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Green Couscous

green couscous - trust in kim

This scrumptious recipe comes from Yotam Ottolenghi’s Plenty – love this book!  I used the larger Israeli couscous, which is also called pearl couscous, but you can feel free to use the smaller version.  I really liked the texture of the larger couscous, which has a bite more similar to a small pasta. The recipe involves cooking the couscous, then coating it with a lovely green herb paste, then topping it with pistachios, green onions, fried onions, arugula or spinach, and a little green chile.

I enjoyed this salad alongside roasted cauliflower and squash with tahini sauce. I absolutely love this meal, and my leftovers at work were the envy of many. This would also make a great picnic salad, instead of a pasta salad.

What you need:

 

  • 1 cup Israeli couscous (or regular – just cook it according to the package directions)
  • just over 1 cup boiling water/ chicken broth/ vegetable broth
  • 1 small onion, thinly sliced (I like to use a sweet onion)
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1/2 cup unsalted pistachios, lightly toasted and chopped
  • 3 green onions, thinly sliced
  • 1 fresh green chile, finely sliced
  • 1 & 1/4 cups arugula or baby spinach

What you need for the herb paste:

  • 1/3 cup chopped parsley
  • 1 cup chopped cilantro
  • 2 tablespoons chopped tarragon
  • 2 tablespoons chopped dill
  • 2 tablespoons chopped mint
  • 4 tablespoons olive oil

What you do:

  1. Cook the couscous according to the package instructions.  I used homemade chicken broth to give it a little more flavour, but you can use water or veggie broth if you have it.
  2. Fry the onions in the olive oil over medium heat until they are golden and soft.  Mix in the salt and cumin, then set aside to cool
  3. Blend all the herb paste ingredients together.  You can use a food processor, but I used an immersion blender because that’s what I have in my tiny kitchen, and it worked well.  Add a bit more olive oil if you need; I left out 2 tablespoons of oil that the recipe called for.
  4. Mix the herb paste into the cooked and slightly cooled couscous, then mix in the pistachios, green onions, green chile and arugula or spinach.  I added the spinach to individual portions because I knew I would have leftovers, and I thought it would wilt over night if I mixed it in.
  5. Serve at room temperature.

Goat Cheese and Arugula Tarte Flambée

tarte flambee - trust in kimtarte flambee - trust in kim

There is a fabulous French restaurant in Vancouver called Les Faux Bourgeois where I have in the past enjoyed their tarte flambée.  I was having company the other night and wanted to make a special appetizer, so I thought I’d make up my own version.  Never having used puff pastry before, there was some trial and error, but the results were excellent.  The olive dressing adds a nice salty kick.

What you need:

  • 3 tablespoons minced kalamata olives or black olive tapenade
  • 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon
  • 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • puff pastry, thawed in the fridge over night
  • a dozen or so mushrooms, sliced
  • a splash or two white wine, optional
  • baby arugula
  • goat cheese
  • 1 egg, lightly beaten, for brushing the pastry
  • pepper

What you do:

  1. Preheat the oven to 425F.
  2. Fry the mushrooms in a little olive oil or butter until slightly browned. Part way through you can add the splash of wine if you are using it, and continue cooking until all the liquid is absorbed or evaporated.
  3. To make the dressing purée the olives with the lemon and vinegar, then slowly drizzle in the olive oil as you purée.
  4. Roll out the thawed puff pastry on a lightly floured surface until it is about half a centimeter thick. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. (you could also make this into several squares to serve individual portions.) Brush the pastry with the egg.
  5. Spread a little goat cheese over the surface of the pastry, then lay some baby arugula over the cheese.  Distribute the mushrooms, then add a few bits of goat cheese to the top.  Crack some pepper on the top, and it’s ready to go into the oven.
  6. Bake for about 25-30 minutes, then let it sit for a minute before you cut and serve it.  Drizzle each portion with the olive dressing.

Bon appétit!

Vegan Cream of Mushroom Soup

vegan cream of mushroom soup - trust in kim

I love creamy soups, but I don’t love cream, so I’m always looking for ways to get the texture and taste without the heaviness of cream.  I’ve heard of using cashew cream before, and finally got around to trying it.  The verdict? So good! Next time I’d leave some of the mushroom pieces whole, but this is great as is.

I found this recipe on Joy the Baker.

What you need:

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 pound cremini mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 3 cups vegetable broth (I used chicken)
  • 1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
  • salt to taste

For the Cashew Cream:

  • 1/2 cup raw cashews
  • 1/2 cup water

What you do:

  1. Soak the cashews in the half cup of water and set aside.
  2. Heat the olive oil in a large pot on medium heat and add the onions, sautéing them until they are slightly browned. Add the garlic and cook for a minute more, then add the mushrooms, soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce.  Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  3. Add the broth and cook until the mushrooms are soft, about 10-15 minutes.
  4. In the meantime, puree the cashews until they combine with the water to make a smooth, thick liquid.
  5. When it is ready blend the soup until there are no large chunks of mushroom.  Stir in the cashew cream.  The original recipe says to strain the soup now, but I liked it the way it was.
  6. Reheat the soup and serve.

This one also freezes well. Enjoy!

Skillet Cornbread

skillet cornbread - trust in kim

I haven’t made cornbread in almost 20 years.  I’m not sure why.  Maybe I just had too many dry, boring corn breads back then – who can remember?

Last night I was making soup and I wanted something to go with it, so I found this recipe in the same cookbook as the soup, Share by Adriennede Francesco, and whipped up a batch in my cast-iron frying pan.  To tell the truth, it was really the idea of baking something in my frying pan, handed down to me from my Oma, that got me onto this.  Fry the onion, bake, and then serve it in the same dish, and it stays hot for a long time.  Triple win! Plus it’s got corn kernels in it, so it’s got a nice bite to it.

Serve it up with a little butter – magical!

What you need:

  • 1 tablespoon vegetable or olive oil
  • 1 small onion, finely chopped
  • 1 & 1/2 cups cornmeal
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 & 1/2 cups buttermilk
  • 3 eggs, lightly beaten
  • 1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 tablespoon liquid honey
  • 1 cup canned corn (or frozen, but I prefer canned – the kernels pop in your mouth when you eat them!)
  • 1/4 cup fresh chives or green onions

What you do:

  1. Preheat the oven to 425F.
  2. Heat a 10-inch cast-iron over medium-high heat and add the oil, then the onions.  Cook for about 5 minutes or until the onions are soft.
  3. While the onions are cooking stir the cornmeal, flour, baking power and salt together in a bowl.
  4. Stir the buttermilk, eggs, butter and honey together in another bowl.  Pour this onto the dry ingredients and sti until it is just mixed.. Stir in the corn and chives.
  5. Pour the batter into the hot frying pan on top of the onions, which you have previously dispersed evenly over the surface of the pan.
  6. Bake in the centre of the oven for about 30 minutes or until the top its golden brown.  My convection oven cooked it very quickly, and I had to rotate the pan half way through baking
  7. Cut into wedges and serve with butter.

skillet cornbread - trust in kim

 

Chocolate-Dipped Espresso Shortbread Cookies

espresso shortbread - trust in kim

This recipe comes from the Absolutely Chocolate cookbook by Fine Cooking, which I discovered from an episode of Anna and Kristina’s Grocery Bag.   I love this show – they choose a cookbook, make a bunch of recipes (often not very successfully), and then invite a chef to judge their work.  Anyways, this was one of the big hits from the episode about this cookbook.  So I took the book out of the library and made the recipe. Love It!

I made the cookies into hearts, just like the recipe suggested, but of course you can make circles or any other shape your heart desires.

What you need:

  • 1 cup cold unsalted butter
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 & 1/4 cups flour
  • 2 tablespoons finely ground espresso beans (you could just go to the grocery store or coffee shop and get enough freshly ground beans for the recipe)
  • 9 oz semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil (I used coconut oil)

What you do:

  1. Combine the butter, sugar and salt in a large bowl and mix with an electric mixer for 1-2 minutes.
  2. Add the flour and espresso and mix with a wooden spoon for about 3 minutes, until the mixture just starts to come together.
  3. Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface to about 1/4 inch thickness.  Use a cookie cutter to form the cookies, then place them on a parchment-lined pan.  Refrigerate for about 20 minutes.
  4. Meanwhile, heat the oven to 300F.  After the cookies have been refrigerated, bake them for about 35-40 minutes, or until they have become lightly golden brown.  Place the baked cookies on a wire rack to cool.
  5. Heat the chocolate and oil in the top of a double boiler; I just put a bowl on top of a pot that has a little water in it, then heat that on the stove to melt the chocolate.  When the chocolate has melted, dip each cookie in the chocolate, scraping the bottom of the cookie lightly on the edge of the chocolate bowl to get a little of the extra chocolate off.  Cool the cookies on a parchment or wax-paper lined pan.
  6. Allow the chocolate to set for at least 2 hours.  Store the cookies in an airtight container with a sheet of parchment or wax paper between each cookie so they don’t stick together.

chocolate dipped espresso shortbread - trust in kim

espresso shortbread - trust in kim

coq au vin

coq au vin - trust in kim This delicious recipe is from Bonnie Stern’ Heartsmart Cooking for Family and Friends. A good friend of mine recently told me that he needed to start watching his cholesterol, so a neighbour loaned me this cookbook full of heart-friendly recipes.  Any cookbook with coq au vin is worth giving a second look, especially one that tastes this good.  I served this with a baguette and a spinach and mushroom salad.  This dish made some amazing leftovers!

Sadly, I broke this beautiful blue antique bowl before I could use it again, so this is the first and last recipe I get to use it for.

What you need:

  • 1.5 kg chicken pieces (thighs work very nicely)
  • 1/4 cup flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/8 teaspoon pepper
  • 2 slices bacon
  • 2 tablespoons brandy
  • 12 pearl onions or shallots (or 1/2 an onion)
  • 12 cloves garlic, peeled
  • 1/2 lb mushrooms – wild if you can get them
  • 2 large carrots sliced diagonally into 2 cm slices
  • 1/2 cup red wine
  • 1 cup homemade chicken or beef stock
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 & 1/2 teaspoons fresh thyme
  • 1 & 1/2 teaspoons fresh rosemary
  • 1 & 1/2 teaspoons fresh tarragon
  • 2 tablespoons fresh parsley

What you do:

  1. Rinse chicken and pat it dry.  Combine flour, salt and pepper in a shallow dish and coat the chicken with this mixture.
  2. Cook the bacon in a large skillet, then remove it from the pan onto a paper towel to absorb the fat.  Cook the chicken in the bacon fat (or olive oil if you choose not to use the bacon.) Sprinkle on the brandy and let it cook for a minute.  Remove the chicken from the pan.
  3. Add the onions, garlic, mushrooms and carrots to the pan and let them brown for about 8 minutes. Add the wine and bring to a boil.  Add the stock, bay leaf, thyme, rosemary and tarragon.  Add the chicken to the pan and bring to a boil.  Cook on low heat for about 45 minutes, with a lid on the pan.
  4. Discard the bay leaf, then remove the chicken and vegetables from the pan and keep it warm.
  5. Bring the pan juices to a simmer and cook uncovered until thickened.  Pour the sauce over the chicken and vegetables and sprinkle with parsley.
  6. Serve over mashed potatoes or with a crusty baguette to soak up the juices.coq au vin in la creuset pot -trust in kim

Homemade French Onion Dip

french onion dip - trust in kim

I try to avoid bringing a veggie platter to a party – not because I don’t love my veggies.  I Love my veggies! But I also love to bake, and a party is usually a great excuse for me to bake something.  When I recently ended up agreeing to bring a veggie platter to a party, I began looking for something to make it special. Then I came across this recipe . . .  This dip is a great low-fat alternative to the usual sour-cream based dip.  It is a homemade version of the standard from my childhood, French onion soup mix and sour cream.  It’s a bit of work to chop and then caramelize the onions, but the flavour is so worth it.

I found the recipe on crumbblog.

What you need:

  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1&½ cups finely diced red onion
  • 1&½ cups finely diced yellow onion
  • 1&½ cups finely diced sweet onion
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ½ tsp black pepper
  • 1½ cups plain yogurt (see homemade yogurt recipe here)
  • ¼ cup mayonnaise
  • 1 tsp lemon juice or more to taste
  • dash of Worcestershire sauce

What you do:

  1. Heat the oil in a large frying pan (my cast-iron one worked great for this) at medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook for 10 minutes, or until they are just starting to colour.
  2. Reduce heat to medium-low and continue cooking for 20-25 minutes, stirring from time to time, until the onions are golden brown and caramelized.  If the onions get too dry at any point add a tablespoon or two of water to avoid burning, and continue cooking). Stir in the garlic, salt and pepper and cook another minute or two.  Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.
  3. In a mixing bowl, whisk the mayonnaise, then whisk in the yogurt, lemon and Worcestershire until smooth. Stir in the cooled onions, salt and pepper to taste.
  4.  Put the dip into a serving bowl, cover and refrigerate for at least an hour or up to two days to allow the flavours to mingle.
  5. Serve with veggies or chips.

Tip: Peel and cut your own carrots for your veggie tray. They will taste so much more like… carrots.

homemade french onion dip - trust in kim

Chocolate Nut Apple Cake

chocolate nut apple cake - trust in kim

For my dad’s birthday I baked this loaf cake.  At first I thought the apple/nut/chocolate combination would be strange, but it really works well together.  I just used a little more chocolate than the recipe asked for.  I found the recipe in Tarek Malouf’s Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook.  I have read a number of blogs recently that swear these are awesome recipes, so I thought I’d give it a try.  This was a great recipe to start with!

You need to plan ahead a bit, as the batter needs to be refrigerated for a few hours or overnight. This is a great benefit it you want to make something freshly baked but don’t have time that day; just make the batter a day ahead and bake it when you need it.

What you need:

  • 3/4 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
  • 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons strawberry jam (I used raspberry)
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cups plus 2 tablespoons flour
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 2/3 cup mixed nuts (I used almonds, walnuts and coconut)
  • 2 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
  • 2 apples, peeled, cored and roughly chopped

What you do:

  1. Beat the butter, sugar and jam with a mixer until light and fluffy.
  2. Add the eggs one at a time and beat well.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula to make sure everything is incorporated.
  3. Sift the flour, baking powder and cinnamon into the mixing bowl, then beat it until incorporated.
  4. Stir in the nuts, chocolate and apples until they are evenly distributed.  Cover and refrigerate for a few hours or overnight.
  5. Preheat the oven to 325F.
  6. Butter and flour a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan.
  7. Pour the batter into the pan and smooth the top down.
  8. Bake for 50-60 minutes. Test to see if is done by inserting a toothpick; if it comes out with no batter sticking to it the cake is done.
  9. Let the cake cool completely before removing it from the pan.

Enjoy!

Tomato Soup

tomato soup - trust in kim

(Revised January 2021: This is a great soup recipe, however, my favourite is closer to the actual Burgoo recipe. And it has red wine in it! Click here to find the recipe.)

Burgoo is a great comfort food restaurant in Vancouver.  They don’t have a lot of dairy-free options, so I tend to eat the tomato soup – which is the best tomato soup I’ve ever had!  I found this tomato soup recipe recently and omitted the milk to make it a dairy-free tomato soup.  I think it may be as good as the one I had at Burgoo; it is flavourful, and full of healthy ingredients.  It is also really easy to make, and freezes well.

What you need:

1 tablespoon olive oil

about 1 cup diced carrots

about 1/2 cup diced celery

about 2 cups diced zucchini (skin on)

1 large yellow onion, diced

5 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves, rubbed off the stems

2 bay leaves

salt and red pepper flakes to taste

about 4 cups (2 28-ounce cans) crushed Italian tomatoes

4 cups chicken (or vegetable) broth

What you do:

  1. Heat the olive oil in a large pot.  Add the carrots, celery, zucchini and onion.  Saute for 10-12 minutes, until the onion is very soft and the zucchini has cooked through.  Add the garlic and stir for one minute.
  2. Add the thyme, bay leaves, red pepper flakes, tomatoes and chicken stock.  Bring to a simmer and cook for about 30 minutes, until the carrots are very soft.
  3. Remove from the heat, and take the bay leaves out.  Blend the soup in a blender or with an immersion blender until smooth.  Add salt to taste.

Enjoy it hot! And I can imagine it is awesome with a grilled cheese sandwich, but this theory is yet untested.

Greek Meatballs

greek meatballs - trust in kim

 

These tasty meatballs were served up recentlyas an appetizer at a birthday party.  I served them with some pita and homemade tzatziki.  They are really delicious, and really easy to make.  I mixed them up a few hours before the party, then fried and served them hot.  These would also be great in pita sandwiches for lunch with a Greek salad on the side.

I got the recipe here.

You need to plan ahead if you’re going to make your own tzatziki, as the yogurt needs to be drained for a few hours.  The garlic flavour also improves after sitting for a while.

What you need for the meatballs:

  • 1 pound ground pork
  • 1 pound ground beef
  • 2 to 3 pieces bread, crusts cut off, soaked in milk and then squeezed
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 2 to 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 teaspoons dried oregano
  • 2 tablespoon chopped Italian parsley
  • 2 tablespoon fresh mint
  • 2 to 3 green onions, finely chopped
  • Tiny pinch of cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon lemon zest
  • 2 teaspoon lemon juice
  • Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
  • Olive oil, as needed

What you do for the meatballs:

  1. Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl by mixing with your hands.
  2. Heat a frying pan or well-oiled grill on high heat.
  3. Form the mixture into about 24 balls, then flatten them slightly.  Reduce the heat and fry each one for about 12 minutes, flipping once.
  4. Serve them hot with the pita and tzatziki sauce.

What you need for the tzatziki:

2 cups yogurt, (I use whole milk yogurt)

cheesecloth for straining

1 clove garlic, minced (or more if you like it really garlicky)

1/2 english cucumber, grated

salt and pepper to taste

fresh mint, optional

What you do for the tzatziki:

1.  Line a sieve with cheesecloth and place the yogurt into the cheesecloth.  Refrigerate for a few hours or over night to and allow it to drain.  Pour off the liquid that is drained.

2.  Grate the cucumber and squeeze it so you get as much liquid out of it as you can.  Add this to the thickened yogurt.

3.  Add the garlic, salt and pepper to taste, and optional mint.  Mix it all up. I like to remove it from the fridge at least an hour before serving.

trust in kim - tzatziki

Now I just need to learn to make pita bread…