Appetizer : Sweet Potato Patties

This recipe is a great way to use leftover sweet potatoes and corn. It's a really quick and delicious appetizer, it can also easily be used as your carb in your meal. I served mine with homemade spicy cilantro mayo.

Ingredient
1 sweet potato, cooked, peeled and cooled
1 corn cob, cooked, cut and cooled
1 Thai pepper, finely chopped
1/3 cup (80 mL) fresh cilantro, finely chopped
1 egg
1 pinch salt and pepper, each
3/4 cup (180 mL) breadcrumbs

Method 
1. In a bowl, mix everything together.
2. Heat up some oil in a pan on medium heat.
3. Form your patties, about 6, and cook them in the hot pan. About 3-5 minutes, then flip and 'squish' them with a spatula to about 1/2 inch. Cook for another 3-5 minutes. You'll know they are ready because they are slightly firm to the tough in the middle and they hold together when you pick them up.
4. Serve hot with a dipping sauce. Enjoy!

Makes 6 patties.

Meal: BBQ Pork and grilled pineapple

I'm back! And now that I have a barbecue, I can help you fully enjoy summer! This recipe comes from me trying grilled pineapple for the first time, and now integrating it in everything I eat. To help balance out the sweetness, we had a side of sauteed bok choy from my mother's garden (thanks to our barbecue side burner), and some reheated leftover quinoa from the night before.

Ingredients
5 Pork chops
1/2 tbsp (7.5mL) Paprika
1 tbsp (15mL) Garlic powder
1 tbsp (15mL) Onion powder
1 pinch Chinese five spice
1 pinch Salt
1 large pinch Chili pepper
1/2 tbsp (7.5mL) Pepper
1 tsp (5mL) Ground thyme
2 tbsp oil (high burning point such as grapeseed, walnut, safflower, etc)
5 slices of pineapple, 1 inch thick

Method
1. Coat the pork chops with the dry spices and the oil. Marinate for 1-8hrs.
2. Turn on your barbecue to medium heat. Cook your chops on one side for 8 minutes, then flip them for another 8 minutes.

3. After you flip the chops once, add your pineapple. Cook for 4-5 minutes, then flip them.
4. Your chops and your pineapple should be ready at the same time. Serve then with a side of veggies and your favourite BBQ sauce.

Serves 2 with 2 leftovers lunches.

Salmon Tacos

These tacos are a great and easy way to introduce fish into your week, and take advantage of those omega 3s. I've made this recipe twice already and I can't wait to make it again because it's so quick and taste so summery with the yogurt sauce and the cilantro.

Ingredients
1/2 cup (125mL) plain yogurt
1 lime, zest and juice
5-10 drops hot sauce - or more if you like it spicy

2 filets salmon, with skin
1 tbsp (15mL) smoked paprika
1 tbsp (15mL) garlic powder

6-9 small tortillas
1/2 cup (125mL) cilantro, coarsely chopped
2 leaves lettuce, coarsely chopped

Method
1. Preheat oven at 450 F on broil.
2. Make the yogurt sauce by mixing the yogurt, the zest of 1 lime as well as its juice. You can also add drops of hot sauce to your liking for an extra kick. Set aside.
3. Cover a baking sheet with foil and place salmon on it. Sprinkle the smoked paprika and the garlic powder on the salmon and rub it all over the flesh.
4. Put salmon in oven on middle rack. Broil for about 10 minutes or until the fish is cooked and can easily be flaked.
5. Prepare all the other ingredients and set the table while your fish cooks.
6. Once salmon is fully cooked, remove from skin and flake in large pieces.
7. Assemble your tacos and enjoy! To keep it fresh, serve them with a bean or a vegetable salad.

Serves 2-3.

Asian-insipred Steak Salad

This meal was inspired from the Food Busker on FoodTube...we just mostly changed all the measurements to our liking and substituted for similar ingredients we had; I recommend you do the same if you are missing an ingredient. Although, we were lucky because we already had all the Asian sauces to make this delicious steak salad. The vinegar and fish sauce work really well with the steak and the freshness of the herbs. Oh and did I mention it's a great way to use the fresh herbs in your garden.

Ingredients
2 carrots, peeled or washed, thinly sliced in sticks
1/2 cucumber, washed, thinly sliced in sticks
1/2 cup (120 mL) granulated sugar
1/2 cup (120 mL) white wine vinegar

8oz steak
Vegetable oil
1-2 tsp (5-10 mL) Chinese five spice

3 radishes, thinly sliced
1 green onion, thinly sliced
1 chili, thinly sliced in sticks
1 branch fresh basil, leaves removed from stem
2-3 branches spearmint, leaves removed from stem
4-5 branches cilantro, leaves removed from stem

2-3 tbsp (30-45 mL) cashews, roughly chopped, roasted

Dressing

1 tsp (5 mL)garlic, crushed
1 lime, zest and juice
1 tbsp (15 mL) Mirin*
1 tsp (5 mL) fish sauce
1 tbsp (15 mL) vegetable oil

Method
1. In a medium bowl, cover the carrots and the cucumber with the vinegar and the sugar. Set aside to pickle while you do the rest of the meal.
2. Heat a skillet (preferably a cast iron skillet) on high heat, don't add oil. Take your steak and grease both sides with vegetable oil. Dust the five spice on both sides of the steak.
3. When the skillet is hot, start cooking your steak; you'll know it's hot because the steak will sizzle as you put it in the skillet. For medium rare, cook each side for 2-3 minutes. Once cooked, set it aside for about 5 minutes while you finish up the rest of the salad.
4. Drain the carrot and cucumber sticks. Mix them with the fresh vegetables and the herbs in a medium bowl.
5. For the dressing, whisk the garlic, the lime zest and lime juice, Mirin, fish sauce and vegetable oil together.
6. Cut your steak perpendicular to the grain of the meat.
7. Now you can plate up. Separate the herbs and vegetables between 2 plates, do the same with the steak and the dressing. Sprinkle with cashews and enjoy!

Serves 2.

*a sweet rice wine vinegar

Soft Taco Shells

This recipe is very quick! We were inspired by our trip to Peru on this one. Since everything pre-made is more expensive, the locals prepare everything from scratch when it comes to food. With the new mentality that everything should be homemade, we set out to make our own taco shells. And I can't believe we didn't before! There are only 2 ingredients in this recipe and it adds a nice touch of authenticity to your meal.

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups (360 mL) instant corn mesa
1 1/3 cup (320 mL) warm to hot water

Method
1. Mix flour and water together in a medium bowl.
2. When the dough is starting to form a ball, press dough together and transfer to a floured flat surface. Kneed for a couple of minutes. When ready the dough felt a bit like playdough; it was keeping its shape, it wasn't sticking to my hands or crumbling because it was too dry. Add a bit of water at a time, if it's too crumbly or corn flour, if it's too sticky.
3. When ready return the dough to the bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap and let sit for 30 minutes at room temperature.
4. After 30 minutes have passed, separate the dough in 8 pieces. Roll them in balls. You can also add water or flour at this point, if you find that the dough's consistency is not to your liking.
5. Flour a flat surface and a rolling pin. Place a dough ball in the middle and start rolling it. Continuously flip the dough and flour your surface as you flatten out your tortilla to prevent it from sticking. Flatten until it's about 1-2 mm thick.
6. Warm a dry cast iron skillet* on medium-high heat. Place the uncooked tortilla on the hot surface. It should take only about 30 seconds for each side to cook. Pile them up on a plate under aluminium foil to keep warm until you eat them.

Makes 8 tortillas (6 inches in diameter).

*They can also be cooked on a regular skillet, it just takes about 2 minutes per side, and you unfortunately don't get the slight char marks.

Chinese Ground Beef Salad Wraps

This quick meal was inspired by my boyfriend's Chinese heritage. One of the courses in Peking duck is lettuce wraps; using a spoon you fill an iceberg lettuce leaf with stir fried duck. It is quite delicious! There are nice juicy pieces of duck meat, a little bit of vegetables and crunchy vermicelli noodles topped with hoisin sauce.

Not easily finding minced duck, we opted for ground beef in our version. This dish is quick to make and can easily be used as a fresh new appetizer at a party or as part of a main dish. In fact, we used the leftover meat for tacos on homemade soft shells.

Ingredients

1 lb ground beef
1 small yellow onion, diced
1 1/2 cups (360 mL) zucchini, roughly chopped
Small pinch of salt
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
2 green onions, thinly sliced
3 tbsp (45 mL) fresh ginger, finely grated*
Pepper to taste
2 tsp (10 mL) red chili flakes
1 cup (240 mL) mushrooms, roughly chopped
1/4 cup (60 mL) hoisin sauce
1/4-1/2 cup (60-120 mL) peanuts, shelled, unsalted, roughly chopped (optional)
1 head iceberg or romaine lettuce, leaves separated

Method

1. Brown the beef in a medium to large skillet, break up the ground meat while cooking for 3-4 minutes.
2. When the beef seems mostly cooked through, mix in the onions. Cook for about 2-3 minutes.
3. When onions are starting to get translucent, add the chopped zucchini. Sprinkle a little salt over the zucchinis to draw out some moisture, and mix thoroughly.
4. Cover the skillet and let cook for 3-4 minutes.
5. Remove the cover and reduce the cooking liquids by at least 3/4.
6. Create a well in middle of the beef mixture and add the garlic, scallions, ginger, black pepper, and chili flakes. Stir the aromatic mixture in the well and let cook for a minute. Then, thoroughly mix with the beef and cook for another 1-2 minutes.
7. Stir in mushrooms and let cook for 2-3 minutes or until the mushrooms have absorbed the flavour.
8. Turn off the heat, leaving the skillet on the heat source. Add hoisin sauce and peanuts, mix well and cover until ready to serve.

Makes about 24 small wraps.

*If ginger does not keep well in your refrigerator, I suggest you buy it fresh, peel it and freeze it. You can then easily grate it on a microplane when needed in recipes.

Minestrone Soup

I've been trying to explore vegetarian dishes lately. I came a upon the minestrone soup, we always ate the Habitant brand when I was a kid so I decided to revisit that childhood classic. After searching the web and finding a multitude of recipes, I came up with a sort of winter version of it. It was a low maintenance complete meal soup that you can leave and come back to. It's also packed with nutrients! What's not to love?

Ingredients
Canola oil
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 celery stalks, diced
1 medium carrot, diced
1/2-1 tbsp (7-15 mL) ground black pepper
2 tbsp dried parsley
1 pinch of salt, optional*
1 can (540 mL) cannellini beans, unsalted, rinsed and drained
1 can (800 mL) diced tomatoes, unsalted
1 tbsp (15 mL) tomato paste, unsalted
1 sweet potato, peeled and cubed
4 cups (1000 mL) chicken broth
1 cup (240 mL) kale, shredded
1/2 cup (120 mL) baby shells or macaroni elbow pasta
Fresh Parmesan, grated, as garnish

Method
1. In a large pot, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onions, garlic, celery and carrots, season with black pepper, parsley and a pinch of salt. Cook until onions are almost translucent; since there are a lot of vegetables, it can take up to 10-12 minutes.
2. Stir in beans, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, sweet potatoes and broth. Bring to a boil, then cover and let simmer on lower heat until vegetables are almost tender - about 45 to 60 minutes depending on the size of your diced vegetables. Add broth or water at any time if the liquid goes below the solids and it starts to look more like a stew than a soup.
3. Stir in kale and pasta. Let simmer for another 20-30 minutes or until your pasta is ready.
4. Serve hot with grated fresh Parmesan as garnish. Enjoy!

Serves 8.

*Suggested if you use unsalted canned beans and tomatoes.