Category: vegetarian

Tomato Basil Yogurt Breakfast Tart

This breakfast tart can be made with or without a crust, and is pretty simple to whip up.

What you need:

3/4 cup plain yogurt

6 eggs

1/4 to 1/2 cup vegan or regular parmesan (I use L’Ancentre lactose free)

1/2 cup basil

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 /2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

4-6 roma tomatoes

optional: small chunks of prosciutto

What you do:

1.  Beat eggs with a fork, then mix in yogurt, parmesan, chopped basil, salt and pepper.

2.  Cut tomatoes in half and remove the seeds and liquid.  This is a step you don’t want to miss, because of you do your tart will be watery.   I used grape tomatoes, which taste great but take a long time to deseed.

3.  Pour the egg mixture into a greased pie plate, frittata pan or partially baked pie crust.  Place the tomatoes on top, then top with a little more parmesan.

4.  Bake at 375 F for 25-30 minutes, or until the middle has set.

5.  Cool for 10 minutes before serving.

I have used this mushroom crust recipe when I didn’t want a typical pastry crust, and it’s delish!

Mushroom Crust:

1/2 lb mushrooms

2 Tablespoons butter

1/2 cup breadcrumbs

1.  Chop the mushrooms and saute in butter for 10 minutes.  Mix in breadcrumbs, then pat into a greased pie plate.

2.  Bake 10-15 minutes at 375F.

3.  Fill with egg mixture and continue baking.

Balsamic Watermelon Appetizer

This is so easy and so refreshing.  You can buy reduced balsamic, or use the following recipe.

You need:

watermelon

pistachios

reduced balsamic

3 tablespoons brown sugar (if you make your own balsamic)

What you do:

1.  If you are reducing your own balsamic, boil 1/2 cup of balsamic vinegar on low until it is reduced by about half.  Add the sugar and stir until dissolved.

2. Toast the pistachios in a dry frying pan on medium low, being careful not to burn them.  When cooled, chop pistachios.

3.  Cut watermelon into cubes.

4.  Drizzle a little of the cooled reduced balsamic on each piece of watermelon, then top with chopped pistachios.

Enjoy!

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!

Fattoush – Lebanese Salad

I love to bring this salad to picnics.  While the recipe calls for pomegranate, I also make it without it, as fresh pomegranate isn’t always available.  My local Mediterranean shop carries ground sumac and pomegranate syrup, which is much thicker and more tart than pomegranate juice.

What you need:

1/4 cup fresh spearmint, chopped

1 cup tomatoes, cut into bite sized chunks

1/2 cup cucumber, cut into bite sized chunks

1/4 cup parsley, chopped

1/2 sweet onion, chopped

whole wheat pita bread

For the dressing:

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 & 1/2 teaspoons ground sumac

1 tablespoon pomegranate syrup

1 clove garlic, chopped finely

What you do:

1.  Mix the dressing ingredients together in a bowl.

2.  Put all the veggies and herbs into a large bowl.  Pour the dressing over and allow to sit for several hours before serving.

3.  Toast the pita bread in the oven until crispy, then break it into bite sized pieces.

4.  Serve the salad topped with the pita at the last minute so it doesn’t get soggy.

A New Yummier Healthier Coleslaw

Since cabbage is so good for you, I’ve been looking for new ways to eat it.  Since it’s not one of my favourites, this was a bit of a tough task.  But I modified a coleslaw recipe to make, what I think, is a lighter version of coleslaw that is tasty and great for you!  No mayo in this one!

Here are some of the main reasons to eat more cabbage:

cancer-fighting capabilities

vitamin C

fibre

potassium

low in fat and calories

and many more…

Here’s the recipe:

1/2 small head of cabbage, green or red

3 stalks broccoli, crowns removed

1 stalk celery

2-3 carrots

1/4 cup raw unsalted sunflower seeds

1/3 cup raisins

For the dressing:

3 tablespoons olive or flax oil

3 tablespoons lemon or lime juice

3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

1/4 teaspoon lemon pepper

What you do:

1.  Chop the cabbage finely.

2.  Peel and then grate the carrots.

3.  Peel and chop the broccoli stalks into disks.

4.  Slice celery thinly.

5.  Mix all dressing ingredients together, then mix it in with the chopped veggies in a large bowl.  Add the raisins and sunflowers.

6.  Let it sit for at least an hour before you eat it so the flavours can mingle.  It keeps well in the fridge, thus making it great for leftovers!

Kamut Salad

This kamut salad is delicious and high in protein.  I cooked the kamut and made the dressing, then just made up half the recipe for dinner, serving the kamut hot with the fresh veggies and chickpeas.  I used the leftovers for lunches by cutting up fresh veggies and mixing them with the dressing and cold kamut and chickpeas.

For the kamut:

3 cups water

1 cup kamut

Bring the water to a boil, then add the kamut.  Reduce the heat, put a lid on it, and let it simmer for 1 & 1/4 hours.  Then take the lid off and let it simmer until the liquid is evaporated, about 10 minutes.

For the dressing:

Juice of 1 lemon or lime

1 tablespoon flax or olive oil

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

Mix it all together with the following ingredients:

1 can chickpeas, drained

1-2 cups cherry tomatoes

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 bunch scallion, sliced thinly

1 cup chopped mini cucumber

1/4 cup parsley, chopped

Enjoy!

Tofu Ricotta Pasta Filling – Dairy free

This dairy-free faux ricotta can be used in many pasta dishes – homemade tortellini, lasanga, stuffed shells… great to experiment with!   It’s a treat for people who can’t eat dairy, but I’ve also served it to the lactose tolerant to rave reviews.

What you need:

350 grams extra-firm tofu

3 cloves garlic, diced

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon fresh oregano, chopped

1 teaspoon salt

1 bunch fresh/box frozen spinach

2 tablespoons bread crumbs

1/4 cup vegan parmesan (or lactose free)

1/4 teaspoon pepper

What you do:

1.  Combine tofu, garlic, olive oil, chopped garlic, and salt in food processor and blend until the tofu is finely ground.

2.  If you are using fresh spinach, you can wilt it in a frying pan, let it cool, and squeeze out the excess moisture.  If you are using frozen it should be thawed, and then you can squeeze the moisture out.

3.  Add parmesan, bread crumbs and pepper to the tofu mixture, and mix in well.

4.  Add spinach and mix in well.

5.  Now you can adjust the seasonings to taste, and use it to fill your pasta.

I have used this to:

-fill large brown rice pasta shells, then cover with tomato sauce and bake

-use as a layer in a lasagna with tomato sauce and vegan pesto

-fill homemade tortellini and top with either parmesan or tomato sauce

-you can also use this recipe without the spinach, bread crumbs and cheese as a substitute for ricotta

Here’s what it look like if you puree the spinach rather than mixing it in at the end:

Roasted Vegetables and Spaghetti Squash

This delicious recipe is great if you’re looking to increase your vegetable intake.  You could substitute pasta for the squash, but this is quite filling on its own.  If you want a bit of meat you could add a little hot italian sausage.

The sesame seeds are ground so they are easily digested and you can utilize their calcium and iron.

You need:

1 spaghetti squash

For the tomato sauce:

1 small onion, chopped

2-4 cloves, sliced

1 –  796 mL can crushed tomatoes

1/4 cup tomato paste

oregano – 1 teaspoon fresh or 1/2 teaspoon dried

1/4 cup fresh chopped basil – only fresh will do! *

1 tsp brown sugar

salt and pepper to taste

For the roasted vegetables:

1 onion, chopped in large pieces

2 red, orange or yellow peppers, chopped in large pieces

1 head cauliflower, cut into florets

1 zucchini, sliced about 2 cm

3-4 cloves garlic, cut in half

2 tablespoons olive oil

juice of 1 lemon

2 tablespoons FRESH dill*

1/2 cup ground sesame seeds

salt and pepper

What you do:

1.  Start with the sauce.  While this cooks you will have lots of time to do the rest.  Chop onions, cook in a pot with a little olive oil, stirring occasionally for a few minutes.  Add garlic and cook until it has a hint of brown.  Add oregano, tomato paste and crushed tomatoes.  Give this a stir every now and then while you work on the rest of the recipe.

2.  Preheat oven to 425F.

3.  Cut squash in half, scoop out the seeds, and place face down on a baking pan.

4.  Chop veggies and lay out evenly on another baking pan.

5.  Drizzle olive oil over veggies, then pour lemon juice all over them.  Sprinkle  sesame seeds over top.   Season with a little salt and pepper, and top with chopped dill.

6.  Pop the veggies and squash into the oven.  Take the veggies out about half way through and give them a little toss.  They are done when they get a little brown.  The squash is done when you can run a  fork through it and it makes those spaghetti-like strings.

7.  Just before serving, stir the basil, salt and pepper, and brown sugar into the sauce.  Adjust to taste.

8.  To serve, place some spaghetti squash on the plate, top with some sauce, then top with some veggies.  Yum!

*Some herbs taste completely different when they are dried.  Dill and basil are two of those.  When I find some great fresh basil or dill I put them in the freezer.  They are great to use in cooking – frozen basil not really great for using as a garnish or in something uncooked because it doesn’t look fresh any more, but great for sauces. Continue reading Roasted Vegetables and Spaghetti Squash

My Best Bran Muffins

These taste great, and they’ve got lots of fibre-rich bran.  I usually add raisins and pecans, but this time I substituted pumpkin seeds.  Dried cranberries are a great alternative to the raisins.

I mixed the dry ingredients the night before, so when I got up I just had to turn the oven on, add the liquids, and place the mix in muffin tins.  Fresh hot muffins in 20 minutes!

Makes one dozen, and freezes well.

You need:

1 cup flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 & 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 & 1/2 cups bran

1/2 cup raisins

1/2 cup chopped pecans

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 (flour to pecans) in a large bowl.  (If you are making it ahead for tomorrow, this is all you need to do for now.)

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 only until the ingredients are combined; if you mix more you’ll get tough little muffins.

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.

Enjoying a muffin in the mountains!

Fresh and Healthy Quinoa Salad

This is a simple and healthy salad that works great for a lunch or picnic food.

Quinoa is a supergrain, originating in South America.  It is an excellent source of iron and fibre, and is a complete protein.  It is also gluten-free.

You need:

1 cup quinoa

1 can corn

1/4 red onion

1 jalapeno pepper

1 red pepper

1 orange pepper

juice of 1/2 lemon

juice of 1 lime

1/4 cup cilantro or parsley

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon hot sauce

What you do:

1.  Rinse the quinoa – this is important to rinse off the slightly bitter coating.  Place in a pot with 1 & 1/2 cups of water.  Bring to a boil, lower heat, cover pot and cook for 15 minutes.  Take the pot off the heat and let sit for 5 minutes.  Allow to cool.

2.  Dice onions and peppers and chop cilantro.  Chop jalapeno, removing the seeds if you don’t like it very spicy.  

3.  Mix the veggies in with the cooled quinoa,  along with lemon and lime juices, salt and hot sauce.  You can add the juice along with the canned corn. 

4.  Mix it all up and it’s ready to go, but I like it after a few hours, as the flavours come together and the onion mellows a bit.