Spicy Egg Scramble with Fresh Tortilla

Posted by CK in bread, easy, eggs, onion, recipe, sausage, tomato, tortilla

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When you try to live frugally, you try to find any opportunity you have to use up the food you have before you do the groceries again. That was the case for me a few days ago. I had a few left overs in my fridge and decided to put them together.

My dad used to cook up a very similar scramble for us when we were kids and remembered how easy it was to put together. Putting the scramble together was going to be easy enough, except I didn't have any bread. To resolve that problem, I pulled out a tortilla recipe I had been wanting to try. Best part is that it only took me 30 minutes to put together! yes yes, cooking up the scramble AND making the tortillas. Perfect recipe for a last minute meal but still full of flavour! Follow the steps below to get it just right :)

Flour Tortilla - Part 1 (yields 2 tortillas)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup flour
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp vegetable oil
• 1/3 cup warm water

Method:

1. Combine flour, salt, baking powder in a bowl
2. Add oil and water and mix until the mixture comes together
3. Knead on a clean surface sprinkled with flour until you create a smooth ball
4. Divid dough in half and roll each half into flat tortillas (note: making them very thin will make them tortillas; making them slightly thicker will make them naan bread - both delicious options!)
5. Cover your tortillas for 15 minutes (note: don't stack your tortillas, it will make them soggy)

Spicy Egg Scramble

Ingredients:

• 2 egg yolks and 1 egg white
• 2 spicy italian sausages, outside their casing
• 1 tbsp green onion
• 1 italian tomato
• 1 tsp olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste

Method:

1. While the dough for your tortillas is resting, start frying your sausage meat in the olive oil
2. Once the meat is 3/4 cooked, add your eggs and mix well until your eggs are fully cooked
3. Reduce the head and add the onions and tomatoes. Mix until the vegetables are warm.
4. Salt and pepper to taste
5. Cover and let rest until your bread is ready

Flour Tortillas - Part 2

1. After the rest period, heat a large pan over medium-high heat.
2. Once the pan is hot, place one dough tortilla and cook for about 1 minute - until the bottom browns slightly and bubbles start to form
3. Flip your tortilla and cook the same way
4. Remove from the pan and do the same with your second tortilla

These tortillas were so easy to make that I made a batch of 16 and have kept them in my fridge. They stay just as fresh for quite a long time! I would suggest you give it a try!

Enjoy! :)

- CK

Tomato Barley with Scallops

Posted by CK in barley, recipe, roasted peppers, scallops, tomato, vegetarian

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A's mom and step-dad were coming over a few weeks ago and we wanted to host them properly. While we were walking up and down the isles of the IGA trying to figure out what to cook to make this meal special, we stumbled upon recipe cards. While I had seen them before, I had never actually taken the time to look them over.

At first, we were simply looking for inspiration. But we ended up picking up a few recipes to try out. I was a little intimidated with this recipe at first because I had never cooked barley before. It turned out to be DELICIOUS and so simple to make! We liked it so much, I have a feeling it will easily turn into a go-to dish in our household! (Plus, it's a great source of fiber!)

Ingredients (yields 4 portions)

- 1 tbsp oil

- 1 onion, chopped

- 1 cup pearl barley

- 1 large can diced tomatoes

- 2 cups water

- 1 tsp each cumin and turmeric

- 1/2 cup roasted red pepper strips, chopped

- salt and pepper to taste

- 1 tsp butter

- 1 bag small frozen scallops (or 20 large scallops)

Method:

1. Defrost your scallops in the fridge overnight.
2. When you're ready to cook the meal, heat oil in a saucepan. 
3. Fry onion 1 minute over medium-high heat, add barley and coat well.
4. Add diced tomatoes, water, cumin, turmeric, and roasted red pepper pieces. 
5. Salt and pepper to taste and continue cooking while stirring often until barley has absorbed all liquid and is tender.
6. Meanwhile, heat a skillet over high heat. Melt butter and wait until hot. 
7. Place scallops in the skillet and cook through.
8. Serve scallops over a bed of barley.

Yummers! Try it out, let us know how it goes! :)

Enjoy!

- CK

Spicy Zucchini "Noodles" with Sausage and Mushrooms

Posted by amanda in budget, easy, mushrooms, pasta, tomato, vegan, vegetable, vegetarian, zucchini

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M and I recently went on our honeymoon, which means we're coming back from a week of eating unlimited delicious food and downing tons of awesome girly drinks in the pool. It also means we're feeling pretty sluggish and a little heavier than we were when we left. So, when we got home, I decided to get back into cooking with tons of fresh vegetables. Since I'm mostly off work for the summer days, I've got lots of cooking time on my hands every other day. Even though it's crazy hot out these days, I was craving something warm and filling, so I decided I'd finally try out using zucchini for noodles.

You'll need:
2 or 3 zucchini
2 cups sliced mushrooms
1 can diced tomatoes (or dice your own if you've got them)
2 mild Yves meatless sausages (optional- these are obviously a lot healthier than pork sausages, but if you're not into meatless, anything like this would do)
1-2 tsp chili flakes (depending on how hot you like things)
1 clove garlic, minced
olive oil
salt/pepper

Optional: feta

Cut the stems off the zucchini, and slice them into noodle shaped/sized strips. You can use a food processor if you have one, but I used a potato peeler to peel off thin strips, then sliced the strips into narrower bits. Eliminate any middle parts that are too wet and seedy.

Put these zucchini "noodles" in a colander in the sink, or over a bowl, and salt them lightly and allow to drain for 30 mins to an hour. This causes the zukes to release extra water and stops them from getting soggy. If you want to go the extra mile, gather the drained noodles and wring them out in paper towel. Set aside.

While these are draining, make the "sauce" for your "noodles".
Start by sauteeing the mushrooms in your oil and garlic until they're nice and brown. Slice the sausages into thin rounds and add them in to the mix. Drain the water from the tomatoes and add them in as well. Season with chili flakes and let simmer for a few minutes.

Heat a little oil in a separate pan, and toss the zucchini in it for no more than a couple of minutes. Combine noodles and sauce in whichever pan is larger. Heat together for about 5 minutes until nicely combined.

Crumble some feta on top, and serve warm.

Enjoy!

A

Cold Quinoa Salad

Posted by amanda in budget, celery, cucumber, dressing, easy, healthy, quinoa, recipe, salad, tomato, vegetable, vegetarian, yellow pepper

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The finished product~

After all that holiday cheer (turkey pies, bacon based salads, and wines of all kinds), it might be time to get back to basics...like vegetables, and primary colors. This cold quinoa salad has both of those things, and is really easy to make. Though he might just be trying to placate me, M said he liked this one too. I adapted this recipe from a recipe on a box of Casbah quinoa...it didn't look like it would have enough crunch or flavor as it was originally intended, so I adjusted some quantities and ingredients to make up for that:

Fluff your quinoa to give it texture and to
make it grainy

First, cook up your quinoa (225g, or 1.5 cups):
To do this, bring 3 cups of vegetable broth to a boil.
Then add your quinoa to the broth; stir, and reduce the heat to low. Allow this to cook for between 15-20 minutes: you want the water to be completely absorbed by the quinoa.
When cooked, fluff the quinoa with a fork.
Let the quinoa cool while you prepare the rest of the salad ingredients.






In a large bowl combine:

Half a cucumber (I prefer skin intact) - thickly sliced and quartered
3-4 stalks of celery  - sliced
1 quart grape tomatoes - halved
1 yellow pepper - roughly chopped
(half a red onion would probably delicious chopped into this, though I didn't do so myself)
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley (you could up this even, especially if you love parsley, and go to 1/2 cup)









In a small bowl, whisk together:

Apple Cider Dressing

1/4 cup virgin olive oil
4 tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
1.5 clove garlic, minced
2 tsp red pepper flakes
3 or 4 good cracks of black pepper



Once the quinoa has cooled, combine it with the vegetables. Drizzle the dressing over the mixture and let sit in the fridge for a few hours to let the flavours settle.

A nice touch would be to add 2 handfuls of fresh baby spinach to the mix before serving.

Tasty Bruschetta

Posted by CK in bruschetta, finger food, recipe, tomato, vegetarian

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As you may have noticed while reading our blog, our group of friends is very big on potlucks. With recipes such as our Light Veggie Dip and our Spinach, Pair and Parmesan salad, our get togethers are always quite tasteful.

But when you need to bring a plate of food to a whole bunch of hungry men for Hockey Night in Canada, you need to make sure that the food you bring is finger licking good. As such, I prepared a nice bowl of bruschetta for the event, served with a toasted baguette. This recipe is sure to please your bunch of hungry men! ;)


Ingredients (yields around 24 portions):

• 6-7 tomatoes
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2.5 tsp balsamic vinegar
• 3 tsp dry basil
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 french baguette
• margarine/butter

How to:

1. Boil the tomatoes for 1 minute in boiling water just removed from the burner, then drain the water and remvoe the skins off the tomatoes. (that's probably the most tedious part. Don't worry if you didn't remove ALL the skin. Just remove as much as you can)
2. Cut your peeled tomatoes in halves then in quarters and remove the seeds and juice from the center. (I won't lie, that's also tedious...)
3. Preheat your oven to 450 degrees F.
4. Chop your tomatoes finely.
5. Put the tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, vinegar, salt and paper, and basil in a bowl and mix well. Adjust your dressing portions depending on your taste.
6. Cut your baguette into slices and coat one side with margarine/butter. Place on a cookie sheet, margarine/butter side down and toast for 5-6 minutes.

I will admit that the tomato cutting part takes longer than expected. I'd safely put aside around 1 hour to prepare this recipe. Once it's ready though, serve and enjoy your friends' faces while they eat up your cooking skills! :)

- CK

Vegetarian Inside-out Kousa

Posted by CK in ethnic food, recipe, tomato, vegetarian, zucchini

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Traditional Kousa: Click Here for Image Source

Some of you may have already seen kousa - a Lebanese dish that is essentially stuffed zucchini. In an attempt to reach out to my roots again, I decided to buy zucchini on my last grocery trip. Unfortunately, when it came time to cook the deliciousness that is kousa (last night), it seemed I was lacking many of the ingredients necessary to make it what it is (mainly meat).

That's when I remembered my mom's inside out kousa dish that I absolutely LOVE! Basically, it contains all the ingredients you'd find in the traditional dish, but the zucchini is diced into the mixture instead of stuffed.

Lacking said meat, my mom and I came up with a great vegetarian alternative! Here we go:

Ingredients (yields about 6-8 regular portions):

• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 4 medium-large zucchinis, diced
• 2 cups of brown rice
• 2 medium tomatoes, diced
• 2 tbsp dry parsley
• 4 1/3 cups water
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

1. In a large pot, pour 1 tbsp of olive oil and lightly fry the onion (about 2 minutes).
2. Add your diced zucchini to the pot over your onion and mix well.
3. Cover the mixture flush with water (around 3 cups) and let boil until you can insert a fork in the zucchini with ease.
4. Drop in your brown rice while adding 2/3 of a cup of water per cup of rice (around 1 1/3 cups). Mix well.
5. Add in your diced tomatoes and your dry parsley. Mix well and let boil for a few minutes.
6. In the meantime, in a small bowl, mix your garlic, 2 tbsp of olive oil and lemon juice. Once that's done, pour it in your rice mixture and mix well. Side note: This mixture can also be used as a great light and simple salad dressing! 
7. Cover the pot and lower your heat to let the rice cook.
8. Your dish is ready once your rice is ready. If you WANT to pile up the carbs, eat it up with whole wheat pita bread - absolutely fantastic! ;)

*Carnivorous option: Before dropping in your zucchini, cook ground beef really well (the quantity you like) , then add the zucchini and continue with following steps. In this alternative, the tomatoes are optional, and you can use dry mint instead of parsley.

*Note: The quantities for this inside-out kousa are different from regular kousa. I haven't given it a try yet but you're more than welcome to leave comments on how you'd make yours! :)

Enjoy!

-CK

Tomato, Cucumber and Yogurt Salad

Posted by CK in cucumber, recipe, tomato, vegetarian, yogurt

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B, A and I got together for a potluck last week and we each came up with amazing dishes that filled our tummies! :) This salad is very simple but oh-so-delicious! If you're missing the freshness of summer, this is the salad for you.

You'll need:

• 2 medium tomatoes, diced
• 1 large cucumber, diced
• 4-5 tablespoons of natural yogurt (depending on the constistency you like)
• 2 teaspoons of dry parsley
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced

1. Toss your diced tomatoes and cucumber into a bowl
2. Mix yogurt, dry parsley and garlic into a small bowl to make your dressing. I recommend doing it separately so you can add garlic, yogurt or parlsey to taste before mixing it up with your veggies.
3. Pour your dressing onto your vegetables and enjoy!

Perfect for a last minute salad or last minute dish!

- CK

Cottage Component 1: Picnic-Perfect Summer Salad

Posted by amanda in budget, celery, cucumber, dill, dressing, easy, feta, healthy, onion, pasta, pasta salad, pepper, quick, recipe, salad, spinach, tomato, vegetarian, yellow pepper

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It's summer tiiiimmmme and the cooking is eeeeaasy here at Stute-kitchen :) Team Stute has returned from a fantastic weekend away at a cottage with good friends, gorgeous weather, and GREAT food. Combining our forces we came up with a delicious cottage-time lunch: pasta salad and barbecued skewers. Fresh ingredients and a new spin on these old classics takes traditional summer food to a new level of goodness.

You're gonna need:

• Roughly 2 generous cups of uncooked shell (conchiglie) pasta
• One yellow pepper, seeded and cut into slim chunks (or however you like your pepper in a salad), if you go really chunky, use 2 peppers
• Half a cucumber, sliced into half circles
• 2-3 stalks of celery, diced roughly
• 1 pint (usually a container) of cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
• 1/4 of a sweet onion (though any kind would likely do, this salad gets more onion-y the longer it exists, so choose wisely), finely chopped
• 3 tbsp fresh dill, chopped
• 3-5 generous handfuls of baby spinach (mixed greens will do in a pinch, but they don't keep as long once the dressing is mixed in).

Dressing: Whisk together...

1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup lemon juice
2 heaping  tbsps Red Wine Vinegar
1 clove of garlic, minced
Ground Black Pepper to taste

Topper:

Roughly 1.5 cups of light feta cheese -though really, add as much or a little as you like - , rinsed, dried, and crumbled (my new technique is to rinse the block from the brine, and then squeeze the liquid out in my fist, over the sink - this dries and crumbles simultaneously, then you can just brush your hands off in the salad)

To assemble:

1. Cook the pasta (roughly 8-10 minutes to get it al dente), rinse in cold water, and set aside.

2. Combine all your veggies, except the spinach, in a large bowl, using your hands to mix gently, being
sure to distribute the dill.

3. Add pasta to veggies, again, stirring with hands.

4. Add spinach by handful, assessing how much or how little you will want personally. Mix with hands (this avoids breaking the pasta shells)

5. Pour dressing over pasta and veggies (if you don't like getting oily, use a utensil here, but I swear, hands is the way to go)

6. Chill.
7. Crumble feta into salad before serving. Mix.

This makes roughly 10 servings, depending on the appetites in the room. Be sure to wait 20 minutes or so before hitting the lake!!!
-A