Category: Makes Great Leftovers!

Broccoli Salad with Yogurt Dressing

Broccoli is packed with Vitamins C, K & A, as well as folic acid, fibre and a whole bunch of other nutrients.  So the challenge is to find new ways to serve it up, and preferably raw, as that’s the best way to keep all the valuable nutrients intact, or so they say.  I’ve adapted this recipe from one I found on everybodylikessandwiches.com.  I prefer to add the nuts and dried cherries on top – the nuts stay crisper, and the fruit looks prettier.  If you’re serving it all right away and plan to have no leftovers, you can get away with tossing it all together.

This one can be whipped up in no time at all!

What you need:

1 head broccoli, broken into small pieces

2 tablespoons finely diced red onion

1 tablespoon mayonnaise

3 tablespoons plain yogurt (I don’t use low-fat yogurt ever!)

juice of 1/2 lemon

a few dashes of hot sauce

1-2 teaspoons honey

salt and pepper to taste

1/4 cup toasted slivered almonds

1/4 cup dried cherries, cut in half (or raisins or cranberries)

What you do:

1.  Toast the almonds – I do this is a dry frying pan on my stove top.  I just heat it to medium-low, then give it a stir every once in a while, keeping an eye on it do it doesn’t burn.

2.  Combine mayonnaise, yogurt, lemon juice, hot sauce, honey, salt and pepper.

3.  Put the broccoli and onions in a bowl and toss them with the dressing.

4.  Top with dried cherries and almonds just before serving.

Brown Rice Lentils with Salsa

My mom gave me this recipe many years ago, and it was an old faithful of mine for a long time, especially when I was looking for something economical, healthy, and still yummy.  I’ve modified the original recipe only by adding more veggies.  It’s pretty easy to make!  Most of the time you need for this one is cooking time – you can be done in just over an hour, including 45-50 minutes of cooking time.

What you need:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, chopped

3-4 carrots, chopped

8-10 mushrooms, sliced

1 teaspoon soy sauce

3/4 cup brown lentils, dry

1 cup brown rice

3 cups water or broth

tomato salsa, to serve

What you do:

1.  Heat a large pot to medium heat, and add the chopped onion once the oil is hot.  Let it cook for a few minutes, stirring from time to time, until slightly browned.

2.  Add the garlic, mushrooms and carrot, cooking for a few minutes.

3.  Add soy sauce, lentils, rice and water.  Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, and cook 45 minutes with a lid on.

4.  If it’s still a little watery at the end of the cooking time, just turn the heat up a little and cook it off.

5.  Serve with salsa, and you’re ready to go!

Carrot Lentil Soup with a hint of coconut

I started out making a completely different soup, trying out a new recipe, and part way in I thought about that bit of coconut milk I had in the fridge.  So I forgot about the recipe,added the coconut milk, and ended up with this lovely soup.  It’s only a bit of coconut milk, so it’s not the main flavour, but it gives a bit of creaminess.

What you need:

3 rashers bacon

1 onion, finely diced

1 clove garlic, sliced

1/4 teaspoon chilli flakes

1 teaspoon garam masala

2 large carrots, grated

3-4 cups chicken stock (or turkey)

3/4 cup lentils

3/4 cup coconut milk

salt and pepper

What you do:

1. Fry bacon until crispy; place on paper towels to soak up the excess fat, and chop once it is cool.

2.  Heat the oil in a pot then add the onions, cooking until slightly browned.  Add garlic, carrots, chilli flakes and garam masala.  Cook for a few minutes.

3.  Add bacon and lentils, then pour in the chicken stock.  Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and cook until the lentils are cooked, about 40 minutes.

4.  Add coconut milk, and season to taste.  you may not need to add much salt, as the bacon will give it a bit of saltiness.

Options for serving:  top with a bit of yogurt or squeeze a bit of lime on top.

Chicken, Corn and Kale Soup

This cold weather is perfect for soup making.  This one’s quite easy, too, an old standby that I created a long time ago out of foods I had on hand.  Kale is packed with vitamin C – and don’t we all need a bit more of that with all the germs flying around these days?  It also provides a lot of iron and calcium, among other nutritional benefits.

What you need:

3-4 chicken thighs, bone-in, skin removed

1-3 whole cloves garlic, skin removed

3 cups chicken or vegetable broth

1 can cannellini beans (white kidney beans), drained and rinsed

1 bunch kale, chopped roughly

1 can corn

salt and a generous amount of pepper

optional:  1/2 cup orzo

What you do:

1.  Place a large pot on medium heat, then put the chicken thighs in.  Add the garlic cloves and cook for a few minutes on one side.

2.  Add the broth, bring to a boil, then lower heat and cook for 30 minutes.

3.  Add the beans and cook for 20 more minutes, unless you’re in a big hurry, in which case you can move to step 4.

4.  Cook the pasta in a separate pot and have it ready to add at the end.

5.  Remove the chicken and pull it apart with a fork, so it is shredded rather than chopped.

6.  Put the chicken back in the pot, add the kale, corn, pasta, salt and pepper, and cook until just heated.

Done!  And it’s great for left-overs.

Kim’s Lasagna, Lactose-Free but still cheesy and flavourful!

I’ve been avoiding making lasagna for years because I can’t eat cheese, and a non-cheesy lasagna just doesn’t seem right – but now there are all these great lactose-free cheeses out there, and my whole lactose-intolerant world is changing! I’m not talking about those horrible soy cheeses – I’m talking about real cheese that happens to have no lactose.  It tastes like cheese and melts like cheese – because it IS cheese.  I also added some of my tofu ricotta, which is as creamy as the real thing… try it and see.

Yes, this recipe is a bit of work, or a lot of work.  But it’s soooo good!  There’s the tomato sauce, a ricotta layer, mushrooms, pesto, and a white sauce.  Lots of flavour!

What you need:

1 & 1/2 to 2 recipes of tomato sauce (recipe here!)

tofu spinach ricotta (recipe here!)

1 lb mushrooms, fried

pesto (recipe here!)

9-12 lasagna noodles (I used the no-boil ones for this)

1 cup lactose-free mozzarella, grated

white sauce: -2 tablespoons butter/soy butter

-2 tablespoons flour

-3/4 – 1 cup soy milk (regular if you’re not concerned about lactose)

-1/2 of a  227 gram tub  of soy cream cheese

-salt and pepper

What you do:

1.  To make the white sauce, melt the butter in a small pot. then whisk in the flour.  Cook for about a minute, stirring constantly.  Don’t let it brown!  Very gradually add the soy milk, a little at a time so it boils.  Mix it in so it has no lumps, then add a bit more until it has a runny-pudding consistency.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

2.  You have all the parts ready to assemble the lasagna, so now you just have to build it.  This is the layering I did – of course you can experiment with this to make it your own.  If you are using no-boil noodles you just have to make sure you have enough moisture to cook them, or they will be a little crunchy around the edges. Use a 9×12 pan for this amount of lasagna.

– spread about 1/3 of the tomato sauce on the bottom of the pan, then lay down some noodles

– sprinkle the tofu ricotta. then the mushrooms, then another layer of noodles

– spread on another 1/3 of the tomato sauce, then the pesto, then another layer of noodles

– the final layer consists of the remaining tomato sauce, the white sauce, and the mozzarella cheese

3.  Cover with foil and bake at 350F for 45 minutes.  Remove the foil and bake for about 15 more minutes.  For the last minute I switched to broil so it would brown on top – since real cheese actually browns, I like to take advantage of this feature!

4.  Allow the lasagna to rest for 15 minutes before cutting it.  This will increase the chances that the pieces can be cut and stay together as you serve them.  And it won’t be too hot to eat.

Enjoy!

Note: if you’re one of the many people who can’t eat wheat, try out the brown rice, kamut or quinoa noodles – they’re great!  So great that they are all I usually eat.

The Easiest Tomato Sauce Ever

Here’s a tasty tomato sauce, and really really easy – thanks Chad for the recipe!  I made it to use in a lasagna, and it was fabulous . . . I would imagine there are many other uses for it.

What you need:

1 – 750   mL tin whole tomatoes

1/2 onion

1/4 cup butter

salt and pepper

What you do:

1.  Put the onion and butter in a pot with the tomatoes and cook for 45 minutes or so.

2.  Take out the onion, season with salt and pepper, and voila, a fabulous sauce.

For the lasagna I pureed the tomatoes, and I added about a teaspoon of brown sugar.

Black Bean and Corn Soup

This is my new favourite soup recipe –  hot sauce makes it a little spicy, corn adds a little sweetness, and a there’s a ton of flavour in here.  Some of the soup is pureed, but there’s lots of colour from the remaining vegetables.  Topped off with a little yogurt, it tastes decadent.

What you need:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 red onion, chopped

5 cloves garlic, minced

1 red pepper, chopped

1 carrot, chopped

1 teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon cumin

1 – 398 mL can of diced tomatoes

5 cups black beans, cooked (about 1 & 1/2 cups dry)

6 cups vegetable broth

2 – 341 mL cans of corn

salt and pepper

hot sauce

plain yogurt

1 lime

What you do:

1. If you are cooking your own beans, place them in a pot of boiling water, bring back to a boil and cook for a few minutes.  Turn heat off and soak for about two hours.  I like to drain in the middle of the soaking time and bring back to a boil – this helps ward of the gas causing properties beans can have.  The last step is to rinse, then bring the beans back to a boil, then lower the heat and cook until soft.  This shouldn’t take too long.

2.  Heat the olive oil and add the onions, garlic, peppers and carrots.  Cover and cook for about 10 minutes, or until the vegetables are soft.

3.  Add the oregano, cumin, beans, tomatoes and broth.  Bring to a boil, then simmer for about half an hour.

4.  Puree about a third of the soup.  I just put my immersion blender in and blended until I thought it looked good.

5.  Add the corn, along with its juice, and cook just long enough to heat through.

6.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

7.  Top with a big dollop of yogurt and some hot sauce.  Serve with a wedge of lime to squeeze on top.

Palak “Paneer” aka silken tofu

I’ve had this recipe in draft mode for months because I can’t seem to get a picture that makes it look as appealing as it truly is.  So now I’m going to be okay with the photo, and just let you know that it’s so good – it’s vegan comfort food.

Paneer is a fresh cheese you can make at home with milk and lemon – the silken tofu does a great job of representing the creamy, almost melty texture of paneer.  Tofu will also satisfy your umami cravings – umami is known as the fifth or savoury taste, which is often satisfied by meat.  Tofu also contains the compounds that the taste buds register to satisfy the savoury cravings.  Maybe that’s why this one seems like comfort food to me.

You need:

2 red onions

1 garlic clove

3 small green chillies

2 cm piece of ginger, grated

5 tablespoons vegetable oil (butter if you eat dairy)

500g/2 bunches spinach

1 teaspoon cornstarch or tapioca starch

1 block soft silken tofu (the “paneer”)

1 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon garam masala

1/4 or more cups plain yogurt

salt to taste

What you do:

1.  This is great served on Brown Basmati Coconut Rice, so you’ll want to start that first.  White rice won’t take as long, so if you’re using that you don’t need to start it yet.

2.  Put onions, garlic, chillies and ginger in food processor or blender.  Process until smooth.  You may need to add a little water.

3.  Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil/butter in a large frying pan, then cook the spices on medium heat until fragrant.  Add the other 3 tablespoons of oil/butter and the onion paste,  cooking for about 10 minutes.

4.  Cook the spinach until wilted and add to the food processor along with the cornstarch and puree it.  Add the spinach, along with about 1/2 teaspoon of salt, to the paste. Bring it to a boil and cook for about two minutes.  At this time have a taste and see if it needs more salt; it probably will.

6.  Cut the tofu into squares and add it to the pan to heat it.  Once it is hot, stir in the yogurt carefully so the tofu doesn’t break too much, and serve right away.

I enjoy this one for leftovers too!

You can substitute the spinach with swiss chard if you like.

Lemon Tahini Chickpea Salad

This salad is so easy to make, tastes amazing, and has lots of nutrients tp keep you healthy!  Chickpeas have plenty of dietary fibre, vitamin B6, folate and manganese.  One third of a cup of sweet red peppers contains your recommended daily intake of vitamin C, as well as lots of vitamins A and E, B6, folate and many other nutrients!

What you need:

1 can chickpeas, rinsed

1 sweet red pepper, sliced into bite-size pieces

1 tablespoon red onion, chopped finely

1/4 cup loosely packed chopped basil

2 teaspoons olive or flax oil

1 tablespoon tahini

1/4 teaspoon cumin

juice of 1/2 a lemon

optional: fresh mint

What you do:

1.  Mix the oil, tahini, cumin and lemon juice.

2.  Put the chickpeas, onions, pepper and basil in a bowl.  Mix in the dressing.  Refrigerate for a few hours before serving.

3.  Before serving, chop up some mint and place on top of the salad.

Wild and Brown Rice, Pepper and Pecan Salad

If you like pecans, whole grains and vitamin C-rich peppers, then you’ll love this hearty salad.  It’s great for a lunch or picnic.

What you need:

3/4 cup brown rice

1/4 cup wild rice

1 each of red, orange and yellow peppers

1/2 cup pecans

1/2 bunch parsley

1- 2 green onions

1/3 cup dried currants

For the dressing:

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

2 Tablespoons honey or maple syrup

1 teaspoon tamari

What you do:

1.  Put the rices in a pot with 1 & 1/2 cups of water.  Bring to a boil, then cover and turn heat to low.  Cook for 45 minutes, then take off the heat, leaving the lid on, for 10 minutes.

2.  Toast pecans by heating in a frying pan for 5-8 minutes on medium-low heat.  Be careful!  It’s easy to burn them.

3.  Chop peppers into approximately 2 cm chunks.

4.  Chop parsley and green onion.

5.  Mix oil, vinegar, honey and tamari together, then stir in a large bowl with all the veggies and the currants.

6.  Let the veggies and sauce do their thing while you are waiting for the rice to cook and cool.  Mix the rice in, and you’re good to go!  It’s really nice served with a few slices of avocado.

Great for leftovers!