Category: Easy Recipes

Vietnamese Salad Rolls with Buckwheat Soba and Peanut Sauce

After a conversation with some Vietnamese friends about food, I suddenly had a craving for salad rolls.  They make a nice light meal, and they’re pretty easy to whip up.  I used buckwheat instead of rice noodles because I like them, and because I think they’re good for you. You can adapt the salad rolls in many ways, adding chicken or shrimp instead of tofu if you like. And if you really want to make it easy, forget about wrapping it, and serve it up in a bowl as a salad, with a little of the peanut sauce drizzled on top.

What you need:

buckwheat soba noodles, cooked and cooled

carrot, julienned

cucumber, julienned

puffed or smoked tofu, sliced

spinach or lettuce

cilantro

spring onion (optional)

rice paper wraps

For the peanut sauce:

1/4 cup unsweetened peanut butter

1 & 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 teaspoon sesame oil

2 teaspoons rice wine vinegar

1 & 1/2 teaspoons grated ginger (I keep it in the freezer so it grates easily)

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

2 tablespoons honey

a little hot sauce or chili flakes

2-4 tablespoons water to thin it down to the consistency you like

What you do:

1. Cook the noodles according to the package instructions, then run them under cold water and let them cool down.

2. To make the sauce, combine the peanut butter with the soy sauce, then add the rest of the ingredients, mixing it up until there are no lumps of peanut butter left.

3. Have all the filling ingredients ready to go before getting the rice wrappers ready.  To prepare the wraps, just put some hot water in a shallow dish, and let the rice paper sit in the water for about 10 seconds.  When it is pliable, remove it carefully from the water and place it on your working surface.  Place some spinach/salad in a strip down the middle, then add the rest of your fillings.  Don’t use too much filling or you won’t have an easy time closing it up.

4. To wrap, fold the bottom edge up a little, then fold one side of the wrap over the filling.  Now roll it up.

5. Serve it up with the peanut sauce, and you’ve got a great meal or appetizer.

Lychee Mojito

This summer I went to Nana Restaurant and Bar in Brooklyn, New York and had the most amazing lychee mojito.  Along with some fabulous appetizers like homemade ravioli and seared tuna… yum!  This is my attempt to recreate the mojito, and it’s pretty good!  A nice drink to sip and escape the heat on the patio.

What you need:

limes

canned lychees

white rum

fresh mint

club soda

What you do:

For each drink, squeeze half a lime and put it in a short glass with about 3 tablespoons of the lychee syrup.  Add a shot of white rum.  Take a spring of mint and squish it up a bit, then put it in the glass.  Add some ice, then top it up with club soda.  Give it a little stir and enjoy!

Shrimp Ceviche

If you love seafood, this one’s for you, a nice summery dish.  It’s as easy as cutting up some stuff and letting it sit for a while.  You don’t cook the shrimp; that’s what the lime juice does.  It’s a nice appetizer or part of a light meal that you can serve with nacho chips.  It’s important to get really fresh shrimp!

I found the recipe here.

What you need:

1/2 tomato, diced

1/4 cup red onion, diced

1/2 cup cucumber, diced

200 grams fresh raw prawns, deveined and shelled, chopped

juice of 1 lime

1/4 of a Serrano chili, deseeded and finely diced

1/2 teaspoon salt

hot sauce

What you do:

1. Put everything except the hot sauce into a bowl, stir to combine everything.  Put it in the fridge for at least an hour.

2. Taste your ceviche, then add some hot sauce of you wish.

Ready to serve with some nacho chips!

 

 

Watermelon Salsa

What you need:

1 cup tomatoes, diced

1 cup watermelon, diced

1/4 red onion, finely diced

1 jalapeno pepper, finely diced, seeds removed unless you like it really hot

2 tablespoons diced cilantro

salt

1 freshly squeezed lime

a few dashes of hot sauce

What you do:

1. Cut up tomato and watermelon into chunks of about 1 cm.

2.  Add everything else and let it sit for at least an hour. Have a taste and see if you need to adjust add more salt or hot sauce.

Ready to go!

Watermelon Gazpacho

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This brilliant, fresh soup is the perfect thing for a hot summer’s day.  I made it up ahead of time, stuck it in the fridge, and just ladled it up for an appetizer.  I topped it with a little feta and cilantro, but you could also chop up a little watermelon, tomato or cucumber to sprinkle on top.

I found the recipe on One Perfect Bite. I just used less olive oil.

What you need:

4 cups watermelon

2 cups tomatoes

1 small jalapeno pepper with the seeds removed, diced

2 tablespoons minced red onion

1 small cucumber, peeled and seeded

2 tablespoons cilantro (plus a little more for garnishing)

a tablespoon or two of olive oil

1 tablespoon wine vinegar

salt and pepper

feta for garnishing

What you do:

1. Puree everything (except the garnish!) until it is smooth.  I used an immersion blender, but a regular blender would do a great job.

2. Refrigerate for at least an hour.

3. Serve with your choice of toppings: feta, cilantro, chopped tomato, cucumber or watermelon.

Zucchini “Spaghetti”

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This is a summery twist on a standard comfort food.  It’s just some raw zucchini strips with a delicious tomato sauce.  I served it with chicken, but it makes a nice light and healthy meal on its own.  The sauce only takes about a half hour of cooking, and the zucchini just needs to be julienned, and you’ve got a great meal!

What you need:

1 zucchini

1 – 796 mL can of pureed tomatoes

1 small onion

a few tablespoons of butter or olive oil

a few garlic cloves

salt and pepper to taste

fresh basil

What you do:

1. Throw the whole onion, garlic cloves, butter and tomato sauce into a pot and cook for about half an hour, or more if you’ve got the time.  Take the onion and garlic out when it’s done, and season to taste with salt and pepper.

2.  Julienne the zucchini and plate it.  Pour some of the hot sauce on top of the zucchini, and top with some fresh basil.

Yum, easy and delicious!

Gorgeous Gazpacho!

This is one of the best things I have ever made.  I was transported back to Spain as soon as I took my first mouthful.  Last summer I had the most amazing food in Barcelona, and one of my favourites was gazpacho.  So many meals were started off with this lovely cold soup; I ordered it almost every day.  I never thought I would like a cold soup, but it was so refreshing and flavourful.  I didn’t get a chance to make any last summer, and since winter tomatoes are pretty much tasteless, I waited until summer to try the recipe.

Love.  It.

And it requires no cooking, just some chopping, pureeing, and chilling.  My favourite version was topped with finely diced bits of the soup ingredients, so this one has diced tomato, red pepper, and some of the bread fried in a little olive oil.  I forgot to keep a little of the cucumber aside for the topping, but I recommend that you chop up a little of that too.

I got the recipe here, but I used less onion than the recipe called for. The recipe says it’s for four people, but I think it feeds a lot more people than that.

Enjoy!

What you need:

1 pound of tomatoes

1 cucumber

1/2 a medium-sized sweet onion (the recipe called for two – way to much for me)

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 cups bread (plus more for the topping)

2 red bell peppers

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

7 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons water

salt to taste

What you do:

1. Soak the bread in water for a few minutes, then squeeze most of the water out with your hands.

2. Puree all the veggies, bread, vinegar and water, then slowly add the olive oil to blend it in.  Salt and pepper to taste.

3. Put the soup in the fridge to chill.

4. Dice a little tomato, cucumber and red pepper for garnishing

5. Cut the remaining bread into very small cubes.  Heat a frying pan, then pour in some olive oil.  Add the bread and toss it around the pan until it is slightly browned.

A nice way to serve this is to ladle the soup into individual bowls, then have the toppings in separate bowls so everyone can garnish as they wish.

Rhubarb Brazil Nut Bran Muffins

Rhubarb in my garden, a huge bag of brazil nuts, and a desire to bake some flax-bran muffins to throw in the freezer for a time of need, all led me to make these muffins.  They are based on my usual recipe,  with a new fruit and nut combination.  Of course I forgot to put in the molasses, which I went out and bought especially to make these.  But they were still good!

What you need:

1 cup flour

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 & 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 cup bran

1/2 cup ground flax seeds

1 cup chopped fresh rhubarb

1/2 cup chopped brazil nuts

2 eggs

1 cup milk (soy is good too)

2 tablespoons molasses

1/4 cup butter

What you do:

1.  Preheat the oven to 400F.

2.  Stir dry ingredients  in a large bowl.

3.  Melt the  butter, then mix  the milk into the butter slowly, so the butter doesn’t harden when you add cold milk.  Add the molasses to the other liquids.  Pour the liquids, along with the slightly beaten eggs, into the dry ingredients.  Mix by hand only until the ingredients are combined; if you mix more you’ll get tough little muffins.

4.  Mix in the rhubarb and brazil nuts.

5.  Place mixture in muffin tins lined with paper baking cups.

6.  Bake at 400F for 20 minutes.  Take the muffins out of tins and cool on a rack for a few minutes before eating.

These are especially yummy served warm with a little butter, and it you have a sweet tooth, some honey or agave nectar.

Mom’s Blueberry Buttermilk Pancakes

I grew up on these, and now I make them all the time when I have company for brunch.  I’ve also served them, with lots of teachers flipping and serving, to the kids at my school for Bike to School Week.  Anybody who rides to school that week gets a free pancake breakfast!  The incentive works well, and we have tons of kids riding.

This recipe is really easy, and sooo much better than a box of pancake mix!  They are also amazing with raspberries in place of the blueberries.  Serve them with a little butter and real maple syrup and they’ll be perfect.

What you need:

1 cup buttermilk

1 egg

2 teaspoons vegetable oil or melted butter

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

butter for frying

What you do:

1. Beat the egg up a little with a fork, then add the other liquid ingredients.

2.  Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl.  Add the liquid to the dry ingredients and stir it until there are no lumps.  If it seems a little thick, thin it down with a bit more buttermilk.

3.  Stir in the berries.  If you are using frozen, don’t thaw them, just mix them in straight out of the freezer.  They’ll maintain their shape better that way.

4.  Heat a frying pan to medium high and put a little butter in the pan.  I usually do one tester pancake because the first ones never seem to turn out right.  Scoop spoonfuls of the batter into the hot pan, turning it down if it starts to smoke.  When you see bubbles rising to the surface of the pancake it is time to flip it.  Cook on the other side until they are nicely browned.

I like to serve them fresh out of the pan because they taste the best then, but I suppose you could put some into a warm oven if you needed to.

Grilled Chicken Salad

Here’s another Mother’s Day recipe – I made this grilled chicken salad with a vinaigrette dressing, mango, and pita and tzatziki on the side.  The salad makes a nice light and tasty meal.

I watched this TED talk by a young girl named Lauren Hodge who speaks about her research on reducing the carcinogenic effects of grilling.  She says that you can reduce the carcinogens by up to 90% in grilled chicken simply by marinating it in lemon juice.  Great information, and inspiring to hear someone so young being so dedicated to research.  A helpful and tasty tip – thanks Lauren!

What you need:

2 chicken breasts, boneless and skinless

juice of 1 lemon

1 teaspoon brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 teaspoon dry oregano

1 teaspoon sumac (available in middle eastern shops)

2 tablespoons olive oil

What you do:

1. Combine all the ingredients in a shallow pan or ziplock bag.  Allow to marinate for 1/2 hour to a few hours.

2.  Grill the chicken for about 4-5 minutes per side, until no longer pink.  Be careful not to cook it too long.  This will not only dry it out, but also increases the carcinogens in the meat.

3.  While the chicken is grilling, prepare the salad with vinaigrette and mango on the side.

4.  Slice the chicken and arrange it on the salad.