So here’s what I came up with!

Garlic and Cheese Galette

1 piece prepared frozen puff pastry, about 30 cm x 30 cm unrolled
1 cup leftover brown or wild rice
1 cup grated medium cheddar cheese
1 cup grated old cheddar cheese
1 tsp heavy cream (whipping or coffee cream)
1 – 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
~1/3 cup chopped almonds
1 tsp dried basil (or a few tbsp fresh basil if you have, chopped)
Few pinches of salt — I used himalayan rock salt
A pinch of nutritional yeast (optional)

Thaw puff pastry on the counter. Move it to a cookie sheet and unroll it. Pre-heat oven to 375 F. Mix all ingredients together in a bowl, then pour out into center of the pastry, leaving about 1″ of pastry showing on all sides. Starting at one corner and working your way around clockwise, fold the sides up until the filling is mostly enclosed – it’s okay if there are gaps. Put it in the oven for 25-30 minutes until pastry is golden brown.

You could try lots of other fillings and spices, like mushrooms, chopped bell peppers, cayenne pepper, pine nuts, etc. Let your leftovers inspire you!

Ingredients

- 4 medium eggplants (or less, just scale ingredients accordingly)
- 3 cups breadcrumbs, or use croutons and pound them into crumbs
- 3 eggs beaten
- 1 tablespoon milk
- 4 cups mozzarella, shredded
- jar of pasta sauce, any variety, or plain tomato sauce and add your own spices (oregano, basil, onion salt, celery salt, garlic powder)

Preheat oven to 400.

Slice the eggplant (leave the skin on) into 1/3 inch thick discs. Whisk the milk and eggs together.

Line two baking sheets with parchment or spray with cooking spray (do not use foil).

Dip each piece of eggplant into the egg mixture then coat well with breadcrumbs and place on baking sheet.

Bake eggplant until lightly browned, about 20 minutes.

Spread 1/4 cup of pasta sauce all over the bottom of a 9×12 glass baking dish (or smaller one if you’re using less eggplant) and layer single pieces of the baked eggplant until the bottom is covered.

Spread a thin coating of pasta sauce over the eggplant.

Sprinkle the layer with 1/2 cup of the mozzarella.

Continue to create layers until all of the eggplant has been used.

Sprinkle final layer with 1/2 cup of mozzarella.

Tent loosely and return to oven.

Bake at 400 for 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake for another 5-10 minutes until the shredded cheese on top is melted and slightly bubbly. Delicious! 

Cheddar Beer Bread

Ingredients

3 cups             flour
1 Tbsp             baking powder
3/4 tsp            salt
2 Tbsp             sugar
2 cups             grated sharp (old) cheddar cheese
1/2 cup           finely chopped onion
3                     garlic cloves, minced
12 oz. can       beer

Preheat oven to 350°F. Combine all ingredients except the beer in a bowl with a fork. Add beer a quarter at a time until all the ingredients are blended. Spoon into a greased 4 X 8 loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour. Remove from pan and cool on a wire rack.

Another great find in a cookbook that was a Christmas gift! Delicious casserole! Preheat oven to 300°F.

Ingredients                              Supplies/Equipment

2 cloves                fresh garlic                      frying pan
1                          small cooking onion         hand whisk
1 Tbsp                  butter                              9″ square baking dish
9 – 10                   large eggs
1/2 cup                milk
1 box (300 g)       frozen chopped spinach (thawed and squeezed dry)
1 brick (250 g)     cream cheese, cut into small cubes
1 cup                   cheddar cheese, grated

Cook garlic, onion and butter together in frying pan until garlic is clear and onion is cooked. Let cool. Meanwhile, grate cheddar cheese and cut cream cheese into small cubes. Squeeze liquid out of thawed spinach by rolling in a paper towel. Whisk eggs until frothy. Add milk, a sprinkle of salt and pepper, and whisk together. Add garlic and onion mixture, spinach, cream cheese, cheddar cheese and mix together. Pour into a 9″ square
baking dish and bake at 300°F for 30 – 40 minutes until edges are golden brown and center is firm.

The cream cheese is such a soft, gooey delight! It’s wonderful!

Preheat oven to 375°F. Add more chili powder if you like! The nice part is, you don’t have to brown the ground beef!

Ingredients                                    Supplies/Equipment

1 1/2 lb (680 g)     ground beef*                  standard loaf pan
3 slices                   bread
1                             egg
10 oz can                diced tomatoes (300 mL)
1                             small onion, chopped
1/4 tsp                    black pepper
1 tsp                        chili powder

Ingredients (topping)
1/3 cup                   chili sauce (Louisiana hot sauce, whatever)
1/4 cup                   cheddar cheese, grated
Tear bread into small pieces. Combine main ingredients in a bowl. Spread into an ungreased loaf pan. Bake 1 hour in 375°F oven; drain excess drippings. Spoon chili sauce over cooked loaf, sprinkle with cheese, and bake an additional 15 minutes. The bread is awesome!

*You could use “Veggie Ground Round” instead of ground beef, although I haven’t tried it that way yet.

Ingredients:

- 1 large can crushed tomatoes

-1 pkg Veggie Ground Round (the best stuff – no browning required!)

- 1 can mixed beans (would also be good with an additional can of kidney beans), drained, rinsed and drained again

- 1/4 bottle of beer (no more or it gets too runny)

Then comes the flavour!! Add some (anywhere from 1/4 – 1 teaspoon) of the following ingredients, depending on your tastes:

- chili powder

- sea salt

- cayenne pepper (and I think I put some fresh ground black pepper in too)

- garlic, chopped fine

- paprika

- chili sauce – Frank’s Red Hot or Louisiana hot sauce (not too much!)

- Tobasco sauce

- Worchestershire sauce

- a dollop of molasses (yes, for real!)

- maple syrup (don’t gasp!), about 1 Tbsp

- about 6 melting chocolates, the ones that are button shaped, about 1 inch across (stir well to melt)

The sweetness counteracts the spicy and makes all the tastebuds on your tongue come alive! Taste often to make sure you haven’t gone too far in any direction, sweet or spicy… you might need more spicy after adding the sweet stuff! Enjoy the best chili that ever took you 10 minutes to make!

When I make this again, I think I’ll start with some onions, and might also add some jalapenos or other hot peppers, if I’ve got ‘em. And it’s always better to let it simmer, but you can also make it super fast!

Cauliflower Salad

- 1 x small cauliflower or half a large one

- 1 clove garlic minced

- 2 generous handfuls of sun-dried tomatoes, packed in oil

- 2 generous handfuls black olives, sliced

- 2 handfuls of fresh tarragon or basil leaves, chopped

- Zest of a lemon and juice to taste

- Extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling

- Salt and pepper

Directions: Break cauliflower into florettes, discarding the central stem. Slice them thinly and put them in a bowl. Toss with the garlic, tomatoes, olives, tarragon, and lemon zest. Squeeze over lemon juice. Pour over olive oil. And season with salt and pepper. Taste and adjust quantities to suit your tastes.

Halibut Crusted with Cornmeal and Sesame

Yield: 4

Halibut Crusted with Cornmeal and Sesame

- shaved marinated beef

- radishes (sliced)

- lettuce

- tomatoes (diced)

That’s all I can remember, they might have also had more cheese. I’m pretty sure they add fat (beef fat) to the shaved beef to keep it moist while they warm it on the BBQ.

So, I wanted to make this at home, so I went to the deli and got some roast beef, sliced as thin as possible. I cut up some mushrooms, and cooked them in a pot with a little butter, until they released their juices and were smelling wonderful. Then, I added the beef to that, put the lid on and forgot about it. I had whipping cream for the cream, and used Ricota for the cheese, but also had sour cream and cottage cheese on standby in case someone wanted those. I had lettuce cut into small strips, and sliced radishes. I grated some mozza too, because who wouldn’t want mozza on a baked potato! After a half-hour or so, I took the beef out of the pot and cut it into slices, so it was more or less like the beef from Mexico (shaved). It was all so yummy when I put it all together!  It’s a meal all in itself!

My ingredient list:

- yukon gold potatoes, wrapped in foil

- roast beef, sliced very thin

- sour cream

- whipping cream

- cottage cheese

- Ricota cheese

- butter

- lettuce (romaine)

- tomatos, diced (roma)

- radishes, sliced

- green olives, with pimento, just for fun!

Ingredients for the salad:

- 1 1/2 heads Romaine lettuce

- 5 Radishes, sliced

- 3/4 cup Almonds (whole, raw)

- 1 cup Goldfish (the little crackers)

- 1 small container (about 3/4 cup) cubed Feta cheese

Ingredients for the dressing:

- 1 can Lychee fruit

- 2 Tbsp coconut milk (canned)

- 1 tsp (approx) white balsamic vinnegar

- mint

I washed the lettuce, and then cut it into slices. Sliced the radishes, tossed them in. Then put about a cup of the Goldfish snack crackers on a cookie sheet and into a 350°F oven, to toast them a bit and dry them out. They are the croutons! Then put the almonds on a cutting board and cut them up a bit – so each nut was roughly in half. I cubed the feta cheese and threw it in. This particular feta wasn’t too salty, but I think the salty kind would be fine too.

For the dressing, I threw most of the canned Lychees (and juice) in the blender and whizzed them until they made a smooth sauce. I had some canned coconut milk from the sweet potato recipe I’d made a few days before, so I added about 2 Tbsp of it. I knew it would be ridiculously sweet, so I added a little balsamic to offset the sweetness. Try 1 tsp, taste it and add more if you need it. Then I thought I’d toss in a little mint from the garden, just for flavour! And it turned out great! The radishes give a little zing, the almonds a little crunch, and the dressing a little sweetness. The Goldfish absorb the dressing, so don’t add them and toss until you are ready to serve!