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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.

 

Greek Pasta Salad

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Back in 2002 I used to play on a local softball slow-pitch team. I was fairly new to Calgary and looking to get out and meet people. The same year I also joined an indoor soccer team and billiards team. It was around then I met my husband, through work of all places, and life was forever changed.

During our ball season, our team did a few weekend tournament camping trips. Let’s be honest. They are beer tournaments and lots of beverages were consumed. Lots of fun though! We planned potluck style meals and it was around this time someone from work introduced me to Club House Pasta Salad Dressing Mix. I was hooked, it was so delicious. So every camping trip that followed I would precook the pasta, store it in a zip lock bag, chop up a bunch of vegetables, store them in a plastic bag, mix up the dressing and keep it in a sealed jar and wrap up some feta as the finishing touches. Always a hit and a salad I make regularly now. Our Greek Pasta Salad was created when leftover Greek salad met pasta using the Club House Pasta Salad Dressing.

Did you know you do not have to rinse your pasta to cool it down? Last year at an event with Canadian Chef Lynn Crawford she made a delicious noodle salad. She advised not to rinse your pasta while letting it cool down – it’s not necessary. Instead lay it out on a cookie sheet and let it cool that way. I’ve been doing this ever since and it works like a charm!

 

Greek Pasta Salad
Greek Pasta Salad

 

Grilled Bread & Tomato Salad

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Sunny days make me want to get outside and eat all the things and plant or harvest my garden and eat fresh grown tomatoes. Right? We’ve had an unusually warm start to 2016 which is great for us Calgarians but not so great for the farmers and producers who rely on the moisture to plant their seeds.

I am slightly addicted to bread so anything that involved bread makes me happy. Having to make up something for a BBQ I decided on a bread, tomato, parsley salad. Simple but delicious. I picked up some roasted garlic bread, gave it some lovely brown char marks and tossed it with the tomatoes. Don’t dress your salad or even add the bread until you are ready to serve it or the bread gets soggy. And serve it immediately for as it sits the bread soaks up the tomato and dressing goodness and it becomes soggy. A little added chunky salami or even cooked chicken would make this the perfect meal in one.

Since I’m using garlic bread I opted not to add garlic to my oil. This dish is beautiful served alongside grilled steak or chicken.

 

 

Brussels Sprouts Brown Rice Bowl with Cilantro Lime Drizzle

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I love bowl food. It’s hearty, filling and mostly healthy depending on ingredients. When I make it at home, it’s always healthy. When I have it out it’s full of inspiration and for the most part a bowl full of good stuff.

I’ve had a love affair with brown rice going on for over 20 years thanks to my mom and since it’s part of the rotation, my husband even likes it. We top it with salty feta cheese & fresh herbs. If brown rice is not your thing try making this bowl with white rice or even quinoa.

I finished it with a Cilantro Lime Drizzle but you can use your favourite dressing if cilantro is not your thing or use a different herb like basil or parsley. If you are on the Wild Rose Detox you have to keep your dressing simple (olive oil, citrus, herbs, s&p). I called this a drizzle as it doesn’t contain vinegar and technically a vinaigrette does.

As always recipes can be changed up to suit your tastes. Add chicken or protein if you want some meat, omit the jalapenos if you don’t like the extra heat!

 

Chicken Milanese with Spinach & Arugula

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A quick and easy meal your family will love cause it’s simple. The kids think these are just “big” chicken fingers and one eats it with plum sauce. The other BBQ sauce (not complaining). The dressing on the salad is so simple and light. The whole meal cooks up quickly and is perfect for a busy activity night or night where you just don’t feel like cooking much.

Chicken Milanese has variations. Some fry the chicken and the salad is more basic than what I’ve made. I like to bake the chicken in the oven. It still crisps up and tastes great. Add a few extras to the salad and it’s just as delicious.

 

Roasted Tomato Soup

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I am excited to be participating in November 2013 challenge for the Canadian Food Project, The Canadian Harvest. The Canadian Food Project Experience was started on June 7, 2013 by Valerie Lugonja of A Canadian Foodie. It’s a compilation of Canadian Food Bloggers who are committed to sharing their time, unique regional Canadian food experiences, and recipes. We hope to bring clarity to our Canadian Culinary identity by sharing food that is important to us as Canadians.

With a short growing season, September and October bring us a cornucopia of tomatoes. My own little crop of tomatoes are grown in container plants on my deck. This year we harvested quite a number of lovely little tomato specimens and true to form in Calgary, we get early frost in September, so it becomes a race against time to get everything harvested. Since many were picked green, they had to be left on the counter to ripen. And ripen they did.

Growing up in the 1970’s, my parents garden was full of blooming edibles. The greenhouse was home to many varieties of tomatoes and cucumbers. I believe it was an art growing such delicacies and my mom had mastered it. Every Summer and Fall we would have an abundance of fresh produce to enjoy. Many of the tomatoes were canned and stored for the winter. A couple of my favourite things to eat was tomatoes picked fresh from the garden and my mom’s canned tomatoes that had been warmed in a pot, mixed in with cooked macaroni and finished with Parmesan and salt. One thing she never did get into was making tomato soup, until I was in my twenties and living in Vancouver. So for us, as children, tomato soup consisted of Old Fashioned Tomato, Basil and Rice Soup, from a can. Long live Campbell’s.

Tomatoes from Wanda's Garden
Tomatoes from Wanda’s Garden

Compelled and determined to bring my own rug rats up on home made soups, I’ve been trying different versions of tomato soups over the years. One memorable epic fail was squash and tomato…it did not work together. This year we had our own red and yellow garden tomatoes to use and a friend’s red tomatoes from her garden that she shared with us.

When I think of an Albertan or Prairie Harvest, I think beyond wheat, mustard, grains and canola oil…I think about all the love and care that goes into the Farms and the crops the farmers grow and protect from damaging weather and hail, only to harvest and bring to market. A true labour of love.

As we entered November I needed to use up what was left of our tomato harvest and so yet again, I made tomato soup. This time it worked.

 

 

 

Sammy’s On A Stick

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Over the years I’ve tried to be creative with kids lunches to keep things relatively fun & interesting when school started and before. I used to look after some littles along with my kids so I was able to experiment with recipes on all of them. These sammy’s and snacks on a stick have taken various shapes and forms over the years, and always been well received.

Pick up packages of wooden skewers from the dollar store and cut them to size – smaller for small hands and lunch boxes. You can also cut the tips off the skewer if you are concerned about the safety factor.

Next add your favourite ingredients to the skewer until it is full and you are ready to eat. Or if it’s going into a lunch or on a picnic, wrap it with Saran wrap to keep it fresh. The great thing about Sammy’s On A Stick is you can make them to suit your kids tastes. When I’m serving this for lunch at home, I tend to make them bigger. The kids LOVE to eat stick food this way and we love that they eat a good variety of items without hesitation.

Besides Sammy’s on a Stick we’ve also tried:
Sausage/Pepperoni & Cheese on a stick
Fruit on a stick (ie fruit salad)
Veggies (carrot & cucumber) on a stick
Pre-cooked cheese tortellini on a stick, served with a container marinara dipping sauce
Muffin chunks or cinnamon bagels/cream cheese with strawberries

Lunch on a Stick
Lunch on a Stick

Here are some ingredient ideas:

  • Any kind of bread, cheese buns, croissant, bagel, thicker sliced bread (raisin bread)
  • Deli meat or leftover over roast beef, chicken, turkey, ham cut into cubes or folded up
  • Hard cheese cut up into cubes, cheese sticks cut up, mini bocconcini balls
  • Vegetables: lettuce, grape tomatoes, cucumber cubes, carrot coins, celery slices, pepper wedges to name a few.
  • Fruit, apple works well
  • Pickles or olives, just ensure you keep them away from the bread so you do not end up with soggy bread!

These are some of the simpler ideas. Be adventurous and create your own combination!