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Vegan Chocolate Mousse – not just for vegans!

My friend I-Wen brought this chocolate mousse to a BBQ the other day, and people gobbled it right up, before we had even finished the meal part of the BBQ. It is light, flavourful, and pretty much guilt-free! And did I mention easy to make?

What you need:

3/4 cup dark (70%) chocolate

12 oz silken tofu – Must be room temperature

1/2 cup unsweetened almond, soy or rice milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

What you do:

1. Melt the chocolate on top of a double boiler, or in a bowl on top of a small pot of water.

2. Warm the milk.

3. Throw all the ingredients into a blender or food processor (I used an immersion blender), and blend until it is all combined.

4. Scoop into bowls and refrigerate until cold.

Stuffed Patty Pan Squash

Aside from wanting to make something delicious for dinner, I created this dish in an attempt to use some of the many squash I had growing in my garden. I found some delicious sweet corn at the produce store, so I knew I wanted to include that too. They turned out great!

What you need:

a few patty pan squash

2 teaspoons coconut oil (or butter or olive oil)

1/2 sweet onion, finely diced

1/2 sweet red or orange pepper, finely diced

2-3 garlic cloves, finely diced

1 teaspoon fresh chopped oregano

1/3 cup bread crumbs

1 cob of corn (or a small can of peaches and cream corn)

1 teaspoon finely chopped dried guajillo chili (or 1/4 teaspoon chili flakes)

salt and pepper

1/3 cup finely shredded parmesan (substitute non-dairy if you need to)

What you do:

1. Boil a large pot of water and then immerse the squash for about 5 minutes to soften them up a little. Remove and let them cool until you can handle them. Cut the tops off, like you would if you were carving a pumpkin. You may also need to shave a little off the bottom so they sit upright. Scoop the insides out with a spoon, throwing away the seedy bits if there are any.

2. Finely dice the onions, then add it to a pan that you have heated to medium with the coconut oil. After about a minute, add the finely diced pepper, and after about 3 minutes add the garlic.

3. When the onions have slightly browned add the chopped oregano and bread crumbs. Add salt and pepper to taste. Take the pan off the heat and add the corn and 1/4 cup of the parmesan, and mix it all together.

4. Fill each of the squash, pressing the filling into it, and place them on a baking tray. Top with the remaining parmesan.

5. Bake for 40 minutes,then insert a sharp knife into the flesh of one squash to make sure it’s cooked through.

Enjoy!

Cucumber and Tomato Salad with Basil and Dijon Vinaigrette

I was lucky enough to be given some home-grown cucumbers, and then I went and picked these tomatoes and some basil from my garden. If you don’t have access to garden-fresh produce you can visit your local farmer’s market, or just try to find some that look tasty in the produce store. I like cherry tomatoes and the smaller cucumbers because they and often the tastiest option from the produce store.

I don’t use measuring tools to make my salad dressing, so the ingredients are ‘a little of this, a little of that’ and then you can taste your own way to a yummy dressing.

What you need:

some tomatoes

some cucumbers

part of a sweet onion

a few sprigs of fresh basil

dijon mustard

a little sugar

salt and freshly ground pepper

apple cider vinegar

olive oil

What you do:

1. Cut the tomatoes and cucumbers into bite-sized pieces. Cut a bit of onion into smaller pieces. Put them all into a bowl.

2. To make the dressing, put a small spoonful of dijon into a bowl or cup. Add a few pinches of sugar and a little salt and pepper. Combine these, then pour in a touch of vinegar and mix it up. Add a few tablespoons more vinegar and mix it, then slowly add some olive oil. When you’ve mixed in a few tablespoons of olive oil, have a taste and see if you need more oil or anything else. It shouldn’t taste too acidic, but you also don’t want it to be too oily.

3. Pour some salad dressing over the veggies and toss them until everything is coated. Chop up a few leaves of basil and garnish the salad with them.

Enjoy!

Cannellini Beans and Kale

I tried out this new recipe to deal with the overabundance of kale that is growing in my garden. It makes a great meal or side dish with a salad, and would be great served with sausage. I crumbled a little bacon on top, but it is great without it as well. There’s a surprising amount of flavour in here for and beans and greens recipe.

This isn’t a difficult recipe, but it does require soaking the beans a day ahead, then cooking them for up to two hours. After that it’s quick to get it ready.

The source for this recipe is Alice Waters’ Chez Panisse.

What you need:

2 cups dry cannellini beans

1 stalk celery

a few sprigs of thyme

a few sprigs of parsley

2 bay leaves

1 onion

1 carrot

6 cups water or more

1 bunch kale (or spinach or mustard greens), spines removed, chopped roughly

6 cloves garlic finely chopped

1-2 tablespoons olive oil (the original recipe calls for 5-6 tablespoons)

1 tablespoon chopped rosemary leaves

salt and pepper

What you do:

1. Soak the beans overnight, then drain them. Put them in a pot with the celery, thyme, parsley, bay leaves, onion and carrot and over with water. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 1-2 hours, until the beans are very soft. Salt the beans once they begin to get soft. Remove them from the heat when they are very soft. Drain the liquid, reserving some of it to add back later. Remove the vegetables and herbs.

2. Add a little olive oil to a large frying pan on medium heat and add the garlic and rosemary; saute for about one minute. Add the beans and about a cup of the liquid and simmer for about 5 minutes. Add the kale and cook until it is wilted and becomes tender. Add a little more liquid if it starts to get dry. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Drizzle with a little olive oil as you serve it up hot. Enjoy!

Warm Peaches and Yogurt

This is a slightly fancier version of what I normally eat in the morning. My usual breakfast consists of yogurt and whatever fruit is in season, plus some homemade granola if I’m planning on cycling to work or somewhere else. I recently had a friend visiting who was allergic to fresh peaches; knowing how much she loves them, I decided to cook them a bit so she could eat them for breakfast. Adding yogurt to the warm fruit makes it seem a little like melted ice cream and fruit – pretty decadent for breakfast!

One of the great things about this recipe is that the peaches can be slightly under-ripened.

What you need:

1 peach. sliced (or substitute with a nectarine or a few apricots

1 tablespoon apricot jam

some blueberries or other fruits of your choice

plain yogurt

granola (optional)

1 teaspoon butter

What you do:

1. Heat the butter in a frying pan, then add the peach slices and jam. Cook them, flipping after a few minutes, until they are slightly tender. Stir to coat the peaches with the jam.

2. Place the peaches in bowls, then add some yogurt. Add some blueberries and granola if you’re using it, and you’re set!

Aspargus, Mushroom and Red Onion Pizza

I was lucky enough to be able to make this pizza in a brick oven that my Opa built decades ago. I made a few pizzas using this crust and sauce recipe. It’s a fabulous recipe, and the topping options are endless. Here’s a vegetarian one that was particularly delicious.

What you need:

asparagus

mushrooms sliced

red onions, thinly sliced

mozzarella cheese, grated

pizza crust (see link above, use your own recipe, or buy some pizza dough if you can find it in the freezer section)

pizza sauce (see link above)

What you do:

1. Assuming you’ve already prepared your pizza dough and sauce, preheat your oven to 500-550F. If you are using a brick oven you’ll need to start preparing it hours earlier.

2. Form your dough and place it on a well-floured baking pan. Spread some tomato sauce over the crust.

3. Scatter the mushrooms and red onions, then place the asparagus on top. Add some cheese and it’s ready to go into the oven – just don’t add too many toppings or you’ll have a soggy pizza.

4. Bake for 6-7 minutes – the cheese should be bubbling, and the crust should be crisp and golden.

Enjoy!

Brick Oven Pizza – Olive and Chorizo

This beautiful pizza was baked in the brick oven that my Opa built decades ago at the family cabin that he loved so much. It’s not a fancy place, and this oven is small, but it holds a lot of memories. I spent many summers playing hide-and-seek in the woods and cards inside in the evening, fishing, and eating what we caught alongside Oma’s amazing bread. We never made pizza in the brick oven; that’s a tradition I started a few years ago when I visited the cabin with friends. My grandparents are gone now, and my summer friends and I are all grown up and most of them have stopped going to the lake. As far as I know nobody else uses the old brick oven, but baking in it makes me think about my grandparents and all the good times we spent in this place.

This is the best pizza I’ve ever made. The crust takes a bit of planning ahead, but the sauce and toppings are easy. I found the recipe for the crust and sauce in A16 Food and Wine by Nate Appleman and Shelley Lindgren.

This recipe makes enough for about 4 medium-sized pizzas with a thin crust. I made a variety of toppings for mine.

What you need for the crust:

1/4 teaspoon yeast

1 & 1/2 cups warm water

2 teaspoons olive oil

2 teaspoons salt

4 cups “oo” flour or all-purpose (I used all-purpose)

What you need for the tomato sauce and toppings:

one 28-ounce can of tomatoes (San Marzano if you can find them)

1-2 teaspoons salt

1 link of cured chorizo sausage

small black olives

1/2 teaspoon anise seeds, bashed up a little with a mortar and pestle

about 1/2 cup grated mozzarella cheese

What you do:

1. Begin preparing the dough a day before you want to make the pizza. You can do this by hand, but it’s just a bit more work. Pour the water into a mixer with a dough hook and then sprinkle the yeast on top. Leave it for about 10 minutes and it should become foamy – if it doesn’t your water was the wrong temperature, or the yeast is dead. Stir in the olive oil and salt. Add the flour and mix on low for 2 minutes. Knead on medium-low for about 10 minutes – it will pull away from the bowl and begin to look smoother. Cover the bowl with a damp towel and let it rest for 5 minutes. Knead once more on medium-low for 10 minutes – it will be smooth and quite soft. If it seems much too sticky you can add a little more flour. Coat a bowl with a little olive oil and then coat both sides of the dough with olive oil, placing the dough in the bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and put it in the fridge over night.

2. In the morning remove the dough from the fridge and punch it down. Fold the sides of the dough under and put it back in the bowl. Cover the bowl with a damp towel and let it sit in a warm (not hot) place until about 2 hours before you need it.

3. Punch the dough down and divide it into 4 pieces. Form them into balls and cover them with a damp towel for about 2 hours. By this time the dough should have doubled in volume. If it starts to get a skin on it you can spray it with a little water.

4. To prepare the sauce, just put the tomatoes and juice into a bowl and squish them into little bits with your hands. Add the salt.

5. Cut the chorizo into thin slices and fry them briefly. I like to do this to get a bit of the fat out, but it isn’t a necessary step. Put the cut chorizo onto a paper towel to soak up excess fat.

6. Preheat the oven to 500-550 F.

7. To form the crusts, shape the dough into a disk with your hands. Push down in the centre with your palm and pull the dough out gently with your other hand, rotating slightly until you have a crust that is about 10-12 inches/25-30 cm in diameter with a slightly raised edge. (I cheated a little in the beginning and used a rolling-pin.) Dust your baking pan generously and place the crust on it. I don’t have a proper pizza stone or pan, but the cookie sheet I used worked just fine.

8. Spread some tomato sauce onto the crust, then sprinkle with the anise seeds. Add some chorizo and olives, then toss on a little cheese. Avoid over-topping your pizza, as it will end up soggy.

9. Bake for 6-7 minutes, until the crust is crisp and golden, and the top is bubbling. I made and baked the pizzas one at a time because the brick oven only fits one pan. This was a great way to do it, as it allowed us to sample each pizza as it came out of the oven, then tend to the next one.

Wait just a minute before eating so you don’t burn your mouth, then dig in!

Kamut and Veggie Salad

During summertime I like to have food in the fridge that I can grab as a quick healthy snack, or take out on a picnic. I love the taste of Kamut (which is a trademarked name for khorasan wheat) because it tastes buttery and nutty, and I like that it’s a sturdy grain that has a good chewy bite to it. It is high in protein, so it makes a good meal-in-a-bowl salad. It is also high in a number of nutrients, including zinc, manganese and magnesium. I’m particularly interested in the magnesium because it helps absorb calcium.

I love this dressing, from the Whitewater Cooks book. I use it often on a green salad, but it works great on this heartier salad as well.

So yes, it’s nutritious, but it also tastes great.

What you need:

about 3/4 cup Kamut (I used farro because I couldn’t find any Kamut at the stores near my place)

1/2 cup sugar snap peas, chopped into 2cm pieces

1/2 large sweet onion, chopped

1 sweet orange or red pepper

a few medium-sized tomatoes chopped, or a whole bunch of cherry tomatoes, sliced in half

optional: herbs of your choice, or salad greens

optional: freshly ground black pepper

What you need to make the Whitewater Glory Salad Dressing:

1/4 cup nutritional yeast

3 tablespoons tamari or soy sauce

3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

3 tablespoons water

1 tablespoon tahini

1 clove garlic, crushed

1/2 cup vegetable oil

What you do:

1. Cook the Kamut in lots of water for at least an hour, or until the grains are tender. Drain any excess water and let the grains cool. This step can be done ahead of time.

2. Put all the dressing ingredients except the oil into a blender, or use an immersion blender, and give it a good mix. In a steady slow stream, add the oil until it is all blended in.

3. Put all the chopped veggies into a bowl along with the cooled Kamut and mix with the dressing. Add some dressing and taste to see if it needs a little more dressing, or some pepper.

4. Serve cold or room temperature, either on its own or on a bed of salad greens.

Chorizo Pistachio Savoury Cake

This is a repeat recipe from a few summers ago. I’ve never repeated a recipe posting before, but I chose to share this again because:

A) It’s a great picnic food that you and your friends will adore

B) It’s super easy to make

C) I just made it and looked so delicious that I was inspired to share it

D) I have a new camera and would like to have a better image that fits the amazing quality of this recipe

What you need:

room temperature butter for greasing the pan

2 tablespoons sesame seeds, for the bottom of the pan

1 & 1/4 cups flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon chile powder

3 eggs at room temperature

1/2 cup plain yogurt

85 grams or so of cured chorizo sausage, preferably one with a bit of spice to it

8 sun-dried tomato halves, finely diced

3/4 cup unsalted pistachios

1/4 cup parsley, chopped (optional)-you could substitute some onion or basil

What you do:

1. Spread the butter into the bottom and sides of a 9-inch loaf pan. Toss the sesame seeds around in the pan until there is a layer of them over the bottom and sides. Preheat your oven to 350F.

2. Mix the egg and yogurt together in a bowl. Add flour, baking powder, salt and chili powder and stir it in, being careful to mix only until just incorporated.

3. Fold in the chorizo, tomatoes, nuts and parsley. Spread the batter into the loaf pan.

4. Bake for 40-50 minutes and test with a toothpick to see if it is done. Let the loaf sit in the pan for about 15 minutes after you’ve taken it out of the oven before removing it to cool on a rack.

When it’s cool you can cut it into thin slices to serve. Apparently it keeps for a few days on the counter, but if I have leftovers I prefer to wrap them in plastic wrap and either store in the fridge, or freeze for later use. It tastes best at room temperature, so take it out of the fridge with enough time in advance of eating to allow it to some to room temperature.

I got this recipe from David Lebovitz’s website, and he adapted it from Clotilde Dusoulier’s Chocolate and Zucchini cookbook.

Grilled Pattypan Squash

These adorable sunny squash are great on the grill. I planted two pattypan squash plants in my garden this year because they are the kind of thing I can often only find at a Farmer’s Market. They are taking over my little garden now and every day I’m finding more squash that are ready to pick, so I’m thinking of ways to cook ’em up. I pick them while they are still pretty small and tender, so they will be thin enough to heat through on the grill. This is a super simple recipe that enhances the flavour of the squash.

What you need:

pattypan squash

a few sprigs of thyme

olive oil

salt and pepper

What you do:

1. Heat the grill to medium-high. Cut the squash in half along the frilly edge. Rub the cut side with olive oil.

2. Sprinkle some salt and pepper and thyme onto the cut side.

3. When the grill is hot, place the squash cut-side down on the grill and leave in that position for the whole cooking process so you get one nice set of grill lines. Grill for 8-10 minutes with the lid down. Check it in the last few 4-5 minutes, as everybody’s grill works a little differently.

4. I decided mine were done when I could see a bit of browning around the edge, and when I touched the outside of the squash it had a little bit of give to it.

Serve it hot!

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