Gobble gobble

SIMPLElicious: Turkey soup with Sweet potato and collards

Already sick of turkey sandwiches? Looking for a gluten-free option? I thought I’d strike while the iron (and the soup) is hot and bang out this simple recipe while I enjoy its deliciousness. It would be great if you enjoyed it, too.

1 tbsp butter
1 red onion, julienned
2 bouillon cubes
2c diced sweet potato
water to cover plus 1 inch
4c julienned collard greens
a handful of stemmed fresh savory
2c chopped leftover turkey
liberal salt
fresh ground pepper to taste

Melt the butter in the bottom of a good-sized pot, and sauté the onion in it for about 10 minutes. Add a bit of salt to sweat the onions while they cook. Then add the sweet potato, bouillon cubes and water, and cook for about 20 mins. Once the sweet potato is cooked through, add the turkey, collards, savory, salt and pepper and heat it through. Voila! You’re done! Wheeeeeeeeee

Blackened Cherry-bomb Chili Hot Sauce

Blackened Cherry-bomb Chili Hot Sauce

I know, I know… I get spankings for being a terrible blogger (bends over)… Phew. Now that we have that over with, I did make the best hot sauce I’ve ever made recently. Cherry-bomb chilis procured from the farmer’s market, be still my heart!! Our long, hot Ontarian summer has elicited chilis that pack a serious punch. If you don’t want your version of this sauce to make your dinner guests jump out of their seats and make lip-smacking sounds while shaking their heads vigorously, feel free to increase the “diluting” flavours – roasted tomatoes and carrots. ☺

1 tbsp. ghee or olive oil
10-12 fresh cherry-bomb chilis
5 cloves of garlic, peeled
2 carrots, sliced and roasted
2 tomatoes, sliced and roasted
¼ cup olive oil
½ tsp. salt

Heat the ghee in a frying pan (it’s the best fatty substance for the job due to its ability to carry high heat and brown beautifully). Toss the chilis in whole and coat with the viscous ghee, and then let them sit on one side for a while to blacken before shifting their position in the pan. After 10 minutes, add the garlic and continue the blackening process. In the meantime, roast the carrots and tomatoes at 425° in liberal amounts of olive oil and salt. Once the chilis are sufficiently blackened (a.k.a. entirely), remove from heat and let them cool. Now is the time to don some gloves, or at the very least, cover your hands with plastic bags. Please learn from my mistake!
Slip the skins off of the chilis, de-stem and remove half the seeds – discard more if you want less heat. Blend the chili flesh with carrots, tomatoes, olive oil and salt. Serve over stir-fry, dal, curry, eggs or pretty much anything you want to lend this sweet, delicious heat all over.

Seared Halibut with Cilantro-Dill pesto, Sweet Potato Mash and Local Hazelmere Greens

Who’s on a cleanse? I am, but I ain’t starvin, that’s fo damn sho! The trick to successful cleansing is to be prepared. You do have to spend more time in the kitchen, but that can be seen as an opportunity to broaden your culinary horizons, and exert a little self-love and nutrition appreciation in the process!

Cleanse or not, this meal was epic. Local halibut is abundant on Vancouver Island these days, and there is increasing awareness around the necessity of promoting local foods. Hazelmere Farms is run by a local Taiwanese couple who grow an incredible variety of foods, including certified organic wasabi root, mountain yam, a bumper crop of celeriac, and the Worlds’ Best Salad Mix, with at least 12 varieties of usual and unusual greens. These are complimented beautifully by the rooting, grounding qualities of sweet potato. Enjoy!

serves 2

Preparation time: 45 mins, including pesto

2c cubed, cooked sweet potato
1 tbsp butter
3/4c onion, chopped
salt to taste

2 5oz halibut filets, or other local white fish
1 tsp butter

Salad Dressing:

2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp flax oil
1 lemon, juiced
1/2 tsp salt
2 cloves garlic, pressed
Salad Greens


Cilantro Pesto:
see the very bottom of this blog for recipe. Substitute half of the cilantro with fresh dill, if desired and in season.


In a frying pan, saute the onions in heated butter with a pinch of salt. After about 5 minutes, when the onions start to turn translucent, add the cooked sweet potato. As you stir, also mash with the back of your spoon. Add salt and fresh ground black pepper liberally. When they’re close to done, heat 1 tsp of butter in a separate pan. Salt each side of the fish. Sear the halibut filets on med-high heat, for approximately 3 minutes on each side (depending on thickness of filet). Without fully tearing the fish, you can gently tease apart a bit of the centre of the filet to see if it’s cooked through. DON’T OVERCOOK YOUR FISH!!

For the salad dressing, simply combine all the ingredients in a jar with a lid and shake vigourously. This emulsifies the liquid, making it opaque, dissolving the salt and marrying the flavours.

To serve, toss the greens in the dressing. Plate even amounts of sweet potato, stack your halibut on top, and garnish with cilantro pesto. Accompany with copious amounts of deliciously fresh greens...
mmmMMMMM!!!!!

Creamasmic Potato-kale Soup

This humble soup took on a different dimension with the addition of some leftover white basmati rice... kinda like liquid mashed potatoes, with buttered popcorn, but without dairy! (save for the butter, which can be omitted). Pureed for easy pouring out of the mountain thermos, fresh off the slopes of another powder day... yes, this is my life!!

4 large potatoes, diced
water to cover, plus 5 cm more
2 stock cubes

1 tbsp butter
1 1/2 onion, medium-sized
3 cloves garlic
3 stalks celery
1/2 can coconut cream
1 1/2 cups cooked basmati rice
1 tsp salt
fresh ground pepper to taste
1 1/2c chopped kale, de-stemmed

fresh dill for garnish

Cook the potatoes in boiling water, with the stock cubes added. (This is my cheat, if you have homemade stock on hand, by all means...) Meanwhile, melt the butter, toss in the onion and garlic, and saute on medium heat. After about 10 minutes, add the celery and continue to saute. Once the celery has softened nicely, and the potatoes have cooked through, add the saute mix to the soup pot. Add the coconut and basmati rice as well. Toss in the kale and go for it with your trusty hand blender... bring back up to your desired heat and serve garnished with fresh dill! oh, if you keep truffle oil around the house, that’s a nice addition too.

may the fresh be with you,
ladyk

Borscht with Crispy Leek and Creme Fraiche

BORSCHT with ARUGULA, CRISPY LEEK AND CREME FRAICHE

The seductive quality of deep red cabbage soup is not lost on this woman, especially being partnered with a Russian man! Fall in the northwest brings a bounty of beets, cabbage, apples and dill... which inspired this satisfying soup. Be generous with the creme fraiche, as it compliments the astringency of the cabbage and beets beautifully.

6c water or vegetable stock
(if not using stock, substitute 1 veg. bouiilon cube)
4 cloves garlic
1/4c thinly sliced burdock
1 small beet, grated
2c julienned savoy cabbage
1/2c sliced apple
1 tsp sea salt
fresh dill and arugula for garnish
creme fraiche for garnish
fresh ground black pepper to taste

1 tsbp butter
2c julienned leeks
pinch of salt

Heat your stock/water and, if necessary, dissolve the bouillon cube in the water. Chop your garlic and toss it in when it has come to a boil. Follow closely with the burdock, as it takes a while to soften. Meanwhile. heat the tbsp of butter in a separate frying pan. When hot, toss in the leeks and a pinch of salt, and saute until caramelized. Remove from heat.
Back to the soup - grate the beet and toss it into your soup pot. This should be about 5 minutes after the burdock went in. Toss the savoy cabbage in and let the soup bubble on at medium temperature. Add the apple shortly thereafter and remove from heat after 3-4 minutes.

Chop your desired amount of arugula and add it to the empty soup bowls. Pour the soup in, top each with creme fraiche, dill and caramelized leek. Add fresh ground black pepper and savour!

Saffron Pilaf

Saffron is one of the most delectable, and difficult to describe, flavours that exist. Deep, earthy, rich and slightly bitter, saffron balances all doshas and is a potent aphrodisiac! This simple pilaf can be eaten on its own or be the base of any veggie dishes you want to serve. The bright yellow colour is enhanced by turmeric, a powerful root that is antibacterial, antifungal and antiparasitic. It's deep, bitter flavour is the basis for all curries, and also colours the robes of monks in India.

1 tbsp ghee
1 1/2 tsp. whole cumin seed
1/2c onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 pinches of Spanish or Indian saffron (not American)
1/2c warm water
1 tsp turmeric
1 1/2c basmati rice, rinsed thoroughly
1 1/4c filtered water
1/2 frozen peas
1 tsp salt
fresh chopped cilantro for garnish

Heat the ghee in the bottom of the pot that you will eventually cook the rice in. When hot, toss in the cumin seed and allow to brown, about 30 seconds. Add the onion and garlic, and saute until the onion is soft, about 7-10 minutes. It's ideal for the onion to be completely cooked before continuing this process, as otherwise you could end up with crunchy onion - eeeew. In the meantime, add the saffron to the 1/2 cup of water, which will allow it's colour and flavour to disperse.
Once the onion is cooked, add the rice to the pan and saute without water at first, toasting it in the pan and coating with the cumin-y ghee. After about 2 minutes of stirring, add the saffron water, the other 1 1/4c of water, the turmeric, peas and salt. Bring to a boil and cook covered for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, remove the pot from heat but don't lift the lid. Just before serving, garnish with cilantro and inhale with delight... this dish smells amazing!

Chickpea-tomato-coconut YUM!

The purpose of this blog is to publish my simple, go-to recipes that I eat on a regular basis. This dish is Indian in impression, although as far as I know it doesn't have a traditional name. Easy, hearty, wintery... perfect snowboarding food!

Time Required: 15 minutes
Put on some brown or basmati rice to start.

1 tsp ghee
1 tbsp cumin
1/2 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic
2 carrots (if we have em)
2 pcs celery, diced
8 oz.can tomatoes, diced
1 can chickpeas
1/2 can coconut milk
4 leaves of kale
at least 1 tsp salt
fresh cilantro for garnish
habanero hot sauce, to taste (not for pittas!)

Heat the ghee in the pan. Test the temperature by tossing in a couple seeds. When it's ready the oil will sizzle. Add the cumin, and when it starts to darken (not burn!), add the garlic and onion. Toss and cook on medium heat. When the onions start to become translucent, add the carrots and celery, and a pinch of salt. Saute for about 3-4 minutes, then add the tomatoes, chickpeas, coconut milk, and a bit more salt. After about 5 more minutes, add the kale and cook for 3 more minutes. Turn off the heat and garnish with fresh cilantro. YUM!