Oatmeal Cookies with Date Puree

Hello Spring!  I hope you are here to stay.

What a beautiful, warm and sunny day we have been blessed with in Southern Ontario!

I have the screen doors open and am basking in the sun that is shining through the windows.  Love it.

I want to share a delicious oatmeal cookie recipe with you that I just made; the cookies literally just came out of the oven.  I just had one (maybe two!) and they are great.

These cookies are low in sugar, are packed with fiber and are soft and chewy like you would want any oatmeal cookie to be.

Oatmeal Cookies with Date Puree

For the Puree:

- 1 cup cooking dates

- 1 cup water

- 1 tsp. vanilla

- 1/4 tsp. cinnamon

Put all the ingredients into a saucepan and cook over low heat for about 20 mins, or until softened.  Let cool and then puree the mixture.

For the cookies:

- 1/3 cup oil

- 1/3 cup cane sugar or maple syrup

- 1 egg

- 1 Tbsp. vanilla

- 1 1/2 cups rolled oats

- 1 cup whole wheat flour

- 1/2 tsp each baking powder and baking soda

- 1/4 tsp. salt

- 1 tsp. cinnamon

- 1/2 cup each raisins and dried cranberries

- 1/4 cup chocolate chips

- date puree

1. In a bowl beat the oil with the sugar.  Beat in the egg, along with the vanilla, cinnamon and cooled date puree.

2. In a separate bowl, mix together the rolled oats, flour, baking powder, soda, and salt. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry with the dried fruit and chocolate chips.  Stir until combined.

3. Bake in 350F oven for about 10 mins.  Transfer onto wire racks to cool.

Enjoy as a snack or dessert.  They are quite delicious served alongside some vanilla frozen yogurt.

Thai Salad with Peanut Lime Dressing

Need a little summer in your life?

Craving those warm summer nights where you can sit around for hours outside without any hesitation?

Well have I got a meal for you.  You might just have to close your eyes while eating this and imagine that it is summer, but rest assured,  all the flavors in this bowl will have you thinking that it is.

This recipe is inspired by a great vegetarian/ vegan restaurant in Toronto called Fresh.

Thai Salad with Peanut Lime Dressing

For the dressing:

3 cloves garlic

3 Tbsp. tightly packed fresh cilantro

3 Tbsp. natural peanut butter

3 Tbsp. fresh lime juice

1 1/2 Tbsp. tamari

1 Tbsp. rice vinegar

1 Tbsp. grated ginger

1 tsp. honey

3/4 tsp. sesame oil

3/4 tsp. sambal oelek

1/3 cup sunflower oil

In a blender puree all the ingredients, slowly adding in the sunflower oil to emulsify.  Reserve in the refrigerator until needed.

For the Salad:

1 cup thinly sliced cabbage (a mix of red and green is great)

3/4 cup shredded carrot

1/4 piece of red, yellow and orange thinly sliced

1 lime wedge

2 Tbsp. fresh cilantro chopped

Pile all vegetables together and drizzle on peanut lime dressing as desired.  Garnish with cilantro, chopped peanuts and lime. 

Enjoy!

 

Tags: dinner, healthy, lunch, recipe, salad, thai salad, vegetables

Banana Blueberry Bread

Is it snowy and cold where you live?

Would you rather stay inside and bake?

If yes, you should make this high fiber banana blueberry loaf.  It is packed with whole grains and flax, is low in fat and bursting with sweet banana and blueberry flavor.

Banana Blueberry Loaves

Makes one loaf or 4 small loaves – inspired by this and that

2 or 3 ripe bananas, mashed

1/3 cup ground flaxseed

1 cup buttermilk

1 tsp. vanilla

2 Tbsp. oil

1/3 cup honey or maple syrup

2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp cinnamon

3/4 whole wheat flour

3/4 spelt flour

3/4 frozen blueberries

1/4 pecans, chopped

Method:

Preheat oven to 350F; spray and parchment line loaf pans.

In a large bowl stir together banana, flax, buttermilk, vanilla, oil and honey.

In a separate bowl, mix the soda, salt and flours.

Combine the dry ingredients into the banana mixture.  Gently fold in the blueberries and pecans.

Pour in loaf pan(s) and bake for approximately 35 mins.

Enjoy!

Happy weekend!

Tags: banana blueberry bread, bread, breakfast, high fiber, recipe, snack

Carmelized Onion and Pear Pizza

Pizza is one of many great blessings on earth.

It is so customizable and has so much to offer our little taste buds!

As I have written before, Friday nights have always been “pizza night” in my house.  For 26 odd years I can’t remember anything different.  It started out with me as wee one on the counter, watching my mom roll out her dough and put on various toppings to suit the tastes of my three siblings.  Then slowly, over the years (once I finessed the art of dough making), I have taken on pizza night as a challenge, trying to create a new pizza every Friday.

I have entered a recipe competition at school, where contestants must feature USA pears in any fashion, as long as it is the star of the dish. I knew I wanted to take a on savory sweet combination, so pear on pizza it was.

I caramelized some onions, thinly sliced some pears (bosc and anjou) and brie and drizzled it all with a bit of honey.  Mmmm…this turned out well.  I made it on a whole wheat pizza dough, but I think it would also work well on a flat bread like naan.

Make this for your next dinner or cut it up into little squares for a delicious appetizer.

Caramelized Onion and Pear Pizza:

For the Onions –

2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

2 onions, halved, thinly sliced

1/2 tsp kosher salt

Freshly ground pepper to taste

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

Heat pizza stone (if using) at 425F oven at least 30 minutes.

Heat oil in large skillet on medium heat. Stir in onions, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring often, 5 minutes or until starting to brown. Reduce heat to low. Cook, stirring occasionally, 25 minutes, until golden brown and very tender. Stir in vinegar. Turn heat to medium-low. Cook, stirring often, 5 minutes. Cool to room temperature.

For the pizza

1-1/2 lb (700 g) Pizza dough -[ I use this recipe from Canadian Living, subbing in 1 cup of whole wheat flour for white.]

Extra-virgin olive oil to taste

2  bosc or anjou pear (or a combo), cored, sliced thinly

225 g brie, sliced  1/4-inch thick

For pizza, cut dough into 3 pieces. On floured surface, press 1 piece of dough into 8-inch round. Transferdough to a parchment lined pizza pan or stone . Spread with about 1/3 cup caramelized onions. Brush exposed edges with oil. Put 1/3 of pear slices over onions, arranging like spokes on wheel. Arrange 1/3 of brie slices in between pear spokes.

 Bake 20 to 25 minutes, until bottom is crisp, brie is golden and pears are tender. Garnish with chives. Makes 3 small pizzas.

Happy pizza night!

Does your family have a special dish reserved for a certain night of the week?

Tags: carmelized onion, dinner, pear, Pizza, recipe

Lemony Custard Cakes

Happy (Valentines) Day to you all!

What a lovely day it is.  Some people are anti, but I say, why not have a day to do something special?  That something special need not be dinner out, expensive chocolates or bouquets of roses, just something nice to say “I love you.”  I am the kind of person that believes that these things should be done throughout the year, but having one day to celebrate love is nice too.

As I type this my hubbie is in the kitchen cooking up a storm.  To be honest, I find it hard to relinquish the kitchen for the night, but I am doing my best to stay put on my chair.  I fully admit that I like things a certain way in the kitchen, but I gotta share sometimes

While Adrian was prepping for dinner I whipped up an easy dessert for us to enjoy.  I was going to go classic with something chocolaty, but was more in the mood for something zingy and fresh, like lemon.  So lemon custards cakes it is.

If you still have not made dessert (it may be a little late now) you could make this!  It takes no time and it promises to be delicious.

Lemon Custard Cakes 

 (source)

Ingredients:

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

3 large eggs, separated

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup skim milk

5 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

1/4 teaspoon salt

Fresh strawberries or raspberries , for serving

Method:

Preheat the oven to 350°. Spray four ramekins with vegetable oil spray. In a medium bowl, whisk the sugar with the flour. In another bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the butter until well blended. Whisk in the milk, lemon juice and lemon zest. Pour the lemon mixture into the sugar mixture and whisk until smooth.

In a medium bowl, beat the egg whites with the salt until firm peaks form. Gently fold the egg whites into the lemon mixture. Pour the batter into the prepared ramekins and transfer them to a small baking dish. Place the pan in the oven and pour in enough hot water to reach halfway up the sides of the ramekins.

Bake the pudding cakes for 35 minutes or until they are puffy and golden on top. Using tongs, transfer the ramekins to a rack to cool for 20 minutes. Serve the cakes in the ramekins or run a knife around the edge of each cake and unmold onto plates. Serve warm or at room temperature with the berries.

One Serving: 170 cal, 6 gm fat, 2.9 gm sat fat, 27 gm carb, 0.2 gm fiber.

Love, love, love

xo

Enjoy!

What did sweet treat did you make or receive? 

Chef in Training

 

Hello all!

Myself and this blog are still alive.  I have taken a very very long hiatus from blog writing, but thought it was only fair to let you know what I have been doing with my time.

Since September I have been embarking on a journey to become a chef.  I am attending school in Toronto, ON and am loving it.   It has been so much fun to be a student again, especially in a very interactive and hands-on learning environment.

I have always had a keen interest in cooking, baking and recipe testing and have loved taking these interests  to the next level and honing in on some new skills.  I have never chopped, julienned, brunoised, and diced so many vegetables in my life!  Let alone butcher all cuts of meat, case sausages and fillet ginormous slimy fish.

The thing I love most about being in a culinary program is that you are continually learning new things.  Whether it’s a tidbit on how to make green vegetables more vibrant or how to ensure a perfect pasta dough, the information is endless.

Being immersed a field that is constantly changing as food trends come and go is exciting. It is never stagnant and there is always more to be aware of…and I am very willing to learn!

I will do my best to keep you up to date on what’s is on my plate, both at school and at home.

This coming week I am not sure if you want to know the details….we are working on sweet breads and calf liver…Mmmm!  I am trying to keep an open mind

Have a super weekend!

If you could go to school or go back to school for anything, what would it be?

Tags: culinary program

Whole Wheat Oatmeal “Pie Plant” Muffins

Sitting on my porch sipping a sparkling lemonade; I adore lazy sunny Sundays.

Surrounded by my mother’s garden I got contemplating to myself about seasonal ingredients.  I love the summer months for the fresh produce that they bring.  Strawberries, nectarines, peaches, corn; I am so excited to eat you in the upcoming months!

We have a huge amount of rhubarb in our garden right now, so I needed to think of some ways to put it to good use while it’s in its prime.

source

Last week I made some stewed rhubarb with honey and put it on top of greek yogurt (Yum) and the other day I whipped up some yummy oatmeal rhubarb muffins (recipe to follow) and tonight I am going to bake up a dish of rhubarb crumble.

I love rhubarb.  I love it for it’s tartness and all the things that you can do with it.  I had lots of leftover stewed rhubarb, which was great on top of my morning oats.

If you have some rhubarb  kicking around in your garden (or your Mom’s in my case), nab some up and create something delicious.

Whole Wheat Oatmeal “Pie Plant” Muffins

Ingredients

• 2 cups chopped, fresh or frozen rhubarb
• 1 egg
• 1 cup milk
• 1 tsp. lemon juice
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1/4 cup apple sauce
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 2 1/2 whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 salt

Directions

In a bowl, whisk together the egg, milk, lemon juice, apple sauce and the vegetable oil.

In another, large bowl, with a fork, mix together the whole wheat flour, brown sugar, rolled oats, cinnamon, baking soda and salt.

Make a “well” in the center of the dry ingredients, and pour the egg mixture in, and stir just until combined.

Gently stir in the chopped rhubarb and let batter rest for about 10 mins.

Spoon the batter into muffin cups or paper lined muffin cups.

Bake in center of oven at 350° F for about 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool muffins in the pan for about 5 minutes, and then remove to a cooling rack.

Makes about 16-18 muffins

Interestingly enough, rhubarb is actually a vegetable, who knew?!

Eat it up (minus the leaves) as rhubarb provides a good source of vitamin C, fiber, and calcium.  Since rhubarb is primarily used for pie, it is also referred to by it’s nickname the “pie plant,” which I think is a cute nickname

What is your most favorite summer fruit or vegetable??

Hope you are having a marvelous weekend.

Love C

Tags: breakfast, recipe, rhubarb, snack, whole wheat oatmeal rhubarb muffins