A healthy start: Breakfast Millet

A healthy start to the day is more then a strong cup of coffee. I know this, but more often then not, that's how my day begins. If I'm organized, I'll have homemade granola and yogurt or fresh fruit and yogurt - but that's usually as ambitious as my breakfast gets. Today was a little different though. I woke up determined to reset my inner clock and have a healthy follow up to my morning coffee. And I'm going to keep this going all week.

Sundays are always a lazy day for me, its my only full day off. So, I like to have coffee in bed and read or catch up on emails. I like to have nothing to do. Today, I took a little extra time to make a big batch of breakfast millet, which is millet baked in the oven with milk, coconut, dates, raisins and walnuts. A high fiber breakfast with a whole grain, dried fruit and walnuts for Omega 3 fatty acids. This takes an hour to bake in the oven, so after putting it together I happily climbed back into bed until it was ready to eat.



In my determination to keep this healthy start thing going all week, I doubled the recipe so I'd have enough to last a few days. I divided the leftovers into single serving containers that I'll take to work - adding in a little extra milk before warming up in the microwave.

Breakfast millet or "Millet Delight" as posted on Allrecipe is better then it sounds. It's a jazzed up alternative to oatmeal that tastes a lot like my breakfast quinoa with blueberries. The texture is creamy and the taste is slightly sweet because of the coconut and vanilla. The great thing about this is that you can change up what fruit and nuts you add depending on what you have on hand. You could also use soy milk, cranberries, blueberries, flax seeds, figs or whatever you like.


Breakfast Millet (serves 3)

Ingredients
1/2 cup millet, rinsed
3 cups milk
1/3 cup dates or golden raisins
1/4 cup unsweetened coconut
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup walnuts

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

In a casserole dish, combine millet, milk, chopped dates, coconut and vanilla.

Bake in the oven for 30 minutes, then remove and stir. Stir in the walnuts, return to the oven and bake an additional 30 minutes. Serve hot.

How to Cook Quinoa

Have you ever bought something at the grocery store without really knowing what to do with it? I know I have, especially when it comes to grains like quinoa, millet and farro. These grains are much more versatile than you may think once you know a little something about them and they're good for you. They're a great addition to soups, salads or in place of rice or pasta.

Here's a quick guide to quinoa so the next time you come across it at the grocery store you'll know exactly what to do with it.

QUINOA 101
How to pronounce: keen-wah
Similar to: couscous or rice
How to cook: 1 part quinoa to 2 parts water.
Place one cup of rinsed quinoa and two cups water in large saucepan. Bring to boil, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer until tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Makes 2 cups of cooked quinoa.
Nutritional Value: As a complete protein, it contains all eight of the essential amino acids and is packed with dietary fibre, phosphorus, magnesium and iron.



My most recent favorite is Bon Appetit's recipes for quinoa, chickpea and spinach salad with smoked paprika dressing. With a delicious combination of flavors and plenty of ingredients, this is a great main course salad. The mint, feta cheese and smoked paprika dressing is what makes it especially good.

Another good one is this recipe for quinoa stir-fry with grilled chicken and vegetables.

BBC Good Food has this stunning recipe for quinoa, herb and pomegranate salad.
and Martha Stewart has quinoa and apple salad with curry dressing.

Or, for something a little different, quinoa also makes a great warm breakfast cereal. Try the recipe below for breakfast quinoa with blueberries. The recipe can easily be doubled and saved, reheated for the next day's breakfast.


Breakfast Quinoa with Blueberries (serves 2)

Ingredients
1/2 cup quinoa
1 cup whole milk (or half milk, half water)
1/2 mango, cubed
1/2 cup blueberries
1 tablespoons maple syrup or brown sugar
2 tablespoons flax seeds

Directions
Bring milk to a simmer in a small saucepan. Add quinoa and cover. Reduce heat to low, and simmer until three-quarters of the milk has been absorbed, about 15 minutes.

Stir in maple syrup or brown sugar and cinnamon. Cover and continue cooking for another five minutes or until almost all the milk has been absorbed. Add a touch more milk if you need to. Stir in flax seeds, blueberries and mango. Serve with additional milk, cinnamon and blueberries.

Quinoa, Chickpea and Spinach Salad with Smoked Paprika Dressing

Hope you're not sick of salads yet, 'cause here's another one. Out of this month's Bon Appetit, comes a recipe for Quinoa, Chickpea and Spinach Salad with Smoked Paprika Dressing. While I flipped right past it, a tip about salad dressings from my brother-in-law (thanks Kelly) made me go back for a second look.

With a delicious combination of flavors and plenty of ingredients, this is a great main course salad. The mint, feta cheese and smoked paprika dressing is what makes it especially good. Perfect for summertime meals, bbqs, picnics and potlucks. And since you can prepare most of the salad while the quinoa is cooking, it’s simple to make with minimal cooking or fuss.



Before making the salad, I read through all the reviews of it on Epicurious. The salad itself is highly rated but about one-third of the reviews mention how disappointing and overpowering the dressing is. I had no problems. Follow these two tips and I promise the whole recipe, dressing included, will turn out perfectly.

Use a good quality sherry vinegar and smoked or Hungarian paprika. And second, whisk the paprika and sherry together and slowly add your extra virgin olive oil. You may want to add just a drop of honey to help the emulsification along. The trick is to blend all the ingredients together well. Whisk for a minute or two until you have a well blended and emulsified dressing and you be very happy with the results.


Quinoa, Chickpea and Spinach Salad with Smoked Paprika Dressing
(Bon Appetit, July 2010)
I halved the ingredients and it still made plenty, serves 4-5

Ingredients
1 cup quinoa, uncooked
2 cups (packed) baby spinach leaves
1 15- to 16-ounce can chickpeas, rinsed, drained
1 cup cucumber, cubed
1 1/2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered
1/2 cup fresh mint leaves, chopped
3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese, divided
2 tablespoons Sherry wine vinegar
1 teaspoon smoked or Hungarian paprika
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Place one cup of rinsed quinoa and two cups water in large saucepan. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer until quinoa is tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Drain. Chill until cool.

Meanwhile, combine spinach leaves, chickpeas, cubed cucumber, halved tomatoes, mint leaves, and half of feta cheese in a large bowl. Add cooled quinoa and toss gently to blend.
Whisk vinegar and smoked paprika in small bowl. Gradually whisk in oil. You may want to add just a drop of honey into the dressing to help thicken. Season dressing with salt and pepper.

Pour dressing over salad and stir with a large spoon to mix all the ingredients and dressing together. Season with pepper to taste and sprinkle remaining feta.

Simply Good: Cauliflower Rice Pilaf

I love a good pilaf. You know the kind, a light rice pilaf with currents and cumin seeds or pine nuts and lemon zest. Just a little something extra to jazz up an otherwise boring side of rice.

This recipe for Cauliflower Rice pilaf is simply good for many reasons. It nicely combines turmeric and cumin with caramelized onions, halved garlic cloves and a little heat from a jalapeno pepper. And, because this pilaf has a solid amount of cauliflower florets in it you're actually getting a serving of vegetable.



I skipped adding the cilantro in the rice pilaf and instead used it in our dinner's main dish- grilled chicken with a cilantro mint rub. Delicious!


Cauliflower Rice Pilaf (serves 4)
adapted from "Vij's: Elegant and Inspired Indian Cuisine" by Vikram Vij, Meeru Dhalwala

Ingredients
1 cup basmati rice
2 cups water
1 teaspoon butter

1/2 cauliflower, cut into small florets
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1-2 tablespoons grape seed oil
1/2 onion, chopped
5 cloves of garlic, halved
1 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 jalapeno pepper, diced
salt
handful of chopped cilantro

Directions
Prepare the rice according to the back of the bag. In a medium pot with a lid, combine rice, water and butter on high heat. As soon as the rice starts to boil vigorously, reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for 18 to 20 minutes. Turn off the heat, but do not remove the lid. Allow rice to sit for about 5 minutes, then remove the lid and set aside.

To prepare the cauliflower: In a separate frying pan or a wok, heat cumin seeds in oil on medium-high heat. Once seeds have sizzled for 30 to 45 seconds, reduce the heat to medium and add onions. Saute the onion for about 10-15 minutes or until the onions start to caramelize. Add cloves and continue to saute for a few for minutes. Then add turmeric, jalapeno and salt, and saute for another 2 minutes. Add cauliflower, stir well and stir-fry for 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover and cook for another 5 to 8 minutes, until cauliflower is cooked but still firm and not too soft.

Add cauliflower to rice and combine well. Add cilantro and stir with a large fork until the rice is completely yellow from the turmeric.

Sweet and Crunchy: Apricot and Almond Couscous

I can't believe how long it's been seen I've sat down and planned out a week of meals for dinner. Shameful really because I know planning ahead will save me time and money. And since when don't I like to do that? So, while enjoying my morning coffee yesterday I drew up a menu, made a list of ingredients and flagged all the recipes that I'll need for the week.

First on the menu is this couscous pilaf with apricots, almonds, mint and cilantro. This is a tasty dish because it has the sweetness of dried fruit and the crunchiness of almonds. The same reason people like Skor bars so much. Sweet and crunchy.



Try pairing couscous with apricots and almonds with Alive Magazine's recipe for Grilled Green Asparagus with Maple Mustard Vinaigrette or Guilty Kitchen's Dijon Rosemary Chicken.


Couscous with Apricots and Almonds (serves 4)
Adapted from Whole Foods Market's Apricot Couscous

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups water
1 1/2 cups couscous
10 dried apricots, chopped
3/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3 green onions, green parts only, chopped
1 cup fresh mint leaves, chopped
2 handfuls fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Directions
In a small pot, bring water to a boil. Place couscous in a heat-proof medium bowl; pour boiling water over it and stir with a fork to combine. Cover and let stand for 10 to 15 minutes, then uncover and fluff with a fork.

In a large bowl, mix together diced apricots and almonds, lemon juice, green onions, mint, cilantro and garlic. Add couscous, olive oil and salt to taste. Toss gently to combine.


RELATED RECIPES--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bulgur Salad with Kale, Salami and Olives
If you like couscous then you'll also like bulgur. Try this side dish salad with bulgur, kale, olives and your favorite salami.

A New Look at Ancient Grains

Okay, so the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association recently weighed in on upcoming food trends with the results of a survey of Canadian chefs. I didn't find out about this by being a regular reader of the Association's website, but by reading 10 foods for the future, a recent article in the Vancouver Sun. And what's on the top of their list? Ancient Grains. Grains or seeds that are as old as the dirt they grow in and that haven't been altered by plant science.


For vegetarians or adventurous cooks, using an ancient grain in place of what you may usually cook with can enliven a dish and add a new (old) taste and texture. They provide a great alternative for people who suffer from allergies to more common grains and are often a richer source of nutrients than conventional grains too. And perhaps most important, buying ancient grains encourages plant biodiversity, a rapidly shrinking fact of our modern agriculture.

The most commonly found ancient grains are...
All of these can be found in a natural health food store such as Lifestyles Market or a grocery store with a good bulk section.

Amaranth is a tiny, grain-like seed with a nutty, malty flavor. This grain is rich in iron, protein and calcium, and its flour makes a great substitute for wheat flour.

Barley is the oldest of all grains and is perhaps the most popular as an addition to soups and stews. It has a nutty flavor, chewy texture and is a good source of fiber, selenium, phosphorus, copper and manganese.

Chia seeds are fast becoming the darling of the ancient grains (and my brother-in-laws favorite ancient grain). It's high in protein, antioxidant, mineral and omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. This is a plant in the mint family of herbs originating in Mexico and cultivated by the Aztecs. The Mayan word for Chia is ‘strength’; ancient civilizations used them for stamina. Chia seeds gradually release slow-burning glucose into the bloodstream for long-lasting endurance.

Kamut is a larger grain, and looks and tastes like a thick rice. It's great in salads and vegetable dishes. See the recipe for Kamut with Sautéed Winter Vegetables below.

Millet is the smallest of all grains and it has been and eaten since prehistoric times. When cooked, millet can either be fluffy like rice or creamy like polenta (by stirring it frequently and adding a little water and milk).

Quinoa (pronounced keen-wa) is a grain with a mild, nutty flavor and a creamy, slightly crunchy texture. It's high in protein and calcium- and actually, one cup of cooked quinoa has the same amount of calcium in a quart of milk. For a recipe, try this recent fav of mine for quinoa stir-fry with grilled chicken and vegetables.

Spelt is a grain with a pleasant, mild, nutty flavor that dates back before even wheat. Although it can be used in many of the same ways as wheat, it has a broader spectrum of nutrients and it is a great substitute for people with an intolerance to wheat. It's rich in vitamin B2 and manganese.


Kamut with Sautéed Winter Vegetables (serves 6)
adapted slightly from Vitality Magazine

Ingredients
1 1/4 cup kamut kernels
1 1/2 cups vegetable stock or water
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup chopped red bell pepper
1 cup chopped zucchini
1 cup fresh or frozen peas
1 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels
1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
1 tablespoon tamari or soy sauce

Directions
In a saucepan, combine kamut and stock. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight.

Bring stock and kamut to room temperature. Bring to a boil over high heat. Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 45 to 60 minutes or until kamut is tender and most of the liquid is absorbed. Drain, rinse and let cool.

In a skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add bell pepper, zucchini, peas and corn. Sauté for 4 minutes or until vegetables are tender-crisp.

Stir in kamut, parsley and tamari and heat through. Serve immediately or chill before serving.

Healthy! Quinoa Stir-Fry with Grilled Chicken and Vegetables

I'm working out of Vancouver for the next few days (with the 2010 Olympic Torch Relay!) and am staying with my sister and her husband. We've had two dinners together now and both have had more then a few similarities. They've both been extraordinarily healthy (a good thing), they've been "one dish" dinners (making it easy to clean-up) and they've both had avocado and cilantro (mmmm).

Now I must say at the onset of both these dinners I didn't think it was going to be enough to fill me up, and both times I was wrong and left pleasantly full. The grilled chicken really makes this a well-rounded and hearty meal. And the quinoa is a good source of iron and amino acids.

Quinoa Stir-Fry with Grilled Chicken and Vegetables (serves 3-4)

Adapted from Epicurious

Ingredients

1 cup quinoa, rinsed
1 1/2 cups water

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 small carrot, diced

1 medium red pepper, cored, seeded and thinly chopped

2 teaspoons ginger, minced

1 clove garlic, minced

1 small red chili, diced

1 cup snow peas

1 cup green beans, cut into half inch pieces

3 small chicken breasts, grilled

2 green onions, thinly chopped

1/2 cup cilantro

1 avocado

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon lime juice

salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Place one cup quinoa and one and a half cups water in a small saucepan with a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat to low. Cook undisturbed until the quinoa absorbs all the water, about 15 minutes.

Heat a grill pan over medium high heat, add oil and grill the chicken until cooked, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat oil in a large skillet over a medium heat heat. Add carrot, stirring occasionally, until it softens, about one minute. Add red pepper, ginger, garlic and chili. Stir and cook for about 3 minutes. Add peas and green beans and salt and pepper to taste, continue to stir and cook for a few more minutes.

Add quinoa, stir, and then add green onions, avocado, soy sauce, lime juice, cilantro. Divide stir-fry onto plates and top with sliced grilled chicken. Enjoy.

RELATED RECIPES--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bulgar Salad with Kale, Salami, Olives

A terrific, healthy side dish for dinners or you can enjoy this just as it is for lunch.

Tabouli

This salad is easy to make because the amounts of parsley, mint, tomato, cucumber and scallions you add are forgiving- add more or less to suit your tastes or what you have on hand.

Stuffed Peppers

This evening, I used up some leftover Thai Jasmine rice from the other night and made stuffed peppers. I'm proud of myself for using the rice because it's so easy just to toss it away or to let it sit in the fridge for a few days and then toss.

With this recipe, the rice filling fuses with the flavour of the roasted pepper and creates a delicious vegetarian dish that could be served alone as its own course or as a colourful main dish to a lunch or dinner. This is good to make if you're having guests over because of the peppers make such a beautiful presentation. I love making that first cut into the steaming hot pepper and watching the filling spill out. Is that cruel?


You could use this same stuffing with tomatoes instead of peppers. And the filling is versatile too. You could use orzo pasta, ground meat such as chicken or beef, lentils or even leftover chili. There's lots of room for creativity here with both the ingredients and presentation.

For this recipe, I used Giada de Laurentiis's Orzo-Stuffed Peppers as the base and enhanced it with some of my personal favorites- caramelized onions, feta cheese and some fresh kale from my garden.




Stuffed Peppers (serves 4-6)

Ingredients
1 (28-ounce) can whole Italian tomatoes
1 medium zucchini, grated
1 cup chopped kale, spinach or chard
1 onion
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup feta cheese
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons butter
3 garlic cloves, minced
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups cooked rice
6 sweet bell peppers (red, yellow or orange)

Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Heat a small fry pan over a medium heat, add butter and once melted and sizzling, add chopped onion. Saute the onions for about 15 minutes, until the are golden and starting to caramelize. Add the chopped kale, spinach or chard for just a minute or two, until starting to wilt. Remove from heat.

Pour the tomatoes and their juices into a food processor and pulse. Transfer the puree tomatoes into a large bowl and add the rice, zucchini, basil, cheeses, olive oil, garlic, onions and greens mixture, salt and pepper. Stir to combine.

Wash the peppers and slice to tops off the peppers and remove all the ribs and seeds. If the peppers don't stand up nicely on their own, cut a very thin slice from the base to help to stand up.

Spoon the rice mixture into the peppers and place them into a greased baking dish (grease the baking dish with a little olive oil). Cover the dish with tin foil and bake for 45 minutes. Remove the foil and continue baking for 15 minutes more until the peppers are tender and golden. Garnish with a little grated Parmesan cheese or basil and serve.

How To Make Paella

Let's get right to it. Right here, right now, I proclaim this summer to be the summer of paella. There's lots of great things about summer - like everything - but just imagine how amazing it's going to be sitting outside with friends, with a crisp cocktail or cold beer in your hand and a big bowl of perfectly-spiced paella topped with sausage, chicken or fresh seafood.



Last night, a long-time friend visiting from Montreal came over for dinner. Greg and I have a standing tradition of making dinner together and it usually involves something time-consuming like making fresh pasta or spring rolls for a large group a friends. So, in keeping with tradition (but being a little easy on ourselves) we tried our hands at some Spanish cuisine and made paella. It was the first time for both of us, and it was delicious.

Paella is a rice dish originating from Valencia, located on the east Mediterranean coast of Spain. For lunch, farmhands would make a fire in fields and simmered the local short grained rice in a flat pan. They would add whatever local vegetables were at hand and enhance with fish and seafood, or perhaps a stray chicken or a rabbit caught in the fields.



Paella is meant to be simple to make. Use quality ingredients for flavour and you can't go wrong- good quality stock, fresh spices and herbs, saffron, and spanish arborio rice.


Paella (serves 4-6)
adapted from Rebar: Modern Food CookBook

Ingredients
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, diced
6 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon red chili pepper flakes
2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon sweet paprika
2 tablespoons oregano
1 large red pepper, chopped
1 large yellow pepper, chopped
4 medium tomatoes, ripe, chopped
1 1/4 cups arborio rice
2 cups vegetable stock
1 cup white wine
3 strands saffron
1/2 lb green beans, trimmed and sliced into 1 inch lengths
fresh ground pepper
1/2 bunch parsley, chopped
1 bunch scallion, minced
hot turkey sausage, sliced into 1 inch lenths

Directions
In a large, deep cast iron skillet, heat olive oil and saute onion until translucent. Add garlic, chile flakes, 1 tsp salt, and saute until the garlic and onions are soft. Add the remaining salt, spices, herbs, peppers, and tomatoes and simmer, covered for 10 minutes. Stir in the rice to coat.

Heat the stock and wine, add saffron and then pour it into the pan. Cover and reduce the heat to low. Cook until the rice is tender and most of the liquid has been absorbed, about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, pan fry the sausages, slice and set aside. Steam or blanch the beans until tender and set aside.

Once the the rice is cooked and tender, stir the green beans and sausage into the paella. Season with cracked pepper, parsley and minced scallions. Serve up and enjoy.

Bulgur Salad with Kale, Salami and Olives

We don't have a Whole Foods Market in Victoria but I still love the store. I have one of their green bags that I use at our local grocery stores. It makes me feel like I could be grocery shopping in Vancouver or Portland or just somewhere else.

The other thing I like about Whole Foods is the recipe section of its' website. It has tons of great tasing and healthy recipes. The website is nicely layed out and is easy to browse. I recently made the Bulgur Salad with Kale, Salami and Olives and was deliciously pleasing results.




It's one of the top rated recipes and for good reasons. It's a great side dish to make for dinner or you can enjoy it on its own for lunch. It's a good potluck dish since it can feed a crowd and tastes good served warm or cold. Also, it will make a terrific picnic addition once we get a little closer to summer.


Bulgur Salad with Kale, Salami and Olives (serves 4 to 6)
Choose your favorite salami for this dish, if you're looking for recommendations, mine is hungarian.

Ingredients
2 cups low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth
1 1/2 cups medium-grind bulgur wheat
6 cups (about 1/4 pound) roughly chopped kale
1/4 pound thinly sliced salami, roughly chopped
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1/4 cup chopped pitted olives
2 to 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
salt and pepper to taste



Directions
Bring broth to a boil in a large pot. Stir in bulgur then cover and simmer until just tender, about 10 minutes. Uncover, scatter kale over the top, cover and cook until wilted and tender, 4 to 5 minutes more. Set aside off of the heat, covered, for 5 minutes then uncover and fluff with a fork.

Transfer bulghur and kale to a large bowl, add salami, parsley, olives, vinegar, garlic, salt and pepper and toss gently to combine. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Vegetarian Cabbage Rolls

Last night, I tried my hands at vegetarian cabbage rolls. Although they were lacking a little in flavour, compared to their meaty cousins, they turned well. I steamed the cabbage leaves just enough to make them pliable and easy to handle. They rolled up nicely and the sauce was delicious.

Something needs to be added to make the filling more flavourful though- Perhaps basil, mushrooms, chiptole peppers...hmmm. Food for thought indeed.

Vegetarian Cabbage Rolls

Filling
rice (1 cup basmati rice, 1 tbsp butter, 1/2 tsp caraway seeds, 1 2/3 cups water)
1/4 cup breadcrumbs
1 onion, diced
1 teaspoon oil and 1 tsp butter
1 clove garlic, minced
1 cup grated carrot
1 cup grated zucchini
1 egg
pinch of oregano and cayenne
salt and pepper to taste

Cabbage, cored and scalded in hot water until soft and easy to separate

Sauce
2 teaspoons butter
1 yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 (28 oz or 796 ml) can tomatoes, pureed in the food processor
3/4 to 1 cup cream
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

To make the sauce, melt the butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onions and saute for about 10 minutes until golden. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the tomatoes and cream and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Add the vinegar and sugar and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and adjust the seasoning to taste.

Place the cored cabbage in a large pot of simmering hot water until the leaves start to soften. Separate the cabbage leaves and remove the hard spine from each leaf. Spread on paper towels and pat dry. Set aside.

To make the stuffing, in a medium skillet melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring, until very wilted and starting to caramelize, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and let cool slightly.

Make rice. Once the rice is cooked, add the onion mixture and cool. Then add grated carrot and zucchini, spices, egg, breadcrumbs, salt, pepper... and anything else you can think of.

Spread a thin layer of the sauce over the bottom of a baking dish. One at a time, spoon a large spoonful of filling onto the leafy end of a cabbage leaf (opposite the core end). Roll each into a neat cylinder and place in a layer on the sauce in the baking dish. Repeat with the remaining leaves and filling. Pour the remaining sauce over the rolls, cover with aluminum foil, and bake until the rolls are tender, about one hour.

Couscous Salad

Turns out that all day when I thought I was thinking about making tabouli, I was actually thinking about a less traditional salad using couscous. Tabouli is a Middle Eastern salad made with bulgur. I prefer using couscous as a grain because of its lighter texture.

My sister Lorelei came over for dinner and we did all the dinner preparations together. I diced ripe cherry tomatoes while she peeled, seeded and diced the cucumber. In the salad, we used organic Italian parsley which added a nice flavour. Sorry curly parsley, you're been replaced.

The difference between flat-leaf (Italian) and curly parsley
Parsley has four main flavor compounds- “fresh” flavor from the compound phellandrene, a “woody” flavor from myristicin, a “warm, sweet” flavor from myrcene, and a “distinctive” flavor from menthatriene.

Flat-leaf or Italian parsleyFlat-leaf, or Italian, parsley has a strong, fresh, "green" flavor that’s generally preferred in cooking and salads that are intended to have a strong parsley flavour such as tabouli.

Curley Parsley This variety of parsley is considered more decorative and has a nice texture for salads. It has a woody and mild flavour when young, and develops its major parsley flavor when it grows. Additionally, curly parsley is good for frying such as in a tomato sauce.

Couscous tabouli salad (serves 4)

Couscous
1 cup couscous
1 1/4 cups boiling water

Cover couscous with boiling water and cover for 10 minutes. Flake with a fork before using.

Ingredients
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, diced
1/2 cup cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced
1/2 cup Italian parsley, chopped finely
couscous (from above)
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
salt and pepper

Directions

All the above ingredients into the couscous and stir to combine. Add more olive oil, lemon juice, salt or pepper to taste. Mix, chill and enjoy.

Optional

This salad also tastes very good with a little feta cheese crumbled on top.

We also made crusty salmon cakes. Hopefully my sister now has a grasp on just how easy they are to make, especially when you have tins of your Dad's canned salmon in the pantry.

Stir-Frying Vegetables

Making a stir-fry is the perfect answer to a busy weekday. It's an easy, healthy and quick one-pan dinner. And, it's a great way to use up what's in the fridge at the end of a week.

There are three main components to making a satisfying vegetarian stir-fry: the vegetables (and tofu), the flavour, and the side (such as rice or pasta).

Vegetable Ideas
asparagus
broccoli
carrots
green beans
mushrooms
Napa cabbage
onion
peppers (red, yellow, orange and green)
tomatoes
snow peas
zucchini

Sauce
2.5 T soy sauce
.5 T hoisin sauce
.5 light brown or palm sugar
Stir together and set aside

Tofu
Using a medium tofu, cut into half inch cubes. Drizzle with salt, pepper and toasted sesame oil. Bake in a 375 F oven for about 20 minutes, until golden and slightly crispy.

Nuts
Try adding roasted unsalted almonds or cashews

Instruction
Prepare all your vegetables. In a large saute pan, heat 2 tablespoons of oil over a high heat until almost smoking. Add the onion and saute for a minute and then add remaining vegetables. Season with salt and pepper and stir for 2 minutes.

Then, cover for 2 minutes to let all the vegetables cook in their own juices. Uncover and stir in the sauce and baked tofu cubes. Fry until everything is crisp tender and the sauce has caramelized slightly.

Serve with pasta or rice and enjoy.

Moroccan Squash, Broccoli and Bulgar

I went to see a preview showing of The Queen this afternoon. I enjoyed the film, sitting in the darkened theatre by myself, drinking hot green tea from the concession while Helen Mirren's character complained of her tea going cold.

After spending the afternoon in a dark theatre, I was hungry for a warm, flavourful dinner. Moroccan. Moroccan cuisine is known for spices- cinnamon, coriander, cumin, ginger, turmeric and saffron. For a richer flavour, try using whole coriander and cumin seeds by toasting for a few minutes to release the oils and then grind using a molter and pestle or coffee grinder.

Couscous is another well-known Moroccan dish. For this recipe, you can couscous or bulgar as I have done. Also, I added blanched broccoli and finished with a generous drizzle of olive oil.


Moroccan Squash, Broccoli and Bulgar
(adapted from Deborah Madison's The Savory Way)

Ingredients
1 tbsp butter
1/4 cup scallions, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground corindar
1/4 chili powder
1 pound squash (any variety) cubed into bite-size pieces
1 cup bulgar
1 cup broccoli, cut into bite-size pieces
2-3 tablespoons water
olive oil

Directions
Preheat oven to 350

On the stove top over a medium heat, melt butter in a casserole dish. Saute scallions until translucent and golden. Add minced garlic, paprika, ground cumin, ground coriander, seeds and chili powder.

Add squash and a few tablespoons of water to add a little moisture. When the water begins to boil and the ingredients are brown, cover the dish with tinfoil and transfer into the oven for 30 minutes or until the squash is soft.

Meanwhile, cook bulgar and blanch or steam the broccoli. When the squash, bulgar and broccoli are all ready, toss together and finish by drizzling with olive oil. This is simple and delicious to eat.

Rice Pudding with Coconut Milk

Rice pudding. Sweet, creamy, fragrant, delicately simple. Coconut rice puddings are generally made in South America and Asia. You can't go wrong with almost any recipe but this one has a little more flavour complexity to it with raisins, toasted pistachios and cardamom.


Using good basmati rice makes all the difference. Try going to an Indian or Middle Eastern Food Market and look for Lal Quilla or Tilda brands. As well, use coconut milk that has a high fat content. When selecting which brand to use- shake the can next to your ear. You shouldn't hear any liquids sloshing around. That's a good sign of a thick, creamy coconut milk.


Indian Rice Pudding with Coconut Milk
For a variation on this recipe, try substituting the whole milk for soy or rice milk. Or, try palm sugar or brown sugar in place of your regular sugar.

Ingredients
1 cup cooked long grain or basmati rice
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup coconut milk
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom (or 1-2 pods green cardamon crushed with a pestle)
1/3 cup golden raisins
1/3 cup pistachios

Directions
In a large pot, medium heat, combine the cooked rice and milk. Heat until the mixture begins to boil. Decrease the heat to low and cook at a simmer until the mixture begins to thicken, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes.

Increase the heat to medium, add the heavy cream, coconut milk, sugar, and cardamom and continue to cook until the mixture just begins to thicken again, around 10 minutes. Use a whisk to help prevent the cardamom from clumping.

Roughly chop the pistachios and toast in a fry pan. Once the mixture just begins to thicken, remove from the heat and stir in the raisins and toasted pistachios.

Transfer the mixture to individual serving dishes or a glass bowl and place plastic wrap directly on the surface of the pudding. Serve warm or chilled.


MORE DESSERT RECIPES-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Balsamic Strawberries with Ricotta Cream
A light dessert of fresh strawberries and ricotta cream drizzled with a sweet balsamic reduction. This is the perfect recipe for the strawberry season.

Panna Cotta
Panna cotta in Italian means "cooked cream" and comes from the Northern region of Piedmont in Italy. The version uses buttermilk in place of cream which adds a nice tangy flavour to the custard.

Parmesan Rice Cakes

Tonight I'm made Bill Jones' Parmesan rice cakes stuffed with sun-dried tomato, basil and mozzarella. I've only made these once, when I first bought his Sublime Vegetarian cookbook and there's absolutely no reason why I haven't made them again until tonight. They're a great use for left over rice, especially for someone who has basil and sun-dried tomatoes in the house
(no, not always, I do today!)

Parmesan rice cakes stuffed with sun-dried tomato, basil and mozzarella
2 cups cooked, short-grained rice
1 garlic clove, minced
1 T chopped parsley
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1 egg, beaten
salt and pepper
cornmeal

8 sun-dried tomatoes
8 basil leaves
8 small cubes of mozzarella cheese
olive oil

In a bowl, combine cooked rice, garlic, parsley, Parmesan, beaten egg, salt and pepper.
Wet your hands, and fill your palm with rice, cupping and shaping the rice so there's a well to place the filling ingredients into. Place a sun-dried tomato, basil left and cube of mozzarella. Mould the rice around the filling to form a seamless ball. Flatten slightly into a patty and roll in cornmeal. And repeat.
Please the rice cakes on a plate and chill for 15 minutes.
In a fry pan, heat olive oil, medium high heat. Pan-fry the rice cakes, shaking the pan occasionally, for 5 minutes per side, or until crisp and golden brown.

Serve with aioli, pesto or a sauce of your choice. Enjoy!

I also made a mixed greens salad with apples and spiced pecans. I came across the recipe below months ago on Smitten Kitchen's site. She had it posted under her Monday Kind of Salad which really deserves a better name because it's so deliciously fantastic.

Stuffed Tomatoes with Herbs and Rice

Have you ever wondered what you can do with left-over rice? Especially if you're like me and don't have a microwave?

Well rest easy because this is the recipe for you. Stuffed tomatoes with rice and herbs is a deliciously belly warming and hearty dish that will fill your home with that irresistible smell of dinner roasting in the oven. And, it works perfectly with leftover rice.

Stuffed Tomatoes with Herbs and Rice (serves 4)

Recipe from Food and Wine Magazine, October 2000

Ingredients
1-2 cups of rice, any kind
12 medium tomatoes
3 anchovy fillets, mashed
2 tablespoons butter, unsalted
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1/2 red pepper, diced
2 tablespoons basil, chopped
2 tablespoons parsley, chopped
salt and pepper

Directions
Cook the rice, or if you're using leftover rice from the night before, even better.

Preheat oven to 350.

Cut the top fourth of each tomato, saving the tops. Using a spoon and working over a bowl, hollow out the tomatoes. Pass the tomato pulp, seeds and juices through a food mill or processor.

In a bowl, mash the anchovies with the butter. Stir the anchovy butter into the hot rice, then mix in the tomato puree, cheese, red pepper, basil and parsley. Season the rice with salt and pepper. Stuff each tomato with the rice mixture. Put the tops back onto the tomatoes and transfer to an oiled roasting pan.

Bake for 30 minutes, basting with pan juices. Serve warm.

Tabouli

I bet that most people have a good sense of what goes into making an authentic tabouli and don't even know it. Tabouli is a Middle Eastern (Lebanese) dish and includes bulgar, parsley, mint, tomato, cucumber, scallion or green onion with lemon juice, salt, pepper, olive oil, and also sometimes cinnamon and allspice.

This salad is easy to make because the amounts of parsley, mint, tomato, cucumber and scallions you add are forgiving. Add more or less to suit your tastes or whatever you have on hand. It's a great one to make for lunches or as a side for dinner. Other favorite grain salads of mine are these ones: couscous tabouli salad and chickpea cucumber salad with mint.



Tabouli (serves 4-6)

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups bulgar
2 cups boiling water
1 long English cucumber (diced)
1 cup tomatoes (diced)
3 tablespoons parsley
3 tablespoons mint
juice of 1 lemon
3 tablespoons olive oil
salt, pepper
pinch of allspice (optional)

Directions
Pour boiling water over the bulgar, and let it stand for about 20 minutes, until the grain has absorbed the water and is tender and soft.

Meanwhile, mix together diced tomatoes and cucumbers and chopped parsley and mint.

Stir in prepared bulgar, and drizzle in olive oil. Add lemon juice, salt, pepper and a pinch of allspice and enjoy.