you fancy your potatoes, cutting them in cubes makes for more portions).
4. Peel and cut your carrots into large slices.
5. Place your carrots and potatoes in a large roasting pan. Place the drumsticks over them.
6. Add a dash of pepper and your italian spices.
7. Cover the roaster and cook for approximately 2 hours, or until your chicken is cooked.

That's it. Easy peasy! The long part is mostly the cooking itself. It's a great meal to prepare in advance and freeze up. If you do pick that option, make sure your meal is cool before putting it in the freezer. Once you just can't wait to eat it anymore, take it out of the freezer and stick it in the fridge that morning. Before you eat it, put it back in the oven for about 20-30 minutes - or heat it up in the microwave.

Enjoy! :)

-CK

Chunky Meaty Fantastically Easy Pasta Sauce

Posted by CK in beef, carrot, celery, mushroom, pasta, peppers, recipe, sauce

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Everyone has their personal recipe for a deliciously meaty pasta sauce. When I was still living with the 'rents, I used to LOVE how my mom always made her sauce so chunky! Once I got my own place, I wanted to get the taste of this delicious and easy meal but always failed at making it as good as my mom's. In search of a great recipe, A's mom gave me her family recipe and with a little personal touches, this recipe turned out to be so delicious, I can almost say that it's better than my mom's!! (sorry mom). It's perfect to freeze up, and it's got all kinds of good vegetables in there!

Once you're done with this recipe, you'll want to eat it up with a spoon, forget about the pasta and eat more for lunch the next day. Feed it to your boyfriend before they go out and play sports and they will be on adrenaline! Here's what you need to do to get your (and your man's) taste buds going:

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 table spoon of olive oil
• 1 large yellow onion
• 2-3 cloves of garlic
• 1 lb ground beef (you can substitute this with turkey or half turkey and half beef)
• 1 yellow or orange pepper (or both, or a different colour. Whichever one you prefer really)
• mushroom (as many as you want, I usually take about half of those white mushroom boxes)
• 1 large celeri stem
• 1 large carrot
• 1 medium can of Aylmer Tomato Soup (sometimes I use a can of diced tomatoes, but the soup tastes better)
• 1 small can of tomato paste (preferrably plain - without any added spices)
• 3/4 table spoon of oregano
• 3/4 table spoon of thyme
• salt and pepper to taste

Putting the deliciousness together:

1. Chop your onions is small pieces and caramelize them in the olive oil in a large pot on medium-high heat. Add your crushed garlic into the pan and stir.
2. Add your meat to the onion mix and stir to make sure that all the meat cooks well.
3. Cut up all your vegetables and add them to the meat/onion mixture. Stir for another 2-3 minutes. *Note: it's easier if your vegetables are prepped beforehand, but I often simply chop them while the meat is cooking.
4. Add your tomato paste and tomato soup. Stir well for the sauce to cover the entire mixture.
5. Add your oregano, thyme, salt and pepper. Stir very well.
6. Cover and let simmer for at least 2 hours (longer if you have time). Stir once in a while.

That's it! :) The long part is the simmering, but it's sooo worth it! The sauce comes out chunky and meaty. If you like it more liquidy, you can add some water. Also (although I haven't tried it yet), perhaps some tempeh or tofu would be a good substitute for the beef for vegetarians out there.

Enjoy and feel free to play around with this recipe!! Let me know how it turns out! :D

-CK