food

An on-the-fly dinner for guests: fresh asparagus pasta with sun dried tomatoes and mini lime cheesecakes

~ Hilary ~ 6 Comments

I enjoy stressing myself out.

Last Wednesday night I invited my former roommate Alex over for a “lets catch up on each others lives and gossip shamelessly” sesh.  Obviously dinner was to be included.  I don’t have guests over any other way.

In hindsight, I probably should have realized that weekday evening dinners are a little chaotic.  Throw in a guest, an after work grocery shop via bike and backpack and my great need to make an extravagant, three-course meal, and you have a potential meltdown on your hands.

But not tonight.

I hope you are partially impressed by the fact that this meal was completely prepared within an under-two-hour time span.  FYI: that includes the grocery store trip and a painful, construction filled bike commute.

#awesome

For the main course,  a spaghetti dish I found on tastespotting, made with fresh pasta (ever since I was a child I’ve had a unparalleled love of uncooked, fresh pasta… much pre-dinner snacking occurred), peas, asparagus and sun-dried tomatoes.  For someone who had never tried the latter two ingredients before, this was a make-it-or-break-it meal for me.  The chopped asparagus tasted like the stalks of broccoli and the sun-dried tomatoes were like slabs of dried ketchup.  This may sound gross, but I actually enjoyed it profusely.

Leftover goat cheese also made an appearance.  Happiness ensued.

If anything, the dessert was the most chaotic part of this meal.

Time was of the ultimate importance, which is why I chose to make these no-bake cheesecakes.  The recipe, which I adapted ever so slightly from Canadian Living, suggested I refrigerate everything for long periods of time.

Translation: if you are short on time, just pop everything in the freezer for an hour.  Voila, a dessert prepared and set in the blink of an eye.  Add some poorly cut lime slices and peel, and you have the cutest little cheesecakes you’ve ever seen.

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Morning glory muffins (made with pineapple, carrots, pecans and apple sauce)

~ Hilary ~ 2 Comments

[I was supposed to post this last week and then forgot to upload the pictures before going to Toronto this weekend – oops, oops, oops. PS: check back tomorrow for a Toronto post…]

For those too lazy to make themselves a full breakfast (translation: me), muffins* are the best.

The weather was so crummy in Ottawa this past week that I wasn’t able to partake in any of my usual fun after work outdoor activities.  Instead, I was cooped up inside eating large amounts of everything and watching way too much Internet tv (if that’s a thing).

The rain, combined with my resulting mood, contributed to my need to make muffins.  This being my first week of work, I was also in dire need of an early morning pick-me-up.  That’s how I decided on the name of the recipe.  I figured if the muffins had the term “glory” in them, I would have no choice but to be cheerful.

I’m really not sure how I decided on the ingredients for these (since I made up the recipe myself!).  I think it was inspired by a need for some sort of tropical fruity relief (hence the pineapple) crossed with my enormous craving for apple sauce.  Throw in the carrots and a few nuts and you’re set!

As my roommate Lindsay kindly informed me, these muffins could technically be considered fat free, since there was no butter (is it sad that I actually didn’t know a baked good could be produced without butter??) and no oil (it was replaced by the apple sauce).  All in all, these were a fantastic success, and supplied me with breakfast and worktime snacks for the entire week.  In fact, there is a muffin sitting on my desk right now, calling my name.

Late afternoon snack?  Don’t mind if I do.

*lazy breakfasts can also be defined by a Tim Hortons sesame seed bagel slathered in strawberry cream cheese

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Fresh avocado spring rolls

~ Hilary ~ 8 Comments

Rice wraps are so weird.

Seriously, you start off with a thin piece of translucent paper that does not look edible in any way or form.  You soak the rice paper in hot water for about 10 seconds and it becomes sticky and membrane-like.

It still does not look edible.

But alas, if you can overcome the bizarreness and cocoon qualities of the rice wrap, you will be rewarded.

Your reward?  Fresh avocado spring rolls.  As mentioned previously, my new Canadian Living cookbook was to thank for the recipe.

Basic fact: avocado makes everything better.  Including this refreshingly cool summer (or late spring) meal.  These were the second part of the little dinner party Ariel and I had on Sunday night.

Sunday night dinner: a random combination of dishes, but delicious nonetheless

In hindsight, I probably should have chopped one of my spring rolls in half so you could see the innards of my dinner.  Unfortunately I was far too eager to eat and forgot this step, so let me just explain the contents to you: grated cucumber, carrot and vermicelli (you know, those skinny, see through noodles that look like elderly angel hair).

Also contained within was a healthy dose of fresh coriander (I sucked up my hatred for it) and chopped mint leaves.  Using our fingers, we slathered on some sweet chili sauce, courtesy of my roommate Lindsay (a very necessary step requiring no utensils whatsoever).

Et voila!

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Artichoke chicken flatbread

~ Hilary ~ 6 Comments

I got a new cookbook!

The show "Best Recipes Ever" is basically a culmination of two of my favourite things: Canadian Living and CBC

You can only sort of tell from the photo, but I have already bookmarked several pages using mining exploration post it notes I found around my home last week.  This is what happens when you grow up in northern Ontario.

The past few months have seen me straying from my Canadian Living roots.  This cookbook represents a partial return to my beginnings, and I was eager to try out some new recipes from the people who helped me fall in love with cooking in the first place.

One of the first recipes to catch my eye was for artichoke chicken flatbread.

With my dear friend Ariel having returned from Europe last week, I decided to cook us a celebratory “summer in Ottawa” meal.

Ariel is a great kitchen assistant and a fantastic food modeler.  As you can see, not much has changed since last October…

Part two of our meal (avocado spring rolls!) will be coming up in the next couple of days.

As for this flatbread, I guess it really turned out to be more of a pizza.

My local grocery store apparently finds it unnecessary to carry flatbread of any kind, and I was certainly not up for making it myself, especially considering my newfound lack of bread machine.  So I cheated.  The flatbread is actually a store-bought pizza crust.

Secret’s out.  Whew, glad we got that out of the way.

While the flatbread may have adopted several pizza-like qualities, it was anything but average.  The pureed roasted red peppers added a twist to the base, and crunchy artichokes and red pepper combined blissfully on top.

I chose to make my flatbread/pizza sans olives, because, frankly, who likes olives.  So gross.

In other ingredient news… THIS IS OF CRITICAL IMPORTANCE: the recipe says you can use mozzarella cheese, but you must use goat cheese.  So smooth, so delicious.  Make the right decision.

As it turns out, this meal became a whole little four-person affair out on my porch.  My friend John was walking by, so I invited him up to eat.  Then my roommate Lindsay came home and joined in the festivities.

End of story?  Four fed people and no leftovers.  I was both relieved and heartbroken all at once.

As always, the recipe can be found after the jump.

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Cinco de Mayo, pt. 2: tortilla, ground beef and avocado tower

~ Hilary ~ 4 Comments

I can’t help but think that any food with the word “tower” in its name should be the subject of its very own fairy tale.  Originally when I started to write this post, I was going to make up some lame little story to accompany it, before realizing it excruciatingly difficult to write a fairy tale where the protagonist was locked up in a tower made of ground meat.  Kind of kills the romanticism factor, huh?  I guess I’ll leave the fairy tales to Disney.  I’m in it for the food.

Obviously when planning my Cinco de Mayo feast, I realized my meal wouldn’t be complete without some sort of:

a. Tortilla usage
b. Spicy meat
c. Avocado

Since I really wasn’t in the mood to make tacos, and since there was only one of me, I did the next logical thing: created my own dish.

Yeah, I know, it looks pretty simple, but the flavours were actually incredibly effective and satisfying.  This tower of Mexican joy also allowed me to utilize one of the new food rings I bought in Kensington Market a few weeks ago.  Basically, a food ring is a large, well ring, with built-up sides.  It kind of looks like a really clean piece of pipe.  The point of a food ring is to be able to stack your food nicely and compress it in such a way that it doesn’t become a crumbled mess (partial failure on my part, yes).  It also allows you to achieve the presentation seen on all your favourite cooking shows – including TOP CHEF CANADA, which I am now completely obsessed with.

To go along with your food ring, you’re technically supposed to have this flat piece that fits exactly inside the ring.  This piece is meant to press down everything you have inside.  Despite the urgings of the store clerk that this compressor piece was absolutely and completely key, I, of course, did not buy said item.  Come on, it was an extra $13.  I insisted on using a spoon.

It sort of worked, and I consider myself the winner of this food compressor debate.  Take that Mr. Kensington Market Vendor.

As you’ll see below in the recipe, I got to make some more homemade tortilla chip-like things, something I love doing.  Slice up the tortillas (while snacking on one), pan fry them with salt and chili powder and life is grand.

Super easy and semi-impressive looking for a summer night out on the porch.  I ate this on my stairs as the dog walkers and scooter enthusiasts passed by in (what I assumed to be) sheer envy.

PS: THE BEST part of my Cinco de Mayo dinner is coming up next.  I know, it is now the 11th of May.  Shame on me.

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