My Favourite Lunch February 26, 2010
Posted by Teresa in : Lunch , add a commentMy new favourite lunch is simple, and so delicious! I roughly dice 2 rona tomatoes. I open up an avocado and dice it too. Add them together in a glass bowl. Drizzle a little olive oil over, a tiny bit of vinegar (not the white kind, a nice balsamic or apple cider), then a few spices: oregano, sea salt, and black pepper.
That’s it! Stir and enjoy! You can have it on a pita, which is nice, or just plain on your plate!
If you need more excitement, you can add some diced celery, too.
My second favourite new lunch is a cold salad, too! 
A can of chick peas (or mixed beans), diced celery, almonds, and a little finely diced sundried tomato. A similar dressing as for the tomato-avocado salad, or a mixture of these spices, just a little of each: cumin, paprika, onion powder, sea salt. You can also add a little cubed cheese (whatever is handy)!
Protein Pancakes January 8, 2010
Posted by Teresa in : Breakfast, Lunch , add a commentCreamier and softer than normal pancakes, with great flavour!
Protein Pancakes
Ingredients Supplies/Equipment
1 cup ricotta cheese food processor
2 eggs frying pan
1/4 cup water
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp cinnamon
Measure all ingredients into a food processor. Pour 1/4 cup bat-
ter for each pancake; makes 8 pancakes.
Cheddar Beer Bread January 8, 2010
Posted by Teresa in : Dinner, Lunch , add a commentAnother little gem from the Misericordia O.R. Staff Cookbook (thanks Edie for this great cookbook!)!
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.
Spinach Cheese Frittata January 8, 2010
Posted by Teresa in : Dinner, Lunch , add a commentSpinach Cheese Frittata
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!
Tex Mex Meat Loaf January 8, 2010
Posted by Teresa in : Dinner, Lunch , add a commentTex-Mex Meat Loaf
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.
Super Yummy Chili! December 3, 2009
Posted by Teresa in : Dinner, Lunch , add a commentI made this yesterday and it was the best chili I think I’ve ever made! Complex flavour spectrum…. (I picked that up on Food Network.) Throw it all into a nice big pot, medium heat, and start adding everything:
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 September 30, 2009
Posted by Teresa in : Dinner, Lunch , add a commentGot this one from “French Food at Home” on FoodTV. Tried it tonight – it was very good, even though I (accidentally) left out the garlic.
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.
Crispy, Healthy Fish August 28, 2009
Posted by Teresa in : Dinner, Lunch , add a comment
Halibut Crusted with Cornmeal and Sesame
Yield: 4
Halibut Crusted with Cornmeal and Sesame
- 4 piece skinless halibut fillet, each fillet about 5 to 6-ounces
- 1/3 cup cornmeal (75 ml)
- 3 tbsp Sesame seeds (45 ml)
- 1 tsp cracked coriander seeds (5 tsp.)
- Coarse salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste
- Small handful of fresh coriander, chopped
- 2 tbsp grapeseed oil (30 ml)
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Add cornmeal, sesame seeds, cracked coriander to plate or shallow baking dish. Season mixture with salt and pepper to taste.
- Season the fish with salt and pepper. Dip fish into freshly chopped coriander. Dredge fish generously into the cornmeal mixture, coating evenly on all sides.
- Add oil to non-stick skillet or large sauté pan over medium high heat. When oil is hot, pan sear fish on both sides until golden, about 1 to 2 minutes per side.
- Transfer to baking sheet lined with parchment. Bake fish in oven until just firm to the touch and cooked through, about 7 to 9 minutes.
Crazy Potato! August 9, 2009
Posted by Teresa in : Dinner, Lunch , add a commentIt was the week of crazy food around here! When I went to Mexico, Mary introduced me to the Papa Locas, the “crazy potato.” It’s a baked potato, with a crazy variety of toppings on it. They peel back the foil, add some crema (a thick cream they have in Mexico, similar in texture to toothpaste, not sour, just cream) and some butter and some soft cheese (again, something I’ve only had in Mexico, like a cross between cream cheese and ricota). Then they wrap it back up again in the foil, and let it warm up for all the yumminess to melt. Then, a few minutes later, they open the foil and add any or all of these toppings (depending what you want):
- 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!
Crazy Salad! August 9, 2009
Posted by Teresa in : Dinner, Lunch , add a commentI made a crazy salad the other day… it turned out great, so I didn’t want to forget how I made it! Preheat oven to 350°F.
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!
