Showing posts with label Recipe. Show all posts

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Chile Pea Puffs and Banana Dessert Puffs

Posted on Wednesday, February 20, 2013

adapted from 101 Cookbooks

This weekend I dusted off some old recipe files that caught my eye 5 years ago and vowed to create rather than to let them sit in that online catalog shelf of mine that is always added to but never looked back on.

The first of the creations were Chile Pea Puffs from 101 cookbooks. 

Ingredients
Olive Oil or nonstick cooking spray 
1 cup cooked green peas, slightly mashed 
1/4 cup extra firm tofu, crumbled 
2 small green serrano chiles, minced 
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. red chile flakes
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. garlic, minced
32 wonton wrappers
Cup of water and a brush for sealing edges

Preheat oven to 400F degrees. Line a baking pan with parchment paper (or your new dream Valentines day gift- Silpat baking mats!). In a  medium bowl mix together the mashed peas, tofu, chilis, salt, chili flakes, pepper, cumin, and garlic. 

Place one mounded teaspoonful of the pea mixture in the center of a wonton wrapper. 
Brush all four sides with water. 
Fold the bottom half of the wonton wrapper up just over the pea mixture.
Fold in the right and left sides, meeting in the middle. 
 Fold the wrapper in half.
Then flip the wonton over and you have a mini spring roll!
When you have filled and wrapped all thirty two wrappers brush each one with olive oil or spray with Non Stick Cooking spray and bake in a 400F degree oven for 7-10 minutes or until golden brown. 


Notes: This recipe freezes well so it's pretty simple to double and have stock left over. 
In the future I would try this with spring roll wrappers and go for a more substantial filling amount in the spring rolls. Wonton wrappers can get a little chewy in texture.



BANANA DESSERT PUFFS

I had some leftover wrappers when all was said and done with the pea puffs so I decided to create some banana puffs which reminded me of the friend bananas that we had daily for breakfast in Brasil.

Ingredients
1 Banana
1/2 cup brown sugar
wonton wrappers

Directions
Preheat oven to 400F degrees.

Slice bananas in 1/2 inch pieces. Add the brown sugar to a small bowl. Add a slice of banana coating it in brown sugar and place it in the middle of a wonton wrapper. Brush all four sides of the wonton wrapper with water and then bring the 4 wonton wrapper sides together pinching and twisting to form a little satchel. Once all banana puffs are finished, brush with olive oil and bake at 400F for 7-10 minutes until nice and golden. 






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Pita Tacos with Quinoa Bean Croquettes

Posted on Thursday, February 7, 2013

Every now and then I decide to forgo all planned recipes and wing it. The resulting concoction is either strangely weird and edible but not delightful or as is the case with these pita tacos, one of the best tasting dishes I've ever made. Guilt free too if you decide to skip the cheese!

Taco Ingredients
Whole wheat pita pockets
Handful of lettuce, chopped
1 avocado, sliced
Swiss cheese, sliced or shredded
1 lb. brussels sprouts, finely chopped
8oz. mushrooms
handful of cilantro 
Spinach pesto [Recipe here]

Quinoa Bean Croquette Ingredients
1/2 cup quinoa  
1 cup water 
15 oz can of beans 
1/4 cup oat flour
1/4 cup flax meal
4 Tbsp. bran
2 Cloves Garlic
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 Tbsp. fresh sage, finely chopped
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup nutritional flakes

Directions
Preheat oven to 400F
In a saucepan cook 1/2 cup of dried quinoa according to package directions. [1/2 cup quinoa in 1 cup water, bring to a boil and lower heat letting simmer until water has mostly evaporated and the quinoa has "sprouted."]

Meanwhile, in a large skillet heat 1 Tbsp. olive oil over medium heat. Add finely chopped brussels sprouts and mushrooms and cook stirring occasionally until they have reduced down and become a little golden in color. Remove from heat and set aside.

Into the bowl of food processor add the cooked quinoa, 1/2 can of beans, oat flour, flax meal, bran, garlic, olive oil, cumin, coriander, chili powder, sage, pepper and salt. Pulse until all ingredients are well mixed. 

In a shallow bowl or plate pour 1/2 cup nutritional flakes. Shape the quinoa bean dough into balls the size of a rounded tablespoon. Roll them in nutritional flakes and place on baking sheet. 

Bake at 400F for 12 minutes. 

To Assemble:
Cut the pita pockets in half or make a slit on one side for a larger pita sandwich (whichever you prefer). Add a few slices of swiss cheese and warm on a baking pan in the oven for a few minutes so that the cheese is good and melted.

Now to stuff!
The next few steps all depend on your taste preferences. I added the brussels sprouts mixture first,

Then a bit of lettuce,
 
Some pesto, 
Beans,
Avocado and cilantro
 and then topped it off with the bean croquettes!
Some things to add at the end when the stuffing has subsided: A drizzle of balsamic vinaigrette and hot sauce of course!

Bon Apetit!





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Butternut Squash Balls with Yogurt Sauce

Posted on Thursday, January 31, 2013

adapted from Love and Lemons

Ingredients
1 butternut squash,  halved and roasted (makes 1.5-2 cups mashed squash)
1 cup garbanzo bean flour
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 Tbsp. Olive oil
1 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. smoked paprika
pinh of cayenne pepper
splash of maple syrup or agave
salt and pepper
1/4 cup chopped herbs (I used sage and rosemary)
1 cup bread crumbs

yogurt sauce
1/2 cup plain non-fat yogurt
juice and zest of 1 lime
splash of olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
pinch of red pepper flakes
salt and pepper
DIRECTIONS:
Cut butternut squash in half, rub with a bit of olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast in a 400F oven cut side up until tender (about 40 minutes). Once cool, mash with a fork or a potato masher. Place mash in a large bowl and add garbanzo bean flour, cumin, garlic, olive oil, paprika, cayenne, maple syrup, salt and pepper and half the chopped herbs.

Lower oven temperature to 350F

On a large plate mix bread crumbs with remaining herbs. Spoon a rounded tablespoon of mash onto the bread crumbs and toss to coat. The mash is quite sticky so it helps to throw bread crumbs over the ball coating it before you begin to shape it using your hands.

Place balls on a parchment paper lined baking pan and bake at 350F for 20 minutes. 

Meanwhile, combine all of the ingredients for the yogurt sauce. Once the balls have finished baking, drizzle them with yogurt sauce and a splash of balsamic vinaigrette.


Et voila!


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Granola Crusted Pancakes

Posted on Sunday, January 27, 2013


Recipe from Everything Is Homemade
Ingredients
1 flax egg (1 Tbsp ground flax meal, 2 tbsp water)
1 cup flour
3/4 cup + 2 tbsp milk of any kind
1 Tbsp. brown sugar
2 Tbsp. oil
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 banana, thinly sliced
1 cup granola

Directions
Mix the flax meal with water and set aside. In a large bowl mix flour, brown sugar and salt. Add oil, milk, and flax egg to the flour mixture and combine. 

Meanwhile, heat a skillet over medium heat. Pour 1/2 cup of the pancake mixture onto the skillet. Gently press a few slices of banana on the top of the batter and add a generous sprinkling of granola. Once the edges of the pancake look dry and the top of the pancake is good and bubbly flip it! Cook the granola side for a fraction of the time it took to cook the bottom side otherwise you'll be left with burnt bananas and granola (no good!). 

Now, just drench in pure maple syrup and devour. 
These pancakes are delicious and even better, they're vegan (if you used nut milk like I did!)

Bon Apetit!

 

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Waiting for summer and a to die for sandwich

Posted on Saturday, January 26, 2013

This morning the agricultural fields looked like they had been drenched in a thick blanket of snow but it was just an illusion for what was a dense layer of fog. The scene itself was ghostlike and beautiful. That's been the norm the last week or so. The cold frost has made public transportation commuting quite miserable and even bundling up in several layers leaves me consistently shivering wishing to be buried under warm covers and snuggled in bed. I don't think I can call myself a true Canadian, I would never survive the snow! 

This frigid weather has me dreaming about the warmer months. I have delegated a good portion of my kitchen counter to starting the summer crops from seed. I jury rigged the light system and it's working pretty well keeping the seedlings from getting too leggy and falling over.

I have several varieties of mysterious peppers, a few heirloom cherry tomatoes and other varieties of tomatoes, at least 5 varieties of eggplants of all different colors and shapes, beets and some red okra. I'm gingerly seeing them through to fruition (finger's crossed).


During the summer months when the tomatoes, eggplants, basil and eggs are flowing I usually craft a mean pesto drenched, fried eggplant, tomato tapenade sandwich (open faced or closed) and throw an over easy egg on there for protein intake sake and to use up the massive amounts of eggs my chickens lay during the summer. In the winter months I sometimes get a craving for those days of bountiful tomatoes and eggplants and wish the store bought tomatoes didn't taste like crap so I could recreate. 

The other night I recreated a version of this sandwich and there are no words to describe how amazing it tasted. Here's the recipe: 

Rosemary Bread
adapted from Food.com

1 Tbsp yeast
1 Tbsp sugar
1 cup warm water
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
2 Tbsp rosemary, chopped
1 Tbsp olive oil

Directions: 
Mix yeast, sugar and water in a bowl or in stand mixer and let stand for 5 minutes or until it's good and bubbly. 
Mix in olive oil, salt and 2 cups of flour. Add 1 Tbsp. rosemary and knead for 10 minutes by hand or with a bread hook in the stand mixer. Add more flour if necessary.
Oil a bowl, add the kneaded dough and cover with a towel. Let it rise until it has doubled in size. Punch the dough down and divide in half. 
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and form the two halves into elongated loaves on the baking sheet. Sprinkle the remaining rosemary over the loaves and gently press into the dough. 
Let the loaves rise again for about 45 minutes. 
Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375F
Bake 15-20 minutes

To Die For Sandwich 
Note: There are quite a few ingredients that go into this sandwich so it's not for the "quick I need to eat now" venture. It takes some time to prepare. 

Part 1: Caramelized Onions
1 onion, chopped
1 Tbsp olive oil
Heat olive oil over medium-low heat, add onions and cook stirring frequently until they begin to turn brown.

Part 2: Fried Eggplant
Heat 1 Tbsp. olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat
Slice eggplant into 1/2 inch rounds. Fry eggplant in oil for 2-3 minutes each side. 

Part 3: Spinach Pesto
In a food processor blend the following:
2 cups spinach leaves
2 cloves garlic
1/2 cup walnuts
pinch of salt     
drizzle olive oil into food processor just until the pesto becomes creamy in texture. 

Part 4: Sundried Tomatoes
** I rehydrated some tomatoes I had dried in a dehydrator using boiling water and then towel dried them but any store bought jar of sundried tomatoes would work.

Part 5: Fried Egg, over easy


To Assemble: 
Cut the loaves in half so that they form two sandwich halves. Generously douse each side in spinach pesto. Throw a few slices of fried eggplant and a few sundried tomatoes on the next layer, top it off with the caramelized onions and fried egg. Then, I drizzled it all with some balsamic vinaigrette and Tapatio hot sauce, put the lid on the thing and called it a day! 



 

       

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Winter Squash Black Bean Patties with Cheesy Kale Chips

Posted on Thursday, January 24, 2013


Adapted from Sprouted Kitchen

Black Bean Patties

2 cloves garlic
3 scallions white and green parts, chopped
1/2 cup squash purée (pumpkin, kabocha, butternut will all work!)
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 tsp. cumin powder
1/2 tsp. coriander powder
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
Pinch of salt
1 cup brown rice cooked and cooled
15 oz. can black beans, rinsed
2 Tbsp. flax meal
1/3 cup oat flour
Olive oil for cooking

Directions:

Make ahead
  • Cook 1 cup of rice according to package directions in a rice cooker or on the stovetop.
  • Roast or steam your preferred winter squash. I used a kabocha squash left ovr from this recipe made earlier in the week. For the Kabocha, peel and de-seed and then steam for 15-20 min and mash with a fork. This recipe would be good with roasted butternut squash or a roasted carrot purée or if you have a can of pumpkin purée that'll work too. You'll need 1/2 cup of purée.
In a food processor combine garlic, scallions, squash, olive oil, cumin, coriander, cayenne, and salt. Add half of the beans and the rice and pulse a few times. You want to keep the chunky consistency from this point forward. Add the flax meal and oat flour to the food processor. I ground whole flax and oats using a coffee grinder to get a fine powder. Add the remaining beans and pulse a few times to combine. Form the bean mixture into patties about 1/2 inch thick. Heat oil in a shallow skillet or frying pan. Place the patties in the pan and fry about 2-3 minutes per side or until they are browned. 

Serve with a heaping mound of sliced avocado, a sprinkling of salt and pepper and some hot sauce if you like.

Cheesy Kale Chips 

1 bunch of kale
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. nutritional yeast flakes
Coarse sea salt

Directions:
De-stem kale, tear into bite size pieces and wash well with cold water. 
Drizzle 1 Tbsp. Olive oil over kale and toss to coast the leaves. Arrange on baking pan and sprinkle nutritional yeast over the kale. Sprinkle with salt. Bake at 300F for about 10-15 minutes. Watch the kale as it bakes, there is nothing worse than undercooked or overcooked kale. 



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Snack Attack

Posted on Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Rice Cakes with Avocado and Balsamic Vinaigrette


Hunger pangs are a killer. Transforming our food habits has been wonderful, but for a habitual snacker like me I find it challenging to find healthy alternatives to tide me over between meals. 

It was only recently that I discovered the powers of rice cakes and started to get creative in transforming them beyond their typical chalky stick-to-your-mouth blandness. 

To Make: 
2 unsalted rice cakes, slice 1/2 an avocado and distribute amongst the cakes, sprinkle salt and pepper over top and drizzle with balsamic vinaigrette.