hot for food

Now that summer has hit, I am less hungry! I know, me, not hungry?! Worst thing ever. So my blogging / cooking has been less frequent and perhaps not as inventive. I want it easy and light. But I’ve got into the habit of making the same things over again… already! I need some more inspiration. Anyone?!

Anyway, this is what’s been cooking in my kitchen over the last week or so. Perfect summer recipes to make for yourself or take to the next summer BBQ/party.

A new take on couscous. Similar to the Orange Scented Couscous of the past but with a few new and different tastes. This Orange-Infused Couscous Salad has been modified from the  Early Summer Ed. of LCBO’s Food & Drink mag. It called for chicken, but of course I did it without. It’s a nice, refreshing summery salad that results in left overs!

Ingredients:
1 cup OJ
1/2 cup veggie stock
1 shallot chopped
2 garlic cloves chopped
3-4 fresh thyme sprigs
1 1/4 cup couscous
1 red and orange pepper sliced
2 green onions sliced
1/4 cup fresh mint chopped
1/4 cup dried apricots
1 tbsp OJ
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
6 cups baby arugula
salt & pepper

Saute onion and garlic for 5 minutes (or until fragrant) in the same pot you will want to boil and cook your couscous. Add OJ, stock, and fresh thyme (removed from stem) to the onions and garlic and bring to a boil. Add couscous and remove from heat, cover and set aside for liquid to absorb. This could be made ahead of time and you could complete the rest of the recipe right before serving. Add in peppers, apricots, mint, and green onions. Whisk together a dressing of OJ, olive oil, apple cider vinegar, salt and pepper. Pour half over couscous and toss until combined. Reserve remaining dressing to lightly toss the arugula leave in. Arrange arugula on plate first and serve warm couscous on top.

Hot, steamy, cheesy spinach and artichoke dip used to be one of my fave things. Now that I have eliminated cheese, and better yet, don’t even want to eat it, I made a yummy warm butter bean and artichoke dip with home made pita chips instead. It’s sort of like a hummus, but richer in flavor. I think heating it thoroughly in the oven helped with that. I kind of made this up on the spot so the recipe may not be exact. Tasting it as you go is the best way to make it – so it tastes the way you want!

Ingredients:
1 can butter beans (lima beans)
1 can artichoke hearts, drained
2 garlic cloves
1 tsp rosemary
1/2 tsp paprika
juice of 1 lemon
1 tbsp white miso paste
4 tbsp olive oil
salt & pepper

In a food processor combine all ingredients and process. Slowly drizzle the olive oil into the mix at the end. Baking it at 350 F for approx. 15-20 minutes or until heated through is optional. I also topped it with some homemade vegan parmesan before baking.

I was passed along a recipe for Vegan Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies. I occasionally get recipes from people so that I can test them, as the person giving me the recipe doesn’t want to  go to the trouble! Which is totally cool since I love to cook, especially bake. And I’ll try anything. A perfect combo and childhood fave of mine, chocolate and mint, can’t go wrong! This Vegan Mint Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe is supposedly from a real live bakery/baker, Krissys Cookies. Her gourmet vegan cookies look incredible, don’t get me wrong. But this cannot possibly be her recipe, as posted on Ready Made. The dough was totally dry and impossible to ball up into cookies, let alone flatten slightly on the cookie tray. Mine do not look like the picture on Krissys website, or even the picture posted on ReadyMade.com. What gives? Sometimes I truly HATE following recipes, as I find they often turn out wrong. Maybe this was scaled down from a larger batch recipe and therefore messed up somewhere.

Vegan Mint Chocolate Chip Cookie #1 (krissyscookies.com)

This was the first time I’ve ever seen Peppermint Oil used in a recipe as opposed to Peppermint Extract. I bought 100% pure organic peppermint oil, and boy is it strong. The recipe calls for 1 tsp, which FYI is WAY too much. You can barely even eat these cookies, even though they look rather edible in my pic. They’re like some kind of aromatherapy cookie. Seems a little like your eating medicine or something. It’s  so over powering that you can’t taste the cookie or chocolate. I also used white all-purpose flour and coconut oil instead of spelt flour and safflower oil, which this recipe calls for. Really, the only part that ruined these is the amount of peppermint essence.

I always get bummed when a recipe doesn’t work and so I immediately have to re-do it with variations to fix it.

Vegan Mint Chocolate Chip Cookie #2 (recipe below)

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups non-dairy chocolate chips
1 cup chopped walnuts
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
pinch nutmeg
2/3 cup maple syrup
2/3 cup canola oil
2 tbsp water
1/4 tsp peppermint oil

Combine wet ingredients in a bowl. Sift dry ingredients, except for walnuts and chocolate, into another bowl and combine. Add dry to wet and stir until combined, without over mixing. Line baking trays with parchment or spray with cooking spray. Roll 1 1/2 balls and place on cookie tray, then slightly flatten the dough with your hand. Bake at 350 F for 15 minutes. Makes 16 regular sized cookies or 8 large cookies.

Cookie #2 is the winner! It’s still minty fresh, but the batter tastes better, the chocolate comes through and it doesn’t feel like you just drank mouthwash!

I love falafels. They come in all textures, flavors, and sizes. But that’s precisely why I would rather make my own at home, so I know exactly what’s gone into them. I made these ones by combining a couple of recipes. They were great paired up with my new-found Kale Salad and stuffed in a whole wheat pita!

Homemade Falafels

1 can chickpeas
1 cup vegetable stock
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup ground flax
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 cup chopped mushrooms
1 small onion chopped
fresh chopped parsley & cilantro
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp chilli flakes
1 tsp baking powder
salt & pepper

Drain and rinse the chickpeas well then whizz them a few times in a food processor or mash with a fork. If you do put them in a food processor you don’t want it to become a paste like hummus. Put the chick peas into a large bowl and add all other ingredients and combine. Roll into 1-2 inch balls, depending on the size you prefer your falafels. You could also make patties. Bake at 375 F for 15 minutes each side, until nicely browned.

These were great but I did find them a bit bland. I needed more salt, lemon juice, garlic and spices I think. You might even want to pan fry the mushrooms, garlic and onion first and then add that to the chickpea mixture. They did taste better a day or two later and I re-heated them in a frying pan with a bit of olive oil. If all you foodies out there have a different recipe or other ideas for falafels, leave a comment and  let me know!

Ok, I was a bit premature to dismiss kale the other day. I learned a little bit more about the leafy greens on the internet and I’m loving them. I came across a recipe on Modern Hippie and the secret is sea salt! This Kale Avocado Salad was incredible. Natalia of Glowing Temple who posted the recipe also goes onto say, the more greens she eats the more her body craves them. Well, I’m not there yet, but I will give it a try!

The salad is also good stuffed in a whole wheat pita with other pairings like crispy tofu or homemade falafel (I’ll post that recipe next). Like this, it sort of reminds me of tabouleh. It’s a good way to get more greens, still eat healthy, but not get bored of eating ONLY salad all the time.

I also found a recipe for Kale Soup on The Hot Yam! blog site. Which means I was able to use up all that kale I had in the same cooking session! I was hoping to try Hot Yam for the first time too, but they’ve closed for the semester. This was more like a lentil soup, as the kale wasn’t really the feature ingredient, but it was still tasty and it’s a keeper!

Kale Soup

Ingredients:
2 tbsp oil
1 medium onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 cup diced carrot
1 cup diced celery
6 1/2 cups vegetable broth
2 red potatoes, diced into ½-inch cubes
1 cup green lentils
2 tsp dried thyme
2 tsp dried sage
3 cups kale, chopped
salt and pepper

Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Saute onion and garlic for 5 minutes. Add carrots and celery, and saute for an additional 10 minutes. Add all ingredients except for kale, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer for about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add chopped kale, salt, and pepper. Simmer for an additional 5 minutes.