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Wednesday 31 August 2011

Will Run For Garlic Flatbread


Not only will I run for garlic flatbread but I'll wait in line for 20 minutes for garlic flatbread.  It's easy to wait in line when you're eating a garlic pickle on a stick (brilliant) and you've just eaten a warm creamy square of garlic fudge.  

There weren't any pickles on sticks or garlic fudge today but there was delicious leftover garlic flatbread.

If you have 3 1/2 hours to spare this is the recipe for you.

Flatbread
(makes 2 fairly large sized breads)

ingredients

1 tsp active dry yeast (really important that it hasn't expired)
1 C + 1/4 tepid water (same temperature as the water you get from your running partner)
3 C brown bread flour
1tsp salt
2 Tbsp olive oil
Finishing Salts/sea salt

Topping

ingredients

1 small tomato diced
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp earth balance (butter)
1 large clove of pressed garlic

Place water in a bowl, sprinkle with yeast, add 1 cup of flour and wait patiently for at least 2 hours.  You should place the bowl in a warm area.


After lounging around for 2 hours because you've been 'busy' making bread add remaining 2 cups of flour with salt and stir into yeast mixture.  Add 2 Tbsp olive oil and up to 1/4 C of water so that the dough sticks together.

On a lightly floured surface knead dough for 5 minutes (I used the same technique that I use for wedging   clay for pottery probably not exactly the same thing as kneading).  Place in an oiled bowl, cover with a dishcloth and let sit for approximately 1 hr (just long enough to go for a 7K run or long enough to get changed and think about going for a run).

waiting


Preheat oven to 400F.   Sprinkle baking stones with cornmeal.  Divide dough into two balls.  Roll to desired thickness (about 1/4 inch).

Top each flatbread with fresh rosemary, chopped tomatoes, garlic earth balance/olive oil, and finishing salts.  Bake for approximately 25 minutes.

garlic butter, rosemary, and tomatoes


da, da, da, la!



delicious garlicky wedges

Thursday 25 August 2011

Will Run For Zucchini Mash, Hash, & Succotash


I thought that I would share part of my favourite zucchini poem (doesn't everyone have a favourite zucchini poem?) written by George Shannon and illustrated by Sam Williams. 

It begins....

Zucchini
Meeny
Miney
Moe.
Plant a seed
And watch it grow
And ends with...
Zucchini juice.


Zucchini mouse.

Zucchini jam and scone.
Zucchini hash
And succotash
Zucchini
Meeny
Miney
MOAN!
I'm not going to lie. I don't really like zucchini.  I especially don't like zucchini in vast quantities (there is a reason for international put a zucchini in your neighbour's mailbox day).  I might have spent almost every Saturday singing the praises of summer squash at the local market last summer but that was only because I wanted other people to buy the summer squash so I wouldn't have to eat it.  A girl can only eat so many slices of zucchini loaf. 
Then I discovered Mama Peas' Summer Succotash Quesadillas with Nacho Mmm Sauce recipe from her blog www.peasandthankyou.com .  But why would I follow a delicious recipe when I could wing it (so that I can enjoy a very empty and clean refrigerator that's why)?

Mash, Hash & Succotash
(Serves 4)
ingredients

1 small yellow zucchini 
1 small green zucchini
2 large portobello mushrooms
1 medium cooking onion
1/2 large ripe tomato 
1 Tbsp sunflower oil
Daiya mozzarella shreds 

Begin by slicing zucchini, mushrooms and onions.  Dice tomatoes.  In a large frying pan over medium heat warm oil.  Saute onions and mushrooms until soft.  Add zucchinis and tomato.  Saute ingredients until zucchinis are soft but not limp (disgusting!)

saute your vegetables






Mash, Hash & Succotash Sauce
(approximately 1 C)

ingredients

1 ripe avocado
1/2 C chunky salsa
1/4 C nutritional yeast
1 large garlic clove
1 Tbsp lime juice
chipotle chili powder (decorative)

Blend all ingredients in blender until desired consistency is reached.  You may have to scrape down the blender.


blend salsa, garlic, nutritional yeast, avocado, and lime juice


decorative chipotle is hot!




Ezekial Wrap Chips

ingredients

4 Ezekial wraps cut into triangles
1/2 tsp unrefined sunflower oil
cumin
chili powder

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Lightly brush Ezekial wraps with oil.  Sprinkle wraps with cumin and chilli powder.  Bake in oven at 350 F on baking stone until the edges begin to curl and turn brown (5 minutes or less).


baked Ezekial tortilla with sunflower oil, cumin & chilli powder 

Top Ezekial chips with Succotash.  Add a dollop of Mash, Hash, & Succotash sauce.  Top with Daiya shreds or cheese.  Broil on high until cheese is melted.





meeny, miney, moan!

Wednesday 24 August 2011

Will Run for Apple Cinnamon Dip


Summer vacation is almost over (gag!).  I've spent the summer filling up the sarcasm tank and mentally preparing for another ten months of 7 & 8 year olds (if anyone can really prepare for that). 

  The end of summer vacation means the beginning of cake club and staff room treats.  Sometimes you need a slice of coconut cream cake after you've just spend the last 40 minutes teaching two dimensional shapes to an opera singing ballerina chicken.  

While I'm not really one to pass up cake I love to share healthy treats with my students and my co-workers (who I am pretty sure think that I come from another planet most of the time.  It could be the homemade deodorant, my bright green shorty running shorts, my funky metal lunchpail or  101 other things).

On that note you'll find a delicious recipe for cinnamon dip below to go with the deliciously imperfect apples that are sitting on my counter.  Apples that have lumps and bumps and are not the size of a small child's head.

deliciously imperfect

While apples are delicious on their own dip makes everything better especially cinnamon dip!

Apple Cinnamon Dip
(makes 2 cups with some extra for taste testing)

ingredients

*Silken Tofu Extra Firm (for grilling, stir frying & sauteing)12 oz/349g
1/3 C apple juice
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp vanilla bean paste
2 Tbsp maple syrup

Place all items in a blender and blend until desired consistency is reached (1-2 minutes).

* Be sure to use extra firm silken tofu otherwise the texture of your dip will either be gritty or too runny.



This makes a great dip but it can also be used in place on yogurt in parfaits or as a topping for crumbles or cobblers.  Yum!  For a nuttier taste add 1-2 tsp of unrefined sunflower oil.


Tuesday 23 August 2011

Lemon Lime Coconut Sugar Cookies



Sometimes you just need a cookie.  I recently had the pleasure of spending time with my favourite little cookie monster.  We went to the park, ate peanut butter and jam sandwiches shaped like hearts, drank steamed soy milk while playing with warthogs and beluga whales at a local coffee shop and went to the grocery store (It's probably not the best idea to let a 3 year old place your produce in your grocery cart unless of course you don't mind fruit that looks like it's been through a game of ping pong but you likely already knew that).



It was a very exciting trip to the grocery store. We learned how to grind coffee beans.  We also learned that ground coffee tastes really yucky and that it is really hard to get off of your tongue (don't ask and don't tell his mother)!  The cookie monster didn't get any cookies (or peas, or chocolate bars, or broccoli, or coconuts) but he did get an apple that was about the same size as his head (note to self: double check back seat for decomposing chunks of apple).

I like to feed this little cookie monster cookies filled with whole grains, dried fruit, & nuts (that's how I roll) but since I had no intention of sharing these lemon lime coconut sugar cookies were a great way to use the lemon and limes that survived the last week's refrigerator meltdown.

Lemon Lime Coconut Sugar Cookies
(18 cookies + a few spoonfuls of raw cookie dough)

ingredients

1/2 C unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 C wholewheat pastry flour
1 tsp baking powder
5 Tblsp Earth Balance (butter or margarine work as well)
1/3 cup turbino sugar
1 tsp grated lemon peel
1/8 C fresh lemon juice
1/8 C fresh lime juice
1/4 C grated unsweetened coconut
2 Tbsp turbino sugar (for rolling cookies)

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Place baking stone in the oven so that it can preheat as well.

In a small bowl combine flour, baking powder and coconut and set aside.  In a medium bowl cream Earth Balance & sugar until light and fluffy (you can use a spoon or an electric mixer.  I am way too lazy to dig out the electric mixer).  Add lemon peel, lemon and lime juice.  Add flour mixture to wet ingredients.

Roll dough into 1 inch balls and roll in sugar.  Place several inches apart on baking sheet.  Use the tines of a fork to flatten cookies.  Bake 10-12 minutes until golden.





* In order to maximize the amount of lemon/lime juice that you get from your fruit let your lemons/limes stand briefly in hot water and roll them on the counter before juicing them.  I personally like using a wooden lemon reamer (fancy name for a pretty simple gadget).


Sunday 21 August 2011

Will Run For Sweet Potato Lentil Soup

sweet potato lentil soup


"Allium halitosis infinite" (garlic breath f-o-r-e-v-e-r)!  It's been a pretty busy day around here.  There were garlic incantations (Farmer picked 120 heads of garlic yesterday and she's suffering from Harry Potter withdrawals.  Those two things together make for some very lame jokes!).

Farmer: "I like to call this one daddy"

120 heads!


There was apple picking.

glorious apples from my parents' tree


Jeb: "She couldn't possibly mind if I just lick the apple"

Jeb: "She won't miss one little apple"

There were threats even after I offered to buy pace bunny coffee after our run.   Threats that included a bus (and the possibility of me 'accidentally' falling under the wheel) and a tank top that might have been red and might have had some sort of elasticity at one time (thankfully it went 'missing' this morning.  Now if someone could just hide her shorty shorts.)  

Then there was pace bunny soup.


PB makes this delicious sweet potato lentil soup.  PB's recipes are more of a guide than anything else.  If you are lucky she'll remember all of the ingredients.  It's more likely that she'll e-mail after you've already made whatever recipe you asked for telling you about a key ingredient that she forgot to include or an essential step in the recipe.

On that note, good luck!

Sweet Potato Lentil Soup
(6-8 servings)

1 large sweet potato cut in small chunks
1 can of green lentils 19 oz (drained)
1 can diced tomatoes 28 oz
2 C vegetable broth
2 inch piece of ginger root minced
1 large onion diced
2 large cloves of local garlic
1 Tbsp olive oil
*2 Tbsp chili powder
*pinch chipotlepowder
*2 Tbsp cumin
*2 tsp balsamic vinegar

1.  Warm olive oil over medium heat.  Saute onion, garlic and ginger over medium heat until onions are soft (5-10 minutes).  Add chili powder, cumin & chipotle powder and saute for approximately one more minute.

2.  Add potatoes, vegetable broth & diced tomatoes.  Simmer over medium heat until potatoes are soft (20-30 minutes).  Add drained lentils.  Add balsamic vinegar.

3.  Serve with sliced avocado and tortilla chips.

* adjust spices and vinegar to your personal tastes and add additional vegetable broth if you prefer a thinner soup.




Friday 19 August 2011

Will Run For Creamy Leek & Potato Soup With Lemon Thyme Biscuits


leaky potato soup

It's 11:00 and I'm making soup and biscuits.  I couldn't have done this at 4:00, 5:00 or even 6:00.  I was too busy eating an entire head of roasted cauliflower with curry, chipotle and sunflower oil and a camino chocolate bar (really I was just having a small piece of chocolate and another and another.  I don't know what happened to the entire bar).

I love creamy leek & potato soup!  However, we don't call it creamy leek and potato soup around here.  It is referred to as leaky potato soup.  You will likely receive some version of this soup (much better than chickenless chicken noodle in my opinion) if you are sick.  A friend of ours once became really ill with a streptococcal infection and had some leaky lesions (all illnesses are now compared to this....at least you don't have leaky lesions ALL over your body!).  We have a dark sense of humour around here so we thought leaky lesions and leaky potato soup were a perfect combination.  So, about the Pope (insert subject that will draw attention away from leaky lesions).....

Creamy Leek & Potato Soup
(serves 4)

ingredients

2 cups new red potatoes (russet potatoes will work too) washed with skin on
1 Tbsp olive oil & 1 tsp earth balance (butter or margarine)
3 small leeks, chopped (2 cups)
3 large cloves local garlic (or 1 bulb roasted garlic), chopped
2 C vegetable broth
1C water
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp dried fresh rosemary crumbled
2 C unweetened soy milk (skim dairy milk, almond milk)
1/4 tsp cracked peppercorns (red, white, black)

1.  Wash and dice potatoes in 1 inch chunks.

red new potatoes from Spill The Beans


2.  In a saucepan or large frying pan with lid warm olive oil & margarine over medium heat.  Add leeks & garlic ; saute until softened, about 10 minutes.  Add potatoes, vegetable broth, water, salt, & rosemary.  Simmer for approximately 30 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

leek, rosemary and garlic goodness

3.  In a blender process mixture until smooth.  I cannot stress enough how important it is that the lid of your blender is secure!  On more than once occasion I have had a hot potato mess all over me and all over the kitchen.  Add milk and pepper.

secure the lid on your blender!


4.  Add 1/4 cup Daiya mozzarella or cheddar shreds (or your favourite old cheddar or smoked cheese) & a few drops of liquid hickory smoke (really only a few drops).

5.  Return mixture to pot or pan and heat thoroughly until cheese melts and soup is warm.  Serve with rosemary or chives as a garnish.

leaky potato soup


* You may need to add addition milk or vegetable broth to thin this soup if you are planning on eating it over the next couple of days.

Now on to the biscuits.  They have just a hint of lemon and thyme.



Lemon Thyme Biscuits
(12 + 1 biscuits)

ingredients

1 C whole wheat pastry flour
1 C unbleached all purpose flour
1 T sugar
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp fresh thyme
1tsp finely grated lemon peel
1/2 C earth balance (margarine, butter or shortening works as well)
3/4 C milk (including 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice)

1. Preheat oven to 450 F with baking stone in oven.

2.  Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, & thyme.  Cut in shortening (you can use two knives, your hands or  my personal favourite a fancy gadget (pastry blender) until you have fine crumbs.  Stir in milk until dough is soft and sticky (it may seem too wet but it isn't).

dough

3.  Place dough on a lightly floured surface.  Kneed until dough is no longer sticky (5-10 times).  Pat down until approximately 1/2 inch thick.  Cut with floured cutter (I used the lid of a mason jar but a glass works too). 

my favourite part


4.  Place on a baking stone approximately 1 inch apart.  Bake for 12-15 minutes.  Serve warm!


biscuits

Wednesday 17 August 2011

Will Run For Lemon Poppyseed Pancakes

lemon poppy seed pancakes with maple syrup
When life gives you lemons make pancakes.  The temperature in my refrigerator is currently higher than the temperature in my house.  This is after the refrigerator repair person 'repaired' my refrigerator yesterday.  I am currently impatiently waiting for him to return.

My refrigerator is now filled with warm condiments, one limp head of broccoli, leaks, lemons and more condiments than any family could possibly need.

I thought about making a glorious lemon cake or loaf but decided that it was way too hot to use the oven and I was feeling just a little guilty about postponing my run (how am I going to run 21K if I can't drag myself outside to run 5?).

Lemon Poppy Seed Pancakes
(6 medium pancakes)

ingredients

1 flax egg (1 Tbsp ground flax + 3 Tbsp water)
3/4 C all purpose flour
1/4 C whole wheat pastry flour
1 tsp poppy seeds
1 Tbsp sugar
3 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 C unsweetened soy milk (dairy & almond will work as well)
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp lemon juice
9 thinly sliced pieces of lemon
1 Tbsp maple syrup.

1.  Mix flax and water let sit until it thickens (you can speed this along by heating the mixture in the microwave for 10-15 seconds or on the stove).  Add olive oil and lemon juice to flax mixture.

2.  Combine dry ingredients in a medium bowl.  Add olive oil, lemon juice & flax mixture.  If you would like a thinner pancake add additional soy milk (1-2 Tbsp).

thick batter


3.  Thinly slice a lemon (washed and preferably organic....mine was not) and place in a bowl with maple syrup.

3.  Heat griddle over medium heat.  It's ready when you sprinkle it with water and the water jumps around.  Coat with olive oil.

4.  For each pancake use approximately 1/4 cup of batter.  Place one thinly sliced lemon on top of each pancake.  Cook until pancakes are bubbly on top.  Turn and cook other side until golden brown.

bubbly, puffed and dry around the edges


5.  Eat with copious amounts of local maple syrup or maple sugar!

lemons and maple syrup



Update: The temperature in the refrigerator is dropping!  I see fresh produce in my future.


pancakes?


pancakes?

Saturday 13 August 2011

Will Run For Grilled Mango & Cashew Butter Sandwiches



What isn't there to love about warm gooey cashew butter with grilled mangoes, coconut, cashews candied ginger and honey between two whole wheat slices of bread?

Earlier this week I offered to make my favourite farmer a skinny elvis sandwich ( Mamma Peas's remake of the grilled banana and peanut butter sandwich).   I was expecting a, "Wow!  That sooooooo nice of you!  Almond butter & strawberries that is possibly the most delicious combination I have ever heard of (maybe my expectations were a LITTLE unrealistic)!" what I got was, "How about bananas and coconut?".  It turns out that it would be a couple of days before farmer got any kind of sandwich and in the end not really the sandwich she wanted.

Grilled Mango & Cashew Butter Sandwiches
(serves 2)

ingredients

1 ripe mango grilled
1 Tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp lime juice
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
1/4 tsp cardamom
1/2 tsp cinnamon 
4 slices of whole wheat bread
4 Tbsp cashew butter
2 Tbsp raw cashews
2 slices candied ginger (thinly sliced)
2 tsp honey (maple syrup, brown rice syrup)
1 1/2 tsp coconut oil melted (margarine, butter, olive oil will work as well)

Begin by slicing the mango into thin slices.  Combine maple syrup, lime juice, & vanilla bean paste in a small bowl.  Marinate mango for approximately 5 minutes (by this time I've probably eaten 1/2 of the mango).  Reserve leftover marinate.



Grill mango for approximately 5 minutes turning when grill marks appear.  I used my George Foreman "Lean Mean Fat Grilling Machine" (makes me laugh).

Add several teaspoons (I used 2) of reserved marinade to the cashew butter along with cardamom & cinnamon and combine thoroughly.  Spread 1 Tbsp of cashew butter on each slice of bread.  Top two slices of bread with grilled mango, coconut, raw cashews, thinly sliced candied ginger, and coconut.  Drizzle with 1 tsp of honey (or more!).  Top sandwiches with additional slices of bread.



Lightly brush both sides of each sandwich with melted coconut butter then place in a preheated skillet.

Grill for several minutes on each side until toasted and cashew butter is gooey but not exploding out of your sandwich.  Gobble up!



* Consider using a variety of nut/seed butters (almond, peanut, sunflower, peanut, cashew) dried & fresh fruit (cherries, raisins, peaches, bananas), nuts & seeds (sunflower seeds, almonds, cashews, pistachios) and sweeteners (brown rice syrup, maple syrup, honey).  


Thursday 11 August 2011

Will Run For Pesto Portobello Pizzas

If you are a mushroom lover this is the recipe for you!  However, it wouldn't be a lie to say that the mushroom is a great carrier for pesto, sundried tomatoes, red onions, black olives and all of my other favourite toppings.  

Pesto Portobello Pizza


Portobello mushrooms

scraping the gills with a grapefruit spoon


more room for toppings

brush both sides with olive oil/pesto mixture

stuff with your favourite toppings 

bake @ 425 F for 10 minutes

serve with your favourite salad

Pesto Portobello Pizzas

ingredients

4 Portobello mushroom caps, stems removed & gills scraped
1/2 C + 1 Tbsp pesto (store bought or your favourite homemade recipe)
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/4 C Daiya mozzarella style shreds (or your favourite dairy/non-dairy mozzarella cheese)
1/4 C black olives
8 sun-dried tomatoes, finely chopped (** soaked in just boiled water for approximately 5 minutes and then drained) 
1/4 spinach, finely chopped
2 Tbsp red onions (I used green)

* feel free to substitute your favourite pizza toppings.

**  If you happen to live in the company of someone who is in  the habit of drinking unfamiliar liquids that resemble tea (note to self do not drink unfamiliar liquids even if they are lying around your apartment/house) you may not want to leave the leftover water lying around or that person might just get an tomato surprise!**.

Preheat oven to 425 F.

Using a grapefruit spoon scrape the gills out of the portobello mushrooms.  

Combine 1 Tbsp of pesto & 1 Tbsp of olive oil and brush all sides of the mushrooms.

Place 2 Tbsp of pesto in the scraped out portion of each mushroom.  Top with your favourite toppings ( mozzarella style shreds, black olives, spinach, red onions and sun-dried tomatoes).

Place mushrooms on a baking stone and bake until mozzarella style shreds are melted and mushrooms are cooked.  This should take approximately 10 minutes.

Enjoy with your favourite salad!