Kale, kale, everything kale

if you wanna talk about kale, I'd be more than happy to join you. Lately I just can't get enough of the stuff. Though I did buy some chard today to mix it up a little. Anybody got some favourite recipes to share? I like it raw, steamed, roasted, stir-fried, pretty much never met a leaf of kale I didn't like. KALE!

My favourite way of eating raw kale is in a salad similar to the way Mondragon prepares its dragon bowl. A friend of mine used to work there, and he gave me the recipe for the dressing, which is basically what makes the salad amazing.

1/4 c miso
1/4 c water
1/4 c lemon juice
2 Tbsp tahini
1 Tbsp honey or brown rice vinegar

you can also add 2 Tbsp fresh dill or 1/2 tsp turmeric as optional ingredients, though I've personally never ventured into this territory.

For those of you unfamiliar with the dragon bowl, basically you toss your kale and/or chard in this dressing, add other tasty veggies that you like (I like red cabbage, shaved beets, grated carrots, pretty much whatever I have in my fridge) and put your veggies over hot short grain brown rice. Add a couple slices of tofu, toss in some nuts and seeds, and you're good to go. So delicious.

Veggie tostadas with home made tortillas and salsa fresca

First step: buy some real masa harina (corn tortilla flour from a latin american grocery store, its very different from cornmeal)

Second step: Make the tortillas as per package directions. The dough you make will not be elastic like wheat dough, so the easiest way to make tortillas is to make a ball of dough, drop it on a parchment paper, then flatten it with another piece of paper. Drop the flattened piece of dough on a hot lightly oiled pan and fry it until browned on both sides. Keep the tortillas warm in the oven covered with foil. Doesn't matter if they're not super thin.

Filling
One package of veggie ground round
2 tsp of freshly ground cumin
2 tsp of freshly ground coriander
About 1 1/2 tbsp of chipotle chiles in adobo sauce
some adobo sauce (be careful, its SPICY)
some cayenne
5 cloves garlic
one onion, diced
some water to moisten, or tomato paste
chopped fresh coriander

Salsa fresca
Add fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, avocadoes, garlic, coriander, lime juice and whatever else you think would taste delicious in it.

Fry the onions until soft, add the garlic and fry for another 5 min, then add the ground spices, fry for another five being careful not to burn the spices. Then add the ground round, chipotles and sauce, and water. Turn down the heat and let the ground round absorb all the juices.

Put the tortilla on a plate, top with the ground round mixture, and then if you want cover the little tostadas with cheese and broil them. Serve it with salsa fresca on the side.

The masa harina tortillas fried really give a good flavor. Like corn tortilla chips, only better.

mmm, stomach growling just thinking of it.

Asparagus beet salad with feta

The title is really self explanatory. The results-more divine than words can say.

About ten asparagusses
some roasted beets chopped or canned
red onion
feta cheese
baby spinach (as you can see I am a fan)

dressing:

2 parts olive oil to one part red wine vinegar
one tablespoon dijon
one tablespoon honey
basil or oregano or both
s&p

Good way to roast those asparagusses. Put them under the broiler with a touch of salt for ten minutes. They get all shriveled toasty and delicious.

Lorne and I ate the leftovers of this salad after a spring night at the bar. So cool juicy and refreshing. Beets are the sh%t man.

Cobb-ish salad

A meal in itself.

I package of baby spinach
One and a half apples, chopped into small chunks
1/4 red onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup grated sharp cheddar
about 1/2 cup of fried bacon (in bits)
one avocado, in small chunks

dressing:

couple spoons of mayo
couple spoons of sour cream
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 clove garlic

And I guess it could be good to put a few chopped boiled eggs in here too. I just didn't do that. Also, dressing could be kept simple with just olive oil and red wine vinegar. Pretty decent salad though.

Lucious and ecstatic mango lime salad

This goes really nicely with the enchiladas. Eating it feels like there's an ecstasy party in your mouth and everyone's invited.

Couple leaves of romaine lettuce or baby spinach
!/4 thinly sliced red onion
one avocado cut into small chunks
one or two small luscious yellow mangoes (or one big red one)
1/4 cup fresh chopped cilantro

Dressing
Juice of one and a half limes
two cloves of garlic
1/4 olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

MMMMMMMM. Mangoes and lime go together like jon and yoko.

squash and black bean enchilada casserole

This one was a real hit.

Sauce:
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 yellow onion
6 garlic cloves, crushed
4 tbsp masa harina, flour or cornstarch
2 tbsp ancho chili powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/2 ground coriander
1 tsp salt (or to taste)
1 tbsp minced oregano
4 cups veggie stock
1/2 cup tomato sauce
2 tsp brown sugar
2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
1/2 green pepper or jalapeno

Enchiladas:
1 large butternut squash, baked
1 large can of black beans
few spoons of adobo sauce
salt and pepper
4 cups of cheese (mild cheddar, marble, monterey jack or a combo)
1 1/2 packages of tortillas (preferably corn)

Preheat oven to 350. First make the sauce. Fry onions, green pepper or chili, and garlic until slightly golden, add spices and masa. fry until fragrant. Add all the other ingredients and let simmer for about 20 minutes while you're preparing the other stuff.

Mix the baked squash with the beans and seasoning, you might want to squeeze excess water out of the squash. Brown the tortillas in a toaster oven until slightly toasted. Grate the cheese. Cut the tortillas in half.

In a large lasagna pan, put a little sauce on the bottom. Put one good layer of tortillas on top. Layer with squash and bean layer, 1/4 cheese, then more sauce. Repeat this one more time, then add one last layer of tortillas, with the rest of the cheese and the rest of the sauce. Bake for about 30 minutes. I would try adding olives or fresh coriander too.

fuc%ing good sesame tofu

mmmm

half a block regular tofu, pressed
1 cup tahini
1/4 cup soya sauce
1/4 cup honey
1 Tbsp minced garlic
3 cloves crushed garlic
1 cup veggie stock
salt to taste
juice of 1/2 lemon

Press the tofu between cutting boards to get the water out (tofu is like a dense sponge). Heat some oil in a pan on high. When its very hot, sear the tofu on either side while sprinkling with a bit of soy sauce until the tofu gets crispy. Meanwhile, in a saucepan fry the ginger and garlic for a few minutes, then add all the other stuff except lemon juice. Simmer it for about 15 minutes, then add the lemon juice. Pour the sauce over the tofu, cook up some brown rice, stir fried vegetables (i had broccoli, mushrooms, and peppers) and ta-da serve it all together!

Portabello Shroom Burgers

7 portabello mushroom caps
1/4 c light soy sauce
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
4 Tbsp sesame oil
a few splashes of rice wine vinegar
a few small splashes of juice, orange is good, last time I used pomegranate
1-2 Tbsp of fresh minced ginger
2 tsp of sambal oelek

Mix all this stuff together, you can taste the marinade and then add more of any ingredient to adjust the taste. Then place the mushrooms stem up in a flat pan, removing any big yucky stems. Spoon the mixture over the caps, especially around the crinkly black parts. Marinade for at least 2 hours. The longer the better. Barbecue them until they're seared on both sides. Eat them in a nice bun with barbecued zucchini and some goat cheese. That's all you need!

Anita's super tasty tofu scramble (secret recipe)

Half a block of tofu, crumbled
1 Tbsp chopped fresh ginger
4 cloves of garlic
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp sesame oil
1 Tbsp canola oil
2 Tbsp Tamari (good soy sauce thats made from real soybeans, dont buy that cheap stuff)
1 onion
1 red pepper
1/4 cup chopped fresh coriander
2 Tbsp Pataks curry paste
1 chili (if you like extra heat)
1/4 cup water

Fry the onions, ginger, garlic, chili and red pepper in the oil until the onions are transluscent. Add the tofu fry it around for a bit. Then add the water, soy sauce, and sugar. Put a lid on the pan and let the juices simmer for a good 10-20 minutes until the tofu absorbs everything. Serve it with acorn squash (baked or microwaved with a bit of butter, salt and pepper), plain yogurt, and warmed up slices of pita bread. If you want greens on the side (which go very well), I have used fiddleheads, bok choy, or kale which is yum yum yummy. A well rounded meal with all your vitamin needs.

Curried Butternut Squash Soup

1 butternut squash, cut in half and baked on a sheet face down in a bit of water
2 celery stalks
1 onion
1 Tbsp ginger
2 Tbsp Pataks curry paste
oil
4-6 cups stock (chicken or veggie)
1/4 cup chopped fresh coriander
A chili if you like spice
1/4 cup coconut milk or yogurt (optional)
1-3 bay leaf
juice from one lime

Scoop the seeds out of the squash and throw it away, then scoop out the squash and set aside. Fry onions, celery and ginger in a bit of oil until golden. Then add the curry paste and fry for a few minutes. Add the squash and the stock and the bay leaf and simmer for 20-30 minutes. Puree half of the soup in a blender and put it back in the soup with the yogurt or coconut milk and the lime juice. Heat it up and enjoy.

Shitake and crimini mushroom soup

400 g crimini or any brown mushroom (cept the poisonous ones)
200g fresh shitakes
4 cups chicken broth
1 large onion
2 large carrots
some basil or rosemary
salt and pepper
2-3 tbsp butter
150 ml cream
3 tbsp flour
few shakes of worchestershire sauce
salt and pepper to taste

Fry onions and carrots in butter until soft (5-10 min), then add the chopped mushrooms, fry for another 5 min, then add flour. stir it around. Then add the stock and the herbs. let it cook in there for a good 20-30 min. Then cool it a little, put half in blender then put it back in to make it more soupy. then you can add the cream, and im constantly monitoring for salt and pepper. At the end dump in a few dashes of wooster (worchesetire.. dont know how to spell it). Delicious if I do say so myself.

Chorizo sweet potato soup

2- 3chorizo sausages (the smoked kind)
1 onion
2 bay leafs
4 sweet potatoes and 1 white potatoes peeled and chopped
6 cups of chicken stock
4 leafs of swiss chard, with stem removed and torn up
salt and pepper to taste
2 tsp chili flakes

Fry the sausage until browned, take out and pat extra oil away with a paper towel. In the sausage grease, fry the onions until golden, add potatoes and fry for a few minutes. Then add the stock and the bay leaves, simmering until the potatoes are very soft. Take a potato masher to mash some of the potatoes. Add the sausage and the swiss chard and simmer for 10 more minutes. This is really good, especially the next day. Sorry for the vegetarians, the chorizo gives this soup a really yummy flavour.

Sweet potato and smoked gouda perogies

I'm slightly obsessed with perogies, especially after living in Winnipeg which I think is pretty much the perogy capital of Canada. Montreal has alot of good things for sure, the onion soup, the poutine, but good perogies are hard to find around here.
I just tried this new kind of perogy from this cookbook, Rebar, and it's delicious.

Filling:
5 lb (2.3kg) sweet potatoes or yams
2 tbsp butter
3 large leeks chopped, mostly whites
1 tsp salt
1 lb (450g) smoked gouda, grated
cracked pepper to taste

perogy dough
4 cups all purpose flour
3/4 tsp salt
4 egg yolks
1 cup hot water
2 tbsp vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F, scrub the yams then poke them a bit with a fork. Put on an oiled baking sheet wih a bit of water and bake until they're sofy and puffy. Cool them a bit, then mash them.
While the yams roast, heat butter in a frying pan and sautee the leeks until golden and a little caramelized. Add this to your yams along with the cheese, salt and pepper to taste and a little more butter (mm butter). Put this in the fridge.
To make the dough, mix the dry ingredients together. Add the rest and mix with a wooden spoon (or your clean hands) until the dough is smooth, cover it and let it sit at room temp for 30 min.
Divide the dough into quarters, roll it out to about 1/8th of an inch thick (a pasta machine works well for this), then cut out circles with a wine glass, put a tsp or so of filling in the middle, fold it and pinch it closed. Boil the perogies until they rise to the top, toss them with more butter. Serve them of course with sour cream and caramelized onions.
If you want to freeze them, after boiling put one layer on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and after theyre frozen stick them into some ziplock bags.
** note: for simpler, traditional, just as delicious perogies you substitute sweet potatoes for white potaotoes, and the gouda for sharp cheddar cheese
Whew!

Carrot Cumin Soup

2 large onions, chopped
3 garlic cloves, diced
5 or 6 cups chopped carrots
1 large potato, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
6 cups vegetable stock (or water)
3 tsp cumin
salt
2-3 tbsp olive oil
fresh ginger

1) Saute onions and garlic in olive oil on medium heat until onions are soft and translucent.

2) Add carrots, celery, cumin, and salt and stir for about a minute.

3) Add stock and potato and bring to a boil, then simmer for about 25 minutes.

4) Remove from heat and puree.

5) Grate fresh ginger over each serving to taste

The great thing about this recipe, besides the fact that it's pretty tasty, is that it's cheap! And vegan too (in keeping with the vegan theme...)

Shitake Tofu Potstickers

1 oz dried shitake mushroooms
1/2 block of tofu, pressed under a cutting board and a couple of textbooks for at least an hour (to let the water out so whatever seasoning you put into it will be absorbed quickly)
1 Tbsp canola oil
1 Tbsp sesame oil
1 Tbsp minced ginger
3 garlic cloves, minced
4 green onions, minced
1/4 tsp red chile flakes
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cracked pepper
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp minced cilantro
30 round wonton wrapppers
1 tbsp cornstarch
4 Tbsp water

Fry onion, ginger, garlic, and onions in oils. Crumble tofu into mixture and then add soy sauce. At the very end add the cilantro and let mixture cool. Soak dried mushrooms in boiling mushrooms for one hour, then dice and add to tofu mixture. Put filling in middle of wrappers and pinch the edges in an artistic way. Fry the wontons in a thin sheet of oil, when they turn brown add 1/2 cup of water, cover, and steam. Serve with a sauce mixed with 1/2 part soy sauce, 1/ water, a few tbsp of sesame oil and a few tbsp of rice wine vinegar. It's yummmy, and you'll only receive praises from you guests.

Side note: It's totally vegan! please send me your comments on how you feel about craving and eatib meat. I'm definitely not against it, but meat makes me feel bad sometimes.

Sweet divine tomato sauce that youy can study with in the wintertime!

2 Tbsp olive oil
1 yellow onion, diced
6 garlic cloves
2 bay leaves
a pinch of chili flakes
1 cup of wine
Tomatoes (1 can canned pureed tomatoes or 30 peeled fresh tomatoes)
Fresh basil (about 1/2 cup)
2 chicken legs or whatever bones you can find (omit if vegetarian, no big deal)
Fry the onions and garlic until golden, fry the meat until it's browned but not cooked. Then add the wine. When reduced by half and you can't smell the alcohol cooking off of it, add the tomatoes and bay leafs. Let simmer for at least one hour. It get's so much more yummy with time!

cookies for lazy people

These are cookies that my mom used to make all the time when I was a kid. They are dangerously addictive and easy to eat, especially since they are best raw, right out of the freezer. These are so good that I seriously haven't made them in years- because I literally cannot stop eating them. But what the hell, it's Christmas right?

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup peanut butter
2 cup brown sugar firmly packed
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cup flour
2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup oats

Cream first 5 ingredients thoroughly.
Combine flour, baking soda, salt, and stir well.
Add the dry mixture to the creamed mixture, mixing well.
Stir in the oats.

Shape dough into rolls about 2 inches thick in diameter. Wrap in wax paper and chill for several hours before baking.

Slice at least 1/4 inch thick for baking. Place on ungreased cookie sheet, and bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes.

Or do like me, and don't bake them at all. And voila! Cookies for lazy people.

South Indian Dahl

My nana's recipe

1 & 1/2 cup red lentils
H2O
5 cloves of garlic
1 onion
2 zucchinis
1 large tomato
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp salt
8-10 peppercorns
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 tsp dried red chilies
1/2 tsp black mustard seeds
Few shakes of Hing (Asafoetida), found in indian grocery stores

Remove any stones from the lentils and rinse them. Put the lentils in a pot and cover them with water, about 2 inches above it. Add the cumin, salt, peppercorns, 3 cloves of mashed garlic, chopped zucchini, onion, and chopped tomato. Simmer until lentils are fully cooked and you can't see the individual lentils.
When this happens, heat oil in a pan on high and add the mustard seeds. Fry them and shake them around until they start popping then add two cloves of finely chopped garlic. When garlic is almost burnt, add two shakes of "hing". Then add this mixture to the pot. You can even add some of the soupy mixture to the pan to make sure you got it all. Then simmer for a few more minutes, and eat with rice and lemon pickle.

Italian style tofu and rice

Hi folks, I am a crazy stressed-out and overworked student, and so I've decided to take a few minutes away from work (but still on the computer so as not to feel TOO guilty) to post one of my favorite recipes.

It's easy and delicious. You will need:

1 package tofu cut into one inch cubes
olive oil
2 medium onions cut into wedges
2 medium sized zucchini (though any vegetable would do)
a couple handfuls of small mushrooms
1 or 2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tbsp flour
1 14oz can diced tomatoes, undrained OR the equivalent amount of fresh tomatoes (so good)
3/4 cup veggie broth
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp oregano
salt and pepper
sharp cheese

and your grain of choice - I've only made this with Basmati, though I'm sure it would be great with any other type of rice, with couscous, buckwheat, or maybe even quinoa?

Cook tofu in the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat until all the sides are browned, about 5-7 minutes. Remove from the saucepan and set aside for later.

Add the onions, zucchini, mushrooms, and garlic to the pan and saute for about 5 minutes. Stir in the flour and cook for another 1 or 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes, broth, herbs, and tofu; heat to boiling.

Reduce the heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender. Season with salt and pepper, serve over warm rice, and top it off with some freshly grated cheese.

note: this is a great recipe because these are ingredients that you likely already have kicking around the house. When without tofu, just replace with chickpeas and skip the first step. Also, I think it would make an excellent spicy dish. I'll probably try that next time....

Quinoa Stir-Fry

My friend Suzanne wanted this recipe, so here you go.

1/2 block of tofu
1/2 onion chopped
1 inch of ginger, peeled and diced
4 cloves garlic
Vegetables, any kind you want, I used lots of mushrooms, broccoli, and snowpeas
2 Tbsp Tamari (or "real" soy sauce, I stopped using regular no name brand since it contains virtually no trace of actual soybeans)
2 Tbsp sesame oil
1 Tbsp of Sambal Oelek or red chili paste, or some chili flakes. Use less if you don't want it too spicy.
1/4 cup water
1 cup Quinoa, rinsed. Or brown rice would be good too.

Method:
Cook Quinoa in 1 1/2 cups water like you would rice. (Bring water and Quinoa to a boil, then cover and simmer until all the water is absorbed and the Quinoa is soft.

In a frying pan, fry onions, ginger and garlic in sesame oil until soft. Crumble tofu and add. Add Tamari, sambal oelek, and 1/4 cup water and let it cook for 10 minutes on medium heat. Add your veggies, cover until they're cooked. Serve it over the Quinoa. It's very delicious and I think it's pretty healthy too.