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Smoked Salmon on Pumpernickel Rye

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Smoked Salmon on Pumpernickel Rye
Smoked Salmon on Pumpernickel Rye

Coming from the Pacific West Coast, I’ve eaten my fair share of smoked salmon. Even freshly smoked then canned via my momma. As a child my dad would catch river salmon and smoke it regularly. I craved it. When I moved to Vancouver I had a hard time eating smoked salmon that was not his. Eventually lox and cream cheese on bagels won me over and I let go of that craving. But it still resides in my thoughts as a taste I will never forget.

Did you know this recipe’s origins are German? We were asked to bring an appetizer to a recent celebration. An appetizer that celebrates one of our cultures. Since we have a Spanish student living with us, I wanted to hi-light some Spanish food. But he’s 16 and we couldn’t get it together. So I reached out to another former student from Germany, one who has become a second daughter to us. I am partially German with relatives living in Germany so I was intrigued to see what she would suggest. She sent me pictures of lox on Pumpernickel German Rye Bread and advised it’s very popular in Germany. I clearly had no idea! Uber excited, I set off to track down the bread and the lox.

Smoked Salmon on Pumpernickel Rye
Smoked Salmon on Pumpernickel Rye

Pumpernickel German Rye Bread is a heavy, dense and simply flavoured bread. Lox is sold everywhere here but as a touristy item. Fortunately thanks to twitter I located some that was both a decent price and delicious. The bread came from the European deli. #Bam

 

Smoked Salmon on Pumpernickel Rye
Smoked Salmon on Pumpernickel Rye

What I put together really didn’t look much like the photos she sent me but more based on my memory of lox on bagels with cream cheese. And the best part of it all, our Spanish student helped me assemble these German appetizers!

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Smoked Salmon on Pumpernickel Rye
Author: 
Serves: 15
 
Ingredients
  • Smoked Salmon
  • Cream Cheese, room temperature
  • Capers
  • Red onion, sliced thin
  • fresh dill
Instructions
  1. Cut your bread into smaller pieces. It's a firm bread so it will hold up well.
  2. Spread on cream cheese.
  3. Add some of your smoked salmon.
  4. Sprinkle on some red onion, capers and dill.
  5. Serve immediately.

 

Smoked Salmon on Pumpernickel Rye
Smoked Salmon on Pumpernickel Rye

 

Armenian Roasted Vegetables

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A sucker for roasted vegetables, I couldn’t wait to make this recipe by Olia Hercules and her Mamushka cookbook. Fall and winter has us roasting vegetables regularly. I’ve roasted cabbage before and loved it so the combination of these Armenian Roasted Vegetables was quite intriguing to me.

Ensure you cut your vegetables thick as illustrated in the recipe. I’ve noticed while making recipes from this cookbook they use a lot of dill and yogurt in Eastern European Cooking. Our student from Spain has advised the same. Things I would have never known had I never joined the cookbook club. My mom used to cook with dill she grew in her garden. Dilled baby potatoes are one recipe that stands out from childhood. It’s an herb I adore. Serve these veggies along side a roasted chicken, pork loin or beef roast.

Olia also suggests to change things up, try adding some feta before serving.

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Armenian Roasted Vegetables
Author: 
Recipe type: side, dinner, lunch
 
Ingredients
  • half a small head of cabbage, cut into thick wedges
  • 1-2 carrots, peeled and sliced
  • 1 zucchini, thickly sliced
  • 2 celery sticks, thickly sliced
  • 1 small onion, peeled and quartered
  • 1-2 cups cauliflower florets, thickly chopped
  • 1 pepper, cored, seeded and thick slices
  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 beefsteak tomato, thickly sliced
  • 1 tbsp chopped fresh dill
  • salt and pepper
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 400F. Place all the vegetables except the tomato in a large roasting pan.
  2. Pour the oil over and season well with salt and pepper. Mix everything together with your hands and pop in the oven until the edges of the vegetables start to char, 30 minutes.
  3. Arrange the tomato slices on top, season and place in the oven for another 15 minutes. Sprinkle the chopped dill over, taste for seasoning (adjust if necessary) and serve.

 

Roasted Sweet Potato with Dill

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Like several other posts, I started this one well over a month ago. But December was….I have to say, a write off. Both husband and I were sick (chest infections to some degree hit everyone in our house over the course of 5 weeks) and we had a hard time shaking the sick. His progressed to laryngitis, mine to a 3 week and still fighting off head cold. We did our best to channel the Christmas spirit for the sake of the kids, but it was tough. So out with the old, in with the new…we were happy to welcome a new year and get back to our chipper healthier selves.

Long before the start of 2015, I was hearing people talking about detoxing and the New Year. I am one of those who like to get a clean fresh start following a holiday season that is typically full of lots of goodies and over indulging, giving my body some maintenance (yes just like a car). It’s a habit I’ve come quite accustomed to and while it’s not for everyone, 10 years later it’s still working for me.

I do the Wild Rose Detox and it’s 12 days long. It’s not an easy plan to stay with, especially if you have never done it before. Detoxes are different and it’s important you do not attempt one without consent from your doctor. If you are considering the Wild Rose Detox here are a few things to remember.

1. Advance shopping, meal planning and some simple prep.

2. Change up your eating weeks in advance to help you cope with the amount of things you have to eliminate from your diet. IE drink more water and green tea.

3. Add more fruit, veggies or even roasted chick peas into your diet for snacks but make sure you know which fruits you can eat on this detox and which ones you can not. This will help when the actual detox starts. There is much you can do with vegetables to help fill you up during the detox, just remember to keep fresh herbs and a good selection of spices on hand as flavour is key to success.

I love roasted vegetables and certainly eat my share of them. Upon slicing into the sweet potato, I learned it was yellow – what a surprise! Sweet potatoes are a powerhouse vegetable. They contain vitamins B6, C, D, iron, magnesium, potassium plus more, so really an excellent vegetable to include in your diet. This recipe makes enough for a couple of smaller meals or is lovely as a side dish to a main meal, Sunday supper or holiday dinner. When I am on the detox, I like to serve it over top a simply seasoned & cooked pork chop, slices of pork tenderloin, salmon, white fish or chicken breast. If you like dill, toss on some additional chopped fresh dill or parsley and finish with a squeeze of fresh lemon.

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Roasted Sweet Potato with Dill
Author: 
Recipe type: side, holiday, vegetarian, gluten free, detox
 
Ingredients
  • I medium sweet potato, peeled & cubed (1 inch)
  • 3 shallots, peeled and sliced thin
  • 1 tsp butter
  • olive oil, or coconut oil
  • 1 tbsp fresh dill, chopped
  • 1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
  • salt & pepper
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350.
  2. In a large pan over medium heat add about 1 tsp butter and 1 tbsp oil. Add your sliced shallots and lower heat to low. Cook for about 10 minutes stirring regularly. Depending on the size of your shallots, cook for another 10 minutes or until soft and browned. Set aside.
  3. Toss cubed sweet potato in a bowl with olive oil, pinch of salt and pepper and fresh dill.
  4. Place on sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Spread out. Roast in oven for 20-30 minutes checking about half way through until sweet potato is tender.
  5. Remove from pan and toss with shallots. Transfer to platter, sprinkle with fresh chopped parsley and serve.