Quick Weeknight Dinner

I bought a salad kit in the summer because I was wanted something different and I was feeling lazy.  Once I got it all together, I thought....I can make this myself for a whole lot less. 

Voila! Arugula, flaxseed corn chips, mandarin oranges and creamy balsamic dressing. This is one tasty salad.

It was the starter for our meal that is one of my favourites from Sarah Kramer's book, La Dolce Vegan.

Looks nummy, doesn't it. And it takes no time to put together and not a whole lot of fussing either. Cherry tomatoes get tossed with oil and then topped with a garlicy, cheesy bread crumb topping. Roast those while you cook the pasta and chop the basil. Drain the pasta and dump the veggies & basil into the pot with the pasta. Toss it around, plate and sprinkle with cheese. SUPER EASY! SUPER DELICIOUS!
We eat quite a lot of pasta. And we like wine.  Those two things are a perfect match.

This tasty Italian wine is a Vintages Essential and at $14.95 it's a great bargin.

Opa!

I really like Greek food. (minus the eggplant - I'm not too keen on that). I saw these at the grocery store and thought they might come in handy some day so I tossed a box into my cart.

What follows is far from authentic, but had the flavours nonetheless.

 

I did make some tzatziki from scratch. There are some pretty good ones available pre-made, but they are expensive! Planning ahead a little bit and taking a small amount of actual prep time and it can be made for a fraction of the price.



Nice little plate of starters. The spanakopita were OK. A little bland, I would probably buy them again in a pinch, but they could be so much better.

The lighting is kind of wonky on this one and I'm not sure why. Anyhow, on the side we had a North American version of a Greek salad. Notice a glaring omission? No tomatoes. I cannot eat fresh, raw tomatoes. I have tried numerous times, but I just do not like them. If they're in a salsa or bruschetta, I can eat them, but just cut up and tossed into a salad, or in a sandwich, no thank you!
There is a Greek restaurant here in Burlington called Sotiris that I've been going to for years. They have the best salad dressing! I keep trying to re-create it at home, but I'm not having much luck. Anyone have a Greek salad dressing recipe that will knock my socks off?

I also grilled up a package of Yves Souvlaki Veggie Skewers and had that on a pita with some of the tzatziki. (forgot to take a picture, but it was pretty much what you imagine it to be)

Is there anything better than potatoes?! And Greek potatoes are soooooo yummy! Roasted with olive oil, lemon juice, oregano results in pure heaven. These are not a calorie-wise potato, but one bite of these and you'll be saying "Who cares?"

Full tummies left no room for dessert, so we had a liquid one. I loves me a Black Russian and Kahlua makes a limited edition flavour for Christmas time - Peppermint Mocha.

At first I thought it sounded kind of weird; peppermint mixed with mocha Kahlua? Last year we sold out of it and had people looking for it everywhere. This year, as soon as it came in, customers were snapping it up. So, curiosity got the better of me and I bought a small bottle. It's very nice. It's just a hint of peppermint and it's well balanced. It took my Black Russian to a whole new level.

CHEERS!

Celebrate Vegan (part 1)

Once again, I was honoured to recipe test for Dynise Balcavage for her new cookbook Celebrate Vegan.

Here's a sampling of what I made from the book. 

Lemon-Champagne-Braised Baby Bok Choy

Pan-Seared Tofu with Basil-Balsamic Glaze

Seitan with Quince, Apple and Onion

If you've never had quince, do yourself a favour and try it. It's very nice. I can usually find it in select grocery stores starting around the end of October. They don't hang around for long and usually by the end of November it's bye-bye.

Rutabaga-Fennel Clapshot

Leftover Rutabaga-Fennel Clapshot made into patties

Good Old-Fashioned Macaroni Salad

 Sicilian-Inspired Kale

This was one of my favourite recipes. Raisins and nuts send kale to heights like it's never known. Here I have it served over some brown rice, but I quite often make it just as a vegetable side.

Orange-Soy Seitan Tenders

Ramen Noodle Bowl
A gazillion times better than that chemically packaged stuff. And not really a whole lot of work involved in this either.

Potato Kugel

Lemon-Olive Tempeh Tagine

I've been working hard on liking tempeh, but there have only been a couple of times where the recipe has made it tasty for me. This is one of them!

Summer Squash and Applesauce Muffins

Pomegranate Cosmo

What's a celebration without some cocktails?

Italian Mojito

Another one of my favourite tests. Refreshingly delicious!

Buckeyes

The classic combo of chocolate and peanut butter make these very appealing. This was one of Jim's favourites. He polished off most of the batch.

Limoncello Cupcakes

Hands down the best lemon-y cake I've ever had.

Blueberry Pie



Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

 

Are you interested in checking out Dynise's book yet? You should be!! I've got more pictures to share with you, so stay tuned. 

Soup And A Sandwich

Even though we've had an unusually warm winter so far, once the sun goes down, it gets a little chilly. What better way to warm yourself up than with a hot bowl of soup. I was craving roasted red pepper and tomato, so I got to work.

First, the peppers. If you never roasted peppers before, don't be intimidated. It's easy! Just wash, remove stems, core & seeds. Place cut side down on a baking sheet. I line mine with parchment paper so it's a quick clean up. Put the peppers under the broiler and leave for 10-20 minutes or until the skins are blistered and black. You can then either put them in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap and leave to cool, or put them into a paper bag, fold the top over to close and let cool. This traps the steam and aids in removing the skins. You can also roast peppers on your barbecue and I've heard that if you have a gas stove, you can just do them over the flame. I might be wary of this method because as the peppers cook, they get soft and squishy and might fall apart. Then you've got a mess to clean up.

The tomatoes are done in the same fashion, only cut side up.

Here's my pot after it's finished simmering. The addition of onions, carrots and vegetable broth make it super yummy!

An immersion blender makes puréeing the soup a snap. If you don't have one, a blender works just fine. You may have to do it in batches though to get a nice smooth consistency.

Add some salt and pepper to taste and garnish with grated Parmesan cheese, croutons, basil sprigs, whatever you think will make a nice presentation. This soup is soooo good. Elegant, fresh and quite rich tasting.

For the sandwich portion of the meal, I used a recipe from Giada DeLaurentiis. I really enjoy her show Everyday Italian and I saw her make this on an episode quite some time ago. She used regular salami, but I knew I could recreate it with Yves Veggie Salami Slices. This is a croissant panini with smoked gouda, parmesan, the salami slices and arugula.

I don't have a panini press, so I used my George Foreman grill which worked just fine. The cheese gets all melty gooey and it tastes fantastic. I've made these a few times and we always enjoy them. You can find the recipe here.

Even Simon agrees that this whole meal looks & sounds tasty!

Hopefully, A Return

Hey bitches!! I had some family members over the weekend mention this blog and how I haven't posted for so long. It got me to thinking that I should pick it up again. I know, I know....how many times have we visited blogs that have been dormant for a while, then read a post saying "I'm back!" and then nothing. I've got my fingers crossed that I don't fall into that category. (BTW, it's very hard to type with crossed fingers).

Here's something I made the other night that I've been making for years - Spicy Sausage and Potatoes. I can't even remember where I picked up the recipe (which I will include at the end of the post), but it was a loooong time ago. Back then, I was a meat eater and used Italian sausages. Now I use either Tofurky Sweet Italian Sausages or Yves Spicy Italian Sausages and I find they work just perfectly.

Add peppers and onions and this dish has it goin' on! It's done all in one pan, so less dishes to wash.

Another thing I've been making for a long time and is a total comfort dessert for me is gingerbread. It might seem kind of old fashioned, but it's shouldn't! Tasty doesn't go out of style.

I use my mother's recipe and this cake always comes out moist with wonderful warming spices. I substituted blended soft tofu for the eggs and I find it makes my baked goods even more moist. Try it! This can be topped with whipped cream or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side.

A nice little cocktail to finish off is something called Chocolate Covered Cherry. I discovered it in an old LCBO drink mix booklet and it is divine! It's got a pretty pink hue and it does taste like a chocolate covered cherry. 

This is so yummy, it can even be dessert on it's own. It's very simple to make: In a cocktail shaker filled with ice, combine 1 oz. clear (also known as white) crème de cacao, 1½ oz. cherry brandy, 2 oz. milk. Shake fairly vigorously and strain into a chilled martini glass. You can garnish it with cherry if you like.

SPICY SAUSAGE & POTATOES 

1-2 tbsp. olive or safflower oil

1 pkg. veggie Italian sausages of your choice, cut into 1” pieces

10 small new potatoes, quartered*

½ tsp. pepper

½ tsp. dried thyme leaves 

1 cup sliced red onion

¼ cup chopped fresh parsley

1 red or green pepper, cut into 1” pieces 

Heat 1 tbsp. of the oil in a large skillet and add sausage. Sauté until lightly browned. Remove from skillet and set aside. Add the potatoes, pepper and thyme to the pan (and add more oil if needed) and cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are browned (10-12 minutes). Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and cook until potatoes are tender (8-10 minutes).  Stir in the remaining ingredients, including the reserved sausage, and continue cooking, uncovered until the vegetables are tender-crisp.

*I will quite often use left over potatoes in this dish that I cut into decent sized chunks. You can then skip the step where you have to cover the potatoes and cook until tender.    

Recipe Testing!

I volunteered my services again for Dreena Burton to test recipes for her upcoming cookbook and am truly honoured that she accepted my offer. This will be Dreena's 4th cookbook and it's going to be terrific!

Obviously, I can't give away any of the recipes or a whole lot of detail, but what I can give you are teaser pictures.

Up first, Nutty Veggie Burgers. These are super delicious! I would say they are the best burger/patty I've ever made from scratch. This recipe didn't require a lot of ingredients, or really much work.

The burgers held their shape, didn't fall apart and were easy to flip in the pan. We had them fairly simple, on a ciabatta bun with lettuce, mayo, red onions and BBQ sauce. Leftovers were re-heated the next day and tasted just as delicious. (In a household with only 2 people, how food holds up to being re-heated on another day is a big deal. If we don't eat it for another dinner meal, I will take leftovers for my lunch.)

This is Lemon Infused Mediterranean Lentils. This savoury dish is different from other lentil dishes I've made. There is a lot going on and every bite made me want to take another one.

More lentils in Fragrant Kidney Bean Lentil Dahl. It's certainly not Dreena's prettiest dish, but with lots of spices, it really is fragrant. Delicious with basmati and naan.

Of course, Dreena has made quite a name for herself with her baked goods recipes. He legacy will continue with the new book.

Here we have Coconut Banana Muffins. These turned out beautifully!

A little sprinkling of sugar on top gave just an extra touch of sweetness.

Inside, nice and flavourful. We ate a few and I put the rest of them in the freezer for a quick grab-and-go snack and they freeze really well. Scrumptious!

Cake anyone?

This Pumpkin Spice Cake is a wonderful autumn treat. The layers are so moist and delicious. This could even be a birthday cake.

Everyone that tried it really liked the flavour and texture of this cake. I used a generic cream cheese frosting for the outside, but Dreena is offering a few tasty icing recipes that would definitely be suitable for this cake.

If you like Banana Oat Bundles and have a love of chocolate (like Dreena and I both do!), you're going to be very happy to discover Cocoa Almond Jumbles. This is a super chocolately cookie that is better for you than most cookies. But, you don't feel like you're sacrificing anything!

I don't know if you can see this picture very clearly, but I wanted to show you the chocolately, nutty goodness inside.

If this little sampling hasn't gotten you looking forward to Dreena's new book, then stay tuned. There is more to come!