Melon Goat Cheese Salad

Posted by CK in easy, goat cheese, honeydew, melon, pomegranate, potluck, recipe, salad, vegetarian

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A and I had some friends over for our first BBQ of the season the other day, and in the spirit of eating healthy, we accompanied our steaks with baked potato wedges and the following refreshing salad (suggested by a work colleague - with a few tweaks of my own).

As a bonus, this salad can easily be prepared as a main course to eat for lunch! It's also a perfect potluck dish! Simply toss the following ingredients together:

*Note: no particular portions are included as you can play around with the quantities as you like

• Lettuce (I used Boston Lettuce)
• Red onion, chopped
• Honeydew, cut into bite size cubes
• Melon, cut into bite size cubes
• Pomegranate seeds
• Crumbled goat cheese
• Creamy poppy seed salad dressing (use as little or as much ad you'd like)

Simple and delicious! :)

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

Pasta with Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Sauce and Red Cabbage

Posted by CK in cherry tomatoes, easy, feta cheese, greek yogurt, pasta, recipe, red peppers, vegetarian

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Every other week, A and I try to plan out our weekly menus. To do so, I usually go through my local grocery store's flyers and compare sales. Then, I look through the recipes I've accumulated from magazines, websites, pinterest, etc. and try to match as many items on sale with ingredients in recipes.

We've found that this technique has helped us save a lot of money, as well as discover new recipes!

One of these recipes comes from the blog Trois Fois Par Jour (french only). Marilou has put together a very simple pasta salad that is full of healthy ingredients and very easy and quick to make. However, I've substituted some ingredients since I had things in my fridge just waiting to be used.

The great thing about this salad is that it can be eaten hot or cold! It's also perfect to bring over to a potluck or serve as a side when you're having people over. We ate it as a main dish and it was perfect!

So here we go:

Ingredients:
- 375 g of your pasta of choice (I use whole wheat)
- about 15 cherry tomatoes, cut in half
- 1 teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil
- Juice of half a lime
- 2 green onions, chopped
- 1 cup red cabbage, finely chopped
- 1 cup feta cheese, diced
- salt and pepper to taste

for the sauce:
- 2.5 pieces of roasted red pepper in it's oil
- 1 garlic clove
- 2 tsp mayonnaise
- 1 tsp sugar (next time I would probably use a more natural sugar, like honey)
- 1/2 cup natural greek yogurt
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil

Method:
1. Pre-heat your oven to 350F
2. Cook the pasta according to package, rinse under cold water, dry well and reserve
3. In the meantime, spread the cherry tomatoes flesh down on a cookie sheet and spread extra virgin olive oil on top. Cook in the oven for 20 minutes.
4. In a food processor, or by using a stand mixer, mix all the ingredients for the sauce very well until it becomes creamy. Pour into a salad bowl.
5. Add the lime, green peppers, red cabbage, feta cheese, cherry tomatoes and pasta and mix well.
6. Add salt and pepper to taste

Let us know how yours turned out! Did you make any changes of your own?

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

Salmon Patties with Light Dill Sauce

Posted by CK in easy, recipe, salmon, summer, vegetarian

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Wow! It's been a while since we've posted on the blog. Both amanda and I have been quite busy with weddings, showers, family obligations, etc. But we'll try to be a little more consistent this summer!

A and I have set a goal to really eat better. I know, I know. Easier said than done. But this time, we mean it. So I've been looking through old issues of Women's Health Magazine and I found A LOT of really great healthy recipes! I will be sharing try to share a lot of those in the next few weeks.

Here's the first one: Salmon Patties with Light Dill Sauce - As you can see, I really like the salmon and dill combo :)

Salmon Patties:

Ingredients (yields 4 patties):
- 1 salmon filet
- 1/4 of a red pepper, finely chopped
- 1 stalk of celery, finely chopped
- 1/4 of a red onion, finely chopped
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1/8 cup of parsley, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1/3 cup breadcrumbs
- 1 whole egg + 1 egg white, lightly beaten

Method:
1. Pre-heat your oven to 400F. Place your salmon on an aluminum dish and bake until cooked through (approx. 20 minutes). Let cool completely, place in a bowl, and flake with a fork.
2. In a large skillet, heat 1 tbsp of olive oil (medium-high heat) and cook the red pepper, celery, onion, garlic and parsley until the vegetables are tender (approx. 10 minutes). Let cool completely and add to the salmon.
3. Add the breadcrumbs and eggs to the salmon-veggies mixture and mix well.
4. Form 4 patties with the mixture (it will be wet), place on a dish and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
5. In the same skillet you used to cook the veggies, heat 1 tbsp of olive oil and cook the patties, 3 minutes on each side.
6. Serve with Light Dill Sauce

Light Dill Sauce:

Ingredients:
- 1 cup plain yogurt
- 2 tbsp light mayonnaise (to thicken, this is optional)
- 2 tsp dry dill
- 1 tsp lemon juice

Method:
Simply mix all the ingredients together! Pour over salmon cakes and voila! :)

Guiltless Leek and Potato Soup (in only 4 ingredients!)

Posted by amanda in budget, butter, easy, healthy, leek, potato, recipe, soup, vegetarian

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Leek season is upon us! It's a fleeting time of year - a brief period of time when it makes any kind of budgetary sense to buy leeks. Onions and I have a troubled relationship made complicated by my uncooperative digestive system. Leeks however, have never done me wrong. What's more, leeks, like other onions, are great for lowering cholesterol, which is all well and good as long as you don't slather them in cream and butter, which are the leeks most common pot-fellows. So, with that in mind, here is a super easy recipe for leek and potato soup sans cream (but with butter). I think this would be worth a shot with margarine, or even without butter at all, but I can't say I've tried it. Let me know how it works out if you do!

You'll need:

• Soup pot
• hand blender (other blenders are fine, just messier)

• 3 large leeks, cleaned and sliced
• 5 cups vegetable stock
• 2-3 tbsp butter (depending on how much leek you get...they tend to vary a lot in size)
• two russet potatoes, peeled and diced
• 1 bay leaf (optional)

 Let's do it!:

•  To prepare your leeks:
•  wash all visible dirt off the outsides to keep your cutting board clean
• Chop off the dark green leaves, leaving light green ones (they're perfectly fine in a soup)
• Slice off the root and about 1/2-1 inch of the bottom white section, leaving as much as possible.
• cut in half the long way. It doesn't have to be perfect- remember you're going to puree these anyways
• Wash out all the dirt you can (I like to give them a good scrub using a vegetable brush) from the outside and inside of the leaves
• Slice width-wise to get nice, manageable half-rounds of leek. 

• Melt butter in your soup pot.
• Add the leeks, and stir to coat.
• Cook down for anywhere from 5-10 minutes, stirring frequently, until your leeks look translucent. I set my burner to medium heat and it worked well.
• Add potatoes, stir.
• Add bay leaf, if you're using one.
• Cook for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently, until potatoes begin to soften.
• Add stock.
• Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for another ten minutes or so.
• Let cool.
• Remove bay leaf .
• Once cooled, blend with the hand blender.

Serve hot, with freshly cracked black pepper if you like.

SlowCooked Peanut and Spinach Tofu

Posted by amanda in easy, peanut butter, recipe, satay, slow cooker, soy sauce, spinach, tofu, vegan, vegetarian

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I've recently added a slow cooker to my kitchen, and it's completely changed the way M and I eat throughout the week. This is our current favourite thing to have on hand. It packs a serious amount of protein, and is a great way to eat spinach.

You'll need:

• a slow cooker/crock pot
• a skillet

• 2 blocks of firm tofu, rinsed and cut into one-inch cubes
• 1/2-1 cup of peanut satay sauce (I like President's Choice Memories of Szechuan)
• 1 cup peanut butter (M likes crunchy best)
• 1/4 cup terriyaki sauce
• 1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
• 1 cup of water
• 2 tbsp minced ginger (mine are heaping)
• 5-10 oz of baby spinach (I put about half a container into cook, and then add fresh spinach to the dish throughout the week, to liven it up without wilting)
• 1/2 cup peanuts, crushed roughly (optional)
• 1-2 tsp chili flakes (optional)

 To make this goodness:

Brown the tofu in the skillet by lightly frying it, using cooking spray or olive oil. Set aside.

In a bowl, stir together everything except the tofu and spinach. Move this sauce to the slow cooker.

Add the tofu, and stir. As the tofu cooks in the sauce, check on it every once in a while to evaluate its consistency. I like my sauce fairly thick, but if you like it thin, add a little more water until you reach your desired sauciness. Because you won't lose any water in the cooker, what you see is what you will pretty much get, though it will of course thicken a little through cooking, and will pull together nicely.

Cook on low for 3-4 hours.

At 3.5 hours (or half an hour before you turn it off), add your spinach, mixing it in gently. The goal is for the spinach to wilt, but not get too icky.

Serve hot, and don't be afraid to add more spinach ALWAYS MORE SPINACH!

xo
A

 

Sweet and Spicy Squash Soup

Posted by amanda in easy, recipe, soup, squash, vegetarian

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Unfortunately, my photo makes the soup look a little blue.

 It's not.

Butternut squash is a great fall staple, and it's becoming a regular in my house. This soup makes excellent use of its nutty sweetness by balancing the squash with silky coconut and a bright kick of ginger.

You're gonna need:

• a big soup pot
• a blender or some kind (preferably immersion/hand)

• 1-1.5 butternut squash, peeled and in big chunks
• 1 onion, diced/chopped
• 1-2 tbsp minced ginger (you can add this as you go along, tasting until you've added what's right for you and your buds)
• 1-2 dried chillies (again, evaluate your own interest in spice)
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 can coconut milk (light if you can get it, but I used the regular cooking kind)
• 4 cups vegetable stock
• 1 tsp curry powder (optional)
• freshly cracked black pepper 

To peel and dice your squash:

Use a heavy kitchen knife (I used the biggest one I had) to slice the top and bottom "caps" off the squash, creating a flat bottom to make it stand safely.

Use a potato peeler to skim the skin off the squash - try to take the layer of tough skin off without removing too much of the flesh.

Cut the squash lengthwise and widthwise, into four pieces. Scoop out the guts with a spoon. Cut the now cleaned and naked squash into large chunks.

To make the soup:

Sautée the onion, chillies, and ginger in the olive oil over medium heat until the mixture is fragrant and the onion becomes translucent.

Stir in the butternut squash and cook for about 5 minutes.

Add stock, curry, and coconut milk, mixing well. 

Cook until the squash has become tender.

Once the squash is softened, blend right in the pot if you are fortunate enough to own a hand blender.

Serve hot, seasoned with fresh black pepper.

Variation: if you like your soup thicker than thinner, try including a cauliflower as a thickener. Add cauliflower florets to the first mixture so it can absorb all the soup's great flavours.

Yogurt-Dill Salmon

Posted by CK in budget, dill, easy, healthy, parsley, recipe, salmon, vegetarian, yogurt

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Wowzers has it been a long time since we posted anything! We would like to apologize for this long delay. Amanda and I have both been very busy in the last few months and finally got around to cooking again! We both got great new kitchen appliances that we are just dying to try out! :)

As we are supposed to be eating fish twice a week, I try to make a conscious effort to include it in my diet. I usually end up eating a can of sardines (I know, probably not the best...) or salmon to bake. Salmon is probably my favourite fish and it's great for my cholesterol!

In light of this, I decided to thaw my salmon in the fridge yesterday while I was at work. I knew I only had about a half hour to prepare supper since I had an evening appointment and salmon recipes are usually quite quick to make.

Thanks to the wonderful Martha Stewart, I was able to adapt her simple, delicious and quick roasted salmon recipe with ingredients in my pantry.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup 2% natural yogurt
• 2 tbsp dijon mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon dry parsley
• 1 teaspoon dry dill
• Salmon filet

Prepare:

1. Pre-heat your oven to 450 degrees F
2. Mix the yogurt, mustard, parsley and dill in a bowl
3. Place your salmon filet, skin down, on a lined cookie sheet
4. Spread your yogurt mixture on top of your salmon
5. Bake for approximately 20 minutes, or until the salmon is cooked (it will be flaky)

That's it! I served it with boiled potatoes which take approximately the same time. Perfect and healthy dinner! :)

Enjoy!

-CK

Seafood Gratin

Posted by CK in cheese, easy, gratin, potato, recipe, seafood, vegetarian

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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:

1. Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. Boil the potatoes in a small sauce pan.
3. 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).
4. In the meantime, mix your shallots, mushrooms and broccoli in a bowl.
5. 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)
6. Once your potatoes are boiled, drain and add the milk. Mash until the potatoes and the milk have been properly combined.
7. In large ramekins, layer the potatoes at the bottom and add the seafood mixture on top. 
8. Top it off with mozzarella cheese (quantity to your liking) and slide in the oven until the cheese has melted, approximately 5-10 minutes. 
9. Serve immediately. 

Enjoy!

- CK

Mixed Beans Salad

Posted by CK in beans, easy, finger food, healthy, recipe, salad, vegetarian

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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

Dill Broccoli Salad

Posted by amanda in broccoli, budget, dill, easy, feta, quick, recipe, salad, vegetarian

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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.

Sparkling Summer Salad: Or, How I learned to stop slicing and love the mandolin,

Posted by amanda in apple, budget, celery, cilantro, cucumber, healthy, lemon, quick, recipe, salad, summer, vegan, vegetable, vegetarian

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I get a terrible feeling when I come to the end of a recipe I have all the ingredients for (ish) only to read the final instruction: crockpot-ing, immersion blending, dutch oven-ing...or any number of other final touches for which I don't have the right kitchen tool (yet!). So, having recently acquired a very handy mandolin from the previous owners of my new house (when someone leaves something in a cupboard still in the box, that's a housewarming gift right?), I've spent the better part of the afternoon julienning everything slice-able in my fridge (which is more than you'd think! Skinny cheese sticks anyone? Strawberry stick-men? Long long banana slices? No?).

The very tasty outcome of this little experiment is a pretty awesome summer salad: it's crunchy, tart, filling, and refreshing, and above all, easy (especially if you have a mandolin or any other kind of slicing tool).

You're gonna want:
A large bowl
A little bowl
A mandolin (you lucky duck)

In your big bowl toss together:

3 stalks of celery, sliced thick
half a cucumber, julienned
2 large carrots, peeled and julienned
2 granny smith (or other tart) apples, julienned [to do this, cut the apple into 4 sides, then attempt to slice - I kept the peels on)
l large handful of fresh cilantro, roughly chopped

In your small bowl mix:
1/2 cup lemon juice
1-2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp apple cider vinegar (optional)
1 tbsp sugar (also optional - i wanted my dressing a little sweeter than lemony)
large grain salt to taste (I used a citrus chili salt mix and it was perfect)
cracked black pepper to taste

Drizzle the dressing over your salad mix and stir around until well distributed. Cover and keep in the fridge for an hour to let the flavours combine if you have the time, or serve fresh immediately!

Springy fig salad

Posted by amanda in easy, fig, recipe, salad, vegan, vegetarian

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I don't have pictures of my salad on hand, 

so here are some pictures of the spring flowers I do!

This Ottawa March weather seems to be alternating between salad and soup worthy (a bit like us!) so here's a bright tasting salad, replete with all sorts of chewiness and crunchiness to complement these new sunny days. Though you may have to invest in a package of figs (unless you're making a large number of salad servings), it will last you forever, and because the figs are dried, it will keep a really long time too!

To serve four:

Soak 5-6 dried figs in warm water for 10 minutes, in a small bowl.

Then:

Chop up 6-7 large leaves of washed romaine lettuce

Grate two large carrots

Slice up two mini cucumbers

Slice two-three hand fulls of fresh red grapes in half

Remove the figs from the water and dry them. Then, chop each fig into little wedges.

Mix your veggies, distributing them amongst your  4 plates or bowls, and combine your grapes with the figs.

Distribute the fruit evenly on the salad.

Dress with your favorite vinaigrette (I recommend Renee's Pear and Blue Cheese vinaigrette if you can get it! Most grocery stores carry this brand).

ENJOY!

100 calorie Sweet Potato and Zuke Latkes

Posted by amanda in breakfast, budget, easy, healthy, recipe, sweet potato, vegetable, vegetarian, zucchini

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3 100-cal latkes with astro biobest plain yogurt!

I love love love latkes and regularly order them when I'm out for brunch, but I know they're not the healthiest way to eat a potato. Some experimenting with different grate-ables led me to this combo, which significantly improves the nutrition factor, and minimizes the caloric intake. Plus, this is a great way to use zucchini (I'm always wondering what the heck to do when I'm not making it into a risotto or my mom's curry-zucchini soup (coming soon!).

You'll need:

1 medium zucchini (funny ends sliced off)
1 big sweet potato (peeled)
1/4 cup onion (chopped as finely as possible, unless you really love onion and want longer strings in your latkes)
1 large egg, lightly beaten
3 tbsp canola oil
salt and pepper to taste

optional: plain yogurt (instead of sour cream) or your favorite applesauce (if you're that kind of latke person...I've never understood the applesauce thing)

Do: (do these things in order - you want to prepare the batter RIGHT before cooking to keep things from getting soggy, and while cooking, pour off any excess liquid for the same reason)

Slice your zuke lengthwise and remove its seeds.
Grate your potato and zucchini (coarsely) either in a food processor (preferred) or by hand on a grater.
In a big bowl, mix your egg, onion, salt and pepper: stir in your grated veggies.
Heat half the oil in a large skillet (med-hi, but more med than high).
You're going to do this the same way you do pancakes: add a heaping tablespoon of the mixed ingredients to the skillet, flattening down a touch with your spoon (don't overdo this - let the latke be once it's frying).
When the edges start to lightly brown, flip the lakte, and cook the other side for about a minute or two - depending on your oven, the first side can take from 2-4 minutes (mine is slow).
Remove and rest on paper towels to absorb excess liquid.
Repeat until your batter is used up (if you need, use the remaining 1.5 tbsp of oil to refresh your skillet).

Should make about 24 latkes. If you want to reheat them later, bake them at 375 on a cookie sheet for about 5 minutes.

Serve hot and enjoy guilt-free.

Basic Marinara Sauce

Posted by CK in pasta, recipe, sauce, tomato paste, vegetarian

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In order to make the shrimp-stuffed shells, I had to quickly whip up a basic marinara sauce. This works with any kind of dish that would require marinara sauce. Also a great recipe to make and freeze to later use as a base to many recipes! The quantities below yield approximately 3 cups - maybe a little less. Nonetheless, it'll be enough for the shells recipe. Here we go:

Ingredients:

• 1/2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 medium onion, peeled and chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 small cans of tomato paste
• 2 tomato paste cans of water
• 1 1/2 tbsp dry basil

Method:

1. In a small pot, sauté your onion in your olive oil for about 2-3 minutes
2. Add in your garlic and stir for about a minute or so
3. Add in your tomato paste and your water, and stir until combined into a thick sauce
4. Add your basil and stir.
5. Let it simmer for about 5 minutes or so

That's it! Easy peasy! :)

- CK

Shrimp-Stuffed Shells

Posted by CK in cottage cheese, easy, pasta, recipe, shrimp, vegetarian

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Stumble Upon is a great tool to find all kinds of fantastic recipes. Not usually being a full time vegetarian, yet choosing to be vegetarian for the next month and a half, I have to make sure to find filling, nutritious and delicious recipes to fill the void. This adapted shrimp-stuffed shell recipe from Cooking Light was easy and quick to make (minus the shrimp procedure, read on...), and definitely hit the spot!

Ingredients (yield 3 large servings)

• 20 uncooked jumbo pasta shells (about 8 ounces)
• 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic (about 6 cloves)
• 1/2 cup cottage cheese
• 1/4 cup skim milk reduced-fat milk
• 1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
• 1 pound medium shrimp, peeled, deveined, and coarsely chopped
• 1 tablespoon corn starch
• 3 cups basic marinara sauce, divided
• Grated Mozarella and Parmesan cheese (as much as you want)

Method

1. Put your frozen shrimp in a bowl of warm water.
2. Preheat your oven to 400°.
3. Cook pasta 7 minutes or until almost al dente, omitting salt and fat. Drain well.
4. While your pasta is cooking, peel your shrimp and coarsely chop them.
5. Heat a medium non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat.
6. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly
7. Add cottage cheese, milk, and pepper; cook for approximately 3-5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. 
8. Sprinkle your shrimp with with corn starch and toss well to coat. Add the cottage cheese mixture to the shrimp shrimp and toss well.
9. Divide shrimp mixture evenly among pasta shells.
10. Spread 1 cup marinara over bottom of dish. Arrange shells in prepared dish and top with the remaining 2 cups marinara. Sprinkle shells evenly with your cheese. Bake at 400° for 30 minutes or until shrimp is done. 

Enjoy!

- CK

DIY Cheese Tortellini

Posted by CK in budget, cheese, easy, parsley, pasta, vegetarian

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How would you feel if I told you you could make your own cheese tortellini with 4 simple ingredients? With lent season starting today, and my choice on cutting on meat, I have no choice but to start looking for great vegetarian recipes again. This cheese tortellini is definitely going up on my list! The original recipe was for a lobster tortellini, which - you know - I'll HAVE to try out. But in the meantime, let's start small shall we? ;)

Now, I must warn you that this does take a while (i.e. approximately 2 hours) if you don't have a pasta maker (that's definitely on my next wish list!!). In the meantime, get ready to use those muscles, because you're in for a delicious ride! :)

Note: This is a great recipe if you're just starting with pasta making. It definitely put me in the mood to start making all my pasta from scratch!

Step 1. Make the pasta dough

All you need for this pasta dough recipe is flour and water. Yes. That's it. Trust me on this one. So, for about 5 good portions of tortellini, use:

•  3 cups of all-purpose flour and 1 cup of whole wheat flour (feel free to play around with those, I would suggest keeping the ratio at max a half and half, but that's for you to experiment). To this, add 1/2 a cup of warm water and mix.
• Add warm water to this mix - one tbsp at a time - until all the dry flour has been absorbed. Knead this ball of dough for about 10 minutes (it should be stiff for you to knead), or until you get a nice smooth ball that's not too sticky, but not too dry either. You'll see what I mean as you do it. Don't be shy and give it a try :)
• Once that's done, wrap it in plastic and let it rest for at least 1 hour. That'll give time for the glutens to rest so you get a nice elastic dough.

Step 2. Make your cheese filling

• For the amount of dough you made, you'll need about half a box of ricotta cheese (I picked the traditional kind because I wanted to be on the safe side - I'm not a ricotta expert) and about a tablespoon of fresh cut parsley. C and I are not big fans of parsley's strong taste, but still wanted to add a little something to the cheese. Feel free to add more if you like :)
• Mix well in a bowl and let it rest in the fridge until your dough is ready.

Step 3. Make the tortellini - yay!

Oook. Now comes the fun part! First tip I'll give you: work with small portions of your dough - it'll be long, but it'll be much less work on your arms. Make sure you leave the rest of your dough wrapped in plastic so it doesn't dry out while you're working your dough.

Honestly, This is a faster - and funner - process if there's two of you: 1 person rolls the dough and 1 person rolls the tortellini, but that's up to you and how much time you have. 

A. Take a piece of your dough and roll it out on a flouered surface. Make sure it's as thin as possible so your pasta doesn't turn out too thick once cooked, making you miss out on the amazing filling.

B. Using a circular cookie cutter (not too big, not too small, depending on the size you want to make your tortellini), cut circles in your rolled out dough. Apologies for not having a picture for this step, but I think you get the gist of it. Make sure to use the scraps with new dough so that it doesn't crumble the next time you use it!

C. Lay out your cut circles and a little over a quarter of a teaspoon of your cheese-parsley mix to the center.

D. Dab the borders of your circle with water and fold in half. Make sure you press close to the cheese to remove the air in there.

E. Press the cheese up toward the border using your thumb.

F. Twist the two corners towards each other and secure. Place your finished product on a cookie sheet. Play around with the twist and see what they look like! Twisting in different directions will make them look different, but they all have the same delicious taste! :)

From this point on, you have two options:

1. Freeze them for later. If you're going to do that, make sure they're not touching each other on your cookie sheet and freeze them flat for about half an hour, then transfer them into a freezer bag and save for later. Once you're ready to eat, take them out of the freezer and boil for approximately 3-5 minutes, or until they float to the top - about a dozen at a time, depending on the size of your pot.
2. Make them fresh! How can you resist?? In this case, boil for approximately 2-3 minutes, or until they float to the top - about a dozen at a time, depending on the size of your pot.

We couldn't resist and had to try it out for supper! So we cooked them and made a simple rosé sauce! :) Quite impressed with ourselves I must say. Now, I have to spend a full day making those for the days we just won't feel like cooking!

Not only are they delicous, but they're also cheap to make! Enjoy it to the last bit and have fun with different fillings. Next stop, LOBSTER! :)

- CK

Light and Tangy Pasta Salad

Posted by amanda in budget, parsley, pasta salad, recipe, vegetarian, yogurt

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There are some things in my fridge that I never finish before they go bad: low fat plain yogurt, whole carrots, cucumbers, and parsley. It's really sad to see these things wilt or mold or do whatever yogurt does (ick) when they were perfectly delicious a few days ago. With that in mind (and with not wanting to venture outside into the -40 with-the-wind-chill out of doors, I set to a little pasta salad experiment. To be fair, this was also motivated by being a bit grossed out by how much mayonnaise we use to make things creamy (feeling a little guilty about my own mayonnaise habit I guess), so I wanted to do it without.



The results were pretty tasty actually, and this dressing would probably be good on roast potatoes or coleslaw.


In a bowl mix together:

½ cup plain yogurt (I used 1% astro brand that went a little watery on me - perfect for this!)

1.5 tbsp whole grain mustard

1.5 tbsp olive oil

3 tbsp minced fresh parsley

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp white vinegar

1 clove minced garlic

1 tsp red pepper flakes

A high protein variation for my workweek! One can
of rinsed black beans, one can of tuna in water, 3 carrots,
6 cups of cooked penne, 3 stalks of celery, 1/2 cup chopped
parsley, and 1/2 cup dressing! Delicious :)

Add about 1.5 tbsp of this dressing to roughly:

3/4 cup cooked cold penne pasta (ideally whole wheat)

1 large carrot, sliced

1/4 cucumber, quartered

optional: 2 tbsp parley, minced (I had some left over from making the dressing, and love parsley...plus it offsets the raw garlic in the dressing, breath-wise)

Season your salad with salt and pepper to taste.

You could easily add any kind of bell pepper, celery, onion, black beans (I suspect this would be delicious), and/or black olives or anything else that's left in your fridge and needs eating. Any other suggestions are very welcome!

xox

-A

V-day Special: Lobster on a Budget

Posted by CK in budget, easy, green beans, lobster, potato, recipe, vegetarian

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Ahhh. Valentine's day. The day of looooove.

A and I have celebrated Valentine's day in different ways, great restaurants and horseback riding being on the menu. But this year, we both have plans that require saving our money and so this much celebrated event will have to be experienced without having to dish out on expensive bottles of wine and restaurants so fancy that only a connoisseur would know where to find ( A is fancy like that ;) ).



This meal was prepared for a birthday celebration,
but is PERFECT for a romantic dinner :)

I'm sure many of you are in the same situation - want to do something nice and romantic, but don't have the mullah for it. That's why we bring you the Lobster on a Budget meal. This meal will require around 1.5 hours to prepare and will only cost you about a third of what you'd pay in a restaurant (depending on the lobster you get of course). It cost me around 30$ for 2 meals - including the wine.

With this, you can easily get the restaurant experience in the privacy of your home, and without having to take out the only savings you have left to please your mate. Actually, preparing this meal for them (or together) might be more rewarding for the both of you! ;)

This is a perfect pairing with the easy Beets Appetizer! Idea: Prepare a 3 course meal with these great recipes! :)

So, this meal requires 3 steps: the potatoes, the green beans and the lobster.

Note: If you're not the cooking kind, check out our great Valentine's day restaurants post and take your mate out for a nice night on the town!

Before we start, find a warm area where you can keep your finished dishes, or make some room on your counter to let them sit while covered to make sure they stay relatively warm when you serve them.

Step 1: Prepare Rosemary Roasted Potatoes

The Food Network's website has a lot of great recipes to try out and adapt to your liking, this one was definitely one of them.

Ingredients:

• 3 large Russett potatoes, peeled and cut into wedges.  
• 1/8 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic (3 cloves)
• 2 tablespoons dry rosemary

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Place the potatoes in a bowl with the olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic and rosemary.
3. Toss until the potatoes are well coated.
4. Dump the potatoes on a baking sheet and spread out into 1 layer.
5. Roast in the oven for at least 1 hour, or until browned and crisp. Flip twice with a spatula during cooking to ensure even browning.
6. Remove the potatoes from the oven, season to taste, and serve.

Voilà! Easy peasy! Now, while the potatoes are roasting, prepare your green beans.

Step 2: Prepare the Lemon-Butter Green Beans

Gotta love the Food Network!

Ingredients:

• 1/3 pound fresh green beans, ends trimmed, blanched in boiling salted water
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon pine nuts (optional, A doesn't like pine nuts)
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• Pinch salt
• Pinch freshly ground black pepper

Method:

1. Drain green beans well and pat dry.
2. Heat the butter in a medium skillet over medium heat.
3. Add the green beans and toss to coat evenly. Cook just enough to warm through, about 1 minute.
4. Add the lemon juice, salt, and pepper and toss to combine.
5. Remove from the heat and put those aside
6. Start prepping your lobster! :)

Step 3: Grill your Lobster

At this point, you have 3 options:

1. If you own a bbq and it's been sitting through the winter, now's a good time to wake it up a little before the summer.
2. If you have a grilling pan, that's great because you can just cook it on your stovetop!
3. I purchased the lobster already cooked, so you may not even have to do anything with the lobster if you can't grill it (although you can always try a nice broiled lobster, but I wanted to try my new pan :))

Now that you've picked your option, on to the cooking. This marinade is fairly simple and gave a great taste to the lobster tail (which is really the only part you can do something with if you're grilling).

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon white pepper
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 frozen lobsters (size of your choice. I found small-medium lobsters for 6$ each at my local Metro - jumped on those ones) - you can also use lobster tails if you feel it might be easier for you.

Method:

1. Preheat the grill for high heat.
2. Squeeze the lemon juice into a small bowl, and slowly whisk in the olive oil. Whisk in the salt, white pepper, and garlic.
3. Rinse you lobster and flip it on it's back. Cut open the "casing" of the tail. Remove the top transparent shell so that the flesh is showing but is still sitting in the bottom shell.
4. Baste the flesh part of the tail with the marinade.
5. Lightly oil the grill grate and place the tails, flesh side down, on the preheated grill. (if you're using the grilling pan, it's normal that your lobster doesn't fit in your pan, its upper body might be dangling out a little). 
6. Cook for 5 minutes, pressing the tail against the grill and basting frequently with the marinade. Discard any remaining marinade.

7. Do the same with the second lobster.

Serve this deliciousness with some melted garlic butter (We used a chocolate fondue set to keep the butter melted and warm) and some homemade bread with some garlic butter spread.

Wine Pairing: Since this meal is full of butter, pair it with a nice Chardonnay. I know, the picture has red wine, but that's because A doesn't drink white. If you want to go with red, go with a Pinot Noir.

Bonus Step: Setting the Atmosphere

Yay! You've created an epic meal (granted, full of calories and cholesterol, but hey, it's Valentine's day)! Setting the table is key to creating the atmosphere:

1. Find a white tablecloth and drape it over your table.
2. Create a centerpiece with candles and empty bottles of wine.
3. Plate the food so that it looks somewhat appealing (you be the judge). A good tip is to play with levels.
4. If you don't have the lobster tools, use some nut crackers - we got some for $3 a piece.
5. Have some jazz music playing in the background.
6. Crack open that bottle of wine and enjoy your evening!