Category Archives: Salads and Main Courses

March 9, 2011 · 3:22 pm

How to Make a Cheese Plate: Advice From the Globe and Mail

As anyone who knows me, knows, I love my cheese. My digestive system doesn’t love cheese, but I sure do. We had a little gathering a while back where I put out large hunks of too many kinds of cheese. I knew it was wrong and yet, I let it happen. Well, no more!

Sue Riedl, food writer for The Globe and Mail has thankfully come to my rescue and wrote a step-by-step guide on how to tastefully put this together. So for all of you wondering, here is the Globe article.

Or you can read the whole article by Sue right here:

How much cheese?

No matter how many guests you have, stick to three to five cheeses

If your cheese board is your main appetizer or acting as a course in your meal, you can assume about 1 to 1-1/2 ounces per cheese per person.

If you are leaving the cheese board out for a larger group or people are dropping in over a long period of time, have your cheese monger cut each cheese into two wedges (or buy two wheels of a smaller cheese like Camembert). This way you can easily refresh your cheese tray half way through the night to keep it looking inviting. Continue reading →

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February 20, 2011 · 5:15 pm

Hardcore French Fry Lovers, There is an Oven Fry That Will Rock Your World

Who doesn’t love French Fries? One year for Dave’s birthday I bought a ten lb bag of Russet potatoes and set upon the task of perfecting the deep-fried French Fry.  Dave,  on the other hand, in the interests of longevity,  set himself the equal task of perfecting the oven-baked French Fry. Admittedly, I was sceptical. What self-respecting French Fry lover wouldn’t be?

And yet, the other night, my sweetie came up with a break-through recipe that gives any self-respecting deep-fried potato a run for its money. “What’s your secret?” I asked? “Pre-cooking, my little love biscuit.”  he answered.  “And for how long?” I ventured, still sceptical.

“Until they’re soft on the outside but still hard on the inside, approximately 10 minutes of boiling.”

So forthwith my French Fry loving friends, is an oven-baked French Fry  recipe that will give the ordinary deep-fried street fry a run for its money.

Oven-Fries for two people with mayonnaise, lemon, garlic sauce. Continue reading →

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February 6, 2011 · 5:33 pm

Lebanese Hummus – gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan, vegetarian

Those of you who know me, understand my passion for hummus. I have searched high and low for the perfect home-made and commercial recipes. My friend at the Mediterranean deli on Commercial Drive takes the prize for the best fresh made hummus available in a store and Fontaine Sante takes the second prize for mass produced commercially made hummus. But how about the hummus you make at home?

I finally came across this recipe right here at food.com which I love. I also came across this awesome blog called , yes, The Hummus blog. It might be possible that there are people out there who love hummus almost as much as I do. Based out of Israel, The Hummus blog, brings the full cultural weight of hummus’ cultural history to the fore and with it you’ll read some wonderful comments on the history and origins of hummus.

But for now, here is the recipe for Lebanese Hummus.

Directions:

Prep Time: 5 mins 

Total Time: 5 mins

  1. Using a blender, blend the first six ingredients.
  2. Serve in a large flat bowl.
  3. Sprinkle paprika over the finished product and serve with bread.
  4. If needed, add more lemon and salt to increase a tartier tastes.
  5. For softer texture, add more oil.

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January 28, 2011 · 6:09 pm

Israeli Salad

For Christmas dinner Dave and I each chose different dishes to prepare. I chose paella as a main and he chose Israeli Salad and Gluten-free ginger cake for dessert. The Israeli Salad seems so basic that I was surprised that we hadn’t run into it somewhere before along our culinary travels but we hadn’t. The best way of describing it is ‘fresh’. It’s fresh and wonderful. He got the recipe from allrecipes.com where they have the handy portion calculator.

This recipe serves two:

Ingredients

Ingredients

  • 2-1/2 cucumbers, diced
  • 1-1/2 roma (plum) tomatoes, seeded and diced
  • 2 green onions, sliced
  • 3/8 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
  • 2 tablespoons and 1/2 teaspoon chopped garlic
  • 1/3 cup and 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
  • 3 tablespoons and 1/2 teaspoon minced fresh mint leaves
  • 3 tablespoons and 1/2 teaspoon olive oil
  • 2-1/2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
  • 1-1/4 teaspoons salt
  • 1-1/4 teaspoons ground black pepper

Directions:

Toss the cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, bell pepper, garlic, parsley, and mint together in a bowl. Drizzle the olive oil and lemon juice over the salad and toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper to serve. Dave chopped all the vegetables in quite small pieces which I really liked. That way each bite you get a little taste of everything.

Check out some more great recipes on allrecipes.com. We’ll be having this with Easy Pasta and Scallops tonight!


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January 20, 2011 · 5:01 pm

Easy Pasta and Scallops

You can whip this dish up in about 35 minutes total and it’s amazingly flavourful. This can be also converted very easily into a gluten-free and dairy-free entrée which is the version that I made.

The recipe comes from allrecipes.com which provides all the nutritional specs on the meal and which also has a very handy calculator that adjusts the recipe for however many people you are cooking for. Thanks allrecipes, this one is a keeper.

I based my ingredients on dinner for 2. Make sure to adapt the recipe using the ingredient calculator. The instructions are based on the original recipe which serves 8 (don’t worry, you do all the same things!).

Ingredients

1/4 (16 ounce) package farfalle (bow tie) pasta (I used Tinkyada brown rice spirals pasta)
6 scallops, rinsed and drained
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon dried minced garlic (I used 2 cloves fresh garlic)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
1-1/2 teaspoons dried basil (I used 2 tbsp freshly minced basil)
2 tablespoons and 3/4 teaspoon whipped butter (non-butter eaters can use Earth Balance Margarine….trust me it still tastes great!)

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cook pasta in boiling water until al dente. Drain, rinse, and transfer to a large serving bowl.

Place scallops in a large bowl. In a small bowl, mix together 1/4 cup olive oil, lemon juice, 1 teaspoon garlic, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and the black pepper. Pour mixture over scallops. Arrange scallops in a single layer in a large baking dish or plate. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon basil over scallops so that only one side is sparsely coated with basil.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high, and melt one tablespoon of butter/Earth Balance in the pan. Place scallops basil-side down, and cook for about 3 to 4 minutes until dark golden brown. Turn scallops, and cook the other side.
In a small saucepan, melt remaining butter with 1/2 cup olive oil, 1 tablespoon basil, 1/2 teaspoon garlic, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
Toss pasta with butter and olive oil mixture. Divide pasta onto plates, and top with scallops.

Serve with a green salad and warm, fresh baguette! Now relax and enjoy:)

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November 5, 2010 · 4:17 pm

Lemon Kale with Chickpeas (Vegetarian Stew)

Call me crazy but I just discovered Canadian Living online recipes. Thanks to my friend Diane that’s where I found this one which I have slightly adapted. It’s a surprisingly simple recipe but absolutely delicious.

Ingredients
• olive oil (to cover bottom of pan)
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 bunch kale finely chopped (and washed)
• grated rind of one whole lemon
• 1 can chick peas, drained and rinsed
• juice of one lemon
• cups liquid (water)
• 1 organic veggie cube
Method:
Heat the oil over medium heat; cook onion, garlic, salt and pepper for about 4 minutes or until softened.

Stir in kale and lemon rind; cook, stirring, for about 2 minutes or until slightly wilted. Pour in water and add veggie cube; cover and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 15 minutes or until kale is tender.

Stir in chickpeas and lemon juice; cook over medium-high heat for about 2 minutes or until no liquid remains. Drizzle with olive oil. Using a masher slightly mash some of the chickpeas.

I served this with boiled potatoes and a grated carrot and beet salad (dressed with olive oil and balsamic). We ate this for two days straight and loved every bite!

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November 2, 2010 · 6:41 pm

Easy Pasta with Toasted Pecans, Sun-dried Tomatoes, Goat Cheese

I usually make a version of this recipe every few weeks. It’s one of those last minute meals you can make when you don’t think you have anything in your house and then you scout around and before you know it you have instant, easy delicious pasta dinner!

Have fun with this recipe because you can adjust qty’s and substitutions to suit your taste.

Serves 2

boil 2 cups penne (Tinkyada pasta for gluten-free diners..they’re the best!)

1/4 cup roughly chopped toasted pecans (I’ve also used pine nuts)
1/4 cup chevre (or feta if you have it)
1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes roughly chopped
2 tbsp finely chopped basil
2 tbsp finely chopped parsley
salt and pepper to taste
Drizzle with a little olive oil

Optional: I frequently add cooked prawns to this dish. Chicken eaters could probably add pieces of boneless chicken breast as well. I’m also a bit of a crazy garlic lady so I often throw in two cloves of finely minced garlic but raw garlic isn’t for everybody.

Method:
Boil pasta and set aside. Finely chop sun dried tomatoes, toasted pecans, parsley and basil. Add to pasta. Break up the chevre and add to pasta. Pan fry prawns and/or chicken and add to pasta. Mix it all up and serve with a yummy salad and some crusty bread.

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October 25, 2010 · 10:58 pm

Three Course Vegetarian Dinner including Jamie Oliver’s Lemon Linguine

Due to dietary restrictions and laziness Dave and I frequently serve the same dish over and over again when we have people for dinner. Well enough already. Recently we opted for something a little different and in the spirit of adventure we decided on a three course vegetarian dinner.

We started off with Warm Goat Cheese and Brie Salad Drizzled with Honey Lavender Dressing. This was followed by several sips of wine after which we served up Roasted Butternut Squash Soup. We repeated step number two (the wine bit) and finished with Jamie Oliver’s Lemon Linguine with Olive Oil and Parmesan. We repeated step number two again until warm glow was achieved.

Dessert was a delicious gluten-free, dairy free chocolate cake with heaps of icing from the fabulous gluten-free bakery on Lonsdale and 11th.

For those of you who are interested here is the recipe for Jamie’s Linguine:

500g dried linguine pasta (for myself I used Tinkyada gluten-free spaghetti pasta)
juice of 3 Sicilian lemons and zest of 1 (I didn’t know where to find Sicilian lemons so I used regular organic lemons)
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
125g Parmesan cheese, grated
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
large bunch of fresh basil, leaves picked and finely chopped
handful of arugula

PS that is Jamie’s picture by the way, not mine.

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September 14, 2010 · 5:21 pm

Quinoa and Toasted Pecan Salad with Herbs

I’m on a bit of a quinoa tare right now. I found this recipe on About Food and it is delicious!

  • 2 cups quinoa, cooked (I added a veggie cube to the quinoa when it was cooking)
  • 1/2 cup pecans (pine nuts or almonds may be substituted) ( I actually toasted almonds and pecans)
  • 3 tbsp fresh mint, chopped
  • 1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
  • 3 scallions (green onions), chopped
  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 tsp garlic salt
  • salt and pepper, to taste

Preparation:

In a large bowl, combine the cooked quinoa, nuts, parsley and mint.In a separate bowl, whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice and garlic salt, then pour over quinoa. Gently toss this dressing over the quinoa. Season with salt and peppa.Chill for at least 15 minutes before serving to let the flavors blend. Toss again before serving

I served this with this.

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August 27, 2010 · 9:12 pm

Grilled Salmon with Maple Syrup, Dijon and Chipotle Glaze

Dave has been making this super fast, easy and delicious grilled salmon recipe for a zillion years and it’s still one of my favourites. This recipe calls for salmon fillets, real maple syrup, dijon mustard and chipotle pepper but we often substitute the chipotle pepper with liquid smoke. You can find liquid smoke in the same area of your grocery store where you get Worcester, BBQ sauces etc.

You can check out the video recipe right here About Food Or read Chef John Mitzewich’s recipe right here. Continue reading →

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