How to: Make Your Breakfast..at Night!

No matter how much I try, I'm just not a breakfast person... except on weekends when I live for brunch. But on weekdays (when it really counts) it's hard for me to leave myself enough time to have a substantial meal before I rush out the door. As we all know, breakfast is the most important meal of the day and as such...I had to get on board with it somehow.

Cue the Girl Guide value of being prepared!
I find that if I think and prep ahead, I am more likely to ensure I am getting a healthy and hearty breakfast...even if I'm pressed for time in the morning.

Here I share my favourite recipe to make ahead of time...especially when I know I have a busy day ahead. This is a healthy, delicious way to ensure you are getting your morning nutrition before the day gets away from you. Hope you enjoy making this at home and that it helps make your mornings just a little easier.

Panko-crusted Masala Cauliflower Steaks

This week I'm going meat-free and eating delicious, flavourful vegetarian food has become an exciting project to work on. I walked up and down the aisles of my local grocery store looking for inspiration and found it in the international foods aisle where my eyes happened to rest on panko crumbs. They are so easy to work with and add an instant crunch to whatever you're working with. This recipe for masala panko crusted cauliflower steaks will be sure to please the most skeptical vegetarian, but as it really brings the heat--don't be afraid to dial down the amount of spices if you are into a more milder flavour or pair it with something cooling like a cucumber-yogurt dip. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

Cauliflower 

Panko bread crumbs 

Masala mixture-

1/3 tsp garam masala

1/3 tsp corriander powder

1/3 tsp cumin powder

1 tsp tandoori powder

Juice of half a lemon

2 tbsp olive oil 

Salt to taste

Chilli flakes to taste

Mix the spices, oil and lemon juice.

Cut cauliflower into 1 inch thick steaks and baste with the masala mixture and spread them out on a baking sheet.

Roast in the oven at 375 degrees for 20 minutes or until the cauliflower is tender.

Sprinkle Japanese-style panko crumbs on the cauliflower steaks, creating a crust. 

Continue to bake the cauliflower for 5 more minutes, carefully watching to make sure the panko is crisp but not burnt. 

Enjoy and serve with cucumber yogurt dip, corriander chutney or as an accompaniment to a salad.

Recipe: Roasted Red Pepper Soup

Well, it's still winter. I think I'm pretty much over it as I can't wait for spring but I have to say, it's a good thing I love a good bowl of soup. Today, I'm sharing my recipe for Roasted Red Pepper Soup. It's light, flavourful and delicious. Perfect for a cold winter day and just so full of summer flavour. It kind of reminds me of a gazpacho, only hot and eaten in the winter, fall or anytime you are in the mood for a steaming hot bowl of deliciousness.

 

I made a quick video to walk you through the steps for making this soup at home. The key is roasting your own red peppers to bring out the delicious flavours. It takes very little time to do this and you can even roast some extra peppers and store them in olive oil for a quick antipasto. Add a couple of cloves of garlic or some fresh rosemary and chili peppers and you've got yourself a party.

Ah, I digress...here's what you need to make this Roasted Red Pepper Soup at home:

Roasted Red Pepper Soup

Preparation time: 15 minutes Total time: 35 minutes

Ingredients:

6 red bell peppers

3 cups of chicken or vegetable stock

1/2 cup of milk, cream or coconut milk

2-3 cloves of garlic, minced

olive oil

½ teaspoon of chili flakes

¼ teaspoon of cumin

2 tablespoons of fresh flat leaf parsley leaves, chopped

salt and pepper to taste

(you can also add one peeled and boiled potato to this if you'd like a hearty soup, just add it when you add your peppers)

Step One Cut the red peppers into halves and remove and discard the stems and seeds

Step Two place the red peppers cut side down on a lined baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Place them in the oven at 350 degrees for 15 minutes

Step Three Remove the peppers when the skins have shriveled and place them in a brown paper bag, set aside

Step Four In a stockpot, heat a few teaspoons of olive oil and add the cumin, salt and chopped garlic

Step Five Remove the peppers from the paper bag. The steam should have loosened the skins and they should be easy to remove with your fingers. Add the red peppers to the pot

Step Six Add the stock and allow the soup to come to a boil

Step Seven Using an immersion blender, blend the soup until it comes to the consistency you are looking for. I like this soup to be thoroughly blended (You can also blend this in batches in a counter top blender but make sure to vent the lid )

Step Eight Add the milk, cream or almond/coconut milk

Step Nine Check the seasoning and adjust the salt and pepper to taste

Step Ten Portion into bowls and garnish with some chopped parsley

Bon Appetite! 

A Food Adventure in Mexico!

Recently I had the opportunity to travel to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico! It was a beautiful tropical adventure and my first priority was of course to taste the tropics.
On the beach I got the opportunity and I haven't been able to get this taste of Mexico out of my head!
Even watching this video, makes me want to find a mango and prepare it in this way asap.

It will be super easy for you to make this at home as well!

This is a quick way for you to bring the tropics into your own kitchen. All you need is a little Korean chili (dry spice) and lime. If you ask me there is no better souvenir from a trip than a recipe you can make and taste that will bring the adventures back home with you! Click below to watch the famous fruit vendor from the beach make me my own bowl of tropical heaven. Enjoy! And thanks for joining me on this food adventure.

Butternut Squash Soup...in a blender

So I FINALLY used my Vitamix blender for what I bought it for today and the results were awesome! I made a fresh, homemade RAW hot soup at home in ten minutes. Don't have a fancy blender? 

You can still blend up a quick soup just like this in no time! 

On the weekend, roast up some butternut squash and keep it in the fridge in a sealed container. Then, on a night you are too tired to really cook, peel the skin off half an onion, chop an apple (cored) and put them in a blender with about 1/2 cup of chicken or vegetable broth. Blend it until it liquifies and then add your reserved roasted butternut squash, some fresh or dried rosemary and 2 cups more of the stock of your choice. Blend away before transferring to a pot to heat through and finish with salt and pepper and a little milk or coconut milk(if you're vegan). Dinner will be ready in half the time because you didn't chop your onion or squash and you didn't have to wait for it to cook on the stove.

Serve it with some bread or salad and it's perfect for a cold winter weeknight. 

How to roast your butternut squash:

1) using a few passes of a sharp knife (be careful) slice your squash in half lengthwise

2) using a spoon or a serated knife, remove the seeds from the squash

3)pierce the outer skin of the squash with a fork a few times (both halves)

4) place them flesh facing down on a baking sheet that is lined with parchment paper

5) allow the squash to roast in the oven at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes

6) when they are done the squash flesh will be a bright orange colour

7) allow it to cool a bit and then use a spoon to scoop out the roasted flesh of the butternut squash

8) reserve in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 4 days and use it in a soup or other dishes

Enjoy!

Love is in the air...

Valentine's Day is just around the corner, so of course- love is in the air.
I personally, love this time of year. There's something about white snow, red and pink window displays and chocolate that can put anyone in a good mood. One of my favourite things actually, is to see men both young and old crowding around the flower displays in grocery stores, trying to buy that perfect bouquet for their significant other.

I know some say it's a commercial holiday but to me, there ain't nothing wrong with something that makes you want to write a card, listen to a love song, pick a flower or cook something special for the one you love.

I always like to bake or make something a little extra special for those I love and so today is the perfect day to prep a few things in my kitchen for the day of love.

One of the most delicious and undoubtably symbolic foods at valentines is chocolate. Especially chocolate fondue. It's hard to work with at home if you don't have a fool proof technique. Chocolate can burn easily and the smell is anything but romantic. Many may think if they buy a "proper" fondue kit they will be all set. While it's great to have a nice fondue kit for dinner parties, I for one just don't have the space to store it in my teeny tiny kitchen cupboards.

So, this Valentine's Day I'm sharing with you my quick and easy tips for melting chocolate. I use this to make chocolate covered strawberries but you can also use this as a chocolate dip for pretzels or any other chopped fruit. If you want, you can even set up a fruit platter and have your special someone dip their own fruits with a small skewer or toothpick.

All you need to make this happen are chocolate chips, a medium size bowl, a spoon or small silicon spatula and a saucepan. I'm on a bit of a health kick so I chose to work with dark chocolate chips today. Dark chocolate (look for at least 70% cocoa) has great health benefits as it contains flavonols which are powerful antioxidants. Recent research has shown that a daily dose of dark chocolate can help lower and maintain blood pressure, increases blood flow to the brain and can help control stress. Plus- it tastes good. If, however you are not into dark chocolate you can use milk chocolate (I feel this is a little too sweet) or semi-sweet.

                                    

Fill your saucepan about 1/3 of the way with water and bring it to a simmer (low to medium heat). Place your chocolate chips (I'd use about half of a 250 g package) into the bowl and lower the bowl into the water. This is called a double boiler in the food industry. Using a double boiler is a great way to melt chocolate because it keeps the chocolate itself away from direct heat. Use your spoon or spatula to gently stir your chocolate chips until they melt.

Once your chocolate has melted (it really only takes a few minutes) you can dry off your bowl and add it to your fruit platter. You will want to heat your chocolate immediately before serving so you have ample time to dip away. If your chocolate does harden again, just bring it back to the double boiler and reheat.

If you'd like to make chocolate dipped fruit, use a skewer to dip the fruit into the boil once the chocolate has melted. Place the fruit skewer on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Keep dipping until your baking sheet or plate is full (you don't want your chocolate dipped treats to be touching each other) and then move it into the fridge to set. Once your chocolate has hardened, you can transfer your treats to a serving dish or pack them into a container to give as a gift.

Heart-Shaped Vegetables

Who doesn't love a little extra love on Valentine's Day? The perfect way to spread a little love and joy is with vegetables cut into the shape of hearts of course! I find zucchini to be really good for this as it's easy to cut and therefore safer to work with. Today, however, I had carrots on hand, and they added a very fun, lovable touch to this hearty soup. Given the weather out there this weekend, this is the perfect way to introduce a nice hearty comfort food to your Valentine celebrations.

Start by washing, peeling and trimming your carrots. If you are using zucchini, I would leave the peel as the green edges offer a nice contrast to your final dish.

Carefully (carrots have a tendency to roll), cut a 45 degree edge into the carrot that goes all the way through the length of the vegetable.

Using a vegetable peeler or a smaller paring knife, cut off the angles to form the tip of the heart at the bottom. If you are just learning to do this and not so comfortable with a knife, I'd highly recommend using a vegetable peeler and peeling away until you get a straight edge.

Cut small bite sized pieces off of your vegetable and voila! Heart- shaped carrots!

I found I had to go back and fix a few that didn't have enough of  wedge cut out, but that was simple enough to do.

Hope this brings you a little warmth this soup season and results in some smiles on your loved ones' faces. Enjoy!

"You're Mine"-estrone Soup

I'm not sure about where you live, but where I live- it's freezing this weekend! To beat the cold and stay warm, I'm making a hearty (Valentine pun-intended) minestrone soup for lunch. The perfect way to add a little extra love?

Heart-shaped carrots! (The how-to will be in my next post) The recipe is down below. You can easily make this a vegan soup, but I am so partial to a little grated cheese melting it's way into this hot, soupy deliciousness...I can't give it up! But this is a completely vegetarian dish. Enjoy!

Minestrone Soup 

Preparation time: 15 minutes Total time: 30 minutes

Makes 8 servings

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

½ of a bunch of spinach washed, chopped

4 cups of vegetable stock or chicken stock

1 can of kidney beans, drained and rinsed

2 celery stalks, chopped

2 carrots, chopped

1 onion, finely diced

2 cloves of garlic, diced

1 green chili pepper, chopped or ½ teaspoon of chili flakes

1 tablespoon of fresh parsely, chopped

2 tablespoons of tomato paste

2 bay leaves, dried or fresh

1 can diced tomatoes

3 cups of water or vegetable stock

½ cups of pasta of your choice, cooked

salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Step One Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, celery, carrots, garlic and chili and cook for a few minutes until the vegetables have softened

Step Two Then add the tomato paste and stir to allow all the vegetables to be coated. Cook for 3-5 minutes

Step Three Add the beans, chopped tomatoes, salt and pepper and stir gently

Step Four Add the water or vegetable stock and increase the heat to medium-high, allowing the soup to cook for about 10 minutes

Step Five Arrange the Spinach and cooked pasta in bowls and spoon the hot soup over top, allowing the heat from the soup to gently cook the greens. Alternatively, if you plan to eat all of the soup in one sitting, you can add the greens at the very end of the cooking process in order to keep their nutritional content high and their colour a bright green. Garnish with a little chopped parsley and grated cheddar cheese (if desired)