Category: lactose-free

Grilled Zucchini with Za’atar Vinaigrette

grilled zucchini with za'aatar vinaigrette - trust in kim

 

I fell in love with Lebanese food the year I lived in Halifax, Nova Scotia.  Now I seek out Lebanese recipes to experiment with at home. I found this one on David Lebovitz’s awesome site.

Za’atar is a combination of sesame seeds, sumac, and some herbs. Mixed with some mustard, oil and vinegar it makes a lovely dressing for grilled veggies. I made zucchini for this post, but later used it on other veggies as well, and all were delicious.

I can hardly wait until the zucchini in my garden are ready, and I can make this again.

What you need:

  • 1 kg zucchini
  • 2 tablespoons sherry or cider vinegar
  • 2 teaspoons yellow mustard
  • pinch of salt
  • 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (plus some for the zucchini)
  • 4 teaspoons za’atar
  • 1/4 teaspoon sumac (optional)

What you do:

  1. Slice the zucchini to 1/4 inch, as evenly as possible so you don’t have parts that burn. Using a mandoline works well. Toss the slices in a some olive oil.
  2. Combine all the rest of the ingredients to make the vinaigrette.
  3. Heat the grill and brush it with some olive oil. Grill the zucchini slices until they are charred on each side.
  4. Arrange the zucchini on a platter and pour some dressing over the slices.

 

Sun-Dried Tomato and Basil Cream Cheese Spread

sun-dried tomato cream cheese spread - trust in kim

This cream cheese spread makes a great appetizer with a loaf of fresh bread or crackers. A friend of mine used to always buy this spread when we were having wine and appies, and another friend, Sarah, makes her own delicious version. This recipe is a combination of what I guessed to be the ingredients in the store-bought version, and some tips from Sarah.

The one difference with my recipe is that I made my own oven-dried cherry tomatoes. I make up a big batch, and they keep for a long time in the fridge.

Make this recipe at least an hour ahead of time so the flavours have a chance to mingle.

What you need:

  • 1 – 250 gram tub of spreadable cream cheese (or Tofutti non-dairy cream cheese)
  • 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
  • a few sun-dried cherry tomatoes packed in  olive oil (or oven-roasted to make it even better)
  • 1 clove garlic, finely minced
  • a few sprigs fresh basil, chopped
  • a little freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • salt and pepper to taste

What you do:

  1. Combine the mayonnaise and cream cheese.
  2. Chop and add the cherry tomatoes, minced garlic, basil, lemon juice, salt and pepper.
  3. Taste and adjust the amounts of anything you think you need more of.
  4. Refrigerate for at least an hour before serving.
  5. Garnish with a sprig of basil, and serve with a loaf of freshly baked bread or crackers of your choice.

Red Wine Sangria

 

red wine sangria - trust in kim

I used to make this recipe a lot, and even made dozens of batches of it for a wedding once. It was always a recipe that I could count on the be stored safely in my brain; now I realize that might not be the best place to store something. So this brings me to last week, when I did my best to recreate that old faithful red sangria recipe. I think this pretty close to the original recipe…

In Vancouver there used to be a Spanish restaurant called La Bodega, where they served a delicious red wine sangria. A friend once told me the secret to their awesome sangria was, surprisingly, adding orange pop. And, yes, it does make a delicious drink!

What you need:

  • 1 bottle red wine, chilled (nothing fancy)
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup Triple Sec or Cointreau (or 1/4 cup triple sec and 1/4 cup brandy)
  • 1 apple
  • 1 orange
  • a few strawberries (optional)
  • 1 can of orange pop
  • lemon or lime slices for garnish (optional)

What you do:

  1. Cut the fruit into bite-sized pieces. Combine the Triple Sec and sugar, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Add the fruit to this and let it sit for about 1/2 an hour, up to a few hours ahead of time.
  2. Combine the chilled wine, orange pop, and the fruit concoction. Add ice if you wish. If you are using the citrus fruit, cut into slices to place in the sangria.

Drink it while it’s cold!

fruit in glass jug - trust in kim

Egg & Avocado Open-Faced Sandwich

egg and avocado open-faced sandwich - trust in kim

This might look a little odd – like green eggs without the ham – but it’s pretty darn good. And a healthier alternative to using mayonnaise in a sandwich.

I developed this simple recipe out of necessity – I had a half an avocado that needed to be used up, and I was hungry and didn’t have much food in the house. So instead of the usual egg salad sandwich I made and enjoyed this:

What you need for one sandwich:

  • one large free-range egg
  • 1/4 to 1/2 a ripe avocado
  • salt and pepper
  • 2 slices bread of your choice

What you do:

  1. Place the egg in a small pot filled with water and put a lid on the pot. The water needs to cover the egg. Turn the heat to high and bring the water to a boil. Turn the heat off as soon as it begins to boil, and set a timer for 11 minutes, keeping the lid on the pot. This method of making a “boiled” egg without actually boiling it ensures that your egg will be tender – boiling can cause the egg to become rubbery.
  2. Drain the hot water off the egg and immerse it in cold water. I like to crack the egg while it is in the water because this helps to get the peel off easily.
  3. Mash the avocado in a bowl and add some salt and pepper. When the egg has cooled somewhat, cut it up and add it to the avocado. Mix the egg and avocado together.
  4. Toast your bread.
  5. Pile the egg mixture on top of the bread and eat it right away.

Enjoy!

African-Inspired Chicken and Vegetable Stew

African Chicken Stew

This soup is one of the reasons I am glad we have real winters in Vancouver. (Sorry to the rest of Canada, I know we don’t have Real Winters like you do, but it seems cold enough to me.) I’m happy eat soup year round, but I know some people like to keep it to the colder months, so here’s one more for you, while we have this intermittent warm and cold Spring weather.

I know it might seem odd to add almond butter to soup, but trust me, it is awesome! It adds a creaminess in a way you cannot imagine until you eat it; it is creamy without any dairy. Plus there’s a little extra protein in it.

This recipe comes from this website. One thing I changed was adding 1/3 cup almond butter instead of 1/2 cup. I also changed the order of the cooking; I like to brown the chicken first, and the recipe called for adding it later with the broth and tomato.

Enjoy, because this is so good!

What you need:

  • 1-2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 4-6 skinless, bone-in chicken thighs
  • 1 large sweet onion, chopped
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 cups tomato purée
  • 2 & 1/2 cups chicken broth
  • 3 pounds sweet potatoes  peeled and cut into 2-3cm pieces
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon cumin
  • 1/2 teaspoon coriander
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • one minced fresh chili or 1/2 tsp chili powder
  • 3 red bell peppers, chopped
  • 1/2 cup almond butter

What you do:

  1. Heat the oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the chicken pieces and allow them to brown on each side.
  2. Turn the heat down to medium and add the onions, cooking for about 5 minutes, until softened. Now add the garlic and cook for another minute.
  3. Add the sweet potatoes, cumin, coriander, cinnamon and chill, then pour in the chicken stock and tomato purée. Cover the pot and bring it to a simmer; leaving it with the lid on for about 40 minutes, stirring from time to time.
  4. Add the red peppers; take the lid off and cook for about 10 more minutes.
  5. Remove the chicken pieces and take the meat off the bone. Use two forks pull the chicken apart, then put the chicken back into the soup.
  6. Just before serving, stir in the almond butter.
  7. Serve as is, or top it with a little cilantro.

I Love Lunch – New Category for Leftovers

lunchbag - trust in kim

One of my weekly routines takes place on Sundays in the afternoon or evening. I choose a recipe that I think will be great for leftovers, and I prepare it and store individual portions in my fridge. I’ve been doing this for years so that I can have healthy and delicious lunches, and not have to worry about preparing meals during a busy work week.

Today I went through all my previous recipe posts and created a category called ‘Makes Great Leftovers’ so you that you can easily find recipes that you can use for leftovers. There are a lot of soups, stews, salads and other one-dish meals. Quite a few are vegetarian or vegan, but there are also a lot of recipes with meat.

Hope it’s helpful!

Kim

Roasted Root Vegetable Chips

roasted root vegetable chips - trust in kim

Even though I know they are so bad for me, I really really love potato chips. I never ever buy them unless it’s a special occasion because I know I will not be able to leave a single chip in the bag. I’ve tried some of those fancy root vegetable chips, and loved them too.

Looking for a healthy alternative, I figured I could make my own root vegetable chips at home, using much less oil than the store-bought bags of chips. The trick is getting them very thinly and uniformly sliced. To do this I used a mandoline.

The picture of the roasted chips above was taken before I decided I needed to put them back in the oven to get a little crisper. They should look more browned than in that photo.

What you need:

  • 1 small potato
  • 1 carrot
  • 1 parsnip
  • 1 beet
  • olive oil
  • salt

What you do:

  1. Preheat the oven to 400F.
  2. Slice the vegetables as thinly and uniformly as you can.
  3. Place the vegetables in a bowl and drizzle with a tablespoon or two of olive oil, and some salt.
  4. Spread the vegetables in one layer on a baking sheet. Keep each type of vegetable together; the roasting time varies between the vegetable types.
  5. Roast for about 15 minutes, then check the chips. If some are done, remove them, then let the rest continue to roast, checking every 5 minutes until they are done. They will get crisper as they cool.
  6. It’s best to eat these the day you make them, as they will get a little soft.

sliced root vegetables - trust in kim

Spanish Rabbit Stew

rabbit stew - trust in kim

 

This Rabbit Stew is surprisingly delicious. I say surprising because I’ve never eaten rabbit before, and because it can be difficult to cook properly. From what I have read, rabbit can easily become chewy or mushy with improper cooking, but this recipe brings it to the right texture and taste. The rabbit is stewed with wine, brandy, vegetables, jamon and herbs. The recipe suggests serving it with potatoes, but since we were in Paris, we served it with a baguette.

This meal was made while staying with my friends Julie and Jeremy in Paris last summer. I was very excited to have a kitchen in which to make a few meals using local ingredients, and a friend who was interested in cooking with me. Rabbit isn’t something I see in markets at home very often, so Jeremy and I decided to make a rabbit stew.

The recipe is from The Complete Mediterranean Cookbook by Tess Mallos. It feeds 6 people.

What you need:

  • 1.5 kg rabbit, cut into pieces
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 125 gram piece jamon, serrano or prosciutto ham, diced
  • 2 tablespoons brandy
  • 125 grams small mushrooms
  • 425 gram can of pureed tomatoes
  • 3/4 cup dry red wine
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 2 sprigs fresh parsley, plus a little more for garnishing
  • 2 sprigs fresh thyme
  • salt and freshly ground pepper

What you do:

  1. Rinse the rabbit and dry it well with paper towels.
  2. Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a Dutch oven and brown the rabbit on all sides. Remove the rabbit pieces to a plate.
  3. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil to the pan and cook the onion in it on low heat until it is transparent, for about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and jamon or prosciutto and cook for 2-3 minutes. Return the rabbit to the dish.
  4. Pour the brandy over the rabbit. Ignite the brandy and shake the pan until the flames dies down.
  5. Add the mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Tie the herbs into a bunch, then add them along with the tomatoes, wine, salt and pepper to taste. Cover and simmer with a lid on for 1 to 1 & 1/2 hours. Test the rabbit after about and hour to to see if it is tender enough; keep cooking until it begins to fall off the bone.
  6. Remove the lid from the pot in the last moments so that the sauce can reduce. It should become quite thick. Taste to see if you need to add more salt and pepper.
  7. Remove the rabbit to a serving dish and garnish with parsley.

 

Seared Sea Scallops on Greens

seared scallops on greens - trust in kim

This

is

my

favourite

food

in the world.

Awesome! So delicious. I can die happy now. Hopefully I will live to eat these again, though.

Yes, I love papaya, blueberries, duck confit, lemon tarts and chocolate croissants. But this, the sea scallop, is my all-time favourite. And because of that I never cook them. They are so precious that I fear I will ruin them, and a ruined, over-cooked scallop is an atrocity.

So when I set out to cook this I did my research, found the very best scallops I could lay my hands on, and carefully crafted this dish. I got some beautiful fresh large sea scallops at Seafood City on Granville Island, for those of you in Vancouver. Fresh, not frozen scallops are a must here. If you want an awesome meal, that is.

Simple is the key – the scallops speak for themselves, so you have to do very little with them, except season and cook them carefully.

What you need:

  • the freshest sea scallops you can find, 2-3 per person depending on their size
  • good quality olive oil
  • salt and pepper
  • salad greens
  • 1 lemon

What you do:

  1. Make the salad dressing before cooking the scallops. Grate a little lemon zest, then combine some lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. Taste and adjust the amounts of the ingredients to your liking.
  2. Salt and pepper one side of the scallops, using a little more salt than you think you should, as some will come off in the cooking process.
  3. Get your salad greens ready on the plates. You want to be able to plate the scallops and eat them immediately.
  4. Heat a frying pan on high, but not a non-stick one. Add some olive oil to the pan and wait until it gets very hot – if the pan isn’t hot enough the scallops will stick to it. Add the scallops with the seasoned side facing down. You should hear quite a sizzle; if not the pan isn’t hot enough. Season the top side of the scallops. Let them sear for about 1 & 1/2 minutes (less time if they are smaller) ; it’s better to undercook them than overcook them. Turn the scallops over and sear the other side; the cooked side should be nicely browned. You will see they are no longer translucent, meaning they are now cooked.
  5. Place the cooked scallops on top of the salad greens and serve as soon as possible. You could add a little squirt of lemon to the scallops if you want, but I didn’t because the dressing was lemony enough.

Enjoy the best food ever. Hope you love it!

 

Healthy Air-popped Popcorn with Olive Oil and Nutritional Yeast

healthy popcorn - trust in kim

This is one of my absolute favourite snacks. I know, butter on popcorn is delicious. But so is this! And olive oil has so many health benefits. One that I just found about is that it can help prevent osteoporosis because it aids in calcium absorption. As well, nutritional yeast has many nutrients, including B vitamins. You can adjust the amount of salt in this homemade popcorn, if that is a health issue for you.

Many a savoury craving have been done away with by this bowl of goodness. Right now I’m using a Tuscan herb infused olive oil to drizzle on it, but I’ve typically used a nice extra-virgin olive oil. There are a lot of infused olive oils out there these days, so you could experiment with them.

I used to make popcorn in the microwave – throw the kernels into a paper bag, fold the top over a little and nuke it, turning the microwave off as soon as the popping stops. This was an excellent method until one day when the bag caught on fire and melted the inside of my microwave. Now I use the stove top method.

What you need:

  • popcorn kernels, a few tablespoonfuls per person
  • olive oil – good quality extra-virgin, or an infused one
  • salt and freshly ground pepper
  • nutritional yeast

What you do:

  1. Place the popcorn kernels in a large pot that isn’t too heavy (unless you have super strong wrists) and put the lid on it. Have a large bowl standing by.
  2. Turn the stove on high heat and place the pot on it, giving it regular shakes. As soon as you hear the first pop you have to keep shaking, so the popcorn doesn’t burn, and each kernel has a chance to pop. As soon as you don’t hear any popping take the pot off the stove.
  3. Lift the lid carefully (some of those unpopped guys like to jump out at this point) and pour the popcorn into the bowl.
  4. Drizzle a little olive oil onto the popcorn. Add salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. Add a tablespoon or two of nutritional yeast. Mix it all up so the popcorn is evenly coated. Taste and add more of whatever you think it needs. Eat it while it’s still warm.

Enjoy! And know that it is as good for you as it tastes.