Kristen

You will have notices that I haven’t updated A Peek in My Cart for a while now.

I’m choosing to spend the summer getting outside. Yes, including growing veggies, fruit & herbs in our new garden.

I’ll be back when the weather changes in the Fall.

ENJOY the summer,

Kristen

Monday – Vegetable fritatta

It’s leftovers from last night.

Tuesday – Tofu stirfry

This time we match tofu and the garden’s Pak Choy with mushrooms and canned baby corn in a hoisin sauce.

Wednesday – Goldfish

We have occasion to celebrate so we head to Goldfish in Yaletown. I enjoy a champaign cocktail, crab salad and the most beautiful halibut that I’ve had in years.

Thursday – Bison, new potatoes, asparagus, and peas

Yesterday’s trip to the Farmers’ Market inspired (and supplied) tonight’s dinner where we are entertaining a friend. We bbq’ed the bison, boiled the new potatoes and steamed the veggies in bamboo steamers ontop of the boiling ptatoes. A glass of red wine paired with the bison. And dessert was strawberries (also from the Farmers’ Market) and ice cream.

Friday – Falafel with lettuce, tomato, cucumber, avocado and feta on flatbread

W doesn’t like falafel. I love it. So guess what I make while he’s out of town for the weekend?

Saturday – Leftover falafel

A half-batch makes 6 falafel patties so that means two dinners and one lunch. Yay! I matched it with some of the wine leftover from Thursday.

Sunday – Salmon burger at Bridges

I meet up with friends at Bridges before going to a concert. Burger and a beer on a sunny patio is a beautiful thing.

Monday – Leftover dal with vegetables and brown rice

Curried Vegetables with Dahl

From: Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home

Serves: 4 – 6

1 can lentils

1 onion, chopped

1 fresh green chilli (optional)

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 sweet potatoes, peeled and diced

1 tablespoon mild curry powder

1 teaspoon cumin

2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger

2 cups water

½ head cauliflower (about 4 cups florets)

2 green or red bell peppers, chopped

1 bunch spinach (or other dark, leafy greens)

2 – 3 tablespoons lemon juice

1. In a large soup pot, sauté the onion and chilli in the oil for several minutes. Add the sweet potatoes, curry powder, cumin and ginger and continue to sauté for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring often. 
2. Pour in the 2 cups of water.  
3. Cut cauliflower into florets and add to the pot. Add the bell peppers, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes.  
4. Meanwhile, drain and thoroughly rinse the lentils. Place in a blender with a little water. Puree for 2 – 3 minutes to make a smooth dahl. 
5. Rinse, stem and coarsely chop the spinach.     
6. When the cauliflower is tender, stir in the spinach, lentil dahl, and the lemon juice. Simmer just until the spinach has wilted.  
7. Serve immediately.

Tuesday – Tofu stirfry with Pak Choy, mushrooms and broccoli served with rice

While the tomato plants may not be loving this cool, rainy weather, the Pak Choy is. Tonight I used it in a simple stirfry with the classic combo of mushrooms and Asian greens.

Wednesday – Butter chicken/tofu with rice and asparagus

The local asparagus from the farmers market is to die for! Because I don’t care for chicken, in our house we follow the spice packet’s instructions for butter chicken but we sub out 1/2 the chicken for cubed tofu. After preparing the dish and serving it we dutifully swap all the chicken onto his plate and all the tofu onto mine.

Thursday – 2 slices of pizza and beer

We’re already on our way to celebrate a friend’s birthday when we discover that it’s at a bar and not a restaurant. Which means that we won’t be able to buy dinner there. So we make a pitstop along the way for buck-a-slice pizza. Not exactly the dinner of champions but we need something in our stomaches before we drink beer (2 pints for me).

Friday –  Leftovers

Butter “chicken”, tofu stirfry, yum.

Saturday – BBQ steak/veggie patty, boiled new potatoes, steamed asparagus and salad

A simple summer meal. I’m looking forward to the season of meals like this. Hooray for my bamboo steamer – it means that I can steam the asparagus right over the pot of boiling potatoes.

Sunday – Vegetable fritatta with greens, leftover new potatoes and salad

Our garden is really producing the greens! Tonight I use them in my favourite stand-by the fritatta and a salad. See the recipe here.

Did you know that you can eat radish greens? While the radishes are included in our salad, the greens are used in the fritatta.

I’m on the mend and I would be in the kitchen this week but, I’m going to Montreal (for a conference). So you’ll have to wait for the week of May 31st to take a peek in my cart.

Kristen 

The best part of the week is that it’s Spot Prawn season. W and I went to fisherman’s wharf (near Granville Island) on Saturday and stocked up for the year. The boats get in between noon and 1pm. They sell out fast so get there early. Expect to pay $12/pound and bring cash. We bought 5 pounds. 1/2 pound is a good serving per person. We cleaned 1 pound for dinner Saturday night and froze the rest. All we do is cut off their heads and put them in ziploc freezer bags – about 1 pound per bag.

Monday – Veggie burger with cheese and salad

I joined folks from my Toastmasters group at the Sunset Grill after our session for a late dinner.

Tuesday – Pasta with cannellini beans and nettles in tomato sauce

Wednesday – Tofu stirfry with nettles, mushrooms, leeks and snowpeas

I used up the last of the nettles tonight. The stirfry sauce was sweet Thai chili sauce with soy sauce, a splash of sesame oil and a splash of fish sauce. Don’t be afraid of fish sauce. While a whiff from the bottle may turn one away, a splash added to a stirfry adds a magical depth and hint of flavour.

Thursday -  Fish sticks with roasted root vegetables and squash

Tonight I finished up the package of fish sticks that I wrote about previously. They are OK and worth buying again but I’m going to continue my search for a great, healthy fish stick. I paired the fish sticks with some of the squash that I baked in the fall and froze. A couple of minutes in the microwave and it was ready.

I also had roasted root vetetables. When cooking one part of the meal in the oven, it’s great to cook other parts too. Tonight my roasted veg included taro, sunchokes and yams. I simply drizzled them with olive oil, salt & pepper and some rosemary from my garden. I set them in the oven to roast at the temperature that the fish sticks would need to cook at. Then, when there was 20 min left for the  veggies to cook, I put the fish sticks in the oven beside them.  

Friday – leftovers

Saturday – Spot prawns with rice and asparagus

This is an amazing recipe for spot prawns from Rob Feenie that was printed in the Globe & Mail several years ago. While I only make 1 pound of prawns, I make the whole amount of sauce. It’s so yummy that we pour it over our rice and asparagus too.

Sauteed BC Spot Prawns with Garlic, Jalapenos, fresh herbs

3-4 pounds spot prawns

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon butter

4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced (I used my garlic press)

2 red jalapenos, thinly sliced

1/4 cup flat leaf parsley

1 cup dry white wine

1 whole lemon

freshly cracked black pepper

In a saute pan, on medium heat, add olive oil, butter, garlic. Lightly saute.

1. Turn up the heat, add prawns and jalapenos. Toss for 1-2 minutes.
2. Turn heat back to medium, add wine and cook for another minute.
3. Add parsley, lemon juice, and pepper. Serve immediately.

Sunday – Bison and black bean sloppy joes

I have some leftover black beans and uncooked ground bison from workshop samples. I used them up by combining them with some canned tomatoes, onions and garlic chives from the garden and cooked it until most of the liquid from the tomatoes had evaporated. Served on a whole wheat kaiser and with coleslaw on the side it’s a healthy meal that makes us feel like kids again.  

There is tons of socializing this week resulting in very little cooking (on my part).

Monday – Leftovers

I still have leftover mango black bean salad, sunchokes, and other goodies. I’m very satisfied taking advantage of the fridge’s plethora of tupperware containers.

Tuesday – Sushi

A friend is in town from Australia. He moved there from Vancouver this winter. He reports that there is very little sushi in Sydney. At least compared to Vancouver. 

Wednesday – Two Chefs and a Table

It’s Cinquo de Mayo. W and I join another couple for a fantastic 6 course Mexican-inspired meal. It was delicious. And that is a magical little room on a summer evening.

Thursday – KD with tuna and frozen peas

With all this socializing I haven’t been grocery shopping nor do I have my meals planned for the week. The result: a favourite fall-back meal that involves very few fresh ingredients. At least there are 3 food groups.

Friday – Guu Garden

We join a group of friends for a fantastic celebratory dinner at the new Guu Garden. A beautiful location and the great food you expect from a Guu. We had the majority of items from the menu – all met our high expectations! Searching for the stairs to get up to the restaurant was the only bad part of the evening.

Saturday – A selection of vegetarian dishes from Vij’s cookbook

W and I are invited to a friends place for dinner. She prepared a couple of tasty dishes from Vij’s cookbook – one with chickpeas and one with paneer and peas. Brown rice and roti accompanied the curries nicely. And the chocolate cake for dessert was fantastic!

Sunday – Nettle, mushroom and leek frittata served with baguette

Almost all the ingredients for tonight’s dinner are from the first Trout Lake Farmers Market for the season. It’s now on every Saturday in the North end of the park (near the off-leash dog area). The baguette was leftover from the baby shower that we hosted Saturday afternoon. One of the best parts of hosting parties is the leftovers! 

I’ve shared my frittata recipe before but it’s such a favourite that I’ll share it again.

Vegetable Frittata

 I love this frittata recipe. It is so versatile – I’ve used all sorts of veggie combos. And, who doesn’t love breakfast for dinner?

The constant ingredients:
vegetable oil (I typically use olive)
5 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1 generous tsp powdered mustard
1/2 tsp salt (optional)

The varied ingredients:
Use in any combination that sounds good to you.
members of the allium family (e.g. leek, onion, garlic, garlic spears)
leafy greens (Swiss chard, spinach, kale)
other veggies (e.g. asparagus, bell peppers, mushrooms, zucchini)
cheese (e.g. cheddar, parmesan, brie, mozzarella)
herbs (I’ve always used parsley but I’m sure others would be good too)

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.  
2. Lightly grease a 9 inch pie plate. Set aside. 
3. Wash and chop the veggies. 
4. In a frypan, heat the oil. Sauté the allium family members until softened.  
5. Meanwhile, combine eggs, milk, mustard, herbs & salt in a small bowl. Whisk together and set aside. 
6. If using a hard cheese (like cheddar), shred it and set aside.  
7. Add other veggies to the frypan until just soft. Add leafy greens last, cooking until just barely wilted. I like lots and lots of greens, so I need to add the greens in batches, waiting to add the next batch until the previous batch starts to wilt so that all the greens can fit into the frypan. 
8. Transfer veggies to the pie plate. Pour in the egg mixture. Top with the cheese. 
9. Bake in the oven about 20 to 25 minutes, until the centre is golden brown. Let rest a few minutes before serving.

 Monday – Tofu stirfry

I always keep a bottle of teriyaki sauce and a bottle of lower sodium soy sauce in the fridge. They make stir-fry such an easy dinner. Tonight I filled the stirfry with extra-firm tofu, bok choy, mushrooms and green peppers. I served it over white rice.

Tuesday – Leftovers

While I love to cook, I enjoy the break from cooking that leftovers provide. I don’t understand people who hate leftovers – perhaps they aren’t the cooks in the household

Wednesday – Pesto pasta

W takes a turn in the kitchen. He made a tasty pesto pasta with olives, sundried tomatoes, artichoke hearts, mushrooms, onion and cannellini beans. I served oranges for dessert to up the veg & fruit servings for the day.

Thursday - Date night

We continue to check out the restaurants in the ‘hood – tonight trying Lotus. The food wasn’t outstanding but it was good. We shared a pecan salad to start and then I had a mushroom and aspargus risotto. A glass of red wine matched well with my entree.

Friday – Roasted beet, blue cheese, hazelnut and watercress salad; roasted sunchokes; and, grilled steak/veggie patty

Roasted beets, blue cheese, and watercress are an amazing combination. While walnuts are usually added to this salad, I had local hazelnuts on hand which worked well. A simple balsamic dressing is the perfect compliment. Roasted sunchokes have an earthy taste that work well with this meal. They can be hard to find in grocery stores but I find them all winter long at the farmers market. Roast them until they are very well done – almost burned to create a great caramelized taste and to reduce the gassiness that they can cause.

Saturday – Veggie dog, hummous & pita, black bean salsa

We’re having people over for a causual get together so I make easy dipping food: hummous and a black bean salsa that I served with a variety of foods for dipping: tortilla chips, whole wheat pita bread, naan, spelt lavash, and various raw veggies. The BBQ was going too so I had a veggie dog. To drink: 2 glasses of red wine.

Black Bean Salsa

With it being mango season (and definately NOT tomato season), I made the version with mangos. I also prefer to use lime juice.

From: Dietitians of Canada Cook Great Food

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 cup drained canned corn kernels

1 cup diced tomatoes or mango

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 tablespoons lime juice or cider vinegar or lemon juice

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro or parsley

½ teaspoon minced garlic

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

1. Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl and gently toss together.

Hummous

From: Food Allergy Survival Guide

Makes: about 4.5 cups

3.5 cups cooked or canned chickpeas

½ – ¾ cup fresh lamon juice

1/3 cup sesame tahini

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

¼ – ½ teaspoon crushed garlic

Salt

Paprika

2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley or cilantro (optional)

1. In a food processor or in a bowl with a hand-held blender, blend the chickpeas with a little of the lemon juice – just enough to make a smooth, thick paste. 
2. Add the remaining lemon juice, tahini, oil, garlic and salt. Blend until smooth. If necessary, add a little water to achieve a smooth, creamy consistency. 
3. To serve, transfer to a serving bowl or platter and sprinkle with paprika and chopped parsley/cilantro (if using). Use as a spread or dip.   

Sunday – BBQ pork/veggie dog with and black bean salsa, steamed broccoli and carrots, and rice

I creatively used some of the leftovers from last night’s party by pairing the black bean salsa with pork. Pork matches so well with fruit like the mango in the salsa. Also, I steamed the leftover baby carrots and broccoli florets. W and I also enjoyed a glass of red wine to finish off the bottle.

Monday – Egg white, spinach and feta wrap

I’m running around doing errands and meetings again this week. Tonight I grabbed a wrap at Starbucks (there’s always one near-by). Some “emergency rations” from my purse, i.e. raisins, round out the quick meal.

Tuesday – Buffet on the ferry

If  I want a real meal on the ferry, I find that springing the extra few dollars for the buffet is well worth it. The food is way better than the cafeteria. Tonight I had cheese ravioli in tomato sauce, wild salmon, steamed vegetables, a big salad and a sampling of their desserts.

Wednesday – Macaroni and cheese with salad

There’s nothing like comfort food made by your Mom. Tonight I had one of my favourites – maraconi and cheese (the home-made kind, not Kraft’s). For a grown-up twist, we enjoyed a glass of red wine with our dinner. To continue on the nostalgia, after dinner we headed down to the Beacon Hill Drive-In for a soft-serve ice cream cone.

Thursday – Falafal platter

While it’s not as good as the Best Falafal in our old neighbourhood, Canteen in our new ‘hood makes a good falafal. W reports that the chicken schwarma is also good – but not as good as Best Falafal’s.

Friday - Roast chicken, swimming scallops in white wine garlic butter, turnips, potatoes, grilled zucchini, steamed carrots, and steamed broccoli

An impromptu diner party brought together 6 adults and 3 kids at our place. I didn’t have enough of any one food to feed everyone so I made lots of different food. Guests brought a yummy dessert of strawberry loaf served with creamy yogurt. And, I enjoyed it all with a couple glasses of white wine.

The whole chicken was rubbed with salt, pepper and poultry seasoning and done beer-can-style on the BBQ.

I steamed the swimming scallops and created a dip of shallots and garlic sauted in butter and olive oil and topped with fresh parsley and chives from the garden.

I simply boiled the potatoes. And, I steamed the carrots and broccoli in bamboo steamers over top the boiling potatoes.  

I tossed the zucchini with olive oil, salt & pepper and grilled it on the BBQ.

Tasty Turnips

Every time that I serve these to people, they can’t believe that they are enjoying eating turnips. But after all, what doesn’t tase good in a little sugar and a lot of butter and stock! 

I jotted this recipe down from an edition of Gourmet Magazine while I sat in a doctor’s waiting room. It was the first time that I attempted a “fancy” recipe. And you know what – it wasn’t hard.

It is a very flexible recipe – I typically use as much turnips as I have and eyeball the rest of the ingredients. I’ve also used whatever member of the allium family that I’ve had on hand – red onion, plain onions. They all work but shallots really are the best.

I never do get the sauce to turn into a glaze, so I just drain off the extra liquid. The turnips always taste great, regardless.

¼ stick unsalted butter

3 pounds turnips, cut into 1 inch pieces

2.5 cups stock (veggie or chicken)

2 teaspoons sugar

¼ teaspoon salt

1 shallot, finely diced

2 tablespoons fresh flat-leaf parsley (optional)

1.       Melt butter over medium heat. Sauté shallots until translucent.

2.       Add turnips, broth, sugar, & salt. Cover, turn up the heat and bring to a boil.

3.       Reduce heat and simmer, covered, until turnips are just tender (about 25 – 30 minutes).

4.       Continue to boil uncovered, stirring occasionally, until liquid is reduced to just glaze turnips – about 15 minutes. 

Saturday – Birthday dinner buffet

We attended a birthday party with a beautiful buffet. I enjoyed potato chips and rice crackers for nibbling on. Then for dinner I enjoyed two types of pasta, cucumber salad, cesar salad, and tomato boccocini salad. Dessert was amazing: chocolate cake, candied ginger and pumpkin cheesecake, lemon squares, cheese, and pineapple.  As the designated driver, I stuck with water to drink. 

Sunday – BBQ “meat” with wild rice, steamed fiddleheads in garlic butter, and radishes

Yesterday we went to the farmers market where I had my first sight of spring’s foods. My crisper is full of so many tasty things that it was hard to decide what to make for dinner tonight! But in the end the fiddleheads were calling my name the strongest. The radishes were also too tempting to ignore so I just served them raw and whole. W grilled a steak and I had an Yves veggie patty. There’s some leftover wine from Friday night so I enjoy a glass.      

This week I continue my hunt for good frozen fish sticks – with somewhat better results. And a day without a plan finds me grabbing whatever is close by.

Monday – Sushi

I’m out and about running errands and going to meetings. Thankfully there is a great little sushi place on 4th Ave near Burrard that has inexpensive sushi with brown rice. I chose a spicy tuna roll, gomae and seaweed salad.

Tuesday – Fish sticks with rice and asparagus

Tasty, healthy fish sticks would be a great find for the many busy families for whom I menu plan. Until today I hadn’t found any that I can recommend – they are either not healthy or they taste awful.   But these Life Choices ones are quite healthy and taste pretty good. They crisp up nicely but are a little dry – nothing a little ketchup or mayo can’t help.

Wednesday – Tuna KD with frozen peas

Yes, it’s my go-to dinner when I’m tired. At least it includes 3 food groups – I use equal parts peas and noodles.

Thursday – Veggie Biryani

This dish takes some attention and time but it’s very yummy. An added bonus – the house will smell fantastic!

Hyderabadi Biryani

 From: Sarah Brown’s World Vegetarian Cookbook

Serves 4

2 – 3 teaspoons garam masala (see below)

350g (12oz) basmati rice

Salt

250mL (8 fl oz) yogurt

1 teaspoon saffron

2 tablespoons milk, warmed

125g (4oz) ghee (I just use butter)

100g (3.5oz) onions, sliced

4 green chillies

2.5cm (1 inch) ginger, julienned

4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

½ teaspoon turmeric powder

1 teaspoon red chilli powder

500g (1.25lb) mixed vegetables (cauliflower, carrots, green beans), diced into small pieces

50g (2oz) cashews

50g (2 oz) sliced almonds

25g (1oz) mint leaves, finely chopped (optional)

25g (1oz) cilantro, finely chopped (optional)

For the garam masala:

6 green cardamom pods

2 black cardamom pods

6 cloves

2 x 2.5cm (1 inch) sticks cinnamon

2 bay leaves

Pinch of mace

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. 
2. Grind together all the ingredients for the garam masala. 
3. Wash the rice in running water and soak for 30 min. Drain, put in a large pan with 3 cups cold water. Add half the garam masala and the salt. Bring to the boil and boil for 5 – 8 minutes or until the rice is almost done. Drain, if necessary, and set aside. 
4. In a small bowl, whisk together the yogurt and divide into 2 equal parts. Dissolve the saffron into the warm milk. Stir into one portion of the yogurt. Mix well and set aside.  
5. Heat ghee in a pan. Add the rest of the garam masala and sauté over medium heat until it begins to crackle. Add the onions and sauté until golden brown, add the green chilis, ginger and garlic.  Sauté for 1 minute then add the turmeric and red chilli powder and cook for a few seconds.
6. Stir in the diced vegetables, then the plain yogurt and 175mL water. Bring to a boil and simmer, covered, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are cooked.
7. Remove from the heat and add the nuts.
8. Put in an ovenproof casserole and cover with the reserved saffron yogurt, mint and cilantro. Top with the rice. Cover tightly with foil and bake for 15-20min at 374 degrees F.  

Friday – Leftovers

An added benefit of the biryani is that it makes lots!

Saturday – Pizza Hut

We worked outside building our vegetable garden all day. I haven’t done this much physical work in years! Unfortunately I didn’t have a plan for dinner so by 7pm we were exhausted and starving! There’s a Pizza Hut 1.5 blocks away so guess what we had for dinner – Pizza Hut. Yes, even food loving dietitians fall victim to awful food when hungry, tired, and without a plan!

Sunday – Coconut prawns with rice and asparagus

Not to be left again eating bad food, today I had a plan before heading into the garden. I used local side-stripe prawns from my freezer. This coconut prawn dish is very tasty but definately not low fat  – perfect after a full day of shovelling 6 yards of earth!

Coconut Shrimp

From: allrecipes.com

Serves: 2 – 6

There is something wrong with this recipe in that I have too much wet ingredients left over. But, with only 1 egg, I haven’t figured out how to reduce it.  

I also skip the refrigerating part because I always forget about it – wanting to eat sooner than that!

But, it results in very tasty prawns!

1 egg, lightly beaten

½ cup all purpose flour

2/3 cup beer

1.5 teaspoons baking powder

¼ cup flour

2 cups flaked coconut (unsweetened)

24 shrimp, shelled and cleaned (leaving the tail on)

3 cups oil for frying

1. In a medium bowl, combine egg, ½ cup flour, beer and baking powder. Mix well. 
2. Place ¼ cup flour and coconut in 2 separate bowls.  
3. Hold shrimp by tail and dredge in flour, then beer mix, then coconut. Place on a baking sheet lined with wax paper. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. 
4. Heat the oil in a deep fryer or deep frying pan. Fry shrimp in batches, turning once. Cook until golden brown. Using tongs, remove shrimp from oil and place on a paper towel to blot excess oil. 
5. Serve warm.