Rebar Caesar Salad

This salad recipe came to me by way of my friend Carrie, so I thank her since we make this once a week in the summer. This dressing is so good, my kiddo loves it too. We enjoy this as a meal with grilled chicken and homemade croutons. Sometimes we add sliced mushrooms to the salad. 

Enjoy!

http://www.tastebook.com/recipes/768121-Rebar-Caesar-Salad

Not my Laksa

Click the following link to see the inspiration for this Laksa. It. Is. Delicious. 

I made the following adjustments:

1. I omitted cashews and coriander stems in the paste.

2. I substituted fish sauce for the soy since I'm not vegan. 

3. I did not have lime leaves. So I put the lemongrass stalk into the soup pot. 

4. I steamsd a piece of fish to add protein. 

5. I had no bean sprouts so I added sunflower sprouts, which I did have. Also, I had no zucchini so I used red pepper.

Definitely serve with lime. Skip the sesame seeds. 

The moral here is Use What You Have. 

http://talesofakitchen.com/soups/my-awesome-vegan-laksa/

Quinoa pie

It's a cross between a pie and a quiche. Call it what you will, it's a good way to use up greens and packs and travels well to work. 

1 cup uncooked quinoa

3 eggs

1/2 cup sharp cheddar or Gruyere

Salt & pepper

Kale

Olive oil 

Rinse quinoa in water for 2 minutes. Place in pan and add 2 cups water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes or until liquid is gone. Remove from heat and let sit while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

Preheat oven to 350F. Using a teaspoon of olive oil, grease an ovenproof glass pie dish (preferably 9in, a square baking dish would work well too). 

Beat eggs in large bowl, stir in shredded cheese, salt and pepper and greens. Quickly add quinoa and a good glug of olive oil. Spread out in the greased pan and cook for 25-30 minutes until top is starting to go golden. 

Let cool, slice and enjoy.  

Edamame Scallion Gyoza

I know. These look hard. Let me tell you a secret...they're not! They take time simply because of filling and folding them. But they are worth it!

1.5 cups shelled frozen edamame

1/4 cup sesame seeds

4 scallions

1 inch knob ginger

Handful cilantro

Olive oil

Salt & pepper

Round wonton wrappers

Stock (veg or chicken)

Steam the edamame. Meanwhile, heat a dry skillet over medium heat and add the sesame seeds, shaking the pan frequently. Watch them carefully, as soon as they start to get a little golden remove from heat. 

Roughly chop the white and light green parts of the scallions. Roughly chop cilantro. Peel ginger. 

In a food processor, add the scallion, cilantro and grate the ginger on a fine grater. Add edamame and sesame seeds. Season with salt and pepper and add 2 tbsp of olive oil. Purée. Scrape down bowl and add 2 more tbsp olive oil - you want the mixture to be thick like wet concrete, not runny like baby food. Purée again. 

Line a baking sheet with a silpat or parchment paper. Set up your station with the filling, wonton wrappers, a small bowl of water and the baking sheet. 

Your wonton wrappers will have one side that is floured, place that side down on your palm. Place a teaspoon of the filling in the middle then, using your middle finger of other hand, wet edge of wrapper. Now let's fold!

Starting at one end, fold the wrapper and seal. Using the thumb on the hand that has the wrapper, push the wrapper over to make a little fold and with opposite thumb seal to edge. Keep going. Fold, seal. Fold, seal. That's it! Place on lined baking sheet and keep making them until all the filling is gone. 

If you are preparing these ahead of time, wet a clean kitchen dish towel and wring out. Place on top of gyoza to keep from drying out.  

To cook...you need a skillet with a lid or something that can act as a tight fitting lid. Heat a non stick skillet over medium heat. Brush with a little olive oil. Add gyoza around pan and let cook for 2-3 minutes until the bottom is browned. Add stock to pan just to cover the bottom, cover and let steam another 3 minutes. They are done once all the stock has evaporated. Remove to a platter. Wipe out skillet and repeat cooking instructions until all gyoza are cooked. Serve immediately with dipping sauce. 

Dipping sauce

2 tbsp soy sauce or tamari 

2 tbsp rice wine vinegar 

1 tsp sesame oil 

Combine, stir, serve. 

I have not tried freezing these, but I can't see why not. I'd double the recipe and just freeze them uncooked on the baking tray. Once frozen place in ziploc bags. I'd thaw them before cooking. I will update this post once I try it!

My quiche

I've had several requests lately for my quiche recipe. So here it is...kinda. This is one of those recipes that I just winged along the way, amounts are approximate and filling can be substituted for whatever you like or have in hand. 

This makes for 2 large quiches which is what comes in a pack (btw get the "deep dish" crusts). It also works great for the mini shells and they freeze beautifully.

Leek x1

Cremini (brown) mushrooms, one large package or half a brown bag

Fresh Thyme, approx 1tbsp

Eggs x8

Milk x1 cup

Sharp cheddar cheese or Gruyere 

Pie shells x2 

Preheat oven to 375F.

- chop mushrooms and white and light green part of leeks

- sweat the leeks in olive oil for 5 minutes

- add the mushrooms and fresh thyme, and season with salt and pepper; cook until mushrooms are cooked and all moisture has evaporated

-set that aside to cool a little

- pierce your quiche shells all over with a fork, then bake for 5-10 minutes just to set the base, set aside

- mix eggs and milk. So here's where it gets tricky, I used 8 eggs and 1 cup of milk, but sometimes I run out. Trial and error. Season eggs with salt and pepper!

- spoon the leek / mushroom mixture into the shells then top with the egg mixture (do not overfill or it will run over in the oven)

- top with cheese

- place on a cookie sheet and bake for 20-25 mins or until the top has puffed a little and the cheese is starting to turn golden

Let cool. Enjoy now or freeze.

Repost: Coconut milk & green lentil soup

This recipe comes from the sweetmiscellany blog. It's hearty, healthy & delish. Try it for dinner then as leftover for lunch. I nixed the bulgur wheat and used leftover brown basmati rice, which I always have in my fridge. Enjoy!

http://sweetmiscellany.blogspot.ca/2013/01/coconut-milk-green-lentil-soup.html?m=1

Zucchini Lasagna

Through my food obsession on Pinterest I discovered an alternative to traditional lasagna made with noodles. Replace the noodles with zucchini and presto you have gluten-free dinner! For me it wasn't about it being gluten-free, just about trying something new. And, well, I am converted!

I have always loathed making lasagna since it can be time consuming. And I hate to break it to you but this is no different. So I broke it down into a 2 day ordeal. Day one, make the sauce then refrigerate it overnight. Day deux, assemble, bake and mange. 

I made this recipe straight up with raw zucchini, so it was a bit watery but nothing off-putting. If you have *more* time you can try grilling the zucchini first. 

Now's a good excuse to get that mandolin you've been eyeing up... I've had one for a few years, and I rarely break it out, but now I WILL! Slicing the zucchini was awesome on this thang (slicing potatoes for gratin is my next favourite on this tool).

Give this lasagna a whirl and feel free to adjust, replace and customize as you see fit for your family. Btw, don't tell your family there's no noddles, I bet they don't even notice ;)

 

My Sauce

1tbsp coconut oil

1 lb ground chicken

1 onion

2 garlic cloves

1 carrot

2 celery stalks

½ tsp each dried oregano, basil and chili flakes

Salt & pepper

1 large jar marinara sauce (like Costco large)

Finely chop all produce.

Heat coconut oil in large heavy bottom pot, add ground chicken to brown taking care to break it up as you stir.

Stir in onion and garlic and sauté for 2 minutes.

Stir in carrot, celery, herbs and salt and pepper to taste.

Add the marinara, bring to a boil, turn down heat and simmer for 30-40 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Taste and adjust seasoning. Let cool.

Lasagna

3 long zucchini

1 ball mozzarella

½ cup cheddar

½ cup parmesan

Sliced black olives

Pasta sauce

Using a mandolin or a sharp knife, thinly slice (1/8”) the zucchini lengthwise.

Grate all cheese.

To assemble:

In a 9x13 pan spoon a wee bit of the sauce just to cover the bottom.

Layer in zucchini like you would lasagna noodles.

Top with a ½ the pasta sauce, half the cheddar & parmesan.

Another layer of zucchini.

Top with ALL of the olives, the rest of the pasta sauce and the rest of the cheddar & parm.

Another layer of zucchini.

Finish with the Mozza! Load 'er on!

Cover with foil and bake at 350C for 45 minutes.

Remove foil and bake another 30 minutes until cheese is browned and bubbling, sometimes I turn on broil for a few minutes, but watch it doesn’t burn!

Let cool 15 minutes, yes let it cool! 

Then…ENJOY!