Crispy Tofu Udon Stir Fry

Happy family day, or if you are in the US, President's day! Either way, I hope you are enjoying your day off. Unfortunately I have to work today. Somebody (Tino!) asked me if it's because I don't have kids. Imagine if everyone who had kids had the day off and all those who didn't had to work.. that would be a real kick in the shins. But no, family day is a provincial holiday and since I am employed federally I have to work.  Ah well, at least my usual Starbucks was open.. things could be worse. And yes I know how bad that sounds.

I decided to skate to work today. It saves me about 5 blocks of walking, and in this -25 weather I'll take what I can get! I love living so close to the canal. We have had such a warm winter this year that I haven't been able to skate much so I figured I should take advantage. I did get to skate twice this weekend and it was so much fun! I have the skating bug now.

I haven't posted much on the blog in 2016. I have cooked a bit here and there but just haven't gotten around to sharing any recipes. Or rather the ONE recipe- as I seem to keep making the same sort of dish over and over- an oven baked chicken and potatoes dish. I will share it soon, as it is really yummy and easy to make. I have contemplated turning this blog into a hockey column as it would seem I've gotten fairly  totally caught up in watching hockey and also in the twitter-sphere of Sens fans. I am starting to lose hope with them now as the gap to the playoffs widens.. so back to cooking.

I thought I would share this easy, healthy, vegetarian recipe. I got inspiration from a magazine from Canadian Living called "Quick Prep Dinners". I made it a few weeks ago at S's and it was yummy and filling!  Apparently I make a big mess when I cook..what else is new :) Some people cook and clean as they go, and others use every dish in the kitchen and by the end it looks like a tornado has hit. I am definitely the latter. For step-by-step photos and..

Butternut Squash and Spinach Lasagna

Since doing the juice cleanse, I have been craving lasagna. I knew it was only a matter of time before I made one. I happened to have 2 small squash(es?) from my veggie share and wanted to use them up, so this recipe was perfect.  It is a little bit time consuming because you need to make the squash mixture, the spinach mixture and cook the noodles. If you cook the squash in advance that would save a lot of time.

I always try and make recipes healthier when possible so I used skim milk and light ricotta. I also used a bigger pan, so I wasn't able to do as many layers.  I put one thick layer of spinach mixture rather than two thin layers and two layers of squash rather than three.

OH she glows - Out the door Chia Power (doughnuts) Muffins

Like I mentioned I want to try a different recipe every week and as you can tell it's not been a week. 

I decided to make these out the door chia power muffins. I do run around a lot and have a lot of activities that get my body going and make me hungry. So I thought this would be perfect for before the gym, right after work when I'm always looking for something to eat to build up my energy again or before going to the gym in the morning..

These seemed perfect so I went ahead and made them. Preheat the oven to 150°C (about 350F).

This is what you'll need

3/4 cup gluten fre oat flour (I used normal spelt free flour)

1/2 cup chia seeds

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon (I just went for what looked right)

1/3 cup pure maple syrup or any other liquid sweetener

1/3 cup soya milk un-sweetend (the recipe normally calls for non dairy milk)

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (I used 2)

Dump all the dry ingredients into a bowl.

I then mixed them together

 Then I added the liquids and mixed them together too.

I then filled little muffin liners, making out exactly 12 muffins :) 

After 18 minutes I took the muffins out of the oven, personally I think I baked them a bit too long although the book recommends 22-26 minutes at 150°, it may be though that I should have baked it for less because it's not a doughnut or it's too thick, I'm not sure.

 This is what the muffins look like out of the baking tray.

 Up close and personal.

 From the inside. They're surprisingly nice and crunchy due to the chia seeds, which I love! 

This recipe was super easy to make as well and I enjoyed baking the muffins, I will definitely try out this recipe again and maybe add some lemon icing to the muffins I already have. I've had one already and can't wait to have another tomorrow :)

Happy baking :)

Mini Zucchini, Potato cakes

A couple of weeks ago I made some potato, zucchini cakes. I got the recipe off the internet somewhere but I can't find it anymore..

First off preheat the oven to 180 degrees C :)

I used: about 5 potatoes

1 huge zucchini

2 eggs

a bunch of parmesan 

and that's it :) 

So cut the potatoes and zucchini into slim slices, mix together the eggs, cheese some salt and pepper and pour it over the potato and zucchini slices as shown in the photos below.

Once you've mixed the potatoes and zucchini with the egg mixture as good as one can place the pieces into a cupcake form baking tray. 

 Place the tray into the oven and keep it there for 20-25 minutes.

Whilst the food was baking I made a salad, some lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber and avocado.

 Tada, once these beautiful babies are out of the oven they look like this (points down)

Bonne Apetite 

Pizza Dough

Ready top pop into the oven

Mmm lunch is ready

Slicing a piece

So the last time I tried to made pizza, I used all the dough and it was soo think. It was pretty much the deepest dish pizza you can imagine. I didn't love it. When I told my friend Kristin about it, she burst out laughing and said the dough always makes enough for at least two pizzas. Woops. Last time I used the kitchen aid cookbook. This time I used Kristin's recipe and modified it/combined it with the Kitchenaid one.

It turned out much thinner and was delicious. I froze the leftover dough and will have enough to make another pizza and maybe even try out some of these ideas of 10 things to do with leftover pizza dough  that Kristin sent me ( thank you!!). She also informed me that when using frozen dough be sure to let it thaw to room temperature first.

Ingredients:

• 1 3/4  cups lukewarm water (105-120 F- you can use a candy thermometer for this, or just wing it) 
• 1 1/2 teaspoon yeast, or 1 package
• 1 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 4 cups flour, I used half all purpose, half whole wheat
• cornmeal

Instructions

• Mix everything except for the flour together and let it foam a bit. 
• Mix in the flour, knead until dough has the right consistency. I used my Kitchenaid with the hook attachment on setting number 2. If you don't have one, kneed by hand.
• Place in a lightly greased bowl. Let it sit in warm place covered by tea towel for 2 hours or so. It will roughly double in size.
• Preheat oven to 450F
• Punch down dough.
• Roll out onto a lightly greased pizza pan ( sprinkled with cornmeal for an authentic look)
• Cover with toppings- here I used tomato sauce, buffalo mozzarella, fresh basil, mozzarella and chili flakes
• Bakes for 15-20 minutes. 
• Enjoy! 

This was so easy. I'll never buy ready made pizza crusts again. As long as you have enough time to let the dough rise, it's easy peasy and delicious. 

Quinoa Gwyneth Paltrow Style

I had a mega productive morning today. Woke up at 6am, even though my alarm was set for 7:30 and decided to go for a run along the canal. I did about 9km with a friend who just moved back to town. I am not sure if it's the warm weather, my perma jet-lague from Europe, the light in the morning, or what..but I am finally motivated to get out and run. Fiewf!! Just when I thought I was destined to be lazy forever.

Anyway after the run I quickly made this recipe for my lunch. I have been wanting to try out my new cookbook- It's All Good- by Gwyneth Paltrow. This recipe is  closely adapted from Gwyneth's quinoa with mushroom and thyme. I didn't use as much oil and didn't have fresh thyme but otherwise stuck quite closely to the original. I put the quinoa on, hopped into the shower and then made the rest of it.

It is very quick and simple.  I appreciate the cookbooks instructions on how to make good quinoa.

1 cup quinoa
1 3/4 cups water
pinch sea salt

Rinse quinoa, put in pot with water and salt and bring to a boil, reduce temperature and simmer with lid on for 12 minutes, and then put a paper towel under the lid while it rests for 5 minutes. I had never done that before and I think it did help with the texture, making the quinoa perfectly fluffy and moist.

- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- garlic
- mushrooms
- fresh or dried thyme
-2 cups arugula

In a fry pan put 1 tablespoon olive oil, and sauté 1 clove garlic for 30 seconds. Add in mushrooms and sauté until golden brown. Add in thyme.
- Mix 2 cups quinoa, mushrooms and arugula in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper.

Enjoy!

Eggplant Parm-sagna

I wasn't sure what to call this recipe, as it really is a sort of a mix between eggplant parm (igiana) and a lasagna. A lighter, healthier, vegetarian version.

parm-sagna? las-igiana? eggplantania? .. even Sean could not help me with this one. "Those words just really do not mesh! "

I also wasn't too sure I would post this recipe as the pictures are TERRIBLE, and do not do it justice at all. But the results tasted so delicious, I figured I just had to share.

I was so proud of myself for using up ingredients I had on hand- including these 3 lonely lasagna noodles, leftover and dejected in a box.

Originally I was planning on having spaghetti squash with tomato sauce and eggplant..however when I cut open the squash I realized that I didn't have a spaghetti squash. I had a butternut squash.  Cue my brain going into overdrive thinking of all the dishes I could make instead. I was envisioning myself on Master Chef , opening up my mystery box, the clock ticking with only 60 minutes.. clearly I have been watching too much tv!! On the bright side, it really does help you be creative. I pretty much made this recipe up as I went, with some inspiration for the squash goat cheese from this squash and goat cheese lasagna but I used much less butter.

Ingredients:
- tomato sauce (I used homemade, courtesy of my mom! but canned is fine too)
-  1 or 2 eggplant (sliced into 1/2 inch thick rounds)
- bread crumbs
- 1 egg + 2 T water
- butternut squash
- goat cheese
- 1 T butter
- 1 T flour
-  1-2 cups skim milk
- parmesan
- cheddar or mozzarella cheese

Directions
- preheat oven to 375-400.
- Dip eggplant in the egg mixture and then in the bread crumbs, and put on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper
- Bake eggplant for 20-25 minutes on each side
- Bake squash for approx. 1h. This can be done at the same time, using convection function of your oven. Tip: I always microwave the squash a  bit before cutting it to make it softer and easier to cut. Cut it open, and  remove seeds. Place sides skin side up on a parchment lined baking sheet with about 1 tablespoon of water
- Put tomato sauce in the bottom of a lasagna dish, and then place the eggplant.
- Once the squash is soft enough, remove it from the oven and scoop flesh into a bowl. Put 1 T butter in a fry pan and add about 1 T flour, stirring constantly. Lower heat a bit and add about 1 or 2 cups of skim milk, until it thickens. Add in goat cheese ( 1/4 small package) and then add in squash.
- Spread squash and goat cheese mixture over the eggplant in the dish
- Grate parmesan and cheddar cheese on top
- optional, put 1 layer (or just 3) cooked lasagna noodles on top.
- Bake for a few minutes until cheese has melted.

leftovers are great for lunches! Enjoy :)

Red lentil curry

Today for lunch I cooked a red lentil curry, one of the few things I can cook which turn out great! I got this recipe from  allrecipes.com, I didn't have all the ingredients so I used what I had and made it my own.

What you'll need is;

2 cups of red lentils

1 large onion chopped up

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

2 tablespoons curry paste

1 tablespoon curry powder

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

2 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon chili powder (didn't add this to my curry)

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon white sugar

1 teaspoon minced garlic (I used one garlic clove)

1 teaspoon minced ginger root (didn't have this either)

1 can tomato purée 

I also added two carrots, which fit in quite well!

First what I think is the most important step is to wash the lentils! If you don't wash them they'll just be gross..

Secondly measure out all the ingredients and put all the dry ingredients into a mixing bowl with the garlic

Then when cooking the lentils caramalize the onions in a big pot (you'll be adding everything into there later..) once the onion's caramalized add the dry ingredients and garlic and mix on a high heat for 1-2 minutes

Add the tomato purée and the carrots and let simmer, once the lentils are cooked mix them into the pot of goodies and you're done :)

I served the curry with rice and a side salad, you could also serve it with other things.. 

Enjoy :)

Quinoa veggie burgers

 El found this great recipe online on Martha Stewart living, seeing as I'm vegetarian I couldn't wait to try this recipe so we made them straight away (through out my stay we made them a couple of times and they kept on getting better). 

What you'll need is; 

2 portobello mushrooms

1 zucchini

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup minces shallot

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

1/4 cup grated Parmesan

3/4 cup cooked quinoa

2 tsp salt

Freshly ground pepper

1 large egg slightly beaten

1 1/2 cups fresh whole wheat breadcrumbs (I used pinko crumbs) and

6 whole wheat buns (we didn't end up using any buns because the burger itself is so filling) 

To spice things up we ate the burgers with some sour cream and salad!

What needs to be done;

Firstly pulse the mushrooms in a food processor and place into a mixing bowl. Grate the zucchini onto a paper towel to soak up the liquid then add to the mushrooms.

Moving on, heat up two tbsp of oil in a large pan over medium heat and add the shallot and red pepper flakes till softened, add the mushrooms and zucchini, cook till tender. Place this all into a mixing bowl, add the Parmesan, quinoa, salt and pepper. Let cool and then stir in the egg and breadcrumbs (in my case the pinko crumbs), place into the fridge and let cool for an hour.

Lastly heat up the remaining olive oil and start frying the burgers until golden brown and cooked through.

Below are a couple of photos I took whilst making these delicious things.. 

The zucchini and mushrooms mixed together

Everything in the pan

The burgers before frying 

The end product..

A close up of the burgers! 

They were delicious and I highly recommend any veggie out there to make these!

The recipe says it makes 6 burgers but we got more out of it! 

Enjoy :)

Healthy veggie mini pancakes

Today for brunch I had these mini healthy veggie pancakes with some avocado and lemon, they were delicious with the recipe I found I managed to make 7 small pancakes which was more than enough to keep me satisfied throughout the day till dinner. They're quick and easy to make, the ingredients used are mixed together in a bowl and that's it!

What you'll need is;

1 egg

2 tsp water or milk (I used water) and 

2 tbsp flour 

The recipe should normally make 8 mini pancakes but wtv.. You can then add whatever veggie you want from carrots to peas and so on. I used tomatoes and shallots which ended up being a great match!  

Here is what mine looked like mhmmm

Enjoy!

Butternut Squash Lasagne with Goat Cheese, Sage and Breadcrumbs

A couple of weeks ago we had bought a couple of butternut squashes and didn't really know what to do with them so we searched and searched for a recipe till we found this one on finecooking.com and modified slightly.

It's not very hard to make but takes quite a bit of preparing and patients. So far we've made this recipe twice the first time it took us a while and the second time we were more organized and got everything prepared a couple of days before wanting to eat the lasagne.

It's delicious and worth the hard work and time..

The ingredients you'll need are;

Roasted Cauliflower with Rice, Beans and Mustard Vinaigrette

And the vegetarian cooking continues!!  my mom actually made this recipe and it was delicious.  It is a nice meal salad. The recipe is based on a recipe from a vegetarian cookbook J and I got from the library - At Home-Vegetarian Cookbook, from the culinary institute of America. Apparently it was easy to make and didn't take look.

Doesn't it look nice and colorful with the purple cauliflower?

Ingredients: 
Roasted cauliflower:
- 3 cups cauliflower florets
- 2 tbsp olive oil
salt and freshly ground pepper as needed

Mustard Vinaigrette:
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 3 tbsps white wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp dijon mustard
salt and ground pepper

we had some mustard dressing already made up, so just used that.

Rice and Beans:
 1 1/2 cups cooked navy beans
3 cups cooked brown rice
1 medium tomato
1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
2 stalks celery
1 bunch green onion, minced
- 2 tbsp parsley

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 425
- Toss cauliflower with oil to coat, season with salt and pepper and toss more.  spread on a baking sheet and roast 10-15 min
- mix ingredients for vinaigrette
- in a bowl combine rice, beans, tomatoes, red peppers, celery, green onion and parsley. Add cauliflower, and dressing.

Enjoy!

Cauliflower Fritters with Lime Yogurt

Prior to serving

We also served this with cucumber salad 

Limes apparently don't exist in Austria so we used Lemon

My cousin  J has been reminding me to post and I kept forgetting. Well today is her birthday, so I figured I should really get to it. She played a big part of this post, as the recipe is from a cookbook she gave me for my birthday Ottolenghi: the Cookbook  which is just filled with delicious recipes. J also helped cook and took the photos. She will soon be the main photographer for Double Trouble once she comes to Canada. I can't wait!

Eggplant with Buttermilk Sauce

I just want to start out by saying how shocked, appalled and sad  I am about the attacks that occurred at the Boston Marathon yesterday. With my sis and fam living in Boston, as well as having myself run a marathon last year, this one hit close to home. My thoughts go out to the families and friends of everyone affected.

I don't know about you, but when I feel sad i like to eat. Here is a recipe I made recently. If you are wondering why this photo looks familiar, it is because this is the dish featured on the cover of Plenty, the amazing recipe book I have been raving about by Yotam Ottolenghi. I have been wanting to try this recipe since I first got the recipe book. Apparently this dish is meant to be served as an appetizer, but with some pita bread and a salad it can definitely be a main course. Compared to some of the more elaborate recipes in the book, this one is quite simple.

Lentil Stuffed Squash

This dish just screams fall. I received an acorn squash in my veggie share basket and couldn't wait to try this recipe from eatingwell magazine. It does take a little while to make (some chopping veggies etc) but if you have a little bit of time, this healthy, flavourful meal is definitely worth it.  The squash would also be good on its own.

Roasted Carrots and Mushrooms

I cut this recipe out of a foodnetwork magazine a couple of months ago and have been wanting to try it since then. It made the journey with me to Austria, but I never got a chance to make it. Yesterday, I was determined to make it, even though we are heading into a long weekend, and I won't be here to eat it leftovers. Lucky my friend D was over and stayed for dinner, so with his help, and eating leftovers for lunch I will polish it off! I served it with breaded chicken, and it complemented it well.

Zucchini Quiche

Well, I am back!! I just returned from a wonderfull trip to visit my family in Austria. Although I did not try so many new recipes, the few that we did make turned out really well. I also have a whole bunch of my grandma's recipes that I looking forward to trying over the upcoming weeks.

This quiche, is crustless and quite easy to make, especially if you have a quizzinart with a grating disk. I don't have one but I am now getting one. It is just so useful and can even grate cheese really well. My cousin J was cleaning as we went and my grandma and I were cooking. We made a good team. My grandma thought it would go faster doing it on your own..whats the expression about too many chefs in the kitchen? at any rate we had fun.

Before going on my trip, I had a discussion with friends about zucchini. My friend K was telling us how one time, her mom served zucchini to her grandma, and her grandma said that zucchini was something people only served when they didn't have any other food around. Ouch. Well this is a perfectly good example of a recipe with zucchini that is sure to please. As I have been getting several zucchini in my veggie basket, I will definitely make this one again.

Quinoa Salad

I had been wanting to make this recipe for a while. I was exhausted last night and fell asleep the second my head hit the pillow. This morning I woke up energized and rested and decided to make this salad before work so I'd have it for my lunch. It has a few different steps, but doesn't take too long to make. I got the recipe from my colleague Kelsey's blog K&KTestKitchen she has a feature on 5 meals for under $50. Great idea. Can't wait to eat this!

Ingredients:
Salad
1/2 cup quinoa, dry
1 medium sweet potato, diced
1/2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper
1/2 can black beans (rinsed and drained)
1/2 avocado

Chipotle-Lime Vinaigrette
2 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 chipotle in adobo, minced (this can be found in a small can sold in the mexican section of the grocery store. If you dont have use bell peppers or chili flakes)
1 tablespoon honey
Salt, to taste

Directions:
-Preheat the oven to 425°F.  Dice the sweet potato and drizzle it with olive oil.  Roast sweet potatoes on a baking sheet lined with baking paper for 30 minutes.
- Add one cup of water and the quinoa to a small pot.  Bring the water to a boil.  Once the water has started to boil, turn the heat to low and cover the pot with a lid.  Cook for 15 minutes.  Remove the lid and fluff the quinoa with a fork.
- Mix the sweet potato, quinoa, black beans (rinsed), and diced avocado in a bowl.  Add the Chipotle-Lime Vinaigrette and toss well.

Lemon-Dill Tofu

I have been trying as much as possible to eat up what's in the fridge before it goes bad.  Unfortunately, I had 3 packages of tofu in the fridge, all with an expiry date fast approaching (the downside of shopping at costco). So I was super excited to come accross this tofu dish on Oh She Glows. Dill  is one of my favourite herbs. Probably a close second after basil. Well not that close, I really do love basil. Anyway dill sauce on salmon is wonderful..so why not try it out on tofu? This tofu dish can be eaten on its own, on top of rice, or added to lettuce for a nice salad.

Ingredients:
- extra firm tofu (rinsed and drained)
I don't usally go to the trouble of draining tofu but this time I did. It really does make it extra crispy. It's not even that much trouble. you wrap it in a paper towel, put a couple kitchen towels on top of it, along with some heavy cookbooks and leave it for 30 minutes

dressing
-3/4 cup dill
- 1 tablespoon tahini (can be purchased in the organic section or in ethnic stores)
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 tbsp pickle juice or water
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 1/2 tablespoon nutritional yeast- optional (i'm not sure about this but I thought i'd try it ou. got it at bulk barn)
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
- rinse and  drain tofu. cut into thin strips. the thinner, the crunchier/crispier it will be
- prepare dressing by blending all ingredients (mini food processor or food processor) and put into a bowl
- heat a large skillet and add 1 tsp oil, once hot add in tofu and cook about 6 minutes per side, or untill golden brown
- add tofu to bowl with dressing and mix. enjoy

Balsamic and Parmesan Cauliflower

I had a big cauliflower and wanted to try something a bit different. This recipe was so easy to make and tasted delicious! I got the recipe from eatingwell. It would make a great side dish to accompany pretty much anything.

Ingredients

• 8 cups 1-inch-thick slices cauliflower florets, (about 1 large head)
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon dried marjoram
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Freshly ground pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 cup finely shredded Parmesan cheese (I only used 1/4 cup)

Directions

Preheat oven to 450°F.
1. Toss cauliflower, oil, marjoram, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Spread on a large rimmed baking sheet and roast until starting to soften and brown on the bottom, 15 to 20 minutes. Toss the cauliflower with vinegar and sprinkle with cheese. Return to the oven and roast until the cheese is melted and any moisture has evaporated, 5 to 10 minutes more