Category: lactose-free

Thumbprint Cookies

Thumbprint cookies -trust in kim

Thumbprint Cookies - trust in kim

These pretty cookies are delicious, and really easy to make. I really like the combination of fruit and nut in them. You can use your favourite type of jam; I used raspberry and damson plum jams for this batch, and I think apricot would be awesome.

The only change I made (from the Whole Foods recipe) was using half butter, half olive oil instead of only oil. In my opinion, everything tastes better with butter, but you can feel free to use 1/2 cup of canola oil instead if you want to turn this into a vegan recipe. Or all butter!

These should keep well for about 5 days in an airtight container.

What you need:

  • 1 cup almonds or 3/4 cup ground almonds
  • 1 cup rolled oats
  • 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour  (I just used all-purpose  flour)
  • 1/4 cup canola oil
  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 1/2 cup maple syrup
  • 1/4 teaspoon fine salt
  • 5 tablespoons jam

What you do:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
  2. Put almonds and oats into a food processor or coffee grinder and pulse until coarsely ground.
  3. Combine the nuts and oats in a large bowl with the flour, oil, syrup and salt.
  4. Use a 1 tablespoon ice-cream scoop, or roll walnut-sized balls of dough in the palm of your hand, to form each cookie.
  5. Arrange the cookies on 2 large baking sheets, spacing them about 2 inches apart. Press your thumb gently down into the center of each cookie to make an indentation for the jam.
  6. Spoon a little jam into each indentation.
  7. Bake the cookies until they are golden brown and just firm around the edges, about 15 to 20 minutes.
  8. Transfer to a rack to let cool completely.
  9. Any cookies that you don’t eat immediately can be stored between layers of waxed paper or parchment paper in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

Chicken and Vegetable Tagine

chicken and vegetable tagine - trust in kimA few months ago I made some preserved lemons , knowing that I would make a tagine one day – some things have to be planned ahead! So I had the beautiful sunny gems waiting in my fridge to use in this chicken and vegetable tagine, and they sure did make this recipe shine.

The recipe I ended up with was is amalgamation of two recipes I found online, here and here, and then a bit of my own experimentation. I really wanted it to be full of a variety of vegetables, and tons of flavour.

You could omit the chicken to make this a lovely vegetarian dish. I would probably throw some toasted nuts on top to add some protein.

I served the tagine on Israeli couscous, which have a nice pasta-like bite to them, but you could also serve it on regular couscous or rice.

A note about the tagine:

Tajine_potter

A tagine is a crockery vessel with a conical lid. I do not own a tagine, nor do I have room in my tiny kitchen to store one, so I have used a le Creuset lidded pot in its place. I’m sure so much of this recipe is inauthentic (yet awesome!), so using the wrong vessel is probably fine. Use any large lidded dish you have that can be used on both the stove-top and in the oven.

What you need:

  • 4-6 skinless, bone-in chicken thighs
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 large shallot
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
  • 1 teaspoon cumin
  • 1 teaspoon coriander seeds, lightly crushed
  • 2 small cinnamon sticks
  • pinch of saffron
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • pinch of dried crushed chili flakes
  • 2 cups chicken stock
  • 2 small handfuls of dried apricots, chopped
  • 1 preserved lemon (optional)
  • 1 tablespoon honey
  • 1 sweet onion, cut into about 8 wedges
  • 1 small butternut squash, cut into 3-cm thick wedges
  • 3 carrots, cut into 4-5 cm long chunks
  • 2 parsnips, cut into 4-5 cm long chunks
  • 1 red pepper, cut into 2 cm wide strips
  • salt, to taste
  • cilantro

What you do:

  1. Preheat the oven to 400F.
  2. Place the onion wedges, butternut squash, carrots, parsnips and red pepper on a baking tray. Drizzle with olive oil and place in the oven to roast. This will take anywhere from 20-40 minutes. It’s okay if not all the vegetables are cooked through, but they should get some colour.
  3. Salt the chicken pieces.
  4. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet or a dutch oven with a lid, on medium high heat, then add the chicken. Brown the chicken on both sides, then remove it from the pan. The chicken does not need to be cooked all the way through, as you will continue the cooking process later.
  5. Lower the heat to medium-low and add the shallot and ginger to the pan. Cook until the shallot has browned.
  6. Add the fresh ginger, cumin, coriander seeds, cinnamon, saffron, chili, and ground ginger to the pan and cook until fragrant.
  7. Cut the peel off the preserved lemon and discard all the inside bits. Chop the lemon peel into about 1cm pieces.
  8. Add the chicken stock, honey, apricots, and preserved lemon to the pan, and then add the chicken back to the pan so it is mostly submerged in the broth. Simmer the chicken until the vegetables are ready.
  9. Add the roasted vegetables to the pot with the chicken. Gently combine them so they don’t break up. Put a lid on the skillet or dutch oven and place in the oven for 20-30 minutes, until the flavours have had a chance to mingle, and the chicken and vegetables have cooked all the way through.
  10. Serve on couscous or rice, garnished with cilantro.

Enjoy!

 

French Lentil Soup with Hot Turkey Sausage and Kale

P1050837

Here’s a tasty and healthy recipe – perfect for the wet Vancouver weeks we’ve been having, or the cold weather anywhere else. Apparently this is a typical French soup. Since I have only visited France in the summer, I have never had a chance to try this, but it’s delicious!

I found the recipe here, and only changed it a little. I used a few cups of chicken broth along with the water, and about half the amount of sausage. I used less olive oil than the original recipe called for, and I discarded the fat from the sausages instead of adding it to the soup. I think it’s leaner, but still really tasty.

What you need:

  • 1 & 1/2 cups French lentils
  • 300 grams hot Italian sausage (omit for a vegetarian soup)
  • 2-3 cups kale
  • 1 large leek, diced
  • 3 carrots, shredded
  • 3 stalks celery, diced
  • 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
  • 3 bay leaves
  • 1 Tbs Thyme
  • 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • 1 & 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 6-7 cups water (or 3 cups chicken broth, the rest water)
  • salt and pepper

What you do:

  1. Pick through the lentils to make sure there are no small stones hidden in them.
  2. Remove the stems from the kale and cut it into ribbons.
  3. Remove the casing from the sausage. Heat about 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil in a large pot and sear the sausage on both sides, then break it apart. Remove the sausage and discard most of the fat.
  4. Add the red pepper flakes to the little bit of sausage fat, and then add the kale. Season with salt and pepper, and sauté the kale for about 2 minutes. Add it to the removed sausage.
  5. Pour the remaining tablespoon of olive oil into the pot and add the vegetables.  Sauté them for about 10 minutes, or until the vegetables become soft and transparent.
  6. Add the thyme, bay leaves, lentils and 6 cups of water.  Season with salt and pepper, bring to a simmer and cook for 25 – 30 minutes, at which time the lentils should be done.
  7. Add the vinegar, kale, sausage, and any more water to achieve the thickness you want.  Cook for 5 more minutes to reheat the kale and sausage. Taste and adjust seasonings.
  8. You can serve it right away, but it also makes fantastic leftovers. The flavours are even more developed with next day!

Hummus Kawarma (Lamb) with Lemon Sauce

Hummus kawarma (lamb) with Lemon Sauce - trust in kim

Yotam Ottolenghi, thank you for this recipe! I have several of his cookbooks, and I think this is my favourite recipe out of all of them. It comes from Jerusalem, which is filled with awesome recipes along with beautiful photos of the food and culture.

There is so much flavour in this dish – the lamb is marinated in herbs, and then it is served on top of hummus and drizzled with a delicious lemon sauce. Completely addictive!

In the colder seasons I serve this with another favourite recipe, roasted cauliflower and butternut squash. In summer I would switch to a refreshing fattoush salad.

You can substitute the hand-chopped lamb with ground lamb, but the hand-chopped meat has a much nicer texture to it. And it’s really easy to chop the meat yourself.

This recipe serves 6 people for an appetizer or small meal. Pita bread is nice served with this.

What you need:

kawarma ingredients:

  • 300g neck fillet of lamb (which I couldn’t find, so I just used a piece of top round)
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon ground allspice
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
  • 1 teaspoon crushed dried za’atar or oregano leaves
  • 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint
  • 1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley, plus extra to garnish
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter or ghee
  • 1 teaspoon olive oil

lemon sauce ingredients:

  • 10 grams flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped (also delicious without parsley)
  • 1 green chile, chopped finely
  • 4 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
  • 2 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt

optional toppings:

  • pine nuts
  • pomegranate seeds

What you do:

  1. Chop the lamb finely. Combine all the kawarma ingredients except the butter and oil. Mix well, cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
  2. Combine all the ingredients for the lemon sauce.
  3. Heat the butter and olive oil in a large frying pan. Add the lamb, in two or three batches, and stir as it fries. It only needs about 2 minutes to turn nicely light-pink inside.
  4. To serve, make a mound of hummus on the plate, and use a spoon to create a well in the middle. Spoon some of the lamb into the well, and top with a generous amount of the lemon sauce. Garnish with more parsley or other optional toppings.

Enjoy it while it’s warm!

Spinach Gomae (Horenso No Gomae)

spinach gomae-ae - trust in kim

I love to order spinach gomae when I eat in a Japanese restaurant. I’ve been making it at home for a while now, and I love how easy and delicious it is.

I’ve tried a few recipes, which were all good, but I’ve lost track of them. So here’s the one I made most recently. It comes from a recipe by chef Takashi Mizukami of the Dirty Apron Cooking School, and was published in the Vancouver Sun newspaper.

My favourite thing to make with Spinach Gomae is Tuna Sashimi. So delicious!

The recipe is for two people.

What you need:

  • 400 grams spinach, washed
  • 6 tablespoons toasted white sesame seeds
  • 3 tablespoons sake
  • 3 tablespoons sugar
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce

What you do:

  1. Toast the sesame seeds and grind them in a mortar and pestle or electric grinder.
  2. Combine the sesame seeds in a bowl with the sake, sugar and soy sauce.
  3. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add some salt.
  4. Optional: if you are going to use an ice bath, get that ready first. The rest happens quickly.
  5. Gather a bundle of spinach together and dip the stems in the boiling water for about 15 seconds, then let the whole bunch fall into the water, submerging for 10 more seconds. Remove the spinach with tongs and quickly place it under cold running water or submerge it in an ice bath. The cooling will prevent it from overcooking.
  6. Once the spinach has cooled, arrange the spinach so the stems are aligned, and then squeeze out the excess water.
  7. Arrange on a serving plate and pour the sauce over top.
  8. Enjoy!

Lemony Greek Ribs

greek rib dinner -trust in kimgreek ribs - trust in kim

These dry Greek ribs are so flavourful – lemony and salty. The secret is to make a dry rub containing lemon zest, and let that sit for a few hours.

I lived in a small town way back when for a few years and there was, in my opinion, only one good meal available in a restaurant in that town at the time. It was Greek ribs, and it was awesome. But I’ve been in big(ger) cities for a long time, where there are endless possibilities for delicious meals to inspire my cookery, so I had sort of forgotten how much I loved these until this summer. I finally got around to trying to recreate the taste experience, and I am so pleased with the results. I already have requests from the friends who ate them to make them again soon.

I gleaned ideas from many recipes, and then just put together what I thought would work into this recipe.

Lemony potatoes, Greek salad, and some tzatziki make this an awesome Greek meal.

What you need:

  • 1 large rack baby/pork back ribs
  • 2-3 cloves garlic, finely minced
  • zest of two lemons
  • 1-2 teaspoons dried oregano
  • salt and pepper
  • juice of two lemons

What you do:

  1. A few hours before you plan to grill them, make up the dry rub. Combine the garlic, lemon zest, oregano and pepper, and work it a little with your fingertips to help the zest release its oil. Place the ribs on a baking pan or another dish that they fit into. Generously salt both sides of the ribs. Rub each side with the zest mixture. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until half an hour before you will be grilling.
  2. Pour the juice of the lemons over each side of the ribs and let them sit for about half an hour.
  3. Heat the grill on high. When the grill is hot, put the ribs on (meatier side down) and turn the heat to low. Cook for about 20 minutes on each side. It might need a little longer depending on the size of the ribs and the heat of your grill.

Καλή όρεξη (Enjoy your meal!)

How to Make a Veggie Burger Even More Awesome

veggie burger - trust in kim

 

On Vancouver’s Granville Island there used to be a restaurant called Isadora’s. One of the many delicious foods they served was a walnut-based Go-Nuts burger. Most veggie burgers are soggy and unappealing, but I love this one because it is crispy on the outside, and it has a great nutty flavour. Of course it is nothing like a beef burger, but delicious nonetheless. Isadora’s restaurant has been closed for years, but they are still producing these burger patties on Saturna Island. They can be found in the freezer section of some grocery stores; in Vancouver they are at Whole Foods and Famous Foods.

I like to toast the hamburger bun, then just add a little mayo and Dijon mustard, and then top it off with the awesomeness of fried onions and homemade pickles. Fried mushrooms are great too.

Of course these toppings work on any burger, veggie or beef.

If you’d like to try making the patties yourself, here is a recipe. If you try it, please let me know how it turns out.

What you need:

  • sweet onion
  • butter or olive oil for frying the onion
  • (mushrooms are awesome on here too)
  • walnut Dijon (or regular Dijon) mustard
  • mayonnaise
  • dill pickles
  • burger patties
  • whole-grain hamburger buns

What you do:

  1. Slice some of the onion. Heat a frying pan to medium-high and add a little olive oil or butter. Fry the onions. lowering the heat as needed, until browned. Keep them warm in the pan until you need them.
  2. I fry the Go-Nuts burgers in a frying pan using a little butter instead of on the barbecue because they tend to fall apart, but you can bbq yours if you are a different kind of patty. While the patties are cooking slice the pickle and toast the buns.
  3. Spread a little mayonnaise and Dijon on the buns, then place the burger on it. Top with pickles and onions.

Enjoy!

Super Creamy Hummus, Ottolenghi Style

hummus - trust in kim

This hummus recipe by Yotam Ottolenghi is so much better than anything you can buy. It is light and creamy, and I like that I can control what goes into it – a little more lemon, a little more tahini. This recipe doesn’t have contain any olive oil, unless you pour some on top before serving.  A lot of the store-bought varieties don’t use olive oil either, often using canola oil or other substitutions. I like to drizzle olive oil on the top to add flavour, make it richer, and make it seems more Mediterranean.

It’s really not that difficult to make an awesome hummus, and there are different lengths you can go to, like starting with dry chickpeas, and peeling the skins off them. For me it’s worth the extra effort to have such a great tasting and smooth hummus, when I have a little bit of time to do it.

When I made mine I did cheat a little and use canned chickpeas, so the recipe below shows how to work with dry or canned chickpeas. One day soon I will use the method in the cookbook, cooking my own chickpeas while quickening the process by adding baking soda. But for now, because I used the canned chickpeas I had to remove the skins – this is one of the things that makes this hummus so creamy, and it only took about ten minutes.

I like to serve hummus with homemade pita crackers, and some veggie sticks.

What you need:

  • 1 & ¼ cups dried chickpeas (or one 540mL can)
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 3/4 cup tahini 
  • 4 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 2 cloves garlic, crushed
  •  Salt to taste
  • 6 & ½ tablespoons ice-cold water 

What you do:

  1. Place the chickpeas in a large pot and cover them with at least double their volume of cold water; let them soak overnight. If you are using canned chickpeas you will instead remove the skins. This is a bit of work. Here’s what I do. I drain them and put them in a large bowl with water. Then I rub some of them between my hands, and a lot of the skins come off that way. Then I go through them and pull off any skins that are remaining.
  2. If you are using dried chickpeas, drain them the next day and put them in a pot with the baking soda over high heat; cook for about 3 minutes, stirring constantly. This will help them cook faster. Add 6 & 1/2 cups of water to the pot and bring it to a boil. Lower the heat to simmer, skimming off any foam and skins. Cook for 20-40 minutes until they are tender; they should break easily when squeezed, but not be mushy.
  3. Drain the chickpeas and place in them a food processor or blender. Process until you have a thick paste. Add the tahini, lemon juice, garlic, and 1 & 1/2 teaspoons of salt; blend this. With the machine still running drizzle in most of the ice water and let it mix for about 5 minutes. You will get a very creamy paste. Add more water if you think it needs it, and taste to adjust seasonings.
  4. Put the hummus in a bowl and cover it. Let it rest for at least half an hour. Refrigerate if you are not using it right away, but remove from the fridge at least half an hour before you use it.

Enjoy!

 

Gazpacho

gazpacho - trust in kim

Oh summer, I love you for so many reasons! One of them is homegrown, flavourful tomatoes. Also the gazpacho that I can make with them.

This is the taste of summer. This is one of the recipes that makes me do a happy dance.

I fell in love with gazpacho on a trip to Spain a few years ago, and managed to eat it almost every day of my two-week stay there. It is refreshing and full of flavour. There are many different types; here are some: green gazpacho, watermelon gazpacho, and another tomato gazpacho that is very similar to this one. All are awesome, but this one is the easiest, I think.

This is so easy to make, and quite healthy too. I made a batch and kept it in the fridge for a few days. The amounts are estimates; do what seems right to you. It’s hard to go wrong. You can always add more of something if you need to.

What you need:

  • 1 small cucumber
  • 1 cup cherry tomatoes
  • 1/4 medium red onion
  • 1/2 clove garlic, minced
  • 1/2 large sweet red bell pepper
  • 1 tablespoon white balsamic vinegar (or white wine vinegar)
  • 2-3 tablespoons good quality extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 slice of white bread (I used a whole wheat French bread)
  • salt to taste

What you do:

  1. Soak the bread in water for a few minutes, then squeeze the water out.
  2. Place all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Taste and add whatever you think you need.
  3. Refrigerate for at least and hour before serving.
  4. Serve topped with some chopped tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, or a drizzle of olive oil.

Walnut Vinaigrette

walnut vinaigrette - trust in kim

When I was in France last summer I picked up a tube of walnut Dijon mustard. It isn’t something that is easy to find at home; in fact, I’ve never seen it, even in specialty stores, in Vancouver. Soon I will devise a recipe for it, so we won’t have to search for it anymore.

Here I’ve also used a walnut oil, just to bring out the nutty flavour. I love a combination of garlic and walnut, so I put in a clove of garlic. It needs to sit for a while, so you’ll need to make this a few hours in advance or the day before if you want to get that garlicky flavour in there.

What you need:

  • 1 tablespoon walnut Dijon mustard
  • 1/4 teaspoon sugar
  • 3 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar (or white wine vinegar)
  • 1/4 cup walnut oil
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 clove garlic

What you do:

  1. In a bowl or jar combine the mustard, sugar, and a little salt and pepper.
  2. Add a little bit of the vinegar to mix into the mustard, then add the rest, beating with a fork until combined.
  3. Add the walnut oil slowly, whisking in with the fork.
  4. Add more salt and pepper to taste.
  5. Peel the skin off the garlic clove, cut it in half and place it in the dressing. Let it sit for a few hours to allow the garlic flavour to be released. You can leave the garlic clove in the dressing for a week or two, or as long as it takes you to use it up.