Mango & Poblano Salsa

Sometimes mid-week, I need a bit of a pick-me-up to get me through until Friday... glorious Friday! This week that jolt of life, came in the form of some needed girl time with lady friends and a flavorful Wednesday dinner.

Alex and I met up with a friend for beers and dessert. Yes, that's right beers and dessert! Actually we had Fruli and delightful raspberry chocolate cheesecake and decadent banana peanut-butter chocolate cake at Pub Italia in Little Italy! But, before we indulged our sweet tooth and our guilty pleasure of gossiping, we decided to have dinner together. Alex, made some great spicy refried black beans, which we wrapped up in warm tortillas with some fresh, julienned raw vegetables (cucumber, red peppers, carrots and avocado). To accompany the beans I agreed to make a salsa. I wanted something with a kick, so I decided to make a mango salsa. I found some nice mangoes at the Byward Fruit Market; they were super sweet and perfectly ripe. I also picked up a poblano pepper for some spice! This turned out to be an excellent salsa and would be equally great with fish or chicken, or even just scooped up with some warm tortilla chips!

Mango & Poblano Salsa 

 

1 ripe mango, diced
1 ripe tomato, diced
1/2 medium sized poblano pepper, minced
3  green onions, sliced thinly
Juice and zest of one lime
1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
Pinch of cumin
Salt and pepper to taste

Mix all of the ingredients in a bowl. Let sit in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes for the flavors to combine well.

That's it! Super easy recipe!

Enjoy!


-Tina (Turnip)

The BEST Lemon Blueberry Muffins

The recipe I'm about to share with you is in the front running for one of the very best muffin recipes I've ever tried. I was looking for a way to use up some vanilla flavoured greek yogurt that was drawing close to it's best before date. I wanted to use as much of the yogurt as possible and I needed to restock on breakfast foods so I figured a batch of muffins would be the best way to remedy the situation.

After searching through a few recipes I found online, I settled for this Joy of Baking recipe. The only addition I ended up making was 1 tsp of lemon rind, and I used vanilla yogurt in place of plain. I had originally wanted to use the smaller wild blueberry in this recipe but as it turns out the cultivated frozen blueberries were on sale at the grocery store, so I decided to go with that. They turned out wonderfully! They are super moist (even more so the day (or two) after baking!), and the bursts of blueberry are paired well with a hint of lemony goodness.

Don't let the thickness of the batter worry you. This turns out much thicker than other muffin batters I have made in the past. It doesn't pour, so you have to make muffin balls and place them inside the muffin cups (or greased muffin pan). Please do yourself a favour and try these muffins at least once!

The BEST Lemon Blueberry Muffins (Adapted from Joy of Baking)

Ingredients

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1 cup vanilla flavoured greek yogurt

1/3 cup vegetable (or other non-flavoured) oil

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 tsp lemon rind

2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup granulated white sugar

1 1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries (I used frozen)

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. If you are using paper muffin cups, place these inside the muffin tin. If not, lightly butter or use cooking spray on the muffin tin.

In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the egg, yogurt, oil, vanilla, and lemon rind. Set aside.

In a large sized bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add in the blueberries and stir gently (if you are using frozen blueberries, place in the batter while they are still frozen, otherwise you will end up with blue batter!). Fold the wet ingredients in the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Remember that the batter will be super thick!

Make the muffin dough into balls using an ice cream scoop, two spoons (or even your hands). The muffin ball should fill the wrapper/tin. I was able to make one muffin tin (12 muffins) with this amount of batter.

Place the muffins in the oven and bake for 15 - 25 minutes or until a toothpick placed in the centre comes out clean (mine ended up taking closer to 25, but my oven is quite old and I suspect the temperature is off).

Enjoy!

- Alex (Bean) 

Garlicky Hummus

I love hummus - it's my dip of choice and I find it makes any raw veggie infinitely tastier (we're talking carrots, cucumbers, peppers, broccoli, celery...you name it, hummus will taste good on it!). It's also tastes amazing with fresh pita bread, and can be used as a healthy alternative to mayo on your favourite sandwich or wrap. Hummus is also incredibly versatile! You can use different beans for the base, and you can also switch it up with a variety of spices.

I am a bit of a sucker for the President's Choice line of hummus spreads (has anyone else out there tried PC's masala hummus? It's devine!), however, I have been striving to make all of my favourites at home from scratch. It's a great way to save money, and you can alter the content and intensity of the flavours to your liking. Plus, it's incredibly easy, so why not?! This recipe can be whipped up in about 10 minutes. It uses canned chickpeas (also known as garbanzo beans), but feel free to use dried chickpeas in their place (here is a quick how-to on soaking and cooking dried chickpeas). This is a fairly traditional hummus recipe utilizing chickpeas, tahnini, lemon juice and garlic. I am hoping to eventually emulate the PC masala hummus recipe and once I perfect it I will share it in a post.

Garlicky Hummus Spread

1 540 mL can chickpeas/garbanzo beans 

juice of 1 lemon

1/4 cup tahini (sesame paste)

2 tbsp olive oil, plus extra to drizzle on top

3 cloves garlic (if you aren't a big fan of garlic feel free to scale this back a bit)

1/4 tsp. cumin

generous pinch of salt (I used the Selsi Prairie Pink Salt I bought at the St. Lawrence Market during my last visit to Toronto)

1/2 cup of water

Paprika, to sprinkle on top

Drain and rinse the chickpeas. Combine all ingredients, except for water (and paprika) in your food processor or blender. Add water and puree the ingredients until smooth. I used my tiny $25 blender and spread the blending over two batches. You may need to stir the ingredients to ensure even blending. The finished product should have a smooth and creamy consistency. 

Scoop your hummus into a bowl and drizzle olive oil and paprika on top. Enjoy!

- Alex (Bean)

Note: Check your local grocer's international aisle for tahini - it is usually located in the Middle Eastern section. 

Garlic & Savoury Quickbread Focaccia

You know when you suddenly get the craving for a snack late a night? You run to the cupboard, open it up and...nothing. You clasp the refrigerator door handle, close your eyes and quickly throw open the door, peak open one eye and...nada! I thought, I could go out to the corner store, but that would have meant bundling up in warm clothes. To quote Liz Lemon, "Blerg!"

After about ten minutes of sulking, I mustered up enough energy to step back in the kitchen and look through the cupboards again. Chickpea flour. Hmm. Garlic and savoury. Hmm. It took me a few minutes but I came up with a super fast snack! This rustic treat is garlicky, salty and very satifying, especially when eaten warm, right out of the oven. And, let's face it, who would really wait for it to cool down?

Garlic & Savoury Quickbread Focaccia

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

3/4 cups chickpea flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/4 cup olive oil

warm water

1/2 teaspoon dried savoury

1 clove garlic minced

sea salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. In a shallow, medium sized bowl or directly on your counter mix the all purpose flour, chickpea flour, baking powder and sea salt, creating a mound with a well in the centre. In the centre of the well pour the olive oil and slowly add the warm water into the centre, while incorporating the flour. Only add enough warm water until the dough is moist and not too wet. If you add too much water, simply add a bit more all purpose flour. Knead the dough for about a minute. Coat a pan with a small amount of olive oil and press the dough onto the pan in a circle shape making small indents into the top with the tips of your fingers. Spread the minced garlic, savoury and salt and pepper to taste on top of the dough. Bake in the oven for approximately 15 minutes or until just golden on top. 

This is a perfect late night snack, but will also go great on the side with a salad or soup - especially the Curried Sweet Pepper Soup that Alex made.

Enjoy!

-Tina (Turnip)

This is BANANAS!

Each week when I go to the grocery store, I pick up a bunch of bananas. Truth be told, I am very picky about bananas. I really have to be in the mood to eat a banana and the level of ripeness has to be just right. Bananas, however, only stay in the perfect state of ripeness for about a day. Once that precise moment is gone, for me, it's too late. You can slow the ripening of a banana by separating them (see this article on LifeHacker: http://lifehacker.com/5891257/separate-bananas-to-slow-down-their-ripening), but like I said, I have to be in the mood for eating a banana. So, inevitably, I end up with a bunch of overripe bananas which I throw in my freezer.

This week, I opened the freezer door up and an avalanche of bananas fell out. Quietly admitting to myself that I have a problem, I decided I need to do something about it! Frozen bananas are great for smoothies, but I was in the mood to bake something. I realized I didn't have much breakfast food in the house, so I thought what better thing to make with those leftover bananas. After a quick scan in the cupboard and fridge, and a few moments of thought on how I could make something pretty healthy and tasty - I came up with it! Et voila - Banana Carrot Oat Breakfast Bites!

Banana Carrot Oat Breakfast Bites

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 3/4 cups quick oats

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon dried, ground ginger

1/4 cup shortening

1 egg

1 carrot, grated

3 medium bananas, mashed

1/4 teaspoon orange rind

1/8 cup squeezed orange juice

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. In a medium bowl, combine flour, oats, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon and ginger. In a separate bowl, cream the shortening and sugar together; whisk until fluffy. Add the egg, mashed banana, carrot, orange rind and orange juice and mix well. Combine the dry ingredients with the wet, only until the mixture comes together. Do not over mix.

On an ungreased, non-stick cookie sheet, make dollops of the batter spaced approximately one inch apart. Bake in the oven for 10 to 12 minutes, just until the bottoms of the bites are golden brown. Let the bites cool on the pans and remove. Store in an airtight container. I divided mine into ziplock bags to take to work each day this week. These are super healthy and rather addictive. They are really delicious with some strong dark coffee and asliced fresh orange in the morning. If you like something a little bit sweeter, you could also make a cream cheese icing to drizzle on top, making it a great item to bring to a brunch!

BONUS BANANA RECIPE! Guatemalan Banana Bread

Here is another fantastic recipe which can help you use up those leftover, overripe bananas. This banana bread is a staple in Guatemala and is absolutely delicious, fluffy and sweet. The lemon juice and cinnamon add a distinct and unusual taste to a classic quick bread recipe. 

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup sugar

2 ripe bananas, mashed

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 egg

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Cream the butter and sugar together, then add the mashed bananas, lemon juice and egg. Combine the rest of the dry ingredients together (salt, cinnamon, flour and baking powder). Combine the wet and dry ingredients together. Bake in a loaf or square greased baking pan. For ease of removal, you can also use parchment paper in the bottom of the pan. Pour the batter into the pan and bake in the preheated oven for 35 minutes or until the bread is slightly golden and dry in the middle. You can use a toothpick to test this; stick the toothpick in the middle of the bread, if it pulls out clean without any excess batter, the bread is done. This method can be used for testing any quick breads or cakes you are baking. Let the bread cool in the pan, then remove and slice. Serve this for breakfast or for dessert. 

Enjoy!

-Tina (Turnip)

Chocolate chip peanut crisp cookies with Sortilege

Chocolate chip peanut crisp cookies with Sortilege

1/2 cup shortening

1/2 cup butter or margarine

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 eggs

1 teaspoon Sortilege

2 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/4 cups of chopped peanut crisp candies

Preheat your oven to 375 Fahrenheit. In a large mixing bowl, with an electric mixer, beat the shortening and butter together until fluffy. Add the sugar and beat for another 30 seconds. Add the eggs, Sortilege and baking powder. Beat for 1 minute. Gradually add the flour. Once the mixture resembles a dough, add the chocolate chips and peanut crisp bits, and fold them in. 

On non-stick, ungreased baking sheets dollop spoons of the cookie dough spaced about  inch apart. Bake in the preheated oven for 8 minutes. Let the cookies cool slightly on the pan before transferring to a plate or cookie tin. 

Sweet, chewy, crispy, yummy! Enjoy!