Nutty Eggplant Dip

It feels like spring is trying really hard to show itself. We are at the end of April and my tulips are mere leaves with the promise of flowers sometime in the near future. In the hopes that seeing patio furniture would change the weather, we brought out our BBQ and deck chairs over this weekend, but it did not work - the temperature today is a mere 10 degrees C/50 degrees F. But, since the BBQ is ready, I put on some eggplant and garlic and decided to make a dip that I saw in Canadian Living recently. The dip is light and has a good blend of flavours and is smple to make. One of these days, (hopefully real soon), the weather will be warm and when you sit out on the deck with a cold beer, this will be an appetizer to try with pita or crackers, but for now, let me go and put away my patio chair cushions since they are calling for rain tonight and tomorrow.
Happy spring !!!

Skill Level: Easy

Serves: 6 - 8

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup walnuts soaked in water for 8 hours (this makes the walnuts less astringent)
• 1 can chickpeas (540 mL)
• 1 clove of garlic grilled
• 2 large eggplants grilled
• 1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp lemon juice
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp red chili powder
• 1/4 tsp black pepper powder
• 1 tsp za'atar powder *
• 4 Tbsp Tahini
• 2 Tbsp chopped clilantro or parsley

*Za'atar is a Middle Eastern seasoning made using ground thyme, oregano, marjoram, salt, sumac and toasted sesame. Available in Middle Eastern stores but is easy to make at home by combining the following:

• 1/4 cup sumac
• 2 tablespoons thyme
• 1 tablespoon roasted sesame seeds
• 2 tablespoons marjoram
• 2 tablespoons oregano
• 1 teaspoon salt

Mix all ingredients together. Store in an airtight container for up to 6 months

METHOD:

1. Wash and dry eggplants. Pierce the eggplants and place on the BBQ and grill until soft. Remove and allow to cool

2. Cut the top of a clove of garlic and wrap it in foil and grill for approximately 15 minutes. Cool before using
3. Drain water from the walnuts and spread onto a cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes at 300 degrees F turning once until they are dry and toasted

3. Cut and scoop out the eggplant and put into the food processor, add the drained and rinsed chickpeas, and peeled garlic and mix until it is well belended.

4. Add toasted walnuts, lemon juice, tahini, spices and salt and pulse until it is mixed

5. Refrigerate for an hour. Garnish with cilantro and serve with pita or crackers

Delectable Delicious Brownies

My apologies dear readers, I expected to have this post up last week but we went out of town for a few days hence the delay.We went to Niagara on the Lake and had a fabulous time. Highly recommend the Pillar and Post Inn, terrific accomadation, delightful spa and outdoor hottub. The Cannery restaurant onsite serves the best slow cooked prime rib I have eaten.The highlight of the trip was a drive to see Niagara Falls where a large part of the falls are frozen. I know I have griped a lot about this winter but the sight was spectacular. 

Of course having to shovel snow today, after a few warmish (7 - 8 degree C) days was a cruel return to reality. To ease the misery of this winter that will not go away, I baked - using the excuse that I needed to take pictures of square brownies as opposed to the round cake brownie picture I posted on our facebook page. So here it is. When our close friends S & A mentioned this brownie they make using black beans, I did not have major expectations, because let's face it, a tofu cheesecake no matter how good it is, is not really cheesecake so I figured a bean brownie would be along those lines. I am glad to admit that I was totally wrong. This is delicious, easy to make and a perfect sweet treat. You could even tell yourself that it is a source of fibre and would not be far off the mark, I did not call it Blackbean brownies, because despite the best of intentions, I know that sometimes we just cannot help but get turned off by a name..... Enjoy.


Skill Level: Easy

Serves: 4 - 6

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 can 540 mL or 15.5 oz can of black beans washed and rinsed
• 3 eggs
• 3 Tbsp oil
• a pinch of salt
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup of sugar (I used 1/2 cup and added chocolate chips and it was sweet enough
• 1 tsp instant coffee powder
• 1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

METHOD:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and lightly grease an 8x8 baking pan 
2. In a food processor add all ingredients except the chocolate chips and blend until smooth 
3. Pour into the prepared baking pan
4. Sprinkle chocolate chips over the top 
5. Bake until the top is dry and edges start to pull away from the sides of the pan. Aprox. 30 - 35 minutes 
6. Allow to cool before cutting

Spicy Mussels in a Ginger Coconut broth

Have you even cooked a meal where you wanted to ensure that all remnants of your dish needed to make it out of the house by garbage day to avoid having it sit in your compost bin for a week? Have you managed to pull something off in less than half an hour that you concocted for the first time and that tasted delicious? Have you recreated something you ate at a restaurant and liked your version better? Yes, dear friends, it was all of the above that leads me to this post.I bought a bag of mussels on Friday, got busy over the weekend and realized that I had no real plans for our lunch on Monday. Today, Tuesday being garbage day, meant that if the mussels were made mid week, I'd have the shells sitting around for a few days.So looking at the ingredients on hand, I thought I'd try to recreate mussels we'd eaten at a restaurant some years ago. That was in a thick coconut milk broth that was perfect for soaking up the warm bread that came with the dish. Now, I wanted something lighter with an Asian influence, so I  put a few ingredients together and came up with this recipe. I use the entire gamut of coconut ingredients from oil, to milk, cream and desiccated. What I have in addition is a Nestlé brand Maggi Coconut Milk powder because it allows me to create the consistency of the coconut milk I require. Also, I like this is because unlike a can that you have to use all at once, this can be used as needed thereby ensuring you always have some on hand when needed.
There were three star players in this recipe, they are (not in any order of importance)



These are staples in my kitchen and the Tom Yom Paste is really versatile, I've used it as a marinade for chicken but that's a recipe for another time. On our facebook page I said 5 - 7 ingredients, here are three the others of course are the mussels, chili powder, fresh ginger and coriander leaves. Here is the recipe.

Skill Level: Easy

Serves: 2 - 4

INGREDIENTS:

• one bag of mussels (wt. 700 g)
• 2 Tbsp coconut milk powder added to 2 cups of water
• 2 Tbsp chicken broth added to 2 cups of water
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 2 inch piece of ginger thinly sliced
• 1 Tbsp Tom Yom paste added to 1 cup of water
• 4 Tbsp chopped coriander leaves

METHOD:

1. Scrub, wash and debeard the mussels and set aside. Discard any mussels that are cracked or bruised

2. In a large stock pot add the coconut milk, chicken broth and ginger

3. Allow it to come to a boil and add Tom Yom paste and cayenne. Stir well and cook for an additional 2 minutes

4. Add the mussels to the pot, cover and allow it to cook for 7 - 8 minutes

5. Take it off the heat, spoon the broth into bowls, garnish with cilantro and add the mussels. Discard the ginger if you like, I enjoyed chewing it for extra flavour

6. There is no salt in this recipe as both the chicken broth and the Tom yom paste have added salt

7. Left overs today was good too (mussels are sitting in the bottom of the bowl) 

Butternut Squash Soup with Quinoa

Can you believe we have more than 100 recipes on this blog now? Isn't that awesome? We'd like to thank you, our readers, for supporting us. To our family and friends who are always there, thank you for tasting our food and nagging us with a line "You must share this on your blog!". Well, this soup is one of them.

It's been bitterly cold here in Toronto, Ontario - Canada. May I repeat? Too cold! Never in my 12 years living in Canada, have I ever experienced a deep freeze temperature (-20 Celsius and lower) for a consecutive of 15 to 20 days. Even my son who is 18 months now, blurted his frustration our of the blue one morning "Cold, cold. No more. I no like!". My full-time work is getting busier and I spend quite a few time late in the office till 7 pm. I keep telling myself that it's just a phase and when the weather gets warmer in about a month, things will get better. I keep my fingers crossed. Then, at home, I have been challenged by the most difficult food critic ever! Baby A. Ever since he was 5 months, he had never been picky at all. He ate peas, kale, pumpkins, anything green and yellow you can think of, including rapinis which are bitter. Well, he is now a changed toddler. He starts picking out his peas or any vegetables that are not soft-cooked. I am not sure if it is just a phase or perhaps, he's getting his molars? But then that never stops me cooking vegetables for him. Dinner for him is what's served on the table or no more dinner and he will go to bed hungry.

Warm soups are comforting and I grew up drinking bowls and bowls of soup every day. I made this soup out of ingredients that were available in my fridge at the time. I added quinoa to make it filling and to provide added protein for the little guy's growing needs. With the addition of quinoa, the soup is not as smooth as regular butternut squash soup. However, it is equally good and it fills us up without adding bread (more carbs) into our diet. 

Skill Level: Easy

Serves: 6 - 8

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 tbsp butter
• 2 ribs of celery, sliced
• 1 onion, chopped 
• 4 cloves of garlic, sliced 
• 3 cups chicken broth (replaced with vegetable broth for vegetarian option) 
• 5 cups water 
• 1 medium-large sized butternut squash (about 9 cups of cubed squash)
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 cup uncooked quinoa 
• Salt and pepper, to taste 
• Half & half cream (optional)

METHOD: 

1. In a pot, melt 3 tbsp of butter and sautee onions and garlic for 3 minutes 
2. Add in butternut squash and celery, cook at high heat for 5 minutes till the squash develops slight golden colour 
3. Add in the broth, water, bay leaves, salt and pepper 
4. Close the lid, boil at high heat and then lower to low-medium 
5. Boil for another 30 minutes
6. In the meantime, rinse quinoa in a strainer 
7. Add in the quinoa and boil for another 20 minutes 
8. Taste and add more salt and pepper, if required 
9. Turn off the heat and let the soup cool down for an hour 
10. Discard the bay leaves, transfer to a blender and puree till smooth 
11. Serve the soup with cream drizzled on top 

Meat & Potatoes (with a twist)

Talking to my friend N yesterday, I realized (yet again), how busy our lives are when she described her daily routine that involves work, raising a family, fitting in a long commute as well as after school activities for the kids. It emphasised the importance of having easy to prepare meals. So, I looked in my refrigerator, and the ground beef I had thawing for chili suddenly took on a new life. I wanted to make something simple, easy and nutritious that could be eaten either on its own or with rice, pasta, tortilla or even pita. 
This evening, on our facebook page I said "Got 5 ingredients, make a meal", please humour me, because I lumped onions, garlic and ginger and spices as one ingredient.
This is super simple, and adding a legume of your choice would make this a fibre rich dish. If you have time on the weekend, you can cut up onions and sweet potatoes and put them in a container, reduce prep work and finish this in about a half hour.  The ingredients are frozen peas, sweet potatoes, ground beef, onions/ginger/garlic, tomato sauce, cumin powder, chili flakes and salt. See, almost right on the ingredient count.......

Skill Level: Easy
Serves : 4 - 6

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 lb lean ground beef (can be made with pork, chicken or turkey)
• 1 can tomato sauce (398ml)
• 2 cups of frozen green peas
• 1 large sweet potato diced
• 2 medium onions chopped
• 1/2 inch piece of ginger chopped
• 6 cloves garlic chopped
• 1 Tbsp coconut oil
• 1/2 tsp red chili flakes (optional)
• 1/2 tsp cumin powder
• 1/2 tsp allspice powder
• 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
• 2 tsp salt 
• 2 Tbsp chopped coriander leaves (optional)
• 3 cups boiling water (to boil sweet potatoes)

METHOD: 

1. Add oil to a frying pan and saute onions, ginger and garlic until onions are browned. Add frozen peas and stir until soft. 

2. Add the tomato sauce and mix well. Remove and set aside

3. In the same pan brown the beef until the meat in no longer pink, drain off any excess fat and add back the onion tomato mixture and stir well. Add cumin, turmeric, allspice, chili flakes and salt

4. Put water to a pot and allow to boil, add the diced sweet potatoes and cook until soft, drain and add to the meat 

5. Check and adjust seasoning as needed. Stir in coriander (if using). If it is too thick, add 1/2 cup of water to thin it out. Serve with pita or rice

Quinoa Corn Muffins

Ah, winter, this season keeps on giving and giving with no real end in sight. But this post is not going to start with a lament about too much snow, rather, I'd like to acknowledge our incredible neighbours. These generous souls will brave the winds and the low low temperatures and while clearing up their driveway will clear up ours as well. With their two teens in tow, B & A  have all hands on deck and generally by the time we suit up and get outside, are cheerfully piling up snow left and right. When we tell them that we can take over and finish up they often say, "No, the more the merrier." The only thing merry according to me is their wonderful spirit. So, here's to neigbours who warm your heart despite the frigid temperatures outside - To B & A and their wonderful teens. Thank you!
You remember my mushroom soup from last night? well, we had them with these gluten free quinoa muffins. Recipe courtesy of my sister and mum with alterations made when I realized I had forgotten to pick up zucchini and used cream style corn instead. I added chili flakes for heat and jalapeno pepper for the same reason. Delicious when warm, not bad cold either.

Skill Level: Easy
Makes : 18 regular muffins or 45 mini muffins

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups cooked quinoa (1 cup quinoa cooked with 1 3/4 cups of water or chicken brothe)
• 3 eggs
• 1 can 380g cream style corn or 1 cup zucchini grated (see note above)
  
• 1 cup shredded mozarella or cheddar cheese
• 3 Tbsp grated parmesan
• 3/4 cup ham diced
• 2 Tbsp chopped parsley
• 1/2 cup chopped green onion
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp red chili flakes
• 1/2 jalapeno pepper finely chopped

METHOD: 

1. Cook quinoa and set aside to cool

2. Preheat oven to 350 degres F and line muffin pans with paper or silicon cups

3. In a large bowl add all the ingredient except the quinoa, mix well and then add quinoa and combine until well mixed

4. Using an icecream scoop, fill the mixture into the prepared muffin trays. I had enough for one large tray of 12 and a smaller tray with 6 muffins

5. Bake for approximately 20 - 22 minutes, until edges are golden brown. Turn off the oven and leave the muffins for an additional 5 minutes. A toopick inserted into it should come out clean. 

6. Transfer to a wire rack and cool. Eat while warm.