Apricot Chutney

After a recent weekly trip to a new favourite restaurant in Sofia, a couple of friends decided that I needed to figure out how to make the Apricot Chutney to accompany my Chapatis when preparing Indian meals at home. So, here it is…

What You'll Need:

Dried Apricots - 450 grams (about 16 oz), finely diced
Garam Masala - 1 tsp
Honey - 1 1/4 cups
Apple Cider Vinegar - 2 cups
Fresh Root Ginger - 1 tsp, grated
Salt - 1 tsp
Golden Raisins - 1/2 cup
Water - 2 cups

What You’ll Do:

Put the dried apricots and Garam Masala into a medium pot and add the honey, vinegar, ginger, salt, raisins and water. Mix thoroughly with a spoon.

Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 30-35 minutes, stirring occasionally.

When the chutney has thickened to a fairly stiff consistency, spoon it into 2-3 clean jars and leave it to cool.

Store it in the refrigerator.

J and J Pad Thai

Jaime has always been great at experimenting with Asian foods, so when she told me we’d be making Pad Thai for dinner - I wasn’t surprised. The end result was incredible! Consequently, Pad Thai has turned into a family favourite. It’s so simple and pleasing. So if you’re one of those individuals who always orders Pad Thai when dining out, or you just love Asian recipes, then this one is for you!

What You’ll Need:

8 oz. dried Pad Thai rice noodles, OR enough for 2 people (linguini-width)
Tofu cut into cubes and fried

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 medium onion, finely chopped

Chinese cabbage or Bok Choy, roughly chopped

Broccoli, chopped

2-3 carrots, chopped
2 cups bean sprouts
2 green onions, sliced
Fresh coriander/cilantro
1/4 cup ground (or well-chopped) peanuts (OR substitute cashews or slivered almonds)

PAD THAI SAUCE:

3/4 Tbsp. tamarind paste (available at Asian/East Indian food stores)

1/4 cup hot water
3 1/2 Tbsp. soy sauce, we like Braggs Liquid Amino (or gluten-free soy sauce)
1/2 to 2 tsp. chili sauce (to taste), OR 1-2 fresh red chilies, minced
3 Tbsp. brown sugar or 2 palm kernels
3 Tbsp. smooth peanut butter

OTHER:

3-4 Tbsp. oil for stir-frying 2-3 Tbsp. vegetable stock
lime wedges for serving

What You’ll Do:

I like to make my sauce first so it’s ready when everything else has been cooked. Start by dissolving the tamarind paste in the hot water. Add the other sauce ingredients and stir well to dissolve the sugar. Add as much or as little chili sauce as you prefer, but don't skimp on the sugar (you’ll need it to balance the sourness of the tamarind). Reserve.

Bring a pot of water to a boil and remove from heat. Soak noodles in the hot water for 6-10 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water. Tip: Noodles are ready to drain when they are soft enough to eat, but still firm and a little bit "crunchy". The noodles will finish cooking when they are fried.

Place your wok (or large frying pan) over medium-high heat. Add 1-2 Tbsp. oil plus the garlic and onions. Stir-fry 1 minute to release the fragrance. Add broccoli and carrots and cook for 3-5 minutes.

Add the Bok Choy plus the stock. Stir-fry 2 minutes, or until Bok Choy is bright green and slightly softened. Add fried tofu.

Now add the drained noodles and 1/3 of the sauce. Stir-fry everything together for 1 minute using 2 utensils and a tossing motion (like tossing a salad).

Add a little more sauce and continue stir-frying in the same way for 1-2 more minutes, or until the noodles begin to soften and become sticky. Reduce heat to medium if noodles begin to stick and burn.

Add the bean sprouts plus the remaining sauce. Stir-fry to incorporate everything together for 1-3 more minutes, or until noodles are done. Noodles are cooked to perfection when they are soft but still deliciously chewy and a little bit sticky.

To serve, scoop noodles onto a serving platter. Sprinkle with the green onion, coriander/cilantro, and ground nuts. Add wedges of fresh-cut lime on the side. Serve immediately and ENJOY!

Vegan Waffles

(Courtesey of TripWow TripAdvisor)

Why are you still buying frozen waffles when you can make them yourself? It really is quick and easy. Short on time? Then make ‘em a weekend tradition. You can look forward to fresh homemade waffles weekly and then freeze the extras to pull out when you are in a rush. Just eight ingredients and a few stirs of the whisk and you’re ready to go!

What You'll Need:
3 teaspoon of Energizer Egg Replacers mixed with 4 tablespoons water, this is equal to 2 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 3/4 cups soy milk

1/2 cup canola oil

1 tablespoon sugar

4 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

What You'll Do:
Preheat waffle iron. Beat egg replacers in large bowl with a whisk until well mixed. Mix in flour, soy milk, oil, sugar, baking powder, salt and vanilla, just until smooth.

Spray preheated waffle iron with non-stick cooking spray. Pour mix onto hot waffle iron. Cook until golden brown. Serve hot.

You can purchase a waffle iron just about anywhere, Target, Bed, Bath and Beyond, Macy's, their everywhere. Prices range from about $20 - $150. Mine was an engagement gift purchased from William-Sonoma over 14 years ago and still works great. Thank you Gulie!

Sweet Rice and Mangos

Recently we had some new friends over and I wanted to make something special for our Asian themed evening. My son wanted Sweet Rice with Bananas (yes, we’ll get that recipe up soon) but I wanted something a bit more refreshing. So I decided to replace the bananas with mangos. I switched the Banana Sweet Sticky Rice recipe up a bit and came up with this light and sweet delectable treat. It so simple and delicious, I just know you are going to love it as much as we did.

What You’ll Need:

1 cups uncooked sweet rice 2 cups water
1 can (13.5 oz) of coconut milk (cream and all)
¼ cup sugar
2 mangos, peeled and sliced

What You’ll Do:

Combine the rice and coconut milk in a rice cooker and cook. Should only take about 10-15 to cook.

Mix the sugar into the hot rice. Portion the rice into 4 bowls. Top with mango slices. Enjoy this sweet refreshing treat. Your guests will rave over it, mine did.

Granola

We're excited to share this week's recipe with you, which is a guest post from my friend Sarah-Kate.  We hope you enjoy it as much as we do. 

-Jessie

Baking granola makes me think of my mom. She made this recipe often when we were kids, one of her many gifts of homemade, wholesome food while I was growing up. When I moved out on my own I asked her for the recipe, and have adapted it a bit over the years. I make it quite often and eat it almost every morning with yogurt. The great thing about granola is you can make it differently every time, depending on your mood and what you have in the cupboard: substitute whatever kinds of seeds, nuts & dried fruit you like best. It’s always healthy and delicious.



What you’ll need:

Combine in a large bowl:
7 cups thick rolled oats
1 cup raw hulled sunflower seeds
½ cup raw hulled pumpkin seeds
½ cup unhulled sesame seeds
½ cup wheat germ
½ cup flaxseed meal
1 cup sliced almonds
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 – 1½ cups diced dried fruit (my favorites are apples, apricots, dates, and cranberries (which you can leave whole) – if you use raisins, add them after the granola is baked)
½ teaspoon salt
2 generous teaspoons cinnamon

Combine in a roasting pan:
¼ - 1/3 cup safflower oil (or any other vegetable oil will work)
½ cup water
½ cup honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Put roasting pan with wet ingredients into the oven at 350 degrees for about 3-4 minutes. Take it out and pour in the mixed dry ingredients. Stir well until the dry ingredients are evenly coated.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, stirring from the bottom every 7 minutes or so. Cool, then enjoy!

Carrot Apple Grapefruit Ginger Juice

 This juice is so good, it doesn't need an intro.  Just go make it. Really.

What You’ll Need:
3 carrots
1 grapefruit
1 pink lady apple
1 inch long chunk ginger
1 teaspoon honey (optional)

What you’ll do:

Peel grapefruit. Cut carrots and apple into chunks. Cut chunk of ginger.

Throw all into your juicer or Vita-Mix. Blend until mixed -unless you want to make crackers with the pulp.  If you do, read the note below.

*If you decide to reserve the pulp for raw cracker dough, then you might want to blend the carrot and apple first, strain and reserve pulp, then add the rest of the ingredients to your carrot apple juice, blend, then strain again.

Salad Rolls

Salad Rolls are a healthy alternative to spring rolls. They make a great appetizer, snack or the perfect lunch. I made these this weekend and they turned out just great. Quick and easy with so much flavor. What more could you ask for?

The great thing about salad rolls is really you can add any veggies (or even fruit) that you like. So what are you waiting for? Get moving and make some salad rolls!

What You’ll Need:

1 package of baked tofu (I liked the teriyaki one)
1 cucumber, remove the seeds and cut into thin strips
2-3 medium carrot, shredded
1 mango, cut into thin strips
Salad greens
Large round rice paper wrappers
Dipping Sauces of choice (I like the Sweet Chili sauce and Plum sauce) or better yet stay tuned for our peanut sauce

What You’ll Do:

Soften 1 rice paper wrapper by immersing in warm water until soft (about 10-20 sec), carefully remove and place flat on a large plate or cutting board. Be careful not to let the paper fold on itself when removing the wrapper from the water.

Place veggies in the middle of the wrapper, making sure not to add too much. Roll rice paper as you would a burritos, tucking in the sides, it should stick to itself easily. Repeat for the remaining wrappers.

Cut in half and serve with your favorite dipping sauce.