Thursday, January 30, 2014

Black Bean Chili with Avocado Salsa

This chili turned out really great, and the avocado salsa added a lot of nice flavours. It would also probably be great served over rice. I will be keeping this one in the roster for when I'm back at work, as it could also easily be prepared in the slow cooker.


Monday, January 20, 2014

Slow Cooker Beef Ragu

I have a feeling the slow cooker is going to become my best friend when I go back to work in a couple of months. That and freezer meals will hopefully help get me through the first couple of months of juggling work, school and a baby. This recipe will definitely come in handy, especially because you don't have to sear the meat or anything before throwing everything in the slow cooker. And apparently it freezes well, let's hope so because I froze the leftovers for another meal sometime.


Friday, January 17, 2014

Meatball Lettuce Cups

I still remember the first time I ordered lettuce wraps, not fully knowing what they were. I was really confused when my delivery order came and it included half a head of iceberg lettuce. Years later, and I still love ordering lettuce cups or wraps at restaurants, a great way to enjoy a lighter option. I had never attempted to make my own until tonight, and these were a definite hit. While it seems to be a lot of steps, it was actually pretty quick to make. I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to use fresh ginger in this recipe, it really does make a difference!


Thursday, January 16, 2014

Vegetable Beef Noodle Soup

I love making a menu plan for the upcoming week, and find that the pros definitely outweigh the cons with this task. I make a grocery list and know each day what needs to be prepped, as well as being confident that I usually have everything I need for the recipe. The main con is not knowing in advance what you might feel like on a specific night, or whether your dish is going to match other circumstances. In particular, it was a beautiful sunny day today, not necessarily a day I would be looking at having a hot bowl of hearty soup. But still, the soup was fantastic, and regardless of the weather outside was thoroughly enjoyed. Because this soup has noodles, if you are going to reheat it you may need to add some more water. Also, I found after the soup had simmered for 2 hours it had lost quite a bit of liquid. I ended up adding 2 cups of water at the end, and it really didn't lose any of the flavour. 


Vegetable Beef Noodle Soup
- 450 g stewing beef cubes
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 3 carrots, chopped
- 2 ribs celery, chopped
- 1 onion, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 pkg (1 L) low-sodium or homemade beef broth
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tsp herbes de Provence
- 1/2 tsp red wine vinegar
- 1 cup large curly egg noodles
- 1/2 cup frozen peas
- 3 cups baby spinach

Sprinkle beef with pepper and salt. In Dutch oven heat oil over medium-high heat. Cook beef, stirring occasionally, until browned, about 6 minutes. Add carrots, celery, onion and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are softened, another 6 minutes. 

Stir in broth, 3 cups of water, tomato paste, herbes de Provence and vinegar. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, partially cover and simmer until beef is tender, about 2 hours. Stir maybe every 20-30 minutes. 

Stir in noodles and peas; cook over medium heat until noodles are tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in spinach. 

Sunday, January 12, 2014

Sunday Night Dinner - Mushroom and Feta Fusilli

I had class all weekend so Brent was in charge of dinner. Saturday night we ordered in, and tonight he put together a pasta dish I had suggested. It was simple but nice, and I didn't have to cook or clean anything up! We used almond milk so it had a bit of a nuttier flavour.

Thursday, January 9, 2014

Sausage, Potato and Swiss Chard Soup

This soup was super quick to make, which was a good thing because I lost track of time and before I knew it, it was almost dinner time. From start to finish, including all chopping, took about 30 minutes. I was a little hesitant while I was cooking it, not sure how it was going to work out. It came together really nicely, and I will make it again sometime. You could use other kinds of sausage, I opted for hot Italian, and it was pretty spicy.

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Chicken with Prosciutto

When I was home for the holidays I noticed my parents had a lovely selection of homemade meats from their Italian friends. The Soo (my hometown) is well known for it's Italian food, and my folks get together with friends every year and make sausage, and one of their friends makes a bunch dried sausage, salami's and prosciutto. Before I left my dad told me to grab what I wanted, as they would be getting together again soon. So I grabbed some of each, and decided to use the prosciutto for dinner tonight. The prosciutto was so tasty, I had to stop myself from eating too much of it while cooking. This recipe is super simple. I've done a similar dish with salmon, but I think I prefer the chicken. To go along with this I just sauteed some red onion, garlic, cauliflower, asparagus and spinach together.


Sunday, January 5, 2014

Sunday Night Dinner - Asparagus Ricotta Frittata

To continue on the new recipe trend, here is one from - surprise, surprise - Canadian Living. This recipe is from the Make It Tonight book - full of lots of great recipes that are quick and easy to prepare. The frittata is very flavourful, and with a simple spinach salad makes a great dinner. The only issue I had is that my pan was too large, so the frittata was a little thin. However, it still tasted great, we just had to have seconds! Next time I will probably just add some more eggs and ricotta, and perhaps a little more asparagus to fit in my cast-iron pan.



Wednesday, January 1, 2014

New Year - New Recipes

It's January 1st, which means it's that time of year that people make New Year's Resolutions, and oftentimes they are similar - eat better, be more active, spend more time with family etc. etc. All of these are great resolutions, but in fact should be something we strive for every day, not just around the New Year. I do have a few friends who make some great resolutions. One year a couple of friends resolved to see more live music, and boy did they do a good job with that one. I have another friend who just recently finished his 2013 resolution of reading 26 non-fiction books (one every 2 weeks). So this year, I am going to join the bandwagon, and my New Year's Resolution is to cook new recipes. I'm not going to be specific and make a goal of one every week, or even every month. However, I am going to strive to cook new recipes as often as possible, whether from trusted sources, or making up new recipes myself.

To start off the year I picked up the January issue of Canadian Living and decided to try out their Ricotta Gnocchi. Brent and I made a similar version at a cooking class years ago, and I honestly don't know why I never revisited it. This recipe is a little simpler, because you don't need to drain the ricotta for 30 minutes. I couldn't find golden beets, so used regular ones, and thus the entire dish was a little pink, however it tasted fabulous! Brent said it was one of my top 10 recipes, which is great considering how easy it was to prepare.