Category Archives: Dinner

Swiss Chard and Onion Pakoras

Posted on by

0

I’ve been having some big cravings for pakoras lately. I am not sure why I’ve wanted them so bad, they aren’t something that we’ve every regularly eaten, and I’ve never made them before, but this week I made it my mission to cook some up! Veggie pakoras can have a lot of different add-ins, often spinach is an ingredient, onion as well. As usual, I didn’t have spinach on hand but had a handful of delicious swiss chard, and knew that this would be an easy substitution. These pakoras pack a little heat, so feel free to tone down the spice. A lot of extra spice can be had with some good mint chutney, make it yourself if you dare (I will be daring to do this later, today I used store-bought… I know, I know, Stacey, get it together).

Swiss Chard and Onion Pakoras

Adapted from here.

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 cups Chickpea Flour  (aka Besan or Gram Flour)
  • 1 tbsp crushed red pepper (use half if you are spice-averse)
  • ¾ tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp garam masala (make your own, essentially it is my Amazing Curry spice mix, minus the salt and the chilli powder)
  • ½ tsp baking powder
  • 1 green chili pepper, thinly sliced (use half if you are spice-averse)
  • ½ cup fresh cilantro, chopped
  • 1/2 large yellow onion (or 1 medium onion, my onions were massive), sliced into 1/8inch crescents (cut in half, chop off ends, cut along ribs to create thin, but not too thin, slices)
  • 4-6 leaves of Swiss chard, fold the leaves in half lengthwise, cut off stem, and slice into 1/4-inch thick, 2-inch long strips.
  • 1 cup warm water
  • Grapeseed oil (or another mild-flavoured oil), for deep frying

DIRECTIONS

  1. Fill an 8-inch cast-iron skillet half-way up with oil. Heat the oil to 360-375ºF.
  2. In a large bowl, toss together the chickpea flour, red chili flakes, garam masala, salt, baking powder, sliced chilli pepper, cilantro, Swiss chard, and sliced onion.
  3. Slowly add in the water, while mixing with a wooden spoon or your hands. Vigorously mix for a couple of seconds. The batter will be thick, and air bubbles should be evident, if not, give it another vigorous stir.
  4. If you don’t have a thermometer that goes to 360°F, don’t fret. Put the end of a wooden spoon into the oil, if there are a lot of bubbles forming around the end, and coming towards the surface, you are ready to fry.
  5. When the oil is ready, carefully place heaping tablespoons of batter into the pot. Don’t do more than three, or four at a time. If you overcrowd the pan, you will lower the temperature of the oil significantly and your pakoras wont fry, but absorb the oil. Greasy pakoras are no good.
  6. Turning once, fry until the pakoras are a pecan-brown. Drain on a cooling rack placed over a cookie sheet.
  7. Repeat with the remainder of the batter.
  8. Serve with mint chutney, sriracha, mango chutney, ketchup chutney, ketchup, anything really.

This is my kitchen situation. Small space, but now that we’ve removed the microwave, it is a lot more functional. That cord off to the left? That’s my camera cord, as right now it is the only way to use my camera… I forgot my battery charger in the Yukon and sadly the cord only allows the camera to operate, it doesn’t charge it.

Butter Chicken and Naan from scratch

Posted on by

1

I love butter chicken, and usually make it with a curry paste from the store. Today, I felt inspired to go all the way and make it from scratch, and let me tell you, it was awesome. It was also really easy. I’ve had a lot of failed naans, and while Gen has loved them all (he clearly eats anything), even he says that this is the closest to restaurant naan ever. Huzzzzzaaaah! I am feeling pretty thrilled with the whole meal, it was insanely good, and I kept going back to the stove to scoop some of the sauce up in the naan. Warning, this recipe has a stack of ingredients, most you should have, but if not… get them, and make this. Seriously.

Butter Chicken

Adapted from Jo Cooks.

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 lb chicken breast, boneless and skinless, cut into small pieces
  • 3 garlic gloves, minced
  • 1 tsp ginger paste
  • 2 tsp chili powder
  • 1 tbsp coriander
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 3 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1 block of extra firm tofu (if you want a little extra protein in there, it takes the sauce beautifully)
  • 3 tomatoes, cut into small pieces
  • 1 large red onion, chopped
  • 3-4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 tsp ginger paste
  • 2 green chilis, diced
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 2 tsp chili powder
  • 1 tbsp coriander
  • 1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 1 tbsp dark brown sugar
  • 1/2 stick unsalted butter
  • 1/4 cup cashew nuts
  • salt to taste
  • 1 tbsp garam masala
  • 1/4 cup parsley, chopped for garnish
  • 2 – 4 cups water

DIRECTIONS

  1. Mix together the first section of ingredients, the chicken, garlic, ginger, chili powder, coriander, and salt. Make sure the chicken is well coated.
  2. Heat up the oil in a large skillet, add the chicken and cook for about 7 minutes; remove from skillet.
  3. In the same skillet, add the cumin seeds, onion, and remaining garlic and ginger and sauté for a couple minutes, until the onion is slightly translucent. Add a two cups of water and stir.
  4. Add the cashew nuts, coriander powder, chili powder, fenugreek seeds, chopped chilis, and tomatoes, stir well.
  5. Cook the sauce over medium-low heat for about 30 minutes. Start your naan now, it needs an hour to rise and so be doing that while you are working on the rest of the sauce.
  6. Pour the sauce in a blender and blend it until it’s nice and smooth (I used my hand blender, and while it didn’t get totally smooth, it was still great). Pour the sauce back in the skillet.
  7. Add another cup of water and the butter. Add the sugar and salt to taste.
  8. If you are using the tofu, pour a little oil onto a pan and sauté the tofu until it is slightly browned on the edges. Add it into the sauce with the chicken in the next step.
  9. Add the cream and the chicken (and tofu) to the sauce. Cook for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  10. Add the garam masala and stir well. Taste for salt, add as needed.
  11. Garnish with fresh parsley.

Naan

Also from Jo Cooks.

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 tsp dry active yeast
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1/2 cup lukewarm water
  • 2 1/2 to 3 cups flour
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 1/4 cup plain yogurt
  • 1 large egg

DIRECTIONS

  1. In a small bowl, combine the yeast, sugar, and water. Mix well and let sit for about 10 min until frothy on top.
  2. In a large bowl, combine the yogurt, oil, and egg and whisk well. Pour in the yeast mixture and whisk to combine.
  3. Starting with 1 cup of the flour, add the salt to it and mix. Add this first cup of flour to your wet ingredients and stir until well combined. Continue by adding the flour, half a cup at a time, until you can’t stir it with the spoon any longer. If you are using a mixer and a dough hook, add flour until the dough is no longer sticky, and it forms a nice ball.
  4. Turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead, adding flour until the dough no longer sticks. It is likely that you will use the full 3 cups. The dough should be nice and soft but not sticky.
  5. Place the dough in an oiled bowl and cover it with a clean kitchen towel, letting it rise until doubled in size, about an hour.
  6. After it rises, cut the dough into 8 equal pieces and shape each piece into a small ball.
  7. Heat a large skillet over medium heat and spray with non-stick spray. Roll out one ball at a time until it’s about 1/4 inch thick and about 5 inches in diameter. Place the rolled out dough onto the hot skillet and cook until the bottom side is golden brown and you should see large bubbles forming on the surface. Flip the dough and cook the other side until it’s golden. Butter them as they come off the skillet.
  8. Serve with butter chicken.

Well-coated chicken

Cooked-down veggies, ready to be smoothified.

Final spices, chicken, and cream added to the mix.

Naan, getting rolled out.

The set up.

Buttermilk Biscuits + Lentil Soup with coconut milk and red lentils

Posted on by

0

This delicious, vegetarian and VEGAN, soup was made by my mother while we were up in the Yukon a couple weeks ago. She got the recipe from her friend Karen, and I got the recipe from my mom. It is hearty and delicious. We mopped the soup up with my mom’s throw-together buttermilk biscuits, which Gen LOVED. This soup will help sop up the alcohol in your system after munching the treats below.

Lentil Soup

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 cups red lentils
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 small onions, finely chopped
  • 3 large carrots, chopped small
  • 4-6 cloves garlic, minced
  • 4-6 tsp turmeric
  • 4-6 tsp cumin seed
  • 12 tsp cracked black peppercorns
  • 1 can(796 ml) chopped tomatoes
  • 6 cups vegetable broth
  • 1 can coconut milk (398 ml)
  • 12 fresh lemon squeezed

DIRECTIONS

  1. In a large pot, heat oil over medium heat. Add onions and carrots and cook, stirring, until softened, about 15 minutes.
  2. Add garlic, turmeric, cumin seeds, and peppercorns and cook, stirring for about 2 minutes.
  3. Add your water, lentils, and tomatoes. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer at med. for 15 minutes.
  4. Add coconut milk and lemon juice. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and let simmer for at least 1 hour.
  5. In the meantime, make biscuits!
  6. When ready to serve, ladle into bowls and top with lemon slices, a dollop of plain yogurt, and cilantro!

Buttermilk Biscuits

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 tsp salt
  • 3 heaping tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 cup margarine (or butter)
  • 3/4 buttermilk to start, more as needed

DIRECTIONS

A quick note: My mom has this recipe in her mind, so I am transcribing her instructions as given on the phone. Adding the milk is the contested bit as her instructions were “as much milk as needed to get the right consistency…” Okay.. thanks! Haha, so I’ve estimated to start with about 3/4 cup and go from there. You will probably use up to 1 1/2 cups, but start small!

  1. Preheat oven to 425°F.
  2. Whisk together flour, salt, and baking powder.
  3. Cut in the margarine with a pastry cutter, until the mixture is like pebbles. You want marg bits the size of peas, evenly through the flour mixture.
  4. Pour in the buttermilk and mix until a sticky dough has formed. Add more buttermilk as needed, but don’t overmix. Once it has come together, you are done.
  5. Plop the dough onto a lightly-floured surface. Pat the dough into a roughly even, thick circle. My mom emphases the need to keep the biscuits are thick!
  6. Cut out circles with a glass dipped in flour. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 9 minutes, or until golden. Pull one open to check for doneness, it should be fluffy.

Veggies getting their sweat on.

Mom insists that the most important part of the recipe is a chunk of carrot for the dog.

Getting ready to cook it all down a bit.

Cutting the butter into the flour. Biscuit time!

This shot was made possible only after I told mom, “No, it needs to be pouring out. Pooooourrring out” I got a sassy look.

Biscuits of heaven. They are fluffy on the inside with the perfect crunch on the outside.

The holy grail of recipes, my mom’s recipe book. One day I’d like to transcribe this for my sister and I.

Stuffed Shells & Apple Dijion Kale Salad

Posted on by

2

This meal rocks. I know that is tooting my own horn, but seriously, this is good eats. Gen, when he came home at 11pm and took a bite of the cold leftovers, said, “This is better than most restaurant food.” Not loving the “most,” but I’ll take it! The stuffed shells are cozy, warm, downhome eats. The salad is bright, tangy, and texture-rich. Awesome combo that I will surely make again. Once again, I found the salad on the wonderful Budget Bytes and made very slight adjustments. While most recipes for stuffed shells call for spinach, I LOVE Swiss chard, and it was on sale, so I used it instead. It adds a little sweetness and a nice variety of colour to the dish. Also, the step-by-step is PACKED with pictures… just a warning.

Stuffed Shells

Adapted from a Canadian Living recipe.

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 1/2 lb ground beef
  • 3 small (or 1.5 large) red onions, finely chopped
  • 6 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 1/2 tsp dried basil
  • 1 1/2 tsp oregano
  • 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp pepper
  • 1 can (28 oz/796 mL) diced tomatoes
  • 1 can (28 oz/796 mL) tomato sauce
  • 1 box jumbo pasta shells (these were hard to find, I had to hit up 4 grocery stores… I was worried I’d have to stuff tiny little shells)
  • 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
  • 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • 2 bunches (about 10 leaves) of Swiss chard (I used both the white and red versions)
  • 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
  • 4 green onions, chopped
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 1 tsp dried basil
  • 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1/4 tsp pepper
  • 1 tub (475g) ricotta cheese

DIRECTIONS

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F
  2. In large pan, heat half of the oil over medium-high heat; cook beef, breaking up with spoon, for 8 minutes or until no longer pink. Drain fat, and remove meat from pan. Set aside.
  3. Trim your Swiss chard, removing the tips of the stems and any brown spots. Rinse the chard and cut/tear into quarters. Steam the chard until tender, about 10 minutes. Place steamed chard onto a tea towel to dry a bit.
  4. Add remaining oil to pan; sauté the onions and garlic for 5 minutes. Add basil, oregano, hot pepper flakes, salt, pepper, tomatoes, and tomato sauce. Return beef to pan; bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring often, for 20 to 25 minutes or until thickened.
  5. Meanwhile, in large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package directions until tender but firm. Drain and rinse under cold water; drain well and place on damp tea towel.
  6. Filling: Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine steamed Swiss chard, ricotta, Parmesan, mozzarella, parsley, onions, eggs, basil, nutmeg, and pepper.
  7. Pour half of the tomato-meat sauce into 13 x 9-inch casserole dish. Spoon heaping tablespoons of filling into each pasta shell. Arrange snugly, stuffed side up, in dish. Spoon remaining sauce over top; sprinkle with mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses. Cover with foil.
  8. Bake covered for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake for 20 minutes or until heated through.
  9. While baking, make salad!

Apple Dijion Kale Salad

From Budget Bytes.

INGREDIENTS

  • 1/3 cup olive oil
  • 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 1 1/2 tbsp dijon mustard
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • 1 bunch kale
  • 1 medium granny smith apple
  • 1/4 cup dried cranberries
  • 1/2 cup walnut halves

DIRECTIONS

  1. Tear or cut the kale leaves from the stems. Cut the leaves into 2-inch squares and then rinse well under cool water (in a colander). Allow the kale to drain as you prepare the rest of the salad.
  2. In a bowl combine the olive oil, apple cider vinegar, dijon mustard, clove of garlic, salt, and pepper. Using a hand blender, blend until the garlic is minced and the dressing is smooth.
  3. Wash the apple and chop it into chunks. Roughly chop the walnut halves. Make sure the kale is as dry as possible and then combine it in a large bowl with the apples, walnuts, and dried cranberries. Pour the dressing on top and toss to coat.

Step-by-steps

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F
  2. In large pan, heat half of the oil over medium-high heat; cook beef, breaking up with spoon, for 8 minutes or until no longer pink. Drain fat, and remove meat from pan. Set aside.
  3. Trim your Swiss chard, removing the tips of the stems and any brown spots. Rinse the chard and cut/tear into quarters. Steam the chard until tender, about 10 minutes. Place steamed chard onto a tea towel to dry a bit.

    Swiss chard is one of my favourites. Also wonderful steamed and sautéed with butter and garlic.

  4. Add remaining oil to pan; sauté the onions and garlic for 5 minutes. Add basil, oregano, hot pepper flakes, salt, pepper, tomatoes, and tomato sauce. Return beef to pan; bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring often, for 20 to 25 minutes or until thickened.

    Sautéed onions and garlic, with spices added!

  5. Meanwhile, in large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package directions until tender but firm. Drain and rinse under cold water; drain well and place on damp tea towel.

    Jumbo shell is like the mama of the regular shells. Awww so cute.

  6. Filling: Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine steamed Swiss chard, ricotta, Parmesan, mozzarella, parsley, onions, eggs, basil, nutmeg, and pepper.

    Stuffing for shells!

  7. Pour half of the tomato-meat sauce into 13 x 9-inch casserole dish. Spoon heaping tablespoons of filling into each pasta shell. Arrange snugly, stuffed side up, in dish. Spoon remaining sauce over top; sprinkle with mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses. Cover with foil.

    Stuffing the shells. They looked nice and neat until I had to start shoving them into places to finishing the filling batch.

  8. Bake covered for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake for 20 minutes or until heated through.

    Pre-oven layer confirmation. Niiiiice.

  9. While baking, make salad!

Salad! I have no idea why this picture is sideways… oh well.

Curry Chicken Salad– tart, creamy,crunchy, delicious

Posted on by

1

I need to apologize for my disappearance lately. I’d love to blame it on the romanticism of married life, but truly, I have been insanely busy, commuting out to New Westminister for audiobook recording, researching for my thesis, and trying to keep up with the ridiculous number of professional commitments I’ve signed up for. It’s all very exciting but it is also exhausting and terribly it is Not Crocker that has suffered… oh and my husband, because I’ve barely cooked. But! BUT! Today I made chicken salad. As a meal. AS A MEAL. And it was glorious and easy. I’ve always thought of chicken salad as something you make with left over chicken, but cooking chicken fresh, for the purpose of chicken salad is AWESOME. Recommend, 10/10, will cook again. I got the recipe base from one of my favourite blogs, Budget Bytes, and I adjusted it just for my own tastes and personal preferences! I am going to try this recipe with a marinade on my chicken one day and report back!

Curry Chicken Salad

Lightly adjusted from here.

Ingredients

  • 2 chicken breast halves
  • salt & pepper to taste
  • 1/2 tsp ground ginger
  • 3 stalks of celery
  • 4 green onions
  • 1 yellow or red pepper (green is cool too but then you have a really green dish)
  • 1/2 cup sliced almonds
  • 1 tart green apple (I used Granny Smith)
  • 1/2 cup dried cranberries

Dressing

  • 1/4 cup mayonnaise (make your own!)
  • 1/3 cup plain greek yogurt
  • 1 1/4 tsp lime juice (or lemon)
  • 1 1/2 tsp curry powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper

Directions

  1. Season both sides of the chicken breasts with a light sprinkle of salt, pepper, and ground ginger. Cook the chicken breast on a grill, I used our counter-top one, or in a skillet until cooked through. Refrigerate the cooked chicken breast while you prepare the rest of the salad.
  2. Slice the green onions, and chop the apple, pepper, and celery into small pieces. For the apple, I quartered it, cut the quarters into thirds and sliced those thirds into small chunks. Put the green onion, celery, apple, sliced almonds, and dried cranberries in a large bowl, sprinkle with a little lime juice to prevent the apples from browning.
  3. In a small bowl, stir together the mayonnaise, yogurt, lime juice, curry powder, salt, and pepper in a small bowl. Taste the mixture to see if you prefer more curry powder.
  4. Take the cooled chicken out. Cut the chicken into small cubes and place it in the large bowl with the rest of the chopped ingredients. Stir to combine. Pour the dressing over top and stir to coat.
  5. Eat. I am definitely making a sandwich with this sometime. Soooo tasty. Oh yes, and it may or may not be accompanied by a fruity beer.

Fresh mayo in the tall cup, veggies and spices, ready to go!

Okay, okay, so the recipe says to pour the dressing onto the veggies, but I just chopped and plopped the veggies onto my dressing. Works either way!

Scrumptious