Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Product Review: Vegenaise
Vegenaise - especially the grape seed one. It is WAY better than mayonnaise in my humble opinion and a good dairy free alternative.
Baked Salmon Meal
Ingredients:
1 boneless salmon, skin on (whatever size you need to feed your family)
4 tbsp of Vegenaise or Mayonnaise
1 tbsp of barbecue sauce
1 bunch of asparagus
2 tbsp of butter or earth balance
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees, mix mayo & bbq sauce and slather on salmon, skin side down, in a casserole dish. Sprinkle with salt. Bake for 15-20 mins. Let it sit for a few minutes and serve!
Break off the bottoms of asparagus, fry asparagus in a frying pan with some butter and minced garlic until tender, but still crunchy. Sprinkle with salt and serve.
Options:
Serve with potatoes (mashed, smashed, roasted, boiled - let me know what kind of recipe you want and I will post one)
1 boneless salmon, skin on (whatever size you need to feed your family)
4 tbsp of Vegenaise or Mayonnaise
1 tbsp of barbecue sauce
1 bunch of asparagus
2 tbsp of butter or earth balance
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees, mix mayo & bbq sauce and slather on salmon, skin side down, in a casserole dish. Sprinkle with salt. Bake for 15-20 mins. Let it sit for a few minutes and serve!
Break off the bottoms of asparagus, fry asparagus in a frying pan with some butter and minced garlic until tender, but still crunchy. Sprinkle with salt and serve.
Options:
Serve with potatoes (mashed, smashed, roasted, boiled - let me know what kind of recipe you want and I will post one)
Sausage Pasta
Ingredients:
1-2 packages of flavoured sausages (I got tomato basil this time, and italian another time)
1 jar/can of plain tomato sauce
1 bag of pasta (spaghetti, penne, rotini)
1 tub shredded parmesan cheese
Directions:
squeeze sausage out of the casing into a frying pan and cook through. Add tomato sauce and bring to a simmer. In the mean time, cook pasta. Add cheese and serve.
EASY!
Tip: how to serve a sauce on pasta. Method 1 - add sauce to the entire pot of cooked pasta, Method 2 - add a bit of sauce to the pasta and stir to keep it separated and put a scoop of the sauce on top of the pasta in each plate. Method 3 - put a bit of extra virgin cold pressed olive oil in the pot of cooked pasta and stir and add the sauce to the top of each plate (one additional benefit to this is that the leftover pasta does not have any sauce on it and it's separated and ready to use for a different dish).
1-2 packages of flavoured sausages (I got tomato basil this time, and italian another time)
1 jar/can of plain tomato sauce
1 bag of pasta (spaghetti, penne, rotini)
1 tub shredded parmesan cheese
Directions:
squeeze sausage out of the casing into a frying pan and cook through. Add tomato sauce and bring to a simmer. In the mean time, cook pasta. Add cheese and serve.
EASY!
Tip: how to serve a sauce on pasta. Method 1 - add sauce to the entire pot of cooked pasta, Method 2 - add a bit of sauce to the pasta and stir to keep it separated and put a scoop of the sauce on top of the pasta in each plate. Method 3 - put a bit of extra virgin cold pressed olive oil in the pot of cooked pasta and stir and add the sauce to the top of each plate (one additional benefit to this is that the leftover pasta does not have any sauce on it and it's separated and ready to use for a different dish).
Monday, January 24, 2011
Sunshine Muffins or Cupcakes - My version of a popular recipe with GF option
Okay, so I haven't had any trouble with substitutions and alternative flours for my gluten-free friends, so I will often post the alternatives, or if I forget, haggle me.
These muffins, could also be cupcakes. I heard it once said that muffins were "mini cake wads" and I translated that to cupcakes. It's really the same ingredients except muffins usually have chunky bits. So that is what separates this recipe out: add chunky bits and it's muffins, add icing, and it's cupcakes.
Either way, they are stupid easy because you can do them in a blender or food processor and just pour.
Sunshine Muffins (regular or gluten free (GF))
1 orange
1 cup orange juice (Add 1 additional cup for more with the dense GF flours)
1/4 oil (or apple sauce/oil combination)
1 1/2 cups flour (GF option: oat flour or soy flour, brown rice flour and buckwheat flour combo)
1/2 cups of sugar (increase by 1/2 cup for cupcakes)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
optional: 1/2 cup cranberries or
sprinkle with dark chocolate flakes or
or sprinkle with millet or
ice with a lemon icing
Directions:
Juice 1-2 oranges, cut 1 orange into 8 pieces (rind and all) and throw all the wet ingredients in the blender. Slowly add the dry ingredients until mixed. Pour into muffin tins
Bake for 15-20 minutes @ 375 degrees. Makes a dozen muffins/cupcakes.
These muffins, could also be cupcakes. I heard it once said that muffins were "mini cake wads" and I translated that to cupcakes. It's really the same ingredients except muffins usually have chunky bits. So that is what separates this recipe out: add chunky bits and it's muffins, add icing, and it's cupcakes.
Either way, they are stupid easy because you can do them in a blender or food processor and just pour.
Sunshine Muffins (regular or gluten free (GF))
1 orange
1 cup orange juice (Add 1 additional cup for more with the dense GF flours)
1/4 oil (or apple sauce/oil combination)
1 1/2 cups flour (GF option: oat flour or soy flour, brown rice flour and buckwheat flour combo)
1/2 cups of sugar (increase by 1/2 cup for cupcakes)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
optional: 1/2 cup cranberries or
sprinkle with dark chocolate flakes or
or sprinkle with millet or
ice with a lemon icing
Directions:
Juice 1-2 oranges, cut 1 orange into 8 pieces (rind and all) and throw all the wet ingredients in the blender. Slowly add the dry ingredients until mixed. Pour into muffin tins
Bake for 15-20 minutes @ 375 degrees. Makes a dozen muffins/cupcakes.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Red Lentil Soup Surprise
Ingredients:
1 cup red lentils
1 chopped onion
minced garlic (as much as you want)
4 med carrots chopped
1 pack of chicken stock
2 tbsp of barbecue sauce (the "surprise)
leftover ground beef
Directions:
sautee onions & garlic, add stock and carrots and bring to a boil, add lentils until they are soft (about 15mins) and throw in the beef, barbecue sauce and maybe add a bit of water and salt if the lentils sucked it all up.
Product feature:
Amazing Dad's BBQ Sauce
It's organic, gluten free, has honey instead of sugar and it doesn't have a million of unpronouncable ingredients.
Chicken stuffed w/Tomato Basil Feta in Marinara
I recently had some friends over for lunch and when I told them I was making Chicken stuffed with Tomato Basil Feta in a Marinara Sauce, I impressed them to the point of getting this reply "wow, you must be a chef!" Well no, I'm not, but I am a mastermind at discovering stupid simple recipes that make me seem like a chef. So I pass the magic on to you with this one:
8 chicken thighs, bone in, skin on
1 brick of tomato basil feta (or substitute)
1 jar Paul Newman's Marinara sauce
1 package of pasta or rice
Directions:
Waste Not, Want Not
If you want to get more out of this meal for another meal, try this:
Chicken & Vegetable Soup in V8 Juice
1 bottle of V8 juice
2 carrots
1 stalk of celery
1 onion
leftover pieces of chicken
leftover chicken stock
Sautee chopped onions, then add chopped carrots and chopped celery and cook until lightly tender(optional: add cooked chick peas or beans or be creative!). Add leftover chicken stock and let it "melt" as well as the chicken pieces. Add V8 juice (or other brand) and salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and voila!
Let me know what you think!
8 chicken thighs, bone in, skin on
1 brick of tomato basil feta (or substitute)
1 jar Paul Newman's Marinara sauce
1 package of pasta or rice
Directions:
- preheat oven to 400 degrees
- cut the feta brick into 8 slices
- put chicken in a casserole dish and raise the skin and stuff the feta brick in each chicken thigh. Wash hands thoroughly!!
- pour the marinara sauce on top of all the chicken
- bake in the oven for about 50-55 mins
Waste Not, Want Not
If you want to get more out of this meal for another meal, try this:
- save one chicken thigh for this next meal
- pour the cooking juices from the casserole dish in a container (including sauce chunks) and store in the fridge over night
- scoop off the fat from the chicken juices and discard - what is left is a flavourful tomatoey chicken stock
- peel off the skin (discard) and pull off pieces of the chicken for a soup
Chicken & Vegetable Soup in V8 Juice
1 bottle of V8 juice
2 carrots
1 stalk of celery
1 onion
leftover pieces of chicken
leftover chicken stock
Sautee chopped onions, then add chopped carrots and chopped celery and cook until lightly tender(optional: add cooked chick peas or beans or be creative!). Add leftover chicken stock and let it "melt" as well as the chicken pieces. Add V8 juice (or other brand) and salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and voila!
Let me know what you think!
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