New Chapter

It has officially been over a month since my last post. The hiatus was semi-planned and was due to a lot of changes going on right now. Not only was I a little bit too busy to sit and write a good post, but my cooking predominantly consisted of putting together fresh salads from my backyard garden. So I guess I didn't do much cooking at all. In the last month, I have finished writing my Master's thesis, attended Lollapalooza in Chicago having the greatest time ever, successfully defended my thesis, and moved to Guelph, Ontario to pursue dietetics. That is right, I am on the path to becoming a Registered Dietitian! Being an undergraduate student again will be a change, but I am excited to be preparing for a career this time around. The blog will most likely evolve with this change, potentially focussing on nutrition a little more, but recipes will still be at the heart of Food for Fuel.

The new kitchen is mostly set up. It is small, but adorable and perfect for just the two of us. I am excited to be cooking in it, and to create recipes there. Last night, A made a variation of my Black Bean and Sweet Potato Chili which is his go to meal. He made some substitutions based on what we had on hand. He used jarred tomatoes from my Nonna and Tatone's garden and chili peppers from my parent's garden. We served it with rice and goat cheese. It was delicious, spicy and comforting. I look forward to creating many more meals in our new kitchen.

I took this picture with my A's Nikon DSLR camera. I can't say that I will use it all the time, or that the photography will improve, but maybe when I have a little more time on my hands I'll experiment with shooting in manual. Right now, the speed/ease of iPhone photos and auto settings are just too good to pass up.

I hope everyone had a wonderful summer and is ready for the approaching fall season. I think heading back to school has made me extra excited for the leaves to change, and for the pumpkins to be in season.

My favourite reading spot in the apartment

Sweet Potato, Chickpea, and Quinoa Salad

This summer has turned out to be a lot better than I expected it to be. I didn't make very many plans in advanced because I wasn't sure I would have time, yet fun activities keep popping up a long the way. I recently had a spontaneous afternoon visit from a friend to catch up. We had plans to make dinner, but I wasn't really sure what dinner would be. I didn't think too much about it until dinner time actually rolled around. I threw this salad together and it turned out surprisingly well. The dressing was based off of memory from Oh She Glows and I forgot to add the mustard (and intentionally left out the maple syrup). I suggest you do the same, as it worked really well with this salad.

Sweet Potato, Chickpea, and Quinoa Salad
Serves 4-6

1 very large sweet potato, chopped into small cubes

olive oil

garlic powder

salt and pepper

1 cup dry quinoa
2 cups water
1 bunch swiss chard, chopped
1 can chickpeas
double this dressing from Oh She Glows (minus the mustard and syrup)
sunflower seeds

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
2. Toss sweet potato in olive oil and season with garlic powder, salt and pepper to taste. Spread out evenly in a large roasting pan and roast in oven for about 30 minutes, stirring halfway through. You want the potatoes to be cooked well and browned on the outside.
3. Meanwhile, bring the quinoa and water to a boil. Reduce heat to the lowest setting and cover, for 20 minutes.
4. Make the dressing and allow to sit at room temperature until the sweet potatoes and quinoa are cooked and have cooled a bit.
5. Combine sweet potatoes, quinoa, swiss chard, chickpeas, and dressing all together and stir to combine. Serve topped with sunflower seeds, warm or cold.

eating leftovers at my desk the next day

This salad was the result of throwing together what I had on hand, and it turned out great. A nice quick dinner which would make a great picnic or potluck dish. I hope you are all having as good of a summer as I am, spending quality time with good friends.

White Bean and Pesto Hash

The other day I picked up my favourite fresh pesto from Goodness Me. I first tried this pesto a few years ago when living in Waterloo, and ever since I cannot bring myself to buy a jarred variety. It is kind of pricey so I don't buy it often, maybe a couple times a year. I have expressed my love for the corn and basil combination before, and I will do it again. I love basil with corn. This recipe is again inspired by Heather's Quinoa on 101 Cookbooks, which I make just about every time I have pesto on hand. The recipe is really meant to be an inspiration and not something you follow to the tee. It is about combining a grain with whatever veggies you have on hand, and bringing it all together with a good quality pesto. I opted to not use a grain this time and instead used roasted potatoes. I also left out the tofu and instead added white beans which make the dish feel hearty and a little creamy. I think I might just make this version again one day.

White Bean and Pesto Hash
Serves 4

5 potatoes, chopped into cubes
2 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper
garlic powder

1 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, died
1 cup corn
2-3 cups cooked white beans (I didn't actually measure this)
2 garlic cloves, grated
6 bok choy, chopped and whites separated from greens
pesto to taste (lightly coat the mixture)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
2. Toss potatoes in olive oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste. Cover with aluminum foil.
3. Roast covered for 30 minutes. Stir and roast uncovered for 15-20 min stirring halfway through.
4. Heat olive oil in a pan on medium low. Add onions and the white part of bok choy. Cook for about 5-8 minutes until fragrant.
5. Add corn, white beans, and garlic and cook until heated through.
6. Add bok choy and continue to stir into the mixture until leaves have begun to wilt.
7. Add pesto and stir to combine.
8. Mix with roasted potatoes until fully combined. Serve warm.

As I was eating this I thought this would make a great savoury breakfast utilizing some leftovers. It all went so well together and was a nice surprise for putting it all together so quickly. This dish is only as good as the pesto so make sure you use a good one, fresh if possible. You will be glad that you did.

Creamy Avocado and Dill Dressing

While I haven't written a post about my family's garden so far this spring, the plants are growing strong. I have been busy with school and wasn't able to help plant the garden, so I haven't taken much notice to what has been going on back there.  My Dad has gone to the homeland (Italy) for a bit and I have been left in charge to take care of the garden so I have been spending more time watering and monitoring the growth of the plants. We have had lots of lettuce and in a few days we will have some garlic scapes and kale. We may also have some zucchini which I think is crazy! That plant has grown more overnight than I could ever have imagined, along with fast growing fruit under those blossoms.

With all the fresh lettuce I have been incorporating lots of big salad into my meals. My go-to dressing is just to drizzle olive oil and balsamic vinegar and then add some crushed black pepper and sea salt. When I have some more time, I like to try out new recipes which have a few more ingredients but have much more interesting flavours. Last summer I was hooked on this dressing. I recently made this potato salad from Oh She Glows and tried out the extra dressing on a regular old salad. It was fantastic! This really inspired me to get working on a dressing that I have been wanting to make for a while, a creamy avocado dill dressing inspired by a dressing from a vegan restaurant in Montreal, Aux Vivres. To be honest, it has been a while since I had this dressing and I can't even remember what it tasted like, but it definitely incorporated dill and avocado. The following recipe is probably far off from the inspiration but was tasty none the less.

Creamy Avocado and Dill Dressing
1 avocado
juice of 1.5 lemon
3 tbsp chopped fresh dill
salt and pepper to taste*

1. Blend altogether in a food processor

If you love lemon, you will love this dressing. It tastes even better the next day so if you can make it ahead of time, do it! The lemon prevents the avocado from turning brown so the dressing stays a lovely green colour. Now, normally I don't add much salt to my food but this time I have to say, do not skip on it. I sprinkled some salt and pepper on the resulting salad and it was definitely needed. It helped to round out the lemon a little bit. The dressing was good to spice up a salad of just lettuce, or of black beans and cucumbers. This would also work well as a dip for veggies or crackers as it is fairly thick in consistency.

I hope everyone is enjoying the weather and all of the fresh produce that comes with it!

Omega-3 Loaded Vegan Overnight Oats

Considering how often I eat overnight oats (averaging 5 times per week for the last 2 years) it is amazing I have only mentioned them twice, once in passing, and once with a recipe. I have my favourite version, which includes banana, oats, ground flax, chia seeds, unsweetened almond milk, and almond butter. I have substituted banana with raspberries and blueberries, I've added shredded unsweetened coconut, chopped almonds, hemp seeds, cinnamon, jam, and vanilla extract, and I've also come up with an 'overnight oats in a flash,' where you cook some oatmeal in the morning, allow it to cool, and then add all the fix in's just like overnight oats.

Have you heard about the importance of omega-3's fatty acids? While I have always been a fan, lately I have read more into the subject, particularly the omega-6 to omega-3 ratio (Maybe one day I will write a post about it but not today). Let's just say it made me really want to up my omega-3 intake. Omega-6 fatty acids are everywhere and you really need to put in some effort to increase omega-3 consumption, especially being a vegetarian and not eating fish. Vegetarian sources include nuts, flax, hemp, and chia seeds. The best sources which have much more omega-3 fatty acids than omega 6's, are flax and chia. Hence why I like to load my overnight oats up with those seeds. Which lead to this version of overnight oats.

Omega-3 Loaded Vegan Overnight Oats
Serves 1

1 banana, chopped
2 tbsp chia seeds
2 tbsp ground flax seeds
2 tbsp large flake rolled oats
1 cup non-dairy unsweetened milk (Soy or almond work well here)
1 tbsp almond butter

1. The night before, mix together the first 4 ingredients in a bowl. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
2. In the morning, give the mixture a stir and add some more milk to reach desired consistency.
3. Top with your choice of nut butter.

The picture looks gastly but anyone who has tried overnight oats knows they taste much better than they look. The great thing about overnight oats is they are so customizable, everyone has their favourite recipe. I don't make my oats like this every day (chia seeds are expensive and consuming 2 tbsp a day would put  me in the poor house) but it is just another variation you should give a try!

I don't normally include (or even calculate) nutritional information but his recipe here has an awesome nutritional profile for breakfast and I thought I would share it.

Nutritional Information:

calories              450
carboydrate       50 g
     fiber             15.6 g
protein              12.6
fat                     24.8
     saturated      2.2 g
     omega-3      5.7 g
     omega-6      4.0 g

Strawberry Rhubarb Baked Oatmeal

For Mother's day, our family was all over the place, but came together for dinner to celebrate Mom. I saw some rhubarb in the store (the plant in our garden is not quite ready) and knew immediately that I had to make a dessert for this dinner. After all, strawberry rhubarb flavoured anything's is Mom favourite. I made a strawberry rhubarb crisp which was fantastic. I used this gluten free recipe from Gluten Free Goddess with a few modifications: almonds instead of pecans, oats instead of quinoa flakes, sucanat instead of brown sugar; and it was marvellous! It made me love rhubarb, something I was always not a fan of. I had some left over strawberries and rhubarb that I didn't want to go to waste, so I put together this baked oatmeal recipe. A more wholesome breakfast version of the dessert crisp.

Strawberry Rhubarb Baked Oatmeal
Serves 6-8

1.5 cups steel cut oats
1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp dried ground ginger
1/4 cup good quality coconut oil
2 cups chopped rhubarb
1 cup chopped strawberries
5 cups milk (I used unsweetened almond)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a large casserole dish, whisk together the first 4 ingredients.
3. Melt the coconut oil and pour over the oats, mixing well to combine.
4. Add the fruit and milk and stir.
5. Bake for 1 hour and then allow to cool to room temp. The oatmeal will be runny when removing from the oven, but will thicken up as it cools down. I liked the consistency once cooled down before refrigerating. Refrigerating thickens it up even more but becomes soft again once heated in the microwave.

This oatmeal was delicious! It made a great breakfast for my Mom and I during a busy week. I would definitely added another cup of strawberries if we had some. This oatmeal is not very sweet so a tsp or two of maple syrup would be nice along with some chopped nuts. Since I have been eating oatmeal for breakfast nearly ever week day for the last...I don't know...3 years?!?..I am always looking for new ways to make it. This was my first baked oatmeal and I was definitely a fan. Lately I have also been making a new variety of overnight oats which actually has very little oats. Stay tuned for that recipe. Hopefully it won't be weeks before I get around to posting again. This Master's thesis thing really gets in the way of cooking/blogging ; )

Polenta with Rapini, Portobello Mushrooms and Avocado

I have been eating a lot of simple meals lately. As spring approaches I am trending toward fresh vegetables and lots of greens. While this recipe still has comfort food written all over it, usually saved for the winter months, it comes in handy for rainy days like this week is bringing. I have had a large bag of course cornmeal for a while and have been meaning to make some polenta. This post on Seasonal Ontario Food inspired this oven baked variety. It is a very hands off way of making polenta which I am sure will become my standard method for making polenta now. I find that polenta goes really well with salty and garlicy foods. It also goes well with hardy greens. This hardly classifies as a recipe, but is a great starting point for using polenta if you haven't made it before. Try it and then make it yours!

Polenta with Rapini, Portobello Mushrooms, and Avocado

Serves 3

1 cup course cornmeal
4 cups water
1/2 large bunch of rapini, chopped (or other hearty greens like kale)
3 portobello mushrooms, chopped
6 cloves of garlic, minced
1 avocado, chopped

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Mix water and cornmeal in baking dish and bake for 1 hour.
3. Give the polenta a stir to ensure doneness, and bake for another 10 minutes if needed.
4. While finishing the polenta off, add mushrooms to a pan and heat over medium heat.
5. Once mushrooms begin to soften and release water, add greens and garlic. Sauté until greens are wilted and mushrooms are cooked.
6. Top polenta with greens and some chopped avocado.
7. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper.