Tomato, Walnut and Basil Sauce on Raw Zucchini Pasta

The garden is booming! My parent's garden that is. My little planters on my patio have yielded 0 fruit, and it will stay that way unfortunately. There was a lonely little pepper growing a few days ago, but it looks like the neighbourhood animals beat me to it. Oh well, it was worth a try. At least I have access to my parent's and grandparent's garden this time of year. Every weekend I have been coming home with lettuce, kale, swiss chard, and radishes. Yesterday, I came home with the first of the tomatoes, zucchini, cucumber, green pepper and chili pepper.

I wanted to make a dish that was light, raw, and would really highlight the freshness of the veggies. I have made raw zucchini pasta in the past, but wasn't a huge fan. Since I don't have a mandoline, the zucchini was irregular shaped and not as thin as it should have been. I also didn't have the right kind of sauce for it. With the though of gazpacho in mind I remembered this recipe, which is where I originally saw 'raw pasta'.  I made a few changes and it turned out wonderful. Extremely flavourful and perfect for these hot summer days we have been having.

Tomato, Walnut and Basil Sauce on Raw Zucchini Pasta adapted from Mis Pensamientos

1/2 cup walnuts
1 handful of basil
1/2 tsp parsley
1/4 large onion
juice of 1 lemon
1 tbsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 cups chopped tomatoes
2 zucchini

1. Add walnuts to food processor and pulse until finely chopped.
2. Add basil, parsley, onion, lemon, olive oil and garlic. Process until a pesto forms, scraping down the sides as neccesary.
3. Add tomatoes and pulse until combined (I only pulsed 3 times). Drain any excess liquid.
4. Use a mandoline to thinly peel the zucchini, or use a peeler to make the 'zucchini pasta'. Top with the pesto sauce.

After taking a look at this photo I realized the sauce doesn't look too appetizing, but I can assure you it tastes wonderful. I almost added some chili peppers but I am glad I didn't because it already has quite the bite from the basil and garlic. I also would have topped this with some goat cheese if I had some on hand. that bowl is 1 small zucchini and about 1/3 of the sauce. I think the leftover sauce would be wonderful in a cold pasta or quinoa salad.

**Update: Zucchini pasta is not for everyone. I really don't find raw zucchini all that appetizing, I much prefer it cooked. Maybe I would like it better if I had a spiralizer? As I was eating this for lunch I really wished I had real pasta, or cooked zucchini at least. Maybe some cheese would have made it better. Anyway, definitely give zucchini pasta a try at least once, but if it isn't your thing, I don't blame you, but don't forget about the tomato, walnut and basil sauce...it goes nicely with lots of other things.

I hope everyone had a great long weekend. Mine was low key and fairly relaxing. I spent some time with my family and made more preparations for moving into my parent's house, and for my trip to Italy. It is becoming more of a reality that I will be moving out of my current house and leaving my awesome housemates :(

I will leave you with a picture I took today of Tew's Falls in Hamilton.

Zesty Balsamic Vinaigrette

I think it is safe to say that summer is here. Not only is it the first day of summer but it is also the longest day of the year. The local produce is really starting to appear and cravings for raw or grilled veggies have come full force. I have probably mentioned this before but I have never been a store-bought salad dressing kind of girl. I grew up with oil and vinegar dressing on my salad, made directly into the salad bowl. I continued this trend for the last 5 years since I first lived on my own. That trend has come to an end however. No, I am not buying salad dressing now (although I do have an emergency bottle in the refrigerator), but I am making it ahead of time in my magic bullet, for use during the week.

My first attempt at this was a while back with a Basil Vinaigrette, and I was definitely won over. Since fresh vegetables have become more prominent, I have been tweaking a basic balsamic vinaigrette to get it just how I like it. I think I have finished the tweaking and am ready to share the recipe with you. This amount gets me through 4ish individual salads, as a little goes a long way. It is zesty, creamy, and perfect with cucumbers, tomatoes, mushrooms, avocado and more.

Zesty Balsamic Vinaigrette 

3 tbsp olive oil
4 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1.5 tsp mustard
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp basil
1/2 tsp oregano

1. Combine ingredients into magic bullet or blender and pulse for about 20-30 seconds. Some intense whisking may also work if you don't have a magic bullet or something similar. I find the bullet works very well at emulsifying the ingredients.
2. Top your favourite veggie combination!

I have made countless salads with this dressing but this one pictured is leaf lettuce, roasted asparagus, roasted mushrooms, avocado and parmesan cheese. All pictures that I took of this salad had the Pabst Blue Ribbon in sight and it was therefore unavoidable to admit that I like that beer. I guess I need to work on my food staging.

My First Whole Foods Trip and Stir Fried Rice

What a lovely day it has been today. It reached about 17 degrees C, but with the sun felt much warmer. I wore capris, and sandals, and was very warm wearing shorts and a T shirt on my run. Not only was the weather nice but I went to Whole Foods in Oakville for the first time. I have heard all about it through reading lots of American blogs and just couldn't wait to go myself. I figured today would be a perfect day! (disregarding the volume of shoppers out on this Holiday weekend Saturday)

The produce section was smaller than I expected but the rest of the store sure made up for it. The meat/seafood section was VERY impressive. There was lots of organic and "properly raised" meat, along with a big selection of grass fed beef, which is where my Dad picked it up for my 23rd Birthday dinner. The seafood is all labeled with where it is from and they had a lot of sustainably wild caught and properly farmed fish. There was also an impressive amount of prepared foods. I was very glad I ate lunch before I went because I would not have been able to resist the salad and hot food bar.

Any lingering hunger I had was supressed by the samples throughout the store. I tried a strawberry jalapeno jam on brie cheese. It was amazing and definitely worth the 8 dollars a jar for a special occasion. There was a ton of in-house made foods. Fresh pasta, sauces, salads, soups, sandwiches, pizza, meats, anything you could ever want! Was it pricey? Yes. But you know what, if I could afford it, didn't have the time to prepare something, and wanted to ensure I was eating something made from real food with natural ingredients, I would definitely head to Whole Foods (if there was one in my city, anyway).

Although I took the trip mostly just to take a look, see what all the hype was about, and check out some prices of some of my favourite products, I knew I would buy myself something. First I picked up some Green Mountain Gringo Hot Salsa which was on sale for $2, regular $6! To go along with that I chose one of my favourite brands of tortilla chips Guiltless Gourmet. I chose the spinach artichoke parmesan flavour. This brand is awesome because the seasonings are made with natural ingredients, a rare find in "healthy" chips. Finally, I picked up a berry scone. As soon as I saw it I knew that is what I wanted to have for breakfast on Easter Sunday when Lent is finally over. The cherry on top of the whole trip was that at the checkout, I got the chips for free because they didn't scan, and got 10 cents off for bringing my own bag, all while we listened to the live Jazz band playing by the checkouts.

I could get used to that place.

I'll send you off with a recipe I put together one night when I got home late and was starving. It was quick, easy, and very filling.

Stir-Fried Rice

1/2 tbsp olive oil
dried chili pepper (whatever you can handle)
~2 cups of frozen veggies (I used a blend of broccoli, pepper, carrot, beans, and water chestnuts)
1 garlic clove
1 tsp minced ginger
1 cup cooked brown rice
1 egg
1 egg white
dash of milk
soy sauce to taste

1. Heat oil with chili pepper on medium heat.
2. Add half defrosted veggies and garlic, and saute until no longer frozen.
3. Add ginger and rice and stir to combine. Heat for 3 minutes or so.
4. Meanwhile, beat egg, egg white and milk together. In a pan on medium-low heat, cook egg until about 1/2 done. Add to rice mixture and stir to combine, stirring until egg is cooked and veggies/rice are hot.
5. Serve topped with a bit of soy sauce.

This was my first time making a fried rice with egg and it turned out pretty good. I have made this twice since, and will probably make it many more times.

Have a fantastic Easter weekend!

Roasted Garlic and Greenhouse Vegetables

Tonight I roasted some garlic in preparation for my dinner tomorrow night. My housemate roasted garlic a few weeks ago and I tried a clove. It is delicious. If you have never done this or heard of doing this before, check out this video by Dani Spies, where she originally got the idea. One tip I was given was not to eat the whole garlic bulb in one sitting, as you will emanate garlic from places you didn't know garlic could emanate from.

On that note, I added a couple cloves to my salad for dinner this evening. Note: 2 only. Now, I normally veer from salad in the winter months (or when it is spring and snow is still in the forecast) becuase A) I am not in the mood for it, and B) most of my favourite salad ingredients are not as fresh and for the most part, not grown close to home. However, today while at the farmer's market, I found some Ontario greenhouse cucumber, tomato and bell pepper. I think I am a fan of this method of growing food. While very energy intensive, I like to think that it is better for the environment than importing these foods from the USA, Mexico, or Chile. Check out this link for more information on how the produce is grown.

With these vegetables in hand I had a fresh salad in mind. To add some protein I decided to throw in some lentils, and I would have added goat's milk cheese too if my last little bit hadn't gone bad :(

Greenhouse Vegetable Salad

1 cup chopped tomatoes
1 cup chopped cucumber
1/2 green bell pepper
1/4 cup chopped onion
3/4 cup cooked lentils

Dressing:
2 roasted garlic cloves, mashed
1/2 tbsp olive oil
red wine vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

For this salad I encountered a couple problems with putting it all together.
1) I had larger chunks of veggies and I think chopping them finer would have been easier to eat with the lentils.
2) I usually make salad dressing myself, directly into the salad, mostly eyeballing it. However, I think I would have gotten the most out of the garlic had I shaken it up with the dressing outside of the salad, being sure to break up the garlic, and then dress the salad.
So keep these points in mind if you decide to make yourself this salad.

All-in-all it was a refreshing change from my recent hot meals. The tomatoes, bell pepper and cucumber, tasted no different than what you find at your grocery store currently (read: tasted okay). I got a bit of a taste for summer, and I cannot wait to get my hands on some backyard tomatoes.

Spiced Veggies and Chickpeas

I made this dish last week when all I wanted was to consume a large amount of vegetables that were packed with flavour. I added the chickpeas to add some protein to make it a little more hearty. I wish I could say I remember exactly how much of everything I added but I can't. All I know is that I knew from the get go that a basic pan would not hold all my veggies, and that a saucepan would have to be used. Turns out this was an excellent idea, as the vegetables got very soft and almost stew like, without the sauce. In this recipe I got to use a spice combination I picked up at the One of a Kind Craft Show in Toronto in December. It is called dukkah. It is great on toasted naan or pita, but also makes a nice topping to dishes such as this. By the way, I cannot wait for the next show to treat myself to another new spice/condiment. The products that you can find there are fantastic. Oh...and did I mention there are free samples...EVERYWHERE?!?


Spiced Vegetables with Chickpeas

I appologize for how rough this recipe is, but it must be flexible since I winged it and it turned out great. It is also all about your taste and how much spice you can handle. Don't like ginger? Use less or leave it out. Love garlic? Start mincing those cloves! I also kept the size of the chopped veggies fairly large which is also a matter of taste.

1.5 tbsp olive oil
1/4 tsp chili flakes
1.5 tsp cumin
red onion, chopped
cremini mushrooms, sliced
carrots, chopped
celery, chopped
brussel sprouts (cut into halves/quarters)
1 can of water chestnuts
1 small cauliflower head, chopped
1 brocolli crown, chopped
3/4 tsp tumeric
4 coves garlic, minced
1 tbsp chopped fresh ginger
1 can chickpeas
black pepper
1-2 tbsp sesame oil

1. Heat olive oil over medium-high heat with chili flakes and cumin. Once fragrant, add the onions and saute for a couple minutes.
2. Add the rest of the vegetables. Stir well for 5-10 minutes until vegetables begin to cook.
3. Add tumeric and stir well to combine.
4. Add chickpeas, garlic, ginger, and black pepper. Stir and continue to heat on medium until vegetables are soft.
5. Drizzle with some sesame oil, mix in well and remove from heat.
6. Serve with dukkah sprinkled on top.

This is a good intermediate dish between wanting the fresh salads riddled with vegetables of the summer, but still craving the warm comfort food of winter.

Kale Chips

I kind of lost track of time this week. Before I knew it, it had been 7 days since my last post. I told myself that once school starts I will make sure I make at least 1 post a week, no matter how busy I get. I plan to hold myself to it.

Today's post is about something that has taken the world by storm. When I say world, I mean my housemates. I decided to make some kale chips about a week ago. The housemates were intrigued. I urged them to try these crispy green chips. After the weird looks and hesitant hands, my housemates tasted the green chips. They loved them!

Kale Chips

1 stalk of kale, fills a big bowl with leaves
~0.5 tbsp olive oil
salt to taste
smoked garlic (or garlic powder) to taste

Wash and dry kale. Remove the leaves of the kale stalk by pulling up on the stalk until the leaf comes off. This is the best way to remove the tougher stem. Put the leaves in a bowl. Toss in olive oil, salt and garlic.

before

Bake in a 425 degree F oven for about 5-10 minutes, tossing half-way through,

almost done

until crispy and browned at the edges. The time to crisp depends on how moist the leaves were.

finito!

These are such a great crispy side to a meal or snack. It is a great way to get a big serving for greens and a salty snack at the same time. I really want to experiment with these with different flavours. I'd love to make a ketchup, BBQ or dill pickle variety. To get these right might take a lot of trial and error but I'm willing to attempt it.

The weather has really cooled down the past few days and has influence my cooking for sure! Expect to see some fall-influenced foods soon!

Fresh House, Fresh Tomato Sauce

I am now blogging from my new kitchen in my new house! It is a wonderful kitchen with more gadgets and small appliances than any other student house, I am sure. We are now fully settled in, and I am enjoying my last few days of summer before school starts. Along with everything I own, I made sure to bring some veggies from my parent's garden when I moved in. I brought tomatoes, leeks, eggplant, chili peppers, and managed to dry some basil in time for the move.

I had 5 very ripe plum tomatoes on hand and knew I could not forgive myself if I didn't make some tomato sauce at the end of my personal tomato season (no longer right out my back door). I usually rush sauces when making them for myself and do not take the time to do it properly. I figured I would do it differently this time since I currently feel like I have all the time in the world. The sauce turned out pretty good and has been used in two different recipes which I will be posting in due time.

Fresh Tomato Sauce

5 Plum tomatoes
1 tbsp olive oil
1 clove of garlic, chopped finely
1 small leek, chopped
1 cm of chili pepper, chopped finely
oregano (sprinkle to taste)
basil (sprinkle to taste)
1 bay leaf
2 tbsp tomato paste
salt and pepper to taste

To remove skin and seeds from tomato:
Bring a pot of water to a boil, leaving enough room for tomatoes. Make very shallow slices all around the tomato to make a cross shape.

Add tomatoes to boiling water. Boil until skin starts to peel back, a minute or two. The riper the tomatoes are, the quicker this will happen. Remove from water and allow to cool. Peel off the skin and cut off the tough stem areas. Cut into quarters. Remove seeds and put into a fine strainer over a bowl. Cut remaining tomato flesh into bite sized pieces. Once all the tomatoes have been seeded, move the fleshy seeds around in the strainer to remove all the juices. Add these juices to the diced tomatoes.

To make the sauce:
In a medium pot, add olive oil, chili pepper, and garlic. Heat on medium-high for a few minutes until fragrant. Add leeks and saute for 3 to 5 minutes, until soft.

Add tomatoes, tomato juice, and tomato paste. Heat until simmering for 5 minutes.

Remove from heat and use a hand blender to blend the tomato pieces. This can be done as much or as little as you wish. I do not normally do this but wanted a traditional sauce this time. Put blended sauce back on heat and add oregano, basil, bay leaf, and salt and pepper to taste.

Simmer until sauce has reduced to desired consistency, about 15 minutes. Remove bay leaf.

This sauce was very fresh and delicious. It really would not have been the same without the fresh overripe tomatoes. I will miss those guys. I used this sauce to make a baked pasta as well as a baked bean dish. Good comfort food let me tell you.

I'll leave you with a few pictures of the new place and some meals I've created in it.

blogging station #1

blogging station #2

Leeks, Zucchini and Tomato with Black Pearl Medley Rice

Roasted Eggplant and Red Pepper


Dilled Carrots and Beans with Cottage Cheese on Lavash

Oven Roasted Tomatoes, and Refreshing Iced Green Tea

I'm going to begin today with a bit of disclaimer. Today is not a recipe day. These foods are just too simple to be labeled as such. While ever so simple, the oven roasted tomatoes and iced green tea have been simple pleasures for me the past week so I thought I would share them.

With so many tomatoes around here, believe it or not was getting a little tired of eating them raw. I love raw tomatoes but I also love a good plump and juicy cooked tomato. Whether whole or in sauce or stew, I love them. Roasting tomatoes is very easy and results in wonderful flavour. They are so versatile and can be used for almost anything!

You may recall the roasted tomatoes from the Eggs with Tomato post. Those were roasted with just a touch of olive oil. The day before however I made roasted tomato with onion. I meant to add garlic as well but I forgot...typical!


Oven Roasted Tomatoes

Slice plum tomatoes in half and put into a bowl. Add chunks of onion and halved garlic cloves. Sprinkle with basil and oregano. Toss in olive oil until coated. Place on pan cut face up and bake for 30 minutes at 400 degrees F. Cut into smaller pieces as desired once cooled.

Since there are so little seeds these would be great to add to a stew or to a stir fry. There is enough flavour in these to simply top a piece of crusty bread, or toss with some pasta.

Along with tomatoes, summer brings hot afternoons and cravings for cooling drinks. I wanted something that was more flavourful than my go-to liquid (water) but wasn't loaded with sugar. I settled on making some home-made iced green tea.


Iced Green Tea

Heat water in a medium pot (I have no idea how much I used). Once almost boiled, remove from heat, add three tea bags, and cover with a lid. Depending on how strong you want the tea, you can steep it longer or add less water/more tea bags. Once the desired strength is reached, remove the lid and allow to cool. I was told that the beneficial compounds in green tea are volatile and therefore you should keep it covered while still warm. Therefore, I recommend keeping the pot covered, and placing it in a larger pot with ice to speed the cooling. While waiting for the tea to cool, squeeze one half of a lemon into a pitcher. Once the tea is no longer hot, pour into pitcher and put in refrigerator until cold. When ready to serve, add some frozen fruit to keep it cool, and sweeten it just a tad.

This definitely hit the spot!

Today was a beautiful day in Hamilton, Ontario. The air was crisp and the sun was still warm. I can definitely feel fall around the corner. Last weekend a friend of mine hosted a BBQ to bring some friends together as the summer comes to a close. My next post will feature my contribution to the meal.