Breakfast Quinoa

I've wanted to try making quinoa for breakfast for awhile. I've been eating cereal in the morning for almost 30 years... and I'm getting a little tired of it. I've also wanted to try healthier breakfasts, as sugary cereals are pretty much the worst breakfast food. I'm not into smoothies (too cold and not enough food-like substance), oatmeal's a little heavy and I can't keep eating homemade egg mcmuffins on a daily basis - so here's my attempt at Martha Stewart's Breakfast Quinoa. Why Martha Stewart? Because it was the easiest of all the recipes I googled. That's how I roll.

I like quinoa and it's supposedly super good for you, etc etc but I was curious if it would taste good sweet instead of savoury, since it's got quite a strong, nutty taste to it. First, I brought 2 cups milk to a (careful) boil. Add in 1 cup quinoa (rinsed for 3 minutes first in a mesh strainer) and turn the element to low. Let it simmer until 3/4 of the milk is gone, about 15 minutes.

It actually took me more like 20+ minutes, either I had it too low or I thought it looked too milky. I then added about 2 Tbsp sugar and 1 tsp of cinnamon, and continued cooking it for another 8 minutes until all the milk was absorbed. Do keep an eye on it during this time - the bottom of mine got a little burned. I didn't have blueberries, as the recipe calls for, so I threw in dried cranberries.

And that's about it! To serve, the recipe suggests adding extra toppings - more fruit, spices, and enough milk to make it porridge-y. It was sweet and milky, and any fruit (fresh or dried) would have been fine. I found it a little too milky - I don't think I would add extra next time... something about hot milk didn't appeal to me. I wanted something more like oatmeal - thick and filling. It would be easy enough to make in advance and just reheat bowls in the microwave in the morning, which I appreciate, but it wasn't my favourite. I will give it another try, though.

Sweet Potato and Red Curry Soup with Rice and Kale

I might as well just call this blog Whisk, Stir, and Blend: A Blog About Making Food from Isa Does It: Amazingly Easy, Wildly Delicious Vegan Recipes for Every Day of the Week. I'm not ashamed - she's been keeping me well fed for the last few weeks. Here's a hearty soup with some Thai flavours for the cold, winter days: Sweet Potato and Red Curry Soup with Rice and Kale (p. 34).

Get your big soup pot ready. Heat some olive oil, and sauté 1 diced onion for about 5 minutes. Add three minced garlic cloves and 1 Tbsp mined fresh ginger, cook for about 1 minute. Add 3/4 cup basmati rice, 6 cups vegetable broth (I used salt-free chicken stock because the store was sold out of veggie stock! Seriously!) and salt and pepper. Cover and bring to a boil.

While it's coming up to a boil, get the veggies ready: clean and stem one bunch of kale (the recipe calls for purple kale - I don't think I've ever seen it so regular it is) and peel and dice two medium sweet potatoes into 1/2" chunks. Once the stock is boiling, turn it down to a simmer and stir in 2 Tbsp red curry paste (add more if you like it spicy). Throw in the kale and sweet potato. Cover and simmer for about 15 minutes, until the potatoes are cooked.

Add 1 can coconut milk (YUM), 3 Tbsp fresh lime juice and 1 Tbsp agave nectar (use honey if you don't have any). Serve with lots of cilantro and sriracha and enjoy! It's a lovely recipe when you're in the mood for a warming bowl of soup. It doesn't have a protein so you could add one if you want a more complete meal (like tofu, beans, chicken or whatever) but it doesn't really need it - it has a lot of different textures going on. It's creamy and flavourful and not too spicy. A nice way to use red curry paste other than making straight-up curry.

Rosemary-Chocolate Chip Cookies

I had only made it through the first few chapters of Isa Does It: Amazingly Easy, Wildly Delicious Vegan Recipes for Every Day of the Week, soups and salads, and had flipped to the back for some reason - only to discover there were dessert recipes too! Now Isa has co-authored cookbooks on vegan cupcakes, pies and cookies so it's not really a surprise. I was excited to try the first one listed - Rosemary-Chocolate Chip Cookies (p. 272). I had never made vegan cookies before, because usually margarine doesn't hold up to butter in cookie recipes. But my local grocery store just happened to have currently trendy coconut oil on sale and this is what she uses. Also - rosemary? What?

Seems there are two kinds of coconut oil. There's virgin, which is what I have - it smells quite strongly of coconut and is very soft and shiny. There's also refined, which I hear has less of a coconut smell. Oh well, I like coconut so it's all good. In a large bowl, using a fork, mix 1/2 cup coconut oil (room temp) with 2 Tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped finely. Rosemary in sweet cookies? Yes. Add in 1/3 cup brown sugar and 1/4 cup white sugar and mix for 1 minute. Add 1/4 cup milk (soy, almond, cow, whatever you have... I had cow) and 2 Tbsp ground flax seed (commonly used as an egg replacer in vegan baking) and mix again for about 30 seconds.

Mix in 2 tsp vanilla. Add in 1/4 or 1/2 tsp salt (my husband preferred it saltier, I preferred a little less), 1/2 tsp baking soda, and 2/3 cup flour. Mix well with the fork, then add another 2/3 cup flour. Mix and when it's almost combined, throw in 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips. And yes, without raw eggs you can definitely sneak a spoonful or two. Spoon onto trays covered with parchment paper and bake @350 for about 11 minutes. It made about 18 cookies for me.

Let them cool on trays and try not to stuff them all in your face at once. These were lovely - the coconut oil did a fine job of making a soft, chewy cookie. With a faint taste of coconut, lots of sweetness and some citrusy pine flavour from the rosemary, these were quite unique and quite the crowd pleasers. Fabulous warm but still good the next day. I've already made them twice and will definitely make them again soon.

Lasagna Soup

In my last post, I promised a recipe that tasted like Chef Boyardee. Here it is: Lasagna Soup from Food Network magazine. This is one of those meaty recipes from Food Network I usually skip because, well, they sound gross. But this one actually appealed to me - and I found the perfect Italian whole wheat pasta for it so I gave it a try.

First, cook 8 oz lasagna noodles. I found these little wavy pasta shapes that were very lasagna-like, or you could just buy actual lasagna sheets and break them into pieces. Mix with a little olive oil (to stop them sticking together) and set aside. In a large pot, heat some olive oil and cook 2 diced onions for 4-5 minutes. Add 3 garlic cloves (sadly I only had one good one, they rest had gone off), 1 tsp dried oregano and 1/2 lb Italian sausage with the casings removed - I used 3 hot sausages and it was more like 2/3 lb. Luckily removing the casings was pretty easy, because it was a little unpleasant. But it means they cook like ground meat, and you break them apart even more with a wooden spoon while it browns, 3-4 minutes.

Stir in 2 Tbsp tomato paste and let it brown a little while stirring, 2 minutes. Stir in 4 cups chicken stock (I used the full sodium kind - luxurious!), 1 cup water and 1 can crushed tomatoes. Uncover and simmer about 10 minutes so it can thicken. Then stir in the pasta, 1/2 cup fresh sliced basil, 1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese, and 1/4 cup cream (I just used milk). Simmer 2 minutes and it's done! I served it as recommended, with ricotta on top.

This was quite the decadent recipe! It was quite spicy, thanks to the hot sausage, but it was salty, meaty, tomatoey, cheesy... no wonder it was fabulous. And yes, it bears an uncanny resemblance (flavour-wise anyway) to Chef Boyardee. Definitely a once-in-awhile recipe for us.

Lentil-A-Roni

Another recipe from Isa Does It: Amazingly Easy, Wildly Delicious Vegan Recipes for Every Day of the Week. This is Lentil-A-Roni (p. 134), Isa's vegan version of her childhood favourite, Beefaroni, which was also a favourite of mine! I wasn't expecting it to really taste like Chef Boyardee, it just looked like a filling vegetarian pasta dish made with lentils - which I usually have in the cupboard and only cook in one or two different ways. I also wanted to try the vegan version of adding cream - cashews. She uses it a lot her cookbook so I wanted to see how it worked.

First of all: this recipe makes a lot! The first step is cooking 1 lb of pasta (I used tri-coloured fusilli), which was pretty much an entire box. Get ready for leftovers. Set the pasta aside. In a large pan, heat some oil. I used a flavoured oil I got for Christmas - sundried tomato, parmesan and garlic. It smelled good but I'm not sure how much flavour it imparted to the dish. Anyway, cook 1 diced onion for about 3 minutes, then add 3 minced garlic cloves, 2 tsp dried thyme and some salt and pepper. After about 30 seconds, add 1 1/2 cups cooked brown lentils (I used green, which I assume are similar) then spend a minute mashing roughly with a fork, keeping some chunks.

Add 1 can crushed tomatoes, cover and cook 5 minutes. At this point you mix in the cashew cream. How do you make cashew cream? First you need to soak cashews in water - I soaked 1/2 cup cashews for about 3 hours, but you can definitely leave them overnight. Then I blended them with 1 cup vegetable stock for about 1 minute - it made a foamy, thin, white liquid that mostly tasted like stock still. I added it to the pan and it was like adding milk - it made a nice rose colour. Let it thicken for about 3 minutes, watching out for splatters.

Mix the pasta with the sauce and voila - a filling, rich pasta dish. I mixed in baby spinach to add some veggies and topped with pepper. Did it taste like beefaroni? Well, not really. But it was still good. I'm not sure if the cashew cream was needed - I suppose it helped it to thicken, which it did quite a bit once it had sat out for awhile. My next post will cover a recipe that tasted so much like Chef Boyardee it was a little creepy - but it included sausage so that may be why. Stay tuned!

Chickpea-Rice Soup with Cabbage

Guys, I can't say enough good things about Isa Does It: Amazingly Easy, Wildly Delicious Vegan Recipes for Every Day of the Week. I received it as a surprise gift and it's wonderful! It's a big, hardcover book filled with lovely images and, most importantly, simple recipes that are easy to follow and end up looking exactly as they do in the book. Yes, they're vegan, and there's a lot with faux meats and things, but I guarantee that anyone could find something that looks amazing. I've been a cooking machine since I received it. First up: Chickpea-Rice Soup with Cabbage (p. 32). This is a simple, European-style soup with simple but comforting flavours.

In a large pot, heat up a little oil. Cook 1 thinly sliced onion for about 5 minutes, then throw in two minced garlic cloves, 1 tsp dried thyme, and some salt and pepper. Add in 1/2 cup rice (I used basmati), 3-4 carrots, cut in chunks, and 1 lb thinly sliced green cabbage - this was about 2/3 of a medium-sized head (thanks kitchen scale!). It seemed like a lot, but I was thinking of this recipe as mostly a cabbage soup recipe with some other ingredients.

Add 6 cups broth - I used 4 cups low-sodium chicken stock and 2 cups water. Cover and bring to a boil. Get it down to a simmer, and add in 1 can chickpeas. Simmer for about 15 minutes, until everything is cooked. That's about it! Stir in a bunch of fresh dill (the recipe called for 3 Tbsp, but the more the merrier I say) and enjoy.

I ate this soup for days - usually with a side of kielbasa (thanks to a surprise trip out to a giant Polish store in the 'burbs). Not exactly vegan but, hey, that's not really what European cuisine is about! I really like rice in soup - it plumps up a lot and gives a nice texture to brothy soups like this one. Need an idea for what to do with the rest of the cabbage? We stir-fried ours with noodles and mixed in Asian chili-garlic sauce. My new favourite way to use leftover cabbage.

Savoury Pumpkin Pasta

I was at home on my own one night, home from work and ready to watch a DVD (Mansfield Park) I had gotten from the library. I had pumpkin in the fridge I wanted to use, so I adapted this Pasta with Pumpkin and Sausage recipe from Rachael Ray to make a quick, easy and comforting weeknight meal. Also - cooking with wine is a great excuse to drink a glass or two!

In a large pan, heat some olive oil and add 3 minced garlic cloves and one diced onion. Cook for 3-4 minutes, then add 1 bay leaf and 1/2 cup white wine. Let it bubble for 2 minutes so it reduces a little, then add 1/2 cup stock (I used vegetable) and 1/2 cup pumpkin puree. Once it bubbles, reduce the heat and stir in 1/4 cup milk and a few pinches of cinnamon and nutmeg - careful not to overdo it!

Let it bubble away for 5-10 minutes so the sauce can thicken. Remove the bay leaf, and pour over cooked whole wheat pasta - I used penne, which is good for thick sauces. I also stirred in some greens to add some vegetables to the meal. Serve with parmesan cheese or, as I did, feta on top.

The spices give it a little kick and the wine keeps it from being too sweet. The addition of pumpkin means that you can make a nice, thick sauce with very little unhealthy ingredients, like cream and cheese. The original recipe calls for sausage, which I'm sure would be good, but I was just looking for a something quick and light. The fresh sage leaves she calls for would make a big difference, as sage is quite strong and piney - something to try for next time.

Broccoli-Cheddar Soup

Broccoli isn't my favourite vegetable. I tend to eat it in Indian or Thai dishes, where it's covered in sauce and mixed with other vegetables, oven-roasted until crispy or I make it into soup. I liked this Broccoli-Cheddar Soup recipe from Food Network magazine because of the addition of sweet potato - which would make the soup look even cheesier than it is. Always a good thing as I, as usual, would cut most of the cheese out of the recipe. It's a new year - time to be healthy.

In a large pot, heat 2 Tbsp olive oil. Add 1 diced onion, cook 5 min to soften. The original recipe called for celery as well - also not a favourite of mine but feel free to add it in. Chop 1 lb each white potatoes and sweet potatoes, which for me was about three small white potatoes and one large sweet potato. Throw them in the pot with 2 cups water, 2 cups stock (I used vegetable), 2 cups milk (I used regular 2%, if you're feeling fancy use half-and-half), 1 bay leaf and some salt and pepper.

Simmer the soup on medium-low for about 10 minutes to cook the potatoes. Meanwhile, cook the broccoli separately in the microwave. This may seem strange - why not just throw the broccoli into the pot with the potatoes? - but this way the broccoli doesn't get pureed. If you really don't like broccoli and would rather eat it pureed and hidden in the rest of the soup, I would still cook it separately because I'm assuming there wouldn't be enough room in the pot to cook them with the potatoes. Cook 2 cups florets covered, with a little bit of water, for 3-4 minutes in the microwave.

Use a blender or immersion blender (much easier) to puree the soup. It will be thick and a lovely orange colour. Put burner on low, throw in the broccoli, and add 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese. I also added some baby kale I had in the fridge for extra greens. Once the cheese has melted it's done! I served it with homemade croutons (whole wheat bread fried in margarine YUM) and a little feta on top. I liked how the broccoli was still whole - it was like eating them covered in a thick, cheesy sauce. You can thin the soup with water but I enjoyed it as is. It would still be good with less cheese, or even without the cheese, if you're looking for something a little healthier. A good recipe to play around with.

Pasta with Spiced Shrimp and Cilantro Pesto

I made this recipe a few months back, and am sad to say I have completely forgotten where I got it from! Note to self: keep better notes. I debated not posting about it for that reason, but it was so good I will anyway. I'll keep searching and update if I find anything. It's not the quickest recipe but all the parts come together nicely - the pesto and shrimp complement each other to make a satisfying pasta dinner.

To make the pesto, I got to use my new mini food processor. A full size one would have worked better, as I had to work in a couple batches, but it worked just fine. Pulse together 2 cups cilantro, the juice of one lime (2 Tbsp), 1/4 cup walnuts, the zest of one lime (2 tsp) and 2 sliced garlic cloves. This will make a flavourful, dry pesto, though the walnuts added a slightly milky touch. Set it aside.

In a large pan, heat 1/4 cup oil. Add in 2 minced garlic cloves, 1 tsp cumin, and 1/2 tsp each cayenne, curry powder and coriander. Let the spices cook for about 2 minutes, then throw in about 2/3 lb shrimp. I used frozen, but fresh shrimp would only take a couple of minutes to cook. Watch what you're wearing - I got a few splatters on my work clothes.

Throw 1/2 lb spaghetti (cooked) into the pan, along with the pesto. I also added some pasta water to make it a little saucier. The shrimp itself was quite spicy but it gets tamed with the addition of the pesto. Top with some feta cheese and it's done! I found it a little hard to fully incorporate the pasta into everything else, as it was drier than I'm used to. By the end, however, it was a big bowl of oily, herby, spicy goodness. I hope to make more pesto-type things in my mini processor, since it worked so well.

French Onion Soup

Here's another good winter recipe. Warm, beefy soup with onion and cheese... total comfort food. I was lucky enough to receive actual French onion soup bowls as a gift a few years back, with handles on the sides, but as long as you have oven-safe bowls you can put them on a tray in the oven, I would assume. This recipe is adapted from the Joy of Cooking, p. 95 of the 1997 ed.

The first step is to caramelize the onions - which takes patience, so don't speed it up! In a large pot, melt 2 Tbsp butter and 2 Tbsp olive oil. Add 5 medium onions, thinly sliced (have some Kleenex handy for that job), and a pinch of dried thyme - the classic winter herb. Cook on medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes, and they'll start to brown. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover the pot, and cook about 40 minutes more. Don't forget to stir frequently! Yes, this means you have to stay nearby but grab a phone, book or laptop and you'll be fine. It's worth the wait - the onions cook down and get all sweet and sticky.

Stir in 2 Tbsp bourbon - the recipe calls for sherry or cognac but who has that in the house? Once the alcohol has cooked off, pour in one carton of beef stock and 1 cup chicken stock (it was in the fridge, begging to be used). Simmer for about 20 minutes, partially covered, until it smells fabulous. Add salt and pepper. I also added a dash of Worcestershire, just for fun. And that's about it for the soup part - pour into oven-safe bowls, turn your oven's broiler on and move the top rack to its highest point.

Now for the best part! I sliced up some whole wheat baguette and placed one slice on top of each bowl. Then cover with grated Gruyere cheese (yes, splurge on Gruyere for this recipe) and stick under the broiler. The soup will warm back up, the bread will toast slightly and the cheese will bubble and melt and brown and cover everything. Is there anything better?! The soup is rich, salty and a little boozy, and the baguette and cheese elevate it to something a little luxurious. Treat yo'self.

Beef Stew

This may be only the second time beef has made an appearance on this blog! But with the cold weather comes the need for comfort food - or I was just really low in iron that day. Whatever the reason, we passed by the stewing beef in the grocery store and immediately decided to make a stew for supper - it was a Sunday afternoon, after all. While we usually do a lot of cooking with beer, this time we followed the classic recipe from the Joy of Cooking. Don't mess with the classics.

One big change at the get-go: we only bought 1 lb of stewing beef, half of what was called for in the recipe. So it wasn't going to be as beefy as usual. First we seasoned the beef (already cubed) with thyme, salt and pepper, then dredged it in flour. Shaking off the excess flour, we browned all sides of the pieces in our Dutch oven in some veg oil. We even did it in two batches so as not to crowd the pan - patience is key. After removing the beef and adding more oil in the pan, it was time for the first batch of veggies: 2 diced carrots, 1 diced celery stalk, 1 diced onion and 3 diced garlic cloves.

Cook the veggies for about 5 minutes, then throw in a couple bay leaves and some thyme. We added 1 cup red wine and 1 cup chicken stock and threw the beef back in. We left it simmering, covered, for about 1.5 hrs - to get the house smelling good, of course! Once the beef is tender, it's time to throw in the chunky vegetables: we had 2 carrots, 5 turnips and 4 small white potatoes. Cover and cook again about 45 minutes - we added extra wine to have enough liquid to cook all of our veggies.

And that's it! It takes time, but it's a fun activity to do if you've got a free afternoon - especially when you're drinking the wine you're cooking with. It's classic and homey and perfect for wintery days.

Cranberry Lemon Muffins

My local grocery store had a sale on bags of frozen fruit - so of course I'm going to stock up! They are perfect for my work muffins. Blueberry was gone so I had to stick with festive cranberry. I actually prefer frozen cranberries while baking, luckily. I googled around for a simple cranberry muffin recipe and came across this Cranberry Lemon Muffins recipe from a local grocery store, Fiesta Farms. Perfect for a cold afternoon. Here's my adaptation.

First mix the dry ingredients: 2 cups flour, 1/2 cup white sugar (down from 1 whole cup in the original recipe), 3 tsp baking powder and a pinch of salt. Add the zest of one lemon. Then cut the lemon in half and juice it, so that you get 2 Tbsp of lemon juice. Stir this into 1 cup milk, and let it sit - the milk will get sour, and in fact quite clumpy, but this is a good thing - like using buttermilk it will help the raising and give it a lemony kick. Meanwhile, beat 2 eggs in a small bowl, then mix in 1/3 cup oil and the soured milk.

Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and mix until almost incorporated, then throw in 1 1/2 cups cranberries. Mix gently. Pour into muffin tins - it made a good 16 so have two ready. I topped mine with Swedish pearl sugar and cooked @400 for about 20 minutes - maybe a bit longer since the cranberries were frozen. The tops were exploding with cranberry goodness and they were faintly lemony, but not too strong. I may add more zest next time to up the citrus flavour. Perfect with coffee, tea, jam and clotted cream - if you're lucky enough to have some!