Workday Lunch gets repetitive

So i started to cook and photograph this blog about a lentil-feta salad that i was taking to work when i realized that i had already blogged it!!!! This actually caused me a bit of stress, as its tough to post five times a week, and i've only been doing it for under four months and i am already repeating myself. I mean i wasn't using a recipe, so it was a little different, but i thought i was doing so well.

Of course i still made the salad because i had all the ingredients and had taken the first picture and its pretty good. I never make it the same way each time, the only real staples of it are lentils, feta and balsamic. This time i added diced tomatoes, jalaepenos, cucumbers, green onions and black olives. The cucumber was good, it made it a little more refreshing but there was the heat from the jalapenos.

As i've mentioned before i like to make something that will get me through a few days, so i only have to carry stuff in once or twice a week. The first picture is what i would take to work on a monday. Lentil-feta salad, romaine lettuce, three yoghurts, three berry applesauces, two banannas and some strawberries. This way i can kinda satisfy a bunch of cravings. I also keep some dried health food store soups and bean meals in my desk drawer in case i'm craving something else.

Above:

Lunch to go
Chopped veggies
Ingredients

Breakfast Burrito

Since the NCAA tournament is still on, i can't really go out or i end up missing games, it was also not very pleasant out there for a sunday morning, so i went out early and did a quick stop for breakfast. Initially one of my friends was supposed to come over for breakfast, but due to staying up until 5 am they were not going to make it. I didn't really have a plan, and was thinking about doing a mexican style breakfast; fried egg, refried beans, some veggies and tortillas.

When i was at the grocery store i was looking at the tortillas and for some reason i thought about breakfast burritos. I had actually never had one, but a lot of the times i'm out for brunch someone orders on, so they must be pretty good. I thought instead of refried beans, which i associate with Burrito Boyz, i would use black beans. I was going to make the spicy black beans i usually do, but i ended up with some necessary variations. I used jalapeno instead of chipotle, and for some reason i had run out of veggie stock and had not replaced it, so i was forced to use Miso Broth. I did however have the onions.

I am not really a scrambled eggs kinda person, i tend to eat them poached, hard boiled or fried - but a burrito really called for scrambled. The odd time i've had them out they were so light and fluffy, i thought i would make use of google and find a video and learn how to make them right. I used the Martha Stewart technique - and they were light and fluffy!

I also made a pretty sweet salsa, using some of the black beans before they were cooked, tomatoes, cucumber, onions, cilantro, jalapeno, cumin and lime juice. For the contents of the burrito i decided on some of the scrambled eggs, the spicy black beans, goat cheese, tomatoes and romain lettuce. I had put the tortilla in the oven for a minute before to make it pliable. I folded up the burrito and baked it for about 5 minutes flipping it once. I served it with salsa and sour cream.

The best part of this recipe is that while i was watching the Duke v. Baylor game i made a quick dinner using the salsa and black beans in a salad with sour cream-lime dressing. I also made a really basic quesadilla with left over mozzarella and jalapenos. (sometimes a cheese quesadilla is all you want).

Above:

Sunday Morning paper and burrito
Finished Salsa
Ingredients
Mixing the salsa
Fluffy eggs
Assembling the burrito
Quesadilla/leftover dinner

Oven fries

I know i keep claiming i don't really like potatoes, then using them, but i don't. I was so dissatisfied with my Smashed Potatoes that i was determined to buy some fresh potatoes and try again, so this weekend i picked up a small bag. I don't want to constantly ruin starches, and i was planning on consciously seeking out new ways to make potatoes and add a few dishes into my repertoire.

Recently i had been craving fries, but they really aren't good for you, and i like to eat them with mayo and malt vinegar. (i know, gross) Looking a the bag of potatoes, i couldn't resist trying to make some fries. I know sometimes when you try and make a healthy version of things like fries, they aren't very good and don't really satisfy the craving but, i thought i would try anyway. I knew they would be excellent for snacking while watching the next round of NCAA basketball.

As i mentioned i also like to eat them with mayo, and theoretically i could of, but summer was coming and a few of my things were on the tight side. I thought instead i would make a dipping sauce with a little mayo (Helmans low fat) 5% sour cream, dijon mustard and honey.

For the fries i cut them into quarters, tossed them with olive oil (a little on the generous side), pepper, finely chopped garlic and red chili pepper flakes. I put parchment paper onto the baking sheet so that it wasn't a difficult clean up. Near the end of cooking i stirred them a little as some pieces where a little browner than others. After i took them out of the oven i ground a little fresh sea salt over them and served them with my honey dijon sauce.

All in all these were pretty good, not deep fried or anything, but certainly cleared up the fry craving in a healthier way.

Staycation Day 2: Guest Kitchen

Now i know i've had guest chefs before, but this time i actually had a guest kitchen and photographer and camera. (of which i am very jealous). I was visiting my sister on my staycation and decided to cook her dinner. She didn't have a very stocked fridge or pantry, but i made do with most of what she had. We also raided her neighbour and highschool friend jonas's kitchen for a few more ingredients - the essential one being sesame oil!

I simply made a stir fry and my sister - knowing my challenges with rice made a really nice coconut rice. After cooking the vegetables, in order of firmness - i tossed them in a peanut sesame sauce. My sister is finally acknowledging her hippy roots and has bought a jar of natural peanut butter, but there was still a little of the processed stuff left and i used it for the sauce. Due to the levels of sugar and salt it took me a while to tweak the sauce, and i didn't need the honey as i had initially anticipated.

She also had this awesome bowl of fresh green beans, so not only did i add them to the stir fry, i also took some and blanched them and dressed them in a spicy sesame dressing as a side. To finish the meal i made a tomato avocado salad for something on the cold and refreshing side.

Ahhh staycation.....

Above:

The pretty table my sister set
Ingredients (note the pb)
Choppy choppy
Stir frying the peppers
Blanched beans

Staycation - Eggplant Parmesan

The staycation continues, and i truly embraced the staying in idea and had eric over for dinner and made a version of eggplant parmesan i had tried once, but that one was deepfried. Although it was delicious, it wasn't very healthy, so i thought i would try and bake it this time

The ingredients

Salting the eggplant

Some people find eggplant bitter - and depending on how you cook it that can be true. I find that the smaller eggplant i used or asian eggplant don't suffer from that, but another remedy of this is salting the eggplant. Simply cut the eggplant as you want to serve them, then toss with salt and allow to sit in the colander and this will "sweat" out the sour liquid. Allow to sit for 25 minutes and then rinse them off and pat dry.

Breading the eggplant

So i've mentioned before about breading things, and i've basically used the same technique to do these eggplants. For the breading i mixed panko crumbs with parmesan which is a nice twist. First i dredged them in flour, then the beaten egg and finally the panko-parmesan.

Eggplant Out of the Oven

The ingredients ready for assembly

I made a light tomato sauce by sauteing some garlic, then adding a can of chopped low sodium tomatoes, chili peppers and pepper. I cooked it until it had thickened. You could also use jarred sauce. I just didn't have any.

Assembled

After putting a little bit of the sauce on the bottom of the pan I stacked the ingredients - eggplant, basil, tomato then mozzarella filling the pan. After i filled the pan i added more parmesan, the rest of the tomato sauce and some diced mozzarella. I covered the pan with foil and baked it until it was warm in the centre, then removed the foil and allowed the cheese to melt and brown a little.

The Meal

I served this meal with caesar salad, in which i used polenta crutons, lightly dusted with parmesan and baked and bruschetta.

Bruschetta on multi grain baguette

Basil

I would like to note that i used the basil from my hydroponic grower!

Polenta Breakfast

A while ago i was soliciting inspiration for my blog via Facebook, and an old friend suggested Polenta. I can't actually say i have a whole lot of experience with Polenta, but i've eaten it a few times and thought it was a little bland, but does make a good base for things. The only other time i made it i did it from scratch, but at my No Frills all i could find was the ready made polenta. That certainly made things easier.

I decided to use the polenta as a base for a poached egg breakfast. I didn't really know what to do with it, and even the internet wasn't much help. I remembered having it this way, so i simply sliced it into 1/2 inch pieces and lightly brushed it with olive oil and baked it on parchment paper. At the same time i made some oven homefries to go with the breakie.

Instead of just the usual spinach, i added some rapini, which although pretty bitter it is a little different and a good source of iron and calcium. I also blanched some leftover asparagus, since a few more veggies wouldn't hurt me! I used my mom's ceramic poacher to do the eggs, which i didn't pay that much attention to and they were a little overdone :-(

I've not had much success with hollandaise, and its pretty bad for you, so i made a sauce using light sour cream, lemon juice, tarragon and dijon. I served the sauce over the eggs and the asparagus.

I assembled the beakie and dug in. The polenta was okay - still bland, but a different base. Now of course i have a ton of polenta, so expect a few more recipes with polenta.

Staycation Cooking - Lady who lunches

Well its quite a start to my week of "staycation", after a couple weeks of glorious weather, it turns rainy and cold for day one. I had already planned this as a domestic day, so i wasn't that devastated, but a little sun would have been nice.

After finishing a few errands i decided to indulge in a late lunch. I wanted something a little decedent, not something i would scarf down at my desk. I didn't have a whole lot of ingredients, but the weekend previous i had poached eggs and they were a little overdone, so i thought i would give that a try again. (i'll blog that meal later)

I know that poached eggs are actually quite tasty over salad, so i opted away from the carbs and decided to do a poached eggs over salad. The bar/restaurant in my building does a spinach salad with hard boiled eggs and beer braised mushrooms - i had a few cremini left in the fridge and thought they would be a nice addition. I didn't have any beer or wine open (no vermouth even) so i improvised and used sake. I also added some tarragon - since i look for things to add tarragon to!

I thought i would dress it with a creamy, yet healthy dressing to go with the yolk of the egg. I have been obsessed with honey dijon - and decided that was what was going to go with. I simply combined some lemon juice, olive oil, dijon, honey and sour cream.

After blanching the asparagus, i poached the egg and assembled the salad.

Late lunch, even with the weather was pretty sweet. (too bad someone stole my newspaper again!)

Above:

Lunch
Ingredients
Dressing ingredients
Mushrooms
Cracked poached egg salad

My hydroponic Herb Grower

My mother is sooo sweet - months before my birthday we were in a kitchen goods store and i saw this electronic hydroponic herb grower - i thought it would be excellent, especially for corriander, which i can never understand why they insist on making the bunches sooo big. Well my birthday came along, my mom gave me a bag, i wasn't expecting a gift and couldn't believe that she bought the "Power Plant". I was pretty excited, and went to Canadian Tire right away to pick up basil and coriander seeds, so that i could make some pesto, and maybe save my green box from masses of rotting cilantro!!!

The machine itself was pretty self-explanatory. There was a really simple three step system. You wet the sponge, added water, put some grow formula and added the seeds. I did half basil, half coriander. You have to keep them covered for the first few days, then put these little plastic domes on. Once they bud and are coming to the top of the domes, you just remove them and let the herbs grow.

Basically basil, to get to the size to use takes about 10 weeks.

I have a lot of luck with the basil, but have yet to grow ANY cilantro. Apparently its beyond me. After two failed attempts, i think i might try another herb, but i can't think of anything i'm just drying to try. I might see how easy it is to grow tarragon, since i do enjoy it.

The Grower is pretty attractive.

Week 1: After they have sprouted and covered by the domes

Week 3: They have outgrown the domes

Week 5

Week 8: They are really starting to take shape.
(the top pic is also Week 8)

Goat Cheese Pesto Quesadillas

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In university i worked at a really cool bar/lounge in the east end called 2066, and we had some very interesting food on the menu. One of my favorites, and definitely a really popular item were the goat cheese quesadillas. The ones on the menu also had grilled chicken in them, but i omitted the chicken since i don't eat it, but a lot of people really liked it with chicken.

The real key of the dish is the goat cheese pesto - its super tasty and gives it a unique tang. They made it at 2066 with goat cheese, cream cheese and pesto. I didn't have any cream cheese, so i just made it with the the basics. This is also a nice spread for a sandwich, in particular with grilled veggies.

As for the toppings you can use whatever you want, but i stick to the version that they made at the bar - sliced mushrooms, tomatoes, roasted red peppers and red onions. You simply spread the tortillas with the goat cheese mixture, then top with the ingredients, fold the tortilla in half if you're using a large one, or as i only had small ones, i topped it with another tortilla, and a bit of the left over mixture.

You can bbq these, and they were made on the grill at 2066 - in my case i simply baked them, flipping them half way through so that both sides firmed up. Its best to serve this with salsa and sour cream and a salad. I made a fresh avocado salsa for mine.

Above:

Quesadillas
Ingredients
Assembling the quesadillas
Two quesadillas
(i added the red peppers after this pic - i forgot)