Indian-Italian Vegetable Stew

I was craving cauliflower and curry the past few days. Luckily, while waiting in a doctor's office (has anyone not waited in a doc's office?!) I came across a Canadian Living magazine that incorporates both ingredients! With a little tweaking and using what I had on had this is the result. The spaghetti sauce and curry does seem a bit of an odd pairing but it works quite well. Tomorrow I'll put it over a bed of Jasmine rice but tonight it was delicious on its own.

Adapted from a Canadian Living Recipe:

Ingredients
1 head of caulifower
3 cups butternut squash
1 small zucchini
2 large carrots
1 medium red onion 
1 tsp mustard seeds, optional
2 tbsp Indian curry paste (I enjoy Patak's brand)
645 ml Newman's sphaghetti sauce
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp brown sugar
540 ml (19oz) can of chickpeas, drained
1/2 cilantro, chopped
2/3 cup water

Method
1. Chop caulifower into small florets.
2. Cube squash (or purchase precut, to save time!)
3. Slice zucchinis and carrots into baby finger sized pieces.
4. Chop onion.
5. Set large pot or dutch oven over medium heat. Add a bit of oil.
6. When oil is hot, add onion and saute for 3 minutes.
7. Add mustard seeds and stir for 30 seconds till they start to "pop".
8. Add curry paste and stir for 1 minute.
9. Add tomato sauce, water, vinegar, sugar and all remaining vegetables.
10. Bring to a boil.
11. Reduce heat and cover, and simmer on medium-low heat for additional 20 minutes or until vegetables are tender.
12. Add chickpeas and simmer for additional 5 minutes.
13. Serve. Sprinkle with cilantro, if desired.

Makes 8 cups.

Nutritional Info per cup
Calories: approx 185
Fat: 3g
Carbs: 34 g
Fibre: 7 g
Protein: 8 g

Notes: When I want even more protein in this dish, I'll add chicken or fish. Also, if available, accompany the meal with papadums (a thin Indian crispy cuisine sometimes described as a cracker or flatbread) which I usually buy prepackaged at the local grocery store.

You can also substitute lentils for the chickpeas, if desired.




papadum...mmm

Cream Cheese and Asparagus Roll

Ever get home from a long day at work, husband is out for the evening, kids need to be fed and put to bed, dishes must be done and you have another hour or so of work to do in order to get caught up on the day ... and, oh yeah, you're hungry? Welcome to my day.

Instead of throwing a frozen dinner into the microwave, I decided to take a minute and look in the fridge....hmmm I saw some left over grilled asparagus, some chives, and a tub of sundried tomato and basil cream cheese. Ok, I decided I could do something healthy and easy with that and that way I could also enjoy a left over chocolate Easter egg for dessert :)

Ingredients
1 soft tortilla
2 tbsp cream cheese
6-8 stalks of asparagus - grilled or steamed or just blanched etc
handful of chives
sweet peppers strips also taste delicious with this though I didn't have any on hand!

Method
Spread cream cheese on tortilla.
Place asparagus and chives neatly on tortilla as pictured
Roll fairly tightly.
Eat as is or cut in half.
Enjoy!

Easy Beef & Pork Meatloaf

In North America, meat loaf is often considered a comfort food- something that takes adults back to our childhoods and something most kids will eat without a fuss.

My own children will experience meatloaf for the first time tomorrow! I made it tonight because my husband has been craving it. My recipe went by memory from the dish my Mom made me as kid. It turned out wonderfully! It filled the apartment with a great aroma - onions, garlic, cumin wafted through each room...mmm. I had a little taste of it and it is delcious! I hope the kids like it tomorrow! And my husband is looking forward to it for lunch - although he hasn't decided if he wants it in the form of a sandwich or simply as is.

Ingredients
1 lb extra lean ground beef
1/2 lb lean ground pork
2 shallots, finely chopped
1/2 cup corn niblets
1/2 panko bread crumbs
1/4 cup ketchup
1/4 BBQ sauce - something smoky
1 egg, slightly beaten
2 tsp Old Bay seasoning or other seasoned salt
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp thyme
2 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp pepper
4 cloves garlic, chopped

Method
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Put everything in large bowl. With gloved (to keep your hands semi clean) hands, mix everything together with hands. Mix really well. Place in 9 x 5 loaf pan. Make sure there is at least an inch from top of meat to top of pan as the fat produced could easily splatter - be very careful!. If desired, place another squirt of ketchup or BBQ on top of loaf. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes or longer - until meat thermometer registers 170 degrees. Let sit 15 minutes before serving. Enjoy!

Easy Homemade Salsa

I had some roma tomatoes that had to be used quickly or they would spoil. I hate wasting food so when I suggested nachos for dinner and everyone agreed I was a happy girl. I quickly chopped up the tomatoes and a few other ingredients to make this tasty salsa.

Ingredients
4 Roma tomatoes, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 chopped jalapenos, including sseds
1/2 red onion, fine chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 lime, juiced
6-10 shakes of chipotle hot sauce
handful freah cilantro, chopped
Chili powder, salt, and pepper, to taste


Method
In a bowl, combine all ingredients. Place in refrigerator for up to 12 hours so flavors can come together. Also, good as soon as it is mixed!

Makes approximately 2 cups.


Serve with tortilla chips.


Note:
This is a very basic salsa recipe. It serves as a good platform to advanced your salsa making abilities. For instance, you could roast the garlic and jalapenos for greater depth of flavour. Add black beans or corn or red pepers...or anything else you think would taste great. Ole!

Fruity Sauteed Chicken

From whistler and chicken 2

3-year old:"Mom, I don't like this. What is it?"
Mom: "Chicken. You love chicken"
3-year old: "Then this isn't chicken, Mom."

Hmmm, hard to argue with logic like that. What my 3-year old doesn't like is any hard outer pieces on chicken - like BBQ charbroiled bits or pan fried hard outer parts. Normally, I just try to cut the outer part or cook it with skin on and then take it off when cooked. Tonight, I threw caution to the wind and tried something new. 

We went to Whistler for the Easter weekend and by the time we arrived back home there was a lot of fruit on the counter that needed to be used quickly or thrown away due to over ripeness. I suppose I could have made fruit salad but taking the easy route has never been my style!

Instead, I decided on a simple chicken dish that the kids would eat without worry of "hard bits". I diced up two apples, 1 pear and a handful of grapes. I threw these in a pan with six boneless skinless chicken thighs and a 1/2 cup of OJ .Voila 20 minutes later dinner was complete. I added some steamed rice and cauliflower and called it a meal.

The kids thought it was funny to have fruit on their chicken but then dug right in!

Quick, easy and kid approved!

Ingredients
2 apples, diced
1 pear, diced
handful of seedless grapes, quartered
1/2 cup orange juice
6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
salt
pepper


Method
1. Season chicken with salt and pepper.
2. If desired, lightly oil non-stick pan.
3. Over medium high heat brown chicken on both sides.
4. Add juice and fruit to pan.
5. Reduced heat to medium, cover and cook for approximately 15 minutes.
6. Remove cover and cook another 5 minutes to thicken sauce and cook chicken through. (make sure there is no pink and internal chicken thigh temperature is 170 degrees)

Serve with rice and favorite veggies.
Enjoy!

Roasted Cauliflower

For the last couple of months, one of the things on my recipe "to do" list has been roasted cauliflower. The thought of roasting a vegetable heretofore known as either a mere raw must have on a veggie plate or something steamed sounds intriguing to me.  Could it really be made to taste as anything but a healthy, but rather less than sexy dish?? Today, was the day to find out. I mixed a bunch of my favorite spices together, added some oil and fresh garlic. Poured it over the chopped cauliflower, added some breadcrumbs and butter and called it a day. Actually, I called it delcious - deliciously sexy! I will defintely whip this up the next time we have company over. I'm sure it will get positive reviews!


Ingredients
1 head cauliflower
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp medium curry powder
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp freshly grated ginger
1 tsp Old Bay or other seasoned salt
4 cloves garlic
1/4 c panko or regular bread crumbs
1 tbsp butter

Method:1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Chop up head of cauliflower into large bite size pieces.
3. Place in medium size roasting pan or oven proof dish.
4. In a small bowl add all spices, garlic, ginger and oil. Mix well.
5. Sprinkle over cauliflower.
6. Sprinkle breadcrumbs over cauliflower.
7. Dot with butter.
8. If desired sprinkle with a dash more salt.
9. Place in oven and roast for approximately 25 minutes.


Serve. Enjoy!

Pie Pops are fanstaSTICK!

Above: The perfect 3-inch pie pop. From pops big

From pie pops

Gotta love a dessert that takes about 30 minutes from start to finish and has an off-the-chart cute factor!

Let’s face it –a stick adds FUN and POP to the mundane whether it’s frozen water (popsicles), sugar (lollipop), or processed meat (corndog – hmmm perhaps it should be cornpop).

When I saw Bakerella’s and Luxirare great pie pops I had to try it myself. I took Bakerella’s advice and went the easy route for my first foray into the world of stick pies. And although I usually prefer to make things from scratch, I must be honest and say that I think they tasted great with the pre-made help.

And talk about simple… cut out round dough pieces, place a stick on it, add some filling, complete with another layer of crust and egg wash. “Pop” in the oven for 15 minutes and they are ready!

I did a little experimenting – I added a little extra strip of crust over the stick to help keep the stick stuck and I tried one batch in mini muffin tins to maximize the filling. The first batch, I made a bit smaller than Bakerella's as I managed to get 15 pie pops out of one crust. But to be honest the pie to crust ratio was wrong - unless you really love crust! My kids, however, loved them. My husband much preferred the muffin tin version which was the perfect three bite pie. When I made the mini muffin tin versions I put the stick across so it touched both ends, in the hopes of keeping the stick in place. It seemed to work! They also took about 20 minutes to bake.

Try these – for co-workers, kid parties or even a rainy day… these pie pops are guaranteed to bring smile to everyone with whom you share them. Enjoy!

Update: I tried these with a three inch circle cutter and it was the perfect combo of filling and crust! I also added a sprinkle of coloured sugar to them. This gave the pie pops a great "crunch".
Notes:

• use paper lollipop sticks not plastic
• I baked the pie pops at 350 degrees
• any pie filling will do
• I used "cookie" 6 inch sticks by Wilton but if you are only making the smaller versions the smaller Wilton lollipop sticks will be fine 

From pie pops

From pie pops

From pie pops

From pie pops

From pie pops

From pie pops

From pie pops

From pie pops

From pops big

One and half inch and mini muffin tin pie pops. From pie pops