Pork Skewers- AKA Shish Kabobs

Meat on a stick!

This can be made with pretty much any combination of meet and veggies you have in the kitchen. Just stay away from house pets.

This was the combination that we came up with:

Ingredients:

• Marinated Pork steaks
• Halloumi – Semi-hard grillable cheese
• Eggplant and red pepper marinated in oil, salt and pepper

So easy and fun to make! Use whatever you have in the kitchen and make your entire meal on a stick. No dishes needed. Maybe I’ll make every meal on a stick..

Cabbage Soup – Surprisingly good?

 

I don’t know how much there is to say about Cabbage soup, other than it’s surprisingly delicious.

I don’t normally buy cabbage, ever, but lately I’m kicking myself for not buying it sooner. It’s so delicious and generally absorbs flavours really well. The texture of cooked cabbage is really satisfying if you’re trying to have a hearty meal without the meat. And from what I’ve seen on healthy eating websites, it’s pretty decent meal for people trying to lose weight.

Try it out, I dare you.

Ingredients

• 2 tbsb olive oil
• 3 cloves of garlic – minced
• 1 yellow onion – chopped
• 2 carrots – peeled and chopped
• 1 zucchini – chopped
• 1/2 head of cabbage – chopped
• Handful of fresh or frozen spinach
• 1 litre of vegetable broth
• 2 tbsp of tomato paste
• 1 can of crushed tomatoes
• Oregano, basil, salt and pepper to taste

Step 1: In a large soup pot, heat 2 tbsp of olive oil over medium-low heat. Add the garlic and onion and saute for 3 minutes.

Step 2: Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer over medium heat for 30-40 minutes until everything is extra delicious.

Step 3: Eat it.

ENJOY!

Ode to Finch’s

Finch’s – an amazing tea and coffee house in downtown Vancouver. Haven’t been? Make it your business to go. This place makes sandwiches that can’t even be called sandwiches. I think it would be more accurate to call them “works of mouthwatering art”. I only had a few chances to eat here, but if I was living in Vancouver again it’s safe to say that a lot of my money would be spent at this place.

While I have somewhat recreated my favourite sandwich from Finch’s, I’ve decided to take that sandwich recipe and leave out the bread which has resulted in this amazing salad.

If you can’t get to Finch’s, this may be the best alternative.

Ingredients

• 1 pear – washed, cored and sliced
• 70 g. prosciutto or serrano ham – torn into bits
• Gorgonzola – cut into small pieces (or bue brie)
• Mixed green salad
• Walnuts

Dressing:

• 4 tbsp Extra virgin olive oil
• salt and pepper
• 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

Step 1: Toss all of the salad ingredients together in a large bowl.

Step 2:In a small bowl, whisk together the dressing ingredients and pour over the salad. Toss again to coat and serve immediately.

Baked Brie – The cheese of Gods

I like Brie cheese. I like it a lot.

I especially like it when it’s baked with other things that I like to make it super likeable. If this recipe were a person it would have so many friend requests on facebook.

Ingredients

• A wheel of camembert or brie – try to get one packaged in a wooden box.
• 1 clove of garlic – sliced
• 2 fresh sprigs of rosemary
• ½ cup dried cranberries
• ½ cup of mixed nuts – almonds and walnuts work just fine
• Baguette or other bread torn into pieces

Step 1: Unwrap the camembert completely and slice off the top of the rind. Stick in slices of garlic and bits of rosemary over the top. Place back into the bottom part of the wooden box that it came in. If it didn’t come in a wooden box, just put some tinfoil around it and place it on a baking tray.

Step 2: Bake in a 200˚C (400˚F) oven for 10 minutes, or until the cheese starts to ooze.

Step 3: Meanwhile, mix together the nuts and cranberries.

Step 4: Serve on a plate  with the nuts and cranberries around it. Dip a piece of bread into the camembert and then into the mixture of nuts and cranberries and enjoy!

Mango Chicken Avocado Paul Stephens III

Summer is coming! Time to get less fat.

Time to get your beach bod on, right? Sadly, we can no longer blame over eating on bad weather and needing “winter fat” – which is my usual excuse.

First step in healthy eating? Finding foods that don’t completely suck. May I introduce you to a salad that you won’t hate?

His name is Mango Chicken Avocado Paul-Stephens III.

EAT HIM!

Serves:2
Ingredients

• 400g uncooked chicken breast
• 1 Avocado
• 1 Mango
• a couple handfuls of mixed green lettuce
• Toasted pine nuts – optional

Dressing:

• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 tbsp orange juice
• 2 tbsp grainy sweet mustard
• 1 tsp dijon mustard
• 1 tbsp honey
• 2 tbsp Olive oil

Step 1: Combine all of the dressing ingredients in a small bowl and whisk until combined thoroughly.

Step 2: Cut the chicken into thin strips and marinate in ⅓ of the dressing mixture for 5-10 minutes.

Step 3: Fry the chicken in a pan on medium heat until cooked and remove from pan to cool.

Step 4: Cut the avocado and mango into thin strips and layer on a plate with the chicken.

Step 5: Pile a handful of mixed salad greens on top and sprinkle with toasted pine nuts.

Step 6: Drizzle with ½ of the remaining dressing and serve immediately.

*this is a take on Gordon Ramsy’s Mango Chicken Salad.

Nuoc Cham Sauce

A simple recipe for an amazing Vietnamese sauce.

 

Ingredients

• 2 cloves garlic – minced
• 1 red chili pepper – minced
• 1/2 cup hot water
• 1 tbsp lime juice
• 4 tbsp fish sauce
• 2 tbsp white sugar

Step 1: Mix all of the ingredients in a small bowl. Adjust the ingredients to suit your taste, if it’s too strong add a few tablespoons of water. Refrigerate for at least 15 minutes before serving.

ENJOY!

Tips:

Put it on stuff!

Vietnamese spring rollies

Ingredients

• 6 round rice papers
• 200 g (7 oz) Rice vermicelli – cooked according to package
• 1 large carrot grated or chopped into match sticks
• A few handfuls of chopped lettuce
• 18-20 Cooked shrimp – deveined and peeled
• Black or white sesame seeds – optional

Step 1: Soak 1 rice paper in a large bowl of water for 10 seconds and shake off the remaining water. Place on a flat surface.

Step 2: Add 3-4 shrimp in the middle of the paper and on top of that pile: a bit of lettuce, 1/6 of the rice vermicelli, a small amount of carrot and the sesame seeds

Step 3: Roll the paper starting at the bottom, folding the sides in half way through.

Dip in peanut sauce or check back tomorrow for my Nuoc Cham Sauce recipe.

ENJOY!

TIPS:

Serve immediately or the rice paper will become dry and tough

Don’t feel like wrapping them? Make it into a salad. Bam. Done.

Zesty Italian Wedding Soup

Soup with this much meat and cheese has to be delicious.

Ingredients

• 6 cups of vegetable broth
• 300 grams of chopped cooked sausage or meatballs
• 125 grams orzo – or other small pasta
• a handful of fresh (or frozen) spinach, chopped
•  1 carrot – grated
• The zest of 1/2 lemon
• Parmesan

Step 1: Add the 6 cups of vegetable broth to a large pot and simmer over medium heat.

Step 2: Add all of the ingredients (except the parmesan) and cook until the pasta is tender.

Step 3: Serve sprinkled with a good amount of fresh parmesan.

ENJOY!

Wine jelly – Another way to consume wine

WINE JELLY IS GOOD

I can eat wine now?

So wine jelly is awesome. Made more awesome by hot sauce.

Have you ever been really brave while buying wine and decided to try something new only to discover that your moment of spontaneity has resulted in a horrible bottle of foot wine? (foot wine is what I like to call bad tasting wine – simply because it usually smells like feet) What will you do with an entire bottle of wine?! Don’t fret little jelly beans, I can make it all better.

This little gem can be made with any red or white wine no matter how terrible it is. AND it makes a nice gift as well. If someone gave me wine jelly? Hello new best friend.

So let’s get to it!

Ingredients

• 1 cup wine
• 1  cup sugar – you can add more or less sugar to taste
• 2 gelatin leaves – soak in water for 2 minutes before use

Step 1: In a small sauce pan bring the cup of wine to a boil.

Step 2: Add the sugar and stir continuously until dissolved. Let the mixture boil for another 2 minutes.

Step 3: Add the gelatine leaves that have been soaking in water to the hot wine mixture and stir in until dissolved completely.

Step 4: Pour into ramekins and refrigerate overnight until set.

ENJOY!

TIPS:

Top it with Sriracha hot sauce and serve with crackers and brie

Dip the ramekins into hot water for 3 seconds, then tip upside down to remove the jelly

Eat while playing Zombies – Right Cate?