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 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!

An obvious pair…films and food. I always watch a movie at the theatre with popcorn in hand. It just feels right. But I do think that hot dogs and pizza and hamburgers is going a little over board though, when you’re at the movie theatre. But at home, well, feel free to devour whatever you please.

FilmsWeLike sent me a copy of their latest Mid-August Lunch (a film by Gianni Di Gregorio) to review. It’s a lovely little film about food, friends, family, and love. The food… Italian. The friends… elderly women. The family…a middle aged man and his mama. And the love… is what happens when you combine all three. So naturally, I decided I had to watch this move over an inspired homemade hearty meal of my own. Vegan lasagna! I’m sure Italians would kill me for putting vegan and lasagna in the same sentence. So be it.

Mid-August Lunch and my Vegan Lasagna made the perfect Sunday afternoon. However, I only wish I had a bottle of wine to go with them. After watching the star of the film, Gianni, casually down glass of wine after glass of wine – making alcoholism look so luxurious and appealing – I too had the urge to get wasted in the hot afternoon sun. But alas, no wine and no hot sun over here!

I love film, but I’m no critic. But what I enjoyed most about Mid-August Lunch was watching the characters really take pleasure in food and wine throughout the movie. I related even more when one of the characters in the movie couldn’t eat cheese! Well too bad she didn’t have my recipe for this Vegan Lasagna.

Ingredients:
(of course, the veggies and noodles can be changed to your liking)
brown rice lasagna
zucchini, shredded carrot, chopped spinach
vegan parmesan

For Tomato Sauce:
1 can whole tomatoes
2 tbsp tomato paste
1/2 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
fresh basil & parsley
fresh or dried oregano
salt & pepper

Saute onion in some olive oil until soft. Add garlic and cook for a couple more minutes. Add tomato paste and herbs, then the whole tomatoes (with juice from can). I blended the whole tomatoes first, but that’s optional. Salt and pepper to taste. Simmer on low heat for 30 minutes or up to 1 hour.

For Bechamel (White Sauce):
1/2 cup silken tofu
1/2 cup unsweetened soy milk
1/2 cup vegetable broth
2 tbsp. tahini
2 tbsp nutritional yeast
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp corn starch

Put all these ingredients in a blender and combine.

For Tofu Ricotta:
1 block extra firm tofu, crumbled
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp olive oil
2 tsp lemon juice
fresh basil
salt & pepper

Crumble the tofu into small pieces (resembling ricotta cheese) with your hands. Add in the remaining ingredients and combine.

It takes some prep time to get all 3 of these components ready so you could make both sauces and the tofu ricotta ahead of time. Saute zucchini, shredded carrot and spinach if you’re using fresh spinach in a pan with a bit of olive oil. You can use frozen spinach, just make sure you thaw and drain out the water first. You’ll need to pre-boil the brown rice lasagna according to the package or you can save time by using ready to bake white lasagna. Assemble your lasagna in a greased baking dish. Lasagna can be assembled however you want really, but here’s what I did. Pour some tomato sauce to coat the bottom of the dish first, then layer noodles, tofu ricotta, spinach, some white sauce, some more tomato sauce. Then noodles, tofu ricotta, a layer of the zucchini and carrots, remaining white sauce, some more tomato sauce, noodles, and then remaining tomato sauce. I topped it with my pre-made vegan parmesan which is always in the fridge (ground raw cashews, nutritional yeast, celtic sea salt). Bake at 400 F covered with foil for 40 minutes. Then a few minutes under the broiler to brown the top.

Thanks to Troy at FWL (www.filmswelike.com) for sending over the film and inspiring a hot for food recipe!

I made an exciting new vegan recipe. First, a HUGE shout out to SusanV at FatFree Vegan Kitchen for her amazing creations… she is a huge inspiration and I’ve managed to feed all my cheesy cravings thanks to her re-inventions of classic meals. Her Eggplant Parmesan is exactly like the “real” thing. Now eggplant’s aren’t really my fave food, in fact they’re not really even on my radar. I think people assume they are a vegetarians staple – usually part of a grilled veggie medley – and while they might have health properties that I’m not aware of, in my experience they’ve just been more of a pain in the ass then they’re worth.

This was worth it though. Also the cheese sauce component of the recipe will become a staple for other things I make in future… like a vegan lasagna!

My only mod is with the Vegan Parmesan Cheese. To make a real good replicate takes no time at all. Just whirl raw cashews, nutritional yeast, and sea salt together in a food processor. Make lots so you can keep it stored in the fridge to use for any meal, like pasta, salad etc.

Well, I meant to post this on St. Patty’s Day … oops, it’s now 14 minutes into the day after! Anyway, if you follow hot for food you’ve noticed there’s not a whole lot of greens and salads on here. That’s because there’s no sugar or chocolate in salads. No, just kidding! I do eat my veggies and lots of salad, it’s just I eat them because I should and I haven’t put the time or effort into getting fancy or creative enough to post entries about them. So when I do, you know it’s gotta be good!

I was inspired by a bottle of mango nectar and broccolini. I had yet to try broccolini until now…move over regular old broccoli. BORING! Here’s how it all went down.

I made a Mango Vinaigrette with the mango nectar combined lime juice, dijon, vegetable oil, a drop of agave nectar, and S & P. I soaked the broccolini in it for a minute and seared it quickly on my trustee George Foreman Grill! It’s Grillin’ Time… now that the sun is out – I live in a condo, so this is as good as it gets. And with this, I created a Mango Spinach Broccolini Salad. The spinach, thinly sliced red pepper, and mango chunks were tossed in the vinaigrette, and the warm grilled broccolini was rested on top, along with some salty roasted peanuts. This accompanied by grilled spicy peanut tofu steaks was exceptionally tasty! Here’s how to make an  easy peezy spicy peanut sauce that you will want to drink… if that wasn’t so unacceptable… or put on everything you eat from here on out!

Spicy Peanut Sauce
3 tbsp smooth 100% natural peanut butter
5 tbsp hot water
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp lime or lemon juice
1 tsp garlic chilli sauce

Combine all these ingredients in a bowl and nuke in the microwave for 30 seconds to soften the peanut butter and be able to stir this all together easily. I marinated my tofu steaks in it for 30 minutes and placed right on the grill. You could bake the tofu with the sauce too I guess. This sauce is also mmmmm good on veggies, pasta, etc. Experiment!

After my disastrous attempts at trying to find yummy food elsewhere, I knew I had to keep it real and bring it on home. Even though I might momentarily lapse and get lazy, I would rather make my own food, and besides it always turns out better! So while my Moroccan stew at Urban Herbivore was less than appetizing, I was encouraged to do my own version. I know I don’t have a pic of that meal to show you how bland it was, but here’s what I made and it is was insanely more delicious, fresher, and had a hell of a lot more to it.

I didn’t really follow a recipe, I just started cooking! I also paired it with the Orange Scented Couscous a staple I’ve made before, and some lavish. Beats the F out of millet! So here’s the gist of this remixed Moroccan stew.

I half-cooked a sweet potato in the microwave to speed up the process. Meanwhile I sautéed some onion and garlic in olive oil, and added some red chilli flakes. Once the onion was soft, I tossed in chopped carrot, red pepper, canned and rinsed chickpeas, a can of tomato paste, half a can of coconut milk, the sweet potato chopped into smaller pieces, frozen peas, fresh cilantro, cumin, coriander, and salt and pepper. I let it cook down a bit and absorb the flavours, and topped with green onion and cilantro before serving. It was YUM! This is also the type of meal that warrants left overs.

I love phyllo dough. Everyone gripes about what a pain it is to handle, but the beauty of it is it doesn’t have to be perfect and no one can see your mistakes anyway! I still had about half the package left from making my cheezy spinach pies so I decided to concoct a phyllo pocket stuffed with mushroom, kale, and roasted red pepper.

I’ve never really dealt with kale before or eaten it much unless it was at a restaurant. But I found it already nicely chopped in the frozen section! And just so you know, there’s nothing wrong with frozen veggies. So long as there’s nothing else frozen with them… cheese sauce etc.

This was pretty easy. I roasted the red pepper, peeled, and chopped it up. Sauteed white mushrooms with onion and olive oil until all the liquid was gone. Tossed in the frozen kale at the last minute. Once it was removed from the heat I mixed everything together with some fresh parsley, salt and pepper, and added in some leftover alfredo sauce from my first mac and cheeze attempt. I think it’s a good creamy, cheezy sauce to have on hand! For the phyllo I just used 2 full sheets layered with olive oil and used  half of one whole sheet to make one pocket. Bake at 350 F for 25 minutes or until crispy and slightly  brown on the edges. And that is much hotter pocket then those frozen things you buy in a box!

Did you see my recent post about making a vegan mac & cheeze? OK, well I tried another recipe, just for fun. It’s from FatFree Vegan Kitchen. A blog I am frequenting now and highly recommend. The first recipe I tried was actually called a vegan alfredo sauce and while I originally disagreed, I take it back. This second version of mac & cheeze from FatFree Vegan Kitchen is more like real mac & cheese. It’s even yellow like KD… but WAAAAY better! It’s also a very smooth and creamy sauce. The first recipe from VeganYumYum had raw cashews in it that didn’t quite blend smooth in my meager blender. While it was still yummy and I’ll probably use that sauce again, I like how this one has no chunky bits. So definitely give it a whirl. It’s tasty and cheezy!

hot for food made a hot potato for lunch today and I’m passing it on to you. I was thinking about this meal for like 24 hours… and I had time to pull it off this afternoon. Mind you, it’s easy, but I didn’t have to do anything else. So I could make it, photograph it, and blog it!

P.S. I just learned that if I set the camera to macro, it takes way better, closer pics! DOI.

This Guacamole Stuffed Baked Yam is a super easy, super healthy meal. I microwaved the yam, which made it even easier!

A larger yam, like this, takes about 9-11 minutes in the microwave. So make a slit length wise and microwave it while you make the guacamole. You can stuff it with whatever you like too. But I made my guac with 1 avocado, chopped green onion, chopped red pepper, some black beans drained from a can, thawed frozen corn, lime juice, and S & P. I also added some carrot ribbons (which are easy to do with a peeler) on top. Once the yam was done I just opened it and mashed it with a fork a bit before placing the stuffing on top!

I’m a big believer in “use what you got” when it come to making meals. Typically, I’ve always got cans of beans, and different varieties of brown rice pasta or other grains and lentils. So here’s a couple meals I made in the last 24 hrs. There’s no real rhyme or reason to them… well, actually, the reason is I’m hungry!

Spicy Chickpea Linguine

Brown rice linguine, chickpeas, spinach, shallot, white wine, garlic, tomato paste, green onion, basil, cilantro, parsley, chili flakes, S&P, vegan parmesan (combined ground raw cashews, nutritional yeast, sea salt)

Warm Lentil Salad

Green lentils, spinach, corn, apple, green onion, ground coriander, nutmeg, fresh cilantro, cucumber, apple, salted almonds