Green Onion Pancakes

So I think it was a sign that I was supposed to make green onion pancakes today. This morning I was on foodgawker and what do I see? A recipe for green onion pancakes! Later I was flipping through a cooking magazine while in line at the grocery store and what do u knoww...Green onion pancakes! My good friend Whit has also talked about nothing else but these darn pancakes for the last two weeks! Every time we were remotely close to Legendary Noodle (a place here in Vancouver that makes em fresh) she wanted to stop. That's all that has been running through my head... green onion pancakes green onion pancakes....!! Well I don't know what took me so long because they are dead simple to make!! I surprised Whit by making them for her and said "So nooww can you pleease stop asking to go to Legendary Noodle!?" she said "Okay, but now I'll just keep asking for YOU to make them for me!". I grew up on these and they taste just like the ones I used to eat when I was little, the only thing I did differently was finish them with a little French Sea Salt but other than that, tastes just like childhood!

Green Onion Pancakes

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup warm water

2 tsp sesame oil

1/2 cup green onions, finely sliced

2 tbsp fresh chopped cilantro

Fleur de Sel (to finish)

Dipping Sauce

Hoisin Sauce

Sesame Oil

Garlic Chili Sauce

Water (to thin sauce out)

1. Mix to combine

Mix the flour, water and salt together and knead just until smooth. Cover and let rest 30 minutes in a bowl greased lightly with oil. Cut into 4 pieces

Roll the dough out, brush with sesame oil and sprinkle green onion and cilantro on top.

Roll like you would cinnamon bun dough or sushi, making sure it is rolled tight.

Coil into a circle

Roll out into a flat circle

Makes 4 yummy pancakes

Pan fry until golden on each side, the more oil you use the more evenly golden and crispy it will get.

Finish with sea salt and serve with dipping sauces.

Ratatouille: Layered and Baked with Goat Cheese and Bread Crumbs

Ahh I am reveling in the fact that I am DONE school! My brain and body have been so exhausted but what was one of the first things I wanted to do to celebrate? Cook of course! I was supposed to go out out downtown to celebrate but cancelled in favor of staying in to cook with good friends, good food and a bottle of wine! Here I go with the local again: local bell peppers, eggplant, zucchini, onions, garlic, basil, goat cheese and a rustic country loaf from the Trout Farmers Market, as well some delish sausage from Oyama Sausage company on Granville Island. In the more non-traditional way we layered the veggies, made a chunky tomato bell pepper sauce and topped it with a feta, goat cheese bread crumb topping. Also don't forget that good crusty bread is KEY for mopping up all the saucy goodness. Such good comfort food I tell you! Oh and yea yea, make fun if you will but of course we watched Ratatouille while we cooked!

I flew back to Calgary today to visit the fam and loved this meal so much I had to make it again. Anybody that knows me knows I do not travel light...(this is where my pops reads this and shakes his head because he has sworn never to travel to Europe with my mom and I ever again! Possibly a contributing factor was the extra suitcase we had to buy in Italy for my aged balsamic, truffled honey, foie gras and olive oils?!) I swear I try, I really do mean to pack light...but this time I neeeded to bring this stuff home...! Yes, that meant I lugged home canned San Marzano tomatoes, wine from a local berry farm, fantastic rustic country bread and a baguette, heirloom tomatoes, purple carrots, zucchini, peaches, cherries, roasted hazelnuts, 49th parallel coffee and Oyama sausages. If you could have only seen me with my bags at the airport this morning and of course the damn siren went off because my suitcase was overweight! The Air Canada girl looked up at me, saw my alarmed face, took pity on me and let the bag keep on goin....Thank youuu Air Canada girl! You think I was going to a land with no food but seriously, B.C is where its at!
Above: zucchini layer of the Ratatouille

Below: round 2 of Ratatouille w/Oyama Sausage (lamb and date, lamb and feta and Italian pork and one of the reasons why my luggage was overweight including the ice packs I had to pack it with...)

Ratatouille
2 bell peppers (I used red and yellow)
1/2 onion
1 28 oz can whole tomatoes (I used San Marzano)
5 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup fresh basil, chiffonade
1 tsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped
sugar (to taste)
1/2 tsp chili flakes
s+p (to taste)
2 zucchini, sliced
1 eggplant, sliced
1 small pkg goat cheese
1/2 cup feta
1 cup bread crumbs
1/2 cup grated parmesan

1.Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2.In a pot saute onions until soft and translucent, add in bell peppers, cook till soft then add garlic. Add tomatoes and reduce down until it becomes thick. Add in basil and rosemary, season with s+p, chili flakes and sugar to your liking.
3. Layer starting with tomato bell pepper mixture,then eggplant, then zucchini then more sauce, repeat ending in sauce.
4. Sprinkle with feta and goat cheese then mix together parmesan and breadcrumbs and sprinkle on very top. Bake until golden brown and bubbly, approx 30-40 minutes. Serve hot, room temp or cold.

Baked Yam Fries with Balsamic Glaze

Love love love these, I think I even like them better than regular fries! There is a key to making sure they come out crispy: When you spread them out on the baking sheet, they need to be evenly spread out, barely touching and not piled on top of each other. If that happens the yams will start to create moisture and steam instead of dry out and you will end up with soggy fries! Baked not fried, these crispy yam fries are packed with beta carotene and vitamin C and are one of the best side dishes to any burger, bbq turkey burgers in this case! Drizzled with balsamic vinegar that I reduced and a sprinkle of fleur de sel, who needs ketchup or aioli?!

Baked Yam Fries (4 servings)
3 large yams-cut into sticks
oil
s+p
fleur de sel or coarse salt

1.Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Toss yams in oil just enough to coat. Season with s+p
2. On a baking sheet lined with baking paper spread out yam fries evenly and bake for 40 min or until golden and crispy, checking halfway through to turn fries over for even color.
3. Before serving, drizzle with balsamic glaze and fleur de sel or coarse salt.

Balsamic Glaze
1 1/2 cups balsamic vinegar

1. In saucepan add vinegar and on medium-high heat reduce vinegar slowly until it becomes thick and coats the back of a spoon.
*If for some reason you over reduce it, you can just add a splash of balsamic vinegar to bring it back to the consistency you like.

Loaded Spicy Veggie Walnut Burger

Geez! Two veggie sandwich posts in a row? I swear I'm not becoming a vegetarian...these sandwiches just taste fab! This would be round 2 for me on an attempt of a veggie burger, this time a success! I finally got the right consistency for the patty, it holds together and gets nice and crispy when pan fried. What's this burger loaded with? I could have continued adding more things onto the burger but it was hard enough to take a bite as it was! The spicy chickpea walnut based burger was topped with a roasted portobello mushroom, fresh spinach, tomatoes, caramelized onions and a roasted red bell pepper and basil aioli. Yum yum I have two that I froze for another day, those just might be saved for my bbq which I have yet to use!

Spicy Veggie Walnut Burgers

1 15 oz can chickpeas, rinsed and drained

1 parsnip, grated

1 small yam, grated (yield approx 1 cup)

2 green onions, chopped

1/4 onion, fine diced

6 cloves garlic, fine diced

12 white button mushrooms, chopped

1 bunch fresh cilantro, roughly chopped

1/4 cup walnuts

1/8 cup chili garlic sauce

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp montreal steak spice

2 eggs

1/2-1 cup breadcrumbs (explained below)

s+p

4 whole wheat buns

1. Using a potato masher, mash chickpeas until it becomes a chunky paste.

2. In a pan saute garlic, onions and mushrooms, let cool and combine with chickpeas.

3. Add all the rest of the ingredients in, except for breadcrumbs.

4. When well combined slowly add in bread crumbs until mixture comes together and is no longer moist. Form into patties and set in fridge, preferably for atleast 30 minutes

5. Heat oil in a pan and pan fry until golden and crispy on each side

Condiments:

Fresh Spinach

2 Firm Tomatoes

Caramelized onions (the quick way)

1 large Vidalia onion, thinly sliced

s+p

sugar (optional)

1. Heat a pan on high with oil, add in onions and spread out evenly in pan. Only stir when you see the onions start to go brown, lower heat a bit and saute until caramelized. Season with s+p and if for some reason the onion isn't sweet enough, add a pinch of sugar

Roasted Portobello Mushrooms

4 portobello mushrooms, stems and gills removed

Oil

Montreal Steak spice

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Toss portobello's in oil, steak spice and garlic. Roast for 12 min or until portobellos turn slightly soft.

Roasted Red Bell Pepper and Basil Aioli

1 cup plain Greek yogurt (or regular yogurt that has been strained)

3 tbsp roasted red bell pepper spread (or pureed, roasted red bell peppers)

1 clove garlic

3 tbsp fresh basil, chopped

1. Combine all ingredients and let sit in fridge.

Open Face Veggie Sandwiches

Ahhh life on the island is goood! This past weekend me and some girlfriends went over to Vancouver Island for a little getaway and got to stay at one of my friends beautiful summer houses with the most amazing view. Seeing as two of my friends are vegetarian, the first night we did all veggie. So simple and not too heavy for a nice light summer meal, all I did was slightly toast a multigrain baguette in the oven, caramelize some onions and saute up some mushrooms and bell peppers. To the rescue was store bought roasted garlic hummus, jarred artichokes, fresh baby spinach and basil, black olives and feta. Served with a simple tomato salad, nice cold glass of vodka spiked pink lemonade and a side of wicked sunset...heavenn!

Open Face Veggie Sandwiches
1 multigrain baguette
1 container roasted garlic hummus
2 cups sliced mushrooms
2 large handful fresh baby spinach
1 large handful fresh basil
1 red bell pepper, julienne
1 jar artichoke hearts
1/4 cup black olives, sliced
1/2 cup feta, crumbled
2 large vidalia onions, julienne
s+p

1.Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Place baguette in oven to warm through and crisp up.
In a large skillet heat oil on high heat (this is my quick method to caramelize onions). When hot, add in onions and spread out evenly on pan. Only start to stir when you see the onions turn golden brown, reduce heat to medium high. Season with s+p
2. After onions are cooked take out and saute bell pepper and mushrooms, season with s+p
3. Slice baguette in half lengthwise and cut into desired length
4. Spread roasted garlic hummus on baguettes, top with fresh basil, spinach, mushrooms, artichokes, red bell pepper, caramelized onions, black olives and feta.
5. Place in oven for 5-7 minutes or until warmed through

Do you know what this is?

Do you know what this is? I didn't! I saw them at my local farmers market and found out they are garlic scapes! I love finding something new I've never seen before and making a dish out of it. Tonight's dinner was a pasta primavera, with most of the ingredients found at the farmers market. Fresh made spelt pasta, amazing tomatoes, local zucchini and the garlic scapes. I tasted the garlic scapes raw and it had a very strong garlic flavor, but after sauteing them the flavor mellowed out and I found they were like a crunchy green bean with a hint of garlic, delish! A challenge for you this week is to try something new that you've never tried before. Who knows, you might just like it!

Pasta Primavera

1 bottle pureed tomatoes
3 garlic cloves
1 tsp chili flakes (optional)
1/4 onion, fine diced
fresh basil, chiffonade
pinch of sugar
s+p
1 /2 zucchini
2 cups sliced button mushrooms
1 handful cherry tomatoes, halved
1 bunch garlic scapes, chopped (optional)
favorite pasta
fresh parmesan

1. Saute onion and garlic in olive oil till soft. Add in tomato puree, sugar to taste, s+p and fresh basil. Let simmer
2. In a pan saute zucchini, garlic scapes and mushrooms. Add in cherry tomatoes at the last minute just to warm through.
3. Boil pasta till al dente, strain out water and place back on stove.
4. Add a couple ladles of tomato sauce, just until pasta is coated, add in veggies.
5. Grate fresh parm over top.

Cold Soba Noodles with Miso Peanut Dressing

I'm always looking for alternatives to white pasta and had been wanting to make a pasta salad that I can throw in my bag and take for lunch. Soba noodles aka buckwheat noodles were this weeks choice! Going along with the Asian theme I threw together a miso peanut dressing. I apologize in advance because sometimes when I'm trying new recipes I start tossing things in and forget to write down my exact measurements! All I can suggest is taste as you go! Not salty enough? Add in a little more miso paste or soy sauce, not sweet enough? Add in some honey, agave syrup or sugar. Only problem I have is I always make too much pasta, I may be eating this one for a week...

Cold Soba Noodle Salad
1 small pkg soba noodles (I know helpful right? I'd tell you the exact amount, if only I could read the Japanese writing on the package..)
1/2 red bell pepper, julienne
1 carrot, julienne
1 bunch green onions, cut on a diagonal
1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds
shredded chicken (optional)

Miso Peanut Dressing
1/2 cup natural peanut butter
3 tbsp miso paste
2 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp chili flakes
1 tbsp grated ginger
1 clove of garlic, minced
1/4 cup rice vinegar
2 tbsp honey or 1 tbsp agave syrup
enough hot water until you get the consistency of a dressing

1. Boil pasta until al dente, drain and rinse under cold water, using paper towel dry off noodles so the dressing will stick to them.
2. Toss everything together and chill in the fridge. Reserve extra dressing on the side as the noodles tend to absorb alot of it.

Summertime Salads: Watermelon Feta Salad and Cucumber Mango Salad Rolls

Summer is here! Okay, well it was last weekend anyways....prime beach weather and with that goes bbq's on the beach! I was in charge of the sides so I picked two of my favorite summer salads. Shown here is the watermelon feta salad and I also made my cantaloupe bocconcini salad. Cool, refreshing and light these are perfect for hot sunny days and pack and travel way better then a wilted green salad. Really it goes back to the basics, fruit and cheese, how can you go wrong? The mango cucumber salad rolls stuffed with fresh cilantro and mint made for good appys (and are good snacks for on the go). I just figured out how to use my mini charcoal bbq so stay tuned for anything I can get my hands on that goes good on a grill! Ohh yeaaa.

Watermelon Feta Salad
Watermelon, cubed
Feta, crumbled
Fresh mint, rough chopped
Fresh basil, rough chopped
Red onion, thinly sliced (optional)
Radishes, thinly sliced (optional)
Black olives, sliced (optional)

Dressing:
Lime Juice
Honey (if needed)

1. Toss together and chill in fridge.


Cucumber Mango Salad Rolls
Rice wrappers
Rice vermicelli noodles, cooked and chilled
Cucumber, sticks
Mango, sticks
Red pepper, sticks
Fresh Cilantro
Fresh Mint
Shrimp (optional)
Chicken (optional)
Favorite dipping sauce ( I used a sweet mango curry dipping sauce)

1.Dip rice wrapper in hot water, lay on flat surface and fill with ingredients. Wrap like a spring roll and keep covered with saran wrap.
2.Serve chilled.

Cravin a feel good meal: Crunchy Walnut Lentil Burgers & Roasted Red Bell Pepper Tomato Soup

After going to the gym today I was craving something healthy and satisfying and it came to me, lentil burgers! I know I know, it doesn't sound that exciting but I have been wanting to do my own spin on a good ol veggie burger for awhile now. Now by no means am I vegetarian! I love my meat but sometimes this can be just as satisfying! I've also been wanting to make more homemade soups, I don't have that hand blender for nothing and on those rainy Vancouver days sometimes that's all you want! So I headed down to my local produce store, known by everyone in the area as the cheapest produce in town. It's tiny and always packed and you literally have to shove your way through and have your wallet ready to pay because those cashiers are so damn quick! No giving exact change here, they seem to get a little peeved if you try and scrummage in your change purse...so anyways here it is! Lentil burgers my way: with a healthier take on basil aioli using thick Greek yogurt, garlic and fresh basil, and a roasted red bell pepper and tomato basil soup.

Crunchy Walnut Lentil Burgers with Basil Aioli

4 whole grain buns

1 handful mixed field greens

2 cups cooked lentils

1 1/2 cups uncooked yam, grated

1 cup zucchini, grated

1/2 small onion, fine dice

4 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup walnuts, toasted, chopped

1/4 cup breadcrumbs

1 tsp cumin

s+p

1.Saute onion, garlic and grated yam just until slightly soft.

2.In a food processor blend 1 1/2 cups of the lentils.

3. In a bowl mix together everything. Shape into patties and pan fry until crispy on both sides.

Basil Aioli

1 cup thick Greek yogurt (or plain yogurt, strained)

1 handful fresh basil

1/2 clove garlic

s+p

pinch of sugar

1. Place everything in a food processor and mix until yogurt turns green.

Roasted Red Bell Pepper and Tomato Basil Soup

6 cups chicken or vegetable stock

5 red bell peppers

4 small tomatoes

1 small onion, small diced

1 carrot, small diced

1 celery stalk, small diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 handful fresh basil

1 tsp chili pepper flakes

s+p

2 tsp sugar

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F, place bell peppers on a parchment lined baking sheet and coat with olive oil. Roast for 30 minutes or until the outer skin looks charred. When done, place in a bowl, covering it with saran wrap for 5 minutes. Remove skin and seeds, chop into chunks

2. To remove tomato skin make an x with the tip of your knife on the bottom of the tomato and place into boiling water for 10 seconds, take out and place in ice water, remove skin and seeds, chop into chunks

3. In a big pot saute onion, carrot, celery and garlic till soft. Add bell peppers and tomato, add stock, fresh basil and chili pepper flakes. Using a blender or hand mixer puree until smooth. Season to taste with salt, pepper and sugar. (Sugar will off balance the bitterness bell peppers can have).