Category: Easy Recipes

Arugula & Pine Nut Savoury Bread

arugula and pine nut bread - trust in kim

Here’s a really easy and delicious bread you can make as an appetizer or to pair up with a meal.  It uses eggs and baking powder for leavening, so no need to wait for it to rise. I brought a loaf to a party where we slathered our slices with a bit of butter, and the whole loaf went really quickly. With picnic season coming up I can see myself making this one a few times to eat al fresco.

I substituted spinach for the arugula, which was delicious, but I imagine the arugula would give it even more flavour. She uses self-raising flour, but I changed the recipe a little so I could use all-purpose flour.  This bread is light enough that you could use some whole wheat flour.

This recipe is from Yvette Van Boven’s book Home Made Summer.

What you need:

  • 100 grams washed and dried arugula or spinach
  • 1 & 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 & 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
  • 3 large eggs
  • 2 tablespoons sour cream (I used 2% yogurt)
  • 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
  • 4 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1/2 cup pine nuts

What you do:

  1. Preheat the oven to 325F and grease a 5-by-9 loaf pan with butter.
  2. Chop the arugula and set it aside.
  3. In a bowl whisk the baking powder, salt and pepper into the flour, then add the eggs, sour cream or yogurt, olive oil and mustard.  Mix on high for about a minute – this makes a very thick batter, but don’t worry, it will make a nice light loaf.
  4. Fold in the arugula and pine nuts, then pour the batter into the pan and press it into the corners.
  5. Bake for 40 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Let the loaf cool for about 5 minutes, then remove it from the pan.
  6. Serve it either hot or at room temperature with a bit of butter.

spinach and pine nut bread - trust in kim

 

Vegetarian Mexican Soup Broth

Vegetarian Mexican Broth - trust in kim

This recipe is for the vegetarian version of a Mexican soup I made recently.  It’s got a little kick to it because of the guajillo pepper

What you need:

  • 1 small onion or half a big one
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 1 dried guajillo pepper
  • 1 carrot
  • 1 stalk celery
  • half a dozen peppercorns
  • cilantro stalks

What you do:

  1. Put everything in a pot and add about 4 cups of water.  Bring it to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for about half an hour.
  2. Strain the veggies out and use the broth to make a soup.

Roasted Butternut and Cauliflower Salad with Tahini Sauce

Roasted Butternut and Cauliflower Salad with Tahini Dressing - trust in kim

This roasted veggie salad is one of my newer favourites. The veggies caramelize and become even more delicious when they are roasted, but this salad is really just an excuse to use this tahini dressing.

You can easily make it into a full meal by adding some quinoa or another grain.  I’ve also made it with some sumac-spiced chicken on the side.

What you need:

  • 1 butternut squash
  • olive oil
  • 1 head cauliflower
  • salt and pepper
  • baby spinach

For the dressing:

  • 1/4 cup tahini
  • 1/3 cup of warm water
  • 1/2 clove garlic, minced
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • dash of hot sauce

What you do:

  1. Preheat the oven to 400F and get two baking pans ready.
  2. Cut the squash in half and scoop out the seeds.  Cut the stem off; if you wish you can peel it, but the peel is edible, as it turns softer when it is baked. Cut the squash into slices and toss them with a little olive oil.  Place on a baking sheet, salt and pepper lightly, then put into the oven.  It will need about 30 minutes to cook.
  3. Cut the cauliflower into florets and place on another baking sheet.  Throw it into the oven and set the timer for about 15 minutes.  At that time you can flip them over so the tops have a chance to brown up.  Flip the squash oven now too.
  4. When the vegetables have both browned up nicely they are ready to eat. If one looks done before the other you should pull it out of the oven.
  5. While the vegetables are in the oven you can make the tahini dressing.  Begin by putting the tahini in a bowl and add a little bit of water to mix until the tahini becomes liquid.  Then add more water until it is all combined.  Mix in the rest of the ingredients.
  6. Place the spinach on a large plate, (add your grains now if you are using them) and top it with the squash and cauliflower.  Drizzle with the tahini dressing.
  7. Enjoy!

Roasted Fennel and Root Vegetables

roasted fennel and root vegetables - trust in kim

These veggies smell great as they are roasting, and they were fabulous alongside a roast chicken. So easy, and a delicious comfort food on a cold winter night.  Feel free to add more or less of any of the vegetables, or omit some altogether.

What you need:

  • 1 fennel bulb
  • 1 sweet potato
  • 1 large or 2 medium potatoes
  • 2-3 carrots
  • 3-4 small beets, peeled
  • olive oil
  • salt and pepper

What you do:

  1. Preheat the oven to 400 F.  If you’ve just roasted a chicken, as I did, put the bird aside with a cover on to rest just before you put the vegetables in the oven.
  2. Scrub, then chop the vegetables into pieces that are about 4cm.  The sweet potato can be a little bigger, as it cooks faster. Put them all on a baking sheet and drizzle with some olive oil.
  3. Roast for about 10 minutes, then take them out of the oven and toss them around a bit.  Return to the oven and let them cook for another 10 minutes, or until they have browned nicely.
  4. Salt and pepper the vegetables, then serve immediately.

Crusty Rye No-Knead Bread

no-knead rye bread - trust in kim

This beautiful bread has a great crunchy-chewy crust to it, and it is easy to make if you can plan ahead a bit.  The whole process takes about a day, but most of that time is spent just letting the dough rise all by itself, hence the name no-knead.  I’ve made a plain white version before, which was so delicious, but since I like a little more nutrition in my bread I decided to experiment by using part rye flour.  Success! I love that this bread bears some similarity to my Oma’s dark rye bread.

I served it with the butter, sliced meats, and a bowl of  borscht to make a somewhat traditional meal.  I was going for what we called ‘faspa,’ a low-German word  for a meal that always consisted of homemade buns, cheese, jam and cold cuts.

One thing you need for this bread is a container to bake it in, like the Romertopf roaster shown in the photo, or a le Creuset baker.  It must have a lid; baking with the lid on causes the crust to develop in the first half of the baking time.

What you need:

1 cup rye flour

2 cups white flour

1 & 1/4 teaspoons salt

1/4 teaspoons yeast (I used Fleischmann’s active dry yeast, which I store in my fridge)

1 & 1/2 cups water

1/4 cup wheat bran

What you do:

1. Combine the flours, salt and yeast in a bowl.  Add the water and mix; add more water until you have a wet, sticky dough.

2. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a plate and let sit at room temperature, in a warm-ish place, and out of direct sunlight for 12-18 hours.  The dough should become about double in size and dotted with bubbles.   When I lived in a house that tended to be colder it always took the full 18 hours or even more. This slow fermentation is what gives the bread its flavour.

3. Lay a tea towel on your counter and sprinkle it with some wheat bran, then scrape the dough onto the towel. Tuck the edges of the dough under to make it round.  Sprinkle it with wheat bran, then lightly pull the edges of the towel over the dough. If your towel isn’t big enough just spread another towel over the top and tuck it in lightly. Let this sit for 1-2 hours, or until it has doubled in volume.

4. Set the oven to 475 F  and place your baking pot (I used a Romertopf baker, which I had to soak in water for at least 15 minutes before using) on a rack in the lower third of the oven. Let the pot heat up, and when the oven has reached 475 F, remove the pot from the oven and carefully tip the dough into the pot.  Put the cover on the pot and bake for 30 minutes while the bread forms its nice thick crust.

5. Remove the lid from the pot and continue to bake for 15-30 minutes.  The bread should be a deep brown when it is done.  Remove it from the oven, and lift the bread out of the pot carefully and place it on a rack to cool before slicing.

Seedy Tahini Coleslaw

seedy tahini coleslaw - trust in kim

I’m a sucker for a coleslaw – as long as it’s a healthy one; no mayo for me! Okay, so I love the mayo ones with sunflower seeds, but… I think it kind of defeats the purpose of eating healthy cabbage, to load it up with mayo.

So this recipe has no mayo, but it is still creamy and loaded with flavour. I made some and ate it for leftovers for days, and enjoyed it every time.

What you need:

  • 2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
  • 2 Tbsp seasoned rice vinegar
  • 1/4 cup maple syrup
  • 1 large orange, freshly squeezed
  • 4-5 Tbsp Tahini
  • 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 tsp chili powder or 1/2 tsp cayenne (used a freshly ground dried guajillo pepper)
  • 1 Tbsp cumin powder
  • 1 tsp coriander
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 medium head of green cabbage, chopped into thin strips
  • 1/ small sweet onion, chopped
  • 1/4 cup sesame seeds, black and/or white
  • 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds

What you do:

  1. Combine the dressing ingredients, from apple cider vinegar to salt.  I find it works best to put the tahini in a bowl, then add a little liquid to make a paste, then a little more liquid, and then the rest of the ingredients.
  2. Combine the dressing with the cabbage and onion until every bit of cabbage is coated in dressing. Let this sit in the fridge for an hour or two.
  3. Toast the sesame seeds in a frying pan until they are lightly browned.  Crush them with a mortar and pestle or in a grinder; this allows you to digest them better. Toast the pumpkin seeds.
  4. Serve the salad with some seeds sprinkled over top.  Do this at the last minute so the seeds remain crunchy.

I found the recipe here.

Goat Cheese and Arugula Tarte Flambée

tarte flambee - trust in kimtarte flambee - trust in kim

There is a fabulous French restaurant in Vancouver called Les Faux Bourgeois where I have in the past enjoyed their tarte flambée.  I was having company the other night and wanted to make a special appetizer, so I thought I’d make up my own version.  Never having used puff pastry before, there was some trial and error, but the results were excellent.  The olive dressing adds a nice salty kick.

What you need:

  • 3 tablespoons minced kalamata olives or black olive tapenade
  • 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon
  • 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • puff pastry, thawed in the fridge over night
  • a dozen or so mushrooms, sliced
  • a splash or two white wine, optional
  • baby arugula
  • goat cheese
  • 1 egg, lightly beaten, for brushing the pastry
  • pepper

What you do:

  1. Preheat the oven to 425F.
  2. Fry the mushrooms in a little olive oil or butter until slightly browned. Part way through you can add the splash of wine if you are using it, and continue cooking until all the liquid is absorbed or evaporated.
  3. To make the dressing purée the olives with the lemon and vinegar, then slowly drizzle in the olive oil as you purée.
  4. Roll out the thawed puff pastry on a lightly floured surface until it is about half a centimeter thick. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. (you could also make this into several squares to serve individual portions.) Brush the pastry with the egg.
  5. Spread a little goat cheese over the surface of the pastry, then lay some baby arugula over the cheese.  Distribute the mushrooms, then add a few bits of goat cheese to the top.  Crack some pepper on the top, and it’s ready to go into the oven.
  6. Bake for about 25-30 minutes, then let it sit for a minute before you cut and serve it.  Drizzle each portion with the olive dressing.

Bon appétit!

Skillet Cornbread

skillet cornbread - trust in kim

I haven’t made cornbread in almost 20 years.  I’m not sure why.  Maybe I just had too many dry, boring corn breads back then – who can remember?

Last night I was making soup and I wanted something to go with it, so I found this recipe in the same cookbook as the soup, Share by Adriennede Francesco, and whipped up a batch in my cast-iron frying pan.  To tell the truth, it was really the idea of baking something in my frying pan, handed down to me from my Oma, that got me onto this.  Fry the onion, bake, and then serve it in the same dish, and it stays hot for a long time.  Triple win! Plus it’s got corn kernels in it, so it’s got a nice bite to it.

Serve it up with a little butter – magical!

What you need:

  • 1 tablespoon vegetable or olive oil
  • 1 small onion, finely chopped
  • 1 & 1/2 cups cornmeal
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 & 1/2 cups buttermilk
  • 3 eggs, lightly beaten
  • 1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 tablespoon liquid honey
  • 1 cup canned corn (or frozen, but I prefer canned – the kernels pop in your mouth when you eat them!)
  • 1/4 cup fresh chives or green onions

What you do:

  1. Preheat the oven to 425F.
  2. Heat a 10-inch cast-iron over medium-high heat and add the oil, then the onions.  Cook for about 5 minutes or until the onions are soft.
  3. While the onions are cooking stir the cornmeal, flour, baking power and salt together in a bowl.
  4. Stir the buttermilk, eggs, butter and honey together in another bowl.  Pour this onto the dry ingredients and sti until it is just mixed.. Stir in the corn and chives.
  5. Pour the batter into the hot frying pan on top of the onions, which you have previously dispersed evenly over the surface of the pan.
  6. Bake in the centre of the oven for about 30 minutes or until the top its golden brown.  My convection oven cooked it very quickly, and I had to rotate the pan half way through baking
  7. Cut into wedges and serve with butter.

skillet cornbread - trust in kim

 

Spinach Salad with Glory Bowl Dressing

spinach salad with glory bowl dressing - trust in kim

This is my favourite salad dressing.  It is a really simple salad, but so good, and makes me wonder why anyone would buy a salad dressing.  This dressing is so perfect on spinach, and it makes a great side to almost anything.

What you need for the dressing:

1/4 cup nutritional yeast

3 tablespoons tamari or soy sauce

3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

3 tablespoons water

1 tablespoon tahini

1 clove garlic, crushed

1/3 cup vegetable oil (the recipe calls for 1/2 cup canola)

What you need for the salad:

spinach

mushrooms, thinly sliced

What you do:

  1. Combine all the dressing ingredients in a blender, or use a stick blender to combine.
  2. Dress your salad with a few tablespoonfuls of dressing. The remainder of the dressing can be refrigerated for a few weeks.

Tomato Soup

tomato soup - trust in kim

(Revised January 2021: This is a great soup recipe, however, my favourite is closer to the actual Burgoo recipe. And it has red wine in it! Click here to find the recipe.)

Burgoo is a great comfort food restaurant in Vancouver.  They don’t have a lot of dairy-free options, so I tend to eat the tomato soup – which is the best tomato soup I’ve ever had!  I found this tomato soup recipe recently and omitted the milk to make it a dairy-free tomato soup.  I think it may be as good as the one I had at Burgoo; it is flavourful, and full of healthy ingredients.  It is also really easy to make, and freezes well.

What you need:

1 tablespoon olive oil

about 1 cup diced carrots

about 1/2 cup diced celery

about 2 cups diced zucchini (skin on)

1 large yellow onion, diced

5 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves, rubbed off the stems

2 bay leaves

salt and red pepper flakes to taste

about 4 cups (2 28-ounce cans) crushed Italian tomatoes

4 cups chicken (or vegetable) broth

What you do:

  1. Heat the olive oil in a large pot.  Add the carrots, celery, zucchini and onion.  Saute for 10-12 minutes, until the onion is very soft and the zucchini has cooked through.  Add the garlic and stir for one minute.
  2. Add the thyme, bay leaves, red pepper flakes, tomatoes and chicken stock.  Bring to a simmer and cook for about 30 minutes, until the carrots are very soft.
  3. Remove from the heat, and take the bay leaves out.  Blend the soup in a blender or with an immersion blender until smooth.  Add salt to taste.

Enjoy it hot! And I can imagine it is awesome with a grilled cheese sandwich, but this theory is yet untested.