Couscous Salad

I'm back with a brand new recipe! August has kept me super busy with commitments and work.

I was finally able to get down to posting a few recipes.

This recipe is so adaptable and is perfect for a well-rounded lunch, or dinner side dish. It contains vegetables, grains and protein. It is adaptable because you can pretty much throw any combination of vegetables  or beans into it.

My vegetable combination for this recipe is heirloom carrots, bought fresh from the Jean-Talon farmer's market in Montreal, radishes, red onions and red peppers. I used chickpeas for my recipe, but white or red kidney beans would be equally delicious. The only thing is that chickpeas can handle being tossed around in the salad, whereas I find that kidney beans are more prone to becoming mush.

I used Israeli couscous for my recipe because I love how big the granules are. Technically, Israeli couscous is a pasta, not a grain like regular pasta, but it is great for soaking up sauces, like the dressing to this salad.

This salad is best served at least room temperature, if not cold. The best way to do this in a hurry is to stick the couscous in the freezer and then do all your prep work for the vegetables, giving it time to cool off.

Here is my recipe for Couscous Salad.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Israeli couscous
2/3 cup boiling water
1/2 cup chickpeas
1 medium red onion, diced and seperated into two halves
1 red bell pepper, diced
3 small heirloom carrots(regular ones are fine too), thinly sliced
5 radishes, thinly sliced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
dash red chili flakes

Dressing Ingredients

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp pure maple sirop, nothing with an Aunt on it!
1 tsp Dijon mustard
dash freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

In a small pot, heat olive oil at medium-high and add half of the red onion and the chili flakes. Saute for a couple of minutes and then add the couscous. Coat the couscous with the olive oil and let toast until a medium brown. Add garlic, continually combining. Add boiling water, lower to low heat, and cover. Let cook for 10 minutes.

Once cooked put the couscous into the final large bowl and put into the freezer for a quick chill, or into the fridge.

Combine all of the diced vegetables, including the other half of the onion, into the bowl wih the couscous. Drain and rinse chickpeas and add them to the bowl.

Combine all the dressing ingredients and whisk until combined. Pour dressing over the salad and mix thoroughly.

This salad tastes better if it sits and the dressing is allowed to absorb into the couscous, so I suggest making it at least an hour ahead of time and letting it chill in the refridgerator.

Enjoy!

Potato, Kale & Spinach Galette

Ok I know I said that I would not be posting anymore recipes until I got back from my trip, however I ended up experimenting with the hottest food of the moment, kale.

Kale is packed with nutrients and all kinds of good stuff and it is making appearances all over the media as the next big superfood.

I bought a bunch of kale a week ago and tried to make kale chips with it. They turned out well, and they are definitely a novelty, but without copious amounts of salt and oil, they don't taste as great as they've been made out to be.

I decided to go a different route and introduce kale into a recipe where I generally use spinach. I did have only half a head of kale though, so suplemented with some spinach.

The recipe turned out nicely and it is a pretty presentation for guests.

Here is my recipe for Potato, Kale & Spinach Galette

Ingredients

1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 large onion sliced
2 large cloves of garlic
1 tbsp of grated fresh ginger
1tsp cumin
1tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp tumeric
pinch salt
pinch cayenne pepper
1 whole kale/bag of spinach/frozen box of spinach or any combination of the both
(In all honesty amounts of the leafy greens don't matter that much, they all wilt into nothingness anyway!)
3 potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
3 tbsp melted butter

Directions

Preheat oven to 425F

Heat oil in medium-large ovenproof skillet on medium-high heat (you can ovenproof any skillet by wrapping a few layers of tinfoil around the handle).

Add onions, spices and garlic and let cook until tender.

Add leafy greens and stir until wilted.

Transfer mixture to a bowl, but keep the skillet on the heat.

Layer half of the slices of potato one on top of the other in a circular way to cover the entire bottom of the skillet. Add back the kale mixture and spread it around, over the potatoes. Use the remaining potatoes to complete a top layer over the entire galette.

Pour the butter over top.

Bake in the centre rack of the oven for 50 minutes, until potatoes are tender.

Let sit for about 30 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!

Okonomiyaki

I travelled to Japan in February 2010 on an amazing trip that took me through many gorgeous parts of the country. The trip began in Tokyo (which I mostly missed due to air plane issues!) and was followed by stops in Nagano, Matsumoto, Hiroshima, Kyoto, Yokohama and many small places in between.

Japan was my dream trip, I had been wanting to travel there for years. It did not dispoint. It was exactly the adventure I was looking for. A place so different from North America with new things to see and discover. With our world feeling so small these days thanks to television and the internet, seeing new things has really become a luxury.

One of my favorite meals in Japan was on my very first night, in Tokyo. We went to eat okonomiyaki, which in Japanese means "as you like it". This is such a fun and interactive dish. Basically you start off with the base batter, and just about anything can be mixed in. The end result is kind of like a savoury pancake/fritata type thing. Here are some pictures of my first okonomiyaki experience.

*please note that I look TERRIBLE in these pictures...RE: plane issues and arrivng to Tokyo late.

Flipping through my trusty Chatelaine magazine, I stumbled upon a make-at-home okonomiyaki recipe. I was super excited to give it a go. While I don't have all the set up of an okonomiyaki restaurant, it was rather simple to give this a try. I did make some changes of course.

Here is my version of okonomiyaki with help from Chatelaine (December 2010)

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour
1tsp baking powder
1tsp granulated sugar
1/2 tsp salt
6 eggs
1 head of Napa cabbage shredded
3 green onions chopped
3 carrots, grated or sliced into strips with a vegetable peeler
You can add most any other vegetable to this mix, I would try leeks, thinly sliced potatoes or sweet potatoes.
1 tsp butter
6 tbsp ketchup
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp soy sauce

Directions

Preheat oven to 350F

Stir together flour, baking powder, sugar and salt.

Whisk eggs with 2 tbsp water in a large bowl. Whisk in flour mixture until just combined, then stir in the vegetables.

Heat a large ovenproof frying pan (you can ovenproof a frying pan with a plastic handle by wrapping it in tinfoil tightly about three times) over medium-high and melt butter.

Pour the batter into the frying pan, making sure to "juge" the pan a little to make it flat on top. Let this cook for five minutes to get golden on the bottom.

Whisk together ketchup, Worcestershire sauce and soy sauce.

Drizzle half of the sauce mixture around the top of the pancake and spread it around with a spatula.

Insert the the frying pan into the oven on the centre rack. Bake until egg mixture is set, or around 35-40 minutes. The edges should be golden brown.

Flip the okomiyaki onto a plate and brush the remainder of the sauce on top giving it a golden-y colour. I used some awesome Japanese seven spice to sprinkle on top, but if you don't have that, you can use freshly ground black pepper and a little cayenne. The restaurant in Japan had dry fish flakes to sprinkle on top, and they danced in the heat.

Slice and serve.

Tofu for the Unashamed

When you talk about vegetarian cooking with non-vegetarians, the elephant in the room is...tofu. Most people will complain that it is taste-less, or bland, and that they just don't like it. Which, fair enough, nobody likes everything, but I firmly maintain that most non-vegetarians have never actually had tofu prepared well at home. A friend of mine gave me a good basic recipe for tofu preparation that can be easily adapted to match your tastes.

Ingredients:

1 block firm tofu, cubed (NOT silken) + salty, spicy, sweet, sour, seasoning (honestly, honestly I did not realise that they all start with S until I wrote it all out) and oil. Here is my go-to standard:

-soy sauce (I find straight soy sauce too salty, so I always use a 1:1 dilution with water)

-chili pepper/hot sauce

-maple syrup/honey

-lemon juice/rice wine vinegar

-salt and freshly ground pepper

-olive + sesame oil

Instructions:

As far as amounts, I usually eyeball it with soy sauce as the major component and add everything else directly into a baking dish a couple of teaspoons at a time until it's to my taste, so lots of wiggle room. The dish should be large enough so that you don't have more than two layers of tofu cubes; otherwise, double up. You want to have at least a centimeter of liquid in the bottom of the baking dish. Then dump in the cubed tofu, cover with foil and bake at 350F/180C for 25-30 minutes, stirring once at the 15 minute mark. When it starts to smell really good in your kitchen, you've reached your mark. What is also excellent is adding in a chopped red onion, some minced ginger, and as many garlic cloves as you can stand (I love roasted garlic, so I usually go with a full clove) into the marinade with the tofu.

It's done when most of the liquid is gone, the tofu is a nice golden colour, and when pierced with a fork is very soft. It is important that it not burn, because while a little caramelization on the outside of the tofu cubes is delicious and gives a nice crispy bite, burnt tofu is nobody's very rubbery friend. If you find that there is still a lot of liquid in the bottom of the dish after about half an hour, take off the foil and turn the broiler on for a few minutes (or do this if you really like crunchy bits - I do).

Other tasty add ins, alone or together:

-cubed sweet potato

-cubed winter squash

-oyster mushrooms

-broccoli

This is a great main dish for a meat-less meal with a salad and rice or quinoa. I dare you not to like this, and I dare anyone else not to too. And if they say "Eh, it's okay, but I'd rather have a steak" that's okay - next time just don't share.

Bonan apetiton!

Butternut Squash Stuffed with Spinach and Feta Cheese

I bought a Butternut Squash a few weeks ago and tried it for the first time. It was delicious! I caramelized it with butter and brown sugar and popped it in the oven for about 45 minutes. I had never really had the opportunity or desire to try the vegetable (well technically it is actually a fruit), but once I did I was pleasantly surprised. I learned that the squash can last a few weeks in your home after you buy it, and that it is best when the outside skin is a little bit darker. When you cut the squash open it's flesh should be deep orange. I decided to try another recipe, apparently popular in South Africa. The original recipe called for this to be grilled over hot coals wrapped in foil, it also called for the squash to be cut in half, and then only the hollow part would get stuffed. I kind of turned this around a little bit so that each section of the squash would have filling in it. This dish is perfect as a main dish for a vegetarian meal, or as a side dish with meat.

Here is my version of Butternut Squash Stuffed with Spinach and Feta Cheese.

Ingredients

(all approximations, feel free to adjust anything, either more or less, or even omit to your taste)

1 Butternut Squash

1 package of frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained

1 medium onion

4 cloves of garlic (I LOVE garlic and add much more to anything I make then most people like. Obviously feel free to adjust the garlic level to your liking.)

1/4 cup of crumbled Greek feta cheese

1/2 palm full dried rosemary

1/2 tsp crushed chili flakes

sprinkling of brown sugar

butter or butter flavoured cooking spray

pepper

salt

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 375F.

Cut the squash in half width-wise, roughly midway between the bulb-y side at the bottom, and leaving the same amount of space on the long side at the top. Peel the squash using whatever method you find easiest. It has quite a thick peel so it takes some elbow grease (not an ingredient). I used a regular vegetable peeler, but had to go over the whole thing about three times. It is much easier to peel when the squash is cut in half. When you peel it the first time the flesh will be much lighter in colour then the middle of the squash. Keep peeling until you reach a darker orange colour. You want to make sure you get to that part so that the outside part won't be hard and chewy after it cooks.

Once the squash is peeled, cut both pieces in half, this time length-wise exposing the the hollow seed area in the bottom half, and a smooth surface on the top half. Scoop the seeds out of the lower half. In my first squash experience there were barely any seeds, however, when I made this dish, there were a deceivingly large amount of seeds in that little hollow area. Scrape the spoon in the hollow to get rid of the 'guts'. This is again a little tough since the squash is rather hard, but it should only take a couple of minutes. On the top half, cut a well out in both halves. Use a knife, a spoon won't be sharp enough. I left about 2cm distance on all sides, and ensure that you don't go so deep that you pierce the other side. The well will not be perfect by any means and it might take you a couple of tries to get out all the 'meat' but it doesn't matter since it will all get covered with the stuffing. Dice the squash that you dug out of the well into small pieces and set aside.

Place all four quarters in a lightly buttered (or sprayed) baking dish. The butter flavour goes nicely with the sweetness of the squash, plus it won't stick.

Dice or mince (chop as small as you can, but it doesn't have to be perfect) the onion and the garlic. While you are doing this heat your frying pan to about medium high (or high enough to cook your onions through but not too high so the garlic doesn't burn). dd some butter to the frying pan, and add the dried chili flakes. They will infuse the butter with their flavour, and you don't just get chunks of chili flake in the finished product. Once the butter is melted and the pan is hot, add the onions and saute until they start to turn translucent. Add the diced pieces of squash and the garlic, and continue to saute. Adjust the heat if it seems too high, you don't want the butter or garlic to burn. Once the onions and garlic are cooked through, add the thawed and drained chopped spinach and dried rosemary, and the crumbled feta cheese. Mix until combined and heated through.

Take the frying pan off the heat and set it up next to your baking dish. Add salt and pepper to taste in the stuffing and mix thoroughly. Season with salt and pepper in the hollowed-out area of each piece of squash as well. Spoon the stuffing into each well, insuring that there is enough to fill each to the top. Any leftover stuffing can be piled higher onto the pieces. Sprinkle each piece with brown sugar so they will caramelize.

Bake the squash for about an hour, depending on your oven, at 375F. To check to see if your squash is done, poke at the flesh with a sharp knife, if it goes through easily, the squash should be done. This serves four as a main course, but you can cut each piece in half for a side dish, depending on the size of your squash.

Bon appétit!