What you need:
1 cup tomatoes, diced
1 cup watermelon, diced
1/4 red onion, finely diced
1 jalapeno pepper, finely diced, seeds removed unless you like it really hot
2 tablespoons diced cilantro
salt
1 freshly squeezed lime
a few dashes of hot sauce
What you do:
1. Cut up tomato and watermelon into chunks of about 1 cm.
2. Add everything else and let it sit for at least an hour. Have a taste and see if you need to adjust add more salt or hot sauce.
Ready to go!
This brilliant, fresh soup is the perfect thing for a hot summer’s day. I made it up ahead of time, stuck it in the fridge, and just ladled it up for an appetizer. I topped it with a little feta and cilantro, but you could also chop up a little watermelon, tomato or cucumber to sprinkle on top.
I found the recipe on One Perfect Bite. I just used less olive oil.
What you need:
4 cups watermelon
2 cups tomatoes
1 small jalapeno pepper with the seeds removed, diced
2 tablespoons minced red onion
1 small cucumber, peeled and seeded
2 tablespoons cilantro (plus a little more for garnishing)
a tablespoon or two of olive oil
1 tablespoon wine vinegar
salt and pepper
feta for garnishing
What you do:
1. Puree everything (except the garnish!) until it is smooth. I used an immersion blender, but a regular blender would do a great job.
2. Refrigerate for at least an hour.
3. Serve with your choice of toppings: feta, cilantro, chopped tomato, cucumber or watermelon.
This is a summery twist on a standard comfort food. It’s just some raw zucchini strips with a delicious tomato sauce. I served it with chicken, but it makes a nice light and healthy meal on its own. The sauce only takes about a half hour of cooking, and the zucchini just needs to be julienned, and you’ve got a great meal!
What you need:
1 zucchini
1 – 796 mL can of pureed tomatoes
1 small onion
a few tablespoons of butter or olive oil
a few garlic cloves
salt and pepper to taste
fresh basil
What you do:
1. Throw the whole onion, garlic cloves, butter and tomato sauce into a pot and cook for about half an hour, or more if you’ve got the time. Take the onion and garlic out when it’s done, and season to taste with salt and pepper.
2. Julienne the zucchini and plate it. Pour some of the hot sauce on top of the zucchini, and top with some fresh basil.
Yum, easy and delicious!
This is one of the best things I have ever made. I was transported back to Spain as soon as I took my first mouthful. Last summer I had the most amazing food in Barcelona, and one of my favourites was gazpacho. So many meals were started off with this lovely cold soup; I ordered it almost every day. I never thought I would like a cold soup, but it was so refreshing and flavourful. I didn’t get a chance to make any last summer, and since winter tomatoes are pretty much tasteless, I waited until summer to try the recipe.
Love. It.
And it requires no cooking, just some chopping, pureeing, and chilling. My favourite version was topped with finely diced bits of the soup ingredients, so this one has diced tomato, red pepper, and some of the bread fried in a little olive oil. I forgot to keep a little of the cucumber aside for the topping, but I recommend that you chop up a little of that too.
I got the recipe here, but I used less onion than the recipe called for. The recipe says it’s for four people, but I think it feeds a lot more people than that.
Enjoy!
What you need:
1 pound of tomatoes
1 cucumber
1/2 a medium-sized sweet onion (the recipe called for two – way to much for me)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups bread (plus more for the topping)
2 red bell peppers
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
7 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons water
salt to taste
What you do:
1. Soak the bread in water for a few minutes, then squeeze most of the water out with your hands.
2. Puree all the veggies, bread, vinegar and water, then slowly add the olive oil to blend it in. Salt and pepper to taste.
3. Put the soup in the fridge to chill.
4. Dice a little tomato, cucumber and red pepper for garnishing
5. Cut the remaining bread into very small cubes. Heat a frying pan, then pour in some olive oil. Add the bread and toss it around the pan until it is slightly browned.
A nice way to serve this is to ladle the soup into individual bowls, then have the toppings in separate bowls so everyone can garnish as they wish.
On my recent trip to Quebec City I was treated to this great breakfast made by Eduardo. He is from Venezuela, and he showed me how to make these traditional Venezuelan arepas. They are the vehicle for whatever you want to stuff into them; we had egg and cheese in ours, and then some “dessert” arepas with nutella, cream cheese and jam.
What you need for the arepas:
1 cup corn flour
about 1 cup water
about 1/2 teaspoon salt
a little oil for frying
What you need for the eggs:
a few eggs
chopped onion
chopped tomatoes
diced garlic
salt and pepper
What you do:
1. Mix the flour, salt and water until there are no lumps. Scoop some dough into your hands and roll it into a ball. Then flatten it out and make the edges round.
2. Heat a frying pan with a little oil, then place the patties in the pan until browned on each side.
3. Heat the oven to 350F and place the arepas into the oven on the rack. After 10-15 minutes, take one out of the oven to see if the inside is cooked. To do this, take one in your hand and tap on it; it’s ready if it makes a dull hollow sound.
4. While they are baking, cook the onions and garlic for a few minutes in a little oil in a frying pan, then add the tomatoes. Beat the eggs with a fork and add about a tablespoon of water and some salt and pepper. When the onions and tomatoes have cooked for a few minutes, add the eggs to the pan and cook them.
5. To serve, slice the arepas open, spread on a little butter, and then fill with some egg. Add a piece of cheese if you like, and you’re set.
Je suis dans Quebec, et dans ma cuisine we have few supplies, so my quest to make interesting food continues. We recently had croissants with bacon, eggs and tomatoes, so I needed to use up the leftover bacon. Leftover bacon – who has heard of such a thing? But here it is, in a broccoli salad. I had to toss the salad in a pot because we have no bowls in the dormitory, but it tasted great just the same. Of course I wanted to use up the other ingredients we had, so I made a dressing with yogurt, and topped it with pumpkin seeds. It all seemed to work well together; it’s great when a fridge cleanup tastes this good!
What you need:
a few heads of broccoli, broken into florets
1/4 cup red onion, diced
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
1/3 cup plain yogurt
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar, or to taste
salt and pepper to taste
a few slices of crispy fried bacon, broken into pieces
1/4 to 1/3 cup toasted pumpkin seeds
What you do:
1. Wash and drain the broccoli and break it into florets. Put them into a bowl.
2. To make the dressing, stir the mayonnaise with the yogurt, salt and pepper, then add the vinegar a little at a time, stirring until it is incorporated.
3. Chop the onion and add it to the dressing.
4. Toast the pumpkin seeds in a frying pan, stirring from time to time until they are brown, or begin popping.
5. Mix the dressing into the broccoli, then toss in the bacon and the pumpkin seeds.
Voila, c’est une salade magnifique!
This summer I am staying in a college dormitory for three weeks as I attend French classes at the College Merici. Our kitchen is equipped with just a pot and a pan and a few plates, cups and cutlery. Not wanting to equip an entire kitchen, my roommates and I have been challenging ourselves to make delicious meals using few ingredients and cooking utensils.
For Saturday brunch I walked to the patisserie to buy the croissants, and then came home to whip these up. Et voila! Les Croissants aux oeufs, avec bacon et des tomates!
What you need:
croissants, 1 per person
eggs, 1 per person
bacon, 1-2 slices per person
tomatoes, 1 small tomato per person
salt and pepper
olive oil
What you do:
1. Fry the bacon until crispy, then drain it on paper towels. Remove most of the bacon fat from the pan.
2. Slice the tomatoes, then fry them in a little bit of the bacon fat. Add salt and pepper, and cook a little on each side.
3. Crack the eggs into a bowl, add a little salt and pepper and mix them up with a fork. Add a little water, about a tablespoon, and mix it in.
4. Remove the tomatoes from the pan and set aside. Add some olive oil to the pan, then cook the eggs. I like to have the pan on medium high, then add the eggs. I don’t stir them until they have cooked a bit on the bottom, stir a little, then let them cook again, stirring maybe once or twice more before they are done.
5. To prepare the croissants, slice them open, then put in some eggs, then add the tomatoes and bacon on top.
Bon apetit!
I love ginger beer that has a strong ginger bite, and not too much sugar. Here’s a really easy recipe that costs very little to make your own ginger beer. You just need to plan a couple of days ahead of time to let the yeast work its magic. This is a non-alcoholic drink; nothing to do with real beer! Some people like to mix it with beer, though, but I prefer a little rum, or just on its own.
What you need:
a clean 2 litre plastic pop bottle
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger(I keep my ginger in the freezer – it grates easily that way)
1/4 teaspoon baker’s yeast
juice of 1 lemon or lime
What you do:
1. Using a funnel, pour the sugar into the bottle. Add the yeast.
2. Mix the lemon juice with the grated ginger. Add this mixture to the bottle.
3. Add some cold water, put the cap on the bottle, then give it a shake until all the sugar dissolves.
4. Add more cold water to the bottle until it is filled to about 3 cm away from the top of the bottle.
5. After closing the bottle, place it in a warm place for a day or two. If you give the bottle a squeeze now you will notice that it has some give to it. You will know the ginger beer is done when you squeeze the bottle and it is firm and no longer has any give to it. At this point you need to put it in the fridge so the yeast stops working.
Because there are bits of ginger in the bottle, you need to strain it before you serve it. I just do this as I am pouring each glass.
Rhubarb in my garden, a huge bag of brazil nuts, and a desire to bake some flax-bran muffins to throw in the freezer for a time of need, all led me to make these muffins. They are based on my usual recipe, with a new fruit and nut combination. Of course I forgot to put in the molasses, which I went out and bought especially to make these. But they were still good!
What you need:
1 cup flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 & 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 cup bran
1/2 cup ground flax seeds
1 cup chopped fresh rhubarb
1/2 cup chopped brazil nuts
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 in a large bowl.
3. Melt the butter, then mix the milk into the butter slowly, so the butter doesn’t harden when you add cold milk. Add the molasses to the other liquids. Pour the liquids, along with the slightly beaten eggs, into the dry ingredients. Mix by hand only until the ingredients are combined; if you mix more you’ll get tough little muffins.
4. Mix in the rhubarb and brazil nuts.
5. Place mixture in muffin tins lined with paper baking cups.
6. Bake at 400F for 20 minutes. Take the muffins out of tins and cool on a rack for a few minutes before eating.
These are especially yummy served warm with a little butter, and it you have a sweet tooth, some honey or agave nectar.
When I was growing up I attended a lot of Mennonite weddings and funerals, and this cake was always present, and always my favourite food. There are three parts to this cake – light vanilla cake, a coconutty-buttery-almondy-sugary baked topping, and a whipped cream filling . . . decadent! It’s a bit of work, but so worth it. I made it for a party recently (not just for weddings and funerals!) and everyone raved about it. I sure hope there’s Bienenstich at my funeral!
I found this version on the Mennonite Girls Can Cook blog.
What you need for the cake:
1/2 cup milk, scalded
1 tablespoon butter
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
What you need for the topping:
1/4 cup melted chocolate
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons cream
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup slivered almonds
What you need for the cream filling:
1 cup whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup icing sugar
2 tablespoons instant vanilla pudding mix, like Oetkers’s
What you do for the cake and topping:
1. Line an 8 inch square pan with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 350F.
2. Beat the eggs and gradually add the sugar, beating until it is thick and light in colour. Mix in the vanilla.
3. Mix in the dry ingredients only until they are incorporated.
4. To scald the milk, first rinse your pot with a little cold water. This should help avoid scorching the milk. Then put the milk in, place on medium heat, and stir until the milk has almost boiled. Add the butter to the scalded milk and stir until it melts.
5. Slowly add the milk to the cake batter, and mix until incorporated.
6. Pour the batter into the lined pan and bake for 25-30 minutes, inserting a toothpick when you think it’s done to see if the toothpick comes out clean.
7. Just before the cake comes out of the oven, melt the butter and mix together all of the topping ingredients. Spread the topping over the cake, all the way to the edges. Broil, watching very very carefully so it doesn’t burn! until the topping is bubbling.
8. Let the cake cool, then remove it from the pan and put it in the freezer for an hour or so. This will make it much easier to cut the top off to make room for the cream filling.
What to do for the filling:
1. Add the sugar, vanilla and vanilla pudding mix to the whipping cream. Beat it until it forms firm peaks
2. Remove the cake from the freezer, then cut it horizontally.
3. Spread the whipping cream onto the bottom layer, then place the top on the cream.
4. Freeze the cake until you are going to serve it. If you slice it while it is frozen it won’t squish all the cream out. Then just let it sit for about half an hour before serving. Of course, lots of people love eating it while it’s still frozen – they can’t wait for it to thaw, so yummy!
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