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Appetizers

Asian Noodle Salad with Spicy Nuts

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I’ve been absent the last little while as I’ve been dealing with some work stuff and have had to make some big decisions. I am coming out of the fog now and beginning to get inspired again!

Always been a fan of a spicy noodle salad. This Asian Noodle Salad with Spicy Nuts is inspired by all those potluck noodle salads that left me wanting more. I was usually the one sneaking back to the potluck table unnoticed (or so I thought) to get seconds and sometimes thirds of the noodle salad.

With unlimited variations of noodle salads out there, this is one that works for me. The family still hasn’t learned to love it as much as I do but I say give it time. To vary the salad change up the veggies and even try different noodles. Since we love cilantro here (well 2/4 Bakers) I tend to use more then the 2 tbsp listed below.

This salad pairs nicely with any grilled meat, especially kabobs. It’s a lovely side at a potluck, or picnic and keeps nicely in the fridge as leftovers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Green Lentil Pizza with Prosciutto

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In this Green Lentil Pizza recipe, the lentils are in the crust! Crazy I know, right?!

I’ve been throwing this idea around for a while and only just decided to add in the sweet potato this morning after seeing it staring at me from the counter.

The inspiration for this recipe comes from veggie burgers (believe it or not). I looked at the ingredients used to make my quinoa burger, considered the ever popular cauliflower pizza and decided to combine some of these flavours with green lentils to make a lentil pizza crust. And it worked!

This is my main dish entry for the Canadian Lentils Revelations Recipe Challenge and most likely my fourth and final entry. What fun creating with lentils!

With this recipe, it’s important to note a cauliflower pizza tastes nothing like a bread dough pizza. Nothing at all. And this crust is the same. It gives the allusion and feel you are eating pizza as it holds together remarkably well, especially with the delicious pizza toppings, but it tastes like what it is, veggies n cauliflower crust. You have to go into this knowing and being ok with that. It really is quite tasty and the perfect vegetarian fare (minus prosciutto).

The kids didn’t enjoy the pizza so much, but I liked the taste and would make it again. If you are trying to cut out carbs, and/or you like the cauliflower pizza, this is a good option full of protein. If you want to keep it vegetarian, top your pizza with grilled veggies.

Here’s how I did it.

 

Lentil Balls with Marinara Sauce

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Think meat balls but remove the meat and add Lentil to the word Balls. I played with this recipe for a while trying to see if I could get it to work with both flavour and consistency. I wanted it to work so I could enter it into The Canadian Lentils Recipe Revelations Challenge. See I’ve always loved lentils and used them from time to time in different dishes, but never on a regular basis. This challenge is reminding me I need to cook with them more often allowing the minions the chance to learn to love them. And the husband. This recipe is the perfect small bite (appetizer) for those who want a meatless meal. Or a main as it’s filling and tasty.

The hardest part about making these tasty bites is getting them to hold their shape while baking. Admittedly they do not stay crispy or round, but take on a flat side shape as they cook. The sides brown up quite nicely I might add and they are a delectable bite. Now I have to admit I took a couple and fried them in some canola oil in a pan. They soaked up some of the oil but became crispier. In the end I decided to stick with the oven method and make the balls smallish as they held together better. Pair them with your favourite marinara sauce for dipping or pair with whatever sauce tickles your fancy.

Serve them warm cause when you take a bite the melted cheese inside is simply delicious. In an additional experiment I decided to roll half of the Lentil Balls in store bought, seasoned bread crumbs. I almost liked the bread crumb version better as it adds a little extra crunch and texture.

In the end they taste good albeit square, round or heart shaped.

 

Tomatillo & Black Bean Salsa

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I had picked up some tomatillos a couple weeks ago at the store with a recipe in mind. I’ve never cooked with them before and was excited to make a new dish. Time passed, other external factors came into play and I never got to make my recipe. Sometimes that happens. But I knew they were in the fridge and I wanted to try them before they started to grow legs. So I made a salsa! I know this surprises you, since I’ve been on a three month long fresh salsa kick.

I wanted to keep the salsa simple so I pulled out some leftover sliced shallot from the fridge, jalapenos (cause I always have those on hand), some black beans and got started chopping.

I was very pleased with how this salsa turned out. The tomatillos impart an unusual almost grassy taste, but it’s so bright. This salsa is refreshing, bright and tastes great on almost everything.

 

Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Bites

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It takes a Village…or at least I could have used one the first two weeks of February. It sho

t by like a bullet and left me with a fuzzy head and feelin like a Zombie.

My husbands Aunt passed away recently, she was also his Godmother. Tough week. He flew out to Manitoba Thursday night for the Funeral/Celebration of Life and was gone for 4 days. Over the course of the weekend I had a Ladies Beer Night planned, kids activities to prepare for and an afternoon at the Loose Moose Theatre to attend. So I did what any mom would do….I scrambled to try and find a sitter last minute for the beer night.

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One hour into Beer Night I got a text “boy has thrown up at birthday party”. Gawd. Those are the worst words ever. And then “we are on our way home’. I text back praying for it to be a “one of”, only to find out another episode in the car. We were only 4 beers sampled in at this point, but as it goes, beer night was officially over for me. I needed to get to my kid.

The days that followed were chaos. I had to terminate a client, an old friend passed away and child number two got sick.

Back to beer night. True to form the ladies kept the party alive long after I left with a mere promise to take photos for me and offer feedback on the Village Brews I had left. To be more specific I left the ladies with a Growler sized Troubadour and a couple bottles of the seasonal Winter Chai. The feedback seemed positive with everyone loving the beer.

The Village Brewery story began with friends sharing beers and dreams for a community brewery. A brewery built to support Calgary’s artists and craftspeople. One that would create the excellent ales and lagers our friends and neighbors deserve. It takes a village to raise a beer. And a beer to raise a village. Staying local, supporting the arts and looking after the place, are some of the things they believe in.

Beer night went on without me and was deemed a success invoking Beer Night Part Deux, A Summer Tasting, to begin discussions. I brought along these Jalapeno Bites to enjoy with the beer.

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Twice Baked Smashed Potatoes

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I first came across this recipe years ago, after watching Chef Michael Smith make them on one of his shows…maybe Chef at Home? They were so easy to make, bake a potato, smash them, bake again. The recipe stuck and I started making them at least a couple times a year.

These potatoes are so versatile they go with anything. You can top each one with a small, dressed salad. I love them topped with guacamole or salsa. Eat as a side with a steak or any kind of meat. Sprinkle bacon on top. Drop on some grilled or baked veggies.

Oh La La delicious and they were the perfect side to our Steak with Chimichurri Sauce the other night.

Here’s how I did it.

 

 

Chili Lime No Tequila Chicken

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This recipe is simple with simple flavours. I created it while doing the wild rose d-tox. It was satisfying, tasty and filling. You could easily add half a cup of tequila to the recipe for some added flavour and even toss in some chopped jalapenos. But it’s not necessary.

Chicken kabobs can be made in the winter, by broiling them. The one thing about broiling meat in the oven, is there will always be smoke when you open your oven door. But they cook quickly. Fortunately when I made them I was able to open the windows as we were having a Chinook here in Calgary. As always grilling them while camping or on the deck is just as tasty.

The first time I made these kabobs I used one chicken breast. It made two kabobs which gave me two meals. The second time I prepared 2 chicken breasts and ended up with four kabobs or four meals. This recipe is for 2 chicken breasts. You could easily substitute turkey breast. I’d say it’s a keeper since the minions were picking the chicken off my plate hence prompting me to make more the second time around.

Serve it on a salad, on top of  grains or brown rice.

 

Bakers Latkes

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One of my favourite foods growing up was potato pancakes. Besides grating potatoes, I honestly don’t know how my mom made them, nor do I recall if they had onion in them or not. But what I do remember is they were crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, thin and oh so tasty.

I’ve experimented with them over the years and the way I like to make mine is without any additional fillers…with the exception of egg, sometimes. If you search your basic latke recipe, you will find it is made with a binder (egg) and either flour, matzo, crushed crackers, or breadcrumbs and some onion. My latkes are pretty much grated potatoes, salt and pepper. This time I added in some grated zucchini. I love to taste the potato without any other stuff. Since they are cooked in oil, I salt them lightly after. Crispy and salty goodness is just what I was needing on Day 8 of my D-Tox.

And for the toppings…well growing up it was mostly sour cream. I’ve eaten them with a variety of other toppings, but I always come back to old faithful (sour cream). Since I’m allowed to eat these on a D-Tox, I had to find another topping and decided to add some of the jicama and green apple slaw I created the other day (recipe to be posted soon). Another yummy topping would be a fried egg.

Potato Pancakes latkes
Bakers Latkes

Things to note: Because you don’t have a binder to hold the latkes together you have to be gentle with them or they will fall a part. Ensure you scoop some carefully into your hot pan, gently push down and only turn when they are browned on the underside.

 

Candied Bacon & Brown Sugar Baked Brie

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Late last Fall I was invited to attend an exclusive event put on by London Drugs (LD) at the new Molson Coors Tasting Room here in Calgary, aligning with LD tweet ups occurring at the same time in both Edmonton and Vancouver. Treats were provided by Dinner With Julie, special holiday cocktails prepared by Molson’s and London Drugs showcased their compact kitchen appliances. Bloggers were able to tweet about the event and by doing so get entered into the contest to win a T-Fal Optigrill. I didn’t win, but I sure had fun trying!

The beverages were delightful and inspiring. We tried beer cocktails called the Skinny Sour, Red Reindeer, Skinny Grinch and a White Christmas.

Snacks by Julie consisted of Spiced Nuts, Alfajores, Grilled Sweet Potatoes with Orange Maple Butter, Grilled Asparagus with Queso Fresco & Prosciutto, and a brie baked with a cranberry compote to name a few. I believe all of these recipes are available on her website.

Last year I started reviewing events, and adventures and pairing a recipe with each outing I posted to the blog. In creating a recipe for this particular evening, I wanted it to be a snacky bite. Since Julie did a baked brie, and it’s one of my favourite bites to make, I opted to create a new baked brie. So many ways to make a baked brie and initially I wanted to do it with beer. But in the end I just didn’t have time in the lead up to Christmas to get a baked brie with beer recipe perfected. I did recall however, my father in laws girlfriend Paulette, making a brown sugar baked brie for us once upon a time. It was that memorable. So I went for it. Since I already had sweet from the sugar and the liquor, I wanted to add a salty element to the brie and as such experimented with Candied Bacon. And so was born my Candied Bacon & Brown Sugar Baked Brie.

It was good, but the real test was getting feedback from the ladies. Over Christmas we got together one evening for a glass of wine and some bites. I picked up a large brie wheel and doubled the recipe for them to test. I think they liked it since every last crumb was devoured. Awesome!

Here’s how I did it.

 

Spinach Chips

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While I do not have a lot of time to watch TV, my favourite past time is and has been since I was a kid, is watching cooking shows. It blooms inspiration. My kids love watching some of the cooking shows to now especially the ones that feature kids!

Recently I watched a show called The Chew and Dolvett Quince was a guest on the show. He’s a celebrity trainer with at the time of this post, a book called the 3-1-2-1 Diet.

While on The Chew he made a skirt steak and spinach chips. Kale chips are not my favourite thing, but I was very intrigued by these spinach chips. When you work from home, it’s always good to plan ahead as far as the snacks go. Or you could end up snacking all day on the wrong foods while you work. Same with working in an office although planning ahead is a little easier when you make and take a lunch to work!

When making these spinach chips, use only a little of your favourite spice. I like to add hot chili flakes. Once cooked they melt in your mouth. One of two kids liked them. Time to try them again.

 

Avocado Green Smoothie

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Some days we sleep in or at times oversleep ending up frazzled and rushed to get out the door. Can anyone relate? But having a time-crunched morning doesn’t mean you should skimp out on breakfast. Breakfast fuels our body and that’s where creating a quick, simple avocado green smoothie can help you start your day with energy.

Several years ago I tried out the Body For Life fitness program. Breakfasts were easy and consisted of smoothies or shakes with the addition of protein. Throughout the years smoothies have stayed with me as a quick alternative to breakfast, lunch or even a snack. And when I am in workout mode, I am always adding protein powder to my smoothies when I can find one I like.

When I had my babies, smoothies were part of the rotation and they quickly got addicted to them. I would add a little water, fruit juice or coconut milk. I always use any kind of frozen fruit—whether it be berries, mangoes, or pineapples, add cinnamon, spinach and whatever else I could find like a fresh banana. As they have gotten older I do not use fruit juice any more but rather cold green tea, water or coconut milk to decrease any added sugars. Always using frozen fruit ensures a thick smoothie.

This smoothie was a combination of all things green I could find in my fridge or counter top. And since I had an abundance of lemons and limes to use, I added some lime juice to finish it off. If you ever find your smoothies to thick add in a little water to thin it out.

When we make smoothies we use either our blender or immersion blender. If you wanted to make this one for the kids, you might want to add in a little maple syrup for sweetness but its not necessary. Mine have never had added sweeteners so they do not miss it. If you really love green smoothies, check out our Mango Ginger Smoothie, a delicious bright drink with a ginger kick!

What’s your favourite smoothie combination?! Please tell us in the comments below!

 

Eggs in Avocado with Fresh Salsa

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Every January I do the Wild Rose Herbal D-Tox. This is my 13th+ year doing this D-Tox and as you can tell I’m hooked. I try to do it twice a year. After Christmas/December and at the end of the Summer. It’s such a great reminder to get back on the healthy eating track, helps me feel better and clears up my skin. I love it and I’m very excited to be starting it again. A forewarning however, do not do a cleanse or D-Tox of any sort unless you have consulted your doctor. Another forewarning is this D-Tox is 12 days long and not an easy one by any means. Being prepared with meal planning, especially if you have a family to feed as well as yourself, is essential to success.

Another important thing to note is don’t do a cleanse or D-Tox to lose weight. Do it to jumpstart healthy eating and as such, make a lifestyle change. Do it to remove flours, dairy and sugars from your diet and see how they may have affected you. When the D-Tox is over re-introduce those foods slowly. I have had friends who have done this D-Tox and struggled with it. It’s not for everyone.

Over the years I have compiled a file on my computer with the recipes and foods I’ve tried that work on this program. It’s important to note this D-Tox is mostly fruit & vegetables with a side of protein, grains and light carbs.

Recently I saw an episode of The Chew, one of my favourite shows on TV right now, and Chef Michael Symon made Eggs in Avocados. He topped it with tomatoes & fresh basil. I’ve seen recipes in passing with eggs baked in avocados, but this is the first time I’ve seen it done in a sauce/fry pan. Being a lover of all things avocado I wanted to try it.

So this is day 1 of my 12 day cleanse and breakfast consisted of eggs in avocado fried in saucepan and topped with a fresh salsa. I’ve never had cooked avocado before and have to admit it’s a peculiar taste that I am not sure about. But everything went together nicely and I will try it again, but next time I might bake it in the oven. Plus you might love cooked avocado, even if I wasn’t so sure!

If you want to keep it vegetarian don’t add eggs, just crispy up your avocado in the pan or oven and top with salsa. You can make up your own fresh salsa like I did today or use this Pico De Gallo recipe. I made a huge batch since I know I will be eating a lot of fresh salsa over the next 12 days. I love it. Here’s how I did it. Note while you are allowed to use salt while on the cleanse, you have to use it in moderation. I did not salt the avocado dish but I salted the salsa.

 

Old Cheddar Cheese & Bacon Fondue

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The world of fondue is a fun one. With so many varieties of fondue to partake in, you could eat Fondue every night and never get bored. This Old Cheddar Cheese & Bacon Fondue is one of our favourites and contains an ingredient that surprises most people!

Old Cheddar Cheese and Bacon Fondue
Old Cheddar Cheese and Bacon Fondue

A favourite in this house, this fondue is loaded with old cheddar cheese and bacon. It’s extra fun because it’s always a battle at the end to fish out the last pieces of bacon and fortunately there have never been any causalities during battle bacon, yet. Other favourite cheese fondues of ours? One with beer and of course the Classic Swiss Fondue.

The surprise ingredient I referenced earlier, it’s sour cream. You will be surprised when you taste this fondue, you will not even know there is sour cream in it. Sour cream adds a hint of tart to the fondue and replaces the need for any additional acid. Plus it’s a natural thickener.

Old Cheddar Cheese & Bacon Fondue
Old Cheddar Cheese & Bacon Fondue

When we fondue we like to have two or more fondues on the table. A cheese fondue variation and a meat in broth fondue. The kids are slowly coming round to cheese fondue, have always loved the broth ones and request Chocolate Fondue regularly. It’s actually a fun way to wind up or down a birthday party gathering.

Since we enjoy fondueing, we try new variations all the time. Some make the cut, some not so much, however it’s definitely a fun evening to have with family or friends!

If you try our Old Cheddar Cheese & Bacon Fondue let us know what you think in the comments below!

Old Cheddar Cheese and Bacon Fondue
Old Cheddar Cheese and Bacon Fondue

 

Roasted Vegetable Soup with Chipotle

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How often do you find leftover vegetables in your fridge begging to be used before they grow legs?! In my soup adventures this week, I was tossed whether to make a soup with some of my frozen meatballs or leave it a plain vegetable soup. Once I decided to puree the soup, I went with a vegetarian style soup kicked up a notch with some chipotle in adobo sauce. The chipotle in adobo sauce gives the soup quite a kick (spicy), so you may want to start with 1/2 tsp of the chipotle first, taste, and keep going until it is hot enough. If you do not like spice, just omit entirely.

Change up whatever vegetables you want to add in, and make it completely vegetarian or vegan by using vegetable stock. If you do not like or have bok choy, leave it out. It really is an acquired taste, one I was introduced to in the 90’s by mom mom. She started making this Bok Choy Salad and to this day my entire family loves it. You’ll find bok choy errs on the bitter side and again it might be an acquired taste, but oh so good for you! It will add a little crunch and texture to the soup.

To roast veggies, toss two cups sliced veggies with a splash of sesame oil, soy sauce, salt and pepper. Place on parchment lined baking sheet and bake in 350 oven for 20 minutes or until starting to brown and soft.

 

Candied Bacon

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Wanted to play with bacon one day so I decided to try making a candied bacon. That’s the problem when there is a package of bacon in the refrigerator, it demands to be made into something. Since I’ve heard so much about candied bacon and chocolate dipped bacon, I decided to pick one and candied bacon it was to be.

I figured there would be brown sugar and possibly maple syrup in the recipe, but since I had never made candied bacon before I took to google to discover how it was done.

The reason behind my bacon madness today? I was testing out a brown sugar baked brie and thought it would be the perfect topping to finish it off. Now that I’ve discovered candied bacon I’m hooked and sorry it took me so long to make this delightful bite. There are so many recipes this would be good in, and as such, appears to have enhanced my love affair with bacon.

Try it in salad (ie: Cesar salad), with pasta (sprinkle it on a Pasta a La Carbonara – drool) or even sprinkle some on a beef stew or beef chili before serving.

 

Carrot & Cumin Soup

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Some days you just feel like soup. Nothing else. Soup. Maybe a Sandwich because you need to feed the minions a little more than soup or you can’t guarantee they will like the soup you made. But mostly soup. I made this soup and it rocked our world. Well the grown ups. Easy Peasy as Jamie Oliver would say.

Make it entirely vegan by replacing the chicken stock with vegetable stock and omitting the butter.

Easy, quick and currently our favourite comfort soup.

 

Chicken, Apple & Halloom Skewers

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It was about a year and a half ago I first discovered Halloom cheese in one of our local stores. I was curious, and as such the cheese came home with me. This became the beginning of a beautiful love affair. Since then we’ve enjoyed the salty, yet mild grilled halloom cheese on skewers with fruit or meat, in salads, as a desert with a balsamic drizzle, as an appetizer/on a canape or on a baguette in a sammy. So many ways to eat this delicious cheese, but it must be grilled first to fully enjoy the cheese in it’s entirety. The smokey but light flavour adds impact to whatever you serve it with.

For the past couple of weeks Ambrosia apples have been everywhere in the stores and so I picked some up. I had been throwing the idea around of grilling up some skewers for lunch on my indoor grill/panini pan but kept putting it off as the amount of smoke that comes from the grill pan is almost to much to handle at times, especially in the winter months. Finally a warm day came along which meant windows open and grill pan pulled out for lunch time fun.

I placed some chicken, halloom and ambrosia apple pieces, in no particular order, on small skewers. They needed a quick marinade so I poured some Maille Old Style Mustard into a bowl, added a few other ingredients and whisked it all together. This became the marinade and dip when all was said and done.

Quick and easy, it was the perfect lunch for the minions and leftovers were served up and devoured for dinner.

 

Mini Salad in Toast Cups

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Mini Salad in Toast Cups are cute one bite appetizers made three ways to satisfy all your guests.

We always get inspired to create one bite wonders when either Super Bowl or Canadian Grey Cup approaches. Inspiration comes from every where and there are so many great recipes out there to try before you decide to opt in for frozen appetizers. I promise cooking your own is way more satisfying and tasty!

Mini Salad Toast Cups
Mini Salad Toast Cups – shown is Buffalo Chicken Salad

In this recipe the toast cup replaces the buttery, crunchy croutons in your caesar salad. A little bit of romaine lettuce chopped fine, dressing, salt plus pepper and parmesan mixed together becomes your salad. Added to your toasted cups and topped with bacon gives you a satisfying and enjoy one bite caesar salad.

Mini Salads in Toast Cups
Mini Salads in Toast Cups

This recipes make 12, enough for four guests, but double and triple if you are expecting a crowd. In the notes we show you how to make BLT Salad Toast Cups and Buffalo Chicken Salad Toast Cups so you could definitely make more and share them all with your guests! Please remember recipes with mayonnaise can not be left out of the refrigerator for long periods of time.

Mini Salad Toast Cups
Mini Salad Toast Cups – shown is Caesar Salad

Good use for leftover rotisserie chicken and to change things up a bit, replace the bacon with crisped pancetta or prosciutto for an equally delicious bite.

What is your favourite game day finger food?!

 

Buffalo Chicken & Bacon Dip

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Grey Cup to Canadians is like Super Bowl to Americans. As luck would have it, our Calgary Stampeders didn’t win the Canadian Football League’s Western Division Final over the weekend, it was the melon heads who took the win to advance to the Grey Cup. I can of course affectionately call the Saskatchewan Roughriders and their fans melon heads because most of my family lives in Regina, including my brothers, and they are loud and proud Riders fans who openly admit to wearing watermelons on their heads. All in good fun.

This means the Roughriders advance to the Grey Cup and will play against the Eastern Division Final winners, the Hamilton Tiger Cats. This year Regina is hosting the Grey Cup and I predict a whole lot of frozen melons at that game cause it’s gonna be cold. And since we are in the West, we will root for the West, cause West is Best! Go Roughriders Go!

This recipe came about as I had some leftover buffalo chicken from the Salad in Toast Cups recipe I am testing (to be posted soon). We roasted two whole chickens this weekend so we would have leftovers for a busy week. Plus leftovers of this kind always mean a new recipe or two must be attempted.

I didn’t have any blue cheese but I would definitely sprinkle some on top prior to putting this dish in the oven to melt a little….or after it comes out. Cut avocado sprinkled on top before serving would also be a nice touch. Baking this dip not only blends the flavours but it mellows out the buffalo sauce a little. I also sprinkled on a little extra cheddar before baking.

I served the dip with a variety of chips and crackers, but celery, carrots and fresh veggies would be just as delicious.

 

 

Caramelized Onions with Ginger

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The past couple of years I’ve been having a love affair with caramelized onions. How could I not have known how delicious these slow cooked, sweet little morsels were. Now I make them on a regular basis and keep them in the fridge. The sampling during the cooking tends to lower the end quantity, so I always try to make a little more than the recipe calls for.

Adding the ginger gives the onions a little kick. Sweet + spicy is super delicious. I can’t wait to try a french onion soup with this combination. The caramelization process does take close to an hour to get the onions nice and brown so make sure you have the time.

Caramelized onions can be used many ways. Mix into mayo or greek yogurt for a dip or sandwich spread. Put on your burger (one of my favourites) or on top of a steak or pork chop. Place on top of a baked brie, or on crackers or baguette slices with your favourite cheese. Mix into eggs, on pizza, or in a pasta (mac and cheese). And of course these make the perfect french onion soup.

 

Winter Brussels Sprout Slaw with Pancetta

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Most of us have heard about the Thanksgiving Side Dish of sauteed brussels sprouts with pancetta and toasted pine nuts. It’s simply delicious and a dish I’ve enjoyed in various forms, more recently at a friends for Thanksgiving Dinner. I had actually intended to make the dish one evening to see if the kids would like it but somehow the idea started to slip away….and I got inspired to make a winter slaw instead. The cold version of this hot dish seemed logical since I had some pancetta, brussels sprouts and napa cabbage in the fridge, all seemingly with a shorter shelf life now that winter has arrived.

And so it began. Started chopping and creating piles. We always have pomegranates on hand (daughter loves), so I did the water trick and cleaned one in less than 60 seconds while toasting up some pine nuts in a pan. It was coming together. The only tough decision (well not really) was to use a crisp apple or almost ripe pear. After sampling both, the pear got my vote, although apple would work to. I tossed most of the ingredients together with a dressing, sampled the crispy pancetta a few times (yum), carefully added the pear and topped it with the pancetta, that I couldn’t stop eating.

As with most coleslaw’s, they taste better the next day once all the flavours have married and the crunchiness of the cabbage softened a little. A nicely grilled halloom cheese, goat or blue cheese would add a really nice flavour to this salad. You could also change up the nuts and toast some slivered almonds or walnuts. Serving it for dinner you should get four servings. Making it for one, you might get two meals out of it, if you are lucky.

Make this vegetarian by omitting the pancetta.

 

 

Prosciutto Wrapped Watermelon with Balsamic Drizzle

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Last year I was invited to attend the KitchenAids Cook for the Cure Launch here in Calgary, a fundraiser for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. Our speaker for the evening was Celebrity Chef Corbin Tomaszeski, a former Albertan himself who grew up just outside of Edmonton. The event was hosted at a local restaurant called Belgo Brasserie, and they served up a small offering of bits and bites including Panko Crusted Shrimp, Foie Gras on Toast Bites, Amici Balls and Prosciutto Wrapped Watermelon.

Corbin took to the podium and asked us all to be a part of the KitchenAid Cook for the Cure by joining their fundraising efforts. If certain fundraising goals are met there are incentives to join other Celebrity Chefs in Toronto in December.

My motivation for joining is different. For me cancer is everywhere these days. Two years ago I lost good friend Diane, to lung cancer that spread throughout her body. She was given 6 weeks, made it 8 weeks before we said goodbye.

Last year a friend’s husband was diagnosed with Breast Cancer. He had surgery to have the lump removed and under went treatment. Today he is cancer free.

Last year, almost to the day, another friend’s 2 year old niece (Lily) was diagnosed with Leukemia. After several months of intense treatments she is doing ok today. But the treatments are not over for her, yet. Last month our family participated and walked in Light The Night, a fundraiser walk for Leukemia, in her honour. Our team was called The Lily Pads.

And more recently, a dear friend from grade four, Kim, has been diagnosed this year with lung and brain cancer. It’s terminal and it’s breaking my heart. A large feeling of helplessness follows this kind of diagnosis especially since she lives in BC and I in AB.

I think I’ve given more money and done more fundraising for cancer this year than ever before. But it can’t stop. It can never stop until cures are found.limegreenhandmixer

To help promote my Breast Cancer fundraising efforts I have decided to re-create an appetizer enjoyed the evening at Belgo Brasserie, Prosciutto Wrapped Watermelon. It’s certainly not a hard bite to make, but I’m adding my own spin of mint and some balsamic drizzle. Typically I make my own balsamic drizzle, although the last time I attempted to make it we had family in town and I got carried away chatting so much I burned my drizzle. Twice.

So the Balsamic Drizzle I used with this recipe comes from my The Missing Ingredient Food Package of goodies. The Missing Ingredient is a food subscription service that sends you a box of goodies each month. I have to say having a container of drizzle in my pantry, ready to go at anytime, is brilliant as you can “drizzle” almost anything.

Please join me in my fundraising efforts for Breast Cancer Research. Even after all the fundraising I’ve done this year for other cancers, I’ll be giving up (gulp) a bottle of wine this week and putting those funds into the pot. Will you?! Please click on the link to donate Cook For The Cure.

For every person who donates on my Fundraising page, or on my sign up sheet, I will put your name into a draw to win a brand new KitchenAid Lime Green Hand Mixer. I’ll do a random draw on Thursday, December 5th for this item. Good Luck and Thank you!

 

Krispy Pumpkins

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As it goes I’ve come up with what I thought was a fabulous idea for rice krispies this Halloween…and Wham it’s been done. As mentioned in previous posts I gave up googling my ideas until after the recipe is created, tested and posted. Then it becomes a comparison….how did they create their food compared to how I made mine. But I’m still taking the credit for coming up with this idea myself even if it has been done before. If it’s an idea I’ve gotten from somewhere, credit is always given where credit is deserved, as it should be. Food Bloggers Law.

We are having a Halloween Boogie Bash for the little kids and I wanted some fun food bites for them to munch on. Thought some food colouring in the rice krispie squares would turn them into great little pumpkins. Made a small batch so if you are wanting a lot double the recipe. In the end, success and the kids loved them.

Note: no two pumpkins are created equal so have fun with your shapes and don’t try to make them all perfect.

 

Ras el hanout Roasted Cauliflower with Chick Peas

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I’m very excited to be 1 of 3 food bloggers from across Canada chosen to review a Foodie Package from The Missing Ingredient, a Vancouver based company who offers a monthly food subscription service.

Each month The Missing Ingredient will deliver to you (anywhere in Canada) 4-5 hand picked and tantalizing food items for you to play with, all packaged in a lovely box. This is a Canadian service and as such, the product is uniquely Canadian.

Roasted Chick Peas
Roasted Chick Peas

Within each box of ingredients you receive 4 informative post cards; Chef’s Tips is tricks and secrets from a cornucopia of local Chefs, Meet the Maker tells you about one of the locally sourced products in your box, Feature Recipe gives you ideas on how to use one of the ingredients, and Double Up is a another way to use your feature ingredient.

The spice in the box I received was Ras el Hanout. I loved how this spice smelled and immediately became addicted to the aroma it provided. Playing with the spice I’ve so far added it to cream cheese for dips, hummus, roasted vegetables, soup, slow roasted meat with more experimenting to be done.

Roasting chick peas or vegetables in general are a delicious lunch or snack to have during the day. You can add any herbs you like, fresh or dried, and try all kinds of spices. Sometimes just sea salt and black pepper makes me happy. Healthy and good for you, definitely give it a try!

PRO TIPS:

  • I prefer my roasted chick peas to have a little bite. Some like them to be entirely crispy. To get them to the crispier stage let them roast for at least 30 minutes and check them.