Category: Easy Recipes

Spanish Salad

This isn’t an authentic Spanish recipe; instead I was inspired by the amazing vegetables I found in the markets of Barcelona.  Was it because I was on holiday, or did these veggies truly have more flavour than the ones at home?  I’m not sure, but since they were bursting with flavour, they didn’t need much doctoring up with dressing.  I just drizzled on a little extra-virgin olive oil and cracked some salt on top.  Simple and amazing.

What you need:

a few tomatoes – I used cherry tomatoes

a few mini cucumbers

an avocado

olives with the pits in them

What you do:

1.  Chop the veggies up and put them into a bowl.

2.  Drizzle with the best quality olive oil you have.

3.  Crack on a little salt.

I served mine with some chorizo, flatbread and a glass of red wine.  Buon provecho!

Monserrat

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Poulet Calvados

Chef Jeremy, one of my fabulous hosts in Paris, made this amazing dinner the other night.  Unfortunately I don’t have a picture of the plated meal because it was so good that we dug in right away without pausing for the photo.  Served with a baguette and white wine, this is an impressive and not too challenging recipe.

Jeremy found this recipe online, at allrecipes.com, and feels it is a close approximation to the recipe that he lost, which used chicken stock and cider, and was flambeed with calvados.

What you need:

1/2 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon salt or fleur de sel

4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts

1/4 cup butter

3 cups fresh mushrooms

3 granny smith apples, peeled and sliced

1 cup apple brandy (calvados, or brandy in a pinch)

1-2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 cup cream

What you do:

1.  Combine the flour and salt in a bowl and the coat the chicken in it.  Heat the butter in a large pan over medium-high heat and brown the chicken on each side, about 3 minutes each side.  Transfer the chicken to a plate and cover.

2.  Put the onions, mushrooms and apples in the pan.  If the pan is too dry you can add a little olive oil.  Cook until the apples are tender, about 5 minutes, stirring from time to time.

3.  Stir in the brandy, thyme, salt and pepper and bring to a simmer.  Put the chicken back in the pan and cook, uncovered, for about 10 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked.

4.  Add the cream and simmer until thickened, for about 5 minutes.

Served with a baguette this is fabulous because you can use the bread to soak up the amazing sauce.  We had crème caramel for dessert… amazing, and hopefully a recipe that I will post soon!  Bon appetit!

 

The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

I read a lot of recipes claiming to be the best before trying this one.  A few recipes involved refrigerating the dough for a day before baking, claiming this is the magic that will give you the best cookies.  I think they’re great, but then how can you go too wrong with chocolate and butter?

I go the recipe from words to eat by.

What you need:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into cubes

1/2 cup white sugar

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 & 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

1 large egg

1 & 1/2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup chocolate chips (I used dark chocolate)

What you do:

1.  Cream the butter and sugars for several minutes, until creamy.  Add the vanilla and egg and beat briefly.

2.  Combine the flour, baking soda and salt and stir them in or mix on low.  Add the chocolate chips.

3.  To refrigerate the dough you have two options: roll it in plastic wrap like I did, then cut the log into disks when you’re ready to bake.  Or. . . you could refrigerate the dough in the bowl, then use a scooper to form the cookies.

4.  Line your baking trays with parchment, then place the cookie dough on the paper, leaving some room between them.

5.  Bake for 11-13 minutes at 350F, removing from the oven when they still look almost under-baked.  Pull the whole parchment paper, with cookies on top, onto your cooling racks so the cookies don’t sag between the spaces.

By the way, you don’t have to wait until they are cooled before you start eating them!

Summer Kick-Slaw

It’s finally summer in Vancouver, for today at least, so that means it’s time to try out new salad recipes.  This one’s got lots of flavour, a great way to up your veggie intake!  Chop it up, pour the dressing on, and stick it in the fridge to munch on with your meals or bring  to a picnic.

I found this recipe in Fast, Fresh and Green by Susie Middleton, and altered it slightly.  The author calls the recipe kick-slaw because the ginger, lime and garlic give it a kick of flavour.  I like the name because coleslaw sounds so boring.  This recipe isn’t boring!

What you need:

1/2 small head of red cabbage

1/2 small head of green cabbage (or just one of either red or green if you prefer)

1 package snow peas, ends cut off, then cut on a sharp diagonal

2 carrots, shredded with a grater, or julienned

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tablespoon grated ginger

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice

2 & 1/2 tablespoons hoisin sauce

2 teaspoons soy sauce

1/2 teaspoon sesame oil

1 tablespoon peanut or canola oil

a little chopped cilantro

optional: toasted, crushed sesame seeds

What you do:

1.  Mix the veggies together in a large bowl.

2.  Mix the dressing ingredients together in another bowl and add to the veggies, tossing until combined.  Top with the optional sesame seeds

Voila, easy peasy!

Brown Butter Zucchini “Linguine”

This is so easy to make, so delicious, and a great way to take advantage of all those young squash that are coming up in gardens everywhere.   You just need a julienne slicer for this one.

I found this recipe in Susie Middleton’s Fast, Fresh and Green.  So many recipes I want to try in there!

What you need:

4 small zucchini, preferable a mixture of yellow and green

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons slivered almonds

salt

a few squeezes of lemon

a little fresh tarragon or parsley

What you do:

1.  Wash and dry the zucchini, then use a julienne peeler to peel long strips, stopping when you get to the seedy part.

2.  Melt the butter over medium-low heat, then add the almonds.  Cook until the butter turns brown, but not burnt.

3. Add the squash and some salt, and toss in the butter for about a minute, until it wilts.  Squeeze a little lemon over the squash and a little of the herbs and toss it in.

4.  Remove the squash from the pan and sprinkle a little more of the herbs on top.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Squares with Peanut Butter Cups

Chocolate and peanut butter, a match made in heaven.  My first experience with it was probably eating Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups as a kid at Halloween.  I can still remember the ad where two people bump into each other while roller skating, and somebody’s chocolate ends up in somebody’s peanut butter – and realize it’s a match made in heaven.

This recipe uses Rebar Restaurant’s peanut butter chocolate chip cookie cake, to which I added the mini peanut butter cups – to rave reviews of everyone who tried it.  A definite crowd pleaser, for those who like the peanut butter & chocolate combo.  Pretty easy to make too – the hardest part it unwrapping all those mini peanut butter cups!

What you need:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1/3 cup smooth natural peanut butter

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

3/4 cup rolled oats

1 cup unbleached flour

1/2 baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup chocolate chips

16 mini peanut butter cups

What you do:

1.  Grease an 8×8 pan and preheat the oven to 350F.  Cream the butter, sugars and peanut butter until light and fluffy.  Add the egg and vanilla and beat well.

2.  Add the oats, flour, baking soda and salt and stir well.  Mix in the chocolate chips.

3.  Spread into the pan and bake for 25 minutes.  When it comes out of the oven push the peanut butter cups into the squares.   You’ll probably want to let it cool before you cut it, as the peanut butter cups will be melty and messy.  You may not be able to wait though!

Flax-Bran Raisin Muffins

This recipe is based on my usual bran muffin recipe, but I’ve added flax because of the Omega-3s it contains, and provides even more fibre than a regular bran muffin.  I’ve also lowered the amount of sugar in these, balancing out the sweetness of the raisins. They’re easy to make, taste great, and they’re good for you.  Throw them in the freezer and you’ve got a quick snack whenever you need it.

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 raisins

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 butter, then mix in the milk slowly, so the butter doesn’t harden when you add cold milk.  Add molasses.  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.  Mix in the raisins.

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

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

6.  If you freeze them, make sure they’re completely cool before they go in the freezer.

Cocoa Nib Cookies

These are pretty addictive, so be careful!  They have three kinds of chocolate – cocoa powder, chocolate chips, and cocoa nibs.  The nibs balance out the sweetness, and have a slight crunch.  Depending on how you like your cookies you can adjust the baking time.  I like mine slightly chewy but with a good bite to them, so I used the cooking time I listed here.  Some people like them crunchy, so feel free to leave them in a little longer if that applies to you.

These are refrigerator cookies, so you need to mix them a few hours before you are going to bake them.

I found this recipe in The Grand Central Baking Book by Piper Davis and Ellen Jackson.

What you need:

1 & 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1/2 cup cocoa

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 cup butter, room temperature

1/4 cup white sugar

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/3 cup cocoa nibs

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

(nope, there’s no egg in here!)

What you do:

1. Beat the butter, then mix in the sugars for about 3 minutes, or until very smooth.  Add the vanilla.

2.  Add the dry ingredients, mixing until just incorporated.  Fold in the cocoa nibs and chocolate chips.

3. Divide the dough into 2 pieces and place on parchment or wax paper.  Form into logs, then roll them up and refrigerate for about 2 hours.  You could leave the dough in the fridge for a few days, or freeze for a few months.

4. Preheat the oven to 325F and line baking sheets with parchment paper.

5.  Using a very sharp knife, slice the dough into rounds about 2 cm thick.  Place on the baking sheets with a little space between them.  Bake for 15-16 minutes, rotating the pans half way through the baking.

I served them with some vanilla ice-cream and chocolate fudge sauce.  Yummmmy!

Quick and Yummy Chicken and Veg Noodles

This is another old standby, usually with just the broccoli, but I try to add extra veg whenever I can.  It’s comfort-foody, plus it’s pretty easy.  Feel free to switch it up with your favourite veg.

I use plain yogurt in this, but you can use sour cream if you prefer.

What you need:

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

2-3 boneless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch pieces

1 small onion, chopped

1-2 red/yellow/orange peppers

1 clove garlic, minced

3 cups chicken stock

3 cups medium egg noodles

1 large head broccoli, broken into florets

1 cup yogurt or sour cream

salt and pepper to taste

What you do:

1.  In a large frying pan heat the oil, then add the onions and saute until translucent.  Add the garlic and chicken and cook for a few minutes.

2.  Add the stock into the frying pan and bring to a boil.  Add the noodles and cook for about 6 minutes, or until the noodles are almost cooked, stirring from time to time.

3.  Add the broccoli and cook for a few minutes, making sure the broccoli is still bright green when it is served.

4.  Add the yogurt/sour cream just before serving and season with salt and pepper to taste.

This recipe is from More Six O’Clock Solutions by Ruth Phelan and Brenda Thompson.

Olive Tapenade

This one’s really easy to make, and works great as an appetizer.  Rosemary crackers work really well with it, as does a crusty loaf of bread.

What you need

about a cup of black or green sliced olives

1 tablespoon capers

a drizzle or two of olive oil

a little squeeze of lemon (optional)

pepper

What you do

1.  Throw all the ingredients in a food processor.  Whiz it around for a few seconds so it is chopped up but not too finely.

2.  You can serve right away, but it also keeps for a while.  I prefer serving it at room temperature, so I take it out of the fridge a while before I’m going to serve it.